Pivot of the Sky

Behind Golier was his student Warret and his youngest apprentice Raphael . The two young men didn’t hear their teacher’s muttering, but they could tell that he was not in a good mood . It seemed that Duc was going to be destroyed by the flood . They chose to stand aside silently .

Golier stayed the whole day gazing at the direction of Duc on the ramparts, refusing to take a rest . The following noon, Governor Schmul came to him for the third time, not to persuade him to take a rest, but report an emergency —

“I’ve ordered the garrisons on the courier route to Duc to retreat . Two stations managed to go back, but the flood went so fast that the nearest station to Duc was already surrounded by water . We can’t contact them . You’ve sent Priest Cosman to fly there to pick them up and to check the situation in Duc . But Cosman turned back halfway . He said that he couldn’t reach them . ”

Raphael frowned, “How can he turn back like this? Is it responsible to leave our soldiers there and do nothing?”

Golier finally spoke after a mute day . He sighed, “Don’t blame Cosman . The clouds were low and there was the lightning . Anything flying risks being lightning’s target . It’s a fatal danger . I sent him to save people, not to suicide . It was not his fault not getting them back . ”

The thunder in the far sky roared louder . Thick, dark clouds paved from the Syah Plateau in all directions, all the way to Syah City . Raindrops fell on the ramparts, from dots to lines . Schmul asked nervously, “What if the rain continues? One third of our territory is already flooded . The flood may surge over the Charcoal Forest and come to us . What should we do, my dear master?”

Golier turned around to him, “As the governor of Syah, you must do everything possible to help the displaced . There will soon be many more of them arriving at the city……Warret, go to the shrine and bring me two air magic scrolls, and also the [Navisapphire] . ”

“The Navisapphire? Do you mean that item with an Aquaticore inlaid and that consumes four parangons every use?”

“That’s it . It is in my private vault at the back of the shrine . Bring it quickly . I’m going out . ”

“My dear master!” Schmul was surprised, he tried to say something, “Are you taking the risk yourself? The city needs you!”

Warret added, “My dear teacher, please let me go instead . ”

“Now that flying is impossible, I’m going by boat . I’m the only one here able to use the Navisapphire . I am going to find out news about an important friend of mine, and get the soldiers in the station . This is an order . Don’t try to change my mind . ”

……

The Navisapphire was a shuttle-like magic artifact . Silver colored, it was over a foot long and more than two inches wide . An Aquaticore was inlaid at the front, and there were two sockets for parangons at each side . Warret brought it to him with the sockets charged .

Warret knew that it belonged to Golier’s private collection, meaning it was extremely precious . But no one knew that it was a gift from Nietzsche twenty years ago, who was one of the best artificers on this continent .

Even a supreme mage didn’t dare to fly with thunder and lightning . Golier used an air magic scroll to float over the water, crossing the grotesque shrubs in the Charcoal Forest .

By principle, scrolls were not something that could save the user’s magic power, but they did store the magic power in a specific way such that the user could activate it when needed . The scrolls were hieroglyphs written in a particular way . Producing a scroll of a certain kind of magic cost much more magic power than performing one in real time, with an expectable possibility to fail . Hence scrolls of supreme magic were one of the most precious magic items in the continent . Only a great mage like Golier could spend two scrolls like two gold parans .

The water was torrential with vortices and hard turbulence everywhere, flowing fast towards Syah City from the Charcoal Forest . Only the huge grotesque black rocks still exposed their tops in the current, acting as dangerous reefs . The water became broader when he came closer to Duc, with less visible reefs and shrubs . The water became even deeper and more rapid-flowing .

Golier went against the current . With a huge water surface, he couldn’t hide among the rocks but became the tallest target . The lightning from the low clouds struck towards him several times but were drawn away by the protecting magic on his upraised staff . Only a supreme mage could advance this way .

As he flew through the path of the courier route, the torrents became faster, the vortices became larger, and the lightning became denser . Though he could no longer see the route, he could still tell the direction . He finally reached the nearest station which was ten miles from Duc and was already submerged by water .

In the wild rainstorm, in thunder and lightning, Golier tried to extend his consciousness using Detection Eyes . He sensed someone weakly calling for help . A small team of the garrison had survived, climbing up to the highest rock nearby . But now the water was about to flow over the rock . Grabbing some branches, the twelve soldiers were shouting for help with hoarse voices . If Golier had come here a minute later, he would have only been able to see their bodies bobbing in the water .

Golier floated to the rock, took out the Navisapphire and threw it towards the water . The artifact dove into the water and an invisible boat floated up, displacing the water . The torrents and rain hit a transparent shell and was forced aside . Lightning whipped on its dome and was split asunder, sketching the outline of this extraordinary vessel — a huge, long and narrow date nut, able to contain dozens of people .

Golier waved his staff and a blue flash went through its bulk, highlighting the whole vehicle . He shouted to the drowning soldiers, “Get on the boat! Don’t rush! Do you still have a leader?……Tell your men to sit close together in the boat and not to move……It’s a magic artifact . Jump on!”

Helped by the leader, the exhausted soldiers struggled to jump onto the vessel . It was as if they were standing right on the water, but there was no rocking . The vessel was stable . Following the orders of their leader, the twelve shivering people sat quietly in two rows .

Golier gave the leader an appreciative look and stood at the head of the boat . Pointing his staff ahead, the boat didn’t turn around to Syah City, but went towards Duc, riding the waves . The leader was perplexed, but he dared not to ask . So he just gestured to the other soldiers to take a rest and stay silent .

The torrents were fierce enough to shake the boat when they were three miles away from Duc . The Aquaticore was shining at the nose of the boat . Four clusters of white light appeared at both sides . The dense lightning was stabbing at the vessel from the sky, silver threads were dancing around, but the people inside were well protected by the artifact .

The town of Duc was gone . All they could see was muddy and turbulent water . Even the dome of the shrine was below the torrents, if not already washed away . The flood surged from the Syah Plateau to Duc and the Charcoal Forest, then rushed southwards to the desert . Inky clouds with heavy rainstorms had turned Duc into a world of death .

Even a supreme mage couldn’t fly in such a tempest . Even the strongest warrior couldn’t swim in such torrents . There seemed to be no survivors! But Golier still stopped the Navisapphire at a distance and watched — he didn’t believe that Nietzsche would simply be swallowed by the flood .

If Golier could make it here, Nietzsche must have had his own way to escape the flood . Had he already gone? Or was he still here? Golier had a strong feeling that Nietzsche was still somewhere in Duc .

Before he could do anything to confirm his feeling, a series of loud thunder arose from the sky . Clusters of lightning dropped and smashed the water, bursting out a spiraling spray of light . Golier suddenly sensed a powerful magic wave emanating from beneath the water . A roar exploded from far away, “God! You finally come to this world! I’ve been waiting too long!”

A figure broke from the water and flew up to the sky . Huge waves were whirling around him like shining wings . He projected himself straight up to the darkest clouds with the densest lightning, leaving a cyclone behind .

It was Crazy’Ole Nietzsche . He didn’t die, nor had he left . He managed to stay under the water and appeared when Goliar arrived . The soldiers in Navisapphire couldn’t help to cry, then they saw the boat covered by a curtain of blue light, blocking them from outside . Golier performed a magic to cut them from seeing or hearing anything that was going to happen .

Golier himself could still observe Crazy’Ole clearly by using Detection Eyes . Nietzsche’s hair and beard was flowing in the air . Golden light beamed out from his staff and shot towards the sky like javelins . His eyes widened with anger, shouting in his loudest voice, “Come out, Enlil! Show me your true face!”