After explaining to my dad in detail how he could begin to understand his domain, I left him alone to practice. Donte immediately ran off to find Sigmund so that he could get more instruction on his swordsmanship. He seemed more determined than ever now that my dad had surpassed him so completely.
While they did that, I decided to visit the catacombs under the city. Yesterday, Svend had started the project of remodeling the underground into a labyrinth and I was curious to see the progress. Announcing my plan, my mom and Charly both decided to join me.
Moving down to the freezing catacombs, I saw hundreds of people coming and going in a constant stream. Svend had driven home just how important this job was and nobody was taking a single break until the day Sebastion arrived.
Most of what I saw the men preparing was rather unimaginative. Simple wooden traps designed to hunt bears and other large beasts would not be able to harm Sebastion in any way but it would keep him distracted and most importantly, using his domain.
There were a few people who were more skilled or inventive. I saw one of the stonemasons retrofitting one of the walls so that it would fire poison arrows when someone moved past. Another had drilled holes into the floors so that spears would strike out at anyone who walked over. I was impressed with their skill. I guess I should say, as expected of a people that had built an entire city underground, the catacombs had already started to transform completely.
After some time exploring, I found Svend directing a group of soldiers. His hulking form filled the tunnels completely, making it impossible to miss him.
“Remember, our target may be flying, not walking. Make sure to use the wires provided to trigger your traps,” Svend shouted in a booming voice. He turned as he saw my mom, Charly, and me approach. “Oh, I am surprised you are down here so soon. How is our newest domain fighter?”
“I had my dad start with learning simple domain armor. It should keep him busy for quite a while.”
“Domain armor, huh… a bit advanced for someone who just awakened their domain today but given the circumstances, I can see why you wanted to start him there. Survival is more important than victory.”
“Speaking of survival, how are preparations for Sebastion coming?” I asked curiously.
Svend’s face darkened as he looked at me. “That’s right in all the commotion I almost forgot. What in the infernal realms is this supposed to be!” Svend shouted as he pulled out a piece of paper covered in scribbles. On it were a series of crude drawings of stick figures being impaled by traps or suffocated by smoke.
“My ideas for the maze,” I replied as I crossed my arms with a steady gaze.
“Ideas for the maze…. There is not a single legible word on the entire paper! I have seen three years old create a better drawing. How am I supposed to create anything with this as a basis?”
Behind me, I heard Charly chuckle. “Wren was never good a drawing. I guess that did not change any despite Aurielle’s influence.”
I shot Charly a glare before turning back towards Svend. “If you don’t like it, give it back.”
Svend hesitated for a moment before a big grin appeared under his beard. “No, I think I will keep it. A little reminder to show people next time I hear someone talking about the great Immortal Calamity.”
I felt blood rush to my cheeks as Svend laughed. Gathering energy in my right eye, I glared at the piece of paper. In a puff of blue flames, the drawing ignited, burning away before Svend could put it out.
“Keep laughing and I’ll burn you next,” I growled.
Svend fell quiet but his grin remained. “Right, right, I know better than to mess with wrath of a girl that can control fire. In all seriousness though, I think I have the general gist of what you want done but even with all these traps, I doubt we can even expend ten percent of Sebastion’s energy. Cyra told me about your undead traps. They might have some effect but even if everything goes perfect, Sebastion can still be able to get through this maze with more than half his strength intact.”
“If he was in a calm state of mind, I would agree with you,” I replied with a grin of my own, “However, I doubt he will be facing me with anything close to that. My bet is that the moment the first few traps trigger, he will start using his innate talent to clear all the tunnels and disintegrate all the corpses in his path. Sebastion’s innate talent may rank among the best attack talents but it is also a very draining ability. So long as I can keep him angry, we will win.”
“Maybe,” Svend mumbled, “It has been fifty years since you knew the man. What if he does not move as you predict.”
“Then I will run and hide,” I said with a shrug, “I have no interest in being honorable when my life is on the line.”
Svend sighed as he pulled on his beard. “I can try and confront Sebastion when he enters Kala but I cannot promise much alone. Cyra will have to sit this fight out, she is not on our level. I will not let her risk her life fighting your student. Sebastion might not be able to kill me but I can’t do anything to protect others from his talent. The most I can do is make him use up a bit more energy.”
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“That is all I can ask,” I replied with an understanding nod.
“What exactly is Sebastian’s innate talent?” My mom asked thoughtfully, “I have heard you both mention it before… You two almost sound scared of it.”
I scratched my head as I looked back at my mom’s concerned gaze. “When Sebastion was young, I called it burning light. As a teenager, Sebastion renamed it the light of judgment or some other ridiculous nonsense. Regardless, the effect remains the same. Sebastion’s innate talent allows him to create a beam of light hot enough to melt through steel.”
“The problem is not its destructive capability,” Svend interjected, “The problem is the talent’s speed. The moment Sebastion decides to use his ability, his attack has already hit. There is no way to dodge light. Your only hope is that your defense can withstand his onslaught.” Svend paused as he gave me a sidelong glance. “Which would be easier if he did not use your brand of domain integration into his ability. Seriously, what possessed you to teach that boy to add a kinetic effect to a lightspeed attack?”
“I am actually rather proud of that one,” I said as I puffed out my chest, “Regardless of whether or not he is my enemy now, Sebastion is still my student. I was not going to hold back knowledge just because it might one day be used against me.”
“Fortunately, he had not truly mastered that technique when we fought or I might really have died, even with my formidable defense,” Svend said with a shake of his head, “Regardless, Sebastion’s talent is not something any normal soldier can hope to fight. It was not luck that Sebastion killed Aurielle last time they fought.”
“How do we fight someone with that kind of power?” my mom whispered.
“By not facing him directly,” I replied as I waved towards the catacombs that were being rebuilt into the maze of death.
“Still, it might not be enough,” Svend muttered, “It has been decades since I fought Sebastion. There is little doubt he is stronger now than he was then. I have one more ace up my sleeve for you to use but I don’t know if we should or not.”
“What is it?” I asked inquisitively.
“Follow me,” Svend said with a wave of his hand.
Full of curiosity, I decided to follow Svend deeper into the bowels of the catacombs. I could not imagine what else Svend might have prepared. Between the hundreds of thousands of corpses and the energy crystals Cyra prepared, Svend had already given more than I expected.
Running to keep up with Svend's pace, we moved deeper into the catacombs than I had ever gone before. It started to get colder and colder with every step. Before, my breath would freeze from the extreme cold but now even my eyelashes were getting iced over. The cold penetrated down to my bones, even with the thick coat I prepared before coming down here.
Even Svend who up until now did not seem to notice the cold had started shivering as he began to speak. “I told you before that these catacombs were here before Cyra and I arrived. I was extremely suspicious at first that such a perfect location for you could exist but your teacher told me not to worry about it. However, even the great Michael Aevus was surprised when we told him exactly what we found down here.”
“What did you find?” I asked through shivering teeth, half disbelieving Svend. There was very little that could surprise my teacher. Even treasures capable of shaking nations meant nothing to him.
Svend stopped as we came to a dead-end in front of a large wall covered in intricate carvings, worn away by the passage of time and covered in thick layers of ice. No, it was not a wall. It was a door, a massive door that stretched all the way up to the ceiling and out to the corners of the passageway.
As Svend pushed against the door, layers of ice shattered and fell away to reveal the carving underneath. It was the same symbol on all the flags of Kala. However, I could barely pay attention to that as I saw what lay beyond the door.
Blue scales glinted with hints of silver as rays of light poured into the chamber. With claws larger than a full-grown man, teeth like rows of razor blades made for ripping flesh, and crystal blue eyes that stared unblinkingly into the void. Even lying down, it was larger than some castles, a legend that few people lived to see.
“You found a dragon!”