As Casmir walked down the short corridor of the building, he was surprised by the size of the corridors, they were barely large enough for two people to pass by each other and it would be a tight squeeze to do so.
It was as if this buildings designers were prioritising saving space over accessibility.
While Casmir examined the tight metal corridor, he grew increasingly curious as to where they were. Instructor Redfire's body was large and it blocked Casmir sight ahead of him, although he could still hear the sounds of chatter and moving vehicles just ahead of them.
Soon enough they reached the doorway and although it was still night the artificial lighting provided by mounted white lights on the buildings exterior, allowed Casmir to get a sense of the environment he was in.
Casmir saw multiple vehicles moving back and forth across the grassy terrain, muddy trails left behind them as they transported large objects to and from the building. Casmir could also still see the treeline of a forest surrounding this clearing, perhaps this was a base somewhere near the forest wilderness he had previously been trapped in.
To Casmir's right side there was a large gateway that the vehicles were coming to and from, with various personnel moving back and forth. Although as Casmir looked at the buildings walls he noticed that they were curved in an odd way and the large gateway in its side was raised slightly off the ground, requiring a ramp to enter into it.
As Casmir walked down the retractable metal steps attached to the similarly raised doorway he had left, he took a good look at the building he was in. Slowly but surely as Casmir pieced together the true from of this building in his mind, a look of complete shock appeared on his face.
The 'building' was nothing of the sort, it was the very same massive black 'bird' that Casmir had seen last night. It had landed, its large belly had been opened up and an entire army had marched out of it, covering the area with various military officers wearing black uniforms and holding strange metal objects in their hands.
The metal bird was massive, with a slick black finish on its thick armour plating that made it ideal for night time operations. Scattered across the birds body were odd metal protrusions that extended out from holes in its body, they were of various different shapes and sizes causing Casmir to not recognise their identity for some time, until he recalled his history books.
Some of these metal protrusions resembled Qi Cannons, military equipment that was invaluable in times of war. Created for the first time barely 100 years ago, they were hard to forge and operate but Qi cannons from barely 40 years ago could potentially unleash power equivalent to Grade 5 cultivators over a large area.
They were created using special materials and different types of arrays in conjunction to bring out the destructive effects of the 'shells' they fired. These shells were filled with powerful explosives, combined with different forms of Qi energy to create devastating explosions that had a variety of secondary effects like incendiary, smoke, shrapnel etc.
However public knowledge of such technology had dwindled in recent decades due to the growing threat of espionage, especially during the most recent Great War against the Ariel Kingdom, creators of the Lifeless Plague.
Casmir now looked at the imposing black bird in a different light, he could only imagine the overbearing strength this bird could display from the amount of Qi Cannons equipped on it.
Casmir actually felt threatened by its very presence, the hairs on the back of his neck extending slightly, as if his entire understanding of power had been shaken, everything he had believed about individual power granted through cultivation was destroyed.
Even a God would choose to avoid such a powerful metal beast that could unleash so much destruction.
Yet while Casmir was lost in thought, standing nearby, Redfire watched Casmir's reaction with a knowing smile before explaining this 'birds' purpose.
"This is a Dragonfly class military shuttle, its precise purpose is to be a mobile operating base for the Military special forces base just outside of Ellaris city. It was sent out to aid in the capture of the Grade 6 Shadow Wolf and the investigation into this incident after it became known that this camp was compromised."
Casmir looked at Redfire in awe of the technological marvel that this Dragonfly class military shuttle represented, he had seen interesting pieces of technology like vehicles, the Ellaris communications tower and even civilian flying vehicles. However their size was simply no match for this behemoth.
"How.. how powerful is this.. shuttle? Those Qi Cannons equipped to this flying fortress could easily wipe out Ellaris city... Do we have any defences against something like this..?" Casmir asked with a tinge of anxiety.
Redfire was surprised that Casmir's first concern was defending against such a weapon and not how it worked, explaining.
"Don't concern yourself with that, firstly I can't tell you for security reasons.. but, if someone could create such a powerful weapon for offence, don't you think we could invent similarly powerful defensive measures, using arrays for example?"
Casmir thought about it for a moment, realising that Instructor Redfire was right but before he could ask anymore questions, Instructor Redfire stopped him.
"It's not important right now Casmir, Bluefire can explain some of these things to you later but for now, I need you to follow me." He said seriously.
Casmir nodded back, suppressing his curiosity as he then followed Instructor Redfire passed the Military shuttle and towards the ruins of the Ellaris Guardship camp.
Seeing the ruins Casmir realised that they had indeed never left, the Dragonfly Shuttle had simply landed in the large clearing to allow the personnel to investigate the area.
These personal were of two kinds, military dressed in black clothes and armour with various weaponry as they moved debris and bodies. Or scientists, wearing camouflaged clothing with little to no defensive equipment as they set up or operated strange pieces of Qi technology that emitted pulses of Qi energy into the air as if searching for something.
Casmir was especially curious towards the strange Qi technology being used, he noticed that although many of the military were equipped with elegantly forged weaponry like Swords, Bows and spears. The Qi energy being given off by these traditional weapons being exceptionally fierce and powerful, many of the military personnel were also equipped with strange tube like devices.
The devices resembled thick metal pipes at least 4 inches thick and a metre long with a variety a special components added onto them, like grips, crystal scope like devices and other things Casmir's couldn't recognise.
Then with a silent 'click', Casmir's thoughts lined up as he realised that they were miniaturise Qi Cannons.
Redfire saw what Casmir was looking at, explaining the device to him.
"Their called Qi Energy Guns, they're cutting edge military weaponry. I'm sure you've seen Qi energy Cannons before in museums or history books. Well Qi Energy Guns are just simplified, weaker versions of them but at the moment only the special forces can afford to use them." Redfire explained seriously.
Casmir was just about to ask Redfire about Qi Energy Guns further when they reached a large tent that had been set up, guarded by a couple of tough looking military officers.
Redfire flashed his badge at them quickly before he pushed aside the tent fabric and signalled for Casmir to follow him inside.
"Be respectful, you can trust these people with the truth." Redfire said softly to remind Casmir.
Casmir nodded back, following Redfire in.
Inside of the tent were 4 people, standing around a strange metal device. The strange metal device had been implanted in the ground to stabilise it, it looked like a square box with a glass cylinder attached to the top of it and a glowing light inside.
However Casmir could tell that this device wasn't forged from any old metal, it shined with a multi-coloured light and even gave off its own Qi energy pulses from the concentration of Qi energy inside of it. Also the 'glass' cylinder was definitely a finely crafted crystal material forged from valuable Qi crystals.
This device must have cost a fortune however Casmir's attention wasn't focused on it, rather it was focused on one of the people standing near it.
This person was an Elemental in the form of a pristine looking young man, with a beautiful face that made him look very feminine and a pure white aura that promoted his almost saintly demeanour.
Casmir knew who this elemental was, he was named Ellaris, after the city, but his name was not from birth. It was given to him when he took up the mantle of Guardian of Ellaris City.
This title represents a truly respected figure among the Elemental community, it was an ancient title given to their leaders and kings but after millennia of cultural growth it came to represent only the best of Elementals. Elementals given the title of Guardian would be sworn to protect their people with their life, often renaming themselves after the Elemental settlement they are sworn to protect.
Ellaris was a majority Elemental city and thus the Guardian held almost unquestionable power there.
As for how Casmir recognised him, it was simply, statues of him were spread out across Ellaris city. Not only were they numerous, the statues were both old and new, the oldest of which being over 100 years old.
This was because Guardian Ellaris himself was at least 250 years old, owing to his races long life span and his cultivation which extended it further beyond natural limits.
Casmir's eyes were glued to this legendary figure, Guardian Ellaris's cultivation was at least Qi Grade 7 and the sword that hung at his waist seemed oddly threatening to Casmir despite its plain appearance.
The Guardian glanced at Casmir and Redfire as they entered, curious as to why Casmir looked as his sword with a trace of fear.
Across from him, a military officer stood behind someone in a wheelchair, this person was actually Vin whom Casmir had previously helped.
As for the forth person in this room, it was a rather short individual whom looked like a child. His head was completely free of hair but there were two antennae like protrusions on his head that waved about delicately as he moved, he also wore special goggles over his eyes as he carefully tapped on the strange metal device in front on him.
His movements seemed to cause some reaction from the strange device as the light inside the crystal cylinder flickered oddly, however the short man was clearly frustrated for some reason.
Everyone in the room kept quite as he worked, Casmir was unsure why they kept silent but he didn't dare speak without being spoken to in this situation.
Then suddenly the short man cried out and viciously kicked the metal box part of the machine.
"ARGH! *DUNG* Work you stupid thing!" he cried in a high pitched voice.
Redfire and the observing military officer behind Vin looked as if they themselves had been kicked when they saw this, however their cries were stuck in their throats as they looked at the short man with antennae.
Clearly they knew the value of this device, wanting to curse the short man for his ignorance but for some reason they were unwilling to.
Meanwhile Casmir and Vin simply looked at the situation in confusion, unaware of the value of this metal device.
It was only when Guardian Ellaris spoke up that the short man stopped.
"Grickida, just give up, the whole place was wiped clean." He said in a soft almost feminine voice that was clear and wise.
'Grickida' simply scoffed at his words, opting to crouch down and play with the machine some more.
"Sigh.. Sorry about that. Agent Redfire you say your student could have some information for me?" Guardian Ellaris asked, ignoring Grickida's actions.
Redfire stepped forward, saluting respectfully before he spoke.
"Yes Guardian! However it is sensitive information." He said glancing at Vin and the officer behind him.
The Guardian nodded to Redfire before looking at Vin and the officer.
"Take him straight to the main infirmary and give him to the chief medical officer, see if he can help at all." He said looking at the officer.
"Thank you for your time, your recording is very valuable to our investigation. Scholar Vin, we'll do our best for you and your sacrifice won't be forgotten." Guardian Ellaris then said, referring to Vin's complete loss of cultivation.
Casmir knew that military service was very important in the Heldan Republic, it was a highly respected job that came with appropriately high compensation for service and sacrifice. Vin would easily be able to live a pleasant life with the compensation and be shown respect by those who knew of his service.
As for Vin's title of 'Scholar', Casmir knew that in the military and government ones cultivation path, Warrior, Refiner, Scholar for example, were often used as titles for identification if no other title such as Officer, General or Commanders were appropriate.
As for Redfire's title of Agent, Casmir was unaware of any official titles that used such a word, he could only imagine what position would hold such a title.
As Casmir was thinking about this, Vin nodded at Guardian Ellaris and saluted respectfully before he was assisted out of the tent on his wheelchair by the officer behind him.
Guardian Ellaris then looked at Casmir as Redfire brought him forwards to speak, apparently they were both unconcerned by the presence of Grickida as he continued banging and tapping on the metal device.
"Explain your encounter with those two cloaked individuals to the Guardian, you can also tell him about 'that' ability, don't hold anything back." Redfire said seriously.
Casmir nodded before he looked at the Guardian and began to explain his encounter...