Len Haoreyo stood on top of a long, sturdy wall. He stood upright under the warm sun, his eyes always directed towards the broad wind channel not far away.
"Soldier, report!"
Suddenly a tall man appeared behind Len. He wore the armor of a captain, a seasoned veteran in the Hurricane Army.
"No movement, captain!"
"Nothing?"
"No, captain."
"Strange. We have been fighting every day for weeks. What's going on with those tamed b*stards today?"
The captain frowned heavily, a bad feeling settling in his stomach.
Since quite a while ago the covert fights between the kingdoms grew fiercer, even coming out into the light.
Many reports indicate that the Tamed Storms Kingdom has boosted their military industry for years now.
All the soldiers could feel that something was in the air.
Suddenly startled cries came from the ground.
"What's going on?!"
"Captain, over there! Something is suppressing the storms!"
With shock in his eyes, the captain turned his head.
The fortress they were in was placed strategically to overlook two wind channels. But towards the vast storm areas they had less defense. After all it was too difficult to attack from this direction.
But now a fleet suddenly appeared on the horizon. Dozens of massive warships suppressed the storms around them, advancing slowly in their directions.
The captain gulped heavily. But as a seasoned veteran he wouldn't be overwhelmed so easily.
He hastily ordered the soldiers close to him:
"Everyone, take your positions! Defend the left flank! You there, alarm headquarters!"
Len Haoreyo felt the world spin before him, his legs going weak. Only as the captain began to address him did he react automatically.
"Alarm headquarters…"
The young soldier suddenly began to move, directly jumping down from the wall. His ankles protested for a moment, but he ignored it, his eyes focused on the large tower in the fortress' center.
This tower was an advanced version of observation towers.
On top of the ability to detect dungeons, the tower also offered communication and scans of the nearby area.
Len sprinted as fast as his legs carried him, soon reaching the tower. He hastened up the winding stairs, pushed by the commotion outside.
Finally, he arrived at the top of the tower, a small open room similar to a lighthouse. In its center stood a large cylindrical device, with a small control panel next to it.
With frantic eyes Len approached the panel. But a crazy laughter suddenly left his lips, his eyes bloodshot.
Len took a small black sphere out of his storage bag.
Right at this moment another soldier appeared behind him.
"Bro, don't lose your mind now. Hurry and send the message!"
Len's smile grew wider and wider. He turned around, looking at his comrade in arms with unsteady eyes.
"A massage? Oh, I will send a message! All worlds shall listen to my message! HAHAHA!"
"What?!"
The soldier stared in confusion. He didn't react until Len swung his arm, throwing the black sphere against the cylinder.
BOOM!
Suddenly a massive explosion rocked the entire fortress. Soldiers looked up only to find the observation tower disintegrating, fire spewing out, rocks flying everywhere.
The soldiers' eyes despaired, their mouths gaping open in disbelief.
Right then a large shadow fell over the fortress. Multiple deadly attacks traveled through the air.
The warships arrived. War… arrived!
***
At the same time in the World of Nine Suns. Tepo and Varei looked at each other with bright smiles.
A few days had passed since the vice-headmaster's lecture. Today they had finally finished engraving all their spells. Their foundations were set, and everything was ready to advance to the acolyte rank.
Only a few more days of accumulation would suffice.
In the future their spells could only be strengthened but not changed.
Thus, it was important to determine a suitable style for oneself.
While Varei didn't change much, preferring the strong spells from his dragon spirit race, Tepo engraved quite a few new spells.
After much contemplation the young man decided on a speed-based style strong in one-on-one situations.
In his mind it was important to hold one's own against warriors of similar or higher rank.
He would only fight against groups if they were weaker than him, therefore not needing specialized spells.
Varei however was quite displeased with Tepo's approach, which was more befitting of a loner than someone fighting in teams.
Still, Tepo stayed stubborn, not changing his approach.
Now that his spells were finalized Tepo was quite satisfied with the changes he made.
Getting rid of his defensive spells, the warrior decided to rely more on [Flash] in the future. Especially with [God's Soul] he should be able to detect attacks as soon as they were performed.
Although this needed a mix of training and knowledge, Tepo felt confident.
With a smile on his face the young man connected with his core to admire his finalized spells.
>>> Core of Time <<<
Real name:
Master of the everflowing, the immortal
Core rank:
common (damaged 113/1000)
Core qualitiy:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Core level:
9
Host level:
aspirant (nine-circled)
Spells:
Three-runed:
[Piercing Aura][Chaotic Evasion]
[Infectious Flames][Versatility]
Six-runed:
[Minor Stealth][Flash]
[Exploit Weakness][Survival]
Nine-runed:
[God's Soul][Bell of Death][Deadly Hunt]
Combinations:
[Assassin's Soul][Hunt of the Falcon]
[Chaotic Flash][Burning Life]
[Covert Aura]
Core abilities:
[Scan][Projection][Time Dilation: Body]
[Time Protection: Future][Time Dilation: Target]
>>> <<<
"Hmpf. Don't look so smug! I'm telling you, you should have chosen more spells for teams! In the end two fists can't beat four hands!"
Varei shook his head as he berated Tepo again. But the human stayed silent, not intending to begin another discussion.
At this point the duo both felt a sense of fulfillment. They knew their hardships so far had been worth it. From now on it would be a matter of absorbing forces and spreading their name in order to climb through the ranks.
Thus, the days of training began again, although with some more leisure time mixed in.
The next day Tepo and Varei gathered with their dormmates in a small café on the forum's territory. It was already late but the light of the nine suns never diminished.
Many students met with their friends, discussing today's courses or some thrilling arena match.
Shorey had a fire in his eyes as he did the same:
"… and then Ferocious Owl used her signature spell [Golden Tear], finally winning the match!"
The friends smiled brightly, mainly because they were affected by Shorey's excitement rather than the match itself.
Tepo wasn't particularly interested in the conversation, but he had to admit that the time was enjoyable, nevertheless.
But suddenly the young man involuntarily touched his neck with his hand. A strange sensation had just hit him form the Web's mark on his neck.
Tepo had already felt like this before. He abruptly turned his head around, scanning his surroundings.
Nothing…
A sinking feeling spread in Tepo's stomach. It might be instinct or intuition but somehow, he could already tell that something bad must have happened.
"Sorry guys, I… need to go to the bathroom."
Coming up with a nonsense reason, Tepo excused himself and hastily disappeared into the park area.
His dormmates were left behind with question marks all over their faces.
Only a second later did Varei react and hurry after Tepo.
The dragon spirit easily found Tepo based on their connection. He saw his partner standing in the shadow of a huge tree, a piece of paper in his hand, with a pale face and trembling hands.
"T… Tepo? What's going on?"
Hearing a voice calling for him, Tepo snapped back. He took a deep breath as he turned towards Varei, speaking in a grave voice:
"A war has broken out in my home world!"
"Oh…"
"Oh? What oh? It's war, Varei! People are dying! Don't you have any empathy?!"
Upon Tepo's reaction, Varei realized that he said something wrong.
But who could blame him? War was the normal state of the spirit world. It happened every day, engulfing dozens of races.
But Varei as the son of two monstrously powerful parents never felt the suffering war could bring. Thus, he had a contorted image of war.
Ironically Tepo was on another extreme, someone who lived in wartimes since childhood and abhorred it.
"Sorry. This was insensitive of me."
"Sorry. I was too harsh."
Both friends apologized at the same time.
Tepo smiled weakly at Varei before closing his eyes and sorting out his thoughts.
War between two kingdoms…
Who knows how many innocents die every day already. I wish I could do something but I'm still too weak! F*ck!
Should I ignore it? Can I ignore it?
I'm confident that mother is safe. Radac must have brought her away.
Do I have anyone else to care for?
I don't know what happened to Yerive's parents…
Does he know about the war? Should I inform him?
Yes! Even if we had some differences over the last few weeks he naturally has the right to know.
If Yerive decides to save his parents, I will go with him. This time I won't leave him alone!
But now that I think of it, it's not only Yerive… What about Parton, Ganaph, and Nocia?