Prelude to Disaster?

Another decade passed. Time flies by when you are a long-lived species. By this point, Eliva and Avile were able to stand, walk, talk and do pretty much everything Averill could do when he was their age. In a large, but mostly empty room with low lighting, and some expensive-looking furniture, Averill was reading and the twins were playing with each other. 

"Hey brother," Eliva asks Averill. "Have you been outside yet?"

"Hm?" Averill stopped reading his book and looked up at Eliva. "No?" he answers. "Why'd you ask?"

"Apparently," Avile stepped in. "She admires Naven."

"I see," Averill responds. "So? What do you want me to do?"

Eliva began to fidget a lot and her cheeks flushed rosy pink.

"C-can you ask him to bring me to the outside... t-the next time he comes home?"

Averill looked at her. He sighed.

"Sure, I can do that. But I won't guarantee it. Go ask him yourself. After all, you cannot be like this all the time."

Evila cocked her head to the side to show her confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"It means you can't be this selfish all the time." Avile, her twin sister answered.

"I-is that so? Then I apologise." she said.

"It is alright. I will go ask him for you. But next time," Averill sternly warned, "I won't do it."

"Okay." she nodded back in excitement.

Averill stood up, placed the book he was reading on the chair and left the room to go and find Naven.

(Brother should be somewhere over there... right?) he nimbly made his way through the complex and confusing hallways of the Ezhil mansion towards the left side of the mansion. Averill and the twin's rooms are interconnected with each other, and they are located on the right side of the mansion. His parents' rooms are directly in the middle and are also interconnected with each other, whilst his older siblings' rooms are on the far left. The appearance of the mansion is fairly normal-looking, with white marble flooring and black titles, smooth stone pillars to support the weight of the roof, and features like that. 

There are little to no servants serving the Ezhil Clan, however, since magic has replaced them. There are ten humans from the nearby city of Cresena Lakeside City, which is under the rule and protection of the Ezhil Clan, as fodder and emergency food (basically emergency blood suppliers). The relationship between these ten individuals and the Ezhil Clan is quite blurred. From the perspective of the ten individuals, and all former ones, they said it was the best time of their lives, as they got paid for sticking around in a luxurious mansion, free to do basically anything they liked. Not only that, they got to serve the famous (and feared) Ezhil Clan of vampires, also known by their nickname, the 'Noble Vampires'.

As for the Ezhil Clan's perspective, they were just like cattle, restricted to their mansion and unable to leave it, just waiting for a time when they actually required blood direly. That perspective also applies to all cities governed and protected by the Ezhil Clan in their territory. Especially, Averill, as he looks down upon all those living and working in those cities. He views them as nothing more than mere peasants, and not cattle—which believe it or not, is a higher status compared to just 'cattle'. 

As Averill got closer to Naven's experiment room, he heard the voice of not only Naven, his brother but also Caca. Surprised, he expected Laruca to also be there, but he wasn't able to hear her voice through the door.

*Knock Knock*

Averill knocked on the door and everything inside the room went dead silent. Loud noises of things falling on the ground and glass shattering followed by a pained groan from Naven. The door swung open as Naven and Caca walked out. Averill didn't question what they were doing in that room. 

(Experimentation with the Divine Spirit again? Naven sure doesn't know when to give up...) 

"Oh, Averill! What a surprise," he said. "It is rare for you to visit me. What do you need from me?" 

"I am just here to relay a message from Eliva. Apparently, she heavily admires you so she asked me if I could ask you to bring her to the surface or to the outside soon." Averill replies. 

"Eh? Really? Eliva wants to go to the outside world? Is our dungeon not big enough for her?" 

"Not sure. But she appears to be very stubborn about it. Since I am only two decades old, I have no interest in the outside world for now, but the twins are different from me." 

Caca popped her head in to join the conversation. 

"It's normal for Eliva to be curious about the outside world. She's at that age of curiosity and imagination after all," she said. "And that makes you, Averill even stranger." 

"How so?" he replies in a manner like he already heard it several times. 

Caca rolled her tired and emotionless-looking eyes. 

"Despite being only twenty years old, how are you already at Sage-Level education?" she asks. 

Averill just shrugged his shoulders. 

"Another thing, you... How do I put this..?" 

"I what?" 

"Uh... Oh yes, you are at Sage-Level education, you act like you are centuries old despite being a mere two decades old, and your personality is too cold, harsh and just unwelcoming, and that is unacceptable! The only normal things about you are your height and your magic levels." 

Averill sighed. 

"And also stop sighing all the time." Caca added. 

"Sighing is my way to release some of my displeasure, and it just so happens I feel displeasure quite regularly. I can't help it." 

"Okay, okay, that is enough you two. No more bickering with each other." Naven stepped in. 

"I agree." Averill said. 

"So back on topic, Eliva, asked you to ask me if I can bring her up to the surface, is that correct?" 

"Correct." 

"I am fine with it. It just so happens I plan to go out soon. I will bring the twins with me." 

"Got it. Appreciate it. And by the way, do you still have some of the scales from the Crystal Dragon head that Caca defeated a decade ago?" Averill said. "I was wondering if I can use some for an experiment of my own."

"If you are just asking for the scales from that specific dragon, then unfortunately, the scales had run dry some time ago. However, I believe I do have some Crystal Dragon scales stored somewhere in this room." 

"Oh, do you? I don't mind. I just need some Crystal Dragon scales." 

"Okay. Caca," he said to her, "Can you search for the Crystal Dragon scales we have stored somewhere?" 

"No problem." she answers and went into the room. 

Moments later, she returns with a large wooden box in her hands. It showed signs of being covered with a thick layer of dust, but the wood still shined a beautiful golden-beige colour.

"Is this enough?" Caca questions. 

"Judging from the weight and size of the box, this should be more than enough. Thank you very much." 

He started to return to his and the twins' rooms. But Naven shouted out,

"You should come along too! It will be a great experience for you too!" 

"I will consider it. But don't get your hopes high." he responds. 

Eliva and Avile, mainly Eliva, excitedly waited for Averill to return and bring the good news. As members of the high vampire society, they were expected to be elegant and formal with their speech and actions at all times but currently, they were the completely opposite. The two of them were running around or fidgeting with their bodies at high speeds.

"I'm back." Averill says as he entered the room. He set the heavy wooden box full of Crystal Dragon Scales down on the floor before getting tackled by the twins. 

They were three-fourths of his height, at around 112.5 cm tall, but they carried enough force to bring him down.

"Ah?!" they made a heavy thud as they all went crashing towards the messy wood plank floor. 

"Ouch..." Averill rubbed his head to ease the pain a bit. He saw the twins sitting on his thighs, staring at him eagerly for his answer. "Before I tell you Naven's response, can you please, please promise me that you would not tackle me to the ground again?" 

"We promise!!" the twins said in unison. 

"As long you get the message... ahem! Anyway, Naven agreed to take both of you to the outside. There. I said it. Happy now?" 

Eliva and Avile exploded in a cheer of happiness and excitement.

"He also said that it will take place soon, I recommend to complete your work before you even start thinking about this trip."

"Okay!" they said in unison again. Averill watched them run off towards their room to complete whatever work their mother, Helena had set for them. In the meantime, as they do their work, Averill cracks open the box and immediately, a bright light blinds him. The power of the light was nothing to scoff at to Averill's surprise, but the light quickly dispersed. What was left- well, what caused the blinding lights in the first place; the scales. They were a beautiful sky-blue colour but with an earthy smell and crystal-like appearance. They were about twice the size of Averill's hands and were stacked in neat rows of five and five columns. 

He carefully picked one of the scales up and examined it. 

(Hard and cold... possibly brittle as well... this material is perfect too! The magic resistance of Crystal Dragon scales is among the lowest of Tier 8 monsters and beings. No materials from Tier 7 or below can take more than one hit from my magic, but at the same time, I can only merely scratch materials in High Tier 8 and Low Tier 9. Materials like Light Barrier Skin from Light Core-Powered Ashians, which is at a Low Tier 9 level, I could only inflict little less than a couple of cuts.) Averill's heart raced with excitement that he had never experienced before. 

(Breathe in... breathe out... breathe in... breathe out... I think I have calmed down now.) 

He joyfully picked up the box again and carried it to a small corner in the far right-hand side of the room from the door. Going into his Transformed State, his many little and almost invisible bats carried each of the twenty-five Crystal Dragon scales with care and once he was back into his human form again, his bats placed them down onto the metal-looking table. 

Averill was now in a different room separate from the room that he was in a moment prior. This room was much more lit up, with three instead of one lantern. It also was much smaller, only around a third in size compared to the original room, but since it has better lighting, it  feels larger. In each corner of the room, there are multiple bookshelves, filled to the brim with things like glass bottles containing mysterious and different coloured liquids, monster materials and more. In the centre of the room stood a large, thin and black adjustable table. That table is made out of Nonamaium, a compound element of 80% pure Enaium, a rare but lightweight, flexible and strong metal, Type-Zero 96.4% Noxia, a highly dangerous element that could easily hurt and harm, or even kill a human being, and Type-Three 55% Mataium. 

Noxia is an element found naturally, though it is extremely rare. Only one gram of it is found per ten million tons of earth you dig up. Type-Zero Noxia is just Noxia but artificially made, but Type-Zero 96.4% Noxia is Type-Zero Noxia but made by Averill. It is 96.4% pure, only a mere 3.6% away from naturally forming Noxia. As for why Noxia is so rare, it only forms in veeery specific conditions. But those specific conditions make Noxia a very powerful and desired element by all species of the world. It is pretty lightweight, malleable, and flexible, but can also be brittle at times. It also cannot be corroded by most elements nor be vapourised by even the strongest acids and has extremely high melting and boiling points (15,000°C and 12,500°C respectively).

Because Noxia is so rare and difficult to artificially produce as well, Averill also included Type-Three 55% Mataium, an element also artificially produced by Averill and has similar properties to Noxia, he was able to melt down his created Type-Zero 96.4% Noxia and mixed it together with his also created Type-Three 55% Mataium (and 80% pure Enaium for good measure), he was rewarded with a sheet of metal valued over trillions of WD (World Dollars), and possibly, one of the strongest known materials. 

Despite all of Nonamaium's very impressive characteristics, it still has one major flaw. It's not the high cost or the scarcity of the minerals required to make it, but the amount of precision, power and strength to handle it is just off the charts. 

Due to that one flaw, and unfortunately for Averill, he is unable to completely process the Nonamaium table. His magic does nothing to it, while physical attacks also do nothing to it. He could try melting the metal enough for it to be extra malleable, but that would be impossible at this stage. 

So it is more like a sheet of Nonamaium that is able to be adjusted rather than an actual table. But Averill didn't care. To him, the features and characteristics of Nonamaium are perfect. It is strong, highly magic resistance and as mentioned before, his magic does absolutely nothing to it. 

"My heart always skips a beat when I see you, dear Nonamaium," he said to the metal sheet. "Once I get strong enough to process you fully, I promise I will make you into a hollow statue of someone." 

Talking to the Nonamaium sheet like it was an actual person- actually more like his firstborn child really, Averill took out a white cloth from one of his jacket's pockets and started to wipe it. He hummed the tune of one of his favourite songs, 'Cardinal' by a well-known musical band (to the locals of Olette Island). He joyfully cleaned the sheet of Nonamaium for several minutes before he wiped his sweat away and looked proudly at the sheet of Nonamaium once more. 

(Time to test out my magic on the Crystal Dragon's scales to see if my magical level and power increased or not.)

He placed one scale up against the Nonamaium sheet and secured it with string made out of his own magic. Averill then walked two metres away from the scale and made a stance. His hand were making a finger gun-like shape with the arm he had outstretched, one eye closed with the other eye aiming at the scale. Once he was ready, a small fire slowly but steadily materialised in front of his index finger of the outstretched arm.

Once the small fire grew to half the size of his hand, he fired it. Flying at the scale at a modest speed, the fire's light quickly got more intense as it made its way towards the Crystal Dragon scale, and Averill was blinded by it. Once it had reached the scale itself, the light quickly disappeared and what remained was a glowing hot pile of half-melted Crystal Dragon scale goodness. There was no explosion or great sound produced by the fire when it reached the scale, and it made Averill quite surprised, as he expected at the very least, a small sound or explosion produced. But there was none. 

"Strange..." he mumbled at the result. "But still, my strongest magic spell still did nothing to Nonamaium. I thought it would be different, even by a tiny bit, but alas, I was wrong. However, to be able to (half) melt Crystal Dragon scales is an achievement regardless." 

In this world, the strength of magic, the quality of items or anything that could be measured is divided into fifteen tiers, with Tier 1 being the weakest, and Tier 15 being the strongest or the highest quality.

Magic spells like [Inferno] are classified as Tier 6 also known as Intermediate-level spells. 

For magic, Tiers 1-3 are known as Basic-level spells while Tiers 4-6 are known as Intermediate-level spells and Tiers 7-10 are known as Advanced-level spells. Tiers 11-13 are known as Expert-level spells, while the last two tiers, Tier 14 and 15 are known as Master-level spells. 

From Tiers 1-10, there's not much difference between each of the tiers, such as [Judgement], a Tier 5 spell that can determine if someone is lying or telling the truth, and [Advanced Gazing], a Tier 6 spell that essentially does the same thing but with a higher level of accuracy and consistency. 

However, for magic spells Tiers 11 and above, the power or strength of one spell is vastly different from one tier to another.

Currently, the highest tier spell that Averill can consistently use is Tier 12 [Black Underworld], which allows Averill to summon beings from Hell itself. The beings called from that spell can only use Tier 1-9 magic, but in some cases, Tier 10 and 11 are somewhat common. 

But compare that to the Tier 13 spell, [Heavenly Summons], a similar summoning spell like [Black Underworld], angels that were summoned from [Heavenly Summons] are guaranteed to have at least ONE Tier 11 magic spell, and in some cases, Tier 12. [Black Underworld] and [Heavenly Summons] are only one tier apart from one another, but the results speak for themselves. 

(Right then I just used Tier 8 [Aestas] on the Crystal Dragon scales, which is also Tier 8. Could it be that the properties of [Aestas] or the scales make it so that an explosion won't occur?) he pondered. To find out, he prepared to use another spell, and this time, a Tier 11 spell. 

"Thundering lightning, I beg you to bless me, for I, a worthy one to use, shall grant you your wishes!" he said. It was a chant that required one to say before using the Tier 11 spell, [Rightful Thunder]. Unlike magic spells Tier 10 and below, which with enough training, could be used chantless, however, for the remaining tiers, that could not be true. Tier 11 magic could be mostly shortened to just a couple of words, while the remaining tiers would depend on the user. 

Static electricity generated from the spell encased Averill's clothes which made them faintly glow a soft blue. As the imbalance between the net positive charge of Averill and the generated net negative from [Rightful Thunder] grew and grew, Averill's arms started to go extremely numb—to the point that he couldn't feel them anymore, he made the decision to release the attack. Almost immediately firing off the spell, he could feel his limbs again, but he also barely saw the spearhead-like shape of the materialised static electricity hit the cooling half-melted Crystal Dragon scale as he was blown away by the following explosion caused by [Rightful Thunder] hitting the scale. 

"A-amazing!" he cried out as he stood up. The explosion caused by the spell and scale was extremely damaging. The built-up energy of the static electricity and the kinetic energy of the electricity going at the speed of light multiplied the damage caused. Averill was fine of course, but the state of the room was vastly different. A sonic boom also occurred which shattered all surrounding glassware and heavily damaged any other standing material. The only part of the room that mostly survived was the part that the Nonamium sheet was in front of. 

As per usual, the sheet of Nonamium didn't take a single scratch. However, for the Crystal Dragon scale,

"—Yes!" Averill cheered out loud. "The scale was successfully destroyed!" 

The scale was now in millions of shards most of them being smaller than even grains of sand with some big chunks here and there. Present on the larger chunks of the scale were deep cracks running all over the surface of the chunks.

"It seems like the energy and force of the impact between the spell and the scale was so great that it caused the scale to break apart, and when it did so, the energy transferred into the Nonamium sheet, which reflected it, causing an explosion and the sonic boom was created because of how loud the noise was..." he concluded after scanning the room. 

...