2. Defrosted Chocolate
Year X778, Iceberg Country
In the frigid expanse of the Iceberg country, the imposing silhouette of a colossal, obsidian-hued airship dominated the skies. Magical glyphs, luminescent and ethereal, floated all around the airship. These arcane symbols, carefully cast and enchanted, not only adorned the vessel but also served as the force of energy guiding its levitation and flight. Two particularly potent glyphs, positioned strategically at the rear of the airship, mimicked propulsive forces, propelling it through the skies.
On the central hull of the airship which was built in a streamlined shape, resembling a ship that sails through water, a red mark decorated over the black paint. The red mark was a guild mark of the guild that used the airship as their base of operations.
A guild is an organizational body with their modus operandi being obtaining and disseminating job requests to their members. In return for accepting job requests and completing those jobs, the guilds are given appropriate compensation by the quest providers. This compensation is then used by the guild to expand their influence and also to pay salary to their members.
There are a variety of guilds spread across the continent of Ishgar, monitored and overlooked by the Magic Council. The magic council is the governing body that sets up the rules and regulations for the guilds registered under it to follow. The council is run by a selected group of wizards who take various decisions regarding the functioning of the guilds across the continent.
The guilds that chose not to be under the jurisdiction of the council are often referred to as Dark Guilds. The members of the dark guilds are labeled as criminals by the magic council for they often defy the norms and regulations set up by the council. They often indulged in activities which are normally declared as illegal by the council and their associated law-making bodies.
The airship belonged to one such dark guild. A dark guild whose name was more than enough to induce fear in the hearts of people whenever they talked about it. The guild was none other than Grimoire Heart.
In the observation deck of the airship, there was a single throne where an elderly man with long, silvery white hair, a well defined mustache and a long beard which almost reached his torso, was sitting. He had an eyepatch over his right eye and several wrinkles on his face. Yet he had a sturdy physique that defied his age.
He seemed intrigued about something which was evident given his facial expressions. The moment their airship entered the airspace of Iceberg Kingdom, he could sense a high amount of magical energy being emanating from somewhere either within or around the kingdom. It had piqued his curiosity, leaving him wondering on who, or rather what could be releasing this much amount of magic.
"Master Hades." One of his many underlings walked up to the observation deck and bowed down to one knee right in front of him. "I have something to report regarding the high magical energy that our sensors picked up."
"Go on." Hades gave his confirmation, attentively listening to what his underling had to report.
"The team we had sent to scout and examine the source of that energy have just returned." The man went on. "It is coming from the mountain range at the border of the kingdom."
"Did they find the source of this energy?"
"They did in fact." The man took a brief pause before continuing. "There was a cave from where the magic energy was being released. The source of it lay within the cave."
"Why didn't they bring it in the ship for further examination?" Hades inquired with a puzzled expression. If they had indeed found the source of the magical energy then it made no sense in not bringing it on the airship. 'Finders-keepers' was an absolute and unspoken policy, not only among the dark guilds but also among the treasure hunter guilds around the continent of Ishgar.
After all, the main work of the treasure hunter guilds was to discover hidden treasures or find about ancient, lost civilizations. Which is why the primary authority of any treasure discovered, lay with the finding guild unless a proper decision is taken regarding it.
"They couldn't bring it, Master Hades." The man replied.
'Couldn't bring it?' Hades went deep in thought. He knew that the majority of his underlings were terrified of him and wouldn't do anything to incur his wrath upon themselves. There is no way they would willingly disobey his absolute orders unless the circumstances compelled them to do so.
"They reported that--" The man stopped mid-sentence, watching as Hades abruptly stood up. He gulped in anticipation on what could be going on in the mind of their Guild Master right now, while subconsciously fearing for the worse.
"Leave it, I will go see it for myself." Hades further instructed after a brief pause. "Set the airship down near the mountains."
"Yes Master Hades!"
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Many, many years ago...
In the large snow-covered forest land right at the base of a large mountain range or rather what remained of the forest, stood a towering dragon with snow white scales, having a slight mix of sky blue in them. A regal aura emanated from the imposing beast adorned with a striking golden scale crowning her head and two prominent, forward-facing ivory horns on either side of her head. Her wings were made of pure ice, emitting a bluish luster. The dragon had a white underbelly and a pair of golden eyes that menacingly glared down at her adversary, not at all pleased with the bruises and slash marks on her body.
Her adversary who bravely stood opposite to her, was a boy with messy deep brown hair, appearing to be no older than sixteen with a pair of daggers in his hands. He seemed to be in a much worse shape compared to his reptilian foe. It was a miracle that he was still standing given the degree of injuries he had sustained.
Yet still, his chocolate brown eyes glared right back at his opponent, not the least bit intimidated by the sheer size difference.
The daggers held by the boy had a turquoise shade to them, with the shade getting darker in the tip. Small runic markings were engraved on the blade and it was held together with a brownish-orange hilt.
"You are quite the stubborn one, aren't you?" The dragon growled, slowly stepping forward, readying her next attack. She intended to finish the fight with this one attack. 'I still have that one trick but I would rather avoid using it..'
The dragon was well-aware that her foe wasn't the kind to be underestimated. She had heard about him from other dragons. A lone warrior who appeared out of nowhere five years ago and challenged every dragon he came across in a death battle and has prevailed in all of them.
Fifteen years ago the dragonkind had suffered a great loss in the Human-Dragon war where the humans having mastered the dragon slaying magic posed a great threat to their existence. The kingdom of Dragonof was a major threat to them until it collapsed under mysterious circumstances. And right after four years of its collapse did this young man rise as a threat to the dragon race.
"I will admit that you are the strongest of all the dragons I have faced up until now, a testament to your title of the Ruler of the Frost Dragons. But that's no reason for me to back down." The boy replied, dragging his left foot behind. He was preparing to either take a leap or a sudden dash head on towards his enemy.
"Those are going to be your last words." The dragon growled, a thick layer of crystalline ice covering her arms. "At the very least I should get to know the name of the human who gave me a good fight. So tell me warrior, what is your name?"
Even if her foe is an insignificant human in her eyes, he was still a threat to her race and did put up a commendable fight living up to the reputation he himself build up over the years. Such a man indeed deserved her respect.
"Rades Bernhart." He answered before leaping head on at his foe, his daggers enveloped in a bright crimson aura while the runic markings on the dagger gained a bluish glow to them. "The human who's going to take you down for good."
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Back to Present..
Soon enough Hades found himself trekking through the snow-covered path, looking for the cave amidst the towering mountains.
Accompanying him was a girl of fourteen with long, dark purple hair and brown eyes. In her right hand, she held a translucent teal orb. Judging by her mannerisms, she seemed wary about their surroundings wondering, if all of this was an elaborate trap or not.
The chances of this being a trap was comparatively less given that setting an elaborate trap as this one was beyond the scope of the legal guilds. Plus the magic council wouldn't use their own resources to corner a dark guild, no matter how powerful of a guild it was. They simply wouldn't get their hands dirty in any situation and rather, they were the type to work behind the scenes.
The two of them checked their surroundings once again after having found the cave they had been looking for. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, the two of them stepped inside, welcomed by a tremendous temperature drop inside the cave, sharply contrasting with the external cold.
The interior of the cave was decorated with pure crystalline ice and icy stalactites. The two of them could feel that magical energy intensifying the moment they stepped inside the cave. While no living being could hope to survive in this environment under normal circumstances, they could still feel the level of the unknown magic rising. With each step they took they could feel the rise in the magic around them.
The two soon came to halt having found out the source of the magic energy and the look of shock on their faces was enough indication of the fact that they were not expecting what they just saw.
"Impossible." Hades muttered to himself, still trying to make sense of the sight in front of him. He now understood why his underlings couldn't bring it to the airship.
A huge ice pillar stood tall in front of the two of them, reaching to the utmost ceiling of the cave. Inside the pillar of ice was a boy of sixteen suspended in perfect stasis. What surprised the Grimoire Heart members was the truth of the matter that the boy itself was the source of the magic energy that they have been sensing for quite a while.
"Is he dead, Master Hades?" The girl inquired, curiosity laced in her voice.
"No he isn't." Hades answered, having figured something out after observing it. "Subconsciously the boy's body had been absorbing the ethernano present in the atmosphere to keep him alive and that accumulated ether caused the sudden spike in the surrounding magical energy."
'I am more curious on how long has this boy been doing it.' The leader of the dark guild had a glimmer in his eye. The curious researcher side of him that he had buried long ago felt like it was resurfacing again at the sight of such magical wonder. This also reminded him of something he left behind a long time ago.
"I can free him." The girl spoke up, halting Hades' train of thoughts. She put her hand on the ice pillar before looking up her guild master as if asking for permission.
"You can?"
"Yes. This pillar isn't like Iced Shell and thus doesn't require any complex magic to break it down." The girl answered, having already studied the nature of the ice extensively. "My Arc of Time can easily take care of this."
"Then do it." Hades gave his approval.
"Are you sure about that?" The girl asked yet again, wanting to truly confirm the words of her guild master. He gave a nod in response which prompted her to press her hand on the pillar again before chanting her spell.
["Arc of Time: Flash Forward!"]
Hades watched as the ice soon dissipated into vapor and the boy fell down on the cold ground, still unconscious and layers of ice all around his body. He went ahead to check his pulse and didn't find it strange that it was still active. Given how he had survived in these harsh conditions despite being unconscious and severely injured now that Hades had taken a closer look at him, the guild master had no doubts regarding his tenacity.
"We will make him one of our own. Send someone from the airship to take him." Hades instructed. The girl nodded before getting out of the cave to follow his orders.
In reality, more than making him a member of his guild, Hades was more interested and intrigued in knowing just how strong this boy is given the strength he has accumulated all the time simply by absorbing the ethernano from the atmosphere.
Somewhere in his heart, he felt a little relieved, thinking that he was able to save one life and not let the boy suffer in an eternal lifeless prison. He wasn't able to save the one he wanted to save from a similar situation. But at the very least, this action of his eased his guilt, even if only a little bit.
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'The blankets are warm but where the hell am I?'
That was the first thought that ran in the boy's head when he woke up after a long, long time in a warm and comfortable yet unknown bedroom, well covered in cozy blankets, a complete contrast to the icy prison he was trapped in. He sat up, removing the blanket from himself and noticed all his injuries wrapped up in bandages.
Getting off from the bed, he walked to the nearest window to see what was there on the outside. While waking, he felt no sort of discomfort which a person frozen in ice would normally face. This confirmed his suspicions that he was indeed rescued by some anonymous third party who also tended to all his wounds.
'What the!?' The boy almost fell on his rear out of sheer shock when he gazed outside the window.
His room was flying in the sky!
Before he could begin to process the strange phenomenon of a flying room any further, the sound of his door opening, followed by footsteps, momentarily put a halt to his thinking. He turned around to meet the gaze of a purple haired girl.
"Oh you are awake." In her hands, she held a fresh set of clothes for the boy to wear. "Here these are for you."
"Who are you supposed to be?" The boy was on guard, a completely normal behavior given that he is faced with a stranger and that too in a place unknown to him. "And where am I?"
"My name is Ultear Milkovich." The girl proceeded to introduce herself, hoping that it would ease his mind a little. "And currently you are in the airship belonging to our guild, Grimoire Heart."
"Hold it there. What's an airship and what the hell is a guild?"