“So, is there anything you’d like me to do with it? A burial maybe?” Villin asked Ashera mentally.
‘No, I am not the body I live in, my mind was transported and so this body no longer has any meaning for me.’ Ashera replied.
Villin nodded as his gaze rested on the Kitsune corpse in front of him. The fox-like magical beast was full of scars. There was a large incision in the body where they extracted the heart but the other organs remained fresh and intact. It was extremely valuable but Villin wasn’t at the point where he could use it himself for anything so he simply rechecked the enchantments to be sure it wouldn’t rot and put it in the storage.
Over the last period of time, he finished two wards that would keep Athena’s Forge as secure as possible. Invisibility spells would be completely ineffective and magic being used nearby, outside of the tower, would set one of the wards off, creating a barrier around the tower to stop them from further damaging it or getting in.
The enchantments on the tower itself were also very impressive but Villin hadn’t touched those. Rein had improved a lot and could already do a bunch, even though he wasn’t a runemaster, Villin could tell he wasn’t too far off.
After checking on the overall progress, Villin intended to work on a third ward that would encompass the higher-up floors when a guest arrived outside of the tower.
When Villin came out he noticed Ruby was standing her. Ever since he arrived at the fourth/fifth grade he only talked to her once when asking to keep an eye on his members, since then they hadn’t talked.
“Ruby, it’s good to see you.” Villin simply said. He had a very positive impression of the girl.
In response, Ruby smiled, “I agree. Villin, I’d like your help with something.”
Hearing her get straight to the point, Villin simply nodded and he invited her into the tower.
Even though Ruby didn’t make it as obvious as Pompei did, she was still quite impressed by the things that were being done here.
After a bit, Villin sat opposite Ruby in the meeting room, their seats were of equal height.
“So, miss Ruby, what could I help you with?” Villin asked as he stared her down.
In response, Ruby smiled as she rolled her eyes, then she focused. “There’s a mission I’d like to do. The mission is a truly great opportunity but it requires there to be three runemasters. There are only three runemasters in the fourth and fifth grades so I need your assistance.”
Hearing her short story, Villin immediately became interested. Three runemasters was a very substantial amount. The mission would most likely be extremely challenging.
After thinking for a bit, Villin simply decided to ask, “What are the mission details and why is it such a big opportunity?”
Hearing the expected question, Ruby explained, “The mission is to help a city prepare to fight an army of magical beasts. As runemasters, we will be expected to repair and mass-produce some of the weapons and armor they have there.”
Hearing this Villin’s eyes lit up, “And so it’s a huge opportunity since when we return we’ll know how to create certain war machines!”
Seeing Villin guess wrong, Ruby couldn’t help but feel slightly satisfied, “Nope. Even though that is most certainly a big bonus it’s not the true reason. The city requesting three runemasters has a peculiar name, it’s called, ‘Atlantis’.”
Hearing this being said, Villin’s mind went blank for a moment. There were a few mentions of Atlantis in several books he had read but it was generally seen as a myth. Something that didn’t actually exist.
“How do you know it’s the real Atlantis?”
“The mission board says so.”
Hearing the response, Villin couldn’t really refute it. The mission givers were to be trusted, if the mission board said the mission came from Atlantis then there was no doubt that The Academy made sure.
Villin stayed quiet for a bit as he recalled what he read about the city. The story went that long ago, long before Roland walked this planet, there was an ancient race of fishmen. They were able to build and breathe underwater and so they did so. When a human village asked to live with them, the fishmen obliged them and they created a shield around the city. The shield kept all the water out and let air into the city. This way, the humans and fishmen could live together.
Since then the fishmen have grown extinct but legend says that the descendants of that human village still live deep underwater, forever protected by the shield around Atlantis.
It was a very simple tale, but it said a great deal. Villin agreed that going there would be a great opportunity. After all, a shield around the city that kept water out, what else could that be but some sort of advanced ward.
Being able to research a ward with such an odd effect would indeed be a great opportunity. And, who knows, perhaps Atlantis had some knowledge they couldn’t get in The Academy.
“I’ll go with you, when?” Villin answered as he stayed to-the-point.
“I’ll have to contact the final runemaster here, if he agrees we’ll go in a week.”
Shortly after finishing up the conversation, Ruby left to meet the other runemaster in the grade and Villin was left to make preparations. Even though Villin didn’t know who the third runemaster was, if they were sane they would most certainly join the mission even if it was dangerous.
Villin swiftly made his way to the treasury and began looking for something, after a while, he found three coin pouches, “There we go.” Villin said as he grabbed them.
There were the interspatial bags he got from the research facility. Two of these were probably his own and Elinoire’s that had been kept, even though they had been emptied.
After thinking for a moment, Villin decided to take two of these with him. He had no idea what to expect but who knew he might be allowed to take some valuable things from Atlantis. He also brought a fortune with him consisting of three-hundred-thousand magic crystals.
The following week he spent on making a total of three puppets. One of them was one he would call high-grade. It was taller than one meter and it could climb, run, breathe fire, and explode. The other two were much, much smaller, they were only about twenty centimeters tall and forty centimeters wide, the smallest he could make a puppet.
It had eight legs and resembled a massive spider. It had a spell on it as well that made it camouflage itself.
This puppet could only do two things. Walk and transmit visual. Villin was sure that if he got more time he’d be able to improve them vastly, but he would have to work on that later.
The spiders were connected to sunglasses he had in his pocket, if he put them on he would be able to see what both spiders saw. Even though it was a bit inefficient, it would have to do.
It came to no surprise that the third runemaster had agreed to come on the mission and the precise time got established, it would be at dawn of the following day and they would meet at the corner of A2.
Villin had let his guild know that he would be gone for a bit due to a mission and encouraged them to do some missions as well since it was a great source of money.
Then, shortly before dawn, he went to B1. Villin sighed but he knew what had to be done, he had to kill Fang. It had been a long time since he had seen Fang and at this point, the beats must’ve broken through the instinct that kept it below a Kitsune.
If he didn’t kill it, it would most likely kill students moving through, after all his strength was high above this region.
When Villin got to the place he left Fang at last time, he saw it had made a layer in a nearby cave. He could tell even while he was still outside since the trees nearby the cave were all frozen, as was the ground.
And so, Villin approached the cave, ready to kill his once mount, and then he saw the shadow of a wolf, coming out of the cave.
Knowing that a fight was about to happen, Villin was about to cast a spell when he noticed that the ice wolf’s tail was wagging. When it sprinted towards Villin there wasn’t a bit of malice, Fang simply pounced on him and began licking his face.
Noticing this, Villin froze as he stared at the ice-wolf’s massive snout. He was confused by this situation and so was Ashera. She claimed that there should be no way that the ice wolf had not broken the instinctual fear of Kitsunes at this point in time.
Seeing that Fang sincerely seemed happy that he was back though, Villin decided not to think of it too much and he petted the ice wolf for a bit. When he entered the cave, Villin was slightly worried for a moment, he could see a human skeleton inside. He quickly figured that it was too old though and shouldn’t have been created by Fang. Then, he rode Fang over to A2. He wouldn’t complain about having a mount, it was rather nice riding Fang.
