The brothers Yun Hai and Yun Zhe were leading a caravan through the Shadow Mountains with over 30 people heading to Yi Ti on behalf of the Order of Sages. Besides escorting and protecting the apprentices and human merchants, the brothers were also escorting three shadow lizard eggs that were about to hatch. For this reason, the eggs needed to be transported outside of the Shadow Bags.
The reason for taking these eggs to their homeland was to ensure that new members of the Yun Clan could tame them.
But the brothers could never have imagined that just 1 hour away from crossing the dangerous mountains, they would be attacked by a terrifying army of Shadow Souls.
In a few seconds, half of the 30 people in the caravan were killed, and the elder brother Yun Hai made a crucial decision: To prioritize his life, his brother's life, and the lives of the eggs, which were the future of his clan.
"Little Zhe, run ahead and don't look back!"
Yun Zhe was no longer the innocent and talentless younger brother he once was. He knew the three eggs he carried were significant to the clan and didn't hesitate, leaving his brother behind before uttering a single phrase:
"Don't die… Or I won't forgive you!"
Yun Hai smiled and used a basic fire spell, covering his enormous longsword, and began to slowly retreat, cutting down a large number of monsters and casting powerful advanced spells.
When Yun Hai was reaching his limit, covered in wounds and almost without any spells to defend himself against the horde of monsters, he felt his lungs fill with a familiar and powerful air. The energy of the heavens that enveloped Yi Ti energized his body, accelerating the healing of his wounds and granting him a power that could only be used by a few special people and only within the Sacred Land of Yi Ti.
"I finally reached the border!"
Surrounded, Yun Hai gripped his sword tightly, pure white energy descending from the sky, creating an illusory white light sword above his own.
Yun Hai shouted:
"Dragon Vein Slash!"
A golden-white illusory serpent dozens of meters long emerged from his sword and swept away hundreds of Shadow Souls, as if devouring evil and eliminating the entire horde that had surrounded Yun Hai.
Breathing heavily after the powerful blow, Yun Hai finally crossed the Yi Ti border, finding his brother safe and sound.
At the foot of the Shadow Mountains, the army of Shadow Souls stopped, as if a powerful barrier prevented them from crossing the border.
Yun Zhe supported his brother with his shoulder, and together they continued their journey home. As they walked, they discussed and tried to deduce what had happened in the Shadowlands…
***
As soon as he returned to Asshai, the Master of Beasts went straight to his laboratory and found his disciple, who was now also a Master, Genesis.
"Master, we have a problem…"
"Has a new Calamity begun?"
The answer caught Genesis by surprise, but he reacted quickly, passing on the report about the ban on flying and the monsters that had now spread throughout the Ash River.
While the Beast Garden leader reflected, another figure entered the room. It was the Master Serpent Daran.
He had a complicated expression on his face, but still followed the traditions of deference, bowing to the Tower Leader.
"Sir, something terrible has happened…"
"Did you fail your mission?" Genesis asked with a mocking tone.
Daran's face contorted slightly at his rival Genesis's taunt, but he quickly calmed down and boasted:
"No, my mission was a success. I successfully delayed Omar and Katya…"
After a moment of silence, and under the terrifying gaze of the Tower Leader, Daran delivered the terrible news:
"Madame Zirya's life totem has been destroyed…"
"What?" The two inside the room asked together, unable to believe that the Master of Plague had died.
"I didn't believe it either, but I saw it with my own eyes… It seems Madame encountered some misfortune during her research in the Shadowlands…"
The Master of Beasts remained silent for a few seconds, his face showing no sign of emotion, before saying:
"Leave me alone for a moment—"
"Rrrrrrr"
A huge tremor made the entire Beast Garden tower shake; if the three in the room weren't powerful Masters, they would have lost their balance and fallen on their backsides.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?"
Genesis and Daran felt fear as they watched the Tower Leader's anger explode. After all, a Calamity had begun, his wife had died, and now their tower trembled as if they were under attack.
But when they went to a window, they saw that it wasn't an attack, and that the entire city of Asshai was experiencing an earthquake…
"Knock Knock Knock"
"WHAT IS IT THIS TIME?" The Master of Beasts shouted and waved his hand, opening the door for a frightened middle-aged man. He was the leader of the tower's apprentices and brought a report on what had happened…
"S-Sir…" The apprentice leader stammered after realizing he had angered his master.
"Ho-ho, there was a strange incident in the affinity testing hall… All the affinities on the mural glowed and began to shift from their original positions during the earthquake, and…
...And a new affinity appeared!"
The faces of all three Masters inside the room showed pure shock…
***
The Dragon Man landed in Asshai just in time to see the tremor sweep through the city. He looked suspiciously at the trembling towers, but it all passed, lasting only 15 seconds…
The Dragon Man's shadow moved, expelling two dozen mutants from within it.
The mutants varied in age and gender, but all of them exhibited some level of mutation. Some had one or more pairs of wings on their backs that vaguely resembled those of the Dragon Man; others had draconic eyes, while a minority had long, sharp claws on their hands and feet, or fangs as sharp as those of true predators. There were even some with long tails.
If there was one thing that made all these mutants common and similar to each other, it was their skin with scales of varying colors. Although they all resembled some kind of Wyvern in human form, when compared to the Dragon Man, they seemed like mere failed experiments.
"I have kept my promise, you are free from your position as slaves and your debts are paid…"
Before everyone could thank him, the dragon-man glowed with green energy and moved so fast that he disappeared from their sight as if in a blur.
The mutants who were now freed slaves wept and knelt in gratitude. Some even had fervent eyes, venerating and deifying the man after escaping the Stygai disaster thanks to him…
Not far from there, the man arrived at his tower, and only after entering and recognizing that everything was the same as when he left it almost 90 years ago was he satisfied. His human dragon form reverted, and he became an ordinary human again with white skin, green eyes, and short black hair.
He was none other than the Bloodmage Esmer…
****
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