《Emperor (皇帝)》 Chapter 1 Emperor (»ÊµÛ) On a single chilly evening, as the rumbling life of human civilization slowly comes to its rest, a group of young friends, scattered across the world, yet have gathered together by the magical means of the Web. Conversing about trivial manners, occasionally arguing in-between, but ultimately a gathering of kind-hearted people. ¡°Khem¡± ¨C a rumbling voice suddenly interrupts the growing chaos of over 20 people. ¡°It took me a long time, but I must thank you all for coming here today for me.¡± ¨C as the same voice tries to silencing the rest. More conversing, laughter. ¡°KHEM!¡± ¨C the sheer volume of this shout, almost impossibly loud, causes a few people to drop their headphones, finding themselves unable to speak or react but eventually regained their senses. A few people seemed to have anticipated this already, firmly waiting for the man to speak. A low mumble and the sound of scribbling could be heard in a darkened room on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, alongside the key printing from other people of the North. A man suddenly tries to speak, yell out, but cannot find his own voice. ¡°Do not worry.¡± ¨C The same voice pierces everyone¡¯s minds ¨C ¡°You will be able to speak shortly. This is not a game or a joke. I have brought you all here today to offer you a choice.¡± ¨C The silence becomes overbearing, some hearing the rising thunder outside their windows without any rain. ¡°Under your mousepads ¨C there is a singular letter.¡± ¨C This time, some start understanding the speech as if it was their own. ¡°Read it, analyze it, make a decision. You are not to leave your rooms or houses, do not try shouting or calling. You have 30 minutes. If you decline the invitation or do not make a choice within that time, your memory of this event will be erased and your life will turn back into a normal, boring everyday grind for wealth. Everything will be as it was. I will be here for you all. The time starts now.¡± As the voice stopped speaking, many lights on different sides of the world turned off, and people regained their voices. ¡°What the fuck is going on?¡± ¨C a man from the Netherlands said. ¡°This is actually mental¡­¡± ¡°Dude, what the actual fuck?¡± ¡°Holy shit, I can¡¯t believe this is actually happening boys¡± ¨C a man from Portugal adds. People start heavily speaking over each other, some cheering, some ¨C quietly thinking. Eventually, all of them sigh in surprise when they look under their mousepads to find a singular piece of ancient, crumbly parchment. ¡°So Nick is actually THE DM, ahah..¡± ¨C another voice adds in while reading the paper. ¡°Fuck me, dude...¡± A group of people starts silently conversing with each other on this matter. A pair of people have not made a sound or said a word since the start. ¡°Nick, are you here?¡± ¨C a Nordic man shouts out. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Is this for real?¡± ¡°Absolutely. You have experienced an imaginary world, but now that world may come to life, depending on your decisions.¡± Everyone goes silent yet again. Five minutes pass. In a unison, three people shout out ¡°WE ACCEPT!¡±. ¡°Hahah!¡± ¨C the same commanding voice chuckles in response, delightfully. ¡°I will see you on the other side, where we can talk about this more. Welcome, friends.¡±If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. With that and a low thump, the four people grew silent once more. Another ten minutes pass that, a woman speaks out: ¡°Will I ever be able to see my friends and family ever again?¡± ¡°That depends on how hard you prevail and if you truly wish to. Anything is possible, however, I will never bring you back myself.¡± ¡­.. A soft cry is heard, as the same woman whispers ¡°Accept.¡± With it, nobody hears any more sound from her. ¡°Are you hesitating, Stheffen?¡± ¨C the man addresses another Northerner. ¡°I.. I don¡¯t know what to do¡­¡± ¡°Do not worry, as long as you are willing to, my dear friend, I will help you in your struggles, I promise. This world is not suited for people like you.¡± A moment passes, as he says: ¡°I accept.¡± Another five minutes, a man says: ¡°I am sorry, Nick, but I cannot accept this. Sorry to everyone. Have fun.¡± With that, he grew silent once more. ¡°Ten minutes.¡± ¨C the blood of most started racing. ¡°Five minutes.¡± ¨C the voice seems to get more aggressive. ¡°One minute.¡± ¡°WE ACCEPT¡± ¨C in another succession, the rest of the people start shouting out one by one and growing silent in the process. The man turns his attention to the remaining two. ¡°Do we do it, Sev?¡± ¡°Uhh... Fuck it.¡± ¡°WE ACCEPT, yeah.¡± In rapid succession, in a blink of an eye, through the rushing of fast wind, through the passing of distant starts, one by one appear in a large space. A large room, decorated and adorned with a numerous amount of paintings, gilded furniture and chandeliers rising almost hundreds of meters tall to the sky-high wooden ceiling, was present. A set of enormous golden-wood double-doors sit on both sides of this football-field size space, decorated by all sorts and manners of carvings. In the dead middle, stretching from one end to the other is a wide, but normal-height black-wood table, with over a hundred of blue chairs adorning its sides. On a singular end of the table sits a gilded throne, covered in red-silk pillows and other carvings. ¡°This is actually pretty gigantic¡± ¨C one of the people stars the conversation. ¡°WOAH, HOLY SHIT, THIS IS INSANE!¡± ¨C a man named Christopher yells out while looking at the other three compatriots next to him. ¡°Yup. Definitely real.¡± ¨C a man named Mons sighs in relief. "Ayyyyy, what''s up!"- many people start walking over to each other, some meeting for the first time. A few figures stand in this confrontation by themselves, scattered across the room. "We''ve already met, Mons, but damn these are some different circumstances." "Shit, forgot to turn off my stove, can I go back?" "Oh no, this is so like DnD, for fuck''s sake." Involuntarily, the tens of people here formed 4 groups with the people they are most comfortable with, and start talking to each other, while walking around and inspecting the interior of this chamber. Another man clenches his fist, and then mumbles: ¡°Don¡¯t have magic, dang.¡± A minute or so passes, as the huge wooden doors slowly open, shaking the walls around it. A set of footsteps, echoing through the wooden hallway, greet the newcomers. ¡°Welcome, welcome! Ahah!¡± ¨C A tall but slender black-coated human walks inside the chambers, as the doors behind him close on their own. The appearance of the figure is shallow, with minimal detail, but strange nonetheless: his arms are elongated, while his slender form is mostly covered by a layer of black-silk robes, as well as a white-porcelain mask on his face. One cannot see his feet or any other features, being covered by the cloth. For the first time, everyone present in the room took a step back, as a new sensation hit their bodies. A heavenly, yet powerful presence in front of them, even though they clearly see a featureless slender humanoid. The group of four simultaneously smiled. While no one can see the eyes of the creature, they can clearly sense an unknown presence piercing through their bodies, almost analyzing their entire being. Half of the people present immediately lose their consciousness under the pressure, but regain it seconds after. ¡°Are you alright?¡± ¡°I¡¯m ok, don¡¯t worry¡­ Did you also feel that?¡± ¡°Of course I did.¡± ¡°Please, sit down, today you all are my guests! I cannot wait to hear what¡¯s on your minds! As a token of celebration, you can have whatever food you would like! Just sit firmly and yell out whatever dish you¡¯d like, ahah!¡± ¨C The man slowly walked over and sat down at the throne-like chair. The rest of the people also quickly followed suit. Some chose a place to sit further away from the creature, some swiftly took the places nearest to him. A young man from the land of the Brits, as he sat at one of the further chairs, yells out: ¡°Pork, medium-rare! And some whiskey!¡± With a flash of blue light in front of him, following the pleasant smell of cooked meat and fresh alcohol, his desires appeared on the table. Everybody in the room took a deep breath in excitement, as they all start yelling out different dishes and drinks that they wish to have. A man by the name of Liam, while hysterically laughing, keeps yelling out ¡°Burger!¡±, filling the table with the hard-meaty dish all across. After twenty tries, he finally stopped, took one of the plates and dug right into it. ¡°Enjoy yourselves! Do not worry about a thing right now.¡± Chapter 2 "I am truly happy that most of you accepted my invitation, friends. I think we will be able to entertain ourselves quite a bit in this upcoming journey." - the creature, while having an obscured face, has a very happy tone to its voice. "Now, some of you might be thinking, what is this place? What are we supposed to do then? I will answer those questions for you, eventually." "Can I ask a question?" - a man named Gijs interrupts. "Of course." "Are you a God?'' "Ahahahah!" - the creature starts laughing, as his powerful voice echoes through the chamber. "Truly, I might appear to some of you as powerful, maybe even as a Creator, but that is not the case. I indeed possess the ability to infiltrate other worlds, but I am far, far from the powers that a true Creator holds. I am sorry to disappoint you there. But, that does not mean that I cannot offer you help and protection in one way or another, however, what lies in front of you are challenges that you will overcome yourselves." "Nick, is this the world of Estravis?" - Christopher asks. "No, it is not. In fact, Estravis is indeed a plot of my imagination, and some things that I have put in there are inspired by events of this world. That information might help you." "But there is magic, other races, kingdoms?" "Yes. However, do not think that your knowledge of playing games or reading fictional books will greatly assist you. The reality is much crueler than some of the puny human minds could imagine." "And remember," - the creature looks around all of the people -"While there are miracles of healing and resurrection, the threat of pain and death is always present. As much as I can do is not enough to shield you at all times. Of course, if some of you do not wish to improve, become stronger and explore, then you are always welcome to stay at this place. You will always have food, servants, luxuries, but eventually, you will be nothing more than a noble. If at some point, you wish to retire, I, Ornthalas, promise to provide you shelter." "Can we see the rest of your place?" "Only if you are planning to stay here, for now. And I won''t be the one showing you around here, because it is not worth weeks of my time touring you around." "Weeks?!" - some people gasped in unison. "Yes, weeks. Through many, many years have I managed to establish this castle. I am not ashamed to invite guests, like you, to see my home, and that warms my heart. But, that is a talk we can have later on. I do have some things I need to attend to, so I will try to be as quick as I can. I hope you all will listen carefully." - the whole room grows silent, people quickly finish their meals and intently listen in. "Now then, there are millions upon millions of different sources of power, strength, and knowledge that my mind can only think of, however, I can provide you with information on some of them, and explain the brief structure of those you are interested in. You can assume this as a ''character class'' if that suits you better. There are creatures that study the very structure of the mind and soul of living beings and use that to manipulate them. These ones spend hundreds, sometimes thousands of years in seclusion, training to control their own body and manipulate their souls to enhance their physical abilities. Many people refer to them as ''Soulguards'', but, for the ease of your comprehension, you can refer to them as ''Monks''. I highly suggest you start learning the common dialect as well, since if you call a Soulguard a Monk, they might be greatly offended, making you trouble. And again, I could go rambling about this topic for a long time, which I don''t have. So I will be blunt. If anyone is interested in learning the arts of Soulguards, raise your hand."The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. After a bit of thinking, three people raised their hands. Christopher, Steph, and Ernesto respectively. Christopher is a man heavily tempered by fantasy and games, and, while appearing slightly obese, this Norwegian man is putting great interest into what is going on around him. Steph, a very young girl from the Netherlands, for the most part, seemed to be generally uncomfortable, but also put some interest into everything. Ernesto, on the other hand, a fit man from the Netherlands, seems to be just enjoying his own time, talking with some of the people he knows, like Martin, and Mohaned from the UK and Liam from the Netherlands. Interestingly enough, as the three of them look at each other, they seem to some-what recognize each-other. Christopher awkwardly waves at the other two. "Good, good, more than I thought. You should be ready to temper both your mind and body, as my subordinates are ruthless, and will not let you go off easily. Once we are done here for today, I will assign you. Is that clear?" "Yeah." - Ernesto replied. "And, of course, I can see the shine in your bright eyes to learn about ''Magic'', as you call it. While it is indeed a power source, it is by far not the easiest to grasp and learn. Only the sharpest of minds and the most dedicated followers of Knowledge can become students in manipulating such arts. The core structure, alongside with ancient formulas, incantations, components make up the majority of this. I will not ramble upon the different sources of Arcane, however, if any of you are generally interested in this path, raise your hands." At this point, nine of the eighteen unassigned people raise their hands. Mons from Norway, Joao from Portugal, Mohaned from the UK, Dima from Russia, Kyrian from the Netherlands, Nick from the UK, Josh from the UK, Liam from the Netherlands, and Ville from Finland. They all look at each other, mostly recognizing one another. "Of course you want to be a mage, Mons..." - Christopher says. "Why would I not be one? I want to see how you Monk-boy will do against my magic." - Mons chuckles. Dima, the man from Russia, is generally looking confused, as he seems to understand everybody''s speech, but doesn''t speak himself. From the ones that raised their hands, a group consisting of Nick, Kyrian, Mons, Joao, and Ville has been formed. Mohaned, Liam, Dima, and Josh formed the other. "Good, good. I know some of you are indeed sharp in mind, but your true flaws will be revealed soon enough. And remember, your strength is formed by your talent and determination, not by the difference in skill paths. I would also like to believe that some of you have acquired some form of belief in your hearts, thus I present to you the path of Divine if you are willing to take it. It will require your absolute dedication to tradition, oaths, and religion, following the path of whom your belief follows. If it helps, the strongest beings out there are forged by Divine magic. If you are willing, raise your hand." A moment passes, nobody raises their hand. "Truly disappointing, but I cannot force you. Maybe along with your many paths, you will find enough belief to support a different decision." - the creature lowers its head in shame. "Now, there are others in the realm of martial arts and brute force that we refer to as ''Cultivators''. While they are similar in the sort to Soulguards in manipulation their own bodies, the process and results differ completely. As to what exact difference, you will know in time. Anyone interested?" Six people raise their hands. Stheffen from Norway, Matej from the UK,Andrea from Italy, Martin from the UK, Zion from the UK and Gijs from the Netherlands. They all respectively look at each other, mostly with recognition. "I look forward to seeing the six of you meddle in such arts. Now, as I have mentioned before, there are many, many other occupations and sources of power out there, and I am not inclined to tell you about all of them. The three of you remaining, are you wishing to stay at this place? Are there truly no other desires?" - the creature angrily looks at the remaining group. The three of them immediately have a cold chill run down their spines, TJ from the UK, Alex and Shade from Denmark. "Woah Woah dude, chill. I just don''t know what the fuck I want to do yet..." -TJ says. "Can I be a Warlock?" - Shade continues. "While I do not want to force you into anything, I highly suggest that, if you wish to become a ''Warlock'' as you say, I do not wish to see you near my home ever again. While joking is fine, seriously dealing and bargaining with powerful creatures is not a righteous affair. The most I can do is appoint you to the ''Magic'' group, and you can inquire from your teacher about it." "Ok... got it." "A DK, maybe? Is that a thing?" - Alex says. "Same thing as I told Shade." "Ok then..." "Now, now then." - as the creature continues "I really hope to see how you all progress in your respective training. We will see each other and talk again soon enough, but I will take my leave now. And again, a warm welcome to you all, friends." - the creature slowly stands up and leaves the room, accompanied by the echoing sound of the large opening wooden doors. "Holy shit, this is insane" "So many mages, not gonna lie." Chapter 3 "Cultivators are basically Soulgards by the way" - says Christopher, while looking at Gijs - "I''ve read a lot of novels about them, this should be quite interesting for you. Good luck my dude." "Thanks, Chris. I don''t really think any of us thought about our decision yet... Our groups are a bit awkwardly scattered." "I mean, I think the groups he mentioned are only for class training, or something like that. He also didn''t tell us anything about what we would be doing, and about the world and stuff." - Martin continues. "Also, what the fuck is his problem with Locks? They sound like pretty chill dudes." - Shade says angrily. "There are too many things we don''t know. Maybe his family got murdered by a Warlock, you know." -Gijs adds. "True, true." At this moment, everyone''s gazes shift to the same doorway the creature exited. Slowly walking into the room, there is very old-looking human with a long white beard that stretches past his belly, wearing a set of purple robes and holding a magnificent black-metal staff with a white pearl-like orb at the pinnacle. While he holds his posture firmly and tall, one can clearly see his weak physicality. "Well, well, which ones of you wanted to learn the Arcane?" - the man pridefully scans the room. "We are." - Mons shouted across the room while pointing at his group. "Don''t you be so disrespectful, child, come closer to me with the rest of you." As the group of nine people slowly walked over to the man, nobody seemed to hold a conversation with him, as he was busy scanning all of them up and down, while murmuring something beneath his breath. "Well, I would never take any of you as students in a million years, but if the Lord wishes so, then I have no choice. You lot better be grateful to him later." - the man started walking out of the room while gesturing the group to follow. "Uhm, is this going to take long?" - Kyrian said. "That depends on your abilities, boy. Just come with me." "Well, I guess we''ll see each other again, at some point." - the group waved at the rest of the people while walking out of the room and disappearing. In the moment of casual conversation, a handful of people silently contemplate about their plans and course of action. Some seem to have sinister thoughts, some wish for righteous deeds. At this very moment, some give each other stink-eyes, just to look in another direction shortly after. The tension in the room seemed to have grown higher. But, it was instantly released with the coming of another figure. Without hearing or noticing the doors opening, a very short, but burly humanoid appeared in the space, not too far away from the inhabitants. A dwarf, wearing a heavy mala around his neck and a set of green bracers on his wrists. His top was naked, revealing a body tempered by many years of physical training, alongside with a set of plain red pants, no shoes. "Where did this guy come from? I couldn''t even see him." - some people silently sigh in surprise. "Aye, aye, you guessed it right. I''m here to take some of you away, as I''ve been told. But even so, you''re not going to get anything so easily, kids. 19th floor, Pits of Tranquility, if you can''t get there within a day, you''re gonna know what real pain is." - the small man had a very sinister look across the people present, before disappearing within a blink of an eye.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. "19th floor? What? This guy for real?" - Christopher looked at the other two. "I mean, I guess we just have to try, right?" - Steph replied. "Later, my dudes." -Ernesto sprinted out of the room. "WOAH THERE" - Christopher and Steph quickly followed suit. The room grew silent once more. "Yo, you wanna sneak about and see what''s around us?" - Andreaproclaimed. "I''ve been thinking about that as well actually." - Martin replied as the two of them started slowly walking towards one of the exits. "Shh, what are you doing? You can''t just walk around without permission" - Stheffen urged them to stop. "Don''t worry man, nothing will happen, I just wanna take a quick peek." - they both slowly left the room. "Sigh..." - Gijs seemed to be disappointed. A moment passed, as a very pale and tall humanoid walked in the room from where they left. While dressed in a very casual set of black robes, he took a quick glance around the room with his red eyes, and left, only leaving a ''follow'' gesture. The rest of the people, even the three that did not make up their mind, followed suit, leaving the room empty behind them. While walking and inspecting the gorgeous and long wooden hallways, the first group, with the old man in their lead, took about ten or so minutes, weaving around an endless amount of sideways to eventually come up to a dead end. At the end of the space, there was a very strange-looking device: a set of large and thick silver poles, attached and almost melded with each other to reach the tens-of-feet pinpoint at the top. Surrounded by a set of small blue stairs and smaller pedestals, the old man gestured everybody to stand under this structure. "Listen here, folk, our Lord told me to explain you a big deal of things and teach you whatever there was that you wanted. While I am going to do that eventually, you are going to have to earn my respect and trust. Right now, I can see that none of you are even worth a spec of my attention, but He wants to nurture you, for whatever reason he might have. This right here - is a Transporation Sequence, one of many. It''s going to take you to the Ringed City if the combination or ''Sequence'' is entered correctly. If not - heh, well, you might see for yourself. When you get there, find your way to the Mjoln-Academy, where you should hand in this letter." - the man extends his weak hand, holding a small envelope. Joao walked over and took the letter. "Might we know your name, old man?" - Ville said. Giving him a side-eye, the man turned around, ignoring his request, and started leaving. "Wait, wait, how are we supposed to enter this sequence? And how do we find it out in the first place?" "Can''t you see the goddamn tome over there? Fucking hell. I''m going to have to teach you some manners later." - the old man slowly left the hallway. "Well, great." - Mons opened the tome that was pointed out, just to find out that it is a set of very blurred jibberish that didn''t make any sense. "So much for being mages, I guess. How does he expect us to do this?" "We''re gonna have to figure something out, you know. I''m going to inspect this tome very thoroughly, you check the letter and the rest of you look around this mechanism. Surely there is something" - Nick commanded. Upon closely inspecting for a few minutes, Mohaned yelled out: "There are eight of these pedestals, they all seem to have sets of 12 buttons with completely different symbols. That might be helpful, maybe there is a code in that book somewhere." "Maybe we should just go back and find somebody to help us?" - Josh urged. "No, not yet. This is probably some sort of trial. Unless we are absolutely certain we can''t do it, we should keep trying." "He also said that if we do the code wrong, something might happen, hmm..." - Liam grew a bit uneasy. "I will look around" - Dima walked off to the hallway. "This might be hard for that guy..." - Mohaned said. Upon further closer inspection, the people present gathered and memorized most of the symbols written on the pedestals. As Josh opened the envelope and read out the letter, he did not see to find anything interesting, apart from an appointment from Harnkas to the Mjoln-Academy. They gathered that might grant them passage, so they safely put it into one of their pockets. About ten minutes passed, as Nick, while reading the book, seemed to notice some change. The blurriness slowly started to fade, as he began to understand small bits and pieces of the written text. Although it seemed to not be in English, he strangely understood the meaning. Another twenty minutes passing, as everybody apart from Nick gave up on looking around and continued discussing the current matters, a strange sound appeared echoing from the hallway behind them. Chapter 4 As the strange noise of running steps and roaring rapidly approached them, everyone instinctively hid among the various pedestals, under the steps, and behind the beams. With a quick glance, they all saw a familiar figure of Christopher crazily sprinting towards them, as a large golden spectral bull-head appeared behind him amongst the shadows, chasing him. With another roar, as the walls and ground around shook, Christopher suddenly broke his speed and dove towards the closest wall. Following a huge impact, the spectral bull-head hit the magical structure and the wall behind it, destroying everything in the process and causing bits of the wall to collapse. As the dust settled, a low voice said: "Help me!" , following by sounds of shuffling and heavy coughing. With gashes and bruises all over the magic students, they eventually recovered each other. "What the fuck was that?" - Liam seemed to be the most injured out of all of them, with blood streaking down his right arm. "I mean, you know, if you didn''t see the GIANT FUCKING BULLHEAD, then I don''t know what happened." "Christopher... Christopher!!!!!!" - Mons yelled out but heard no response. "Well, how are we supposed to activate this pile of metal now?" - Ville couldn''t help but point out the completely destroyed mechanism. Meanwhile, a couple of hundred feet away, a completely intact figure was swiftly making his way out. Christopher didn''t notice any people around the dead end he ran into, so after successfully dodging the bullhead, he ran back to safety, catching his breath around one of the closed doors. "Fucking hell, that was scary. And I just touched it, why''d it go for me? The other two also split off with me... HOW AM I GOING TO FIND THAT 19TH FLOOR IN A DAY MATE?" Christopher has been running across the endless weaving hallways of this castle with the other two of his compatriots for over an hour at this point, but he managed to notice and take a few things into account. Firstly - there are hundreds of closed doors that he passed by just in this time, all with different designs and sizes. On the walls next to these doorways were also golden placks with some unknown to him symbols. He and his group did not know which ''floor'' they might be currently on, so they had to find something or somebody indicating that, but they have failed to do so, so they ended up interacting with different objects. One of those objects - was a giant golden bull statue that sat in a crossway between the halls, which ultimately caused some sort of reaction from it, making a spectral transparent copy of itself come to life. In confusion and fear, they all started running in different directions, but the creature ultimately followed Christopher.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. He was currently not even interested in finding his companions again, so, taking a more careful and calm approach, he made his way back to the crossway room. The bull statue was still present in there, so he did a wide swing around it and took one of the three unknown paths. Traveling down that way for just about a few dozen or so feet, he noticed that there was an enormous humanoid figure standing in the middle of the hall, blocking off his path. This figure was tall, rising for just over 30 feet, equipped with heavy black-steel armor and a giant greatsword that he clutched in his hands, embedded into the wooden floor. The heavy breathing of the creature was clearly heard. As he did not want to do anything with that, Christopher backed up and proceeded to the other path. Along in, he heard a set of steps approaching him, as a very young-looking human, clutching small crates and sacks in his hand, says: "Hey there! Take this, help me carry it." - the man handed over one of the larger crates to Christopher, who awkwardly took it. "Uhm...ok?" -Christopher nodded. "Good, good, follow." -the man started quickly running towards the crossway. "Hey, you don''t happen to know how to get to the 19th floor, do you?" "19th? Just use the elevator. You knew here or something?" "Yeah, yeah I''m new. Where is this elevator by the way?" "Where I came from, of course. Who are you again?" "Christopher, uhm, how do I put it, a Soulguard?" "Soulguard? Phah! Don''t make me laugh. Just help me take all this stuff." With that, the man leads him across a section of hallways, towards one of the closed doors with the placks. With a swift flick of his finger, the door opened up, revealing a large room with stacks of crates, sacks, chests, racks and all sorts of holding spaces. The man carefully looked around and put everything he and Christopher were carrying over to a specific spot and quickly left, closing the door behind him. "Good job, you can have this, Mr. "Soulguard", hah!" -the man handed him over a small blank white card and quickly left. "Wait! Uh, whatever. Thanks, I guess." Meanwhile, in a different section of the palace, a group of four people was quietly sitting in a seemingly-outdoor place - a vast and peaceful ravine between a mountain range, with many streams of water flowing down, forming a unity of waterfalls. These people were all sitting in their most comfortable positions on the grass, slowly breathing in and out. Occasionally, with a *slap* to their backs, they force themselves to endure the pain and control their rage. Sitting across them and enjoying the show were three people - Shade, Alex and TJ, unoccupied with anything. Chapter 5 Eventually, during the rest of the day, Christopher had managed to find his way to the ''elevator'' that the man he met mentioned. At the end of one of the hallways, there was a set of bars that blocked the way to a small room - an elevator. Standing beside it was a humanoid figure, dressed in very fine black-silk clothes, wearing a top hat and holding a golden cane with his white-gloved hands. His face was featureless, as it was covered by the same sort of mask as the master of the palace. "Hello?" - Christopher said as he approached. "What floor would you like to go to?" - as the figure snapped his fingers, the bars disappeared. "Uhm, 19th." "Please, step inside." And, as he stepped inside, with a flash of bright blue light, he immediately appeared in a different-looking corridor, with the same creature standing beside the elevator behind him. These hallways were designed completely differently from the plain black-wood from before, as most of the interior here was made out of white marble, occasional jades and golds, with golden statues, banners and carpets adorning the rest of the space. As Christopher was walking through here, he noticed a nearby streaking of water, and, looking around, he saw a small marble fountain, the holding mid-point of which was a statue of the ''Lord''. And this place was much more busy than the floor from previous, as he also noticed multiple groups of three-four people in different attires trafficking around the area, chatting and laughing. And even though he was dressed in plain home clothes, nobody seemed to pay mind to him, so he quietly blended into the crowd and continued on his way. As he pushed past, the crowd started getting denser and denser, as the boasting laughter became louder, one could hear people cheering and screaming in the distant hallways. While being taken aback by the sudden change in atmosphere, he went with the flow of the crowd, eventually coming upon what seemed to be like an exit outdoors. With the bit of warm sunlight coming through, the beautiful scenery stepped into the view of one''s eyes: bright-blue cloudless sky, accompanied by a set of distant mountain ranges behind a gigantic field, filled with colorful flowers and blossoming trees, topped with a light warm breeze. Christopher rejoiced in his heart, as he sighed in excitement for things to come. As he walked outside, looking back, he finally has gotten a view of the building he came out of - a large, hundred-story jade pagoda, adorned with beautiful weaving red silk banners, surrounded by cherry trees, gilded statues, and fountains. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. The crowd that has gathered around seem to be busy with an enormous amount of activities, some burly looking humans seem to be fist-sparring with each other with people placing bets on them, some seem to be enjoying a magical show on one of the further stages. The whole area around here has numerous amounts of tents, shacks and other makeshift buildings, symbolizing what looks like an event of some kind. "Are you lost, young man?" - an old man in green robes came over with a bright smile on his face. "Uhm, I am guessing this is the 19th floor, what where are the Pools of Tranquility?" "Oh, you are looking for that place. It is not something anybody can enter as they please. Are you an outsider?" - the old man scratched his head. "I am not from this place, yes, but can you tell me more about it, please?" "Ah-hah, sure, young man, if you accompany this old man around" "Alright." As the two of them blended back into the crowd, the old man started talking about what sort of event is being held here. "You see, this place is what we call the Jade Springs, which is a historical area that we built our Pagoda around, and it is one of many that the Great Yarford has to present. This is indeed the 19th floor, but the actual event that you are seeing here today is the Birth of the Gilded Serpent." "Gilded Serpent, hmm." - Christopher seemed to have a guess what it might be. "Historically speaking, many generations ago, the Great Golden Life has benevolently ruled over this place, but he was forced to sacrifice himself in order to defeat his elder brother, the Black Plague, sealing it away and restoring peace to this place. Some even say that his consciousness still resides in this place, looking over it and protecting it from the shadows. This story is one of the biggest motivations for people all around the continent to come and see it. The reason for it to be held on this day every year is that the master of this place comes out of the Pools of Tranquility to take in new disciples and experts with him. See that huge building a few miles back towards the mountains? That is the Ruby Pit, where many can prove themselves being worthy through their combat skills." "Do you work here, then?" - Christopher curiously asked. "No, no, I would not have the privilege. I''ve come around from a faraway place to see this great event. What is your name, friend?" "Christopher." "Christopher it is. You definitely have some foreign manners and posture. You can call me Yarkaf if you will. If you decide to participate in anything, I''ll be glad to see what you can do. But for now, I''m going to enjoy myself." - the old man walked off and disappeared into the crowd. "Some very interesting people around here... Should I try fighting somebody? Hmm..." He walked over to the nearby scuffle, where there were two young men, maybe in their early twenties, bruised and bloodied, fighting each other with their bare hands. Christopher became amazed at this moment, as he could not see a single trace of their movement, if anything, they mostly appeared to be stationary for him, but nonetheless, they reeled from pain as bruises appeared on their bodies. He simply could not keep track of their movement. "So this is how strong I could become, hehe." - He rejoiced, but the idea of picking a fight dropped at the very moment. Chapter 6 For the rest of the day, Christopher had mostly forgotten his main task of coming here - to enter the Pools of Tranquility. The new, exciting bustling atmosphere of the surrounding area made him lose his senses of direction, as he was generally enjoying his time. He managed to push past the crowd towards one of the many stages set up across these fields. This one, adorned with weaving blue-silk banners and guarded by armed soldiers, was specifically interesting. On the stage, there was a spectacular act, consisting of a dozen young women dressed in dark-reds that were skillfully dancing in unison and producing bright-red flames around them to make it even more stunning. Suddenly, a hand grasped his shoulder. Looking around, it was the familiar figure of Ernesto. "Yo man, whatchu doing here? You ain''t gonna fight in the pits?" "Oh, sup, Nesto. Are you talking about the fighting arena? Are you going to fight in it?" "Of course, didn''t that short guy tell us to find the Pools? To get there we need to win, you know." "Well, after seeing some of the people fight around here, I don''t think we would have a chance even one-on-two." - Christopher sighed. "Ahah, don''t worry bro. I got a hang of the place around here, made a couple of friends. Here, since we''ve all been transported here, I''ll help you out." - Ernesto quickly shook Christopher''s hand and left with a smile. "Woah.." - he opened his palm just to find out a very small, but a bright blue-and-white pill. "I guess it''s one of those, huh. Well, all or nothing, I guess." - with blood boiling in his veins, he started running over to the Pit, but soon realized that is was a mile or so off, so he power-walked instead. He quickly joined a large stream of people filtering towards that round stone arena-like structure, and, as he got closer, more of its details got revealed: a circular white-marble structure over a hundred meters in diameter and dozens of feet tall, that was surrounded by hordes of armored men, monks, and decorative golden statues. While there seemed to be many entrances and exits to this building, everyone was filtered towards a singular, frontal one. On the right side of the large entrance, there was a golden plaque saying ''For Participants'', and another on the opposite side saying ''For Spectators''. Naturally, Christopher was interested in participating. The few elderly-looking people that were in charge of registering the many participants, allowed anybody willing to join through, and completely off-charge. As he passed that process, registering himself with his real name and hailing from Dalaran, he was lead across the large Colosseum into an oval-shaped room, not more than a hundred feet across, where there were many dozens of people scattered across the many benches, chairs and general free space. Christopher pulled his clothes closer to himself, took in a deep breath, and took one of the free shadowed spots in the room. He carefully listened in the conversations being held. "Hah, look at you all, coming here from so far just to be beaten to death? Don''t you think you all have any chances against my clan''s 11th brother! Scram!" - a young man boastfully stood up on one of the chairs and angrily looked at the crowd. "Well, well, would you look at that. Isn''t that the Bai Clan''s jester? Hah! You are not qualified to even speak to us. Even a single thought from me would be sufficient enough to evaporate you." - another man, but more elderly-looking, stood up, alongside with four other people next to him.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Don''t you dare to speak to our Bai clan like that, Marcus, I will not take this offense." - a man in his 30-s, burly and tall, calmly stood out amongst the crowd. At this moment, people formed a small ring of open space between these individuals. "Do I need to remind everybody, why this old bastard is here? Let me tell you. It''s his 19th attempt to win in this competition. Every year, he comes down here just to be beaten down, like a dog, again." "Hahahaha..." - the crowd started laughing and talking amongst each other, while the old man deeply frowned. "QUIET!" - a powerful voice resounded in the room, making everybody go quiet instantly. At this moment, a very old man, dressed in the same robes as the elder monks of this place, wave his sleeve, indicating everybody not to make the same mistake, and quickly left. As the atmosphere started bustling back, both the men looked at each other, one with extreme pride and one with deep hatred, but turned around at took back their seats. Christopher was taken aback by how easily the elder could take control of the situation, but he did not want anything to do with these people. "Ay, who''d you think will win?" - a man in his forties, with one of his eyes dysfunctional because of a wound, nudged Christopher. "Out of those two? I would hope the old guy wins. That Bai clan seems to be very prideful." "You think he''ll win? Hah! You wanna make a bet, boy?" "Not interested, sorry." "Pff, brat." - he frowned and turned away. After about ten minutes, as the air inside was getting progressively more filthy and stale, one of the elders came inside and brought everyone upstairs, to top-row seats, where there were a few armored guards posted to keep watch. As the many participants were seated, thousands of spectators started appearing on unoccupied seats, cheering and excited for the upcoming show. A man eventually walked over to sit next to Chris, Ernesto. "Hah, you''ve come after all. Good shit." - Ernesto was clearly happy and excited. "Yeah, this is quite a lot you know... What does this pill do anyway?" "Don''t worry about it, just take it before you go in there. You''ll be fine." "Ok then. Do you know how any of this works?" "Yeah, some of it. Generally, the competition is split into multiple phases, with randomly selected people fighting each other in one-on-one combat, filtering the winners and losers, until eventually having only two people left fighting over the title of champion. But, as far as I know, you only need to get to the 10th place and above to be considered worthy of entering the Pools of Tranquility." "Sounds easy enough." "But, there is one twist though. The losers get a chance to redeem themselves, as they can offer their life to get another chance to fight a different person. If they lose - they will be executed on the spot. Scary shit." "Yeah..." At this moment, an extremely loud horn could be heard all across the arena, as the crowd starting cheering. There were multiple gates scattered across the interior base of the Pit, and, walking out of one of them, was a tall man in a classic black business suit, with a black and white cane in his left hand, and his right hand holding onto a very tall top-hat. The man had a bright white mustache and wrinkles scattered across his face. "Welcome, welcome to you all to the Ruby Pits! I hope you all have been enjoying the Birth of the Gilded Serpent so far, and I can see by the fiery eyes of our participants this year that they all can''t wait to step into the light. The rules are simple: beat one another in a fight using no weapons or Arcane spells and you will progress further down the ladder. Get to the top, becoming the Champion with many prizes bestowed upon you! We all cannot wait to see what you have to present to us this year! For our first participants, Daniil from the Karfkas Fields and Lord Druvly from the Kalmari Dominion!" The crowd started clapping, whistling and yelling out in excitement, as two people stood up from the seats and jumped a hundred feet down into the pit. One, Daniil, was a young-looking tattered man, with a set of manacles attached to his wrists. The other one, Druvly, was a tall and burly human, with a black cloak strapped around his back and open-chested. "Let the fight commence!" - as soon as the referee shouted, both the men disappeared from view, only to immediately appear in front of each other, throwing heavy punches at each other''s faces. Chapter 7 Most of the spectators in the arena seemed to have anticipated the speed and ferocity packed behind the fists of the two contenders, however, Ernesto was laughing his ass off, while Christopher was trying to fully concentrate in an attempt to see their moves even the slightest. Eventually, as the two of them were exchanging blows, Daniil managed to find a weakness in his opponent''s defense and hit him with his might flat in the chest, throwing him a couple of dozen feet away, followed by him spitting out a handful of blood. One punch. Just with one punch, flat into the chest, one gained the ultimate advantage over the other. This was the display of true might of Soulguards, which made both Christopher and Ernesto even more so excited. Druvly, the man that has been hit, instantly regained his senses, and with a smirk on his face, he clasped his fists together and closed his eyes completely. Daniil exclaimed at that moment: "Shit.", and started gaining distance away from his opponent, but was ultimately too late. He suddenly hit an invisible force with his back, and after punching it, again and again, he did not seem to be able to break it. Druvly calmly opened his eyes and smiled, while increasing the tension in his clasped fists. As he did so, Daniil began sweating, and used all of his remaining might to try and break free from this invisible barrier, but, eventually, he completely lost control over his body and dropped on the ground, unconscious. "WOAHHHH!" - the crowd went into an uproar, very pleased by the display of Druvly. The referee appeared in the middle of the arena again and yelled out: "The winner is - Lord Druvly! A great display of spiritual skills! Our next contenders - Arakas from the Ghat-Dalmeri and Klaus from Talatan!"
The referee, carrying the unconscious body of Daniil, alongside with Druvly, disappeared in the shadows of one of the gates, and replacing them in the arena were another two contenders, one human, Klaus, and a very strange-looking furred-like creature, almost resembling a humanoid tiger, burly, fast and with sharp claws and fangs, Arakas. Their speed was also unimaginable, but eventually, using his martial skills, Arakas knocked his opponent out. And through the next ten rounds, Christopher was mostly focused on studying the arena and the remaining contenders around him, trying to guess his opponent. But, after the 10th round, the referee exclaimed: "Our next contenders - Yannis from the Kingdom of Urukhial and Ernesto from the Netherlands!" "Well, it looks like it''s my turn." - Ernesto quickly swallowed his pill, stood up and jumped down into the arena. "Good luck, Nesto." - Christopher really wished to see him win. His opponent was a young human, maybe in his early twenties, but well-built, revealing his chest. As the referee waved his hand, suddenly, both of them disappeared in Christopher''s eyes yet again, and a moment later appeared next to each other, throwing out punches at each other.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. "Woah, so that''s what this thing can do..." - he looked at his blue pill. The fight went on for over a minute, until Ernesto took a heavy punch into his chest, leaving a trail of blood as he flew dozens of feet away. But, as he was about to fall on his back, he spun his body and instantly appeared next to his opponent, that was already cheering himself from victory. Throwing out a sneak attack punch into the chin, Ernesto instantly knocked out Yannis. The crowd went into an uproar, but not as much as on the first fight. Looking almost deathly-pale, but still with a smile on his face, Ernesto raised his fist into the air as he looked at Christopher, and quickly left with the referee back inside. "Our next contenders - Christopher from Dalaran and Dazel from Thardrock!" His blood started boiling, as he quickly took the pill, and felt that everything around him seemed to have slowed down, his muscles around his entire body tensed up, and the control he felt over himself was on the highest point ever in his life. He jumped down into the arena and inspected his opponent. Trardrock was a smaller man, but with a very wide and built figure, large beard on his face alongside with a bit of recent Ale dripping down his chin. While he was smaller than Christopher, he had a much better build and a very confident posture. However, as the referee exclaimed: "Commence!", Christopher, for the first time, clearly saw the movement of his opponent. While it was quick, he could read and anticipate his attack, as he was trying to flank under him to throw an uppercut. However, with the power that the pill gave him, Christopher tensed his feet, and with immense speed, incomparable even to the dwarf, flew out and instantly appeared behind him and threw out an elbow punch to his head. The dwarf did not anticipate such speed and ferociousness from his opponent and was caught off-guard, instantly dropping unconscious from one punch. "WOOOOAH!'' - the crowd gasped in admiration and surprise, and started talking amongst each other. "He''s from Dalaran? Have you heard about that place?" "No, I''ve been around all over the continent. He definitely must have come from a faraway place." "I really want to know what kind of place must train such young yet skilled Soulguards. Brilliant." While Christopher was cheering on the inside and was walking with the referee towards the inside of the arena, he clearly felt his heart beating extremely fast, and he cold-sweated all over across his body, feeling uneasy. As he came inside the building once more, there was Ernesto, with a bright smile, waiting for him. "Well, how does it feel to win?" - Ernesto clasped him by his shoulder. "Incredible. Never would have I thought this would help this much. I am in your debt, bro." "Hah, well, you''ll repay me later. But you need to hold yourself for a while, the side effects of this are even worse than I thought they would be. We still have some fights to go through." "Yeah, I can tell. I''ll just rest until the next fight." With that, both of them found themselves sitting and resting on one of the nearby benches, from where they could see the rest of the fights. With the pills in effect, they both could see the moves behind most of the contenders, apart from a few. The man from the ''Bai Clan'', that Christopher saw arguing back in the lobby room, was so fast that even he could not see his movements. He really had hoped not to be the one fighting him next, as his opponent was knocked out instantly. The elderly man, who was arguing with the Bai clansman earlier, was also not simple. While one could read his movement, he possessed the same strange other-worldly ability to create an invisible force to crush his opponents, which he displayed in his fight. Eventually, after a hundred or so rounds, half of the people have been filtered away, and the next batch of fights between the current winners was about to commence. Chapter 8 - JizKan
On the other side of the 14 Great Kingdoms, amongst the brilliant and powerful wildlands of the North, lies the already-ruined and irremediable Free City of Jiz''Kan. While one''s vision might be attracted towards the mountain-like shape and immesuarable size of the layout, the fact of it''s undoing remains present. The people here are saggy and weathered, clinging onto whatever coin they have left to survive in this phantom-like place. While Jiz''Kan has been a conurbation free of Imperial charges, nobles, and laws, it remains that human nature takes it''s own. While Household of Vordt cannot be considered an ''official'' ruling power, seeing how Lord Kan, when he had found the hold hundreds of years ago and fought for the Empire to recognize it''s independence, had not recognized a successor, passing away his Will of Kan, which is interpreted as a myth across the province, reading ''Sole man shall conquer the Storm and be thine ruler, Liege of the Free City, hereby claiming the Legacy of Kan''. Dating today, Kan and his legacies became lost to the ages, leaving only a few true to his cause. While those few have formed a minor seat of power within Jiz''Kan, naming it the Concord of Kan, the Household of Vordt remains unmoved and unwilling to recognize their influence. The current person factually holding the Throne of Storms, while not approved by the Concord, remains the 11th son of Vordt, claiming his House to be the righteous ruler of the land, holding the position already for over thirty years without challenge. Two men, bruised and tired from the journey on foot behind them, finally sigh in relief upon entering this community. While they cannot say that this is the most pleasant experience they have had, it remains that Jiz''Kan can offer shelter and food for anyone traveling further North, much like them. Walking up the ramping streets, they couldn''t help but notice the breathtaking details of an old town that replace the illusion of an abysmal wasteland: the buildings that still stand are grand, but also ragged and weathered, as they have been fashioned out of the remains of other broken holds, using the space to its fullest, leaving the streets quite narrow and unkept. The design, while appears to be influenced by the Empire, with grey bricks and slate-tiled roofs, is revealed to be a mixture of multiple cultures, some even from outside the continent. The guarding power, although appearing to be few, consists of notable elites, names of which are known to the land, even outside the thick city walls. The few bazaars that do exist within the space have been mostly dried of any valuables or goods, leaving only a few stalls and boutiques that supply the folk with clothing, food, and materials. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. One of the two men grabs and bites into a fresh piece of dried meat from one of the stalls. Flipping a single piece of silver to the old butcher beside the counter, he said: "That''s some pretty shite stuff you got there. There''s more bone than meat on this thin little slab!" - he exclaimed, deliberately trying to draw attention. "S..sorry, good sir. My st-tocks have been running dry, please, f-f-forgive me. I can bring a better piece." - the old man, while seemed well-built for his age, was shrinking down in front of this man. "Phah! I don''t have the kind of time to wabble around your shitty butchery." - he leaned over the counter and grabbed the old man by his neck, pulling himself closer to him and whispering: "Wul zklaen ocuir sia rak.". The butcher replied: "Rak Kan drig. Tower of the Seven Suns, friend.''. The man pulled back with his companion, disappearing into the streets as if nothing had happened. "What was that all about?" - his companion curiously asked. "You do not need to know. All that matters is that we have been granted passage." - the man pulled up a piece of cloth over his face. "Passage? Where? I thought we''re heading for the Strakgar Keep in the North?" "We will, eventually. I have some business to attend to here, and it will be good for your own experience to follow." "Right, sir." The wind was chilly, and the clouds were growing ever so darker with the passing of minutes. While the many residents of Jiz''Kan were closing down for night''s rest, the guard remained ever vigilant, like never-sleeping guardians. While this put the two men off, they remained in their silent steps towards a specific area within the city walls. Traversing the muddy streets and crossing ruined buildings, just as the sun had set and the first lights of the night''s watch rose, they came upon a fenced off area of Jiz''Kan: a forbidden district, guarded by dozen of the elite''s watch - a desolate and menacing neighbourhood of a hundred households, most of which are left in phantom vestige. The man quickly grabbed his companion and they silently moved around one of the darker corners, closest to the guarded fence. With a swift thought, as the shadows coalesced around their space, both of them immediately appeared on the other side of the fence, leaving no trace or sound behind. "Woah! I didn''t know you can do that, master!" - the other man was excited. "Shh, you dumb fool! There will be no use in my skills if you are to make a sound!" With that, both of them started slowly traversing the area, heading towards one of the most notable buildings within the space - a crumbled white tower.