I look around at the city in front of me. It’s akin to entering a new world. I hear calls from people selling their wares and see children, adults and animals packed together walking, chatting and arguing with each other. So many people in one place.

We start walking toward the crowd and everyone moves to the sides of the road, saluting us as we go. They never showed this much respect to the King’s men in the village.

‘That’s because nobody knows of them. Here people have witnessed their strength, as well as the fact that a high majority of people here are awakened,” says the wolf.

I notice that some of the buildings in the place look more rugged than the ones in my village. We walk through the crowd and people continue to make way for us as we move. There are so many people with pets. Is that a lizard? Holy, it's huge.

“Most of these creatures are unfortunately ‘pets’. But would you regard me as a mere pet as well? Some, not a lot, but some are partners with their humans. I wish all of them were partners instead of a master and servant relationship, but the usable artifact that allows it to happen isn’t very common,” says the wolf.

I grunt, not knowing how to respond and change the subject as my brain turns to the little fox I buried. I’m tired of thinking of you as the ‘Wolf’ in my head. What’s your name and can you stop reading my thoughts? Also, is there a way we can get to where we are going without having all this? I motion at the people saluting us as we walk down the streets. It’s getting creepy.

I don't hear a response, so I tilt my head to look her in her eyes. She bumps her snout to my nose and licks it. I restrain my curse and wipe off her thick saliva from my nose.

What was that for? I hear her laugh in my head.

‘My name is Crystal, young man. Now, I would hold on tight if I were you’ she says and I can hear her smile in her voice.

I gasp as Devonte makes wings out of water and flies up in the air, but don’t get to admire the scene as the muscles in Crystal tense and I clutch onto her tightly.

She jumps off the floor and soars after Devonte. I gather the courage to look down and see the Capital spread out as far as my eyes can see.

It’s so big.

‘There’s estimated to be over 600 million people living in this city.’ I hear in my head.

We landed on another street behind Devonte who cleared the way for our landing. The houses here are so much better. It’s night and day compared to the previous section we were in.

We walk to a large building that resembles the previous association buildings I’ve seen except much larger, more grand and with more people bustling in and out.

We walk through the large double doors and I notice the large amount of people wearing masks.

We pass by the receptionist and head into a large metal Elevator. I get off Crystal and I nearly fall to the floor from my feet wobbling. I hear more laughter in my head and scowl at Crystal.

Devonte scans his hand and the elevator shoots up. It stops eventually and the doors open to reveal a clean and dark living room.

Devonte walks in and unsummons his mask.

“Crystal, take him with you to the menagerie. I would come as well but I need some time to talk to Sandra and Cedric alone,” he says and walks away, disappearing through a door at the other side of the room.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

‘Let’s go, young man. I could listen to Devonte and take you to the menagerie but I think you would have more fun with us oldies. Are you hungry? You haven’t eaten in some time.’

I nod and lean on the crystal as we walk through a long arching hallway. We stop at various paintings along the wall and admire them as Crystal explains their origin before we move on. We end up at another large door.

‘When you enter, don’t be afraid of what you see,’ Crystal informs me.

The door slides open and I see 2 other beasts on the other side. A monstrously big brown bird with golden flecks lays on its back and a small otter with a weird pattern lies beside it. I feel Crystal nudge me and I stagger into the room. The two beasts look at me briefly before going back to lazing around.

‘There’s some human food in the fridge over there. Don’t make a mess,’ projects Crystal and moves over to sit with the other 2 beasts.

Devonte’s Perspective:

My footsteps resound through the room and I see Sandra and Cedric fighting below through the control room’s panel. I can feel the minor tremors underneath me with each clash between them. Fighting without me. Some crap. I press the microphone and tell them to come up and meet me in the living room.

I walk down the stairs and enter the room, pouring some coffee and sitting down. Sandra and Cedric walk in, all sweaty. I get up and clamp my hand over my chest in a salute, waiting for Cedric to sit down in the seat in front of me. Once he does, I take a seat and Sandra sits beside me.

“Explain yourself, child. You should’ve taken him to The Glade after grabbing some gear for him,” says Cedric.

“I was but something came up.” I respond.

Cedric motions with his eyes for me to continue.

I was speaking with Elijah brought up the topic of how he can’t distribute his stat points into anything but Mana,” I tell him, “Something about how his Primary Artifact and how it screwed up his point distribution. I came to ask if you have anything that could help him or that could help resolve his issue. A secondary artifact or a usable item of some sort?”

“Perhaps I could find something that would provide a solution, but it would be expensive and rare. And even if I do manage to procure it, it won't provide a substantial amount of help. He’ll just have to tough it out,” Cedric replies, “Will he be able to help you move on to the Final floor of the tower?”

“He’s nearly perfect. With him we’ll have the 7 people we need and be able to move to the Final floor of the tower,” I remark suddenly excited at the notion of clearing the tower.

“Alright, then send him to The Glades. Although, partner him with the Lout,”

“I thought you wanted him to be safe, Master. Yet you're willing to let him go to The Glade without being able to allocate points to anything except mana. Plus the sheer mental lash back from binding and unbinding with Thalanda will leave him in bed for weeks. Why don’t you send another clone of yours to go watch him,” says Sandra butting into the conversation.

“I do want him to be safe, but I want him to grow as well. Better for him to be bedridden for a bit than him dying because he’s too weak to protect himself. As for your second point, if I make a clone from this clone, I’ll lose even more of my strength. Only my main body can do that, but it’s busy preparing to ascend. That reminds me of one more thing. In two and a half years, there will be a tournament in the empire. I expect you to prepare him enough so that he will not be a fool when it comes to the Universe at large. That means sending him to the Academy after two years regardless of what he says. Understood.”

We both nod as Cedric places a colourful orb the size of a golf ball on the table before walking out of the room.

Elijah’s Perspective:

I finish eating and sit near Crystal. I feel her vibrating as she snores. The door to the room opens and Devonte walks in with a pretty lady with dark curly hair. She would be considered a beauty if there wasn’t a large frown permeating her face. The otter runs to her, climbing up her body to lie on her neck.

“Crystal, I thought I told you to find him a partner,” Devonte scolds.

Crystal doesn’t move but I feel that she gave a snarky remark because of the frown that appeared on Devonte’s face.

“It doesn’t even matter anyway. Not like he’ll be able to bond to any of them,” mutters Devonte, “Lout… I mean Thalanda, are you awake.”

The large bird rolls over and stares at Devonte with one eye open.

“Cedric has ordered you to bond with Elijah,” Devonte tells Thalanda while pointing at me.

“No” Thalanda rolls over and lies on his back again.

“It wasn’t a question. Plus, it’ll be in your interest. He’s Tymon’s son,”

I hear a shuffle of feathers and find myself facing the bird, looking into its eyes. I ignore it and stare open-eyed at Devonte.