Xenagrosh had been horrified to discover that performing just one more breath would have crippled her troll half, forcing her back to being just another Eldritch Abomination in a matter of a few decades.
The Master had used all of their skills to save her and forbidden her to use them in such a mindless way. Once she had recovered, Xenagrosh had then been forced to learn tier five light magic to keep her own life force in check.
After that, she had spent all of her time as Bytra’s furnace, gaining the Raiju’s eternal gratitude and the mockery of her peers. For a several centuries-old being feeling ignorant first, falling ill, and finally being a laughingstock was far from a pleasant experience.
“Is it good?” Xenagrosh asked.
“You tell me.” Bytra handed her what looked like a set of dragon claws. “I made it so that you can use it in both your human and dragon form. They will grow in size with you.”
The silvery glove had six purple magic crystals embedded on its surface, one for each finger and one in the middle of its backhand. It shone so brightly that Xenagrosh could hardly believe it wasn’t made out of pure Adamant.
As soon as she imprinted it with her mana, she could feel its several enchantments pulsing at her fingertips.
“Father of Dragons! This thing is better than my prized Adamant blade.” Xenagrosh said.
“That’s the best compliment I could hope for.” Bytra giggled like a little girl. “Where did you find it?”
“I bought it from a Forgemaster for the price of a small kingdom 800 years ago.”
“Well, then that’s normal.” Bytra said, turning gloomy. “Back then runes were highly inefficient and if the Adamant hadn’t been purified, it’s likely to be crap.”
Xenagrosh wasn’t stingy, but hearing her most powerful weapon, with which she had slain countless Awakened ones being called a piece of crap hurt her wallet deeply.
“I have a question. Even though I’ve recovered most of my abilities, I still can’t use Invigoration, Accumulation, and not even Life Vision. Is there something wrong with me?” Bytra asked.
“No, I’m in the same boat and I’ve got no idea how to fix this.” Xenagrosh sighed. “How long before you can work on good stuff like Adamant and Davross?”
“Depends. How long before you can purify them instead of just melting them or even worse vaporize them?” Bytra replied.
“Oh, fuck me sideways! Again with this crap? Seriously, sister, we need a break.”
“But the Master said…” Bytra wasn’t really interested in following orders, but after longing for her Forge for centuries, she would use any excuse to practice her art.
“The Master can go fuck themselves for all I care. You keep crafting weapons for us hybrids, we must nip the rebellion in the bud. I’ll search for a solution to our common problem.” Xenagrosh was tired of studying and learning about her new abilities.
The problem of having evolved was that she knew nothing about her new self, making her feel like a child again. With it, fear had returned. Back when Xenagrosh was just a Wyrmling, she had given up on her dragon half to avoid the hassle it implied.
Then, when she had later tried to achieve a purple core, she had failed miserably and had become an Abomination. Xenagrosh was afraid because the past she had run away from for centuries was finally catching up with her.
‘I’m a fucking dragon again and I’ve to study again. This doesn’t bode well. What if I fail? I’ve always failed in everything I did. The Master considers us Eldritchs to be the top of the evolutionary scale, but to me, we’re just the kings of losers.
‘We’ve lost our bodies, our Awakened powers, and even Mogar has turned its back to us. I hoped to never have to do this again, but if there’s something that I’ve learned after spending decades with the Master, it’s that there’s nothing wrong with asking for help.’
Xenagrosh flew for hundreds of kilometers until she found a small island in the middle of the ocean. Then, she cast all of her best arrays to prevent anyone from following her signal or pinpointing her position.
Only then did she take her communication amulet out of her omni pocket. What Lith called ‘pocket dimension’ was referred to by other creatures as an omni pocket.
Unlike common dimensional items, once someone had imprinted an omni pocket, they could access their storage dimension even though they didn’t carry it on them. It made their owner unpredictable and usually only ancient, powerful beings like Xenagrosh had one.
They were so rare that even Xenagrosh had not found nor bought her own. It was her coming of age gift, the only thing she had left from her past together with her amulet. Her eyes became watery when she saw that only a handful of communication runes were left.
Her mother’s had disappeared first, then her friends, and even some of her siblings. She hadn’t used her human amulet for centuries, too many memories were linked to it.
She activated the first rune she had ever imprinted it with, which belonged to the one who had gifted the amulet to her, along with her omni pocket.
“Hi, Dad. It’s me, Zoreth. How are you?”
“Sugar plum, you’re alive! You’ve no idea how many times I’ve attempted to call you over the years.” Leegaain said. He hadn’t heard from Zoreth in a long, long time. She was one of his firstborn and Leegaain considered her to be one of the biggest failures of his life.
She had rejected his legacy first and then his teachings, walking a path of self-destruction before breaking her mother’s heart.
***
Commander Berion’s Office, City of Belius.
“I’ve already listened to the reports of all the survivors of Kulah, at least to those which make any sense, except for yours, the Ernas’s, and Ranger Verhen’s.” Commander Berion said, drumming his fingers over his desk.
He was a man in his early thirties, standing 1.8 (5’11”) meters tall with pitch-black hair and eyes. His pale blue uniform could barely contain his muscular body, giving to each of his movements an impression of strength.
In front of him sat Morok Eari, the Ranger ranked first among the veterans and ready to get honorably discharged to return to civilian life.
“You are the one who fought by Verhen’s side the most and you’re the only one who didn’t get himself captured or killed. Hence your report is of the utmost importance for both evaluating Ranger Verhen’s worth and the danger that Kulah posed to the Kingdom.”
Morok told Berion his side of the story. Omitting parts like his nature as a Tyrant Emperor Beast, Lith’s secrets, and Quylla getting the drop on him by kicking him in the nuts, of course.
“My final conclusions are as follows: all the Odi ruins should be classified as danger zones. We got this close to having those madmen infiltrate our country and I doubt that anyone would have noticed until it was too late.
“As for Ranger Verhen, the earlier reports about him greatly underestimate his talents. I’ve seen him destroying Golems stronger than anything I’ve ever faced before as if he was swatting flies.
“Don’t get me wrong, he bleeds just like you and me, plus a well-planned ambush can put him in a corner. Yet give him one bit of advantage and he’ll turn it into a kilometer. Also, at the cost of sounding repetitive, Golems!”
