Infinite Realm: Monsters & Legends - Chapter 384: Naha

Chapter 384: Naha

Deal

Their airship was escorted by the sect patrol all the way to the main seat of the Twilight Melody Sect. It was a trip that had taken days, even with the airships holding a respectable pace. They gathered on the deck as they were about to reach their destination.

“You know,” Okim started. “I’ve never visited a Sect city before.”

Naha glanced at the minotaur then back at the mountain’s they were about to cross. She hadn’t seen many either outside of the core. And most of those cities like Dragon’s Peak had clear influences of the other cities in the Core. They were all started at around the same time. Sect culture spread from them and evolved the further you went away from the core.

“I don’t know much about Consequence,” Bera chimed in. “Only that it has been expanding aggressively over the last few years and has become one of the largest cities in the Frontier. Not that this can even be called the Frontier anymore. As far as I am aware, Consequence is home to millions of people now, equaling in size the likes of the Dall Dvor.”

Naha blinked, Dall Dvor was a massive city, one of the largest that she had ever seen.

“Sects are very big on honor and respect, so I remind you to watch your manners while we are here,” Bera added.

Naha turned to look at Zach, who was unusually quiet. She checked her True-link making sure that he hadn’t lost himself. It rarely happened these days, but he still could get drawn into his mind. Through the link she could tell that he was focusing on something.

“Zach?” She nudged him.

He blinked and then glanced in her direction.

“Everything all right?” Naha asked.

Zach nodded, then turned back to look in the distance as the airship rose to cross over the mountain. “Yes,” he answered. “There is just something… a lot of Essence over the mountain. Flaws in the air.”

Naha tilted her head, then turned her eyes forward as they crossed over. The airship dipped down as it crested over the mountain ridge and then entered a cloud. For a few seconds their vision was obscured, but then they were out and a massive valley stretched in front of them.

A green forest took up one corner of it, a river snaked its ways amid hills as it flowed from the mountains. But her eyes were drawn to the center of the valley, the city.

It was a sight that took her breath away. It reminded her of the Jewel of the Empire, in the way that the walls rose tall from the ground. A massive wall surrounded the city, clearly still under construction, it was shaped like a star, a massive one with dozens of arrow shaped prongs sticking out of the circular wall that surrounded an impossible amount of land. It encompassed hills and the river and had massive gates on four sides in the process of being built. It had more surface area than any city that Naha had seen before, and from as high as they were she could tell that the walls were massive.

Outside of the walls was chaos, she saw what looked like another small city on a hill. Lines spread out of the city walls as people moved in and out. They followed their escort as another two airships rose to meet them then moved to flank them.

“Wow,” Naha heard Hiro say, and she agreed with the sentiment. It was impressive.

They made their way to the city slowly, flying low enough that she could see the work in more detail. Lines of carriages and airships were everywhere, she saw staging grounds outside the walls filled with materials and saw geomancers raising and shaping stone. As they got closer, she realized that the walls were even greater than she had initially thought, it had to be at least ten meters tall, and maybe twice that thick. There was traffic on top of the finished parts of the wall, and she saw elevators on the outside of the walls ferrying people in, trying to alleviate traffic. Airships did the same, she saw a wagon attached to a ship which then flew over the wall and deposited it inside before moving back for more. The work on the walls was constant and everywhere, the gates were being shaped before her very eyes, but she couldn’t get a long enough look before they were over them and in the city. There she saw straight lines of carefully planned streets and uniform buildings several stories tall. They all looked the same, and as if they had just been raised out of the ground, which they probably had.

She noticed a half-built tower in the middle of the buildings, rising above the height of the wall. For a moment she wondered what it was supposed to be, but then she noticed the flashing of formations that were being laid into it. She remembered the great dome that protected the Empire’s city and figured that it was something similar as she noticed more such towers being built in a circular line along the inside of the wall. It had to be either an offensive or a protective measure, as it seemed like they planned to build them everywhere on the inside.

Then, they were over the parts of the city under construction, and she saw rubble of a wall that had been torn down. Then… the older buildings. Here she saw what she expected out of Sects, buildings made from wood and stone, with colorful banners and flags. The chaos was worse here, somehow. The buildings had obviously been built without any plan, which was also probably why they were in the process of tearing them down. It was a massive undertaking.

The airship was led to the center of the city, another walled part which housed a large stone palace. They were instructed to land on the pad next to it, and then motioned to disembark.

Naha followed the others and walked down. A group of sect warriors stood at the edge of the pad, and in front of them, waiting for them were three people. Immediately she recognized the Sect Head of the Twilight Melody Sect, Ryun Nacht-Woll. She had… a complicated relationship with the man, though he probably didn’t know it. Zach had told her a lot of stories, and it was hard to align this man with the one that Zach described before. Yet, that was distant past, they had fought together against Hastur. Still, she focused on her link and made sure that Zach was fine. She had told him everything that he had forgotten, and Zach had asked Ryun himself. Still, she knew that she had nothing to worry about, Zach believed that everyone deserved a second chance.

“Welcome to Consequence, Wardens,” a ravzor greeted them with a bow. He was familiar to Naha, but she didn’t remember his name. The other person standing next to Ryun was unfamiliar to her as well. Her hair was as white as snow and her skin red traced with white lines and two cracks over her eyes, shaped almost exactly the same as the ones on Ryun’s face.

It wasn’t hard to figure out who she had to be, there were stories about her.

“Thank you for your welcome,” Bera said, and then bowed. The rest of them followed, she had already prepared them as to how they should conduct themselves.

“Zacharia,” she heard Ryun say as she straightened.

“Ryun,” Zach greeted him back.

Then, after a beat, Ryun spoke again. “I’m glad that you came.”

“We made an agreement.”

“That we did,” Ryun nodded. “Come, Lesamitrius will show you to your quarters and if you wish the city. Tomorrow we can discuss what you came here for.”

With that the tense moment was broken and they were led into the palace.

She stood on a large balcony overlooking the palace grounds. A small training yard was beneath them, sect warriors training in their strange combat styles. She spotted Hiro, Bera, and Okim, escorted by the ravzor, Lesamitrius, as he showed them around.

“That’s him?” She heard a woman ask and turned.

Anatalien Far Solla-Woll stood next to her. The woman was a legend, even to Naha. She stood next to Ryun, both looking down at the courtyard, at Hiro.

“It is,” Zach answered her.

“He is immortal?” Anatalien asked.

“As of recently,” Zach nodded.

Anatalien’s eyes narrowed. “He is young.”

Naha could detect the subtext behind her words. Classers could be pushed high by others. It was often costly, and it could brick their further advancement if done poorly. Though that was not what they had done.

“He is, but he has the talent,” Zach added. “We’ve guided him, but he did most of the work on his own.”

Anatalien nodded. “And you think that Cultivation is the path for him?”

“He has no talent for skills,” Zach shrugged. It was… disappointing, at least to Naha. Both of them had a great grasp of skills, it made them feel like they failed in teaching him properly. She knew that it was his past trauma that held him back, she understood it. She had battled with it her whole life. He wasn’t broken, at least if he had been skills would’ve been a path open to him. Instead, he was just… unsure of himself. Perhaps that would change with time, but it was not something that he could overcome now. Naha knew enough about mental blocks to be able to tell.

“We have a lot of Paths in the sect, I am sure that we will find something suitable for him,” Anatalien said.

“I want the best you have,” Zach said.

Ryun glanced at him. “Our best paths are… very valuable to us.”

“As agreed, I will provide insight and instruction in skills and Aspects,” Zach said. “I have also brought the records of Class builds that the Wardens possessed; I am willing to trade them for the most suitable Path for Hiro.”

Ryun looked at Anatalien, who nodded. “Agreed. Both me and Tali would like to talk to you about skills, we are preparing to evolve ours before we head out to face the dome. But we’d also like you to instruct one of our own. Both of you.”

Naha blinked, but then nodded. It wasn’t a large ask, it was what they were here for. So that all of them could train and become stronger.