Torne’s Palace is crawling with water mages and water knights, but they can all be pulled out.
After killing the remaining guards on the palace grounds, Torne is completely isolated and almost defenseless.
Like Reetor, Torne disappears in a fart after he’s beaten.
The Water Initiation is complete now, Victor will only need to level up to use the new spells.
Victor! How are you? What happened?
Nothing, everything is alright, it’s just initiation. I’ve already gotten used to this…
[nodding sympathetically] Well, it can’t be easy to absorb the power of one of the Elements… You must be in great pain now. Calm down, everything is over... [Loy is sliding forth furtively, clearly eager to give you a warm comforting embrace, but Telle’s icy voice cuts her initiative short].
Cut it out! You could’ve found a better time for sweet nothings! [She is is sniffing indignantly].
If you haven’t noticed we are right in heat of the battle with Water mages, who have gone mad. And at any moment their reinforcements may arrive. We have to get out of here, the sooner the better!
Wait, Telle! First I have some questions for you… and this time I want to get the answers!
Victor, it isn’t the right mo… [she stops short, meeting your eye]. Oh Lords, alright! Come on, ask quickly!
I heard Reetor and Torne say some names, the meaning of which I don’t understand: the Highest Ones, Slayer and Winged Lords. Explain, what is it all about?
[Telle is hesitating for some times, pensively reeling off head-to-toe. Then she starts speaking in a monotonous voice as if she was in front of a class].
The Dragon Slayer is the quintessence of what is called annihilation. It is the ability to turn everything that surrounds you to your advantage. No matter whether dead stones or living people. The Slayer thus has an exceptional aptitude for any magic, be it totemic or elemental.
A Slayer can hate. Can hate like no other living being in the world. Hatred is his primary weapon. He wields this loathing into himself and this, Victor, this is far more powerful than any kind of magic. Never, you hear, never even in the most outrageous battle do enemies hate each other so hard as a Slayer can hate. In fact one could say he is the very incarnation of Hate himself.
tl;dr: a glittering gem of hatred.
Is that what the books say, Telle? Or is this your personal belief?
[rubbing her forehead wearily] Those books do not exist, Loy Iver, but nobody knows exactly how one becomes a Slayer. Reetor was the last Slayer, and he is the only one who knows. Probably it depends on a person’s desire… something genuine and deep. With Reetor nobody was killed by a Winged Lord, but he was always obsessed with his clan’s freedom… [Telle is grinning bitterly]. And now he has succeeded. But he hasn’t taken the Highest Ones into account.
Just who are these Highest Ones? You are talking about them as if they are some kind of monster!
Well, actually, that’s more-or-less what they are. Nobody knows what the Highest Ones look like; they don’t have any clear form, just like air or time. You must already know that there are three sides of the world, Victor. The Inside where you come from is the embodiment of order. You don’t – or almost don’t have any magic there, and all the laws of the world are clearly defined. Here, in the Midworld, everything is much more complicated… and in the Highworld there is neither law nor forms at all.
Their armies attack Midworld again and again using their ships with black sails and eagly heads. We are fighting them, driving them back to the sea, but they come back again and again. This time we might not succeed. There are no Dragons – Winged Lords of the Past, protecting us from invasion. And the Highest Ones… I heard they have Dragon the Created on their side!
Dragon the Created? You mean artificially created?
That’s absolutely right. Nobody knows how they managed it, but the mages… they feel the approaching menace. Everybody tries to handle it the way they believe is right. Rumour has it that Reetor tried to call forth a new Dragon, but nobody knows whether he succeeded. And Torne has called upon the Dragon Slayer, who gained Midworld its freedom. Everything is in chaos… mages are fighting each other… and all of them are afraid of you, Victor. They are afraid that you will take away their power.
And you? You, Loy Iver, and you, Telle? Why are you helping me?
Telle is the last one of the Unknown Clan. Her duty is to be your Conductor on this way… That is probably as much as we can understand. The Unknown have always been the most secretive clan; their motives become clear from the results of their actions. And I… I hope you will manage to stop the invasion of the Highest Ones, Victor… whoever you are. I believe you will manage to use the powers you are obtaining in the right way.
[silently nods in agreement with Loy].
Well, that’s clear. Seems like we really don’t have the time to go on with this conversation for now… Where are we going now, Telle?
To the Princedom of Earth. It is the last stop on the Way of Dwarfs – there you can get the Earth initiation from one of the local mages. I hope to meet Andre – although he is a great lover of books, spending years in his libraries. Recently he’s been emerging to accept invitations of vassals. If we have an opportunity to grab him at one of those… hmmm, what do you call them… parties, then we can consider ourselves lucky.
So, are we taking a train then?
We might as well take a train, but I don’t trust public transport much these days. There is a Bear settlement and a railcar station not far from here, near the ruins of the old Dragon’s Temple. The Dwarf transport the railcars along the Way and ride them on a regular basis… Maybe they will agree to take some passengers. This way we’ll draw less attention than if we show up at the train station.
A train or a railcar from the nearest station, eh? Hmmm… alright, I see. Let’s move!
Inside the palace can be found Torne’s book… it appears a quest item so maybe it’ll come in useful later?
Rada leveled up in the fight with Torne and picks another perk.
Not far from the area exit is a group of Elves in need of help.
There’s a large group of bandits with guns that need taking care of; one of Torry’s explosives takes them all out at once.
One of the rewards is Hand of the figurine, after the leg this is the second part of this figurine Victor picks up. Guess there’ll be more pieces to be gained later.
So now it’s off to the Princedom of Earth.