"How are you today, lord Malvar?"
A voice echoed in the air, it came from a cave behind a waterfall. The water fall resided in a mountain range, lush forest and majestic walls of stone surrounded it. Small animals playing on the forest floor, gathering nuts and fruits. Rare birds, with rainbow wings and gem like eyes, danced on the trees, gathered into colorful group, became a feast for the eyes. An orchestra created by the forest critter, the wind and the water, as peaceful as a mother's lullaby, as cheerful as a child's smile. The sky was clear and blue like a great lake, with sheep like cloud. If a man describe what heaven would look like, he would have to look at this land.
Yet, even when surrounded by the beauty of the earth, the voice showed a clear sense of sadness and grief.
A long sigh, as light as a small wind on a vast field of grass, but as long as the echoes of a voice shouted in a narrow cave. If one had ears good enough to hear the sound of a mice in a forest, they might even hear the sound of a great being shifted their body. Small moans came out, with worry hinted in it.
"Sorry for summoning you this suddenly, I know that you have many works to be done."
From the darkness of the forest, a voice replied.
"That, you don't have to worry about, Your Majesty. While Sire's safety is above all else, it doesn't mean I get to ignore your commands."
A great dragon appeared. It was as long as a river, as tall as the mountain. Six legs, each strong enough to crush the very earth it stood on. Four wings, akin to that of an eagle, but each span was long enough to cover the sky above. Its head resembled that of a serpent, with two great antler. Pure blood red eyes, contrasted with the bone white scales. Black haze covered its form, gave it a ghostly appearance.
The voice from the cave rang out, like a mother to her child.
"I am sorry that you have to settle his works. If only he could spare a few moment for anything other than his collection..."
"I think it is a normal thing to do, Your Majesty. After all, I am his servant, his wishes are my command."
Another sigh came out of the cave, sad and tired.
"Why? I still couldn't understand what we did wrong to them? We are all dragon lords, why must tear each other apart?"
"It's in their nature, Your Majesty. Power ultimately will corrupt when given in the wrong hand. But no worry, I had settled them, just some mere dragon naïve enough to think that they can usurp Him. Now, may I know why did you request my presence?"
The voice stopped. The dragon sighed. It laid its body on the ground.
"Is it about your son, His Highness, our Prince, Tsaindorcus Vaision?"
With a heavy weight put on her voice, the dragon in the cave replied.
"That is true, lord Malvar. Last night, I saw him in my dream. Tied up by the hand of a being of metal and magic, deep in the same cave he isolated himself in. His scales were pulled from his body, his wings pierced. His soul… damaged, worn out by his own magic. He was trapped with no way out."
Malvar was too familiar with Tsaindorcus's rebellious mindset. After his father's ritual, he isolated himself from other dragons, saved for two. Even his mother's word couldn't reach him. As his mentor, Malvar found the current situation… preferable.
"Let him feel the pain, let him learn his lessons. No scales were grown without hardship. As long as he survive, he will made it out. Let it be his lesson, let him see the consequences of his actions."
"But lord Malvar, he is DYING! My little Tsa, my dearest Tsa… I saw him breathed, he couldn't even breathe right! You have to save him!"
"This is what he earned for rebelling against his father, his kind! I think this is the perfect opportunity for him to learn that not everything will go his way. We have spoiled him, Your Majesty! When I was young, I was beaten until not a single bone in my body remained intact, not a scale stayed on its right place! When His Majesty united the dragons, we did it with our blood and scales. And he will learn how to grow the same way we did, through blood and tria-"
"ENOUGH!" The voice from the cave roared.
The world around them became silent.
"Sister…"
"Don't call me sister, Letum Los Malvar!"
"I know that you love your son…"
"What if it was Cure? What if your son was the one who got hurt?"
Cure Elim, his son, was a weak child. Unlike his sisters, he was born without proper scales to protect himself. He got his father's thirst for knowledge, but never had the strength to get it. He was too fragile, too pitiful. Every time Letum thought about him, his hearts hurt a little. Every time he heard the cries of his son, part of his soul died. They tried everything, but at the end of the day, nothing truly worked.
His son, his precious little son, his hopes for a successor, all of his wishes was put into him, to raise a child strong enough for the world…
His son… was an utterly, absolutely, completely,…
F**KING disappointment!
"Then I will let him feel that pain, sister. Someone had to make them realize their position."
"That is what you say, not how you will act. I know that you will come and protect him!"
"They are spoiled, sister. They have to face the odd, even my son! Especially my own son!"
Malvar wasn't a cold family, despite the temperature of their blood. But compared to other living being, Letum could be considered as a failure of a father and a perfect example of a perfectionist and a mentor who ready to do anything as long as it could improve his disciple.
Silence returned.
Another moan came from the cave.
"Letum… you promised, right?"
His promise, to keep Tsa safe and made him worthy to be his father's successor.
"That, I did."
"What if… what if Tsa…"
Letum sighed, he shook his head. Sometime, he couldn't understand the mind of a mother.
"He is strong, that is the truth. He will survive. And I am will bring him back when the time come."
As he had thought, he couldn't understand their mind at all, no matter how hard he tried. An outburst appeared as sudden as the change of the mood of the mother.
"Then bring him back to me! You said that you want to teach him a lesson, then bring him back by any means necessary."
"The time hasn't come yet. He still have much to learn before he cou-"
The words of the dragon was cut short. A sudden change of tone, a sudden change of season, a sudden change of the world. The world shifted and turned, storms, thunder and lightning struck the forest, burned the trees and scorched the ground. Animals ran for their lives, trampled on each other. Bird scattered, burned by the forest fire. Smoke rose up to the sky, as the clouds turned black. The voice once moan and grief, turned stern and cold.
"I, Materrae Vaision, Empress of the dragons, demanded you, Letum Los Malvar, Regent of the Emperor, to bring my son, your prince, Tsaindorcus Vaision, back to ME! I have given you this command many times before, dare you go against my words again?"
Letum sighed.
"Understood, Your Majesty."
Nile put the dragon in the Coluseum. It was too big to fit into anywhere else. He could put it in the Dragon Den, that wasn't hard. But the thing was that he beat it… a little too hard, if he put it in the Dragon Den, chances are the dragons in there might attack it.
Thinking about them, Nile wondered… What had happened to them?
The Archive looked like it had been decades since anyone came to it. Oddly enough, the seal on the Dome's door was intact, and he went he entered, everything looked as if nothing had happened. He started to wonder if the dragon know how to use door or not.
He tapped his Librarian's Wand on the ground. The Vault was much closer to the Archive than it used to be. But that should be normal, since the Archive was deep under the ground. With another tap, the world around him shifted.
He arrived at an office. It was similar to a medieval treasury, with crates full of materials and chests full of gold. Weapons of various designs hanged on the wall, while sets of armors were put in a different section, behind a layer of antimagic bars. Bookshelves, paintings and scroll shelves covered the wall. There was two tables, one with a set of ink and pen, the other had a pile of paper and a set of oil paint.
Nile looked at his chamber. It was the same as when he left it. If he wanted to pick out any differences, the room seemed to be cleaner than he remembered it to be. He swiped a finger on the table, felt the rough surface. Not a single particle of dust found.
'Someone cleaned this room, not too long ago…'
Nile checked the books, all were in their place, but clearly someone was here at least one or two days ago.
'Could it be the NPC?' If Gorthor could be 'alive', then he saw no clear reason why they couldn't. But, judging from the existence of the town, at least a few decades had passed since the Archive was teleported to this place. While most of the NPC were from long living races, some wasn't. Which made him wondered if they could die from aging.
His chain of thought was interrupted by the sound of footsteps from outside. He turned to the door and found a figure stood there.
"Who's there?" His voice rang out, echoed through the hall way. He took another step forward.
The figure became clearer. It was a young girl, around 20 to 25. She was rather tall, with some feature which bugged him. There were scales here and there on her body and her face. Her eyes similar to that of a reptile, her white hair tied into dreadlocks with a pair of small horns on top of her head. Oddly enough, her face reminded him of someone, especially her green eyes. From her features, he guessed that she was a dragonborn or at least close to one.
"Who are you?" Nile was confused with three question.
Who was this girl? She dressed like a maid, could she be one of those maid NPC the female members created? No, he hadn't seen her anywhere before, every NPC made by the member of the guild must be accepted by the guild master, him. But if she was an intruder, his dragons wouldn't let her in.
Then it raise the question: how? How did she get into the Vault? The only path to the Vault was closed when YGGDRASIL shut down, he put the seal on the Dome's door and destroy the gate between the Dome and the Vault by himself. The only option left was the Librarian's Wand, which was almost impossible since only members of the guild were allowed to have it, unless somehow she found a way to take one from them. The more he tried to think, the more complex it became, so he soon gave up with that.
Because there was a more important question. Why was she in his chamber? Was she actually a maid? Did she come to clean his office? Or did she come for something else?
He stared at the girl, waited for an answer, only to realized that she was on her knees. He took a step closer to inspect her, but she turned back and ran toward the exit.
"HEY!" He yelled, chased after the girl. The girl reached the exit before him, she held a rope, tied to a bell hung next to the door.
'When did I put a bell there? Wait, there isn't any bell there!'
Something was clearly missing.
The panicking girl stared at him, dazed and frighten. Her back hug the wall, her eyes frantically darted on Nile, from his head to his boots.
"Little girl, may I ask… What are you doing in my chamber?"
He took another step forward, she girl startled, he could see her crying.
"Are you one of the maids? Why haven't I seen you anywhere before?"
The girl retreated to a corner, fell down. It was a weird contrast between her body and her posture. She looked like a healthy young dragonborn, but the way she looked at him reminded him of a helpless animal.
"Come on, no need to be afraid." He lowered himself, his eyes met her.
Suddenly, she screamed, her tears ran down on her cheeks.
"I-I-I am s-so-so-sorry. I a-m s-sorry." The girls sobbed, cried her heart out.
Confused and partially embarrassed, Nile took a step back.
She saw him before, in the painting hung on the guild's meeting room and the Assembly Hall. She had seen her father tried to make a statue of him with the help of A.U. She had heard tales of him.
The master of the Dragon Den, one of the overseer of the Eldritch Forge, the Administrator of the Grand Archive, her master, Nile Hilt.
A benevolent being, as her father told her, and a frightful warlord, as the warforged said. The church called him the One Who End All Wars, or He Who Honor The Death. The Mage Slayer of Bifrost, one of the World Guardians of Asgard. And in a more common term, a god among mortals.
The being stood in front of her radiated an overwhelming aura which instantly broke all of her will. Even the air around them warped, intense pressure pressed on her chest. She felt a clear sense of dread.
And so, she ran. She ran to the bell. The being behind her spoke, but fear muffled her ears. She rang the bell and called for help. Why? All she could think about was her father's embrace, the feeling of safety and calmness. She cried, she tried to get away as far as possible. But all was in vain, as the being was standing right next to her, blocked her way.
She fell down, burst into tears. She apologized. She could feel the anger and malevolent in his voice. She had done something wrong, a mistake which she didn't know. She hoped that someone would come, anyone, to get her out.
Suddenly, she felt a hand on her head.
"Calm… I am not here to hurt you."
She looked up.
'My master… he is a kind man, the most caring person I have ever seen. When I woke up from my slumber, he was the one reached out and helped me stood up. When I was wounded after a raid, he was one patched me up. And not just to me, to everyone. He saw us as his children, he played with the dragons like they were his sons. Even those in the Eldritch Forge, cold hearted machines, were treated as an equal.'
She felt… warm, comforting. Slowly, she fell asleep.
Nile exhausted some steam out. He had finally fingered out why everything around him either scared of him or want a piece of his armor.
All of his aura was up.
[Intimidation IV] and [Provocation V] were most likely the culprits.
But without the U.I, he couldn't turn off the aura, could he?
Come to think of it, spells were casted verbally, so maybe he could do the same to auras?
"Deactivate [Intimidation IV]. [Provocation V], [Charm II], and [Hallucination II]."
He whispered, something flashed. Did he turn them off?
He reached out to the girl again, she looked at him as his hand touched her.
"[Calm Emotions]!" The spell was casted, his words held the power to direct one's mind to their peaceful memories, made them hang on to them and suppressed all of the emotional effects on them. I was temporary, of course, but he could use it to gradually calm the girl.
The girl stopped crying, her eyes closed, then, a snore came from her. He body coiled as she fell asleep.
Nile looked at the girl, his only option was waiting for her to wake up.
He heard a small click. He rose up and turned to the door. The door of his chamber opened, stood in front of it was an army of dragonborn, led by an Ancient.
His scale was white, with a gleam of blue. Green eyes, stern and cold. Silver hair tied into dreadlock fell on his shoulder. His body was covered in a plate mail, with draconic engravings and runic lines. In his hands was a shield and a great axe.
They stared at each other. Then, the dragonborn slowly kneeled down. Those behind him followed their commanders.
A tear dropped on the floor underneath.
"My sire… You have returned."
His voice was shaken, filled with a wide array of emotion.
Nile's voice however, was almost monotonous, hollow and cold. But it was also calming.
"Stand up, my friend…"
"It has been so long…" The dragonborn had to use his axe handle to steady himself.
"I see… Stand up, all of you, don't kneel in front of my chamber like that." Nile stepped forward and pulled the dragonborn up. He then moved to those outside.
"Stand up, stand up! You, don't cry like that, come on! You don't have to kneel."
The white dragonborn followed him, tried to make those around him kneel to pay respect to Nile, only to be pulled by Nile.
"Why are you making them kneel?"
"My sire, we are your servants, we have to."
"No, no, no… Tell them to dismiss. No one kneel in front of me, alright? No kneeling, no praising, just act normal." While Nile lost all of his ability to actually be embarrassed, he still thought that the sight of an army kneel behind him was… embarrassing.
Then, everything turned into chaos. Dragons danced on the sky, wyverns roared in harmony. Flags, drums and parade.
"No charade!" A group of dragonborn carried a throne on their shoulder and offered themselves as steps for Nile to climb to the throne.
"And no music!" He pointed at a group of lizardmen who caught wind of the scene, carried a variety of musical instrument with them… even a piano.
He then turned back to the white dragonborn. "What is this? Why are they here?"
"This ceremony is for you arrival, my sire. We have prepared to welcome you when you return to the Archive." A hint of pride showed through the dragon's rough voice.
"Tell them to stop, please." The dragonborn's face turned pale when he heard the word 'please'.
"My sire! Please pardon their failure. If we angered you, please take my head instead. I know that I worth nothing to you, but it was my orders, I am the one truly deserved to be punished!"
Then, he took out the sword on his side, unsheathed it and pointed the tip at his abdomen.
"NO NO NO NO NO! For the love of Odin, everyone stop!"
Finally, they stopped, young dragons looked at him with curiosity while their parent bared their teeth to warn their children not to act disrespectful.
"Everyone, return to where you came from, clean this place, and let me be alone for a second."
Nile then pushed the white dragonborn with him into his chamber.
"Alright, listen, Karak. I will say this once and never again. No charade, no ceremony, please. I swear, if that thing happened again, I will leave this place for good."
Karak almost kneel to gain his forgiveness, but he saw Nile's eyes glared at him. He gulped, excitement filled his entire being.
"My sire, we are happy that you returned."
"If you call that 'happy', I am frightened to know what you define as obsessive." Steam came out of Nile's body. "The only thing worst than this is that you for some reason make a religion out of me."
Which they did…
Karak secretly used [Message] and connected with the Eldritch Forge.
'A.U, this is Karak.'
'Karak… Good day… need help? Statue… broke?'
'Tell the warforgeds to break the church.'
'… Alright… Why?'
'Just do it.'
'… They… are… on it.'
'Thank you, old friend.'
"Are you using [Message] to talk with someone?" Nile asked.
Lucky for the dragon, he couldn't sweat, and he learned how to keep a cool face.
"Yes, my sire."
"Tell them to quit of all those ceremony, if they are planning to do so."
They entered the chamber. "We have a lot to catch up, don't we?" Nile said, chuckled the best a living armor could, then he remembered the girl.
"But first, do you know who she is?" Nile pointed at the girl, who was sleeping soundly, on the floor.
"Madary!" The dragonborn shouted. He rushed to the girl's side and embraced her. "Madary, wake up!"
"Don't worry, she was tired. You said that her name was Madary?"
The dragonborn exhaled, if his master was here, nothing could go wrong with his baby… Unless he thought that she was an intruder-
"She is my daughter, my sire." Since she was born during his absent, he might thought that Madary was an intruder. But looking at her, and knowing his master's nature, Karak knew Nile wouldn't hurt his daughter, unless she attacked him.
Nile nodded. A moment passed, he suddenly asked Karak.
"I am sorry, but she is your what?"
"My daughter, my sire. I know that she may look like a boy…"
"No, that isn't what I am confused about. Since when did you have a daughter?"
"About 20 years ago, my sire. After I married Freya, she gave birth to her not long after."
Freya… that was a name he was familiar with. She was a draconic shifter created by the girls, which kind of make sense if she and Karak could have a child… but that wasn't the thing he cared about.
Nile sighed, steam went through his helmet's slits.
"My friend, you surely have a lot to tell me, don't you?"
Random Information:
While Loreseeker wasn't a dragon oriented guild, they had the third highest number of dragons and draconic monster and NPC in YGGDRASIL. Due to the high number of dragon per chunk, many players mistook that the Dragon Den was a hidden dungeon.
There were three times players accidentally raided the Grand Archive. Two of them was when a ranger tracked a dragon near them and told their party to attack the dragon because they thought it was a hidden dungeon. Both parties were destroyed by the number of dragons in the Dragon Den (8 at the time). This was the reason why later the guild had to ask Ainz Ooal Gown how to put an anti teleportation field on their guild base.
The third raid was an organized one, but instead of using gate to teleport to the Dragon Den, they found a different way, which led to the Eldritch Forge. Only a player survived the encounter and was later escorted out by Loreseeker's guild member. Some of them tried to report Loreseeker for cheating when they found out it was their base, but eventually nothing major happened.
Most of the dragons they had was actually through auctions, gambling and tournaments. The only dragon they bought with cash was the original boss of the Dragon Den.
Loreseeker was also the first one to find out the method of dragon breeding, this was the reason behind one of their guild war.