Seven days to Eldorval, the first city. Three days to the town of Rael, Ten days to the Heart of the Jaguar. There was supposed to be a four-day tour in the Heart, but the O’lotto had a change of plan. Their fast autowagons were needed somewhere else. As a result, Clarinet and the boys had to board a regular horse wagon instead. It made the five-day trip to Reihil two days longer, but they were here at last.
Built into the rocks, this fortified gateway is the last obstacle to the inner of the mountain range. Peeking at two-day climb behind, the entire ascension is unobstructed from this height. Soldiers on these walls and towers have free view of the coming guests and ample time for preparation. The twins couldn’t agree more with the denomination of natural fortress.
“Ah! Welcome back, master Kul’rak!” Yelled, one of the lookouts.
Still on his moving wagon, the blue ogre pulled his palms together making a small bow.
As the other lookouts came into view of Kul’rak and him to their, waving hands and head bows were exchanged.
“The young Kul’rak were born with inflictions. Chased away by his tribe, Kul’rak fled from his homeland. Too small to hunt and too weak to defend himself, Kul’rak would have been eaten by wild beasts if not for a miraculous meeting. Three retired Soldiers (“Soldier” is a military rank in the Naga Empire) found a near-death Kul’rak being mauled by a tiger. After deterring the beast, the group adopted the ogre child as their own. Such action wasn’t accepted by their empire, but for their service, their life was spared. The four were now connected as exiled…”
Forward nine hundred years, the child of that day has become a ripe old ogre. Apparently, Kul’rak is ten times older than his kin. Back to his story, it was nothing short of a fairy tale. There was no shortage of ways for Kul’rak to die as a child, but here he was.
Traversing the many-turn pathway, they arrived at a flat land embraced by snow-covered mountain walls. Artificial landscapes have filled the most of this flat land.
First in their field of vision was a low masonry wall but the most noticeable are the watch towers behind it. Next came another wall higher and wider than the last. Within the boundary of those bricks are crops of pea and other vegetables. Then came another wall, another, and another one. If the twins had to be honest, despite not paying much attention to the Heart, this city has most layers and towers of any city they have known, except for a few in their old world. This begged the question, “how paranoid is the mayor of this city?”
Stealing a glance from Randal, Gowen wondered if the other boy felt the same. The air of this city felt dull.
Ren gave Gowen a quiet look. Reading each other’s eyes, their opinion was mutual.
Despite being unable to get an overview of the city, there was this sense of quietness blanketed the city. Serene would be the wrong term. It was peaceful but akin to melancholy, like a gloomy raining day. Just looking at this place made them cold. The weather was cooler than on the plain but that was not the reason. This place lacked activities, heat, life. No. Not quite. It was the feeling of life. It lacked liveliness.
Reaching a three-way junction, Kul’rak and his group bid their farewell. The few passengers would also gradually take off from the moving caravan with their luggage.
Ten more minutes of moving, the wagons stopped for the last time. This was as far as the O’lotto would accompany them. Pulling their stuffs behind, the teacher and students continued on foot.
The twins couldn’t be sure, but this city appeared to have the same level of diversity as the Heart. Among the group of pedestrians that just passed by them were those with fairer skins and silver hair, the dark elves. Overall, they were not much different from wood elves except for those two points.
The fae though was like a different species. They were more than a hand shorter, or twenty centimetres according to what they have read. Rather than miniature elves, the fae were like preteens. They had bigger head and eyes, a less defining face, and a visibly longer pair of ears. In other races, the ears barely higher than their head. The fae had ears protrude at least a finger above their head. Another point… Ren and Gowen weren’t sure if they used the correct words, but the fae looked soft. Their body didn’t appear to be built for labour. These are ancestral traits from the forest and leaf elves. One could say the fae had had the least tampering from the gods.
There were many faces on the street. Even though they had never seen an elderly elf since the day they were born, they could tell the youth from the ageless elders. Young elves were those shone like sunlight, while the old folks forced a smile out of politeness. When not having to see with another person, their expression slumped down radiating a sense of sadness. The older one got, the more exhausted they were. What have they lost? How long have they been living to wither that much? These questions, the twins kept to themselves.
Distancing from downtown, they trailed up to a quieter corner of the city. How quiet? In the other streets, at least they could hear the talking. In here, the dominant sound belonged to the rustling leaves and gentle breezes.
Randal felt a chill running along his spine. “Teach, is this place abandoned?”
“Of course not. Every part of this city is filled with people. You just don’t see them.”
Gowen confirmed that he did sense faint spirit from within the homes. Those who lived here hid deep in the coverage of their walls.
“We are close.” Clarinet chinned at the brick-built structure ahead.
Upon close inspection, the kids could only stare in surprise.
“Are you sure, teach? Isn’t this… a mini castle?”
What was holding their attention was a gatehouse-like entrance. It has a metallic portcullis, a vertical-closing gate, protecting the double doors behind. The surrounding walls are almost as high as the gatehouse blocking intruding eyes of the outside. Exactly as Randal had called, this was a mini castle.
Clarinet touched on a glass panel on the brick behind the portcullis. “This was my family’s ancestral property. Its fort-like design persisted since the Millennium War. My elders want to keep its function as a safehouse.” Truly a fort, there were arrowslits dotting on the wall allowing defenders to attack invaders.
The portcullis and the double doors slowly opened. Waiting for them inside was an elven woman with striking resemblance to Clarinet. Her thick braid was yellow as corn hair, reached down to her waist. Visiting her face up close, there were faint bags under her eyes. A few wrinkles could also be spotted along her eye tails.
She is old. A conclusion Ren and Gowen shared.
“Sopra!” Their teacher threw herself into the arms of the old lady.
“Clarin.” Sopra returned her affection with a light squeeze.
“Ok. Let me introduce you to the boys. Sopra. These are the children I mentioned. Randal, Gowen and Ren.”
“Boys. This is my great great great grandaunt, Sopra.”
“Hello, young ones.”
This artificial smile again.
“Let’s get inside first.”
The first thing they encountered was a small courtyard. The gate, behind; the walls, surrounding; and the main house, ahead. All were at a comparative height. Looking up from this open space, they felt like being at the bottom of a big well. The people that built this place really crammed everything into this limited area.
With how packed this place was, the twins had expected the inside to be dark and stagnant. Imagine how surprised they were being greeted with sunlight and fresh wind. There was a trick in this building, the atrium in the central tower of the main house. With assistance from well-placed metal mirrors, light was led deep into each room bringing brightness down from the ceiling. Meanwhile, the airflow windows maintained a continuous exchange of air between the inside and the outside. This was all the twins could deduct. Further analysis of the clever design requires in-dept knowledge to understand and appreciate. Knowledge the twins were equipped.
Reaching the living quarter, Sapro showed them their room. After putting their baggage down, they headed to the dining room. There were foods readied on the table.
“Treat this place like your home.”
“Thank you, Ms Sapro.”
“Just Sapro is enough.”
Randal and Gowen too gave their thanks.
“These breads are good.”
“It’s good you like it.”
“Sapro. Are you cooking all of this?”
“No. The breads are from a well-known local. The foods are delivered from a restaurant nearby. If you like, I will call them again for dinner.”
“Ah. No.”
“You don’t like them?”
“No. No. That’s not what I mean.”
This was a new situation. Being invited to someone else’s domain and treated with their homemade was the usual in this world and the previous. It’s a different issue for bought foods. Ren knew they weren’t cheap.
“You don’t need to be reserved. I have been eating this way for years.”
Thankfully, Clarinet came to his rescue. “It’s ok, Ren.”
“Thank you, Sapro.”
At the start of afternoon, everyone got together on the second floor. It was time. The month-long journey was for this. Stepping out of the staircase, they entered a large study room. The wooden floor under their feet felt sturdy like granite. The room was extensive but not spacious. The coaches, chairs, tables, and other furniture littered the area. While stacks of books and notes obscured the very drawing of the wallpapers.
Sopra lifted the coach in the middle of the room out of the way to the surprise of the boys. She moved a few other things too.
Clarinet seemed to know what she was doing and gave a helping hand. She pointed the eager boys to the corner of the rectangular carpet. Together they unveiled a large diagram carved into the floor. Due to its complexity, the twins only had a general idea of its function.
Sopra brought over a round table like those fortune tellers use. It was made of a transparent material. She placed it at the center of the diagram then put a glass tablet on top of it. This tablet was similar to the one that was used to measure their magic affinity (chapter 1) but double the width. “You boys step inside and put your hands onto that tablet and stay still.”
They did as instructed. Meanwhile, Sopra turned the coach toward the twins and pulled over a wooden table for everyone to settle down. With pencils and note ready, she initiated the diagram.
More than half a minute later, Sopra’s complexion crumbled into annoyance. “Ren and Gowen, dears. Keep standing for a bit longer.” She reached out her hand and begun chanting voiceless words to the diagram. After repeating the same process of activating and reconfiguring for more than ten times over the span of several minutes, Sopra exhaled defeatedly. “You can stop now, dears. Randal, can you take their place?”
It appeared Sopra was measuring something but was unsuccessful. When it came to Randal, the result came up just few seconds later. “It’s complete. You can return, Randal.” As the human boy got closer, Sopra gave him a half-hearted congratulation while looking away at some of her notes. “Five thirty-three. Great score.”
“Five thirty-three?”
“That’s your magic affinity, Randal.” Clarinet explained.
“Is… is that good?”
“Four twenty for 5 years old. Adult, five hundred. Your age average at four fifty-five.” Sopra elaborated.
“I think that’s good.” Randal exclaimed, but then he remembered. “What about Ren and Gowen?”
“They can not be measured.”
“You can’t measure us?”
“Your affinity can only be measured by testing how easy it is for you to use magic. Somehow the tablet could not make you to use magic. I tried many approaches. The results were the same.”
“Sopra. Could you try it this way?”
Upon hearing Clarinet’s suggestion, Sopra changed the magic installation one more time and told the boys to retry.
She noted down her observance with irritation. Her fingers kneaded together. The result she got was easy to read. The thing she couldn’t understand was how it happened. “Clarinet told me that the wagon couldn’t leech your mana, so I made a few changes to observe it in detail. Your mana is unable to be ignited, and I don’t know why.”
“But we use magic to summon Randal.”
“Yes. It can work on this new summoning magic, but nothing else.” Collecting her thought, Sopra suggested. “There is a pattern. I think your mana is different than us.”
“That would explain a lot...” “But-” But we tried.
The truth is the twins suspected their mana to be different around six months after learning under Clarinet. They were reincarnated denizens of a different world. They brought the knowledge about that world with them. There was no reason not to suspect they would bring along more than just that.
They hypothesised that they have the old mana within them and only old magic can utilise this kind of mana. Thus, they tried the old magic during those two years. New magic or old magic, none of them was working. They even tricked Randal into helping them with their secret experiments. However, be it Randal or them, the old magic can not be used in this world.
If they were truly having different mana, then what is it? Why is it incompatible to magic of both worlds? What is the nature of this summoning magic that they can use? And how did they come to possess this mana and magic? What had happened? What had happened to them? The goddess? Co-
“Ren.” Gowen whispered into his ear. Like the sleeping beauty breaking off from her enchantment, Ren awaked into the curious eyes of everyone else. He has been dozing off to his own world for awhile and garnering quite the attention.
“They get lost on their own, sometimes. It’s how they are. Please don’t mind them.” Randal attempted to fix the situation.
“Sorry.”
Clarinet and Sopra’s sharp look weren’t fooled. The twins were hiding something. Since Clarinet didn’t want to force a question, Sopra too decided not to interfere.
On the other side, the twins knew the adults were keeping a mental note. “Tenacity and a conscious mind are requirements for every scholar.” That was one of Clarinet’s favourite quotes.
Fast forward one week.
They came from the cover of the trees, brutes in amber skin. Their attires were of leather and bone. Stone, wood, and animal parts, be the norm of their weapons, but occasionally metals did mix in. Their scouts have already told them the status. This town was empty. With nothing to fear, they paraded Rael like their own.
While there was nothing to be cautious about, it didn’t please them. Sniffling the faint scent of the townsfolks that used to be here, their face was grim. There was truly nothing left except for the dwellings and abandoned belongings. The more stubborn among them searched for the stranded that could still be in hiding.
Many of their warriors laid defeated by their waves, and yet none of the hunters had gotten their hand on a single skull for trophy. Those puny long ears were quite the game. Dangerous they may be, that only incites the big players. A raiding party of five hundred strong was gathered, this very party. Their target was the weak-looking settlement lying to the sunset side of the bigger settlement. Blood for blood. Death for death. The debt was to be paid in full.
Sly, slippery long ears!
For whatever reason, they seemed to know the raiders were onto them. Like smoked beehive, the long ears took off with their belongings in herds.
How could they let their preys slip off like that?
Obeying the head warrior, they marched through the forest without rest. To think the preys would know it too.
Cowards!
It’s a shame, but there was nothing more to do. Instead of bloodfest, their job today was to give this village a good pillage. Anything tough, anything strong, anything smooth, anything shining, anything weird-looking, anything good-smelling… The head warrior wanted loots and loots shall be delivered to her.
Barely half an hour has passed, and the top dogs had already divided the larger buildings among themselves. Rael had become a forward base of the Brus. Inside the town hall, Zuzu smiled deviously at the few rusted knives and metal objects. If these were as large as her axe, they would be equally strong. Begging the chief were the right call after all.
When she heard of what the long ears were using, she knew they would have some of these in their village. At last, luck was not on her side. She couldn’t believe they caught wind of her arrival. Good loots are pried from the cold body of the defeated, not stashed in abandoned home.
Still, Zuzu has dispatched her most vicious trophy collectors. The long ears must have warriors with them, and warriors mean weapons. It doesn’t matter how many of her underlings die. As long as they got them, it is guaranteed her looters would bring back the good stuffs.
“Hurry, Zudin! Hurry and bring back the loots!”
