The Grey Ghost: Book Two of the Archaic Ring Series

by Reed R. Stevens

  “I may have said something along those lines.”

  “Well?” said Nolan. “No one had a problem with you bringing it here?”

  Uncle Grey ignored his question. Floating away from the fountain, he left the courtyard.

  “That guy’s a nut, I swear,” Nolan sighed. “I hate when he just walks out on a conversation.”

  “He’s interesting,” Nyla smiled. “To think that I’ve become friends with a residual spirit! Celia would cry if she found out that they really existed.”

  “Celia?”

  “My older sister.”

  Faced with a melancholic frown, Nolan asked, “How’s your training coming along? Arrayment Master or not, but the old man really came through with that core cultivation method.” He scanned her with his spiritual sense. “Your aura’s already beginning to change.”

  Apparently they needed to reach a certain level of strength before they could study the spiritual arrayments that Uncle Grey was so proud of. Since they didn’t meet the bar, the old ghost had them training to raise their cultivations as quickly as possible. Since Nyla didn’t have a core cultivation method of her own, he’d spent countless hours attempting to teach her the one that he had used during his lifetime.

  Seeing that the old man wasn’t all talk, Nolan began to look forward to becoming an arrayment practitioner. If he could modify the gunpowder recipe he’d been following then he wouldn’t have to worry so much about the people that might do him harm.

  Uncle Grey returned a few minutes later, a calm smile on his face as if he’d forgotten all about whatever displeasure had driven him from their company.

  “Do you two have any spirit stones?”

  Nolan checked his primary spatial bag. “A little over nine hundred.”

  “Place them in the water.”

  Nolan gave him a suspicious look. “Why?”

  “Just do it.”

  Nolan grunted, then dropped one hundred spirit stones into the fountain. “Will the water have some sort of effect on the stones?”

  Uncle Grey nodded. “This water contains spiritual energy of unparalleled purity, to the extent that it can heal ones wounds faster than almost any medicine.” He rested his hands behind his back as he floated overhead. “Your Ancestral Body Technique is quite amazing, but the real reason that your spiritual sense is so sensitive is because of all the time you’ve spent in this fountain.”

  Nolan’s hands drifted lazily beneath the water. “Just when I thought this fountain couldn’t get any better.”

  “A better spiritual treasure doesn’t exist,” Uncle Grey exclaimed proudly. “The Divine Spirit Fountain was the backbone of my Myriad Arrayment Mosaic Sect.”

  “So why did you have me put those stones in the water?”

  “You’ll see,” he said. “Though I suggest you put all of them in.”

  The old ghost couldn’t exactly steal his things, so Nolan took his advice.

  “Now I suggest you resume training. Your spiritual senses have to match that of someone at the first level of the Integration stage before I can teach you two about arrayments.”

  Since the core cultivation method that Nyla was learning didn’t require any movements, she remained in the fountain to meditate. As Uncle Grey began to outline the intricacies of her breathing patterns, Nolan went off on his own to cultivate a short distance away.

  After doing a perfect run-through of the Ancestral Body Technique’s one hundred and ninety-eight stances, Nolan felt completely invigorated. Closing his eyes, he fell into a meditative trance as he continued to train.

  It had become evident that he needed a lot more energy to reach a breakthrough than someone else at the same level. They had been here for a matter of weeks and Nyla was already close to breaking through to the fifth level of Body Nourishment. Meanwhile, he’d spent many months in this isolated place, and had only reached the fourth level of the same stage.

  Focusing on the latent knowledge buried within his mind, he was able to glean some insight relating to his upcoming breakthrough. Once he reached the Profound Entry stage his body would, for lack of a better term, evolve. His inner essence circulation routes would widen by a slight degree, and strengthen enough so that he could freely manipulate the energies within him. His body would also become sturdier and more resilient, and his spiritual sense would become more capable.

  Time slipped by as Nolan continued with his zealous training. Although Uncle Grey had proclaimed him the sole successor of his sect, the old ghost had spent most of the past several weeks guiding Nyla as she struggled to learn his core cultivation method, the Profound Soul-splitting Technique. Nolan wasn’t sure about the specifics of the cultivation method, but the change in her aura had become increasingly apparent as the weeks trickled by. Whenever Nolan scanned her with his spiritual sense, the life signal that she gave off was heavier and more distinct, a sure sign of her evident growth. As things were, she would break through to the Profound Entry stage any day now.

  He’d been jealous of her progress at first, but quickly reprimanded himself for being so petty and small of a person. She was his friend, so her successes were his successes and vice versa.

  Lately he’d been sleeping in the fountain, which Nyla had taken to doing as well. The invigorating waters didn’t cause his skin to wrinkle and they were quite soothing. Most importantly, he was now able to nurture his spiritual sense even while he slept. Like this, he spent almost every hour training in one way or another.

  “Did I ever tell you two how I found the Divine Spirit Fountain?”

  Nolan and Nyla had just finished eating dinner and were now taking a break in the fountain waters.

  “Like five times,” Nolan laughed. “You found it in some old ruins from an ancient era, along with a giant mosaic full of arrayment techniques and some historical depictions.”

  “And then you went on to found the Myriad Arrayment Mosaic Sect,” Nyla finished.

  “Is that so,” Uncle Grey smiled. Though he was a spirit, it looked as if he were blushing.

  “Hey Uncle Grey,” Nolan said. “Do you know what an Interspatial Migration is?”

  “I can’t say I’ve ever heard the term.” Curiosity swirled within his silvery eyes. “Does my dear disciple care to enlighten his master?”

  “Teacher,” Nolan corrected. Ever since they’d first met, the old ghost hadn’t stopped attempting to trick Nolan into calling him Master. “An Interspatial Migration is when everybody in one world is inexplicably transferred to another world.”

  Uncle Grey snorted. “Pah! Such a thing couldn’t possibly exist.” He fell back into his trademark mumble. “This unfilial disciple, trying to fool his master…”

  “He’s not lying,” said Nyla. “Nolan isn’t originally from Venara. He was transported there from another world, same as everyone else who lived there.”

  A guarded look soon turned to one of amazement. “Truly?”

  Nolan crossed his arms. “You wondered why I had no cultivation when I first came here. Well, that’s because nobody on Earth had one.”

  “Earth?” Uncle Grey began to fly circles around the fountain. “To think, a world where the concept of martial cultivation doesn’t exist!” He glanced at the powdered remains of the black monument that had contained the inheritance of the Ancestral Body Technique. “Fate! This is fate, I say!”

  Nolan rolled his eyes and grunted. “Why do you believe everything she says, but think I’m always messing with you?”

  “Dear disciple.” Uncle Grey floated over to him. “Why is it that you’re only telling me this now?”

  Nolan looked around the glade and drank in the pervasive silence that followed the old ghost’s words. “Well, I was just thinking. Maybe that’s what happened here? Maybe everyone was sent somewhere else, I mean.”

  The look on Uncle Grey’s face grew serious. “That doesn’t seem to be the case.”

  “Didn’t you say that there were empty cities beyond this forest?”

 
He was quiet for a moment. “I didn’t say that the cities were empty. Rather, I said that there were no life signals within them. The people are still there, only, they’re not alive.”

  What the hell? A shiver ran through Nolan’s body. This place keeps getting creepier!

  The fact that Uncle Grey had never heard of an Interspatial Migration must have meant that he’d lived in a time before the first recorded instance took place. If he had been some grand character like he claimed, surely he’d have been aware of a worldwide phenomenon that even the people of the plains region had been aware of.

  The leader of Redfox Village had said that five Interspatial Migrations had occurred in the past hundred millennia. If that were true, then it was likely that Uncle Grey had been trapped in this glade for at least a hundred thousand years. When one week on Venara was the equivalent to half a year on Nia, just how long since had he been alone for?

  Nolan’s head rang from the excess of bizarre information. It’s just one mind-blowing realization after another. Seriously, what is my life? He climbed out of the fountain and wandered to a secluded area of the courtyard. In an effort to calm his mind, he resumed his training.

  Chapter Twenty-one: Life from Death

  Three days had passed since Jason rented a room at the Gilded Mare, an inn that Nolan had mentioned just before he’d run off to save their friends. He’d hardly slept a wink over these last few nights, had spent most of his time idling by one the small windows that dotted the far side of the spacious room. He’d peer through the pair of silky drapes, down at the bustling streets of the business district. He hoped to catch a glimpse of the others, to see an exhausted Nolan rushing toward the inn with a bedraggled Nyla and Quin in tow.

  He’d been cooped up with the girl that Nolan had ‘bought’ at the slave auction, for what seemed like a month. Neither of them left the room unless they needed to visit the crude, bucket-filled rooms on the second floor that served as a poor man’s bathroom. The only other times they left were when they’d head to the small restaurant on the inn’s first floor, usually for quick, quiet meals.

  The girl’s name was Amy, an American from Phoenix, Arizona. Belonging to a family of four, she’d attended an all-girls school for most of her life, and was a year older than Jason. Aside from that, he hadn’t managed to get much else out of her, only that she’d spent the past two months or so locked up in a cage hidden within a poorly lit warehouse somewhere on the outskirts of the city.

  He’d done his best to fill the girl in on everything he’d learned about this strange world and its peculiar societies, but the information was a hard sell. They hadn’t much else to do but converse, though he did most of the talking. She’d been completely taken aback when Nolan had darted off to what had sounded like a deathtrap, surprised at how fast he’d run and also with how decisive he’d acted when faced with such a foreboding situation.

  I should have gone with him.

  As usual, Jason sat on a hand-carved chair by the window. He faced the world outside the glass with a rigid frown, oblivious to the sullen reflection of an overly stressed young man.

  “How long are we going to wait for?” Amy sat on one of the two large beds that occupied opposing corners of the room. “Didn’t that Nolan guy say to leave the city if he didn’t come back in three days?”

  “Nolan’s probably dead.” Jason turned his head, a grim dullness in his eyes that distracted from their chestnut sheen. “But if you were in his place, how would you feel if we just left?”

  She withdrew into herself, avoiding his stare. “I’m not saying that I want to leave. I hardly know him, but I can tell he’s a good guy. Don’t think I forgot that he saved me from becoming…you know. I just—he made it seem like we were in danger.”

  “We might be,” Jason sighed. “But in this world, we always are.”

  Although they hadn’t left the inn since they’d checked in, Jason eavesdropped on all sorts of gossip from the other guests during mealtimes. Apparently a sixteen-year-old girl had shocked the entire city after she swept through all competition at the grand tournament, achieving first place in front of thousands of disbelieving eyes. Word was that she held immeasurable beauty, with purely golden hair that seemed to outshine the sun. Above all else, the fact that she’d been a commoner with no apparent background had left the audience in a lingering shock that would’ve lasted for weeks had the city lord’s youngest son not been murdered right after.

  If that wasn’t shocking enough, disciples of the Bloodhand Sect had been spotted elsewhere within the city, and one had even been captured. Because of this, security within Greenwall had been heightened to the extent that hundreds of guards and soldiers now patrolled the once bustling streets, which were scarcely dotted with those few that were brave enough to leave their homes during such turbulent times. When even the city lord’s son had been murdered in broad daylight, it could be imagined how anxious the common folk were feeling.

  He’d also heard that soldiers from the city had tracked down a fleeing disciple and located a small encampment a few leagues east of Greenwall, where more disciples had been hiding away. A violent battle had ensued, and although the soldiers emerged victorious in the end, the majority of their ranks had been killed and one of the inner court disciples had managed to escape. Even so, the city lord had made a point to hang these corpses from the city’s viny walls, and even went as far as trimming the vines around them so that they were outlined for all to see.

  Jason was positive that the camp was where Nyla and Quin had been held hostage, which meant that it was probably the place where they had been killed. The city lord’s forces had won the battle, so it only made sense for them to bring his friends back to Greenwall. If they had returned with the surviving soldiers, then they would have come straight to the inn.

  Either they’re all dead, or they can’t meet up with me for some reason. Uhg, this is driving me crazy!

  “You said that you heard people downstairs saying that a war might break out…” Amy wrapped herself in a bundle of orange blankets. “This is so surreal.”

  Jason took a deep breath, finally coming to a decision as he stared at the frail girl before him. “I don’t know. The son of this city’s ruler was just killed, so it might be true.” He stood up and stripped his bed of its pillows and blankets, stuffing them into his spatial bag along with a wineskin that was fat with water and a basket filled with cheese, breads, dried meats. Amy watched him store the items with curious eyes, where a small sparkle added lustre to her amber irises. She’d overcome her initial lack of appetite and had been indulging in large meals at the inn’s pricey restaurant. Jason had spent four golden cards on food in just three days.

  Thankfully, some colour had returned to her face and she didn’t appear as malnourished as before. She was still skinnier than she ought to be, but a few more weeks of eating properly and she’d be well on her way to a full recovery.

  “Come on,” said Jason, once he’d packed everything up. “We’re leaving.”

  “Weren’t you just saying—”

  “I know what I said. It just made me realize how naive I was being.” He couldn’t remain so indecisive. If he’d learned anything in the past months, it was that hesitation could lead to an early death.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah.”

  He made his way downstairs and exited the Gilded Mare with determined steps. As was the recent norm, there weren’t many citizens out and about, at least not nearly as much as Jason was used to seeing. Although it had only been half a week since the grand tournament’s end, it seemed as if most people who’d travelled to Greenwall in order to experience the renowned spectacle had hastily cleared out of the city in light of recent events.

  Just a few disciples freaked people out so much.

  With the streets virtually empty, Jason led a silent Amy out of the business district and over to a large shop within the heart of the eastern district. Once inside the simple stone building, he spent on
e of the two spirit stones in his possession on a pair of silver tickets that would allow him and Amy to accompany a reputable merchant caravan to the neighbouring city of Ferguson. This was a course of action that he and his friends had originally agreed upon before things became so nightmarish.

  “Where are we going now?”

  “The eastern gate. That’s where the meeting place is.”

  The caravan wasn’t set to leave for another four hours, but there was no harm in arriving early. Walking at Amy’s pace, they would get there with a couple of hours to spare.

  “What kind of city are we going to?”

  Jason kept a vigilant eye on their surroundings. “I don’t know. This is the only city I’ve been to in this world.”

  Amy didn’t say anything until a few minutes later. “How will we get by? I can’t even speak their language.”

  “I’ll teach you what I can. After that, we’ll just have to try our best.”

  He wished that Nolan and the others were here, that they could face this predicament together like they’d done so many times in the past. What could he do on his own? He was only at the second level of Body Nourishment and he wasn’t exactly what he would call brave. Why did everything have to go wrong? Damn it, this is horrible!

  He forced himself to calm down. As long as he maintained a low profile and took things one step at a time, he’d find a way to get by. He’d survived one nightmare after another since coming to this world. He couldn’t give up so easily, not after all he’d been through.

  “Oh my God. Jason, look over there!”

  At the sound of Amy’s frightened voice, he reached out and grabbed her hand, dragging her along at a brisk pace. He’d also noticed the disturbance down the alleyway that they just passed by.

  Amy tried to break free. “A girl was being attacked. We have to do something!”

  Jason was taken aback by the sudden outburst. For the past several days she’d been quiet and reserved, lost in the shock of her recent revelations.