by Michael Sisa
The woman, her eyes bright like a curious child, spoke. “You say you want to know more about the Cataclysm?”
The image of Lark nodded. “And the Descent. The two catastrophes that befell the Magic Empire. I want to hear everything you know about them.”
The woman lightly tilted her head to the side. “I don’t know why the commander is interested in something that happened a millennium ago.” She breathed deeply. “But alright.”
To Lark’s surprise, the woman did not conceal the fact that she was capable of magic. She chanted her spell and a melon-sized sphere made of water started forming in front of them, with five smaller spheres orbiting around it.
“All my knowledge about what transpired a thousand years ago came from a book, and that thing’s severely lacking, with several pages missing, so I’m not sure about the accuracy of the story,” she said. “But the records of the Grand Historian, Gustav Chavalion, corroborates some of the findings.”
She started her story.
“The Cataclysm. An event that happened over a thousand years ago. In an age where magic was at its peak and the humans were capable of waging war with the dragons.”
Lark reminisced after hearing this. He remembered the time when he was still living in the Magic Empire. He repeatedly declined the offer of becoming one of its Royal Court Magicians, since he did not want to be tied up to any country or state. He had been daring back then, doing everything and anything his mind decided to. He taught his disciples forbidden spells. Raised pets other people classified as monsters. His foolish self even went as far as searching for the way to immortality. But he had no regrets. It had been a satisfying life filled with adventures, after all.
The largest orb before them slowly spun, while the five smaller ones orbited around it.
“Look closely. This is our world, and the five orbs orbiting around it are Ranys, Aetera, Ilum, Rangiris, and Yuna. The five moons that illuminated the night back in the Magic Era,” she said. “Every ten thousand years, the planets align and this opens a direct path to the Void Realm.”
A vortex made of water magic appeared right next to the orbs and started sucking away the smaller ones. One after another, the smaller orbs burst into non-existence, until only two of them were left.
Lark remembered the first few days when he first arrived in this timeline. The twin crimson moons above. So, those two were the only ones who managed to survive.
“The planetary alignment lasted only a single day, but the opened path to the Void Realm did not close until a month later.”
Lark immediately understood the implications of this statement. He realized the grim aftereffects of this planetary alignment.
“Then… The mana,” said Lark.
The red-haired woman bobbed her head. “That’s right. For one month, during the time the path to the Void Realm was open, the mana from the dragon vein below was continuously sucked away into the Void Realm. One month was more than enough to suck the mana in this world dry.”
Lark suppressed a sigh from leaking out. He was starting to see the reason why the mighty Magic Empire crumbled.
“Of course, given enough time, the dragon vein below would have eventually recovered. A hundred years at most and the mana in this world would have reverted to its normal state.”
“But this Descent you spoke of befell the land,” surmised Lark.
The woman sighed. “That’s right. Such a shame, isn’t it? A simple relic like the magic tower is enough to overturn the tides of war. I’m pretty sure that it’s just one of the many artifacts the Magic Empire have in their possession.”
She shook her head, as though it was the most regretful thing in the world. “But of course, the demons took advantage of the Magic Empire’s plight.”
The sphere representing the world started forming a hexagon, a representation of the demons’ magic cores.
“The demons, unlike humans, are capable of storing vast amounts of mana inside their bodies through their cores. With the ambient mana gone and the magicians incapable of casting most of their spells, the demon race launched an all-out attack against the Magic Empire.”
Lark’s pupils shook. The demons’ lifespan was far longer than humans, and some of the stronger ones could live for more than half a millennium. The Demon Lords he’d fought back in his prime would have been still alive during that time, 1100 years ago.
Lark knew that it would be impossible to kill them without using any of the forbidden spells. A magician without his magic was nothing but a farmer with a sickle.
“The records said that despite losing their magic, the Magic Empire resisted with all its might. The five Royal Court Magicians offered their lives to summon Elementals and drove the demons back.”
Lark clenched his fists. Among the Royal Court Magicians, two were his close friends. If it’s them, they would definitely have sacrificed their lives to save the Magic Empire. Lark was sure of it.
“And when the Elementals were defeated, the savages valiantly fought until the last man.”
The last part took Lark by surprise.
The savages.
The non-magicians scorned and shunned by the Magic Empire due to their inability to wield magic. He had not expected that the so-called barbarians would come to their aid and help drive the demons back. Lark had a somewhat friendly relationship with them, and they even went as far as teaching him their combat techniques which formed the foundation of Lark’s hand-to-hand technique until this day. Hearing of the tribe’s demise squeezed his heart.
“Hey, are you alright?” The woman’s question jolted Lark out of his trance.
Lark reprimanded himself for showing his sentimental side to this woman.
“Of course,” he replied as calmly as possible.
The story of the red-haired woman continued, and as expected, the story ended with the collapse of the Magic Empire. Fortunately, the war with the Magic Empire also took a toll on the demon race; the mana stored in their cores were depleted.
After achieving their goal, the demon race retreated and hid in seclusion. Lark surmised that this was to prevent unwarranted clashes with the dragons, who, like them, were capable of storing vast amounts of mana in their core. It was only several decades after the fall of the Magic Empire, at a time when the dragon vein below had recovered a portion of its strength, that the demons started appearing again.
By this time, the magicians were again capable of casting spells and recovering their mana, but the fall of the Magic Empire and its surrounding countries struck a terrible blow to the human race. Technology, artifacts, relics, and spells were lost and never recovered.
VOLUME 4 CHAPTER 10
Five days had passed since the Third Army captured Akash City. Every day, scouts from the Empire were sent to investigate the territory, but were quickly dealt with by Anandra and his men. Every day was filled with blood and tension as small skirmishes broke out here and there. Fortunately, the enemy did not launch an all-out attack against Akash City, probably wary of the fact that the Kingdom had managed to capture the place in a mere day.
“Here. Dig deeper.” Lark was holding a stack of documents as he pointed at the ground in front of him.
The Blackstone Knights around them seemed to have understood, as they grunted then started digging where Lark pointed. The ground in front of the gate was being dug deeper than the other areas. They planned on putting spikes there later, harden the ground, then fill it with water using magic. It would be completed by a wooden bridge which could be folded and drawn back during a siege.
Since time was of great essence and they could be attacked by the Empire anytime, Lark decided to prioritize the moat in front of the gate first. For now, trenches next to the walls should suffice. He also started installing additional ballistae on top of the walls, each of them capable of firing three spear-sized arrows in each shot.
“My Lord, we’re ready to start,” said Anandra.
Lark looked at the nearby forest, then at the d
ocuments in his hand. He said, “do it.”
Anandra bowed his head then started disseminating Lark’s orders. The sound of a gong was heard and smoke started rising up into the sky from the nearby forest. Flocks of birds flew out and animals’ cries reverberated.
They’d gathered enough wood over the past several days. It was now time to burn the forest. A decision Lark came up with after the incident five days ago. The forest was a good place to set up traps for the enemies, but it was a double-edged sword that could become an escape route for the Empire. There was also the fact that the Ghost of the Empire could use the forest to his advantage with the help of his fog.
The decision to burn the nearby forest was cemented when several scouts from the Empire kept coming, and most of them chose to spy on the city while hiding in the forest. Lark had quite the headache dealing with them, since the sea of trees limited the vision of his surveillance birds.
The workers would stare at the burning forest every now and then, but not one of them panicked since everyone had been briefed about the plan beforehand.
After checking the progress of the moats, Lark went toward the Fifth District, where the magic tower was currently being built. By now, the base had been completed; the magic formation had been engraved on a movable iron base with eight blocks of stones surrounding it.
Lark noticed that the leader of the supply team was here again, observing the process of creating the magic. Although she tried her best to remain nonchalant, her eyes gave her away. Her crimson eyes were almost gawking at the sight, as though the magic formation and the eight blocks of stone surrounding it was the most beautiful thing in the world.
Lark erased his presence and moved stealthily closer to her.
“You really like the magic tower, huh?”
She almost jumped in surprise. She turned around and saw Lark smiling at her, clearly amused at her reaction.
“Ah, Commander.” She bowed then scratched her cheeks in embarrassment. “About this… I’m currently on break that’s why—”
“—There’s no need to be stiff,” Lark laughed. “I received your report this morning. Good work.”
She had been perfectly managing their supplies so far, monitoring everything down to the last grain of wheat. Those who tried to take more than what was rationed were caught and punished.
The two of them stared at the magic tower for a while.
“Commander,” she said. “Aren’t you afraid that the enemy will use this magic tower against us? There’s no assurance that we can hold on to this city until the end of war. Even our rations won’t last us for long at this rate.”
“That’s true,” said Lark. “And we can’t expect the Kingdom to send rations this far into the front lines. We’ve been lucky enough to pass through the numerous armies and sentries the Empire placed in the region unnoticed. I doubt the others would be able to do the same.”
“If we lose the battle, we’ll just have to take the tower down before we flee the city. Destroying the magic formation embedded on the base and the pillars should be more than enough to render that thing useless.”
Had the other elders of Wizzert City heard this statement, they would have gone crazy. Even though it was logical, even Chryselle herself would find it hard to destroy such an artifact. To the magicians of Wizzert, the magic tower was one of the most precious relics of the past era.
Seeing Chryselle’s disbelief, Lark added, “We can just make another one. There’s no use in dwelling too much on insignificant things.”
Chryselle laughed awkwardly. “I guess you’re right, Commander.”
Chryselle was about to ask Lark about the rations given to their captives when she noticed two familiar boys coming their direction. She pulled up her hood, made her salute, then bade goodbye to Lark.
As soon as she disappeared from sight, Austen and George arrived at the area. The two of them were grinning broadly, clearly eager to tell Lark the good news.
“Young Master!” Austen’s voice was filled with pride and confidence. “We did it! George managed to complete the magic formation! And I managed to conjure my first fire ball!”
And as though corroborating Austen’s statement, George channeled mana into his surroundings and a magic circle slowly started forming underneath his feet.
Lark had expected George to take several more weeks before he could achieve this feat, considering his lack of talent in magic, but it seemed he was wrong. The magic circle took a long time to be formed, but it was perfectly stable.
It would be impractical to use in battle, since the enemy would have killed George before he even managed to complete half of the circle, but this was still a great achievement regardless. The important thing was that the magic circle was executed perfectly. An important first step in all spells.
“Good job,” praised Lark.
Hearing this, George lost focus and the magic circle disappeared. He gasped for a moment then embarrassedly scratched his head.
“Young Master, look!” Austen clearly did not want to lose to his younger brother. “I will cast a really big fireball spell!”
Lark had a bad premonition about this.
Without waiting for Lark’s consent, a magic circle formed underneath Austen’s feet. The young man started mumbling the archaic words Lark taught them a few weeks ago. It was the chant for a simple fireball spell.
“H-Hey!”
Lark deliberated whether or not he should stop the spell. Austen was clearly an amateur in the field of magic and right now, he was pouring a colossal amount of mana into the magic formation than what a simple fireball spell actually needed.
Austen shouted, “Fireball!”
It looked lame in Lark’s eyes, but Austen was clearly mesmerized after he nailed the last part of his chant with that magic word. Austen spread his arms wide and a large ball of fire manifested itself before him. It was large enough to engulf a horse.
“Hahaha!” Austen was ecstatic upon seeing the colossal ball of fire. “George! Young Master! Look! I did it! I did i—”
And the spell went haywire.
The ball of fire shot toward the sky and spun around, forming a serpentine-like vortex. Austen fell on his butt, his jaw slack as he looked at the phenomenon unfolding before his eyes.
Lark sighed.
The magic formation itself was perfect, but the amount of mana supplied was disproportionate. Coupled with the fact that the execution of the spell was done horribly, distorting some of the runes after receiving way more mana than it could handle, it was no wonder that a simple fireball spell turned into a Fire Vortex.
“Seriously, these mana monsters.” Lark clicked his tongue.
If he left the Fire Vortex for too long, it might shoot toward the ground and kill the soldiers.
“M-Master!” Austen panicked. “W-What should I do? It didn’t look like that before. I swear it—”
“Shut up for a moment,” Lark spat. “Stupid disciple.”
A thin bolt of lightning shot from Lark’s fingertips and struck the violently spinning mass of fire. Anticlimactically, the Fire Vortex disintegrated into small orbs of fire then dissipated after a while.
“Let this serve as a lesson,” Lark reprimanded his disciples. “A hastily cast spell like that one will eventually go out of control. And even if it shoots toward the enemy, it’ll be easy to dispel it by simply hitting its core. It’s flashy, cool-looking, yes. But it’s nothing but a giant waste of mana. Remember that.”
Austen looked down, still traumatized by what happened. He knew that if Lark wasn’t there, he would probably have killed several innocent men. Right now, the construction of the magic tower halted. The workers and soldiers were looking at them.
“This is the reason why I insisted that the two of you master the basics first,” said Lark. “You don’t have to be quick in casting the spell. For now, focus on making sure that it’s stable and executed well. Over time, as you keep repeating the same spell over and over again, your casting sp
eed will increase proportionately.”
“I’m… I’m sorry, Master.” Austen’s voice was barely audible.
Lark frowned but decided to let the matter slide. Hopefully, they’d learned their lesson. They were still young, and Lark knew that this wouldn’t be the last time an incident like this would happen. Thankfully, he was here to prevent the spell from striking the city.
Seeing his two disciples’ crestfallen faces, Lark decided to steer away from the topic.
“Both of you, come with me,” he said. “I’ll show you something interesting.”
The brothers looked at each other for a moment, then wordlessly followed the Young Master. Soon, they arrived at a storage house in the fourth district. The guards saluted and opened the door upon seeing the Young Master.
Upon entering the storage house, Austen and George gasped. It was more appropriate to call the place a weapons factory. Numerous workers were assembling ballistae, catapults, large balloons, severing disks, and other weapons the brothers were unfamiliar with.
George approached the iron balls placed neatly inside wooden crates. Each of the iron balls had peculiar symbols engraved on them, which somehow reminded the brothers of the magic towers in Lion City.
“If you channel mana into it, it’ll blow this place up,” Lark said nonchalantly.
George leapt back in terror, his face immediately drained of all color. He had not expected it to be so dangerous.
“Is it okay... to leave it in the open like this?” George was worried that someone would accidently trigger the iron ball into blowing the entire place up.
“I’m kidding!” Lark chuckled upon seeing George’s face. “Those things are a bit resistant to magic, you see. It’d be too dangerous to use them in war, otherwise. They only blow up after receiving a certain level of impact, so we’ll need to drop them from the sky or catapult them into the enemies during sieges.”
George grumpily listened to Lark, clearly displeased that the Young Master had made fun of him. Austen, on the other hand, approached the balloons. He had heard before that they could fly into the sky, but he hadn’t seen one in action.
