Pyronis sat alone in his study, his elderly brows creasing in thought. His room was small, filled with bookshelves that held countless books thanks to the magical enchantments inside them.

While he was a god and received his own fair share of adoration and support from followers, in this Grand Arcanum, he was little more than a low level figure.

The Grand Arcanum—built and raised by the Archmagus Caldrin—was a wonder of the multiverse. A place that valued knowledge above all else. Awakened and monsters alike were welcomed here with no prejudice. Although all prejudice could not be removed, it was not a tenement of the arcanum.

The institute spanned an impossible distance, an entire planet dedicated to its wonder. Entry to the arcanum was not granted to all, however. One had to be accepted in order to learn the knowledge that the halls held—mostly through referral. As quick as the thought allowed, Pyronis found himself in front of the grand sanctum and knocked.

A brief moment later, Pyronis was teleported inside. He quickly scanned his surroundings and spotted a bearded man in a shabby looking robe tinkering with some sort of glowing intricate crystal.

“Pyronis, it has been a while. Welcome. What can I do for you?” Caldrin said without looking up.

Pyronis could feel the power of the god in front of him. Caldrin, one of the Nine Primarchs, was a figure that no one in the multiverse took lightly, even if his demeanour was that of a bumbling, somewhat quirky, fool.

“Sir,” Pyronis greeted with respect as he bowed. “I have located the newly born dragon.”

Caldrin stopped, as did time within the room. The whole sanctum they were in shifted as it was sealed in a dimension of its own. An even stronger safeguard than the usual implements the Grand Arcanum had. His eyes locked on Pyronis with fervor and intrigue. The usual quirkyness was lost.

“Tell me more.”

~

The Verdant Matron gently caressed the stem of a plant she was caring for. The plant was growing from a stem made of glass. An impossible creation formed of nature and alchemy. Her glowing green hair and dryad like visage blended in with the lush green scenery. A nearby puddle started to quake before a man burst out in a groaning splash.

“Caldrin. Again so soon, what brings you to my grove?” she asked in a curious tone. Her voice drifted like a whisper on the leaves, almost ethereal.

“Seal the realm, I have news,” he said with grave importance. He was clearly not here for a courtesy call.

The trees shifted, encasing the pair in a canopy of thick branches. “Speak freely,” The Matron said. “The trees do not spill secrets.”

“Vera. A god approached me in my sanctum.” He paced forward. “A god of fire named Pyronis. He brought me information about the newly hatched dragon.”

Vera, the Verdant Matron, regarded him with great interest. “Then please, share what you know.” She gestured and two seats rose, wood twisting into perfect shape. Caldrin sat first.

“A planet in the newly initiated universe, Earth, is a human based planet. The dragon appears to be in an Earth tutorial somehow. It is connected to a human named Leo, who apparently was given the dragon by a…” He paused. “God.”

Vera’s eyes widened, her voice little more than a whisper. “Could it be him?”

Caldrin nodded, hands grasped as he rested his chin on them. “It could be so. We won’t find out until we are able to view the tutorials in more detail or perhaps speak to this individual. I suggest we look for initiates to bless and inform our closest pantheons the same.”

“I think we should take a less straightforward approach,” Vera suggested, “The more we move, the higher chance this escalates into something more. You know as well as I do, Cindralus will use any excuse. The treaty says nothing of mortals causing the extinction of races. It only inhibits gods.”

Caldrin bit his lip in thought, a flurry of elements passing over his knuckles as he did when he was considering things. Vera spoke once again.

“I know you do not like the idea of leaving this to fate.” She smiled softly. “Nature will guide the dragon, should it be fated to survive.”

“Nature didn’t save Iskarion, nor his brood,” Caldrin said coldly.

The nature in question around them responded to his tone, threatening as the plants moved. “Careful how you speak,” Vera warned. “You know we did all we could to save them.”

Caldrin’s face dropped. Then he removed his hat in respect, flattening some stray grey hairs. “I am sorry, Vera.” He sighed. “I took out my own failings on you and your grove. I will do as you recommend. Until the tutorial ends, I shall keep my interference to a minimum. A spectator at most.”

The grove receded as the pressure relented. “You are forgiven, my friend.” She smiled. A beautiful smile that would cause entire armies to falter in their steps. “While I may suggest less interference, my own curiosities will win out.”

Caldrin laughed. “It seems that things will be getting rather interesting with this new era.”

~

“Attack its leg joints!” Leo called as he struck hard onto the Goliath’s exposed joint.

The sinewy flesh broke apart under the force of his blow, causing the Goliath to stumble. There was something about these Goliaths that was different from the one Leo’s group had fought during the bloodmoon. They were faster, stronger, and more intelligent.

Before, Leo was able to run circles around it and do as he pleased, finally taking it down after a bombardment of ranged attacks and teamwork from his main party. So far they have had two deaths. A fledgling fighter from his own camp and someone from Gareth's. Not to count the injured or maimed.

He thought that with all his power-ups he would be able to take out these things with relative ease, but overconfidence had made him a fool.

He gently touched his ribs and winced.

Taking the initiative, Leo had expected to knock the thing into next week. Never was he expecting that the dormant Goliath would awaken and lash out with incredible precision, sending him careening across the courtyard. Thankfully his Stoneskin and a joint effort from his defensive stats made it so that he wasn’t instantly obliterated.

Attacks of all sorts bombarded the two hulking monsters, shadowy tendrils that barely stopped its movements, arrows of ice, fire, and the light of the sun. Ruby’s fire was like a scorching inferno that was unfortunately causing issues when it came to melee fighters getting an approach. While her power was great, her control was a bit lacking.

Leo was, unfortunately, assigned to the Goliath that Ruby was assaulting. “Could you maybe not roast me along with the enemy?!” Leo called out in annoyance, patting a flame from his armour.

“I don’t even need your help! I’ll take care of it myself!” Ruby replied, her tone desperate even if the words did not reflect it.

“Don’t be an idiot! I’m going to try and collapse it so you can take it down, hold back on your fire for a bit!” Leo didn’t wait for a reply, switching his stance with a thought.

Ice.

The lightning that coursed through him changed to an icy cold that cooled his mind. While he would be less speedy in this stance, he felt that his current speed would be enough as long as he was careful. Ice was about control, in himself and to his enemy. Leo leapt between its remaining joints, trying to strike out on exposed, burnt flesh.

His reserves were still at a healthy level, and with only one enemy to take care of, he could be a little less conservative. Electricity enveloped his body again and again as he quickly dashed over its body. He was like a flea, hopping across whilst dodging its wild thrashes, inflicting creeping frost on every part he struck.

The last attack hit hard on its neck, followed up with a close-range Frost Lance. Ice was now coating all of the joints and exposed areas Leo could reach.

Springing off its head in order to dodge, Leo looked down at it, clapping his hands together as Absolute Shatter started to work.

One by one, the patches of frost started exploding into shards of razor sharp ice, quickly tearing apart the dense muscle and tendons that kept the beast standing.

As he watched the ice magic tear apart the beast, a lot of the shards that were exploding from it weren’t actually hitting it.

Can I maybe learn how to control the shards themselves? Leo considered as he felt the expenditure of mana leave his body.

“Can I hit now? Sir?” Ruby asked with a dry, annoyed tone, lip tilting into a snarl.

Leo just nodded. He wasn’t sure why her demeanour had done a full 180 but this was more in line of what he expected from the loose cannon.

“Flame of Pyronis,” Ruby said with none of the previous luster. It was like she wasn’t sure how to feel about the attack.

A torrent of flame erupted from her hands in a scorching twister, engulfing the Goliath in a devilish orange heat. Leo conjured a flame into his own hand as he watched. His own intelligence must not be that far behind hers with all of his advantages but he could not create even close to such a display.

There was no time to be envious for long, as the Goliath did not wait around to be scorched. The ground started to rumble as Leo got a bad feeling. He quickly dashed to Ruby and picked her up. It cut off the torrent of flame she was continuously spewing from her hands.

“What are you doing?” she asked angrily, hitting Leo on the shoulder.

A moment later, its giant, long reaching, blunt mandibles slammed down where she was a moment ago with intense power. The ground quaked from the sheer power exerted from the attack.

The monster then curled up into itself before the entire courtyard started to rumble. Leo got a bad feeling, yelling out a warning.

“Get back!!”

Spikes started to erupt from the ground in cascading waves, a majority of them started coming from underneath Leo.

They chased him as he dodged from side to side, avoiding them with relative ease, even with his luggage. By the end of the attack, the battlefield was more of a forest of stalagmites.

Keeping his balance through the quaking, Leo put her down gently.

Ruby looked at him with a mixed expression of frustrated gratitude and fury. Leo didn’t wait to hear if she had anything to say, this Goliath needed to be taken down, it couldn’t be allowed to attack like that again.

It looked to be on its last legs, both figuratively and literally. It was struggling to stand with the damage done to its leg joints and apparent fatigue from its last assault.

It thrashed out in anger and desperation. The others on this Goliath were keeping back, unable—or unwilling—to get close. Ranged attacks helped, but there were only so many of them that had the firepower to get through the defenses.

Needing to get through the defenses of the monster, he used the stance that would be most effective at dealing internal damage that helped penetrate defenses.

Earth.

His body solidified as muscles started to turn rigid yet supple. His skin became tight as if dried-in-dirt covered it all, thankfully not inhibiting his movement.

A quick dash had him face to face with its beady eyes and massive head. A surging punch coated in flame smacked straight into its head, detonating with licking flames all over. The damage from the strike didn’t end at the initial hit, the force of the blow rippled through its head like a gong had been struck.

A second fist struck hard into its face before it could regain its bearings, this one coated in blue sparks and causing the giant insect to convulse slightly as lightning lanced over its form. Leo followed it up with several quick jabs, with the sole purpose to build up his damage stacks.

Once they capped out, he struck with three escalating damage kicks, all taking advantage of the earthen power coursing through his channels.

Echoing Talon’s final strike came in the form of a jumping spin kick which knocked the Goliath’s head to the side with the strength of it.

God, this thing just doesn’t die! Leo complained inwardly as he caught his breath.

Chaining so many attacks combined with the previous use of all his skills had left him gasping for stamina. The ant was hardly moving at this point, barely able to lift its head.

“Take it down,” Leo instructed.

The people standing back to allow Leo to strike uninhibited moved in with cautious determination, landing the final blows to take it down. He was surprised that Ruby hadn’t tried her hand again but when he looked over to her, she was still staring at him with the same unsure expression.

Avoiding her gaze was his current gameplan and would continue to be so.

Meanwhile, in the other fight—not too far away—the second Goliath was still standing, thrashing wherever it could. Leo’s squad had himself, Ruby and some other people who he didn’t know. Which meant that the other team was stacked with those he had no problem relying on for the fight.

Cecelia dashed forward, feeling the speed from her evolution and ease of movement. It really did make a difference, her feeling of inferiority began to fade as she surged across the battlefield. The giant, extending mandible swung down with immense force upon her as she approached. Instead of dodging, her blade shone with moonlight as it met the strike perfectly.

Perfect Parry (Uncommon)

Your ability to deflect the attacks that come with fearlessness has been forged and honed. To dodge would be to run, to parry is to face danger head on.

Perfectly parrying a foe’s attack will result in the damage received being highly reduced.

The follow up strike upon executing a Perfect Parry will have increased damage.

Cooldown: 5 seconds

The blow glanced off her sword, failing to move her backwards, instead she glided along it like a snake, pouncing upon reaching her target. Her sword struck down with speed and power as she activated her new class skill.

“Silent Moon.”

Her blade turned almost ethereal as the strike sliced deep into the carapace without resistance. The Goliath screeched out in pain as green ichor spurted from the attack. Its defenses were lower now in the area struck by Cecelia’s attack, not to mention there was a faint light that seemed to infect the wound where it penetrated.

She landed with the grace of an alley cat, barely a sound. She did not sit idly, immediately moving to strike out once again. The Goliath seemed to hit the same breaking point as Leo’s, crouching into a tight ball before the ground started to rumble.

Knowing what was coming, Cecelia called out her orders.

“Fall back! Use any defensive skills you have!”

Ashley watched the spikes burst out from the ground as she kept a close eye on those retreating. The spikes came out hard but they weren’t exactly that fast or accurate. She spotted someone stumble as they sprinted to safety. Instantly her hand whipped up and curled into a fist like she was grasping light itself and a glowing barrier of light surrounded their body.

The spike hit the shield, but where the body should have been impaled, instead the shield absorbed the blow, knocking the person flying, where they landed in safety, if a bit bruised.

A few more people needed her help and thankfully her spell had multiple charges at the rank it was at.

Luminary ward (Rare)

Coat your allies in the warm glow of pure light. Inside the ward they may not strike out but they will also be protected from massive harm.

Protects an ally from harm with a sturdy shield around them

Attacks cannot be made while warded

Maximum charges: 5

Cooldown: 1 Minute

It was the skill she had gained from classing up to her Lumen Sentinel class. It was already showing its use and Ashley was excited to be able to protect those she held dear from harm.

With the massive attack now over, the Goliath was reeling. Clearly using the spikes caused a period of weakness. It hadn’t been entirely obvious due to the state that Leo’s Goliath was in but this one was clearly weakened.

Attacks rained down upon it of all kinds, finishing it with a thousand cuts. When the final blow struck, everyone sighed a breath of relief, enjoying their notification with hugs or friendly pats of respect.

Cecelia looked past the corpses, past the gate. The Tower which she felt held the power for her to close the gap was finally within her grasp.

Now she just had to take it.