The Feast of the Blazing Plains
Dunhuang.
A military garrison occupied the northern outskirts of the city. As the morning's ungodly heat came rolling in and slammed into the compound, an emergency alarm rang through the upper command quarters.
The garrison's senior officers assembled around the long conference table within moments. At its center stood a man with skin burned deep and dark by the sun, a wide military cap on his head and a freshly received report in hand.
"My survey division has just reported that a massive Fire Calamity struck the northern reaches of the Blazing Plains a short time ago, annihilating countless creatures that lived there..." the dark-skinned Military Commander announced.
At those words, surprise and delight broke across the faces of the other Military Commanders seated at the table.
These men had been stationed in Dunhuang long enough to know exactly what the northern Blazing Plains meant. While Dunhuang's greatest ongoing threat was undoubtedly the Dunhuang Demon-Tiger clan, even Hunter-mages who had never been stationed here long-term knew that the northern reaches of the Blazing Plains — separated from the rest of the region by the Shamang River — was a mysterious, untouched land teeming with unimaginable resources and treasures.
Because the Shamang River was so treacherous to cross, the place had remained like virgin territory, with possibilities for discovery seemingly without end.
Legend also held that the northern Blazing Plains had one especially extraordinary period: the aftermath of a Fire Calamity. Once the land had been thoroughly baptized by the god of flame, resources would spring up like mushrooms after rain — making the rare treasures already hidden within even more valuable, while bringing countless new ones into being.
A Fire Calamity was, without question, a symbol of death — nature's most terrifying fury made manifest. But for the creatures that survived it, what awaited them at the northern Blazing Plains was a grand feast of fire, laid out and ready to be devoured to the fullest.
"What's there to say? I'm heading out right now!" An impatient Military Commander slammed his palm on the table and sprang to his feet.
No one understood the wealth the northern Blazing Plains could offer better than they did.
"Who are you going to bring? Don't you have a city to defend? Let me go instead — I know that place far better than any of you who never leave your offices," said a male Military Commander past thirty, radiating a restless, wild energy.
"Enough. I'll decide who goes — there's no point arguing. Besides, the Magic Association will certainly be on the move, and that's before we even mention those sharp-eyed old veterans in the Hunters' Alliance. They may already be shouldering their packs and working out how to cross the Shamang River even as we sit here talking..." the dark-skinned commander said.
At the mention of the Shamang River, the mood around the table cooled considerably.
The Shamang River was a peculiar place. The stronger the aura of any outsider who set foot there, the more White Sand Demon-Beasts they would rouse — stronger ones, at that — and throwing more people at the problem only made things worse.
No faction, in all of history, had ever dared try to beat the Shamang River with sheer numbers.
Whoever was sent would have to be a special force. Raw power mattered less than the ability to hold their own inside the northern reaches.
And the earlier they arrived, the more resources they could claim. Time was money.
The Dunhuang garrison differed from other military districts and commands in one notable way: they had no Celestial Eagle Mages. Celestial Eagles simply couldn't survive out here — it was so hot their feathers would fall right off.
No Celestial Eagles meant no Beast Tamers, and no Beast Tamers meant no Mind Element mages in their ranks. Trying to hire Mind Element mages on short notice would cost a small fortune.
Worse, the Hunters' Alliance scouts moved fast — every Mind Element mage in Dunhuang had probably already been booked by now. The military couldn't afford to wait any longer. If it came down to it, they'd just have to cut their way through by force.
Whatever it took, they couldn't let another faction get there first. If they did, everything worth having would be stripped clean.
"I've heard that a Fire Calamity only strikes the northern Blazing Plains once every several years, and that past ones were never this large. The fact that we survived this one means our path ahead will be far safer. More importantly, a Fire Calamity is a baptism for the land — it kills or drives away every creature that doesn't carry true flame bloodlines. And the northern Blazing Plains, after enduring such a purging, may actually give birth to even more rare and precious treasures."
It was Chenying who spoke. She clearly didn't want anyone losing their nerve and backing out.
Mo Fan and Lingling both fixed their gaze on her, curiosity flickering in their eyes.
Mo Fan had only learned about the northern Blazing Plains through the Secret Intelligence Scroll — knowledge of this place wasn't exactly widespread. And Lingling herself was a walking encyclopedia; virtually any information could be pulled from the mini-computer she kept on hand. She had made it her personal mission to compile the world's most comprehensive database of Demon-Beasts and restricted territories, logging every new discovery the moment she made it.
And yet even Lingling had no record of a Fire Calamity ever striking the northern Blazing Plains. Why did Chenying — who had only decided to tag along on a whim — know so much about it?
"Why are you both staring at me... I just did a bit of research before coming, that's all." Clearly not a girl with a scheming bone in her body, Chenying fidgeted under their gazes, a touch of guilt creeping into her voice.
"Someone from the Zhao Clan must have passed through here before," Zhao Manyan said, stepping in on his older cousin's behalf.
"You said the land gives birth to more precious things after the Fire Calamity's baptism — is that actually true?" Lingling asked, her tone deliberate.
Chenying hesitated a moment, then nodded.
"A Fire Calamity makes this land fertile again. So once word gets out that the northern Blazing Plains just went through a massive one, it won't be long before every mage in the know descends on this place to search for treasures. That's exactly why the people who came before weren't eager to let information about Fire Calamities spread."
A Fire Calamity was truly like divine wrath descending upon the world — its flames carried not only nature's most breathtaking, unrivaled grandeur, but also the heavy reek of death. Yet for all that devastating force unleashed in a single wave, it also meant raw energy being poured into this land that already blazed like a furnace.
Many rare plants, Magic Stones, Spirit Seeds, and Elemental Eyes needed to absorb energy to grow, nurtured into being by the forces of heaven and earth. To the non-flame creatures that called this place home, the Fire Calamity had been a catastrophe. But to these special things? It was a long-awaited rainfall, drenching them in exactly what they needed.
Resources had always commanded absurd prices — and to describe the northern Blazing Plains after its baptism as a field of gold would be no exaggeration at all.