Chapter 421 - The Old World

Quick note about some edits to recent chapters:

Chapter 416 - Signicantly expanded the first scene where Hump and Celaine talk about their relationship. I suggest you reread as it should fix the feedback raised about how they haven't discussed their new situation.

Chapter 417/418 - Wizard Gregor of the Three Eyes renamed to Wizard Charles as I remembered I have a Prince Gregory already.

Chapter 419 - Minor tweaks to the end of the first scene where Hump and Celaine chat at the new safe house. Not necessarily worth a reread, but improved their dynamic a bit.

Chapter 420 - Wizard Charles gives Hump a spellbook of the technique he's teaching him at the end of the chapter.

I haven't been able to edit this chapter yet so it may be a bit rough in places. Will go over it tomorrow again.

Hump opened the spellbook scanning the detailed descriptions and spell formations. It was certainly complex. At a guess, Hump thought it was a Tier 5 technique, so even with a teacher, it could be some time before he could use it. Though studying it, he saw even more similarities to Wielder of the Winds. Both were techniques designed to use the essence of the world, so perhaps some of the mechanics would cross over.

The details were much like a recording in his own spellbook, capturing the intent of the scribe, allowing the user to grasp the core of the spell rather than simply memorising the motions. Unlike the Book of Infinite Pages, however, a scroll could only be used once.

At his hip, his spellbook shuddered ever so slightly, a barely perceptible ripple that told Hump it had made a copy. If Wizard Charles noticed, he gave no indication.

“Are you sure I can use this?” Hump asked. Spellbooks required great effort to create, especially of this rank. He hadn’t expected the man to go to so much effort to teach him.

Charles chuckled. “Of course. Aldric asked me to help you with this matter, and I am not one to take half measures. You will be trained properly, Wizard Humphrey. I can infuse this spellbook again if you need it—the technique is a complicated one, but with this we should be able to speed up the process of you learning it considerably.”

“Thank you,” Hump said. “Once should be enough for me, but I’ll let you know.”

The man raised an eyebrow. “Oh?” A smirk formed on his face. “Quite confident then. Good. Let us cross our fingers you live up to it. Shall we begin?”

It wasn’t confidence, but the Book of Infinite Pages would provide everything he needed. Hump didn’t particularly want to let Wizard Charles know that, however. The Three Eyes may know what he carried, but he had no reason to provide them with information on its functions. Not yet, at least. If they proved valuable allies, perhaps he would share more of it then. For now, some distance left him less vulnerable.

Under Wizard Charles’ supervision, Hump spent the morning practicing the technique. Working with a specialist certainly showed its worth throughout the session, and Hump found himself making fast progress. While completing all three steps together was a long way off yet, Hump had gained a basic grasp of each of them, at least, enough for him to continue practicing alone.

When their appointment came to an end, Hump was on his way out of Charles’ office, when he paused. He had arranged to meet with Wizard Torvik to view the archives that afternoon.

“Before I leave, I’ve been working with a Professor Torvik to locate information in the archive,” Hump said. “Are you familiar with the man?”

“I suspect every wizard in this building is,” Charles said. “He’s been here longer than almost anyone.”

“And do you trust him?” Hump asked.

Charles must have seen something in his face, because he frowned. “He knows about your spellbook.”

Hump nodded. “He figured it out the day I first stepped foot in the academy. Can I trust him?”

Charles leaned back in his chair and stroked his beard thoughtfully. “It is difficult to predict what these old wizards desire. Often, they merely wish to find something interesting, and you are certainly that. I can tell you that he is well thought of at the academy and is very popular amongst his students. What he wants with you beyond that, however, is difficult to say.”

“I see.” Hump nodded slowly, feeling some of the tension ease in his shoulders. That wasn’t exactly reassuring to hear, but Torvik had been nothing but kind as of yet. “Thanks again for today.”

“It was a pleasure,” Charles said. “I’ll see you next week. Or if not, I’ll let Aldric know Torvik may have had his way with you.”

The man’s laughter echoed through the tower as Hump opened the door and descended the stairs.

***

The days in the Remnant Realm were getting longer. They were on their fifth expedition now, each one pushing farther into the fissure region. With that time came a lot of boredom. Each of them had their own way of dealing on it, one of which was to try to use the time to train. While much of the Veil of Infinite Reflections was not applicable in the Remnant Realm due to how difference the dead essence of this land was, Hump could still practice the first two steps of the technique.

They were nearing the end of the day when Hump sensed excitement in Nisha. Moments later, a vision of a giant crater appeared in his mind, right at the centre of the many fissures. And inside were strange, blocky shapes, little more than shadows in the depths, yet distinctly unnatural. More like buildings than rocks.

“How are you holding up, Don?” Hump asked.

Don was the Chosen of Seres that had been providing support to them. Even at third circle, his blessings were still a big boost to their speed.

“I’m doing alright, sir,” the man said. “Getting tired, but I’ll be good a while longer.”

“You think its time for us to turn back?” Emilia asked.

“The opposite,” Hump said. “Nisha’s found something. Something very different to what we’ve seen here before.”

“Any idea what?” Celaine asked.

“Hard to say. Might be the top of a wizard temple. Or maybe a structure the gorger created. I’ve warned Nisha to keep her distance and its too dark to make out the full details.”

“Well, we’ve got a little time by my estimate,” Bud said, looking at the sky. “I say we push on.”

It took them twenty minutes to catch up with Nisha, bolstered by Don’s blessings. It was incredibly how much faster one could travel with the support of the wind god’s Chosen, though it came with a downside. Shades were often drawn to their trail. So long as they moved fast enough and didn’t rest carelessly, it wasn’t a problem, but if anything more powerful lurked nearby they would draw it to them like a razorclaw to a goat.

All of them were on guard now. Nisha was close, soaring through the skies overhead, circling in place. Soon, Hump saw it. He walked to the very edge of one of the vast chasms and stared down into what looked like an impact crater.

The great hole had to be a mile across, if not more. It was carved deep into the rocky ground, with fissures cracking off in all directions. The shadows within were clearer now, but Hump still couldn’t make them out.

“Give me a few of those glowwater things, Hump,” Celaine said.

Hump glanced at her. “What do you see?”

“Just do it.”

Everyone gathered round as Hump reached into his pouch and took out a few vials of the stuff. After a quick shake, he handed them to Celaine, who threw them straight ahead. They all watched, waiting a few excited seconds for the vials to crash into the ground. Hump’s breath caught.

At the heart of the crater was civilisation. Or at least, what was left of it.

He could hardly believe his own eyes. Petrified structures jutted from the rock ground around where the glowwater had shattered, their twisted forms somehow intact. Buildings. There was now doubt about it. they looked unlike anything he’d seen in Alveron, seemingly formed from organic, flowing shapes, as if they’d been moulded or grown rather than built, but there was no mistaking them.

“Incredible,” Dylan said, a wide grin on the druid’s face. “Truly amazing. I didn’t think we’d ever find anything.”

“How is this possible?” Emilia asked. “How could they have survived whatever caused this crater?”

“It’s possible the crater came first,” Dylan said. “The people of this world could have settled there afterward.”

“Or they were somehow protected from the impact,” Hump said. “If this was caused by magic, perhaps magic prevented the damage too.”

“Do we go down?” Dylan asked. “I don’t see any shades.”

“Oh, there are a lot of shades,” Celaine said. “I can hardly see a surface where they do not cling. If we wake them up, we’ll need to deal with thousands.”

“There’s something else though,” Bud said. “I can feel it—a wrongness to this place.”

“Yep,” Celaine said, moving back from the edge. “I don’t like it. There’s something down there beyond shades. My instincts are telling me it’s dangerous.”

“It’s too late anyway,” Emilia said. “I say we head back and report this to Anara. If we’re going to find this gorger’s lair, it has to be here. Otherwise, we might as well give up. This place is too big to search every fissure.”

“It must be it,” Hump said. “Gorgers collect things. A place like this would be a prize. If we’re going to find its lair, its here.”

“But not today,” Emilia insisted once again. “Look at the sun, Hump.”

Hump glanced to the west and immediately saw her point. The red ball of light was hanging low, its hazy light hardly reaching the crater at all. Likely, they only had a few hours left before it would be completely dark.

Letting out a sigh, Hump nodded. “You’re right. And even if we had the time, we shouldn’t go down there alone. A place this big could take days. We’ll need Anara to arrange an overnight expedition most likely.”

“That sounds just lovely,” Dylan said.

Hump laughed. “You never know, Dylan. Maybe you’ll get used to it with a little extra exposure.”

He checked the map artifact to ensure it had recorded the location properly before they headed out. It was far bigger now than before, updated with the master map information collected by the other squads too. Their time in the Remnant Realm had expanded the known world significantly, yet other than a few wizard temples, the fissure region was the only thing of significant they had found. Miles upon miles of broken land, and the more time Hump spent there, the more he thought it was caused by some ancient magic. Staring at the map, the crater was right at the centre of the fissures. It all but confirmed that whether magic or not, they fissures had spread from there.

For all their work, there had still been no sign of the warlocks. Wherever they were, they were biding their time, and the leaders of Alveron were growing impatient. Already, more squads had been added to Marshal Anara’s command.

“Another dust squall is on its way,” Celaine suddenly said.

“Shit,” Hump said. He turned, seeing nothing by hazy red light, but he had long since learned to trust Celaine and stuff like this. The squalls were violent storms of dust, though they never lasted more than a few minutes. If they were caught in one, it would grind their skin like sandpaper.

“How long do we have?” Hump asked.

“Half an hour, maybe,” Celaine said.

“Well, that makes that decision. We move now. You ready to go again, Don?” Hump asked.

“A little tired, but I think I can get us home,” the man said.

“We could hunker down if you need more time,” Dylan offered. “Don’t push yourself past what you can handle. Hump could always dig us into the ground again.”

Hump grimaced. That had worked before, but he wasn’t so sure this time. “If we get ourselves stuck near here, we might draw whatever lurks in that crater to us.”

“And I’d rather Hump avoids burying us alive again,” Celaine said.

“I can handle this,” Don said. “Better a little tired than getting caught.”

“Then let’s do it.” Hump drew a breath as the man’s blessings encompassed him. Time for more running. There was no time for a break when using blessings, for the shades would be drawn to them. “Worth case scenario, I can put up a Shield and keep it at bay if we don’t make it out in time.”

***

With the discovery of the buildings in the crater, plans changed. Marshal Anara would lead the next expedition to the fissures herself—four squads. Just over sixty members strong. Whatever secrets lay within, they would find it, and they’d have the strength to devastate any shades that got in the way.

Hump and the others arrived at the underground temple of Elenvine before dawn. This would be the first overnight expedition, and Anara didn’t want to waste a second. The rest of their squad soon arrived, Marcela continuing as the lead, and soon the other three squads had gathered too, waiting for the final group to arrive.

The moment Anara stepped into the chamber, Hump’s attention was drawn to the man at her side—a young noble, clad in fine armour, a well-forged sword at his hip, and rings glinting with enchantments on his fingers. Power radiated from him, not just from the artifacts he wore, but the way he carried himself. Relaxed yet poised, his hands clasped neatly behind his back. Sharp eyes swept across the gathered warriors, appraising them with quiet confidence.

A ripple of recognition passed through the crowd. Around Hump, several people inclined their heads in greeting, Bud and Emilia amongst them.

“Who is that?” Celaine whispered.

“I don’t…” Hump trailed off as it clicked. He’d seen that face before—on statues, in paintings, in books. “That’s—”

“Good morning, everyone,” Anara addressed them, the flower druid fully adorned in druidic robes, and her staff in hand. “Joining us today is Prince Gregory. He has requested to accompany our expedition and will be part of my squad.”

The prince inclined his head toward them. “Good morning.” His voice carried easily through the chamber. “I have heard much of your exploits of late, and my father requested I convey his gratitude directly. The work you do here does not go unnoticed. I come today, for I believe it is time I see the Remnant Realm firsthand. If we are to fight a war against the warlocks, then I must understand that battlefield upon which it is fought, and the brave heroes who are fighting upon it. Anara’s geneorisity in allowing me to join her squad for this expedition will help me understand the dangers you face every day as we face down this warlock menace and protect our beloved Alveron from all who would threaten her.”

Hump noted no arrogance in his tone, just quiet confidence. For a prince, he seemed far less self-important than half the nobles Hump had met. That boded well. When it came to nobility, it was the ones with something to prove that got people killed.

“There is one more thing before we set out,” Anara continued. “Two parties failed to return last night.”

The murmur of conversation stilled instantly.

“There were no signs of shades or other creatures in the area,” she went on. “Both we to the west and part of the same squad, so we’re leading with the assumption that warlocks attacked.”

Hump felt a weight settle in his stomach. Two full parties gone without a trace. They’d been informed yesterday, but the hope had been that they had simply been delayed. Another reason hope was always wasted.

“Moving forward,” Anara continued, “squads must stay closer together. No more breaking off beyond sight range, even if it slows us down. Additional forces will be allocated to the west. Primarily as a rescue party, but if our suspicion proves accurate, we will find some trace of them. That is all. We leave in ten minutes.”