Serum

The front lines that Cecilia spoke of were not unlike what the dwarves had set up against the monster hordes that spewed from the Dragon Lair of Earth. 

In fact, it was almost exactly the same. Except, instead of just defending against monsters, the Horizon Empire had to fight against a living wasteland. 

After all, fire was always more destructive than the other elements. 

To get to the front lines, the only thing they needed to do was take a teleporter that hundreds of people went through every hour. The Teleporter Nexus that Horizon had set up was beside their Commercial Teleporter Nexus, which baffled Pandora even more than she thought she could be. This technology that her Dark Kingdom had barely begun to develop being deployed on such a large scale made her think that her railways were primitive trash. 

Well, she couldn’t complain for very long, because perhaps these teleporters were the only thing saving the Horizon Empire from utter annihilation. 

They felt it as soon as they arrived at their destination. 

The wave of heat that graced their faces and threatened to singe the ends of their hair. It was lucky that Dirk had a perfect affinity for fire and Pandora had a perfect affinity for water and ice. 

But for the others, they weren’t so lucky. Exos frowned and Nova, while expressionless, looked uncomfortable as she started to sweat a bit. 

From their teleporter, they could see dozens of troops moving every which way. Some were running by themselves, off to complete whatever task they were given. But most were in formations, marching or jogging in and out of the teleporter platforms. 

Dirk could sense all the copious amounts of spatial waves generated by the teleporters. How they weren’t constantly destabilizing each other, he wasn’t sure. That was, until he sensed a single but massive power source sending out occasional pulses of dark mana. 

It seemed to be a stabilizer. The pulses of dark mana it sent out made space solidify. When Dirk tried to poke through his surroundings as if he were void walking, he found it far more difficult, at least until the pulse faded. 

It fascinated him for a short moment before the group exited the nexus. 

And then, their sights were blessed with what could very well be a hell on earth. 

“Move! Team 3, man those sentries!”

“Get this man to medical!”

“Next wave is in 25 minutes!”

Screams rang out as Dirk walked out into what seemed like a huge base. 

The skies above were red and black, almost as if the very atmosphere were burning. Dark clouds roiled and occasionally crackled with lightning that sent low tremors through the air, making everyone feel like some god was letting out growls of hatred. 

The air was uncomfortable to breathe, filled with fire mana that normal mages would find suffocating. Even fire mages would find the excessive fuel around them too much to handle. 

Behind Dirk, there were buildings that towered dozens and hundreds of meters into the sky. Many were interconnected between their bodies, bridges allowing easy movement between establishments. 

To the sides were massive fortifications. There were towers that contained magical turrets armed with complex enchantments along with places for mages to launch spells from, similar to pillboxes. 

And in front was the edge of the massive wall they stood atop. 

Dirk moved forward, weaving through a dozen people before leaning over the edge. 

And truly, the atmosphere properly reflected the hellish landscape. 

Beyond the three extra layers of walls around the fort was a wasteland of flowing lava, ash, obsidian, and carnage. 

Dirk could see a few rivers that occasionally burst with bubbles of molten rock and metal. These lava rivers flowed off into the distance, alongside the advancing armies of monsters.

And its source was an utterly massive volcano. Dirk almost believed that his mana sight was being distorted when he saw it. 

He had to lift his head. The top of the volcano wasn’t simply on the horizon. Instead, it seemed like it existed in the sky, even above the clouds. It was a colossal mountain that he could barely fathom traversing. 

It was this volcano that was wreaking utter devastation, spewing out enough heat, ash, and lava to turn what was likely a normal mountain range into a harrowing exclusion zone. 

And from the base of this volcano flooded thousands of monsters. In this respect, it was similar to the dwarven Rusted Bastion that defended against the monsters of the Lair. 

But in every other respect, including difficulty, this place was far more treacherous. 

How a base managed to be built here, Dirk didn’t know. Perhaps the Emperor had to personally stepped in, otherwise there was no way they could have established a stronghold so quickly. 

It had still only been a few months since the War started. 

“Wow. Isn’t this something…”

Pandora nodded impressively, which was a massive compliment coming from her. 

Cecilia sighed in response. 

“Yes, it’s impressive, but this place is even worse than a warzone. Then again, it’s the only reason Ethan was able to get as good as he is now. Many fire mages have made serious advancements in this place. In that respect, this would be a good time for you to practice Dirk. That is, if you guys aren’t leaving immediately.”

“We have some time. Accumulating power is just as important as the adventure.”

Pandora smiled while answering, and Dirk was pleased by her words. 

They came here to steal an airship for transportation, but Dirk didn’t want to leave so soon. He wanted to grow his magical power, something he was lacking in, as well as spend time with his family. 

His family, primarily his parents, were powerful people willing to teach him everything they knew. Training with his mother for a total time of a mere couple of months pushed him to become a Rook Class Warrior capable of utilizing his Aura alongside weapons. 

Besides, the threats they were soon to face wouldn’t be as friendly as before. Pandora had no connection with the elves that would give her any status to take advantage of. They would have to enter their territory and bring chaos to the World Tree before stealing an unknown but incalculably valuable Artifact. 

And after their first failure, both Dirk and Pandora realized that their power wasn’t satisfactory. Pandora took an especially hard hit, so she surely didn’t want to depart before preparing. 

“Alright, let’s go see your father. Maybe your sister will be there too.”

Cecilia waved everyone along, and the group pulled their eyes away from the fiery wasteland before heading to the largest building in the base. 

This place wasn’t as busy, but there were still plenty of officers moving about. The foot traffic only grew as the next wave approached. 

“Dirk!”

Suddenly though, there was a shout. Nobody really cared and the surroundings continued on. 

Dirk stopped though, looking over to see his father. 

But the voice hadn’t come from his father. Instead, to his right stood Ethan. 

And to his left stood Viola, Dirk’s eldest sibling and sister. 

He recognized her quickly, but he still barely believed it was her. 

As a child, Viola had dirty blonde hair as well as slightly pointed ears, symbols of her elven traits inherited from their father. 

But now, her hair had turned platinum, almost snow white. Her ears were just a bit longer, but not as much as a true elf. 

And her most glaring change was how tall she was. She was as tall as Dirk was, both standing at over 6 feet tall. It wasn’t as tall as Ethan, but still rather towering. 

And she was lithe, just like her mother. Even Dirk recognized her beauty, though that made him wonder what Rita looked like, a girl who had been the most beautiful of all the siblings. 

After shouting in shock, Viola moved with blinding speed. Before she even arrived before him, Dirk could feel the air between them shift for her body, entirely eliminating wind resistance. The ground also roiled along with the soles of her feet, allowing her to expertly throw her body forward. 

And she appeared before him with a bright smile, wrapping him up in an emotional hug. 

She was silent as Dirk caught himself, slowly returning the hug. Of everyone, Dirk had probably been the most detached from Viola. She was always too far ahead in life to really connect with him like Rita had, so their lives hardly crossed paths. 

But he could sense the relief and happiness in her hug. It really showed him that their familial bond superseded whatever friendship they may or may not have cultivated. 

“I missed you, kid. It’s really good to see you.”

“...You too.”

Dirk smiled. It had been many, many years since they’d even seen each other. She had disappeared even before Dirk entered the academy, not to mention the years at Asura’s Mountain. 

But it was like none of that mattered. 

The two separated, Viola smiling and ruffling Dirk’s hair. 

“Look at you! All grown up now, huh? I can tell you’re aging better than your brute brother back there.”

“I can hear you.”

Ethan walked over with a frown poking through his beard, making Viola chuckle mischievously. 

Dirk smiled a bit more. Those two always had that kind of sibling rivalry. It was good that nothing had changed. 

Though, unlike before, Viola wasn’t simply able to beat down her rambunctious younger brother using her extra couple years to her advantage. No, her power ran far deeper now. Dirk could recognize it at a glance. 

Viola was born with Air and Earth attributes. They weren’t perfect, but they were still fantastic. Not only that, but she was able to wield Anima and refine her body. 

At the academy, she worked toward becoming a strength and speed based warrior. Using the wind and the earth as the basis for her movement and her body refinement for strength, she could become a well rounded combatant with few weaknesses. 

It seemed she had attempted to take these things to the extreme, at least for her speed. Dirk didn’t sense atrocious strength like Ethan. Instead, she was nimble, quick. 

And based on Dirk’s estimations, she was a Tier 5 and Rank 6, a level ahead of himself in both respects and about the same as Ethan. 

It seemed like both of them would reach their father’s level, but Dirk knew it wouldn’t be so easy despite them advancing so fast at a young age. 

Dirk saw Viola’s platinum hair flip as she turned toward Ryker. 

He nodded at Dirk. 

“It’s good to see you, son. How were your travels?”

“Well, I’m here, so it wasn’t too bad.”

“I’m not sure if that’s comforting to hear as your father, but I would agree. Still, adventures should involve more than just keeping yourself alive.”

“Yea.”

Dirk smirked a bit. Angering an entire Empire wasn’t exactly conducive to a healthy life, but they managed. At the very least, Dirk got to see some new places and meet new people, so it wasn’t all bad. 

Then, Dirk’s family all turned toward Pandora. 

Dressed in her casual earthly clothes, she sensed their gazes and curtsied a bit, her purple hair spilling over her shoulders. 

“Nice to meet you all, especially Dirk’s sister. I am Pandora Vanadis.”

“So you’re her?”

Viola narrowed her eyes a bit, seemingly already heard much about the vampire princess, which wasn’t surprising considering Ethan no doubt spoke of it after his meeting with Dirk at the ruined city. 

Sensing Viola’s caution, Pandora smiled a bit deeper. 

“Yes, I’m the vampire princess, though I’d prefer to keep my identity a bit more discreet while I’m here. I wouldn’t want the Emperor coming to see me right now as that might delay our plans for the future.”

“Why would that happen though? Did you do something that would warrant the Emperor’s interference?”

“Forgive me, but that information is a bit above your pay grade.”

“Hm.”

Viola frowned, to which Pandora’s smile turned to a slightly snarky grin. 

But then, her body jerked as Dirk pinched her side.

“Ow! Why?”

“You’re being rude.”

“I thought I was being pretty nice.”

“Drop the condescension then. And stop provoking obvious responses. For someone who likes to keep secrets, you talk a lot.”

“It’s called mind games and deception.”

“And I’m telling you to stop doing that with my family. It’s unnecessary.”

Dirk and Pandora bantered while everyone around them watched. They just let it play out, gradually smiling as if watching a play. 

Then, Viola grabbed Dirk’s arm, pulling him out of the conversation. 

“Alright! You’re coming with me.”

“Where?”

“To the arena! And nobody is allowed to come!”

“Since when do you get to decide that?”

Cecilia suddenly warped in front of her daughter, stopping her from dragging Dirk off.

Seeing that, Viola smiled sheepishly. 

“I was just gonna spar, mom. Do I really need your permission for that?”

“...Fine. But we’re watching, since I also want to see Dirk’s progress.”

“I’m coming too.”

“Well since we’re all going…”

Viola rolled her eyes, seeing as the entire group was going to follow. 

Like that, they all walked off to a rear district of the base. 

In these areas, there were many residential buildings like bunks and the like. There were few commercial and civilian areas primarily because those who could stand to live here needed to be powerful in the first place. Normal people couldn’t bear the constant heat. 

Bypassing even those though, they made their way to what looked like training and drilling grounds. Here, they found fields of soldiers doing things like working out, practicing formations, sparring, and more. 

And there was one building with plenty of arenas. There, they picked out a private arena using Ryker’s authority and set themselves up. 

“Alright, pick out your best weapon. No armor.”

“Yes armor!”

“No, mom!”

Viola shouted back as Cecilia refuted from the stands, the two going back and forth before Viola could only give in. 

She sighed and turned back to Dirk. 

“Equip your armor, then. As for the fight, I guess we go until one of us yields or there’s an obvious winner.”

“Alright.”

Dirk nodded, taking his place at one end of the arena. 

It was a basic square platform, one reinforced with enchantments. In fact, it almost looked like rough malleable metal in Dirk’s mana vision, making him think it had some self-repair properties. 

Thinking as he got ready, Dirk took out a shortsword. However, this wasn’t the ordinary metal shortsword he had used before. 

Pandora’s eyes widened as she saw the weapon. 

“Bringing that out, huh? He must actually be serious about this.”

“What is it?”

Cecilia asked from beside her, prompting Pandora to nod toward the blade. 

“That’s one of the artifacts straight out of our treasury, called the Sword of Dissonance. It’s only a Tier 6 artifact, but its properties put it near Tier 7 in versatility. Basically, it's a sword you can’t keep track of, one that can change its form at will while shifting through space in erratic patterns. Dirk’s never used it, so either he wants to get used to it, or he’s choosing a high quality weapon so he can be serious with the battle. Either way, we’re in for a show.”

Pandora smiled and sat back, her ruby red eyes flashing. 

Cecilia turned back, looking at her two children. And just as she did, she was able to witness the appearance of Dirk’s armor.