Sea of Silent, Holy Celestial Empire.

  April 25th, Sorval Calendar Year 1427.

  Pleasant sunlight shone down the watery seascape of the Sea of Silent, a vast yet extremely shallow body of water as vast as all the oceans known in Sorval, covering the surface in a mix of dancing blue water and white light. Small splashes waved against the hull of a small magically powered canoe, a small reminder of why this vast body of water was named the Sea of Silent. Unlike the open ocean far out, there is neither storm, nor typhoon or hurricane in this sea. Small rainfall happens often, more of a blessing for the traders and sailors traveling about rather than a danger, resupplying them with fresh water along with giving the seamen a good bath.

  A roughened hand reached down to the surface, dipping into the chilly afternoon water before quickly taking a small scoop to swing upward, splashing it against his face. “Phew! That was refreshing. Wish I could do this more often rather than rotting away in that lab.” The young man exclaimed, washing his face in the crystal clear water.

  “Don’t lose your focus, Director Miene. We’re almost there. Remember Her Majesty’s orders.” A tall elvish woman in a sleek suit of the Imperial Guards named Aurora pulls out a magical tablet, scrolling through the holographic files related to the Imperial Magical Weapon Research Department. Her statutes and attitude exudes strict discipline and no-nonsense lifestyle.

  As Empress Celestia’s personal assistant, she definitely fit the role along with her lifespan, Meine bit his tongue in slight annoyance at the elvish woman behind him. “Tsk. I get it, I get it. The Empress wants me to investigate a Relic, I get it.” He pondered for a moment. “But why do I have to go? There are people working for me who can bring back Relics to my department! I was planning to showcase my Comet and Astralis missiles to Her Majesty Celestia this weekend since she is a busy person, but I have to put that event on hold until the next few months for this… quick business trip.” He said, his voice emphasizing the last part. “Damn it…”

  Understanding Meine’s frustration, Aurora can’t help but empathize with him with a light sigh despite her usual hardline attitude. “This newly discovered Relic is too big for us to haul back, and since it's in the middle of nowhere, Her Majesty deemed it best if you are there personally to oversee its study and recovery.” She answered, adjusting her small pair of glass and pointed ears before touching the arcane engine of the boat. She began channeling mana into the boat’s engine, activating the arcane power within. The boat surges forward quickly, splashing the water aside as it accelerates ahead.

  Meine held onto the railing, buckling a seatbelt on his hip as he stabilized himself on the railing. “So what is this Relic? I haven’t got the time to read through the report.”

  “The mages and researchers we sent there didn’t know either, although it does emit a very strong magical signature. Only your team is there now.” Aurora answers with a stern yet soft female voice, maintaining her elegant image while projecting her authority as the Empress’s assistant.

  “Managauge measurement?” Meine asked.

  “It clocked out at around five million Mana Units.”

  Meine finds himself thinking. Five million Mana Units is about the most that a hefty, albeit portable managauge device could measure. More advanced Managauge devices that could measure higher units are available, but those would have to be delivered by his department after he arrives at the site for inspection. Not like too much Mana radiation is a problem, most magical users would see their magical aptitude improve in such conditions.

  Whatever this thing is, he can’t help but feel excited at the prospect, much of the Relics he had researched are smaller magitech devices and old equipment left by the Ancient Empire of Khanterra. The fact that this thing is still emitting enough energy to clocked out a portable Managauge even after being left to its for more than a millennia, it hints at an extraordinarily powerful Relic, one that holds tremendous amounts of power. But for what purpose?

  – –

  Meine stepped off from the small canoe at the miniscule patch of sand that somebody dared called an island in the report sent to him. The place was no larger than a small local park in the capital city, with only a rusty grey-colored construct half-buried on it. His crew walked about the small island with magical tablets in hand, interviewing the discovery with the fishermen who stumbled upon this place as they noted down the testimonies.

  The scene honestly reminded him more of a crash scene, more so than a discovery of a Relic like usual. Besides, what is this thing doing out here? He knew that Relics are most likely more plentiful out in the sea, where many ancient naval battles with the Khanterran took place, but what is Relic this large doing out here? And how has nobody noticed it until now? He has too many questions, but that’s part of the fun of his job.

  Meine let out a relaxing sigh. Now that he thinks about it, getting some fresh air out in this quiet place after working overtime for his missile projects for months in that lab? No difference than having a quick vacation.

  He took in the fresh morning air before being approached by one of his workers. “Director Meine, we’re glad to have you here personally! We’re still investigating the Relic, but it appears to be an environmental control unit.”

  “Environmental control unit?” Meine asked, swiping through a magical tablet. “Did you scan it yet?

  “Yes, sir. We did.” He showed Meine a 3D scan of the Relic through a holographic projection. “The object is much larger than what we could see peeking through the sand. Around three third of it is buried under the surface, so we can’t exactly lift it out to ship it back currently with what we have. Our guess is that it weighs around a thousand tons so we’d need to request a Meteor-class battleship to haul it back to Celestara.”

  “I’ll see what I can do.” Meine answered, his eyes darting up and down at the projection as he analyzed the Relic’s scan.

  “Thank you, sir.” The worker returned to his duties, continuing to collect samples of the Relic for further study.

  Meine walked around the Relic, looking for anything worth his attention on the thing. This object is huge, he thought. Perhaps even the largest Relic found yet. The markings are definitely Khanterran, but what is it actually for?

  Noticing something peculiar about a spot on the Relic, he reaches down into the sand and begins to dig slightly, revealing a familiar control panel half buried.

  “Hmmm.” He pulls out his magical tablet and plugs a cord into the control panel with ease. Developed by the Imperial Magical Weapon Research Department, the magical tablets are backward compatible with Khanterran magitech devices, even Relics. He doesn’t expect much reaction, as this thing is about a millennia old already, but to his surprise, the magical tablet blinked a green light, signalling a connection.

  “The Khanterrans… always knew how to make things last, didn't they?” He mumbles, a slight respect to whoever built this thing despite the Khanterrans being the old conquerors of Sorval, the name in which they bestowed on this world which stuck around longer than they did themselves. Expressing admiration for the Khanterran is usually looked down upon in Celestia, but he’s a man of both thought and logic, hating on a long gone empire just doesn’t feel right as they still have many wonderful Relics left behind for him to study.

  He swipes around the magical tablet, checking the data contained within with enthusiasm. Stumbling on the Relic’s name, he raised an eyebrow. “Huh?”

  EXPERIMENTAL UNIT.

  Magical Extradimensional Transportation Device

  Energy Level: Critical.

  Core Function Capacity: None.

  Description: C??????????????o???????????n?????????????t?????????????a?????????????c???????????t?????????????? S?????????????i??????????????r????????????? A?????????????r??????????????p??????????????e?????????????c?????????????h?????????????i?????????????d?????????????u??????????????s?????????????? f?????????????o??????????????r?????????????? a?????????????u??????????????t??????????????h?????????????o?????????????r????????????i??????????????z?????????????a????????????t?????????????i?????????????o????????????n?????????????? t??????????????o????????????? u?????????????s??????????????e?????????????? t?????????????h?????????????e?????????????? d??????????????e??????????????v???????????i??????????????c????????????e??????????????.?????????????

  E?????????????x??????????????t?????????????r?????????????a?????????????? n??????????????o??????????????t???????????e?????????????:??????????????

  W??????????????A??????????????R?????????????N??????????????I??????????????N?????????????G??????????????:?????????????? D??????????????O?????????????? N??????????????O?????????????T?????????????? I??????????????N??????????????S??????????????E?????????????R????????????T?????????????? P?????????????O?????????????W?????????????E?????????????R?????????????? S??????????????O??????????????U??????????????R?????????????C??????????????E????????????? U??????????????N?????????????L?????????????E???????????S?????????????S?????????????? I??????????????N????????????? A??????????????N????????????? A??????????????U?????????????T??????????????H??????????????O??????????????R??????????????I????????????Z?????????????E??????????????D?????????????? A??????????????N??????????????D????????????? C????????????O?????????????N?????????????T??????????????R??????????????O??????????????L??????????????L?????????????E????????????D?????????????? E?????????????N??????????????V??????????????I??????????????R????????????O?????????????N????????????M?????????????E??????????????N??????????????T??????????????.?????????????

  He scrolled down into the description, only to find the data corrupted and completely unreadable. Probably due to a millennia of corrosion. “Interesting… What are you?...”

  He called for a worker, who quickly responded to his order. “Yes, sir. What do you need?”

  “What do we have on site? I need some tools.” Meine asked.

  The worker searched around his bag, finding little inside. “Ehh, we have a couple of Energy Gem cells, a portable managauge unit and several ration packs. We were called up to investigate quickly, so we didn’t have much time to prepare, sir.”

  “I see… give me some of the Energy cells.” Meine ordered.

  “Aye, sir.” The worker responded, handing Meine several glowing can-like objects from his bag, the batteries glowing a light purple, a small hint of the Energy Gem contained inside. “Pardon me for asking, Director, but what do you need these for?”

  Accepting the batteries, Meine gave out a nod of approval. “This Relic isn’t a weapon system, so my department wouldn’t receive it for studying. It’s gonna be a while until a ship arrives to haul this thing away, so I want to see what it contained before being taken away from here. Usually for Khanterran Computation-class Relic, they tend to self-correct themselves once they receive an external source of mana or electricity. I need an Energy Gem cell to kickstart this rusted junk.”

  “So you’re trying to reboot this thing, sir?”

  “Correct.” Meine swipes the sand away from the usual spot where an Energy Gem cell should be inserted, locking the battery in place before pushing it into the machine.

  “Work your magic…” He patiently waited for the result. His magical tablet lit up, displaying a dizzying array of jumbled mess as it processes before arriving at a clearly written line of text.

  POWER DETECTED.

  DO YOU WANT TO INITIATE REBOOT? Y/N

  Meine opened a keyboard display on the magical tablet, his index finger excitedly hovering over the ‘Y’ button. “Yes please.” Leaking out a mischievous smile from being unable to contain his excitement, he pushes down on the holographic keyboard display.

  INITIATING REBOOT

  PLEASE WAIT…

  The Relic made an audible burring sound, slowly elevating in pitch as it began to power up thanks to the Energy Gem cell inserted by Meine. Workers around also sensed the Relic’s amplifying magical power, pausing their work as their heads turned to the machine in curiosity.

  Aurora ran around the Relic to confront Meine before being stopped by several workers. “What are you doing?! Let me go!” She pushes away some of the workers by shooting a small yet strong gust of wind from the palm of her hand.

  Meine turned around in a panic, trying to explain to her what he was doing. “Calm down! I just want to know more about this! It’s what I’m sent here for, right?!” He fell on the sand, pushing back until he found himself against the Relic.

  She pulled out the saber on her hip, pointing it at Meine. “You’re meant to collect data, Director! Not activating it!” She threatens.

  “It’s just recalibrating! I need power to collect data!”

  The water around the island began to rumble as the Relic continued to increase its mana output. Dark clouds moved in, forming around the island as the Relic seemingly continued to increase its power output without stopping like most ancient Relics do.

  “Shit-!” Meine ignores Aurora’s blade, quickly grabbing his magical tablet and swiping away the sand on it to check the readings.

  EXPERIMENTAL UNIT.

  Magical Extradimensional Transportation Device

  Energy Level: Full.

  Core Function Capacity: E?????????R???????????R???????????-??????????R???????????O??????????O???????????R???????????R?????????O??????????O??????????R???????????R?????????R???????????R???????????R??????????R??????????O???????????R???????????R???????????R???????????O???????????O?????????O??????????R???????????

  Description: Contact Sir Apechidus for authorization to use the device.

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  WARNING: DO NOT INSERT POWER SOURCE UNLESS IN AN AUTHORIZED AND CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT.

  – –

  OPERATING MODE: E?????????????R????????????R?????????????R?????????????o?????????????O?????????????o????????????R?????????????R????????????O?????????????r????????????O????????????R?????????????

  INITIATING PROCESS…

  SELECTING LOCATION AND DESTINATION…

  Location: World E1A26; Entity 211126

  Destination: #???????$??????%???????#???????@??????!???????!???????~???????%???????@??????^??????

  “Oh shit. No… no, no, NO!” Meine begins to panic as he desperately taps away on the magical holographic display, attempting to shut the Relic down until the magical tablet stops responding to his plea. The magical display began to freeze, corrupted with the same error similar to that of the Relic in which it was plugged into.

  Several workers ran around desperately finding anything to hide behind, away from the Relic, but to no avail. Meine and Aurora find themselves beginning to lift upward, as if gravity were switched off entirely

  “Woah! Woah!” Meine puts on his goggles to cover his eyes from the sand. The air around the Relic began to heat up quickly, causing him to widen his eyes. “It’s overclocking! Find cover!” He looks around, finding nothing but flat sand and watery seascape.

  “I-I can’t move! Help me!” Aurora yelled out to him, unfamiliar with how to maneuver herself without gravity unlike Meine, who has been

  This wasn’t supposed to happen. All the Relics he had seen, collected and studied, only Weapon-class Relics are this violent in nature. He cursed himself for not thinking it through before activating the machine. Even though the labeling had ‘EXPERIMENTAL’ written in its code, he had let his curiosity get the better of him. He should’ve known better, and now he and Aurora are going to pay for it.

  No, this cannot be their end. He looked down into the sea, finding several fishes and other smaller sea creatures swimming about without much care. Being a quick-thinking man, an idea flashed in his mind.

  Meine pulled out an Energy Gem cell from his pocket and began to dismantle it, pulling the highly refined Energy Gem out of the can-like container. He also grabbed another device of his from his coat, activating it prematurely for what he’s about to do.

  “Aurora!” Meine kicked his leg against the Relic, propelling himself towards her who's flailing around aimlessly, unable to correct herself in a zero gravity environment.

  He grabs her by the waist, using his body to shield Aurora as he slid a mechanical glove-like device into her hand. “USE YOUR PALM VORTEX NOW!” He yelled at her but to no avail.

  Panicking at her current situation, Aurora found herself unable to concentrate her wind power. “This is your fault! I don’t wanna die!!!”

  “-Tsk!” Meine looked back at the Relic, the machine is almost at its limit, its visible magical symbols and mechanical instruments glowing a bright red from the rising heat.

  He turned back to face Aurora. “Focus! Or we’ll both die!”

  “I-I can’t…!” She began to cry as tears formed on her eyes, a stark contrast to her usual upright and hard-on attitudes that she usually gives him. Is this the kind of person that the Empress’s personal assistant really is?

  Finding no other choice but to elicit a strong reaction from her, he pulled up his goggles to reveal his eyes before grabbing the back of her head, pulling her face into his before giving her a deep kiss on the lip.

  She quickly refocuses back on him as her eyes widen, forming a wind vortex in her palm as she aims it at Meine’s chest. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU PERVER-!”

  Quickly letting go of her lips, he inserted the purple-colored Energy Gem into the device in her palm before she was able to discharge the vortex into him. He grabbed her arm, swinging it up to the sky before rotating himself so as his back was against the sea to cover for her. The Energy Gem quickly dissolved, mixing with the wind vortex in Aurora’s hand as it amplified the power of the vortex tenfold, forming a vortex that sucked in even the water surface ten meters below.

  “Shoot it!” He yelled, his arm tightening around her waist as he hung onto her back, closing his eyes for what’s about to happen and bit on her neck.

  Jumped by the sudden bite, Aurora fired her vortex, quickly launching both of them into the sea surface below. The Relic blew up, discharging a tremendous wave of mana that could be felt even underwater. Chunks and bits of the Relic fell into the water, its previously hot red components extinguished by the blue clear water.

  Meine surfaced up, his back still stung from hitting the water flat at high speed. “Ow…”

  He quickly helped Aurora who didn’t know how to swim to shore, carrying her up from the easily traversable shallow beach as she coughed out a bit of water from her mouth. “Are you alright?”

  “I’m… I’m alright…” She looked away from him, covering her face in an attempt to hide her blushing.

  “I’m sorry, I should’ve known better.” He sat down, catching his breath as he looked at the blown Relic.

  The thing was completely wrecked. Its hardened exterior cracked from the implosions that happened within, while other parts were completely blown off, revealing a hot mess of wirings, smaller Computation-class Relics and burnt magical devices.

  Meine picked up his magical tablet and gave it several taps to no response. He opened its back, revealing a series of intricate arcane symbols and delicate architectures smoldered black from the usual crystal clear lines of the arcane device.

  “Mana overload.” He comments, throwing the tablet away. “The thing is fried dead.”

  “Anyone ok?!” Several workers emerged from the water, who had the same idea of hiding themselves from the explosion underwater as Meine.

  “Yeah, we’re fine. What’s the casualty?” Meine asked him.

  “We’re mostly fine, sir. Only one feller got his eardrums blown out from the explosion.”

  “Not great, not terrible.” He said, affirming the situation.

  “What are we going to do about the Relic, sir?”

  “I’ll file a report and have it shipped back to our ministry.”

  “But it’s not a Weapon-class Relic. You’d be in great trouble if they found out, sir.”

  Meine looked back again at the burnt Relic before turning his head back at the worker. “Would they?”

  “...”

  “Of course not, Director.” The worker let out a smile along with Meine. “I’ll inform them that this is a Weapon-class Relic.”

  “Please do.” Meine said as both of them began laughing like geniuses who had figured out how to get more Relics for themselves to study, getting them away from the hands of other the snobby mages and professors who could barely achieve the same level of success of his Imperial Ministry Magical Weaponry.

  His worker suddenly ceased his laughter at the sight of something behind Meine’s back, quickly sprinting away.

  “Where are you goin-” Meine turned his head back, finding an angry and flustered Aurora holding her saber at him.

  “You!” She said angrily, “How dare you take my first kiss like that?!”

  “Wait! Wait! No!” He attempted to crawl away, only to find himself back against the open sea. “I saved us, didn’t I?!”

  Aurora’s face twitches, but she gives it a thought out of gratitude. He did save her, afterall. But that kiss? She couldn’t get it out of her mind. Nobody has dared to do anything like that to her.

  “Tsk. I’ll forgive you this time.” She said as she put her saber back into the sheath. “Though I wouldn’t mind if you kiss me like that again…” She whispered out her mind, hoping that Meine wouldn’t hear it as she caressed her lips with her hand.

  “Huh?” Meine turned to her as he raised an eyebrow, only to find Aurora’s hand on the saber in her sheath again.

  “You heard nothing, understand?” She said with a cold stare into his eyes.

  “Understood…” Meine let out a sigh before noticing the silhouette of a ship approaching from the sky in the distance. “Looks like we’re done early here, let’s go home.”

  Arden, United Federation of Elysia.

  Presidential Office.

  April 25th, Elysian Calendar Year 1987.

  “Mister President!” An assistant burst through the Presidential Office.

  President Irwin looked up from the usual reports on his work desk, hoping to be distracted from the large stacks of paperwork on his desk. “Yes? What’s the matter, Ellen?”

  Recently sworn into office, he is still full of energy and sense of duty, a perfect role model of what a citizen of the United Federation should be. While he had hoped it would not be the Socialists making trouble again, he was prepared to hear more bad news. Afterall, most of the emergency reports had been about another Socialist military movement.

  “Sir, the Evalyn Aerospace just discovered a large storm developing over the West Sea! It’s like nothing we’ve ever seen!” She cried out.

  Well, that was unexpected.

  “Woah, calm down Ellen.” He stood up, curious about the situation. “Why hasn't anyone sent me a report on this?”

  The woman calms down. “The storm seemed to have spontaneously appeared, sir. The guys at the Army’s meteorological division should be giving you a call sometime around now, one of their meteorologists will inform you about the emergency situation.” As she finished her sentence, the phone on President Irwin’s desk began to ring.

  Irwin walked back to his desk and picked up the phone next to his computer terminal. “President Irwin speaking.”

  “Mister President,” a calm voice replied over the phone. “I’m Dr. Andrew Scott, meteorologist. I’m sure you’ve heard of the storm developing over the sea just off the Western shore.”

  “I sure did, what’s going on?”

  “We’re still monitoring it however the increasing intensity of the storm has made us lose contact with the monitoring buoys so we are not certain of the situation, but our speculation is that Elysia might be encompassed by the storm in less than twelve hours given the growth rate seen by the current sorties of weather reconnaissance aircrafts in the outer rim. We still don’t know how it came to be, but you should expect it to make landfall within two hours.”

  At least it wasn’t the Socialists, Irwin felt somewhat relieved. As he exhaled a long sigh, President Irwin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Finding himself to be sufficiently composed, he motioned for his reliable aide.

  “Ellen, we need to declare a national emergency. Get everyone here ASAP, and make sure to ground all flights. Oh, and tell Loyd to get my press team ready.”

  “Right away, sir.” She rushed out of the office.

  President Irwin then returned his attention to the meteorologist on the phone. “Dr. Andrew.”

  “Yes sir?”

  “Any suggestions?”

  “You should hunker down and hope for the best, Mister President.”

  “Wow… it can’t be that bad, can it?”

  “I hope not, but you should prepare for the worst. Although I’m not qualified, I advise you to mobilize all emergency services and the Army for disaster relief.”

  “The active component of the Army is already deployed near the border, Dr. Andrew, so I’ll mobilize the reserves. If you would excuse me, I’ll be making some other calls after the broadcast, let me know if anything new comes up.”

  “Will do, Mister President. You have our good luck from Evalyn Aerospace, sir.” He ended the call.

  Now alone, Irwin rests his face on the work desk. “Oh Lucius, what am I supposed to do without you?...” He drifts in thought. Lucius was a successful President during his administration, boosting the economy as well as the standard of living many times during his long career as the previous President. Only succeeded early on in the current term due to his sudden assassination at the hands of Socialist rebels. The former Vice President now found himself with a greater responsibility of running the country in precarious times. Irwin sank deep into his seat, finding himself thinking of the situation in the country.

  The Socialists are making their move. Troop movements were detected just across from the border for weeks now, undoubtedly waiting to attack after Elysia’s communication and infrastructure were disrupted by the coming storm. The current Cold War with the Socialist states is certainly coming to an end, no doubt would be inevitably replaced with a hot war that would devastate the current world. Although just a fantasy, he wished that all of these issues would disappear.

  “Good afternoon, Mister President.” A voice caught Irwin’s attention, causing him to look up from his hand. His press team is already pushing themselves into the room, setting up cameras and equipment to prepare for the emergency broadcast.

  “Loyd, I got this. Don’t worry about me, hand me my announcement papers.” He ordered.

  His assistant pulled out a piece of paper from his folder and offered it to the President. “Here you go, sir.”

  Irwin took the paper and read the lines, it was nothing he wasn’t expecting. Emergency broadcasts are as common in his country as having a morning coffee these past few years, another wouldn’t hurt. The only thing he hopes is that people would take the announcement seriously this time since they have been doing so many recently in regards to Socialist troop movements.

  Grabbing a bottle of water and downing half of it, Irwin cleared his throat, adjusting his tie and straightened his pose for the camera crew. “I’m ready.”

  The camera director announced. “We are rolling in three… two… one…”

  The camera went live, broadcasting the image of the President to every corner of the United Federation. “People of our proud nation…”. He read out the lines projected under the camera lens like usual. Strong and stern voice, yet with calm demeanor and professional language. The announcement ended, signaled by a loud “cut!” by the camera director.

  A cup of warm coffee was suddenly placed on his desk. “You must be tired, sir.” Loyd, one of his most trusted assistants said. While Ellen handles internal matters, he usually relies more on Loyd to sort out and report international affairs to him.

  Worried about the President’s health after many days of his consisting mostly of short sleep and shuffling through stacks of documents, Loyd couldn’t help but give the President several words of advice. “You should take a break sir, there are people who can handle most of the less important affairs for you.”

  “I can’t, Loyd. I wasn’t prepared to suddenly take over the Presidential role like this, not after Lucius’s sudden passing.” Irwin said, taking a sip of coffee before returning to checking documents relating to the Army’s reserve mobilization as he prepared for the upcoming disaster relief.

  “I know he was your long time friend, sir. But you really shouldn’t push yourself like this.”

  “If I don’t, this country will go to shit in no time.” Irwin said in return, shuffling through a stack of paper. “Nobody elected me in, Loyd. I may have been the first unelected President of this country, but I’m sure as hell won’t end my career as one.”

  “Understood, sir.” His assistant walked to the exit, bidding farewell to the President before returning to his duties. “I’ll see if there’s anything else to report to you, but you should head to the underground shelter after finishing up your work.”

  “Thank you, Loyd. You’re dismissed.”