Mavislin froze in terror as she heard the last few words. Another one of those birthing chambers?! The poor Valkyrie's eyes started quaking as memories from the infinite human experimentation mission flooded her mind.
Sensing that Mavislin was starting to freak out, Old Man Pond summoned a baby version of his serpents. The little thing was bright green and looked adorable as it coiled around Mavislin's tiny arm to comfort the kid. The Valkyrie calmed down instantly.
"Keep it; I can always conjure up another one for battle," whispered Old Man Pond as the toddler smiled.
"The Pyromancers were trying to breed the dragons back to populations again because they wanted to harness the Dragon Element. I couldn't leave them to their devices, so I returned to Gillian and asked how we would tackle the issue."
"Should we leave them be, or should we stop them? Technically, they wouldn't harm us, but the possibility of the dragons roaming around might harm us and the humans. But I also strongly felt that something else was not right."
"So that's why we voted to take out the Tribe?" asked the Angry Man, finally sitting on the floor.
"Yep, we managed to wipe out 75% of the Pyromancers while the humans stayed far away. Z made sure that no humans would be involved. So that was where we stopped and moved on to other issues..." ended Old Man Pond.
"Wait. You aren't telling everything... You're still missing a part; why were the Pyromancers after the Dragon Element when their flames were already so dynamic and powerful?" asked Mavislin, tugging on Old Man Pond's wrist.
"The kid has got a point... From what I recall back then, the Dragon Element was sought after since the Dragons were hunted down to the brink of extinction. And though the Pyromancers have such a dynamic flame, they still went after the Dragon Element?"
"Doesn't seem normal to me... Either someone else is asking them to find the Lost Element, or that isn't their goal at all... Seems pretty suspicious, don't you think, Commander Pond?" questioned Baldwin as he spat those last two words out like it was venom.
The Angry Man raised a waiting eyebrow at Old Man Pond while Mavislin leaped out of his grasp. The Poisoned Pond took a few Tocks to crack under the pressure and let the truth out.
"Fine, you both win... There were several reasons why I hunted the Tribe down, but what caused Gillian to request me to infiltrate was the fact I found experimentation. Not humans... Experimentation with Elemental Cores" explained Old Man Pond.
He ended his statement by pointing to his Elemental Core, his left eye that glowed brightly in an emerald hue.
"What do you mean? Aren't Elemental Cores the very thing that keeps Mages alive?" asked Mavislin, with her eyes widened.
"Precisely. Somehow, somewhere... A Pyromancer by the name of Horizon had a brilliant idea: by using a Dragon's Elemental Core and combining it with another Mage's Core, you could become a part Dragon, furnished with all their features."
"Why would anyone become part Dragon? Is that a new thing?" questioned Baldwin, folding his arms.
"Because of the physical features that a Dragon would have. Imagine having the power to invoke a Dragon in you," replied Old Man Pond.
"So what did you find that was the worst thing?"
"I only managed to see the broken down and failed residue of fusing Cores... Which is a pile of dead bodies. I stopped once I came across that room and bolted out."
"And I wish you luck when you find out the truth about the last Dargon and its memoir," said Old Man Pond.
"That was something else I wanted to know about that book it holds... Is it truly what the legend has stated?" asked Mavislin.
"What have you been told about it?"
"I've been told that getting the memoir would grant the reader Dragonlike features and receive the Dragon Element, a special flame that can burn for longer periods and not be put out by simple things such as water or sand," said the Valkyrie.
"You aren't wrong... But you are still missing some details. You see, if you get ahold of that memoir, you'll find the truth of how the Dragons came to be and lived amongst the humans until things went down. And no one knows about that past, not even me."
Mavislin's eyes sparkled as if she had been given candy... But she quickly shook that thought away as she wanted the Dragon Element for Circe, the following Marksman Pillar. However, it was a pass for the Valkyrie if it required Elemental Core fusion.
The Valkyrie made a mental note to not let Circe hold the memoir until she knew it was safe.