Chapter 6 - Finishing the Rounds

CAPITAL OF NORD - ROYAL THRONE ROOM

Several nobles were arguing back and forth.

“Do not be a fool! It is some monster, simply hunt it down and kill it!”

“It is no mere monster! There are far too many attacks!”

“You cannot think they are related!”

“Scorch marks, huge gashes in the ground. How can you not think they are related?!”

“ENOUGH!” The King ordered.

Once the room fell silent, the king waved to Captain Julian. “Thank you, your Majesty! As I was saying, we have confirmed this latest string of attacks were committed by nothing less than a dragon.”

“A DRAGON?!” Duke Alicorn exclaimed.

“A dragon has not been seen in this kingdom for over a hundred years.” Duchess Lightheart stated.

“I assure you Duke and Duchess, it is a dragon. We have several eyewitnesses.” Captain Julian replied.

“Could it not have been a griffin, wyvern, or even a hydra? A hydra if it is old enough can pose just as much risk as a dragon.” Duke Watson said.

Captain Julian turned his attention to his king. “I assure you we were quite thorough. How does his majesty wish us to proceed?”

All eyes turned to the king. “Issue a royal decree to all nobles. Inform the Adventurers’ guild. Issue a kingdom wide quest. If we can entreat the dragon that would be preferred. If not, then drive it out of the kingdom or stop it by any means necessary.”

“As you command your Majesty!” The room said in unison.

As everyone began to file out of the throne room, the king called out. “Brother, a word.”

“Of course, brother.” Duke Watson answered.

The two brothers adjourned to a small conference room behind the throne’s dais. They were greeted by the Queen and Duchess Lightheart. Duke Watson looked at his brother after closing the door. “I take it we did not wish to discuss something in front of Duke Alicorn. Other than him and Duke Dragonvein we are all here.”

Just then the door opened to the royal suites. In walked Lady Emma. Duke Watson eyes widened in shock.

“Daughter? What are you doing here? How did you get here?”

The Queen spoke up. “Your daughter asked to arrange this family meeting in private.”

“To answer your question father. I took the portal from Midway to Timberfall, and then here to the capital. Saul arranged to keep me hidden from prying eyes.” Lady Emma explained.

“The portal in Midway is already complete?! Deathwalker is ahead of schedule it seems.” Duke Watson commented.

“No surprise with that one.” Duchess Lightheart chimed in.

“All right, my niece. Why have you asked for such secrecy?” The King asked.

“Thank you, aunt, and uncle, for agreeing to this. I learned something during my dinner with Duke Dragonvein that you will soon understand required this level of precaution.” Lady Emma began.

“What happened daughter? Did he do something untoward?!”

Lady Emma shook her head. “No father, nothing like that.” She held out her hand palm up on the desk.

“There is nothing in your hand daughter, what is it you... whoa!!!” Duke Watson was cut off as a shard of ice formed in his daughter’s hand.

Duke Watson closed the distance and embraced his daughter in a big hug. “You can use your magic! How?!”

“Cannot... breathe... father.” Lady Emma wheezed.

Duke Watson released his daughter, only to have her embraced by her two aunts. “Tell us niece, what happened?!”

“Release my niece and let me give her a hug.” the king said.

After several rounds of hugs, they all settled down anxiously waiting to hear her story.

Lady Emma smiled at her family’s antics. “It was Deathwalker. He informed me it was noticed when he first saved my life. He said after talking with father and my aunts Deathwalker knew what he needed to do to heal my core and allow me to finally have access to it.”

“This is wondrous news. It appears I owe him another boon for what he has done.” Duke Watson stated.

“He must be the greatest healer in this kingdom. No one else could do what he has done.” The Queen proclaimed.

“More reason to court him.” Duchess Lightheart commented.

“Auntie, please.” Lady Emma groaned at her aunt’s antics.

Lady Emma’s aunt, Duchess Lightheart, was always a bit cold and logical, but when she focused in on something it was hard to get her to let it go. What Lady Emma was about to share wasn’t going to make that any easier. “When Deathwalker healed me, he also imparted three spells. Ice Bolt, Heal, and Lightning Bolt.”

The room fell silent once again. Lady Emma spoke up before anyone else could say anything. “Before you ask, Deathwalker already confirmed he was a Master of a Place of Power. Now perhaps you can see why I asked for secrecy. I already made everyone at the estate who heard anything swear an oath of silence.”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

‘Never mind it took us hours to track down Timmy. Though he was on the grounds, so it should be fine.’ Lady Emma thought.

“Very well. We will keep this between us, but what he has done for our family we cannot ignore. She may be your daughter brother, but she is my heir.” The king decreed.

“My father will need to be told. He will find out one way or another and it is best it comes from us husband.” The Queen shared.

“Agreed.” The King replied.

“Invite him to the Timberfall festival. It would make the most sense and would allow us the opportunity to reveal the truth quietly.” Duchess Lightheart proposed.

“It is a good plan. He will demand to see his granddaughter once he learns of my daughter’s ability to do magic.” Duke Watson stated.

“It would be good to see grandfather. It has been so long. Oh, speaking about magic, Deathwalker has offered to mentor me in the healing arts. He says I have aptitude for it.” Lady Emma chimed in.

“He can determine affinities without an orb. Who is this man?” The King commented.

The Queen patted her husband’s arm. “He’s one of our dukes now. Other than my sister’s, Deathwalker’s duchy is closest to my father’s kingdom, if the Harkin Mountains weren’t unassailable, they might share a border.”

“Ha! He will try to demand a portal be built in his lands. Let us see how well Deathwalker can negotiate with the High Elf king. Ha, ha, ha, ha!” The king chuckled at the thought and was curious which might come out on top.

—————

CITY OF MALVANIS - PORTAL STATION

The Malvanis portal station was now complete. Deathwalker stood there admiring his work. Each time he worked on a portal it became faster and easier to complete.

Deathwalker had decided to come here instead of Dalton and was glad he did. Two portals left and then Deathwalker would take a much-needed rest before the Timberfall festival and tournaments. Resources had been diverted to the city of Simium speeding up construction by a whole week. Most of that he had Lord Longshot to thank as the man diverted his own construction crews to help lend a hand.

“I do want to visit Sebastian but technically he’s not expecting me for a few more days. I could go to the city of Simium and do Dalton last. I would like to meet Lord Simium and his two children. Hmmm, no, best to get Dalton out of the way now and finish up at Simium.” Deathwalker told himself.

Mind made up, Deathwalker walked through the portal. He eventually returned to Midway as it was the closest duchy to Dalton. As he was not expected and it was night, it was easy for Deathwalker to sneak out of the city of Midway.

Casting Ludicrous Speed, Go! Deathwalker flew faster than the speed of sound to the city of Dalton. This had to be one of his favorite spells so far. Sure, he had created the spell, but that wasn’t the main reason the fact was Deathwalker enjoyed the thrill of being in the air and going as fast as a fighter jet. If not for his past life knowledge, love of Mel Brooks movies, and Creativity, he never would have experienced this exhilaration.

Slowing down as he approached Dalton city. This was Duke Alicorn’s seat of power. Of all the high nobles, Deathwalker knew very little about the man. The city was a trading hub for the kingdom and from what Malcom told Deathwalker, the city did a lot of overseas trade. They also seemed to be a conduit for trade with some of the other nearby nations.

As Deathwalker figured, of all the nobles, Duke Alicorn would be the most dissatisfied if Timberfall became a trading hub. Timberfall had the advantage of being rich in natural resources and the portal network finally removed the biggest drawback of the territory, how remote it was compared to the rest of the kingdom. Where Timberfall was small in population, Dalton was overflowing with people, they were everywhere.

There were so many people in the city, that Deathwalker had to find an alley that didn’t have traffic running through it. This was the last place he wanted to draw any attention to himself. He figured if Duke Alicorn got wind Deathwalker was here it would result in endless prattle and playing politics. After a few weeks of flying around the kingdom and being so focused on completing the portals, Deathwalker was surprised he was so cordial at his dinner with Lady Emma.

‘You know, I really did enjoy that dinner. Lady Emma has a sharp mind and seems to have the right mindset, at least from what I have seen so far. Though her lady-in-waiting could stand to remove the proverbial stick lodged up her behind.’ Deathwalker chuckled to himself as he navigated the streets closest to the portal station.

It did not take Deathwalker long to convince the guards he was who he said he was. Rather than make them bow and draw attention to themselves, Deathwalker commanded they shake hands and not bow. It worked like a charm, and Deathwalker was inside the portal room in less than five minutes.

Once again, Deathwalker was able to complete the Dalton portal in a few hours. His Infinite Well of Time Magic was once again proving to be a boon. He was grateful to his benefactor who gave him this ability.

One fitful night of sleep Deathwalker had what he had started calling a memory dream. They started happening a few days after he killed the shadow assassins. With all the knowledge he had obtained from the magic books, Deathwalker’s mind would give him glimpses into the past lives and experiences of those different masters.

Deathwalker learned Volaxia was a disguise and not his benefactor’s true form. The Primordial Celestial Dragon, turned time god, was really named Chronos. Primordial Celestial Dragons were a part of the cosmos themselves, and Chronos had a gift for Time and Space magic.

The dragon had taken on the wolf form to throw off his enemies. It gave Chronos an alias he could use to accomplish his charge of protecting time itself without others knowing it was him. The dragon was old, like the beginning of time kind of old, and in his many years of existence, he had acquired several powerful abilities. To prevent the loss of those abilities or them falling into the hands of the Dark, Chronos sacrificed himself to divide up his power.

What Deathwalker called Chronos’ power generator, the Infinite Well of Time Magic was locked away in the special book he had acquired. The rest of his knowledge and power were split in two. Some minor knowledge of Time magic was gifted to the System, and most of his more dangerous knowledge and abilities were stored in Chronos’ surviving Primordial Celestial Dragon Core.

Where Chronos’ core was, Deathwalker did not know as the memories stopped at that point. What Deathwalker did know was Chronos had been shaken by what he saw in the possible futures. So shaken, in fact, that the Primordial Celestial Dragon sacrificed himself to ensure some terrible outcome did not come to pass. Deathwalker was not sure what those possible futures were, but he knew they had to be apocalyptic bad for the dragon to make the ultimate sacrifice.

At some point, Deathwalker promised himself he would track down Chronos’ Primordial Celestial Dragon Core. The knowledge Deathwalker had obtained told him that if those parts were reunited, he would become a true master of time itself. Only God who fully sat outside of time would be greater, and Deathwalker was completely fine with that. What he was not okay with was the Dark gaining that kind of power. No, he would make a point to find it when the time was right, but right now he had more pressing matters.

Deathwalker felt his Infinite Well of Time Magic could pick up on those fragments, like tuning into the right frequency and following it to the sources. What it told him was there were two fragments of Chronos’ power out there across different realities. When everything was settled down, Deathwalker would track those fragments down and use his Power of 13 to obtain them.

Something deep inside him told Deathwalker he would require all of Chronos’ mastery of time and space if he hoped to remain Master of Hidden Infinite Nexus Realm. He wasn’t sure how he knew that but the feeling that leaving that power divided was a sure-fire ticket to failure. Deathwalker refused to be the guy that destroyed all realities or let them fall under the control of the Dark or some Eldritch nightmare.

‘I don’t need some Cthulhu-looking thing wrecking all life as we know it.’

Shaking his head to clear Deathwalker’s dark musings, he admired the results of work on the Dalton portal. His people really did great work in quick timeframes. He would have to get them moved to Timberfall to work on the various construction projects Deathwalker had planned for the capital city of his duchy.

“One portal to go. Man, I’m so tired of all this back and forth. I should go hunting with the pumas when I get back. Still surprised I am an alpha for the pride of giant pumas. What a crazy and wonderful life I am living.” Deathwalker said out loud as he walked through the portal.