Nonetheless, it was only now that I actually paid attention to the other person. It wasn’t entirely my fault. Said person was wearing a long-sleeved hoodie, and I couldn’t make out any distinguishing features whatsoever. I looked even closer and flinched.
There was a facemask on too.
There was no way in hell I could read his expression, so I settled on the wizard. I had gotten an inkling of what the old man was like when he swung by earlier for my Beacon, but I never really got around to asking his name. It didn’t really seem like the right place or time to ask him about it too. The old man’s face was impassive, other than the fact that a corner of his mouth was turned up.
Mr. Meng’s voice sounded out suddenly, drawing our attention to a spot of flowers and frills.
“Over here!”
The patch of flowers and frills shuddered, which was probably his way of telling us where the entrance to the maze was. Everyone else followed, looking around cautiously. For me at least, the trip from the study room to the garden had gifted me with a newfound caution for low hanging decorations. I wasn’t really sure whether everyone was thinking the same way I was, but somehow, everyone had developed a weird kind of camaraderie in navigating the quaint, frilly forest.
After brushing aside a few more shrubs and fluffy bits of wool, we finally emerged in a clearing, where a little house, or rather, hut was built. Small and dainty, it gave off a hint of eccentricity, and was rather reminiscent of the house that I had bunked in while staying with Igor. Mr. Meng was standing at the door, evidently waiting for us.
“We’re here.” Mr. Meng briefly took stock of our disgruntled expressions, before knocking on the door gently. “Can I come in?”
A soft voice replied, “The door’s unlocked. Do feel free!”
With a faint smile adorning his face, Mr. Meng pushed the door open, and we followed him in silence.
Chapter 9
A peaceful silence pervaded the interior of the hut. Such stillness should have been unnatural anywhere, but this stillness for some reason suited the surroundings perfectly. The hut could have been built with soundproofing in mind, but that suggestion had been dismissed as quickly as it came. A turn of my head showed that the others also felt this way. Strings of light were flitting around the old wizard, his guard clearly raised. Hao Wei was looking around cautiously, despite being unable to do anything much.
But what drew my attention the most was the hooded, probably anti-social person leaning against the wall. Although his facial expression was entirely hidden, there was an aura of utter leisure around him. Just watching him gave me the impression that he was actually resisting the urge to lie down on the floor immediately to sleep.
I narrowed my eyes.
Such a reaction could only mean that he was entirely confident in what came next. There were a few possible reasons, but all of them meant that he was worth keeping an eye on.
The lights powered up, illuminating the interior of the hut—which was larger on the inside—and its inhabitant. Seated on a comfortable wooden chair was a girl, dressed in a long, frilly dress. Silver, shoulder-length hair was draped messily around her shoulders, making it seem like she just woke up from a comfortable nap. I started backwards upon taking a closer look.
There was yet another sense of familiarity with the current scene. It didn’t really matter much though. I was pretty sure that most people would have such a feeling when they came across someone that looked so otherworldly. And frankly speaking, there was something more interesting to ask. My eyes fell onto her silvery hair.
“Mr. Meng.”
He jumped, clearly not expecting anyone to say anything while stunned by her beauty. After a moment, he replied, “Is there something wrong?”
“Not really, but…” I paused for dramatic tension, relishing the questioning looks on everyone’s face. “Is she really your daughter?”
A thoughtful expression flashed onto Hao Wei’s face, while the old wizard jammed his lips so tightly together it looked like he was pouting. The hooded fellow was shaking quite badly, which was unexpected, with the appearance he had. Mr. Meng still had his usual expression on, so it seemed like it was a question that someone had posed to him before in the past. I was willing to bet that I was the first to ask this question so quickly though.
I was feeling slightly apprehensive at his expression, though.
“I’m pretty sure.”
That same gentle smile he had on when he opened the door appeared again, and I relaxed. Me asking that question had been a rather impulsive action: a bad habit of my mouth shooting off without asking me about it. I mentally berated myself and took a step backwards, waiting for Mr. Meng to continue.
“Anyway, this here is my daughter, the charge that you’ll all be protecting. Her name is Aurora.” Mr. Meng’s fingers fluttered, gesturing for her to stand up and greet us.
She smiled and did just that. “Nice to meet you. I’ll be in everyone’s care then.” Her gleaming eyes swept across the four of us, and she nodded lightly.
“Throughout the next two weeks, you’ll be living here for a faster response time to intruders. Naturally, your daily needs will be attended to. Furthermore, I’ll be living with everyone else here.” Mr. Meng glanced around, before cracking his knuckles. “So, don’t try anything funny with my daughter.”
Everyone else smiled sheepishly in response. I swallowed down a lump that had somehow formed in my throat, successfully masking it as a yawn. Mr. Meng looked critically at the sight of me yawning, before letting out a sigh.
Shaking his head, he tore his eyes away from me. “Let us proceed with introductions now. Your name, and your abilities will suffice for now. You’ll have two weeks to get acquainted after all.”
I yawned: this time for real. There was no time like the present, so I decided to go first. I drew out a leather-bound book from my bag and started speaking.
“My name’s Aster. Aster Newton. According to the Practitioner Circle, I’m a fully certified practitioner.” I flipped through the old book. “Uh, that means I’m a conduit that is able to manipulate spiritual and Physical Laws without any backlash to manifest any desired phenomena.”
Mr. Meng had an odd look on his face. “You sound rather uncertain. And…” he paused, looking at the book. “Why are you reading directly from a book?”
I smiled helplessly. “I can’t help it. I’ve skimmed through this book, but I can’t exactly claim that I’m a textbook definition of what a practitioner is. I just…” I fumbled for an appropriate description. “—wish for something, and it happens.” I rubbed my nose in frustration at everyone else’s querying gazes. “It can’t be helped. I’ll do a live demonstration then.”
I extended my hand, palm facing outwards. It had been a long time since I took up any pose, but it apparently helped in manifesting phenomena. I murmured a single word: “Reinforce.”.
The air thrummed in response, and a golden circle swept outwards, creating a white flame in its wake. The flame was a gauge of how much strength the Ward had left. The color sometimes varied, but most of the time it was usually gold or silver, although I’d called up a few eyebrow-raising colors like pink or viridian a few times before.
A silvery hue merged with the golden circle, making it more resplendent, while a crystal encapsulated the flame. It was the usual combination of defensive abilities that I had used a few days back, but I had made it visible. Although even if I didn’t, everyone who was spiritually aware could feel it too.
“Flame.” A little twister of flame danced merrily on my fingers, before being extinguished by a passing gust of wind a few seconds later.
“So, uhm, yeah, something like that. I just say the word, and it happens. As a practitioner, I can currently manipulate natural and Spiritual Laws.” My voice echoed out. The old wizard was the first one to meet my eyes, and when they did, I took a step back. He was looking at me like a potential experimental specimen. Mr. Meng narrowed his eyes, before knocking the old m
an on the head lightly.
I smiled wryly at the old man’s apologetic nod. “Also, I cannot do anything to humans — not without suffering a backlash. So, do keep that in mind.”
Mr. Meng nodded at my words. It was obvious that he knew the restraints upon a practitioner. “That’s good enough for us for now. There’ll be time to strategize later, anyway.” He fell silent, waiting for the next person.
“I’ll go next, then.” The old wizard stood up, his demeanor an entire 180 degrees from how he just behaved. “My name is Miles. Miles Dixon Wolfe Lysander.”
As he said those words, lightning flashed, and the distant roar of thunder came from directly above us. He grinned at the sight of us flinching. “It’s just me revealing my True Name. With this, you can induce a form of telepathy with me by calling out my True Name, although it only works once.”
I wasn’t exactly sure what everyone else was thinking, but I was quite sure that a thought of ‘should I try it’ was flying around in everyone’s head right now. Still, if he was that formidable, he didn’t really need to scare a junior like me, right? I put aside the random thoughts and turned my attention back to him.
“Otherwise, just call me Miles, especially the young punks here. So, I’m an all-purpose wizard, which just means I can do everything, but if you ask me, I specialize in information magics and spells. We used to have ranks, but now we’re all just wizards.” He nodded, this time apparently to himself. “I’m good at information gathering, but if you want me to construct barriers, you’ll be better off looking for the practitioner kid here.”
Silence fell as he stopped talking. I nudged Hao Wei, prompting him to introduce himself. He took a step forward and began speaking.
“A good day to everyone here. My name is Hao Wei, and it is my pleasure to acquaint myself with everyone present here. I’m here on the behest of Aster and will be receiving instruction from him for the next two weeks. I can’t claim to be useful in this situation, but I am perfectly content in being an errand boy for the esteemed sirs here.”
He bowed and took a step back. He apparently had startled everyone else present. It wasn’t the first time I’ve told him about it, but he’s quite the leopard in that sense. It would probably take a day or so before everyone gets used to his rather formal style. With him stepping back, my eyes fell upon the hooded person, who blended in so well into the surroundings that I wouldn’t have remembered him if he wasn’t standing opposite of me.
“I’m an assassin,” a quiet voice came from the hooded person. “I’m not like you guys, but Mr. Meng hired me on the basis that someone in my line of work would know what’s the best way to protect someone.”
He extended his hand, and a small pocket knife appeared. “I’m skilled with a knife, but I don’t think that’ll be too useful if you guys aren’t lying about what you can do. As for a name, call me Crow.” His fingers flickered, and the knife vanished.
With Crow done, Mr. Meng stepped forward. “I trust you all know my name and position, so I’ll skip that and tell you all about my abilities. I used to be at the Foundation Establishment level, but I’ve regressed one entire cultivation realm to the great circle of Qi Refining eight years ago, during the Third Collapse.”
He looked around, taking stock of my blank, questioning face. “On the thirtieth of April 2013, at the stroke of midnight, the ceiling that restricted the amount of spiritual strength one could have dropped. Anyone who violated this limit were killed at daybreak. Spiritual energies fell to a new low, and as a result, there are no longer any Foundation Establishment cultivators or sorcerers.”
Mr. Meng frowned and shook his head. “All I can do now is to externalize qi and some ranged abilities. You’ll see it when it happens. It doesn’t look all that impressive, but it’ll be entirely sufficient to fend off enemies. Anyway, it’s lunch now, so let’s get some grub.”
Chapter 10
The gentle clink of tableware and cutlery was the only sound that could be heard in the dining room, accompanied by the occasional grunt and swallow. The five of us, including Aurora, were seated around a round mahogany table. Aurora was the last one to enter the room for lunch, and her slightly disheveled hair hinted at a nice, pre-lunch nap. However, I wasn’t sure if she was entirely awake. Food was spilling around her plate and lips, and I was barely resisting the urge to grab a napkin.
The dining room was not as elaborately decorated as the rest of the mansion, however. It was notably free of the pink and fluffy hangings of the main residence, and the window looked every part an ordinary window. Given the normal decorations here, I had the feeling that Mr. Meng occasionally invited guests to this little cabin, despite having a study of his own. The joys of being rich, I guess. I speared a chunk of chicken with my fork and raised it, examining it. There was even a chef in-house, and if I didn’t get it wrong, there was also a mini-warehouse of food and water in the basement.
Mr. Meng was prepared for a siege. Another bombshell, if not anything else. I had skimmed through the file while lunch was being served and had noticed that it primarily contained detailed expressions on supernatural beings.
“Mr. Meng.” Hao Wei, who was sitting beside me, raised his head. “Earlier on, you mentioned something about a Third Collapse, right? Did that also mean that there was a Second and First Collapse too?”
Mr. Meng, who was in the middle of delivering a spoonful of rice to his mouth, paused thoughtfully. “I don’t have the full details, but for us cultivators, the aftermath of the Second Collapse meant that we were unable to enter Core Formation. From that day on, the highest cultivation realm we could reach was Foundation Establishment.”
He looked at Miles, who nodded. “It was around four hundred years ago. The then-White Council, precursors to the Conclave, lost every single Magi that night too. Furthermore, the True Magics of old were rendered unusable, which was a huge pity.”
A shadow fell on Hao Wei’s face. “But what caused the Second Collapse?”
“No one knows what caused the Second Collapse.” Mr. Meng prodded at a chunk of meat lazily. “But for the Third…” He hesitated, uncertain of his next few words.
“The Conclave suspects that it was the Dawn Protector—”
Miles cut in, “the Primordial that was supposedly the guardian of the mortal world.”
Mr. Meng nodded in agreement. “It wasn’t just wizards or cultivators who got affected by the Third Collapse. Many powerful supernatural beings died during the event too. The classic Vampires that our world’s entertainment depict no longer walk this Earth, to give a relatable example. Likewise, High beings are now a thing of the past.”
“… High?” Hao Wei cocked his head.
“It’s a modifier given to monsters with true intelligence and enhanced abilities. I’m quite sure D&D stole this term; but I’m going on a tangent there,” I replied, before shoveling another spoonful of rice into my mouth.
“Every Collapse is a leveler for mortals. They enforce a limit to how much power one can have—and kill those who are above said limit. We’re at the stage where a human security detail, armed with rifles, can contend against a supernatural attack, or a small incursion from the Far Shore,” Crow suddenly said, “A successful example first happened six years ago, when a Kobold community in Greece was entirely wiped out by the Sacred Band: a branch of the Hellenic Army. It used to be dominated by High Kobolds, but the Third Collapse left the community at one-fifth its original size.”
“As such,” Mr. Meng followed up, “with our bodyguard line-up, we’re quite confident in fending off small teams of assailants for the next fortnight, by which…” His voice trailed off, before growing strong again, “especially since we have Mr. Newton. The Practitioner Circle is quite the secretive organisation, but the Alliance suspects that the practitioners are the ones least affected by the Collapse.”
I eyed Mr. Meng suspiciously. “Is this the reason you went to such lengths to rope me in?”
“One of the reasons, yes.” Mr
. Meng’s eyes shifted to a particularly juicy chunk of pork and scooped it up into his mouth. “Of course, you bringing another practitioner along was a bonus.”
“The stars went out of whack too: when the Third Collapse happened.” Miles put down his cutlery and leaned back; his left hand cupping his chin. “It was quite the conundrum, if you asked me. The Dawn Protector shouldn’t be able to affect the stars, but he was the only active Primordial we knew of.”
“In that case, isn’t it possible that we might just be maligning him?” I asked.
Miles drank from his cup, leaving my question unanswered. I picked up my utensils and continued eating. Silence hung in the dining room again, as everyone focused on their own plates. Crow had mostly escaped my notice earlier, but the fact that he still had his hood on was quite eye catching: if not extremely rude at the table. The face mask he had on was pushed up just enough to reveal his mouth; which just begged the question as to why he didn’t remove it all together. Weren’t assassins supposed to blend into their surroundings?
The way he handled his utensils was equally flashy. Especially the way he wielded his fork. The utensil in question twirled flashily as he stabbed into bits of meat, dancing around and blocking others from snatching his morsels. By now, the meat dishes were getting scarce, and for some reason he and Mr. Meng started to snatch food from each other.
“Aren’t they supposed to be older than us, Aster?” Hao Wei observed the assassin and the stern, no-nonsense father playing around with each other. He licked his lips as he watched more food being abducted.
I tilted my head, in time to dodge a stray piece of meat whizzing past. “I’m not that sure about Crow, but Mr. Meng definitely is.”
“At this rate, my impression of them is going out the window.”
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