Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 1099: Chapter 1098: The Aftershocks of an Era

Along the coastline of the distant northern frontier, the wind from the sea blew in gusts across the wide and level Dock No. 1. Bulk goods were stacked neatly in the storage area beside the pier, while large pieces of engineering machinery, driven jointly by Magic-Powered Engines and Weight-Reduction Runes, bustled about next to the stacks, transferring more cargo onto the platforms of the pre-loading and unloading zone.

A huge clock tower stood at the edge of the urban district near the dock, its enormous mechanical dial gleaming in the sunlight. Delicate copper gears clicked and turned behind the transparent crystal window, and the hands, with elegant hollowed patterns, were slowly pointing toward the top of the dial. Beneath the clock tower, a large Magic Web Terminal at the edge of the square was broadcasting to the public, and above the terminal, a holographic projection was showing a live feed from Conference Hall No. 112—important figures sat beneath solemn giant stone pillars, while the voice of some off-screen commentator came from outside the frame.

A grand and handsome ship was moored alongside the edge of Dock No. 1. The vessel had a metal hull and Magic Energy Wingboards extending upward at an angle; the glow of magic symbols drifted slowly along parts of its surface. Above the ship, a flag symbolizing the tribal country of Augari was snapping in the wind—this ship had come from the distant White Feather Pier. It had been designed and built by the Northport Imperial Shipyard, ordered by a wealthy merchant from Moss Woods. Over the past period it had already completed several trade runs between Moss Woods and Northport, and at this moment it was preparing for the last voyage of the week.

Farther away, more merchant ships of various sizes were berthed alongside docks of different levels. They flew the flags of the Cecil Clan, the tribal country of Augari, or the Sacred Dragon Kingdom. Some bore obvious traces of old vessels modified, others were entirely new-built modern ships, but regardless of their form, they shared a common set of traits: Magic Energy Wingboards raised high, and Defense systems designed to cope with harsh conditions at sea and improve resistance to elementals. On the bows of some ships hung emblems of waves symbolizing the power of storms, which meant that Naga Technicians would be accompanying them for protection during their voyage—once they entered sea regions close to the open ocean, these "official ships" would become the core of certain trade fleets, providing Chaotic Turbulence early warning services for the entire flotilla.

A short, gray-haired gray elf stood on the square beside the pier. He wore a small-sized black formal suit and a specially made tall top hat, holding a hardwood cane with faint silver patterns. With his head tilted back, he watched the holographic projection floating beside the clock tower with rapt attention. In the cold sea wind of Northport, this Gray Elf Merchant still kept loosening the bow tie at his collar from time to time, looking both anxious and excited.

Many people were like him, standing at the edge of the square, gazing intently at the broadcast projection from afar. There were local merchants of the Cecil Clan, gray elves or beastmen from the Augari Area, Dragonborn from the Sacred Dragon Kingdom, and even elves and mountaineers dressed like mercenaries whose affiliation was unclear. These people had come from all corners of the land and from different races, yet at this moment they were all focused on the same scene.

"It should be soon... it should be soon..." The short Gray Elf Merchant tugged at his collar for who knew the how many-th time, muttering under his breath with a touch of nervousness.

The black-haired woman beside him, dressed as a sailor, couldn’t help but glance down at him and remind him, "That’s the sixth time you’ve said that. Be patient, sir—we’re all waiting."

"I’ve been waiting since yesterday!" The gray elf swayed his body from side to side, his feet alternately stamping on the ground. "Damn it, I even thought about pitching a tent here... shame the Sheriff wouldn’t allow it..."

The woman did not respond. She raised her head and looked not far away, seeing a Northport patrol squad stopping at a nearby intersection. A red-haired female Sheriff on horseback happened to cast her gaze in this direction, her eyes filled with vigilance and concern.

Farther away, a group of dockworkers who had been resting seemed to have finished their chatting and were now heading toward the gangways one after another.

Above the large Magic Web Terminal at the edge of the square, the holographic projection once again switched from some indoor studio to an exterior view of the venue. A voice from off-screen, carrying a trace of excitement, announced loudly, "Just now, the vote on launching the circumcontinental route and bringing the related ocean trade act into effect has passed unanimously..."

The square was quiet for about a second before someone suddenly shouted, "The act passed! The act passed!"

The female sailor narrowed her eyes. She heard cheers rising from all directions, followed by many hurried shouts. The short gray elf was screaming as he ran off into the distance, shouting loudly to some assistant standing at the edge of the crowd as he ran, "Mark! Start loading! Have them load immediately! The cargo list has been approved!!

"Hurry and tell Nina to fetch the new pass forms... no, damn it, I’ll go myself—let Nina go to the customs office. We can sign now!"

In the holographic projection above the Magic Web Terminal, flags were shining bright in the sunlight, and that excited voice was still rattling on from off-screen: "...After the act comes into effect, the existing trade license list will be expanded sixfold, and the long-distance sea routes will be opened to civilian use. It’s said that the merchants in the Northport region have been waiting for this good news for days...

"According to the conference agenda, the heads of state or plenipotentiary ambassadors of each country will next vote on the establishment of the Food Committee. This special proposal is aimed at providing necessary aid to our new allies—the dragons from Talronde—and at laying an orderly foundation for mutual support among the alliance’s Mortal Nations in the future, so as to jointly address global hunger...

"...Next, let us switch the feed to..."

The program was still going on, yet half of the merchants in the square had already dispersed. Far too many had been waiting in this port for this news for far too long. Still, a fair number remained. Some were engaged in other trades and were more concerned with subsequent international resolutions; some were local citizens merely here to watch the spectacle and were now highly entertained—and a final small group consisted of Travelers from the Sacred Dragon Kingdom. These Dragonborn, with Dragon Blood flowing in their veins, watched the program with full attention; some of their eyes had unconsciously turned into vertical pupils symbolizing dragons, yet they seemed unaware of it.

The black-haired female sailor quietly watched this scene. Although her clothing and appearance made her look like a crew member from some nearby merchant ship, she did not move at all when the merchants scattered—she had cleverly maintained a certain distance from everyone around her, yet kept herself within a range that would not attract attention.

"...An ocean trade act has been passed, and the merchants on-site are greatly encouraged... This is unprecedented—these people from different countries and races seem in an instant to have been connected together. A message from thousands of miles away can stir the fates of so many..."

The female sailor murmured softly, yet her voice did not reach a second person nearby. A small talisman hung beneath her neck; the magic symbol on the charm glimmered faintly in the shadows, emitting an extremely subtle fluctuation.

"Everything is happening of its own accord; the course of this world has changed... it is a change that has never been recorded since the founding of the Great Library. The kingdoms are being guided into a community of shared interests; its transformation is taking place on an immensely macro level, yet it seems to have already reached into the tiniest details of ordinary people’s lives... Has such a change ever occurred before? In the old Great Library? Ah... that no longer has much to do with us..."

The Dragonborn gathered in the square stirred slightly. The black‑haired female sailor lifted her eyelids and glanced in that direction, then lowered her eyes again. "This time, even the dragons of Talronde have become part of the vortex... They have finally broken free of that cradle; now they have returned to stand as one of the Mortal Nations. The fate of the Dragonborn has undergone a great change, and from now on there will exist two kinds of dragons in this world at the same time... The future? The future cannot be foretold... and we shall never exist within that future.

"The communication has to end—yes, I know, but there’s nothing I can do about it. There are devices everywhere here monitoring illegal Dark Wave, and I did not bring any talismans capable of deceiving those sentinel towers for long. That’s it for now; next contact."

The black‑haired female sailor spoke softly and quickly, then set off toward the nearby intersection. As she stepped forward, her figure gave a brief shudder—at some unknown moment a black cloak had settled over her shoulders, the shadow beneath that cloak rapidly thickening. Her face was swallowed by darkness, as though, in an instant, the space within the cloak had turned into a patch of nothingness.

No one noticed when that figure disappeared. Only shortly after her absence did a patrol squad hastily arrive near this Magic Web Terminal. A tall Sheriff frowned as he surveyed the perfectly ordinary square, while a red‑haired female Sheriff beside him voiced her confusion. "Strange... the monitoring office just reported that it sensed an unregistered surge of Mana right here..."

"What kind of surge was it?" the tall Sheriff asked in a low voice. "Roughly how long did it last?"

The red‑haired female Sheriff’s expression was grave. "The report said it looked like some kind of communication Spell—a fine, dense wave of Magic Power pointing north, but it was only detected for a few seconds, and the magical surge was extremely weak."

"North? North is that kingdom of Mages, and farther north still lies that legendary Dragon Kingdom... But it might also be pointing toward the Sacred Dragon Kingdom’s sea‑entering peninsula." The tall Sheriff rubbed his chin, then shook his head after a moment’s thought. "In any case, report it. We may need to increase the frequency and sensitivity of the city’s Magic detection devices. This is the most crucial period since Northport opened its harbor; who knows if some faction’s spies are trying to slip in and stir up trouble."

...

On the other side of the Northern Strait, a vast island stood silently in seas wrapped by ocean currents. Upon this island there existed an isolated, withdrawn realm—a kingdom where Mages dwelt. In this land that resembled a hidden world, they enjoyed tranquil, undisturbed years, while with a gaze tinged with a kind of aloof detachment, they watched the kingdoms on the continent separated from them by only a single strait, watching those realms rise and fall amid the tides of the age.

Along the edges of this great island, several cities followed the undulating terrain. Tower structures in dark hues and high‑walled houses stood like sentries atop the coastal cliffs. Beyond these cities, moving inward, the island’s interior was covered in vast dense forests and seemingly never‑tamed wastelands and valleys, with no apparent roads linking city to city or city to inland. Passing over these undeveloped regions toward the center, in the southwestern part of the island there stood an especially ancient and magnificent city upon a highland encircled by forests and river valleys.

This city possessed more towers than any other. Mage towers of every conceivable form and height, old and new intermingled, rose like a forest upon every patch of land within its walls. Countless houses with slanted roofs and dark outer walls crowded tightly into the gaps between these towers and the city walls. These structures seemed stacked atop one another, cramming every part of the urban district, even presenting a sort of "layered" feel as they climbed upward. Their dense lines could even create an illusion, as though the city’s layout had already violated geometric law, all its buildings partially overlapping in a way impossible in three‑dimensional space, layer upon layer, cluster upon cluster, challenging the rules of space and time, challenging the tolerance of this world’s physical laws...

Only the most accomplished Mages and those with unique gifts could, by sight alone, discern a faint order within this city, finding the correct path to a given tower.

The City of Thousand Towers, capital of the Violet Kingdom, the supreme holy ground and advanced academy in the hearts of Mages. The Magic that had been layered upon this city for a thousand years had already altered the structure of space‑time around it, allowing towers far beyond the normal limits of urban capacity to stand within its walls—just as its name proclaimed.

As with the rest of the Violet Kingdom, this city was surrounded by forests, rivers, and valleys, showing no sign of development and, to outward eyes, no visible roads leading in or out.

At the center of the City of Thousand Towers, the largest and most majestic Mage tower—the "Dim Court"—stood atop a high ground that no road could reach. Even under the brilliant sun, this structure, formed by a colossal main tower intertwined with numerous Sub‑Towers, seemed shrouded in eternal shadow. Its outer walls were coated in three somber colors: gray, black, and violet. Above its summit floated countless pieces of violet crystals like a planetary array. In the sky above this Crystal Array, one could faintly see a pale violet vortex of Magic Power, and at the very heart of this vortex, a vague eye would occasionally surface—that was the "Eye of the Night," ceaselessly turning, watching every movement upon every inch of land in the Violet Kingdom.

In a chamber at the very top of the Dim Court, the Mystics Prince Nash Narte stepped away from the platform where the communication crystals were set. This young man with black hair and black eyes came to a bay window from which he could overlook the city, his expression thoughtful.

"...Even the dragons have broken free from that nightmare shackle... The changes of this cycle of civilization truly have exceeded everyone’s expectations..."

Prince Nash Narte murmured softly to himself, and behind him, a figure suddenly emerged from the shadows.

This figure’s gender was indistinguishable, the entire body veiled in a hazy cloud of energy. Bowing, the figure said, "My lord, the mirrors are unstable. Some shadows have seeped through from ’the other side.’"

Prince Nash nodded. "Restless because of the recent changes, are they... Understood. I’ll handle it myself."

(A friendly recommendation: there is a book titled The Aztec Immortal. It’s a very niche work set in the era of American Aztec civilization, telling the story of an immortal Traveler who goes to the Aztec Empire to spur its development. Those interested can give it a try.)