----------------------------------- Next Day in the Village

It was early in the morning. Eileen was taking a shower after another proud explanation by Elise. Nonetheless she was still amazed by it. The whole bathroom concept was revolutionary.

She left it wearing some simple and comfortable clothes the elders provided to her to sleep.

The princess wanted to go see Riou at once and left the house before her cousin could notice her absence. But The moment she stepped outside, an old woman in the neighboring house quickly noticed her and approached, nimbly jumping over the small fence and rushing forward in her direction. Something that no one would expect from someone her age.

It was the Elder Harlan that she met last night “Queen! What are you doing?!”

The princess looked at her. “I’m going out, I wanna see Riou, I mean, the master of this village” she said, unsure to why the elder was so concerned.

“But... queen, you are not presentable, I didn’t say anything yesterday at the feast because the master was there. But now, I can’t overlook it. What if something happens while you are on the way there? No, no, you need better protection” said the elder, urging her to get inside again, pushing Eileen with strong hands.

Eileen looked at her confused while moving back.

“Wait a moment queen, I will bring some proper clothing. You can’t walk outside like that. I’d die if something happened to our master’s mate, no, no… I can’t let anything happen to you, not on my watch. You stay here and I will be right back.”

The princess remained inside while watching the elder through the window. The elder woman went back to her own house very quickly, jumping over the fence without any trouble. A sight someone would never expect from an elderly woman.

Didn’t take long and she was back holding a set of armor in her hands.

“Take this... It’s a basic equipment but is much better than what you were wearing”

“But...” she tried to speak but the elder shushed her. “Try it on, I want to see how you look on it” the old woman compelled her.

Eileen didn’t see any harm in it, so to please the elder, she agreed.

The princess could feel the effects of the armor the moment she wore it. It was clearly much superior to her older piece. “This armor is amazing... How can he do something like this?” She attached the enchanted sword on the belt together with her rapier. The glowing, the format of the runes, it was all very similar and yet they looked very different than the old ones.

“My mate became very good at enchanting, he followed the master’s instructions to the detail” answered the old woman.

“So this was not even enchanted by Riou?” Eileen was very surprised.

“Oh no dear, this doesn’t even compare to what the master can do… this is just basic protective equipment to those who don’t leave the village”

Eileen nodded finding everything fascinating. “When do I have to return these?”

Harlan laughed “Oh no, these are yours now. You don’t need to return it”

Eileen chuckled. That was expected of a place where Riou was the master. Those equipment would fetch such a high price in any city, and there they were given for free as it was nothing. It was just like him to do such a thing.

The elder watched carefully the armor on the princess making sure the measurements were all right.

“Can I go now?” questioned Eileen with a smile, finding the elder’s happy reaction and behavior very unusual. She could tell that despite her short arrival, that old woman really cared for her already, like she was one of the villagers for a long time.

The old woman looked at her with attention and nodded, confirming it was a good fit. “Now you are properly equipped”

Eileen nodded and thanked the elder before leaving the house once again. She was in a good mood, smiling to herself looking at her new armor.

During her walk, everyone on the way greeted her. “Queen!” they all said while respectfully stopping and lowering their heads towards her. They all had this happy expression and sincere eyes that Eileen was not used to. They seemed really glad to have her in their village.

She was completely taken by the quick acceptance she received from everyone, there was not a single person that didn’t smile seeing her.

Riou’s house wasn’t far now, so she steadied the pace and quickly arrived at his doorsteps.

When she was near the door, she realized it was already open.

Looking inside, she saw Riou at the back of the house, he was already awake, wearing comfortable clothes in front of the stove. She hesitated for a moment, last night memories were fresh in her mind and she didn’t know what to say at that very moment.

He looked back as he noticed someone at the door, smiling to himself, he turned to the stove once again.

“Come in, I will do some more for you too.”

Eileen smiled and entered the house looking at every corner of it with attention.

“You are already awake? I remember you loved to sleep late”

“To speak the truth, I’m having trouble to adapting to the day and night cycle of this world, it’s quite short”

He turned once again for a second glance, he frowned with a smile “Why are you wearing the basic equipment?”

Eileen chuckled. “Elder Harlan wouldn’t let me leave the house otherwise”

Riou smiled and nodded “I see... well, the elders here tend to take care of the young ones. They lived through tough times so they are always concerned, even on this side, they just can’t turn off their worries” explained Riou.

The princess nodded but she couldn’t quite imagine what they must have gone through.

She looked around and continued, “This is all too amazing... To believe there is so much we don’t know on the other side of the ocean. All these inventions… What do you call it? The shower and the toilet. They are amazing, the time and trouble they save on the day to day life”

Riou smiled wryly “Well... about that”

She looked at him suspiciously “What?”

“Well… you wanted to know the truth, right? So that’s not quite right what you said”

She squinted her eyes looking at him “These inventions are not from your land?”

“No, not that part, they are… but it’s my land not on the other side of the ocean”

She was confused “Weren’t you from far away?”

He twitched his head “I am… but far away might still be... a little too close”

She blinked a few times trying to wrap her head around that “I don’t understand… Where are you from?”

He went silent while cooking for a moment.

“You promised to answer my questions” pressured Eileen.

“I know… and it’s not even a big deal.”

“Then?”

“Well, the fact is, I’m not from this world” he said, still cooking as if it wasn’t really a big deal.

She paused “Like when you came back from the spirit world?”

“No... literally an entirely different world. Not this one, not the spirit world… somewhere else”

“Somewhere else? Is there somewhere else?”

“There is... do you remember Arthur’s tale? I’m probably from the same world he was,” he added nonchalantly. “Probably”

Eileen looked at him sideways. “You mean my ancestor? But that’s just a legend and it was said he came from the spirit world” she said trying to understand if he was playing a joke on her or not.

In a serious tone he continued while finishing preparing the food on a plate. “In my world, we don’t have magic. Everything had to be made using our understanding of nature and the studies of many things. We created lots of theories, from the smallest to the biggest of things. A lot of effort and study went into every single of the inventions you saw here. The Study of many people over a very long time enabled discoveries and created all you’ve seen here and much more. All these things we are using is just what I could emulate from my world using magic”

She paused and looked at him with a serious expression. “You are not kidding” widening her eyes in surprise.

Eileen took a moment before she continued. “You really are from another world” she said to herself.

She then looked at him, realizing what that truly meant. “That’s why you can do everything so easily... that’s why you are so powerful, so… different” she said as if all began to make sense.

She took a deep breath, it was such a surprise that she was taken aback.

He approached her with the food on a plate. “Try this. It’s toasted bread with scrambled eggs and a very seasoned, smoked, crisp meat. All cooked with our butter” he said, putting it on a plate in front of her. “Wait until we can start creating cheese again, then a whole new level of food will be achieved” he said while being excited.

Eileen looked at him while leaning back on the chair. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

He smiled sitting in front of her. “It’s not an easy topic to bring up, you know? Very hard to use in small conversations. ‘Nice weather today don’t you think? And by the way, I’m not from this world.’”

She sighed, still perplexed.

All she talked with Maximilian, everything the Magus said to her now began to make even more sense.

Especially why he was so certain that Riou would be able to come back on his own.

She laughed to herself. “You are from the same land that my ancestor was... that’s unbelievable. Who else knows of this?”

He smiled and pointed to the plate in front of her, wanting her to try it before it got cold “Well… everyone here knows from their legends. But from the normal people, Max, Eleanor, our friend Brahm and now you” Riou touched the black dragon crest showing it to her.

She widened her eyes once again “That’s why he vouched for you so quickly! Lord Brahm already knew? But how? When did you meet him?”

“It’s a long story and the food is getting cold, try it already!”

Eileen sighed and looked at the food on the plate, finally trying it. The crunchy texture of the bread and the flavors of the spices on the eggs and meat were unknown to the princess and once again sparkled her curiosity.

“Tell me more about your world.”

He smiled “Like I said, knowledge is shared, most of it at least, so we don’t have to reinvent things each time as you do here. We just study from where others left off, always pushing our knowledge forward. My world is much more scientifically advanced than this one.”

“It’s hard to believe such a world even exists... Are you not concerned that the knowledge could be used against you?” questioned the princess, as that was the major concern of this world.

“It does happen... Sadly this is one of the prices we pay to advance as a civilization. But besides the bad points, there are a lot of good things as well. A lifestyle of comfort, health and entertainment for instance, we believe the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.”

She listened amazed. “I understand now why you were so eager to go back to it, you world must be amazing”.

Riou smirked. “I don’t know, this place isn’t that bad after all… and since last night, I’ve taken a liking to it,” he said looking into her eyes with a smirk approaching her closely.

She let out a smile but before she could reply someone rushed inside.

It was Elise, Attia and Bellica followed her inside. “Sorry master, we saw her coming in and we thought to come to let you know.”

He sighed looking at Eileen and leaned back.

Elise walked towards the table standing beside her cousin.

“Good morning, I’ve come to see if Eileen wants to join the training,” said Elise, not even trying to hide her intentions to get her cousin away from Riou.

“So you finally showed up Elise” said the princess not too excited, but nodding agreeing to the

Proposition. “Can we finish our conversation later on? Once I’ve dealt with Elise.”

“Sure… and wait a bit” said Riou to Eileen. He quickly went into his room and back with a black armor and a sword. “You can use these if you want to join the village training. I made them for you a long time ago anyway”

Elise looked at the armor and immediately interjected “Why does she get a black armor if she hasn't passed the tests yet?” questioned the jealous cousin.

“Is that a problem?” questioned Riou not understanding the issue. After all he was the one that decided who could wear the colors.

It made sense to him to give the armor he made for her and that would protect her the most.

“Do the colors mean anything?” questioned Eileen.

Elise nodded. “Of course they do! Brown, green, blue, gray and black. In this order. That’s the power rank in this village, black being the strongest!”

Riou was impressed, Elise was very informed already.

Eileen agreed “If that’s the case, then she is right Riou, I shouldn’t skip anything... I want to do it as everyone else,” replied the princess.

He sighed and put the armor in a cabinet nearby. “In any case, I will leave this here for you.”

As he was storing it, Arthas was announced by Attia and entered the house.

“Master!” he exclaimed to greet Riou, but as the lion noticed who was at his house at that time of the morning eating breakfast, the lion smirked at him and greeted the two. “Queen, Princess Elise”

Riou squinted his eyes back at him. “It’s unusual for you to come at this hour, something happened?”

He nodded not too concerned,“Our defense patrol noticed an undead mage approaching the capital at great speed from the southwest. He is followed by a small army of undead. They avoided the main road and will be arriving in the city by this afternoon” said the lion while having everyone’s attention.

“How many?” questioned Riou very calmly.

“About a 100 red eyed grunts and a single undead mage controlling them” replied Arthas.

“Probably another of Tessai’s disciples. He wouldn’t use undead grunts having those shadows of his at his disposal.”

“I thought the same thing, master,” confirmed Arthas.

The two princesses looked at each other with concern. Eileen remembered the encounter with undeads with red eyes, three of them and they were extremely powerful. If these were the same as those, 100 would raze the city in its current weakened state.

“Who is the party watching them?” questioned Riou unfazed by the report so far.

“It’s Kartag’s party. They are watching them from afar and waiting orders” affirmed Arthas.

“Good, tell them to proceed as usual, standard defence protocol” the lion bowed and promptly left.

Riou pondered for a moment. “Seems like lord Griffith has finally grown tired of waiting” said Riou while thinking out loud very comfortably sitting in his chair “Do you know where Max is?” he questioned Eileen changing the subject completely “I heard he was supposed to be in Iris as well”

Eileen and Elise were apprehensive with the situation, they expected that he would talk about the issue a bit more “What is going to happen to the city?” asked Eileen very concerned.

Riou frowned not understanding her concern “To Longart? Nothing”

Elise was with widened eyes “How? Are we mobilizing to go intercept the enemy?”

Eileen nodded agreeing with Elise. “We need to do something, if we move now we could wait for them at the gates and fight!”

Riou smiled without a concern listening to the two, he just watched as both were all worked out about the problem

Eileen looked at his face and squinted her eyes, she knew that look on his face “What does ‘standard defence protocol’ mean?”

He grinned. “It means that the enemy will not be allowed to reach the city.”

“How many people are in these defense parties?” questioned Elise surprised.

“In most cases 2, but Kartag’s runs with 4.”

“4 people will take over 100 extremely powerful undead and the death mage controlling them?” questioned Eileen, concerned it wouldn’t be nearly enough.

Riou looked at Eileen and nodded, “Well, to be honest with you, this number and type of undead isn’t really a problem. Kartag alone would be enough to deal with them all. And he has 3 more members supporting him, so there is no reason to be concerned. I assure you they will be dealt with before they even reach the city's line of sight.”

Both princesses remained silent after hearing such words. They realized their level difference from everyone else in that village.

Riou turned to Arthas “Tessai will have to make a move himself soon after all his disciples are dealt with… he can’t have much more resources available after this” Riou spoke pondering on the next move.

“So we will wait here?” Asked Eileen

Riou nodded “There aren't many moves left for him to do, or he will retreat and leave Allard or he will go all out himself”

She smiled with his confidence “Then I will use the time to improve myself here, I’d like to take the tests Elise spoke of. I want to get stronger as much as I can”

Attia and Bellica that heard those words smiled and nodded to each other. They knew that feeling all too well and really liked that the Queen was aware of her current level.

The two lionesses stepped forward towards them.

“Master, please excuse us,” said Attia.

Bellica walked towards Eileen and looked at her eyes, understanding and sharing her feelings. “Queen, we are at your disposal. We will gladly help you improve”

Elise mouth open wide by the surprise “Why does she get such preferential treatment? Nobody offered to help me!”

“Because she is our master’s mate, she has to become very powerful to be able to walk beside him with her head high” Replied Attia not understanding Elise’s complaint.

Eileen blushed instantly, but both of them really understood her concern. Elise on the other hand continued puffing angrily. “If that’s the case I will be too!” She quickly exclaimed to everyone’s surprise.

Even Riou was amazed by her total lack of restraint or self consciousness, that girl was power hungry to the extreme.

Bellica nodded understanding her plea but quickly refuted her “But unfortunately queen does not allow that” Elise looked at Eileen with surprise for them to already have had that kind of conversation.

The village queen just smiled and shrugged, as if unfortunately, that's how things were supposed to be and there was nothing more to discuss.

Bellica continued “Even if she came to allow it, and the master showed no preferences, of course, there would be a proper order to be followed. After our queen of course, it would be Attia and me and then the others would have to dispute the other places”

Eileen and Elise looked at each other, the two lionesses clearly had out some thought at that possibility. “Dispute how?” asked Elise.

“By fighting of course… only the strong could be master’s mate”

Elise turned to Riou once again hoping he’d rank her up in that regard since she looked similar to Eileen. But as she looked for him, he was already gone, vanishing from the chair in an instant.

“But don’t worry… there won’t be any need for that, I won’t change my mind” added Eileen with a tender smile.

“We’ve said that just in case...” Said Attia.

“Eileen! You know that’s not fair, right!? I want to have special training too! You have to lift that restriction of yours right now!”

Riou came out of his room wearing his black armor. The very same Eileen saw the master of the village using the first time she saw him. It was strange to see Riou’s face on it now.

“I can’t believe you fooled me like that,” said Eileen, ignoring Elise completely.

Riou smiled and approached her very closely “I will be leaving now, I have a feeling that our lord Griffith won’t wait until tomorrow to attack. I will take a look around just in case he decides to move earlier”

Eileen nodded.

“Also, I will keep an eye out for the old man. He might show up now things are starting to move again.”

“When you intend to come back?” she whispered to him

“We can continue our talk later on, I will be back by the evening. We could have dinner together” he replied in a low voice as well.

“Don’t take too long then. I will be waiting”

He smirked and nodded, “I will cook something good for us”

She nodded “I can’t wait”

He smiled and turned to the others “Arthas, Elise… see you later on” Riou then left by the door leaving them there.

“My queen, we will talk about your training when we return” said Bellica as both lionesses lowered their heads towards her and quickly left after Riou.

Elise watched everything still angered, but something was bothering her “Did something happen last night? You two seemed way closer now than before, why is that?” questioned with suspicion. Eileen just kept quietly hiding a smile faking ignorance to her question.

---------------- Algrim’s Attack ----------------

Longart city walls were in the distance as the undead party approached from the southwest.

“You find the princess! Kill them all!” commanded the death mage Algrim. He rode a skeletal horse while wearing noble attire on top of its decaying body, with pale skin and white eyes he rode followed by his undead army.

100 undead minions with red eyes were moving together in perfect synchrony while following their master towards the city.

*BOOM* Suddenly an explosion hit the death mage and sent him flying. The decaying body rolled and tumbled at the dirt until it finally stopped. Despite the surprise, his dead body suffered little damage.

He stood up as nothing happened and looked around. Smoke, fire and a small crater could be seen right where his small army of undead were. On the ground, a few more than 50 undead were moving, heavily damaged, barely able to stand with their cracked bones, the rest were blown to smithereens and only pieces of them could be seen everywhere around the crater.

Algrim searched for the attacker. But before he could find anyone, another barrage of spells were cast in their direction. A rain of fire befell upon the undead that remained.

The Death mage’s clothes were burning, but he cared little to the fire and just kept searching for the one behind those sneak attacks. His body once again suffered no damage as he just watched silently while the last of his undeads were completely burned.

It took but a few moments, only he remained of the undead force. Algrim looked around with curiosity still unable to find the source of the attack.

Suddenly a ray of light was shot into his direction. With inhuman reflexes, he promptly dodged it at the last moment as he noticed it.

The death mage looked at the source location of the spell, with great difficulty he finally was able to notice someone, mingled with the ambient, barely visible. As he forced his undead eyes, he could see a dark blue cloak. Strangely to his own senses, he could feel nothing coming from this attacker, no presence, no magic, no sign that there was anyone there.

That explained why it was so difficult to pinpoint its location.

He approached the person, able to see it better he noticed a female body, but nothing else as the hood and mask prevented a face from being shown.

Suddenly his attention was caught on his other side as he once again dodged another light spell at the nick of time.

Another blue cloak was there, again a woman, barely visible by his undead eyes.

*Swish* heard the death mage dangerously close to his body.

He looked down to the source of the sound and noticed a blade covered in white light piercing his stomach, someone was behind him. His undead body didn’t feel the blade, he turned to face his attacker but all he could see was a green cloak moving in a fast speed taking it’s distance from him.

The one in green seemed to be a young man.

The death mage looked with curiosity at his wound, an open hole within his stomach had formed.

Turning towards the green cloak he looked with interest the blade he was holding, a sword full of bright blue enchantments.

Showing no concern regarding the damage suffered so far, he showed them a sinister smile.

Suddenly he turned and pointed his palm to the many corpses of his fallen undead.

“I command thee, unite in death! Come forth, soulless creature of flesh” spoke the mage in the common tongue. An eerie wind blew towards the corpses involving them completely, purple energy began to appear in the ground forming a circle around the many bodies that began to float.

The pieces of flesh and bones began to move towards the center of the circle clumping together, quickly amassing a large body and quickly becoming an abomination made of limbs, flesh and bones. Clumps of what remained from their undead bodies formed its massive body.

Its fingers transformed into sharp bone blades. The Head was made by many heads attached in strange positions. Truly a grotesque vision.

The cloaked ones didn’t budge from their position, as the death mage smiled and commanded his minion once again “Kill the enemies that stand before us!”

The strange monster began to charge forward against the nearest blue cloak. Despite looking clumsy, Its large and powerful legs allowed him to cover the distance very quickly.

But before it could reach the blue cloak, the green cloak rushed at it, so fast that it formed afterimages of him slashing the monster’s legs, the monstrosity went down as its legs were cut off clean.

Algrim widened his eyes “Such a weapon… How come you hold one of the artifacts of old?” he asked. But suddenly something felt amiss in his body. He looked down, the remains of his clothes were waving as there was no more flesh underneath them, the hole in his stomach was increasing in size, slowly being consumed by a white light within his flesh..

He was decomposing at a slow rate, nothing but his spine remained from where the sword had pierced him now.

The death mage smiled and turned to the green cloak with the weapon “Seems like you are specially trained to fight undead, I commend your knowledge, this is the first time I have a body damaged this much”

The death mage closed his eyes, a violet flame burst out consuming him whole, destroying the

remaining flesh and putting off the white light consuming him.

Only his bones remained, his empty eye sockets were suddenly filled by a violet flame that bursted as his skeleton began to move.

“Unfortunately to you, I’m already a lich... Swords have no effect on these bones, no matter the

Enchanting or spell you have on them” explained Algrim to the silent attackers.

The death mage looked at the grotesque monster “kill them already” commanded once again as the creature clawed his way to the enemy in front of it.

The blue cloak pointed both hands to the crawling monster “Purging Light!” she shouted as a flash of white light shone brightly, Algrim covered his eyes by its intensity.

When he regained his vision he looked at his grotesque monster, but there was nothing more there.

Not even remains of it, no sign that it was ever there. Not only that, all the remains of the undead bodies vanished in thin air.

For the first time in the battle, the violet flame of the Lich’s eyes wavered with concern. An unknown spell was cast by his foe that completely erased his minions existence.

“What was that? That light was not Fire elemental magic… what kind of sorcery was it?” Questioned the undead mage. But he received no response from his adversaries.

Irritated, he continued “No matter, you will die anyway...” Said the lich opening his skeletal arms and looking up. “Lord of the abyss, blow thy breath at the unfaithful...” The lich chanted in common language so that his victims knew what was to come. A black fog began to form, coming from the ground, covering a large area around the death mage.

The dark fog went up into the air and spreaded even further, covering everything and everyone. It was getting denser and denser until it could block the sight of everyone there.

“... And release them from the angst of life!” the Lich Algrim finished the chant with joy, he could sense all life around him languishing and dying, the grass, the plants even the earth itself.

After a few moments the fog vanished, disappearing once again into the barren and lifeless ground it created.

The lich looked with satisfaction searching for the dried corpses.

But a mixture of amazement and terror assaulted him as the 3 attackers were still standing. Worse than that, they seemed completely unharmed by his spell. And what shocked him was to notice that there were no signs or remains of a barrier or any spell that could have protected them.

Something was very wrong, the Black Fog of the Abyss should have taken their life away.

“Are you undead as well? You also follow our god? Then why do you oppose me?” Questioned the Lich as that was the only conclusion he could reach. That was the only explanation for them to not be affected by the deadly black fog.

Silence once again.

“I know you can speak! I heard one of the blue shouting spells! Speak to me undead! I command you!”

Once again, no response from the attackers.

“Heretics! You do not serve the death god! I will erase your pathetic existence!”

Concentrating his powers, the death mage began to prepare a destructive death energy spell. But as he began concentrating, the attackers didn’t wait for him to finish his preparations. White rays bursted in his direction from the 2 blue cloaks at the same time while he felt a sword hitting his bones from behind.

He dodged the light beams with inhuman movements and pushed the assailant back by instant casting a flame spell around him, warding off melee attacks for a moment.

The uncanny reflexes allowed Algrim to dodge the spells with certain ease. His major concern was the blue woman that could cast that strange golden light spell that immediately erased his abomination. Algrim was sure to keep that particular enemy in sight at all times.

He cared little for the fast green cloak, even with that weapon, he was unable to harm the death mage so far.

The lich’s bones were magically reinforced to withstand most weapons and spells. While considering the green cloak a pest, only the 2 blue ones were really considered a threat.

Gaining some room he immediately continued his spell. “Death crystal! Rain upon my enemies!” A barrage of violet ice shards imbued with death magic began to fall like rain all around the lich in a large radius.

“Now I will grant your second death!” He said with a rather happy tone, as he saw the 3 enemies occupied defending from his spell, they were dodging and deflecting the shards with barrier spells and their weapons as they could, but the shards kept raining on them trying to overwhelm their defenses.

The lich used the time to prepare his next spell.

He began to whisper in Argonian for a few moments until he finally spoke in Common tongue once again for them all to hear “Now you are doomed, you gave enough time for my most powerful spell! You shall feel the Shadow Embrace!” A black mass appeared above him, a massive ball of shadows began to manifest and was about to be released on his enemies.

As he was lowering his arms to release his spell, a gray cloaked man appeared right in front of him out of the blue. He didn’t notice his approach nor from where he appeared from.

Before Algrim could even react to him, the gray one’s palm was already up and very close to the lich’s bony chest. A soothing light began to shine from inside Algrim’s rib cages, a sense of release was felt by the undead lich as the violet flames in his eyes were obfuscated by the light, extinguishing it’s flames. His magical bones fell to the ground, piling up by the greycloak's feet.

An orange crystal rolled over the bones falling from the remains of his clothes.

“Ahhhh! We were almost there! Why did you do that?” Asked the green one, dropping his shoulders, clearly dissatisfied.

“You know the rules… You lost the moment you let him conjure a shadow spell. Remember master’s words. Never let an enemy use shadow spells, they are tricky and can end you in an instant if you are not paying attention. And you my son, are clearly not ready for them yet”

The green one dropped his head and nodded “Yes father”

The gray one turned to the others “What would the master say if he saw such pitiful performance? You all have much to learn... you should be able to take care of this level of enemy by now, yet you let him use his spells freely and even had trouble with a couple of them”

“But father... It was the first time we fought his kind, he was too quick, we couldn’t hit him,” said the young woman, showing her face under the blue cloak.

“We train to fight whatever threatens our village, first time or not, there are no excuses. You will never reach gray if you continue with this kind of thinking” Spoke the gray one.

He then turned to the green cloak “And you son... What were you thinking? Why did you keep attacking once you noticed you couldn’t damage him with the sword? Remember the fundamentals, if your attacks are ineffective, retreat and rethink your strategy completely.”

The green one nodded and looked down. “If I had a better sword it would’ve worked”

“You don’t even know how to properly use this one… you are not ready for better equipment” he replied

“Your father is right, we are the ones to blame, we are still lacking and need more training. But don’t worry, we will improve. Now let’s clean up the place.” said an older woman in the blue cloak.

Kartag picked up the orange crystal and turned to them “Listen to your mother and cover everything up, we are too close to the city and village, our master doesn’t want us to be discovered. Hide all signs, we have never been here”

------------------------------ The training.

“Very well Queen, as expected of you, the old fundamentals are perfectly executed.” Said the teacher, a woman with brown hair that reminded Eileen of a bear by her large and strong body, but she was nowhere nearly as big as Syldis. She wore a Dark gray cloak.

“Old?” questioned Eileen.

“Yes, we haven't used it like that for a few years now. The master way is much more powerful and efficient” said the teacher once again.

“Right...” She said sighing and remembering how difficult it was to understand his teachings.

“The classes may be a bit advanced for you to join as you are now. But don’t worry, Attia and Bellica asked me to help you catch on while they are out. You will be able to join the Brown level classes shortly, but be prepared, they go every morning until late in the afternoon, 5 days in a row and 2 days of rest” said the teacher.

“That’s... intense” said Eileen, impressed by the rigorous schedule.

“The day here is very short, so it’s not that tiring, come on. Let me show you something that might help you catch on to them more quickly” said the teacher leaving the training ground.

“Aren’t we going to do training? Why are we leaving the training grounds?” questioned Eileen.

The teacher smiled “Most of initial training is knowledge and study based. Physical training is a minor part of it” explained the teacher.

The princess quickly noticed the difference in approach, Therese’s methods were more direct and more physical. Trial and error on a physical level of understanding.

As they walked, Eileen questioned as they passed by the other training camps, especially the children one where Elise was “All teachers are females? And why are the children being taught?”

“The majority of us in the village are female. We lost too many males before the master arrived, the balance didn’t quite catch up yet, maybe in a few more years” explained the teacher once again.

“And the children's training is focused on learning how to read, write and what the master calls the basic fundamentals of the world. Once they are old enough and ready to move up, they have to learn how to use mana properly. But by what you showed me so far you have a good base to start, you will catch up quickly and be able to go to Brown classes soon..”

Eileen nodded “I’ve seen training grounds for all colors except black... How does one get that color?”

The teacher smiled “Once you get to Gray level and feels confident enough, you can request the master for a trial. It's a very simple rule. Survive and you will be granted the black colors”

“Survive?” questioned Eileen not liking the word.

“Yes” replied the teacher “It’s a survival test, of course master will not really kill anyone, but if he

catches you or one of his spells hit you... you are as good as dead. So, all you have to do is survive long enough and by all means necessary. If master feels you are worthy, he will give you the colors”

“Long enough?” questioned Eileen perplexed.

“Yes, no one can last against him for too long.” Explained the teacher once again. “The black colors are given to those who are powerful enough to not die... people that the Death god himself would not to be able to kill that easily”

Eileen listened amazed, she couldn’t wait to improve. “Is there much difference between the levels?”

The teacher nodded “Yes, especially the Black cloaks, they are in on a league of their own.”

“So it’s true, Attia, Bellica and Arthas are the strongests... is there someone else?”

The Teacher nodded. “There is one more aside from them. But Arthas and the girls were already the top fighters of our village even before the Master had come around. So they were the first taught by him and then they were the ones that taught his teachings to the others”

Eileen nodded understanding, but a doubt surfaced in her mind “If the three attacked Riou, together. Who do you think would win?”

The teacher laughed “What are you saying queen? That’s how they usually train” said the teacher, finding it funny “They are outstanding warriors, but they are no match for our master when he is serious.”

Eileen paused and stopped walking. That idea was too absurd for her to conceive.

“Come on, we are almost there,” said the teacher going for some trees and a small mound covered by grass. Eileen approached looking around “here?”

“Yes, don’t you think it’s a good spot? We used to have classes in a place very similar to this in the spirit world. The master loved to teach in places like this. Please be as comfortable as you can be and ask away at any point you don’t understand”

The teacher waved her hands and began to write in the air with magic. Eileen’s eyes widened in surprise by that strange spell.

Most of her classes in the academy were inside a room with many students and the teacher usually just spoke.

Suddenly the image of a person was perfectly drawn by the teacher, “Do you know what muscles are made of?” questioned the teacher.

Eileen shook her head, unsure of what was being asked. “Made of Muscle?”

The teacher nodded “Let’s start with some fundamentals then...” she said, proceeding to drawing muscle fibers and cells.

----------------------------- On the Move

Kartag’s party had disposed of the enemy without difficulty and were clearing the battlefield to leave no evidence for the council to track down.

“Kartag!” Shouted Riou waving for the gray cloak as he arrived at the scene.

The man lowered his head.

“How was the fight? How do you grade the enemy?” questioned Riou looking around to what remained of the battlefield.

“This one was a Lich mage, his undead were weak, but he proved to be very sturdy against the level 3 swords. He was very quick on his feet and his body moved in strange ways. He managed to dodge most of our spells” Explained the party leader.

“Is that so? How did the young ones fare?” questioned Riou knowing Kartag’s son and daughter were part of his party along with his mate.

“They have much to learn, master...” said Kartag, still with his head lowered he showed the orange crystal to Riou.

“The lich was holding this crystal. I sensed some magic within it”

Riou picked up the crystal that immediately flashed, but nothing more happened. He looked at the crystal with care and suddenly a voice came from within it.

“Algrim, have you dealt with them already?”

Riou smirked, understanding what that crystal was “You must be Tessai… or do you prefer being called Lord Griffith?”

A moment of silence “Who is this? Where is Algrim?”

“Well… he is in the restroom and can’t talk right now, want me to take your message?”

“You… you must be the one that dared to interfere in my plans.”

Riou waited for a moment “Maybe I am, maybe not”

“I will rip your skin from your flesh, I will break all your bones... you will be tasting your own guts by the time I’m done with you.”

“So scary… Please master Tessai, let’s talk about it. There is no need for violence. After all, I didn’t do it on purpose… it's just because it was so damn easy. I couldn’t help myself but to have some fun, you understand, right? No hard feelings.”

A Moment of silence and Tessai speaks very calmly, but Riou could sense he struck a nerve on the death mage “I will be the one to have fun while gouging your eyes out and cutting your tongue. I will be tormenting your soul for all eternity”

“Is that a promise? Don’t make promises that you can’t keep”

Tessai was clearly getting more and more furious “You dare mock me... I will find you and make you regret every single word you said, you will wish to have never crossed paths with me!”

“No need to search or wait, I will be by the Southwest gate of Longart until the end of the day… don’t be long, I have an appointment this evening that I can’t miss.”

“You are a foolish man, you just signed your doom”

“And don’t send shadows this time around. They are too easy to deal with… or is that all you can do?”

“I assure you that I can do much more than that, I will burn and raze Longart to the ground and you with it! You will regret everything, I will make sure of it.”

Riou spoke in a monotone voice not even pretending to be serious while speaking to Tessai “Sure, sure. I’m full of regret already… so much fear that I can barely speak. So, just come get me already. Southwest gate of Longart, you have until sundown, don’t be late. Bye, bye”

Riou tossed the crystal to Kartag, closing the connection.

“You and your party may return to the village and rest, I will be on watch from now on until sundown. I think I made him angry enough to make a move now.”

Kartag nodded acknowledging the order.

Suddenly Attia landed nearby them.

“Master, there is someone approaching by the southwest, an old man on a horse using a camouflage spell, he should be reaching the city very soon.”

“Want me to investigate it, master?” asked Kartag.

“No need… an old mage riding alone towards the closed gates of the plagued city of Longart? I will take a look at him personally”

--------------------------- Longart Southeast

A cloaked old man traveled fast by horse until he reached the closed gates of the capital, he stopped and jumped down from his horse removing the camouflage spell.

The man began to prepare to open the door with one of his spells when suddenly two women fell from the top of the walls and landed closely beside him for his surprise.

The man looked at them in amazement “Lionesses?” He asked himself, looking carefully at them and walking back taking some distance.

“What are lionesses doing here?” he questioned.

The blond one looked at the one with brown hair “He is not undead nor I sense death magic”

“Are you undead?” The brown haired lioness questioned, unsure while the other added “What are you purpose here? Do you wish to attack the city?”

“What? No, I’m not an undead nor am I attacking the city” he said pulling down his hood showing his gray hair and beard. “I came here to help the city, I must enter it at once, I have friends there that need my help” he added.

Suddenly a voice from the top of the walls could be heard by him “I could recognize that gray hair anywhere… Is that you Max?”

The mage looked up but could not see who was on top of the wall.

“Who are you? Do you know who I am?”

“Bring him up!” said the voice from above.

The old man was surprised once again “Bring up?” Suddenly the two lionesses grabbed his arms.

“What are you…” both jumped up, quickly bringing the old man to the top of the wall as ordered. They landed in front of someone.

The mage needed a moment to recover from the sudden experience. He looked at the young man in front of him.

The old Magus widened his eyes and laughed, putting his hands on the young man’s shoulders “By the elements… How long have you been down there? You look 10 years older than last time I saw you”

“Far too long old friend, far too long” he grabbed Max shoulder and turned to Attia and Bellica. “This man is a friend of mine, his name is Maximilian”

Both lionesses elegantly greeted the old man that was once again impressed “Why there are two lionesses here in Allard? And why are they here with you?” The mage paused for a moment “Nevermind… we need to hurry, Eileen is waiting, we need to help the city and save Elise, she is being held in the castle. They plan to marry her and…”

Riou just smirked.

Max looked at him “You already took care of it ,didn’t you? How long have you been back?”

Riou nodded “Just a few days. Everything is set, Longart will start to recover soon”

Max relaxed a bit after hearing that “So Eileen, the king and the plague…”

“Safe and sound, supplies will arrive shortly from Brigantium, the cure will be brought by the priestesses of Brine.”

Max laughed, very relieved “It is so good to see you here my friend, we missed you so much… especially Eileen. But how did you know I was coming? I told no one I was returning”

“To tell you the truth, it was luck. We were expecting company and you were spotted.”

“Company?”

Riou smirked again “I think I managed to piss off the council member in charge of Iris, he might be coming here to destroy the city and to get me.”

Max frowned “I finally discovered who the council member was in Iris, after months of search and investigation. I’m certain now that Lord Griffith is part of the council. I have been investigating him for the past few months; he must be the one pulling the strings from Iris. But how did you manage to make him act?”

Riou smirked “Let’s just say we killed a couple disciples and some harsh words were spoken through an orange crystal. I’m sure he is very angry now, angry enough to make a move himself.”

Max was surprised “You did all this… in a couple of days?”

Riou smiled.

Max chuckled “You didn’t change at all… I almost forgot how it is when you are involved, I can’t let myself be impressed so easily while around you” The magus became more serious “By any chance, you wouldn’t know the enemy name within the council?”

“Tessai” replied the young man promptly.

The mage smiled to himself “You even know his real name… Tessai you say? That’s very fortunate, I’ve learned a lot about him after the attack at the norse, the one when you disappeared. I have a debt to pay to him, could you let me deal with him?” Max put the hand on his stomach, remembering the hole Tessai made on him.

Riou was surprised by the request, “Are you sure?”

Max smirked “Do you think I can’t win?”

“I never saw you fighting… and last time you met him. Let’s say you weren’t winning”

“I was taken by surprise, fighting against another powerful mage. I was winning until that happened. And this time I have the upperhand. I learned about his secrets and prepared a very interesting spell especially for him”

Riou nodded “Very well… but we will be around just in case”

“That’s more than I could ask for. In the meanwhile, since we have some time to spare, why don’t you tell me what happened to you while I prepare?”

-------------------------------

“Tessai… Why haven’t you reported your success yet?” said the shadow in the main throne.

“There have been… complications, my lord”

The shadow lord flickered as the others kept quietly listening.

“What have your spies reported? Haven’t you discovered anything?”

“They… all died my lord... “ the shadow lord flickered violently by the news.

“We were unable to do anything against the princess… she seems to be protected by someone very powerful”

One of the other shadows finally spoke “Are you saying that there is another mage than the Magus of Allard aiding them? Do you think the secret mage that aided in Brigantium returned now?”

Hearing those words Tessai’s mind went to the past, remembering the last time he saw the great magus of Allard.

“Master, a year ago... when we were attempting to capture the princess in the north. When Astos died... the Magus laughed at us when he heard we were to take her, he even warned us that if we dared to harm the princess, a power beyond us would be unleashed. Maybe it was not just threats of a dying man… maybe he knew something… and now that we threatened her again, this power surfaced one more time” said Tessai.

“What are you saying?”

Tessai's shadow went silent for a moment thinking.

Another shadow spoke in his regard.

“What if… what if everything is connected?”

The shadow lord turned towards it “Speak”

“What if the conjunction of the spheres brought some artifact to our realm? Something so powerful that the great magus studied it and found a way to use it. So, to not raise suspicion he must have given it to someone else. Someone no one would suspect”

“Why the princess?”

“She is a good fighter and mage, she had studied under him for a while as well. Everyone knows her position regarding saving Allard… she was by far the best option for him”

Tessai nodded “That would explain why our plans always fails when we involve her… we are not taking into account this wild card in her possession”

“But then, what about the mine? Or Brigantium? She didn’t go there and yet the plans failed…”

“She could have given the artifact to the Fernis girl… she is one of the few close friends of the princess and was in both events. Later the princess herself went to Brigantium escorted by two beastmen. She probably went there to retrieve the artifact and to take it north to the Magus. As you all remember, she was there when Astos was killed.”

Tessai nodded once again “She even resisted a sleep spell from the dark mages and was fighting by the time I left Astos back then… My lord, I received a message from these rebels. They taunted me to fight them. I believe they will try to ambush me and use this artifact to win against me. But I will be prepared, I will use the opportunity to finish them and finally capture the artifact for ourselves”

The shadow lord was pondering for a few moments. “Proceed with your plan. And Tessai, this is your last chance, do not disappoint me. Discover who has this artifact and take it from them!”

“I will go right now, my lord… and I will destroy the whole city if I have to and bring you this artifact” Tessai shadow vanishes from the room.

The shadow lord turned to one of the two remaining shadows “Vineth, If Tessai fails us, I want you to investigate if there is any truth to this claim. See if there is really an artifact, discover on whose hands it is and what power it possesses.”

“Leave it to me, master, I will send word to my people, if there is any truth to this matter, I will discover it.”

-------------------------------

“This skylake… you said, it connects the spirit world and the Abyss?”

Riou nodded “I think so, at least that’s what seems like and what the elf told me”

“To be able to create such a massive spell, syphoning the mana from an entire realm into another… but for what reason?”

“The dark elf said the death mage turned on them and made some sort of deal with these dark entities from the abyss. By giving them the mana he must have received something in exchange. But in the process, all civilization in the spirit world was destroyed. There are only a few elves remaining there”

“Destruction and death by itself could bring no advantage... What could be this death mage’s goal? He must be very old and very powerful. What else could he possibly wish to accomplish?”

Riou shook his head. “I don’t know… but we are talking of a death mage that may be thousands of years old. There is no way of telling what his plans were.”

Attia quickly approached them “Master, it’s time, the death mage is coming from the southwest.”

Riou looked at Max “Are you really up for this old man? At least let the girls help you out”

Max shook his head “I want to go alone, besides, I’m not the Great Magus for nothing. It’s about time for you see how a real mage fight”

Riou smirked, “Are you saying I’m not a real mage?”

“You are not a mage, you are something else entirely… a simple mage would never survive in the spirit realm, even a Magus would never find his way back from there. So, let me try to handle this on my terms first, there are a few things I wish to ask our enemy myself.”

------------------

Maximilian positioned himself in front of the closed gates and waited for the approaching shadows. Noticing the magus waiting there, the dark mass reduced speed and took the form of the lord Griffith a few steps away from the mage.

“So it was you, Great Magus! I don’t know how you survived my black spear. But I will make sure you will not survive this time again.”

Max shrugged “Maybe your spell wasn’t as powerful as you thought, lord Griffith… or do you prefer being called Tessai? Tessai of the Twilight Council”

Tessai nodded. “Only my disciples knew of that name… how did you learn it?” he watched his opponent every move, searching for something that the old mage could be holding.

“What did your master say about your constant failures? I bet he is not happy”

“A minor setback, that I intend to correct now. All I need to do is kill you and the princess. Everything will fall into place after that. And don’t think you have the upper hand, we know all about your artifact. I haven’t forgotten what you said while agonizing on the floor of the Thanes Arena” Bluffed the dark mage.

Max was surprised by such a reference, but his quick wit picked up on it. “It took you long enough to realize it”

The dark mage smiled satisfied with the answer “We know you found it and then gave it to the princess, she probably still holds it right now, that’s why you are returning here. And otherwise you would have already used it against me, am I right?”

Max smiled “Or maybe it is in my pocket and I’m just enjoying my time.”

Tessai quiet down, analyzing the possibilities and the meaning behind that confident smile and those words.

Max stepped forward “You’ve lost your grip over Allard, as we speak a caravan of supplies and a cure to your curse is on the way here. The king and queen live, you failed completely, there is nothing you can do now.

Tessai twitched his face “That’s impossible! Only a death mage from argos could lift the deadly curse imbued in the disease… are you telling me that those clueless priestesses of the water temple were able to do it?”

Max nodded “You shouldn’t underestimate the power of the water mother”

Tessai looked to the walls in front of him, if what the mage said was true, there was no chance to cripple Allard through politics anymore.

“So be it, I will destroy the whole city! Kill everyone and then I want to see who has failed on his task!” Tessai raised his arms and gathered his shadows. From the ground five more images of him appeared.

Immediately as they formed, all began to chant in argonian. Max immediately prepared himself for the spell.

A darkness covered the ground around, forming a circle just like the shadows of Tessai appeared. Once formed, the images moved away from it as the earth collapsed within the circle, forming a hole.

Suddenly, the sound of something climbing up could be heard, an enormous hand with 4 massively thick fingers grabbed upon the edges of the hole and started to climb up.

A humongous being appeared from it. A giant mouth that covered most of its bald head. It’s teeth were large and square shaped. With a small but very thick neck that continued into its giant large body and long arms.

It’s legs were rather short in comparison, but large and sturdy enough to easily support its massive body without problem.

The monster stood up and looked forward, it was even taller than the high walls of the city themselves.

“A Wallbreaker?” said the Magus as he watched the humongous creature move towards the walls ready to attack them.

Tessai pulled a black stone with a red rune and concentrated upon it while the mage attention was on his creature.

“I free you upon this city to ravage the living, come forth my Servant from the Abyss!”

The stone began to ooze a dark smoke that quickly grew and took shape.

A humanoid began to form, the first part to appear was its bald head. Holes were on where its ears should be. Its eyes were black and its teeth were all brokenly sharp, it had light gray skin and was covered by a very old and tattered cloth that covered its waist and legs.

As it took its form completely, a shadow chain appeared on its neck briefly giving life to the creature that moved, growling and opening its mouth menacingly.

Max swallowed hard; he had never seen something like that before, it looked like a human that had been transformed into that strange thing.

“This is a bit more than I expected…” said Maximilian. He suddenly stopped and sighed “I’m too old for this…”

The great magus just raised his hand to the air and waved it from side to side. He then just pointed a couple times in the direction of the monsters.

Tessai watched doubtful of his intentions with such a strange gesture.

*SWOOSH* Echoed in the battlefield followed by the Wallbreaker falling to his side with a very deep wound in its leg.

Tessai looked at it and noticed a woman with brown hair and dark armor standing near the fallen enemy with a bloodied sword in her hands.

Suddenly he heard a loud metallic sound from the Servant on his other side, the being was defending itself with its bare arms against a sword but it had a massive scratch on the side of it’s torso that cracked the strange skin of the being.

Another woman, with golden hair and black armor was attacking it relentlessly.

The magus sighed a bit relieved “Thank you!” Shouted the Magus loudly as Tessai turned towards him with curiosity.

“So this was an ambush after all, who are these?” Tessai was having difficulty to believe that mere fighters were able to inflict such wounds to his creatures.

Max nodded “I’m getting old, I can’t take care of everything alone anymore… so I asked for some help”

Tessai looked at the two fighting, the absurd speed, the overwhelming strength and especially their overly enchanted weapons. It could only mean one thing in his mind.

“Is that the power of the artifact? Does it confer this kind of power?”

Max shook his head “You fool, don’t you get it? There is no artifact!”

“Lies, I can see their power… mere fighters could never stand against my minions like that! Now I see how Astos fell while you were dying on the floor. Someone else took care of him using the power from the artifact” Tessai eyes burned in violet color as he looked at the two fighting his monsters.

Suddenly, the dark mage’s attention was caught by something on top of the walls.

“There is another one hidding? Who would that be? Another of your surprises, old man? Is he the one holding the Artifact? Is that how it works?” Called Tessai looking up seeing the man on top of the wall with his enhanced eyes.

There stood a young man in dark clothes casually watching the fight from above.

Max glanced up to Riou and smiled to himself. “Over a year ago, you and your group performed a ritual during the sphere conjunction… am I right? An ancient Argonian ritual. The one you think brought forth a supposed artifact. So you are somewhat right.”

Tessai kept quiet.

Max smiled “After Astos died… It wasn’t very difficult to track down his hideout, I found some interesting information there. But what I still don’t understand is what you hoped to achieve with that ritual. By what I read, it would only open a rift, there was no certainty of what might come through it, if anything at all… So to what purpose did you do it?”

Tessai was staring at the man on top of the wall and shook his head “We did as we were told… the date and time of the ritual was very specific and the result was the artifact that you found. Give it to me and I might spare you and your friends here”

Max laughed “Why do you even need the power? Didn’t you accomplish your goal? Immortality? Aren’t the Argonians the ones that want to conquer us all? So why would they ask you to perform the Ritual?”

“Why? Because they need our power, our presence in these lands is vast, our hands control everything and Argos knows it. They knew we would be able to complete their ritual and offered many of their secrets in exchange”

“I see… but why Argos would need this item, this artifact. It can’t be just for power. They have enough of it already with their dark magic. What’s the reason behind it? What compelled them to deal with your wretched kind and to use the Endher forest?” questioned Max.

“Enough!” shouted Tessai as he noticed his creatures losing the fight. “Show me the artifact! I want to see how powerful it is!”

Max smiled “Very well”

Tessai smiled “Finally!” and prepared himself, his shadows stood before him ready to form a strong barrier.

Max raised both his hands “Dragon slayer!” he said as the large sword appeared already in full form above the Magus.

Tessai smiled “I know that spell… you think it will be able to go through my barrier, I asked to show me the artifact, not your overused tricks”

Max just smiled “Dragon flame” he added as the blade created by his magic began to burn in a bright red and violent flame.

Tessai looked with attention as the Magus shot the flaming sword towards him, promptly his shadows formed a line in front of Tessai and each one put up a barrier.

The sword was able to pierce many of his shadows before stopping, stuck half way through them.

“I told you that it wouldn’t work! Show me the artifact!” said Tessai preparing to retaliate.

Maximilian just smiled “Forge flame!” he said pointing to the sword.

The red fire turned to a white burning flame, the sword shined bright, exploding in a fiery ball that grew consuming all around it, burning indiscriminately everything in a large radius around the center where the blade was.

The shadows were all consumed, and it forced Tessai to quickly move back and away from the expanding flames.

The dark magei was in awe “So this is the power you gained from the Artifact! Outstanding! To be able to increase a fire spell to such a level and purge all of my shadows at once. I salute you Great Magus, that was truly magnificent!”

By that moment the Wallbreaker fell dead to the ground as the woman pierced the back of its neck with the sword. The massive monster was finally gone. His body showed signs of the battle, deep cuts everywhere, burnt and frozen parts of his body could be seen all along it as well.

Tessai quickly looked to the other side just in time to see the head of the Dark Servant rolling on the ground. The shadow chain around its neck appeared briefly, flickering and disappearing into the air. The moment it vanished, the body of the Dark Servant became once again a dark fog and vanished into the air.

“Impossible… their weapons shouldn’t be able to harm those creatures. The Abyssal servant can’t be cut by swords!” he turned towards Maximilian “Impressive, now I see why Argos wanted that Artifact so badly, none would stand against an army imbued with its powers”

Tessai nodded finally understanding why Argos wanted it so badly. He then watched the women's next movements with attention.

“Is it a crystal? Or is it a book? How does it work? Do you need it nearby? Or can you give power to someone and they will hold it? Is it temporary? Does it have counter effects?”

Max shook his head ignoring the dark mage’s guess “What else do you gain from helping Argos? You must know they will purge you after they get what they want”

Tessai let out a small laugh “You know well their ways for an outsider… these plans of ours are all means to an end. The true reward would come after we get them the artifact. We would be accepted into their ranks and help them rule these lands as high priests of the Death god! We all converted to their religion”

Max squinted his eyes “Do you think they will let outsiders into their ranks? Into their faith? You may say you follow their death god, that you converted... but that doesn’t mean that they will really accept you”

The two women in black stood nearby the old magus, watching the dark mage and ready to attack if commanded.

“I have heard enough” Max glanced at Riou “If you don’t have anything to add, I will end this now” he said towards the top of the wall.

Tessai smirked “I know all about your artifact now… even with its power, you won’t be able to kill me”

“I told you that there is no artifact you crazy fool. But I did have a lot of time on my hands last year. And predicting this moment, I have created a little spell after reading some of your old friend notes. There was a large chapter on his books about the great Tessai, the puppet master, the summoner of summoners and his very special and unique immortality, his soul prison.”

Tessai went serious and very silent after hearing those words.

“Did you know Astos used you as a guide and inspiration to build his own soul shard?”

Tessai began to get concerned, his hand started to gather large quantities of mana, glowing in a violet color.

“That fool Astos and his compulsion to write everything he is doing... But I am Tessai, the Great Summoner of the Twilight Order! And I won’t be subjugated by a mere mage that hasn't lived a single lifetime yet!”

The grass around Tessai began to die in an expanding radius.

Max’s hand shone in bright red “Soul Release!”

Tessai’s chest began to move as if something inside of it was trying to get out of it on its own. Forcing his skin, muscles and bones it turned and twisted within its body. The dark mage stopped his actions completely. A dark red light shone bright in his chest, Max could see the light forming a chained box. Tessai began to lose his strength and fell on his knees, desperately trying to hold and contain the box from opening.

The dark mage released all his mana on his hand and quickly grabbed his chest where the box was, the mana was quickly absorbed by it until the box stopped moving and the light ceased completely.

“Who do you think created this spell? Who do you think taught Astos about it? It was a good attempt, but don’t underestimate me, that isn’t nearly enough to finish me”

With both hands as if pulling something from the earth, Tessai spreaded a dark mana on the ground that quickly absorbed it. Black rocks and dark dirt erupted from the area and began to take the form and shape of an earth elemental. It’s body was made of the darkened earth and stones as if it was by a dark spell, that even moved about on it’s on within the elemental’s body.

Max could sense nothing from within the new monster that appeared. It was a corrupted Elemental, controlled by the foul magic of the death god.

“You dared to enslave the body of one of the children of the elements? You have no respect for those who created the world?”

Tessai smiled “The only true god is death, nothing is more powerful than itt”

Max shook his head and with his hand he created a fireball, immediately throwing at the dark Elemental.

The fireball explodes violently, dismantling most of the stone body. But the dark mana moved around and the broken rocks rolled back into place.

Max didn’t lose time, with several explosive fireballs, he tried again. Exploding most of the elemental that fell to the ground. Even with half its body destroyed, the elemental reconstructed itself again.

“Kill him” said Tessai ordering the Elemental.

Max sighed and looked up the wall behind him “You wouldn’t know how to deal with something like this, would you?”

Riou smiled and shouted back to the magus “Two ways, or there is a special stone coordinating the body reconstruction from the inside. Or the spell is being powered by the dark ground it is standing on. That mana is the thing fueling the construct. Take it away from it or stop it from touching the ground and it should be done for. Since it’s an earth elemental and you already blew half of it already, I’d bet on the latter option.”

Max nodded while Tessai squinted his eyes at the man and his unusual knowledge of the spell.

“Let’s try it” with a swirl of his hand a strong wind began to blow from all directions towards the approaching elemental. The strength of the wind was exponentially intensifying and quickly began to destabilize the elemental.

With a bit more power Max was able to call upon a constant stream of wind, powerful enough to barely elevate the heavy elemental from the ground.

The elemental extended its arms, fixing itself on the ground, preventing it from taking off farther away.

Max was getting tired and shouted to the girls near him “A little help here?”

Both instantly cut down the arms of the elemental that flew up by the powerful wind spell Max was conjuring beneath it.

In the sky, piece by piece crumbled while suspended by the winds. The dark mana slipped from the stone and dropped into the ground, vanishing. Once the ground returned to its normal color, Max released the stones and dirt that fell down, just boulders and dirt remained from the dark elemental that was no more.

“Ahhh!” Screamed Tessai enraged “You are a clever one... How did you know the weakness of my spell?”

“I told you… it's just too easy,” said The man from up the wall.

Tessai eyes widened “You! It was you on the crystal… you are the one that mocked me!”

Riou just smiled and waved at him.

Tessa went furious “Let’s see how you deal with this!” Gathering most of his remaining power and murmuring in Argonian, the dark mage calls upon a gateway made of bones and red runes energy that erupted from the ground right in front of him. The red glow faded away as the doors opened. Ethereal chains appeared and rushed inside the gate, pulling something from it.

A shadow begins to cross the bone gate against its will, held tightly in ethereal chains that were pulling it from another realm.

Riou moved forward and looked down from the walls,

“Max… get away, now!” said Riou with a concerned tone while looking at the large shadowy body that was crossing into that realm. Its bottom part seemed to disappear into the ground and the shadow floated by effortlessly while its large body was held by chains.

Noticing Riou’s tone, the mage knew better than to try his hand and immediately retreated back and away for that thing..

“Attia, Bellica!” Shouted the young master “It’s a Tormenter!” Both eyes of the two lionesses flared up as they turned to face it.

Tessai smiled “Tormenter? Well, it's a fitting name for this being, but how come that you know about it? Have seen one before? But how did you survive such an encounter?”

The two were already swinging their swords violently against the shadow’s body attempting to injure it while it was still chained.

But as expected by Riou, they were unable to graze him. Their attacks hit nothing and just went through the shadow being.

“Remember what I told you about it!” he shouted.

Both of them stopped and concentrated, their swords began to shine brighter as they once again tried to the shadow fiend.

No effect.

Tessai waved his hand and the chains disappeared, the fiend was free to act as it wished and immediately shadowy tendrils were launched against the two.

Luckily the lionesses were not only fast enough to avoid his direct attacks. But also knew its tactics. Even when the attack came from within their own shadows. Both were quick enough to escape it.

“Impressive! You really have encountered one of these before and survived to tell the tale. But let’s see how long you can last. Remember, if you flee, the city will fall”

As the fight progressed, the more clever and crafty the Tormenter became, he was clearly playing with them, biding his time for something he was planning.

Riou shook his head as he watched the fight, the girls weren’t paying attention as they should nor were using his teachings effectively.

Bellica suddenly landed nearby a small rock, not realizing the small shadow it was creating. From it, a shadow tendril erupted like a lance in her direction. She jumped away without thinking, but while she was in the air, the Tormentor was already launching another attack at her.

*Woosh* the tendrils that were about to pierce Bellica were blasted open and vanished into nothingness.

Noticing she was unharmed Tessai promptly looked up to the wall.

Max was impressed, Riou had become even more powerful than before.

“Use light spells with realm bending properties, remember the lessons” said Riou instructing the two that promptly switched stance to spellcasting.

One after the other shot fire and light based spells on the monster, but all passed through it without causing damage.

Max was astonished to see Lionesses casting spells so quickly and with such power. It was as if all their spells had been created by Riou.

Riou sighed “No, no, no...You still haven’t mastered the concept of realms and planes? You two have been focusing too much in melee combat and slacked in your education, haven't you? Did Arthas not teach you properly?” scolded the master to his pupils that lowered their heads.

“It’s just too difficult,” said Bellica.

“We can try to banish it.”

Riou got angered “No banishing! Tormenters are killed on sight!” Said Riou to his two pupils. “Or have you forgotten what one of these things did to your sisters?”

Both of them nodded very aware of the events.

Tessai wasn’t believing his ears and let out a laugh “Kill it? Impossible! There is no way to kill this Shadow Fiend! He was especially designed and created to be indestructible! This is a being beyond your comprehension!”

Riou ignored the dark mage and focused, “You two, prepare to attack on my mark”

Both lionesses nodded and prepared.

Riou jumped down from the walls effortlessly and walked towards the shadow fiend while his mana expanded in a large radius very quickly, covering everyone and everything around them.

“Abjuration, Planar Severance!”

The world was sliced and flipped into another existence, the area covered by his mana became a new plane, floating in nothingness of space. A black starry sky with colorful dust clouds appeared where the blue sky once remained, infinite in its distance and covering all and everything around them.

The tormentor fell upon its small legs that could be seen above ground now.

Tessai looked around dumbfounded, unable to understand what was happening. Max seemed just equally puzzled.

“Burn it” said Riou as the two shot flames at the shadow being quickly consumed by it. The Tormenter contorted and agonized in the ground as the flames burned its shadows away, consuming and erasing it from existence.

With the fiend gone, Riou snapped his fingers and flipped the plane back. They all were back to Allard. The blue skies with few clouds and the grasslands and mountains in the distance

Tessai swallowed hard looking at Riou “What are you? What was that spell?”

Max, recovering from the shock, just smiled and let out a laugh “I promised myself to not be impressed… but that was just too much”

He then turned to Tessai “You said you remember my words in Thanes… well, I present to you the demon” Max showed him Riou with a smile on his face, not quite believing in what just happened.

Tessai looked straight at the strange man, for the first time the dark mage had a real sense of fright.That spell just now was absurd and could not be comprehended by him. None of the lifetimes he lived, all the researches and books he read, the centuries of knowledge he gathered, nothing of that could help him understand how that spell was even possible.

The young man coldly stared back at him “This has been going on for too long and I have an appointment. Let me end this Max?”

The old mage nodded agreeing with him. “I’ve heard enough from him, it’s time to end this”

“End this? We are far from ending!” threatened the concerned dark mage.

Riou sighed at him “Dust to dust” a soothing light slowly shone upon the dark mage from far above.

Tessai just looked up unaware of what was happening, but it’s body instantly begins to wither and transform into ashes that were immediately carried away by the wind. From his chest, a chained box fell to the ground as its ashes were completely blown away.

Max watched it again, astonished by his spell “What was that? How come it is so powerful?” he asked intrigued.

Attia promptly answered quite proudly “It’s the Master’s heavy counter against undead creatures”

“Heavy counter?” questioned Max not understanding the term.

Riou smiled “Just to convey its effectiveness against certain kinds, for instance, that spell is inoffensive against the living but rather deadly against the undead.”

Max nodded looking once again at the vanishing dust that remained of Tessai “I can see its effectiveness, he had no chance against it”

“Well, this takes care of things here, let's get back to the village, I have a lot to show you there!”

Max laughed for a moment and became serious once again “But what about Roderick and Rotchet?”

“The king can take care of them, they are nothing now their support is gone”

Max nodded “You could have used that spell from the start couldn’t you?” Asked Max.

Riou nodded. “But you said you wanted to fight and even talk to him first.”

“I did… I was certain my spell would have finished him… heavy counter you said it was the term?” he asked Attia once again “That’s another spell to the list of spells that I really need to learn”