Seclusion [Old Version | Dropped]

 

I looked at the archduchess, who rested her head on the teak table. My magic to sober her up was already in use.

"My head hurts," she whined.

"Well, you drank three bottles on your own," I simply remarked.

"Yes, I know. It just tasted way too good. But will I always be this insatiable from now on as soon as I taste blood?" she asked as she raised her head heavily, showing her worried expression. "It kind of scares me that I couldn't control myself and might even accidentally harm my wife or children because of this." 

"You probably don't need to worry about this. You drank blood today for the first time, which even was mixed with strong liquor. So it's no wonder that you couldn't control yourself. And you're a Pureblood, so you can moderately control your hunger and cravings. You could even live completely abstain and never drink blood again. You would be way weaker, though, and honestly, I can already see in your eyes that you love the flavor of it." 

After hearing this, her facial features began to relax considerably. It was weird to see her act in this manner after the previous display in the auction house.

"I'm pretty curious. Why do you behave this differently? I changed your species and gender, not your personality."

In response to this question, she fidgeted a bit restlessly in the chair, looked at her hands, then directed her gaze uncertainly back to me, but shortly thereafter looked at her hands again. She repeated this a few times until she apparently managed to find the words and the courage to answer me. 

"I-I don't really know. This body just feels...right. It's like I can be the person I always wanted to be, the person I always truly were. I always was afraid of those thoughts because of my father. H-he did unimaginable things, and after some time, these things burned themselves into my mind as absolute truths. I didn't realize it until I received this body...and when my wife approached me about what was going on, why I was acting so differently...why I was so much happier than before. Only then did it really hit me how wrong everything had been, how the thought of returning to the old body and its actions disgusted me and brought me to the brink of despair. I'm still not sure what this all means exactly, but I do know that I'm glad it happened to me in the end."

"So...you're saying, instead of a punishment, I gave a glorious reward? Well, this wasn't supposed to happen..." I replied grimly. 

Suddenly she jumped up, cried out, and begged, "Please, no! Let me stay like this, I'm begging you! Please! I don't want to be...him again! I'll do everything you want! I—"

I released my aura and made her shut up. "Gosh, I'm standing next to you, so don't scream like that. I have no intention of turning you back...don't even know if that's possible. So, listen to me.

"I actually don't care anymore what you did, not after you have technically become my child now. You see, even after all this time, I never turned someone into a Pureblood. Sure, I created an entire race, but this and that are entirely different matters and methods. You're my first, and I kind of want to see how you develop and how strong you will be in the future. I won't hurt you, well, as long as you don't decide to betray me or disobey my orders. Right now, you are a pawn. How it continues from here on out is solely up to you. So don't disappoint me, ok?"

I released her from my aura, after which she simply slumped back into the chair. I felt how her soul slowly relaxed. After some time, her anxiety was fully gone. 

She took a deep breath, "M-mom? What will happen next?"

Completely shocked, I rejected the term 'mother', "Nope, just nope. Never ever call me mom, mother, or anything else like that. Understood?" 

"Y-yes! But what should I call you then? I mean, you just said that I'm technically your child..."

"Just call me Maera. That reminds me, what's your name now?"

She blushed, "It's Rosalinde. My wife calls me Rosy."

"...good for your wife, I guess? Anyway, " I said and gave her an onyx bracelet from my storage, "take that and always wear it on your wrist. It disguises your vampiric features and aura. How exactly it affects the identification crystals and Skills, you need to test yourself, though. I haven't really tested it...yet. But, it should help in theory. Still, I won't help you further than this. Anything else you need to learn and experience yourself...this, at least, is still part of your punishment."  

After she put on the bracelet, her fangs were no longer visible, and her eyes began to shine bright blue again. 

"Is that all you wanted to discuss?" I asked. 

She nodded, "Yes. Um, no, I mean no! I would still like to know what you meant with 'she sold you out'. And, are you really HER sister?!"

I sighed, "It doesn't matter what I meant with that. It's only important to know that the position of the Matriarch was originally mine. I am way older than her, and even if she is indeed my true sister, she's still just a vampire in the end. She can't hold a candle to me at all. Yet, she always wanted what was mine. Can't even count how often she—and the others—tried to kill me. You should have seen her cute face when she thought that she finally managed to deal the final blow." 

I wallowed in memories for a moment. "Umm, where was I? Ahh, yeah. Like I said, she is my true sister, but at the same time, she isn't. Neither of us was born by the same mother, and yet, we were. I know this is difficult to fathom out the meaning behind this, but yeah, these are interdimensional worlds for ya."

I dunno why, but she kinda looked stunned. I think she might have wanted to ask more questions about it but decided to drop it and change the subject instead.

"There is one more reason why I called you here. The headmaster of the academy wanted to talk to you about what happened with those students of his. One of them even asked to be permitted to apologize to you and has apparently a question for you herself. 

"By the way, I handled all the stuff with the Guards and so on. You don't need to worry about them. And as your ch—, I mean pawn, I will try to work to your utmost satisfaction, so you can be proud of me!" she declared proudly.

I didn't know why, but somehow everybody near me was somewhat weird. Who the hell hurt Rosalie like this that she wanted somebody LIKE ME to be proud of her. Was this some kind of Stockholm scenario right now? I shook my head. Haaaa, yeah, whatever.

"Soo, will he come at a certain time, or does he wait right now for us to call him?" I asked and tried to ignore the meaning of her statement.

"The latter. Just let me tell my knight that he can call for him now."

-------

Approximately ten minutes later, a soft knock sounded. 

"You may enter," said Rosy loftily.

The door opened, and Sir Jolford walked in, followed by an old, sagely-looking man with a long grey beard and a girl. I knew this girl because she was one of the fools, which caused a scene in my mansion. What was her name again? Ah, yes, Adelheid. Didn't expect that somebody so stuck would be able to apologize at all. I was kinda curious about what exactly happened in her nightmare.

"I hereby announce the entrance of the Headmaster, High Mage of King's Garden and Sage of Magic, Lord Ulrich of Tamit and his daughter, Adelheid of Tamit," spoke the knight and then looked at me with a smug face. 

Ohh yeah, you are so freaking dead. And well, it's only my luck that the girl who broke into my estate and got punished by me was the daughter of the headmaster. Why did the day keep getting worse and worse?

The knight left the room after his stupid display. As soon as the door was closed, Ulrich took the floor. "I'm really pleased to meet you two here today. Your Highness the Archduke and Miss Asche." 

I sighed. In one sentence, he disregarded both of our authorities. He ignored the fact that Rosaline was now a woman and called me 'Miss Asche' to show clearly the disapproval of my 'rank'. 

Suddenly, at the exact moment, I felt how the same Skill which Deidre tried to use on me at our first meeting was triggered by this bastard. He wanted to seize me up. I was kinda surprised to see a non-changing face after he noticed the Skill's failure. Yet, his soul was on a rampage. Ha, served him right! Let me take this even further.

"The pleasure is all mine, Mage Ulrich," I chirped and smiled. His eye twitched slightly at this. Hehe, gotcha. 

Rosy said nothing and ignored him like a stuck-up bitch. Good girl. I could see how angry he was. He was clearly usually treated with respect and such. But we didn't care. He started this shit. 

I dropped my smile and continued, "So, what could the oh-so-famous headmaster possibly want from me?"

"I'm sure the archduke already told you about the matter I want to discuss with you," he replied tonelessly. 

I only nodded in response. 

"Good. First of all, I would love to know what kind of spell you used on them. Only my eldest daughter reclaimed her sanity till now. The minds of the other two are practically dead. Normally we would deal with this kind of business at the Royal Court, but it was agreed to settle this affair unofficially because of the archduke's words. Secondly, we want compensation for the suffering you have caused. Thirdly, we—"

"Nope, not gonna happen, " I said and interrupted him mid-sentence. "They broke into my estate and attacked my servants, demanded authority they didn't even hold, and threatened me. And the magic I used is none of your business. It's secret family magic. But let me humor you a bit. Basically, it was nothing more than illusion magic."

"DON'T YOU DARE LIE TO ME!" he shouted angrily at me.

I shrugged, "It's the truth. Either way, I don't care whether or not you believe me. Not my problem anyway."

"You little—" he started his following sentence but stopped when he remembered that he was still in the presence of the archduchess. 

I only smirked, "Was this everything you wanted from me? My time is scarce."

"Yes, I'm sure you will not have much left time in the future, too," he remarked and didn't even bother to hide his killing intent now.

"Your daughter wanted to apologize?" I asked, whereupon she flinched.

The man looked derogatorily at this daughter and grumbled, "Yeah."

As she heard his 'approval', she stepped forward. "Would it be somehow possible to talk to you in private?" 

"No problem," I simply replied and cast some magic. Ash particle started to fall down around me and began to build a dome. In the blink of an eye, we were entirely enclosed by it before her father even had the chance to react. Nobody present would be able to penetrate this ash dome—in any sense—, so it was perfectly safe for a secret conversation. 

Adelheid's eyes went wide, and she stared at me with a stunned expression. But before she could say anything, I intervened.

"Your father can't hear you as long as you are inside of this dome. I can see the turmoil in your soul; I can see a burning desire to ask me something, to change something. So, do tell, I'm all ears."

Yes, right now, I was truly merciful. Actually, I was interested in what she could possibly want from me so desperately after her short stay in Nightmare. It seldom happened that a being came back to me after they experienced their true horror. So, yeah, lemme see what was behind it.

"Beast-kin...please...transform me permanently into one," she pleaded, and tears began to well up in her eyes. "I can't; I just can't stay human any longer. Mý time in this dream taught me the truth about myself...no, about humans. It showed me how filthy they really are and also that they are unworthy of living on the face of this world. They all should simply vanish!" 

A cruel maniacal grin spread across my face. I didn't think I grinned like this in thousands of years. I totally corrupted her very being. How satisfying, especially since it was the daughter of that arrogant mage.

"Why do you think I would be capable of doing that?" I asked innocently.

"I-I don't know. I somehow had the feeling you could accomplish something like this. I mean, even my father can't identify the Skill you used on us, and he is one of the strongest Sages in the capital. And even if you can't do that, you can still put me back into this dream. Everything is better than being a human. I miss my ears, the feeling of my tail when I brush through it with my finger. I don't want to live as a human anymore...so please, help me. I will do everything you ask of me, give myself completely to you and always be loyal...so, please."

I tilted my head from left to right and thought about it for a moment. Her pleading gaze tried to bore itself into me. Then an idea struck me all of a sudden. Why not give Adelheid Deidre as her first true subordinate. Yes, that was a great plan!

"Ok," I finally said, which directly improved her mood. 

She jumped up and hugged me. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Urg, what one didn't do for the sake of one's evil machinations. Even if it meant to endure hugs. 

"Stop it!" I commanded. 

Immediately, she let go and stepped away. "Sorry," murmured Adelheid.

"Well, it's fine. But don't ever do this again to me. Anyway, I can't turn you right now—should be kinda obvious why. I assume you don't want to head back home with your father, so let me give you another option. After you leave this room, wait for the archduchess. Tell your father whatever excuse so you can meet her. If you should manage to do so, she will take you with her and bring you to my estate. Say to the guards that Lady Asche gave you a message which you must pass directly to the head maid Ava. Then tell her that I sent you and that she should prepare a room for ya since you will be working for me from now on. If she doesn't believe you, just inform her that I know her little secret, and if she doesn't want to never set foot in this town again, she should carry out my order. Ok?"

She nodded eagerly. "Yes, Lady Asche." 

-------

After our little chat was finished, I undid the dome. In an instant, a wave of pure hatred hit me. 

"What the fuck did you do?!" screamed Ulrich. 

I rolled my eyes. Humans really never change. As soon as they couldn't get what they wanted, they acted like little petulant children.

"Ash magic, of course. Aren't you some great sage or something like that?" I retorted disparagingly.

He gritted his teeth. "Yes, I am a SAGE. But the magic of the Asche family was considered lost," he calmed down a bit and added, "seeing it makes it even more unbelievable. Nobody heard of the Asches for countless generations, so why would you reveal yourselves now?"

I sensed a chance, "There are various reasons for this. Truth be told, I need access to your library. An old fiend awakened not long ago, and we're trying to find a way to defeat it. It's still weak, so there's still a chance for us to win. But if this being should regain its old strength...it would be catastrophic for every living creature on this continent, not only for the human empire."

He gulped—oh heck yes, my acting was on point, "A-about what kind of fiend are we talking about?"

"An ancient Mana Beast, once sealed away by the Jaeger families. I can't tell you more, only that its final form is stronger than an Akehkh."

He pondered for a moment. "An Akehkh, you say...THIS is really problematic. And you hope to find a solution in our library?"

"Yes. If not, I need to go to the castle."

He still looked skeptically at me, "Fine, go take a look. But, I won't grant you access to our 'Holy Section'. Those books won't be of any help to you anyways because their content is about different stuff."

He turned around and walked to the door. "I give you till midnight. If you don't find a way to solve your problem, we'll talk again privately." 

-------

After he and his daughter left the room, I told Rosalinde about my conversation with Adelheid. She promised she would wait for her and bring her unscathed to my mansion. 

She was about to leave before I stopped her. "Say, Rosa, your knight, Sir Jolford, do you like him?"

The young Pureblood had a worried expression on her face as she answered me, "Well, my wife chose him for me, so he's at least somewhat capable. So, I wouldn't say 'like'. W-why do you want to know that?"

"Oh, there is no particular reason. Would you call him in?"

Hesitantly, she complied with my request and called him inside. The moment he closed the door, I erected a barrier around this room. 

"You wanted to—" before he could ask his question, I direct my aura at him. He was instantly petrified. 

"M-maera? What are you doing?" 

"Shhhhh," was the only thing I voiced.

I walked slowly up to him. While I did so, I created a magic crystal in my right hand. Terrible dark energy poured out of the crystal, flowing down my palm on the floor like thick lumbering mist. Eternal always found these things incredibly fascinating, so much so that she specialized her research on them. 

"This little thingy is called 'Corruptor'. It is a mix of different dark affinities and the best way to create Mana Beasts. Well, it depends on the individual if you transform into one or a weird gelee-like being with no further use. Didn't use those for a while, and this one isn't really great either. So you will probably end up dead. But oh well, I don't care."

At that, I rammed the crystal into his heart. His eyes were full of pain, but he couldn't cry out.

One could see how the blood in his veins turned black and shone through his skin. When it reached his head, black goo started to ooze out of his mouth, eyes, and ears.

I groaned, "Another failure, huh?" 

Yes, it was a low-quality Corruptor, but I still hoped that the result would be different this time because of the System. Sadly, no new effect could be observed. 

I took a glimpse at Rose, but she looked away. She couldn't handle the scene of how he slowly turned into mush. Step by step, his face got more distorted. Its right half began to sink as it gradually melted. Teeth fell out, and his eyes were already nothing more than empty sockets.

At this point, I released him from the aura that had forced him to stay put. He immediately fell to the ground with an awful splashy sound, similar to an old wet rag.

The melting process went on and on until finally, there was only a black tar-like mass of bubbling slime on the floor. This was the outcome when the crystal showed no effect or the individual was simply too weak. A pity, really. But fortunately, the newly born abomination was good for one more thing. At least for me.

Once again, I used my freezing blue flames to disintegrate the remains of the failed Mana Beasts. I had to do this so that the other effect of the crystal would occur. Shortly after the floor was cleared of everything, thread-like particles began to form above the same spot. They became more and more, and at a certain point, they began to attract each other. There was a bright flash in the room, and now a cloud-like semi-transparent diamond floated in front of me. 

"It's beautiful?" Rosalinde breathed. "What is it?"

"This is a Soul Core. The essence of one's soul. Normally, it would simply vanish after a while and return to wherever it originally came from. But if you kill someone who got transformed with a Corruptor within a certain period of time, this little gem will form," I explained and picked up the diamond with my hand and held it in front of Rosy's face. 

"Furthermore, a Corruptor is the best way to create those. Yes, you could also rip a soul out of a body and so on, but this wouldn't have the same result. It's still possible to do this without a Corruptor, though. The problem with this method is that the diamond will not be as pure, lose most of its quality, and be much more difficult to work with because you need a temporary vessel whilst doing so. Moreover, during the transfer process, part of the energy is lost and also becomes contaminated.

"The Soul Core can be used for many different things, like weapons, grimoires, barriers, seals, and other stuff. And only with one of them are you able to channel soul energy and release it without being a soul mage. Yet, this one here isn't powerful. Not that I expected anything else from a human soul. Should still be helpful for you, though."

With these words, I handed her the cloud-like yet solid core. I was sure she could do more with it than I at the moment. A little initial help for my first Pureblood wasn't wrong. I hoped that she could rise to new heights with it in the future. Even though I said it wasn't very strong, a Soul Core is still a Soul Core. 

-------

After I bid farewell to the archduchess, which still stood motionless in the room after giving her the core, I made my way to the library. Or rather, I was looking for it. I had completely forgotten to ask where exactly the library was located. However, I also wasn't quite sure whether the Sage had intentionally failed to mention it. Unfortunately, I couldn't use magic to orient myself, like I could in my mansion, because I would first have to scan this place—it was far too time-consuming to do it fast enough. Besides, I had absolutely no interest in dealing with the terrible design in more detail. Eventually, I managed to find the entrance. 

This place of knowledge seemed to be actually quite big for something humans build. Still, like the rest of the academy, totally clicheé. I could describe it, but yeah, didn't wanna. Honestly, who would want to hear me talking about this anyway? The voices? Nah. So, where was I?

Ah, yes, yes. Because this place totally fucked me up, I decided to use one of my favorite Greed spells, which worked good with my nature—Greedy Vixen. 

I actually liked this spell so much that I also created a version that worked without activating the aspect. Many might think that this magic was something destructive or harmful, but no, it was all 'bout stealing *cough* borrowing. Without this magnificent spell, the Endless Library would have been mostly empty. 

Once I cast the spell, eight aether-like sprite foxes came into existence. There was something mystical about their starry fur, whose effect was only deepened by the gentle breeze that seemed to waft through it continuously, dispersing stardust into the world. 

Every one of them had three fluffy tails, which slowly swung back and forth. It was almost hypnotic. Even if they were somewhat smaller compared to normal foxes, one should not underestimate them because of that. They knew how to defend themselves when they wanted to. But for that, you had to catch them first...and especially the aspect form of them was much too clever and nimble and wouldn't let themselves be stopped by such trivialities. After all, they shunned fighting.

The field where they really flourished was in acquiring information. One of the many abilities that enabled them to do this was 'Eater of Knowledge—or Greed variant 'Devourer of Wisdom'. While the normal version was 'only' able to copy written words and turn their contents into a book—whereby each fox was only limited to twenty to thirty books before it had to convert its knowledge—the aspect version was able to record even spoken words without being bound to a limit. Technically, it could also eat living beings and obtain all their memories in the process, but as I said, they were more peaceful in nature. In order not to violate this primal instinct of theirs, there was another ability. This was appropriately called 'Dreamwalker' and let them dive into the dreams of all sleeping creatures, who had no corresponding protection, where they ultimately caused their mischief. Funnily enough, the greatest weakness of this ability was a simple dream catcher. I named its improved version 'Dreamstalker'. It allowed the fox to guide the dream in the direction it wanted it to go and acquire the desired information. 

Besides these primary abilities, they also possessed ones that enabled them to go through magical barriers, or rather, to weaken or disable them on their own—they also could simply destroy most barriers. 

Yes, they were really handy and extremely helpful. However, no matter in which version, the problem was that their mana consumption shot up more and more the further away they were from me, and every activity, every ability, and reuse, always drained my mana pool too. For instance, the mana cost of a fox that had already devoured three hundred books could have been used to easily destroy a city. Therefore, I had only ever used this ability when sheltered somewhere and could meditate alongside to compensate for the mana consumption. 

Anyway, I gave them the task of bringing me the best-guarded and rarest book while also keeping an eye open for any other works that might be useful to me and the research of the System. Then, I sat down at one of the tables meant for studying. 

-------

I was twiddling my thumbs whilst waiting for results. I was on the verge of rereading an old folktale about a white and a black rabbit who were always gambling on humans and whether they could corrupt and make one a soulless puppet or if it could see through those schemes and free themselves. But suddenly, a girl's squeaking caught my attention.

"H-hello, could I sit here with you?" she asked shyly, books wrapped in her arms in front of her. 

I looked at her. She was barely five feet tall, had long brown braided hair and the characteristic pointy ears—the typical appearance of a wood elf.

"Sure, I don't mind," I replied her. Contrary to what others might think, I kinda liked wood elves. In the past, they nursed my forest and did quite a good job...till those fucking humans came. I wondered if she was somehow related to them.

Hurriedly, she sat down and started to read one of the books she'd carried. Every time the wood elf turned a page, she also gave me a side glance. Her eyes seemed to sparkle as she did so. 

"Is anything wrong with my face or something?" I asked her, whereupon her cheeks began to redden. 

...what was going on with all those girls I met today? They all kinda behaved the same. At least, this one wasn't begging me for something. 

"I-I n-no. I just...your face is so beautiful. And your aura, I've never seen something like this before," she answered sheepishly.

"My aura?" weird; it was supposed to look like an average human one. 

She blinked, "Y-yes! It feels just like the ancient Holy Mother Tree in my hometown." 

I sighed, "Malerâ?"

She nodded, "How did you know? I-I mean, most of you humans don't know or care about elven towns...especially not when they're home to wood elves."

I rubbed my temples. This tree—I planted it on a girls' night out with Calypso and Rialla. We wanted to see what might happen when we planted a seed Calypso brought back from one of her otherworldy tours and mixed it with mine and Rialla's magic. We might have created an advanced version of the—till then—living wood elves in the process. They should be stronger than those High Elves. Well, luckily, our little experiment ensured that they weren't sold as slaves by their kindred. But the way she phrased her last sentence made me perplexed. Didn't Deidre say they were also treated kindly? 

Yet, before I was able to ask her for more information, I noticed that Ulrich and ten minions of this entered my erected detection range.

I stood up and looked at the girl, "You should leave the academy."

She blinked and looked at me questioningly.

"Now!" I commanded and used my aura at the same time to threaten her. 

With frightened eyes, she darted away. I might be evil, but her ancestors took care of my forest, so I could also return a small favor to them.

Just before they reached me, I felt how my foxes found what I'd been looking for. A grin that reflected the madness within me spread across my face.

 

---

 

Lord Ulrich still hadn't told us why he gathered us. Once all were present, he commanded us to follow him and informed us about an intruder in our library. Apparently, it was of utmost importance that we were careful. He asked me a few questions about my area of expertise—the cultural-historical background of our empire—and the longer I went on, the more he frowned. I absolutely didn't know why, but to see such a facial expression on a Sage got always deemed a bad omen.

What also puzzled me was that the others couldn't sense a breach in one of our magical barriers, but Lord Ulrich assured us that the intruder was already there. These protection spells had been erected in cooperation with HER. To get through them completely unnoticed was considered impossible—until now. My stomach churned at the thought of what this intruder might be, and I regretted having eaten too much earlier.

The closer we got to the library entrance—whose design and size, incidentally, was the pride and joy of the faculty—the faster our headmaster became. While I had the honor of walking right next to him, other professors followed behind us, whose areas of expertise, unlike mine, were of a more offensive nature.

I noticed how we were moving towards two young girls—one human, one wood elf. The beautiful black-haired human girl said something to the elf, which made her flee in panic. After the latter had already gained a certain distance, the human one turned to us. She looked young, maybe seventeen, and had a noble aura around her, brimming with majesty and self-assurance.

Lord Ulrich told us to stop. We were in the middle of the largest open space from which one could walk in any direction if one wanted to explore the library. Above us was a large glass dome, which ensured that the well-lit interior bathed in the soft moonlight. The girl sauntered towards us with a grin on her face that made my blood run cold.

"Ulrich, how can I help you?" she asked sardonically, not caring about the title of the headmaster. I felt how a thick fog of killing intent spread around Ulrich.

"Just mock me, fiend. I've long since seen through what you're up to!" he replied angrily.

"Ohh? Is that so, yes? What an amazing talent!" came the sarcastic reply while she slowly clapped three times.

By the goddess, who was this person that thought she could treat a Sage like that? Did she have a death wish?! Especially with all those professors who were among the best in their field within the human empire, escape was impossible. Was she trying to incite us to make mistakes?

"Save your words! Do you really think that you could disrupt us with your behavior and find a way to escape? Downright ridiculous! Even though I must confess that I almost believed the story you told. Still, you shouldn't have made it so obvious that you are not the one who you were pretending to be."

The girl raised an eyebrow, "So, what gave me away?"

The headmaster laughed, "You hid your Status too well. At first, I thought you possessed a special Skill since you claimed to belong to the Asche family. But no human or normal being should be able to block an Appraise in such a way that the System doesn't even recognize its existence. Even if I have to admit that I didn't think of it immediately, since your story was compelling, I was able to make sure, thanks to a colleague who meticulously dealt with the Jaeger families in his career, that they didn't possess any of those skills and affinities you described."

Everything became clear. That's why he'd also called and questioned me on the side! He wanted to know whether his suspicions had been well-founded or not. I didn't want to imagine how shocked the girl must be that her identity got disproved so easily—but her reaction was different than expected.

She rolled her eyes, "Really? The System? Goddess, As intriguing as I find it, it's also a little bothersome that I get recognized because of it. Hopefully, I'll find a way in soon," she took a deep breath before continuing, "And the fact that you actually have someone who knows about the families is pretty annoying as well. How is it that you know so much about the Jaegers but not about me? Especially since I single-handedly wiped them out!"

What?

"What?" gasped Ulrich with a laugh. "YOU wiped out the Asche family? I must say, I didn't think our intruder would be so delusional as to believe her own illusions. Still, I'm curious to know what you really are? A spy from the demon king? A minion of the Tower or a witch who is too full of herself?"

Right when Lord Ulrich finished the sentence, the girl snorted loudly, "THAT is your theory? That I am delusional? You humans, your ego really knows no bounds."

With these words, she removed her necklace, and instantly her appearance changed. At first, I thought she was a beast-kin due to the foxtails until I saw that one of her arms was encased in black scales that appeared burgundy towards the end. In addition, ash-gray dragon horns protruded on top of her head. To my dismay, I could also see fangs that resembled those of vampires.

"By the Goddess! "

"What is this?!"

I heard the other professors behind me being similarly irritated. It simply made no sense what we saw here. No creature combined fox, dragon, and vampire. Even chimeras could not do this, at least not in this way.

"Oh my, oh my," she said in mock amazement, holding a hand over her mouth. "I guess I'm not what you thought I was after all. And, are you startled, trembling in awe?"

"YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAN A MONSTROSITY!" roared Lord Ulrich in rage. His outburst was not particularly surprising since he believed in human supremacy. Seeing a mix of things he hated directly before him only poured fuel on the fire. "I will wipe your face from this world and make sure that what you did to my eldest daughter will not be repeated with my youngest daughter, Eve."

As soon as he finished this sentence, a wave of the most terrifying energy I'd ever felt just surged through everything. My mind screamed at me to flee, but my body wouldn't budge. Everything was obvious now; we were all going to die.

The being began to scream angrily and full of worldly pain before this scream changed into the most insane laughter anyone could ever have heard. After what felt like endless energy pulses that ran through me—and probably everyone else—which almost made me lose my mind, the girl's voice rang out again.

"Ohhh world, how I loathe you. After all this time, you're still trying to drive me up the wall. You know what? You win. I don't care anymore. Putting me in front of someone whose daughter has her name on a day like this can't be a coincidence. You're enjoying this, huh? You make everyone forget my existence and cover up the truth, and for what? You want a show? I'll give you a damn show and reveal to the whole world that I'm back. I didn't like this academy anyway! And no matter who gets in my way this time, I will subjugate this world and bring you to your knees!"

Ash began to fall to the ground around her. The temperature grew colder and colder. Her horns grew bigger. Large dragon wings formed from the falling ash on her back; they had something sinister about them. She looked at me.

"You, you are the person who knew about the Asches. Let me give you a glimpse of what your folly brought upon and how the people here will now suffer. To you, the term 'Aschenfall' is a name, yes? The magic that made the Asche family what they were? Let me tell you that I stole their magic and perfected it. Now imagine a volcanic eruption during a blizzard. I call this magic 'Ashen Hell' and this is what will await you all."

She turned away, and thick fog-like dark energy began to engulf her completely. Then, explosively, a shock wave hit me, and everything went gray. With the last thought I could muster, I remembered how 'Aschenfall' used to be renowned for poisoning armies and slowly driving them to their deaths...

 

---

 

Deidre, Tulsi, and I were on our way home. Home, it was weird after all this time to be able to call a place like that again. We had picked a mission that required you to be in a party. It was one of those quests you ought to do if you wanted to rank up. I was still having trouble coming to terms with my new strength, but I was slowly getting used to it. I hoped that we would get a trainer soon because I wanted to improve my spear talent much further.

We walked through the royal district's gate when a quake followed by a shock wave hit us. With a loud bang, countless debris of rock flew through the air. We watched in horror as part of the academy took to the skies. Then another blast wave ripped through the area, followed by a deafening scream that cut into your soul. My whole body trembled, and I watched in horror as a gigantic dragon climbed up one of the remaining towers. It was completely encased in ash-colored scales. Another scream rang out, and I saw ash descending on us.

"Humans!" it proclaimed, "Rejoice! Your folly and greed awakened me from my slumber, and thus the last seal that held IT has been broken. The Forgotten One hath risen and will throw this world into chaos once again, just as she did before Eternal, who had merely borrowed the power of my mistress. Look forward to the coming carnage. Look forward to the extinction that awaits you all! Let me give you a foretaste of what is to come!

"Ashen Hell," roared the dragon, and the ash, which had been coming slowly towards us before, began to fall down on us like heavy rain. It became cold, freezing cold. 

Suddenly, I heard screams around us and saw that people on whom the ash landed on the unprotected skin suffered from instant ice burns, whereupon the affected area simply died off. Panicked, I looked at the lightly dressed Deidre, who was also terrified by the ashes' effect. Yet, she was even more perplexed that the ash didn't hurt her. It didn't do that to any of us. And even though it was getting tougher to breathe, we didn't have to cough like all the others around us. The air had clearly become toxic.

We looked at each other in confusion, and suddenly I understood, even if I didn't quite realize how exactly.

"The dragon, it's Maera!" I gasped out.

The two looked at me puzzled at first but quickly realized that I was somehow speaking the truth.

"We need to get to the mansion as soon as possible!" exclaimed Deidre, and right after that, we ran.

While we tried to orient ourselves in the increasingly worsening visibility— since the ash around us had begun to rage like a blizzard in the meantime—the screams did not subside. I'd never heard anything so agonizing—and I'd been in unspeakable places for a long time. The fact that all this happened during nighttime whilst the magic lights almost lost all their effectiveness made everything way more complicated.

We ran and ran. Past corpses of women, children, men. Old, young, weak, strong. They were disfigured, the agony burned into their faces. Frozen on the ground, covered in ash. I didn't want to believe that the Maera who'd saved me would do such a thing. It was gruesome. It was cruel. And it was what every human deserved. But like this? In this way? I felt sick to my stomach. Yet, I didn't stop running.

When we arrived at our home, we could see how a barrier around it protected the inside. I threw up when I realized that my suspicions remained true. It was Maera's doing. I didn't know what to make out of it. There were too many innocents in the streets, so many slaves! THAT COULD HAVE BEEN ME!

Just where did all her hatred come from that she was able to do those atrocities?

When I glanced at Tulsi, I was startled. There was a broad grin on her face, and Deidre also seemed pleased. The people I thought I slowly got to know suddenly revealed a new face. A horrible grimace.

 

---

 

"Myr! Myr! You need to get up!" a voice rudely woke me from my sleep...even though I had gone to bed extra early to avoid any disturbance.

"Myr!" the voice shouted again in panic as the bearer kept shaking me.

I rubbed my eyes, "Tana? Why are you here? Weren't you going to spend the night in the library studying for the exam? Why are you—"

I wanted to continue, but she interrupted me, "There is no time for that. Something bad is going to happen! We have to get out of here right now. Please, get up; we have to leave!"

Her hands grasped mine. I felt her whole body trembling. What could've upset her so much?

I yawned, "Did some of the human nobles threaten you again or what—"

She blurted out, "MYR! You have to believe me. If we don't get out of here, we will die! I swear it by the Mother Tree!"

At these words, I became wide awake. Swearing by the Mother Tree was one of the most sacred promises for us wood elves. So something was truly wrong.

I tried to reassure her, "It's okay, I'll come with you. Should I take anything with me?"

She shook her head and just pulled me out of bed. Huh, I wouldn't even be allowed to change out of my nightgown. But if she thought we didn't have time for that, then so be it. She held my hand and literally dragged me running into the lobby. Just before we reached the doorway, everything started shaking. Everything trembled, and the ceiling began to crumble. Suddenly, noise rippled through every corner of the entrance hall. I heard the walls cracking, everything shifting, and before I even knew what was happening, the first rubble was already coming towards me. The whole ceiling was about to collapse. I was still trying to protect myself and Tana, but suddenly everything went black.

-------

Screams of agony were the first thing I heard when I regained consciousness. I tried to move, but everything hurt. My eyes were burning, and it was difficult to breathe. The air was stuffy and had something cinder-like about it, coupled with the pungent smell of long rotted and frozen flesh. I managed to sit up with difficulty and saw that a glowing dome of magic was erected around me. I looked around, and then I saw it.

Not more than a foot from me laid a person who cast magic with an outstretched hand. The hair was white in many places and had lost all color and strength. In some areas, you could still see the original brown color. It seemed to have been braided before. With horror, I realized who this hardly recognizable person was.

"T-Tana?" I asked hoarsely.

"M-Myr, I'm glad you're okay," she spoke so softly and with so little strength in her voice that she was barely audible.

I crawled over to her and tried to concentrate. My vision was still blurry. Slowly, bit by bit, I recognized the grave state she was in. The arm she was holding up was full of deep, profusely bleeding wounds, yet she continued to hold it up to replenish the needed mana for our protection.

However, unlike her arm, the rest of her body was in a condition that made my heart bleed. The entire left half of her body was dead as if it had been in the freezing cold for too long. I was sure that the fully frozen arm would shatter at the slightest touch. The worst thing was that this state was about to spread to the other half of the body that was still halfway intact. I could see how it was gradually discoloring her skin and draining all energy from the still-living parts.

Panicked, I put my hands over her, "[Heal]! [Heal]! [Heal]!"

My puny mana pool immediately began to dwindle. A bright light could be seen, and for a brief moment, it looked like something changed. But it showed no effect...

"No. No. No. No. No. It can't be!" I screamed desperately.

"[Greater Heal]!" I yelled and felt all my mana disappear in the next moment. It was suddenly so bright that it was blinding. I smiled, but only briefly. When I caught sight of her body again, her condition had worsened instead of improving.

Hot tears streamed down my face, and I whimpered, "No...you can't die. You promised that we would get married after graduation. Please...you can just—"

My own sobbing broke off my sentence. Tana looked at me with her eyes still intact. I could see in her faint light the infinite love she felt for me.

Then she spoke in a whisper, "D-do you remember how we swore eternal love under the Mother Tree that warm summer night?"

I nodded and tried to hold back my tears. I needed to be strong for both of us now.

"Yo-you know, I already had a ring...made of Motherwood. I was going to give it to you...as a special engagement gift...for the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen in my life. I was going to—"

A coughing fit interrupted her, and you could hear the rattling in her lungs. She would no longer be able to speak. Silently she looked at me, her hand still raised. I knew what she was doing. Tana was depleting her own life energy to maintain the protective barrier, even if she was no longer there.

I cupped her still intact cheek. I gently moved closer and kissed her on the cold, torn lips. I felt a last breath, a last warmth escape in the process. 

"I love you. Everything will be fine!" I said with a quiet, soothing voice. As I slowly moved my head back, I saw that her eyes went blank as their light drifted away. Tana, the love of my life, died.

-------

I didn't know how long I sat here, but eventually, the world around me cleared, and the dome that protected me from whatever killed Tana gradually disappeared.

My breath caught in my throat when I saw the devastation around me. The academy was a pile of rubble, covered in ash, just like everything around me. And just like Tana, I discovered countless other poor souls who were suffering the same or worse. I stood up and moved. I wanted to die, but the ashes that enveloped everyone did nothing. Nothing happened. And so I roamed through the remains of my future. The etched and frozen expressions of all those who died and lay here were staring at me wordlessly.

I cried out in pain, "WHY?! WHY HER AND NOT ME!?"

A giggle snapped me out of my thoughts, and I turned around abruptly. On one of the larger debris sat a young woman with foxtails and dragon horns. She was completely naked. Her long ashen hair made her literally melt into the surroundings, while her dark, sharp claws gave her a dangerous aura to boot.

"W-who are you?" I asked. 

She tilted her head and giggled again, "Oh, I have many names. Look around. What would you call me?"

All at once, I realized exactly what I was talking to here. I gritted my teeth and looked at her hatefully, "Monster."

She applauded, "While not entirely correct, not really wrong either. As it seems, the world has taken it upon itself to make me known as The Forgotten One."

Enraged, I walked up to her and screamed, "YOU HAVE TAKEN EVERYTHING FROM ME! MY LIFE, MY FUTURE, MY LOVE! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!"

She shook her head, "Tsk-tsk-tsk, well, that's not really true. I'm the reason, but not the cause. The humans were the ones who played with powers they couldn't comprehend. The humans were the ones who built a city in a place that belongs to me. They were the ones who lumbered my forest and arrogantly exerted their dominion over my territory. They and the high elves awakened me. I only reacted, defended, and ultimately punished them. If you want to blame someone, blame the humans. It only happened because they played around with my power and caused their experiment to fail."

I looked at her but couldn't detect any falsehood in her words. I was aware of how foolishly humans handled magic and how greedily the high elves wanted to spread their power over other tribes. That they were working together to control unknown forces was not far-fetched. But even if that were the case, what could I even ever do about it?

Her renewed giggle pulled me out of my thoughts again, "You know, I'm gonna make you an offer you can't refuse."

"An Offer?"

She nodded, "Yes, an offer. I will give you the opportunity to take revenge on all those who are responsible for this and a way to bring back your beloved."

I stared at her, my mouth agape, "How? I-I can bring her back? HOW? Please, tell me!" 

In her hand, clad in dragon's scales, appeared an indescribable sinister crystal that devoured what felt like all the light the moons cast down upon us.

"This small crystal gives you the possibility to be something greater, something uniquely powerful. You could become strong enough to topple entire empires, but you are certainly less interested in that. What matters more is that if you manage to master the energy, you can bring your beloved back to the realm of the living."

"But how?" came my reply promptly.

She shook her head, "You'll have to find the solution to that yourself. And before you ask why I'm doing all this and what I want in return, I'll answer you directly. I'm only doing it for one reason. Because. I. Can. That's all. Nothing more, nothing less. So, what's your choice?"

I didn't exactly know how to react. Whether one could even believe a word she said was doubtful...but what else could I do? If there really was a way to revive Tana, I had to find it.

Hesitantly, I agreed with her, "Please, give me a chance!"

Suddenly, she stood in front of me and rammed the crystal into my heart while a sickening grin formed on her face.

Then I felt a surge of power, and at the same time, the worst pain one might ever have. I felt myself turning, and suddenly the world around me blurred and went black. Before my mind faded away, I heard the young woman say one more sentence.

"Wonderful, may the games begin."