Mid Evening - Mid Winter : The Ancient Wreckage, Southwestern Holy Kingdom

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*fwoooosh* "Brother.. how do you know so much about the stars?" Krystallo's voice carried a mix of awe and curiosity, her scales catching the ethereal glow of the scarred moon above as we glided over the vast, shadow-draped forest below.

A smile came to my face as I was reminded of the countless nights we spent under the stars as children. "Well, I've spent a lot of time studying them!"

"But.. how do you know that each speck of light is a giant blazing fireball hurtling through the empty expanse of space?"

"That's all thanks to their light! By breaking down the light emitted from a star into its base parts, you can see what the star is made of, how old it is, and even how fast and in what direction it's moving."

Her eyes widened with wonder as she turned to look at me. "H..how though... Where would you even start?"

Swiftly creating a small piece of glass, I handed it to her. "You start by using something called a prism, like this piece of glass, and because different wavelengths travel at different speeds, you can separate them based on how much they bend; then, all you need to do is limit the light passing into the prism so it's just the light of the star and boom."

Her tail flicked excitedly as she held it to her eye and looked down at the soft glow in my scales. "Oh, we did actually learn about these! They taught us how to use them to help us find issues with our light magic that our eyes alone couldn't see."

I immediately raised an eyebrow as I glanced back at her. -That's actually really smart...- "Like to improve the accuracy of your illusion spells?"

"Exactly!" Her excitement was simply infectious. "And according to our teacher, maybe even to give light magic the ability to heal wounds in the future!"

-Huh? Does she mean, like.. disinfection with UV?- I tilted my head slightly as I thought about it, but I still drew a blank. "You'll have to show me sometime. I'm not sure I know much about that."

Glee instantly washed over her face. "Hehe, okay!"

But as her contagious joy started spreading to me, my expression stiffened. -What the...-

We were still about a hundred kilometers from the wreckage, but even still, I sensed a presence I could instantly recognize belonging to a dragon. -Without being able to read my aura it's a bit hard to tell, but it feels like someone.. is in the wreckage?-

At such a distance and without the ability to read my aura, it was a bit hard to tell its exact location. -But they're in that general area and are barely moving... I wonder if it's someone from the Intelligence Agency. Maybe they stumbled across it after I pointed them toward where the crawler was...-

But the closer we got, the more oddities I found.

Their aura was quite small, maybe only on par with an old adult-stage dragon, and was quite poorly controlled as if it were a human mage or perhaps a young dragon with far more aura than they could handle. -But if they're that young.. what are they doing all the way out here, all alone? Just a few of those big wyverns could do them in...-

It didn't make sense no matter how I twisted it, but the closer we got, the more my curiosity grew. -It's a shame I won't be able to speak with them...-

*Fwoosh-Fwoosh* *Fwoosh-thump* "Hm? Why are we landing here?" Krystallo looked around with a blend of curiosity and caution as we finally landed in the relatively small clearing.

"Well, this is the other thing I brought you here to see." As Ilios hopped off my back and stretched, I looked back at her excitedly. "Have you ever wondered if there was a way to travel between stars?"

Not quite understanding me, she tilted her head slightly before a mix of countless expressions blew across her face. "H..huh?!"

As I moved her off my back, I honestly wanted to laugh. She clearly picked up what I was alluding to, even if it was a little cruel. "Sorry to get your hopes up, but this doesn't have that ability anymore."

She immediately looked at me like she was upset, as if I had lied to her.

But it wasn't for the reason I thought. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'ANYMORE'?!"

-Ah...- I felt an awkward, cold bead of sweat instantly form on my forehead.

"SINCE WHEN COULD WE EVER DO THAT?!"

Quickly moving my wing over her, I pressed it down on her head to try and calm her down, but she just pouted. "It's a little hard to explain at the moment, but for now, just know that this is a relic from the great war, alright?"

She shot me a look of skepticism with a pout before turning and looking into the clearing. "So, where is it?"

"The entrance is just down there." I motioned down the steep, fairly clear path into the crater quite nonchalantly. -Looks like the intelligence agency did find this at some point...- By then, the trail I had made should have been long gone, but somehow, there was still an obvious path, with even the dust in the walls compacted slightly to make it last a while. -Looks like it was pretty high traffic at some point...-

I honestly wasn't sure what would even be left of the wreckage at that point. -But before that, I gotta take care of the unknown face...- "Here, Krystallo, stand behind me for a second. There's someone inside I need to drag out."

"Huh? Drag out?"

*Vwoom* "AAAH!" A scream echoed out of the ship the instant I picked them up.

-What the hell?!- One would think I ripped their arm off or something, but as I continued pulling them out, there was nothing but silence. -Did they finally pass out?-

However, to my surprise, as I pulled them out of the wreckage, I set my eyes on the true humanoid form of a very lean man with mostly red scales and a few glimmers of gold.

-This aura.. belongs to an elder?!- I honestly had no idea what I was even looking at. It was a man who looked both 40 and 240 simultaneously. -But he's still conscious in my aura.. so...- "Who are you?" I spoke firmly but with a curious tone.

But the man simply flinched before frantically responding with a shakey voice. "M-My name is C-Chrysí Flóga! A-an aspiring r-runic researcher!" He paused as he turned his gaze even farther from mine, refusing to look at me. "I-I didn't mean any harm, I pr-promise! I just... I just saw this place from the air an-an-and..."

His words trailed off as Krystallo's gaze fixed on him, her own curiosity mingled with a hint of skepticism.

-She's looking at him like he's not even a dragon...- "Okay, I get it, I get it." -He must be so skittish because of my aura...- "So, what brings you all the way out here? You know there are things here that can kill you around every corner, right?"

"I-I l-like to think I could protect myself against m-most things..."

"With what?" Looking at his aura, there was no chance he could even fend off one of the large wyverns on the beach.

"I specialize w-with runes!" He instantly created an array of runes in the air in front of himself with light mana as if it were nothing.

And to my surprise, each rune was actually pretty complex, to the point that it took me a second to even figure out what some of them were for, but once I saw how they came together, my eyes widened. -What the... Do these runes create oxyacetylene?-

It was a pretty simple chemical, essentially just being a mix of acetylene, made of two carbon and two hydrogen, and high purity oxygen, but acetylene alone should have been extremely difficult to make with any kind of volume only using a rune, yet the one in front of me did it nearly flawlessly with unbelievable efficiency. -His runes even have some Acardi influences...- "Did you make this yourself?"

He gave me a nervous nod after a moment of reluctance. "K-kind of!" As he continued, his skittishness slowly vanished. "I found many different parts and pieces at ancient sites like this one and on ancient relics, but managed to cobble them together to make this. I understand how it all works and even how to further optimize it at times, but as soon as I try to create something from scratch, nothing seems to work." He started biting his nail as he spoke. "I know I'm close. It's just a matter of time. Maybe I can try to-"

-Jeez, he talks fast...- Finally cutting him off, I spoke bluntly. "Compounds are way more complicated than you think. You can't just mindlessly create something random and expect it to be stable, let alone have an effect you expect."

Finally looking up at me, his eyes filled with interest. "Com..pound?"

But I wasn't in the mood to give him a lesson. "It's what you're creating with the center-left rune you showed. Regardless, you should still probably leave. This area is far from safe, even if you have that." -Although that would probably really mess up a wyvern...-

His awkwardness returned like a wave the moment I changed the subject. "I-I have others depending on what creatures I need to fight. I just cannot return to Bahamut yet." For the first time since I pulled him out, he spoke boldly.

-How firm...- "And why is that?"

He looked me in the eyes before speaking with determination. "I haven't found the phoenix yet."

And that was when everything seemed to click. -Oh.. so he's crazy...-

In short, the Phoenix was an ancient being from long before the war, sort of similar to Bahamut or the Ancient Fenrir, but not nearly as domineering, and one that never showed itself, to the point that it was generally considered a myth even back during the war. -But to be so committed to finding it... I really have to give him props...-

In my eyes, his efforts were futile. Even if he did somehow manage to find the Phoenix, he wouldn't even be able to ruffle its feathers regardless of what runes he used. -But it'd be a shame if he dies... He honestly seems good enough with runes that I could make use of him...- "Alright, well, I need you to leave the wreckage for now, but I'll give you an offer. If you return to Bahamut, apply to be the Ragnarok family's runic researcher. Take it straight to Zachari or Asimi Ragnarok and say you're there on 'Vasilias's recommendation'."

*ping* Flicking a small gold medallion with my insignia on it to him, I swiftly moved him up to the edge of the crater.

"I can promise you money, prestige, and access to runes and knowledge you won't find or experiment with anywhere else, so give it some thought."

He looked down at the medallion in a daze for a moment before finally looking back up at me with a gleam of hope in his eyes. "The Ragnarok.. family?" Seeing me nonchalantly nod, he looked back down at the medallion and fell into thought. But after a moment, he simply bowed and held out the medallion. "I apologize..." He spoke without a hint of a stutter.

-Hm?- I raised my eyebrow as I looked over at him. "What are you apologizing for?"

But his bow didn't waver. "I cannot accept your offer..." He looked up with a flicker of confusion mingling with determination in his eyes. "I appreciate your offer, truly. But my journey to find the Phoenix is mine alone... As I am currently, I am nothing but a burden, so please forgive my rudeness in refusing."

But I wasn't understanding. "Okay? But what are you giving me the medallion for? Should you ever give up on your path, the Ragnarok family will welcome your talents. Keep it."

"H-Huh?" He looked at me, confused, as if kindness was foreign to him before pulling the medallion back toward his chest. "I will not forget this!"

"Mhm, just don't die, kid." Finally motioning him off, he changed back to his dragon form and quickly took to the air.

As he flew away, Krystallo stared at his back with a blend of intrigue and confusion on her face. "Brother, do you really think he'll find what he's looking for?"

I immediately shrugged my wings. "The journey is more important than the destination sometimes. He clearly has some inner turmoils.. if his journey settles them, does he need to find the Phoenix?"

Krystallo's gaze turned to me as she sank into thought.

But I was quick to continue. "In any case, let's get back to what we were doing. You ready to go inside the wreckage?"

Finally finding our way into the wreckage, Krystallo's excitement quickly returned and grew. Each piece of twisted metal and fragmented technology was a story in itself, a relic of a time long gone.

As expected, her questions flowed endlessly, as if a large lake had finally caused the dam to burst, but while I didn't know too much about the Acardi either, I wove tales of their ingenuity and the wonders they had achieved.

The wreckage was more than just a pile of old metal; it was a testament to the reach and ambition of a civilization that had dared to touch the stars. And as we explored, I couldn't help but feel a sense of connection to these long-gone innovators, their dreams and aspirations seemingly echoing through time.

But the wreckage was only so large.

After a while, the moon climbed higher in the sky, its light casting long, eerie shadows across the wreckage site, and we finally made our way back outside, a new sense of inspiration and fascination dwelling in our minds.

We had simply spent hours lost in the stories the outside world had long-since forgotten, pondering tales that had ended long ago.

But unlike those, as we left the wreckage behind, heading back into the night sky, we knew that our journey was just beginning.

At that moment, we just had each other, but neither of us had a mutter of complaint.

All I could hope for was that I was finally strong enough to guide her to the future she hoped for so dearly, to fly among the stars with me.

But.. the future was always a mysterious thing. Even if you could see it, even the slightest differences could alter it. -And after experiencing the strength of Dagr's soul alone.. I know I still have a long way to go... But...- Looking up at the stars, my mind felt at ease. -It's not so bad spending some time like this too...-

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