Revelations

POV Virion Eralith

"Sorry, I was setting up some sound barriers, now tell me what you found out about the other continent." I replied to the boy.

There were several seconds of a rather chilling silence, I must have surprised him, after all he wouldn't expect me to discover anything.

Unfortunately for him, I am very perceptive and sensitive, as well as very analytical.

It didn't take me long to find several strange coincidences, first his life as an adventurer was like a gray stain, there were rumors, but nothing concrete not even a face it was as if he was deliberately hiding from something.

Second was his strange closeness with Cynthia, plus his unconditional support with the boy, I know her very well and I know she is not the kind of person who does that without a consistent reason.

Then there was the incident where he returned bruised from one of his adventures, at first I didn't pay too much attention, but after the formation of the council several irregular recent topics were touched and one of them was the Dire Tombs dungeon.

It didn't take me too much to link the incident with the boy, that added to his strange behaviors and secrets convinced me that the boy was keeping something very big.

Still, it was something ambiguous to say that it was related to the other continent, what really cleared my doubts was our last chat.

The boy acted very unusually when he asked me about the topic, plus the way he tries to strengthen Aya and Alea is as if he was preparing them for something.

That's why I made my own plans without the council finding out, I started to slowly prepare more weapons and strengthen the infrastructure for a possible war all within the range that no one will notice.

The boy's cautious actions and the tool that the council found clearly showed that we were being watched, so I was very careful.

I also started to give resources and improve the training of our silver core mages.

Many might think I'm paranoid, but the feeling I had since the discovery of the other continent was too strong to ignore.

Especially that the boy was involved, made all my attention focus on analyzing his actions.

Although I trust him, I also have my own methodology to cover things, that's why I made these imperceptible changes, in response to what I had managed to intuit from the general situation.

Seeing that the boy seems to be in conflict to tell me something, maybe today I will finally know if my actions are those of a simple senile and paranoid old man, or those of someone who still retains the foresight and some of his abilities as former king of a country.

After waiting a few seconds I heard a sigh from the other side and then a voice, "why do you think it's about that topic".

"Intuition, your previous actions and the way you act so cautious, tells me they have something to do with it", I replied in a calm tone.

"Have you told anyone else about this?", he asked with an impatient voice.

"It wasn't something I discovered on my own", I replied in the same serene way as before.

"That's a relief", Julian replied in a quieter voice.

"How long ago did you relate the other continent to me", he asked.

"It was a real gamble, there was a half chance that my thoughts were correct", I replied proudly for being right.

"How did you figure it out?", the boy asked.

I proceeded to explain the whole situation and my reasoning behind his actions, plus the set of coincidences that I wouldn't have been able to link, if I hadn't seen with my own eyes the boy's movements.

"You are amazing grandfather Virion, I wouldn't have been able to connect all the points that way", he replied in a surprised and respectful tone.

"It's nothing that impressive, besides almost everything is due to my hunch, in fact I doubt very much that I can do the same thing again and get it right", I spoke in a humble tone.

"Maybe, but still connecting all the dots and reaching a conclusion with a few irregularities is quite impressive", Julian spoke without leaving his impressed voice.

"Well, let's leave aside the talk about me and tell me, how long did you think you could hide from me what you knew?", I said in an interested tone.

"I never had a specific date to tell you anything, I just thought about the right moment", he replied

"I guess that's now", I spoke

"Yes, that's right, but before we talk I want to know how much you intuited and what things you have done in response to that", he asked

"The only thing I could really intuit is that the other continent does not have good intentions and based on that I strengthened the infrastructure for war, from weapons, to resources and training, to the most outstanding elven warriors", I replied.

"Are you sure that no one is going to have doubts about your behavior?", Julian questioned again.

"I have done everything in a low-key margin, but if someone were to ask I will simply say that it is for the improvement of the forces of mages, that the council needs and no one will be able to question anything", I replied in a resolute manner

"I guess being the former king of a country has its benefits", Julian said.

"Ha ha ha ha, if you have benefits you have to use them, don't you think", I replied

"Could that be considered abuse of power?, ha ha ha ha", he said in a cheerful tone

"Who could tell me anything", I spoke while raising my shoulders.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha, you're right", he replied again.

With the atmosphere a little lighter, we resumed our conversation in a more serious tone.

"Well grandfather Virion is just as you think, the other continent wants to invade us and their strength is far above ours", I heard Julian's voice full of seriousness.

"Can you be more specific?", I replied

"Initially, the number of mages, they have a different magical system than ours and that allows them to generate a larger number of mages than Dicathen", my look became more worried with his first revelation.

"Then their technology, it is much more advanced than ours, they have their own ways of handling materials and experimenting with living beings, they reach the point of being able to control class S beasts", he commented again.

"Is everything you tell me completely true?", I asked.

"Yes, unfortunately, they have a devastating superiority in numbers and combat elements", Julian replied in a heavy tone.

"What else do you know?", I asked again.

"There is a fundamental difference between the mages of their continent and ours, they are specialized mages", he replied

"What exactly does that mean?", I questioned not understanding exactly what he meant, since our mages also have specializations in their various fields.

"In short, they are one-trick jugglers, due to their unique awakening process, they cannot give varied shapes to their spells and it is always the same". He replied

"I understand the concept, but could you explain it in a better way", I spoke again somewhat confused.

"They have a unique awakening process, because of that their rate of mages is higher, but that also has its limitations because they are forced to use very specific spells, for example if they awaken the magic of fireball they will not be able to use anything else besides that, as for example a fire conjurer could do who can even create barriers", Julian replied

"Doesn't that mean that our mages are much stronger at the individual level?", I asked again, since if so we should have an advantage.

"Yes and no, while it is true that they are less versatile than the mages of Dicathen, by having used the same spell all their lives they become masters in its use, also due to these marked differences they established a system to overcome these limitations", he replied

"What is that system?", I questioned.

"Just as we divide our mages into enhancers and conjurers, they have their own classification, their offensive melee mages are called strikers and are in charge of direct combat, then there are the shielders they end up doing what the mages of Dicathen usually do to protect themselves, the shields and usually find them in the intermediate part of their formation".

I interrupted his words, as I wanted to confirm something, "that means they can't make mana shields to protect their body, right?", I asked.

"Yes, because of that the strikers tend to be very aggressive with their combat strategies because they are backed by the shielders", Julian replied.

"I see, continue".

"Then there are the so-called Sentry, their ability lies in detection, they are mages very sensitive to mana, they are mainly in charge of detecting and tracking things".

"Do you know how their abilities work specifically", I asked.

"I don't know, I haven't even met one, so I don't know how their spells work". He replied

"Then how do you know that information?", I questioned.

"It's better not to know, I can only tell you that it's reliable", Julian said.

After that a long silence was extended in which none of us spoke, I don't exactly know what he was thinking, but for my part I didn't know how to react.

I was somewhat angry about what he had been hiding from me, but deep down I could understand his intentions to try to handle this in absolute secrecy.

For that reason I didn't say anything to start a fight, this was something I could handle with all my years of experience and wisdom.

Still, I would prefer to calm down a bit before talking about the topic, so I didn't insist too much and asked him to continue with the information from the other side, "please continue with their classifications".

He seemed to want to say something, but he stopped, "Then there are the casters, they are a kind of conjurers, usually in the rear giving both support and cover to the striker and shielder; finally there are the Instillers although I don't have very clear how their abilities work I know that apparently they can improve objects with their mana", Julian spoke.

"Do you have anything else?", I asked.

"Do you remember that I told you that they were one-trick jugglers?", he replied.

"Yes, what about that", I answered.

"Yes, although it is true that in a large number they do not have more than one spell, there are some who do, they handle something similar to our stages of mana cores, but with something called marks that they call runes and depending on how strong their spells are their mark is stronger and changes its name", Julian spoke.

"What is exactly the classification?", I asked.

"First there is the mark, its real power I think it should be around the level of the core between red and black, then there is the Crest, its level would be between the orange or yellow stage, the next one is the emblem, in my estimates it should be in the silver range and finally the Regalia should be on par with the white core", he replied.

"I guess they have four tricks at most then", I spoke.

"Yes, but their strength is relative to the time they have been training their only spell, plus there is something even more important, why do you think their system differs so much from ours?", Julian asked.

"I have no idea after all the ones who brought magic to our continent were the...", before finishing the sentence I could understand the underlying meaning of his question.

Those who brought magic to the continent were the deities, then on the other side it should have been something similar.

"It seems you managed to understand it", I heard Julian's voice.

"Are the deities involved in this?", I asked in an interrogative and very nervous tone.

"Yes, one of the reasons why I kept silent about this, was because I was afraid that the other continent would move without us being prepared", he spoke.

I see if the deities were so involved, it makes much more sense the solitary actions of Julian.

"Tell me the whole story", I spoke.

"I don't have very clear, how it happened, but two groups of deities had disagreements and one ended up being expelled from their place of origin to end up arriving at the other continent, during their stay there they mixed their blood with that of the lesser beings and prepared to recover their place in a land called Epheotus where they are supposed to be the other deities, their next step is to invade Dicathen mix their blood again and acquire enough war power to go to war against the other part", Julian spoke in a heavy tone

"Did you tell me honestly do we have a chance of winning?", I asked with some palpable anxiety.

The scenario was much darker than I imagined, things got completely out of control, without realizing it I felt an imaginary hand, cold and sharp touching my neck.

It was a feeling of absolute terror, finally I could understand where the bad feeling I had from the beginning came from.

"We have them, but we will have to wait for a backup, just as I told you that there were deities on the side of Alacrya, there are others on the side of this continent, although it is a falsehood to say that they are on our side, grandfather Virion it is very important that you understand that they are our allies, but at the moment when we are not useful to them they will discard us; for that reason we will only take their hand to give us enough time to grow and prepare, after that we have to be prepared to defend ourselves no matter who the opponent is". Julian said in a solemn tone.

"Is there a guarantee that the deities on this side will move?", I asked anxiously.

"They will if they are also in danger", the boy replied with absolute conviction

"I will believe you; besides I will start immediately with several plans, that occurred to me in the course of our conversation, even so I hope to talk to you soon face to face", I replied.

"Sure, no problem, but be very careful grandfather Virion", Julian spoke in a complicated tone.

After that the connection of the communication artifact was lost, while I leaned completely against the chair where my mood was in a complete state of confusion.

"I'm too old for this", was the only thing I could say before starting to prepare countermeasures according to what I learned.