Goodbye Skagi

Aze landed on the ground and looked up at the 300 plus people floating in the air before he laughed to himself. His new apprentice had escaped for the time being, which had angered him. He decided he would look around this town further before making any decisions on how he would proceed.

He walked through the city leisurely as one of the Leucrottas came over to greet its master. Although Aze felt it was too close and raised his right hand toward it.

"Disgusting creature, keep your distance." Aze took in a deep breath as the Leucrotta recoiled in fear. Aze reached into his component pouch and pulled out some Rooster bones. They floated in front of him as he spoke the words "Os Ardeat!". The bones disintegrated as a red light faintly glowed around them.

The Leucrotta began to writhe in pain on the ground. It was rolling furiously and convulsing while emitting yelps. It whined with high intensity. A smell of charred flesh permeated the vicinity. Smoke began to puff out of its eyes, ears, mouth, and every orifice it had. It was smoldering, seemingly from the inside. The fire did not thoroughly burn the Leucrotta's body, but it no longer had any shape. Charred meats and fats remained. Pus, blood, and ooze seeped into the surrounding area.

The other Leucrottas witnessed the horrible fate of their brother and made a mental note to keep their distance from their master, Aze.

After the minor distraction, Aze continued strolling through town.

Corpses of 900 or so people littered the ground in a bloody mess. Every man woman and child had mercilessly torn apart from the brutal underlings of the evil Wizard. They continued to rip at the dead people and mock their voices with eerily accurate imitations. The sight pleased Aze, and he was further relieved from his earlier mistake.

Aze then noticed the Oak Tome about 20 feet away and tried to lift it with telekinesis. It did not move in the slightest. Could he not lift it? He was amazed. His telekinesis was at the peak of the world; he was second to no mortal. No one living or dead, aside from the gods, was more powerful than him.

He walked over and touched it with his long bony fingers. Trying to open its cover resulted in yet another failure, but surprisingly Aze was growing excited and jovial once more.

He even cast "Mea Inversa"[Reverse Gravity] again, but the book was unaffected.

"Oh, what have we got here?" Aze could not express emotions, but if he could, he would have grinned.

He used an identify scroll, which also failed.

He obtained no information upon it, but he knew any item that gave him this much difficulty had been soul-bound to someone.

"Indeed, the work of Ozen, or, more specifically, her Herald Erin." Aze stroked his impossible beard of smoke and pondered a moment when his thoughts were interrupted by a sudden scream.

Another villager began to plummet at free-fall speed towards the ground. This time it was the Jarl. Before he was able to make an impact, a Leucrotta intercepted him mid-air with its mouth. It clamped down upon his head with all its might and landed. Two other monsters joined in as one bit the Jarls left arm and the other bit at his right knee.

They began a tug of war and brutally tore the Jarl apart, as the people watched from above, realizing they would share the same fate as their leader. Several very young and ancient citizens had now died from exposure to the frigid cold at 100 feet in the air. Everyone was hungry, thirsty, and cold.

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Mars had a comfortable life in the new world, until today anyway. These first five years were wholesome, a peaceful town of enormous people. Everyone in Skagi worked exceptionally hard every day, but they also knew how to "Kick back & relax." There were festivals, and a side of life Mars had never experienced.

In his previous futuristic high tech days, he would never take the time to enjoy what he had. He was always too busy and stressed. Today reminded him of his old life.

Not only had Mars and Hagar almost died from a demonic-looking hyena horse, the Leucrotta. An 8-foot tall ultra wizard came and attacked the peaceful town of Skagi; the minute Mars thought he was safe.

Mars knew deep down that everyone in Skagi was probably already dead.

Mars, Hagar, and Orlilin appeared inside the middle of a violet-colored circle. The light disappeared, and the three of them stood there.

Mars looked around and saw they were in a forest. The scenery was gorgeous, and it was much warmer. Huge trees and towered above them. The ground was mossy and littered with huge leaves. Birds were chirping, and even a tiny winged woman flew past Mars as glowing dust trailed behind her.

Hagar became furious and commenced berating Orlilin. She didn't understand a single word he spouted out as her scroll had already ceased to function when she'd cast Teleportation again.

"WHY! Why didn't you fight that guy!?" Hagar felt a great sadness, but as a man of Skagi, he would not cry. He had to express his pain with at least a little fury.

"He is pretty upset; He wants me to ask why you didn't fight that freak?" Mars explained to Orlilin.

"Please tell him to listen for a moment, Mars." Orlilin raised her right hand, and calmly began to speak.

Mars nodded and interrupted Hagar's tirade of every curse he knew. Orlilin continued as Mars listened, and Hagar grumbled quietly under his breath. Hagar could not understand what either of them was saying and had to wait for Mars to translate.

"That so-called freak was a mighty Wizard named Aze. I didn't think we'd survive, so I escaped with the both of you."

Mars nodded and asked a question. "Why couldn't you have saved my Mother or Uncle Olaf, or Dagmar?"

"I'm sorry about your family, but he'd cast Reverse Gravity, a 7th tier spell. After I resisted it, I had to hold both of you from falling upward."

Mars relayed what Orlilin had said. Once he explained her reasoning Hagar reluctantly agreed, he was inconsolable but refused to show such emotions. Especially when Mars was so composed despite everything today.

Hagar looked at Mars and expressed his admiration for seemingly having nerves of steel.

"I have to hand it to you. Mars, you're only five, and you seem like a hardened battle veteran. How are you not freaking out right now?" Hagar praised while simultaneously asking a rhetorical question, but Mars answered anyway.

"There is something I should tell you," Mars spoke in Hagar's language, while Orlilin decided she would start learning the common tongue today.