Chapter 9 Khyree undertakes a Mission

Over the course of the next several months Khyree, with the assistance of his new friend Kendrick, had slowly become used to life as a servant of the southern district. Kendrick had shown Khyree the wisdom of alternating jobs so as not to succumb to perpetual boredom. Together they started working on the farms first thing in the mornings. A very laborious job that consisted of watering plants, weeding, plowing new sections, planting and harvesting when the time was right.

Thanks to his time working on the Mourntree family farm, it was a job that Khyree did not find overly strenuous. Though at times it did become mind numbing with the constant set of routine tasks. So Khyree was glad to discover that there were other types of jobs that he could try his hand at.

After working on the farms in the mornings Khyree and Kendrick would go and chop down trees for lumber. Khyree found that working with wood was a very labor intensive project that involved a surprising amount of specialized tools. First, they had to cut down the tree, remove the limbs, and chop it into usable sections. Then they had to cut logs into planks. After that they had to take the planks to the designated drying area to allow the boards to air dry. A benefit from living in the valley was that thanks to the heat, the boards were able to be dried in days versus weeks or months outside of the valley.

After that Khyree and Kendrick would usually take a break and have lunch at the cafeteria. The cafeteria had a special outdoor scripted area that vented off some of the heat, that allowed members to eat outdoors without getting too hot. They sipped on ice cooled beverages and ate a meal of rice and steamed vegetables.

“So what do we have to do to get assigned to the northern district?” Khyree asked between bites as he looked off in the distance and spied the huge waterfall that was on the northern face of the mountain that ringed the valley. “I would kill to be able to stand beneath that waterfall and be drenched in that cool deluge of water.”

Kendrick Aminu nearly choked on his beverage, as he heard Khyree’s words. “You must be joking. You know you would die right? That pure water from the source is lethal. The Waters of Life may be life giving but they can also take life away. How is it that you don't this?

Khyree cocked his head to the side in the confusion, and sat up straighter in his chair as he looked at Kendrick. “Why is that? It’s just water isn’t it? How can water be bad for anyone? I soak in the bath every night, and I'm just fine.”

Kendrick heard the sincerity in Khyree’s voice, and found that it set him back a bit. He really doesn’t know, he thought to himself. Somehow this youth in front of him had managed to go eighteen years of living and breathing on this planet, and yet didn’t know one of the most fundamental truths of existence. Simply amazing

“Forgive me, I sometimes forget that you are from a frontier village and that the schooling can be quite limited in such areas. Still though one would think that some of the retired Immortals that lived there would have corrected some of the faults of the education there. So all of the water on this planet is collectively referred to as the Waters of Life. I’m sure you’ve heard that much at least,” said Kendrick in a patient but questioning tone of voice.When he saw Khyree nod his head he continued. “The reason it is called that is because all of the water stem from the same source. A massive ocean deep within the planet. That ocean of water is so filled with so much concentrated essence of the heavens that it could bring life to a deserted ball of rock and by the same token it could wash away all life on contact. Hence the name the Waters of Life.”

“Hmm,” muttered Khyree as he tried to process that information. But the more he thought about it the more questions that he found himself having about that concept. “Okay, so if all water comes from the Waters of Life, and that water can strip away life, how is that we are drinking water right now? How can we use it for bathing? Or cooking? Or any of the one hundred different things that we use water for?”

“In a word? Distillation. It is the process by which water can be purified. The small surface lakes that you see around us and in other places that do not have a direct connection to the source is derived by a process called distillation. It is where the majority of the essence is separated from the water and is released into the environment. Basically water from the source is changed into vapor, and that goes into the air.

When the conditions are right, all that vapor comes back together again in the form of clouds and sends that water back down onto the surface in the form of rain, which then fills empty pockets and cavities on the earth and makes lakes that feed into freshwater streams and poof, now we have essence free water that is safe for consumption. So all the water that we use for our daily activities is just purified Waters of Life, through the process of distillation. One could make a case that all of the free flowing essence to be found on this planet is from the evaporated water.“

Khyree sipped his water in silence. It was during talks like these that he realized that even with all of the progress he had made over the years accumulating knowledge, that he still had a ways to go. For there were far too many things that he knew nothing about. He wondered if this is what it means to be a lifelong seeker of knowledge. To constantly deepen one’s pool of information only to discover that there was still more to acquire.

Some time later they went over to the Hall of Assignments to accept another job for the day. Normally the traffic around the building was fairly constant, people coming and going throughout the day. But today there was a sizable crowd of servants gathered in front of the building. It was a veritable field of gray tunics. Khyree took some pride in the fact that he was a part of such a group.

Standing just a little ways from the crowd were two inner students, their burnt orange robes standing out in contrast to the servants' drab gray tunics and pants. The chief servant Kemba Badu was addressing those gathered.

“Brothers and sisters. Peace be upon you on this glorious day,” Kemba Badu said in greeting to the servants. His expression was very serious as he spoke. There was not even the hint of a smile in his eyes. The many times that Khyree had come across him, chief servant Kemba Badu always struck him as a kindly old man.

He would always offer sage advice and a few kind words. But that was not today. On this day, Khyree felt like there had been a change in the heavens. Because he had never seen the old man look this serious before. Khyree had a bad feeling about the situation.

“Senior brothers Antwan Darras and Jaylen Stone have come to us with a mission request. It is a bronze level mission, so that means there is a high probability of death involved for any of you that chooses to sign up for this mission. But as those of you who have been here for a while know, that with great risks comes the possibility of great rewards.”

Questions were shouted from the gathered crowd of servants.

"..What are the rewards?"

"Where is this mission at?"

"...What is the mission?"

One of the inner students stepped forward. "Allow me, chief servant Kemba Badu." The inner student was tall and well built, he had a friendly looking disposition. He looked to be in his early 20s. His warm brown eyes looked out at the crowd with sincerity and warmth. Instantly, Khyree did not trust him. There was something about the Immortal that put him on guard.

"Blessings to everyone, my name is Antwan Darras. Today I and my fellow brother Jaylen Stone have received an urgent mission from the elders to investigate a strange portal that has appeared near one of our sacred hunting grounds. The elders suspect that this portal may lead to an ancient pocket realm of an Immortal that has long since moved on.

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No doubt it will be dangerous, but there is a possibility of great riches and relics to be found within the portal. The elders currently have no idea how long the portal will remain open or if it can be stabilized in some manner. Now as it stands most of my fellow brothers and sisters are currently either in closed meditation or away pursuing other missions for the glory of the Sect. So brother Jaylen and I have decided to request your assistance. We are here today looking for a dozen of you to assist us with this investigation.

Inner student Antwan paused as he looked over the crowd of servants. He could tell that while some of the servants were definitely interested, the majority were clearly unwilling to risk their lives. Many of the ones who were resistant were those who were comfortable in their roles of being servants. While they may have longed for the chance to become Immortals, it was not enough for them to give up their comfortable stations.

Antwan and Jaylen had already discussed this possibility ahead of time. It was the reason that they only requested the assistance of a dozen servants, though they would definitely have loved getting away with as many servants as possible, they had to be realistic.

After all it was a bronze ranked mission. Inner students like themselves would be in danger, so the mortality rate would definitely be much higher for mere servants. Antwan felt that it was a pity that they could not simply compel the servants to do as they bid.

But that was a privilege held by those much higher ranked than he was. Besides, the old man Kemba Badu would never let just anyone take advantage of his precious servants. While Kemba may only be the leadership class of the servants, his roots ran deep within the Sect. His backing was unfathomable. It was rumored that once long ago, he had been an Immortal of no small stature until some tragic affair. Antwan paid no attention to the rumors, but even he showed respect to the old man. No one other than an elder would dare get on his bad side.

Antwan was only an inner student, and he knew better than to rock the boat. At least not until he secured the right backing. So he buried any desire to force the servants to join his mission. They would have to be incentivised.

So after a lengthy discussion him and Jaylen had decided that if it looked like no one would volunteer, that they would sweeten the pot. Sensing that the time had come, Antwan spoke once more.

"In addition to whatever rewards you might discover inside the portal, we are giving twenty thousand merit points to any servants who manage to survive and help us to secure the portal." He paused as he saw the fires of motivation take spark in the eyes of many of the servants. Not that he was surprised. Twenty thousand merit points would go a long way for these servants.

Brother Jaylen had expressed concerns about the amount of merit points. He was known for being quite the miser when it came to money and the like. Antwan had assured him though that with the difficulty of the mission being what it was, that there would likely be very few surviving servants if at all. The only that mattered as far as Antwan was concerned was the successful completion of the mission.

"So are there any here who would join us in securing the land beyond the portal to benefit the Sect?" Antwan asked.

Khyree had already turned and began to walk away from the gathering. He was comfortable with the status quo and saw no reason to risk his life on a mission that could easily kill Immortals. He had his own dreams and they did not include dying to make other Immortals more powerful than they already are.

He did not get far before Kendrick approached him and stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "Junior brother Khyree, don't walk away so quickly. This could be a great opportunity for both of us. We should sign up. Think of the possible fortunes we may come across."

Khyree stopped and looked Kendrick in the eyes directly. "Senior. You heard how dangerous this mission is. Even the inner students can die on this mission. If it's not safe for them, what does it say for the rest of us. There is no guarantee of any reward, only the possibility of one. Come now, we should get back to our safe, and boring jobs for the rest of the day."

"Khyree I hear your concerns, and you are right. This mission is dangerous, but just look at all of the other servants signing up, if we just play it safe. There's a chance that we come out of it alive. Besides, think of all the delicious food you could buy with twenty thousand merit points."

Oh that was a low down dirty move, Khyree thought to himself. While the cafeteria provided three meals a day to all members of the Sect, the free selection was quite basic. Khyree had gotten sick of only eating oatmeal, and fruits and vegetables within only a week. But when he discovered that merit points could be exchanged for additional meals and treats. Thanks to Kendrick introducing him to one of the cooks, Khyree was able to get first crack at every new menu item that came through the cafeteria.

The cook even offered to cook him exclusive meals in exchange for fresh meat ingredients. But unfortunately Khyree was still down under a lockdown order, due to him being a flight risk. He could only leave the Sect under heavy supervision.

Khyree knew the only reason that brother Kendrick was pushing for them to sign up for the mission was because of his dream of earning up enough merit points for his precious body cleaning medicinal pill. While it wasn't a dream that he shared, he respected his friend's commitment to his dream. As such, he allowed himself to be convinced to join. It was something that a friend would do. "Fine," he said with a heavy sigh.

After the sign up was completed, Khyree and the others boarded the Sacred Barque that inner student Antwan had produced seemingly from thin air. It was the first time that Khyree had seen something like that. It was a beautiful mahogany fine grained boat, with a high stern and bow. The boat was easily over seventy meters long, thirty meters wide, ten meters deep. It was covered in lines upon lines of elaborate golden hieratic script. There were no personal cabins to be found on this vessel.

The vessel was packed from tip to tip with servants and the two inner students. Khyree felt crowded in a way he had seldom felt before. Bracing himself near the side of the vessel, he found himself lost in amazement as they flew up and out of the valley, over the mountain tops and past lush fields of green as they made their way to the portal.

Kendrick had moved off to mingle with some of the other servants. Khyree didn't really like being in large crowds, so he mostly kept to himself as he continued to entertain himself by examining the vessel.

"This is nice," he said aloud to shelf while admiring the Sacred Barque. "I have got to get me one of these."

"It is a nice vessel isn't it?" said inner student Antwan Darras as he slid up next to Khyree. He had seen the servant examining the vessel, and decided to engage in some conversation. He wanted the servants to be at ease for the mission.

Khyree glanced over at Antwan and nodded. He had hoped to avoid the attention of the Immortals during this mission. He should have known better. It always felt like to him that Immortals always seemed to find him, wherever he was.

"Junior greets senior," said Khyree, falling back on learned Sect etiquette. "This one is servant Khyree Mourntree.

"Oh no need for such formality, out here Mourntree," Antwan said. "We are just brothers and sisters on this mission. I saw you admiring this vessel."

"Yes, brother. It is quite remarkable."

"Surely you have seen such vessels before, say perhaps on your recruitment to the Sect."

"Ah, perhaps the senior was not informed in regards to my recruitment. I actually arrived at the Sect quite reluctantly. As such this is really the first time I have seen a Sacred Barque, let alone have the pleasure to be aboard one."

"Fascinating," murmured Antwan half heartedly as he looked off into the distance. Just another ignorant servant, he thought to himself. "So what do you think of this vessel?"

"It is a beautiful vessel. The lines of the grain, the durability and the softness of the wood. The way it cleaves through the air. I especially like the golden script inlaid throughout the structure. I would like to have one of my own someday," replied Khyree.

"Hmm. Best of luck with that. Even a scout class Sacred Barque like this one can easily run upwards of a few million merit points."

"So expensive." Khyree knew that such a treasure would not be cheap, but a few million merit points sounded outrageous to his ears.

"Yes. A Sacred Barque requires the expertise of quite a few skilled workers in order to be crafted. Time, labor, and materials cost combined is no small number," replied Antwan.

"Hmm. Well it would probably be cheaper if I just built it myself then."

"Undoubtedly. Though of course you would have to be an Immortal first," said Antwan. "Any human or shall I say any group of sufficiently skilled humans can craft a boat. But a Sacred Barque requires the efforts of Immortals to bring them to life."

Antwan paused and looked and looked at Khyree. Condensation clear in his gaze. "But I'm sure you will become a mighty Immortal one of these days," he said before turning and walking away. "Good luck young Mourntree."

Khyree watched the inner student walk off with a closed expression on his face. “Damned arrogant Immortals. They always ruin a good day,” Khyree thought to himself.