Several Hours Later, Dominion Floating Warship Ironblood
The warship of the Atlesian Dominion, Ironblood, has finally arrived at its destination after spending several hours in the skies because of the blizzard. The weather of the Solitan skies could be as dangerous or sometimes even more than the Grimm themselves.
Still, they finally arrived at the coordinates given to them, and their sensors had already picked up some residual traces of Mana and even outstretched Wards, meaning they were at the right place.
What was interesting was that the entire place was showing the traces of battle, because it seemed that they were attacked by the Grimm horde, but someone managed to slaughter the entire horde.
"Secure the perimeter and send down the extraction team with medics."
Captain James Ironwood issued the orders when he noticed that the area seemed safe... at least for now. Due to that, they needed to hurry, because one could never know when the Grimm would appear.
He also ordered one of the technicians to access the satellites that were orbiting around the Remnant and observe everything that was happening within the continent of Solitas. He wanted to get the visuals of what exactly had happened in this place.
Soon enough, the technicians got him the video recordings from the satellites over the entire area, and it was his turn to be shocked.
Because the footage was...
Unreal.
Now he could understand why the Holy Saint Blue Thunderclap was adamant on retrieving the teen. Even though Ironwood wasn't any kind of scholar, he recognized the Noble Artes when he saw them, and he could see their potential.
Noble Artes Inherent Magic Abilities... like Semblance to Aura.
Not every Mage had the Noble Arte, because having one was proof of one's strength in their Magical Lineage. And he could see that the young man had at least two Noble Artes, which were...
Very rare.
This was already on the level of the Great Families, because only the descendants of the Great Families had more than one Noble Arte. He knew that there was something deeper in this... perhaps the Holy Saint Blue Thunderclap recognized those Noble Artes or whatever.
Or they wanted to sponsor the young man...
Either way, he knew that with this, his mission was completed, and now the only thing that remained was the journey back to the Atlas. He was rather eager to return to the city as well, because at least it was interesting, contrary to the other duties that the Captains like him had.
Patrolling the borders of the Dominion was...
Boring for most of the part.
Though in a few months, they would be conducting a raid on the White Fang, which would be a huge operation, as some of the territories were seen acting around the borders of Dominion, which was unacceptable.
If there was one danger the Faunus represented, it was that they bred pretty fast... faster than humans, which had something to do with their animal genome, allowing them, in many cases, to have much more numerous offspring than humans.
White Fang was recently created terrorist organizations that were primarily active in Mistral, but were already spreading their operations to Vacuo and to Vale to a lesser degree.
Ironwood had to admit that whoever was planning their operations had a good head on their shoulders, because Mistral was the perfect place. The government in that nation was technically non-existent, and as long as they avoided particular Great Families, nobody would really send someone really powerful after them.
Yet, their mistake was attacking the convoy of the Schnee Dust Company several weeks ago, during which a lot of Dust and Suspendium were stolen, personnel were killed, and a lot of property was destroyed.
According to the reports that he read, even several Schnees were injured during the ambush, and Patriarch Nikolas Schnee was furious to the point where he brought the matter ot the Trifarix Council.
The highest executive body of the Dominion.
The Trifarix, also known as the "Council of Three", was the current governing body of the Atlesian Dominion, embodying the fundamental tenets of the Trifarix doctrine, or the "Principles of Strength". This organizational structure emerged in the aftermath of Atlas's transition from a monarchy led by fallible emperors to a meritocracy under the watchful eyes of the Trifarix.
The Trifarix Doctrine revolved around three core principles: Might, Vision, and Guile. These principles encapsulate the ideals that each Atlesian citizen should strive to embody for the prosperity of the Dominion.
The emphasis on all three aspects reflects the belief that a balanced combination of strength, foresight, and cunning is essential for the success and dominance of Atlesian Dominion.
Nikolas Schnee, Lo Po Bia Traumerei and Arie Hon were the members of the Trifarix Council as the Limit Saints of the Atlas. It wasn't like the Atlas didn't have more Limit Saints, but neither Khun Eduan nor Po Bidau Gustang were interested in "responsibility" or politics.
So the moment the proposal was brought up, it was immediately approved, and now, a large part of the Dominion's Military was preparing to strike at the bases of the White Fang around Anima that were in the No-Man's Zone or at the outskirts of Solitas.
It would be a really grand military operation that wasn't seen in years, though that was only true because it was a military operation against faunus and some of their human sympathizers.
Military operations in the past decades were typically carried out against the creatures of Grimm.
***
Getting into that monstrosity of the floating warship was one hell of a journey, because the Warship that was called "Ironblood" was enormous. It was much bigger than the naval ships that he saw in his life as Sirius Grey or the airships in his "life" as Ardyn Izunia.
It was floating thanks to the usage of the Suspendium and Dust.
Maschenny was picked up by medics when they descended down from the Ironblood, as she was given a comprehensive check by the doctors and healers on the Ironblood, which showed that they was rather alright.
Her Aura has recovered enough to start healing, and she was already out of the greatest danger of Magical Exhaustion. Which was another added bonus for the Maschenny, because it seemed that there wouldn't be any lasting injuries on her person.
"Welcome to the board of the Dominion Warship Ironblood. I am Captain James Ironwood, commander of this vessel, Captain of the Dominion's Military, and member of the Ironwood family."
James Ironwood was rather accommodating toward the two of them, as Ardyn noticed that the man in front of them was a soldier through and through. It was rather evident from his posture and everything, even the way that he spoke.
"It's my pleasure, Captain."
Maschenny said lightly, but she didn't really pay much attention to the man in question because she just wanted to return home and then report to the Academy that the mission she took was a failure.
Something that was probably pissing her off a lot, because Ardyn noticed that she was a perfectionist who cared about her stellar results and achieving her goals at any cost.
"Well, thanks for the save, Captain Ironwood. Your service couldn't have been more precise, or else we would have frozen to the icicles."
Ardyn said with a dramatic tone of voice as he shook hands with Captain Ironwood.
He knew that Ironwood was a General of some kind in the original canon... obviously, he wouldn't really know that if he would achieve the same rank in this world, but it would cost him nothing if he decided to maintain a good relationship with him.
With them on the deck, they would be returning to the Atlas, the capital of the Dominion. He was rather eager to see the most prosperous and advanced city in the entirety of the Remnant.
Both he and Maschenny were given personal quarters during the time that they were on the Warship Ironblood.
Obviously, the Dominion Warships, at least the newer models and those which were more advanced, contained some pretty luxurious facilities within them that were usually reserved for the Officers, powerful Huntsmen, or guests ot the Warships.
Ardyn wasn't really that fazed by it, because he experienced an even higher degree of luxury in both of his lives, or so he had thought. Apparently, the journey back to the Atlas, the capital of the Dominion, would take them around a few hours, because of the weather conditions that were far from ideal.
When Ardyn checked on his queaters, the first thing he did was to start checking on the other contents of the Dimensional Storage that he took from that deceased student of Alsius Military Academy.
He emptied the entire Dimensional Storage, which wasn't particularly big. When one took away all the food, things for survival in the wilderness, and other things, there were not really many valuables left.
The moment was prominent where something which seemed to be credit cards, but they were the Lien Cards. What was problematic was that he didn't really know how to acess them or what to do with them...
Those were not the only things, as there were some other things that he didn't really recognize, aside from the Dust Crystals. Long short story, the Dust was crystallized Mana that was extremely dense in some areas, which resulted in the creation of Dust.
Suspendium and Dust were the two minerals on which the entire Remnantian civilization functioned. Dust was needed for the weapons and most advanced technology ies nd some other things.
Not to mention, Dust was also acting as some sort of battery for the technology and device, because Dust Crystal could absorb ambient Mana to recharge itself.
"Hmm... I should go bother the bluehead... she wants something from me, so the minimum she can do is to sort these things out and prepare some things for me."
Ardyn muttered as he then left his assigned room and went to find Maschenny to bother her a bit, preparing to exploit her schemes for his own benefit. Or they could give each other some mutual help.
He went through the corridors of the Warship, which were simple, utilitarian, and somewhat pleasing to the eye. Everything about the Dominion Warship, like all of the Floating Ships of the Atlesian Dominion, was designed ot be maximally efficient and combat-ready.
Fortunately, Maschenny's quarters were not really that far from his own, as they were in the section of the ship that was reserved for the commanding officers and high-ranking combatants or prominent guests.
If by some accident someone like that was even invited to the Warship by the order of the Captain.
He stood in front of her door, as he knocked on the door several times and waited until she opened it. Which was rather fast, so at least he didn't need to wait for a long time.
After they were taken to the Warship, Maschenny was checked on by a healer, and she would apparently be fully recovered very soon. Well, with her Aura healing her, it would be a pretty straightforward thing, and she would recover soon.
Then there was another factor, which was one of the greatest advantages of the Great Families.
Because they were bred among the strongest Mage and Aura lineages for countless centuries, their physiques were unnaturally strong, and their healing factors were several times higher than those of an average human.
Yeah...
Apparently, Eugenics was a huge thing for the Great Families.
That was the reason why they only rarely allowed marriages with people outside of prominent lineages, as the next generation must be at least as strong as the one right now that was procreating.
"Hello there... again."
Ardyn greeted Maschenny, who had changed to more casual and comfortable clothes from the battle armor that she had worn the previous day. She wore some kind of costume, dark blue in color, with a light blue collar and a tiny tie that looked like some weird version of an Asian school uniform for girls.
"Hmm... these ones suit you better than the previous ones, it really brings up that cute side."
He commented lightly as she was caught off guard and blushed slightly before she quickly regained her composure.
"Though you look like a school kid on the other side."
Ardyn grinned as Maschenny suddenly froze as lightning cracked around her, and she instantly used her newly recovered Mana and Aura to launch a high-speed punch at his face, which was blocked by his Aura.
Still, Ardyn felt the impact pretty much because even if the Aura was blocking the attacks, it still hurt to a certain degree.
"Damm you really have a strong punch... ou."
Ardyn pretended to be hurt, but seeing her unpleasant expression, told him that it was more than enough teasing for one season.
"Do you come here just to cause trouble or for something specific?"
She asked directly as he gave her a nod.
"Can I go inside? Obviously, I don't want to talk about it in the corridors."
Maschenny then reletned and shoved him directly inside to deal with his antics. Like him, she was also observant enough to realize that the young man in front of her liked messing with people, and perhaps one could say that he liked it too much.
Her room looked exactly like his own, which, on the other hand, was logical as this was a military ship, not a luxury cruise.
"So what do you want?"
Ardyn then pulled out the things that he wanted his help with.
"Within the Dimension Storage that I... found, yeah, let's decide on that... well, back to the story, I have some Lien Cards with what I don't know what to do, and some other objects with what I am rather unfamiliar."
Maschenny looked at the things that he had, and with a defeated sigh, she proceeded to answer all of his questions. It was rather interesting, really, but she could be rather helpful when she wanted.
He didn't really know if it was due to the fact that she really wanted to help him or that she just decided that she wouldn't waste time, and it didn't really cost her a lot.
"These are unbound Lien Cards, meaning that there is a specific amount of Lien on them, and you can use them freely. The crystal here is the Scroll; it seems it's fried, so it's rather useless. Other things you can sell at the pawn shop or something, not really useful... aside from this thing."
She took a look at the things that he showed her, but only one of them had her attention.
It was a palm-sized, glowing cube-shaped object made primarily from some kind of crystals, but the edges were coated in metal... even to Ardyn, it looked very weird and somehow... very advanced?
"How would a fool like him get his hands on something like this?"
Maschenny muttered as she held the object in her hands and stared at it like it was some kind of holy grail, before her gaze flickered between Ardyn and the object.
Several times at that.
"Why are you so lucky... this is Holocron, essentially an extremely advanced form of Grimoire. Holocrons are information-storage devices that are usually created by extremely powerful Saints to store their knowledge and pass it to their descendants or disciples. They are far more durable and could store more information than your average Grimoire in the form of a book... and most importantly... they always have a Data Version of the person creating them, so you could consider them sentient."
Ardyn only vaguely grasped the meaning, but for Maschenny, this was rather shocking. She didn't really know how such an idiot like Arathion could have obtained the Holocron. Even for the Great Families, Holocrons were rare treasures because of the power that one needed to successfully create one, and thus every one of them was precious.
"Holocrons usually contain all knowledge and experience of the person creating them, and to create them, you need to be a very strong person... Arathion Family is just a little shrimp in the Dominion, even if they tend to pretend otherwise, so that it couldn't be from them."
Ardyn now looked at the thing with greater interest, and part of him was certainly a bit worried that Maschenny would keep the thing solely for herself, depending on the reaction that she had toward the object.
"So it's like precious?"
He asked as he reached out to touch the Holocron, and the moment he touched the thing, suddenly he felt like his head was spinning, and sparks of electricity appeared around the Holocron as it shot towards the two of them.
In a split second, the Holocron started shaking, and its mechanical parts began turning and doing something. On both of their hands, a mark appeared that appeared to be of a small, crimson, tower-like structure.
Soon enough, the Holocron opened partially as lines of text appeared before their eyes, which Maschenny read out loud.
[To whoever is reading this.
You managed to open one of my Holocrons that contains part of my Legacy. Unlike the others, if you want to access this Holocron, you need to pass a series of tests to open it fully. Only those guided by the Fate could open this machinery and be given my mark.
When the Mark of the Red Tower is filled, you will be able to access Level 2 of the Holocron. For the time being, you can acess only the Level 1 Knowledge from the overall 5 Levels of the Holocron.
After unlocking the entirety of the machine, it would give you a method of obtaining the next part of the Legacy.
This is my message to whoever reads this.
If you pass all tests and obtain all of my Holocrons, you can inherit my complete Legacy.
I am Enryuu, the Red Tower and the Messenger.]