The Other Side: Part I

*Boom*

*Bang*

Countless booming sounds rang out from within a large underground palace. The palace was largely empty, with only several giant statues holding on to mighty spears guarding checkpoints every ten or so meters. At the end of the large room were two statues. One of the statues was that of a strong and mighty red dragon with its mouth wide open in a defiant roar. It had a beautiful red crown adorning its large head, and its eyes were just as red as its scales. The second statue was just as grand as the first. However this dragon statue had a calm disposition, unlike the fiery disposition of the first. This statue was a beautiful blue dragon with a majestic blue crown on its head and azure blue eyes.

Within the palace were three figures entwined in a fiery encounter. Of the three, two were humans. The other was a phantom of a small red dragon. The two humans had identical appearances, for they were twins, yet their auras were different. One of the twins had an aura similar to the blue dragon's, whilst the other was a spitting image of the red dragon. These twins were Jake and John – Mane's closest friends.

Jake's entire frame was completely engulfed in powerful flames that spewed and sputtered like volcanic fire. Several miniature fire dragons formed from his flames flew around him in menacing ferocity, constantly striking the phantom dragon that served as his challenge in this test. His eyes were steely with determination, and the naivety that belonged to an eleven year old was not there. His eyes were very different from what Mane had grown used to. For they were the eyes of one who had gone through countless entanglements and struggles – struggles that had forced the eleven year old to grow.

John was no different from his brother. He was just as determined and mature. If one had to point out a difference, it was that instead of fire, it was ice that was his element of choice. A suit of ice armor surrounded his entire frame, with two huge vestigial wings made of ice extending from his spine. The wings were as thin as a cicada's wing, but sharper than a high grade sword. Just like Jake several miniature ice dragons served as his guardians, shielding him from the attempts of the dragon phantom to break through his ice armor.

The two brothers, each of different elemental dispositions, kept striking the phantom with a level of cooperation that was almost telepathic. Jake attacked, and John defended. Volcanic fire and tongues of lava travelled from Jake's fist and descended upon the Dragon Phantom.

*Roar*

The huge phantom roared in pain as a large portion of its blurry figure was destroyed. Without giving it a moment of respite, several fire dragons crushed into its broken side and infiltrated its body. Ice dragons followed after the fire dragons, sealing the ethereal wound to prevent the dragon phantom from being able to force out the fire. Several booming sounds were heard as the fire dragons exploded from within the Red Dragon's blurry figure, eliciting another piercing roar of pain from the poor creature. Several wounds appeared on its figure, and its eyes lost much of its vigor. It tried to open its mouth to summon a fiery breath, but before it could compress energy into a tangible destructive mess, a thin ice wing slashed through its neck, and its head was lobbed off its body. The figure of the dragon disappeared soon after, and a large red orb appeared in its place, hovering above the two.

"Passed! Grade: Excellent"

A booming voice shook the palace, and Jake and John descended onto the ground immediately they heard it. The fire surrounding Jake was extinguished immediately, and John's armor disappeared into his body. The dragons that flew around them were recalled as both boys gulped large mouthfuls of the oxygen that they had never been deprived of in the first place. Several large beads of sweat covered their foreheads, and their clothes were soaked with the products of their perspiration.

"Finally," John stated as he breathed laboriously.

"Indeed," Jake agreed. He clenched his fists with a small smile on his face. They had failed at this particular level a few times already. This was their seventh attempt and they had finally succeeded. This was the toughest test they had faced thus far. And it made it all the more satisfactory that they had not only passed, but had been able to excel this time round.

"I can't believe that we have grown so much in just 6 months," Jake stated with a small smile.

"It's all thanks to this inheritance," John stated with a stern expression on his face. Jake nodded. The Twin Dragon Inheritance seemed to have been tailor made for them. He and John had been training in this underground palace for a bit over 6 months, and they had grown exponentially within this period of time. They had to fight a dragon at each stage, and the latter dragons were always stronger than those who came before by at least two times. The dragon they had just faced for instance was three times stronger than the dragon before it! And each of the dragons was formed from pure Edict. So it took more than just skill to defeat them. They had to fight whilst slowly siphoning the Edict of the opponent. Every time they passed a test, the reminder of the Edict from the beast coagulated into a ball of great concentrated purity which they could absorb to improve their strength. The level of purity depended on their grade upon completion. There were five grade. Average, Good, Very Good, Excellent, and Distinction. The power of the dragons had slowly but surely purified their bloodlines and increased their talents. Hydras were cousins of the dragons. Since Jake and John had a Hydra based bloodline, their benefits were immense. Right now their bloodlines had broken into Level 12 from the prior Level 9!

"We need to hurry. I am worried about the state of affairs 'upstairs'." John stated with a worried expression on his face. Upstairs naturally referred to the land of Zandor. These two didn't know how the war was progressing, and their mental state grew increasingly unstable at the thought of their family and friends left all alone to deal with the threat of the Dark God.

"Auntie is around. So I am not as worried as I would have been." Jake stated. John nodded his head in understanding. The auntie they were speaking of was Alexis – Mane's mother.

"But we still need to hurry and get back. At least in time to meet up with Abe, Selina, and the Fulbrights." Jake added before slipping into a seated meditation pose. Although John was just as exhausted as his brother, he also readjusted himself into a meditative pose. Both closed their eyes and allowed the large orb to descend upon them. And once it did, a large amount of Edict engulfed them like a gentle storm.

Both remained seated for a few hours, absorbing the dense quantity of pure Edict before them. After the fourth hour, both opened their eyes and their auras were fully exposed.

*Bang*

The winds within the palace rejoiced in great pleasure at the powerful presence of the two within their midst. They howled and turned and announced the presence of the Nobles before them. Yes, Nobles!

Both Jake and John were Nobles! Each was at the first stage of the Nobility Realm! Yet their auras were faint and unstable, seemingly likely to dissipate at any moment. The eyes of the two dragon statues at the end of the hall flashed with a strange glow, and two powerful dragon roars were heard.

*Roar*

Phantoms of two powerful dragons – one red, the other blue – descended upon Jake and John respectively. Once the dragons descended upon the twins, their unstableness of their auras was quickly rectified, and their strengths were solidified. The dragons danced around them a few more times before rushing into the dragons statues and disappearing.

Once their auras were solidified the natural order located them and announced their presence. For two Nobles had been born, and they were the purest of Nobles.

"Hydras! Different bodies but of the same mind. For they are Nobility Kings!" a booming voice rang in the ears of both.

"Jake: the Volcanic Dominator! A Fire King!"

"John: the Great Defender! An Ice King!"

Breaking into the Nobility Realm was a bit special. For Nobles had titles. Baron/Baroness; Viscount/Viscountess; Earl/Countess; Marquis/Marchioness; Duke/Duchess; Prince/Princess; King/Queen; Emperor/Empress. In increasing order of magnitude, these were the orders of Nobility. Each Noble had a title given based on their talents and power. For instance, Ray was a King. And now the twins had been judged as Kings as well. Invoking their titles added to their strength and mobilized the World's Will in their name. It was a whole different league from the Heaven Realm.

"Hah," Jake and John sighed in exhaustion and collapsed onto the ground. Soon, soft breathing sounds could be heard as both slipped into the sweet realm of sleep. This had been their life for the past half a year. Fight, eat, and sleep. There hadn't been much entertainment. They only had each other for company.

Far away from Zandor was a small planet. This planet was devoid of life, and was an abandoned planet. It had been barricaded, shackled with countless powerful chains of Edict that kept it away from outsiders. This planet was Systema. Though shackled, there were four people currently on this planet – Abe, Aegeus, Frederick and Selina. The barrier that stopped many, Ascenders included, was no detriment to them. They had been brought here by the man known to them as Butler Fin. The butler of their friend's household had displayed his uncommonness by easily breaching the barriers of this lonely planet half a year ago, before promising to come pick them up in a few months' time. Right now they had only one month left before Butler Fin's scheduled return.

Within a small smithy on this remote planet, countless distinct sounds of an anvil being struck resounded. Over the anvil stood a well-built teen with a rugged appearance. His beard was unkempt and his appearance filthy with ash and grime. His eyes remained glued to the sword that was slowly taking shape on the anvil. The aura of a High Class Artefact was leaking ceaselessly from the sword; its golden red blade glowing softly every now and then.

"You should rest Big Brother," a tall handsome teenager with looks similar to the blacksmith's appeared through the door with a large beast slung over his shoulder. In his hand was a sturdy looking rod with several gold markings on it. He looked burly and had a strange charm around him.

"Selina would not be happy if she comes to meet you working this hard," the teenager added, before dumping the corpse of the beast onto the floor and jumping onto the only available couch in the room.

"I'm almost done," Frederick stated, before cutting his palm with a knife and dropping several drops of his blood onto the blade to temper it. The blade shone with a powerful light, and its aura rushed to the peak of the High Class Artefact Level, almost turning into a Divine Weapon. Frederick put the sword away with a satisfied sigh, placing it next to the other weapons he had forged for his friends. It was only after he was done that he turned to cast a glance at the beast on the ground.

"Is that a Moon Wolf, Aegeus?" Frederick asked with a surprised expression on his face.

"It is," Aegeus nodded his head with a small smile on his face. Moon Wolves were powerful beasts with at least Heavenly Realm level power. And judging from the size of the wolf next to Aegeus, this beast was at the peak of the Heavenly Realm.

"You said you needed one half a step into the Nobility Realm, so I went out to get one," Aegeus explained.

"Hahaha," Frederick laughed heartily and then bent down to examine the dead beast. His smile widened upon completing his examination. But as he moved to take the beast, a large foot stomped on the corpse and a powerful aura descended upon the smithy.

"That's enough forging for today Big Brother," Aegeus smiled sweetly and said. The aura of a peak Heavenly Realmer was fully unleashed by the handsome teen, and Frederick couldn't help but nervously swallow a few mouthfuls of his own saliva. Although he was also at the peak of the Heavenly Realm, Aegeus's battle strength was at the Mid Nobility Realm, and Frederick knew that it would be stupid to pick a fight with him.

"Alright," Frederick lifted his hands in surrender, a bitter smile adorning his lips.

"If you don't go to bed I would let Selina know that you haven't rested for the past few days when she returns," Aegeus's threatened and Frederick shivered like a small leaf in a winter storm.

"I'm going to bed right now!" Frederick hastily reported before hurriedly pulling off his apron and rushing into the back room to get some rest. Aegeus's aura only died down after his brother's figure disappeared. He smiled bitterly and then raised his head to gaze at the ceiling. His pupils flashed and changed into a golden color. Although he was looking at the roof, his eyes weren't focused on the rusty old ceiling. They pierced through the metallic covering above him, past the clouds of Systema and into the vast expanse.

"How are you doing Master?" he sighed with a look of longing on his face. Even he couldn't explain why he was so close to his Master when he had known him for so little a time.

"Aegeus is now strong enough to stand by your side. When we meet again, you will be proud to call me your disciple!"