Ethan flew over the hills below and towards the mountains in the distance. He was aided in his trip by a magical ship he had taken out of the capital’s vaults during the fall. It had helped him safely cross the gnome and beast forest and now it helped him return. This time he was traveling along the east coast towards the mountains.

Snow-covered some of the peaks and clouds hung low with only the highest peaks of the mountains poking through. During his journey throughout the past two weeks, Ethan wrote in a journal constantly. Inside the book contained all of his current knowledge on spells, tactics, and other tidbits of info he could remember about both light and darkness magic.

Currently, he was focused on transcribing documents he had recently collected from both the pillaged cities and what little information he could grab from the elves’ mages before rushing here. The flying ship continued on its inputted destination leaving him to continue working.

‘This trip will cost a pretty penny in mana stones and treasures I have, but the elders in hibernation should have plenty of information to have me write another two notebooks full of information. As long as I trek the mountains safely I should be safe. The undead forces left much of the mountains undisturbed. The small groups there may still be alive if necromancers didn’t go there themselves. I hope the progress of the golem is unhindered. As long as this goes well then I should be able to see its activation in person, though knowing my luck I will take much longer than I think to complete this task.’

The ship began to descend automatically as he got closer to the mountains. Cold winds hit the ship and Ethan shuddered. Taking off his current cloak he switched into a white one that had extra padding and thicker fur. The ship descended faster and faster into one of the more open areas about halfway up the mountain. He would have to walk the rest of the way due to the weather and the energy cost of the ship.

Ethan moved his hands to the control board of the ship and activated its functions. The hum of the ship stopped, and it stopped floating before shrinking to a size that allowed Ethan to put the ship into his spatial bag. As Ethan walked up the rocky terrain the rain turned into snow. Occasionally he would use a spell to float up to a higher spot along the mountain, but for most of his journey, he walked.

“[Spectral Flame]”

Gray fog left his hands and swirled around him before coalescing into a translucent flame floating just above and behind him. The fog also had the effect of drying him off and removing the snow on his clothes.

“Much better.”

Ethan continued onwards in between trees and bushes until he saw a cleared path. It was still covered in a light coating of snow, but the path had been artificially widened and the path was less steep than the one he had been traveling on for the past hour. With the help of a few recastings of [Spectral Flame], he kept warm when he couldn’t bear with the cold.

He was finally stopped on the path up the mountain by a large cougar beast. It snarled at him and ran at him. Ethan cast [Ghost Hands] which formed just before the cougar hit him. The two forces met with equal power and both combatants had to step back.

The cougar was ready first and cast its own beast magic before attacking. A wreath of snow and ice-covered the cougar while it pounced. Ice formed around its claws, and it grew in size slightly. Ethan throughout [Shadow Knifes] before sidestepping and turning half of his body to mist to avoid the follow-up attack of the cougar with its jaws.

Ethan’s [Spectral Flame] kept him safe from most of the effects of the cougar’s ice magic as he fought. He threw the knife out once more and struck the cougar’s leg with one. It growled louder in response and backed away while hunching its back to appear larger.

Ethan followed up again this time with a new spell [Spectral Cage]. The fog shot out quickly this time and wrapped itself around the cougar until the cage was fully formed and looked real and solid. The cage was small, to begin with, and the cougar shook it violently, but the cage did not show signs of breaking. This was aggravated by the fact that the cage was slowly shrinking and growing spikes along the inside. Soon the spikes met fur and the cage shrunk to an unbearable size when the sharp knifes growing within the cage killed the beast.

When the cougar was dead the spell dissolved away leaving only the body behind. Ethan made quick work of removing the beast core located in its chest before destroying the rest. Ethan packed the core in his bag and found a spot to rest for a while before continuing on.

As Ethan walked the path up the mountain the trees became sparse and spread out. The bushes that once littered the path were now gone. He continued walking for some time until he was met with a clearing devoid of snow. Surrounding the area was sheer cliff sides with no easy path forward. Sitting on a tree branch sat a lone crow. It squawked at him, and he nodded at it in return. He stepped forward and put his hand out and let mana flow out of it and into the empty air.

“I’m finally here.” He put his hand down and waited in the snow for the Elder to arrive.

The Elder did not keep him waiting and entered the clearing through the cliff directly. The entrance distorted a bit as he exited. The man looked thrice Ethan’s age and wore a simple robe and a large hat for his bald head.

“Hello, Ethan Gallagher. It is nice of you to finally arrive.”

“Elder the undead walk freely and they..”

“I know. The birds have whispered and told me of what happens among those in the valley. Come in and follow me. You must be quite cold from your journey.”

Ethan nodded and followed behind the man as they walked back to the Elder’s home. Once he stepped inside he felt much warmer, and the snow melted off of him. The cave walls were lit with magic, and they were cut into smooth stone walls. Ethan noticed that the hallways had changed a bit since he had last been inside this cavern. The tunnel twisted and turned, and they passed multiple side rooms before arriving at their destination. The walls of this room were ornately carved and in the center sat a stone pedestal with a circular basin set within it. To the side was a simple table with empty chairs surrounding it.

“[Flame]”

The elder’s flame ignited the basin and the contents within kept the fire burning. He then turned to Ethan.

“The other Elders will be here soon enough from their personal peaks and special areas. We may not be able to use much magic anymore, but we will advise you in the matters of light and dark magic. Now, have you brought it?”

“Yes, I have the original copy while the other races have their own transcribed versions. I can also go over the changes I made from the original to fit the dungeon core if needed. I wish I would have had access to more of the restricted knowledge archives when I worked on it. I dare say it isn’t technically finished until adjustments can be made with the knowledge written within.”

“We will be able to work faster with the original copies with your handwriting and the ancient ones. As for the archival knowledge. Us elders have all perused enough of it and more than you to help with this matter, but the project is underway so we would need to work quickly and send the info on the modifications as soon as possible.”

Ethan took out the golem blueprints along with some additional papers from his bag and laid them out on the table. The Elder began unrolling them all and examining them. He continued this for some time before looking up.

“This automaton is magnificent. I am glad you were able to modify the old designs and bring in the dungeon core into the creation. I will have to have the other Elders check, but it should be fully functioning and fit your needs.”

“That’s good because all of the pieces are being manufactured right now. What about adding runes for light and darkness mana and growing its affinity with them both.”

“Because the golem is already in production it will be very difficult to adjust the main body’s affinities. Assuming that you could find the meteorite star fragments needed and turn them into the dust needed for the light affinity you would need to melt down and reforge each piece individually. The cost needed would be enormous and the metal pieces would need to be shipped back to the dwarf homeland due to the tools required before assembly here. Preferably with the assistance of me or one of the other Elders.”

“I suspected that that would be the case. Can anything be done with the core itself despite its body?”

“I will have to discuss with the other about that further as well as the sealing runes that will surround the fractured core and repair it. Those runes are the highest point of failure and must never be tampered with once in place and activated.”

“I am well aware of the risks, but creating this weapon is one of the few options we have left.”

“But not the only one. Wars are rarely won by a single person. A single man may be able to direct a thousand into victory, but it was not his victory alone. Training many to fight the undead specifically will yield the best results. There won’t be many elves good enough in light affinities to fight a war, but there are still humans scattered throughout the kingdom that may have the magic potential to help our cause. I will share with you what I find later. The other elders have arrived so you should go. Head to the town at the base of the mountain first and go from there. I wish you well. Now go.”

“Thank you for your guidance. I will gather those I can and help them make the trek to your home.” Ethan bowed and turned around to see the other four Elders. He bowed to them as well before leaving. He quickened his pace as he traversed through the tunnel back outside.

When he was outside, he cast spells and jumped down the cliffside to speed up his path to the base of the mountain. The spell kept his body light as he descended slowly, but with haste.