Prologue

“Since the dawn of time, mankind

has always been no stranger to conflict. As progress gives rise to progress,

mankind has always sought new ways to stand above his fellow man in hopes to

quench his insatiable thirst for more power. Terrible wars were waged and a

need for weapons with even greater destructive power arose. Some turned to

science others went down a darker path and unleashed a great evil upon the

world…”

In the great Continent of Gazef,

there consists five nations: The Kaidan Empire to the North, The Gabta Alliance

to the North-east, The Vard Federation to the East, The Geddi Kingdom to the

West and the Fredda Kingdom to the South.

Each nation existed in harmony

with the others for a time. They even traded goods and cultural knowledge. This

was a time when the use of magic was a common mundane occurrence. Witches,

wizards and alchemists were very common at the time.

But as the years went by, the

magic began to fade from the world and it in turn resulted in the nations fighting

against each other for magical resources.

A decade had passed and after

suffering substantial loses the great Kaidan Empire hired the services of their

greatest sorcerer and their greatest alchemist to deliver them victory.

Combining their knowledge, they sought to summon an otherworldly entity with

immeasurable power to fight for them on the battlefield. But in order to do so

a price had to be paid. Half of the empire’s citizens would have to die as a

sacrifice to summon the otherworldly champion.

An imperial decree was issued out

and the price for summoning the champion from the abyss was paid. However, the

ceremony was not successful. Nobody knows why it failed but some believe that

the lead alchemist betrayed them and sabotaged the ceremony, others believe

that it to have been retribution from the gods. Nobody knows for sure but

afterwards the empire fell to ruin. The emperor was dethroned and a new ruler

chosen by the people took his place.

The Kaidan empire had grown

weaker after the war and after much deliberation the new ruler along with his

ministers agreed that the nation would no longer be referred to as The Kaidan

empire but The Kaidan kingdom. This was in efforts to paint over the mistakes

of the previous regime in the eyes of its people and in the eyes of its

neighboring countries.

The new king also ordered the

execution of those who took part in the summoning ritual under the charge of

committing genocide and all materials used or detailing the ceremony was seized

and destroyed. Everything detailing the ceremony was destroyed except for one.

A small leather-bound journal that the lead alchemist would carry around with

him. It was never found despite decades of searching through the kingdom.

Peace had returned to the world

once again but the threat of that journal being found and being used to unleash

a terrible evil upon the world still remained.

A few centuries had gone by and

the great war and the genocide was nothing more than a dark footnote in

history. The world had moved on. Science was now the present and the future.

Mankind had achieved great strides since the great war and the fall of magic.

Due to the fading of mana from the world, witches and wizards were

rendered powerless but not alchemists. Their power did not come from mana and

so humanity turned to them. Thus, the age of discovery was born which gave rise

to science.

Although many centuries had gone by, mankind's true

nature remained the same and sure enough another global conflict was brewing in

The Continent of Gazef. Each nation had made their own advances in science and

of course they had used science to bolster their military's fighting

capabilities. An all-out war was inevitable it was only a question of when.

Chapter 1

Five hundred years later,

On an open clearing deep in the Kaidan forest, a helicopter

baring large logo in the shape of the letter ‘A’ was getting ready to land.

The forest clearing was a behive of activities.

Technicians were setting up all sorts of equipment, armed men in uniform were patrolling

the area, other were setting up tents and other utilities.

As soon as the helicopter landed, a tall slim gentleman

in a white suit emerged. As he began to walk away from the helicopter, he

spotted someone trying to make her way through the busy crowd of people to

where he was. As soon as she spotted him, she began to run to where he stood.

“Dr.  Addams! Dr.

Addams! I believe we’ve found something!” A tall slender woman came running

over to where they stood. Her beautiful brown hair that was neatly tied into a

ponytail dancing behind her as she ran. She was beaming with excitement.

“What is it, Evelin? You made me fly all the way out

here. I hope it’s worth it.”

“You’ve better come see for yourself, sir. I think your

father was right.” She led him to one of the open tents not far from where they

stood.

“How long until the base is fully operational?”

“Fourteen hours. The power generator and communications

hub has already been set up and the area is under round the clock security.” She

replied as they both entered the large tent.

There were various machines and computers set up around

the interior of the tent. Several individuals were busy and engrossed as they

worked on their own individual task.

“Sir, the deciphering algorithm has managed to decipher

the runes from the dig site.” She pointed out as they both halted in front of a

large screen that displayed photographed images of ancient runic symbols.

“And?”

“They all seem to refer to the seed of darkness planted

in the light…probably a metaphor for something…” she left her words trail off

upon seeing Dr Addams expression.

His eyes wide, gritting his teeth as he ran his fingers

through his hair. He staggered backwards still clutching to his hair, he raised

his head facing the sky and fell to his knees. A grin began to form on his

face. Tears dripped from his face but they were not sad in fact, quite the

contrary. This was probably the happiest moment in his life.

Dr Addams, of house Alchimia, was born as the second born

son of a defamed noble family of the kingdom of Kaidan. It is believed that

centuries ago his ancestors, who practiced alchemy at the time, took part in a

ritual that was supposed to save the Kaidan empire but due to his ancestor’s

betrayal, it failed. For many generations, his family held a bad reputation as

a traitorous noble house despite their efforts to paint over past history with

accomplishments meant to better the kingdom and its people. As such, Dr Addams

comes from a long line of inventors, scientists and explorers.

It was not until the later part of the past century when

the Kaidan kingdom began to acknowledge the strides that the Alchimia family

had made. An epidemic had spread rampantly across the capital of the kingdom.

All the medical professionals working for the kingdom were baffled by the

strange decease that plagued the people. They tirelessly worked to control the

spread and find a cure but they lacked sufficient knowledge to combat this new

foe. Luckily one of the king’s advisers recalled that the Alchimia House specializes

in the research of antidots for rare poisons and cures for rare illnesses. In fact,

it was said that they almost went bankrupt exploring distant lands to acquire

rare herbs for their private botanical garden.

Without hesitation, the king summoned the head of the

Alchimia family to the royal palace where he personally requested for their

help in finding a cure for the epidemic. As per his majesty’s request, the

Alchimia family complied and a few weeks later they found the cure and even

managed to mass produce it for the masses.

After that incident, the King awarded the Alchimia family

for their valiant efforts during a dire situation and even proclaimed that the

royal family would fund all their further research. Soon, public opinion about

the Alchimia house began to change.

However, the Alchimia family also had a secret. One that

guaranteed their survival. It even kept the king from prying into or openly

going against their family. A secret involving a particular journal. He

remembered how his father had searched and his father before him and his father’s

father before him going back several generations. People thought they were

crazy. That they were obsessed with a myth. But now that was all going to

change because for the first time in centuries it was all within his reach.

The power to shake the world itself.

Chapter 2

Meanwhile,

In the far east desert region, a lone eagle soars through

the skies. Further and further up it gains altitude till it suddenly catches a

glimpse of something on the surface. It immediately swoops down for the kill.

“Brother, look!” a young boy points up at the desert sky

“is that an eagle?”

An older looking boy runs over to where he is and squints

his eyes as he tries to look up.

“Yes, but what’s it after?” the older brother quickly

gazes around and surprisingly spots a snake slithering in the sand toward his

brother.

“Alec! Watch out!” as he leaps over to grab his brother

to pull him away, a large silhouette from above intervenes and grabs the snake

in time before once again flapping those enormous wings and taking to the

skies.

“Whoa!” Alec was in awe.

Just then a thundering noise broke the silence followed

by an explosion not far from where they stood. A scared Alec grabs tightly to

his brother. In the distant horizon a large cloud of smoke rises up through the

air.

Alec tugs at his older brother’s scarf to get his

attention. His bother turns to him a worried expression written on his face.

“What’s wrong Alec?”

“isn’t that the village?”

The two boys ran as fast as they could in the direction

of their village.

When they got to the village everything was in chaos. Homes

were on fire, some were buried underneath rubble of collapsed structures with

only a hand or a leg sticking out. While there were a good number of people trying

to tend to the injured or trying to rescue those pinned by the rubble, there

were also those who were shocked and confused by the events that were

unfolding. Eron and his brother fell into the latter category.

It was a ghastly sight. The charred corpses on the side

of the street and the strong odor of burnt flesh were all but too much for the

two brothers to witness. How did it come to this? They looked on in horror at

the lifeless bodies of their neighbors, friends and fellow townspeople. They

couldn’t believe that earlier that day they had playfully waved as they had made

their way past them.

“Eron…W-what are those?” Alec who was shaking as he slowly

tugged at his brother’s scarf to get his attention.

Eron peeled his eyes away from his environment to focus

on what his brother was pointing at. As soon as he saw it, he was terrified.

Alec was startled when his older brother knelt down on

one knee and grabbed his shoulders with both hands and with a serious

expression on his face said in an almost desperate tone,

“Alec, we have to run.”

Alec had never seen his brother act in such a way. Nevertheless, he understood the serious nature of the situation they were in. Gathering up what little courage he had left, he composed himself and nodded to his brother.