“Well, that was easy,” said Kamil, looking down on the now-hollow, water-free, pit on the 12th floor of the labyrinth. He was with the usual gang, Duman and Co. In the end, draining water proved to be anticlimactically easy. It was thanks to Roseline who came up with a brilliant idea. All they had to do was simply drop water crystals into the pit, and the crystals absorbed water, progressively draining the pit. It did take a whole crate of them to be able to achieve their goal, but it was far easier than alternative solutions which were both labor intensive and time consuming.

“It’s a good thing that it wasn’t connected to an underground water source,” Duman added. “Otherwise, it would have been impossible.”

With the water gone, the blue light at the bottom should have been easier to see, but the light was currently blocked by many crystals that were thrown in. Kamil would need to toss them aside when he descended down there.

“I am going to cast levitation and go down. Any objections?”

Duman and the others glanced at each other, and it was Duman who eventually replied, “Nope. But we’d like to explore down there when you are done. There could be treasures worth taking.”

“Not a problem for me,” he replied stoically.

No one knew what was down there. If there were any aquatic monsters, they would pose less risk since their playground, water, was gone. Either way, as soon as he cast levitation, he vanished on the spot. Duman and the others could only stare at nothingness with their mouths agape.

 

Where he ended up was a cavity underground. It was pretty clear that it was created artificially due to its rather clean square shape that resembled a room with smooth walls. The source of the light was from a crimson opaque gemstone embedded in what appeared to be a tombstone which had corroded badly. He could tell that there used to be letters on the tombstone, but the text was so corroded that he could not make out anything at all. Beyond the tombstone, there was a small hill of water crystals a short distance away. It wasn’t tall enough to block the pit but was high enough to block most of the light emitting from the gemstone. Pretty much as soon as he appeared, the gemstone released a pulsing wave which resonated with his heart, giving him a weird tingling sensation within his chest area. The gemstone seized pulsing but it became brighter. Soon, a light gray translucent figure appeared right in front of the tombstone as if the gemstone was projecting a holographic image. It soon spoke with a faintly echoing voice.

“My name is Vass. I used to be called Vass the lightning.”

To his shock, the shape wasn’t a human’s.

“What are you?”

It stood on its two feet but it had a large and thick tail and was more muscular than an average human being. The shape of its head was almost fox-like without the pointy ears. In fact, it had no ears at all. It was significantly taller by about two heads with three fingers and three toes. His shape reminded him of something he was told a while ago.

“A lizardman?!” he exclaimed, taking a small step back.

“Are you not?”

“I am a human.”

“A human?” It repeated, “A human, you say? Do lizardmen still exist on the surface?”

He was almost certain that they didn’t. “I don’t think so.”

“I see… I shall reintroduce myself. My name is Vass the lightning. I was once the leader of this military installation, Ceres.”

Military installation?

“My name is Kamil.”

The ghostly figure looked around as if it was curious.

“It looks like it has been eons since I was bound here. I do not know how many years it has been, but it is clear that it has been a long time if humans are the dominant race on the surface.”

It felt like opening a can of worms by his last sentence.

“The dominant race?”

“My death sealed the fate of my race. I am assuming that they have been wiped out.”

“Wiped out by what exactly?”

“The Age of Darkness. We failed to survive through it.”

Failure to survive the Age of Darkness means annihilation of a race, I assume. So, the lizardmen were wiped out, and humans took over? But where did humans come from in the first place?

“Do you know humans?”

The eternal lizardman figure looked as if it was studying Kamil, looking up and down.

“We used to keep highly intelligent monkeys as pets.”

“Monkeys?” He had no idea what it was. 

“Yes, you look like an evolved form of such monkeys. They stood on two feet like you do but didn’t stand up straight like you do. Their posture was arched. They also did not have a language back then. It’s interesting that we are speaking the same language.”

“So, you believe those ‘monkeys’ are our ancestors?”

“Could be. We all died.” His voice carried no emotions at all even when he was speaking about the extinction of his own race.

Well, that knowledge doesn’t help me. Let’s change the subject.

“You were buried here, meaning you failed in protecting your city?”

“That’d be correct. I was one of the last few standing. When I was wounded and knew that my end was near, I told my men to bury me here and bind my soul onto this spot.”

He had no idea such magic existed, but this was not the moment to ask such a question.

“For what purpose?”

“To be able to meet someone, like you, later and tell my tale.”

“Why?”

“To pass on what little knowledge I have left. To contribute in the battle against the Gods. So, ask away, human. I will tell you what I know. However, be mindful of a time limit.”

“A time limit?”

“The gem that has bound my soul does not have infinite energy. When it runs out of its power, it will crack, and my soul will finally be released to meet the judgment.”

He had essentially delayed being reborn for thousands of years if true. And, while Kamil had no idea how long he had, he assumed that it was going to be brief. Therefore, it was essential to choose the most important questions.

“I believe I am a betrayer of the wheel. I’ve seen legends that they had affinity to omni-elementals. But I do not. How do I obtain access to other elementals?”

This had been his biggest issue so far. He was unable to cure the deadland with just fire and wind. He needed water and earth.

“You are? So am I or was. I, too, was a betrayer of the wheel. I did not have omni-elemental affinities. You don’t need to.”

“Doesn’t omni-elemental affinity require fighting against the Age of Darkness?”

The ghostly lizardman folded its arms. “I see. One could see it that way. I see. I see. One does not fight a God and expect to survive. Answer me this: Has the Age of Darkness descended upon your race?”

“Yes.”

“Two dragons? The dragons of Life and Death?”

He didn’t know it had names, but there were two dragons.

“Yes.”

“First of all, we mortals cannot fight the God of Life and Death. We are their creations. If they want us to drop dead, all they have to do is think and we will drop dead on the spot.”

“What is the Age of Darkness then?”

“It’s a test.”

“A test?”

“If a civilization is too corrupt and rotten, they won’t survive the test. It takes collective efforts to survive the Age of Darkness although at least one betrayer of the wheel is required. Thankfully, the Gods never trigger it unless at least one is present.”

Are you telling me that we are going through this all because I chose to exact revenge on Karsten, who I ended up saving in the end?!

He felt a sudden surge of fire inside his chest. If he chose not to be reborn with his memories intact, the Age of Darkness would have been delayed. Perhaps, this was why the Gods granted his request without much fuss. Everything was happening because of him, he felt.

“Why is a betrayer of the wheel required?” 

“Because they are the only ones capable of hurting the dragons.”

“Why is that?”

“You need a combined power of elementals and a mortal to be able to hurt the dragons. The Gods have made this specifically so. No exceptions. We tried. We dropped a nuclear fission bomb on them without much success.”

Kamil had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. He pressed on nevertheless.

“Then it comes down to omni-elemental affinity, no?”

“You don’t need to be an omni-elemental mage. It would be one of the ways but not the absolute one.”

“Then please tell me how to defeat the dragons.”

“I can’t tell you how since I have no idea what kind of technological developments your civilization has. Do you have a laser?”

“What?”

“I see. Guns of any kind?”

“I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“Cannons?”

Kamil stood silent.

“Bows?”

“We do have that.”

“Looks like an early medieval era. You don’t even have gunpowder, it seems. Again, you don’t need omni-elemental magic. To explain simply -”

Then the ghost figure dimed slightly before coming back. Kamil immediately looked at the gemstone which had become clearer. It was fully opaque a moment ago.

“Well, that was a warning that the gem has less than 50% of its energy. I shall make it as simple as possible. You need 40 points. An ordinary mortal can have up to 10 points in one elemental. A betrayer of the wheel being an omni-elemental mage would fulfill the 40 points requirement because they are automatically guaranteed to have 10 points in whatever elemental affinity they acquire.”

He wanted to retort that he didn’t believe that his affinity with fire was ten. But he wasn’t going to waste his time. He needed the knowledge. Meanwhile, the lizardman looked up and down on Kamil.

“It looks like your affinity with wind is way more than 10. It’s at least 20, possibly more. As long as you fulfill the 40 points requirement, it doesn’t matter which elemental affinity you have. You can have only wind as long as you reach 40 points in it.”

With one of the most important questions answered, it was time to alter the question.

“Then how do I increase the affinity? And is it possible to gain more affinity?”

“Neither is easy. In order to gain an affinity, which is possible only for a betrayer of the wheel, you need a sacrifice, someone with a high affinity with an element. To make it even harder, the sacrifice needs to be genuinely willing to sacrifice his life and grant a blessing to you. That is the only way as far as I know.”

Having heard his explanation, he recalled Ludwig’s last moment where he cast a spell called “sacrifice” to end himself. His explanation fitted the event well which made him believe Ludwig, in his last moments, chose to bless him. Why, he did not know.

That does explain how I gained a fire affinity… Well, that explains two of many questions I have. Good grief…, now let’s get some more answers.

For a considerable amount of time, he was not pleased with mounting questions with no adequate answers. Vass gave him some decent answers so far.

“How do I increase my affinity?”

“You don’t. At least, I don’t believe there is anything you can do to voluntarily increase it. Through your actions, which elementals will observe, they will either approve or deny your actions. Essentially, the more support you have the higher your affinity will be. Yours is unusually high, which makes me believe that you have a special connection to wind.”

He did; he had two direct supporters in Ludwig and Fionara, which enabled him to gather far more support than anyone ever could have. When Ludwig declared Kamil “Our elemental king”, he was partially right. He was more of an elemental king of the wind, and the “king” in this context wasn’t someone with the highest authority. Rather, it meant a mortal being which wind elementals would gather under one banner. Having no leaders, the elementals lacked coherence because they were generally disinterested in mortal affairs and were not enthusiastic about anything. Unlike mortals who were able to be united under one cause on their own, this wasn’t possible for elementals that were simply living on because they were alive. An elemental king, a betrayer of the wheel in this specific case, was a mortal being that wasn’t really a hundred percent pure mortal. They were more of a 50% mortal and 50% spiritual being. This was why they were able to have a powerful connection with elementals. When all of this was explained by Vass to Kamil, he finally came to an understanding that everything seemed to be indeed working as intended by the Gods. Before he could ask Vass anything further, his ghostly figure began to waver like a car light running on a low battery. Kamil’s attention moved immediately to the gemstone which was completely clear at this point; the time was over.

“Oh, well, this is it, I suppose,” Vass said indifferently. “I’ve served my purpose.”

He may have been fine, but Kamil was not. There were just so many questions with too little answers. With time running out, he racked his brain to find a way to charge the gemstone. Alas, without knowing anything about it, and how Vass’ soul was bound to it in the first place, it was simply not possible, ordinarily. Not thinking much since there wasn’t even time, He did the only thing he could at the moment; he cast breeze toward the now-clear crimson gemstone. Visible silky strings, which radiated pale-yellow color. orbited the tomestone and the gemstone. Vass was looking at the phenomenon curiously with a cocked head. The gemstone was regaining its opacity. However, at the same time, there was a visible crack in the middle.

“I’ve never seen a spell like that,” Vass said. “You look to have recharged the core at an expanse of its structural integrity. I doubt you will be able to recharge it again.”

Whatever the case, he earned time and wasted no time to ask his next question.

“Your civilization was clearly far ahead of ours. How did yours fall?”

Vass shrugged. “Because technology didn’t matter in the end. We thought it’d make a difference and probably delayed the inevitable.” Then he became silent for a moment before speaking. If his eyes could be seen, it would have been downcast. “The truth was that my world was divided. Corrupt politicians looking after only the wealthy because of their donations and the poor becoming poorer… Our defeat was all but guaranteed when society began to turn against their own.” 

According to Vass, his civilization survived many ages of darkness. And, over the years, they became indifferent toward it as if their victory was guaranteed. When their 7th age of darkness arrived, their society was revolting within, the wealthy versus the poor. It was a revolution at the worst possible time, he noted and lamented. Vass, being a betrayer of the wheel, saw the writing on the wall and began to muster those who’d follow him.

“I had no support initially and, when people realized that technologies wouldn’t help defeating dragons, it was already too late.”

Their resources were depleted, and Vass had little ways to combat the dragons on his lonesome. He did what he could to his credit and constructed a fortress in Ceres where he and a few hundred followers were prepared to defend the last of lizard folk. The ghostly figure acted as if he was heaving a long sigh. Of course, he had no capacity to breathe.

“What’s your next question?”

Kamil explained briefly about the holy power he was holding within and that he was unsure what to do with it.

“Fighting dragons with this power would be the logical choice, isn’t it?”

“No,” Vass replied firmly. “Fighting a God’s creation with a fraction of its own power? Are you mad? That won’t work. That holy power of yours is entirely useless in fighting the dragons.”

Ugh, I feel he does have a point here. Then what do I do? Just release it? Such a shame. It makes my magic really powerful.

Frowning, he tried to come up with a way to use the power.

“Can I use this power to cure the deadland?” he asked aloud, speaking the first thing that came to his mind.

“The deadland?” Vass was unaware of what it was, and he explained it as briefly as possible.

“Land that doesn’t grow anything and possibly ash snowing.”

“Ah, the wasteland, eh. Wouldn’t that be a waste? I do think you could recover some of your wasteland back, but wouldn’t the dragons convert back anyway?”

While Vass had a point, he was unaware of the fact that Kamil’s civilization had a third deadland that wasn’t created by the dragons. The deadland within the Kingdom of Egra was placing extra pressure on everyone. Curing it wouldn’t change much in the grand scheme, but it would recover some sanity among common folks where there would be one less thing to worry about. More importantly, it would be one less thing to worry about for Kamil. He wanted to explain this to him and, when he was about to do so, Vass’ ghostly image flickered, an indication that time was running out. Therefore, he chose not to explain and simply ask -

“So, it can be done, you think?”

“Yes. I don’t see the point but yes.”

While he had more questions, the most important ones had been answered. Satisfied with the outcome, he took a deep breath and asked, “Sir Vass, do you have anything to ask of me? You’ve done so much for me, and I am very grateful. It would put my mind at ease to grant you a wish if it is within my ability.”

Vass’ ghostly image froze for a second or two.

“I do have one but I don’t think you’d be able to do it. It’s just too late.”

“Tell me at least. Nothing to lose, and time is running out.”

“I don’t know how many years have passed but I am guessing that at least thousands of years have passed. So, this is probably going to be pointless. This place…, this military base, my belongings… A picture of my family…”

There was a problem with his request. As far as Kamil knew, it was a labyrinth with 12 floors. He never saw a room of any sort. When he explained the issue, Vass was confused for a moment but soon seemed to have understood.

“I see. So, this place has become nothing more than just a dungeon with hordes of monsters,” he said as he placed his hand on his waste. He shook his head soon after. “Nothing beats time, huh.” His image flickered once again, and Kamil saw the gem cracking further. It appeared that the gemstone was cracking due to the spell he cast. Instead of energy being drained, there was too much of it. He had a hunch that there wasn’t much time left.

“I am sorry, Vass. I hope you rest in peace.”

“I doubt it. I am a betrayer of the wheel. There is no afterlife for me. This is it. I will probably go meet the God of Life and Death, and that will be it.”

Kamil replied with a bitter smile, for that was going to be his fate as well. As the gem cracked more, the ghostly image of Vass was becoming less coherent. And, soon enough, a small bit of the gem fell off at which point Vass was gone. Eerily silence dominated the chamber as Kamil rubbed the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. Casting a small ball of fire to illuminate the area, he surveyed his surroundings to find anything of note. Aside from a small hill of water crystals beyond the tombstone, there wasn’t anything at all. In the end, he decided to take the cracked gem which took some effort to pry. In doing so, however, the gem was shattered into pieces, at which point he sighed and simply cast levitation to teleport away.

……………………….

………………

………..

Vass in a black tight suit was being carried away by two other lizardmen. He had a literal hole on his chest and was spewing out blood from the moral wound. It was caused by a dragon’s talon, meaning he was poisoned with no cure. His face, featuring a green skin, which had scales, was turning purple and gray rapidly.

“Sir, the scanner is detecting a foreign substance within your bloodstream. The problem is that no antidote is responding.”

“Do not bother,” Vass said with a labored voice. “I am done. Carry me to the reactor room.”

The two lizardmen looked at each other as if they knew what he was trying to say.

“Are you certain?”

“I am certain. Bring the authorization tablet.”

They hesitated to which he barked, “Go! We don’t have time!”

Only he knew the authorization code to initiate self-destruct sequence for their fusion reactor. This was planned long before. If he were to die, he was going to take out everything in the vicinity. It wouldn’t be by an explosion but by high radiation. When he was carried into the reactor room which was painted in yellow and black in a checker pattern, lizardmen dressed in white coats dashed in. One of them was carrying a helmet of some sort that had numerous antennas sticking out. The reactor room itself appeared to be completely empty at the first glance. However, a wall had a square-shaped hole on it. This was where the authorization tablet would go. Vass was laying down on the floor initially but was relocated to a wall so that he could sit up. The helmet was hastily placed on his head, and the tip of the antennas began to emit blue lights.

“Sir, this technology has been tested only on monkeys,” warned one of the lizardmen in a white coat.

“Don’t have a choice, do we? Do it.”

“Very well, you speak the truth.”

What they were going to do was a brain transfer. The helmet they placed on Vass would inject nanobots into his skull which would liquify his brain, suck it out and then reform into a microchip. The chip would be enclosed in a crystalized high density carbohydrate as an energy source. In the most basic terms, they were placing his compressed brain in a jello. As his brain was liquefied, he was starting to lose consciousness. This was when an armored lizardman entered with the authorization tablet which Vass tapped in a twelve-character password. The tablet vibrated once after confirming the code. The soldier then placed the tablet into the hole on the wall. As soon as he did that, a computerized voice sounded loudly from every which way and the light turned red at once.

“REACTOR SELF-DESTRUCT INITIATED. 1,000 SECONDS. EVACUATE. 1,000 SECONDS UNTIL MELTDOWN. EVACUATE.”

The lizard folks in the room looked at each other, their eyes displaying content unexpectedly. Vass was completely unconscious at this point.

“No matter, we have a job to do either way. How is progress?”

“His brain is being reconstructed by now. It will be done in 60 seconds.”

“Good, we will place his chip in the lead room down there. Let us hope that this works.”

They had nowhere to go anyway. The surface was a complete wasteland, and those in the base were the last of the lizardmen. While they had supplies and water still, with Vass dead, there was no way to defeat the dragons.

……………………….

………………

………..

Vass found himself completely naked in pitch black darkness although he somehow could see his own figure.

“Ah, I’ve been here before,” he said with a weak laugh. “The judgment room. So, I’ve finally died, finally.”

At this point, a golden judgment scale that was the size of an elephant would appear. However, it didn’t appear this time, and he wasn’t surprised at all.

“Of course, no judgment for me, eh?”

“No.” A voice sounded. It was a man’s voice.

“Am I to be punished?”

“No.” The same voice answered.

Grinning, he asked, “How many years have I made you wait?”

“14,000 years,” said another voice, a feminine one this time.

“And that doesn’t warrant a punishment for me?”

“No,” replied the male voice.

“You’ve done well,” said the female voice. “You battled against the system and exceeded expectations.”

He beamed a crooked smile while shrugging. He felt it was anticlimactic that he wasn’t going to receive any angry scoldings. At least, he wanted to see them angry. He tried to defy fate and succeeded to some degree.

“What now?” he said with a defeated face. “This should be the end for me.”

“Indeed,” replied the male voice, “But you’ve earned a right for a blessing.”

“For defying the system,” added the female voice.

“A blessing? What would that do to me?”

“What do you wish for?” asked the female voice.

“What do I wish for?” Vass repeated the question. His wish was simple. He wanted his race back but knew that it was an impossible wish to be granted. But there was no harm in asking.

“Would it be possible to bring back my race?”

“That is far beyond the scope of a blessing,” said the male voice. “What do you wish for?”

He felt like they were speaking as if it wasn’t outright impossible. Either way, having his initial wish turned down, he gave it a moment of thoughts. He would need to ask for something simpler.

“Then I would like to keep my eyes on the monkey.”

“So be it,” the two voices replied in unison. Vass’ body started to morph into a ball of pale-yellowish light. The ball of light shrank progressively until it became a dot. And then it enlarged itself back up to the size of a duck egg, at which point its outer shell shattered, releasing particles of pale yellow light. At the same time, a wind elemental emerged from within. He was a mind mage who specialized in using wind magic to enhance his physical speed, thus earning the nickname “lightning”. Therefore, it was only logical that he became a wind elemental in his transformation.

“We are erasing some of your memories as you know too much,” the voices said in unison. “Now, go.”

Vass, now a wind elemental, started to flap its wings and slowly flew away into darkness.