Rise of the Nightmare Crestmaster

That was weird, according to his understanding, using the seal to teleport should cost at least two orbs not to mention that he took the book with him.

Could it be that moving within the nightmare realm had different rules than moving to the outside?

Aldrich had to figure it all out but he could always experiment some time later, for now he had to take the money and get back to the real world.

Aldrich had 63 red orbs and that was more than enough to take the seven coins he needed but he decided to take nine instead. It was not that he was greedy but he had to account for unexpected situations, rainy days.

Since he already had a good stock of essence orbs he might as well put them to use. Aldrich had to actively restrain himself from upgrading his attributes to prevent himself from accidentally igniting his first symbol.

He had to rush to become a Crestmaster before and now that he could, he had to restrain himself, ironic. It was not easy but, it was only a few days till the exam starts so it wasn't a terribly long wait.

He had to do things right, he needed to bring the right kind of attention on himself not the suspicious kind. His recent debacle with Yasbel only reinforced this belief, he was walking on the edge of a sword one wrong move and he was done for.

So while being careful to always keep at least one green orb in his disposal he might as well do something about the money part of things with the rest of the orbs.

He made sure to secure the journal of the Lost Ones in the study before he returned to the real world, with nine golden coins in hand.

Aldrich stretched for a bit and then went back to sleep. In his sleep he dreamt of finally reaching the divine city and bringing Isger's soul back with him to the real world.

After saving Isger he went on to expose the schemes of the True Saint's Folk and bringing them to justice at the sharp edge of his sword. After that he was invited by the Emperor to be the commander of the Crownguard.

The next morning he woke up feeling refreshed, it was a pretty good dream. He woke up a little too early because he had to get his cleaned clothes from the laundry in the nearby building.

After that he washed up and combed his hair, admired his newly grown stubble and shaved it off. Today was a weekend so he had no classes, it was the perfect day to go make a company.

Aldrich didn't cook at home but picked up a philly cheesesteak sandwich. He ate it on the way to the city hall, the private carriage was a smooth ride with the giant Gecko lizards reflexes and speed.

Central Voryhrm was the busiest place in all the city, all the big attractions like theaters, museums, art galleries and the Hall of heroes were here. The hotels and boardwalks that lined every street made it look like the center of the world and not just the city.

The Hall of heroes was built back in the Liberation war when Emperor Indorias III lead the resistance against the Dread Lords that had been ruling the world for three hundred years at that time.

Thirteen Dread Lords descended on the continent and gave the Empire the greatest humiliation it had suffered since the second cataclysm. The invasion of the Dread Lords was dubbed the third cataclysm for good reason.

At the time the Empire was at it's peak, it was one of two nations that existed in the continent, the other one being the Golden high elves nation which was once a great ally to the Empire.

Back then the Acladonian Empire ruled everything, whatever lands they didn't rule weren't worth ruling.

Aldrich could imagine the shock the Empire suffered when they first faced the power of the Dread Lords and their armies. The Empire had enjoyed peace for too long, they had grown arrogant, conceited and lazy.

Many scholars would argue that the attack on Ashphim, the sacred capital of the Empire was the first wake-up call they got in a long time, the second could be considered the most notable event of the Dread Era, the death of Indorias I.

The Saint-Emperor of the Acladonian Empire, killed!

They Emperor himself engaged three Dread lords at once, killing all three but ultimately his wounds were too severe.

The Empire had to hide behind the last wall once again, the Dread Lords never attacked Ashphim again but the rest of the world was not so lucky.

At that point in time the Empire existed only in name, the various provinces, cities and towns were cut off from the support of the Empire, most people had to dig into the Subterranean realm beneath the earth to survive.

Some scattered to the deserts and fringes of the world, others fled to the seas and oceans. But only very few strong, brave souls holed up in their settlements and resisted the Dread hoards until Indorias III came to the rescue.

Three hundred years later his great grandson avenged Indorias the first and put an end to the terrible age of Dread. Of course the consequences of that age still haunt the Empire today.

That was why the Empire never allowed itself to be content and satisfied ever again. All the big cities were built with the specifications of a fortress and prepared for something worse that the age of Dread.

However, while most Dread Lords were vanquished some went into hiding when they smelled the changing winds and they stirred up trouble from time to time.

Old Voryhrm was one of these settlements that repeatedly fought the hoards of Dread for three hundred years, without any help or resources, without giving in to evil and survived till the end.

That was why when Indorias III freed the city from the encirclement he ordered a hall to be built to honor all the fallen heroes of that Cataclysm.