Deep within the Tel’vian border, a group of alchemists stood proudly. The one who seemed to be in charge was an old man with pale skin, messy hair, and an untrimmed beard. His name was Artor Tate and he was the leading mind responsible for the creation of the Airship and the Mana Cannon.

“High Chancellor Victor Orlov, it’s very good to see you,” Artor greeted.

“Artor, please just call me Victor. We’ve known each other for too long to keep formalities. Now, tell me how everything is progressing.” Victor twirled his curly mustache with a pleased expression.

“As you wish, Chancellor,” Artor clasped his hands before continuing, “With the resources we received from the Free City, we have two smaller airships that are fully functional. As for the mana cannon? Although it took an immense amount of mana crystals I’ve figured out how to maximize the output while minimizing risks of overheating or damaging the ships.”

“Hmmm.” Victor showed a contemplative expression.

“Is it not to your liking, Chancellor?” Artor asked.

“No, it is better than I expected, but somehow I feel as if production is still too slow, it’s likely the Grenitian’s will receive their spoils from the other nations in a few weeks.” Victor voiced his concerns.

“There is no need for worry, Chancellor. Since we’ve created blueprints the assembly of the smaller airships will be faster.” Artor smiled.

“Wonderful, we’ll need at least ten operational by the time the City-Eater is discovered and twenty when we invade the Grenitians.” Victor’s mood rose and he smiled happily.

“So it’s true? We're on course for war with the Grenitians. If that’s so then Chancellor we should divert resources to my... other projects.” Artor’s eyes flashed with excitement.

Victor shook his head as he watched Artor’s imagination run wild,“It’s still too early for that Artor after we take action against the Grenitian’s we’ll have to restrain ourselves. Divert ten percent of the Free City resources toward it, but don’t slow the production of the Airships.”

“Yes, Chancellor.” Artor saluted with a satisfied expression.

…

Back in the Underground City, Ira was busy stabbing a shirtless Aldis with a needle.

“Ira…” Aldis grit his teeth, “Is this really necessary.”

“Probably,” Ira continued to pierce Aldis' skin with a bloody needle.

“Ahh!” Aldis shouted in pain as he felt a needle sink into his spine. The strange thing was after the needle was removed Aldis felt a chill, but that feeling would fade as soon as Ira stabbed him again.

The hardest part for Aldis was the fact that Ira had a monstrous amount of strength and would move his arms as fast as he could. It meant that Ira could stab him a dozen times in a few moments.

“Ira!” Aldis shouted in pain as several beads of blood rose up.

“Stop moving.” Ira easily held Aldis down with one hand while the other stabbed into him, “I mess up you’ll probably be paralyzed.”

“R-Really?!” Aldis asked with clear shock.

“I mean I did just stab you in the spine, so…” Ira trailed off as he stabbed the needle near Aldis’ heart.

After an entire hour passed, Ira had finally finished he tossed the needle in a bowl and yawned.

“All done.” Ira took a step back and evaluated his work.

Aldis was covered in a layer of frozen blood and constantly shivered while exhaling a visible breath, “I-Ira what did you d-d-do to me?” his teeth chattered.

“It’ll take too long to explain,” Ira lied as he inched toward the door.

Aldis had undergone a process that could be used to fuse individuals with a certain element, creating elemental soldiers. It was a process lost to time, or rather, stolen by a wolf that could consume knowledge of whatever living being it ate. It was just that Ira only had access to the process to create an ice elemental. There was a pattern in Aldis’ wounds that formed the symbols used to draw in elemental energy. It basically meant that Aldis had become a conduit that would draw in and absorb cold energy specifically.

“Ira, wait!” Aldis shivered as he climbed to his feet.

“Go take a hot bath, buddy. I have uh...Keeper stuff to do,” Ira slipped out of the room and left Aldis who was producing vapor from his body.

Aldis cursed Ira inwardly as he moved toward the baths while leaving a trail of icy footsteps behind him. His condition would obviously improve, but for the moment he would be struck by a feeling of frostbite all over his body.

…

“If it’s not too intrusive, could I ask what your relation to Ira is?” A Dark Elf asked Harper who was busy eating at a long dining table. There was a group of Dark Elves, both male and female, constantly around Ira and the people he brought with him for security reasons as well as the need to demonstrate their seriousness in protecting Ira.

Harper gulped down her food before answering with a smile, “I’m his sister.”

The group of guards began whispering to one another before one dismissed himself to speak to the Queen.

“You two bear no relation so I wouldn’t have guessed,” A guard said with obvious surprise.

“Well, he’s my brother.” Harper frowned at the guard and he immediately realized his mistake.

“Forgive me, I didn’t mean to offend the Keeper’s sister,” The guard bowed sincerely as he slightly trembled.

On the surface the Dark Elves were calm, but there was a wave of fear brewing among everyone. They were made clear about the punishments for displeasing Ira which consisted of imprisonment, torture, and immediate execution.

“Ok.” Harper went back to eating and a collective sigh of relief was given in response.

No one spoke to Harper but observed her intensely instead. There were three black circles on her forehead which increased in size with the lowest being the smallest. They didn’t know was that if Harper was exposed to the influence of the Red Moon the largest circle would glow red.

“Excuse me,” A female Dark Elf couldn’t take it anymore and decided to ask, “Do the three circles on your head hold any significance?”

“Ira gave them to me,” Harper answered.

The three circles were traits she inherited from the ingredients Ira put into her bloodline.The Lunar Rabbit was an illusive spirit based creature that only appeared on a full moon during winter. Its most recognized ability was the creation of phantom decoys to trick predators and hunters.

“The Keeper did?” Another Dark Elf asked before realization dawned on him, “...Inform the scribes.”

The female Dark Elf nodded before disappearing causing the group around Harper to become smaller.

“Hey, Harper.” Ira suddenly appeared with a contingent of Dark Elves close behind which caused Harper to jump from her seat and run over to him, “You see, Amy?”

“She’s training with the guard lady, Eloise,” Harper spoke.

“I see.” Ira messed up her hair before continuing, “You stay here, Harper. I’ll be back after I stop at the temple.”

Harper pouted but agreed with a reluctant nod, “Ok.”

“It won’t take too long,” Ira added with a smile before leaving.

...

The citizens of the Underground City watched as a group of 30 odd Dark Elves, Lycanthropes, and Beast People escorted a handsome young man with pitch black hair and bright yellow eyes. His appearance stirred some into excitement as they had heard the rumors emerging from the Palace.

Still, the overall mood around the city was somber for some, especially those who bore witness to a massacre more than a hundred vampires and what appeared to be random citizens. There were some instances where individuals were grabbed from the street while others were killed in plain sight.

While word of vampires attempting to spread a rebellion wasn’t unheard of, those who appeared to be normal citizens were caught up in the slaughter. Those regular citizens were of course turned by other vampires, but there was no time to explain. All that was known was a little girl with pale blue hair directed and participated in the executions and the head of the royal guard, Eloise, was seen with her. The only explanation offered was delivered in the form of a message stating, “Those who were killed were all guilty of treason.”

Ira’s appearance was significant in the fact that a statue of him was raised the same exact day the purge started. Then there was the claim that he was held control over the Red Moon. Sylun described his appearance in an edict so there was no mistaking him.

“Hey! If you really are the Keeper then why didn’t you save my son? He was killed for no reason!” A distraught Dark Elf shouted as tears ran down his face. He threw a liquor bottle in front of the group escorting Ira and when the glass shattered a silence filled the air.

Those guarding Ira looked the most shocked since they had felt the power of the Red Moon they were obviously more devout than those who had only heard of him. A Lycanthrope growled as he rushed toward the man and grabbed him.

“Get off of me! You can’t do this!” The Dark Elf shouted as he struggled.

“Let him go!” Someone shouted from within the crowd that was slowly forming.

“You can’t lie to us.”

“Are you going to kill us too?”

The guards around Ira drew their swords and were more than ready to kill any potential aggressors.

“Here he is, Keeper.” The Lycanthrope threw the Dark Elf to the ground in front of Ira.

Ira narrowed his eyes at the drunken and grieving Dark Elf while smiling.

“Why did my son have to die? Because of you? You want me to simply believe in you? I’m two hundred and forty-six and you want me to believe that you’re some sort of deity that fell out of the sky?” The Dark Elf looked up at Ira with an indescribable hate.

“Believe what you want,” Ira channeled the force of the Red Moon while smiling at the man.

The Red Moon’s influence couldn’t be faked and those watching underwent the same changes that happened when the Golden Aurora appeared.

Ira’s glowing red eyes scanned over the spectators before he spoke, “I never said to believe in me and I could care less if you did or didn’t. Just don’t make a habit out of bothering me,” he picked up the Dark Elf in his way and tossed him to the side before continuing on.

The faces of the guards darkened as Ira’s words replayed in their mind. It could be interpreted as him distancing himself from the Dark Elf Empire. If that was the case then they would be held responsible for not controlling the crowd effectively enough.

“You ungrateful bastards!” A Lycanthrope barked venomously as he moved to strike down one of the onlookers. The other guards were of the same mind and moved to find their own targets.

“Leave it, it’s fine,” Ira waved his hand while walking. He continued channeling the Red Moon as he walked forward to save himself any trouble.

“As you wish, Keeper,” the guards sheathed their weapons in an instant.

“Be thankful for the Keeper’s mercy, but by the orders of the Queen any blasphemy against the Keeper is punishable by an immediate death.” The aggressive Lycanthrope was extremely revering toward Ira. The fact that he was a lycanthrope meant he could feel that Ira was a monster hiding in plain sight. Especially since Ira sometimes forgot to restrain his bloodline resonance and would cause any nearby lycanthropes to panic.

Ira left the regretful and guilty crowd behind while moving toward the Temple. Along the way, the influence of the Red Moon covered a huge radius and people seemed to instinctively feel that Ira was the source.

Several Dark Elf scribes were waiting outside the temple steps and once they spotted Ira they bowed respectfully.

“Thank you for coming, Keeper.” The Head Scribe greeted Ira as he gestured for the others to open the doors to the temple.

“No problem,” Ira walked up the temple steps while the guards stood at the entrance and allowed no one to approach.

As the influence of the Red Moon continued to spread, a crowd began to gather for a different reason.

…

Ten glass columns stood tall on a barren rock that floated above a pasture of lush greenery. In front of the ten crystals, a young woman with silver hair and luminescent silver eyes. Her focus was on the two glowing columns that were the most eye-catching.

“So you’ve come to see if two columns were activated, Kara...If it continues then I wonder what will happen to the mortals this time.” An old man appeared next to her and shook his head.

Kara Thynne was the last mortal to ascend to the Divine Realm and did after the barrier was raised so she was something of a legend. In a short time she rose to power and became a respected God but she still hadn’t been able to learn anything about the Avarus Lupum.

“The last of the Avarus Lupum is the cause of this, Xandes?” Kara asked.

“It appears to be so.” The old man stroked his beard.

The columns were significant to the Divine Realm since they dictated if the Gods were able to directly interfere in the Mortal Realm. Once five columns were lit, the Gods could interfere through a proxy such as creating a barrier or initiating a divine possession. Once all ten were activated, the Gods themselves could descend for a short amount of time, such an event would only occur when the Mortal Realm was in danger of being destroyed.

Just as Kara opened her mouth to speak another pillar began to glow and a faint pulse was felt by all Gods throughout the realm.

“Again?!” Xandes was completely dumbstruck but his answer came in the form of a reddish humanoid with golden gears emerging from his torso who appeared from thin air. Both of his eyes were filled a grey murky color that moved like ink.

“Ionus…” Xandes was clearly surprised to see the appearance of the humanoid.

“Something with the ability to alter Spacetime has started to manifest itself in the Mortal Realm.” Ionus’ echoed before he spoke and after he finished speaking which was strange to say the least.

“Who are you? And what do you mean ‘started’?” Kara asked since Xandes didn’t seem as if he would speak.

“I am Ionus, once known as the God of Time, but now I’m nothing more than a chronicler of events. As for what I meant? The interference from the Mortal Realm is small but noticeable.” Ionus responded in an emotionless echo.

“It must be the Avarus Lupum,” Xandes suggested while narrowing his eyes at Ionus.

“No...The Avarus Lupum is nearly undetectable much like that Black Pillar that went through the barrier and appeared in this realm.” Ionus stated.

“If you don’t have answers then why are you here?” Xandes’ voice grew, illustrating his anger.

“Only to observe, just like those millions of years ago, Xandes.” Ionus spoke cryptically, but Xandes understood and his face darkened considerably.

Ionus was about to fade away but Kara spoke up, “What happened to the Avarus Lupum?”

“Kara!” Xandes shouted, but Ionus ignored him and the space around them slowed down. Even while time appeared to slow, Ionus spoke regularly.

“There used to be five moons in this realm, but the third one was altered to restrain the Avarus Lupum. It had the effect of increasing their aggression which guaranteed they would never grow too powerful. After hundreds of thousands of years passed, a single Avarus appeared who was stronger than all others. It could absorb the knowledge of any beings it devoured and eventually it learned of the Red Moon. It consumed the entire moon and caused many Gods to become fearful which led to the extermination of all the Avarus Lupum except one.” Ionus spoke quickly while speaking very slowly but Kara managed to understand him.

“...The one who ate the moon.” She mumbled while noticing that time was Xandes frozen in time.

“After its entire race had been wiped out there was no way it wouldn’t retaliate. Many Gods met their end but it was eventually pushed into the never-ending storm of energies that is the Origin Realm. After that, it was thought to be dead, but that is clearly is not the case. As you know, the Gods want the last Avarus Lupum so that they can learn how to survive in the Origin Realm.”

“I know I asked, but you’re the only one to tell me what happened. Why does everyone keep quiet about it?”

“You may think that the Gods who were around at that time don’t speak of it is because of shame, but that isn’t the case. There are parts of the story that they don’t want reaching the ears of everyone else. If you listened to closely you should be able to recall that if the Avarus Lupum survived, then the knowledge he stole could have survived with him and if it did even Gods would become greedy. Be careful of repeating what I told you unless you're prepared to deal with them.” Ionus finished speaking and faded away.

“Ionus don’t say another word!” Xandes shouted at the air before looking at Kara with a scrutinizing gaze.

“Why is that no one will tell me of the Avarus Lupum?” Kara asked.

Xandes assumed that Ionus didn’t give away any information and sighed, “You’ll be in danger just by knowing, Kara.”

Kara nodded as if she was dissatisfied but turned her attention to the three glowing columns.