Another World’s Versatile Crafting Master c1-1074, page 486
"That would not be a problem. I can compare your story with Geresco's. After all, while Geresco might have lied to me, I don't see a reason why he would do that to you when both of you were the closest comrades!" Nefa replied casually. He remained unaffected by Rogge's words. It seemed like he had considered the matter before.
"Alright then. About that, I hope to hear from you what Geresco had told you," said Rogge. No matter how hard he tried, Rogge could not recall he'd ever told anyone about what had happened then. Yet, it had been so many years. Even if the memory of a Sanctuary powerhouse was supposed to very strong, it was impossible for one to remember everything that had happened over a thousand years ago.
Nefa would not have agreed to Rogge's request if it had been in the past. His prior knowledge was the most effective resource he could use to assess if Rogge had lied to him. If he were to tell Rogge what he knew, Rogge could very well exploit this information and build lies on it. When that happened, he could only allow himself to be fooled.
The experience of battling alongside Rogge helped Nefa be more trusting towards Rogge. Although he would not want to admit that it was a relationship between comrades, he managed to let go of his worries after a short hesitation and reveal his knowledge to Rogge.
Chapter 813 - The Past
"I remember that Geresco first talked about the location of that battle. Some said that the Dragon of Destruction had suddenly come to the Tree of Eternity; others said the Immortal King had intruded the Dragon of Destruction's lair. However, according to Geresco, the real location of that battle was in the air above Roddanmo—the northernmost part of the Breezy Plains…"
Judging from the location of the battle, Rogge knew that this piece of information that Nefa had heard from Geresco was unlikely to be fake. That earth-shattering battle which he had witnessed indeed occurred at Roddanmo. However, Rogge was uncertain whether Geresco had revealed this piece of information unknowingly.
"The Dragon of Destruction and the Immortal King arrived at the skies of Roddanmo as promised. They first had a short discussion, or rather negotiation. However, both parties didn't want to compromise at all…"
In order to find the answer to his question, Nefa had been trying to figure out the information that Geresco had revealed over the past thousand-plus years. Thus, when he was conveying Geresco's reply, every pause and even change in tone were the same as Geresco's.
"During the battle, the Dragon of Destruction always had the upper hand. He controlled the Laws of Destruction which could almost destroy anything. Even the Immortal King's strongest attack was no match for him. Until the Immortal King took out his weapon…"
As Rogge listened to Nefa's retelling of the battle, he compared it with the information he had and reminisced about the time he fought alongside Geresco. However, as Nefa dug deeper into the details, Rogge's expression changed from silent contemplation to inconcealable surprise.
Rogge was surprised to find out that Nefa's account was even more detailed than the information he had. From the conversation between the Dragon of Destruction and the Immortal King to the changes during the battle, and even the special traits of the powers that the two had used, a lot of these details were unknown to Rogge, who had witnessed the battle.
How… How is this possible? Rogge couldn't believe his ears. Did Geresco tell Nefa all this? How did Geresco know so much more about the battle than I do? After all, I've seen the battle with my own eyes! Rogge was now certain that the information Geresco knew about the battle wasn't heard from him.
Rogge suddenly felt that he didn't quite understand Geresco at all, even though they had been through many battles together. If the information Geresco had wasn't from Rogge himself, then where did he get his information from? After all, Geresco wasn't even born when the battle between the Dragon of Destruction and the Immortal King occurred. When he was born, even the Immortal King had already disappeared.
Could it be that Geresco had gotten some kind of diary left behind by the Immortal King? However, a diary couldn't record the battle in such detail. It was as if he had seen the battle with the Spacetime Beacon Spell! What kind of link was there between Geresco and the Immortal King, these two seemingly unrelated people?
Compared to Rogge's surprise, Lin Li looked much more composed. Although he was listening to an earth-shaking battle's description, Nefa's narration was just too dull. For Lin Li, the battle between the Dragon of Destruction and the Immortal King was not even as exciting as the one between Geresco and the Evil Eye Tyrant which he had watched through the Spacetime Beacon Spell.
Moreover, Lin Li didn't hear much useful information about the Stars of Fury in Nefa's narration. Although he had anticipated this, he couldn't help feeling rather disappointed. After all, he already possessed five pieces of the debris of the stars now, and was clear about where the other two pieces were. However, he had no clue where the Stars of Fury was. Although the Stars of Fury's power might not be as great as the seven pieces of debris of the stars' power, it was the optimal weapon for the debris of the stars to release their greatest power. This quality was definitely more important than any other.
Back at Osric's mausoleum, Lin Li had thought that the Stars of Fury was in Osric's hands. However, when that perfect body had appeared, it had only been holding the Void Spear. Lin Li had also searched the crystal coffin, but not a clue about the Stars of Fury could be found. All clues about the Stars of Fury ended just there.
Lin Li was aware that it was almost impossible to obtain the location of the Stars of Fury from the account of that battle. However, Lin Li had no reason to care about the battle other than to find out the Stars of Fury's current location. Even if he wanted to get some fighting experience, this kind of oral account was not even as useful as recalling the battle between Rogge and Lothar himself.
Seeing that Nefa had finally finished his story, Lin Li rubbed his chin, and asked, "You're no longer suppressed by the Fire Elemental World's powers now. The Immortal King and Geresco had also left Anril. Are you interested in taking a stroll around Anril? I think Tutankhamun will still care about you as a brother."
Although Lin Li knew that Nefa wasn't a good person, he still wanted to rope him in. If he could rope in another Sanctuary-realm powerhouse for the Tower of Dusk, its influence would be terrifying. Of course, since Lin Li had the guts to rope Nefa in, he wasn't afraid that Nefa would cause trouble. After all, he had many ways to get this black dragon to work for the Tower of Dusk obediently.
"No. Although I'm free now, and don't need to be tortured by the Fire Elemental World every day, I'm not planning to leave here." Nefa didn't expect Lin Li to try to rope him into the Tower of Dusk. After all, it was just too absurd for a Legendary powerhouse to attempt persuading a Sanctuary powerhouse to work for him.
"Are you scared of Tutankhamun? Or that I'll deal with you outside?" Lin Li couldn't understand what was so good about this place. Back at the big crack, didn't Nefa say he wanted to leave this darn place?
"Deal with me? Think about that after you've reached Sanctuary-realm. As for my brother, I'm not actually that scared of him." Nefa found Lin Li's words really funny. After laughing it off, he seemed to think of something, and his expression turned rather solemn. He said, "Obviously, I want to leave this place, but I also have to admit that I don't dare to leave."
"You're contradicting yourself." Lin Li was puzzled. Was this black dragon's brain hurt by Flame Dragon Lothar? If he wasn't scared of anyone, why didn't he dare leave?
Nefa was silent for a while. He then decided to tell Lin Li the truth, and replied, "When Geresco tricked me into coming here, he told me that I would follow in my father's footsteps and be defeated by the Immortal King should I return to Anril."
"Him? You must be kidding!" Lin Li was shocked, but while he said so, he knew that someone like Geresco wouldn't say anything easily. Every word of his was meaningful. Nefa said that Geresco had tricked him into coming here, but if all the things were laid on the table, Geresco hadn't told Nefa a single lie. For example, wanting Nefa to suppress the volcano, telling him about the battle…
"I don't want to believe it, either. However, Geresco was already at the peak of Sanctuary-realm, and was one step away from turning divine when he told me this. You should know that powerhouses like him cannot be judged with mortal standards. Although his warning sounds rather absurd, what we deem as absurd is often the horrible truth," Nefa commented with some sadness. What seal, what Tutankhamun's promise? All of those were nothing compared to the effect of Geresco's words. With just this sentence alone, Nefa had to stay here even without any other restriction.
Although Lin Li hadn't even reached Sanctuary-realm, and was far from becoming a god, he didn't doubt Nefa's words at all. During the battle with Flame Dragon Lothar, that flame dragon laughed at the Dragon of Destruction's prediction. However, the truth was that wyrms were indeed chased out of Anril by the High Elves, which the Tree of Eternity had given life to. These High Elves then became the rulers of Anril, creating a prosperous empire like never before.
Once one had reached near god-level, he could truly grasp the changes of the world and flow of time. The world would be no longer mysterious and unpredictable to them. Thus, any of their seemingly careless remarks contained profound wisdom. Prophesying about the future thousands of years distant was also possible for them. Thus, since Geresco had said that Nefa would die in the Immortal King's hands if he left this world, it would definitely happen.
Unfortunately, none of the three on the scene had reached Geresco's level, so they couldn't understand Geresco's words completely. First, the Immortal King had already disappeared before the end of the Dark Age. If not, the High Elves would probably still be the rulers of Anril now. No one knew where the Immortal King had gone to for thousands of years, not even whether he was dead or alive. How would he be able to kill Nefa?
"Now I know why you're so insistent on knowing the truth about that battle. It's like a sword of Damocles hanging over your head…" Lin Li's voice trembled. He couldn't help sympathizing with Nefa. The Immortal King was too cruel. What had the Dragon of Destruction done to anger the Immortal King that it wasn't enough for him to kill the Dragon of Destruction, but that he had to ban the Dragon of Destruction's descendant from ever stepping into Anril?
"Old Rogge, let's talk about you. Do you have anything to add?" Nefa looked at Rogge, his eyes shining with silent anticipation.
"I don't know where Geresco had gotten his information from, but I need to tell you that his information is probably more complete and detailed than what I know. However, since I've promised, I'll tell you what I've seen. I can't promise that the information will be useful to you." Rogge shook his head gently and stopped thinking about Geresco. His eyes shone with nostalgia, and he started recounting that earth-shaking battle in his memory.
During the battle at the end of the Dark Age, Rogge was pretty well-known amongst the rebels, being second only to the God of Mages, Geresco, in terms of magic. However, nobody would have guessed that the Rogge hadn't always been a mage. When he was young, he had been only an ordinary human soldier.
During the Dark Age when the High Elves ruled Anril, they didn't separate the races they ruled over—not because they valued equality, but rather because they believed that the most perfect beings in the whole world were themselves. Any other intelligent races were all just lowly creatures that could be slaughtered without reason.
Especially humans who were frail, reproduced fast, and lived short lives were considered flawed creatures by the High Elves—just like ants. According to some records of the Dark Age, there used to be High Elves who had directly thrown reared magical beasts into human villages just to see a scene of blood and slaughter. Fortunately, such acts didn't suit the tastes of the High Elves, so it didn't become a common entertainment amongst the High Elves.
For the elves who were slaves of the High Elves, they could elevate their status to a certain extent through their contributions. For example, the Helios Family did just that. However, for human powerhouses, be it the mages or warriors, none of them could get to the position they deserved with their abilities. Most of them ended up being thrown into the Tower of Death by the High Elves after being caught, where they had to fight with countless magical beasts all day for the High Elves' p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e till their death. No one had ever escaped from the Tower of Death.
Although the High Elves ruled the entire continent, that didn't mean Anril entered a peaceful era. The only difference was that the reason for wars was different. Instead of clashes between kingdoms due conflicts of interests, the wars happened because the High Elves were playing a kind of chess game. Thus, one of the important uses of human soldiers was to be used as pawns for these High Elves to play their game.
The young Rogge was one of these lowly soldiers who knew neither battle skills nor magic in that era. These soldiers were the most suitable ones to be the pawns as they wouldn't affect the High Elves' displaying their chess skills.
However, Rogge wasn't a pawn. He did a job that was even more lowly than being a pawn—he was a sentinel. The role of a sentinel was just to stand sentry, and he didn't need to fight like those pawns. This might seem like a rather good job, but it also depended on the location. The sentry post which Rogge was based at was located in the northernmost part of the Breezy Plains. After one crossed this sentry post, he would enter Roddanmo, where snow fell all year long. This place which was previously known as the Land of Ice now belonged to Dwarf Kingdom.
Although the dwarves lived a rather good life in Roddanmo now, the Roddanmo then hadn't been a place where humans would have set foot in easily. During the time when Rogge had been a sentinel there, Roddanmo had been an infamous danger zone in Anril. Even a Legendary powerhouse wouldn't have dared to enter Roddanmo alone.
Chapter 814 - A Shocking Arrow
That was the ice magical beasts' world. Ice Howlers, which were rarely seen now, used to be the most common magical beast roaming Roddanmo then, with close to Legendary-level abilities and great numbers. Other stronger creatures like the Ice Enchantresses, Snow Giants, and Iceblast Wyrms were also not uncommon. Amongst them, there were ones whose abilities almost reached Sanctuary-level.
Not mentioning those most powerful magical beasts, even an ordinary Ice Howler could destroy an elite human army easily. Back in the Dragon Mountains, Lin Li had encountered a level-10-odd Ice Howler. This Ice Howler had once made the Roland City castellan's elite army return crestfallen. In contrast, in Roddanmo during the Dark Age, such Ice Howlers were the lowest-level magical beasts.
These magical beasts wouldn't conform to human boundaries. Sentry posts on the borders, like the one Rogge was stationed in, were one of the places these beasts loved to visit. Those were also places where sentinels changed most frequently, or rather places where sentinels were continuously sent to. If there were any dispatch records, people might have realized that a small sentry post had become a large army without anyone's notice.
Rogge came to this sentry post, and became one of the many sentinels who lived on the edge of death daily. The young Rogge actually didn't have any fearless courage. The howls of the magical beasts often scared him awake at night. In fact, if that incident had occurred a few days later, Rogge would have become one of those sentinels who had disappeared.
That day was the sixth day Rogge had come to the sentry post. The pot on the stove was brewing a somewhat thick brown rice porridge. As sentinels who could become the food of the magical beasts at any moment, the only thing that they could do was to eat all that they could. Hearing the brewing sound coming from the pot, Rogge carried the pot to the aged dining table where its countless masters had dined, and prepared to enjoy his breakfast.
However, a sudden violent shock came from under. Rogge couldn't balance himself, and the whole pot of porridge fell onto the ground. However, this wasn't the time for Rogge to care about his breakfast now. This abnormality couldn't be caused by one or two magical beasts. This shock reminded him of the horrendous Black Current in the legends.
Rogge waited until the shock calmed down a little before he climbed up from the ground and walked out of the house cautiously. The sentry post was built on high ground. While having a vast field of vision, it offered no room for people to hide or escape. This was so that the sentinels wouldn't run away.
After seeing the outside, Rogge heaved a sigh of relief. He didn't see the legendary Black Current. However, a heaven-shaking dragon roar made Rogge almost collapse onto the ground. He was only an ordinary human then. It was already remarkable that he wasn't scared to his death by that dragon's roar.
When Rogge looked over toward the source of the roar, what he saw in the sky of Roddanmo opposite the sentry post was something he could never forget.
Thick clouds rowed across the sky, so thick that they seemed about to drop to the ground at any moment. Among these thick clouds was a gigantic black wyrm, flapping its membranous wings large enough to envelop a city. It was like a god towering over the world, making people want to worship it uncontrollably.
Rogge only knew that the black wyrm in the sky was definitely more powerful than any wyrm in the myths as its body was larger than the ones mentioned in the most exaggerated legend. As an ordinary human then, Rogge could only judge the ability of a wyrm from its body size.
Rogge hid in the room at his sentry post nervously. Although he knew that this room couldn't offer him any protection, he still felt safer here. Just as Rogge was letting his thoughts run wild, trying to guess the reason for the appearance of this black dragon, he saw that the thick clouds in the sky parted as if they were sliced through by a sharp sword. A shadow instantaneously appeared in front of the black dragon. Judging from the shadow's size and height, Rogge guessed that this could be a powerhouse of the High Elves.
