Each kingdom, save for Lutia (the central kingdom), is said to have an equal amount of landmass, each of which is further divided into 13 pieces: a capital and 12 sectors. Each sector is led by a sector head (duke), who is required to remit 20% of all their earnings to the capital.
Economic and geographical study of the Lutian continent.
By expert cartographer Ethan Yukimura.
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Sector 8 was most popularly known as the sector of industrialization. It was an enchanting metropolis where towers of steel and glass, shimmering with the golden glow of runic scripts, reached towards the sky like titans of progress.
As Aodhán and Daruk walked through the noisy port, they immediately made their way to a group of wooden buildings that identified as inns. The port teemed with a kaleidoscope of people as crafters, alchemists, artisans, and traders whirred with purpose as they disembarked from their own vessels.
Machines and automatons walked behind a group of men whose cores glowed brightly to his senses. His core sense wasn’t developed enough to identify a person’s affinity, but he didn’t need it to identify them as technological or mechanical awakeneds.
The sector was the kingdom’s industrial heart, and it was filled to the brim with crafters and artisans, but mostly merchants who had come to buy several goods in bulk with the aim of reselling them in their individual sectors.
The persistent hum of factories filled his ears—a symphony of innovation as plumes of iridescent smoke and gas were exhaled into the atmosphere.
“The air is horrible; how do people breathe in all this smoke?” Daruk frowned as they took in the poor conditions of the port. The industries and factories might be beautiful, but the effect they had on their environment was extremely damaging.
“They’re used to it.” Aodhán replied, subtly pointing to a group of thugs smoking at the entrance of an alley.
“Compared to the air in the Warren, this is horrible.” Daruk replied through his now-covered nose, and Aodhán shook his head. The 8th sector was responsible for the production of almost everything used in the kingdom, so an abundance of industries was expected. What he hadn’t expected was the stench of pollution that pervaded the entire port, but he suspected that things were probably much better towards the capital of the sector.
In areas like this, the poor masses were usually the ones who took the brunt of it. It took them about fifteen minutes to exit the port, and they immediately made their way towards the nearest inn, called Sadie’s.
Like he’d suspected, the air was much cleaner than it had been within the port, but still, it was nowhere near as fresh as the Warren had been.
Sadie’s was a small building made out of wood and stone, and from the look of it, it barely contained more than half a dozen rooms. The rooms on the top floor had several broken windows, and it was only a few trash bags away from being a dump.
“Is there a reason why we’re choosing this rundown establishment over the better-looking ones?” Daruk asked with a disgusted look and gestured to a better-looking inn at the end of the street.
“Because we’ve been gathering attention since we stepped out of the ship, and the wrong kind of people are watching.” Aodhán replied as he pushed the door open and walked up to the counter.
An old man with unnaturally dark hair stood by the counter and turned to them as they approached. He took in their looks, clothes, and pouches with a slight glare and muttered. “It’s five silvers per night. No food, just bed.”
Aodhán turned to look incredulously at the empty inn, just as Daruk exclaimed. “5 silvers for a night in this rundown establishment? Mother would lose her mind.”
“No bargaining. Things expensive. War and all that.” The man replied as Aodhán opened his mouth to bargain, and two minutes later, they were walking towards the next inn. It was absurd to pay an entire week’s wage for a night in such an establishment.
Aodhán was aware that things would be more expensive in this sector compared to the Warren, but it couldn’t be that bad as the war was yet to proceed past the borders. The next inn they tried was a little better than the last, but the price was just as outrageous, and without hesitation, they stepped out of the inn.
As they walked towards the next inn, though, a group of young men rushed out of an alley and surrounded them. There were seven of them, but only three were awakened, and from what he could sense, two had reached their limit at the 7th tier, while their leader was well on his way there but was currently at the 9th tier.
“I can’t believe it.” Daruk sighed, slightly on guard. “Five minutes into this ridiculous sector, and we’re already being assaulted by brutes.”
The men sneered at Daruk’s comment, but the leader raised a hand to placate them. “Now, boys, there’s no need to fight; we are only here to help you with your burdens. Those cores must weigh a ton.”
“Thank you, gentlemen, but we can carry our ‘burdens’ ourselves.” Aodhán replied.
The men laughed as the leader took a step forward, his stance threatening, and in a tone laced with the promise of violence, he said, “I insist, let us help you.”
Aodhán straightened and narrowed his eyes in warning: “Whatever this is, I assure you that it will not end in your favor.”
The man chuckled. “There’s seven of us and two of you; it looks to me like you’re outnumbered and overpowered.”
Fog began to gather around them, rising from the ground until it reached their knees, and Aodhán sighed as the men readied themselves for a fight. Before any of them could move, though, a storm cloud rumbled into existence above them, and a dozen bolts of lightning struck down, transforming into thick chains that wrapped around their necks and sent electricity rushing through their bodies.
The unawakened thugs barely lasted a second before passing out, but the others resisted for a second or two before succumbing to the same fate. The storm cloud disappeared a moment later, and Daruk groaned. “I really need to learn a skill soon.”
“You already have the forge skill, not to mention your innate ice manipulation and creation.” Aodhán replied with a smile as he dismissed the lightning chains. “I think you have enough to start honing your control.”
“I can’t really use {Forge} because I lack the control and mastery needed to utilize it.” Daruk replied bitterly. It was the side effect of ascending so many tiers at once without any training or control.
“We can practice tonight and tomorrow; that way, you’ll have enough time to improve your control before we get to the academy.
“Raol, I hope so.” Daruk muttered as he moved towards the unconscious thugs and pulled out their coin pouches. Most of them were empty, and Daruk discarded them with an expression of disgust.
“No wonder they tried to rob us; these men are terribly broke.”
“Stealing the little that they have is not going to help them, trust me.” Aodhán chuckled as Daruk added the coppers and silvers he’d taken to their own pouch.
“Think about it this way; now we have enough silver to pay for the next overpriced inn you lead us to.”
Aodhán laughed, and fifteen minutes later, they finally found a decent-looking inn, called the Rainbow Cat, that offered a bed and supper for the same price as the others. It was a two-story building made out of wood and stone.
The lower floor had a tavern-like ambience and was moderately filled with people, mostly passengers, as many still had their luggage beside them.
‘We’ll take it.” Daruk said to the innkeeper before giving her the five silver coins along with a few copper coins as a tip. The woman smiled widely and asked. “Would you like to eat now or see the room first?”
“We’ll eat now.” Aodhán replied eagerly, and they soon found an empty table to sit at. A jovial murmur filled the air as people talked about their travels and the prices of things within the sector.
Immediately after they sat down, Daruk asked. “Remember when I said something weird happened while I was meditating?”
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Aodhán inwardly cringed, even as he put up a curious expression. “Yeah, I remember, but Ollie interrupted us before you told me what it was.”
Daruk nodded and whispered. “It’s about my willpower; it’s so much larger than normal, and it’s almost as if I’m cultivating not one but two will flames.“
“Oh, that’s definitely weird.” Aodhán nodded innocently.
“Yeah, right. I think it has something to do with—” He paused as the innkeeper placed two steaming bowls of pork soup before them, as well as a jug of water. When she left, though, he continued. “The legacy—I'm almost entirely sure it has something to do with this.”
Now that Daruk had reached the conclusion all by himself, Aodhán decided to expand on it a little. “That makes sense. In fact, it is possible that the legacy seed contained the will of your patron, and now you’re harnessing it.”
Daruk’s eyes widened slightly, and he nodded in agreement. “That’s amazing, right? With so much willpower at my disposal, my skills would become much more powerful.”
Aodhán understood Daruk’s thoughts; he’d had the same ones when he’d found out about Az’s will too, but he’d recently learned that the willpower of the ascendants was wild and untamed, too strong to be channeled through their pathways before a complete merge had occurred, and in Daruk’s case, the will flames were bound to be more dangerous as he wasn’t just harnessing the willpower of a single ascendant but two.
Aodhán’s mistake had thoroughly damaged his pathways, but for Daruk, it could potentially kill him, so without hesitation, Aodhán said to Daruk: “You should thoroughly study the will flames; if you’re really harnessing the willpower of an ascendant, then it is bound to be untamed and wild, too strong for you to channel through your pathways lest you damage them. I think you need to fully merge it with your willpower; that way, you can tame the flames, and any damage they might eventually cause will be minimal.”
“That makes a lot of sense; actually, I wonder why I didn’t think of it.” Daruk nodded, and their conversation shifted to other topics. They stayed in the tavern for an hour before moving up to the room they’d rented for the night.
The room wasn’t too big—about the size of his room back at the Brystions house—but without any of the repulsive décor. After a bath, they both took a meditative pose, and Aodhán began to work on merging both his and Az’s will flames into one.
About two hours later, he was completely exhausted, but he’d made good progress and had reduced the size of the flame by almost a quarter. The ball of condensed willpower glowed brighter to his senses, and its color had changed from normal black to a glossy black shade that appeared lustrous and seemed to reflect a non-existent light.
Daruk was still meditating, so Aodhán climbed onto the left side of the bed and slept off.
…..
Aodhán woke up the next morning to the sound of shattering glass, and he sat up to see that the left half of the room was coated in a layer of ice. The part of the bed Daruk had slept in was frozen solid, and the windows had shattered from the intense chill.
Aodhán stumbled out of bed immediately and rushed to the other part of the room before creating a bell and ringing it as loudly as he could. The sound wasn’t as loud as he’d hoped, but Daruk jerked awake, and Aodhán gestured towards the frozen room. “What is going on with your aura?”
“What?.” Daruk replied as he stared at the room groggily. It only took a second for him to register the layer of ice that covered an entire half of the room, and his eyes widened in shock.
“How is this possible?” Daruk asked as he scrambled out of bed, and although Aodhán wanted to reply with a sarcastic ‘How would I know?’, he decided that now was probably not the time and settled for an honest, if obvious, reply instead. “You must have unconsciously activated your aura.”
“Yeah.” Daruk agreed with a contemplative expression. “I remember feeling hot after I went to sleep last night, and I just needed a little chill.”
“I should add that to the list of things I need to worry about.” Daruk snarked, unable to help himself. “I literally could have been frozen to death if I’d slept even a minute longer.”
Daruk glared, and Aodhán raised his hands in surrender. “I’m just calling it how ‘Icy’ it.” He wiggled his brows and chuckled. “See what I did there? I see = icy.”
“Yes, Aodhán, I’m not stupid.” Daruk snapped, and he stumbled back dramatically. “Oh my, you’re so grumpy today? Are you cold?”
Daruk glared at him with a decidedly unamused expression and replied. “I am resistant to cold, idiot; I can’t feel cold, and your puns are stupid.”
“Correction, you have a major resistance to cold; that means you can still feel cold.”
Daruk ignored Aodhán and turned to observe the room. “Perhaps it had something to do with harnessing all that willpower.”
Aodhán nodded seriously. “I’m not sure how your bloodline and willpower are connected, but it is possible.”
Daruk massaged his temples and sighed. “How do we explain all this ice and damage to the innkeeper?”
……
Fifteen minutes later, Daruk pulled out a pile of coins from the pouch and handed it to the irate innkeeper. “This is 5 coppers for the windows.” When the innkeeper’s hand remained outstretched, he dipped his hand into the coin pouch once more and gave her another five coppers.
The woman hurriedly put the coins in her purse and sniffed derisively before walking out of the damaged room.
“I can’t believe we paid a whole silver for damages.” Aodhán muttered a minute later, and Daruk shook his head dejectedly as they stepped out of the inn.
They made their way deeper into the sector, weaving through the busy streets of the port town as they searched for an appraiser. Appraisers were awakened individuals with an identify skill or some variation of it.
Aodhán had asked the innkeeper, and she had directed them to a place called Valor’s Keep. It had taken them almost an hour to find the circular building, which was connected to a much larger building that served both as an auction house and as a meeting hall for the town.
The auction building easily occupied a landmass about 250 feet in diameter, and as they walked towards the gate of the building, a guard gestured for them to halt. “State your business.”
“We are here to see the appraiser; I have an item I would like to know more about.” Aodhán replied, and the guard raised a device very similar to a phone to his mouth.
For some reason, it was impossible to hear what he was saying, despite how close they were, but a few seconds later, a young woman peeked out of the gate and gestured for them to come in.
They walked through the gates and into Valor’s keep. The single-story building gave off a very professional vibe that reminded him of a modern office. Several rows of wooden chairs took up a corner of the office, and about half a dozen people were already seated, awaiting their turns to see the appraiser.
The woman gestured for them to take their seats and said, “Lucky for you, today isn’t a particularly busy one, so Malacus should attend to you in a few moments.”
“Thank you.” Aodhán replied politely as they took their seats behind a suspicious-looking old couple whose gazes kept darting towards the exit at the slightest sound.
Time passed, and an hour later, the woman, whom they now knew as secretary Adith, finally called them and led them to a small room upstairs. The room looked more like an office than the antique, cluttered space he’d imagined.
The walls were made of brown wood similar to the one he’d seen in his visions, and a reddish-brown rug covered the center of the floor. A large wooden table stood by the back wall, with two chairs arranged before it and another behind it. Bookshelves filled the entire left wall, and pictures of a loving family filled the opposite wall.
A middle-aged man was seated on the chair behind the desk, and immediately he saw them. He stood and extended his right arm for a handshake. He was dressed in a silky black suit, covered in shiny crystals, and when he smiled, his features transformed from average to beautiful.
What surprised Aodhán the most was Malacus's core, as it blazed with a power he could not accurately gauge, but if he had to guess, he would put the man between the 26th and 30th tiers, which made him the highest-tiered individual he’d sensed so far.
Malacus’s core shone with a sort of purity that he’d only ever felt from newly awakened individuals before, and Aodhán suspected that the man knew about the true nature of the limit and the way to prevent it, which either made him a noble or an academy alumnus.
His money was on the latter, though, and a quick look around the office revealed a graduation certificate from the 9th sector. It was baffling that the man was unevolved; in fact, he hadn’t come across any evolved individuals yet. If it truly wasn’t a secret, why then were they so scarce?
“Welcome, gentlemen. How can I help you today?”
“Thank you for meeting us.” Aodhán replied as he sat down and added. “Before we proceed, though, I would like to know how much you charge for an appraisal.”
Malacus chuckled and replied. “It used to be cheaper, but things with the war have escalated prices greatly. The cost of my service is now 2 silver coins per item.”
Aodhán nodded; that was a price he could afford, but before he could take out the chain, Daruk asked. “How do we know that you’re giving us a correct appraisal? Or that you won’t try to steal the item?”
Malacus frowned slightly but didn’t seem to have taken offense at the question. “Valor’s Keep is a reputable establishment, not a cover for thieves. Besides, if I did things like that, my license would have been revoked.”
Daruk nodded, and with a bit of hesitation, Aodhán took off the necklace from his neck and handed it over to the appraiser. Malacus examined it for a while, his eyes moving back and forth as if he were reading something, and after an entire minute, he replied.
“The necklace is slightly magical, but has no important functions aside from looking pretty; the pendant, on the other hand, is an item imbued with the concept of space, but it has been altered and further imbued by someone with a potent connection to the origin plane of Storm, maybe a grandmaster or overlord, but it is extremely valuable, and I can buy it from you for 50 silver coins.”
Aodhán stared at the necklace with wide eyes. He now knew why the pendant had glowed during the storm, but he had no idea who a grandmaster or overlord was. Also, Malacus was offering him 50 silver coins for a trinket he had bought for just 3 silvers. How insane was that?
“You say it’s a spatial item; how large is the space it holds, and why have I not been able to open it yet?” Aodhán asked after a few seconds of thought.
“From what I can see, the space it holds is quite substantial, about 30 feet in diameter, and the reason why you couldn’t open it was because you’ve yet to bond the item. Most items have no requirements for use, but the necklace can only be used by a storm awakened who has bonded it by blood.”
“What do you mean when you say by blood?” Daruk asked, and Aodhán added. “Yes, I wanted to ask about that, because the necklace has come in contact with my blood before.” When Malacus raised an eyebrow, he explained. “Our ship had an accident on the way here, and I was pretty injured.”
“My apologies for your troubles.” Malacus consoled and explained., “The bonding process has to be intentional, and you can bond it just by placing a drop of blood on it. I urge you to consider selling this to me; let’s talk business.*
“No, that’s not necessary. I don’t want to sell it.” Aodhán replied, but Malacus pressed. “What if I increased the offer to, let’s say, 80 silver?”
That was a tempting amount of money, as he was sure he could get another spatial item for far less, but he was more interested in the connection the necklace had with the origin plane and how he could use that to his advantage, so he denied Malacus’s offer once again.
“It’s a shame; I was really hoping to convince you, but if you ever change your mind, you know where to find me.”
“Yes, and thank you.” Aodhán replied as he paid two silver coins to Malacus for his service, and a few minutes later, they stepped out of Valor’s keep and into the busy streets of the industrial sector.