The scene that appeared before 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 with a smirk.
“Listen, Jerome.” Rihal got his attention. “Remember what I told you about how if the church went to war against Vorthe, they would lose? And that we’ll annex their territory?”
“I do,” he replied. What was this about?
“Well, it bothered me that you never stopped to ask if some other power could swoop in and take everything in the aftermath of our war. We don’t exist in a vacuum, you know? Even if we’ve raised you without access to outside knowledge.”
Ouch. Did he have to mention that? Jerome wasn’t quite pissed with Vorthe for this — yet. At least he had a feeling he’d get really pissed off once he began to find out the value of all they’ve kept him from. He wasn’t stupid. He knew that besides knowledge, the next most powerful thing was ‘access to knowledge’. But for now he’d keep his peace.
“Because of the power disparity among the different powers in this world?” he said with a smirk. “I know a thing or two about how powerful Vorthe is, Rihal.”
“Yes, but power isn’t the only thing that sets us apart, my young and inexperienced disciple.” Rihal paused for effect, but when he didn’t continue, Jerome knew he wanted him to figure it out — which he already did.
“Economic strength, espionage?...” He raised an eyebrow at his master.
“And the fact that Vorthe’s power is shrouded in mystery,” Rihal said, eyes boring into his own with great intensity. “You would do well to veil yourself and your powers as much as you can, Jerome. You’re going to do incredible things, I believe. People will come to poke at you — to find what makes you tick, what makes you vulnerable. Some would fawn over you, stoking your ego so you let your guard down, others would try to win your heart for their own interests.” Rihal pointed a finger at him, eyes still boring into his own. “It’s your responsibility to see them for what they are and guard your heart against them.
“And of course, you already are much more powerful than the average Sprout and are intelligent. I reckon you’d have a keen sense and ability for information gathering too.”
“Time to go in!” the Sage shouted. “You must go in with your own power. If you have no flight artifacts, 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. Jerome’s gaze remained on the crowd of Sprouts flying upward.
“Aren’t you going in?” Rihal asked Jerome, surprised his disciple 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. Rihal had also given him much to think about — things he intrinsically thought he knew. Hearing them from his master carried a certain weight to them, though. His words bothered him a little too. Was this how Rihal saw him? He felt… humbled.
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.
~~~
Rihal
Rihal waited and watched until all the Sprouts had gone through the portal. He walked back to the Royal Estate, heading straight to Rihal’s palace. Jerome had revealed some things that were weighing on him. If there ever was a rock that could attract iron, why didn’t he know about it? He was quite sure he wouldn’t miss something like that. Rihal was no scholar; he knew the extent of his own knowledge. But even a blind man could see the advantage of such a rock if he held one in his hands.
“A rock that could attract metal, huh?” he muttered absently. Kilian would know more about it.
When he got to Kilian’s palace, he went straight to his study and walked in.
“Something wrong?”
Rihal shook his head and just sat down. “What’s a lodestone?”
~~~
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 jungle with giant, overgrown 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, pushing harder 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.
He 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 himself 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 bearings 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. Jerome looked around in awe as he confirmed what he figured out during his discussion with Rihal. It was mind-blowing. But it didn’t bother him as every sacred artist could see far better in the dark than mere mortals.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
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. Now that the adrenaline from the chase had worn off, he felt quite different. Heavier, so to speak. Like he needed more effort for every little movement.
“Interesting,” he muttered as he bounced on the balls of his feet. He definitely felt heavier. And the gravitational pull of the planet was stronger. He looked around to see trees that were as tall as mountains all around him. “Well, that defeats all the theories I’ve read about high-gravity worlds.” every living thing was supposed to be dwarf-like, even the trees. They shouldn’t have grown to be ten times larger than sequoia trees. And their branches? Jerome studied the trees once more. Long, thick branches and numerous leaves shaped the top of the giant trees.
Jerome picked a direction and flew off, scanning his environment as he flew. The trees all around him didn’t all look too strange. Dark, purple-barked with leaves so vibrant green and plentiful, you’d think they were clouds. And they were everywhere. In every direction he looked. This was virgin land, and ripe for the taking.
He flew for about thirty miles before coming to a stop beside a pool of water. Jerome looked all around him, scanning his vicinity for danger before deciding to camp here for the time being. Everywhere was an overgrown jungle. And he knew not what could be hiding in the undergrowth.
The pond was clear and there were fish in the water. Jerome chuckled. The fish looked like over-sized axolotl — well, their heads. They had no limbs.
There was no one else around but it paid 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. Then he found out something else. Cycling essence was going to be real tough to do here. What with the crawl at which his core was revolving. He felt like he was being squeezed and grinded from the inside.
“Wait a minute,” he muttered to himself. This could be considered training too.
~~~
Somewhere in Terra Praeta.
Hedon
He’d had to enter 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 moon he had read all he could find out about Terra Praeta, and there wasn’t much; he’d also taken his training to another level to make sure he was completely ready to take down whatever enemy got in his way. This place was a treasure trove and only those who knew where to look and had the strength to survive 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 centuries ago. And you absolutely must find daylight if you want 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’d heard from the Royal Sprouts that Jerome wouldn’t be going in with them. So the cunt wouldn’t have their protection when he found him. 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 sensory field he formed with earth essence 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 storage ring.
Jerome rushed up the first tree he found. When he looked down, he got a pretty good look at the creature; it was as tall as two men, with a mammalian head that looked like a cross between a dog and a bat. Tiny black beady eyes were stuck in its head, and it had at least six tentacles where its mouth should be. Long limbs packed with muscles but sagging skin extended to right itself on all fours and Jerome got a sense of the color of its skin — it was pale white, like a corpse.
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, but he extended his wings to stay afloat and beyond reach. Jerome extended Suzie as a whip and took off the creature’s head in an explosion of blue light right 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. Most definitely because of the high gravity. But how come it grew to be so tall? And the trees too.
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.
Not long after he encountered another one of the damned creatures.
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 forearm 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 one.
This creature had appeared out of nowhere — with no smell and no aura, just like a corpse. At this point, Jerome was beginning to believe these things were corpses. If not he’d 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. It swung both bladed arms in a wide arc.
Jerome unfurled his wings and the wind caught him before he was severed into three 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
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 daimon 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 silvery 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 would be taken before they got to them.
Fei Lin was frustrated. “When are these stupid bats going to give up?” She muttered to herself. She knew Terra Praeta wouldn’t just give up its treasures but still.
“Please, be patient, Princess,” someone in her group said, “The blood daimon bats would lose interest when they—”
A roar broke through the cacophony of shrieks being made by the blood daimon 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,” another girl asked a moment later, and everybody turned to glance at the shield which was still up but wasn’t being attacked anymore. Fei’s Lin’s heart caught in her throat. If whatever was coming for them was enough to scare the blood daimon bats, then they were in trouble.
Lang came forward toward the head of the group in the direction of the sound. He was her protector and the most powerful Sprout in their group, older too and broad shouldered, with thick, powerful arms. His arms were always the first things that came to mind when Fei Lin thought about him. He listened and scanned the forest around them for a moment but then tensed up.
“Run,” he said.