Guardian of Akatosh part I
Part 1
Zal was sitting in the basement library of Malachite Keep, taking advantage of the weekly rest day granted by Sandro to spend time as he pleased.
This morning, he chose to read the records of the old world, something he had intended to do for a long time but never found the time for.
Since he aspired to become a Doombringer (albeit a pretend one), Zal decided to look for records about the ancient world’s overlords and Doombringers, hoping to find methods that could guide him in becoming a Doombringer himself.
He read three stories in total.
The first story was about the ‘Overlord of the Ring’.
This tale revolved around an overlord whose weakness was his own ring.
Originally created to control everything, the ring, once slipped from his finger, caused his body to explode instantly.
Moreover, the ring was stolen and destroyed in the only volcano that could annihilate it because the overlord forgot to guard the entrance to the volcano.
This oversight led to the overlord’s embarrassingly easy defeat just when he was about to conquer the world.
Zal learned from this story that one should not embed their soul in something as easily stolen as a ring and that one should always had people, guarding one’s dungeon.
The second story he read was ‘The Wrath of the Lich King’.
This Lich King, a master of the undead, commanded vast armies and had numerous loyal generals capable of defeating dozens of the highest level of righteous warriors each.
However, the Lich King had an absurd plan: he wanted to summon the world’s highest-level heroes to his throne to kill them all and turn them into undead to serve as his new generals.
To this end, he sacrificed all his existing generals, letting them die in tests against the heroes.
Zal thought this was ridiculous since his old generals were obviously more capable than the heroes.
After trapping the leader of the heroes in ice to witness the demise of his comrades, and after fighting the heroes half-heartedly for a while, the Lich King began to falter but maintained his poise by claiming ‘it was all a test, all part of the plan’, before using his final move in attempt to claim the souls of all the heroes at once.
However, in the last moment, the sealed leader gathered the power of light, broke free, and destroyed the Lich King’s sword, leading to the heroes ultimately defeating the Lich King.
Thus, another overlord was defeated by his bizarre ideas.
Zal felt that the overlords of the old world were all foolish, defeated by their own follies, but the story of the Lich King still offered him several important insights.
Although not a good role model, it was still useful for learning from their mistakes.
The third story he picked was titled ‘The Overlord of Economics’, also known in some texts as ‘The Overlord of Flesh’.
This story was about a young female overlord who successfully convinced heroes to join her side.
However, her goal was to create a better world through the development of society, education, and the economy, using her knowledge of economics and politics to bring about lasting peace.
Despite the irritation caused by the overlord’s whiny attitude and the focus on her massive corporeal form, Zal found the academic content of the story detailed and intriguing enough to enjoy reading it.
He felt a resemblance to the overlord, being a Doombringer himself and an enemy to the world, but in reality, he too was trying to help the world.
Zal secretly wondered if someday he met a young female peace-maker intent on taking his life, would he be able to convince her to join him like this overlord did.
While reading almost half of the book, Zal felt a vibration of magical power around him, signaling that Sandro was calling him.
He closed his eyes, concentrated, and his form vanished.
When he opened his eyes again, Zal found himself back on the carriage, facing Sandro with a table full of food between them.
“It’s time for a meal…
Did the mind transfer go smoothly?”
“Yes, it felt just like I was actually there.
Quite convenient.”
The form Zal used to read in the library was just a avatar.
Sandro made a summoning pact with Zal, summoned his avatar into the Malachite Keep library, and then transferred ownership of the avatar to him.
With the ownership rights, Zal used the ‘Possession’ spell, a second-tier spell of the ‘Minion Vision,’ learned from Sandro, to fully control the avatar.
This spell allowed the owner of the avatar to control it as if it were their own body, enabling Zal to use the library even while physically on the carriage.
“Actually, if I could summon minions directly into Malachite Keep myself, it would be more convenient, wouldn’t have to bother Sandro.”
What he really wanted was to spend time in the library whenever he liked, but he made an excuse.
“Realms are different from dungeons… Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
Even if you know the specific runes of a realm, you can’t summon minion into it unless you’re the owner…
Besides, using ‘Possession’ with other minions usually present control issues because you’re not familiar with that form…
Using it with a form exactly like your real one is easier…
The important thing is the distance you can connect with the avatar is limited.
If it weren’t for my network of teleportation circles that help relay the signal, once you step out of the Lentia region, you wouldn’t be able to connect with the avatar form anymore…”
After hearing Sandro’s explanation, Zal understood the limitations of this method and refrained from complaining, despite feeling slightly disappointed.
However, being able to use the library from afar was still unexpectedly beneficial.
The two continued their lunch on the carriage without wasting time.
After finishing, the carriage arrived at a hidden teleportation point Sandro had prepared.
It was a forest not far off the main road, the carriage stopped in a clearing surrounded by numerous trees.
Although it was not deep into the forest, the area was so densely wooded that the main road was out of sight.
Sandro waved her hand slightly in the air before transferring magical energy.
Zal, peeking through the window, noticed several trees around the clearing begin to show glowing runes on their trunks.
Soon, a large magical circle appeared on the ground, nearly encompassing the entire area where the carriage was parked.
Then, a soft blue light emanated from the circle, enveloping the area briefly before the entire carriage disappeared.
Part 2
When the light surrounding the carriage vanished, Zal found that they had been transported to another forest.
Although it was still a forest, he noticed the trees were different from those in the forest they had entered earlier.
Having used the teleportation circle of Malachite Keep before, Zal still felt excited about such transfers, especially since this was a long journey to Akatosh, the birthplace of dragons, a place of his dreams.
Zal looked out the window and spoke to Sandro with excitement,
“It’s amazing~ We traveled this way last time too, didn’t we?”
“Um…
something like that…
Actually, I’d rather not use teleportation circle during the day much…
but crossing borders normally takes a lot of time with document checks, and who knows if they might inspect thoroughly to find you…
So, teleporting across borders directly is faster…”
“Oh~ So, we are in Zenithal now?”
“Um…
just in the southern part of Zenithal…
It’s still a long way to Akatosh…
If nothing goes wrong, and we can use teleportation circle as planned…
we should reach Akatosh by noon tomorrow…”
As they conversed, the carriage moved out of the forest edge and traveled along a main road that crossed a vast, lush green meadow.
In the horizon, towering mountains formed a dramatic backdrop.
The scenery inevitably reminded Zal of the Ejis region, and traveling by carriage through such expansive fields brought back memories of a field test day.
Zal gazed at the landscape around him and fell silent for a long while, his expression growing melancholic.
Sandro could guess what he was thinking but thought it best to let time heal such feelings, especially since she was not good at comforting people.
She remained silent; however, it was Zal who broke the silence.
“Sandro…”
“Hmm…?”
“If you hadn’t taken me out…
what would have happened next?”
“What do you mean…?”
“Like, if I had kept studying there, I would have grown up, right?
Would they have kept deceiving me for my entire life?
And in two more years, when I turn 12, I’d be an ordinary adventurer, normally everyone would then go their separate ways to institutions based on their classes.
Wouldn’t staging everything become even more difficult?”
Sandro observed Zal’s expression for a moment, because what she assumed might make him even more resentful towards the Peace Keepers.
In truth, she thought that fostering an opposition towards the Peace Keepers for Zal was not a bad thing—it gave him a clear goal and more determination.
She hesitated slightly to tell him, but finally decided to speak out.
“In my opinion…
when you reach twelve, you would probably really enter an institute as usual…
The staging is just during childhood, to avoid you carrying psychological burdens into adulthood…”
Zal found it ironically amusing that this attempt had caused him deeper psychological issues than growing up in an unfriendly environment would have.
It was a bitter humor that he could not laugh at.
“What about my close friends?
Even if we part ways, what if I try to contact them or look for them in the future?
Wouldn’t that secret came out?”
“I don’t know all their plans…
But if I had to guess…
your friends would probably be scripted to die before graduating from the Ejis Academy…”
“Scripted to die…!?”
Zal repeated, his face and tone revealing his shock, as Sandro continued to explain.
“Just as you said…
staging your entire life is impossible…
especially having childhood friends that stay close into adulthood is complicated…
So, they would likely stage some event on the last day of the field test before graduation…
In that event, all the friends you love would die, killed by forces associated with darkness…
This way, they hit two birds with one stone: …eliminating characters that are no longer useful, avoiding future complications, and instilling in you a hatred for darkness.
Then, you would become a Peace Keeper who wholeheartedly hates evil, easily led by them in the direction they want…”
Zal fell silent after hearing Sandro’s speculation.
Just the thought of such an event possibly occurring was very painful.
“So, no matter what…
I was destined to part ways with them…”
“Um…”
“But aren’t those friends avatars?
That means they must exist somewhere, right?”
“That’s true…
Even though they may not use the same names you know…
those kids do exist somewhere in reality…”
His eyes briefly lit up with hope before Sandro added a sobering thought.
“But remember, even if they do exist, they don’t know you…
Only you know them…
Or rather, you only know a part of them…
Their real personalities might be very different from what you know…”
Hearing this, Zal’s demeanor grew gloomy again.
“Could you summon my avatar…
I’d like to go to the library…”
“Even if you sneak there to cry, your real body here would still shed tears…”
“No…
I’m not going to sneak off to cry!”
He might not have planned to, but being teased by Sandro made him blush.
“But your tears are already welling up…”
“That’s not it at all!
It’s just because I’m sleepy!
Yawning made my eyes water, that’s all!”
“Oh, such a crybaby…”
“I said it’s not like that!”
Sandro teased Zal to cheer him up, and it seemed to work.
They exchanged a few more words before Sandro summoned an avatar for him to use to return to the library.
Zal spent the afternoon reading, then came back for dinner and practiced some magic in the evening before going to bed.
Read ‘Doombringer the 5th’ before anyone else with more chapters at https://www.jinovel.com/en