*Note: If you didn't read the chapter before this one, I urge you to do so. Thanks...
The Remains of Viscar Province.
One Hundred and Thirty Seventh Year of the Era of Conflict, the Fifth Era.
After the Warriors had claimed victory against the Dracos that invaded Viscar Province, a team was sent out to recover anything that they could find.
They hoped to recover some useful things like Artifacts or important texts containing useful information.
During the search, some of the men found a crater that was reported to have been caused by a Dragon's fiery breath. They decided to go down into it.
The crater was about twenty meters below ground level so they thought they might find "something ancient" that had been lost in history.
"Hey, guys... I think I found something!"
One of the men called over his people as he found something hard stuck in the ground.
After reporting to their supervisor, they got to digging out the hard substance as it seemed to be very big.
"Isn't this stuff ice?" One of the men asked as he bent down to touch it.
Another also gave it a feel.
"Yeah I think it is... But why would there be ice under a crater caused by fire? Shouldn't it have melted?"
"Must be the work of a Warrior. A strong one....." The supervisor answered the question.
Although it was strange. No one could have buried the ice recently because there was a city there. It had to be ancient.
At this time, one of the men digging saw something unusual. But it was something that looked strangely familiar.....
"What is that?" Someone asked as he spotted it as well.
It was a milky white substance in the ice. It seemed to be somewhat fibrous as it was spread out in the ice like strands.
"It's hair..."
Everyone looked at the man who spoke.
"What're you talking about?"
"Take a good look! That's hair... blonde hair..."
The supervisor, a little stunned by the idea, ordered his men to continue digging.
As they got deeper, it turned out to be true. There was someone inside the ice.
********
"So this is the man in the ice, huh?"
A bunch of people dressed in fancily decorated black blazers were gathered at the outskirts of the province ruins. The large chunk of ice and the recovery team's supervisor were present as well.
The ice was going to be handed over to the Empire's research facilitiy but had been spotted by one of the men dressed in black.
The man claimed that the person inside was still alive.
"You say this person is alive?"
A white-haired woman asked the man who had called them there. She was closely observing the ice.
"Yes Lynda, that person is definitely alive." The man answered.
"Well, if the great Mardon says so... who am I to argue...." The woman said sarcastically.
The other people were just observing the ice and the person in it. The person was taking a stance, about to pull their sword. Their hair was all over the place so it was obvious that they were frozen in a fight.
The more interesting thing was that there was a mask on the person's face and the ice was somewhat cracked on the inside, like the person was already close to breaking it before they fell unconscious.
"Alright, I'll try to break the ice...." Lynda said as she placed her hands on it.
Her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to concentrate.
A blue hue formed around her as she activated her Technique to try to the ice. Most at times it wasn't easy to just undo another's work.
It was a little tricky, but Lynda was a strong person.
**CRACK**
The ice split right down the middle.
"Good work, Lynda. Keep going at it!" Her colleagues praised her in a sarcastic manner.
Lynda turned around to retort but she was stopped.....
**CRACK** **CRACK**
The ice continued to crack even though she wasn't touching it, causing the others to react.
**CRACK**
The ice shattered completely, but the people in blazers didn't even flinch. Something else surprised them.
The person in the ice made a perfect landing with their stance, still holding the hilt of the sword. It was like they were never trapped in ice.
Lynda jumped a few meters away, closer to her colleagues who had already taken their own stances, ready to activate their own Techniques.
The masked person didn't attack them immediately but looked around, seemingly observing their surroundings. The guys in blazers couldn't tell because of the mask.
After some time, the masked person took off the mask, revealing a face that compared beauty with the heavens.
"Sorry to bother you... but what year is this?"
The voice was cold but somehow welcoming.
"Excuse miss....." Lynda started, relaxing from her stance. "You're in the one hundred and thirty seventh year of the Fifth Era...."
The person stood there for some time. A trace of silent shock showed on their face. After that, the person smiled as they walked towards the people in blazers.
"Thank you for the information..... but I have to tell you that... I'm a man..."
Lynda's eyes widened.
'How can a man be so beautiful...?' she asked herself.
"What year are you from then?" Lynda asked, very sure that he was from an earlier time.
The man sighed.
"I last remember being in the six hundred and seventh year of the Second Era....."
The audience present fell silent. None of them knew what exactly to feel. Happy? Relieved?
Lynda was the first to move.
"You were a Warrior during your time?" She asked.
"Yes... Yes I was..."
She went closer to her colleagues who were still perplexed by the situation.
"We need to take this guy into custody..." Lynda said.
"I agree." Mardon complied.
They all knew that if the government were to lay their hands on someone like that, it wouldn't be long before they start doing things to him. They would want to squeeze out as much as they could before killing him and using his body for experiments.
"I also agree. We wouldn't want those selfish bastards laying hands on this guy....."
Another woman named Zilla, also agreed.
After giving it much consideration, they all agreed to leave him in Lynda's hands.
"Excuse me sir... What's your name?" Lynda asked after having concluded their discussion.
"Lucius..." He replied. "...just Lucius."
Lynda looked back at her colleagues and with a slight nod, she continued.
"Well Lucius, we would like to take you to an Academy for Warriors. We'll be able to freshen you up there."
"I see that the government is still vermin.... Even after so long....."
Lynda's joyful demeanor slowly vanished.
"Yeah..... they're definitely still scum....."
There was a heavy silence amongst those present. It was an agreeing silence.
Everyone knew what kind of people existed in positions if power. Almost all the nobles and royals were corrupt to the marrow.
"I'll come with you." Lucius said to Lynda. "You don't seem to have evil or selfish intentions....."
Lynda was concerned.
'He can read minds?' she thought.
"I can't read minds....." Lucius said to her.
Announcing that he couldn't read minds wasn't helping.
"Alright then. I'll register you with the Academy under my name....." Lynda said. "How old are you?"
"Before I was frozen....I was twenty two....."
Twenty two was actually a standard age to enter the Warriors Academy. Although due to the recent Dragon battles, the Academy started accepting younger people.
"Then it's settled."
After that, Lynda exchanged a few words with her colleagues and the recovery supervisor before leaving with Lucius.
It wasn't long before they caught a carriage going their way. Lynda asked him a few questions along the way. They spoke in low voices to avoid the chauffeur hearing them. They didn't want the government finding out about Lucius.
"What was it like in the Era of Chaos?" Linda asked Lucius.
The second Era was the Era of Chaos, which succeeded the Era of Establishment, the First Era. Lynda was curious because none of the history books ever had any solid record of what happened during that time.
The longest record of the Era was only fifteen sentences. It just mentioned the names of the people who won the war against the Dragons and some of their achievements.
"They call it the Era of Chaos?" Lucius asked.
"That's what it's called....." Lynda answered.
Lucius paused, as if recalling the events that took place. His expression wasn't so great.
"I don't think that name describes the Era well enough...." Lucius started. "...it was an Era of Bloodshed. Nothing was spared, both living and non-living. Young and old... even new born babies. It was a time when even the humans turned on each other, some people even became cannibals."
Lynda gulped. She was actually a little bit creeped out by the things he was saying, even though she was seen as a powerful figure of her time.
She observed Lucius. His jaw was clenched tightly, probably gritting his teeth behind closed lips. She could even see veins bulging out of his neck.
"Are you okay, Lucius?" She asked.
Lucius' face returned to it's normal state as he looked at her. He even forced out a smile.
"Yeah, I'm fi—"
Lucius stopped midway. He suddenly looked like he had seen someone that stole his pants in the changing room back in elementary school.
"Stop the carriage!" Lucius said in a commanding tone.
The chauffeur who wasn't even aware who spoke, stopped his horse because of the force the voice carried.
"Lucius, what's wrong?" Lynda was puzzled.
Lucius stepped out of the carriage and looked up. Lynda, following his gaze, found that he was looking at a statue. The statue of Elana The Ice Queen.
"What's that doing there!?" Lucius asked Lynda, trying hard to control the anger in his tone.
'So that's what caught his eye.' Lynda thought. 'But then again, who wouldn't notice the majestic statue of my idol.....'
"That's Elena the Ice Queen. She was the one who contributed most to stopping the Dragon invasion, thereby ending the Era of Chaos in the six hundred and seventeenth year. Just ten years after you were frozen."
Right now, Lynda just put two and two together.
There were very few ice users in that Era, and Lucius was frozen with such a high grade Technique that kept him frozen for over four thousand years. It could only be the Ice Queen.
Remembering how he landed out of the ice back then, she realized that she wasn't the one that broke it. Lucius only needed a tap and he did the rest on his own, still maintaining his stance as he landed.
If the Ice Queen needed to freeze somebody like that, then he must have been evil. For him to have lasted for that time, that meant he was powerful enough to rival the Ice Queen.
Judging from how he had a stance in the ice, she must have caught him unawares to have landed the strike. Meaning he could even be stronger than her...
Lynda was frozen to the spot. She couldn't bring herself to ask him, considering that he might kill everybody in the vicinity.
Lucius looked at the statue with deep hatred evident on his face.
'They must have been enemies, huh?' she thought.
Lucius closed his eyes before taking a deep breath. He regained his cool.
"If that person is who you recognize to have ended the war, then it means your history textbooks are wrong, or someone messed with the records on purpose. Because I know for a fact that the war ended in the six hundred and seventh year. Just before that woman went psycho..."