Chapter 168: Multiple Proposals
The Next Morning
Zeris’s Cottage: Training Room
Seated on a flat table with his legs hanging off the side, Zeris faces his seven survivors with Kane seated at his side.
“Let’s see who was paying attention yesterday. What are the three classes of iris?” asks Zeris.
“Internal, external, mythic,” quickly grumbles Alex, just loud enough for everybody to hear.
Looking at Zeris, Ember cocks a brow, “When did you get that black eye?”
“Ah, I got into a fight at a bar last night. First punch came outta nowhere, Kane can tell you all about it,” replies Zeris, awkwardly grinning as he pokes Kane with his elbow.
While his friend gives no significant external reaction, Kane happily recalls Zeris desperately begging him to heal his face an hour ago.
Ember hums, “Yeah… uh huh.”
“I’m sorry, why is Scar here?” interjects Forest, glancing to his left at a restrained Scar.
“‘Cause like all of you, Scar is a survivor of sector six. Which means he will receive the same training that all survivors are required to get. But if it makes you feel any better, Kane will oversee his training while I’ll take the rest of you,” answers Zeris.
Forest slightly shakes his head, “Sure, whatever.”
“Alright,” says Zeris, clapping his hands together. “Back to iris. Who can tell me the two categories for the internal class?”
“It’s… mind and body. But I forget the other names for those,” says Sky.
“Mind is Myalo, Body is Soma,” notes Quinn, and Sky gives him a grateful nod and smile.
“And the external class?” quizzes Zeris.
“There are three categories for external. Tochi or Elemental, Ano or Particle, and Resu or Realm,” answers Forest.
“That’s correct. And lastly, the–”
“Los and Kadil. Or, light and dark,” interrupts Ember.
Zeris nods, “Good. Does everybody understand? Seriously, if you have questions, ask them.”
Sky raises her hand, “So yesterday, this is about the mythic class. You mentioned that the warriors who fought in the battle of Halos and Kadillan used the same abilities back then, which are now called mythic abilities, right?”
“Yeah.”
Sky bobs her head, working through her thoughts, “Okay. And there were seventeen of these warriors… so that means there are only seventeen mythic abilities in the world now.”
“Correct.”
Ember looks at Sky, “So you remembered all this but not the category names?”
Sky shrugs and grins, “I guess I was just more interested in this stuff.”
A few seconds pass, and after Zeris scans over the line of unflinching faces, he says, “Okay. I’m moving on. If you have a question, that sucks. Shoulda asked. Now, let’s talk about iris cores. What do you guys remember about iris cores?”
“The iris core is split into two main components. An outer, crystal shell and the unique core inside it. The crystal shell is meant to protect the iris core within it, which holds the unique signature for the given iris ability that person has,” answers Quinn.
“Very good,” says Zeris, scratching his normal cheek. “Questions there? If you don’t ask, you won’t know. It only gets more complicated, so ask.”
Silence lingers until Zeris continues speaking, “Last thing, all iris wielders also have a tattoo that correlates to their ability. And that’s everything we covered yesterday. Now it’s time to have some fun.”
Reaching his arm behind his back, Zeris retrieves an iris scanner.
“What is that?” queries Ember, brows furrowed.
Quickly flipping it in his hand, Zeris points the scanner's head at Ember, “A deadly weapon.”
Briefly showing a bit of surprise with her eyes widening ever so slightly, Zeris chuckles.
“What?!” demands Ember, trying to keep her tone relaxed after realizing Zeris had noticed.
“Nothing,” says Zeris, lowering the iris scanner. “This is called an iris scanner. Very simple. All you have to do is hover it above the tattoo of an iris wielder, let it scan, and it will reveal the nature of their iris ability. The class, category type, description, all that.”
“Ok…” mumbles Ember, looking around. “I– I don’t consent.”
“Too bad,” states Zeris, hopping off the table. “We have abilities for all seven categories in this room right now. Who wants to volunteer first for a demonstration?”
***
Meanwhile, at Saneth Royal Palace
Dressed in uniform and standing before Queen Divine and her two hands, General Lacina maintains a good posture with her arms respectfully behind her back.
“That is my proposal,” says General Lacina, staring at the white silhouette and waiting for a response.
A word isn’t said for about fifteen seconds until Queen Divine voices, “Lord left; you were part of this conversation. Do you agree with General Lacina’s judgment?”
Ryker answers, “Only if this is the best course of action. And currently, it’s not. If we can fight against Racafi on our own, I would rather not involve any clans from Taliarusa.”
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“And lord right, what do you think?”
“To overcome our enemies, we must be willing to take risks,” replies a staticky, robotic voice, the gender or age indiscernible.
General Lacina’s hardened gaze doesn’t soften.
“I agree with both of you,” says Queen Divine. “General Lacina, once again, your wisdom and battle experience are commendable. Your proposed countermeasure in the instance that our final meeting with the paragons goes south is quite brilliant. However, lord left brings up a good point. Recruiting help from Taliarusa requires us to forfeit means on our end. The act could even be interpreted as a display of weakness from our nation, and the clans of Taliarusa can not be easily trusted if mutual respect is nonexistent. That being said, without risk, reward isn’t guaranteed. We can’t afford to sit around, wasting our time without making a move. So, I would like to put forward my own suggestion. And General Lacina, I expect you to offer your insight and keen judgment on the matter.”
“Of course, Your Majesty.”
“The first stage of the 44th annual trials is currently underway. And every year, more and more capable iris wielders have cropped up from the trials. You would know as much yourself as the Commander-in-Chief of the army. The survivors of the first stage will be decided over the next two weeks, and then a month later, the second stage of the trials will commence. Additionally, the second stage of the trials attracts the black market, high-end individuals from fellow nations, and other important figures from around the globe. Can you confirm all of this is accurate thus far?”
“I can.”
“Excellent. In the past, those who didn’t excel in the initial screening for stage two were often assigned various careers and occupations in Iasa. I propose we do something a little differently this year. A risk. Instead of being assigned a career, we enhance each dropout with an iris shard and put them through secret training. We don’t know how much time we have until Racafi decides to strike, but if we can prepare at least fifty more capable iris wielders before then, we might not need Taliarusa.”
“Your Majesty, this idea of yours will exhaust the rest of our iris shards. I understand the potential gain, but why not enhance my men rather than this year's participants? My men have been trained for combat. They are far better suited for this task.”
“I agree, but Racafi may already have spies among our ranks. This alternative is far more secure.”
General Lacina deeply inhales through her nose and smiles, “Your ingenuity never fails to disappoint, Your Majesty. When should I inform the trial runners?”
“Let’s wait until the first stage is officially over for all eight sectors. Then we’ll make our decision before the second stage begins.”
***
Meanwhile, at Sepana Diner
Relaxing in the surveillance room with Pola, Key, and Damon, Leo asks, “Did General Lacina mention anything else? Like the specific clans she was thinking of?”
“No, just the idea of making an alliance with some,” replies Key. “Look… I have connections, but I doubt they’ll be of any help in trying to get ahead of Lacina and Divine.”
“Damon, do you have any thoughts on who she could be thinking of? You lived there for some time.”
“Nah, ain’t gotta clue.”
Leo nods, “Alright. I didn’t think either of you would, but it would’ve been helpful nonetheless. Key, don’t even think about contacting the black market either. You have to lay low for the time being. As do you, Damon.”
“You don’t gotta worry about me contacting ‘em,” says Damon, chuckling.
“Pola, you mentioned last night that you learned something else about Divine?” asks Key.
‘Yeah… and now that I’ve heard this all a second time, I realize this could all be connected way more than I thought it was.’
“But Kane said y’all weren’t able to get any traction this time around,” says Key, confused.
‘That’s because we kind of worked separately. First, we tried to see if there was anything new about her on the black market. And besides the usual bs information that people try to sell, there was nothing. Honestly, it’s like Divine is a ghost outside of Iasa. So, we switched up our strategy. For the first time, we tried to get information from inside the palace.’
Key’s eyes widen, “Are you insane? If you got caught…”
‘But I didn’t, and nobody knows I was even there.’
“But you don’t even have a stealth ability. How were you not seen?”
‘Because Kane flew me up to just outside Divine’s quarters. I could see everything she said through the outer palace wall, and my realm expanded beyond the perimeter of her room, so she had no idea.’
“You were that high up on the palace? What if you fell?” asks Leo.
‘I would’ve just notified Kane if I needed him. He’s fast enough to catch me, and he knew where I was.’
Key begins laughing, “Shit. So that’s why Kane didn’t know anything when he came to talk; you were hundreds of feet off the damn ground.”
‘Yeah, I was. And Divine barely talked. Like seriously, she only said a few sentences. But when she did speak, it was all at once, and it looked like it was a voice-recorded message to somebody.’
“What’d she say?” asks Leo.
‘Inform the Gradinack Clan that I have received their message. As blood of the Nagisen Clan, I accept their offer.’
Damon’s mouth falls open, “The Gradinack Clan is one of the four most powerful clans in Taliarusa, and the Nagisen Clan was believed to have been wiped out…”
“You think Queen Divine is the last remaining blood of the Nagisen Clan?” asks Key.
“It’s… possible? The Nagisens were supposedly killed during Taliarusa’s civil war over forty years ago. But in that hell hole, it wouldn’t shock me at all if a few stragglers managed to survive and blend in with the masses.”
“Then that means she must’ve been chipped at some point if she lived in Taliarusa… but Queen Divine has only been queen for the past 20+ years, and she inherited the throne from her father, who got assassinated during the uprising,” says Key.
Leo says, “That’s just a rumor. Nobody actually knows anything about Queen Divine, and the age of divination was installed right after she gained power and the uprising simmered out.”
“So if Queen Divine really is a descendant of the Nagisen Clan… she could’ve killed King Ramsey, his daughter, and then usurped the throne during all the chaos of the uprising,” says Key, dragging her lips back between her grinning teeth. “And nobody nowadays could even know what she once looked like because we’ve all had our memories f*cked with.”
‘I think for now we follow on this lead. If Divine once lived in Taliarusa, she must’ve been chipped at some point. Which means she’s in the ranking system, the problem now will be trying to track her down. She must’ve used aliases and other means to survive, so the system might not help us much. Still, somebody from the Gradinack Clan knows her real identity. Wouldn’t be a bad place to start.’
Leo nods, “And if General Lacina wants to align with some clans from Taliarusa, I guarantee you that Queen Divine will push to contact the Gradinack Clan. We can’t stress about what the offer was about, but Queen Divine might be bargaining the iris shards or something else unique only to the Nagisen Clan.”
Damon adds, “Look, I know I just kinda joined y’all group, but I know my way around the underworld. My advice? Take it slow. This info is pretty wild; there is no reason to rush and expose ourselves. Knowing Divine is from Taliarusa could play a huge role in our rebellion, but we gotta wait until the paragons meet with the generals first. If we know Racafi plans to attack Iasa, that’s when we can invest some resources into following up on this lead.”
The rest of the group agreeing with that sentiment, Leo stands up, “I gotta get back to sector eight. Key, Pola, Damon, don’t do anything crazy here. I have a feeling General Lacina is a bit more interested in Sepana than she led on. If you need me, you know how to reach out.”
As Leo opens the secret back door and suddenly vanishes, Damon asks, “You guys don’t happen to have some secret underground bunker where I can train my iris?”
“Actually, we do,” replies Key, taking off one of the couch cushions to reveal a hidden ladder.
“So that’s why you guys told me not to sit there.”
“Yup,” says Key, climbing inside. “Follow me down, I’ll show you what we got. Pola, don’t eat too much. I do buy those snacks for myself, not exactly for you.”
‘Then why do you leave them out in the open? You can’t stop me.’
“I– that is… true,” voices Key, beginning to climb down the ladder. “You just… you better save me some chips!”
As Damon climbs into the cramped hole and places his feet on some ladder rungs, he sees Pola quickly jump out of a chair and scurry over to the nearest bag of chips. Suppressing a laugh, he follows Key down the ladder to the training room he’s excited to use.