"You've got me, I surrender… There's no way I am going up against one of Valokia's Ancient Spells without help. I may hate you a lot, but I'm not suicidal enough to take that head-on."
"And I value my life over some small battle just to get me to help you fight my old enemy. Thus, I'm giving you the victory this time," explained the Poisoned Pond as he rescinded his serpents and returned to his comfy chair.
Mavislin and Baldwin looked at each other in shock and still had their weapons out. Old Man Pond sighed and tossed his cane away, shocking the two Mages.
"There; I won't pull a surprise attack. Now then, what do you need from me?" asked Old Man Pond, looking quite annoyed.
"For you to help us win against the Tribe, they've attacked the Northern Tip of the Campania, and we are planning to stop before they awaken the last Dragon," explained Mavislin, without wasting any more time.
Poisoned Pond widened his eyes before sighing heavily and began to explain the truth of the Tribe.
"Back then, I sent myself out to learn about the Pyromancers. During those days, the Congregation wasn't exactly up yet. But once it was, I had more spare time and resources to find out more of those Mages," started Old Man Pond as he recalled those years ago.
"Why were you poking around with those Mages?" questioned Baldwin, wondering what would a Poison Mage need from Fire Mages.
"The Pyromancers are manipulators of Dynamic Fire, meaning they can merge their flames with any Element, be it common or rare. By merging both, they have the skill to fully fuse them, like creating another Element. Who wouldn't want to learn that?"
Mavislin sighed and transformed into her toddler form, sporting her mini wings before flying to the Old Man Pond's lap... Much to the confusion and shock of the Mages in the room.
"What? I like hearing stories. Besides, he can't hurt me..." reasoned Mavislin as she patiently waited for Old Man Pond to continue.
"She's got a point; if I harm her at this stage, I might just drop dead before I can get my cane. And... Mav is quite adorable in her toddler form, so I can't hurt the cute lil thing, can I..." replied the ex-founder of the Congregation.
"The Congregation was finally set up, and I already had a problem. The Tribe decided it was a nice idea to attack the village at the Eastern Border of the Campania. Until now, I have no clue why, so don't ask," continued Old Man Pond.
"I have a faint reason why, but I don't know if it'll help us now..." whispered Baldwin, trying to remember what he was doing back then.
"Hmph, it could be that they wanted more lands for themselves. At the time, humans weren't too forgiving and retaliated, going to war with the Pyromancers. The latter called us for help, but Gillian sensed something was off with their report and suspected them."
"Lying in reports to gain aid from the Congregation was expected, but even I had this feeling of dread that these flame-lovers aren't only getting lands. You know things are bad when I start to think that a group of beings are acting out of the norm."
"Thus, I infiltrated the Pyromancers' ranks, which was already reason since I was good friends with most of them. And the only letter I sent Gillian was to tell what the Pyromancers were doing..."
Old Man Pond pulled something opaque and sharp from his vest pocket and tossed it into Baldwin's hands. The Angry Man cursed before entirely looking at the object and realized it was a dead scale from a dragon.
"How'd you get your hands on this?! Aren't dragons a thing of the past beyond the time of the Congregation?" asked Baldwin, amazed that the scale in his hands hadn't crumbled.
"Dragons were already noted as gone before Gillian and I entered the world. Maybe Z would know of it or Ysabeau but not me. You're right about that second question; they should have been in the past, dead and buried there."
"But somehow, that scale you hold is still in your palm and strong enough to be fused with a weapon..." answered Old Man Pond as Baldwin returned the item.
"Perhaps it was from the last dragon? I heard it's still residing in the Domains as we speak," added Mavislin, snuggling in Old Man Pond's arms.
"I got this scale when I finally got into the Pyros' main base all those years ago. And it wasn't just a single dragon... No, those mad fire things had an entire nest within the deepest caves of their main base. They were actively breeding dragons..." replied Old Man Pond.