“Haah,” Ormell sighed as he looked out over the battlefield. Countless bodies stretched across the plain of burnt and overturned grass and trees. A battle between two forces of powerful mages would turn even a paradise into hell.

  Ormell didn’t mind, though. Nature will find a way to rebuild. Even the cities can be rebuilt to their previous state given sufficient time.

  But Ormell had to admit that the Valis Kingdom was a tough nut to crack. He didn’t expect this small kingdom to give them such a hard time.

  That man sure packs a punch. He’ll be a tough opponent going forward. I’ll have to have someone look into more details about his strength.

  Ormell stretched his neck and felt that even with the healing pills he had taken, he would need at least a week before he dared make an appearance on the battlefield again.

  It doesn’t matter. We’ll win in the end. And this is a good opportunity to temper our members. There will be tumultuous times ahead.

  “Hard Soul Ormell, Hard Soul Jemin,” A Diamond mage came up to Ormell and Jemin and bowed.

  I believe his name is Ellien, right? He did a good job in the battle.

  “What are our losses?” Jemin turned to the man and asked.

  “Besides Soft Soul Rafael, we have lost three Diamond mages, 45 Gold mages, and 1340 Silver mages, give or take. As for the Bronze mages, they didn’t suffer much as Soul mages got involved in the battle so early on.” Ellien reported.

  “Hehe,” Ormell chuckled with a self-deprecating smile, “It truly is a little too much to bear.”

  “We haven’t got an accurate count on the Valis Kingdom’s losses yet, but they definitely suffered more than us. Three Soft Soul mages from their side fell today,” Ellien reported with a slight smile.

  “It’s true,” Jemin nodded, “But we wouldn’t be able to continue suffering these kinds of losses. When are the forces from Veloria and Delovan arriving?”

  “The Velorian Kingdom shouldn’t be more than a few days away still. I suspect that they are taking their time in order to make us suffer the brunt of this war,” Ellien said.

  “It seems like even with the crown prince on our side, that king doesn’t want to throw his lot in with us completely yet,” Jemin said with narrowed eyes.

  “It’s natural for them to act this way,” Ormell said, shaking his head, “I’m sure they are smart enough to give us an explanation and show some goodwill in the coming fights. We can’t be arrogant enough to take on all of Shiora alone.”

  “I guess,” Jemin muttered, “What about Delovan?”

  “It shouldn’t take long before their ships arrive. We have yet to receive word,” Ellien responded.

  “I suppose we can’t count on them until the final battle,” Ormell said with a sigh, “I guess we can’t be too greedy. That Onden has a war of his own to fight.”

  “What about Adion Remori?” Jimen asked.

  Ormell also turned to look at Ellien curiously.

  “We have succeeded in capturing him,” Ellien reported with a smile, “It caused a lot more disturbance than planned, unfortunately, so the Academy will probably figure out we were behind this soon enough.”

  “That Headmaster was always going to figure it out,” Omell shrugged, “As long as we have him, it doesn’t matter if we suffer the enmity of Cyalis. That was inevitable from the start.”

  “I take it they have set sail. Are they going to our outpost in the Saba Desert as planned?” Jemin asked.

  “Yes, they are already on their way there,” Ellien nodded.

  “And everything that girl reported was true?” Jemin questioned.

  “‘That and more’ were the words I received in response,” Ellien said with a bright smile.

  “Oh?” Jemin raised his eyebrows, intrigued, “I almost want to head over there and take a look myself.”

  “You’ll have time for that when the Valis Kingdom is under our control,” Ormell said. He turned to Ellien and instructed, “Have the people from Cyalis come over as soon as they can. We need to put our focus here. We can’t afford to be careless.”

  “Yes,” Ellien nodded solemnly.

  “Are you sure about that order, Ormell?” Jemin questioned, “You know how important that kid is. We should keep sufficient strength there to prevent any accidents.”

  “Who can find that place in the middle of nowhere? He’ll still be there once we’ve finished up here,” Ormell said.

  “Very well,” Jemin nodded and dropped the issue.

  “You can return and rest, Ellien,” Ormell said.

  “Thank you, Hard Soul Ormell,” Ellien said with a bow. But he didn’t leave immediately.

  Ormell noticed his hesitance and questioned, “What’s the matter? Is there something else?”

  “This…forgive my curiosity. I’m wondering what is so special about this Adion Remori? I was actually the one who found the formation at the Remori manor a few years ago, and it wasn’t until recently that I found out someone managed to escape.”

  “Oh? So that was you,” Ormell said with a nod, “You have earned yourself a good merit. I suppose I can let you in on a few secrets. As for why we are interested in the Remori kid, it relates to why we are interested in Shiora at all.”

  “Oh?” Ellien perked up in rapt attention.

  Ormell smiled and continued explaining, “You see, at first, we simply wanted to integrate ourselves here. It was fine to take things slow. This continent can’t compare to Quemer, after all. But once we found out about the formation…well, we quickly surmised that it concerned a teleportation formation. Something like that is completely unheard of back on Quemer, but it’s not impossible to appear on Shiora. Back during the Age of Wonder, there was a secretive sect, I don’t know much about it, but I know they possessed powers related to space.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “These were all rumors before, and couldn’t be confirmed. Besides, even if it was true, that was long ago. How can we hope to find remains from so long ago on a continent so large? Everything might have been destroyed during the great calamity that ended the Age of Wonder.

  “But with the appearance of the teleportation formation, a seed of ambition was born in the upper echelons of our organization. Since a teleportation formation can be found, why wouldn’t other space-related treasures appear? Even if we can’t find anything else, just the ability to replicate the teleportation formation would allow us to reach a new height back on Quemer.

  “Needless to say, since we have the ability to take it for ourselves. Why would we let these ignorant people from Shiora take hold of it?

  “The problem we face is, of course, that space is truly too mysterious of an element. It will take a lot of time for us to crack this formation. That is where Adion Remori comes in, if what we have heard is correct, and it seems like it is. He not only has the ability to freeze space, he can even teleport. Coupled with a few other clues, it is safe to say that Adion somehow has a core of the space element. I have no idea how that came to be, or how he learned to use his powers when he was just a sparkless kid of a 2nd tier family a few years ago. But that will all be clear to us soon, won’t it?

  “Not only will we be able to solve the mystery of the teleportation formation, but we might even be able to go even further!”

  “I see,” Ellien nodded with wide eyes.

  “It’s truly a shame that there is such enmity between us and him. He would have made an excellent member of our organization,” Jemin said with a sigh.

  Ellien seemed to tense up slightly at those words.

  “Hehe,” Ormell chuckled, “Don’t worry. What you did had to be done. Otherwise, we would never have gotten our hands on the formation. And we’ll be able to get what we want from him in the end, either way. He might be reluctant at first, but he’s just a kid in the end. We have our ways.”

  “That’s a relief,” Ellien said with a nod.

  Even if he remains hardheaded, since he possesses a space core, then his children should inherit a space spark. It will take a while to bring them up and for them to be of any use, but that’s fine. A few space mages loyal to Heavenly Light are worth the wait.

  I’ll have to be on the lookout for some suitable partners.

  “Thank you for satisfying my curiosity, Hard Soul Ormell. I will take my leave,” Ellien said with a bow before he turned to walk away.

  “You really think he has a space core?” Jemin asked.

  “It’s either that or two Gifts that are incredibly powerful and space-related. That would almost be more shocking. Besides, since we received confirmation of his abilities, and they even seem to surmount our expectations, I don’t doubt he has a space core.”

  “I suppose,” Jemin nodded, “Anyway. Even with all of that going our way, it won’t be easy for us in the coming years. We can’t forget our objective of controlling this continent before the time limit.”

  Ormell frowned. Jemin’s words reminded him that they lacked time. No matter how much progress they had in their exploration of space magic, it wouldn’t affect their organization’s strength for a long time.

  It’s truly unfortunate. It would have been much easier if we could take our time here.

  Then again, this makes it more exciting.

  “By the way…Hard Soul Ormell,” Jemin looked at Ormell hesitantly. Ormell was slightly surprised to hear Jemin referring to him in that way. “Do you know the details of what has been going on lately? There are a lot of things that don’t make sense to me. Why are we in such a rush to finish our business here?”

  Ormell nodded in understanding. Even if Jemin was a Hard Soul mage just like him, he was a few centuries younger, so he naturally didn’t have the status and connection Omell had. Even if he had slightly better potential.

  “Not even I know all of it…” Ormell said in a low voice, “The Immortals are extremely secretive about it. But this matter can’t be kept secret for too long. People are already starting to talk, and the Immortal Saint has shared a few details with my brother-in-law.”

  Ormell turned to look at Jemin with a solemn look, “Let me ask you. What if, when we found Shiora thousands of years ago, there weren’t just a few savage tribes of weak mages? What if there were Empires and Kingdoms here no less impressive than those on Quemer?”

  “What are you talking about?”Jemin asked with a frown.

  “I’m saying that the fact that we have the Tower of Sages might have led us to believe that Quemer used to be the center of the world. The state we found Shiora in has reinforced this image, but…What if that’s actually not the case? What if there are other continents that are not just as powerful as Quemer, but even more so?”

  “Ormell, speak clearly, please. Has another continent been found?” Jemin asked.

  “No,” Ormell said, shaking his head, “But we might have been found.”

  “We have been found?” Jemin slowly repeated to himself.

  “I’m just talking without actually knowing anything. Don’t put too much thought into it. I just let my imagination run a little wild,” Ormell said with a shrug.

  “How can you be so relaxed? If this is true, then, then…what the hell are we doing here?” Jemin asked.

  “We are here because those are our orders,” Ormell said with a chuckle, “And we don’t need to think about anything else for now. The higher-ups will handle it. And I don’t really think this is necessarily a bad thing.”

  “How so?” Jemin asked.

  “When we found Shiora, we conquered it in full force. It was only when we found it lacked in comparison to Quemer that we stopped caring so much. If another continent really has the kind of strength the captured scouts claim, wouldn’t we know it already?”

  “That makes some sense,” Jemin nodded.

  Ormell noticed Jemin’s fists were clenched, and his eyes seemed full of vigor.

  “Excited?” Ormell asked with a smile.

  “It’s a little hard not to be, right?” Jemin asked.

  “Hahaha!” Ormell laughed heartily, “I agree. It wouldn’t do if I passed away without some action. Even if the future holds danger, it definitely won’t be boring!”

  “We should finish up and stabilize our position here as soon as possible,” Jemin said with a smile, “We will definitely start sending exploration teams again. I don’t want to miss it.”

  “I’m glad you’re motivated,” Ormell smiled.

  How I envy the young. Ormell thought when he looked at the man beside him. Ormell himself didn’t even have a century left before his time was up.

  I guess I should consider myself lucky enough to be able to witness this new era.

  Even something like another continent like Shiora would make great changes. But I have a feeling it won’t be so simple this time around.

  No matter how much I try to caution myself, I can’t help but feel excited!