While Baranor was sleeping he awoke in a strange place covered in fog with a constant sound of ringing almost as if someone was banging metal together, almost as if Baranor was a ghost he had no control over what he could and couldn't do while in the dream. All Baranor knew was he was strangely attracted to the soothing sound of metal yet he couldn't pinpoint what that sound was or where it was coming from. While Baranor was in a soothed state of mind it was suddenly interrupted with a burning sensation throughout his entire being almost as if he was on fire, Baranor tried to scream out in pain yet no sound came out instead the fog would be slightly lighten up by a strange blue light which correlated perfectly when he would try to scream, so enduring the pain Baranor gritted his teeth and endured it. Every second passing felt like a eternity of hell where he would be doused in fire just to be ripped out at the last second before he would break, this cycle continued for what seemed like forever until finally it stopped and he heard a strange voice.
"This damned world where everyone seems to reject us, where everyone seems to hate us, where everyone wishes to dominate us! I will show them! I WILL SHOW THEM ALL WHAT IT MEANS TO BE DOMINATED!"
When Baranor could open his eyes he saw it, a old elven man seemingly on fire with white flames and a blue hint in his eyes standing in the heart of what appeared to be a mountain inside of which was a forge but before he realized what was happening his vision went to black. Jumping up from bed Baranor grabbed his chest which was in immense pain with drops of blood appearing on the animal hide sheets of Fara'mir's makeshift guest bedroom. Baranor looked around before realizing what happened he looked down at the ring and said to himself.
"Is that how you were created?"
Of course Baranor didn't receive a answer back but while looking down he realized there was blood on the hide he was laying on touching his face he realized his nose must've been bleeding while asleep. As if suddenly struck by that pain once more Baranor jumped up from bed and started to puke blood as he grasped at his chest which was in agony. Once Baranor was done puking up blood his body started to repair itself at a fast rate yet it also seemed as if it was destroying itself at the same time. Confused and worried for his well being Baranor quickly donned his armor and his sheath and ran out in the early morning where orcs and uruks were just starting their day. When he exited the tent Fara'mir was returning to wake him, surprised to his lord awake already he quickly came to his side.
"Boss! I didn't realize you would up at this time-"
"Fara'mir silence! accompany me to the priest tent." Baranor commanded
"Uhh, Sure thing boss!"
Although Fara'mir was slightly confused he followed without question besides he enjoyed a good leader who knew what they wanted and wouldn't bother with small talk. When Baranor and Fara'mir arrived they walked right in as the priest was busy making some form of a ointment. As if absorbed into his work Ashnor paid no mind to whoever was at the door. Baranor was waiting patiently for a few minute's out of respect for the priest work, however he realized it would take to long but before he could say anything Fara'mir stepped in.
"ASHNOR!" Fara'mir roared
jumping up from his seat with a aggravated face Ashnor was about to say something before he saw Baranor. When he saw his leader he instantly kneeled and said
"My liege"
"Ashnor, rise I am in need of assistance." Baranor replied
"Of course my liege, what is I am able to help you with today?"
"I need your expertise in the arcane to look into my mana circuits"
"Of course my liege! If you may my liege sitting down on that stool"
Once Baranor sat down Ashnor dragged a chair to sit behind Baranor, although Baranor was suspicious of Ashnor as giving anyone access to one's mana circuit or core could mean ruin if the other party had any ulterior intentions but he trusted in the rings power and so lowered his bodies natural defenses and let Ashnor look within his body. Ashnor gently applied mana into Baranor's body not much but just enough to feel around which would normally mean a clashing of mana yet Baranor suppressed his natural defenses to not attack the invading mana. Ashor started to feel around the mana circuits of Baranor which naturally lead to his core as if in understanding Ashnor noded and withdrew his mana.
"My liege.. your circurts and core appear to be in a rather dire state" Ashnor said
"Care to elaborate Ashnor!" Kara'mir spewed
"Calm down you damned runt! I was just about to get to that." Ashnor replied
"What?! Runt?! Your only 5 months ol-"
before Kara'mir could continue Baranor stepped in
"Kara'mir! Quiet! Now Ashnor do elaborate."
"As you say liege. To put it in simple terms your mana core is essentially a dam and your mana circuts are the rivers that flow to and from said dam, however your core is cracking which is like a dam holding too much water, it will eventually be crushed under the pressure it holds which means yo-" Before Ashnor could say anything else Baranor chimed in
'I knew sooner or later this would happen since once someone hits the 3rd tier simply increasing ones stats won't allow them to advance to the next like the previous tiers' Baranor thought to himself
"So that means my core is holding too much mana and it's destroying my body because of it?"
"Well yes my liege but also not quite, you see it's not just your core it's also your body as it constrains the flow of your circuits as well which often happens when someone exceeds the level of their own core and there stats rise far above what their core and circuits can handle and the straightforward solution would be to raise the level of your core and being by breaking through to the next tier which for the most part can happen over time yet it seems as if you have somehow outgrew the speed at which your core naturally grows through accumulating mana from the surroundings and strengthening itself through that process which will eventually lead to a qualitative change in not just your mana but your body as well." Ashnor proclaimed
"I understand all that Ashnor, my question is on how am I supposed to do that in a immediate time frame!" Baranor asked
"Well my liege the easiest way would be to absorb the core of a being of the next tier or to gather enough cores of the same level as yourself to advance through to the next level and worse case scenario traversing to a mana rich environment to where you can absorb and purify the surrounding mana but I don't know of any close by to advance a being to the 4th tier." Ashnor replied
Baranor started to think to himself and go over what his options were 'Traveling to the Sun Kingdom and asking for permission to use their holy springs are out of the question, there is the beast of the forest which is supposedly of the 4th tier i guess the next best solution would be to gather the cores of as much tier 3 monsters around here but this forest only holds so many and I don't think there's enough for me to evolve to the 4th tier.'
"I've made up my mind, Kara'mir how many uruk do we have in the camp?" Baranor asked
"Hmm not counting the orc's it should be around 360? I think so anyways boss since a large portion of the orcs did evolve to uruk's." Kara'mir replied
"Hmm very well, tell them to prepare for a battle and bring any and all siege equipment and stage by the stage."
"Will do boss!" Karamir said before running off
'Now let us start this beast hunt!' Baranor said
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Lunamir still in a mirage of sorts was still confused and questioning of the memory or rather the shared dream he and Baranor witnessed and as such has blocked out the outside world to concentrate.
'Who was that? Was that one of my memories?'
Lunamir was just as confused as Baranor as he kept replaying the scenes over and over especially the feeling of pain he felt for the first time ever, to Baranor it was a horrible excruciating experience yet to Lunamir it was traumatizing having his first ever pain be that of being set aflame then brutally sculpted. Little did Lunamir know Baranor didn't feel the pain of the hammer instead the pain of the fire since Lunamir could handle the pain of the hammer but not the forge so he subconsciously shared his pain. Lunamir kept piecing together what it was but it felt familiar, as Lunamir kept thinking about it he kept having a slight feeling of the pain felt so he would stop for a while to continue again slowly adjusting to the feeling and finally when he remembered a little of what happened his vision was shrouded in a dark fog once more.
"You will be the new light of my race!"
'Who said that?!'
"You will be the one to show them! You will show them all!"
'WHO ARE YOU'
No matter how much Lunamir screamed he never received a answer instead he felt his very being shake as if whoever it was shook him to his core, as if he was afraid.