(Hurray! Over 1 k views!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PARTEY HARDDDDD!!!!!!!! UTZ! UTZ! UM! UM! UM! PARTEEEYEYEYEYEYEY! No? Ok...

Guys you did it! You gave me your attention and even though I used incredibly unecessary words you still sticked with me. I am forever grateful to each and everyone of you. That's why I tried my best to write another chapter although I got an exam tomorrow. Who cares anyway? I do, but don't tell anyone. I tried to make this chapter a bit of everything. A short glimpse into the future, a short timelapse and a bit OP action. The things that were skipped over will probably be added as side-chapters that are only optional to read since everything that will happen was summarized already in the few sentences you guys will be reading. I thank you guys so much for all your views, nice comments and even more so the incredible good ratings! I can't even believe my eyes just how close my puny fiction got to the 5 star mark! That is monstrous! With much love I hope you guys will have a good night! See ya tomorrow! :D ) +Don't kill me but I haven't pr'ed this yet, sowwwwey!!!!! :(

Hirahn rode the massive dragon, which he so lovingly called Lizzy, to the centre of the purged plot of land. Hirahn himself had barely any idea where they were. He had just got this get-up-and-go feeling and decided it was a good time to continue the training of the King.

Through Lizzy Hirahn could see the vast land that was stretching even beyond the horizon. It was a land uninhabitated by anything else than beasts and giant monsteres that roamed the dark green forests and towering mountains. At least that was what Hirahn could tell from the top of Lizzy's head.

Their meeting was an odd one. The moment Hirahn stepped out of the cracks in space Lizzy thought she, yeah she is a girl, could have a quick snack. With as much power as she could condense into her body she lunged at Hirahn. He simply intimidated her by releasing a portion of his strength, making her surrender before she had the chance to attack him. Covering in fear Lizzy could only watch as this god-like entity made itself comfortable on top of her head. Thus began a long-lasting pet-master relationship.

Back to the important issues.

Alexander was a bastion of calm, braving the potent flames that licked over his armor like hungry wolves. The sea of purple surrounded him and melted the rock on the ground, the heat began surging and made even the air itself bubble. Alexander used his awfully huge repertoire of magic spells to counter the rising heat.

He used fortifcation spells, shielding himself behind adamant walls of stone. Alas the heat inside climbed even higher since it had no way to escape, this plan proved to be a failure. Next he used the wind to shroud him in a small pocket of breathable air. Again the plan failed as the turbulent air fueled the might of the flames surrounding him. What made matters worse was that the fire fed of the exuding aether and kept growing and growing with each spell.

Alexander cursed his luck that he had no ice or water spells at his disposal. His natural aptitude differed greatly from his daughter Sara which was most proficient with water and ice.

Gritting through the pain he had to endure the harsh reality that was his impotence and the searing flames that turned his armor to cinders. 'At least I can repair this.', Alexander sighed to himself and trusted his own durability to withstand the fire.

Seconds of enduring hellfire turned into minutes of absolute torment. This was not part of Hirahn's training but it could be considered as one; to endure pain and come out scathed but alive and well. Because there was always a sliver of hope if you are alive, you can't change your fate when you are dead after all.

Lizzy loitered around the eges of the crater, kept an eye out for the man her master ordered to attack. Herself she would have never been able to have such a high degree of destructive capabilities, but after being modified by Hirahn her power skyrocketed manyfold.

It must have been demeaning in the past to let a human ride her head but right now she felt honoured to have her master snooze on her red scales. Right now she was the strongest monster in the lands she was born in, with delight Lizzy began thinking about all the vermins she would devour with her new found power.

Alexander, his body covered by a layer of burnt flesh and ash, shuddered slightly beneath the layer of death. His bodily regeneration, tens of times higher than before, kicked in and ejected the cracked and dead tissue from his body. Born anew the black shell was discarded onto the ground. Rotating his limbs he gave the dragon a dangerous glare which Lizzy returned with a bestial grunt. Although Lizzy appeared to be in an unresponsive state, the intelligence and ability of decision making were shining as vibrant in her eyes as never before. Not only was her physical prowess heightened by a large bit but also her intelligence was raised to unknown levels; her whole self benefited from Hirahn's modifications and she was most grateful for it.

The air around Alexander and Lizzy became tense, Hirahn woke up from his slumber and let the two fight it out for themselves by floating away, atop a mountain's peak. Alexander getting beaten into the ground by him won't prove as advantageous as a fight against an opponent on the same level of power; they could counter, block and deflect each others attacks with medium difficulty, this nurtured a mind ready to adopt new tactics, techniques and strategies in the thick smoke of war.

Both were eager to try out their newly found powers. With zest they entered the fray.

Blood-red claws tore through the earth and created ripple like quakes, purple flames fused earth with fire to create sizzling magma, black fangs crunched the empty air as after images whirred around the dragoness.

Fists imbued with powerful magic, easily mistaken for incarnate destruction with its menacing dark red glow, rippled onto equally flaming red scales. Kicks with the power to topple mountains were blocked by talons that could carve the soul out of one's body. Powerful earthquakes and catastrophic storms were countered by a despotic and draconic breath. After just a handful of clashes the forest and mountain ranges in the distance received considerable damage, flocks of birds and even other dragons and winged reptiles fleed from the disaster that struck their homeland. Mountains turned to dust, trees to ash and the ground to fire.

It was a scene straight out of the apocalypse.

"Haaa!", Alexander shouted and kicked after the colossal dragon. Once his leg made contact with the dragoness' body a visible tremble went straight through her flesh. She retaliated with a tail swipe that took the air out of Alexander's lungs.

*BLEURGH!*, Alexander skid over the stone and smashed into a protruding rock. Before he could stand up a giant maw spanned itself over his head and swallowed him including the ground he stood on only seconds ago. The dragoness crunched on the brittle earth with her dark fangs, small particles of powder and debris trickeld down with each motion of her powerful jaws.

"What are you doing?!", Alexander roared and sent a massive earthen spike from beneath the dragoness' chin. Getting uplifted from the ground the dragoness used her wings to stabilize her body in mid-air. *CRACK!*, a powerful claw gripped the dislocated jaw and tugged it into its rightful place. Blood seeped from all over the both adversaries.

Putting all her might into a final breath attack the dragoness flew high up into the sky, out of reach for Alexander. He squinted his eyes and shielded them with one hand from the sunrays. 'Not good.', he thoguht and began to collect mana around himself.

The earth calved and could be easily erred as a glacier with its buckling and roaring. The wind turned wild, mad storms trenched trees from the ground and hoisted even boulders into the air. Nature screamed in agony as its children were mercilessly slaughtered but all it could do was watch the madness unfold. A burning swig of infernal hot fire was added into the mixture of breaking earth and rupturing wind; it all coalesced into a mass of undiscernible magical might.

Alexander lifted his arm into the air and the mess of unruly elements moved with him. His eyes scanned the blue sky and looked for his opponent.

Though her intelligence rose to an herself unimaginable level it did not mean she ahd lost her dragon's pride.

A massive draconic body, coiled around itself and absorbing the very essence of light, eclipsed the sun and drowned the earth in everlasting darkness. Just as the darkness swallowed the lands it was soon replaced by a squirming second sun of incarnadine colour. The atmosphere heated up and Alexander's vision was as though he looked through petroleum fumes.

Wood began to crackle from the heat and was set ablaze, initianting a disastrous chain reaction that turned everything around Alexander into a sea of fire.

"Let's get it on!", Alexander shouted at the dragoness that obscured the sun, unknown if she truly heard his words she nonetheless attacked; with joy she complied to his wish.

A magenta inferno descended from the sky, combusted the heaven's themselves in its suffocating crimson heat. Ember rained from the sky like golden tears, the tears of the Gods as they saw this cataclysmic power rob them of their world.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!", Alexander shouted and the triform magic energy riled into the form of a golden aegis and a oblong sword with intricate runes engraved on it.

Hell's Arms clashed with Heaven's Judgement and turned the landscape for a short time into a white nothingness, where only power prevailed.

"ARRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!". "ROOOOOAAAAAR!!!!". *CRASH!*

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

"You guys done now?", Hirahn threw a pebble at Alexander and Lizzy each. The fistsized stones simply rebounded from their unconscious bodies, but none of them managed to actually wake them up.

"Haaaa.... what a pain.", Hirahn cussed himself for allowing the fight to escalate to such proportions. His eyes grazed over the desloate landscape. Forests and mountains were no more, just an all encompassing expanse of debris and fine ash. The whole environment changed into a desert.

Hirahn rubbed his hands. "And now I gotta clean this mess up....", and let his magic do the work.

A gentle wind collected the dust, the pieces of rock and burned wood and the yet to cool lava. It picked it all up and rebuild trees, towering mountains and even riverbeds. The ruptures in the earth mend themselves magically and in a snap everything returned to normal. It would take time for the animals to reallocate themselves to their home after the trauma they suffer under, but time will hela all wounds, even this one.

'That's right. Only time can heal the wounds in your heart....", Hirahn reminisced and the face of Saraya quickly emerged from his closed off memories. "How I'd love to see this world with you.", Hirahn gripped with one hand after the mirage. His hand passed right through the empty air. Dejectedly Hirahn could only smile at the beautiful image of Saraya and turned around.

He picked Alexander from the ground and absorbed Lizzy into his own being. The teleportation was invoked and he dissapeared from all sight, with Lizzy and Alexander in tow.

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

The days passed by uneventful. Hirahn would train Alexander and Lizzy, or rather those two would spar with each other while Hirahn slept or napped, or both at the same time. Hey, who knows?

Myrel grew fond of Hirahn and would often come to the castle to enjoy a good wine with him, the King and the still sulking princess. Unlike Myrel Sara couldn't bear the shock of being seen naked by a person she despised, although she was not sure about the hate part anymore, since everytime she got a glimpse of him her face would turn a crimson shade. But even with their two differing attitudes towards Hirahn they both became good friends. While Myrel was no magician she still helped Sara with her general studies. One might have not noticed it but Myrel was actually well educated in the subjects of mathematics, including this world's equivalent of algebra, geometry and, of course, simple arithmetic, and in most facets of social sciences, which amde her a good teacher.

Hirahn was also acquainted with Sara's uncle Petrov, they both became good friends and shared the same thrist for knowledge.

Over the time Hirahn warmed up to Myrel, not enough to actually start a romantic relationship but they considered themselves good friends by the end of the first few days. Alcohol might have had its hand in the development of their relationship but they both were grateful for it.

Through Petrov and Alexander Hirahn found out that all living creatures that have inborn aether also have a disposition to which kind of element they can insert their aether into. Magic made its own rules.

People that had a high aptitude for fire could use their aether to create, with the magic particles in the air, actual fire. There was a rare mineral found deeply buried into the ground that could tell one's aptitude for magic. Such a stone was used on Hirahn and as expected it showed a brilliant rainbow, including gold, silver, white and black. Hirahn himself had barely any idea about the potential of his power, he only knew that he barely tapped into it while being on earth and now the chance offered itself for Hirahn to enjoy his magical capabilities to their fullest.

On a side note, the tri elemental wielding Alexander was among the rarest of the rare. Only 1 out of 1000 would be able to become a mage with a single element, 1 out of 1000 mages had two elements and 1 out of 10000 mages had three elements. 1 out of 10 million had three elements; the chance of having another element increased exponentially with each one that was added. But all elements! People wouldn't even dream about that one.

Hirahn noticed that with each fight between Lizzy and Alexander that their attacks became fiercer, more powerful and at the same time controled, he couldn't help but ask them why their magic was steadily increasing. In the end the aether and whatever organ produced or collected it was much like a muscle. The more you are using it the bigger your aether pool becomes. As simple as that. But most people make the mistake of infusing more aether into their spells to make them stronger instead of heightening their control over them, resulting in many young geniuses dying off in real fights because they lost the ability to govern their magic.

Only five days left before the meeting of the heirs.

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

Further northeast of where Hirahn and co. established their 'training grounds' for their spars.

The ground trembled in a steady rythm, unlike the beastial and exploding rage induced tremors caused by Hirahn and his disciples this quaking was much more, harmonious if one can say so.

It was an unending drumming noise that echoed over an endless forest, steady like a heartbeat the thuds etched temselves into the hearts of the many that called the forest their home.

Cloaked in dark garbs a group of five people flew through the canopies of the monumental trees. With thick roots and sturdy trunks those ancient giants guarded the entrance towards a sacred land, they defied the mass of squirming flesh and steel that was stampeding their way inwards.

The stench of burned wood and blood penetrated the five cloaked figures, even with their hoods covering large portions of their face the disgust was visible as they watched those horned fiends raping and pillaging their sacred forest. With hawking eyes they sat on the branches of the tall trees, and even if their hearts revolted they noted everything done that was happening.

They all could only watch with horror and disdain as more trees were felled, more life was extinguished and more of their home destroyed. The wish that this was all a phantasmal dream festered within all of the five figures and they began to wonder. 'Why must we suffer?'

Mortified over their own powerlessness they hurried back to deliver the news about what was happening to their sacrosanct forest, worried hearts hastened their steps.

"What are the elders doing?!", one of the cloaked figures spat out as they flew from one branch to the next. "They are only waiting to be overrun by these demons! Those imbeccile and senile idiots!", the figure cursed.

"Shut up! You are in no position to slander the elders, they did their all to protect us and everyone within Isnaes. If not for their protection, our families and we as well would have perished already.", another figure snarled back.

"I am sure if they would channel the power of Yggdrasil we could wipe those disgusting demons from the face of our world.", the first figure mumbled to himself, his hand fidgeting with a white-bladed dagger.

"Tsk you won't learn.", the second figure clicked its tongue.

The other three figures just looked back at each other, shrugging their shoulders. 'They are always like that.', the three of them thought and tried to catch up to their two leaders.

"Guys, in five days we will be back at the capital. The rate at which they destroy our forest means we have roughly one month left before they will invade even the midst of Isnaes. And this will then spell our doom. Let's hurry!", the second figure called out while dodging a low hanging branch.

The wind rose gently and with a speed boost the five vanished through the foliage with incredible swiftness.

Out of the five figures one in particular held an air of panic around it. Two violet-skinned hands gripped tightly around each other, trying to dispell the continuous trembling. A cold and dispondent breath left from behind the figure's hood. The cold breath dissipiated with the passing wind as well as a part of the figures worry. 'It will be alright.', the figure told itself and followed its comrades.