The Resurgence of Pure Mana

"OH HO, I guess I underestimated your capabilities, the feelings my daughter held make more sense now, to think you could perceive my being after you were turned into a spirit! I the Shepherd of Souls, Septimus the divine king of all existence commends you!" A wolfish expression appeared across the being's face that had completely taken over Tiflos' body.

Tyros' body had been just shredded into nothing, turning his mortal body into that of an immortal ephemeral being, neither existing nor nonexistent.

But as he was shredded out of the universe, as he was being thrown into his original world, the glowing lights reflecting images of his eyes laid upon the figure that had been speaking to him.

The existence of the being, he was previously unaware had existed was revealed in full to him. A dark black smokey body of pure divine power, forcing his body together seemed to be barely contained within the blackened purple veiled cloak that was forced into existence.

His face was almost completely obscured by the veil, with exception to the eerily boundless depths of his glowing eyes, and a thin smile suddenly appeared across the obscured face as they glowed in a deep bloody red light with an abyssal black colored light darkening his pupils.

'Dear God, just what kind of existence is that? Just what kind of power have I been pursuing? There is literally nothing any being can try to do to even come close to that! Fuck... even Tiflos has no control over this space with this being here and she's already at a position mortals can even attempt to reach!'

As Tyros began to have true terror take over his being, falling through the void that was opened beneath him, the voice of Septimus rang in his head again.

"You're right! There are no beings in the universes that can compare to me, but you won't be able to speak of me, mortals don't have the right nor the ability to understand our existence. Even you, a being who had made it to such an age, still only believed my children were the grand deities, such an overblown position you mortals have placed them into. However, you are in fact an immortal spirit now and one that was able to nearly break into the realm of my children. You are granted the privilege of knowing of my existence, don't prove to me I was wrong in giving this to you. Remember, you will be bound to know of me, but not speak of me... enjoy"

Septimus' voice rang inside Tyros' head, and just as Septimus said his last warning to Tyros, he manifested and raised a finger to the front of his mouth. He was indicating to be quiet. It was a simple motion, but it made Tyros feel as if the mere news of his existence being released would cause Tyros' very existence to be removed, even the memory of his existence would be wiped clean.

Tyros tried to gulp down his terror as he fell through the void, only to find, there was no need for that, there was no need for anything now, he no longer had a mortal body but his spiritual being still felt every sensation as if his body still existed.

"Well daughter, are you happy now? I fulfilled your request to not remove him from existence, I even allowed him to be immortal, even as a spirit. In a sense, he's a god now himself. Even if he's just an insignificant dragon." Directing his word at Tiflos as her body returned to normal. Septimus was unbinding himself from Tiflos' body and spreading his being so thinly as to be unnoticeable to mortals, but as to be ever-present everywhere.

"Thank you, Father! I know you don't like most of Mother's creations, but this one seemed to be rather special, even you noticed that! Maybe that's why even you decided to allow him to attain immortality. BUT HEY, even though he's a mere speck of dust to you, you have to admit he piqued your interest too!"

Tiflos puffed her chest touting that she found a rather great specimen, indicating she was looking for praise and approval.

"Pfft, hahaha... You, my daughter, are adorable, and indeed your mother's creations don't usually interest me when they're alive, but to see a being come close to divinity is quite entertaining. You have a good eye... just remember, I won't do this for you for normal beings... it may anger your mother and you yourself know what happens when she becomes angered." Septimus couldn't hold back a laugh towards his daughter, as memories from eons passed rushed his mind.

However, the adorable actions his daughter was showing immediately vanished at the mention of his wife's wrath, having once before inadvertently destroyed her primordial realm only to recreate it moments later.

Tiflos had once before angered her mother with petty squabbling as mother and daughters often have, only to touch a nerve she shouldn't have and had her primordial realm wiped from existence itself, only to have it returned moments later. In Tiflos' eyes, she knew then she should never anger her mother again, on the other, Seraphemus had felt the guilt of the situation ever since.

Seraphemus held so much remorse for her actions she did in a fit of anger against her daughter's home. To which she had vowed to herself to control herself from then on, only for Septimus to tease her about it when chances appeared, as was his demeanor with his wife.

Septimus may tease Seraphemus of her past actions, but also to keep the empty threat towards his children as words of wisdom for them, but mostly as a way out from doing too many things that go against their own rules.

"Fine... I won't ask again Father... we really can't have Mother getting angry again now can we..." Tiflos felt sad at the thought of making her mother angry, she wanted her to stay happy with her creations and enjoy watching their lives.

The squabble she had eons ago was in fact the banishment of the dragons from Alterra, where Seraphemus felt her daughter had overstepped her bounds as a divine being. Now as the dragons have been returned to Alterra, there were gleeful fluctuations permeating throughout the cosmos.

The fluctuations perceived only by Septimus caused a smile to brighten his face, 'see Seraphemus, things can always return to the best possible course' Septimus thought to himself feeling his WIfe's joy.

----

As the dragons were returning to Alterra, countless changes began to occur. Dragons of all species began to return to their old habitats. Sea dragons began to appear in the depths of the oceans. Fire dragons began to appear in vast volcanic mountain ranges. Earth dragons began to appear in deep caverns beneath the ground and in the desserts. Meanwhile, the wind dragons began to appear in the vast skies above the open prairies and meadows of Alterra.

With the appearance of every dragon, there were portals that began to tear open space in the areas they appeared in. Along with these portals, they didn't just return the dragons to the world, they exuded vast amounts of pure mana.

With the sudden appearance of the dragons accompanied by the mana that was expelled with them, the creatures of Alterra began to go into a frenzy. Some of the weaker creatures, the runts of their species so to speak, began to feel the effects of pure mana the most.

The effects of pure mana were different from sullied and transmuted mana, it could be absorbed by anything and everything with no side effects! Pure mana had been exceedingly rare to find within Alterra as it had been long since absorbed by the materials and beings that inhabited the world.

Before the dragons returned to Alterra, the only access to pure mana within Alterra was in the form of mana stones. But mana stones, to begin with, were already rare and even more so for pure mana stones. Pure and impure mana stones were only formed over decades and centuries of crystalization of mana in mana-rich areas of Alterra.

The availability of pure mana stones was like trying to find a needle that was dropped in the depths of the ocean. Trying to find these mana stones was often only ever found as flukes when mining for other mana stones. Finding one pure mana stone amongst the tens of thousands of other mana stones was lucky if it was 1 to every 100,000 impure ones.

Mana stones were already extremely important for production workers on Alterra. But the difference and cost between pure and impure mana stones were like night and day. Mana stones were used to amplify materials and creations that were to be used as conduits to ease the manipulation of mana.

Wands and staffs were the most common product produced within the cities, but with impure mana stones, the wands and staffs were bound to degrade and eventually break apart.

That was what brought about the severe importance production workers placed upon pure mana stones. Pure stones didn't degrade their products, on the contrary, they even improved their products by leaps and bounds, sometimes changing the product to the most suitable shape for the pure mana to be utilized

A simple steel sword that was imbued with impure mana stones was the basic necessity to kill monsters, and the more mana stones imbued into the swords, the stronger and sharper they could stay.

Non imbued swords could do nothing to living monsters, their hides were much too thick to cut when mana coursed through their bodies. Even small animals that have absorbed mana, simple weapons just wouldn't do anything to them. As such, non-imbued weapons were only used for harvesting crops and butchering.

However, on the other end of the spectrum of weaponry and tools, the ones imbued with pure mana stones could cut through almost everything with ease. The sale of these items was extremely unusual, as the only people who had access to such items were nobles of the highest orders and of Royal families. Only on extreme occasions would high-level adventurers hold such weapons, even then they would most likely be connected to nobles.

The blacksmiths and artificers who were granted access to pure mana stones to make those items were all renowned. Almost all of the items imbued with pure mana stones were deemed as a national treasure or family heirlooms to nobles. Royal weapons were all thought to use no less than 10 pure mana stones.

But only blacksmiths of true ability knew how to properly harness the capabilities of pure mana stones within their creations. As such the basic materials used were just as important to the blacksmiths as the pure mana stones. One simply doesn't throw a pure mana stone into a lump of rusted steel.

The reappearance of pure mana through the portals that returned the dragons to Alterra was a sign of fortunes and riches galore but also brought about dreadful omens to those who were wise enough to predict the future.

Pure mana was needed to form pure mana stones to use in the creation of weaponry and tools that could secure the foundations of any country, of any family, and of any individual. Pure mana stones meant the difference between a rich and thriving kingdom and a destitute estate in the backwaters of history.

Everyone would be bound to fight over access to pure mana stones for themselves, their family, or for king and country. Nobody would be able to escape the allure of raising themselves to higher levels.

However, on one hand, pure mana meant a great boon for cultivation within the world, a boon that would change the histories of countless countries and continents across Alterra. On the other hand, dragons only thrived and survived in areas of pure mana, and they were greedy creatures by nature.