Two months before Armad escaped from prison...

Spoon and Ilias arrived at Infiria to seek information about their missing sister from their 'immortal' guardian, prince Niyashi.

Prince Niyashi was more than just a guardian to them, considering everything that had happened between them, so it was only natural for them to ask him for help. Even if he didn't know where Nusi was, he could help them with directions or something.

Ilias stopped a young man with long red hair. He often wondered why everyone in the kingdom had some sort of red hair. Something like that should be restricted to just the noble family, right? And it looked creepy when everyone was walking the streets with flashy hair. "Hello," Ilias said. "We are messengers sent here to meet with prince Niyashi. Can you give us directions to the palace, please?"

The young man glared at them. "Prince Niyashi? I will behead you right here if you weren't outsiders. Calling the crown prince by his first name is a capital offense."

Ilias quickly smiled and replied with a calm voice, "we are sorry about that. But as you said, we don't know much about the etiquette here. What should we call him?"

The young man mumbled a few words about manners before he explained it to them. "The one you are seeking is the pride of the people of this kingdom. And we respect him by the name 'Nazára' which means savior. And as a direct descendant of the royal family, you should call him 'Rafiyan'." He paused to make sure they understood him before he went on, "if you go that way and walk for a day, you will find King Rafiya's shrine which is south of the palace. You will find Rafiyan Nazára there undergoing his heavenly initiation."

The man left without giving them any chance to ask questions. Spoon reached to grab him but Ilias stopped him. They were on a mission and the fanatic wasn't worth their time.

They went ahead and asked two other people to get the direction right before they booked a wagon and headed there. It was sunset when they arrived at the shrine. A small building made from rock and surrounded by at least a thousand guards, most of whom were kneeling on the ground in white clothes. A young man sat cross-legged at the center of the formation with the ice of the Great Cold pouring over him from the sky like a heavenly tribulation. Ilias and Spoon immediately recognized him as the prince they had been looking for.

After spending a few more coins, they found a white robe from a nearby shop and made their way into the crowd. The crown prince was undergoing heavenly initiation. Instead of waiting to awaken naturally, he'd chosen to undergo a second initiation ritual. A Bender would have their pol as soon as they were initiated. The number of years received by the Bender depended on the ritual used for the initiation. After that, they would have to wait for awakening to get another pol and discard the old one. Just as Armad did. But some kingdoms didn't value awakening that much. Instead of leaving their fate in the fragile hands of luck, they found a way to undergo a second initiation where they would receive a massive amount of pol. They called it heavenly initiation. The pol used in the ritual would be channeled from the longevity reserve of the kingdom which was accumulated through the contract bonds.

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It was usually done to princes and certain selected people who had the privilege. It had the drawback of blocking awakening forever and someone who had already awakened could not use it. Otherwise, it was a safe ritual that would take someone to greater heights within a short period.

During the ritual, a person would receive a thousand years every day and it would continue until the person reached their limit. There would be no respite once the ritual began until it was finished.

Prince Niyashi had already been there for seven days when Ilias and Spoon arrived, sitting there and receiving longevity from the reserves of the kingdom. It went on like that until the prince fell unconscious on the ninth day after receiving roughly nine thousand years of longevity. On that day, another master Bender was born in Infiria. He was on a level of his own now.

The kingdom organized a grand feast and invited each of the thirty-one kings of the kingdom to congratulate the prince and his father King Rafiyan Daljari.

After everything calmed down, Ilias and Spoon saw Niyashi. They told him about Nusi.

"I know," the prince said. "But she's alive."

"I know it. She's alive," Spoon said excitedly. "But how did you..."

"I looked for her for months," Niyashi cut him off. "I still have no idea where she is, but she's alive." He paused and sighed, looking at the distant sky through the window. "Armad is the last person who has been with her and he should be able to know where she is. Why don't you find him?"

They were amazed at how Niyashi easily mentioned Armad but then there was the bounty and the prince fought him in the jinzidal.

"It's not just the bounty," Niyashi said, which attracted a frown from them. "Princess Nostalgia is considered to be the most beautiful woman in the six lower worlds and is defending him in court. Of course, everyone would know him by now."

Ilias clenched his fist angrily as he remembered what happened. "The princess has already testified she was guilty," Ilias said, still clenching his fists. "Why must they put a bounty on him?"

Niyashi shrugged. Because of his position, he'd more information about the things happening than both Ilias and Spoon. "King Bihanzin doesn't want a war to break out between him and the other jinzidal Kings. It has been three days since he gave his daughter to Seerish. The princess is to marry the crown prince of the underground empire, prince Deniz Bizáya. It will be known throughout the kingdoms in two weeks. I think wherever Armad is, he will appear in Sisiya before the wedding. You'll go there if you want to meet him."

"Why do you think he would be there?" Ilias asked.

Niyashi kept quiet for a moment before he frowned. "I think the princess loves him. I don't know about him. But he wouldn't have a reason to be there even if he didn't share her feelings."

Ilias thought about it in silence before he nodded. "We'll wait for him in Sisiya until the wedding. After that, we'll head to his home village."

The conversation continued in that direction for a while before they called it a day. They decided to look for Armad in the meantime while Niyashi sent out more riders to look for her.

After spending a few more days in Infiria, they set out for Sisiya. Before they arrived in the kingdom, the news about the marriage had spread. The most beautiful princess in the five kingdoms would be marrying prince Bizaya in a move to prevent an all-out war between the jinzidal Kings.

Ilias and Spoon arrived in the kingdom of Sisiya and tried their best to ignore all the rumors about the wedding and Armad. It was another month before they arrived at the capital. How long would it take them to find Armad? They didn't know.