ERIKA DRAKENGUARD
Treading carefully, I said, "Get ready everyone, they must be tired, now is the time to ambush them." I looked in disgust at the corpses of young kids and armoured adults, looks like the old man was right for once, there really was a monster here in a human's clothing.
"Hiding is for cowards you know", the boy was already on my left as he said that. A beautiful black blade gleaming in his hands.
The mere sight of it made me uneasy but I had to bear it, this mission was of highest importance after all.
"You have keen senses, but don't worry we come in peace," I said that, hoping he would let his guard down.
"Why should I trust you?", he seemed to be asking genuinely.
"True trust is born of treachery, you must be thinking why we are here and what our purpose is, when we will attack you and so on, but won't we gain your trust if we don't do any of that?"
A large man with no hair on his head said that while walking to us without the slightest hint of fear in his eyes, it was Avenir.
(Nice save)
I'd have to thank him later for this.
"I suppose that is true, or I could just kill all of you right now", the boy said.
Although it would be unlikely that he could defeat me in a fight, a chill ran down my spine just because of the amount of bloodlust he was exuding.
Our troops reached for their weapons. I could feel real killing intent right beside me oozing from the boy.
I gestured for the troops to stand down and I said, "Even if we were to fight and you were to win, what of your friends? they are wounded and they need medical care moreover they are in no shape to handle your pressure. Worst case scenario they might get caught up in the cross fire."
He didn't say a word for some time, as if contemplating his next response before saying, "Fine, we'll go with you, but the very second I feel something is off I will kill all of you without any hesitation."
Meeting his eyes I said, "Fine by me boy, let's get going. Time is of importance."
Medics came over and took away the unconscious boys. I looked at the place one last time.
(Too bad that they're all dead…)
I marked this location on the map for future raids as there were still Users in training at this facility.
After that, I got in the jet with the others and took off for home base.
"Where are we going?", the boy asked. "To our base- The Mystic Mountains." I replied.
"My name is Erika Drakenguard, nice to meet you."
"Aether Nightblade."
"'Nightblade' huh?"
Avenir slowly nodded his head in the corner.
Looking at the young boy with the black blade, I asked "Tell me Aether, how much do you know about this world?"
"Not enough I believe." he replied instantly.
"Well then, since this journey will take several hours, let me tell you everything I know."
He nodded telling me to go on.
"There are 4 main races in this world – The Elves of the North, The Dwarfs of the South, The Humans of the West and the Yakshas of the East,"
"They habitat their respective regions in each of the 7 continents"
"All of us here and in the other jets, leaving you lot, are humans"
The tales I heard as I child from him started resurfacing in my mind. The crusty brown pages of that book and its musty smell…I remember it all.
"25000 years ago there was a war between the 4 races and the Yakshas came out victorious,"
"They were fierce in combat and their body was built for war. Now that the war was over, Yakshas became the superior race"
"But then, the Otherworlders appeared."
"They had black horns on their heads while their physique was like that of a human, they were pale white in complexion and they were innately much stronger than any of the 4 races. They invaded the Verdana Tempus and sought to conquer it and establish it as a stronghold."
"Even the war-bred Yakshas were no match for them…"
"While on their conquest to plunder and destroy civilizations, they stumbled across an old temple in the mountains which were said to be impossible to climb- The Temple of Woods."
"They looted the treasures it had and killed the monks there. They were happy with the riches they reaped and they headed towards the other places they had their sights on."
"They looted 14 temples in total which were spread across the continent and in one of the temples they looted, they found an ancient tablet which mentioned another temple. One floating in the sky, said to have divine treasure from another world…"
"The Otherworlders sought out this temple desperately but with no avail,"
"After decades of searching they found the temple and prepared to loot it of the divine treasures it had,"
"But what they didn't know was that the temple was a trap- it wasn't a temple but a malevolent shrine. There was a demon residing within the temple, and he woke from his slumber and wreaked havoc…"
"Needless to say that the exploration party was wiped out and the demon descended onto the continent,"
"Another war was fought but the demon was strong, it turned the ones it killed to demons and those who were innately strong and capable to resist becoming a demon- the Otherworlders, it captured and reproduced with them forcibly like how a goblin from Graveligion would"
"The offspring that were born were terrifying in every aspect, in the inhuman beauty they possessed, the strength and wits they had and their intense lust."
"The descendants of these creatures are what we call today the Users."
I looked the boy in front of me in the eye.
"Aether, you and all the other Users are of that demon's lineage.
"You Users are the only ones who can use force- the innate strengths hidden within you."
"Force can take different forms – elemental forms derived from the Humans, dimensional forms and reinforcement forms from the Dwarves, healing forms from the Elves."
"And the closer the FV is to 0 the easier it is to wield all 4 forms."
"So, you're telling me that me and my kind are not originally of this world?"
"Yes, but through the course of time, the lineage has been diluted, so now you are as much of this world as you are of another world.", I said with a forced smile. I unintentionally made the situation awkward after all.
"Now going back to the story 25000 years ago,"
"The introduction of these new beings was changing not just Verdana Tempus but rather the entire world. But then one day, all the leaders of the Blessed Races got together secretly, different leaders from all 7 continents."
"The leaders chanted a prayer, a legendary prayer made from ancient pieces of stone which were hidden on different continents by some divine entity much before in time."
"When all the pieces were put together, a massive voice spoke. It was said to be the sky itself. A prophecy was made and 15 divine pillars descended unto this world, each said to bring with it a protector for each continent and an overlord for each sea."
"Verdana Tempus received its pillar at the place we are headed to, a protected zone where none except those with our trust can enter- The Mystic Mountains."
"The protector of this continent was a bow wielder- Our Hero Severus with his divine bow Gandhiv cleansed the land with ease and Verdana Tempus would soon be retaken from the monsters who had disturbed the balance."
"Things were going smoothly at the other continents too – Zelandia had received Kronos and his divine switchblade Riptide. The continent of Aisah had received Amos and her grimoire of light Vishanti."
"The records of the other continents are not very informative, difficult to read and very difficult to find, most of them have been tampered with and torn so that's all I can say for now, but know that things were changing"
"With these divine protectors of ours, the demons and the Otherworlders were dying like flies."
He didn't seem satisfied. And I was right. He had a question.
"What about the 15th pillar which descended? there is no 8th sea or 8th continent is there?"
"There isn't, as for what the 15th pillar brought with it, th-"
A man interrupted our conversation and said, "We've reached our destination – The Mystic Mountains."
I stretched and yawned.
"Come let's relax our minds a little and live in the present, the stories of the past are for another day."
"Fine.", he got up, nodding his head slowly.