Building a Kingdom and Conquering the World - Chapter 108

Chapter 108: Teleportation
Right after inheriting the information about the Mythseeker Lineage and taking ownership of Caelum, the First Sword, Henry found Leier unconscious in front of the King’s Way door.

Her battered figure was something to be concerned. Beyond the deep scar on her eyes, the injuries on her hands were almost nauseating. There was no sign of flesh; even the white of the bones in her knuckles was visible. It was a testament to her perseverance and loyalty, proof of how many times she had punched the purple wall of flames to pierce through it, without caring about her well-being.

Henry hurriedly approached her, dropping to his knees and placing his fingers on her neck, feeling the touch of her cold skin. A sense of relief washed over him as he felt a responsive pulse. She was still alive; her heart was beating. However, her breath was shallow and barely audible, resembling that of an animal hibernating through winter.

“She’s okay, but I need to get her to a safe place for treatment” – Henry said. His eyes returned to the ghastly injury on her hands, and without a second thought, he immediately took out his already tattered black shirt, filled with holes, and used it to cover her hands, leaving the dragon devouring itself tattoo visible in the cold air – “I’ll take her out of here.”

Henry carried Leier on his back and thoroughly scanned every corner of the place, searching through the library and the dark cave where Caelum had been left. He walked through the tunnels that got him on this position, walking for hours. However, it remained blocked by snow and rocks that tumbled down with him and Leier.

He though about carving his way through the snow, using his fire, but he quickly abandoned the idea. He didn’t know the density and width of this obstacle; he most likely didn’t have enough Mana to pierce through it. He feared being stuck there and unable to move or breath, squashed by the weight of the snow.

With no other option and with Leier still unconscious, Henry returned to the room where the statue of Garret von Stahl engaged in an eternal, motionless battle against the dragon with thousands of heads. He gently placed Leier near the statues and sat beside her, leaning his back against Garret’s statues.

“How do we get out of this place?” – He asked himself. His purplish-grey eyes scanned the room. He used the drawings on the walls to pass the time as he pondered about a way to escape this place, his fingers unconsciously drumming on the ground beneath him. – “There must be another way out of here; this ancestor of mine doesn’t seem foolish enough to construct an inescapable fortress to imprison himself.”

The drawings on the wall depicted the war between humans and demons that emerged from the Frozen Forest. These static drawings captured the essence of the chaos and death that spread through the world. It served as a forgotten reminder of those tumultuous and chaotic times when humans found themselves in a never-ending war and in the brink of extinction.

After assuming ownership of Caelum and inheriting those memories, Henry had a vague understanding of the reality described on those walls and the crucial role played by those of the Mythseeker Lineages, who became the spearhead against the most dangerous beasts and became the lord of whole areas.

Thousands of years ago, the Solarius Lineage itself had control over the whole North, ruling over a place twice as large as the Asian Continent. But Henry still couldn’t piece together how such big empire collapsed, leaving it with only this small territory called Stahl, one that Garret himself had to conquer himself and wasn’t inherited. He had to research deeper into those memories and into Garret’s stories in order to understand everything.

Lost in his thoughts, Henry’s gaze drifted across the room until it finally settled on a certain spot, right on the ceiling of the cave. There, directly above and in the center of the two statues, a peculiar symbol caught his attention. It was oddly similar to those symbols utilized by Luna, similar to the Nordic symbols utilized back on Earth. Luna called them runes and it was something used by mages to materialize some special magics into the real world.

Henry swiftly rose to his feet and approached the space between the statues. There, at the center, he noticed a narrow hole carved into the ground, something he hadn’t noticed before due to its small size. Perhaps guided by his own intuition or by those inherited memories, Henry understood what he needed to do in order to leave this place.

Without wasting another second, Henry immediately got back and picked Leier and walked to the small hole, standing right under the symbol inscribed on the ceiling of the cave.

“I think this is how it’s done” – Henry murmured, closing his eyes. He activated his Mana and directed it towards the tendrils connecting the dragon tattoo to his heart. At that moment, the tattoo started to consume vast amounts of energy, and like a living entity, the dragon began to swirl.

With his eyes closed and one hand atop his chest, the king moved. He seemed to grasp at empty air, and when he did this, the handle of a sword appeared sticking out of his chest. Henry immediately grabbed it and began to pull out a great black sword out of his own chest. The sword was covered on a weak purple smoke. The hilt bore the image of dragon’s wing, with a soft glowing purple eye at its center. The sword’s edge was adorned with numerous faded symbols, like those crafted by mages.

“Huff” – Henry took a deep breath, feeling a bit dizzy and tired. At least two-thirds of his Mana had been expended to summon Caelum, and the remainder was depleting rapidly, as if simply keeping the sword outside his body was taking a great toll on his body.

The king took a brief moment to admire the sword’s natural beauty, a wild spirit seemed to reside inside, trying to break the chains bounding it. It was a once of a kind emotion to hold it, but the king couldn’t waste his chance to get away from this place.

Henry spun the sword and pointed it at the hole, and with no second thoughts, he pushed it through. Suddenly, one of the symbols on the sword’s edge glowed. Just like a chain reaction, the symbol on the ceiling also lit up, creating a bright light that shot towards Henry and Leier, covering them.

-x-

Henry found himself surrounded by trees, with some Torch trees glowing softly. He could immediately tell that he was inside the Outer Range of the Frozen Forest, the abode of all dangers of the North. Right next to him, there was what appeared to be a crumbling watchtower overtaken by time, nature and snow.

“A teleportation spell” – Henry exclaimed in amazement, his eyes lighting up as they fell on the symbol inscribed into the partially destroyed walls of the watchtower. It was his first experience with teleportation, something almost unbelievable to those on Earth. There were no side effects like dizziness or nausea.

He nearly dropped Leier to the ground due to his excitement. However, he quickly regained composure. He needed to leave this place and return to the capital. Fortunately, he spotted some marks left by his soldiers. It appeared he was close to Orsus, the city built for the barbarians.

“I’ll come back” – Henry declared, memorizing the tower’s position in his mind before making his way toward the capital. He needed to understand what had happened to his soldiers on the mountain and check on Luther’s status – “The war must have already begun; I have been there for a few days at least.”

-x-

Relying on his memories and what little he knew; Henry traveled through the Outer Range of the Frozen Forest and reached the gates of Eisenburg. The intense cold almost froze him, but he managed to survive by putting Caelum back into his heart, trying to restore his Mana. Although he had no clothes to keep him warm, with his chest facing the chilly wind, his strong body and new purple mana kept him going forwards. He did his best to warm up his body, enough to share the heat with Leier, who was resting against his back.

“Who’s there?” one of the archers on Eisenburg’s outer walls called out, drawing his bow. Instantly, hundreds of bows were aimed at the figure appearing on the horizon, steadily approaching the city gates. They were ready to kill this unidentified person.

Luther had instructed them not to open the gates unless the king himself returned; no merchant or citizen could leave the capital. It was a measure to safeguard their lives and avoid sending them to their deaths, an order Henry had given the old general. The king couldn’t risk losing these daring merchants who would do anything for a few more coins, even risking their lives. They were the ones replenishing the treasures and gold inside his vault.

Henry glanced at the soldiers and nodded in satisfaction, he had trained them well.- “Open the gates!” – he shouted – “You king is back!”