APEC is happening. It is really happening. So busy. Very, verily busy... and neither Putin nor Widodo are personally attending. There goes my hopes of getting a photo with either of then. Also I'm a third expecting a disaster, a third expecting a worse disaster, and a third expecting the usual.

Have a chapter. Not sure when the next one will be out.

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Threads of black light appeared around the old man.

"Aw, shit." cursed Cavaron, "Really?"

The threads of black light grew to the same size as the tree above the old man, and the old man shouted.

"Stasis." he said.

The black light expanded within an eye blink, enveloping the entirety of the fortress and the surrounding areas. The environment came to appear in negative color as time stopped all around them. Apart from the old man, Cavaron remained unaffected due to the newly swirling flames around his body that erupted at the same moment the black light encompassed Cavaron. The old man raised a brow at this sight.

"A fragment of chaos?" said the old man, "From whom did you receive that?"

Cavaron smirked at the old man's knowledge and interest.

"So it would seem that you know about this seed." replied Cavaron, "Tell me, Yggdrasil, apart from you, who else knows about this flame?"

The old man, Yggdrasil, remained silent. With a wave of his arms, tree roots and vines shot forward in an attempt to bind Cavaron. Seeing such hostility, Cavaron had no other recourse but to resist.

"Is this how you greet a friend you haven't met for a few centuries!?" shouted Cavaron, "Old man, have you gone senile!? Hahaha!"

Yggdrasil appeared unaffected and kept the assault. A bunch of vines came from above Cavaron while another bunch of tree roots came from below. All around Cavaron, wood and vine tried to grapple him.

"Hey, hey, hey!" shouted Cavaron, "I've seen too much to know where this is going! Pardon me if I 'erase' it, yeah?"

Cavaron willed his flames to meet the roots and vines head on with a huge fan of flames. The fan of flames met the roots and vines, and the roots and vines disappeared without a trace.

"Too much destruction, Cavaron." said Yggdrasil, "You haven't mastered the gift. Hideki, come out."

Suddenly, the giant tree opened up and revealed a young Japanese man wearing a green jacket, black slacks, and a pair of boots. He appeared like an everyday Terran, but there was an eye catching item that he held. The young man wielded an unusual sword whose hilt was as long as its blade, and this sword was as tall as the young man.

The young man, Hideki, jumped out of the tree and wielded the unusual sword with both of his hands like a spear, and came bearing down on Cavaron with a strange power. Streams of water swirled around his unusual sword, and struck down at Cavaron.

Cavaron, seeing that Hideki brought down his sword upon him, retaliated with a blast of his flames. The steams of water around Hideki's sword met with Cavaron's flames and extinguished them. This surprised Cavaron and he immediately jumped far back.

"What the hell was that!?" cried out Cavaron, "How did you counter this flame!?"

Hideki stood in his place as he silently stared at Cavaron. Yggdrasil walked next to Hideki to answer Cavaron's question.

"Hideki, although he is of the Earth, received the Water of Tranquility." answered Yggdrasil, "A perfect counter to the Flames of Chaos. Bind him, Hideki."

Hideki nodded and summoned more streams of water around his body. In an eye blink, he suddenly appeared before Cavaron and swung his sword. As Hideki swung his sword, the water around his body spewed forth to tangle Cavaron. Cavaron's flames erupted in the face of impending danger and attempted to overpower the flames.

Fire and water clashed, and Cavaron had no choice but to bring out his own weapons to counter Hideki's sword. In a flash, his short swords appeared and collided with Hideki's unusual sword. The two of them were seemingly at par with one another but Cavaron was winning with his near inexhaustible mana, while Hideki's water was overpowering Cavaron's flames.

"Do it, Hideki." ordered Yggdrasil.

Suddenly, Hideki's eyes revealed an icy atmosphere. The water around his body became increasingly dense, and his body became wrapped with white light. A while after, the white light exploded and Hideki's appearance changed much like how Cavaron's appearance had once changed before. Hideki's hair and eyes became icy blue, and his clothing became ethereal white. Even his unusual sword became crystalline in appearance.

"Regalia of Tranquility." said Hideki, "Accept your fate."

Cavaron became enraged.

"You transformed?" he said, "Then I'll transform as well!"

Cavaron's flames became increasingly black and enveloped his body until light could no longer pass. In less than five seconds, a pair of red eyes were revealed from the dark storm that enveloped him. However, before the flames could disperse...

"I already told you that Hideki's gift was the perfect counter to your gift." said Yggdrasil as he watched a torrent of fire and water clash against each other, "But it would seem that you have lost yourself to the flame."

The water around Hideki swallowed the flaming pillar that was Cavaron, and it was all done in a moment. The black flames were extinguished and, through the water's translucence, Cavaron reverted back to his original appearance with a face of disbelief. The water bound him by his neck and limbs, and dropped him on his knees as they dispersed. This left only Hideki and Yggdrasil standing before Cavaron.

"As punishment for revealing magic to nonmagical inhabitants, you will be put to sleep for the time being." said Yggdrasil as he bent down on the kneeling Cavaron, "Ethereal Daze."

A gray cloud appeared around Cavaron, and he slowly lost consciousness. Before he could drop on the ground, tree roots had caught him and brought his unconscious body to the giant tree.

"Now then, how many minds will I be altering?" wondered Yggdrasil, "Apart from Maguro and that new girl... Oh, dear. That's quite a lot... If not for his relationship with Master Efil, I would have put him to sleep for eternity. For now, Hideki, assist Cavaron in mastering his gift."

Hideki, having reverted back to his original appearance, nodded at Yggdrasil's command and headed back to the giant tree, following after Cavaron's unconscious body.

---

"Greetings, Master Yggdrasil. " greeted Maguro, "I must ask, though, what happened with these two?"

Maguro, Aimi, and Aomi were seated around a table with Ygdrassil. With them, however, were two other people: Aiko and Daichi, and they were the subjects of Maguro's inquiry.

"I cannot fathom how my mind magic was unable to alter their memories." sighed Yggdrasil, "Cavaron must have mixed an essence of his flames when he granted knowledge upon these two."

Yggdrasil turned his head towards the two stiff soldiers seated on his left. Maguro, on his right, spoke.

"And Cavaron?" he asked, "Where did you take him?"

"Relax, Maguro." said Yggdrasil, "He may be under punishment, but he will be under the care of a trusted individual. I... we... cannot really bring him to harm due to his relationship with Master Efil. For now, the trusted individual will be 'fixing' Cavaron for us. As for the three mini-Cavarons, behave or I will dismantle you."

The three mini-Cavarons who were frozen in time before were actually standing behind Yggdrasil. When they heard his warning, the three huddled together and shivered at the thought.

"I wonder where he got these dolls." said Maguro, "Their AI is really advanced. I have yet to encounter a world with self-aware dolls. Especially those that know fear."

"I suspect they came from a magitech world." said Yggdrasil, "Even now, they are drawing mana from Cavaron's unconscious body. Hm? Yes, young one?"

Yggdrasil found Aimi raising her hand.

"Um, I can't help but ask..." she said, "Are you European? I just noticed your accent."

Yggdrasil blinked twice and laughed.

"Ahaha, yes. Yes, I am." he answered, "Specifically, I am an ancient Norse wizard, a heretic of the time. Oh, but I hold no relations with the myths and legends of Nordic gods, though."

"Master Yggdrasil was named as such because of his mastery over nature magic coupled with his age." said Maguro, "He is one of the oldest Terrans of our kind."

"Don't forget that old age brings about wisdom." added Yggdrasil, "Because of this long life, I was able to add Mind and Time-Space magic to my repertoire."

"You should be around 1200 years old, yes?" asked Maguro, "That is, assuming you were born around the eighth century."

"Taking the lunar cycles as reference, I am about that many years old." replied Yggdrasil, "I honestly don't know since I stopped counting when I hit 300 years. Strange how Cavaron still keeps tabs on his age."

...

As they were chatting with each other, Cavaron was in an unknown location. This location could very well be inside the giant tree as the walls were made of tree bark and the "bed" his body lay upon was made of twisted wood. Beside him was the young man, Hideki, who had his unusual sword sheathed on his back.

"I may be younger than you, senior..." he said, "But my mastery of the gifts are greater than yours. I wonder what you lost to gain this much?"

Hideki summoned streams of water from within himself to coil around his arms. The streams were like snakes that slithered all the way to his fingers.

"Pardon me for this, but I must make sure you haven't lost beyond help." he told Cavaron, "Well, I doubt you'll notice since you are asleep, after all."

Hideki wave his hands over Cavaron's unconscious body, and the streams of water flowed into every orifice of Cavaron. Streams of water entered through Cavaron's ears, nose, mouth, and even the nether regions. The water flowed continuously until, finally, Hideki's eyes had gone white, and the streams of water fully encased Cavaron in an icy blue shell.

"I will be entering your subconsciousness, senior." said Hideki, "I will douse the raging flames in your heart."

Unknown to Hideki, behind him was another young man. This young man had purple hair and golden eyes. He was the very same young man that had brought Edeortha to ruin a century ago. The purple-haired young man was silently watching Hideki work on Cavaron for a while before phasing out of existence.

---

Having entered Cavaron's subconscious, Hideki found himself sitting upright on a bed inside a room.

"Where am I?" he wondered, "Is this a memory fragment?"

Hideki got off the bed and went to a nearby window. Outside, he found himself to be inside a farmland village. With a single glance, one could surmise that this village held a small population of 100 families. Hideki looked down below him and found a young man with farming tools talking to a woman.

"Have you been well, Cavaron?" asked the woman, "I'm sorry I haven't been visiting as much lately."

"No worries, teacher." replied the young farmer, "I know that being a married woman makes one busy."

The young farmer, Cavaron, was happily chatting with the woman who appeared at least ten years older than him.

"Clara, where are you?" called out a burly man, "Oh, there you are. Hey, Cavaron."

"Hey, to you, too." replied Cavaron, "I should go back to work now, teacher."

"Uh, yes." replied Clara, "Yes, I shouldn't disturb you for too long. Say hi to your parents for me."

Hideki watched Cavaron leave the house and wave goodbye to the man and woman. After the couple had gone out of sight, Hideki found Cavaron strongly gripping the handle of his backhoe.

"Damn you, Grall." cursed Cavaron, "If I had power... If I hadn't ran... Clara... I'm so sorry..."

Cavaron left towards the farmlands still seething in anger. Hideki followed Cavaron until he could no longer see him. He turned around but didn't find the same room nor the bed he sat on. Instead, he was in an audience chamber with a dumbstruck Cavaron facing a king.

"Hero! We have summoned you to aid us in our great need!" declared the king, "Our goddess has deemed you worthy of her gift to slay our enemies!"

"This must be his first summoning." mused Hideki, "Is senior showing me these, is it the flame, or is it the hand of fate?"

"I... I'm no hero..." said Cavaron, "What the hell are you saying? Where the hell am I!?"

The king appeared distraught and an aide whispered with him. Occasionally, they would glance at Cavaron looking like a lost lamb.

"Still, you were summoned." said the king, "Therefore, you have the capacity to be our hero!"

The king stood up and left Cavaron with another man. This man was wearing a Maximilian-like silver armor. The armored man had a longsword sheathed by his hip, and was also accompanied by a musclebound man cloaked in red orange flames with a turban.

"Pardon His Majesty, young one." said the armored man, "He hasn't rested well for the past few weeks due to our losses. My name is William and this fellow here is Culverin. We will be the ones to teach you how to fight. Come."

Hideki watched as William effortlessly lifted the young Cavaron up from his knees and brought him somewhere else. Culverin, who was then bound to William, followed behind them. Hideki sought to follow as well but, right after passing through a door way, the scenery changed to a battlefield.

"William! William! Talk to me, dammit!"

Within the battlefield was a silver armored Cavaron kneeling next to a dying William. Culverin was also kneeling down, staring at William.

"Cough... Sorry, Cavaron." apologized William, "After all that I'd taught you... You've done well... Haha..."

William held Cavaron's trembling hand, "I'll be leaving Culverin with you... Take him as... Your graduation gift..."

A magic circle appeared beneath them. Cavaron and Culverin were then bathed in magical light.

"Ever passionate guardian of the Scarlet Goddess." chanted William, "I beseech thee to grant onto my compatriote thine love and aid in his time of need. Let our pact, that was once bound unto us, be delivered to the coming generation."

William's body glowed, and a magical array rose from his body. This array split apart into two, each of them landing onto Cavaron and Culverin.

"Hey, William." called out Cavaron, "What the hell are you doing? This looks different from the usual binding. Hey! Answer me! William!"

William just smiled at Cavaron until his body dispersed into many balls of yellow light. The balls of light swirled around Cavaron's body until they all finally converged into him.

"This... No... No! I don't need this, damn you! William!" cried Cavaron, "You damn bastard..."

William's body disappeared, and the mana around Cavaron fluctuated. Cavaron stood up and approached Culverin. He grasped both of the Elemental's shoulders and lifted Culverin with unimaginable strength.

"You knew, didn't you?" asked Cavaron, "You knew he would sacrifice his essence to empower mine! Answer me, Culverin!"

Culverin looked at Cavaron in the eyes.

"Master William's command was absolute." he answered, "And now, yours as well."

Cavaron became furious.

"If that's how you all want it, then fine." he said, "With your aid, all shall burn down to the ground!"

"Yes, Master Cavaron." answered Culverin.