A shadow flickered to life around Einen and assumed the shape of an ape covered in iridescent scales. With a snarl, it stretched out its hand, summoning its own spear-staff, and parried Tom’s attack. Their collision created such a powerful wave of energy that it would’ve uprooted the earth and destroyed the walls in a radius of several hundred feet all around them had it not been for the special absorbing artifacts that stood in the corners of the arena.
The impact threw Tom a couple of feet back. To Hadjar’s surprise, he dispelled both his Spirit and Technique, then sheathed his weapon. Einen, who also dispelled his Call and Technique, saluted him.
“Thanks for being my sparring partner, Tom.”
“I owed you, islander.” Judging by his arrogant manner of speaking, Tom hadn’t matured as a person at all. “We’re even now. The next time we meet on the sand, I’ll kill you.”
Tom stepped off the platform and, glaring at the spectators, headed toward the dormitories. Anise followed him. Seeing her made Hadjar’s heart skip a beat. She was dressed the same as always, in a long, wide, black skirt and a tight top that bared her shoulders and stomach. Dangling from her belt was a long, brown scabbard that held a sword without a crossguard. Anise exuded the power of an advanced-stage Spirit Knight. Hadjar wondered what had happened to everyone over the past six weeks.
“You did it, Einen!” Dora said as she hopped down from the stands. She hadn’t changed either: she still had the same beautiful, symmetrical face, blue eyes, and unnaturally long ears. She was dressed in simple but expensive clothes, and carried a heavy warhammer on her back. Just like Anise, she exuded the power of an advanced-stage Spirit Knight.
Einen greeted her with a slight quiver of his lips. In his ‘language’, this meant that he was happy to see her.
“How long are you going to keep standing there, barbarian?” He asked while still looking at Dora.
The girl started and looked around. Unlike Einen, who was skilled in the art of shadows, she couldn’t detect Hadjar, who’d hidden his presence with his Call.
“I see you didn’t waste any time, my friend.”
Dispelling his Call, Hadjar stepped out of the shadows and went over to the platform to greet his friend, ignoring the shocked gazes of the spectators. Einen opened his eyes fully, revealing his unnatural, purple eyes. The two stared at one another for a moment, then hugged each other tightly.
“Where have you been, barbarian? We lost you at Dahanatan’s sky port. I wanted to go after ‘Rukh’s Wings’, but Mentor Orune told me to wait.”
Hadjar wasn’t surprised to hear that Orune had told Einen to stay away. He’d expected it, in fact.
“Did he try to make you stronger too?”
“Well, yes and no,” Einen responded evasively. “He sent me and the Dinos siblings to one of the ancient tombs in the Wastelands. We returned a couple of days ago and-”
“-sent a bunch of the ‘Meltwater’ School’s inner circle disciples to their forefathers.”
Dora and Einen looked at each other. Hadjar noticed that Dora wasn’t very happy to see he was back. He couldn’t blame her, they’d had a very strange relationship from the very start. He was sure that she would’ve stopped talking to him long ago if it hadn’t been for Einen.
“Did the other disciples tell you that?” Einen asked a little tensely.
“They did,” Hadjar said, suspecting something, “Given your tone, something happened while I was away.”
“A lot of things happened.” Einen nodded. “Orune sent us after an artifact. I won’t go into details, but the journey made us stronger. We got the artifact, of course, but on the way back, we were intercepted by disciples from the other schools.”
“From the ‘Meltwater’ and ‘Quick Dream’ Schools?”
“No, Hadjar,” Dora said. “From all of them. We had to fight against disciples from twenty different schools.”
“I think there are only five Schools in all of Dahanatan, and two of them are part of the military.”
“You’re right.” Dora tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. Hadjar caught a glimpse of a long scar on her temple. “We had to fight our way through hundreds of disciples from all over the Empire. They were waiting for us on the Imperial road. They-”
“-wanted the artifact,” Hadjar guessed.
“We got lucky,” Einen said. “Dora’s sister arrived just in time and escorted us to the capital, where a hundred of the ‘Meltwater’ School’s inner circle disciples attacked us at the gates. They also wanted the artifact.”
Hadjar finally realized how Einen had earned the necessary amount of Glory points needed to become an inner circle disciple.
“I wonder what that artifact-”
Lightning flashed in the sky above the School, followed by thunder, and then a voice filled the air:
“Attention, all students of ‘The Holy Sky’ School!” said the rector, one of the strongest cultivators in the School and the Empire as a whole. “Thanks to our disciples and their hard work, the map to Emperor Decater’s tomb and the key to his chambers were recovered! By the Emperor’s will, for the next six months, the Wastelands will be open to disciples from all the martial arts schools. Only Heaven Soldiers and Spirit Knights are eligible to participate in the search. Since it was our disciples who made this possible, we’ll be getting a two-week head start. Find the map and the key that have been hidden in the Wastelands! Find the tomb and fight for Decater’s legacy! Acquire his treasures! Become stronger and bring glory to our country! Good luck to all of you!”
Hadjar, Einen, and Dora exchanged glances. It seemed like it was time for them to once again go on an adventure.
Chapter 636
E inen and Hadjar were sitting on a bench in the courtyard and watching as the world moved around them. Students of all ranks scurried about, running from the dormitories to the Hall of Fame, then to the Treasure Tower, then back to the dormitories, over and over again. Among them were Dora and the Dinos siblings.
Some were stocking up on various alchemical supplies, others were buying artifacts and maps, and there were even those who, looking to make a quick profit, were selling the things that they’d just bought in the Treasure Tower.
Hadjar was smoking his pipe and observing the world through the puffs of smoke, while Einen toyed with his new spatial artifact — Eon Mrax’s chain.
“Thank you,” he said.
To some, this would’ve seemed like a poor show of gratitude for an item of such value, but not to Hadjar. Einen was a friend, and this gift was nothing more than a token of his appreciation for the islander.
Scan.
Name
Einen
Level of cultivation
Spirit Knight, initial stage
Strength
12.3
Dexterity
13.2
Physique
16
Energy points
189
“How did you do it?” Hadjar finally decided to ask.
Einen’s brow twitched slightly. Most people wouldn’t have even noticed it, but not Hadjar. He knew him far too well.
“You know what I mean.” He sighed. “You four weren’t this far along the path of cultivation a month and a half ago.”
Einen glanced at him, then returned his gaze to the noisy crowd.
“Everyone who was in the capital in the past few weeks has gotten stronger,” he explained. “If you go to the Treasure Tower, you’ll see that the prices have been greatly reduced, especially when it comes to various kinds of alchemy components and meditation Techniques. The Marnils and the Dinos even sent some reagents to their heirs.”
Hadjar exhaled a ring of smoke. It hung in the air for a moment, then disappeared.
“War,” he whispered. “I’m sure that most of the reagents in the Treasure Tower found their way there with the Magistrate and Emperor’s help.”
“War,” Einen repeated.
Hadjar smiled broadly. He looked at his friend and w
inked.
“So, did you get some reagents from-”
“I found some artifacts in the Wastelands that would’ve been useless to you or me,” Einen interrupted him rather harshly. “I sold them and used the Glory points I got from that to buy all the resources I needed for meditation. I also had enough left over to attend lectures about the nature of the Spirit. That’s how I reached the Spirit Knight level.”
Hadjar remained silent, any hint of laughter disappearing from his eyes.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
Einen managed to maintain a stern expression for a bit longer, but soon enough, the corners of his lips twitched slightly. Hadjar narrowed his eyes, then laughed and slapped his friend on the shoulder. Ever since he’d met him, Einen had always had the amazing ability to crack jokes with a deathly serious expression on his face. Then again, he did everything while maintaining that same expression. He was mocking him even now for thinking that he’d hurt his feelings.
“I hope you’ll get to tell me about your adventures one day,” Einen said, pointedly glancing at the feathers in Hadjar’s hair. Hadjar, in turn, noticed that Einen was wearing long sleeves, even though he’d said on numerous occasions that he preferred short sleeves.
They silently stared at the anxious disciples milling around them for a while longer. They would sometimes switch to observing the sky. There, among the clouds, flying boats and small brigs soared across the azure expanse.
The students, realizing the seriousness of their task, began to form groups. Raiding the tomb of one of the Emperors was a huge deal. In addition to artifacts and alchemical resources, there was a chance that they’d find something that couldn’t be bought with neither Glory points nor Imperial coin — an Inheritance. An Emperor’s only disciple was his heir. However, instead of leaving his Inheritance to his heir, as was tradition, Decater had left his in his tomb.
The entrance to the crypt was guarded by a powerful spell that forbade entry to anyone who didn’t fit the required criteria. In nine out of ten cases, this criteria was always the same: the adventurer had to be a Heaven Soldier or a Spirit Knight. The criteria for entering the tombs of the Immortals, which Hadjar had managed to do once, were far more complicated and beyond his understanding.
In order to keep grave robbers and Lascanian spies away, Emperors, nobles, and other esteemed individuals were traditionally buried in the Wastelands, which belonged to the best martial arts School in the Empire. That was also why many disciples of ‘The Holy Sky’ practically lived in the Wastelands, hoping to find the tomb of some great person and become stronger with their ‘help’.
As for Decater’s tomb… This particular Emperor was famous for several reasons. According to legends, he’d been a great swordsman who had managed to comprehend several of the laws of the Sword Spirit. No one knew what that actually meant. Some were certain it was proof that the Sword Kingdom wasn’t the last level of weapon mastery, despite all of those who had reached it claiming otherwise. Others argued that Decater was referring to some deep understanding of the Sword Spirit’s essence when he mentioned these ‘laws’.
He had also possessed, but, for some reason, hadn’t passed on a meditation Technique that had helped him overcome the barrier that separated the Nameless level from the one that came after it.
The third legend that usually attracted so many treasure seekers was the fact that Decater had had a frightening number of people who’d adored him. When he’d died, all of his friends, disciples, followers, and acquaintances had left their Inheritances in his tomb as a tribute. In other words, his resting place was where any cultivator, regardless of their abilities or the path they followed, had to go in order to become the strongest cultivator of their generation.
Dora stopped beside her friends. She’d swapped her usual outfit for leather pants and a jacket that accentuated every curve of her body. Passersby, both male and female, stared at her with lusty or envious expressions on their faces. Sometimes both. “I didn’t make you wait too long, did I?”
Hadjar and Einen exchanged glances.
Hadjar emptied his pipe out onto the stone path that wound along the numerous empty benches. The School was rapidly emptying. Everyone was rushing to grab as much treasure, wealth, fame, and power they could get their hands on.
“Not at all,” Einen said, despite the fact that he and Hadjar had been sitting there for almost four hours. Both of them knew that scolding a woman for taking too long was as useless as it was dangerous.
“Let’s get going, then.” Dora smiled, leading the way.
Hadjar couldn’t help but give his neural network a mental order to scan the elf.
Name
Dora Marnil
Level of cultivation
Spirit Knight, middle stage
Strength
17
Dexterity
14.3
Physique
18.6
Energy points
229
Chapter 637
T hey were pleasantly surprised to see that, despite all the commotion, there was almost no queue at the exit. The huge warrior and tiger golems, standing off to the side, calmly watched the disciples leaving the School.
The elevator platform worked so quickly that each time it descended or ascended, it created torrents of wind that blew the weaker cultivators off their feet.
Hadjar, Dora, and Einen patiently waited their turn. They didn’t want to cut in line. The Dinos siblings, on the other hand, didn’t seem to have that problem. Tom, who was wearing white clothes made of the most exquisite materials, strolled past, cutting through the crowd with his Spirit Knight aura imbued with the mysteries of the Weapon’s Heart. As he walked past the trio, he gave them a look of haughty disdain.
“I really hope, you worthless scoundrel,” he said loudly while staring at Einen, “that we’ll run into each other in the Wastelands, and that I’ll get to finish what I started.”
“We already did, once” Einen said, surprising Hadjar, “venerable junior heir of the Predatory Blades clan.”
Tom flushed, his jaw clenched, and he walked away with the arrogant poise of a pageant queen. The people waiting nearby jumped away from him like frightened antelopes scattering before a prowling lion.
“By the way,” Hadjar said loudly enough that Tom could hear him, “who won the duel between the Dinos and Tarez heirs? I missed it!”
Tom missed a step and almost tripped.
“The Tarez heir won,” Einen replied. “Isn’t that funny, my friend? A merchant defeated a swordsman!”
Tom turned on his heel, but Anise grabbed his elbow. She shook her head, then pointed to the platform and dragged him away. As she walked, she turned, glanced at Hadjar, and then abruptly turned away. Hadjar shuddered beneath her gaze; it did not bode well for him. He didn’t need his neural network to know that Anise was stronger than him.
“Did you get to see them fight?” Hadjar whispered to Einen in the islander’s native language.
Einen wasn’t surprised by Hadjar’s secrecy since he knew that his friend had made a deal with Helmer.
“I did,” he replied. “Let me tell you, I have never seen a stranger duel in my life.”
Hadjar swore mentally, wishing that he’d been there to see it. A duel between heirs had to have been a spectacular show.
“Were they both Lords?”
“Yes.” Einen nodded. “Like most personal disciples, both of them are at the initial stage of the Lord level.”
Hadjar presumed that, in just a few years, by the end of the Tournament of the Twelve, all the personal disciples would be middle-stage Lords at least. He had no doubt that the Empire would use the School to ensure it happened. Those who’d managed to prove their worth would get the maximum amount of support and resources. They’d get everything that Darnassus had accumulated over many thousands of years and was now planning on investing in them, not just for the sake of its future, but in order to preserve its very existence.
“What was so strange about it?”
Before replying, Einen looked around several times to make sure that no one, including Dora, was listening to them.
“Tarez used an Imperial level Technique.”
“Well, he is a personal disciple. Maybe those kinds of Techniques are no big deal at his level.”
“Maybe…” Einen nodded. “But the energy he used… It was something I’ve never seen before.”
Hadjar suspected the worst, so he asked Einen to describe what he’d seen.
“His energy was crimson, like blood, and… somehow wrong. It felt like it wasn’t coming from the World River. I don’t know how else to describe it... It was alien. Its only goal was destruction.”
“And it was steeped in negative emotions: fear, despair, anger, and envy.”
Einen turned to Hadjar.
“You’ve seen it before?”
Hadjar nodded. “Once, long ago… Back when I’d first started serving in the army of my native Kingdom.”
“Someone from such a small, barbarian Kingdom actually used something like that?” Einen was surprised.
“You don’t believe me?”
“I believe you think we’re talking about the same thing. But our eyes, my friend, often show us what we want to see instead of what is real.”
Before Hadjar could reply, someone bumped into him, pushing him aside. A middle-aged man was about to yell at him when he spotted his golden token. Since he only had a silver one, he apologized profusely and disappeared back into the queue.
“Thank you for your wisdom,” Hadjar said, somewhat stunned. “But I know what I saw. Given Helmer’s involvement, I think we should avoid the Tarez in the near future.”
Einen nodded in agreement, obviously frightened by the energy he’d seen.
Dragon Heart: Land of The Enemy. LitRPG Wuxia Series: Book 8 Page 2
