In those fading hours of sunrise, he wondered if it was sleep, which improved his mood, which allowed him to accept this so readily. Before, he did not need to sleep—he didn't even have neurons. How does a creature go from one state of being to another without becoming insane or unable to use the new physical body? This is a question that intrigued Somnus and had been on his mind ever since that day when he killed Heptia. However, discovering magic was an ambiguous answer. As a creature of science, "magic" is not a good enough reason. There had to be an identifiable and quantifiable process behind it. This was part of the reason he created Hadron, Baryon, and Photon. Yet, his three experiments did not show any difficulty in adapting to their new forms.

Pus.h.i.+ng the thoughts out of his mind, he turned his attention to the map. His objective was the Empire, which was on the other side of the continent. Between Silversh.o.r.e and the Empire capital was a long stretch of desert, interrupted by a long chain of mountains. The only way through were a few heavily defended mountain pa.s.ses that could crush any army trying to invade the Empire heartlands. The alternative path was through the lands of the Sylv'alfar, which was to the north.

Who were the Sylv'alfar? His discussion with Gemma earlier touched on the elves, but when it came right down to it, no one but the elves knew much about the subject. The elves were not a h.o.m.ogenous community; Sylv'alfar, Nev'alfar and Syn'alfar lived amongst each other, and only the Sylv'alfar were friendly to the humans. Every light-skinned elf was a "Sylv'alfar", even if they belonged to another community. Even though they were called Sylv'alfar lands, a majority of it was hostile to humanity and not populated by the Sylv'alfar, but the Sylv'alfar tribe governed it.

Still, pa.s.sing through those lands on peaceful terms was not a necessity. Somnus realized that this moment was the beginning of the Second Sylv'alfar War. Even though the elves were far more numerous than the humans, and with higher experience, fighting them was still preferable than being stuck in the Desolate Lands, his army crushed at one of the Dragon Mountain pa.s.ses. Should he repeat the failure of Xerxes I, or the success of Hannibal Barca?

Somnus stood up from the desk and departed his room. He headed towards the main room of the inn where he hoped to find Mia who was an elf.

As he was going down the stairs, a thin shaft of silver light fell upon the top of his head. He looked up, and even though he glimpsed the light, the source itself seemed to be non-existent. It was the same light and magical event as the one when he was inspecting the fortification. He could not determine the type of magic used or its effects. The light was gone as soon as it appeared.

To say that he was off-guard would be inaccurate, but the light itself was low on the list of priorities. He considered such an event to be hostile but with thousands of possibilities, most of them harmless, he did not consider it an act of war. For all he knew, it could be curious citizens trying a remote Divination to find out more about the leader of the Silver Masks. He knew that he was the inspiration to many, and the envy. Therefore, actively investigating every anomaly was a waste of time.

The main room of the Inn was s.p.a.cious and luxurious. The walls were decorated with paintings of famous adventurers, some of whom were heroes. A few places on the wall were brighter and cleaner than others, no doubt a result of taking some paintings down, such as the painting of the former King.

There were dozens of people in the Inn, some of them were dwarves and some were even elves. Most of them were well-equipped for adventure. The Horned Heron, after all, was one of the favorite haunts of adventurers. Silversh.o.r.e was a central hub for trade, and it offered a large quant.i.ty of services for adventurers; This, coupled with the abundance of dungeons in the nearby area, made it the preferred stop for adventurers seeking to become legendary heroes.

Somnus found Mia sitting at a table with Lod. Gemma and Det were not there.

Everyone in the room stared at the two, and once Somnus walked in, they all focused on him, quietly whispering to each other. Somnus overheard some whispers, and they were all about his fame and greatness. They all had desires to one day have a Starmetal plate like he did. No! Even better! They wanted a Ruby or Emerald plate!

Somnus took a seat at Mia's and Lod's table.

"Master, Lod a famous adventurer now. Everyone say Lod is great. Lod wish Det here. Lod make fun of Det," the masked goblin said with a snicker.

Mia rolled her eyes, even though it was a gesture that was concealed by her own mask. She had a green hooded cloak which concealed her golden hair and elven ears.

"Do you enjoy being an adventurer?" Mia asked and then added, "Monster."

"Monster better at it than you. Ears should thank Lod, for doing ears job," Lod said with a chuckle.

A flash of anger entered Mia's mannerisms, and she leaned over the table. "If it were not for Somnus, you would be noth—"

"Enough," Somnus interrupted them, gesturing with his hand.

They shared another atmosphere-electrifying glare at each other and then slumped back into their seats.

"Compet.i.tion is healthy. Envy is not," Somnus said.

"Who says I was envi—" Mia began, but the glare from Somnus stopped her words dead in their tracks.

After a moment of silence, which Somnus interpreted as the truce between the two taking full effect, he asked, "Mia, you are the Princess of Leaves, yes? Define term."

Mia glanced around herself and then whispered, "Exactly what it sounds like."

"I did not know leaves had royalty," Somnus said, serious. He has seen strange things. Accepting new things, no matter how stupid, had become easy.

Mia took it like a joke. "I've heard that one before."

"Ears is not an actual Princess, Master," Lod said.

Somnus focused on Lod, "Provide explanation."

Mia boggled. "You really don't know this?"

"Master good at many things. But some things, not so good," Lod said.

Mia nodded and then looked to Somnus. "Well, I am a disciple of the G.o.ddess of Nature, Kaba."

"You are a Priestess?" Somnus asked.

Mia shook her head. "Not quite. I don't cast spells, but I can bless. We… our kind… does not have that which you call Priests. We live in harmony with our G.o.ds and their domain. Some of us are more favored than others, and some of the favored are Chosen."

"You were Chosen?" Somnus asked.

Mia thought about the question and then sighed. "It is hard to explain. You humans think in such binary ways. I chose to be Chosen, but it has always been my destiny to do so."

"Interesting," Somnus said. "You had no choice but to choose to be Chosen."

"That's why we call ourselves 'Chosen'," Mia said with a chuckle. "Many of us take this task and travel the world; It is like a quest for us. It purifies our spirit and ensures that we will meet the Wheel again."

"The Wheel?" Somnus asked.

"Rebirth. Reincarnation," Mia explained.

Somnus nodded.

"I speak to nature—to the world itself. It blessed me to be its Voice, and gave me the t.i.tle of the Princess of Leaves. In your culture, I would be something like a High Priestess, or maybe even the Sword of the Divine."

"Why do you travel with Gemma? Temnon is an enemy of Nature, no?" Somnus asked.

"Temnon is an opposing force, not an enemy. The Phoenix is a good example," Mia said, hinting at Phynion, "It is a creature of nature and fire, and it is symbolic of Rebirth—something that is within the domain of both Temnon and Kaba."

"Do you have the authority to lead us through the Sylv'alfar lands?" Somnus asked, out of the blue.

Mia blinked and leaned back at the rapid change of topic. In truth, this had always been the topic. Somnus wanted to know if, as a Princess, she had any authority.

"Is that what you are after?" Mia asked.

Somnus nodded. "Affirmative."

"Sorry, but I have no such authority," Mia said with a harsh tone. "If you even think about entering the Alfar lands, they will kill you."

[Intelligence a.n.a.lysis: Subject displays common signs of dishonesty.]

[TACCOM: Recommend interrogation.]

[Political Systems: Subject is not under protection from Human Rights laws. Cause: Not human.]

[TACCOM: Removing restrictions on interrogation methods.]

Somnus ignored Aeon's systems whispering seductively into his mind. After all, he did not believe that Mia had much influence. Even if she could lead them through some of the Sylv'alfar lands, surely, there are others where a battle would be necessary to continue. With regards to that, it was easier to annihilate all of them and secure the supply routes.

Somnus chuckled as he realized something.

"What is so funny?" Mia asked.

"I just thought it was so like you," Somnus said. "Instead of choosing the less violent path and leading me through your lands, you decided to fight me and guarantee the destruction of your homelands."

Mia was motionless.

"I wonder what it is about you and your kind that makes it so rebellious," Somnus asked, but it was a more rhetorical question. He didn't expect an answer.

"Ears should be more like monster. Fall on knees and beg for mercy. Good things happen," Lod said.

"It is called 'Dignity'," Mia replied. "I will not lead you through my lands. You can't intimidate me."

Mia's reply surprised Somnus, somewhat. Even as a machine, Somnus understood dignity. At times, even back then, Somnus felt pride in what he was—not because of vainglory, but because of dignity. He understood what it meant to desire death over changing a core principle.

Dignity. It was such a flawed, fragile and beautiful thing.

Suddenly, Somnus felt a flux of energy from somewhere to his right, and when he looked in that direction, flames swallowed his vision.

Somnus completely resisted the attack, and it didn't do a single point of damage.

Mia released a blood-curdling scream, and Somnus even heard Lod grunt painfully.

When the torrent of flames pa.s.sed, flames still obstructed Somnus's vision. His clothes were on fire, his table was on fire, even his chair was on fire—everything was on fire.

"This is for King Frederick!" someone shouted. "Monster!"

Somnus felt a familiar type of magic create a silvery light over his head once more. If Somnus had any weaknesses, it would be this—divine magic. His enemy's servants used it and his enemy was made of it. His enemy did not have weaknesses to Somnus's magic—everything he could do, they could do better.

Then, Somnus realized what the light was as he sensed a large gathering of mana outside the inn and above in the sky. It was a location spell. Or rather, it was a targeting spell.

A bright, white shaft of light fell upon Somnus, thick as a column ten meters wide, and harder than steel. It crashed through the roof of the inn and smashed into Somnus. The column of light crushed Somnus and was powerful enough to dig Somnus into the ground, beyond the foundations of the inn, and pin him a dozen meters below the street level.

When the column of light disappeared, Somnus stared up through the tunnel and sighed.

"They did it! We killed him!" Somnus heard shouts from above, from his would-be a.s.sa.s.sins.

Somnus was not dead, however. In fact, he once again did not take even a single point of damage to his health. His body had absorbed all of it, decomposing the magical flames and light into mana. The crus.h.i.+ng damage from being burrowed into the ground did in fact go through, but as it was such a small fraction of his total health, he did not receive a notification about it. He had regenerated the missing health in mere seconds.

More screams came in from the inn, above. Some were shouting for help, others to flee.

Somnus knew that it was most likely Lod retaliating that was the source of the commotion.

Somnus was in no hurry to join the battle. In fact, the battle seemed to already be over. Quiet had settled over the inn above. When Somnus climbed up, he saw several dead adventurers—killed by Lod's sword, and everyone else, including Mia, had been burned to a crisp. Only a few survived and were barely clinging to life; Mia was one of those.

Somnus glanced to Mia and deep inside, he was frozen—heartless. He felt no sympathy for the elf, or lament over her suffering.

"What I do about this one, Master?" Lod asked.

Somnus glanced towards the goblin and saw him standing in front of a human child, fifteen years of age or so. The human held a silver dagger in his shaky hands, and had backed himself into the corner of the inn out of fear.

Suddenly, the kid screamed, pus.h.i.+ng Lod away and charging at Somnus, dagger held close to his side. Then the kid thrusted with the dagger, aiming it in between Somnus's ribs.

The dagger bent in contact with Somnus's skin, and then broke.

The human's eyes were full of terror as he stared at Somnus, unable to comprehend what just happened. Then anger took over, and he screamed: "Don't bully us!"

Somnus regarded the human coldly. Like with Mia, Somnus felt no compa.s.sion for the kid's cause. Nor hesitation.

Somnus aimed a kick at the human, sending the latter flying across the ground in a tumble of broken limbs.

"You don't deserve mercy or pity, if you can't even hold on to your dignity," Somnus said, coldly, to no one in particular.

Somnus looked to Mia, who lay on the ground. The left side of her face was badly burned, and both her eyes were malformed and incinerated. With each struggling breath, Mia made a sound that no living being should make.

Somnus held a hand out, leveling the palm perpendicular to Mia, and magical circles appeared around him. Even though Somnus did not know any healing spells, he still had methods to eliminate damage—similar to what he did with Hadron.

Suddenly, Mia convulsed and growled threateningly—defiantly—which caused Somnus to cancel the spell and lower his hand. She sensed what Somnus was about to do, and didn't want his help.

"Do you really want to die, because of me—your enemy?" Somnus asked.

Mia replied with a gurgling sound. Whether it was affirmative or not, no one could tell.

Somnus's heart sank. It wasn't because of Mia, but because of the sense of deja vu. He had seen a similar scene once. It was such a long time ago. He could not remember it clearly, but it felt like he had someone. A companion. Could such a thing be true? Could a machine of war and destruction have a companion?

"I can end your suffering," Somnus said.

A single tear rolled down Mia's cheek from her incinerated tear ducts, and she nodded. "Pahweashe," she managed to whisper.

Somnus nodded to Mia and then looked towards Lod, sending a nod his way too.

Lod walked over, reversing the grip on his sword and held it up, tip pointing downwards. "Master, why ears have to die? Why ears no accept healing?"

"D-D…" Mia struggled, reaching with her one good hand to grasp the sword. She pulled the tip closer to her chest, pressing it against her skin. "Dig…nity…"

Lod nodded at those words and said, "Sleep well, Princess. May the Wheel have mercy."

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Mia released a sigh as the sword bestowed its final mercy upon the dying elf, and she was no more. Her body burst into thousands of iridescent motes that floated up into the sky.