Book 3. The Long Journey. Chapter 1. Their Dream.

“It was all so crazy,” Anatis mentioned with a weak chuckle. Currently, he was sitting comfortably at a large couch together with Nila and chatting with Laien and the others while sipping some orange juice. Their seniors pretty much either needed to immediately handle a few things regarding the aftermath of the trial or chose to let them spend some time with their peers.

Even Cran, Kuan and Shia chose not to disturb them so at the moment, thus a medium-sized comfortable living room in Sinra’s mansion was occupied only by the six of the youths.

“Tell me more, it was the first time I felt so helpless,” Sinra said with a laugh and shook his head a little. He had been utterly defeated in the information war against Fohan; had it not been for Sauras setting his teacher up for failure to begin with their side would have likely gotten decimated in the Royal Court. He had also failed to predict any of the events of the previous few days and in the end, needed to have everything solved by a lucky intervention of Laien’s master. If he really were not to worry about the future after getting luckier than any idiot in the world he really wouldn’t deserve to be called smart.

“All of that was too dangerous for us,” Nila commented resignedly. She might have looked for someone to blame if it were her from months, or even weeks ago, but now she felt more dejected than angry. She didn’t regret that she and Anatis got involved in all of that; she simply felt all of them needed to quickly grow stronger and wiser if they didn’t want to get swallowed up by the world into which they recklessly stepped in without truly knowing what awaited them.

“Agreed,” Laien said with a sigh. It was one thing to fool around and pick fights with random noble families in Neil City and another to do something as large-scale as competing for the crown of the Sarkcente Kingdom. He really didn’t think everything would escalate so quickly and put him and Siana, and possibly everyone on their side in huge danger.

“That being said, your master really is powerful,” Anatis brought up, changing the subject to a more leisure one. “You saw how everyone froze when he killed that Grand Viscar? Neither the Cail family or Sauras said anything, they were all completely terrified of him!” he said excitedly, only now coming to believe what Laien had told him; that Master Shire was a powerful expert who regrettably had been going through an emotional slump for the last century.

“You should see him when he is using the spear, that’s the most amazing part about him,” Laien said proudly. Master Shire’s spear arts at once seemed to be flowing like a steady current of water, only to suddenly explode like a gust of wind. They were always shifting between those two extremes in a very smooth, uninterrupted manner; it made trying to fight his master an utter nightmare. Anyone who was facing him for the first time would be overwhelmed by his technique alone.

“He would have been so strong and famous if he didn’t waste one hundred years,” Yin mused aloud, having picked up this piece of information about Shire from their previous chat.

“Famous would be an understatement,” Injar said as he opened the door and entered the room. “Had he been training properly, I fear he would have already become one of the most elite martial masters in the world,” he said with a slight smirk. He considered his own talent to be great, but he still needed to admit that this madman was superior to him and to almost anyone he knew about.

“Injar, what is it?” Sinra asked, curious why his guardian came to talk with them so soon. Did he have something important to say?

“I thought you guys might be interested, so I quickly gathered some detailed intel on the Eclipse Academy,” Injar replied with a laugh. “Or maybe you don’t want to hear about it?” he asked and raised an eyebrow. Was he too old to be welcomed at this party?

“I sure want to know!” Laien said quite loudly and smiled happily. He had been pretty curious about the Eclipse Academy, but Sinra didn’t quite know enough to sate his curiosity.

“Mm, Sinra should have already told you the Eclipse Academy is located in the northwesternmost part of the continent and that it’s a place where the troublesome people who can’t quite be disposed of without causing too much uproar or backlash are sent to, right?” Injar asked, meanwhile taking a pillow for himself and joining the circle the six youths were sitting in.

“Yeah, pretty much. Also since it’s an ‘Academy’ it’s naturally a mix of a martial school and magic institute; apparently it’s one of the best Academies on the continent, but is that true?” Laien inquired, his biggest concern being the quality of the teaching he would receive there.

“It is,” Injar confirmed with a nod. “Do not be misled by that Academy’s secondary purpose of acting as a ‘prison’ for unhandy figures. The teachers there are top-notch, both martial and spiritual-wise. Countless young practitioners wish they could attend this Academy, but relatively few get in there. Unless you are a supreme genius, one year of studying costs an equivalent of one hundred crystal coins of our Kingdom. Of course though, if you do not meet their standards you won’t be admitted even if your family were to pay ten times as much,” he explained with a smile. This ten years of exile would be a great chance for Laien to improve his skills and most importantly, to finally study under the guidance of true spiritual masters. Hopefully, he would prove to be a great asset when he returns... but it could as well be already too late.

“We should be quite happy it costs so much,” Injar brought up with a chuckle, for the time being pushing the dark thoughts away. “Since your enrollment wasn’t planned, getting you in will cost four hundred additional crystal coins. The whole amount of one thousand four hundred was forced upon the Cail family,” he revealed with a grin, pretty amused by the effect Shire was having on Fohan.

“And when does the year begin there?” Laien inquired with a smile. He was happy the Cail family would suffer the costs, but right now he was interested in other things.

“It begins in two weeks, right in the middle of the year,” Injar said with a helpless laugh. “But there’s no way you are going to be able to cross two hundred thousand kilometers in two weeks and they do not make exceptions for admitting students mid-year, so you will be able to travel there without hurrying too much,” he clarified, guessing that Shire intended for Laien to get to know some of the world and get tempered during both his journey and the time in the Eclipse Academy.

Laien was obviously very talented, but he would never truly blossom under Rudford’s constant protection and pampering. For a genius to shine he needed to adventure alone! It carried a certain risk, but it was the only way for a person to grow truly powerful. For example, Laien had been unable to comprehend any more Aspects for years, but when he encountered equally talented practitioners to fight and compete against, his strength began rising at an astonishing rate.

At the beginning of the Grand Gathering, he was as strong as an average martial practitioner of the eighth, perhaps ninth rank. Now, however… even a martial master of the second rank would more often than not be unable to defeat him. Training was important, but only through experiencing real life and going through the dangers of combat could one become the greatest among the great!

“So at least Master Shire was considerate of that, considering his character I was a bit worried,” Laien mentioned with a chuckle. “What else can you tell us about this Academy?” he asked, still wanting to know more about this strange place he was being sent to.

“Well,” Injar smirked a little but decided to leave the biggest mystery of the Academy for a bit later. “Technically the Eclipse Academy had been founded by the Mountain Gods’ Alliance, the alliance of various northern nations, but nowadays it’s become an independent organization. It accepts students from the age of six up to the age of thirty. There might be some special exceptions, but they do not happen often,” he explained and paused for a second, then continued when he saw that no one seemed to have any questions about this part.

“Generally, without getting into the details, a twelve-year-old; or rather a thirteen-year-old is required to be at least a martial practitioner of the seventh rank or a spiritual practitioner of the sixth to be accepted. I say generally because their testing methods do take other aspects of one’s strength and potential into consideration. Things like being a dual practitioner like you are or things like cultivating two elements at once, possessing uniquely powerful martial arts or spells, having knowledge of Aspects, all those things matter,” he elaborated, pretty much finishing the more ‘boring’ part. Right afterward, he smiled widely and went on.

“There is a reason why the Eclipse Academy is often referred to as a ‘prison island’ or ‘impregnable fortress’. It’s location, the ‘Storm Island’ is fairly special,” he began saying and as expected, saw the looks of high curiosity appear on everyone’s faces. “As for why it’s special… well. The Academy is located on something that is believed to be an artificial island created by some unknown, powerful expert who knows how long ago. The only way to enter or leave it is to walk through the one-kilometer wide plot of land leading which connects it to the continent,” he explained with a smile.

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

“I strongly advise you not to try air walking to leave or enter that place. The winds around the island will rip you apart, while the sea itself is equally dangerous. There had been arrogant Great Martial and Spiritual Masters who wanted to fly to the island to show off how powerful they are… and even they perished,” he said and gave Laien a serious, but also a bit childishly-excited look. He personally loved mysterious stories and ancient places of this kind. Were it not for Sinra, he would have probably set to explore the world long ago.

“Would it be possible to dig your way out?” Laien asked wryly. Now it would be fun if no one had ever considered this idea and he could become the first one to try!

“You mischievous…” Injar said helplessly. It was so Laien-like to immediately try to look for a hole in any theory he was presented with. It wasn’t even anything as inspiring as the thirst for knowledge; he more often than not was simply being playful and wanted to have fun.

“The ground gets harder than steel after you dig a few meters deep. It’s not that the sand and rocks themselves are hard if you manage to extract them, but some energy is making it impossible for them to be broken apart. As I told you, the only way to leave the island is to go through the batch of land connecting it to the continent,” he explained and repeated the warning once again. There would be no more disappointing end to Laien’s life than a reckless mistake that would bring him an immediate and thoroughly pointless death.

“So the only way to get out is to break through by force…” Laien mused aloud. Would he be able to become strong enough in four years to force his way past the garrison of martial masters guarding the entry point to the Storm Island? Maybe if there were no elite martial masters stationed there… but his progress in both spiritual and marital cultivation was painfully slow. He knew he wasn’t talented enough in martial practice, but why was he stuck at the seventh mortal realm as a spiritual practitioner for two whole years? He might have advanced from early to late stages, but this rate of progress was far too slow!

“Was my sudden spike in power back then at the fountain only a one-time accident? Because I gained my first insights into the Aspects?” he wondered helplessly, unable to come up with any other explanation. His spiritual energy was already pure to the extreme, but he still had trouble advancing in ranks. Maybe he was doing something wrong… but he really didn’t know what could he have been doing wrong.

“Don’t tell me you intend to break out of there?” Injar asked worriedly. Even if Laien was a genius, he needed time to develop! Four years was a much too short period of time for him to face a group of battle-hardened martial and spiritual masters. If Rudford was here, he would definitely forbid Laien from attempting something so risky!

“Well, haven’t we received the news like half an hour ago that the King will most likely die in five years? I need to get strong enough and make it back in time,” Laien stated the thing as if it was the most obvious thing to do in this situation. Doubting himself… well, he was a bit worried, but he always walked ahead with confidence; else, what would be the point of doing anything if even he didn’t believe in himself? If he wasn’t confident in what he was doing then why would other people ever be confident or rely on him?

“You don’t understand, do you remember the deal Shire made with Fohan?” Injar reminded grimly. “The moment you leave the Eclipse Academy, you will instantly be in danger of getting assassinated. I do not doubt Fohan will be willing to pay a hefty sum to the Guild of Shadows to get rid of you,” he warned, then his gaze became unfocused for a split second before he looked at the door.

“I was worried it would come to this so I came here,” Rudford pushed the door open and entered the room, but didn’t sit down or anything. He didn’t intend to stay here for long; he exchanged a look with Laien, then sighed. “I would rather not have you risk your life… but in the end, the choice will be yours to make anyway,” he said resignedly, able to tell Laien was going to try anyway from the look he had in his eyes.

“Just promise me you won’t do anything reckless if you don’t see a chance of victory,” he asked very seriously. He didn’t want to restrain Laien and be overprotective of him… but he didn’t want to lose him either. If Laien died there in the outside world, he would probably go out to seek those who killed him and would murder them all just so he could relieve some of his sufferings.

“I promise, elder brother,” Laien said calmly. After the events of the last two days, he certainly wouldn’t jump into something he felt he couldn’t deal with. He had no problem with making this promise to Rudford.

“Good,” Rudford said with a slight smile. “I came just for that, so I won’t be disturbing you anymore,” he said with a poorly hidden hint of restlessness in his voice and headed towards the door.

“Elder brother,” Laien called out after Rudford and smiled when Rudford turned around and looked at him. “I want to spend some time with you before I leave, where will you be in the evening?” he asked straightforwardly, but just by doing that managed to make Rudford feel very happy.

“I should be done meeting and talking the pressing matters out with the more important noble families in Neil City by the sunset, so I will be in my house in the school,” Rudford said with a wide smile, not bothering to hide how great he was feeling… even though he was a bit embarrassed to see that Injar was snickering to himself.

“See you around the sunset then,” Laien said happily. He would never want to miss out on spending some of his remaining time with Rudford. His ‘elder brother’ and Siana were the two people he loved the most, how could he possibly leave without sticking around them for a few hours at the very least.

“Yeah,” Rudford confirmed with a nod and after exchanging one more glance and a smile with Laien, he left the room.

“So you really are going to try, eh?” Injar asked after a few seconds of silence. He was happy that Sinra found such a good friend… but he was worried this friend could die an early death due to how reckless he was. Truly, a spitting image of Rudford; just as emotional, slightly arrogant and strongly attached and protective of his friends and loved ones.

“Laien,” Sinra spoke up, for once taking a fully serious tone with his friend. “Just remember it’s not a matter of life and death. If Sauras gets the crown it won’t be the end of the world. Worst case scenario we can all leave the Kingdom, but as long as our side is united enough… he shouldn’t do anything to us even after obtaining the position of the King. He wouldn’t want to lose the support of nearly half of his country’s military forces,” he reassured and insisted. To him, his friends were more important than his aspirations to lead the Sarkcente Kingdom to the new era of greatness.

After what happened, he had come to very strongly believe that if the price he needed to pay to achieve his ambitions was to be left alone on top of a mountain of corpses… then he didn’t want to pursue those ambitions at all. Even if he became the King of the world, what good would it do if he were to sit alone and pitiful in his blinding, yet lonely golden throne?

“It won’t be the end of the world, huh?” Laien rephrased what Sinra said in shorter words. “Sin, did you ever fight with someone for real? Did you concentrate so strongly you no longer thought about anything else nor heard what was going around?” he inquired, the words which Master Shire had spoken in the Royal Court having caused him to realize a few important things, even though some of them weren’t directly related to the point Shire was making back then.

“No, I didn’t.” Sinra shook his head. “And what does one have to do with the other?” he asked, but already had an inkling as to what Laien meant.

“When you fight like that… when there’s nothing but you and the person you are fighting in the whole world…” Laien began saying, his gaze becoming slightly fogged as he began recalling the few desperate battles he had went through in his life. “If during such a fight you begin thinking ‘what if I lose, what am I going to do’, or ‘If I lose it won’t be the end of the world, I can always try again later’… you will make yourself fail miserably,” he pretty much said his thoughts aloud. He had never made this mistake, but he could instinctually tell it would be disastrous to commit.

“You mean it will be the same in politics?” Sinra asked, pondering if Laien’s comparison truly was an accurate one.

“He’s right,” Injar said with a slight, amazed smile. For a kid to realize that on his own… Laien never ceased to amaze him. “If we go about obtaining the throne without the ‘do or die’ mindset we will be more likely to fail. However, we will also be lowering the risk of a complete catastrophe happening. It’s similar to a fight or a battle, but not exactly the same,” he explained, correcting the few small mistakes in Laien’s reasoning.

“Huuh,” Laien nodded, taking Injar on his word. “So it should be okay if we keep that in mind and balance both approaches, right?” he asked, directing this question to Injar.

“Yes, that would be for the best,” Injar agreed, silently beginning to wonder if Laien didn’t have a better knack for some aspects of politics than Sinra. Sinra was great with management-related things and he was a perfect person for organizing things… but he had some trouble understanding people and being empathetic towards them.

“You and Sinra are similar but different,” Yin joined the conversation all of the sudden, surprising Injar with this comment. Were the two of them thinking about the same thing?

“The two of you are akin to two parts of one whole, or at least it kinda feels like that,” Yin added with a little laugh. He often judged people based on his instinct, without relying on reason too much. This time he got a feeling Laien and Sinra were pretty similar, just like he had just said.

Laien and Sinra looked at each other, both equally surprised, intrigued and amused by those comments. Was it really that obvious to others? They had felt they were pretty similar from the moment they first talked with each other, but being described as two parts of one whole was something they didn’t expect to hear.

“If we were to say it in other words,” Injar began saying. “Sinra would be the King and would manage the country and Laien would be the Grand Marshal who commands the army,” he made what he intended to be a casual comparison, but his leisure words resounded very strongly within the hearts of the two youths.

Laien and Sinra exchanged a look once again, the same dream quietly forming within their hearts while being envisioned in their minds. They only smiled meaningfully though, feeling that any words they could have spoken would be inadequate and would only sully this little dream of theirs. To speak great words… one firstly needed to accomplish something big enough to be able to support his claims, else he would be nothing short of a fool.