Matthias continued to walk,ice forming on the top of the Faedom ocean creating a solid surface for the limbless Matthias. After a few hours, Matthias walked onto the infected, barren wastes that were Daemia's beaches. He looked up at the inky black midnight sky, breathing in the toxic Daemian air and looking up at the perfect view of the stars. One of the two things the plague couldn't harm were Matthias himself and Daemia's natural beauty. Matthias stood there, completely focused on the stars, until he felt his battle suit wilt and crumble, the cotton disintegrating and the metal eroding and crumbling. He immediately started to sprint toward the Daemian capital, Ouroubrejnax, his clothes rapidly disintegrating. Fortunately, the Daemian island was only three miles wide, so getting to the capital wasn't extremely difficult. Since Daemia started with a lack of space, the had no choice but to build upwards. This had also led them to making Leviathans much earlier than Soraj. The towering derelict buildings of Ouroubrejnax loomed over the rushing form of Matthias as he ran towards a particularly derelict building with a rusted old sign that, when it was readable, read "Royal Daemian Laboratory." Matthias rushed into this building to find the last other Daemian besides him: the head royal scientist. "You lost again?" The Royal scientist asked. Matthias could tell the scientist was barely holding onto life, his clothes stained with food and he was laying on a four legged device that seemed to allow him movement. "I am a failure." Matthias said, leaning against a nearby decayed wall. The device moved over to Matthias, allowing the Royal scientist to look into Matthias's black and brown eyes. "I have been researching Daemian traditions, and I believe the reason you continue to lose is that the core has not accepted you."
"Accept me?" Matthias asked inquisitively.
"Yes. The core is searching for a perfect host, and most of the time this is a prince or king, but we have no other choice but you. This would be all well and good if your body wasn't in its current condition."
"Condition? I have a condition?"
"The genetic remodeling you undertook to become immune to the Plague of Daemia. It functions to remove any foreign substance deemed unnatural, and the core is being rejected by your remodeled body." The scientist said, taking gasping breaths of air every few words.
"Have you found a way to get the core to accept me, but still maintain my immunity?" Matthias asked, hope and dread mingling in his voice.
"Every prince that has become a Daemian king has had to undertake something sacred Daemian texts call "the Trial." It is my hypothesis that completing this trial will grant you the core's acceptance and keep your immunity."
"Where do these trials take place?" Matthias asked, kneeling down to look into the scientist's murky green eyes.
"The only place the texts mention is ,and I quote, 'the furious and eternally burning heart of Daemia'. There is only one place that fits that description." The scientist looked at Matthias with worry as he said, "the Daemian Inferno." Matthias went white as a ghost as he heard the name. One the southern side of the Daemian island was a enormous active volcano known as the Daemian Inferno. It was the sole reason Daemia had been confined to the northern side due to the toxic smoke and the unbearably hot temperatures. "Is there anything you want me to do before I go to my fiery doom?" Matthias asked.
"One thing." The scientist asked, gasping for breath as his time started running out. "Promise that, if you survive, you will destroy the artificial core and free Daemia of its diseased chains. The core resides in the royal treasury. Promise me. Promise me, Matthias Mungandr, that you will do this." Matthias started as his full name was used. Full names were used to bind one to a unbreakable promise. Matthias knelt down in front of the scientist and said, "I, Matthias Mungandr, promise to destroy the artificial core and free Daemia of its diseased chains." The scientist breathed a sigh of relief as he closed his eyes, never to open them again. Matthias got back up to his feet and made for the Daemian Inferno. After a few minutes he reached the bottom of the volcano. He had been using cryomancy to keep himself cool and his body's genetics were dealing with the toxic smoke quite easily. He walked up the rocky path, letting the core guide him. He found a small cave halfway up the volcano and walked through it to a pathway leading to the very heart of the Inferno. Water pooled around Matthias's feet as he desperately tried to keep up with with temperature. He walked to the end of the pathway and looked down into the roiling, wrathful heart of the Daemian Inferno. Matthias closed his eyes and said to no one in particular, "I, Matthias Mungandr, am the last true Daemian and have come to face the trial to gain the right to bring Daemia back to its former glory." As he said these words he felt a stabbing pain in his heart and clutched his chest as he lost consciousness and fell into the Inferno. Matthias opened his eyes and came face to face with a mirror. "I am the first part of your trial." Matthias heard the mirror say, even though. It had no mouth or voice. "I am the trial of Truth. If you complete me, then you will know your true self. No lies are allowed here. The mirror shone as millions of questions shot through Matthias's head. Even if he had tried lying, he wouldn't have been able to keep up with the incredible pace and variety of the questions. After what seemed like forever answering questions, the mirror stopped asking and shimmered as the image of something that seemed to be human once but no longer, its burning yellow eyes piercing to Matthias's very soul. "Congratulations Matthias. You have unlocked your true self. Matthias was about to ask some of his own questions when he blacked out again. When Matthias opened his eyes again, he was in a heated battle. Something told him that it was him and six other against hundred. He quickly scanned the area, looking for ways he could win. They were on a large hill and there was a abandoned fort with casks of oil behind them. Another voice like the mirror called out to him saying, "Pass the trial of cunning or die." With this brief and final warning, Matthias ran to the casks of oil and dragged them to the cliff, having his six soldiers pour them over the cliff onto the approaching enemies. Matthias struck a match and tossed it onto the oil soaked troops, flame bursting upwards, consuming everything. Matthias heard a pleased voice say, "congratulations." Before he blacked out again. Matthias woke up in the real world, but strangely enough, he wasn't dead. He looked at his surroundings, noticing a gray, human shape on the black, cracked ground. He couldn't feel anything, which immediately rang several warning bells in his head. "Hello King Matthias." A voice sounded in that pitch black clearing, a voice that wanted to sound happy, but had forgotten how. "Who is this?" Matthias asked, still disoriented from his experiences in the trial.
"I am the shard of the Daemian core that beats inside you, your heart."
"Shard? You mean I don't have all of the Daemian core?"
"Correct. The first Daemian king split the core into one piece and may shards. Each king takes a shard and further completes the core. I am the last shard."
"Then may I have your shard?" Matthias asked gently.
"I would gladly give it to, but your body didn't survive the rigors of the Trial, so I can't give you my shard."
"What!?" Matthias turned around to look at the gray human shape more closely and realized it was his body, devoid of all life.
"Such a shame too. Now we shall both be stuck here for eternity until someone tries to get us." The voice said in a settling down kind of voice.
"NO!" Matthias roared, his rage burning within him. "I made a promise and I will fulfill that promise. Matthias felt power well inside him, gathering like a powerful storm.
"Hang on a second." The voice said as Matthias's power continued to grow, pulling the shard nearer to him. "You can't just make another body. That's not how things work. You're only a soul and a mind, you have no power." The voice said as the shard flew towards the core still in Matthias's dead body. The shard pierced the body and the body promptly exploded the now complete core flying to Matthias's voice. Matthias felt power overload his body, draining out into physical flesh. The power flowed into the first form that popped into Matthias's head: that human that wasn't a human any longer. His face had changed, cracks spiderwebbing across the left side of his face, darkness seeping out from these cracks. Matthias opened his eyes, still brown, but now burning with some internal fire, the left eye a complete black crystal:the Daemian core. Matthias gave a savage cry of triumph. He felt fine, no better than fine: he felt alive. He walked through the volcano, the heat not bothering him at all. He was complete, he was a king. He was a king of thorns. Only when he had walked back to the capital of Ouroubrejnax did he actually take a good long look at himself. His first thoughts were of amazement as he looked at his new body. His body was human in shape, however it seemed like he was in water, for his brown hair and clothes flowed around him with the quality of walking in water. He found that his legs were covered in thorns, sharp and unforgiving, making it hard to walk and almost impossible to run. He looked down at his chest, covered by the same basic clothing he had seen this shape wear in the mirror, and gasped in horror. His chest was empty, completely devoid of all flesh, pale bones shining eerily back at him. He tore himself away from these thoughts, he had promises to fulfill. He hobbled over to the royal castle, regal and beautiful even in its decrepit state. He lurched slowly o the throne room, the core opening a door to the right of the throne. Matthias walked through this door and tumbled down the stair that evaded his eyes. After falling all the way down the stairs and stopping when he hit the wall at the bottom, Matthias got up and gave a groan of pain as he looked around, searching for the failed artificial core. He found it on a pedestal amidst a sea of gold, enough to make Dame's mouth water. It looked like the real core, but it was much more purple and an evil mist rose from it. Matthias shuffled over to it and reached out a slender but strong as iron hand to grab it. His head and hands were the most human part of him albeit that the skin there was paler than death. He grasped the artificial core and continued to squeeze, feeling the corrupted energies of the core warring with his core. It was an intense, if short, battle ending with a wild burst of energy that blew Matthias all the way to the bottom of the stairs onto his back. It took him some time with his impaired legs to get up and into the Daemian throne room. Was it his imagination or did the air in that abandoned island seemed lighter, the heavy could cover slightly lighter, the pestilential stink less prominent? Matthias walked over to the throne and took a seat to rest, and felt the ground shake beneath his feet. Matthias lunged crookedly out to a nearby window to figure out what was causing the quake. Matthias gave a yell of surprise as the buildings that had been hunched over with disease righted themselves and started to repair themselves. The castle shuddered as some mysterious energy repaired and replenished its dilapidated state. The cloud cover burst into life giving rain, drenching the piles of rotting corpses. All of this, the buildings repairing and the rain, pales to the next two things that happened. All of the corpses started to move as if life had never left them, looking up to their their king with hollow sockets full of joyous tears. Next, other islands started to emerge form the roiling sea. It was a dream come true:Daemia was returning to life due to the absence of the artificial core's influence. The islands continued to rise aroun Daemia's main island, reaching to some way above the island. These floating islands seemed to be able to move like Levithans. Matthias continued to hobble to the rapidly reanimated corpses, some sporting no flesh and others sporting all flesh, while other still had only parts of their body clothed in flesh. A wide grin spread across Matthias's icy countenance as he looked at a Daemia reborn.
-meanwhile in Ainesgrove-
Dame walked back to the balcony where Matthias had been only a day ago. She had been doing well keeping the Faedom in order, she had Celest in part to thank for that. Matthias had said that it would be temporary, but something in Dame's gut told her that Matthias would be gone for quite a while, and if she went by the other times he had returned to his mother county, he would at the very least look different.
-1 month later in Daemia-
Matthias lumbered through the regrowing forests of Daemia, searching for any bits of corrupted ground that the mass cleansing of Daemia had missed or overlooked. It had been his duty to make sure Daemia was free once and for all of that dreadful plague. He walked along the chill paths of Daemia, for due to its geographic placement, it was a colder place. He had seen the Daemian military soar in strength and variety, ranging from the tall juggernauts to the elegant diplomats. Matthias continued his search, this was the last area he could check, for he had checked everywhere else. He finished checking this area and started walking back to Ouroubrejnax. He had discovered quite a few things about his new and permanent form during his month of preparation. First, he had unimaginably large amounts of stamina. This excess of stamina led to Matthias to be able to bear the pain of walking and be relentless, and with this came a massive increase in his strength. Second, his legs were unable to support his body without external help, disabling and complex evasive maneuvers. This had led to Matthias finding two swords, both long and quite well made, and using them as rather grim looking canes when he wasn't fighting with them. It was a testament to Daemia's innovations that the blades never dulled no matter how many times they stabbed dirt or sliced corrupt flesh. He had changed out of the basic clothes he had been wearing to more fitting, if less pretty, clothes. He wore tough cotton pants, thankfully Daemia still had plenty of cotton, not including the other island's supplies of cotton and other resources. He wore medium tall dark boots that reached up to half his lower leg. The boots had steel toes that echoed on any surface, and including the sharp taps of the swords as he walked, the effect was quite fearsome. He wore a plain black cotton shirt over which he wore a blue, the blue so dark it was hard to distinguish it from black, battered suit to he had customized. The sleeves had been stripped of a unnecessary layer or two and the back was emblazoned with Matthias's personal mark, a pair of crossed swords with a crescent eclipse in the background. The suit was open, revealing the black shirt, and the tails trailed down to the tops of his boots. He reached Ouroubrejnax and made for the barracks where his selected troops had assembled. There were five groups, one for each nation. They would be sent to their respective locations according to distance, so Glacius would go first, next would be Ignation, third would be Soraj, fourth would be Seisan, and fifth would be the Faedom. They would get there by the Leviathans Matthias had salvaged from one part of the island that missed cleansing. The Leviathans were ready, their skeletal hulls exposed and in some cases missing required parts and whole bits of hull, but like the citizens of Daemia, the Leviathans were very ready to make their mark. There was one thing left to check before he sent them to their locations. He addressed the leaders of each group. "Do you have your communication crystals?" The crystals were paramount to Matthias's plan, for they allowed him to be in several places at once. Each group leader showed a small white crystal to Matthias. Matthias nodded approvingly and loaded the five groups onto their respective Leviathans and sent them off to their locations.
-10 hours later in Glacius-
the rusty, ramshackle Leviathan floated over the great sea that Glacius used to keep away from Ignation. The Daemians on the ship fell into the water, gliding through it like skeletal fish, four carrying a large box and a small cylinder in the leader's hand. The soldiers continued their stealthy approach, slitting the throats of any Glacian guards that got in their way. They reached the throne room and immediately took out the guards surrounding the Winter sovereign and held the cryomancers at knifepoint. The four carriers set down the large box, the leader inserting the cylinder into the top. Light cascaded from the cylinder and Matthias's image appeared. The large cube was a communicator, but on a scale that allowed for full body projection. It was Matthias master plan, that started with all of the nations being given a cube and a message. Assassins had been sent to Glacius, diplomats to Soraj, the massive and imposing Juggernauts to Seisan, the Mages to the Faedom, and the Warriors to Ignation. Each team, composed of the best of Daemia's undying military, was sent to link all the leaders of the six Kingdoms to Matthias, who was waiting on skradje, one of the floating islands that had emerged with Matthias rise to power. He would unite the warring kingdoms and bring peace to the bloodsoaked earth of Syricia, and in doing so, fulfill his promise to Roxy.
-on scradje-
matthias sat in the waterlogged ruins of scradje's fields. The fields had been geared for both combat training and formality, so it would serve as an excellent meeting place and a dueling field if Matthias's knowledge of Richard was correct. "Sir. The strike teams have set up the comms. Are you ready?" One of the more physically together attendants said.
"Yes i'm ready." Matthias said, grabbing his swords and dragging himself to the center of a large combat circle where five glowing cubes waited in a semi circle in front of a cracked stone throne. Matthias sat down and signaled to link the cubes to their twins in the other kingdoms. It all went like clockwork, the visages of all the leaders, from the Winter Sovereign to Dame's slim figure appearing in sparking blue light. "Hello." Matthias started sitting back in the throne, his swords resting just out of sight, but not out of reach. "I am the king of Daemia and I am sure that at least some of you have seen the power of my army."
"Now see here,whatever you are!" The Winter Sovereign burst out furiously, "You can't just threaten us like we are commoners!" Matthias glared at the Sovereign with hated intense enough to make all but the most steely people squirm.
"I have called all of you here to finish this war once and for all. We must unite and stop nipping at each other's heels over petty differences. To this end, I extend an invitation to each of you to come to skradje and settle the treaty. Skradje has no military on it and to further sweeten this offer, any of the leaders who join will gain five cotton seeds." The Soraj leaders laughed long at the absurdity of cotton existing, until they all choked as Matthias showed them a fist of the material. Soraj immediately promised to come, dragging Glacius by way of their alliance. Seisan's leader, a soft eyed and extremely muscled tall woman, and Dame had said nothing. Richard spoke up. "There is only one way I will agree to this treaty." He said, gazing at Matthias's brown and black eyes. Matthias had been expecting Richard to have an objection. "I will only sign this treaty as leader of the combined Seisan-Faedom-Ignation alliance if you beat me in a single combat." Seisan's leader nodded in affirmation, Dame looking at Matthias without the hint of recognition, also nodded.
"Very well then." Matthias said. "I expect all of you to be here at 3 pm tomorrow and," this he said to Richard "may the best fighter win." The cubes powered down, the light fading back to a dull glow. Matthias got up from his throne and started making preparations to receive his guests, particularly Richard. Matthias had never felt so happy to fight Richard, the only one who had bested him in single combat.
-2:30 pm the next day-
Matthias sat in his throne as he waited for the rulers of the kingdoms to arrive. He was itching to fight Richard and end the war. An attendant hurried to him and said that the Faedom, Seisan, and Ignation rulers had yet to come, but Soraj and Glacius had just arrived. As the attendant backed away, the formal robes of the nine council members of Soraj and the pompous armor of the Winter Sovereign came into view. "Thank you for your attendance, and as I promised, here are the cotton seeds." Matthias said, as he signaled his attendants to bring forth the seeds. The attendant that had alerted Matthias before came up again and told him that the rest of the leaders had arrived. "Ah, finally you are all here, and ten minutes early to boot. Good. We can settle things quickly." Matthias said as the long cloak of Dame, Celest walking next to her, Richard and Dina, each in flame red battle armor, and the plain comfy clothes of Seisan's monarch. "Now, We're here to settle this war and end this petty squabbling, and to that end, I am due to fight Richard for Ignation, the Faedom, and Seisan. So that only leaves the matter of Soraj and Glacius."
-in the present-
The class looked at each other nervously as the recording stuttered and jittered. It shouldn't have been possible for historical recordings to stutter, so the entire class, except the teacher, was set on edge. A shell like casing covered them, the failsafe to keep the history contained in case something went wrong. The teacher knew that nothing was going wrong, for this recording of history was only available to him and a select few other people. The recording started to stabilize, and even when it waited to run again, the failsafe was not taken away. "Play." The teacher said, sitting back in a relaxed way that soothed his students.
-back in the past-
As he ended this sentence, Matthias's chest split open, a viscous darkness pouring out and taking the shape of a human. "I am here to end this matter." The voice was as rubbery and black as the thing, a voice roiling and writhing with inexplicable pain and hidden hatred. The thing surged forward, as a large maw appeared on the ink like thing. The Winter Sovereign and the nine members stumbled back as the thing lunged at them, devouring each one. The thing was much, much larger as it finished devouring the members. It soon returned to its normal, slim human form with a sickening sound of crushing bone and screams. He, for the thing was indeed Matthias's true form, looked at Richard without eyes, a cartoonishly large grin spreading across his inky face, the teeth impeccably clean, stark in contrast to the rest of Matthias's messy body. "Now, I believe we have a duel." He said as Richard took his position, drawing his crossbows, the remaining three scurrying to the sidelines. "My name, Richard Gardner Emperor of Ignation, is Matthias, the Thorned King. May the best man win." Matthias lunged forward, grasping at Richard as he leaped up into .the air, creating an explosion beneath his feet to further propel him upward. Richard kept skirting just out of Matthias's range, but his explosive maneuvers and heavy bolts seemed to have no effect on Matthias. "I can feel your exhaustion. Even your immensely powerful aura is losing its spark." Matthias said as he lunged again at Richard, much faster than before as if all the power that Richard used, from evasive explosions to offensive ones was being siphoned into the corrupt black aura of Matthias. Richard was barely able to keep up with Matthias, when only moments before Richard had been dancing around Matthias. Matthias leapt forwards, stopping short, so Richard's guard was thrown off. Matthias lunged and slammed Richard down, his crossbows flying out of his hands. Matthias looked down at Richard and grinned hungrily, his mouth opening revealing those same stainless white teeth, but this time, putrid black saliva dripped from them onto Richard's armor, sizzling with a almost painful screeching sound. "I win." Matthias said triumphantly. Richard sighed, for he knew that it had finally happened. He had fought a duel he didn't win.
"Yeah, you win. So what do you want from us?" Richard said, trying his utmost to breathe through his mouth to avoid the stench of rot and death that pervaded the air around Matthias.
"I want peace. I have already arranged Soraj and Glacius to merge with Seisan. The six divided kingdoms are united, but I desire something more, something mutually beneficial to us all." Matthias said.
"What?" Richard said, forgetting to breathe through his mouth and catching the full force of Matthias's stench.
"The blessing of the cores." Matthias said simply, getting off of Richard and extending one viscous hand to help Richard up. Richard looked at Matthias differently now,
"Eternal life?" Richard asked, barely able to keep the eagerness out of his voice. Dame, Dina, and Celest had started to walk over to the two fighters, each one grinning like a pair of Cheshire cats. The two enemies turned friends refused to fill the three in on the details, only saying to meet at the top of Richard's tower at high noon and, this was said to Dame specifically, to bring the cores.
-the next day high noon-
Richard, Dina, and Lucina sat patiently at the top of Richard's tower, the Ignation, Soraj, and Glacius core restin in front of them. "Why did you bring Lucina into this?" Dina asked, wondering why the backstabbing little assassin was allow the privilege of eternal life.
"I wouldn't if Matthias didn't tell me Roxy wanted Lucina to be eternal." Richard said, the mere mention of the dead Faedom queen making Lucina stiffen. Fortunately, Dame, Celest, and Matthias walk toward them. Dame and Celest set down the Faedom and Seisan cores respectively and turned to Matthias as he brought out the complete Daemian core. "Hold on." Dame said, grabbing Matthias's inky arm. "Don't you need that to live?"
"Not anymore." Matthias said. "The core sustained my body until my aura had recovered enough to create the shape you see now. Now I no longer need Daemia's core to survive, and therefore it will not harm me to set it next to its brothers and sisters." So saying, Matthias set the Daemian core down and stepped back as all six cores glowed, a voice of pure power emanating from within the circle of the cores. "What is your wish?" Matthias looked at Richard, and whatever unspoken words they exchanged, Richard nodded. "My wish is eternal and unending life. We will have full control on our appearance, and our bodies will stay healthy, unable to be affected by age, disease, poison, and free from any kind of death by any and all human means."
"Anything else?" The voice asked.
"This eternal life will apply to all the people within this room." Matthias finished.
"It is done." The voice said. Six arc of pure energy speared Richard, Dina, Dame, Celest, Lucina, and Matthias filling them with power and eternal life. The resulting surge of power forced all six of them to the very extremes of the domed room they were in. After getting up, Richard walked to where the cores still lay, as if nothing had happened. Richard touched the cores and met with cold, dull stone instead of the usual warm, bright feeling. "They must be hibernating or something." Richard said.
"Richard. We have bigger problems. Take a look outside." Dina said. All of them went to the window where Dina had been blown and saw the problem. Soraj, Glacians, Seisans, Faedom, Ignation, and if their eyes were working properly a few Daemian citizens all shouting and fighting with each other. Richard looked at the other five, wondering what to do. "Richard. You already know what you need to do." Matthias said, giving a whistle.
"I know, but what was the whistle for?"
"You'll see. Shall we?" Matthias asked, gesturing to the balcony.
"Yeah no time like the present." Richard said as all six of them went to go greet the angry crowd.
"Citizens of Syricia!" Richard shouted, commanding everyone's attention. He noticed that the sky was choked with the fearsome sight of Daemian Leviathans, each one swarmed with Daemian citizens. "We stand on a precarious edge. We could fall into chaos or walk towards order. Here is my proposal to you, my friends and family. Today will mark the unification of the six warring kingdoms into one great, eternal body. No longer will I allow the racism of the Faedom towards Daemia. No longer will I allow Soraj to monopolize on progress. From this point onward, I announce a great unification. We have poorly treated this world, and we must mend our mistakes. I announce that from now on that Ignation will no longer walk the path of war, but that of peace. Now I ask you, each of you individually, who will walk with me?"
"I will." Dina said, Lucina, Dame, and Celest nodding as well and all of them standing to Richard's left. The people murmured, unconvinced and still distrustful. Matthias stepped forward, signaling that he was about to speak.
"I have no right to dictate what Daemia's citizens decide, but any and all people, Daemian or otherwise, who choose not to join Richard. Know that I will not allow any harm to come to you, and offer safe haven to wherever you choose to go. All I have to ask Daemia's citizens is this: what do you want to do?" Matthias finished steeping back. The Daemian citizens erupted into cheers, for their king had offered them the freedom that they had thought they had lost from those years during the Plague of Daemia. Every Daemian citizens immediately pledged to follow Matthias. Matthias turned to Richard and extended his hand. "Richard, Daemia would like to pledge itself to peace and progress, to share our knowledge and resources. If you will have us, that is." Richard grasped Matthias's hand with a grip of iron. "Matthias. Daemia will never again know isolation." The Daemian citizens roared even louder, their undead auras flaring as they shot off sparks of dark energy, their bodies looking more human than ever. Bones restored and covered in pale malnourished flesh, Daemia had finally become fully free of their plague. The citizens looked at each other, and although it started slowly, the roar for peace became deafening in its volume. Richard raised his voice, barely able to even hear his own words above the crowd as he said, "I announce the first day of the United Republic of Syricia!" The crowd cheered even louder as he said this. "Now let's celebrate!" Richard said as every mad etheir way to the Ignation feasting hall.
-In the Present-
After the empire was created, the recording ended, and the failsafe shell rose, freeing the students and the teacher. Nobody had to see what happened next. The day had gone down in legend as Founding Day, and it was said that the mighty coffers of Ignation were nearly empty by the end of the week long celebrations.
