"Your highness?" Nocterin's questioning voice penetrated into the ears of Arin, pulling him out of his stupor.
He pulled his gaze away from the floating screens of texts.
"Let's go, Nocterin."
As soon as his lips closed, Arin turned toward the way that lead to Seraphelle with Nocterin following his shadow.
But Arin was shocked to find that the screen had disappeared as if it was a hallucination all along.
"I have read enough of those novels, I need to say something to make it reappear." His face displayed a confident smile.
"System!," nothing happened.
"Status!," still nothing.
Arin couldnt help but think that maybe it was a dream all along.
"Panel!," he tried for the final time.
With a swish only he could hear, a large green hologram manifested in his vision.
[Host: Arin Roseheart (Kaius Reed)]
[Race: Human]
[Age: 19]
[Magic level: unawakened]
[Combat level: newbie]
[Spirit arts level: None
Note: a draconic spirit affinity has been detected in host.]
The screen followed his pace, travelling in the direction Arin trode. The panel had various other options in the upper-left corner including but not limited to:
Guide
System Store
Progression
Quests
Skills
Out of these options, two were greyed out: system store and guide.
Knowing returning back to Seraphelle would take quite a bit of time, Arin wanted to utilise the present to explore this supposed golden finger.
Affirming his decision, he internally muttered,"progression"
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
An entirely new tab opened, its background a dull red. A sentence in bold black writing was displayed: "Yet to establish a settlement."
Apart from this piece of text, nothing was evident on that tab.
"Quests" as the word was said, the previous tab was replaced by a new one.
[Daily quests:
A ruler of a civilisation requires sufficient power in order to rule over his subjects and protect them.
Arin Roseheart, thou must:
1. Exterminate a first-grade mutant (not completed)
2. Meditate thy spirit force for 20 minutes (not completed)
3. Absorb 1 mana-catalyst (not completed)
———————————————————
Special quest: Recruit a person of significant offensive and defensive power who shall safeguard thy demesne.
Details: Make the desired person say I shall be at thy command and his mind not resist thy rule, thus shall a protector be recruited for thy demesne.
———————————————————
Main quest: ???]
It was a lot for Arin to take in at once but all of them were quite feasible, especially the meditation one. It was something he would have done anyway.
Reading his predecessor's diary had familiarised Kaius to this new world's affairs. It was a domain where knowledge and power existed in synergy, yet was home to people more superstitious than the ancient earth.
Three kinds of persons had their dominion here: Mages, the master of magical arts and runes; Warriors, those with bodies that surpassed earthly comprehension; and the most enigmatic of them all; Spiritualists, the wizards of unparalleled intelligence and mastery of energies.
Most people would only choose to pursue a single discipline from these three. There were some prodigies however who would take up and master them all, one such prodigy was Arin's grandfather, lord Mikhael.
*****
Having reached the inn in Seraphelle, Arin ordered for his belongings to be packed up and the chariots to be readied. He was not planning to stay any further in a place where everyone wanted him to either leave or perish forever.
Thus, the magnificent chatiot departed from the town of Seraphelle, its next visit; a place dreaded by all, the vampiric ruins.
The route was through the unsteady uptops of abyssal valleys, the wind roared in the the direction opposite to theirs. The clouds were exactly below the wheels making it look like the god of wind was streaking through the clouds with his volant chariots.
Gradually they descended from the lofty valleys into the meanders of a quiet forest. Innumerable red tress whose leaves spiralled into the sky decorated its canopy. The sun had began its descent, the orange sky blending in with the crimson canopy.
Suddenly, the chariots halted and before Arin could inquire of the reason, a series of distant screams wishpered into his ears. Looking ahead, the sight he saw caused beads of sweats to roll down his now numbed back.
The crimson foliage of the forest was blemished by scarlet liquids. A throng of lifeless corpses littered the ground, slowly being dehydrated and disintegrated by blobs of semi-transparent slimes. Some of the fallen, with signs of life still left, screamed in protest and pain, their moist eyes begging for the creatures' mercy but in vain.
It was a scenery that could terify even the toughest hearts, a sight that begot sympathy of humankind.
Out of left field, Arin's view was blocked by someone's back. Enough for Arin to discern that it was none other than Nocterin, his scythe held in his left hand and the posture signifying a seriousness that he only saw when his life was saved by him.
Just as his scythe was about to unleash its fury, an adolescent boy's frame cam into view. His purple hair swayed in the wind, appearing almost angelic. His lips parted suddenly and out of them escaped a chant foreign yet soothing, calming to the soul.
Streaks of azure particles radiated from his small figure, which flowed to the ruthless slimes stopping them instantaneously. They seemed to be frozen in time, no movement could be observed even after quite a while.
As the boy's ethereal cadence of chants ceased, the slimes turned their course, retreating peacefully to the confines of the dense forest. None of the injured were alive unfortunately.
Arin opened the carriage's door, stepping foot outside. There was a palpable graveness in the air, the stench from the half-decayed corpses intruding his senses.
*****
A flake of flames produced crisp cracklings, akin to a rhapsody or a dirge for the dead people. Arin had decided to burn their bodies as their uniforms revealed that they were of the sun faith, a religion that favored the principle of incremation and believed that the heats of the flame purified the sins one had commited in life and soothed their souls.
The sun had fully set now, the crepuscular sky slightly alit by the moon's radiance. Arin looked at his resting followers. A certain young man trapped his gaze. He was a natural spirit actually, someone his magnanimous grandfather had entrusted to him.
He had the name Bhavesh Marlette. The spell he had chanted just now was his spiritual technique, The resonance of the esper.
It was a technique using which he could control the target's intentions, emotions, and motives to resonate with his, albiet for a short period. A skill that once again attacked Kaius' insecurity of being powerless.
His sleeping face exuded a numinous presence as if the world was too crude to do justice to his ethereality. Yet it contained an innocence resembling that of a child.