Emperor Alexander stands in the middle of a battlefield, pieces of dwarven war machines cast about everywhere as if suffering the aftermath of a series of explosions. Melted fragments of the soul furnaces are still smoldering and melting through the ground.

“Dwohl would be ashamed of this,” Alexander mutters, kicking a piece of a war machine.

His descendants had continued his research in souls, but took it in a horrifying direction when they found them to be great fuel sources and began using the souls of other races. Nowadays, dwarven society is entirely run on souls; an abomination of all that is just.

Alexander would go into their cities themselves, liberate the slaves from the slave farms, and destroy their soul furnaces once and for all; but that is a task too great even for him. The dwarven cities are impenetrable bastions that have once even repelled a rampaging dragon.

With his Oathbound knights undermanned, he can’t afford to wage war against the dwarven cities. He can’t leave his empire for long, or the elves will take advantage of the situation.

The fact that two of his companion’s descendants have created such barbaric societies entirely devoid of empathy for the lesser races, or just any race in general, gives him little hope for the Runalymo. That said, he never saw a world notification of Kayafe’s death; perhaps she has managed to keep her people civil.

Alexander brings his attention back to the battlefield, and to the group of dwarves held captive by the will of his Bond. He is only interested in the Soul Commander, the leader of this army. He wears a thick, heroic tier, magical armor. An insignia of a cog with the dwarven numeral for fifty-nine is engraved on it, showing he is the commander of the dwarven fifty-ninth machine brigade. A low-ranking commander, but a commander nonetheless.

“Tell me, scum! Tell me everything you know about the dwarven war plans!” Alexander tries to hold his presence back lest he accidentally kill the lesser-tiered dwarf.

These dwarves deserve no mercy for the atrocities they have committed against other races. The systematic slavery and sacrifice of entire populations to fuel their machines is enough to earn them a very painful death, but their fate will be far worse. He will make sure their fates are the same as they inflicted on others.

The dwarf grabs his horned head with his non-digging hands, trying to resist the mental influence of his Bond; but in the face of justice, he will speak, willing or not.

“W-w-we…” The dwarf stammers, his will failing. “We were sent as a distraction to draw your attention away from the underground digging crews.”

The dwarf rolls on the ground as if in pain, but continues to speak between pained breaths. Blood drips from his ears and eyes as some enchantment tries to cut his life short for revealing the plans. Unfortunately for him, Alexander’s Bond can prevent his death.

“We… plan to create a Midas under your capital.”

A Midas, A type of cursed being capable of instantly turning everything it touches to gold. Anything within a certain area around it also turns to gold. This includes spells, which are converted into gold essence. A powerful cursed being that is exceptionally hard to defeat.

“Hmph! Useless!” Alexander says as he releases the dwarf from his geas, who starts screaming in pain.

If that was the plan, they wouldn’t have told such a low-ranking commander. The dwarves wanted him captured to feed him the wrong information. They have a different plan. They wouldn’t risk a Midas going anywhere near one of their cities. They will send something more controllable to try and defeat his empire.

He needs more Seers among the Oathbound. Mind mages too, to defend his Seers. He can’t take any risks right now, but he also needs to know what the dwarves are up to. Whatever they plan, they will have their most powerful retaliations protecting their information; he can’t risk his life or the lives of the Oathbound anymore.

Ting! The Saintess of Mana and Magic, Alysara, the Runalymo, has freed the Saintess of the Runalymo, Kayafe, the Runalymo, and completed the Mana Arc!

About a quarter-hour after several messages of a dragon slaying some strange beings, this one makes him forget himself.

She’s alive! Kayafe, who he saw as a little sister, is alive!

There’s a lot to unpack. Alysara had two other messages about her before, mastering [Sense Mana] and [Manipulate Mana], and now she and Kayafe have titles! He can’t help but feel proud of Kayafe for that; however, there’s a concern. Kayafe was freed from something. What does that mean? How long was she imprisoned?

A part of him, a rather significant part, wants to immediately leave and look for her. He cannot do that, though. He has a duty to his Empire.

She’s alive; that's all that matters. Alex reasons with himself. She’ll come to me when she’s ready.

But, can he wait? There’s Alysara, too; she’s a seer and a very accomplished one at that. Could she be able to help him with the dwarves? He can also show her to his citizens, proving that lesser races can achieve great things. She and Kayafe will inspire thousands and shorten the divide between the races.

Whatever the case, he needs to discuss this with Jordan and the others that he trusts. As for the prisoners, he’ll give them over to the Pain Master to turn into Pained Ones.

Speaking of… Where are they? Alexander must have lost his control over them in his absentminded shock from the world notification.

Looking around, he sees the group of fleeing dwarves in the distance; it will only take a few moments to recapture them.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

Oathbound Jordan leads Johnathan and the other Squires down into the depths of the palace, where they could hear blood-curdling screams echo, lasting eerily longer than they should. Jordan opens the door into the room where Pain Master ‘plays his music’ on his instrument, a Dwarven commander who looks somewhat fresh by the standards of the man’s usual subjects.

The dwarf writhes, screaming until he coughs blood as his throat breaks down from the extensive expressions of his unending torment. Gurgling can be heard every time the dwarf manages to temporarily cease his cries in order to take a breath, even as his body protests the simple act of filling his lungs with air.

“Jordan!” The Pain Master happily greets him with a bow, his many piercings clinking against each other. “You should visit me more often! However, I must say you have impeccable timing; the Emperor was kind enough to bring me more subjects!”

“I’m here on business, Pain Master.” Jordan motions to the Squires. “They need to know what goes on here and what they must face becoming a fully-fledged Oathbound.”

“Ah! Yes! The Pained Ones. Allow me to escort you.” The Pain Master leads them through the dungeon, deeper and deeper underground, walking down a long flight of stairs until they arrive at a lift made entirely of thick and heavily enchanted adamantite. They ride the large lift down as the Pain Master softly hums a soothing tune.

“Do not say a word,” Jordan warns the Squires. “Don’t make sudden movements, don’t make loud sounds, and most of all, never scream.”

“Cursed beings, although mindless, still have instinct and common behaviors; there are certain circumstances that may pacify them. It is an alternative to containing a cursed being, which can be done only through a powerful and well-trained Bond, but it is harder to achieve.” Jordan explains

Down, down, and further down. The lift continues to lower them for almost an hour before stopping at a hall where soft, soothing music plays.

Many large adamantine doors line the walls, and as the Pain Master opens the first one, it swings open without a sound. In the dim light of the room sits a roughly humanoid figure. Every inch of its body is covered in scars and open wounds that endlessly drip and ooze blood.

“This is a Pained One,” Jordan signs, a secret language known only to the Oathbound for the occasions where they cannot speak and don’t have access to telepathy. Jordan would just use a magic ring to communicate, but the Squires need practice with the Oathbound sign language.

“You will have to fight one of these if you haven’t had an opportunity to slay a cursed being on a mission,” Jordan continues to sign as the Squires give him their full attention. “Even then, we may ask you to further prove yourself against one of these if we think you aren’t ready.”

Jordan doesn’t give them the opportunity to ask questions, having already heard plenty over the years. Instead, he begins to answer the most frequent questions for expediency's sake.

“An Oathbound is expected to know how to fight cursed beings, and although this one only barely stands equivalent to a weak legendary being, it is still very dangerous. You will have to slay one alone to prove you can carry out solo missions. Once you slay one, you will be allowed to spend your legendary points.”

Unless given permission, Squires aren’t allowed to elevate their Race or Class to legendary tier. There are many reasons for this, but the primary one is that Oathbound are supposed to be unkillable, and Squires often die on missions or against the Pained Ones. The moment they are sworn, they earn the Oathbound title. Their death message will be broadcast with the Oathbound title attached, and their enemies will see their order as weak.

Only the Emperor is allowed to kill an Oathbound; that goes for traitors, oathbreakers, or criminals. Of course, there are circumstances that may lead to an Oathbound already being legendary before becoming an Oathbound, or they may already have a title that can be used to mask an untimely death as not one affiliated with Oathbound. Those are rare circumstances though, and regardless of these fringe cases, Squires are all treated the same even if one can safely be a legendary. Oathbound are expected to keep professional behavior and not act on jealousy, but there’s no reason to provide cause for it either.

After explaining everything to the Squires, Jordan escorts the group back up to the palace proper, bidding the Pain Master goodbyes.

Suddenly, just as he’s heading toward the meeting room to discuss what to do with the recent world notifications, another far more startlingly significant one appeared and stopped him in his tracks.

Ting! The Saintess of Mana and Magic, Alysara, the Runalymo, has discovered how to cleanse cursed Skills!

She found how to cleanse cursed skills?! This changes many things.

Jordan runs through the immaculate palace halls, only stopping in front of the meeting room for the time it took him to open the doors. The gold trimmed doors are enchanted with soundproofing to deny any potential eavesdropping. He enters to see the Emperor already there. He is only the second of four other Oathbound to have yet to arrive.

“Sit,” The Emperor motions to a Chair. “Lin is on a mission, so he can’t be here today; we are just waiting for Elizabeth now.”

Jordan sits to the Emperor's right, opposite of Ryan who is wearing a formal green suit to match his eyes. He has a lax air about him despite his formal attire, but his eyes show the attentiveness needed as the Emperor’s spymaster.

Not even a minute passes before Elizabeth arrives and takes a seat before brushing her long bangs out of her amber eyes. Elizabeth is the one who has taken over Jordan’s previous quartermaster job, since he has been promoted to the Emperor’s Right Hand. She’s dressed in functional clothing, fit to don her armor over it at any time. She keeps her hair short in a similar effort to remain battle ready at all times

“We may begin now,” The Emperor says. “I task you with the goal of analyzing the recent world messages to interpret the information, and to think of a plan concerning certain peoples of interest.”

Peoples of interest, primarily Alysara and Kayafe. One is personal to the Emperor; the other has great value.

“Considering the timing,” Elizabeth starts, “it is reasonable to investigate the East Nexus, if only to rule that possibility out.”

It could just be a coincidence, but she’s right; it’s better to investigate the place and maybe return with a bounty of Nexus materials.

“I agree,” Jordan says, getting a nod from Ryan as well.

“They are there,” The Emperor says. “It is the only place I didn’t check, but I should have known. Kayafe is a powerful Mana Manipulator; she could have held back that amount of mana for her people. How she managed to convince the Sapphire Tyrant herself to be the guardian of her people, I don’t know.”

“Sapphire Tyrant?” Ryan asks.

The Emperor nods. “That was Safyrs title when I was journeying with Kayafe. One of the most powerful dragons this world knows. She once washed away the elves' forest home, a place now known as Tyrant's Sea. Although, now that I think about it, I think I know how Kayafe might have convinced her.”

The Emperor didn’t elaborate further.

“If they are there, then we should make contact,” Jordan says. “Alysara has mastered two skills and discovered how to cleanse cursed skills. We should bring them into the Empire if anything.”

“No, we can’t bring them under our wing.” The Emperor shakes his head. “First, we can’t afford to make more enemies. Second, I can trust Kayafe to lead her people. And third, there’s a dragon that will object to our presence. The dwarves are planning something, and we can’t afford to be caught off guard while attempting to incorporate another race into the empire.”

“Then shouldn’t we request Alysara’s expertise to see what they plan?” Ryan asks.

“Yes,” The emperor responds. “But I fear the dwarves may have means of significantly harming her if she helps us; that may sour our relationship.”

“Then maybe test her abilities?” Elizabeth suggests. “If she resists Lin’s retaliations, then she should be capable of spying on the dwarves; we can have our mind mages protecting her.”

“Very well, I will send Lin to the East Nexus as a diplomat, and to request Alysara’s services should she prove herself capable,” The Emperor says after careful deliberation.