”What the fuck was that?” Kenzo finally said as he looked back at his employer. Slightly gasping for air and trying to regain his composure, the mercenary knew he had not been told the entire truth. ”Answer me!!” Kenzo raged at the silent Giovanni, slamming him against a wall as he grabbed him by the collar of his cloak. The two men had been perfectly concealed, no one around should have known their identities at all, but from the sudden ambush they’d just fallen to, it was obvious that they had been spotted in the radar ever since they entered the Lower District. Kenzo was not someone shy for a bit of combat and action, but at least he wanted to know what he was facing. Knowing that panicking wouldn’t lead them anywhere, the merc finally put Giovanni down before he regained his composure. ”Hmph… Sorry about that.”

The young noble finally put his hands down once the merc let go of him, finally speaking in all this while. ”It’s okay… To be honest. It is also my fault.” The male let out a nervous chuckle as he grabbed his chest with his right hand. He was undoubtedly as surprised as Kenzo was by the attack. ”You are right. I didn’t quite tell you everything… Let’s find a safer place to speak. I’ll tell you everything there.” Despite being someone of noble birth, Kenzo knew that Giovanni was no fool. He knew about the harsh realities of life and knew his way around the streets as well. After all, he had told Kenzo before. Giovanni had fallen in love with someone from the Lower Districts and used to come here all the time. Deciding that it would be best to listen to him before continuing, the two men got away.

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After trailing behind Giovanni silently for a while, they found a less concurred area near the artisan’s district. According to the noble, they would be safe there for a while at least. ”So? Let’s listen to it.” Kenzo wrapped both arms across his chest as he leaned against the tall wall separating the Lower and Middle Districts.

Myras was an impressive city. Unlike anything Kenzo had seen before, the seasoned war veteran understood that it was an impregnable fortress if he ever saw any. Bordering the heart of a set of mountain chains, Myras had been constructed at the peak of one. Impassable terrain bordered the silver city from every corner, leaving it greatly disconnected from the rest of the country. A set of artificial and magical pathways were laid across the slopes and cliffs of the Avvar Mountains to allow for transportation from and into the city. However, they could have been as easily cut down to prevent an invasion as they could be reestablished. All in all, any large expedition would find itself hard pressed to even get close to Myras in the event of an invasion. No wonder the nobles living there had largely ruled undisturbed by the central government of Crocus. Still, Kenzo wondered why such a powerful place would ever submit itself to become part of Fiore. As few as he’d learned over the impregnable city, Myras was at least as old as the country itself, meaning that at one point or another it had surrender its independence to Fiore. If he had to take a guess, it was Myras’s own impregnability that let it isolate from the rest of the world, meaning that a full-scale siege could probably starve the city out. Nevertheless, this was all mere speculation by the blue haired mercenary’s part.

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Furthermore, there was the fact that not much was known about Myras or spoken about it outside its silver walls. In truth, Kenzo had been in Fiore for a bit over a year and a half, and it wasn’t only until recently that he came to learn about the city. It was already strange enough that he’d been to Hargeon Port before without ever hearing about it, considered the two cities were so close to one another. Yet, another noticeable thing was the culture of Myras. Kenzo had traveled throughout the continent in his life. Heck, being born in Bellum, one could say he was at least at the other side of the world by now. And still, the differences in culture between Myras and the rest of Fiore were noticeable. Whilst the rest of the country’s cities could be said to have been ruled by a loose aristocratic class that gave free leeway to the ruling by guilds, Myras was all the contrary. Normally, the artisan’s guild, merchant guild, farmers guild and other prominent organizations in a city would come together and form a ruling council, supervised by the city governor or ruler that was a part of nobility. Compared to many other countries, Fiore’s ruling system was quite forward thinking and lax.

However, that norm was far from reality in Myras. As Kenzo heard Giovanni speak, he was finally able to notice what he had found odd ever since he first entered the Silver City. Contrary to the rest of the country, Myras seldom had any guilds for the matter. Heck, they were in reality banished from the place. Instead, there existed the Nothlir, ruled by an Atartur. According to tradition, both words were ancient Elvish for “families” or “clans” and patriarchs. Myras was an ancient elven colony.

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According to old Myran legends, an ancient family of elves had found themselves chases by the expanding human tribes. Secluded in the mountains, the elves created a society that prospered and endured for eons. However, when one of the dragons of calamity woke from his slumber, the beast ravaged the land and with it each and every human establishment. Finding themselves homeless, the humans that had chased the elves out of their ancestral lands came to become refugees of the mountains. Still angry over their bitter past, the elves did no offer safe haven in the midst of the Avvar mountains. As such, a war for survival broke between the two races.

The fighting was fierce, each side unrelenting and unwilling to reach for an agreement. For years, the two killed each other by the thousands, even after the calamity dragon disappeared, the struggle between humans and elves continued. Having heard about the vast riches the elves had found in the middle of the mountains, the humans were hell bent on capturing the ore veins for themselves. Unfortunately for them, it was Myras’s own location that impeded any decisive battle between the two. As such, a stalemate was reached. However, this would not last much longer.

As fates would have it, two children were born under the same stars. Mynnei and Rasham, elvish and human, the two of them were destined to bring an end to the era of strife. Born as the heirs to their respective people’s leaders, the young couple found way to meet each other in the midst of the mountains, far from the prying eyes of the rest of their kinsmen. With time, the two of them dame to fall in love. Finding ways to slip away from gaze of supervision, the two lovers kept reuniting.

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However, it all came to a halt once Rasham came of age. A ceremony was arranged for him to marry with one of the daughters of a prominent human family. Opposed to the marriage, the young male confessed his tribe his love with Mynnei. Outraged, the leaders of the human tribe disinherited the lover and banished him to death in the mountains. Yet, that was not to happen. Finding the way to the elvish enclave, the male was smuggled by a secret passage bordering the citadel. It has been said that this same route would be come to be known as the Smuggler’s Steps of Myras. As the elven princess successfully hid his lover deep within a cave, the pair was reunited once again. Still, it would not be the end of their misfortunes. Days after arriving the elven fortress, the calamity dragon woke up once again. It had been 100 years since the last time it had ravaged the land, and it was ready for more.

Assaulting both the human and elven camps from the air, both elven and human magic were unable to hurt the monster. Fire rained from the sky and all hope seemed lost. It was in the midst of the chaos that the leaders of both clans proposed a truce between them, a temporary measure to fight against the dragon of legend. Alas, the meeting between patriarchs was invaded by calamity itself. The stories of the massacre have been told from generation to generation. Both the elven and human leaders calcinated to the bones by the breath of the beast. Finding themselves leaderless, the humans languished in chaos. It was then that young Rasham came out of his hiding to rally his people. On the other hand, Mynnei took control over all the elven clans.

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Forming a united front, both humans and elves mounted a resistance in the elven citadel. The fighting was fierce, many lives were lost as they futilely tried to down the calamity dragon. Yet, when all seemed lost! A bright light radiated out of the skies. Mynnei and Rasham, souls belonging to a match made in heaven were enveloped by the might of the gods. As the two of them touched hands, their mana became one. At the command of ”Unison Raid” an immaculate amount of magic power filled the air before piercing the dragon flying in the air. Roaring and screeching in pain, the wounded beast fell to the mines of the city. Still in a trance, the lovers ran to the crash site to finish the attack. However, they couldn’t fire a decisive spell once more. Seeing the impending doom of their people if they allowed the beast to recover from its wounds, Mynnei and Rasham pronounced forbidden arcane magic, sealing the beast within the depths of the city’s mines. A blinding light covered the entire country, deafening everyone in a blast.

Once the dust settled, a powerful magic seal had locked away the calamity dragon and with it, the two lovers. Ever since that day, humans and elves came to live together in society, forming a city that would make its saviors Mynnei and Rasham proud. Forming the city of MyRash. The same city that would come to be known as the Silver City Myras many years later.

After Kenzo finished listening to the legends, he placed his hand on his chin, processing everything he had still heard. ”Hmm.. So the calamity dragon has been sealed in Myras then?”

The noble took a brief pause before answering, clearing his throat as if lacking the words to describe it. [color=yellow]”Yes. The calamity dragon’s secret has been passed by generations through my family lineage. We come from the very same family leaders of beyond. Yet! Legend states that the bloodline of Mynnei and Rashad still lives. Product of their meetings after Rasham was smuggled to Myras, their bloodline is the only one capable of unleashing the sealing spell. ”Then. - This boy?!” Kenzo asked as he started connecting the dots with Giovanni’s story.

”That is correct.. He is the key”

”Crap.” Things were more complicated than the merc had first thought.

-EXIT-

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