"Welcome to Rozcast, the magnificent capital…"

Announcements were ignored as he tried his best to not run away right at this instance.

Restrictive. Suffocating.

His senses were even more tightly restricted in this station, he could barely maintain a single thread to keep which in itself was a struggle. Even though he could move with any restrictions, his senses were muddled due to the Qi which was even denser than all of the previous stations.

It was like he was again trapped in that void.

"Excited?"

The Qi rippled constantly and he could sense the teleportations occurring one after another, nonstop. The turbulence kept increasing and with it a sense of anticipation.

If it kept growing like this, it would not take long to tear apart his body. But it was a dream. One that shattered quickly.

The change was instant and suddenly the chaotic Qi calmed down.

He followed Firal-al, not more than a step between them otherwise the thread would break. He had never come across such a Qi-dense environment before.

'... will have to work on them later…'

Noisy. Constant announcements along with the noise of people. Compared to this place every other station except the city level might as well be called desolate.

“Feel any difference compared to your home?”

A nod.

As soon as they stepped out of the chamber, a man was waiting for them there.

“Seeker Fria-al and Mr. Inero-ie?”

“Yes.”

"Lord Knrama assigned me as your guide. Please follow me, your lodgings have been prepared."

***

"Young master, please consider it again. We need to start acquiring the armor suits or it will be late."

"We still have a lot of time. It will take a while for the next phase of expansion to start."

"It is precisely because of that that we should start collecting them now. It will take time to transport them out. More importantly, once Mus-Draik's learn of it they will surely hike up the prices."

"Do they no longer need food to eat that they dare do that."

"But–"

"Stop."

"As you wish, young master."

Master and servant became quiet once they stepped out of the chamber. A team was waiting to receive them.

"Lord Hevr, welcome to Rozcast. It is my honor to escort the youngest star of the great Gir-Lises family."

The path was quiet with very few people present. An aerial transport was waiting for them when they left the teleportation station, it's inside filled with fruits and drinks of all kinds, luxuries that very few could ever taste.

***

“Master… master! Which planet is it? Why did we come here?”

“To broaden your horizon.”

“But this world is too backward. How will we broaden our horizons here master?”

“You really are an idiot, master you don’t need to answer his question.”

“You! Let's fight!”

“Not fighting. Let me ask you another question. Why do you think IPSSTR is being constructed here?”

“Why?”

“You have to tell me before we leave this planet. I will help you if you are stuck but you need to find the answer yourself. Consider it a test.”

“Massster… why. This test, that test, why don’t you just tell something if you know about it?"

“I can tell you and it will definitely be easier but what good will that do to you asides from fulfilling your spontaneous curiosity? On the other hand, if you do it yourself you will learn about many things along the way and develop many useful skills along the way. Have you regretted spending time learning about something that aroused your curiosity?”

“I have, master!”

“Master don’t listen to this dumb musclehead.”

A child that had been silent also spoke up.

“I also regret it sometimes. I spend so much time and in the end, it is not anything amazing. I feel I waste too much time.”

“That is also a lesson. You have to determine how much effort is worth spending on something.”

Noise.

As soon as they stepped out of the chamber, it was like the world had suddenly changed. The quiet was overturned by the noise and the master and apprentices could sense the people filling the space.

Some headed toward the teleportation station, and some, like them, left the station heading towards the trains or aerial transports that were on the other side. Streams of people constantly came and left causing the space to b filled with vitality.

“Master, how can so many people live on a dead planet like this?”

Before the master could even open his mouth the musclehead replied, “You have to find the answer yourself!”

“Hahahaha… looks like you need homework. Good good. Be prepared, child.”

“No master. Anything but that!”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Other children laughed at his plight.

"Train or other? Choose."

The musclehead seemed to have lost his spirit as he just stood there while the other two decided amongst themselves.

"Master, train."

“Do you hate assignments so much?”

“Unlike them, I am not that bright, master. I am worried I will disappoint you again.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. Just try your best.”

The group stood in front of the train station, children looked up until their necks could curve no further but they still could not take in the full scale of the structure.

***

“Master why is IPSSTR being built here? They don’t even have teleportation arrays. Why is the empire wasting so many resources here?”

“There is a very good reason.”

“And you won’t tell us that reason.”

“No, I will not.”

“It is technologically backward, the planet itself is dead, but there are quite a lot of people alive… Master, is there some precious resource in this world?”

“No.”

“Any hint?”

“This plant has been nurtured for quite a while to develop a certain ability within the population.”

***

Ting

Ting

Ting

Three doors opened simultaneously and three different groups came out of the lifts.

“Huh?”

Inero-ie uttered in surprise. A pleasant sensation enveloped his body. A warmth filled the space up here and the wind blew, soft as silk. It was bright, too bright. It was just like when he had seen that white snake. The light penetrated his eyelids and the pitch-black world behind his closed eyes became orange.

"Surprised right? I was too. Just thinking how many crystals it takes to maintain this temperature and light across hundreds of kilometers of space boggles the mind.”

Qi flowed, covering his eyes when he moved out of the lift. The familiar darkness returned.

Threads uncoiled, spreading in all directions. There were people on both sides, one had three, and the other had children and an adult.

“... will come and go. It is a cycle. You will experience difficulty but it will be followed by a period of ease. You will find happiness but you will also have bouts of sadness. Some people will have more, some people will have less. Just remember, every soul is tested with as much burden as it can bear. So do your best.”

Inero-ie could feel the nods of the children, their heads moving up and down. He was pulling the threads back but froze. The intrusion disappeared as quickly as it appeared but he directly destroyed the threads that had been spread at that side and continued following Fria-al, not daring to look in that direction. That feeling just now, it was no different from some of the monstrosities that he had encountered outside.

Monstrosities so powerful that all he dared to do was hide lest he captured their attention.

“See that person.”

He quickly followed her hand, revealed to have something to distract himself with.

As his threads moved towards the other group, he felt a burning sensation through his threads, igniting his curiosity but he retracted them.

“Remember that person, he is from Gir-Lises. They are also one of the great families.”

With a low buzz their aura quickly escaped from his senses.

"I will say this just to make sure, don't cause any problems on this floor. Anyone who can come here has a certain level of power."

A nod.

Why would he even go out? He had no such thoughts, he would just stay inside a room and stabilize himself until he could finally leave the settlement again.

He followed Fria-al, listening as she described the capital.

“Hello, young lady. I am Kire. Apologies for interrupting your conversation but we are new in this land and these curious children happened to overhear your explanation. Can you kindly answer a few of their questions?”

Head warped in a white cloth, big beard, and brown skin color that she had never seen before.

“Where are you from?”

“Far away.”

“How far away? I have been to the territories of all seven families and have never seen a human with such a skin color.”

Before Fria-al could question any further, the children barged in, each throwing one question after another. Seeing the enthusiasm of the children, Fria-al gave in and started answering their unending questions.

“How are you, young man?”

Despite not having any desire to, Inero-ie nodded at him and then turned his head back up.

“What is so interesting about that fake sun?”

“Su.n?”

“Humm, yes… this planet was very far away from its star.”

After muttering, Kire looked at the crystal that was acting as a sun. Even though it was fake, it had more than enough ability to create a nourishing environment.

“Sun is a–”

“Master! Let's go, we want to go to many places!”

“Thank you, young lady. By the way, is that young man okay?”

“He was injured quite severely a few months ago. Why? Is there a problem?”

“Hmmm… I am not quite sure. Maybe it is nothing. Thank you again, young lady.”

“A strange bunch. Anyway, Inero-ie let's go. Have you revised the material I gave you to study?”

A nod.

“Are you confident?”

A nod.

“Don’t hesitate if you need help. This is an opportunity that won’t come again. It will be impossible to get a permit so don’t risk such a good chance.”

A nod.

“Good.”

The attendant led them to a vehicle and they were quickly flying into the sky.

“Sigh… no matter how many times I look, it does not get boring.”

Fria-al said while staring at the massive expanse spreading far away until it got blurry. Their speed was neither too slow nor too fast allowing one to fully admire the forests and mansions that dotted the ground.

Unlike most other settlements, the capital was built underground with only one layer above the ground. It was open, so open that it would cause discomfort to people that had spent almost all of their lives in those maze-like environments where every foot of space was valuable.

Despite being hundreds of kilometers away, a tower was visible piercing through the clouds. It cast a massive shadow that drowned complete sections of this floor in darkness.

“W..ha.t is su.n?

“Apparently it is like this solar crystal in the sky but many many times more massive, millions of times more massive than this planet. It is warm and…”

She kept talking and he kept listening. Even though this was the first time he had been under such a light, he felt so comfortable that he almost lost himself to sleep.

Excited, Fria-al kept talking with a big smile on her face. It crumbled as soon as she turned towards Inero-ie.

His head was still down, eyes still closed, arms and legs crossed. He had still kept himself tightly locked, not allowing anyone in. It was a vain hope but she had tried to talk more, hoping that he would one day open himself.

A deep breath. She started talking again.

***

“Esteemed guests, this is your lodging. If you require anything please contact the artificial spirit.”

“Where are you going Inero-ie?”

He knew he could not get out of the trouble but despite that, he kept walking towards the mansion hoping she would not stop him. He wanted to rest. It had not been more than a few hours but all the interactions had exhausted him.

He wanted to isolate, to be far away from everything.

“Oh no! Come let me show you around.”

“D..on’t wa.nt to…”

“But I want you to come and accompany me.”

In the end, he was forcefully dragged away. He could resist but he did not. He was too indebted to do that instead, he dimmed his senses, unwilling to experience the world, see its wonders, and hear its lyrics.

Time passed.

He did not even know and he was back.