Dragon Gods Reign

[High order territory]

Flanked by Jennia, Allaire, and Alicia, Darganth stood still, much to the curiosity of the nearby mages. To them it looked as if he wasn't doing anything, an assumption that couldn't be farther from the truth.

Having learned the signature of the teleportation landing formation that the scroll was leading to from said scroll, he had integrated it as the destination in the teleportation spell he was currently casting.

But this was the easy part, with the reason for their current delay being the main difficulty. As he had expected, the landing formation was secured by quite a few safety measures, as should be the case with any half decent one. If not, their function of allowing teleportation spells to travel there far faster and easier could easily be turned against their owner.

Under normal circumstances he would have simply ignored them, trusting in his superiority with the space element to forcefully prevent any direct tempering with the teleport. After all, whether it be affinity, compatibility, or experience, none could match him in the space element. And should there also be other traps connected to it, he was confident he could endure them.

But considering that they were traveling towards the base or hideout of Alicia's teacher, he had decided to be a bit more tactful.

Needing roughly a minute to break through these safety measures, Darganth let the spell circle spring to life before nodding in satisfaction.

“And off we go.” He said before activating the spell.

Using the moment in between to brace themselves, all four quickly reoriented themselves when they arrived at their destination. In an instant four basic shield spells sprang to life, ready to change to one of the elements at their conjurer's command.

Standing still like this for a couple of seconds, they relaxed slightly when the feared traps didn't come.

Carefully taking a few steps to the side, Alicia turned around and inspected the room in an attempt to find any indicators of their location. When she didn't notice any during her initial sweep, she turned back to Darganth.

“Any clues where we are, because I have none.” She said.

“Quite far into the high order territory, at least that's what I would guess based on direction and distance. Oh, and a couple hundred meters underground. With a map, I could say where exactly.” Darganth answered her.

“Then that leaves one option.” Jennia said with a shrug.

Doing another quick scan along the smooth stone surfaces that covered every side of the room, she walked straight towards the only door in them. And with a moment of delay, Darganth, Allaire, and Alicia followed after her.

Letting them catch up to her, Jennia waited until she received a nod of readiness from each of them before pushing open the metal-reinforced wood door.

At the same time, she conjured an extremely dense mana shield into its place, though to her relief this wouldn't have been needed.

Peering into the corridor on the other side, she took a few seconds to confirm that it was truly empty. Once she had done so, Jennia slowly walked forward while expanding her shield to again surround her entire body.

Following directly after her came Darganth, his eyes in their draconic state and with enough mana circling through them to show their full capabilities.

“Is this place abandoned?” Allaire asked when she also saw the completely empty corridor a second later.

“No, I can see easily a couple hundred mana signatures, even some third ranks. But they seem to all be gathering up down that way.” Darganth answered her.

As Darganth was saying this, Alicia also arrived in the corridor and quickly followed the direction of his gaze. Looking over the gathered people, she suddenly started to smile.

“And Alorick is among them.” She said.

With this confirmation, the four of them started walking down the corridor in the direction Darganth had pointed in. Paying only minimal attention to any potential traps, they chatted amongst themselves.

“It never came up, but from your reactions, it seems that this Alorick was quite a good teacher.” Jennia said.

“I would say so. Maybe sometimes a bit too strict, but one would always have his support and I think that's what's important. I've seen that first hand when he stood up against two of the seats for me.”

Following these words, Alicia momentarily reminisced about her time as his student.

“He was also someone who wouldn't hide his distaste for you, something that was likely to be the reason why few other high order officials liked him.

As his students, we had it slightly better, but even to us he often acted like a grumpy old man. That is not to say he didn't offer praise, just that it was rarer that critique. All in all, I would say that he teaches by throwing into the cold water while standing at the side, ready to save you.”

Hearing her description, Jennia nodded thoughtfully before glancing back to Darganth.

“This method somewhat reminds me of you.” She said.

“What can I say besides that it's effective?” He answered her.

Chuckling in response to his answer, Jennia continued her conversation with Alicia.

After a few minutes, their group came to a sudden stop in response to Darganth doing so, dropping all other matters and getting ready for a fight.

“Incoming teleport.” Darganth shouted, already forming his own spell in response.

A fraction of a second later the four of them vanished from their position and reappeared around fifty meters further back. At nearly the same time a group of heavily armed guards appeared in a circle around them, with a handful of disabling spells directly flying at their former position.

In the following chaos, the disorganized group quickly scattered, with only a couple managing to redirect their focus toward their group of four.

Taking a step forward, Darganth quickly conjured a portal in between them and the incoming projectiles. This diverted the course of these and prevented them from being hit, with the attacks being expelled out of the other end of the portal a few meters behind them.

But with only a moment of delay another attack came, this time an arrow formed of space energy. Simply passing through Darganth's portal as if wasn't there, the projectile was nonetheless quickly stopped when Darganth matched it with a similar one that shattered it on its flight path.

At the same time, he dropped the portal, a volley of spells ready. Just as he was about to shoot them, Alicia rushed forward, stopping him.

“Master, stop! It's me!” She shouted.

Her words caused the man with whom Darganth was just about to exchange spell volleys to pause, letting his spells disperse harmlessly.

“Alicia?!” He asked in shock.

Waving his hands and reigniting the light producing runes along the ceiling and walls, he looked at them cautiously.

Going from Darganth who had dispersed most of the spells, to Jennia and Allaire who were both hued in external aura and surrounded by a few dozen spells, before finally letting his eyes rest on Alicia.

Needing a second to recognize her, his shoulders sacked in relief when he did. Quickly this went over into confusion over her presence.

“What are you doing here? And how did you even get here?” He asked concerned.

“Mostly guilt as your current situation is mostly due to me. Or at least the series of events that lead to it were my fault. As for how? Long story short, I had help.” Alicia answered him.

“I can see that. Who are they?” Alorick asked, eying Darganth critically.

Hesitating for a moment, Alicia glanced at Darganth.

'Just say the truth, you can even tell him who I am if he asks. Not just do I highly doubt that he ever heard of me, but this world is still under Irsyr's influence which allows me to be a bit more open with my identity. Without his permission, nothing enters or leaves this universe.' Darganth said telepathically.

'If you say.' Alicia answered.
“In short, he is my brother.”

Raising his eyebrow questioningly, Alorick seemed doubtful. Noticing this, Alicia quickly continued speaking in an attempt to prevent him from making false conclusions.

“I know how this sounds, but it isn't as crazy as you believe.”

“Really? Because I am certain that you are the only otherworldler that was summoned here, these rituals aren't easy to hide after all.”

“Yes, but he wasn't summoned here. And it's honestly a long story, so maybe we can go somewhere quiet for me to recount it, that would be appreciated.”

Glancing back at her words and rolling his eyes at the whispering of the other fighters with whom he had teleported here, Alorick took only a moment before he nodded his head.

“Follow me.” He said, conjuring a portal with a wave of his hand.

Following after him, Alicia stepped through it and into a small conference room. Paying only momentarily attention to the extravagant but old decorations mindlessly scattered throughout the room, she took a seat on the table at its center.

A few moments later Darganth, Jennia, and Allaire also stepped through the portal, silently sitting down on three free chairs.

“Alright, you can start.” Alorick said when they did.

“How about we first clear up your mistrust. I know you just want to protect Alicia, but your stare is getting annoying.” Darganth said before Alicia could start.

Along with those words, his true form manifested behind him, momentarily creating the illusion that the room was replaced with the endlessness of the void as it did. A moment late, while Alorick was still staring at Darganth with wide eyes, Alicia followed his example and manifested her true form behind her.

For a moment there was a near-total silence between the five, only broken by the Jennia's slight chuckle at Alorick's reaction.

“Unbelievable.” He stuttered when he finally regained his bearing.

“For two people, even if they are sibling siblings, to experience the same effect from crossing over through the void is just massively improbable.” He exclaimed in disbelief.

“Maybe, but let me explain, it explains it.” Alicia said.

Nodding, he sat back down. At the same time, he stopped staring at Darganth in mistrust, only retaining a healthy amount of caution towards him as he motioned for Alicia to start.

Giving an extremely short version of the events Darganth had told her about, she revealed Darganth's origins as a dragon that had lived in Vunreon without directly mentioning his identity. Explaining that he had originally been reincarnated in an adjacent universe and that he had come here after learning of her possible presence, she left out the unimportant parts.

At the end of her narration, Alorick was still looking at them with unsure eyes.

“That isn't exactly an explanation. And even if I were to fully believe that story, it still doesn't explain how it lead to you also becoming a dragon.”

“Oh, that is easy. My state back in our previous world could be best described with my true nature being suppressed, but it was still present. Even I can't say for certain, but it is likely that I constantly influenced my surroundings and as I saw Alicia as my sister, my subconsciousness likely directed this influence towards giving her draconic potential. And as the void doesn't give anything new, just unearths a soul's potential, it is actually not that improbable that it was awoken when she passed through it.” Darganth said.

Following his words, Alorick kept silent for over a minute as he was deep in thought. Carefully scanning all four of them, his gaze slowly became less harsh.

Finally, he sighed with some relief and said, “Seems like I reacted overly cautiously.”

Hearing his answer, Alicia also felt relieved.

“And I'm happy for you, not just because you've reunited with your brother. But with him also being a dragon I am sure that you can reach your full potential, something I am simply not able to teach you, and live your life without worries.” Alorick said.

“Thank you, but don't discredit the help you've given me. Without it, I wouldn't even made it this far.”

“Still, we've seen just a couple minutes ago how lacking my abilities as a mage are. Now at least one of my students will one day surpass me and I'm glad for it.”

Slightly surprised by his bleak assessment of his own skill, Alicia was just about to answer when Darganth did so.

“Maybe, but that's only because she isn't the only one not yet fulfilling her full potential.” He said, surprising both Alicia and Alorick.

“To be precise, the knowledge regarding mages seems to be generally flawed in this world. Yes, Affinity and the mana and control values are important, but they aren't everything that determines a mage's power.

One point that can't be changed easily is one's species. I'm a dragon with space and time as innate elements, even if all other factors were equal there are only a few beings who could match me in these.

But there are other factors, whether it be your understanding of an element or how regularly you use it. The first is a bit more talent dependent, but by using certain characteristics of the surrounding space and fine-tuning the spell you can drastically increase its efficiency.

The second one is somewhat akin to a muscle, with elements being easier to wield the more you use them. It's why mages tend to focus on a couple elements instead of using all, though the exact number depends on the person.”

Hearing Darganth's words, Alorick looked somewhat defeated.

“I suspected as much, or at least that there is some knowledge that we lost. Shortly after finishing my training I had found and explored an old ruin. While it had given me the knowledge to reach the peak of the third rank, I never fully deciphered everything I managed to get.” He said.

Nodding understandingly, Darganth thought for a moment before conjuring a book onto the table with a wave of his hand.

“Then you're in luck. Written in there are what I consider the basics for mages, consider it as my token of gratitude for helping Alicia.”

Needing a second to fully register Darganth's words, Alorick looked at the book with wide eyes.

“I can't-” He started but Darganth interrupted him.

“Take it, that is the least I can do.” Darganth said.

Hesitating for a moment, Alorick finally reached out and dragged the heavy book towards him. Looking at it with excitement, he took a moment to express his gratitude before excusing himself to study it in depth.