While a vicious battle had just ended far away from them, Lilly and Mihva curiously explored the Dagorinn’s ruins.

Carefully the young human followed her friend as they entered a mostly destroyed pagoda. From the corner of her eye Remi noticed as the two young women disappeared. Although she was able to relax a bit the young girl still felt unsafe without her friends. She hurriedly followed behind them.

As soon as Remi entered the pagoda she stopped, wide-eyed. A mystical atmosphere engulfed the scenery. Despite the flourishing flora, which slowly worked to cover the building, it still radiated a certain solemness. The dark wood and strange memorabilia were evidence of the former luxury of this place.

Sitting on the left-over parts of the second floor, Mihva dangled her legs as she happily showed of her knowledge:

“Pretty, pretty. Mom said this place used to be a religious site. It wasn’t really a temple, but rather a place to honor ancestors. The Dagorinn were very proud about their ancestor’s accomplishments. That’s also why they built the stele outside.”

Lilly nodded as she solemnly observed the engravings on one of the walls. She was fascinated by how lively those seemed. She even felt some light fluctuations of life magic. The young woman’s curiosity was quickly attracted. She concentrated on the magic, as suddenly the pictures before her seemingly came to life.

Letting out a shocked gasp, Lilly staggered back a few steps. Her two friends immediately looked at her in concern.

“Lilly, Lilly. What happened?”

“Lilly?”

Noticing no further strangeness, Lilly calmed down quickly.

“I’m alright guys, thanks for your concern.

It’s just… those engravings seemed to have moved somehow.”

“Move, move. That’s normal. Sorry I didn’t tell you.”, answered Mihva with a sheepish smile.

Lilly turned her head as she focused on Mihva’s face. Slowly a smile formed on her mouth.

“You didn’t tell me on purpose?”

“No no! Why would I do so? I’m your friend!”

Mihva answered with a shocked expression. However, Lilly didn’t avert her eyes. Under the redhead’s clever eyes, Mihva shifted uncomfortably. After a few seconds she finally gave in:

“Ok ok. When I first came here, I was also surprised. Back then Mom and Aunty laughed at me. I just didn’t want to be the only one who was scared by a painting.”

Looking at her new friends suppressing their laughter, Mihva pouted unhappily. She turned her head away.

Lilly took a deep breath, not wanting to hurt the butterfly beast’s feelings.

“Don’t be upset Mihva. That’s perfectly normal. I’m sure your mother and aunt also had the same reaction when they first came here.”

Mihva’s eyes lit up. Lilly was right! Why had she never thought about this? Her mother was also young a very, very, very, very, very long time ago. Back then she surely was also surprised by those paintings. Mihva made up her mind to ask mom or aunty the next time she saw them.

Lilly was glad that Mihva’s mood instantly turned better again. It felt wrong not to see a smile on her cute face.

Now knowing what to expect, Lilly turned her head back towards those engravings. Her curiosity was almost overflowing. She focused on the traces of magic weaved into the stone again. Slowly a story unfolded before her.

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A small tribe came to life. It consisted of a foreign race. Carved in the stone, not too many details were apparent. Only their rather small height and thin humanoid body covered with spikes stood out. It wasn’t clear if they had human skin or something else entirely.

Their story apparently started when the first tribe was formed. It could be seen that they liked to fight at close range with long staffs as they defended themselves against all kinds of natural dangers. One day one of the tribespeople discovered magic. He immediately became their leader, worshipped like a god.

Under the magic-wielding Dagorinn the tribe expanded and found other tribes of their race. They conquered many until seemingly only three tribes remained, each with their own god.

During the stalemate the tribe welcomed their third ruler. With burning ambition he began teaching their magic among his race. Like this they suddenly conquered the other tribes and united their race. But the previous leaders’ fears came true and the ruler was backstabbed.

It was his son who regained control and cemented his position with pure might.

At this point a name Lilly recognized by now appeared. Overlord Zin Lohmin. This was the new ruler. This was the man who swept throughout the planet.

Suddenly Lilly frowned. It seemed previous battles had destroyed a lot of the engravings from this point on. Sighing she lamented the destruction of historical records. She could only do her best to piece some things together.

From Lilly’s deduction the overlord used the coming years to unite their whole planet. Under his leadership their civilization also flourished. They leaned heavily towards the magical side as they invented all kinds of useful weapons, vehicles, tools, etc.

One fateful day the moment each civilization worked towards arrived. The Dagorinn race began to explore the universe.

From this point on almost no useful engravings were left.

It looked like the Dagorinn’s exploration didn’t go that well, however. They met other, stronger living beings. After a few fights they seemingly paid allegiance to some mighty race.

Lilly was left unsatisfied. Judging from the traces of battles the engravings were destroyed form this point on. But Lilly wanted to know what happened. She felt this itch in her mind. Biting her lips the young woman turned towards her friends.

Noticing that Remi was also studying the engravings, Lilly smiled kindly. Trying nor to disturb the young girl, Lilly weakened her voice while asking her other friend:

“Mihva? Do you know what happened after those engravings end? Why was this race destroyed? Why are their ruins on Hex?”

“Ruins, ruins. I’m sorry I don’t know much more. I only heard that the Dagorinn lost a war and fled here. But then they were found by the Luminous Empire and got destroyed. At that time planet Hex was still uninteresting and hard to access, so the army soon moved on.”

Lilly was annoyed that she couldn’t learn more, but something else quickly caught her attention:

“Planet Hex was uninteresting back then?”

“Of course, of course!”, replied Mihva. Proudly showing off her knowledge, a bright smile formed on her face.

“Planet Hex only changed when the Frozen Hell appeared. Only then would mana converge here, and rare minerals formed.”

“And how did the Frozen Hell appear?”

“Hell, hell. Because of a treasure of course.”

“Sure, but where did the treasure come from?”

Mihva’s smile immediately stiffened.

“From, from. I… don’t know.”

Feeling the disappointment of her friend, Lilly realized that she was too greedy for knowledge. Of course, Mihva couldn’t have all the answers for her. The young woman quickly placated the butterfly:

“Ahh… don’t take it to heart Mihva. You already know much more than me. Just see how much I learned in a single day!”

“Heart, heart. Don’t worry Lilly, I’m fine. I just wished I could tell you more. I noticed you really like learning!”

“That’s right. It’s probably because my mother was a really good teacher. We always had fun learning together.”

From the corner of her eye Lilly noticed that Remi had finished observing the engravings. She addressed the young girl:

“You also like to learn a lot, Remi?”

“Yes.”, came a thoughtful voice from behind the golden mask.

“Learning will help me grow stronger. Maybe I can even find some treasures.”

Lilly smiled wryly. The poor girl really seemed to shoulder a lot of pressure. Unfortunately, Lilly couldn’t even help her much. She could only pray for the best.

Meanwhile Mihva didn’t find Remi’s attitude strange. Growing stronger was the common wish of most beings in this universe. Even from a young age most recognized this necessity. The butterfly beast was unperturbed as she recommended:

“Strong, strong. If both of you want to learn and become stronger, we should look at the Dagorinn’s book depository. It didn’t take much damage during the war because the Luminous Army regarded it as their spoils. You can learn a lot about life and death magic there!”

With Mihva’s suggestion Lilly and Remi instantly became interested in the book depository. It sounded like a place hiding the wisdom of a race. Of course, this was like a treasure trove to the two women greedy for knowledge.

On a gorgeous, large flower a few dozen meters away from the pagodas sat a small butterfly. Her piercing eyes seemingly ignored all obstacles, observing the trio talking to each other. A light laughter escaped her lips as she overheard the girl’s plans. She lightly shook her head as the beast elegantly flapped her wings, flying towards the pagodas.