“Mother, we have returned!” two spiders who, from the look at it, seemed to have gone through quite an ordeal just to get back to the den of their mother, the Spider Queen Archna.

“Where have you been? I did ask you to expand the cave but not that far, just directly to the demon lord’s castle. It shouldn’t have taken that long.” The Spider Queen proclaimed.

“We encountered some troubles along the way….”

“Trouble? Did someone attack you?” Archna, despite being a cruel monster, was a caring mother to her children. And she had a history of not forgiving anyone who attacked her children. Things usually went downhill when someone did that.

“No…no one attacked us. It’s just that there is something buried deep in the underground of Ragna, some kind of wall, that we can’t seem to find a way to pass through to get to the demon lord’s castle.”

“Is it a rock or a dungeon? There used to be a kingdom above but it sank into the underground a long time ago. Could it be its remains? Why didn’t you go around it?”

“We tried but that thing spawns for hundreds of miles across the entire continent and at least a hundred miles deep. Also it was made in a special material that even our poison could not melt it.”

“A special material that our poison doesn’t work on… That’s not possible. Even holy mithril and sacred orichaclum would at least be slightly eroded by our poison. Nothing in this world could resist against it. Unless...Was its surface smooth and looks a bit silvery? Like almost a mirror?” Archna jumped of her chair.

“Actually it was. How do you know it, Mother?” one of the spiders said.

‘No it can’t be…. I have to make sure.’ Thought Archna. “Bring me to where you find this strange wall.”

…..

Archna arrived at the first location where her two children first found the bizarre wall in the underground. It was rare for her to go outside the nest. She would never leave most of her children alone there. What could push the Spider Queen to step out of her cave for the first time over a century?

Although it was dark, the spider’s eyes could see through the obscurity and examined the wall. It was true that normal poison from these young spiders could not do a thing against this strange material. She tried to scratch it with her claws and still nothing. But she still had an ace up her sleeves. The special poison that resided in the Spider Queen’s body was said to be able to melt all, even the hardest and sturdiest metal in the world. How would that fare against this wall?

Seeing their mother spitting on the wall but remained motionless, the young spider decided to approach and ask her. But before he could say, he saw that the wall was still intact just like before.

“So it did not work after all. Even Mother’s poison….”

“No it did… Watch again closely this time!” Archna spitted out a second wave of poison. The spider watched closely as the surface of the wall began to melt away. But something strange happened. The hole the poison made….was closing before disappearing as if it was never there. That wall was regenerating itself.

“What the…? How could it be possible? Just what is that?”

“Akroma….Also called Living Metal. A unique ore that has the capacity to repair itself no matter how much damaged it was. This accursed thing was right here all along…” Archna clenched her fist in anger. “You said that this structure is made in the same material that expands for miles down here, correct?”

“Yes, mother! We even heard noises coming from the inside at some point. And the wall is not just a straight line. There are passages where it changes direction, makes a strange turn.”

“Alright gather your brothers. Conceal the tunnel as quick as you can and add your web to fortify the area surrounding this wall. We must contain it. I am sorry for putting this on you, my child, but this is urgent.” Archna conveyed.

“Please don’t worry, Mother! We would do anything for you! But what is this Living Metal exactly? Why do you sound so afraid of it?”

“…There was once a mad man who used this very metal to take revenge on the world. Eventually he was stopped but not before millions of lives were lost. I didn’t care about the lives of the outside but he was killing indiscriminately, even our own. By myself I was unable to do anything but that was until I met a human. Together we managed to stop him from his madness but …not without a great cost. That was the first and the last time I allied with a human.

This thing is not allowed to exist, my child! The most terrible thing about Living Metal is not just because of its regeneration capacity but also because its ability to invade and corrupt all things it touches. Fortunately, the metal could only be controlled by a certain method that only that man knows and he is dead.” Archna explained. “I will need to go consult with Lady Lilith about this. She would know what to do with it.”

“Of course, mother! But how come I have never heard of him before?”

“This happened a very long time ago, long before Ragna was even a separate continent, before Ceadric or Zagon even existed. It is natural that you would not now.”

“I am curious! Who is this man you spoke off? When you spoke of him, your voice was both angry…and sad.”

“He has lived for so long so no one even remembers his real name. But he was commonly known as the Artificer.”

* * *

“WHAT? You found Akroma in the underground? Are you sure?” shouted Lilith.

“Yes! According to my children, there is an entire structure made of living metal that expands across the entire continent. I have personally check its authenticity. There is no mistake that that thing is indeed made of this ore. I have told my children to barricade and refill the tunnels for now. In addition, the metal doesn’t seem to be active yet so we are safe, for now. Although I don’t know how this would last….” Archna reported.

Immediately after the discovery, the Spider Queen has traveled to the demon lord’s castle in order to address the matter with the Demon Goddess. Needless to say, Lilith was horrified. The memory of that metal has haunted even the Gods.

“God damn it! How come all these things from the past keep showing up? If we take in account Merkabah, this is the third time the world almost ends. And now this accursed metal is coming back!!!” the small elf lost it. Not many things could make a God tremble in fear but if there was one, it was Akroma.

“What should we do now, milady? We can’t destroy it nor can we contain it. In the meanwhile, it is sleeping but if it awakens….”

“No. Living metal only follows the orders of the Artificer, no one else. If we can find a way to control it like he did, then that would serve as a solution. I will go to his archives and search for clues. There must be something there.” Lilith said.

“Should I go with you?” the Spider Queen asked.

“No need! You keep an eye on that thing. I guess I will take Noroeth with me. He spends years drowning in books. Now it’s time to put him to work!”

“If you say so, milady! Also do we need to inform Alastor of this? He is still the demon lord after all! And judging from all his accomplishments, he might have something to aid us.”

“It’s still unknown whether Alastor will become the demon lord. To be honest, I don’t really care. As long as he helps me getting to Eden, I will play along. And he is not in the castle now anyway.”

“Where did he go?”

“To see that Zagon Empress”

* * *

The Whispering Woods was located in the eastern part of Malatas, outside its borders. It was where most of the clans and tribes of the beastmans race resided. But not just them, this great forest covering the entire southern region of Mara also inhabited many spirits.

What were spirits exactly? Essentially they were mana that was given life. While they were all classified as spirits, it could be said that each spirit was a unique being and even their origins were unclear to this day. One such example were the Elementals: spirit made of pure mana of one of the element in magic. To the beastmans, they were worshipped as deities.

Among all kinds of spirits, one stood out: the Reborn. Formerly a monster, a prime, a demon, these livings beings still had their souls lingering after death but were never able to continue in the cycle of reincarnation. Drifting in nature, they absorbed the mana of the surroundings and became spirit. And these were not random souls but very powerful individuals in their former life. Yearning for the living and former life, the Reborn sought out people capable of communicating with them and made a pact: that they would assist the summoner when called upon. In exchange, the summoner would give them mana and allowed to continue their existence among the living.

A group of refugees was currently traversing the forest. They have escaped from the undead scourge in Caelum thanks to the efforts of Father Maxime and two youths. And they were one of the lucky groups who were unharmed by the recent destruction by Merkabah. God knew how they accomplished such a feat.

But now the group was facing a problem. Food was running out and they were lost. When escaping the cities, not many was able to bring much supplies and at least not for this many people. For the last several days they have been going by with the fruits and thanks to some lucky catches and hunts but that could not be a stable source of nourishment when most have never hunted in their entire life.

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Right now, waiting for Lucas and Viviana to come back from the hunt, Maxime was checking on the folks.

“Thank you, Father!” a woman expressed her gratitude. Her child had caught a high fever. The journey so far was too harsh for a small child. Thankfully Maxime had found some local herbs using his medical experience and gave the boy a potion. But that was only a temporary measure. He knew they could not continue like this.

As he went to check on the next patient, Maxime heard some kind of argument. Quickly rushing to the scene, he saw a man holding the hands of a small kid.

“Hey hey! Stop that! What are you doing?” Maxime pushed the man away from the kid.

“Father Maxime, you come at the right time! I caught these two trying to steal from our supplies.” He spoke loudly.

“Steal? Did you do that?” the bishop asked the child but he didn’t answer.

“We can’t let them get away with this. All of us have been hungry, not just them.”

“Alright alright! Let me take care of this! Everyone please disband now! There is nothing to see here!”

With the people gone, Maxime crouched down to the small kid. He was thin and unhealthy, clearly has gone by with a few meals missing. Maxime made sure that the food was distributed evenly among everyone so how come this kid didn’t have anything to eat? Was that why he has to resort to steal?

“Why did you steal, child?”

“…..” the kid tried to avert his gaze.

“I promise I am not angry. If you don’t I can’t help you.”

“….My sister….she is sick…” the kid muttered. “I need to bring her food or else she will..she will… *hic hic*”

“Can you bring me to her? I will cure her.” Maxime reassured the child.

“…Okay…this way”

The kid led the bishop to a small tent on the far side of the camp. A small girl, who seemed to be barely five years old, was lying on a torn rug , cowering due to the cold. Her breath was slow and hushed, as if it would stop any moment now. She was so thin to the point her bones were showing through her skin.

Maxime was a great healer, there was no doubt about that. But there was a limit to everything he could do and healing magi was useless in this case. She needed food and proper medical care and some berries in the wild would not do the job.

The father took out a piece of bread he got for his ration today. He himself has not eaten anything but water for three straight days. Instead he gave his own portion to the ones he thought who really needed it. Not all heroes needed to defeat a demon lord and it could be said that Father Maxime was a true saint who cared about the people without any regard to race or origin. A naïve sentiment perhaps in this cruel world? But what would a man be if he abandoned his emotions, who cared nothing for others?

“Take this and share with your sister! Make sure that you eat too! What would your sister say if she sees you now?” Maxime said.

“I will. Thank you Father!”

Going out of the tent, Maxime looked back at the brother who only took a tiny piece for himself and gave the big one to his sickly sister. The boy could have just eaten the whole piece by himself. He was obviously hungry. Yet he chose to share with his sister. He felt a strange warm feeling watching the scene.

Maxime knew that the Church was corrupted and not just that, there were bad people everything and the world was not a kind place. But there were also people like this boy, people who cared about others. He could not abandon all hope for mankind. For if there was no hope, there would be no future.

It seemed that Viviana and Lucas were back. Maxime was glad that both were safe, although the two have been gloomy since the events at Caelum. It seemed that the demon who attacked Caelum knew Viviana’ sister. According to her, the two looked very similar to each other and that explained why he mistook her for Shana at first. For Lucas, he was forced to put his own father down. Even though he knew that he was already dead and what he did was releasing him, it could not have been easy.

The two youths now shared the same goal: to find this demon.

“Have you been able to find anything?” asked Maxime.

“I am sorry, Father. We didn’t catch anything…..” Viviana had a disappointed look.

“No don’t blame yourself! I am just glad that you two are okay. Though to be honest I don’t know if we could last any longer. Everyone is tired and food is running out. At this rate….”

“If not for that demon, we would never be in this situation! I will kill him!!!” Lucas fumed.

“Go ahead and shout idiot! See if that would help anything! Beside you are not allowed to kill him before I got some answers!” Vivana scolded the youth.

“Now now don’t fight!”

Suddenly a sound roared that interrupted their conversation: a howl. Something was moving in the bush and from the sounds coming from all directions, it wasn’t just one.

“A wolf howl? In the middle of the day?” Shit…Father Maxime please get back!”

The refugees started to panic. A pack of a dozen horned wolves has surrounded the entire camp. With just two people capable of fighting, they would not be able to defend themselves. They could not get away.

“What do we do?” Viviana took out her weapon.

“Do you even need to ask? Kill them of course!” Lucas said.

“Are you stupid? If we attack then who will defend the rest? Use your head for once!” 

“Then what do you propose???”

How would they get out of this situation?

“HALT! Step down!” a voice echoed.

Obeying the voice, the wolves slowly drew back. A figure walked out from the dense trees. He had a lot of brown fur on his body with two teeth sticking out from his lower jaw. Wearing the skin of what was once a beast adorned with plates which did not seem to be made from metal but scales, the figure examined the group.

“A bunch of humans ….and a beastman. Who are you to dare trespassing our clan’s territory?” the stranger spoke.

“We are refugees from Caelum. I am sorry for entering your land without asking for permission but we want no trouble. If you could spare just a little food for my people we would be forever in your debt. If not please just let us go and we will be on our way!” Maxime pled to the beastman.

“How do I know if you are lying or not? You could be spies working for the damned elves.”

“No we are not! I don’t know what is between you and the elves but I swear that we are not related to them””

“Hum like any spy would admit they are one! And even if you are telling me the truth, we can’t spare you any food right now! War is coming! The safest way is to kill you all!”

“Try if you can!” Viviana summoned a fire elemental. The grass caught on fire and scared the wolves.

Seeing the spirit, the beastman was left in awe. ‘A spirit shaman? And she is also a beastman…..This is interesting!’

“Wait wait! I change my mind! I can give you food but you have to come back with me and talk to our chief. If things go well, we will even give you temporary shelters until you find a new home. Not a bad deal, is it?” the beastman proposed.

“Father, what should we do? I just can’t believe that he is willing to change his mind that quick. Just a minute ago he wanted to kill us.” Said Lucas.

“But we don’t have a choice. Our people can’t survive by ourselves much longer. He is our only option! We just have to risk it!” Maxime said.

After a short discussion with everyone, it was decided that they would follow this stranger. What could they do? Food was running out and Maxime could not handle all the injured and sick by himself.

“All right, we will follow you!” Maxime said to the beastman.

“Good decision! I will guide you to back to our tribe. The wolves will protect us on the way. By the way, the name is Garrick.”