Adam

Turns out that the military camp mentioned in the letter is one made by humans. Surrounded by a palisade and a shallow most were a bunch of tents of varying sizes and it could be seen that it was a newer camp.

Due to Siegfried accompanying me I easily passed the guards at the gate and was escorted to the main tent by some captain.

Inside, Loki was furiously writing something down into a book as thick a person's head. From the looks of it, a quarter had already been filled by with his maniacal scribbling and he didn't look like he would stop anytime soon. Sigmund was sitting on a small chair in the corner of the tent with a pensive look on his face.

'Loki did you suddenly decide to become a scholar?'

"Not now Eldar, I'm writing down things that are crucial for this world's survival. This knowledge will prove vital for generations to come!"

'This world's survival? Are you sure you don't mean the human's survival or did you suddenly learn to feel compassion for someone besides the humans?'

"Spare me your sarcasm. I don't care much for the others but if this event comes to pass it will be all or nothing. Thus, since humanity can't survive this by themselves, I'll begrudgingly include the other races."

'And what is this event that scares you so much?'

"An invasion. But don't take it from me, feel free to inquire about it straight from the source. Sigmund, can you take them to see him?"

"..."

"Sigmund?"

"Ah! Yes Loki, what is it?"

"Could you take Eldar and Siegfried into the cave? I'd do it myself but as you see I'm still writing."

"Sure... How bad can a second time be..."

Upon closer inspection, Sigmund looked like he had seen something horrible. He was pale and his hand trembling as he clenched them into fists.

"Follow me."

Siegfried was evidently concerned about her father's state but didn't dare to ask what was going on. We left the camp and began to ascend the southern mountains, following a barely visible path we reached a cave. Sigmund seemed to hesitate for a moment but ultimately entered with long albeit slightly unsteady strides.

We hadn't even taken ten steps into the cave when that horrible feeling came. Like a bucket of icy water dumped over our heads. Fear, panic and unbridled despair assaulted us as it

these emotions coursed through the cave like waves.

Looking closely I could see black smoke flowing along the cave walls. If an emotion grew strong enough it could take physical form and if touched by others it could affect them greatly. Based on how negative these emotions were I judged they could force ordinary people to commit suicide just from being close to this smoke.

"Can you take it? It gets worse as we go deeper inside."

"I-I'm fine."

Siegfried's body ceased to tremble as countless little dragon roars sounded from inside her body. She had already become a queen maga and had eliminated the danger from the dragon soul within her. Now, the dragon soul helped her cope with the pressure by dividing it between the two.

'Let's get this over with.'

Personally, I was mostly fine. Feeling uncomfortable being here but far from receiving actual harm.

After receiving affirmation from both of us Sigmund guided us further in. The cave had many branches but due to the black fumes, the direction we needed to go was always clear. With every step the feelings gained more power and I could tell that we were about to meet the source of all this.

We entered a cavern that was open to the sky. A giant opening was cleaved into the stone and the abundance of light allowed me to see clearly. In the middle of the cavern was a black puddle with a man sitting inside.

He looked pale and from a wound at his side more of that putrid black liquid dripped down into the puddle. This was liquid despair, a fluid that held an unthinkable amount of negative emotions. And the man sitting there was the source of it all.

"Who is it? Have you come to assassinate me?"

He spoke quickly, his words were laced with anxiety and fear.