[The World of Radagan]
[The Yellow Ash Mountains in the Eastern Plains.]
The Yellow Ash Mountains were a range of mountains that covered nearly five hundred thousand square miles of landmass in Radagan, stretching from the Rigad forest that supplied the largest log deposit in the world and was named after the fifth King of Radagan, to the Boiling Lake of Virgo that boasted beautiful hot springs and was hailed as the most successful vacation region within Radagan. The mountain range was made up of fifty different mountains of different shapes and sizes, and it had gained its illustrious name due to the bright yellow sand that covered most of the mountains within the complex. The sands had a reflective property that allowed them to shine with a bright luster even in the dimmest lights, and this allowed the area around the mountains to stay bright and active even at night! But the most popular feature of the mountain was how the bright red light from the setting sun would reflect off the sand at twilight, and bathe the surrounding area in a rich orange light. This phenomenon was known as the Baptism of Fire and it is believed that those who bathe in this orange light will receive great blessings from the Gods of Radagan.
A figure stood on a dark, shadowy platform high above the mountain range and looked out over the bright region with narrowed eyes. Jason glanced from left to right as he took in the sights around him. Jason had learned a lot about the [Land of Lost Shadows] Attribute in the past week and one of the things he learned is that the [Land of Lost Shadows] Attribute could be used for more than just rewriting reality! Jason could summon the [Land of Lost Shadows] partially, and doing this would allow him to create a region in the real world that wasn’t affected by any of the phenomena of reality, so it would remain in place like a floating disk! That was why Jason could stand on a part of the [Land of Lost Shadows] and use it like a levitating platform! A few hundred miles towards the East, Jason caught sight of a large village that was located at the base of one of the mountains. The village was currently glowing with the bright orange light reflecting off the mountainside and Jason could see a large group of dragonborn men leaving the mountains and returning to the village with their work tools. Jason realised that these must be the miners who worked to retrieve dragonstone from the mountains, and Jason found his eye following a certain man who was laughing heartily while talking to a young boy who looked like his son. The man and the boy walked towards the town together, and when they got to a certain building, the door opened, and a little girl rushed out with an excited smile before jumping into her father’s arms! The father was dirty and sweaty from the long day in the mine, but it didn’t even look like the girl cared, and the father only laughed as he went into the house with his children.
’Must be nice to be so peaceful.’
Jason let out a breath as this thought crossed his mind, before he turned away from the town to focus on his mission again. Within the shadows around Jason, many of his Legion subordinates were waiting on his orders, and Jason listened as the Sovereign gave him a breakdown of what these mountains represented.
’The fifty peaks of the mountains represent the fifty tribal villages of Radagan, and the interlinking valleys show us that even though we are part of different tribes, we are all connected. At twilight, the sunlight divides the mountain perfectly into twenty-five peaks, and that represents the Dragon Riders and Wyvern Riders of Radagan. Two clans that may be divided by differences, but inevitably always unite once again. We believe that every single mountain here possesses a large deposit of Dragonstone, but we are currently mining the fifth mountain from the Eastern Region.’
The Sovereign pointed towards the East, and Jason narrowed his eyes when his advanced vision caught sight of the large man-made cave that served as the entrance into the mountains. A harsh wind blew across the mountain peaks and made Jason’s cloak flutter erratically, but Jason didn’t even pay it any mind as he immediately came to a conclusion. Jason knew that there had to be more to the Overlord’s request. The Overlord doing all this just for the sake of some free dragonstone just didn’t sit right with Jason, and Jason knew that this suspicion inside him was born from pure instincts! This wasn’t the first time that Jason would feel like this about something, but it was the first time he would feel it so strongly, and Jason had learned to trust his instincts when they were going haywire like this!
"Break out into groups and spread over the mountains. I want at least forty of you searching each of the mountains."
Jason spoke up calmly, and his Legion acknowledged his orders before they immediately surged out from Jason’s Alternate Dimension and began to travel across the shadows! Jason put his hands in his pockets and simply watched from his place high above the mountains as his Legion descended through the shadows of the mountains and began their search! In truth, Jason didn’t even know what he was looking for! Jason hadn’t felt anything special about this place when he first came here, and he didn’t think that there was some grand magical item here that would prove that he was right! But Jason just needed to make sure that he satisfied this suspicion in his heart! It wouldn’t take a long time for Jason’s Legion to scan through the entire mountain, so if they didn’t find anything, then Jason would accept that he was just being paranoid and move on from it!
"Ragnar."
WOOSH!
Ragnar suddenly shot out from Jason’s Alternate Dimension once he was called, and it landed in front of Jason with a fiery huff before leaning its head down to rub it against Jason’s side! Jason smiled as he patted the large beast before Ragnar put its head down so that Jason could get on! Jason climbed Ragnar’s neck and with a mighty push, Ragnar took off into the sky! The Radagan sun was already starting to set, and this allowed the sky to be painted in a beautiful hue of twilight red that cast a magnificent orange light over the mountains! If not for the fact that Jason was so fixated on his mission, then he would’ve taken the time to truly appreciate the beauty of these mountains!
[Predator’s Gaze] has been activated!
[Mana Sense] has been activated!
Jason’s eyes suddenly bled into a strange combination of red and blue as he activated two eye skills at the same time! Jason began to scan the mountains with his eyes as Ragnar flew over them, and he tried to pick out anything that his subordinates might miss! The mountain range covered a large landmass, but Ragnar was capable of covering the entire region in less than three minutes, so it didn’t take long before Jason realised that they wouldn’t be finding anything on the surface level! The only things that Jason had seen with his eyes were tons of dragonstone and some dead creatures. None of the things held Jason’s attention for more than a moment!
’Go around again. I want to do another search.’
Jason sent this message to Ragnar, and Ragnar let out a huff in acknowledgement as he turned around and began flying over the mountains again! This continued for the next ten minutes without Jason picking out anything important! The subordinates continued their search deep inside the mountains and Jason carried out a surface-level scan using his eyes, and Jason was slowly starting to think that maybe he was really just being paranoid. Maybe the Overlord had really done all this just for Dragonstone?