"First things first, don't start meditating here." Arcus's voice told Lia, warning her clearly. "The wolf is, in essence, the god of this sub-realm. She will have access to your memories when you fall into a meditative state. She is the energy inside here, and you would infuse her into yourself. Not a good idea!"
"How deeply can she manipulate me?"
"She probably can't control or rewrite your thoughts… but she can read you like an open book and manipulate you that way."
"Probably?" Lia smiled a little.
"Probably… She never tried it with Erias or with me. The only thing she did was restrict the knowledge she bestowed upon us from being shared with others. We concluded that she can only manipulate what is coming from her, from this sub-realm. What is coming in from the outside, she can't really influence."
"How can you be so sure about it?"
"They never found me. Or, they never tried interacting with me. That is my proof."
"Wouldn't that mean if I am learning from them… all that I learn from here will be useless if I try and use it against them?"
"Pretty much. Yes. We think it is intentionally set up like that."
"Shit… It was a mistake to come here… I was rash… once again!" Lia moaned, grabbing her hair.
"You experienced something bad, didn't you?" Arcus asked with understanding. "Erias was always rushing into things when angry, disturbed, or feeling down… He forgot to look at the long term and focused on the short term. Nobody is perfect."
"..."
"Well, I was planted here to be his or, if any of his descendants make it here, their shield. So all is well!"
"What do you mean? And… where are you exactly?"
"I am not here physically," Arcus replied after a brief pause, collecting his thoughts and asking a weird question. "How am I on the outside?"
"Huh? Um… you are sleeping and… known to be a bit senile and broken. I once spoke with you! You sounded… confused, but I did believe what you said to me back then!"
"Mhhm, I see. Well, in a way, I am broken. Erias and I planned to guard against this… Golden Claw Sect. We learned a lot from them, yes, but we also realized we were literally being… farmed. Like cattle."
"What?!" Lia sat up but only shouted in her head. She quickly acted like it was some thoughts that bothered her, continuing to ruffle her hair before lying back on the ground.
"They were teaching us specific elements and specific spells. When Erias asked her about the history of the Soulbound Sect and how to battle and effectively destroy them, we also learned a lot about souls. Your ancestor wasn't naive… he theorized that they are tailoring us to host their leaders' souls after reincarnating."
"Are you sure?"
"70%. Maybe 75%."
"Good enough for me…" Lia answered, clicking her tongue. "I need their knowledge… I can learn light and darkness from my mom, but she is so busy I can't rob her of her time while all this is happening! I don't know if Erias could teach me from where he is now… This was the quickest way I could think of…"
"Is it that bad already?" Arcus asked, his voice worried, listening quietly to Lia's explanation that followed his question. "Huh… it isn't that bad! Girl, you are being stupid just like Erias!"
"Sorry…"
"Nah, don't be… I was worse, ehehe! But, back to my explanation! Our theory was that they teach us in a specific way, fattening us up like a pig! I watched people randomly appear, being taught by them, then sent back after they reached a specific level."
"The disappearing people!" Lia realized, falling into another deep thought, "But they never showed any… talent. I think. Most of them are dead already, growing old and-"
"You can't know that for sure," Arcus warned her, silencing Lia at once. "Both this Sect and the other are just as selfish as they come! Don't. Trust. Neither! When you last appeared here, it was too quick… I failed to reach you. But this time, I was on high alert! I knew once you appeared, you would eventually be back! You are just like Erias, can't stay away from trouble!"
“Um… sorry…” Lia murmured in her head, "You really are Arcus, aren't you?"
"Of course! I separated a part of my soul and mind myself! Then Erias made the chunks that I broke off into… well, me again and hid me here on his last visit! I have no connection with my original self; he doesn't know about me. I am neither living nor dead; I am nothing but an agglomeration of some of my memories and feelings!"
"That is why they think you are a bit… weird? I mean, on the outside!"
"Yeah… My real self is probably confused about a lot of things. A dragon lives a long life, a very long one! Our souls and memories are probably the most robust of all beings in Meriath; that is why I could afford a bit of damage to myself! This was the reason why we were the favorite food of the Undead, you know! But it also let me stay here unnoticed. That ethereal wolf can't sense my presence because I am not something that uses either mana or soul energy like the Undead! Pretty cool, eh?"
"You two came up with something wild, didn't you?" Lia grinned, flashing a thumbs up in her head.
"We always took risks! It's how we roll, baby!" Arcus laughed without holding back, "I just hope he is doing well on the other side… Well, he is my brother, so I bet he broke many things that belong to those motherfuckers! Bwahahahaha! I wish I was there just so I could take a shit on their doorstep and lit it on fire! Take that bitches!"
"Um… A-arcus?" Lia asked, feeling that she couldn't hold back her laughs. She needed it, and maybe the old dragon knew that. "Can we… can we get back to the important bits?"
"Yes, yes… well, here is what we are going to do! What I am here for! I will supply you with energy via my soul! You don't need to worry; I will feed it into you, alleviating the exhaustion so you don't need to meditate or sleep!"
"Wouldn't that…" Lia asked, thinking about it, and Arcus quickly confirmed it.
"Kill this part of me, yes. But that is okay! That is why I am here anyway and why I didn't help the others. I waited for the one who is from Erias's bloodline!"
"There… there is another problem," Lia answered, wanting to say something, but she already knew anything she said would be useless.
"The learning part? Not really~!" Arcus laughed again, "I was in here for a very long time! I went ahead and explored it all! I may have nothing physical to appear with before anybody, but that also means any spells they had, guarding against people, were useless in front of me! I had time to learn, so it will be me who teaches you!"
"Really?!" Lia exclaimed happily.
"Well… not really, but… um… how do I say this. While I shield your mind and thoughts, all the things I memorized will flow into you! You just have to untangle it and apply it for yourself!"
"Then… should I just… leave now?"
"You can, but you would miss out on the best part!" Arcus chuckled, piquing her interest. "What is the biggest advantage or disadvantage of a sub-realm?"
"Mhm… time-flow!"
"Yes! Do you remember how long of a time passed in the outside when you were dragged in last time?"
"A few seconds! Even less!"
"See?" Arcus said, stretching it a little, "And then there is Swimmy!"
"The fish? What about him?"
"The perfect training partner!" The dragon reminded her, sounding excited, "Whatever you throw at him, he will dismantle it and turn it to its opposing element! If you attack him with a fused spell, he will separate it! Use his gift! When you are sparring with him, pay attention to what happens to your element, and it will help you learn more about it and how all of them are connected on a fundamental level! Reading their texts… they theorized that all elements are from the same origin. They are from the same source, from the Cosmos! It's like when you shine a light on a prism, and it breaks up into the colors of the rainbow! The energy from the outside, coming in, is broken up to the Eight Elements!"
"Oh…" Lia nodded, listening to him with all her attention, memorizing everything.
"I think they are right, and this is why they and you, too, can fuse the elements. When Swimmy starts to teach you another element, just pretend you are listening. The knowledge will come from me; that way… they can't control it. It will be yours… and yours to share! Erias knew this was the best method to circumvent their seal… the only thing we didn't expect it would take this long for his bloodline to come here again…"
"Sorry…"
"Nah, no need for that! This was only one failsafe we prepared; there are more in place."
"Really?" She asked, curious.
"Did we wake up already? I mean, the dragons."
"No… only the old Three Ri mages returned," Lia replied earnestly.
"I see. If we do wake up and come back, then another one has been activated. Then there is the Institute; if all things turn to the worst, we can still drop it down on them."
"That would be the death sentence of the continent, wouldn't it?!" Lia gasped.
"If we drop it on that, yes, but I said drop it on THEM! I am confident in the people managing to stand up to them this time! So was Erias, so the surface should be able to resist them! They won't have such an easy slaughter as before! Erias went ahead and planned to teleport the Institute straight into their home base and made it explode there! He wanted to set up anchor points in there so he could bring the whole floating rock inside! It would have… catastrophic consequences to anything in there!"
"Is that… even possible?" Lia gulped.
"If he thought it was, then I am sure it is! He said it should result in a chain reaction that rips their space apart, reuniting it with No-Space… although it will have big consequences on everything else too, it will be most devastating to them!"
"Let me guess…" She smiled, feeling a bit terrified, "This is how you roll?"
"Bwahahaha! Exactly!"
"Haaah… This is… heavy!"
"Not as heavy as when we finally drop a floating island on their heads! It will be simple and effective! No fancy spells, no grandeur, but just good old 'I hit you with a big rock!' Take that, hah!"
"Would it even smash them? If they are nothing souls?"
"It's more like, would their space withstand the explosion from within!" Arcus replied quickly, repeating Erias's words from before, "It should rip it apart! Ahaha! Two can play the game of 'let's destroy the world!' and we are not afraid of playing dirty!"
"Damn… I don't know how to feel about it… especially now that you told it to me! What if I die and they learn about it?!"
"Oh." Arcus's voice flinched, "I… I was carried away… It was so long that I managed to speak to someone!"
"Well, I am not planning on dying just yet!" Lia grumbled but couldn't help smiling inside her head, "And if I do, I will immolate my soul, so don't worry!"
"Nah, you won't die! Erias will succeed, and before you know it, all the Undead will be turned into what they should be: Dead!"
"Cheers to that!" She sighed again, trying to reign in Arcus's excitement, "So… about that knowledge and teaching stuff. When do we start?"
"Oh, yes, yes! Now it is as good as ever! Just relax and let my memories fly into yours!"
"If you are nothing but an elaborate plan from the ethereal wolf, tricking me into this… You are a genius, and I get what I deserve for coming here."
"Then pray you have the luck of the fools!" Arcus chuckled, and soon, Lia's head was starting to fill with deep knowledge about the eight elements. It was convoluted, alien, and something she couldn't make heads or tails about, but she knew at once that it was really Arcus as she also saw memories of Erias and him, working hard to come up with plans to deal with both of the Sects.
Corty Hopefully Queen won't sue for the title.
"First things first, don't start meditating here." Arcus's voice told Lia, warning her clearly. "The wolf is, in essence, the god of this sub-realm. She will have access to your memories when you fall into a meditative state. She is the energy inside here, and you would infuse her into yourself. Not a good idea!"
"How deeply can she manipulate me?"
"She probably can't control or rewrite your thoughts… but she can read you like an open book and manipulate you that way."
"Probably?" Lia smiled a little.
"Probably… She never tried it with Erias or with me. The only thing she did was restrict the knowledge she bestowed upon us from being shared with others. We concluded that she can only manipulate what is coming from her, from this sub-realm. What is coming in from the outside, she can't really influence."
"How can you be so sure about it?"
"They never found me. Or, they never tried interacting with me. That is my proof."
"Wouldn't that mean if I am learning from them… all that I learn from here will be useless if I try and use it against them?"
"Pretty much. Yes. We think it is intentionally set up like that."
"Shit… It was a mistake to come here… I was rash… once again!" Lia moaned, grabbing her hair.
"You experienced something bad, didn't you?" Arcus asked with understanding. "Erias was always rushing into things when angry, disturbed, or feeling down… He forgot to look at the long term and focused on the short term. Nobody is perfect."
"..."
"Well, I was planted here to be his or, if any of his descendants make it here, their shield. So all is well!"
"What do you mean? And… where are you exactly?"
"I am not here physically," Arcus replied after a brief pause, collecting his thoughts and asking a weird question. "How am I on the outside?"
"Huh? Um… you are sleeping and… known to be a bit senile and broken. I once spoke with you! You sounded… confused, but I did believe what you said to me back then!"
"Mhhm, I see. Well, in a way, I am broken. Erias and I planned to guard against this… Golden Claw Sect. We learned a lot from them, yes, but we also realized we were literally being… farmed. Like cattle."
"What?!" Lia sat up but only shouted in her head. She quickly acted like it was some thoughts that bothered her, continuing to ruffle her hair before lying back on the ground.
"They were teaching us specific elements and specific spells. When Erias asked her about the history of the Soulbound Sect and how to battle and effectively destroy them, we also learned a lot about souls. Your ancestor wasn't naive… he theorized that they are tailoring us to host their leaders' souls after reincarnating."
"Are you sure?"
"70%. Maybe 75%."
"Good enough for me…" Lia answered, clicking her tongue. "I need their knowledge… I can learn light and darkness from my mom, but she is so busy I can't rob her of her time while all this is happening! I don't know if Erias could teach me from where he is now… This was the quickest way I could think of…"
"Is it that bad already?" Arcus asked, his voice worried, listening quietly to Lia's explanation that followed his question. "Huh… it isn't that bad! Girl, you are being stupid just like Erias!"
"Sorry…"
"Nah, don't be… I was worse, ehehe! But, back to my explanation! Our theory was that they teach us in a specific way, fattening us up like a pig! I watched people randomly appear, being taught by them, then sent back after they reached a specific level."
"The disappearing people!" Lia realized, falling into another deep thought, "But they never showed any… talent. I think. Most of them are dead already, growing old and-"
"You can't know that for sure," Arcus warned her, silencing Lia at once. "Both this Sect and the other are just as selfish as they come! Don't. Trust. Neither! When you last appeared here, it was too quick… I failed to reach you. But this time, I was on high alert! I knew once you appeared, you would eventually be back! You are just like Erias, can't stay away from trouble!"
“Um… sorry…” Lia murmured in her head, "You really are Arcus, aren't you?"
"Of course! I separated a part of my soul and mind myself! Then Erias made the chunks that I broke off into… well, me again and hid me here on his last visit! I have no connection with my original self; he doesn't know about me. I am neither living nor dead; I am nothing but an agglomeration of some of my memories and feelings!"
"That is why they think you are a bit… weird? I mean, on the outside!"
"Yeah… My real self is probably confused about a lot of things. A dragon lives a long life, a very long one! Our souls and memories are probably the most robust of all beings in Meriath; that is why I could afford a bit of damage to myself! This was the reason why we were the favorite food of the Undead, you know! But it also let me stay here unnoticed. That ethereal wolf can't sense my presence because I am not something that uses either mana or soul energy like the Undead! Pretty cool, eh?"
"You two came up with something wild, didn't you?" Lia grinned, flashing a thumbs up in her head.
"We always took risks! It's how we roll, baby!" Arcus laughed without holding back, "I just hope he is doing well on the other side… Well, he is my brother, so I bet he broke many things that belong to those motherfuckers! Bwahahahaha! I wish I was there just so I could take a shit on their doorstep and lit it on fire! Take that bitches!"
"Um… A-arcus?" Lia asked, feeling that she couldn't hold back her laughs. She needed it, and maybe the old dragon knew that. "Can we… can we get back to the important bits?"
"Yes, yes… well, here is what we are going to do! What I am here for! I will supply you with energy via my soul! You don't need to worry; I will feed it into you, alleviating the exhaustion so you don't need to meditate or sleep!"
"Wouldn't that…" Lia asked, thinking about it, and Arcus quickly confirmed it.
"Kill this part of me, yes. But that is okay! That is why I am here anyway and why I didn't help the others. I waited for the one who is from Erias's bloodline!"
"There… there is another problem," Lia answered, wanting to say something, but she already knew anything she said would be useless.
"The learning part? Not really~!" Arcus laughed again, "I was in here for a very long time! I went ahead and explored it all! I may have nothing physical to appear with before anybody, but that also means any spells they had, guarding against people, were useless in front of me! I had time to learn, so it will be me who teaches you!"
"Really?!" Lia exclaimed happily.
"Well… not really, but… um… how do I say this. While I shield your mind and thoughts, all the things I memorized will flow into you! You just have to untangle it and apply it for yourself!"
"Then… should I just… leave now?"
"You can, but you would miss out on the best part!" Arcus chuckled, piquing her interest. "What is the biggest advantage or disadvantage of a sub-realm?"
"Mhm… time-flow!"
"Yes! Do you remember how long of a time passed in the outside when you were dragged in last time?"
"A few seconds! Even less!"
"See?" Arcus said, stretching it a little, "And then there is Swimmy!"
"The fish? What about him?"
"The perfect training partner!" The dragon reminded her, sounding excited, "Whatever you throw at him, he will dismantle it and turn it to its opposing element! If you attack him with a fused spell, he will separate it! Use his gift! When you are sparring with him, pay attention to what happens to your element, and it will help you learn more about it and how all of them are connected on a fundamental level! Reading their texts… they theorized that all elements are from the same origin. They are from the same source, from the Cosmos! It's like when you shine a light on a prism, and it breaks up into the colors of the rainbow! The energy from the outside, coming in, is broken up to the Eight Elements!"
"Oh…" Lia nodded, listening to him with all her attention, memorizing everything.
"I think they are right, and this is why they and you, too, can fuse the elements. When Swimmy starts to teach you another element, just pretend you are listening. The knowledge will come from me; that way… they can't control it. It will be yours… and yours to share! Erias knew this was the best method to circumvent their seal… the only thing we didn't expect it would take this long for his bloodline to come here again…"
"Sorry…"
"Nah, no need for that! This was only one failsafe we prepared; there are more in place."
"Really?" She asked, curious.
"Did we wake up already? I mean, the dragons."
"No… only the old Three Ri mages returned," Lia replied earnestly.
"I see. If we do wake up and come back, then another one has been activated. Then there is the Institute; if all things turn to the worst, we can still drop it down on them."
"That would be the death sentence of the continent, wouldn't it?!" Lia gasped.
"If we drop it on that, yes, but I said drop it on THEM! I am confident in the people managing to stand up to them this time! So was Erias, so the surface should be able to resist them! They won't have such an easy slaughter as before! Erias went ahead and planned to teleport the Institute straight into their home base and made it explode there! He wanted to set up anchor points in there so he could bring the whole floating rock inside! It would have… catastrophic consequences to anything in there!"
"Is that… even possible?" Lia gulped.
"If he thought it was, then I am sure it is! He said it should result in a chain reaction that rips their space apart, reuniting it with No-Space… although it will have big consequences on everything else too, it will be most devastating to them!"
"Let me guess…" She smiled, feeling a bit terrified, "This is how you roll?"
"Bwahahaha! Exactly!"
"Haaah… This is… heavy!"
"Not as heavy as when we finally drop a floating island on their heads! It will be simple and effective! No fancy spells, no grandeur, but just good old 'I hit you with a big rock!' Take that, hah!"
"Would it even smash them? If they are nothing souls?"
"It's more like, would their space withstand the explosion from within!" Arcus replied quickly, repeating Erias's words from before, "It should rip it apart! Ahaha! Two can play the game of 'let's destroy the world!' and we are not afraid of playing dirty!"
"Damn… I don't know how to feel about it… especially now that you told it to me! What if I die and they learn about it?!"
"Oh." Arcus's voice flinched, "I… I was carried away… It was so long that I managed to speak to someone!"
"Well, I am not planning on dying just yet!" Lia grumbled but couldn't help smiling inside her head, "And if I do, I will immolate my soul, so don't worry!"
"Nah, you won't die! Erias will succeed, and before you know it, all the Undead will be turned into what they should be: Dead!"
"Cheers to that!" She sighed again, trying to reign in Arcus's excitement, "So… about that knowledge and teaching stuff. When do we start?"
"Oh, yes, yes! Now it is as good as ever! Just relax and let my memories fly into yours!"
"If you are nothing but an elaborate plan from the ethereal wolf, tricking me into this… You are a genius, and I get what I deserve for coming here."
"Then pray you have the luck of the fools!" Arcus chuckled, and soon, Lia's head was starting to fill with deep knowledge about the eight elements. It was convoluted, alien, and something she couldn't make heads or tails about, but she knew at once that it was really Arcus as she also saw memories of Erias and him, working hard to come up with plans to deal with both of the Sects.
Corty Hopefully Queen won't sue for the title.
