Time was not measured by the change of seasons or the rule of kings in Aethelgard anymore. It was measured by the Great Arcane Pulse. This pulse was like a heartbeat that came from the capital. It was a sign of magic that was stable and strong. Lu Ran had made this pulse by working with the center of the planet.
Lu Ran did not get older. While Kaelen's hair turned from black to gray and his dragon scales got thicker with age Lu Ran stayed the same. He looked like a dark figure from the future who was living in the past. His body did not change at all.
His son, Valerius was like a clock that showed how time was passing.
By the time Valerius was seven years old he was not playing with toy swords. He was playing with the parts that made up the flowers in the palace garden. Lu Ran would often find the boy sitting among the roses, his eyes shining as he changed the structure of the petals into dust.
"Be efficient Valerius " Lu Ran would say, leaning over the balcony with a tablet that had glowing words on it. "You are wasting some of your magic on the way the light bends. Focus on making the structure strong."
The boy would look up with a smile on his face. A mix of Kaelen's charm and Lu Ran's sharp mind. "I am not wasting it, Father. I am making it pretty for Mother."
Lu Ran would make a sound that meant he was happy. "Your 'Mother' is busy with the war council now. He likes machines more than sparkling dust."
By the time Valerius was fifteen years old he was better than the priests. He did not just cast spells. He created them. With Lu Ran's help the prince had figured out the secrets of the Aethelgardian Genome. He could heal a village that was sick by releasing a mist of magic that targeted the bad things that were making people sick. He was the person to have control over living things.
Kaelen watched Valerius grow up with pride and a little fear. "He is like a god Lu Ran," the Emperor said one night as they watched Valerius practicing with the guards using his magic to move things. "We have created a being that does not belong to this world."
"He belongs to the world, " Lu Ran said, putting his hand on Kaelen's shoulder. "He is the result of a study. He is the answer to how we can survive."
Thirty years after the Lunar Breach Aethelgard was a place. The Cold Palace was. A new school of science was built. People were not poor or hungry anymore.
Valerius, a grown man, stood tall with wings of shining energy that appeared when he used the planet's magic. He had taken the throne from Kaelen, who had retired to a place by a lake to spend his last years watching Lu Ran work.
"Father " Valerius said, entering Lu Ran's laboratory. The air hummed as the sons' magic interacted with the fathers. "The big ring around the Sun-Peak is complete. We have more energy than we need."
Lu Ran looked up from his work. He was studying the space between worlds. "That's great. Then my work here is done."
Valerius stopped. He looked at his fathers face. Saw that he was not tired, not old and not attached to the world. "You are leaving aren't you? The System is calling you to collect data."
Lu Ran sighed. He looked tired for the first time in thirty years.
The System sent a message: the world was now a part of it. Lu Ran's job was done.
"I am a scientist, Val, " Lu Ran said softly, walking to his son. "In my world we say 'publish or perish.' I have published my work for you.. The study must go on. There are worlds where magic's bad worlds where machines have taken over. They need to be fixed."
"What about Kaelen?" Valerius asked, his voice shaking. "He will not survive if you disappear."
"I have taken care of that, " Lu Ran said. He held up a bottle of shining liquid. "I have made a medicine. It will let his soul rest in a dream until the planet dies. He will not feel painful memories of us."
The night Lu Ran left was quiet. No big events happened, a soft sound in his mind.
He stood on the balcony of the Sun-Peak, the point of the world he had changed. Kaelen was sleeping nearby with a smile on his face.
Valerius stood at the edge of the balcony, his wings folded.
"Will I see you again?" the son asked.
"If you figure out the numbers for the fourth dimension " Lu Ran said, a small smile on his face. "Maybe.. For now you have a world to take care of. Don't let the rules win Val. It's like the second law of thermodynamics. Things get messy unless you put in effort."
"I know, Father, " Valerius whispered. "I will keep the world in order."
The System started the countdown to move Lu Ran to another world.
Lu Ran's body started to shine and break into pieces. His dark eyes looked at the mystery of life and death one time. He was not afraid he was curious.
What are the secrets of life in a world of neon lights? he thought. Do they use machines to live? How will the System handle this?
"Goodbye, my work " Lu Ran whispered.
The light was bright. Then Lu Ran was gone, leaving behind a quiet prince, a sleeping emperor and a world that would never forget the man who treated magic like a science experiment.
Epilogue: The New Beginning
Death was not darkness this time. It was a rain of neon lights.
Lu Ran opened his eyes. He was lying in a puddle of oil and water. Above him big advertisements shone in Japanese. A language he did not know. Flying cars buzzed overhead like insects.
He felt metal against his back. He looked at his hands. They were still his, long and pale. He was wearing a torn coat over a suit of high-tech fibers.
The System started to work giving him a job.
Lu Ran sat up wiping the rain from his glasses. He felt a weight in his stomach.
The System gave him a task: to create a being that was both machine and living thing within six months.
Lu Ran looked at the city seeing a place that was drowning in its problems and bad machines.
He stood up fixing his coat. A slow and dangerous smile spread across his face.
"Machines and tiny robots " Lu Ran thought, his voice rough and precise. "This world needs a change."
He turned toward the shining lights of the city.
"System, " he thought, "find me the person with a high-tech brain. Let's see if this new bloodline is good enough."
The System found a target: a rogue machine called Xenon-01.
"Perfect " Lu Ran whispered, walking into the neon night. "Let's get to work."