After waiting for a while powerful Sages from the Royal Family began arriving one by one. Jerome stood beside Rihal, looking at the men and women hovering in the air. He’d met Sages from the Royal family before, but he didn’t know any of the Sages gathered here today.
Altogether, five Sages arrived. They looked older than the Sages he knew and had white hair growing out of their temples. Which might mean they were more powerful.
These men and women were considered to be some of the most powerful experts in all of Vorthe! Just looking at them, Jerome felt like an ant in front of an elephant. Their presence was so strong and oppressive that he had to cycle to get rid of the discomfort.
The five Sages sat down cross-legged mid-air and closed their eyes to meditate. Everyone was roused by this. Those who were sitting stood up, and those who were discussing stopped their discussion to concentrate.
After a while, one of the Sages spoke up, “Younglings of Vorthe!”
His voice was not loud, but it reached the ears of everyone present.
“Today you are given the opportunity of a lifetime. The last time Terra Praeta was opened to the people of Vorthe was six hundred years ago.”
Hearing that, many Sprouts exclaimed in surprise. After six hundred years of no human influence, Terra Praeta would be brimming with resources right now!
“Although this is an opportunity of a lifetime, it will also come with a lot of dangers. So be prepared to face dangers at all times. A sacred artist with no dangerous experience is a greenhouse plant. He or she wouldn’t have the mettle to face life on his or her own.
“May your ancestors’ protection be with you.”
He resumed his previous position in the air, and instantly after, the five Sages started emitting wave after wave of essence.
“Incredible!” Jerome exclaimed. He could also hear gasps of shock and surprise from the multitude of Sprouts present.
Rihal chuckled beside him. “You haven’t seen anything yet,” he said.
The essence each of these five Sages was emitting was so tremendous, Jerome predicted that his body would explode from holding such an amount of essence!
“They are just two Realms above me, but the gap is too great!” Jerome said.
Rihal laughed. “Two Realms? They’re two Great Realms above you! Meaning there are lesser Realms in those Great Realms you know nothing about.
“The higher you climb in Realms the more powerful you become. Your body evolves some more to improve itself and your core grows larger in capacity.
“That is not to say that it gets easier to advance, in fact, it’s the opposite. Even in your Realm, there are still levels of strength.”
“I thought so too,” Jerome said.
“Yes, and that’s why you are more powerful than the Sprouts you fought a few days ago,” Rihal said, “It’s just that your senses aren’t evolved enough to distinguish the levels of strength of those in your Realm. You’re going to tell me how you managed to pull that off by the way,”
Jerome laughed. He knew Rihal would hear about that eventually. But he expected more praise than this. He also caught on to something Rihal said.
My senses aren’t evolved enough to distinguish levels of strength? He thought.
But he remembered the twin siblings with white blonde hair. Those girls were more powerful than every other Sprout in the training ground on that day and he could sense it. Jerome shrugged inwardly at that.
“How do I advance to the Spirit Realm?” he asked.
“You already have all you need to advance to the Sage Realm!” Rihal exclaimed.
“Really?!” Jerome was shocked.
“Yes!” Rihal exclaimed again, “That Sunfire stone is not for cycling alone. It can get you there, and then there’s the Darkness waiting for you in the mountain range.”
There was an awkward silence after Rihal said that.
“Ahem, anyway all you need is time and deeper insights into your Path,” Rihal said.
“Deeper insights into my Path,” Jerome muttered. “What kinda insights?”
At that moment there was a rumbling sound like muffled thunder. Everyone looked up to the sky and noticed the changes going on. The sky grew darker as if a storm was coming. Jerome could sense the essence in the air becoming denser. World essence started funneling in from every direction toward the five Sages.
The five Sages positioned themselves in a circle, and the world essence kept pouring into the center of that circle. It became so thick that it formed a cloud of fog that started rotating in a clockwise direction.
Jerome knew that he was seeing something he probably would never get the opportunity to see ever again, so he opened his eyes wide. This was the teamwork of five sages combined! He had gathered essence for himself like this, but that was just so he could absorb it. What these Sage wanted to do was open a door to a void world!
Jerome was ecstatic in his anticipation. Soon after the density of the world essence reached enormous levels and appeared liquid, like the waters of the ocean. Jerome couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
Rihal looked over at him and chuckled, even calling him a few times but Jerome didn’t answer…he couldn’t. Everything he was seeing was so damn amazing and defied what he knew was possible!
The five Sages finally raised their hands simultaneously, causing the world-essence to shoot upwards.
Jerome watched as the world-essence disappeared into the void as if it were through a funnel. The rumbling in the sky intensified and right before everyone’s eyes, the sky split open!
~~~
The scene that appeared in Jerome’s eyes was awe-inspiring. An Aurora covered the entire sky in beautiful green patterns of light. It was so beautiful that Jerome and every Sprout seeing it couldn’t take their eyes off it. A large mountainscape revealed itself with lush forests and giant trees. Jerome could barely believe his eyes. The scenery looked like the world was a part of the one they were in, only it was standing on the clouds!
Jerome tried to find the edges of the portal but saw nothing. Whether this plane or that one, he couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began.
“Incredible!” was all he could say.
“It is,” Rihal responded, chuckling. He wasn’t phased by the sight which made Jerome look closely at him.
Rihal didn’t seem as astonished as he expected. If this void world was opened six hundred years ago, Rihal couldn’t have seen this sight before.
“How come you’re not as surprised as the rest of us? Have you seen this before?” Jerome asked. He had a feeling he was about to hear something not everyone hears, but then again, Rihal could just decide to ignore him.
Rihal just smirked at him and said, “The Sage said it was opened to the public six hundred years ago.”
“Ooh, Interesting!” Jerome said as realization dawned on him. These guys have been smuggling their sacred artists into Terra Praeta for centuries. “How did they open the portal without the rest of Farryn knowing?”
“They only opened a small portal, like a backdoor,” Rihal responded, smiling sheepishly.
“Time to go in!” the Sage shouted. “You must go in with your own power. If you have no flight artifact, you’re on your own!”
The crowd of Sprouts shot up into the air, flying towards Terra Praeta. They looked like a school of salmon migrating through the sea.
“Aren’t you going in?” Rihal asked Jerome, surprised the kid just stood there watching. But he knew Jerome was not afraid. He must have a reason for waiting.
“Just waiting to see how high up the portal is,” Jerome mumbled, his eyes on the Sprout in the lead.
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Rihal looked up as well. The first Sprouts to fly up were the Royals, followed by those from the Great families, but they still hadn’t gotten to the portal. By this alone, one could tell that the portal must be at least a thousand feet in the air.
When the first of the Sprouts reached a certain point in the sky, the air rippled around him, and he disappeared on the spot. Jerome shot into the sky at that moment. He was moving so fast that he shot past a lot of youths before merging into the army of Sprouts in the air.
From the time he got to the gathering, till he was about to enter Terra Praeta, he didn’t set his eyes on Hedon.
What a shame, he thought, …would’ve loved to see the look in his eyes when he noticed me.
Jerome plunged into the portal, and everything went blank.
~~~
Boom… Boom…
Heavy footsteps were sounding from afar and getting closer and closer…
Jerome was disoriented as a result of moving through the portal. It took a while for his vision to clear. But something immediately blocked out the light. He looked up but what he saw almost stopped his heart.
An enormous foot was coming down on him like the wrath of a demon! Jerome quickly got a hold of himself and flew away from his position.
As soon as the foot landed on the ground the world shook, sending dirt and rocks crashing into nearby trees. The creature kept moving and clearing a path through the forest with giant tusks sticking out the side of its trunk. As it moved through the forest, its massive footsteps thundered against the earth, snapping branches under its immense strength like toothpicks as it left a trail of destruction in its path.
Jerome flapped his wings to rise higher into the sky so he could see the world from a vantage point. His heart nearly dropped to his stomach as he noticed a new problem: a flock of carnivorous birds that looked like pterodactyls, were awakened by the mammoth’s destruction and took to the skies in a cacophony of screeches. Having been awakened, they focused on hunting prey, and one succulent human had presented itself as the first course.
Jerome fled, beating his wings as fast as he could, but the creatures—hundreds of them—didn’t wait for him to go far before chasing after him. In addition to his wings, he blasted hot flames from underneath his boots like thrusters to give him a boost. Jerome zoomed through the sky, leaving his pursuers far behind in a few breaths of time.
After flying for more than half a mile, he stopped to get his bearing and found that there was no Aurora. Everywhere was dark and there was no moon in sight. The stars seem to have taken the night off as well but this didn’t bother him as every sacred artist could see far better in the dark than mere mortals.
He actually thought Terra Praeta would be a small place where he could see the barrier that separated it from the world he came from but was greatly disappointed.
Now, wouldn’t that have been cool? He thought.
Jerome picked a direction and flew off. He flew for about thirty miles before coming to a stop beside a pool of water. He looked all around him, scanning his vicinity for danger before deciding to camp here for the time being.
The pond was clear and there were fish in the water. there was no one else around but it pays to be cautious so Jerome started to set up traps around his campsite. After he was done, he caught some fish and roasted them with heat from his fire aura without making a fire. Better not to alert any creature to his presence or position.
After his meal, Jerome sat down cross-legged to meditate. He found that the essence here was a lot denser than in Farryn and even the Royal Estate. He quickly started to absorb essence while reciting his earth mantra.
~~~
Somewhere in Terra Praeta.
Hedon had entered the portal to Terra Praeta in disguise because he received word from one of the Royals that Jerome was still alive and would be venturing into Terra Praeta. He had come into Terra Praeta with nineteen others in his clan but after arriving, he found no one around him. He had expected this, just as it was written in his family's records.
For the past seven days, he had read all he could find out about Terra Praeta, and there wasn’t much. This place was a treasure trove and only those who knew where to look and had the strength to survive in such places would succeed. There were no maps of Terra Praeta like Pilgrims’ Keep. You only need to look out for the few places as described in books written by those who came here six hundred years ago. And you absolutely must find daylight if you wanted to survive.
Hedon transmitted a little essence to an artifact on his wrist. This artifact was connected to nineteen different artifacts of the same kind and could help everyone wearing one, easily communicate with and find each other.
This was one of the advantages of venturing in here with a group of people and with the right resources. After receiving feedback, Hedon picked a direction and started walking.
He had a lot of time on his hands. Terra Praeta would stay open for a year, so there was no rush. You won’t get a chance to survive this time around, Jerome, he thought as he chuckled to himself. It was hard to believe that Jerome was still alive but the Royals wouldn’t lie about such a thing.
~~~
Jerome woke up to the feeling of being watched. Something was skirting the area formed by the earth-aura as a result of his mantra. It seemed his traps must have been disabled by whoever or whatever it was.
The moment his eyes opened, his senses flared to incoming danger. He quickly rolled out of the way as thick spikes dripping with a yellow slimy liquid stabbed the ground where he sat.
Venom!
Whatever this creature was, it was good at killing with stealth. Jerome masked his essence as he blended with the night. I should have had Rihal teach me some stealth techniques, he thought to himself. Although he was masking his essence and had blended with the shadows, it didn’t make him any better at stealth.
The moment he masked his essence, Jerome felt the creature’s hesitation. It began making clicking sounds, vibrating the air around. Jerome felt the vibration reach him, threatening to destroy his essence-masking technique. The creature was utilizing a technique of its own!
The creature approached, but an unassuming whip lit up the night where it was, blasting it back in a flash of blue light. The creature roared in pain as its body was scorched and Jerome knew he had scored a hit. He had masked the tip of the whip with mental energy, preventing the creature from seeing the blue glow of essence, and hearing the sizzling sound the essence made. He quickly moved to change position, taking out a spear from his spatial ring.
Jerome rushed up the first tree he found. When he looked down, he got a pretty good look at the creature: it had a bony frame as tall as two men, and a mammalian head that looked like a cross between a dog and a cat. Tiny black beady eyes were stuck in its head, and it had tentacles where its mouth should be. Long limbs extended to right itself on all fours and Jerome got a sense of the color of its skin—it resembled a corpse with grey sagging skin.
Jerome almost spat out in disgust. He waited for it to expose a vital spot on its body so he could take it down with his spear from a distance.
The creature started making that infuriating clicking sound again and this time, it dashed toward the tree where Jerome was hiding. Hungry eyes looked straight at him and Jerome quickly understood how he was found—echolocation. The creature raised its hand to crush Jerome and he jumped off the tree leaving a small gift for the creature.
The moment its long clawed limb smacked the tree, something sliced into its skin and it roared again in pain. Its long arm was now hanging limply by its side, and a yellow liquid began dripping out of its injuries. Jerome saw this and felt like throwing up but he held back.
The creature went mad. It rushed after Jerome, not caring for its life. Jerome extended Suzie as a whip and took off the creature's head in an explosion of blue light before he landed on the ground. The creature dropped dead to the earth, oozing yellow blood from its neck that still sizzled from the heat of the explosion.
“Disgusting,” Jerome muttered. Not just the blood, but the stench that came with the burnt flesh. He wondered why he hadn’t perceived such an atrocious stench before it attacked. He looked in the direction of the spikes it shot at him when it first attacked and wondered why it didn’t utilize that same attack afterward. Suzie also didn’t sever its limb completely which meant the creature's bones must be very tough.
Whatever this creature was, there might be more out there and Jerome decided to leave this area before he came under unexpected attack. He looked at the creature once again, and torched it before leaving, making sure the fire wouldn’t spread to the surrounding vegetation.
~~~
Is it just me or is this never-ending night a loop? Jerome thought to himself in irritation as he dodged a sharp blade-like limb from another creature that looked like the first one he fought. If he wanted to find daylight he needed a magnet or a magnetized object. And it’ll take time to make that.
This creature had appeared out of nowhere—with no smell, no aura, just like a corpse. At this point, Jerome was beginning to believe these things were corpses. If not he would have been able to sense this one before it got close.
He bent backward with his back almost touching the ground as the blade, which resembled bone, sliced through the air where his torso should be. Jerome sprang back up and with all the fury in his heart blasted the creature a hundred feet away—or at least it should have been a hundred feet away— the creature only took two steps back and sliced at him diagonally with its other blade-like forearm.
Jerome spun forward in the air, the boney blade barely missing him by inches, and he kicked the creature—which was standing like a man—in the head. The creature took another step back, its balance sure, as it swung both bladed arms in a wide arc.
Jerome unfurled his wings and the wind caught him before he was severed into multiple pieces by the creature. He turned around midair while the creature's arms were wide apart and extended Suzie. The creature's head exploded a moment later and it went down on its knees and crumbled to the ground with a loud thud.
“Yuck. If this continues I won’t be able to hold back. I’ll puke,” he said in disgust. He shot a fireball at the creature and controlled earth-attribute essence to move the foliage around the creature away so as not to cause a forest fire.
~~~
Fei Lin met up with her team members a few hours after entering Terra Praeta, she was lucky they were not sent too far apart from each other. But right now, she wished she had been sent to a different location.
A cloud of blood demon bats was currently assaulting her group. These tiny little creatures blotted out the night sky with their superior numbers, surrounding her team to prevent them from escaping. Tiny little red eyes glared at them from every angle, promising death but her group wasn’t flustered. Everyone was calm and collected. They had created a dome-like shield to prevent the bats from getting to them.
The shield was brimming with sword force, and any bat that got too close would be torn to shreds without even touching it. This way though, they were wasting time and many of the treasures in Terra Praeta will be taken before they got to them.
Fei Lin was frustrated.
“When are these stupid bats going to give up?” She muttered to herself.
“Please, be patient, Princess,” someone in her group said, “The blood demon bats would lose interest when they—”
A roar broke through the cacophony of shrieks being made by the blood demon bats and they quieted down. Fei Lin and her team looked in the direction of the roar with their hearts in their throats. Something was headed for them.
“Where did the bats go,” a girl from her team asked a moment later, and everybody turned to glance at the shield which was still up but wasn’t being attacked anymore.
Lang, protector of the heir of the Fei clan and the most powerful Sprout of their group righted himself and quickly said, “Run,”