Rihal

“I won’t accept that, Rihal. I’ll carve out his heart by any means possible,” Jerome said. He wasn’t willing to accept that Hedon would most likely be unbeatable with his Epos.

“Well, you’ll have to find your own Epos then, because without one to boost your strength, you’ve got no chance of beating him,” Rihal said as they walked deeper into the Royal Estate. He was an assassin, so fighting wasn’t really his thing, even if he could go toe-to-toe with any Spirit Realm artist in Vorthe. But he definitely would hesitate to fight someone with such power.

I won’t even be able to get close because of the vastness of their presence, and the way they’ll impress their will upon the world around them, he thought, creating a scenario in his head mirroring Jerome’s predicament. I’ll drill into the ground but they’ll ‘will’ the ground to compress, which’ll make it harder to escape. Throwing knives won’t reach them either, even if the knives were artifacts. I’ll take—

“How do I create one, then?” Jerome asked, looking all serious and ready for action. At least he was healing fast enough.

Rihal guffawed loudly, his reverie having been disrupted by Jerome’s questions. His disciple was clearly delusional if he thought he could just create an Epos. Or just plain ignorant, Rihal thought, fighting back his laughter.

“You can’t,” he said after calming down. He observed Jerome walking on both legs. The little devil had gotten a lot better as the days went by. Jerome’s channels were healed already and apparently, a lot stronger. He could just detect a slight limp in his steps but even that should heal completely in the days to come.

“What’d you mean I can’t?” Jerome asked. He stopped and frowned at Rihal to which Rihal sighed. His disciple would not take such news kindly. But the Epos Hedon wielded was the creation of another, he couldn’t just create his own out of thin air.

“You can ask the Sovereign when you see him, his answer should be more comprehensive than anything I can tell you,” Rihal said. “All I can tell you is that it has much to do with bloodline.”

“Bloodline, huh?” Jerome pondered. “You said it was given to him.”

“Possibly by his father. He’s the Alvric heir after all. But if he wasn’t an Alvric it wouldn’t have worked for him. That’s why bloodline is important.”

~~~

Jerome had never been to any other part of the Royal Estate before, and he found that the Estate could be considered a city all on its own — a far more beautiful city than the city of Farryn. Instead of cobbled streets, they walked on paved concrete roads. The sidewalks were kept in good order and there were little bridges they walked on from time to time to cross over streams filled with fish and other freshwater animals.

Finally, they walked up to a gigantic manor gracing the world in all its splendor, with beautifully decorated white walls. Guards stood at the front of the manor in shining golden armor, while others patrolled the perimeter.

These were the first guards Jerome had seen in metal armor other than leather since he came to this world. Leather was easier to move around in so it was a given. These golden armors looked more ceremonial and glamorous, meant to showcase the status of the Royal Guard. And there were quite a lot of them.

Rihal took Jerome into the manor through the back where a maid ushered him to a room on the top floor of the manor. The interior was no less decorated and splendorous than the exterior. Everything around him screamed wealth.

“Remember to go down on one knee, with your right hand in a fist over your chest,” Rihal whispered to him.

“Yes, yes, father walrus. You’ve said it a million times.” Rihal smiled at that but left without a word.

Jerome knocked slightly, wondering why he was meeting the Sovereign in such a secluded location. The room was at the top of the manor but was quite secluded from the rest of the building. The door opened on its own and a voice reached his ears.

“Enter.”

Jerome would know the Sovereign’s voice anywhere he heard it now. He walked into the room and got down on one knee like Rihal had said.

“Greetings, Sovereign,” he greeted with a fist to his chest. He was kind of surprised the Sovereign was already waiting for him.

“You may rise,” the Sovereign said.

Jerome rose and looked around. The entire room was exquisitely decorated. And even so, it had a masculine touch to it. The Sovereign spun slowly around in his high-backed chair to face Jerome with a puzzled look on his face. Jerome quickly sent his gaze downwards.

He was dressed quite smartly for the occasion: loose black outer robes with blue patterns gracing the surface of the robe like dancing flames in the shape of a dragon — a representation of his blue flames, it seemed. However, he felt quite uncomfortable in three layers of clothing.

“You’re different somehow. What have you been up to?” the Sovereign asked, his voice slow and sure, like that of a man who had won all his battles.

“Me?” Jerome asked, surprised by the question.

“Yes, you. What have you been up to?”

He put his thoughts together before speaking. The sovereign was no ordinary man one could just say anything in front of. He had to watch his thoughts and words just by being in the Sovereign’s presence.

“I’ve been practicing the mind scan, among…other things.”

The Sovereign furrowed his brows, almost appearing intimidating. He sat up slowly in his high-backed chair, with his elbows on the armrest, and linked his fingers in front of him as his gaze bore into Jerome.

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What now?! Jerome quickly became flustered under his intense scrutiny. The Sovereign’s gaze was nigh impossible to break. His irises resembled black holes that were sucking him into their event horizon.

The Sovereign was silent for a long time, just gazing at him with unblinking eyes. Under the scrutiny of those eyes, Jerome could do nothing more than shiver where he was.

The golden glowing orbs of light hovering a foot or more below the roof piqued his interest. He busied himself scanning everything around like a busybody; the red and gold tapestries and white backdrops decorating the walls, the orbs of light and the rug underneath his booted feet..

Albeit he was unable to concentrate because he was unable to look away from those eyes. The Sovereign turned around again without a word, facing the wall opposite him. Jerome observed that the chair was hovering above the carpeted floor.

“Come over, Jerome. We have much to discuss,” the Sovereign said. He slightly stretched out his right hand with his palm up and an orb on a table by his side floated onto his hand.

“Gratitude, Sovereign,” Jerome said as he walked up to the Sovereign.

“So, you’ve been practicing the mind scan?” the Sovereign asked, rubbing the orb absently with his thumb.

“Yes, Sovereign,” Jerome answered as he stood beside the Sovereign’s little table, slightly distracted by the Sovereign’s thumb. He shook his head and peeled his gaze away, resisting whatever pull the Sovereign’s movements had on him.

“Scan me then.”

“I wouldn’t dare, Sovereign!” Jerome said without hesitation, bowing his head. That was an unexpected request. One that would be disrespectful to someone of the Sovereign’s status.

Although the Sovereign was his biological father, that was just a technicality. They had no familial bonds between them, and Jerome wouldn’t want a bond like that — not from someone who would kill him at the end of the day. Then he remembered that the Sovereign could read minds and his heart sped up like crazy. Yun Vorthe looked at him for a while as if trying to decipher a code or something.

“Why can’t I read you anymore?” he asked at last.

“What?” Jerome muttered as his heartbeat sounded like drums in his ears. He didn’t know what was going on anymore, but he quickly caught the gist of the matter. Can’t read him anymore? Did that mean he couldn’t read his mind? He felt elated at the possibility. But he quickly tamped down his excitement, lest the Sovereign catch on to it.

“It is as you heard,” the Sovereign confirmed his thoughts. “Does this have anything to do with whatever helped you reign in the beast at Pilgrims’ Keep?”

Jerome’s heart sped up again. His anxiety was laid bare before the Sovereign. Even if he wanted to give an answer, he had no idea if this was true or not. So he just gave the best he could.

“Perhaps, Sovereign.”

Yun Vorthe chuckled coldly. “Your heart is racing, Jerome,” he stated. “Like you, are trying to hide something from me.” His every word was laced with a presage that reminded Jerome of the calm before the storm.

Jerome’s anxiety intensified greatly and his heartbeat increased rapidly. He began sweating profusely, every instinct pushing him to prostrate and beg for forgiveness for withholding information from the Sovereign.

“Relax,” the Sovereign said after a while. “I will not hurt you.”

Jerome felt the pressure lift off of him in the next instance. His heart rate began to normalize and he sagged in relief, bending down to keep himself from falling. He became bitter. The Sovereign was clearly manipulating him somehow — however he was doing it, there was neither essence nor mental energy involved.

He didn’t even think to rotate his core to get rid of the discomfort just now! Jerome suspected that this may just be one of the Sovereign’s many abilities. The man was dangerous. He had to be careful of him. For someone to just pull you in with his eyes, making you forget to do even the simplest things, like cycle to get rid of discomfort. Or making you feel vulnerable. At least he couldn’t read his thoughts like he had admitted.

“I do want to know how far you have gone in your training though, so, scan me,” the Sovereign said once more.

“If the Sovereign wishes it so, then who am I not to oblige,” Jerome said, composing himself.

“You may go ahead,” the Sovereign said.

Jerome bowed low. “Forgiveness for the intrusion then,” he said.

Yun Vorthe waited for him to prepare himself, but Jerome just went ahead and did it, like no preparations were necessary. Yun felt it, the subtle pressure invading his being. It was meticulous and thorough, moving through every sinew and bone like a physician’s gaze…but extremely weak. He knew Jerome still had a long way to go but as a Sprout, this was still considered weak.

When Jerome scanned his core, he gasped in awe. There was nothing to scan, like the Ruler of Vorthe had no core at all. It didn’t make any sense! Rihal also did this with his core but not like this. Not to this extent. Rihal’s core was always veiled, but not to the point of being non-existent!

Yun Vorthe wondered if Jerome was holding back. And if it had anything to do with the fact that Jerome was injured. If he was injured in his soul, that would make his mental energy weak. Yun didn’t concern himself with that anyway. As long as there was a vessel to carry the seed of darkness, all was well.

“You are very thorough…and meticulous in scanning, but are you holding back?” the Sovereign asked.

“No, Sovereign. Does it feel like I held back?” Jerome asked, befuddled.

“Your scan was weak,” Yun Vorthe nodded. “But Sprouts your age usually prepare themselves mentally before scanning, hence, they use too much in the way of intensity. But you didn’t need such preparations. That seems to me like an advantage.” But the pressure behind the scan was still very weak.

Jerome nodded contemplatively. That felt like a pat on the back with a little less emotion. He knew since he hadn’t had enough time to practice, he couldn’t compare to those who had had years of practice. But still, he had hoped… Jerome sighed. He couldn’t depend on hope. Not when he’d be joining an expedition to a void world. Not when he’d be going out into the world to search for his family.

“If I may, Sovereign. I did a thorough examination of my core last night and I found the seed of darkness at the very center of it.”

“So?”

“The problem is, it’s siphoning my essence,” Jerome said, “At least half of what I absorb goes into it. It’s like a black hole with no bottom.”

“Well, does that hinder you?” the Sovereign asked softly.

“Not really.”

“Does it make you weaker than those in your realm?” the Sovereign asked again, trying to get Jerome to see his point.

“I can’t say, Sovereign, since I haven’t battled anyone in my Realm lately.”

“So?”

“It’s just, perhaps I’ll be able to do a lot more if I keep my essence for myself,” Jerome said. Though, something in him told him this was wishful thinking.

“You see the seed as a separate entity from you,” the Sovereign said, playing with the crystal ball in his palm. It should have been a question but it sounded like a statement.

Jerome did. And right now he was feeling like the Sovereign wasn’t taking this seriously.

“It doesn’t take from you, Jerome. It stores for you.”

“How so?” he asked. Now, this was interesting.

“Everything the darkness takes from you it gives back ten folds. Have you ever found yourself exhausted from a lack of essence in your core?”

“...” Jerome had nothing to say to that. Now that I think of it, he never had. He thought about all his fights in Pilgrims’ Keep. how most people got tired before him. Was this the reason?

“What we should talk about,” the Sovereign smiled at him, “is how you turned to stone and survived three years under a river.” Yun Vorthe wanted to know this, but not at the expense of ruining the future. He dipped his consciousness slightly into the river of fate for a moment just to be sure.