Chapter 3

Chapter 3 “So tell me, how do they treat you?” Frey asked, knowing the weight of the words he had just uttered. She stared blankly, trying to grab the situation at hand, her entire bloodline was condemned for the actions of one man. All she could manage to think of wasn’t excuses used by lower bloods to escape their fate. “They treat me the same way they treated those related to him when he made the breakthrough. And yes I call it a breakthrough because he was granted the ability to command the bodies of those who had passed on, if he was given a chance he could have achieved something great enough to rival the demon emperor’s court.” She said with pure confidence, which irritated most of the royals present. “Good to know you’re not like the rest, now help me with this” he said finally looking her in the eyes as he pointed at an empty spot on his palm. Zephirine was confused at first not understanding why Frey was behaving like this, acting like everything he just said didn’t have importance, but Axel knew what he was trying to do, so he just smiled went to her and whispered for her not to worry, it seemed like he was making a new friend. “So do you see it yet or do I have to point it out for you?” Frey asked in an inpatient tone. As she looked closely she finally saw traces of ethereal runes embedded on his hand but as she looked again she saw it wasn’t just Frey, every one of them had it on different parts of their bodies, including her. “They feel just like the aura on the rock you were resting on” she added, which impressed Frey as he smiled as he walked back to the barrier. “You catch on quick Zephy, now that you can feel it, what happens next?” he asked grinning from ear to ear as he knew what she was about to do. As she walked towards the gap between the boulder and the barrier her eyes glowed bright purple as she tried to decrypt the spell, which caused a chain reaction causing the runes hidden on everyone to fully manifest. “Scriptura sub carne latens, codex sub spiritu absconditus, Iusto signo oboedi.Appare.” As she finished her spell the runes glowed with colours that represented its host, with the exception of her, Frey, Axel and Princess Selene. Each had a different glitch with the interface that had appeared on the others. For Axel it was the colour of the interface that caught him off-guard, his father was affiliated with earth and his mother was affiliated with nature and plant life, so he expected to be something close as per previous tests, the interface’s elemental affinity read metal, which was a rare class to be given under earth. He was the only one to ponder on it as the rest just deactivated the interface. ‘I SEE YOU HAVE FOUND YOUR KEYS, WELL WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, COME IN.’ the voice resounded across the valley as they finally realised it was a test. As everyone walked through the barrier with ease, Axel asked Zephy to answer a question. “How did you do it, you only knew it was encrypted, how did you know what spell to use?” Axel questioned “What did it mean? That wasn’t a spell any random mage could pull off, so what did it mean.” Frey knew whatever she did was powerful enough to reveal his true status, so he needed to know how. She smiled and walked towards the barrier, as she looked back at them she said the meaning. “Script beneath flesh, code beneath breath, Respond to the rightful cipher, Manifest. That’s what it meant, but I saw something the moment I started chanting, it was a symbol I haven’t seen in any grimoire” she stated. Frey didn’t learn magic but knew enough to know she was someone he needed if he wanted to progress. ‘WELCOME CHILDREN, DID YOU FIND ENTRY HARD?’ The voice resounded again, this time louder. As they walked into a hall made of white marble, a closer view would show the hints of gold were actually runes pulsing with divine energy. “I see getting in took longer than expected, was it that challenging?” The voice finally manifested, in the form of a hologram-like being that looked roughly 60 or so. “And who might you be?” Frey asked as he walked forward trying to remember if he had seen the being before them before. “Young lord starlight, I see you’ve grown to be….” Then it seemed like he glitched, just for a second, but just a few noticed it, “quite the young man. No time to waste now, let’s begin the tour.” Frey squinted, he didn’t move as everyone followed behind the hologram, then she asked if he saw it, just to realise Axel and Zephirine saw it too. With a nod they knew it was something only they saw, so they suggested sticking together. “I didn’t get your name outside, I’m f—“ before he would continue he was cut off. “I know who you are. Just so you know,you don’t act the way they say,” Frey smiled knowing what he meant, he was used to it so he didn’t take offence in Axel’s words. “I’m Axel Geadamas, earth tank at your service lord starlight.” He said as he took a knee. “Earth?—“ Frey said, confused. “Okay get up, I don't want anyone to think I’m starting a cult or something like that” he said as he gestured for them to catch up with the group seeing as they had covered a considerable distance. “---and here we have the main armory, it houses the best weapons, gear and artifacts on this side of the drift.” He added. As the gang made it to see the final stop on the tour, the hologram’s aura flow glitched again, but this time only Zephirine noticed the slight disruption. “And our final stop for the evening, the dorms. There are more rooms because you guys aren’t the only ones here,most of you are just special.” He said as he finally stated they could find their rooms with the interface, which was officially called System. It contained every information that had been gathered for over centuries, only granted to the warriors and adventurers to reduce the casualties caused during raids as most didn’t know the stats of creatures. The version they had was customized to their current state of mind. “Go to sleep, you’ll need it for what is to come.” he said as he vanished. Then Frey asked if anyone caught the name of the holographic figure, to which they all replied negatively which disappointed Frey. The time was already past 9 and they needed to be up by 6. “Since we’ll see each other tomorrow, there’s no reason to waste more time standing here, good night all.” A young man with the same physique as Frey said as he left for his room, Frey forced a smile as he watched the individual wave at him as he walked away, which confused Zephirine. “His name is Tharion, descendant of the queen of terravorn and he is the reason I’m considered to be a threat to house Frostfire.” Frey told them without hesitation, which caught them by surprise. “Don’t say anything, go to sleep, you'll need it.” “And what about you, aren’t you going to rest?” Axel asked, quite puzzled With a grin that went ear to ear, he replied as his aura started boiling. “Rest?, I’m going to test how durable the gear here really is”