The descendant of dragons looked down upon the Shard, its eyes now clear and intelligent, no longer a creature ruled by anger. It studied the dark thing before it, noticing that the energy that this being emanated was something that it never encountered, it had faced beings that possessed a similar energy but not one that was as pure and powerful as this creature. It sensed that it could not afford to make an enemy of this thing so it replied with respect, although it kept its head held high,

“This one’s name is Orreis, the Bringer of Fire.”

The Shard bowed its head, “It is an honor to stand before you, oh Bringer of Fire. I am called the Surveyor, the Shard of the Eternal One.”

Orreis looked at the destruction she had wrought and although she loathed doing so, she apologized, “This one apologizes for bringing destruction to your land, even though you were not responsible for my imprisonment.”

The Shard shook its head, “There is no need for you to apologize, Bringer of Fire. It was an honor to witness your magnificence as you brought forth the Essence of Fire. Besides, the damage you wrought is not unrepairable.”

To demonstrate, the Shard waved its hand and a wave of darkness engulfed the entirety of the East Coast, Libidine seeing this although she was unable to see the destruction. The Surveyor had made it so that the barrier not only prevented access but also acted as an illusion, making it seem as if the East Coast was the same as it always was. But this was soon to be unnecessary as everything touched by the wave of darkness was restored, it was like nothing had happened.

Orreis looked at what the Shard had done with shock, it could never have imagined that the damage its fires brought could be so easily fixed. Her fires left lands scarred forever, nature unable to heal the damage. It could not be put out once it started, it would only disappear if she was to will it. The dark wave had also passed over her and it healed the wounds that she had suffered from her capture.

She then bowed her head to the Shard and thanked it, “This one thanks you.”

The Shard then bowed its head, “It was a pleasure, it would have been a shame to let one such as yourself die. But you cannot stay here any longer, the humans grow nearer and should they discover you, you shall be hunted.”

Orreis stood to her full height and roared, saying once she finished, “I do not fear being hunted!”

The Shard then bowed its head, as if in apology, “You do not have a choice.”

Offended, she roared angrily and charged, unable to stop herself as a black rectangle appeared in front of her. She fully expected to smash into the dark wall but was confused when she hit nothing. She quickly turned around but the gate had gone, all that lay behind her were the mountains that separated Auster from the land of the Saurians. She was perplexed but soon put it out of her mind, the Saurians were a simple race after all. They only care about the result, not how the result came to be. All that mattered was that she was back home and that was that. She looked around for a few moments more before snorting, a puff of flame emitting from her nose.

She then turned and began to make her way home. The others of her clan had most likely not noticed her absence, after all, she often disappeared for hunting trips that lasted for months on end. She would probably have to make a kill and bring it back, to return empty-handed would be an insult to her name. The strange being she had met was soon forgotten and the Surveyor which was watching her drew back. It did not want for her to spread word of its existence so it tampered slightly with her memories, it was rather easy because the Saurians were, of course, a simple race. They were more concerned with things that they understand rather than things out of their control.

Anyways, with that problem taken care of, it returned itself into the body of Ieros who then claimed the core of the Shard, making a simple silver chain for it and wearing it. He, of course, had access to the power the core would bring. It would also make his disguise as a human mage that more perfect, as most mages often have some sort of item such as a staff, amulet or ring to help channel their mana. This would be his item, although its appearance could be worked on to be more visually appealing.

Then realizing that his appearance was still that of an old man, he reverted to his original appearance, appearing as an old man would only raise unnecessary questions. Once he had done so, he then went on to clean up the battlefield, to make it seem as if nothing had happened. The corpses of the millions of Ursus and Avem were all converted into dark matter and the sky turtles were temporarily moved into a separate dimension, although they would be content there. The dimension had plenty of food and water for them and there were no predators.

The Loquimi he imprisoned in his tower, Time still stopped on her body. He would wake her when he had the time to conduct a full study. But now it was time to deal with Libidine and the King, for she had returned to the capital to report his strange actions. Ieros meanwhile took down the barrier and let the people return to their homes, the people thanking Ieros for what he had done. He said that it was nothing, that he was only serving the King. But to keep up relations with the villagers, he attended the celebration that they held in his honor, listening to the music, accepting various gifts from the villagers and even dancing. When night fell, he provided some small-scale magical displays which lit up the dark sky and causing children to squeal with excitement.

But he soon retired to his tower, blessing all the villages with good harvests for a year, using his power to fill their farmland with nutrients and to make their plants bountiful and healthy. He then busied himself studying the Ursus and Avem in the two days of calm before the King and Libidine would arrive. He sighed, truly unnecessary but he had already prepared to deal with this, he had done so the moment he met Libidine. Two days passed rather quickly, and he sensed the approach of the King and Libidine.

In order to be polite, he walked out of his tower to meet them, bowing his head as the carriage and escort pulled up. His new amulet glittered darkly, catching the interest of Libidine who was watching him carefully.

She asked, “What’s with the amulet?”

Ieros merely replied, “In the battle with the pirates, I realized that it was more efficient to use a vessel in which to channel energy. So I created such a vessel, this amulet. It took me considerable time to create which was why I teleported you away and locked you out, I didn’t want to be disturbed as I was highly vulnerable while creating this.”

The King then said, “May I see that amulet?”

Ieros nodded, “Of course your majesty.”

Ieros took off the amulet and handed it over, the King holding it in his left hand.

He then raised his right hand and chanted, “Ruling Magic, Absolute Appraisal.”

His eyes were closed as he did this, processing the amazing information about the gem. After a few moments, his eyes flew open and for once in his life, he was at a loss. This Gem… it was a legendary class item… no, perhaps even divine. The gem, if it could be called that, was some sort of purifier. If one were to channel mana through it, the mana that came out was refined and therefore much more powerful than regular mana. It also seemed to be able to store nearly limitless amounts of said mana, able to be used at a moment’s notice.

Of course, this may not sound special but in a world were humans were gradually losing their mastery over mana, this was an absurdly powerful device, for purified mana was also the easiest to control and the most malleable. Pure mana can be transformed into any Magic with ease, sort of like a stem cell which as the capacity to become any type of cell in the body.

Anyways, the King then asked in a voice that had a slight tremor, “Can you create more?”

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Ieros nodded, “Yes, I could but doing so has great consequences.”

He then pulled back his hood and revealed his face, well, the right half of his face. The other half had its flesh eaten away, revealing his skull beneath, glowing with dark energy. Where the two halves met, the skin seemed to be fighting to regenerate, the flesh rippling as it struggled to cover his bare skull and failing to do so.

It was a terrifying sight to behold and Ieros replaced the hood, saying, “During the creation of the crystal, pure energy shot out and struck my face, damaging it. It began to eat away at my flesh, although because I was able to counteract in time, I have managed to quarantine it. However, my magic is only strong enough to keep it from devouring the rest of me.”

He replaced his hood, the shadows concealing his face once more. The King and Libidine were needless to say quite shocked. The King then put thoughts of divine weaponry production aside, he should have known that it was too good to be true. He apologized for asking such a question and Ieros bowed his head, saying that he understood and the King was not at fault. Meanwhile, Libidine who was quite forgotten was busy rethinking her earlier analysis of Ieros, about this boy who created a divine amulet and survived the Wrath of the Gods. She still wanted him of course but decided to back off, for now, he was too powerful to mess with. It was best not to piss off one who was in possession of a divine amulet, one that purified mana at that.

Meanwhile, the King then commanded everyone who was there to keep their mouths shut about this incident. He did not want word getting out that there was a new divine weapon. He knew eventually that it would slip but he’d still like for it to be kept secret for as long as possible. He then said goodbye to Ieros, wishing him luck on finding a way to heal himself. Ieros thanked the King for his kindness and waved as they left. He decided to leave his face as is, it was for the sake of continuity. It truly would be a shame if his persona were to come crashing down because of a small mistake. After all, how would he face his creator with a failure staining his data?

Speaking of data, he returned to his tower, it was time to interrogate the surviving Loquima. So he returned to his tower, heading to the room where the Loquima was kept. He entered, commencing a body scan as well as memorizing her visual appearance. It would not hurt to take up a disguise a loquima. They were indeed quite strange looking, to humans at least, with enlarged heads twice as big as normal humans and small bodies, like that of a child. Their skin was also pale white, for this was a race that hardly ever moved underneath the sun. They also lacked discernable neck, this was because if they did possess a neck it would break under the weight of their head. To further support the head, their gangly arms reached all the way to the ground when standing, this was to make it easier for them to travel if they had to.

All in all a quite strange creature, but not one which disgusted Ieros. He was intrigued, he would have to conduct more studies on the Loquimi later as he still possessed two other whole bodies. Once he had fully memorized all the data that he had gathered, he healed her of her wounds, dismissed the Stasis and then commanded her to wake. She did and after looking around at her surroundings in a panic, her eyes settled on Ieros.

She shrank back in fear, her thoughts coalescing into one word, one image, one feeling, “Demon!”

Ieros corrected her through his telepathy, “I am no demon. Now, be calm, the discord in your mind disturbs me.”

She was still fearful but she managed to gain mastery over her thoughts once more.

Ieros then said, “I intend to examine your memories. Do not worry, it shall be a painless process if you do not try to defend your mind. Doing so will only bring you harm. ”

Fear spiked once more through her mind before a tentative affirmation flowed through the connection. Ieros then locked eyes with her, her body suddenly paralyzed, she was unable to move. Her mind flew into a panic once more but Ieros calmed her, assuring that this was so that she did not harm herself. Once more, she warily retained calm while Ieros began to probe her memories. It was an unpleasant sensation to the Loquima but by no means painful, rather it was like bathing in water that was just a bit too cold.

It was soon over and Ieros, having also conducted a body scan at the same time, was busy analyzing the results. He no longer had a use for the Loquima but he would not kill her. He still needed a messenger that would bring news to the Emperor. So he told her that she may return and that he would give one of the sky turtles he had captured to her. At first, she was elated but she then grew suspicious. In order to convince her, he decided to lay the facts bare, saying,

“I want what happened here to be known to your Emperor so he knows not to come back. If not to deter him, then to at least make him acknowledge my strength. You are the only survivor, therefore you are the only one to relay this message. And as I do not want to waste precious energy sending you back, I will return one sky turtle to you.”

He kept his word, releasing her and returning one sky turtle. It was regrettable to let such a fine specimen of a sky turtle go but he could not afford for her to fail in relaying his message. He wanted to study his specimens in peace, he did not need another battle. But before he studied his specimens, he would have to study the information that he had gained from the Loquima’s memories, such as a hierarchy of the military system, who needed to be killed in order to disorganize the army. Of course, being that she was a Loquima, she did not have any fine details about the hierarchy but the knowledge she possessed would suffice.

The Loquimi were the prime target of such assassination, their telepathy made them an invaluable asset to the Austerian military. They were one of the reasons for its success, for quick communication was a must have in any military, that way the battalions making up an army could act in perfect cohesion. Killing them when fighting the army would have to be his first priority. Next were the elites, the Imperator, the commanders of the army who were personally blessed by the Emperor. What they said was law in the ranks of the army.

Below the Imperators were the elite soldiers, races that possessed great physical strength like the Ursus and other beast races. They were the pride of the Austerian Army, the brave and gallant warriors who fought to spread the benevolence of the Emperor. Although they did not possess authority to command their lessers, they were still respected in the military for their strength. Beneath them are the Loquimi, for although they do not possess any fighting capabilities, they were as stated a valuable part of the military. Then the last part of the military was the Crimex, their only use was to be fodder to distract or to weaken the enemy for the elite soldiers to defeat with ease.

Of course, there was their absolute loyalty to the queens who in turn served the Emperor. Although their near limitless numbers were something to be feared, the queen guards were something else entirely. Auster would never have been able to even get near the queens if it wasn’t for the Loquimi’s power. The queen guards were the size of elephants with shells that could not be broken by anything except the strength of the Saurians and adamantium weaponry. Their shells also gave them a nearly invincible resistance to magic as well as allowing their claws to slash through just about anything. They possessed four legs which they walked upon and had an upright torso with two large mantis-like arms. It had eyes but it mostly relied on its antenna to detect the enemy, the antenna being so sensitive that it could detect vibrations in the air.

They also possessed great speed, their bodies unable to feel pain so they were constantly able to push themselves to the limit, even if it meant their deaths. But one never died in combat since the days when the Crimex tried to invade the Saurian lands. Those were dark days for the Crimex, the absolute strength of the Saurians was too much for the Crimex to deal with, even with their near limitless numbers. The Saurians just charged through with brute force, slaughtering the queen guards although the queen guards killed many Saurians as well. Too many queens were lost in that foolish campaign, among them some of the strongest queens in the Crimex, possessing an army of a hundred thousand queen guards as well as millions of Crimex.

Yet they were not enough to defeat the Saurians, particularly one clan which took it upon themselves to guard the mountains which cut Ortus in half. They were the Oros, the guardians of the mountain, blessed by the power of the Earth. Using the mountains to their advantage, they defeated the Crimex, causing great avalanches which slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Crimex. Saurians, armored with stone scales then took care of the remaining Crimex and fought the queen guards. Once they killed the queen guards, they made an example of the queens, leaving them to die a slow and painful death in view of the other queens.

In the face of their might, the queens gave up their conquest of the Saurian lands, instead pledging allegiance to the Emperor who promised them land and food. Of course, the Loquima did not possess any detailed information on the Emperor, in fact, she did not know much of him at all. All she knew was where he lived, that he was a Satorian and also his power was absolute. But Ieros was not troubled, he would meet the Emperor soon enough. Instead, he focused on a more important matter, the study of the sky turtles. Sure he already had done a preliminary observation but it was but a rough scan. He had intentionally done so, he wanted to savor the joy of research for as long as possible. One could say that the pursuit of knowledge was the one thing that the Surveyor found delightful.