Elsewhere

At an unknown kingdom

--------------------------------

"Where is the hero."

Silence deafens the room.

"I SAID WHERE IS THE HERO."

"Y-your majesty, I think that the spell wasn't able to withstand the dimensional energy surrounding the universe. It is most likely that the destination to which the hero was summoned was altered just as an archer with shaky hands will miss his mark."

"Ah I see, so it's the spells fault! I should've known that it was the spell's fault after all! Shahs, would you be a dear and fetch dimensional archmage Deienos for an impromptu King's summon? Be sure to inform him that it was his spell that failed to properly summon a hero, and while you're at it you can also contact sweet Faye and inform her that she is one lucky gal as it turns out that the spell with which she was summoned was faulty."

"Your majesty, I did not intent to incriminate the dimensional archmage, as he is the first ever in his field I am sure that he has unparalleled skill. Perhaps even though the quantity of our mana and the quality of our dimensional magic was calculated to be sufficient, perhaps there was some unknown factor that altered the success of the spell's resolution." Shahs clarified in his attempt to appease the king.

"Whatever. Fetch Deienos anyways."

"As you wish."

Shahs left the room on his tamed beast, leaving the king alone with his two bodyguards and the eleven spent dimensional mages resting on the heated stone floor.

'Why do I only count 10 dimensional mages still in the room with me? Only Shahs left so there should still be an eleventh mage.' King Lahkroma contemplated.

"Qruat, Meinch, gather the mages and line them up. I want each of them to be identified and compared with the registry Deienos submitted for the summoning ritual. Let no one else leave the room."

"As you wish!" Qruat and Meinch responded.

As the mages have become extremely weak after the summoning ritual due to the mark of breachers being placed onto their bodies from the backlash, Qruat and Meinch simply dragged all of them to the wall and rested them against it in a line. The mark of breachers is a curse mark placed on all who attempt to violate universal law and either go to or retrieve something from an alternate universe with a varying penalty depending on the severity of the crime. The hero summoning ritual performed was severe enough to warrant a five year seal of the user's mana for the entire squad of mages. After the two finished sorting the mages, they quickly went about identifying them with the registry.

"According to the registry, Hheien il Jornuk is the only mage currently unaccounted for your majesty." Qruat reported.

"Issue a Court summon for him at once."

"As you wish!" Qraut exclaimed.

Minutes later Shahs and Deienos arrived back at the king's court riding upon their tamed beasts. Shahs rode a ten legged Vvingh, a beast known for its pointy shelled legs and cotton ball like body. Its eyes extended forwards and out similar to a snail, its body appeared as the most pillowlike and soft caterpillar ever before seen, and its legs extended lankily while covered in a solid black armorlike shell with four noticeable joints. The Vvingh reached a height of three yards and has a body length of two and a half yards and is about one yard wide making it perfect for one to rest on.

Deienos rode upon a Fjorn, a beast known only mythically prior to Deienos riding upon its back, if it can even be called a back, while arriving home after a journey abroad. The Fjorn had an unstable appearance, as the nature of its form would constantly shift as if there were millions of different objects, substances, and materials occupying the same space at the same moment with the only constant being the ever open maw. However not even the maw ever appeared attached to the body to which it belonged. The Fjorn only ever floats as it has no legs with which to walk, and only baptized dimensional mages can afford to look at it for more than a moment. Its true size is unknown but would appear to have a length of 4 yards, a width of one and half yards, and a height of one yard in most pictures were one to be taken.

Leaving the tamed beasts outside of the court, Shahs and Deienos entered into the room with the angered king.

"So what would appear to be the problem your majesty?" Deienos inquired.

"Well, the problem would appear to be that the summoning ritual did not summon anything. Well Shahs has said that it wasn't summoned here at least. So would you like to inform me as to why that is the case"

"Please give me a moment to detect all spells recently cast in this room your majesty, if all goes well a location will be able to be determined for the summoned hero"

"Well I suppose that I can spare a moment"

For about half of a minute, Deienos scanned the environmental mana of the room with his eyes closed and arms spread like radio antennas.

"I think I have determined the cause your majesty. It is extremely faint, but there is a sliver of chaos mana still lingering in this room. From this I can determine that the target of the spell was randomized as the spell was resolving causing the destination of the summon to become lost to us. Unfortunately as it is chaos mana that we're dealing with I am unable to determine exactly where the hero was summoned to."

The king's brows furl as he determines that it must have been Hheien il Jornuk who introduced the chaos mana into the latter portion of the spell. Knowing that if it had always been present in the spell that the spell wouldn't have even initiated, the best way to interfere with the summoning process would be to simply let it go through while tweaking the result.

Ideally for the saboteur, the hero would soon die if not immediately due to not having the aid of any kingdom or even people for that matter, causing all remaining dimensional mages in the kingdom to become obsolete for five whole years.

"I have decided. Deienos, you are to journey with a team of your choosing to search for the location that the summoned hero appeared. Shahs, report to me all existing information on the dimensional mages present today. Who turned traitor and why needs to be determined promptly. Lastly, Qraut and Meinch, imprison all dimensional mages until further notice. Just because one mage seems to be the most likely candidate for treachery, does not mean that he did not have accomplices, or was even the actual perpetrator."

"As you wish!" Deienos, Shahs, Qraut, and Meinch declared in unison.

Deienos and Shahs both left the room and mounted their tamed beasts, Deienos to gather his team and Shahs to fetch the personal files of all mages involved in the days incident. Qraut and Meinch began escorting the spent mages to the dungeon. The king was not happy that the hero was not successfully summoned, as another attempt could not be made for five years, and that was five years that they did not have to wait.

--------------------------------

Meanwhile in an unnamed forest, an adventurer by the name of Gehnna flew upon her familiar high above the ground in order to survey the recently discovered area. A week ago, Gehnna had accepted a commission from her local adventurer's guild to map the lay of the land, gather data on the local flora and fauna, and determine if there were any inconsistencies with known meteorological patterns.

Typically, tremendously large expeditions would take place in order to efficiently complete all necessary tasks. However, Gehnna being an educated woman with a substantially rare aerial familiar managed to persuade the guildmaster into letting her go alone on this journey. Many factors were brought up in this endeavor, such as the fact that a large expedition would be extremely costly to the guild in travelling expenses, labor fees, and the profit that would be lost if too much manpower were to disappear leaving unfulfilled commissions. Of course, many other problems would occur had the guild mass commissioned adventurers for this task and they were most definitely brought up.

The major deciding factor in allowing Gehnna to tackle the entire surveying mission by herself lies in her familiar, the rare Ahdell. The Ahdell is a flying beast that would be most comparable to a raven, however its size was even larger than small planes. With a wingspan of 20 yards and a length of 9 yards, it would typically be too large to possibly fly. However the Ahdell boasts a natural affinity to wind thus making it possible to take flight through the assistance of mana. This also allows for up to two passengers to ride comfortably usually, with Gehnna's gear taking the place of the other passenger in this case.

In essence, in the end the guild master was enticed by the allure of the prevention of a significant financial loss made possible by the superior transportation that Gehnna possessed along with the fact that she had received a proper education unlike the typical adventurer. After all, training people who may not even know how to read their native tongue was certainly a daunting task that would most likely delay the progress of the expedition.

So after being granted permission to journey solo, Gehnna took to the skies as fast as she could after gathering the necessary supplies at the guild's commissary. However, despite the incredible speed of the Ahdell, it had still taken her a week to reach the unexplored land. There she was greeted by a sprawling sandy shore lined by thin white trees with small oval leaves. For many miles did the forest stretch in all directions as well as the immaculate beach that shone in the radiance of Sul. Only one anomaly stood within sight, a massive evergreen tree towering above the tree line with a trail of smoke coming from near the base.