The days rolled by, and the weekend finally came.
Kalden’s neighborhood sat on the northeast side of town, just a fifteen-minute train ride from the Cliftons’ house. Trusting him might be a gamble, but so was the entire world of mana arts. That much Akari knew from the stories. Even Masters put their lives in danger on a daily basis. That was the only way to push yourself and get stronger.
The train pulled into the station just after noon, and she took the raised crosswalk over a busy boulevard. From there, she followed her hand-drawn map down a smaller street lined with trees on either side.
A wall of pale gray bricks surrounded Cerulean Beach Estates, and security cameras hung from the pillars every ten yards.
Talek. This was even more pretentious than she’d expected. The neighborhood wasn’t even near the beach. Did they just stick that word in there to make it sound fancier?
Akari walked for another block until the stone wall opened into a pair of ornamented metal gates—one for pedestrians and one for cars. A short, white building sat between them, sort of like a tollbooth.
The guard was busy with a brown delivery truck, so Akari stepped up to the pedestrian side and scanned her badge on the terminal outside the window. Several seconds passed, then the larger gate pivoted inward for the truck.
Akari’s heart rate doubled as the guard turned to examine a small computer screen. Was he going to turn her away? Was this place only for Golds? Kalden hadn’t even mentioned a gate. Then again, maybe he’d never noticed it. The guards probably rolled out a red carpet whenever they saw him coming. And like a typical Gold, he’d waltz right through, thinking it was normal.
And did this mean she couldn’t leave when she wanted to? Being alone in Kalden’s house was bad enough, but—
Akari jumped as the window slid open.
“Ah, Miss Zeller.” The guard had a stuffy Northern Espirian accent, and the face to go with it. “Mr. Trengsen is expecting you. Do you require a shuttle to his estate?”
Akari blinked at him. “Um, no. Thanks.”
“Very good.” The man gave a curt nod. “Take a right at the fountain up ahead, and his house is the brown one at the end of the street.” He pressed some unseen button and the smaller gate pivoted inward. “Have a pleasant day, Miss Zeller.”
Akari thanked the man again and shuffled through the gate. On the other side, she spotted a simple blue button labeled ‘open’ and the chains loosened around her lungs. At least that meant she wasn’t trapped.
Still, it was creepy enough that they’d made her scan her badge at the gate. Between that and the security cameras, they probably knew exactly who was here at any given time. Her school used a similar method to track attendance.
The walk to Kalden’s house was longer than she’d expected. In most neighborhoods, the houses were built somewhat close together. Not only were these bigger than four regular houses combined, but you could fit several more houses in the spaces between.
Every lawn seemed to be posing for a magazine picture, holding its breath and straining to smile. It was autumn for Talek’s sake. There were supposed to be crunchy leaves on the ground.
At the same time, each house had a lot more personality than she’d imagined. Geometric white cubes comprised the structure to her left, and mirror-like windows covered their faces from edge to edge. Meanwhile, the house across the street looked more like an ancient castle, with stone crenelations around the balconies, and green vines curling around the windows.
As for Kalden’s house, it stood four stories high, tapering as it grew. The red roofs stuck out several feet from the main structure, curling up at the corners. Sort of like . . . a pagoda? Was that the right word? This Shokenese building style was rare on Arkala, but she’d seen pictures from her history class.
Akari half-expected another stuffy butler to meet her in the doorway. To her surprise, it was Kalden himself who opened the door. She’d never realized just how tall he was until now. In their previous meetings, he’d always been sitting on some kind of makeshift throne. Here, her head barely reached his shoulder.
Stupid full-blooded Shokens and their long legs. Akari’s own mother had been taller than her by several inches. That meant that somewhere out there, she had a short father to blame.
“Hey.” Kalden pushed the door open wider. “Come on in.”
It was strange to see him out of his school uniform. Instead, he wore dark-wash jeans and a dark blue button-up with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. A steel mana rod hung from his belt, like the one she’d lost in Tidegate. She also spotted a sheathed dagger on his opposite hip.
Akari had still worn her school skirt and leggings here today. She owned one pair of jeans, but they were full of holes and stains. Coming here was weird enough without dressing like a street urchin.
She kicked off her Traverse shoes by the door and stepped across the polished wooden planks. From there, she followed Kalden under a wooden archway into the main area.
The first thing she noticed was the massive waterfall, in the freaking living room of all places.
“Seriously?” Akari approached the balcony railing and craned her neck to see the top. Apparently, the entire middle of the house was hollow, because the water fell from one of the upper levels before gathering in the basement below.
“Like it?” Kalden asked from behind her.
Akari gave him a flat look. Sure, it looked cool, but how the hell did they maintain it? All the surrounding plants seemed real, too. Shouldn’t the floors be covered in dirt? Then again, who was she kidding? These were Golds. They probably had a whole team of servants to keep things clean.
“Surprised you don’t have a solid gold statue of yourself,” Akari finally said.
“I do,” he said with a straight face. “But solid gold statues went out of style last month. Now we hang toilet paper from it in the guest bathroom.”
“Hilarious.”
“You want a tour of the house?” he asked.
“I’m good,” she said with a shrug. “I’d rather get straight to business.”
Kalden nodded, then slid open a bamboo door that revealed a set of stairs.
The basement didn’t feel like a basement at all. A bar sat in one corner of the main area, stocked with more alcohol than she’d seen in most restaurants. They also passed what looked like a training dojo and gymnasium.
Kalden slid open another door and led her into a family room with three leather sofas arrayed around a giant TV. The computer sat nestled in a corner on a long wooden desk.
“No one else uses this?” Akari asked as she plopped down in the plush leather chair. Her feet couldn’t reach the floor at first, and she had to adjust the lever on the bottom.
“Just me,” he said. “My mom and stepdad have their own offices upstairs.”
Of course they did. Not that Akari was complaining. At least she wouldn’t have to cover her trail.
After adjusting the monitor to her height, she reached out and gave the keyboard a few experimental taps. The keys were loud and heavy, and she nodded in approval.
Kalden pulled up another chair beside her. Great. He probably planned to watch her every move. On the bright side, Akari wouldn’t have to watch the clock every ten seconds or strain her ears for people in the hallway. That was one improvement over the school’s computer lab.
Then again, what would Kalden’s mother say if she came home right now and found a Bronze girl alone with her son?
Doesn’t matter. Focus on your goal.
After making a few more adjustments to the desk, Akari unzipped her backpack and pulled out her hacking notebook. Dozens of encoded lists filled the pages, and she flipped through until she found the right section.
The Dark Web.
~~~
Kalden watched from his chair as the hours rolled by. He’d assumed that hacking would be a lot more exciting than this. More like the movies.
“That’s all fake,” Akari had said earlier that day. “Just a bunch of flashy nonsense for garden gnomes.”
Right. Garden gnomes. Whatever that meant.
“Besides,” she said, “going on the dark web isn’t hacking. It’s not even illegal. Think of it like . . . exploring the abandoned subway tunnels.”
“Actually,” Kalden said, “I’m pretty sure that is illegal.”
“Fine, bad example.”
“So if this isn’t real hacking,” he said, “then why does it take a hacker to get there?”
“It doesn’t, but there’s a shitload of scams floating around. Most people don’t have a clue what they’re doing when they leave the garden. Hackers try to sell them fancy software they don’t need, and they eat it up like candy.”
Kalden nodded sagely. But the truth was, he wouldn’t bat an eyelash if Akari said she needed money for software. Most Golds probably shared his mindset, hence the scams.
He leaned forward to get a closer look at the screen. The motion made Akari jump, and she snapped her head in his direction.
“Sorry.” He raised his hands in a placating gesture.
Color rose to her cheeks as she glanced back at the screen. Her fingers fidgeted with the keys, and the rest of her body sat coiled like a spring.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
What a weird girl.
His informants had warned him not to touch Akari—not even a friendly tap on the shoulder. He hadn’t, but that didn’t make her any less skittish around him.
“Anything I can do to help you relax?” Kalden asked her.
“I’d take a Missile rod,” Akari said without missing a beat.
“Seriously?” He raised an eyebrow. “You want to carry a loaded weapon around my house?”
“You have two weapons,” she retorted.
Kalden glanced down at the steel rod on his belt. He always carried this outside of school—so did most Golds who weren’t mana artists. Then again, maybe Akari didn’t know that.
“You know,” he said after a short pause, “you’re free to leave when we’re done. In fact, you can walk out right now if you want. No one will stop you.”
“Sure,” she replied with a stiff shrug.
“Fine.” Kalden rose to his feet and strolled over to the safe on the other side of the basement. He entered the combination on the keypad, and the steel door swung open to reveal three racks of Missile rods. Most of these used pure mana, but they had a few aspected rods as well.
Kalden reached into the safe and retrieved an S19—one of the weaker, Silver-class weapons. Worst-case scenario, this could break someone’s nose, or put a hole in the drywall.
By contrast, a fully powered Gold Missile could shatter a boulder, and the G9 rods had similar power. He’d once seen Emberlyn’s father break through a tree stump with his bare hands, and Kalden’s mother could probably do the same. Then again, she hadn’t used her combat arts in years. Not since Kalden’s brother disappeared.
He was about to return to the family room when he paused. Was he really going to give a Bronze a loaded weapon? The girl’s skittish demeanor made her look harmless, but she still had a criminal background. Not to mention some impulsive tendencies when it came to Golds.
It’d be downright embarrassing if this girl robbed him while they were alone together. Embarrassing, and entirely his own fault.
Kalden glanced down at his own G9 Missile rod, and a surge of guilt rushed through him.
A compromise, then.
Akari glanced up expectantly when he returned, and he gestured to his empty belt. “There. Now we’re both unarmed.”
She returned her eyes to the screen without comment. Still, her shoulders seemed a little more relaxed than before. That was progress.
Another hour passed as she continued the setup process. Yes, setup. They still hadn’t gone on the actual dark web yet. First, she had to update his operating system to the latest version and create a fresh user account, free of personal information. After that, she installed a virtual private network to encrypt their movements and hide their location.
Things got even more complicated from there. Even though she’d updated his operating system, she had to install something called an emulator. This made his computer use an entirely different system on top of the first one. He’d already forgotten this one’s name, but the interface looked like something from the last decade. While modern interfaces sported metallic effects, this one was all solid colors and thick black borders.
According to Akari, they needed this setup for security reasons. One wrong click on the dark web could get you a virus. Or worse, someone could get your real identity and use it against you.
Kalden kept asking her questions as she worked, and she usually gave long and detailed answers. Back in school, talking to Akari had been like fighting a sabertooth tiger. She took every word as a personal attack, and she struck back accordingly.
She obviously liked talking about hacking, though. That had seemed strange at first, but people liked to feel competent and appreciated. It must be rough having a secret skill you couldn’t share.
“And . . . what’s this ‘garden’ you keep talking about?” Kalden asked.
“Oh.” Her lips curled up at the edges. “That’s code for EOL.”
“Espira Online?”
“Yeah, it’s the web browser most people use. We call it a garden because it’s all curated content—chat rooms, message boards, stuff like that.” She gestured back to the screen. “If you use a browser like Thoroughfare, that means you left the garden and started exploring the real city.”
Kalden gave a slow nod. “And the dark web is the tunnels beneath that city.”
“Pretty much. We need another browser called FreeWeb to get there. That’s the last thing on the list, then we’re good to go.”
~~~
Akari sat back as they took their final steps into the dark web.
Kalden had asked a lot of questions throughout this process, but he wasn’t as annoying as she’d expected. Sure, the questions were basic stuff, but he never asked the same thing twice. He also formed conclusions quickly, which was a good reason to be wary of him.
If Kalden learned too much by watching her, then why bother keeping her around?
With this in mind, Akari masked her actions as she worked, making the process look as complicated as possible. He didn’t bother taking notes, which seemed like a good sign. Then again, some rumors claimed Kalden Trengsen had an eidetic memory. That would explain his perfect grades.
At one point in the day, Kalden got up to answer the door, and Akari peeked at his internet history. Apparently, he didn’t know how to clear that. Then again, none of her other classmates did, either.
True to his word, Kalden only used the computer for homework—mostly research for history and alchemy classes. Other than that, he seemed to like clothes shopping and researching the latest fashions.
Typical Gold. Those jeans of his cost two whole silvernotes. She could buy eight regular pairs of jeans for that price.
Focus. Akari closed that window and switched over to EOL Instant Messenger. If Kalden planned to kidnap her, she’d rather find out now.
First, she checked his messages with Emberlyn Frostblade. These were mostly small talk and flirting. Not that Akari was an expert on flirting, but Emberlyn was about as subtle as a cat in heat. Kalden, for his part, didn’t seem to mind it.
She switched over to his conversations with Maelyn and Darren. These were much more extensive, and she only bothered to search for her own name. One result popped up, and that was a talk with Darren Warder, way back in Quintember when she’d changed his grades.
Footsteps echoed down the stairs. Akari scrambled to close the chat windows and switch back to the other browser.
That had been more than an hour ago. Now, they’d put the city behind them and began their journey into the depths below. Sites on the dark web didn’t look so different from ordinary websites. But a current of danger ran through it all—the same way a town felt different after dark. Her palms started to sweat as her hand moved the mouse, and she had to wipe them on her skirt several times.
“This is slower than most websites,” Kalden said as they waited for the Omnipedia to load.
“Yeah,” she said. “That’s because we’re passing through three times as many routers. Security through obscurity. Imagine you’re walking around town, and you don’t want people to know where you’ve been . . .”
“You visit a bunch of random stores,” Kalden finished with a slow nod.
“Right.” Akari glanced back at the page as it finally loaded. She’d never been on the Omnipedia before, but people said it was like the dark web’s town square. On one hand, they’d be drowning in information here. But the whole ‘no censorship’ rule had its downsides. Sure, she saw pages about mana arts, but most were the same scams she’d warned Kalden about.
Akari ignored those for now and continued on to one of the larger chat rooms. Here, bright green text flashed across the dark page as the messages came in.
She spent the next half-hour asking for recommendations. More people tried to scam her, of course, but she eventually found a lead. They called him the Grandmaster. Apparently, he was some kind of university professor who’d posted a video series on the internet a few years back. The state had those videos removed, but their legacy continued here.
Once they had a name, it wasn’t hard to track down the first video using the Omnipedia’s resources. Well, technically, she found the first four videos, but she didn’t tell Kalden that. Not yet, at least.
Besides, how did they know this ‘Grandmaster’ was the real deal? She’d had her hopes crushed more than once this week.
Still, her heart fluttered with anticipation as they watched the blue download bar fill up.
Twenty seconds left.
She’d been dreaming of her first mana arts lesson for years, the way some girls might dream of their wedding day.
Five seconds.
She’d always imagined a dojo with a real teacher and a crowd of students. But after what Magnus had told her, she wasn’t surprised to find herself here.
Two seconds.
Finally, the media player popped open, and she clicked the circular play button. The video faded into a man’s torso. He wore a form-fitting black T-shirt, but the camera cut off above his collar. He stood in a well-lit dojo with bamboo walls behind him.
“Hello.” The man spoke in a Northern Espirian accent. “I’m a Grandmaster, and a professor of mana arts at a prestigious university. I can’t tell you my name, or where I teach, but I hope my knowledge will speak for itself.”
His voice also seemed disguised. Not in a creepy serial-killer way, but he’d definitely added some sound effects to make him harder to identify.
“I created this video,” he said, “because the Espirian government has placed restrictions on mana arts. They tell us which arts we can learn, and which ones we can’t. They tell us who can learn them, and where. And when we do come into power, they make us swear vows. Vows to fight for our leaders when we’re called, and never to use our powers against them.”
The Espirian government. That implied these videos were far older than she’d assumed. Decades had passed since Espiria’s fall. Whoever this Grandmaster was, he must be long gone.
“And Espiria is the most progressive of the world’s powers,” he continued. “Other nations—like Creta—place even more restrictions on their people. Their government looks at mana artists, and they see assets to society and threats to their rule. They ignore the benefits for the individual. I’m talking about spiritual awareness, opening your mind to something greater, and taking the first steps toward immortality.”
Chills crept down Akari’s arms as she listened. She’d always felt like something was missing from her life—something as essential as food or water. But until this moment, she’d lacked the words to describe it.
“Now,” he said, “it’s safe to say that most of you are non-Masters. That means you’re probably rolling your eyes at my words. That’s fine. You don’t have to share my beliefs to experience the benefits. Regardless, this knowledge belongs to everyone. Our rulers didn’t discover the path to power on their own. They merely stood on the shoulders of those before them. But to restrict this skill is to deprive people of what it means to be human.”
The Grandmaster paused for dramatic effect. “In these videos, I will teach you real mana arts. Not the diluted way it’s taught in modern schools. Those institutions prioritize quick results over long-term gain. This is no accident. Rather, it’s by design. Not only do the world’s governments restrict this skill, they seek to control those who learn it.
“Populations aren’t what they were three centuries ago. In those days, mana artists kept to their own clans and sects, and restricting knowledge was easy. Only one in ten thousand people rose to true power. Today, there are more mana artists than at any other time in human history, and each one is a threat to the world’s power structure.
“So no, I won’t teach you mana arts the way it’s taught to students or soldiers. But trust me when I say this—those aren’t the lessons you want.”
The video faded to black as if it were over. Akari hovered over the progress bar with her mouse and realized it was only halfway done. Slowly, the camera faded back in, and the second part began.
“Let’s start with the basics,” the Grandmaster said, “which is sensing the mana in your body. If you can already do this, then feel free to skip ahead to Lesson Two.”
There was another short pause. Akari leaned closer, giving the video her full attention. Kalden did the same, and a faint whiff of cologne passed her nostrils.
“As you already know, mana enters this realm through the souls of living things. Every being has a soul, and that soul acts as a portal to the Ethereal—the source of all mana. Regardless of where you are in the Novice realm, you should be able to sense the mana through this portal.
“Normally,” he said, “this takes weeks of meditation. But there is a way to make the process go faster. Simply buy a cheap mana potion and take a sip—half an ounce should do it, I think. Your soul will try to expand when the mana reaches it, but it will fail. You can’t increase your total capacity without training, but feeling your soul is the first step to controlling the mana inside of it.
“Finally, once you’ve consumed some liquid mana, it’s time to sit and meditate. Yes, you heard me! As a mana artist, you’ll be spending a lot of time in your own mind and body. Might as well get comfortable. It might take you one try, or it might take ten, but I promise it will work eventually. Good luck.”
The video ended, and Akari sat there in stunned silence. Was sensing your soul really that simple? Talek. If this worked, she was going to feel like an idiot for not trying it sooner.
A few more seconds passed, then Kalden stood up and stretched. “Lucky for us, my mom already has some liquid mana potions. Come on.”
Akari followed him across the basement, and Kalden stepped behind the bar, where he pulled out a glass bottle from the refrigerator. Akari fell into the leather padded stool, leaning her elbows on the bar’s lacquered surface.
He placed the bottle between them and poured each of them a small glass. The mana was a deep shade of blue, but she knew that was fake. Alchemy-grade mana was normally paler than this, but people filled it with food coloring to hide the imperfections.
Akari brought the glass to her nose, and it smelled vaguely of mint. That was fake, too. Probably to cover up the natural mineral scent.
“Have you drunk mana before?” Kalden asked her.
Akari shook her head. Before today, she’d assumed mana artists only drank this when they needed to replenish their reserves. If she’d known this would help her learn, she would have gotten her hands on the stuff months ago.
“In that case . . .” Kalden pointed to a nearby door. “You already know where the bathroom is.”
Akari followed his gaze. “Am I really gonna puke?”
“Not necessarily, but the first time is rough, and my mom doesn’t like blue carpet.”
“Great.”
“Well then.” Kalden picked up his glass and clanked it against hers. “Here’s to true power.”
They raised their glasses to their mouths and drank together.