Story Title: Rise of the Ultimate Peasant

Crossover: BtVS/ Warcraft III/ Stargate/ Multiple

Disclaimer: I do not own, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Warcraft games verse, Stargate TV verse, or any other fandoms I will be dabbling in. This is a work of fan fiction. Written without profit, for the enjoyment of fans of these great fandoms.

Summary: He is the One who can Build Anything. He is Alexander Lavelle Harris. Halloween night has changed him. Now things will never be the same again.

Chapter Three – Source of Magic

Feeling the sunlight on his face, driving through the streets of Sunnydale in broad day light, Xander finally felt that life was back to normal. He had just left the office of a solicitor he had hired, after buying over Sunnydale Construction Holdings, gaining a company of two hundred workers.

He had met the CEO of the company who remained on the company payroll, and sent the construction crew to a new building project on a piece of land he had bought in the abandoned beach front of south Sunnydale. The construction crew were tasked to build simple log houses on the land. Since there was no need to lay deep foundations and everything was constructed with planks and logs, the job would be completed within a month or a bit more of time.

True to their words, Giles and Ms Calendar had bought over the magic store in Sunnydale, renaming it as the Magic Box. Today was their opening day, and Xander was supposed to make a slight detour to Buffy's house to pick her up. Though Buffy had bought her own convertible with the money Xander had given her, the vehicle was parked in Giles' mansion to avoid any questions Joyce might ask.

Buffy was not planning on telling her mother about the truth of her nightly activities anytime soon, and that meant she had no way of explaining the large sums of money Xander had given her. This meant that even with her own car, she still needed someone to drive her around town most of the time.

Driving into the suburb where the Summers' residence was, Xander dealt with the info dump he was getting from the buildings around him with practiced grace. Experimentations had helped him realised that he had a visual scan range of fifty meters for his Seeing ability to activate. Any building further than fifty meters away, even if he could see it, would be out of the range of his power. He would be unable to get any blueprints from them unless he was to move closer to the buildings in question.

"Ah, there's a Belergz demon living in that building just down the street. Oh! There's a real authentic Light Saber replica in that house... and Buffy..." Xander froze as his eyes alighted on Buffy's house. Info of the blueprint of the house rushed into his head. Information that had him jamming the brakes to his van as he stopped in front of the residence, gaping at the building in disbelief.

Xander looked at the Summers' residence again, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.

"Summers' Residence. Home to Joyce Summers, Buffy Summers (The Vampire Slayer) and Dawn Summers (Living vessel of The Key). Building cost 200 Gold and 150 Lumber. Deconstruction regains 1390 Gold and 200 Lumber. Normal Units for hire: Joyce Summers costs 60 Gold, 1 food unit. Hero Units for hire: Buffy Summers (The Vampire Slayer) costs 230 Gold, 3 food units. Dawn Summers (Living vessel of The Key) costs 900 Gold, 3 food units."

Without thinking, he had wretched open the door of his van, running for the Summers' residence. The door opened just as he reached it. Joyce who was apparently on her way out looked at him in shock.

"Xander! Oh it's nice to see you. Buffy has been telling me you've been away for a while." Joyce said as she looked at Xander who was staring at something behind her in shock.

"Xander!" A voice cried out in glee as a pint sized brown haired cannon ball shot passed Joyce, hugging onto a startled Xander. "I hadn't seen you for a long time! When are we going to have another movie night again?"

"Dawn! How many times must I tell you not to do that!" Joyce said in exasperation as she tried to untangle Dawn Summers from Xander.

Xander stared at the little brown haired girl as if she was an alien, which she pretty much was. A look of hurt crossed the girl's face.

"What's wrong Xander? Is it something on my face?" Dawn asked as she pulled back from him.

"Well I..." Xander said backing away a little. Living vessel for The Key? What the hell was Dawn Summers? And why was Joyce treating her like one of her children?

"Xander you're here! Give me a minute!" Buffy said as she walked briskly out of the door, slinging a bag over her shoulder. Her eyes fell upon Dawn and she roughed the girl's hair as she walked towards Xander. "Sorry to keep you waiting. Mom needs to go to the gallery, so Dawn's tagging along with us since we can't find a babysitter in time."

"I don't need a babysitter!" Dawn cried out indignantly.

"You're such an annoying little sister." Buffy groused as she walked towards the van, leaving Xander to stare after her. Dawn Summers is Buffy's little sister? What in the world is going on?

OoooO

"You are telling me that Dawn, Buffy's sister, does not exists previously. And she's a living vessel to something called The Key?" Giles asked, his eyes narrowing as he and Xander huddled in the backroom of the shop, while Jenny and the girls were handling the business out front.

"Yes. And it seems like I am the only one who don't have memories of Dawn before today, even Dawn doesn't seemed to know what she is. I asked her if she is The Key and she just give me a confused look." Xander said shaking his head. "How can something like this happen? How can she just appear and everyone think she's been here all along?"

"Memory modification of such a great scale will take great magic, powerful magic." Giles said with a frown. "And since Dawn is a vessel of this Key you're talking about, and was sent to Buffy as her little sister, it may be the intent of whoever sent her to keep her under Buffy's protection. After all, I doubt she was sent to spy upon Buffy or harm her."

"As an annoying little sister?" Xander said in disbelief. "I doubt she's a spy or assassin myself. Dawn's too... innocent, even I get that from her after the first few minutes with her. And her hero powers that I saw in the blueprint of the Summers' residence, they are all neutral powers."

"Those powers, can you go through them with me again?" Giles asked carefully. "It might help us narrow down what The Key is."

"Well there's Dimensional Travel, an ability that allows her to open gates between dimension/realities. Sister of Slayer, a passive ability that boost her speed and endurance. Dimensional Sight, an ability that allows her to see the different Dimensions/realities around her. Ancient Soul, a passive ability that enhances her wisdom by +100." Xander said as he listed out the abilities which were seemingly overpowered.

"Two abilities that deal with dimensions and realities, the last ability hinting that she had been around for a long time." Giles mused, looking troubled. "And the title 'Living vessel of The Key'. The words 'The Key' implies that she is the Key to something, perhaps dimensions or realities. If that's so, we're dealing with powerful magics. The fact that she was sent to Buffy was most probably for her protection. Which means something's coming after her."

"Something's coming after a girl that has the potential to see and open dimensions?" Xander grimaced. "Do I need to point out how bad that is?"

"We need to keep this between ourselves until we know more. We can brief the others about it tonight." Giles said as his lips tightened grimly. "In the meantime Xander, try to use whatever abilities you have access to and prepare for whatever is to come. Something that's after the Key that can open portals between dimensions is probably something that's above the average run off the mill demons we faced every day. Not to mention with the new enemies coming after you, we're going to need all the help we can get."

OoooO

Tain Ironhand came into being in front of the young man. A man who was also a vampire who can walk in the sun. He knew instantly that the young man was his master and that he was to obey him in all matters. It did not matter that he was a Paladin of the Order of the Silver Hand, an enemy of the undead, his very being, his soul, was created to be loyal to his Lord.

"Tain Ironhand." His Lord said, regret in his voice. "I wish that I have no need to summon you. But I have need of you. You will be the first to be created, and you will lead one of the two teams I am going to create in defence of whatever enemies that are to come."

"I understand my Lord. I will strive to protect you." Tain said, bowing in front of the young man.

"You and your team are not going to protect just me, but the town of Sunnydale and everyone I care about as well." The young Lord said. "And to do that, I must first give you knowledge of how to survive in my world..."

OoooO

Cordelia glanced at the handsome blond haired young man Xander had created as part of a team, to be stationed in Sunnydale to protect everyone in town. The young man was apparently a Paladin hero, leading a team consisting of a young Archmage hero, who was also easy on the eye, a female Paladin hero, and a Sorceress.

Willow was currently questioning Xander on the technicality of how he managed to get two vastly different Paladin heroes from the Altar of Heroes structure he had built. Xander was going on about the possibility that the hiring of units actually take into account everyone from the Warcraft III game verse, which means Tain Ironhand, the male Paladin Cordelia was currently drooling over, and Jestina Silver, the female Paladin, was drawn from a pool of possible Paladin candidates from the Warcraft III verse.

Cordelia was paying none of the technical discussions any mind however as she moved to greet the newcomers, mainly Tain Ironhand.

"So you're the new Paladin around the block." Cordelia cooed, smiling at the young man, causing him to flush. "So how do you find Sunnydale so far? You'll be living in Giles' mansion for a while. I can show you around town if you want."

"My duty is to protect this town and all of you. I am afraid I will not have much time to sightsee the town." Tain said politely, behind him, the female Paladin was glaring daggers at Cordelia. Cordelia simply glowered back at her. She was not afraid of any of them, especially since they were game characters brought to life by Xander, and fiercely loyal to him. There was also the fact that she seriously doubt Xander would even order them to manhandle her even a little. Xander was too much of a gentleman to do that.

"I am sure you need to take a break as well. You're human after all." Cordelia said, flashing a winning smile at Tain. "There are a lot of things around town I am sure you've never seen before..."

"Lord Xander has given us his memories of this world. We are well aware of how to use the various devices in this world, and the locations of the shops and houses in this town." Jestina interrupted, cutting off Cordelia's attempt at flirting.

"Cordelia, please don't disturb Tain." Xander said rolling his eyes as he realised what Cordelia was up to. "I don't need him to be traumatised by you."

"As if!" Cordelia huffed indignantly as she stalked back to the sofa, sitting down on the soft cushion, her attention turning to another conversation taking place at another part of the room.

"I still can't believe Dawn's not really my sister." Buffy was saying in disbelief while Giles was explaining things to her. "I mean she's a brat, but she's my sister! All those years of memories... I can't believe they are just not real."

"It shall be easy enough to verify with a spell." Giles was saying as he looked at Ms Calendar.

"We're going to need some of Dawn's hair and blood." Ms Calendar said with reluctance. "But the spell will tell us who Dawn really is."

"Good then let's do it. Because I am not going to get a good night's sleep again until I am certain of what is going on!" Buffy said in agitation.

Cordelia twisted her lips and sighed. It seemed like everyone was ignoring her today. Well, it was probably time for her to do up her nails anyway. Ignoring the hubris around her, she took out a bottle of nail polish and began an impromptu manicure.

She might have patrol tonight, but that did not mean she could not look good.

OoooO

The sleek black car came to a halt outside the Swiss Royal Hotel in Sunnydale central. It was the only four star hotel in Sunnydale, and the most expensive and exclusive hotel in the little town. A blond haired woman got out of the car, looking around her with displeasure.

"Such a dingy little town." The woman said as she made a face. "I do hope the incredible power I've sensed in this town is worth the trip."

A robed figure got out of the car, bowing to her. "I am sure it will be mistress. Even we have sensed its power."

"Gather the minions." The woman ordered as she gave herself a careful sniff. "Search around town for information about the power I seek. In the meantime, I need to get a bath."

Without a backward glance, the woman left, leaving some of her minions to scamper out of the car, as they moved into town.

OoooO

The town of Sunnydale truly was a haven for vampires and demons. Ian Whitehart was but a level 1 Archmage when Lord Xander called him into being. Yet within hours of patrol, he and his team had slayed twelve vampires and five unknown demons, causing him to level up to level 3.

He had currently unlocked three of his innate abilities. The Blizzard spell which allows him to unleash a Blizzard storm on a group of target. The Summon Water Elemental spell which allows him to summon a Water Elemental, and the skill of Brilliance Aura, which allows him to regenerate his mana.

Tain and Jestina, the two paladins of the group were similar affected, having leveled up to the same level as Ian. Raina, the luscious Sorceress, already had access to all three of her innate abilities since she was not a Hero unit. As such she was unable to level up, though she possessed great powers. Having her around to turn demons or vampires into sheeps, slow down their targets with magic, or cloak them with invisibility spells was a great help during their patrol.

Of course, other than leveling up from their monster kills, some of the monsters also dropped items of power which Ian had never encounter before. For instance, one of the dusted vampires had dropped a Scroll of Vampiric Possession, which could turn a target into a vampire. Several had dropped bars of gold. One of the demons they had killed had even left them an Orb of Regeneration. All the dropped items were gathered, and would be taken back with them after their patrol.

As the four combed the cemeteries in the eastern side of town, Ian breathed in the cool night air, marvelling at the sensation. Sure, in his memories he possessed the backstory that his Archmage character should have, but he knew that in truth, until Lord Xander had summoned him, he was not real, just a fictional character from a game, formed from Lord Xander's powerful magic.

Lord Xander brought him to life. Even though he had memories of studying to be an Archmage, of living a life in another world, it was only after his actual summoning/creation by Lord Xander that gave him real life. It was the same for the rest of the team, they were all clean slates, powerful humans bond to Lord Xander, all given Lord Xander's memories of Earth to help them live a new life in this world. His thoughts turned to the second team stationed at Lord Xander's lands. One fellow Archmage, a Sorceress and a full grown dragon were in that team. He wondered how his comrades in arms were doing now.

His musings were interrupted when they came upon four vampires cornering a young lady who was petrified by the undead. His hand blazed with magic as a Water Elemental was called forth. It was time to get to work.

OoooO

Xander was trying to wrap his mind around the impossibility of the memories his four new hirelings had shown him. Memories of dusted vampires turning into powerful items or bars of gold. Of course, such things happen within the Warcraft III game, when the game units killed enemy targets and trigger an item drop. Problem was, this was not the game right now, they were in real world! But then, since he had gotten his new powers, nothing had gone exactly according to the laws of reality. It was as if Xander and those he created all operates within their own spheres of reality. A reality governed by the laws of a game.

The ability of item drops apparently did not extend itself to Xander, or he would have experienced it over the past few days when he had joined Buffy and the others for patrol. It had made Xander wondered why that was so, further experimentations would need to be done to determine what was going on. On the other hand, Xander wondered if this impossible ability only extend to units created from buildings of Warcraft III game verse, or if Drusilla and William possessed this ability as well.

The two re-souled vampires had pretty much stayed within the mansion for the past three weeks, only venturing to town a few times once they were given a Gem of Amarra each. So far they have stuck to the nearby Los Angeles, avoiding Sunnydale for the most part due to the fact that Angel and Buffy were there. To Xander's knowledge, they had not encountered any combat situations, and have yet to test out the item drop theory.

But if Drusilla and William also have the innate ability to cause fallen enemies to drop items, it would mean that anyone Xander hired through his specially constructed buildings would be affected by the same game logic.

"Xander." The whisper of thought made him paused in what he was doing. It was Drusilla. As one of his minions/hirelings, she was able to communicate mentally with him should there be a need. It was one of the few subtle abilities he and his minions possessed that he had discovered through the weeks.

"What is it?" Xander asked back, waiting for Drusilla to tell him the reason she contacted him, instead of just delving into her memories and taking control of her.

"I have another vision. A series of visions actually, which are all very important." Drusilla answered, her mental voice seemingly shaken. Xander could sense fear and awe emitting from her mental tone. "You need to see it for yourself."

Accepting Drusilla's unspoken permission for him to enter her mind, Xander braced himself, mentally reaching out to Drusilla and entered her thoughts.

In the darkness of space, a white robed man, gleaming with pure power floated in front of him. He looked young, sandy haired, his face with grief as he looked down at the planet before him. The planet was a shining blue green orb, looking like the pictures of Earth in space, yet somehow Xander knew that what he was seeing was not Earth but some other planet.

"It has been awhile Drusilla. I've been meaning to contact you but it has been difficult, especially with the numerous Powers observing young Alexander for the past few weeks. It had taken all I have to cloud the visions of the seers, to prevent them from seeing what is to come..."

"What I am going to show you now, the secrets I will reveal to you, must be shown to young Alexander. For before he can act, he must understand..." The sandy haired man was saying, his face turned away from Xander, not acknowledging him. "Millions of years ago. On a faraway galaxy, there lived a powerful race of beings calling themselves the Alterans."

The vision of space and the planet vanished. Now they were flying above a large gleaming city nested within a lush valley filled with exotic plants and animals Xander had never seen before. Rectangular vessels hovered in the air, transporting those within to whatever destinations the occupants had in mind. On the white washed city streets, robed figures, looking like humans, were going about their daily lives. One of them, a woman, suddenly burst into bright light and vanished, leaving behind her robes. The people around her gathered, chatting in excitement.

"The Alterans were a powerful and technologically advanced race. Through the thousands of years they have been in existence, some of them stumbled upon the secret of Ascension. The act of transcendence of the mortal body into energy form, through heightened will and mentality." The sandy haired man said even as Xander looked on in disbelief. "The Alterans named those who managed this feat the Ascended. Because of their transcendence to an energy form, they were able to access the energy plane, and with it powerful abilities. The Ascended in short possessed god like abilities."

The vision changed then, now showing a shrine where hordes of people were gathered in prayers.

"The Alterans became split in their ideologies. Some prayed to the Ascended, believing them to be gods. Others take the view that the Ascended were simply the next stage of a mortal evolution. It did not help that some of the Ascended take advantage of the belief of the mortals. In their new form, these rogue Ascended were able to feed on mortal belief to grow more powerful, as opposed to their counterparts who refused to do so." The sandy haired man said with great sadness. "Those Ascended who feed on the beliefs of mortals, who fashioned themselves as Gods, called themselves the Ori, a name which their devout followers also took upon themselves."

"Thus the Alterans became split into the Ori faction who prayed to the Ori and the Alteran faction who resolved to improve their sciences so that everyone can Ascend." The sandy man said as the vision changed to show a planet engulfed in war. Large space faring ships raining down death on the land below. Devastation, ruined structures and the dead bodies of many littered the cities below.

"Under the instigation of the Ori, their followers attacked those who refused to warship the Ori as Gods. The Ascended tried to keep the powers of the Ori in check, preventing them from interfering with the mortal worlds, but they failed. With the beliefs of millions, the Ori were an unstoppable force. The Ascended who tried to stop them were destroyed." The sandy haired man said, grief in his voice.

The scenes of destructions now changed to show large spaceships flying into the depths of space. As the spaceships passed where Xander and the sandy haired man floated in space, Xander saw the tired and haggard faces of those within the ships, through the many glass like windows of the ships.

"The surviving Ascended, their powers drastically reduced, gathered the remaining Alterans. Through use of their dwindling powers, giant spacefaring ships were constructed, allowing the Alterans to flee from the galaxy which had been their origin for the past thousands years."

Visions of planets that looked disturbingly like Earth's solar system appeared in the vision, as giant spaceships flashed into view.

"After a century of travel, the Alterans finally came to what is now known as the Milky Way Galaxy. They settled down, making their home on a garden world planet which they named Terra. Terra is the planet that you humans now called Earth. Cities were built and for the first time in centuries the Alterans had hopes. They spread out across this new galaxy, rapidly advancing their technologies."

"As for the Ascended that had saved the Alterans, they made a vow never to ever interfere in mortal affairs. This was a vow that was enforced on all new Ascended that followed, to prevent any Ascended from going the way of the Ori ever again."

The visions changed then to something familiar. Xander was now seeing the beautiful cities floating on the sea that he had first seen in Drusilla's first visions. He was prepared when a storm of powerful energies erupted from one of the cities, destroying it, before reaching out to engulf the nearby cities.

"However, the Ascended never would have predicted the folly of one young Alteran scientist who seeks to reach too far. In his efforts to create a renewable and immerse power source, he unleashed devastation on Terra, destroying thousands of Alteran lives. The power source he created was too powerful, too unstable. In his folly, he unleashed magic into the world... and with the birth of magic and the weakening of space/time around the planet, demons came onto Terra."

Visions of demons appearing all over the land, of Alterans desperately fighting back with their technologies, while the demons retaliate with their magic.

"The Alterans tried desperately to protect Terra from the demonic invasion. But their technologies were helpless against the powers of the Elder demons. The Ascended were forced to intervene, sealing away the Elder demons. However, to teach the Alterans a lesson, magic was left on Terra, together with the lesser demons."

"The more powerful of the lesser demons formed the Triad, but even they knew better than to cross the line the Ascended had drawn out for them. The Ascended would not interfere unless the Triad caused great loss of lives on Earth or tried to overreach their powers. In turn the Triad and the demon races would be able to survive on Earth which was rich in magic, the very source of energy that sustained them."

"Thousands of years passed, the Alterans had long since left the Milky Way Galaxy due to certain factors in their long history. Yet they left a seed of their legacy, by creating a genetic off shot of their race. The humans are the second evolution of the Alterans, their legacy to the Milky Way."

"Due to their laws of non-interference, unless the situation called for drastic measures, the Ascended will only act against the Triad or the demon races through their chosen mortal proxies, through their so called Champions, of which the Slayer is one of them. The Ascended wished to only keep the Balance without interfering too much and the Triad had taken advantage of this. No mortal had the power to break this eternal fight between light and dark... until Halloween night..."

The sandy haired man turned then, facing Xander, a smile on his face. "This is the truth I am showing you Drusilla, through which you will show young Alexander. I am neither the Ascended, the Powers of Balance in this world, nor am I part of the Triad, the Powers of Evil. I am someone who has stood in the shadows since the beginning, waiting for the correct moment when the folly of the Alterans can be undone, when the fight between the demons and humans can be brought to an end."

"I am Terin Morghuar. The Alteran who unleashed magic and demons onto Terra. That one experiment changed me, making me forcibly Ascend into an energy form different from the Ascended. The people and demons of this world know me by another name..."

"I am Magic. The wellspring of power that flows through all magic users on Earth. The power that allows demons and the portals to hellish planes to exists on Earth."

"As punishment for my folly, the Ascended have contained me within an unbreakable shell hidden deep within Sunnydale. I was condemned to exist for eternity as an energy source that fuels the lives of the world's darker denizens, helpless to act in anyway. My powers were limited by the Ascended, who prevented me from interfering directly with the mortal world."

"But now young Alexander, reborn from the powers of chaotic magic, will be my chosen vessel, the one that will destroy me. Ending the supernatural threat on Terra once and for all. But before that, there are immediate threats to Alexander that he must be aware and take care off..."

"Let me show you what they are..."

Visions flashed before Xander, armies of demons, a hell god, Wolfram and Hart... humans and aliens in space, humans under enslavement and torture…and many more others. Information flooded his brain and Xander understood.

"Yet not all demons are vile, some deserve to live... and if magic was to die off, the future will be in turmoil... you and Alexander must be prepared..."

More visions flashed across Xander's eyes, giving him knowledge of what he must do, what will happen, and the choice he must make.

"... and from the ashes of my death, the darkness over Terra will be broken. Alexander will then reach into the stars and save those that the Ascended refused to save."

OoooO

Lilah Morgan looked at the haggard face of Holland Manners as all the lawyers of Wolfram & Hart were summoned to the Headquarters. Disbelief and fear ran through her as she tried to make sense of Holland's words.

"... as of 0312hr this morning ... all the seers of the company are dead. The fog that had clouded the future for the past few weeks had finally dispersed. The seers' last prediction was the end of magic and destruction of many demon races... The cause have been identified, Alexander Lavelle Harris of Sunnydale who now possessed great powers... He is going to somehow destroy the source of all magic... A demonic army is being prepared to put an end to his plan, but in the meantime, the Senior Partners will depart to another dimension for safety reason... All of you are to handle parts of the coordination of the army... The army must be assembled before daybreak. Wolfram & Hart is going to war for the first time in centuries and we must not fail!"

Lilah's hand shook as she brushed away a stray strand of hair. She could read between the words, whatever threat was coming had caused the Senior Partners to flee this dimension. That an army was gathered to put down a single man represented how great a threat he was. Just what sort of powers did Alexander Lavelle Harris possessed that could end magic and all demons?

OoooO

"Giles did you see Xander?" Jenny asked with a frown as she walked into the dining room where Giles was helping himself to some breakfast. Xander had stayed the night with them, but he had seemingly disappeared by the time she got around to looking for him.

"Oh, he got up around six in the morning and left the place in a hurry. Said he had somethings to settle by today." Giles said as he calmly sipped his tea. "Any reason you're looking for him?"

"Other than a radio news speaking about a fire at the Swiss Royal Hotel in Sunnydale at around seven in the morning? With eye witnesses who fled the hotel saying that the hotel vanished for a few seconds before reappearing?" Jenny said, her words causing Giles to jump up in shock. "The report went on to say that all of the guests and staff in the hotel were accounted for by the sidewalks, except for a lady who checked in last night."

"Good heavens, what on earth is Xander thinking? He can't go around doing things like this in broad daylight with witnesses around!" Giles cursed as he quickly left the dining room, with Jenny tailing after him. "Tain and the others are still in the mansion. Maybe they will know what Xander's up to."

"Here's to hoping that they do know what is going on." Jenny said looking worried. "But I've a bad feeling that the day's about to get worse."

OoooO

Hundreds of demons were lying in wait in the deepest caverns where the Seed of Wonder, source of all magic was housed. None could walk into the immediate vicinity of the Seed of Wonder, as the great magic within the Seed prevented them from nearing. All were briefed by Wolfram & Hart of the great threat to the supernatural world. A man seeks to end magic, which would result in the devastation of the demon races. The man must be stopped.

To gather hundreds just to stop a man might be overkill, but the seers had spoken of the great power the man possessed. None were willing to chance him getting through them. So they had agreed to be teleported into the cavern where they had laid in wait for the man. The killer of magic. Most of the demons expected the man to be some powerful sorcerer who had a few minions to assist him. None expect him to bring an army of his own...

The first sign things were wrong was when giant stone golems appeared at the mouth of the cavern. Those at the front of the army could barely make out the two small human figures surrounded by the golems.

Then one of the figures bent down and started hammering on the stone floor. The magic users within the army sounded the alarm. The killer of magic was here and he was doing something.

Whatever spell casting the man was attempting, they had to stop it now!

With a roar, the demon army sprung forth, even as the stone golems lurched forward to engage them.

OoooO

"We nearly didn't make it." Yalen, the second Archmage Xander had created a day ago said in relief as he teleported him and Xander to edge of Greenfield cemetery. Most of the cemetery had collapsed into a huge sink hole, causing clouds of dust to rise before them. Since he had deconstruct the cavern full of demons underneath the cemetery, the land above had no choice but to fall below.

"So the stone golems are deconstructed as well?" Yalen asked wistfully as Xander continued staring at the giant crater before him.

"Yes, they did their job well." Xander said sadly. The stone golems he had created had served their purpose. "For what they have done, they have earned a place in this world. I'll recreate them once this whole thing is over."

The two stood silently at the edge of the crater, watching the dust settled, in the distance, cars were stopping and people were pouring out to look at the commotion.

"It's time." Xander said. Yalen nodded as he tapped into his magic, teleporting them. This time they appeared in a cloud of dust, miles below ground. Before them, undisturbed in the destruction, stood the Seed of Wonder, magic of the world.

A man appeared near the Seed, smiling at Xander.

"Terin." Xander said nodding at the man. After he had seen the visions sent by Drusilla, he had made his choice. To close the Hellmouths once and for all, to depower the demon races. To Xander, the loss of magic on Earth would be worth it.

"So you've made your choice." Terin said gesturing to Xander. "Within this small area of the Seed of Magic, of the shell that contain my essence, I am able to affect space, preventing any unworthy from misusing my powers. I have sent Drusilla the visions... you know what you must do if you wish to pass."

Looking into the eyes of the man who had become magic, Xander nodded. The many visions Drusilla had saw, that he had saw. The visions that had revealed much of the world to him. He knew what he must do.

"I Alexander Lavelle Harris, swear upon my magic and soul. Swear by my very essence. Swear to Terin Morghuar, that I will never misuse the magic I possess. That I will not oppress life itself. That I will do all I can to save, to nurture, and to lend a hand to any living creature in need of help. Should I break this vow, let my very existence be erased." Xander swore, his body shuddering at the powerful magic rushing through him as his vow to a Higher Being was sealed.

"Good." Terin nodded. "Then pass through the barrier Alexander, and See the Seed of Wonder as it is."

Xander stepped through the barrier which no longer opposed him, walking up to the Seed of Wonder even as new information rushed into his brain.

"Seed of Wonder. Home to Terin Morghuar, Energy Being. Building cost XXX Gold and XXX Lumber. Deconstruction regains XXX Gold and XXX Lumber. Hero Unit for hire: Terin Morghuar costs XXX Gold, XXX food units."

"You know what you must do." Terin said as Xander looked up to him one last time.

"If I do this, even if I rebuild the Seed of Wonder in future, I will forever lack the resources to create you." Xander said.

"I have no regrets, that you'll be the one ending my suffering." Terin said simply. "You have seen the visions. They will be able to guide you for yet sometime. They are my last gift to you."

Xander nodded, raising his hand and hammered on the Seed of Wonder. He could sense the resistance coming from the Seed, the powerful force resisting his attack. Sweat bead down his face.

"This is going to take a while." Xander revealed with a grimace.

OoooO

Holland Manners felt the great dread and anticipation coursing through his body as he received the first piece of news. At two in the afternoon, the company employed witches had sensed the disappearance of magic around them. They had failed. Magic was now most probably gone from the world.

He had been briefed by the Senior Partners, and the worst case scenario had happened. The gateways to other dimensions would be closed with the loss of magic, and none of the Senior Partners would be able to return to Earth. Demonic magic would soon stop working and the demon races would effectively be depowered.

Wolfram and Hart was experiencing its worst crisis in the centuries, and it was also the perfect opportunity for Holland Manners... to take over Wolfram and Hart. After all, with the loss of magic, someone would have to calm and gather the demon races, make use of their dwindling abilities while they still exist. And as the most senior lawyer, he had access to the company funds. The future ahead for him was certainly bright.

His body twitched. Holland watched in shock as his entire body and everything around him began to dissolve...

And he reappeared on the streets, next to the Wolfram and Hart building, startled passer-bys staring at him in shock. It was then he noticed that other lawyers of Wolfram and Hart were beside him as they looked around him in confusion, and more were appearing out of thin air!

Ah yes. A voice boomed in Holland's head as he cried out in pain. Beside him, the rest of the employees of Wolfram and Hart seemed to be experiencing the same mental pain. Holland Manners... and the rest of the lawyers, security, and whatever staffs of Wolfram and Hart. I will like to announce that your law firm is now under new management. And I am going to list out a few ground rules which you will obey...

OoooO

"You ended magic on Earth." Giles' face was pale with shock. The group had been summoned to Giles' mansion in the late evening as Xander at last told everyone all that have happened. "How could you make such a decision without consulting any of us!"

"Because I don't want to alert those Powers who still aren't aware of what I will be doing to take actions against me." Xander said, seemingly unrepentant. "Come on Giles, if you have the chance to close all the Hellmouths on Earth, to depower the demons, wouldn't you do it?"

"Well... I would do the same thing you did... but Xander. What you've done has worldwide consequences! What about the demons who only wanted to live in peace? There are several demon species that actively aided the world!" Giles asked, looking agitated. Beside him, Ms Calendar looked extremely sick at Xander's news. But then, she was a magic user, so the news would have hit her hard.

"They will still survive. Demons with innate magic will continue to live. Those that are purely magical will fade away with time." Xander revealed, causing Giles to look grimly at him. "Terin has shown me which demons must be saved, and which to leave alone. I am the only source of magic in the world now, and I have the means to create more magic to sustain the peaceful demons without causing Hellmouths and rifts in dimensions to reappear. Deconstructing the Seed of Wonder had... empowered me. I have access to infinite Gold and Lumber now, able to build anything with unlimited resources if I so wishes."

"That you've been further empowered... Just trying to understand what happen to you is giving me a headache. And what do you mean you can create more magic?" Ms Calendar asked, finally snapping out of her gloom at the news.

"I am able to create Moon Wells, a structure from the Warcraft III game verse. Drinking of the waters in the Moon Wells will restore the magical powers of a supernatural being." Xander said as Ms Calendar's eyes widened. "Alliances will be formed with the various peaceful demon clans and also witch covens. Moon Wells will then be built for their use."

"But Xander, do you know what you're actually saying?" Giles said looking darkly at Xander. "You're holding magic hostage..."

"Don't worry about me abusing my power Giles." Xander said with a weary grin. "I swore a binding vow to a Higher Being. If I ever go crazy and try to enslave the world, I'll be dusted. Anyway, I wouldn't be staying on Earth for long. As the only source of magic in the world now, staying too long on Earth will be like painting a target board on my back. Once I've settled the alliances with the demon clans, build enough Moon Wells to sustain the necessary magic on Earth, I will leave."

"Leave Earth?" Willow said, looking upset. "But how?"

"Let's just say Terin showed me the location of a starship on Earth through the visions he sent me. And it will be the start of how I will leave Earth... and begin saving the other worlds out there..."

OoooO

Two months later...

Angel stepped into Willy's bar, looking around the place which was brimming with demons. With the death of magic, vampires were a dying breed. Many demon clans had rushed to form alliances with The Man through Wolfram and Hart, who in a surprising turn of events have become a force of Good in the world.

The magical Wisps who were under The Man's control had constructed Moon Wells in key locations around the world, all of which were heavily guarded by allied demon clans and a dragon each under The Man's control. Two months ago, no one had even heard of Moon Wells. Now, those magical wells were Earth's only source of magic, and were heavily protected. Sunnydale possessed a Moon Well of its own, the reason why it was now allied demons central.

Even now, Angel was still uncomfortable at the changes that had taken place in the supernatural world, at the god like power that Xander now wields. But he was indebted to the teenager, for when the soul curse faded three days after the death of magic, it was Xander's blood that restored his soul. There were only four vampires with souls on Earth right now, and Xander had no plans to make more.

"So what's the news?" Angel asked, settling on a leather seat near the bar. Willy had cleaned up his act, now the bar was a respectable demon friendly establishment.

"The Yeoric demons tried to find the location of The Man. Those man eaters aren't so keen on the idea of the Alliance. Heard that they were hunted down to the last demon by The Man's army and the allied demon clans. The news caused major waves among the demon clans still not in the Alliance." Willy whispered in confidence as Angel passed him a hundred dollar bill. "News on the street is that all the peaceful demon clans are already in the Alliance, and those that are not, will either be weeded out within the next few months, or forced to convert and join the Alliance soon."

"No one knows who The Man is yet?" Angel asked causing Willy to look sharply at him.

"Some of the demon seers supposedly saw the face of The Man. There are pictures being passed around. But those that know him are keeping silent. Demons who pushed too far for The Man's identity are found dead most of the time." Willy said, staring at Angel.

Angel held the man's stare for a moment before nodding. "Good to see you've a brain in your head Willy. Now here's a little tibit for you. It seems like someone sent an assassin after the Slayer to get more information about The Man. Apparently The Man is offering a bounty of 10,000, and twenty vials of Moon Well water, to whoever that can provide information about who actually sent the assassin. You might want to spread that around."

Willy nodded his head jerkily, sweat beading on his forehead. He tried to crack a smile as he poured a drink into a glass.

"I'll do that." Willy said, his face strained. "In the meantime, here's some buffalo blood, on the house."

OoooO

Two months ago, Dawn did not know what Xander had gone through. Two months ago, she did not even know that she was the vessel of some ancient magical source that only recently came into existence. Her life was a lie, she had nearly tried suicide when the truth came out, at least until her mother had given her a hard slap before hugging her tight, saying that Dawn would always be her baby no matter what.

Joyce Summer had taken the truth about demons, Buffy's role as the Vampire Slayer, magic, Xander's powers and Dawn's existence with a calm that Dawn would never have expected. But then, seeing Xander show off his various magical hirelings, giant walking trees and able to build structures in seconds had pretty much left Joyce with no room to protest that all these were products of a crazy dream.

A spell by Ms Calendar and Willow had pretty much proved that Dawn's a living human being, with a powerful magical essence, and was genetically wise, a Buffy clone. Buffy had been shocked by the news, protesting how a clone of hers would be so obnoxious. Joyce had rapped Buffy on the head and said that Buffy was similarly obnoxious at Dawn's age.

However, due to her large inner magical essence, the death of magic affected Dawn greatly. She suffered great crippling pains as the magic within her begin to fade, and only by drinking waters from the Moon Wells could she restore the magic within her and stop the pain. The good thing was, Xander could build a Moon Well for her anytime. The bad thing was, drinking water from a Moon Well was now part of her daily requirement.

And of course, with the revelation of the real world by Xander and the others, things could no longer go back as before, especially not when Joyce discovered that Xander planned to leave Earth using a working starship. Her mother's sense of adventure had been ignited, Buffy needed a break and Dawn had thought space travel would be cool, which was why the three of them became part of Xander's spacefaring crew.

Dawn huffed as she trudge her heavy luggage up the ramp of the starship. The ship was streamlined in design, with a pyramid shaped center made of grayish metal of some sort. Xander had called it the Al'kesh, a ship previously owned by an alien race calling itself the Goa'uld.

According to Xander, the Source of magic, Terin, had never explained much about the ship, all he had done was to provide Xander the location of the vessel. Xander had known of the ship's location through visions, with the visions hinting that during the centuries passed, the ship had fallen into the hands of an Alteran who had made modifications to it. The ship was currently the most powerful starship on Earth, the reason why Terin had chosen to show it to Xander.

Finding the location of the Al'kesh had been difficult. But once that was done, Xander had the blueprint of the secret workshop where the Al'kesh had laid for the past centuries. As such, Xander was able to "buy"/"hire" more of the Al'kesh units if he ever have a need to. As an added bonus, the workshop also contains a database with a large pool of information which Xander had said he would share with the group at a later date.

Since Xander was able to mentally control any units he bought or hire through his created buildings/structures, the decision was made for him to create a single Al'kesh unit that he could control with his mind if need be. This Al'kesh would be the one that the "crew" would be able to use for their journey into deep space.

Of course, having an Al'kesh unit Xander could control mentally was a huge boon to the group, because Xander had been able to instantly access the Al'kesh's database and understand the data within. Surprisingly, the language bank of the ship was in some sort of abstract Latin, most probably the language that the Alteran who had modified the ship had used.

An interesting fact had been that the Alteran who modified the Al'kesh had not named himself an Alteran but a Lantean. Xander had given everyone a summarise version of what exactly happened to the man who built the outpost, and that had only served to whet Dawn's appetite to find out more about the aliens and the galaxies at large.

The ship's data bank had contained lots of technical information about the ship's weapons, armour, shields and systems. With his mental link to the ship, it had taken Xander only a few minutes to absorb all of the information and understand advanced sciences and physics of an ancient race.

According to the database, the modified Al'kesh had possessed a Lantean cloaking system, Lantean shield systems, upgraded staff canons, transportation rings, upgraded sublight engines, an Element 76 generator and Lantean hyperdrives. For the past two weeks, Xander had worked on customising the ship, and now it was ready for their voyage into space.

"Do you really have to name the Al'kesh Enterprise?" Giles was saying in exasperation as everyone brought their belongings on board.

"Hey it's a good name as any." Xander said defending his choice of name as Dawn walked passed him.

Dawn grinned at Xander as she stepped into the Al'kesh, taking in the modifications Xander had done to the ship. She had known that the twelve living quarters of the Al'kesh had been fully furnished, with one of the living quarters converted into a dining area.

There was not much Xander could do to the engine rooms, but an entertainment corner had been set up in part of the large cargo bay. The rest of the space within the cargo bay had been loaded with crates of food. There was also a Moon Well in the corner, for Dawn and any of the magic users' needs.

Not that the space venturing crew need to fear about food. Xander had deconstructed several chicken coops, a pig sty, a small convenience store, and various other structures with necessary resources for their journey. As long as they have a large enough space, Xander would be able to build the structures and supply themselves with resources.

Xander's intention had been to take the Al'kesh on a month long journey deeper into space. To scout out their surroundings and several prominent locations he had discovered as listed in the workshop's database. Angel had surprisingly opted out of the trip. Drusilla and William wanted to start a new life in Canada, which left him with the original Slayer group, plus Joyce, Dawn and a few others.

The few others of the crew were the Archmages Yalen Roguewell and Ian Whitehart, as well as the Paladin Tain Ironhand. All three had reached Level 10 after slaying many aggressive demons and vampires. Their strength, endurance, intelligence, agility and magical powers were higher than what ordinary humans, even the Slayer possessed.

The intelligence of Ian and Yalen in particular were boosted so high that they had become super geniuses, with Tain only slightly lesser than them in brain power. It took the three of them minutes to assimilate all the information Xander had gained from the Al'kesh, after Xander had mentally passed them the knowledge of advanced sciences.

As such, Xander, Yalen, Ian and Tain were more than capable of taking care of any ship operations, acting as scientists, engineers and pilots of the crew.

In the chaos of loading the ship, Dawn's small frame was easily missed. She reached her designated living quarters unhindered, looking with satisfaction at the name plate on her door which read "Dawn Summers".

Opening the door to her room, Dawn trudged her luggage in, beaming at the lavishly decorated room, wallpapered with teddy bears and angels. She flung herself onto the poster bed, bouncing in excitement.

Her eyes sparkling at thoughts of the journey ahead, Dawn smiled.

"This is going to be the start of a great adventure. I just knew it!"

OoooO

Ship name: Enterprise

Ship type: Modified Al'kesh with Lantean technologies

4 Levels:

Level 4: 3 living quarters (Joyce, Buffy and Dawn Summers)

Level 3: 6 living quarters (Willow Rosenberg, Cordelia Chase, Rupert Giles, Jenny Calendar, Tain Ironhand, Yalen Roguewell)

Level 2: 2 living quarters (Ian Whitehart, Alexander Lavelle Harris), 1 dining room, 1 cockpit, 1 engine room

Level 1: Cargo bay (Entertainment corner, Moon Well, Storage area, Transportation Ring)

OoooO

Author's Note: Upon the advice of a reader, I've tried to plan out a small story with a beginning and ending, and then write it out, to affirm to myself that I can complete a story. It took me close to a month, but I finally managed to write out one of my more hair brained ideas. I hope you guys enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

And thus ends Book 1 of The Ultimate Peasant series. There'll be Book 2... sometime in the future. In the meanwhile, review and give some constructive comments. ;) Maybe you readers can help me decide which direction to take this story in next.

Who should Xander save? What events in the Stargate verse should Xander change? How will Xander's powers change the Stargate verse?

^^ The future is yet undetermined.

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