When he walked out of the courtyard four elves had formed a sealing array that surrounded him. He had been caught. This was going to be hard. He looked at the four elves wondering what had prompted them to collaborating with humans. They were not mortal enemies but it was common knowledge that elves had a certain air of superiority when it came to humans. To see elves surround him was something that caught him completely off guard. They mus have been the ones who broke the seal he had left at the first location.
The world went black around John and the next scene was like a montage that showed Vemuri clash a many times with the cronies of the King. At this point no one dared to talk when they met. An order had already been issued and many in the kingdom had already been convinced that unearthing the power was the right thing for the world. They were brainwashed. Every time the kingdom discovered an entry point Vemuri was there to foil them. It was as if he was omnipresent. What he did not know was that they were working on making their own entrance.
For an entire year after their last clash everything went quiet. If he did not know how tempting that power was he would have though they gave up. It was at this point that massive armies of people started moving toward some unknown location that Vemuri thought of the possibility that they had found a way that he didn't know or made one. He infiltrated one of the armies and marched to the location and what he saw there was more than he had imagined.
A small city had been built and in the middle was a massive tower that was mid-construction. It was build with very dark shiny stone. It was built on top of a very large hole thus must have taken a log time to dig. At the base ware round spheres that were suspended mid air that seemed to rotate very fast creating a barrier around the tower. They small city have been at least five hundred kilometers wide. He had been duped for the many times he had been clashing with them they must have been building this. How did he not hear about it. How did they silence the masses of such a massive undertaking.
He spread his vision over to the depths of the hole and to his dismay, massive ape like beasts under the control of beast masters were digging. You could even see the suppressed lava veins. Was this how they were going to reach it. There were several barrier arrays around the city as set up by elves that kept him out. He could no longer do this alone.
Vemuri had met many people in his travels and the people who were most aware of the danger of the sealed power were the giants of the western continent. On arrival he was shocked to learn of how humans and elves had invaded the lands killing and carrying away many beasts, They were angry and when Vemuri told them of the massive tower and and his plan their giant boats might as well have been ready to leave. Vemuri had befriended an old dragon the last time he had been there, these beasts achieved a certain level of intelligence as they aged allowing for spiritual bonds or forced servitude depending on the person. This dragon agreed to be his mount especially since many wyverns from its territory had been killed. (1)
Vemuri had to visit a few more places to get more allies so he left a location token with the giants and day to meet. The next scene was the big battle that John had seen before. After it ended he was taken back to Noira's domain.
"..." John was sitting cross legged on the white floor in deep thought.
"Can't the old man stop it again?" he asked.
"He can't, in his last fight he burnt a lot of his life force to end the fight quickly and decisively." Noira said.
"Doesn't being a sage mean he is immortal?"
"He could have been but ... "Noira paused and waved her hand and scene started playing out.
Vemuri was kneeling in a circle. Magic runes were drawn on the circle and ever so often a beam of light would run along the runes. A massive dragon was laid down inside the massive circle as well. The long sword was laid out in front of him. He looked like a samurai about to kill himself. His eyes were closed and then the dragon spoke.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" it asked.
"... yes." Vemuri said. His voice was firm.
"Lets as begin," the dragon said and it spat out a blue flame that ran along the runes and engulfed both of them in flames. Vemuri's face changed to a pained one as he struggled against the flames. He relaxed after some time. The flames didn't burn the body but the soul. After some time the flame split into two as it begun to condense and eventually it reduced into two people shaped flames.
The blue one merged with Vemuri while the blue one stood in front of him and slowly grabbed the sword and stabbed him in his magic core. It pulled out the sword which glowed blue and stabbed itself in the same place and it merged with the sword which now fell on the ground. Vemuri felt uninjured but he felt like he aged a lifetime. His hair changed to white and his skin got wrinkles. This old man grabbed the sword and stood up. He used it as a support stick and walked towards the dragon which opened its wings and revealed its chest and closed its eyes and nodded its eyes.
Using all his remaining strength he stabbed the sword into the dragons chest to its heard and its wings embraced him and the dragon lit up. Red flames surrounded them and relit runes again and the flame persisted for a day before the dragon finally opened its wings again revealing a young but older looking Vemuri.
"To war then," the dragon said and the scene ended.
John was back in Noira's realm. His face was full of questions. He did not even ask them because he knew very well that she was aware what he was thinking.
"The dragon was old with about a thousand years on its life left. The old man was immortal and had many more. To win this war decisively he imbued me the sword with most of his life and the dragon gave him its remaining life force save for a year to clean out the remnants. That is why the old man is not immortal anymore."
"No wonder the king was unable to put up a fight on the tower. He was outclassed by the old man."
"The purpose of the ritual was not to fight the king easily, he could have done that, it was for what would come after, To destroy the ancient power, he converted his entire life into magic, but it was still not sufficient."
"Not sufficient?"
"It was more than he could control, start fell from the skies and he destroy all other related locations as well, and made a massive seal in the big hole. to ensure that no one would ever stumble upon the power again. When the dragon died he build the cottage by the lake and mounted its head as a reminder of the sacrifice. He knew that it was not enough but you came sooner than he expected.
The lake was formed on the plains where the stars fell and is part of the seal he formed."
"Couldn't control?"
"You can say that he underestimated the strength of his own life force. He suffered a soul-backlash which severed the connected of my soul with his and this the short sword broke."
"This is too much information. Is that my purpose, to destroy that thing, that god like power?"
PRESENT
John had been sitting in a daze for most of the evening. His mother, father were not sure what was wrong with him. They looked at Minerva who was as surprised as they. They did not dare to touch him since the entire time his body seemed to surrounded by a layer that buzzed with lightning from time to time.
"What kind of magic is he practicing?" Minerva had seen him in this state before. But he just looked like he was absent minded and it did not last for such a long time, and he was never layered in lightning. She had come down from the shower and found him this way and he didn't move for like four hours.
They were about to go to sleep and were standing behind the couch looking at him. Ursula was not home.
"We can't stay here for too long, who knows what has happened." John was saying.
"That's right, and you should probably wake up, your family is standing behind you." Noira said as John woke from his daze and looked behind him.
"Minerva, we cannot stay here for long." he said in a deep serious voice.
(a) There is an evolution system for magical beasts.