Alexander followed Jiayi as she led him through the stone steps carved on the side of the steep mountain. Simply looking at the steps made Alex see it’s age, but interestingly enough, it lacked the wear and tear that the elements should have made on it.

Seeing his bewilderment and direction of his gaze Jiayi quickly understood what Alex was pondering over as she explained.

“The realm does not experience bad weather, in fact the sun shines all year round. There has not been a single storm in this realm, Water is also not an issue as the various waterways and waterfalls provide enough hydration for all the plants, animals and living beings in this realm!”

Proud, the teen girl puffed up her chest as she had her head held high continuing to walk up the stone steps. Alexander smiled and feigned acceptance of the answer as he quietly followed her though.

Water is not the only problem though, the moisture in the air, the movement of people, wind carrying dust. There are plenty of ways for stone to erode over time, the mere act of us stepping on the stones causes some, although minute damage but damage nonetheless to the stone. 

But if I did say that to her I’ll face another round of… well let’s leave that for later

Alexander recalled the travel to this realm, he was led towards a certain cavern where Jiayi and her companions built a formation. Then they chanted a weird incantation which created a blue vortex which they led him through.

After passing though, it seems that the vortex would implode causing the formation to break and thus removing all evidence of its existence.

The realm was, according to Jiayi, kept within a secret cavern in the Kunlun Mountains. The cavern was manmade and the entrance used to be open. But after certain events unfolded in the past the entrance was sealed shut.

A powerful charm made even the most powerful of mages struggle to find the entrance which was sealed to make it look like a natural rock face. If that weren’t enough the pathway towards the entrance was destroyed turning it into nothing more than a very steep, near vertical rock face.

Alexander did not have the opportunity nor time to confirm this as after arriving at this realm he was treated as an important guest. While the adults spoke with the elders he was led to a waiting area where he and Jiayi talked about history, the clan and other matters. Even his admission into hogwarts, something he tried to hide was unfortunately brought up.

The talk did not last long though as Alexander and Jiayi were summoned to meet the elders and following the girl, the two ascended the winding stone steps.

In fact, Alexander asked if he could use magic to quickly fly up but he was barred from doing so as the sky’s were apparently the territory of a pack of magical beasts. They had a pact with Jiayi’s clan to protect them from flying intruders but that made flying impossible within the clan.

After Alexander thought about it, given the inherent abilities of the clan and the repercussions of the curse. Making such a deal for the clan heads at that time may have been a wise choice. They were isolated from the outside world for quite some time after all, moreover brooms were not really an ancient invention. 

With all that said, Jiayi reached the top of the stairs without breaking a sweat as she was used to this type of exercise. She turned towards Alex expecting him to be panting and sweating buckets, she was planning to make fun of him but her hopes were shattered when she saw the boy smiling at her.

“So this is the elder’s hall?”

Alexander said ignoring the disappointed look on the girls face as he proceeded to walk towards the entrance of the huge ancient structure.

It looks like an ancient Chinese Palace, but with less stone and more wood and natural elements. It looks like an emperor’s abode created to seamlessly blend into nature.

The boy praised the structure that was elegantly covered with various mysterious vines, two gigantic trees towering over the castle shading it from the sun. Stone steps created a pathway that looked almost natural by their inconsistent sizes and meandering path.

This may have been a sight to behold to look at from afar…

Alexander thought but quickly shook off such ideas as the warning about the flying beast pack flashed in his mind. 

Can’t go messing up their ancient pact just to satisfy my own selfishness.

With a faint smile on his face, Alexander followed the meandering path slowly as he took in the surroundings. He passed by a bunch of weird and exotic plant and wildlife, observing them for a moment with his magical vision before continuing on to the path.

It took him a good 30 mins to reach the huge doors, a matter that made Jiayi sigh as she wanted to simply walk through the beautiful lawn but had to follow Alexander’s lead as he was the guest.

It did not help that Alex refused to follow her when she carelessly walked through the grass. Ultimately Jiayi was forced to follow in Alexander’s eccentricities, all of this though was observed by a variety of gaze.

I guess how I act is also part of their test

Alexander sighed internally as he pushed open the huge wooden doors before quickly entering the castle.

When he entered what greeted him was a classical scene from any Asian historical drama. But instead of a single emperor or king, what stood atop the raised platform was a group of elderly women.

Below the platform, lined in neat rows, was a huge gathering of women. They all looked to have different ancestries but their style of dress was very- eastern, no Chinese. The fashion was in no way behind the times, Alex even saw some modern accessories and implements.

A pen, a small notebook, why would you bring a calculator, wait… that's a pocket calculator… then that woman has an abacus… weird…

Seeing the weird mix of ancient, modern and magical implements held by the women. He even saw a silver Rolex on the wrist of one of the women seated at the front rows!

Oh god, this place is magical isn’t it? Why are those things still working?! Especially that calculator!

Alexander’s thoughts raced but he did not have enough time to study what he saw as he quickly found himself just below the steps to go up the platform.

“Alexander Walsh, greetings! We are grateful to you for taking your time to meet with us despite your busy schedule as a student.”

The words spoken by the elder leading the group quickly made Alexander’s eyes sharpen.

She knows… but- wait, so there was a bug? But how?! I didn’t detect anything at all!

“No need to panic, this realm is controlled by us and the magic follows the will of the owner. It is quite easy for us to secretly use the realm to hear things from miles away”

The elder spoke in a calm and kind tone but her word had a few hidden meanings which Alex understood.

So you’re telling me that you could trap me or kill me easily huh? A threat from the get go…

Alexander mused as he smiled, the threat was something that maybe the elder did not want to make. But given her words and the timing as well as how she said them, smart people, or those who tend to read between the lines could easily see a different meaning. 

Whether intentional or not, the elder had unfortunately made Alexander raise his guard against them.

Now then… I guess this meeting will not be as simple as it seems