Central South Continent.

There were many Magical organizations on the continent, but only three of them had the greatest power and influence, which divided the magical city of Avendum and many of the most important resources of the continent among themselves.

Earth Hold, Foresight and Foggy Bastion.

The strongest Mage of the 2nd rank of the Foresight organization was called Rudolf. He managed to successfully transplant the eye of the Arcanum beast into himself. Where he found such a thing and how exactly he did it was unknown to anyone except himself.

This eye made it possible to see the supposed future about half a second ahead. Although many Magicians had a certain kind of sixth sense, it was far from being so exaggerated. Thanks to this eye, it was almost impossible to surprise him and he had a clear advantage in any battle.

After Stevens' death, Rudolf contacted the Foggy Bastion and they decided to quickly attack the Earth Hold headquarters. As it turned out, three 2nd rank Mages of the Earth Hold simply fled realizing that they could not oppose anything to almost two dozen Mages of the two strongest organizations. The Earth Hold fell without much resistance.

Now there are only two tigers left in the city of Avendum. Temporarily, the status quo was established between them.

It was Rudolph who was the Magician who at one time signed a contract with Melrose. At first, he had considerable hopes for experiments in matters of transmigration of the soul. He helped Melrose set up the formations and provided resources for experimentation. However, this bet clearly did not work, none of the experiments ended in success. Soon he just put it out of his head.

However, after returning from the Earth Hold, he received a message from Orion. Melrose provided recordings of the formation's operation and conversation with Sam. There was also a letter explaining all the circumstances, including the contract, which prevented Melrose from reporting the incident earlier.

- A successful experiment huh…- Rudolf muttered thoughtfully.

Second rank Mage could live up to 500 years. He still had more than a hundred years left to find a way to reach the 3rd rank, and so far he was not going to give up. Nevertheless, this doll, thanks to which the experiment was successful, is still extremely valuable.

Even if everything went well only thanks to an entity from another world, who said that history will not repeat itself again? An entity that was able to somehow overcome the restrictions of the Mage World must have incredible power. This doll could become a backup option for Rudolf. If in a hundred years he still doesn't find a way to reach the third rank, then he can at least take a chance and try to transfer his soul into a doll. Although he is unlikely to be able to progress as a Magician after this, it is better than death.

It was worth taking away this doll as quickly as possible, it would be better if it remains in Rudolf possession until needed. If this Mage disappears in some anomalous zone, then it will become impossible to find this doll again.

Rudolph used the fingerprint to communicate with the commander of the combat unit.

- Riccardo, send Steel to me.

- Yes, sir. He will be with you within an hour. - came soon the answer.

In front of Rudolph, the entire Southern Continent was outlined on the big screen. All small organizations and families of magicians, plantations and mines of magic crystals were marked here. Anomalous zones representing this or that value. Rudolph himself sat at the table and thought while looking at the screen.

Now his organization Foresight and the Foggy Bastion were formal allies. But in fact, both sides were actively devouring all the resources of the Earth Hold. There was a constant invisible struggle for True Mages of this and other families and organizations.

Theoretically, now both organizations were more or less equal in strength, but the slightest change could instantly break the camel's back. Every True Mage was now in the account. If war breaks out, Rudolf must be ready for it.

Steel was best suited for this secondary task and would be able to complete it on his own.

Soon, the True Magician, nicknamed Steel, penetrated through the barrier. Outwardly, he looked like an ordinary man in a tailcoat, however, this impression was deceptive. When becoming a True Mage, he mastered the skill of metal and now, being at 80% of the elemental transformation, he could literally turn his body into liquid metal. Although his vital organs also underwent a transformation, he was still barely human, so his heart, brain, and other vital organs remained vulnerable to a certain degree.

At the same time, a peculiar heart of metal was already formed inside his body. Thanks to that, he could not only turn the body into liquid metal, but also transform it at will and even increase in size.

However, he never reached the requirements for a breakthrough in terms of mental energy. He reached his current state using a basic meditation technique, which showed his considerable talent and luck.

For such a Magician, it was quite important to search for various metals or other materials suitable for absorption. Although it was dangerous to move forward after 80% in terms of element conversion, this did not stop all Mages, especially if their life was coming to an end.

- Greetings leader. - Steel bowed.

- Hi Steel. Have a seat.

True Mages at the peak of rank 1 still deserve respect even from rank 2 Mage. In fact, if all the Mages of the 1st rank united, they could easily, if not kill, then simply expel the Mages of the 2nd rank from the continent. The difference in numbers was simply too great.

If it were possible to take away their meditation techniques, then such a war would have begun long ago. Of course, 2nd rank Mages somehow tried to prevent this from happening. Even Rudolf, for all his power, wasn't rude to the Mages like Steel.

It was well known that, unlike the basic meditation technique which did not provide any special benefits and practically ceased to be useful after becoming a True Mage, advanced and higher meditation techniques gave the Mage a chance to jump through the dragon gate.

The problem is that if the basic meditation technique could be visualized and transmitted as information even by a Mage of the 1st rank with due effort, then advanced meditation techniques were simply too difficult to understand. They were usually created by rank 4 Mages or higher. Naturally, it was not possible for a 2nd rank Mage to understand or convey in any way such a meditation technique.

This was the main reason why Mages in considerable numbers went to dangerous anomalous zones, never to return. Without an advanced meditation technique, only a genius of geniuses can reach rank 2, and he must be blessed by fate itself and, of course, have endless resources.

Once a crag was found with an amazing meditation technique. It was a rare case that more than one Magician could learn an advanced meditation technique. Although not many were successful, it was still an amazing treasure. Nevertheless, the existence of this crag caused jealousy and fear among the 2nd rank Mages, including those who had already managed to study it, so it was destroyed by them.

Steel sat down on the opposite side of the table, looking with interest at the hologram with the map.

- There's a job for you. - Rudolf began.

- I would be honored to carry out a commission for you, Lord Foresight. - Steel bowed.

- Excellent. Recently, a new True Mage, Sam Tarrister, has appeared in Orion. He's kind of like an artificial golem. His real body is a small rag doll. As a shell, he uses a golem made of a strange, but apparently quite durable material. You seek for such materials right? - said Rudolf.

Steel nodded.

- You can keep the golem and all his belongings. I'm only interested in the rag doll, it has to stay intact one way or another. If you need help finding Tarrister, you can ask the Harding family for help with this. But I hope you don't try to dig into how a Magician like this even came into being. This won't end well for you.

It was a fairly simple and straightforward threat. Each Mage had a contract with the organization to prevent betrayal. Of course, as in the case of the Earth Hold, if the resistance was clearly pointless and only threatened the Mages with death, they were not obliged to die. In this regard, the contract was quite soft, otherwise there would not be many people willing to conclude it.

Steel agreed and, having received information about Tarrister, went towards the transfer point to Orion.

Rudolf pushed the question out of his mind and continued to wander in his thoughts.

.

Somewhere in the Sea of ​​Decay anomalous zone.

In a wide clearing in the midst of dark brown sand stood a human figure. It was wearing a loose white robe. A hood covered its head. Long blond hair swayed slightly in the wind. The eyes were like two shining suns. He looked like a celestial.

Everything around was covered with a light purple mist, however, this mist could not overshadow his magnificent figure. He impassively looked into the eyes of his worst enemy, holding his hands behind his back.

On the opposite side was a huge golden dragon, well, not exactly huge and not exactly a dragon, but close. The entire body of the dragon was covered with golden scales with pointed edges resembling the teeth of a predator. Powerful paws ended with five fingers resembling sharp blades. The dark bottomless eyes of a mythical creature would cause tremors in the hearts of demons and gods. The sun reflected off his powerful figure, creating a ferocious yet beautiful image of unstoppable power.

From the blows of his tail, the earth trembled, creating hurricanes of golden dust. His draconic roar made the air vibrate helplessly with terror. It seemed the whole world was quiet after his almighty roar.

- Kneel before me, miserable mortal! - the dragon shouted.

Nevertheless, the man did not give in to fear and heroically looked into the eyes of the dragon with hatred and determination in his eyes. He was ready to sacrifice his own life to stop this heartless creature.

- Terrible dragon. How dare you eat my grandmother, she just wanted to make a prosthesis out of your scales. How dare you trample my little sister. She just wanted to taste dragon meat for once in her life. There is no forgiving for you. Even at the cost of my own life, I will restore justice and avenge you for killing so many innocent people!

The eyes of the celestial lit up more than before, and two beams of white light moved in the direction of the dragon.

- A Gaze of Justice! - yelled the celestial.

The sky shuddered, the sun faded, the fog receded. Two beams of divine light crashed into the dragon's scales in the blink of an eye. Steam began to emanate from the dragon's scales, the air vibrated around the wound, unable to withstand such a high temperature.

- Oh, you scoundrel, what are you. It itches ... - the dragon commented angrily.

His powerful scales with dignity withstood the incredible power of the Gaze of Justice. However, the dragon was forced to scratch his belly, causing his decent posture to fail.

- Pitiful mortal! Now I'll show you what true power is! - shouted the golden dragon in anger.

He bit his tail and took the form of a terrifying golden wheel covered with spikes, after which he rushed towards the celestial, while his formidable roar sounded.

- Golden Wheel of Fate! Activation!

The Wheel of Fate spun at an unimaginable speed and rushed to the attack, leaving afterimages in its wake. Hurricanes rose around, the earth shook and the sky groaned. Nothing in this world can stop this omnipotent ability!

However, the celestial did not back down. If he had teeth he would clench them. If he had blood, his eyes would bleed.

- For my sister! For grandma! - the celestial yelled and rushed forward.

His body blurred in a rush. Various complex symbols lit up around him, and an image of the all-powerful Buddha in the lotus position formed above his head. He spun like a top approaching the dragon and screamed.

- Chaotic roundhouse kick!

Two bitter enemies collided, the sky darkened, the stars went out. It seemed that time itself could not withstand such a force and froze for a moment.

The Celestial's foot collided with dragon scales. Nevertheless, the forces were not equal, the leg helplessly bounced off the golden scales, after which the celestial being himself was pulled into the Golden Wheel of Fate. Now he was destined by fate to be the helpless toy of a golden wheel that rolled around in place with him on scales again and again.

The Celestial has lost!

- Chibi wants too! Chibi wants too! Sam, I challenge you to a duel to the death! - yelled the white eagle excitedly flying over the battlefield.

- Hmm? Are you sure?

I got up from the ground and looked strangely at Chibi.

- Sure! Sure!

Soon, Chibi was rushing at full speed to attack.

- Indestructible Beak of the Ruler of the Boundless World!

However, I just snapped my fingers and Chibi suddenly was slammed into the ground with great force. After light sound waves began to appear from all sides, Chibi was thrown in all directions again and again, he could only whine from helplessness.

- I give up! I give up! It's not fair, you didn't use that against Rock, it's discrimination. I demand equal treatment.

- Ha? Don't compare yourself to Rock, he's a walking treasure and you're just a useless bird.

- You! You! Well, okay. - Chibi turned to the lizard - Rock, I challenge you to a fight.

Rock hesitated a little, but soon made up his mind. The tattoo on his forehead lit up, and soon a dragon golem from a solar crystal ran onto the field.

I wanted to reward Rock for his hard work. In addition to the fact that I figured out a way for him to make sound speech, I also decided to create a small dragon golem for him. He couldn't fly yet and the look wasn't too realistic, but over time I'll find time to improve it.

The dragon golem was quite small, not much more than half a meter long Chibi. Rock jumped into the control formation cockpit and took the golem into manual control.

- Are you sure you want to fight Chibi? - Rock asked.

Chibi was amazed. What kind of disgrace is this. They are just teasing.

- That’s not fair, you have to fight using your true body. This thing can't even be scratched. - protested Chibi.

- Pathetic excuses. If you're afraid then just say so hehe. - Rock laughed.

- Come on, you're just two losers, Chibi does not want to stoop to your level. At least I have a girlfriend, and you only have your makeshift golems. - Chibi snorted.

I was surprised. Does Chibi have a girlfriend?

Rock was amazed, how did Chibi managed to get a girlfriend?

Seeing the startled looks in his direction, Chibi was pleased with the effect. His beak rose to the sky and he assumed the pose of a mentor.

- That's right, a real girl. Her name is Doki and we've been together for hundreds of years. I would see how you could mock me if she was around. Compared to her, your golems are child's play. When we finally return to my house, you will still beg my forgiveness and call me grandfather. - Chibi laughed piercingly.

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Author note.

Thanks for reading so far. 100k+ words have already been written. Those Zombies Again got 140k words total for example. So I hope you will share with me your opinion about this work, maybe it is also boring and there is no point in writing this further.

Now chapters will appear much less frequently. As an author, it’s more convenient for me to write at least 10+ chapters in advance and post them later.