As we continue our long walk following the road heading North towards Palgrim, I happen to notice an incredibly strong, familiar and archaic magical aura from above the skies. It appears that there are two entities, bearing different patterns of the same type of magical aura. I looked around me, towards Frain, then Gabriel, then the men we have with us but they don’t seem to notice, or even so much as to feel something.

The two overwhelming auras were so strong I felt like they would crush me just by their presence, obviously due to the fact that I’m currently residing in a mortal body. The auras, that appears to be coming from the western area of the sky, is rapidly growing stronger and nearer towards us. I tried to immediately inform everyone but before I can even say anything, the two entities whipped past above us at blinding speed.

I managed to look at these entities and found out, to my surprise and curiosity, that it was Cthonigg, the Celestial who made this world, with the unnamed Celestial that made the Sun. No one but me would notice them obviously, as they’re moving outside of this planet, out there in the cosmos.

It hasn’t even been three seconds yet but the two of them are already thousands of kilometers away from us already, and by that I meant thousands of kilometers away from this planet. However, their speed is not my concern, as I can also move at that speed in my true form. What bothers me is that what could be the reason that they’re heading somewhere in a hurry, together. The two Celestials who doesn’t seem to care about anything other than their stars and planets, have a particular destination in their minds? Interesting…

Before their auras completely disappear from my range of detection, I felt a painful, yet familiar sensation going through my head. Seconds later, this sensation was replaced with utter pain and agony. The world all around me appears to be shaking violently and all of my senses became distorted. My ears feels like they’re going to explode with these strange, eerie and extremely unpleasant noises that it’s receiving out of nowhere. My physical body is also experiencing a tremendous amount of pressure that made me drop down to my knees. I could faintly see everyone rushing towards me as my consciousness slowly begins to fade away.

As I completely drop to the ground as if all of my energy was just sucked out, I could still sense that one of the two Celestials stopped in their movement. I couldn’t figure out who it was between the two exactly as I’m already in the brink of unconsciousness, nor is it any of my concerns as of this moment, but I have a hunch that this has something to do with them, one way or another. Then, everything went black.

I was lying on a bed when I opened my eyes. The dark brown color of the wooden ceiling suggests that I’m in a fairly-old house. I looked to my right and saw Frain dipping a piece of cloth into a bowl filled with water.

“Oh, you’re awake.” she said upon seeing me trying to sit up the bed. “Take it easy, we can stay here until they’re finished selling the weapons and goblin armor we scavenged.”

“Selling? Where are we?” I asked as I stroke my head that’s still throbbing in pain.

Frain pointed to the window covered with a blue piece of cloth to my left that I had neglected to look upon earlier.

“You must have fainted due to the heat.” Frain said while I was trying to remove the window covering out of the way.

As I looked outside the window, what I immediately saw was the gigantic, towering gray wall. It was so tall that even a dragon wouldn’t be able to look past it if it was on the ground. The shadow casted by this wall was big enough to reach us even though we’re probably about five hundred meters away from it. Beneath the gigantic wall is a gate that connects to the road with knights heavily guarding it.

“Why are we outside the city?” I asked Frain. “And how are we going to announce our existence to the people?”

“We don’t know if what we did at the village has already reached the other cities so we’re here, outside so that we don’t get seen.” she replied. “Gabriel took two men with him to sell the things we’ve scavenged to the merchants inside the city. After that, they’ll write marking unto the walls using magic to inform the people of what we’ve done. My guess is that they’ll go to the poverty-stricken area and attempt to recruit people since that’s where victims of injustice and corruption gather.”

“I want to go inside the city.” I told her.

She immediately stopped what she was doing and looked at me straight unto the eyes.

“No, you won’t.” she replied. “Not only does it risk us being captured, but we have no way to inform Gabriel about that change of plans.”

“Then I’ll be back before whatever time they said they’re going to return.” I told her as I stare back at her eyes in pure seriousness. “The main reason why I even came down here is to observe and experience your society. I only joined your group because I deemed it the best and most efficient way to travel places. I’m going to the city whether you want me to or not, mortal. I do not need your approval.”

She was silent for a couple of seconds, thinking whether it was a really good idea or not. Shortly after, she let out a huge sigh, and placed the wet cloth she’s holding onto the table.

“Fine.” she said, disappointed. “But I’m going with you, and I also don’t need your approval for that.”

We both went down the stairs to the room where the men are gathered, waiting.

“S-Sir Arthur!” said by Marlon while rushing to me, worried. “A-Are you ok? You fainted out of nowhere and--”

“He’s ok Marlon, don’t worry.” Frain said. “He’s still gonna be able to mentor you.”

“O-Oh, is that so.” Marlon replied. “I’m glad you’re ok now!”

Frain gathered everyone’s attention as she knocks unto the wooden door three times. Everyone immediately stopped talking to themselves and turned their heads towards us.

“Unfortunately, our leader is a stubborn fool and insisted that he wants to go inside the city for sightseeing.” Frain told everyone. “Don’t worry, I’m going with him and we’ll be back before four. In the meanwhile, I want you to avoid attracting as much as attention as possible. Also, if Gabriel comes back before us, tell him to head to the destination. I know where it is so we can get there ourselves.”

After that, the two of us put on a hood made out of leather to slightly cover our faces, then we proceeded to march towards the West Gate of the city.

“You sound different back there.” I told her while we’re walking beside the road. “I actually find it fascinating when one's attitude suddenly changes due to an outside stimuli. Mortal behaviours are easy to influence, aren’t they?”

She smiled vaguely, but her eyes displays a sadness that couldn’t be masked by that effortless smile.

“You know… Because of all the things we’ve been through, I thought we’re already very close friends, you get what I mean? You probably don’t anyway.” She replied to me, looking down while the hood covers the rest of her face. “When you referred to me earlier as ‘mortal’, I realized that we’re totally different. Sure, you’re not really literal gods but your kind is something that’s cosmically greater than us. I don’t… know… I just thought we were already friends… But it’s clear that you only see me, and everyone else as just another one of the millions of mortals out there right?”

“Trillions.” I replied to her. “The number of individual mortals in the entire universe exceeds trillions. We Celestials do have a concept of friendship. I once had a very close mortal friend, although not from this planet. He would occasionally reach out to me just to show me one of his magical inventions, and we would talk about the secrets of the universe and all the planes of existence. It was a very fun time, at least in my sense of ‘fun’. Then one day, I had to go to a very distant area of the universe due to a specific reason, but when I returned to his home planet, what greeted me was his great-great-grandchildren. The journey might have seemed fast to me, but to him, it has already been multiple generations, and my existence has already been a legend to their lineage.”

“Mortal life is fleeting. Eventually, it would wither away like all things that came before it.” I added. “Individuals of their race are capable of living up to two hundred years. It was at that time that it occurred to me, that we Celestials exist in a very different flow of time than you mortals do. If you’re asking me if I consider you my friend, I do, but not in your mortal sense of friend. In time, you would grow old, and die like the others do, and I would continue living on and traveling the vast expanse of the cosmos until the eventual death of the universe.”

“Is… Isn’t that very sad?” she replied, looking at me in pity. “Knowing that everyone you know, everyone you’ve ever been close to will all grow old and die while you continue to live on for all eternity. Don’t you find it sad?”

“No, not really.” I replied to her. “It is the way the universe works after all. And besides, mortal life wouldn’t even be able to exist if not for Ashm’hog creating the artificial plane of Nekerheim from which all mortal souls are born and return to after their death. You know him, right?”

“Yes, he’s the patron deity of necromancers and all manners of undead.” she said. “Although, it was only believed that Ashm’hog was the god of death, I never knew that he was the one who created mortal life too.”

“He didn’t create mortal life.” I replied as we grow near the city gates. “He simply allowed it to exist. Due to him creating the Nekerheim, temporary forms of life that would eventually run out of lifeforce were born in it, and would later on return to it to be recycled as another mortal soul.”

“So the Nekerheim didn’t exist when the universe was born?” she asked with her sadness seemingly disappeared out of nowhere. “Then that means, we mortals aren’t supposed to exist?”

“Yes, exactly.” I replied. “Now you can see why some Celestials don’t like mortals, some even hate them and would kill at the sight of one. For most of us, you’re all a bunch of uncontrollable pests that’s populating the universe at a very fast speed. I do think that way myself, with a very few exceptions like those mortals who have proven themselves worthwhile to me.”

“So… am I one of those exceptions?” she said.

“You have an incredibly strong latent magical potential within you, more than what I have seen in this planet.” I replied to her. “It’s not that special when compared to other mortal races of different, more advanced civilizations from other planets but for Alsvand, it’s definitely noteworthy. So yes, you are an exception. You, along with Gabriel.”

It was hard to see beneath the leather hood but she obviously smiled after what I just said.

As we reach the city gates, the two heavily armored guards at both side of the gate stopped us with their spears crossing at each other to block the entrance.

“What is your business here?” One guard asked.

“We came here to buy equipments and supplies for our journey.” Frain replied. “Is there something wrong? Last time I went here, I wasn’t stopped by the guards.”

“W-well, you see…” The other guard said nervously. “There has been word of research escapees from the village of Albes. The knights said these escapees are blood-thirsty murderers who would kill anyone indiscriminately. Dark times we live in…”

“Are you saying they could be here in Palgrim?” Frain said while pretending to be alarmed, hiding her frustration and anger at what the guards has just said. She then grabbed onto my arm and looked at me in the eyes. “Honey, I think it’s not safe here. Maybe we should just postpone our after-wedding journey.”

I wasn’t sure how to act in this situation. Should I say something? But what if I say something that makes them suspicious? Ugh, mortal dealings are always needlessly complicated. Thankfully, before I could even say anything, the guards looked into each other and allowed us to enter.

“I think it would be more dangerous to be outside the walls.” The guard at the left said. “Those escapees could still be out there, looking for potential victims. It would be much safer inside the city where guards are stationed everywhere.”

“I suppose you are right.” Frain replied. “Then please, keep us safe and protected inside the city, ok?”

As we pass through the gates and to the city of Palgrim, I was greeted with stalls of shops lining the both sides of the road and a huge crowd of humans going everywhere. I have seen this kind of scenery before but it feels very much different to be part of the crowd than just seeing it from the outside.

“What’s this? A young couple going on a date?” A man who seems to be a merchant said as he approach us. He then showed us a necklace with gold braces and a green jewel enclosed in it. “Well then you’d like this! This is a charm from the eastern elven kingdom! It’s said to strengthen the love of the person wearing it, and if you buy two, then it would strengthen BOTH of your love to each other! Isn’t that wonderful?”

I was shocked by what he said, mainly because that particular necklace he showed didn’t even emit a magical aura. How can it affect a person’s emotional state if it isn’t even imbued with magic?

“But I don’t sense any magic from it.” I said to the man. “Besides, that necklace doesn’t look elvish in the slightest. If you ask me, it’s along the styles of kobolds.”

“Sorry but we’re currently in a hurry!” Frain said in a louder than usual tone as she drags me away from the man. Once we’re a reasonable distance away from him, she switches back to the usual tone she uses. “We should avoid interacting with anyone as much as possible. Remember, we’re only here because you want to observe.”

As we move places to places, visiting the famous landmarks of this city with the guide of Frain, I happen to hear a conversation between two men dressed in a less-impressive clothing compared to the rest of the people we've seen so far.

“...they claim to be led by the Sage of Mana.” One man said. “If we join them we could finally leave this hellhole behind.”

“But we would basically become rebels, right?” The other one said. “Is it really worth it? We might be living a below-average life here, but at least we’re not in any immediate danger.”

They must be talking about Gabriel and their recruitment plan. I ignored them and decided not to tell Frain as it’s not really the purpose of us coming here.

We continued our sightseeing within the city. Frain seems to be enjoying it herself as she’s the one dragging me along in excitement and I’m merely following her lead. We stopped by a fountain in the middle of the city with a huge statue of a bipedal dragon holding an orb on its right hand on top of it. There are also a lot of people gathered in this area doing their own businesses.

“This is one of the most popular spot in this city.” Frain said. “The fountain of Akash, the dragon guardian of the Empire. It was said that when the elves amassed a huge force to attack the young and weak Empire, Akash descended down from the sky like a meteorite and burned a very huge portion of the army, allowing the Empire to be in more or less equal in forces to them. That orb he’s holding is the orb of nature which Akash stole from the elven supreme commander. It is believed to enable the wielder to control the nature’s forces that only elementals are supposed to do. Funny enough, it wasn’t us humans who named Akash, but the elves themselves. Akash means bad omen in elvish.”

“Hmm… I might’ve seen that battle before, but only briefly and I don’t remember it that much.” I replied. “It was in the perspective of a flying eagle above the battle and it flew away when that dragon appeared.”

“Perspective of an eagle?” Frain asked, confused.

“Before I descended down in this mortal form, I can only watch this world from the perspective of its mortal inhabitants.” I replied. “And I can’t even control what mortal life it is.”

As we were conversing, I noticed that the number of people in that place was quickly diminishing. It only took a few seconds for my suspicions to be proven true when a huge number of Imperial knights circled the entire area, completely closing all of our escape routes.

“The Sage of Mana, eh?” One knight in a distinctively golden armor said. “That explains why the automatas suddenly stopped functioning, and their riders dying of mana deficiency. Don’t you think it’s more beneficial for you to side with the empire? Your unique and special ability has tremendous amount of implications rather than just using it on helping these escapees. What do you say?”

“You might be forgetting that I am an escapee too.” I told him. “Right now I could kill every single person in this city by sucking out all of their mana. You’re the ones who trapped yourself, not us, not me.”

Technically, I can only do that if I was flying above the sky where the spell targeting could encompass the entire city, but as of now, I only said that to threaten them. It seemed to have worked though, as I can see the golden knight flinched in his position and rendered speechless by my claim.

“Then do it.” An unfamiliar voice of a woman said. “What are you waiting for? You’re surrounded with all of your escape routes blocked. If you do what you’ve just said, you can escape easily. So what are you waiting for?”

As the woman comes out from behind the surrounding knights, she held out her left hand and proceeded to cast a spell. A red magical circle appeared from her hand with runic characters. To my surprise, the spell didn’t take too long to be armed. A spell with that much complexity should take five to ten seconds even if it was Frain doing to casting, but she did it in just three seconds. Reading the runes and the magic circle, I could vaguely tell that it was some kind of spell that rains down fire from above, I couldn’t tell exactly what spell it is though.

The woman herself is intriguing… her eyes are covered with a piece of green cloth with violet engravings on it, and she appears to be wearing exotic violet robes I have never seen before. Her tied, long brown hair spirals around her neck, as if it was a rope trying to choke her.

“I was an experiment like you, Frain Algus.” She said to Frain while smiling. “I lost my sight due to it, but in return, I was given an incredible amount of power. Aren’t you the same as me, gifted with power by the Empire?”

Seeing as we weren’t entertaining her, she grew impatient and angry. Her frown is reflected by the movements of her mouth. All of a sudden, she screamed Frain’s name aloud, then proceeded to fire her spell at us.

In an instant, the sky that was once blue flashed a bright, burning red flare. I didn’t cast barrier around Frain, as it would completely drain all of her mana. Instead, I simply told her to close her eyes, which she did after immediately understanding what I’ll do. I held my left hand upwards, towards the falling fire and started to cast mana drain on it. The woman didn’t waste anytime though as she started firing fireballs at us as soon as she saw me casting a spell. I used my right hand to instantly cast a barrier towards her direction to block any attack she fires at us. The knights wouldn’t dare to get near us, since they’d be killed by the spell too once it reaches the ground so I don’t have to worry about them.

After about two seconds, I fired mana drain towards the falling red flame, completely disintegrating it into a rain of blue, crystalline mana before evaporating into the Archeus. If it was nighttime, it would appear as if the Sun just completely disappeared from the sky leaving the stars behind. The extra dimensional light from my spell rendered the majority of the surrounding knights insane. Those that were in the blind spot and didn’t get affected looked around in confusion as their fellow knights started wriggling around in the ground, and some even stabbing themselves due to insanity. The woman was confused too, why the spell she just casted just vanished to thin air. She could also probably tell by their magical auras that the knights have completely gone mad, but she wouldn’t know the reason why, since mana drain is impossible to detect using magic senses.

“Frain! We’re running!” I told her while she’s still kneeling down the ground, covering her eyes.

She opened her eyes as I grabbed her arm and run towards the area with the most affected knights. It wasn’t that easy though as the remaining sane knights quickly blocked our path. Thankfully, Gabriel and the two other men appeared from behind those knights and started their assault, allowing us to slip past them and escape.

“What the hell are you two doing here?” Gabriel said as we were running away.

“Arthur wanted to see the city.” Frain replied to him as she looks towards me. “See? I told you this was a bad idea!”

It seems that the guard knights are unaware of what’s happening since they didn’t even stop us from exiting the gates. They were just as confused as the other people around. No one pursued us, or more like, no one’s left to pursue us. The knights have been incapacitated and that woman… she’s probably still wondering why her spell just disappeared out of nowhere.

“Oh yeah, there was a woman there who claimed to be one of the experiments.” Frain said to Gabriel. “She’s working for the Empire though.”

“We’ll talk about things later. For now we should gather everyone and head to our destination.” Gabriel replied. “We didn’t managed to recruit anyone thanks to the two of you, but that should still get the word out.”

Upon reaching the old house on the outskirts of the city, we immediately told everyone to pack up and continue our walk. We headed north and only stopped occasionally to check if anyone was following us. As we get closer to our destination, the temperature starts dropping to noticeable differences.

Even after the nightfall, we didn’t stop and still continued to head towards our destination. After a while, we have found ourselves near a valley with towering mountains on both sides of a narrow passage that appears to have civilization inside, as light could be seen coming out from the narrow gap.

“The village of Makkor is inside that Valley. We’ll be staying there until the morning comes.” Gabriel said to our relatively small group.

“Are you sure it’s safe?” Frain asked. “We were just attacked by the Imperial forces, you know?”

“Those aren’t Imperial forces, Frain.” Gabriel replied. “Their orders to search for us didn’t come from the Emperor, but from someone who oversees these experiments. They operate with a concerningly high degree of freedom within the Empire. They’re our true enemy, not the Empire itself.”

“How did you know that?” Frain asked again.

“Let’s just say that I have a very confidential informant.” he replied. “It’s imperative that you all trust me on this one.”

As we reach the village protected by mountains, we quickly headed towards a huge house that Gabriel’s informant have prepared for us. There, we were greeted by a butler who’s ‘awaiting our arrival’. After settling in within our own respective rooms, we all met in the house’s living room, with the butler with us, and discussed various topics, including our plans for tomorrow.

“The woman that attacked you, the blind one, she said she’s one of the experiments right?” Gabriel asked us. “I don’t know her real name, or if she even has a real name, but she’s called Twelve within the Empire because that’s her experiment number. All of us here are above the number one-thousand, so you can probably guess that she’s one of the first few.”

“So she’s been tasked to find us?” Frain said. “That’s going to be a pain in the ass. She freaking finished casting Cataclysm in just three seconds! Three seconds, Gabriel!”

“Yes, she’s a very powerful one.” Gabriel replied. “We need to make sure we’re careful around her. Thankfully, we have Arthur here, who is now better known as the Sage of Mana.”

“What’s with that anyway?” I asked them. “What’s the point of telling people I’m the Sage of Mana?”

“Because Sages are one of the strongest, if not, the strongest mages in their respective fields of expertise.” Gabriel said. “The Sage of Death, for example, has an army of undead at her disposal that rivals the Empire’s in terms of numbers alone. Sages are living legends, and if people find out that a Sage is leading our group, it will surely incite them to join. Since you’re the only mage that can directly manipulate mana, that makes you the strongest mage of your field, and thus, a Sage.”

After a long while of discussion, planning and restructuring our chain of command, we all went to our respective rooms and enjoyed a good night’s sleep. It’s important that we savor this short time of rest, because we’d need all of our energy that we can muster for tomorrow’s confrontation.