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***Meanwhile, inside Ad Astra***

Astaroth was walking around in the darkness for a bit. He kept feeling this ominous presence brush against his senses.

He knew he was in some kind of pocket of space, because he still had access to all his skills and spells, but something greyed all his communication functions out.

After walking for what felt like half an hour, he finally hit an invisible wall. He put his hand against it and followed it down, trying to find something in there.

But after following it for a while, he wound up in a dimly lit cave tunnel. He was getting confused, but he kept walking.

The ominous presence kept brushing against his senses, the interval getting shorter each time.

The cave tunnel suddenly started widening into a large room. Sitting in the middle of the room was a slim figure.

All around this slim figure were bodies strewn about, blood dried around them. The bodies were almost all killed in the same manner.

Some sort of jagged blade had ripped their throat out. But the person sitting in the middle of the room had a sword in his hands, with a straight blade.

Astaroth started getting closer to the figure until it suddenly vanished from the center of the room. Astaroth\'s senses screamed danger as he rapidly equipped his shield, blocking a strike coming from behind him.

Now that he was closer, Astaroth could see the man\'s traits better. His skin was ashen gray, and his ears were pointy.

"You\'re an Ash Elf!" the man exclaimed, also seeing Astaroth traits.

"So are you. Why are you attacking me?"

"I thought you were another intruder. I\'ve been fighting them off for so long that I lost track."

"Where are we?" Astaroth asked.

The question threw the man off.

"What do you mean? You found me, so you must know where we are."

"I\'m sorry to disappoint you, buddy, but I do not know where we are. I started attuning to my new weapon and ended up here."

That\'s when Astaroth noticed the blade in the man\'s hand. It was a short sword, strangely identical to the one he was trying to attune to.

"Then you must have been teleported here. The way out is that way. I need to stay here and keep guarding."

When Astaroth looked to where the man was pointing, he sighed. The Ash Elf was pointing from where he had come.

He chose not to tell the truth to the man just yet.

"What are you guarding, if I may ask?"

"This sword," the man said, lifting his sword.

"Why are you guarding it?"

"Why? Because the forest Elves are trying to steal it to cut our power. This is common knowledge, boy. Do you live under a rock?"

"The Elves? Why would they want a sword?"

"Are you perhaps retarded? This sword is the Ad Astra. The weapon our nascent kingdom spirit produced to help us fight off the Elves. They are trying to exterminate us, so this sword is an obstacle to them."

"Then why are you here, instead of fighting on the front lines?"

Astaroth had caught on to what was happening. The weapon had most likely stored a copy of the man inside it to preserve its history.

This man had been long dead. The war he was talking about was a millennium ago.

"I\'m here because I slew a few of the Elves\' commanding officers. This should buy our armies some time to retaliate. But now the Elves are hunting me down like a dog. I can\'t go back home and risk everyone\'s lives."

The Ash Elf headed back to the center of the cave, sitting back down. He was looking in the direction Astaroth had come, his eyes like a falcon\'s.

Astaroth sat in front of him.

"What\'s your name, sir?"

The man hesitated for a moment before replying.

"Kela\'ra."

"Kela\'ra, how long have you been here?"

Astaroth wanted to be gentle with the man, given he had been dead for so long. The good part was that at least he had good news for him.

"I don\'t know, I told you I lost track of time. I can\'t even get a good night\'s rest, with all these assassins sent to take me down."

The bodies around the two of them suddenly started vanishing.

\'The cycle is repeating.\'

A few moments after the last body disappeared, the man\'s ears perked up.

"Here they come. Step back if you don\'t want to get hurt. These are trained assassins."

Astaroth did as he was ordered. He could have joined the fight, but he wanted to see the man fight.

It would give him a wonderful insight into how strong his new weapon was. A few moments went by, as the sound of footsteps got louder.

Until men started flowing into the cave, dashing at Kela\'ra, one after another. Kela\'ra swung his sword to his side.

What happened after that, astonished Astaroth. The blade of the sword started separating into fragments, with some kind of energy filament holding every piece together.

When Kela\'ra swung next, the pieces of the sword all arced in a smooth motion, whipping around, slashing everything it hit.

It was like Astaroth was watching a sword ballet, with the maestro of it all swinging his arm to put the dancers into motion. The assassins fell one by one, their throats sliced cleanly open.

It took a few minutes before the last assassin came in, and Kela\'ra slayed him. After waiting for any other opponent, the Ash Elf walked back to the center of the room.

Astaroth now knew how strong the artifact was. He couldn\'t scan Kela\'ra, but he could easily guess the man wasn\'t ultimately powerful, since he could follow his movements and block his attack earlier.

The speed at which he took down all these assassins could only mean one thing. The weapon was extremely powerful.

Astaroth went back to sit in front of the Ash Elf.

"You\'re still alive? Good. you should go back outside, while there is no one to see you leave. Return to the kingdom and help the war effort for our independence."

"Kela\'ra."

"What?"

"I have something to tell you."

"Speak, boy."