Faceless Phantom

Northwest of New Zoria, there was a mountain range which shaped like a crescent moon. One ended to the east, and the other facing south to Durgan Fortress. In this most southern mountain, there was a hidden pass which was very secluded.

At dawn, a blond human with black clothes and a brown scaled Sleethar were walking on that path.

The Sleethar followed the human and curiously asked, "Vallas... Where are we going?"

"Somewhere below the peak." Vallas answered while kept walking forward.

"Uhhh... You remember the way, right?" Ylvaark asked in doubt, he just wanted to make sure that they didn't get lost.

"Of course I remember. I was living here about..." Vallas paused for a moment as he was thinking, and then he continued soon after. "Years ago? Don't worry. We'll meet him soon."

"We're going to meet your old man, right? What kind of person is he?"

"Well..." Vallas turned his head and looked over his shoulder. "You'll know once you meet him..."

"Hmph..." Ylvaark lightly scoffed. "Living alone in a remote place. He must be a hermit..."

Hearing that, Vallas just smiled and kept walking forward, leading Ylvaark through the rocky terrain.

About two kilometers up, the path became steep and there was a change in environment as well.

"Oh wow... I can feel the mana is a bit thicker in here."

"Yeah... It will be a lot more denser up there..."

Just like what Vallas said, as they kept going up, the intensity of mana became thicker. The environment was also way different from down below. The monsters were highly affected by the mana and turned into stronger creatures. The same happened with the plants, they were rich of mana and could be considered as rare high quality materials.

From there on, Ylvaark got really cautious since his instinct told him to be wary about the surrounding monsters. Even though he was with Vallas, the feeling of danger wouldn't just go away. He followed Vallas as close as possible.

After a few hours of hiking, they eventually arrived at their destination when the sun was overhead. Several meters below the peak, between two mountains, there was a wide open field and a huge cave entrance.

Ylvaark gulped his own saliva as he got an idea about what could be living inside the cave. However, he could be wrong, so he tried to stay calm. He saw Vallas went inside the cave without worry, so he followed him anxiously.

The cave was wide enough for a row of ten wagons, and the tunnel went down pretty long way inside. As they got deeper, there were several glowing crystals on the ground, wall, and ceiling. There was no fork, just one single passage which only led to a massive room inside the mountain.

The room was dimly lit by the glowing crystals. And strangely, the crystals were placed neatly as if the place was built by someone.


Vallas stopped by a crystal in the middle of the room and looked at the darkness ahead.

"Sylraim... I'm back..."

Two glowing eyes could be seen within the darkness, and soon the one who had them answered him.

"Welcome back, dunnavak." Deep voice could be heard and, slowly, its owner showed their figure.

Ylvaark eyes widened and his jaw dropped low. Though he was expecting it, he still couldn't believe what he saw as the one called Sylraim got out from the shadow.

'D-d-d-d-dragon!?'

A mythical being and also considered as Sleethar's ancestor was floating right in front of his eyes.

The majestic dragon called Sylraim had white scales which shined rainbow hues as the light from the crystal touched them. Two split golden eyes. Two horns pointed backwards. Sky blue wavy mane. Long serpent body with a pair of long arms and legs.

Moreover, his body had plenty of sky blue colored long fins on his back which formed unique wings. He looked more like a fish. However, he was a truly beautiful fish. And when he roosted, the wings shortened.

"You have brought a friend it seems..."

Before Vallas could respond, Ylvaark immediately kneeled down and opened his mouth.

"My name is Ylvaark Murk. It is an honor to be in your presence, Great Sylraim."

"Guhahahaha... There is no need to have such Ruvk, such mannerism. I am truly delightful to see my Viin, my kin's descendant, in this secluded place." Sylraim then looked at Vallas. "Anyway... What brings you here, dunnavak?"

Vallas looked at him with serious face. "I need your help..."

Hearing that, Sylraim slightly squinted his eyes.

"He is back with his army. I need to stop him. No... This time, I need to kill him."

"I see... That is why I can feel strange Thva'zum, strange aura, recently... Now that you mention him, the aura is indeed familiar."

"Will you help me, old man?"

"Of course, dunnavak. How can I reject a request from my son?"

Ylvaark's jaw dropped low. He realized why Vallas had such a long life even if he was just a human, and Sylraim just answered his question.

However, it was still a mystery that Vallas didn't look like Sleethar. His appearance was a human. There should be more than meets the eye.

"R-really?" Vallas asked in doubt.

"Yes. I will give you a ride to the battlefield."

Vallas sighed as he already knew it, while Ylvaark looked disappointed.

"Can you at least fight for once? Heallance is in danger."

"The age of Dragons-"

Hearing that, Vallas immediately cut Sylraim with a groan. "Uuggghhh... I know I know... It is not your responsibility anymore, right?"

"Vallas, my son... You have inherited my Ilm, my power, have you not? You don't need my help. You beat him once in the past, you will definitely kill him and his army."

"Fine..." Vallas took a deep breath. "Giving me a ride is good enough, I guess."

Ylvaark got confused by their conversation. He had so many things he wanted to ask, but he didn't want to be rude. Thus, he kept the thoughts to himself.

Eventually, they went outside the cave. And Sylraim took a long deep breath as they got out the entrance.

"Ahhh... What a fresh air. It's been a while..."

"Did you never get out of the cave?" Ylvaark asked politely.
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"Nah... He's a sleeper." Vallas responded.

"Indeed... I mostly sleep because I have no interest in the outside world." Sylraim then opened his mouth wide while he was stretching his body and limbs. "Aaaahhummm... Anyway, my body is all stiff. A massage would be nice. Why don't you help me warm up first?"

Ylvaark got a hiccup and he looked at Vallas.

"I might end up beating you, old man..." Vallas said with a smirk.

"Oh really? The last time you said that, you left this place and wanted to go on a journey to become more stronger than me. You got too cocky because you saved Heallance. When was it again?"

"It was a thousand year ago!"

"Well, I'm truly sorry for not having a sense of Krukh, of time. But, did you really achieve that already? It looks like your aura is still the same as before."

Vallas smiled with annoyed face, and Ylvaark could see his veins popped on his temple.

"You'll see, old man..."

As they leaked intense aura, Ylvaark could feel danger and he immediately stepped back a few meters away, back into the cave. Thus, the two began the warm up.

Vallas leapt toward Sylraim and threw a punch onto his body.

WHAM!

However, Sylraim didn't move an inch. He took the hit and smiled. As Vallas jumped away, the old dragon then threw a punch toward him. But Vallas immediately blocked it with his hands.

BAM!

Vallas was thrown back like a bullet. He made a small crater as he hit the ground. But then, he immediately leapt toward Sylraim again.

BAM! Whooosh!

WHAM! Fwooooshh...

Each of their blow sent a strong wind and a shockwave to the surrounding. Ylvaark was holding the cave rock and stalagmites tightly as his body was blown by them.

"Too weak..." Sylraim said as he got hit on several parts of his body. "You need to use dragon's tongue to make a scratch on me."

"I don't need it!" Vallas responded as he kept hitting and evaded Sylraim's attack. "I'll show you I can hurt you with my own power!"

"Guhahahaha... Prove it then..."

Sylraim was slithering around pretty fast. Then he threw a punch as Vallas was caught off guard. However, Vallas had a good reflex so Sylraim's fist passed beside him. Still, the power was so strong it blew his body away multiple times. Vallas then lost his balance and got bumped several times by Sylraim's moving body. And then, Vallas got uppercut by the dragon.

WHAM!

His body was flying up into the sky, several meters higher than the mountain's peak. As he stopped midair, he looked down toward Sylraim. Then, he stretched his left fist and bent his right arm as he was going down. He was diving with a gesture like one of the most iconic character in the world.

Sylraim waited for him to get down. Slowly, Vallas speed fastened and he was falling down like a meteor. As their distance got closer, Sylraim threw his fist toward him, so did Vallas.

KABOOOOOMMM!!!

Both fist collided and made an explosion equivalent of an atomic bomb. It made the ground and the peak slightly cracked. It could've done more damage, but it was strange that the blast didn't change the geography at all. It seemed the environment got enhanced by the massive amount of mana. Thus, it reinforced and protected the surrounding from external harm.

Ylvaark also seemed to be perfectly fine since he hid behind cave rocks. However, his mental health wasn't. Witnessing such tremendous raw power harshly decreased his self-esteem. He thought the Arena was full of powerful warriors from all over Heallance, but he was wrong, really wrong.

Cloud of dust filled the wide field and the mountain peak. As it faded, they continued their fight again. Each of their blow cleaned the air from the dust.

BAM! Whooosh!

WHAM! Fwooosh...

Seeing that the battle didn't seem to end, Ylvaark began to get anxious. They needed to rush into the battlefield and help Human fighting against the Dark Army. Alas, he didn't even know how to stop the two monsters. He didn't even dare to step out the cave.

To be honest, he couldn't care less about Human's fate. But he didn't want the world ruled by evil as well. Therefore, he gathered some courage and began to ran outside.

"Please stop!" He shouted. And then he stopped after he took several steps ahead while stretching his arms. He closed his eyes and continued, "Please stop the warm up already!"

After a moment of silence, a deep voice was heard.

"Don't worry, little Sleethar." Sylraim answered. "We are already done. He already learned his lesson."

Slowly, Ylvaark opened his eyes and couldn't believe what he saw. His eyes widened and he made a strange smile as he found the undefeated Arena Champion was down on the ground not far in front of him.

"Shall we go now?" Sylraim asked.

"Y-yes..." Ylvaark answered in stutter.

"It's been a while since the last time I took a flight." The old dragon said as he looked into the sky.

"Weren't you just floating before?" Ylvaark asked in a polite tone.

"Indeed. However, it's more like...a daily exercise. But thanks to the warm up, I think my muscle can remember it well."

"I'm definitely gonna beat you next time." Vallas suddenly cut in while he was still laying down on the ground.

"Guhahahaha... I will be waiting, dunnavak. But first, don't we have a bird to catch?"

"Right..." Vallas responded and immediately got up. Then he leapt onto Sylraim's back.

"E-excuse me..." Ylvaark followed after he bowed to the old dragon.

As the two got up, Sylraim faced the cliff and readied himself to take flight. "Alright, hold on tight, dunnavak."

The fins began to grow and formed several long wings. And then Sylraim ran and jumped off the cliff. However, instead of going up, his body was falling down.

"Wooooohooooooo!!!" Vallas screamed in joy.

"GyyyaaAAaaaAAaaaahhhh!!!" Ylvaark screamed in fear.

But then, Sylraim's wings were slowly flapping and making waves. He began to lift toward the sky. Within a minute, he already went above the clouds. And the breathtaking view of Heallance landscape was right below them.

"Wow...." Ylvaark eyes wide open, and his jaw dropped low. The tip of his lips then went up as he was amazed.

However, the joy didn't last long. At the edge of the horizon, they saw Helbron and Maltaria had pillars of smoke.

"It seems Ghaldaran and Alkronia are under attack." Sylraim said as he looked at the two cities.

"This is bad... Should we pick Nel'Thas up?" Ylvaark asked.

"No." Vallas answered. "We already promised that we will meet in the battlefield. It will be waste of time to pick him up. So let's just go help them immediately."

"Which one? Ghaldaran or Alkronia?" Ylvaark asked again.

As Vallas couldn't answer, Sylraim gave an idea. "How about going straight to the mastermind?"

"That is a good idea." Ylvaark complimented. "However, it will be really bad if Human can't defeat the Dark Army. I think it would be better if we assist Ghaldaran and Juvaldo."

"Why is that?" Vallas asked curiously.

"Nel'Thas will definitely go to save Alkronia and Karmia, right?" Ylvaark asked back.

"Yeah, I guess so. The Forest he mentioned is Northwest of Karmia. He will definitely get there quickly." Once he said that, Vallas finally got Ylvaark's point. "I see... You're right. We need to help the eastern side, indeed."

"Then...it is decided. To Ghaldaran it is..." Sylraim said. "Hold on tight! It will get pretty windy..."

Thus, Sylraim fastened his speed as he was flying east.

・・・

Somewhere within a building.

"What is this!?" Said a man in black as he was kneeling down on his knees, holding his head with his left hand. "What did you do to me!?"

"You're the one who wanted that ability." A blond woman with white lab coat was holding a man with eyes gauged out in her arms. She was looking at the man in black sharply yet there was sorrow in her eyes. "You killed him, you fucking monster!"

"Tell me how to stop the vision! Urgh..." The man in black grunted as he struggled with something.

"It is all that old geezer's fault! Why are you doing this to us!?" The woman ignored his question and shouted at him instead.

As he was losing it, he couldn't hold his anger anymore. "TELL ME HOW!" He shouted back as he hit the floor.

The woman didn't flinch and was still glaring at him sharply. "You cannot stop the vision. It is real. And I hope you suffer with it."

"No! This isn't real! I cannot accept this! I have full control of my power!"

Suddenly, the woman was in front of the man in black and she thrust something sharp toward him.

"...!"

The man in black tried to evade it, but it was already too late. He caught off guard and got stabbed on his gut.

STAB!

Regardless, he quickly choked her with his right hand.

"Uuurgghhhh..... Arrrrghhhh..!!" The woman grunted and struggled to escape his grip. She even tried to stabbed him multiple times.

However, it was pointless. Slowly, her movement weakened. And she eventually met her death.

The man in black then threw her body toward the dead man, and she landed right beside him.

As he tried to get up, he felt the world was spinning.

"No... Why can't I control it!? Fuck!" He shouted as he hit the floor angrily.

He was struggling to move. Slowly, he got out the building and leapt away.

In the middle of nowhere, within a vast desert, the man in black fell down with bleeding stomach. Slowly, his eyes closed and he eventually fainted.