Book Three: Terra Praeta

“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 was out of place. Yet there were no maids in sight. The foyer was of a simple design, comfy even. But he could tell everything he laid his eyes on was of really good quality. Rihal had good taste.

Today was the day he would enter Terra Praeta and 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.

Jerome wasn’t really surprised that Vorthe saw him as a threat. He was concerned though. He hoped he’d still have some freedom after he went up the mountain. The thought of it made his heart beat faster in fear and anticipation.

“Concerning the question you asked Kilian about secret techniques,” Rihal said, “Almost every noble family in Vorthe has thousands of years of history. And because of that, they have sacred techniques hidden in secret codices that have been passed down for thousands of years. In those codices are written 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 skills they displayed. He had asked Rihal to explain it to him but ended up learning a whole lot more. And it seemed this was 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

Rihal chuckled. He was glad Jerome didn’t get annoyed by the fact that he was excluded from using the cycling techniques of the Royal Family. The little devil 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 looked utterly stunned at this information. Good. His disciple needed to have some level of caution approaching such an affair, else…

“So, I have to have the experience to be able to create a cycling technique,” he said.

“Not just experience but deep insights as well,” Rihal corrected. Somehow he felt Jerome 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.” The little devil shifted in his seat to get comfy and Rihal smiled. “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, so to speak. 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?” Jerome asked.

“No, Jerome,” he replied. “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,” he explained. He couldn’t give away too much information though. His disciple would have to go in with just as much information as the others going in. “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 storage ring which he’d gotten from Rihal the day before. “But for that, I’ll need something from you — that’s assuming there’ll be no moon in the sky.”

Damn. The boy was smart. He had to give him that. “How do you know that?”

Jerome shrugged. “Just the way you said to ‘find daylight’.”

Rihal smiled, pride in his heart. “So?” he asked. “What was it you said you’d need?”

~~~

“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 difference in the advancement of technology and whatnot.

Magnets were used in many ancient civilizations back on Earth. They were used in compasses by explorers who sailed the seas to find new lands, among many other things. A deeper understanding of magnetism was what helped scientists like Hans Christian Oersted and Michael Faraday to establish the link between electricity and magnetism in the 19th century. Which then helped to create electromagnets. Jerome sighed. Electromagnetism was a pipe dream for now.

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

“It’s an ore used to attract iron,” 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.

“You mean there has never been an occurrence when rocks form from the liquid fire of a volcano?” Jerome had never had a discussion like this with Rihal, so he didn’t know whether to use the term ‘magma’. And this was the closest thing to the cooling and crystallization of rocks he could talk to Rihal about.

Rihal was still looking at him with a puzzled expression. Then he asked, “Did you read about that in Kilian’s library? Is that how this… ‘lodestone’ is formed?”

“Partly. But to think there’s never been an occurrence like that,” he muttered absently.

“Liquid fire is called magma, Jerome. And there may have been an occurrence such as the one you mentioned … I just don’t know about it. What I do know is that fire crystals form from magma. I don’t know the process, only that it does.”

And there it was. Jerome usually compared Earth to his new world, something he was coming to realize would only become more bizarre as evident in this new fact.

This planet was more than meets the eye. The kind of minerals that would form on Earth might not form here — and vice versa. But what about ores like gold and silver, tin and coal, and many more that can be found both here as it was on earth? How does one explain those? Should he even be using ‘was’ as a tense to refer to Earth? He opened his mouth to ask but Rihal beat him to it.

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“I know what you’re thinking. ‘How do metals form?’,” Rihal cocked his head and smirked. “Well, metals form less than a fold of the time. Ironically, the only common metal is a risk to mine.”

Rihal looked him up and down with mirth in his eyes. “After the stunt you pulled down south, though, don’t be surprised if you find more artifacts made from living steel like yours, maybe even better than yours.”

Jerome smirked. “Suzie has evolved. Beyond anything any artificer can produce.” He knew this because he sensed instinctively that the mind-calming stone was the reason for Suzie’s evolution. Except Vorthe can get another mind-calming stone, they could only try. Not that such stones could just be found lying around.

“Really?”

“What about this?” Jerome asked, wanting to get back on the discussion. “Lodestone could be formed from the energy released from a lightning strike. When the rock cools down, the brief but extremely powerful, er…” He didn’t know whether to say electromagnetic field, “energy field caused by lightning causes all the domains in the mineral to line up.”

“That’s as rare as hen’s teeth, Jerome. What did I tell you about sacred artists who want to comprehend the force of lightning?”

“Urgh,” Jerome grumbled, remembering his lessons from before he became a sacred artist. “They absorb lightning strikes into their bodies, ignoring the dangers. Does that mean people track lightning every—”

“No, Jerome,” Rihal interrupted him. “It means sacred artists track storms everywhere!”

Now Jerome was truly shocked.

“They track it to absorb the energy from it,” Rihal continued, almost ominously. “Storms are like a rich blend of air and water essence, seasoned with the force of lightning.”

“All that energy,” Jerome muttered, “...and none of it ever touches the ground? Not even the mountain peaks?”

Rihal shook his head.

It made even more sense now. And he now became aware of the environmental impact this could theoretically have on the planet. Lightning helped to fix the nitrogen content in the soil, which was important for plant growth. Jerome had no idea the results Vorthe had had in growing plants all this while, but he was sure they always had good harvests every year. After all, the land around Farryn was arable.

“And what good would it do if it touches the ground? Kill an unassuming mortal?” Rihal teased.

“Well, it could create lodestones,” Jerome said pointedly.

Rihal snorted. “I don’t think we need these lodestones, Jerome. Artificers and smiths have been doing just fine.”

“And are you an artificer? Or a smith? Or do you have artifacts that can attract metal?”

“What would we need that for — and that’s not saying that we don’t have such an artifact.”

“I’m sure Vorthe doesn’t.” He folded his arms in defiance.

“Let’s get going. The portal to Terra Praeta won’t wait for you.” Rihal stood, exasperated. Jerome snorted but joined him and they both walked out of the manor.

“I don’t see your girlfriend anywhere.”

Jerome turned red. Rihal chuckled and jabbed him in the side. “She should be with Layla. Don’t worry.”

“I know,” he ground out. “And I’m not worried.”

“Really?” Rihal took to the skies. With a flap of his wings, Jerome joined him in the air, flying alongside him. “You know how many boys have been orbiting her since she became Blank?”

“Don’t care. But if I catch any one of them…” he left the rest unsaid.

“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 eagle wings. He could smell the slight tang of iron, that unique smell of blood coming from it.

The flowing steel had taken this color after merging with him. Something Jerome still had no idea as to how it happened, except that the mind-calming stone was involved. Even after absorbing a whole mine of living steel, it still appeared chrome-red.

“Out of curiosity though, where did all that flowing steel you absorbed go?” Rihal asked.

“Well, I’m also searching for the answer to that question, Rihal.”

Rihal snorted. “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? he thought.

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 and later, Grogg, that the weapons made out of Suzie didn’t have a good balance in his hands, and were extremely light.

Suzie 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.

He caressed the storage ring on his index finger. Rihal had given it to him the day before and he’d 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. The coolness of the cold metal was a welcome distraction as he caressed 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.

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. But you are different though. Strength comes with age, Jerome. And time. But you? You bypass all of that and defeat Sprouts older than you, even one at the peak of the Core Formation,” 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. Ambient 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 Sages wanted to do was open a door to a void world!

Jerome was ecstatic in his anticipation. Soon after the density of the ambient 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 ambient essence to shoot upwards. Jerome watched as the ambient 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!