-" Did you seriously ask to go with him?" Julius shouted in anger as he threw a stack of paper on Thorin's desk.

Thorin sighed and scratched his beard, his face now showed signs of age, and a few strands of white hair were already present on his head. -" If you already know, why ask?"

Julius' face contorted in anger. -" You are too attached to SBO-1! For god's sake, he is a weapon, not your child!"

-" It's his first time in the outside world, it's better if someone he is familiar with accompanies him." Thorin stashed the papers he was fiddling away with before getting up to leave the room. " And Julius, it's better if you don't treat the Sun Blessed like mere weapons, they are the ones that the Sun God chose, not slaves for the Chruch."

-" Don't treat them like weapons? What do you want? Do let them go free and wreak havoc on the world?" Julius grew more furious as he noticed Thorin leaving the room. " Thorin! Remember this! The day that the Sun Blessed are let free on the world, will be the day that the Sun God Chruch will fall, and at this moment all our enemies will pounce on our neck!"

-" So? Don't they have a reason to turn against you all? The Sun Blesseds are treated like mere tools and when no longer needed, they are thrown to the side." Thorin gave Julius one last look before leaving. " The Sun God Chruch is already on the path to calamity, and it wasn't the Sun Blesseds that caused it, it was people like you."

Thorin word's caused Julius to be speechless and he could only stare at THorin's back. Julius didn't want to take Thorin's advice seriously, but, the deterioration of the Sun God Chruch was something clear to anyone, insider or outsider

-" Are we truly walking down a doomed path?" Julius gasped his head as he contemplated Thorin's words. Julius feared the Sun Blessed and their power, yet, sometimes he also felt pity for them, especially towards the Bronze Mask, who were truly enslaved by the Chruch.

Thorin stopped in front of an enormous stone door, on his eyes, a small glint of anxiety could be felt. After a few seconds of mustering courage he finally pushed the door open, and what greeted him was a place full of lush trees.

Thorin took a deep breath, and the pure and fresh air took away all of his stress. -" This valley is such a calming place, it wouldn't be bad to live here after retiring." As soon as Thorin finished speaking, a giant Gryphon landed near him, and on his mouth, a deer with antlers as big as an adult human.

-" Well, never mind then." Thorin smiled awkwardly, he had this same thought every time he visited SBO-1, and it never took long for him to give up this idea.

Dangerous and mythical creatures filled every creek and cavern in this valley, and only special people like SBO-1 would find living in such a place comfortable.

Before long, he arrived in a small clearing, a old and worn-down wooden house was the only thing present there. Thorin knocked on the door, but, as no one answered him he decided to look around.

-" SBO-1?" Thorin shouted as he looked for the owner of the wooden house.

-" Thorin? I'm here!" Up above one of the small cliffs of a nearby lake a youth with a white bird mask waved to Thorin, his hair was so red that it looked to be made of flames.

-" SBO-1, Finally it's time! You can finally go on your first mission." Thorin's eyes wavered, he almost couldn't believe that the baby he found seventeen years ago had grown so much already.

-" Uh? I can finally go see the world?" SBO-1 jumped from the cliff and landed in front of Thorin.

-" Of course, but, remember that we are on a mission, so we need to make sure to be successful, we can go on trips after finishing it." Thorin was conflicted, on one hand, he was happy that the boy could finally escape his prison, however, Thorin wasn't too happy with the mission that the Cardinals gave him.

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-" Will anyone else go? Or it's just the two of us?" SBO-1 looked excited and immediately began to ask Thorin questions.

-" There are two more people that will go in the mission." Thorin felt happy that the boy looked so excited and threw his worries away.

-" Two more?" OSB-1 was instantly thrown off guard, he lived his whole life inside this valley, and the only people that visited him were Thorin, the Cardinals and the Pope, and some of the maids that serviced him, so the thought of meeting new people caused the shy youth to worry.

-" They are just like you, Sun Blessed. This mission is quite important so the Cardinal decided to not hold back. and sent you three." Thorin tried to ease the boy, knowing that he wasn't accustomed to social settings. " Did you already prepare your bags?"

-" Of Course!, can we go now?"

-" Let's go then, we will leave by the Temple of Sun Rise." As soon as Thorin finished speaking, SBO-1 dashed towards his old house and grabbed his bag, and in no time returned to THorin's side.

Thorin watched the youth's speed with awe, SBO-1 physical feats were something incredible, and each time Thorin saw them, he was left speechless. " Sigh, I wish I had such a strong body," He clenched his hand, feeling the strength that previously filled his body to be slowly waning.

Thorin and SBO-1 soon began to move through the Valley in the opposite direction where Thorin came from. SBO-1 kept looking around the valley as they walked, he was about to leave the place where he lived his whole life, and the only books and information he had were from the church, so his curiosity about the outside world was enormous.

Thorin noticed that the boy looked anxious. -" Nervous? I know that the Chronicles of the Sun God paints the lands outside the Realm of Sun God in a bad way, but, you will be surprised with how normal it is."

-" Kinda, Just curious..." SBO-1 looked around one more time and continued. " I want to see a city! I heard that there are lots of people living there,"

-" Don't worry, it won't take too long for us to reach the first city." Thorin scratched his beard and added. " Have you memorized the Chronicles of the Sun God?"

Thorin's question startled SBO-1, but, after a few seconds of recollection, he began to narrate the parts he had learned. -" In the Begin, the world was completely dark, and in this darkness lived a foul race, the drow. They hunted and sacrificed humans and other races to their god, Elzolt the Lord of the Starlight. This continued for millennia, until, on a fateful day the sorrow of humanity gave light to a man: Adam."

Thorin nodded in approval and questioned SBO-1 again. -" Anything more?"

-" Of course!" SBO-1 only had the Church's books, so he had memorized almost all of the first Chronicle, or at least the important parts. " Adam united the tribes of the Gallia Penisula and pushed the Drow to the other side of this valley, and as they were victorious, Adam declared himself the Sun King, and with this, the first rays of light shone down on this planet."

-" With a Golden Crown on his head, Adam declared: As the Blessed Sun shines for the first time on those lands, let the Age of the Drow come to an end. Let the light wash away all the misery that the darkness caused, and Let this light banish the foul beings to the shadows. Remember this light as the one who brought good into our world, and exiled all the evil."Thorin finished speaking and gave SBO-1 a quick glance, curious if the boy could finish reciting the Chronicle.

"And the people applauded the words of their new king. The Sun King and his followers built two great cathedrals in the valley, one of which was the Temple of Sun Set." SBO1-1 came to a halt and gazed at the massive structure not far ahead. " the other was the Temple of Sun Rise." SBO-1 returned his gaze to the building behind them.

-" As they finished the two Cathedrals, Adam, the Sun King proclaimed the Gallia Penisula to be his Holy Land and the base for the future excursion against the Dark Ones." Thorin added as he mentioned SBO-1 to keep walking.

-" So with the main gateway to the Gallia Penisula secured, the Sun King began his crusade against the Dark Ones, and battle after battle, the Sun King became victorious." SBO-1 continued as he sprinted to catch up with Thorin. " And after countless years of war, the Sun King finally was able to banish the Drow from this realm."

-" And in the Year five hundred and one of his reign, he gave a glorious speech before ascending: As The Sun shines brightly up above, no Dark One walk on this realm, let this glorious day mark the end of the age of darkness, and the commencement of an Age of prosperity and good, an age for men to walk upon this vast lands, proud of what they become... An Age of Men!"

SBO-1 felt shivers in his hands as Thorin finished speaking. -" And with the end of this speech, Adam, the greatest of all man, the sun god, ascended and unified with the sun, of course, not before splitting his golden crown and giving each of his seven most loyal followers a piece each."

Thorin nodded, happy with the boy's knowledge. -" Six of them would become the Royals houses of the Gallia Peninsula, now named the Lands of the Sun, and the last one of them would become the Pope."

SBO-1's mind wandered as they finished recounting the story, but, a sudden thought came into his mind. " Why did you ask all that?" He was puzzled as he didn't understand what Thorin was hinting at.

Thorin sighed, before responding to the boy. " What age do you think we're now?"

-" Aren't we in the Age of Man?"

-" Well... If you ask anyone on the Sun Lands they will agree with you, however, on the outside world anyone would laugh at you." Thorin grabbed a small parchment from the pockets of his coat and passed it to SBO-1. " The Dwarflings would say that the Age of Man ended 2500 years ago, the Elfs are even brazier and tell you that the age of Man only lasted a thousand years after the ascension of the Sun God."

SBO-1 grabbed the parchment still completely oblivious to what Thorin was hinting. -" So what age is this?" SBO-1 asked before reading the paper.

-" The Age of Banners!" Thorin spoke as he motioned SBO-1 to read the paper.

-" Age of Banners?" SBO-1 asked confusedly before reading the contents of the papers. "Dalmaak, The Scourge of the Warher Plains, Commander of the Phurad Legion, Right-Hand man of Sol'gos The General of the Second Army of the Eastern Empire."

Thorin steeled his gaze and spoke with a serious tone. " This is your target, one of the commanders of the Eastern Empire, a new, but, powerful empire that is the current hegemon, and widely considered the rulers of this Era."