Dwarves were one of the many creatures created by the Precursors. They were probably amongst the first few races that had the opportunity to work closely with their creator. All of their knowledge of creation was given to them by the Precursors as a present for being loyal to them.


    Astaroth was already aware of this much. But what Thori revealed next made the Xyran doubt the history of his race as he knew it. Ever since he was a kid, he was told that some selective Xyrans were born with Mourndes. But what Thori stated was much different than the tale he had heard and epted as truth.


    While it was true that the Mourndes chose their owner, no Xyran was born with a Mournde. They bonded with er on and the Dwarves created these Mourndes under the instruction and guidance of the Precursors.


    The Mourndes were supposed to be a present for the entire race of Xyrans. Just like the Dwarves were given the knowledge of creation as a present.


    At the same time, it also symbolised that the Xyrans were chosen as sessors by the precursors. However, once the precursors saw how quickly the newfound powers had corrupted the entire race, they were deemed unworthy of such a high position.


    Therefore, the Precursors decided to make a new race to seed them. The race that would be known as Humans.


    By this time the Xyrans had no idea, they were once considered to be the prime candidates to be the protector of the gxy. Had they known about it, they would have certainly behaved themselves.


    But not explicitly informing them about it, the precursors were testing how the Xyrans would react if they were given unimaginable powers. To say the Xyrans spectacrly failed the test would be an understatement.


    "This was the reason why the humans were not given any extraordinary powers from the beginning." Thori continued, "The precursors did not want to repeat the same mistakes again. That''s why they decided to educate the humans first and then give them the powers they would need to rule over the gxy."


    While Thori exined all that, Ashton kept listening to him without interrupting him even once. This newfound knowledge was increasing his [Intelligence] stat like never before. But more importantly, he was being given information that we would not be able to ess another way.


    That being said, the more Thori talked about the past, the more Ashton realised why the humans were so powerless. The Precursors had already created a lot of ''demons'' or failed sessors, and they did not want to mess it up again by giving humans reality-altering powers as soon as they were created.


    So they withheld the powers from the humans until they were sure that the humans won''t stray like countless species before them.


    "We, the Dwarves, were supposed to aid the humans using our knowledge to maintain the gxy, once the Precursors were gone." Thori continued with sadness on his face, however, that sadness soon turned into anger, "Sadly before any of that could happen, the Xyrans and their allies attacked Eden, the the Precursors lived on."


    "Those bastards destroyed everything... Humans and Precursors weren''t the only ones they killed that day. Countless Dwarves lost their lives to them as well. The des we created to be used for the good, were what ughtered my people. Everything... was taken away from us."


    Thori had kept a stone face throughout narrating the tale, but he couldn''t hold his tears back anymore. He looked at Ashton with a tear-drenched face and tried to say something. But his throat felt too heavy to say anything more.


    Ashton got up and gently patted the dwarf''s shoulder. He might not have suffered through such a cruel fate, but he could understand a little bit of Thori''s pain. After somewhat calming down andposing himself, Thori continued the tale.


    "The Dwarves wanted to fight back, but the Precursors locked away our means to do so. Just because they did not want to fight back, they locked away our means to do so as well. That left us with no other choice but to flee and live a secluded life."


    "That''s why an S grade being like yourself, is on this," Ashton mumbled.


    Thori nodded, "As much as I would love to say I have forgotten about the war over the years, the moment I saw your de, I could not hold myself back and attacked you. As for my real name... it''s Vulcan. Had to hide it because of the ''living in seclusion'' part of my tale. So what''s your tale?"


    Rather than telling Vulcan about the tale, Ashton decided it was better to show him the truth. Using Astaroth''s authority, Ashton summoned both Raphael and Balmond at the same time. To say Vulcan was shocked would be an understatement.


    Even though Vulcan''s true age surpassed a measly number of a thousand, he had never met someone who possessed not one, but two Mourndes.


    Since these des were linked to one''s soul and everyone only had one soul within them, it was impossible for someone to possess two Mourndes. Even the Precursors were not an exception to this rule.


    Yet, Vulcan''s eyes were not cheating him. He was sure he wasn''t hallucinating or something. But at the same time, trusting his eyes was... turning out to be quite difficult for him.


    "The de I use," Ashton mumbled while swinging Balmond, "is called a Soulde and is linked to my soul... in a way-"


    "How is this even possible..." Vulcan cut him off, "Even if it''s not the same de, you should not be able to possess two des of simr properties. The dwarves made sure of it that one user can only have one de."


    "What if I told you there are two souls within my body?" Ashton softly mumbled, "The one talking to you now is a human, and now-"


    "It''s a Xyran." Astarothpleted the sentence.