A month passed and the Guild had expanded quite a bit. Reis, Aurora, Shin, Darak, Kyla, Erasa and the rest of the new Dragon Masters were instructing the multitude of Drakes in how to summon their Dragons and protect themselves. There was something visibly noticeable though and it became more pronounced as the days passed. In the days before these changes occurred, the Dragon Rangers were all fearsome combatants but among these new members, there were many not talented in combat. Some found difficulty in riding dragons and many more were simply not interested in combat.
The Dragon Knights pointed these facts to the Dragonlord but he said,
"Let us trust in the will of Arӓlpheisl".
He had assigned some Dragon Knights to seek out and aid the Rangers travelling with Reia.
Darak and Reis, Aurora, Shin and Kyla on a certain day were gathered at the Lake Of Kagua Beasts. Reis was sparring with Aurora as he usually did. He was helping her raise her skill in single sword style swordsmanship. Darak sparred with Shin while Kyla and Erasa spoke with each other.
"I don't understand it. As rangers, our purpose is to protect the Dragons and oppose Armageddon so why would the Dragons choose people that have neither the skill nor desire for combat?" Aurora asked.
"You know Aurora…" Reis began.
"Huh?" everyone turned to listen to him.
"There are many more variations of battle than those that are fought with a sword" Reis said.
"What do you mean?" Shin asked.
"The fragments of Arӓlpheisl for instance. Think how they were gathered. In the case of Sabre-fang, I fought him, then fought his poison. The battle was fought on a medical front. In terms of the Golden Drakengaӓrd, I fought the hatred of Armageddon within me with your help. It was a battle fought in my spirit. In the case of Alpha, I fought an enemy that oppressed the home I belonged to, it was fought on a militaristic front and in your case Aurora, I fell for you" Reis said with a smirk at the end of his sentence.
Aurora laughed.
"You sure can be funny sometimes but…I see your point. There are many fronts on which to fight than a battlefield" Aurora said.
"And the Dragons might be doing this to capture them all. All those different battlefields" Reis said.
"When you put things that way, it makes a strange sort of sense" Darak said.
"For now, why don't we observe our students…try to find out what they're good at, what they're bad at…stuff like that. It might help us understand why the Dragons chose them" Erasa suggested.
Everyone stared at her in surprise.
"I think you've changed quite a bit Erasa" Reis said.
"She certainly has. Heck, she even offers me words of advice sometimes" Shin said proudly.
"Don't mind him. Shin's just too much. Sometimes it's like he knows everything" Erasa said with a nervous laugh.
"Symptoms…" Reis said with a very deliberate cough.
Shin opened his eyes in fear as he recalled Epsilon.
"Damn you Reis! That's not funny!" Shin said angrily.
Reis laughed.
"Now you know how I feel around Reis" Aurora said nostalgically.
Meanwhile, Reia's company had grown quite a bit in the last month. Reia, Jared and the other eighteen Dragon Rangers composed of six Dragon Masters each with three Dragon Students under their wing were doing their best to tutor the new rangers. They decided it would be risky to keep moving about since their company had become quite large so they needed a safe haven to stay. It had to be a place away from the villages of Saggeese lest a spy placed the entire village in danger by reporting them. They made their journey into a thick unexplored Saggeesian forest. There they decided to start building a village modelled after the original guild. They wouldn't remain stationary though. Their present company numbered roughly about a hundred.
Just like in the original guild, the new guild members had some extremely gifted in combat and some without combat skills at all. However, one gift was prominent in those without talent for combat. They were great builders. Those with similar skillsets began to bond together. This bonding was happening on a larger scale in the original guild. Reia's party did not focus completely on building. A bit of the party gifted in combat stayed with the rest of the guild. A rough number of about twenty five. The other twenty five including Reia set out to seek more of those virtuous souls chosen by the Dragons. Reia encouraged Jared to make contact with the main Guild. Jared did so and reported all that was going on.
Mistress Kira now knew without a doubt that Jared was alive with the other rangers. Reia explained the situation to the Dragonlord. He began to see a better way around the entire situation. He encouraged the Dragon Knights to establish Guilds wherever they were and gather the people they found into those guilds. However they were to keep contact with the central guild so that support could be offered them whenever they needed it.
That then was the story of how Ryugaeia began to transform from a world with extinct Dragons into a world with abundant Dragon life. For a while, these guilds continued their growth in mystery. Due to the inexperience of the new Rangers though, we were yet to witness it; a sky filled with Dragons.
Five months passed and now the guild was a bustling city with a strong culture both economic and historical. The new Dragon Rangers were taught the history of Ryugaeia and the 'Tragic Legend'. There was a new legend that was taught to the students as well. They called it 'The Hopeful Legend' and it was a record of the heroic exploits of the Dragon Rangers and Arӓlpheisl. The new Rangers were proud of their heritage. This pride governed all that they did.
I said earlier on that the Dragon Rangers in the central guild with similar skillsets began to bond together. That was true. Even if they could not all summon their Dragons, it did not change the fact that a Dragon had bonded with them and it was only a matter of time before they began to realize their peculiar abilities. Some like Erasa began to realize superhuman strength. They used their abilities to build and perform tasks that required great strength. Others began to realize a peculiar ability to interact with plants. They used this to boost agriculture in the guild. Others began to realize the ability to interact with the minerals in the earth and with this they began to mine through a process that called the minerals to themselves. It was an extraction process that did not require digging.
The Dragonlord realized that this was another way to combat Armageddon; to help Ryugaeia flourish, to put hope into people's hearts. These other creative abilities born from the affinity with the Dragons that did not involve combat were collectively called 'Improvised Dragon Abilities'.
On a certain clear day, Mistress Kira got Aurora settled down and informed her of the fact that Jared was alive as well as the missing Dragon Rangers who were presumed dead on the tragic mission. Aurora and Darak could not conceal their joy. They asked for Jared's location but Mistress Kira said,
"Though they are alive, I cannot tell you where they are yet. They are after all in Saggeese and any suspicious moves by the Rangers will alert Di Devilli to our intentions".
Aurora and Darak reluctantly agreed.
On that same day at dawn, Reis had had a very peculiar dream. It appeared to recount the events that occurred at Arӓlpheisl's advent but there was an element mixed in the dream that Reis did not completely understand. It appeared that at the moment of his death, among the experiences he had experienced with Alpha, he had journeyed with Alpha to the Lords Of Light and had begun to recount his story to them. He had also dreamt of a strange place very much like a guild and throughout his dream, a voice echoed,
"Seek out your predecessor. He will teach you an important lesson. Life is but a day, and time but a dream".
Then once more he stood before Alpha, the Dragon Sovereign.
"What am I seeing Alpha?" he had asked.
"He has begun to piece the fragments of the world together. This is a summoning Reis Dragonhaӓrt. You are to journey into the world of the Silver-Haired One and learn the secrets of Benedict's Ark" Alpha had said.
"What is Benedict's Ark? And how will all of this happen?" Reis asked.
"As it always has. Progressively…and through dreams" Alpha had said.
All of a sudden, Reis found himself in a whiteness that appeared to stretch on forever. Then he saw a gate appear a distance before him and out of the gate sprang walls that stretched endlessly on both sides. Out of the white ground sprang grasses and trees and shrubs all around. Alpha was no longer with Reis. Reis walked ahead and reached the gate.
"State your business. This is a place commonly referred to as the Town Of Ole otherwise called the Academy Of The Old Living Everlasting Entity and only two categories of people are allowed in here. Those who teach and those who learn so which are you?" a male guard asked sternly.
"I recently graduated as a Dragon Student. I am a Dragon Master in name but have no experience whatsoever" Reis said.
"Choose a designated class" the boy said and stretched out his hand.
Words appeared in front of Reis. They were strange words but Reis understood the language clearly. He stretched forth his hand and touched the word for 'Student'.
"Welcome to the Academy of the Old Living Everlasting Entity. Within these walls you will find a crystal. There is presently a single destination encoded into the crystal. Touch it and head to your quarters" the male guard said.
"And do not be afraid. Within these walls, you will encounter friends from both your world and other worlds. Think of this world as a passing experience. A single day in your life" the female guard said.
Reis walked ahead through the gates and entered a garden that was well kept. There were people here and there but he was more interested in what lay ahead of him. There was a path through the garden which Reis followed and then there was an entrance into the Academy Halls. Reis walked down a long corridor. Along the corridor were walls without windows. Ahead of him, Reis saw the crystal. He ran towards it but was stopped by a lady.
"You're new here aren't you?" she asked.
"Is it that obvious?" he said with a laugh.
"This is an Academy that exists at the centre of…well you could say the universe" the lady said.
Reis was surprised to hear this. So surprised he didn't know how to react.
"A bit hard to take in isn't it? Then let me lower the scale a bit. This is the heart of your universe. You could think of it as a dream, an illusion or anything that makes you feel better but just as you entered one gate through your world to come here, different people from many different worlds enter through gates connected to their worlds. The 'worlds' or 'halls' within this Academy are fashioned according to the various worlds of the people who inhabit it and through their actions they build, shape and expand their worlds, halls or lands, whichever reference makes you feel better" the lady said.
"Why am I here?" Reis asked.
"If you are a student, you are here to learn. If you are a teacher, you are here to teach but if your intention was to ask the purpose behind why you were called here, then I can't answer you because I do not know it myself. I can only say that answers come with time" the lady said.
"Thank you" Reis said and headed to the crystal.
He touched it and was teleported to a Temple very much like the Rangers' HQ. He felt for a while like he would be all alone in this strange world but was surprised to find the Dragonlord, Kyla, Shin, Erasa and Aurora. There were many unfamiliar faces walking the halls of this 'Temple' and many others walking out.
Reis ran to his friends. They were overjoyed to see him.
"Why are you here?" was a question that circled the table for a while.
Everyone had the same answer except for Reis who did not yet know his. They were there to aid with whatever he was there to do.
"So I guess the real question now Reis is…what are you here for?" Aurora asked.
"I don't quite know yet" Reis said.
"You don't know?" Kyla was shocked.
"I don't know yet" Reis said.
There was utter silence for a while.
Then a voice said to Reis or at least he thought he had heard a voice say,
"Come up to the Director's Office".
Reis sat up.
"Wait for me here. I'll be right back" Reis said and ran to the crystal.
He touched it but this time it did not teleport him. It displayed two words in a bright blue light. The words 'Dream Knight Jurisdiction' and 'Director's Office'. Reis chose to go to the Director's Office and in an instant found himself standing in a strange brick walled place. There was a fireplace ahead of him and a huge desk. Seated on the desk was a man with Silver Hair and piercing crimson eyes. He was relatively dark skinned and had certain decorative lines on his face.
"The Seals Of Identity" Reis understood what the lines meant instantly.
"Come here Reis" the man called calmly.
He had a serious look but there was no malice or impatience in that look. Reis felt safe in his presence. Reis walked towards him.
"You are from the world of Ryugaeia and it appears to be nearing its consummation" the man said.
Reis did not understand what the man meant. He wasn't sure he wanted to understand.
"I want you Reis Dragonhaӓrt to establish a class within this realm. People come here every day and most of them are at a loss as to what to do initially. Most of them though from different worlds bond together and establish a set of social activities through which they learn from each other and grow. I would like you to establish one of these 'social' gatherings. A place to belong to so to speak" the Silver Haired man said.
"B-But how do I do something like that? These are all people from different worlds. How do I interact with people with completely different value systems and cultures from Ryugaeia's" Reis said.
"Yet this is what I am asking you to do. You are right to say that all these people are from diverse cultures but they have one thing in common regardless of world" the Silver Haired man said.
"And that is…" Reis asked.
"They are fundamentally human and human values, the things that really define humanity remain the same regardless of world. Language is not a barrier within this realm and you will find that most of the things that seemed to be barriers before are very much trivial and practically non-existent" the Silver Haired man said.
"What do I do?" Reis asked.
"First of all, I would like for you to establish social bonds with five special people" the Silver Haired Man said with a smile.
"What do you mean…special?" Reis asked.
The Silver Haired Man laughed.
"For now you can begin by seeking out a boy that turns into lightning and a girl that has lost her memories" the man said.
"I see" Reis said.
"I hereby upgrade your crystal location access privileges and grant you access to five new locations. I revoke your access to this office until such a time we will need to talk and we have a lot to talk about" the Silver Haired Man said and Reis found himself being teleported out of the man's office. Reis was in 'Dream Knight Jurisdiction' now. He looked around and saw a crystal ahead of him. He walked hurriedly towards it and passed by a boy with golden hair and the same 'Seals Of Identity' he had seen the man in the office have. He felt his heart pulsate and turned to look at the boy he had just passed. The boy turned to look at him and their eyes locked. For a while it felt like a communication of power between the two without any visible signs of communication. Then the boy smirked and walked away.
"I will certainly remember you" he heard the boy say as he disappeared.
"For now, you can begin by seeking out a boy that turns into lightning and a girl that has lost her memories" Reis recalled the Silver Haired Man's words.
"And now it is time to begin my adventures in the Academy Of The Old Living Everlasting Entity or rather…I should call you as you are truly named…Benedict's Ark" Reis said with a determined smile.
Within the Academy stood a boy called Reis Dragonhaӓrt. Surrounding the Academy was a wall of great height spreading endlessly on all sides and beyond the Academy…was everything in existence.