The OP Lich is a Returnee, Chapter 164

Chapter 164 – Loremaster

Of course, I couldn’t just go to the research lab that Onedeirth worked at to speak with him, not on this. Sure, going to comment on their advancements in magic technology was fine. But that would be speaking to him in his mortal guise of Akaryu Kiba. What I needed was to speak to the Loremaster of the Dragons of Ouros, and, for that, it was best that we spoke somewhere away from mortal ears.

Fortunately, Yakushima Island was not heavily populated in the interior. Not surprising, given that the center of the island was Mt. Miayanoura, rising to just shy of two kilometers in height, and the area was designated as a National Park. That meant there were plenty of places for us to meet, in private. The place Onedeirth chose was the mountain’s peak, most likely so that he could spread out to his full form. Such a meeting was best done in one’s true form, after all.

Getting to the mountaintop was simple enough for one of my power. Even the level of power I had before taking in the Prime Seal. I had been to Yakushima before, so I could teleport there. However, I made my ‘exit point’ two kilometers in the air above the island. From there, a simple flight spell took me through the night sky, until I reached the peak.

Onedeirth was already there, his red scales glistening under the light of the full moon. He nodded to me, as I landed. “Once more we meet, my friend,” he said, in formal tones. Expected, since I told him I needed to speak with him, as Loremaster. “Why do you now call upon this Onedeirth, Lord of the Red, Keeper of the Seven Flames, Guardian of the Flame of Inspiration, Destroyer of Tarralid and Valelusia, Wizard’s Bane, the Flame that Burns Death Itself, Loremaster of All Dragonkind?”

I took a breath, and then said, in Dragonspeech, “Loremaster, I am Her Royal Majesty, Queen Akagawa Kaori, First of Her Name, World Traveler, the Deathless, the Dragon Ascended, Heroine of the Elements Undivided, Conquerer of Haerth and its Minions, Mistress of the Dead and Ruler of the Damned, Archlich and High Contractor of Murena, Agent of the Goddess of Death, Chainbreaker, Archmage of the Elements Undivided, Destroyer of Athelia-That-Was, Demon’s Bane, Legend-crafter, Weaponmistress, She Who Wields Both Spell and Blade, the Lost Sleeper Returned, and Lich Queen of Risen Athelia. I come to you now, not only to proclaim my new status, as one power to another, but so that I can deliver a charge unto you, so that you may perform your office.”

Onedeirth relaxed slightly, now that the formalities were done. But I could see intrigue in his aura. “Your titles have changed since last we spoke. I would hear how you claim yourself to be a dragon, before moving on.”

I had been expecting that, of course. I breathed out black smoke, and allowed my body to shift, from my normal lich form into that of a dracolich. Now looking Onedeirth in the eye, rather than craning my neck upward, I spread my wings, clad in the velvet black of Death mana, and said, “As you can see, I have changed by taking in the Prime Seal. Every element is mine to command as I will, now. I can even act as a Life Mage without suffering any penalty to my efficiency or power.”

Onedeirth nodded slowly. “I see. But you could not have come upon such a change ‘naturally’, if anything can be called natural when dealing with such forces of magic. Dragons are not inherently creatures of all elements, after all, and an undead dragon even less so. Something else was added to the mix, was it not?”

“Indeed,” I said, nodding my draconic head. “The Guardian of the Prime Seal was a dragon with scales of adamantine. Nyzirth of the Golden Sun, she named herself, but told me not her other names and titles, for she was held in living death, sustained only by the raw power of the seal coursing through her, even as her body was fused to the seal in order to slow the cracks in the seal, and keep them from breaking it wide open. I could not undo the seal with her soul in the mix so, with her permission, I drew out her soul, and released it to what afterlife awaited it. But her body remained fused to the seal, and it influenced the outcome of the rite.”

“Few are those who would do such a thing. Fewer still have the fortitude or the power to accomplish it. You did well, young one, in releasing Nyzirth from her service in such a way.”

“I honor those who behave honorably. And part of the honor I gave her was to ask if she had any last words to offer a Loremaster of her kind. She was surprised to hear of a surviving Loremaster, even one from another world, of course.” I opened my pocket dimension, and drew forth the crystal shard the dragon had entrusted to me, holding it gingerly between my claws. “She bid me give this to you, her memories in crystal form. She said you would know what to do with it.”

With delicate grace that belied his power and size, Onedeirth reached forward and took the shard from me. “Yes, I know what to do with this, all right. Tell me, young dracolich, do you know the purpose of a Loremaster?”

“Only what the name might suggest, that you are learned in the lore and the stories of your people. Somewhere between a historian and a biographer, perhaps? I had heard the term once before, on Onerth, but the dragon I was speaking to would not elaborate.”

“Yes, it is not permitted to speak of the full duties of a Loremaster outside of Dragonkind. There are always those who desire power above all else, and there is power in what a Loremaster keeps, make no mistake. However, you are now part dragon, young Akagawa. Therefore, I can tell you more than most.”

I inclined my head to show my interest, wings settling close to my back, showing I was in no rush to leave. The moves came instinctually, as easily as moving my human body. A side-effect of the transformation, no doubt.

Onedeirth continued, once I’d settled into that listening posture. “The role of the Loremaster is that of a Keeper. We keep secrets, and we safeguard knowledge, ensuring that it is not forgotten. More importantly, we keep the memories of dragons past, in crystal shards like this one, so that we can always remember those who came before, and the lessons their lives have to teach us, and all our kind. No mere history book, written by mortal men with biases both hidden and overt. These memories are the pure thing, seeing the world as the dragon saw it, feeling it as they felt it.”

“Is it colored by their thoughts, and emotions? Or is it the objective truth?”

“Both, and neither. Both, for while the thoughts and emotions of the dragon are included, they are simply one layer of the memory, and they can be viewed separately. Neither, because, even with the clarity that comes with crystal-perfect recall and no emotional overlays, what you see within the crystal is still only the world as the dragon saw it. You cannot see or know anything the dragon did not, so things that happened out of their presence would not be known to the memories.”

I nodded in understanding. That was a common limitation in spells that delved into a person’s memories, or borrowed their senses for a time. There were spells which would let you go back, and observe a sliver of time, allowing you to observe things that no one would have been able to see, but such spellwork was extremely complicated, and rare. Especially since most of what one might need to know could usually be found through simpler means.

 “So, how much of the dragon’s life does this crystal contain?”

“A crystal this size would typically have a few decades, at most. Less, if the time was especially busy. It is considered a high honor for one’s memories to be passed on to a Loremaster. It means that the dragon lived a life worth remembering.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, I saw how the memories were formed, creating a crystal that burst from her skull. Is it always like that?”

“No, almost never. As I’m sure you guessed, the normal way of crystalizing a dragon’s memories copies them and infuses them into crystal created with the dragon’s magic, typically forming in their hand. This way allows the dragon to keep the memories, while still passing them on to a Loremaster. It also means that the process costs more mana and the records are less dense.”

Onedeirth sighed, sadly. “The method you described is painful, indeed, but the pain is the price of forgetting. Nyzirth knew she was dying, and so sacrificed her memories of her own life to record as much as she could before the end. You did well in bringing this to me, Akagawa.”

“I did as I swore to do, honoring one who sacrificed all to save people she did not even know. There is a nobility in that which I can admire, even if I know that I am incapable of being such a person.”

“Even as you traveled back and forth across the world, raising up heroes as you undid the seals and released magic back to this world?”

“What matters more, the act, or the intent behind it? I did not do all of that out of the goodness of my heart. There are people I care about, and goals I have which would be impacted by a magical apocalypse. The nameless masses mean nothing to me, except for how they affect those individuals I concern myself with.”

The other dragon nodded. “That feeling is something that most dragons face, at one point or another, especially when they deal with mortals on a regular basis. It is part of what makes immortality a double-edged sword, and why the mortal races will surprise us, from time to time. Our immortality causes us to take such a long view of things that we lose track of the here and now, while mortals immersed in the moment pick up on things we overlooked.”

He shook his head, before looking at me again. “So, back to you and your changes. A dracolich, now, able to change between this and your old form. No doubt you can take on the form of a living dragon, as well as your human mask. But what about the rest. I note that you no longer claim the Athelian spire, and you are of Elements Undivided.”

“You are correct about the living dragon form. I have adamantine scales, in that guise. As for the rest? Well, those are connected. The Athelian Spire was the high council of mages in Athelia-that-was, and continued into Risen Athelia. The Magelords of the Athelian Spire were the eight most powerful mages in the kingdom, one for each element. The High Magus was chosen from them, the most powerful of the group.

“When I went through the ritual with the Prime Seal, I was transformed, as you see now. Beyond just an increase in my power overall, my abilities with all the other elements were raised to match my affinity with Death magic. This made me an Omnimage, not an Archmage of Death. Because of that, I stepped down as High Magus, and as Magelord of Death. Those titles passed back to the ones who had them before I rose to lead the Athelian Spire, and Risen Athelia.”

“An omnimage, who is also an Archmage, with a summoned hero’s power, and now a dracolich’s strength? Oh, and not to mention your abilities as a warlock. Truly a force to reckon with.”

“Well, I try. Oh, and I did discover a bit of interesting information while undoing the Seal of Death. The Void Between you came through is not a path between planes, but a way of circumventing space and time to reach other worlds within this universe. While targeting a single planet around innumerable stars is still difficult, at least we know, now, which way we should be focusing our efforts.”

“Really?” Onedeirth said, interest plain. “Where did you hear this?”

“From the Goddess of Death on Onerth, Murena. She descended into an avatar during the blessing of her temple in Egypt. Only for a few moments, but she answered a few questions during that time, all the same.”

“So, the goddess from the other world you were summoned to said that the Void was a means of travel between stars. Hmm. I do not have the same kind of connection with a god as you do, but I was a priest of Bahamuz the Dragonlord in my younger days, before I left that path to become a Loremaster.”

“Why stop being a priest? Couldn’t you do both?”

“No, the gods of dragons are… contentious, and do not easily give ground to their rivals. A Loremaster is there for all dragons, good or evil, highborn or low, no matter the cause. I could not be a Loremaster and limit myself to Bahamuz’s faith. But I still remember the rites to create a shrine to him.”

“Interesting. If the shrine was made, it might give us more of a connection between Earth and Ouros. Doubtful that it would be enough to make an easy way back for you, but perhaps enough to send a message? And if those on both sides were working on a gate…”

“Forging the path would be much easier. I believe I’m going to need to talk to Koyama-san. There is much to consider, there. Thank you, Akagawa, and congratulations on your ascension.”