Forester stabbed at Jerome with his sword covered in golden light, but Jerome slapped the flat of the blade away with the blade of his spear. The sheer force from Jerome’s blow almost knocked the sword out of Forester’s hand but he gripped the hilt of his sword hard and spun around, slashing at Jerome with a hand chop, his fingers straightened like the edge of a blade covered in Sword force.

Forester watched as his opponent stepped aside, deftly dodging his blow. Jerome stabbed at him with his spear but Forester already anticipated that move. With his sword covered in golden light, he slashed at Jerome, sending an arc of golden light toward Jerome as he shot backward.

Jerome covered himself in earthen armor right before the sword light hit him. The armor cracked from the impact and disintegrated—the force pushing him back a little. Jerome shot a series of fireballs at him. Forester’s face twisted in surprise. He never anticipated that his opponent was able to form an earthen armor to protect himself.

Forester weaved in and out of the way of the fireballs as they got close to him, exploding as they hit the ground. The heat they gave off was enough to turn him into roast meat. He split the air horizontally once again with that golden arc of sword light, the Sun’s Wrath—sword force weaved into light. It was a beautiful but deadly creation!

His opponent reformed his earthen armor and shot toward him. Forester watched as the kid ducked out of the way of the sword light, rolling on the ground before shooting back up and running straight for him. All the while shooting fireballs at him.

How the hell does this kid have so much essence to waste? He thought in annoyance. No normal Sprout should have this much essence. It should take at least three times as much essence as that of an average Sprout to manipulate earth and fire essence at this level.

Forester dodged two more fireballs and slashed one with his sword—big mistake. The fireball exploded the moment it touched the blade of his sword, and the heat wave—though small—heated the blade of his sword to dangerous levels. He had to push his core harder to offset the heat reaching the hilt of his sword while jumping backward to dodge more fireballs.

“Bastard!,” he shrieked. There was no time to counter.

Forester could sense his opponent running toward him, the ground shaking with his heavy footsteps. He started to activate the Sun’s Wrath when Jerome jerked to a stop a few paces away from him and the spear in his hand dissolved into a whip. Jerome snapped the whip in his direction—not directly at him, but close.

The tip of the whip blurred with blinding speed toward him, and Forester felt fear for the first time, and something else—hesitation. He instinctually knew he could not take that blow head-on—what with the glowing tip that was sizzling with condensed fire essence!

He quickly surrounded himself in his golden aura to aid his speed and shot backward. The glowing tip of Jerome’s whip struck the air and detonated in a flash of blue light.

Boom! The ground shook with the force of an earthquake, threatening to break apart and both fighters were pushed away from each other. Heat and pressure blew Forester’s hair out of his face, and he felt the heat would scald him.

Forester, like most Vorthes, followed the Path of Resplendent Radiance—a Path of light and sword force. He was one of the few Sprouts who could wield two forces—which was impressive in itself. But against Jerome, he found that Idrienne’s claims were not unfounded. The spear-wielding kid in front of him didn’t give him a breather. Jerome just kept attacking with unpredictable moves.

And what’s with that whip? He thought to himself. He was out of breath already. A quick scan of his core told him he couldn’t continue the fight as his core was almost squeezed dry.

And since when the kid had learned to wield earth attribute essence? He thought, frustration setting in. This new development wasn’t accounted for when he decided to take on Jerome. Jerome’s defense had become sturdier. Almost every attack he made was countered easily by an earthen armor.

~~~

Jerome caught himself with a back foot as his earthen armor disintegrated from the sheer force of the impact. The whip was one of his latest creations. He had spent a lot of effort making sure that his fireballs didn’t just sputter out, but exploded on impact, causing more damage. He smiled to himself as he witnessed the impact of his creation.

Jerome was still brimming with energy, ready to continue the battle, but one look at his opponent told him that Forester was spent and unable to continue. He didn’t have the essence to spare, not like Jerome. He had also noticed the golden aura in the middle of the fight.

The fast kid from yesterday also had this golden aura surrounding him too, he thought.

Another thing was the way their essence moved through their bodies. He didn’t consider it during the fight yesterday. But now, it was clear this was a kind of technique the Royals used to cycle.

Jerome made a mental note to ask Rihal about it. The golden aura technique must be tied to the unique way their essence moved through their bodies. Some kind of secret technique then.

“Thank you for the fight,” he said with a slight bow of his head. At this point, it was clear who the winner was. The truth hung in the air unsaid but Jerome didn’t say anything else. He dusted off his grey training robes and turned to look around.

Most of the Sprouts turned away from him, their displeasure evident on their faces. There were two girls in the crowd he noticed yesterday—twin siblings. These girls had white-blonde hair and deep blue eyes making them a sight to see as they were incredibly beautiful.

Besides some folks with red-brown hair, there was scarcely any other person with different hair color in Farryn other than black. The Itakars from the banquet the previous night were also rare.

Jerome had scanned the twins and found out they were hiding their true strength. He didn’t feel threatened by them, but he felt each of them could hold her own against him. On the surface, they looked like every other Sprout in the training ground, but the sturdiness of their core put them in a league of their own.

Of course, they didn’t know Jerome had scanned them. Their senses couldn’t be as sharp as the Sovereign’s. Jerome had also learned to scan people as mildly as possible so as not to arouse them to his actions. He walked slowly toward the training apparatuses to resume his training in peace.

~~~

Many of the young Sprouts cursed him under their breaths as many of them avoided his gaze. They had all reported to their parents when they got home the day before—a common disciple beating up Royal Sprouts should have been punished and then executed.

“Might maketh right,” Idrienne’s father had told him. He still remembered the look his father had given him the night before—wariness…maybe. He couldn’t tell. None of their parents had acted the way they should have, which was odd.

Forester got up from the dirt floor after resting for a while. He looked at Jerome with venom in his eyes and walked away from the training ground in shame and anger. There wasn’t anything he could do to Jerome, at least not right here.

You wait until we get into Terra Praeta. I’ll deliver you myself into Hedon’s hands, he thought to himself. The kid had cost him a void bridge. This was grounds enough for him to be pissed.

~~~

The rest of the day at the training ground was quite uneventful. Jerome had already proven he was just as powerful, if not more than their most powerful Sprout. No one had the guts to bring trouble his way now.

But he also knew he would have to watch out for all fifty-three or so of them when they entered Terra Praeta. He kept up a pretty good routine which the other Sprouts found strange.

He lifted, did some calisthenics, ran, meditated, and repeated the whole thing.

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Hyde and Agatha were studying his training routine—as was Layla—and committing it to memory as well. Hyde was particularly curious about how Jerome could think of holding himself up parallel to the surface of the earth with just his hands holding onto a ladder that was perpendicular to the earth’s surface.

To Hyde, this was an easy exercise, but no one had thought of doing something like this before. He also wanted to see if Jerome would apply the up-and-down movement, he usually did with his other exercise regimen to this one. But to his disappointment, it was limited to just push-ups, pull-ups, and lifting.

When the sun started setting, Jerome ended his training and headed back to Kilian’s palace.

The moment Jerome left everyone wanted to try some of the exercises he was doing. Their eyes blazing with competitiveness they all took turns on the various apparatus he had used.

No one wanted to be left in the dust. If they could figure out how he trained and why, perhaps they could figure out what made him so strong and fast…

And probably beat him at his own game.

~~~

“Jerome, there are some things I’m not permitted to teach you or show you,” Rihal said, twirling his index finger around the tip of his wine glass. “Like the library of books, you read three years ago. That was a selection of books from a list created by the Sovereign,”

“That’s…interesting,” Jerome responded a bit shocked and curious to know why the Sovereign would personally select books for him to read.

“You asked me once why Ash got to meet with other Blanks, and you didn’t,” Rihal continued, “Well, you’re the fated Dark One. And as much as I may tell you that it’s all good, and everything is fine…it’s not.”

Jerome leaned back into his chair and sighed looking up. Rihal’s manor house was still as exquisite as ever. Not a piece of furniture out of place. Yet there were no maids in sight.

Today was the day Jerome would enter Terra Praeta and he Rihal was coming clean about some things.

“There’s a limit to the number of resources you’re allowed. It’s unpleasant but…it is what it is,” Rihal continued, “The Sovereign has also been considerate because no fated Dark One before you discovered their origins, but you did. And that’s something.” He took a sip of his drink and set the glass down on a side table.

“Concerning the question you asked,” Rihal said, “Every noble family in Vorthe has thousands of years of history. And because of that, they have sacred art manuals and techniques that have been passed down for thousands of years. In those sacred art manuals are written secret cycling techniques that help improve a person’s combat ability, absorption rate of essence, or perception, and so much more.”

Jerome nodded slowly as he now understood the connection between the strange way essence moved around in the bodies of the Sprouts he fought with and the golden aura. He had asked Rihal to explain it to him but ended up learning a whole lot more. And it seems this is the reason why the average sacred artist on the streets could not be compared to those from noble homes.

“As the fated Dark One, you will have to find your own cycling technique and make sure it’s something appropriate for you,” Rihal continued, “The Sovereign will not invest in you beyond what he’s done so far, do you understand me?”

“I do,” Jerome nodded as he answered, “But I do have questions. Since I can’t get a cycling technique of my own, can I create one? And how do I go about creating such a thing?”

~~~

Rihal chuckled. He was happy Jerome didn’t get annoyed by the fact that he was excluded from using sacred art manuals of the Royal Family. the kid had a good head on his shoulders. But wanting to create his own cycling technique…

Now that’s something I would love to see, Rihal thought.

“Well, most of the cycling techniques available to humans these days were either created eons ago or created by top masters of powerful clans,” Rihal said with a smile, “Now, you’ve just started your journey as a sacred artist.

“How would you know what works best for you? And just so we’re clear, not just any cycling technique will work for an individual. In fact, some techniques might cause setbacks and can even damage your foundation!”

Jerome was stunned at this information. “So, I have to have the experience to be able to create a cycling technique.”

“Not just experience but deep insights as well,” Rihal corrected. Somehow he felt the kid could do it. He’d done things no one had ever done before, what’s adding one more to the list?

Jerome took some time to digest his words. Rihal knew how smart he was and that he had come to understand that things weren’t so simple and straightforward when it came to being a sacred artist. And now he’s finding out that he had been put at a disadvantage ever before he was born. Rihal sighed. The world was not fair. Fate wasn’t fair either.

“Well, I’ve never had a hard time cycling or creating techniques. I’ll find my own way in the world,” Jerome declared.

“That’s the spirit, Jerome,” Rihal said with a nod, “Now, about Terra Praeta. Unlike Pilgrims’ Keep, there is no map, and the monsters you’d be facing will be far more intelligent and far more powerful,”

“Why won’t there be a map?” Jerome asked, confusion evident in his features. That’ll be like walking around blindly.

“It’s hard to explain, but Terra Praeta…shifts every now and then. You lie down to rest somewhere but wake up somewhere else,” Rihal explained, “That in itself is very dangerous so you’d have to sleep with one eye open.”

Jerome nodded in understanding.

“And then you’d be going alone, Jerome,” Rihal said, giving his disciple a stern look, “You have to make sure to watch your back at all times. Never, and I mean never, ever be caught off guard.”

“I’ll be careful,” Jerome said after a while.

“And now to the most important part,” Rihal said. This was the freaky part about Terra Praeta.

“That wasn’t the most important part?”

“No, Jerome,” Rihal responded, “The most important part is to find daylight.” Rihal stopped to make sure his message sunk in.

“Find daylight. What do you mean, find daylight?” Jerome asked.

“Terra Praeta is…different. It’ll be night when you get there. A long night that never ends,” Rihal explained, “You just have to find your way to daylight.”

~~~

“So, go East. Got it,” Jerome said after a while. He took stock of all that was inside his spatial ring which he’d gotten from Rihal the day before.

“But for that, I’ll need something from you.”

“What is that?”

“A lodestone.”

Rihal looked up at Jerome in confusion and Jerome was struck with a thought, What if there are no lodestones in this world? That would put a lot of things into perspective. The slow advancement of technology and whatnot.

“Jerome?” Rihal said bringing him out of his reverie.

“It’s an ore used to attract metals,” Jerome said.

“Never heard of it.”

Jerome was a bit shocked by this confirmation. It was one thing to assume and another to receive confirmation of his assumption. If they didn’t have lodestones in this world, there was nothing he could do. He’d just have to make his own. Maybe I should ask Kilian, he thought.

Rihal was still looking at him with a puzzled expression.

“Don’t worry about it then. I’ll find one,” he said smiling at Rihal.

“Let’s get going then,” Rihal stood and Jerome joined him. They walked outside the manor and Rihal took to the skies.

With a flap of his wings, Jerome joined him in the air, flying alongside him.

“Nice wings,” Rihal said.

“Thanks. It took a lot of time to create,”

Jerome’s new set of wings was like a bird’s, instead of the bat type he used before. It had taken him days to create it and right now, it looked like a set of chrome-red wings. He could smell the slight tang of iron—that unique smell of blood coming from it.

“Keep it up and you’ll be creating your own cycling technique in no time,” Rihal said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Jerome chuckled, Where would I even start?

They arrived at the foot of the mountain in no time, the north exit of the Royal Estate, also the entrance through which Jerome came to the Royal Estate as Blank. In front of them were a lot of Sprouts from many different homes and all of them were elites and high-borns of Vorthe.

Jerome looked around and found that the number of people going into Terra Praeta was in the thousands. That was a lot of people.

Good thing I prepared well enough, he thought.

Every one of the Sprouts out here could be considered an enemy. You never know who will attack you and when. Before Jerome left, he had asked Kilian for weapons and was permitted to enter his weapons hold to pick whatever he wanted.

Jerome had gone wild. Picking spear after spear. He had made sure to pick the strongest and most durable ones. And also, the heaviest ones because he found out while fighting Forester that the spear made out of Suzzie didn’t have a good balance in his hands.

Suzzie was a really strong metal. But it was lightweight and so it didn’t give him that balance he needed. But maybe that’s because he had grown a lot stronger. Now that Jerome thought about it after hearing what Rihal said about the resources he was permitted. He thought, What if the weapons hold was also vetted by the Sovereign?

That would mean everything he took out of it was subpar to whatever these noble-born in front of him were carrying on their person. Jerome sighed.

I’ll just take from anyone who tries to make trouble with me, he thought.

In reality, none of the noble-born could defeat him in a one-on-one battle. But if they ganged up against him, which he had been preparing for, it could become very dangerous for him.

Rihal had given him a spatial ring the day before and he had been studying it ever since. It was a really weird concept, a space inside a ring as big as a house. The ring was made from many different materials, many of which were metals. Jerome had decided to study it more intently when he had the time. Jerome rubbed the black unassuming ring on his right index finger absently.

Who knows, maybe I can understand how to warp space, he thought and smiled at himself.