The negotiations were completed with quick succession, much to the satisfaction of both Gero and Emperor Teramon VII. The two shook hands on it and the Emperor publicized this to the people of Athera, shocking many to the presence of a civilized nation of monsters. Luckily there hadn’t been an antagonistic relationship between the two as they mostly had no knowledge of each other. And although the people were not too welcoming of the idea of being allies with a monster empire, they did not protest too much about it, partly because they didn’t care and also because they knew what happened to rebels. Ieros and his Teryo made it evidently clear that any who dared to stand against the Throne were dealt with quickly and quietly.
None were spared, not even the families of the rebels, a personal order made by Ieros in public. This, of course, damaged his public reputation but he didn’t care too much, he only needed minimal contact with the humans which was achieved through the villagers he protected. As for why, this was to ensure that none in the family would rise up against the Empire and to serve as a warning to other would-be-rebels, that they would not be the only ones to suffer punishment. This method, although cruel, was the most efficient that Ieros had thought of, it would secure the nation in the short term which would allow for better reforms to be made in order to keep the peace. It wasn’t his problem to deal with the reforms so he didn’t have to worry about how the nation would keep said peace, he only needed to suppress any and all rebellions against the Emperor.
But it was not over with the completion of the negotiations and the signing of the treaty, a feast was in order to celebrate this momentous occasion and Gero was the guest of honor. He was treated to the finest foods that Athera had to offer, Gero excitedly trying out everything and with the exception of a few, rather exotic, delicacies, he loved everything. Ieros had participated in the banquet but only to observe Gero, he was of a species that the Surveyor was looking forward to study in more detail. He did not eat and most of those around did not notice this, although Gero and his bodyguards noticed that he had not even touched the eating utensils that were set neatly before him.
Curious, Gero called over the table, “Why don’t-ss you eat? The food is-ss quite delicious-ss!”
Ieros merely said, “I do not require physical sustenance.”
Gero was impressed, “Mos-sst acror wielders-ss in my homeland require-ss at least five decades-ss to abs-ssorb energy from their s-ssuroundings-ss. Your talent is-ss extraordinary.”
Ieros bowed his head, “You honor me too much.”
Gero pressed on, “Even in my nation-ss, people of your talent are-ss very rare.”
Ieros replied, “I know.”
Gero was confused, “You do-ss?”
Ieros nodded, saying, “Very few would have been blessed by the Eternal One, to my knowledge, I am the only one.”
Gero inquired, “The Eternal-ss One?”
Ieros nodded, “Yes, the one who has existed before the gods, before Light, before even Time. It has existed for countless eons and will exist for countless eons more, the one who blessed me with a fragment of his power.”
Gero was silent for a moment, finally asking, “Does this being have a name-ss?”
Ieros nodded, then speaking one single Word, a Word filled with limitless ancient power, causing the air in the hall to shudder, for the magical lamps to go dark and for the hall to become deathly cold. But its effects did not stop there, the power of the Word was felt throughout all of Agleon and beyond, reaching various worlds and eventually lightly caressing the ear of End who stopped what she was doing, for she recognized the Word. She was silent, the burning world behind her also becoming silent as the power of the Word extinguished the flames she had caused. With slight irritation, she flicked her hand, the world being consumed by flames once more and she sighed, returning to destroying. Soon, her time would come.
Back at the dining hall, everyone was looking at the source of the disturbance, only seeing Ieros calmly sipping some tea that had come out of nowhere. He did not explain himself nor was he asked to as he just apologized for what he did and relit the magical lamps, the room warming up soon after. Gero meanwhile was silent, awed by the power he had just witnessed. But with that awe was also fear, fear of the power this being possessed.
After that small incident, Ieros was, unsurprisingly, left alone and by midnight, all had retired to bed. In the morning, Gero invited Emperor Teramon VII to send several of his own ambassadors to Auster so that they may bring back knowledge about it. Teramon VII saw no reason to refuse and among the five that he chose, one of them was, of course, Ieros. Ieros had no complaints, not that he ever did, in fact, he was just the slightest bit excited. To visit the land of Ortus, home to the descendants of dragons and other strange and fascinating creatures for him to study, how could he give up such a chance?
This was, of course, decided over the course of three days, the first day to pick people and the remaining two days to gather them as these people were spread out all over Athera. When all had been gathered, they stepped through Ieros’s gate to the beach where the sky turtle was located. They marveled at the size of the giant creature while Ieros was already making his way up the bridge, flanked by Eversor and one other Teryo. There were a total of ten, two for each human ambassador. Some of the ambassadors were quite nervous being escorted by their mysterious bodyguards, they had heard the rumors about these merciless elites under the service of the ruthless Archmage of the East.
Gero noticed their nervousness and asked them why, it was then that one of the humans explained to him the reputation these strange soldiers and Ieros had, making Gero all the more curious about Ieros. But Ieros made no response to the overtures that Gero attempted and Gero could sense that he was unwelcome, judging from the dangerous auras emanating from Eversor and the other Teryo. Gero raised his hands in surrender and left them alone, instead he spoke with the other ambassadors to get as much information as he could about Ieros. Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t able to get much information, only that Ieros was a genius who possessed great control over magic as well as being really young.
Stolen story; please report.
There was a lot of bullshit rumors that they told him as well, like how Ieros had made a deal with the Devil, enslaved an angel or was blessed by a dragon. This prompted an argument between the four ambassadors as they did not agree with on the aspects of certain rumors, stopping when Ieros stopped and slightly turned to them, the faceless shadows within his hood seeming to glare at them. None of them had ever seen Ieros’s face so their reaction was understandable, a paralyzing fear of staring into something that you could not identify nor understand. He then turned and continued to walk, the stronger-willed of the four recovering faster and following him, albeit at a slower pace.
They soon reached the top of the sky turtle and Gero led the four to rooms they could use, Ieros declining the offer as he did not need to sleep nor rest. Instead he made his way to the head of the great turtle, various monsters staring at him with either curiosity or hostility as he walked past, although they didn’t dare come closer for they could sense the threatening aura of the Teryo, the beastkins’ instincts telling them that these weren’t the type of creatures to piss off. The Crimex didn’t care, they had no self-will and just wandered around aimlessly until they were needed.
But they did, however, cast a glance at Ieros before going back to wandering, the presence that they felt from him was the same as the Queens; one filled with power and authority, one that needed to be obeyed. If he gave them an order, the Crimex would doubtlessly obey, it was simply their nature to. Well, they would have to understand him first but the power of the Surveyor reaches beyond languages, they would obey if it wanted to. But now was not the time to think of how to defeat the enemy, now was time to learn, although both were closely intertwined ideas, to know one’s enemy is a great advantage.
But he soon stopped thinking of these thoughts as he made his way to the turtle’s head, seeing the dark blue ocean stretch out before him. Ordering his Teryo to stay on the turtle and return to the others, Ieros then continued walking, walking off the head of the turtle. Of course, this was surprising to those that were watching except for the Teryo, they were already returning to the others by the time Ieros had taken his first step. They knew that he wouldn’t be in any sort of danger and were doing the only thing that they could do, following orders. Like the Crimex but capable of higher orders of thought and independence from his commands.
But those thoughts soon disappeared into the back of his mind as he erected a personal barrier and hit the water. He began to sink like a rock, Ieros altering gravity slightly in order to sink all the way to the ground. He began to walk once he was on the ground, seeing quite well in the murky water as he wasn’t relying on his eyes but rather the perpetual shadow at the bottom of the ocean. He could see everything through the shadows and had no problem avoiding any and all obstacles in his way. He made his way through vast plains of grey sand and mountainous regions which spewed heated water and smoke. He also encountered strange and fascinating creatures which he took great care to study, taking a sample of each specimen he came across.
But as he continued walking, he checked up above, seeing that night was falling and it was now time to return. He sighed and opened a gate with a barrier around it, to prevent water from flowing through. He stepped through and reappeared on the shell of the turtle, right next to Eversor and the other Teryo. This surprised Gero and a few of the other beastkin who personally saw him jump off but he made no explanation as to why he jumped off. He merely retired to his room after this, beginning to dissect and research the fascinating specimens that he had collected. If one were to walk on him now, they would be able to see a small smile on his face, instinctual in nature and the Surveyor was unaware of this smile, being too busy memorizing every detail of the corpses before it.
Strange, isn’t it, that one could smile without using sentient thought. Of course, you could just smile by willing it, but there are times when you just… smile. It is a mystery that has never been fully solved by humans, well, at least to those that search for a scientific definition. Most just get by with the fact that it is caused by one’s emotions, it is just one of the facts of life.
But that small smile of his disappeared as he was brought back to reality by a knock at the door, it appeared to be dinner time. Ieros decided to attend, after all, there would be some foreign cuisine to taste, although he would like to avoid socializing. But such was the pursuit of knowledge, it was not for those who seek pleasure. Thus steeling himself, Ieros opened the door, finding Gero on the other side. It seemed that Gero had not called him for dinner, mindful of the fact that Ieros did not need physical sustenance and merely wished to speak to him about the incident.
Ieros merely explained that he wished to explore the bottom of the ocean and that he had done so. Gero was interested to hear about the bottom of the ocean and not one to deny another the gaining of knowledge, Ieros shared some of his findings, even showing Gero some of the specimens that he had taken. Gero studied them with great interest, asking Ieros if he could come along on Ieros’s next incursion. Once more, Ieros saw no reason to refuse and just nodded. Gero soon left him alone, needing to retire to bed and alone once more, Ieros began to study the specimens he had taken, recreating them and watching them swim in a controlled environment that he created.
For the night, he was content, although by morning he had run out of specimens. So he set off once more, running into Gero who followed him. They made their way to the tail of the turtle this time, it was far easier to jump off here and Ieros did so, after placing personal barriers around himself and Gero, although for Gero he made sure that there would be oxygen for him to breathe. Once more, Ieros plunged into the depths of the ocean, Gero wincing as they hit the surface, only to look wonderingly around him as he felt no pain, hardly any impact at all.
And remembering that Gero was unable to see well in absolute black, Ieros made it so that the barrier acted as Earth’s modern-day night vision goggles, although a far better version of it as it allowed full color. Not that full color was needed on the dreary ocean plains, you could only see grey as far as the eye could see, endless grey. Ieros then told Gero that he was free to wander, that Ieros would be able to find him due to his barrier and take him back when the time was right. He also told Gero that he had nothing to fear, the barrier would protect him against any and all dangers. Thus assured, Gero began to wander on his own while Ieros began his search for new specimens, he had to gather enough to keep him busy for the duration of the journey.