Land of Magic

by Kirill Klevanski

  Hadjar and Einen didn’t care about such trivial things. Both of them had their own goals that they’d carried with them through the years of endless battles, losses, and hardships. The attitude of others could never make them doubt their own strength. Still, they were pleased to see that people now treated them with respect.

  “Look, mother, they’re disciples of ‘The Holy Sky’ School!

  “Honorable disciples!”

  “They’re just ordinary disciples, but even that is a great achievement!”

  “Father! One day, I’ll become a disciple of ‘The Holy Sky’ School, too!”

  “A noble goal, my son!”

  Similar conversations could be heard everywhere. Only a few people had managed to pass the exams and become ordinary disciples. There were two other prestigious Schools, ‘The Meltwater’ and ‘The Quick Dream’, but their entrance exams were much easier. The disciples of these institutions, of course, were also lauded and had a high social status, but it was nothing compared to ‘The Holy Sky’ School’s disciples.

  “I still can’t get used to it,” Einen said while glancing at the stone buildings, wide avenues, shops, restaurants, taverns, auction houses, and brothels. “How many people live here?”

  “According to Rahaim, almost two hundred million people.”

  “By the Great Turtle…”

  If Hadjar hadn’t already seen the Imperial capital from a bird’s-eye view, he wouldn’t have believed that it was so vast. For a former resident of Earth, it was almost impossible to imagine such a huge city. Someone from Lidus would find it a little bit easier to accept. This world was truly boundless, and the number of people who inhabited it could hardly fit in one’s head. Although, keeping this in mind made it easy to understand how so many tens of thousands of true cultivators could all end up in just one school.

  Communication between the far reaches of the city was carried out through air travel. Looking up, Hadjar saw countless flying boats and ships sailing through the azure sky. The sails of the largest ones — the frigates and battleships — had the coats of arms of the family clans or Darnassus itself emblazoned upon them. The power of such war machines was amazing to behold. One such frigate could easily wipe a few kingdoms like Balium off the face of the planet (if this world was even a planet). No wonder Darnassus didn’t really care about the barbarian kingdoms.

  Half an hour later, the friends reached the stable nearest to the school. It was a long, massive, one-story building. Surprisingly, it didn’t smell at all. Apparently, this was due to the magic hieroglyphs inscribed on the support columns.

  For Dahanatans, the true path of cultivation was as easy to use as the way of cultivation that utilized the internal energy.

  A fat man came out to greet them. Hadjar thought he was mistaken at first, but no, even upon closer inspection, the plump man in the blue robes was indeed at the New Soul stage. In the Sea of Sand, he would be a very, very strong practitioner and could attain a good, high position in the Kurkhadan oasis.

  The Kurkhadan oasis, with its sheikh, who was a weak Spirit Knight, and the six Heaven Soldiers who’d survived the bandits’ attack, couldn’t compare to the power of Dahanatan. Here, such a practitioner worked as a simple groom.

  “Honorable disciples,” he saluted in the local manner. “Are you here to buy or rent?”

  “Rent.” Einen answered.

  Both of them grimaced simultaneously. The man noticed.

  “I understand that our stalls are nothing compared to those of ‘The Holy Sky’ School,” he chattered. Hadjar and Einen exchanged glances. They hadn’t known that their school had stables as well. “But I’ll try to interest you, honorable disciples, in our new acquisitions.”

  He bowed and gestured toward the stables. However, it was more like a menagerie. Once inside, Hadjar froze for a moment. He’d never seen such an abundance of various creatures.

  Enclosed in wooden, iron, stone, and even magic pens, stood the most outlandish of monsters. He saw a bear that was twelve feet tall. It was at the Alpha Stage and could reach an unthinkable speed of 220mph and keep going for forty days. There was also a famous Dahanatan racehorse. Its muscles bulged like boulders beneath its skin and its mane was so thick that it could’ve been used as a mattress. It was also at the Alpha Stage and could reach the 250mph mark and keep going for at least three weeks at that speed.

  There were also various huge cats: tigers with porcupine quills; lions with webbed feet; lynxes with horns. Hadjar didn’t know the names of these monsters, and he had no particular desire to get closer to them and read each tablet. If he ever got rich, he would buy the bestiary in the Treasure Tower.

  “Please recommend something that is both fast and hardy.”

  “My recommendation would depend on where you’re going, honorable disciples,” the salesman said without straightening his back.

  Hadjar knew that the salesman must have seen their disciples’ tokens and was trying to avoid offending them.

  “Into the Forest of Shadows,” Hadjar said before Einen could stop him.

  There was a brief flash of triumph in the practitioner’s eyes. Hadjar realized too late how Einen and everyone else acquired information about other disciples. All of them, no doubt, used these very stalls! And information, in this world, was one of the most valuable commodities.

  “Then I would advise you to take a Three-horned deer.” The groom’s voice was enthusiastic. He was obviously going to make a good deal today. “It costs only a quarter of an Imperial coin to rent for a full day. It’s small, but fast and hardy. It can run through the woods at a speed of 130mph. All who travel to the Forest of Shadows take Three-horned deer and never complain.”

  While describing the animals, the salesman somehow managed to lead the two friends to the stalls where the rust-colored deer were. Outwardly, they didn’t appear very different from normal deer, apart from their more powerful muscles and strong legs. And, of course, the fact that they didn’t have two branching horns, but three. The third, which was both sharp and long, grew from the bridge of their nose and clearly served as a weapon alongside their teeth, which looked more like fangs. They were also eating butchered rabbit carcasses instead of hay. Bloody carnivorous deer! Hadjar had never seen anything like it.

  “We’ll take them.”

  They made a deal and, after finding out that the saddles were included in the bargain, led their new transports out by the bridle. Both warriors preferred to move on foot, but they would have to use Speed Techniques if they did that. It was simply cheaper to rent the deer than to buy strength-restoring pills.

  “Hey, merchant.” Hadjar called out to the man.

  “Yes, venerable disciple?”

  “Can you tell me if someone asks about us later? I’ll pay you. ”

  The salesman smiled slyly.

  “I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about, honorable disciple,” He said while nodding his head.

  Einen didn’t say a word to him, but Hadjar decided that he should be more careful in the future. He was no longer in the barbarian kingdoms, or even in the Sea of Sand. This was the capital of the Darnassus Empire, Dahanatan. A place where much stronger and more talented cultivators than him had ignominiously lost their lives.

  Chapter 436

  It took them only three days to reach the Forest of Shadows without taking any breaks. During that time, they learned that the disciples of higher rank lived much more comfortably than them.

  The way to the Storm Mountain led through the same flowery meadows which led to the Forest of Shadows. These two areas bordered each other. Hadjar, Einen, and the other poor ordinary disciples had to use ‘ground transport’, but the higher-level disciples flew across the vast Forest of Shadows in soaring boats. A couple of times, Hadjar had definitely spotted small ships with family crests. That’s what being born into a family clan of the Empire meant. From birth, they’d enjoyed all the benefits of the civilization of practitioners and cultivators. They’d pro
bably been given elixirs so potent that a small bottle’s worth of them could bring the entire Bear squad of the Moon Army up to the Formation level.

  The Forest of Shadows was a vast forest that sprawled along the borders of the flower meadows that surrounded Dahanatan. It fully lived up to the hype. Moreover, Hadjar was certain that if a mere mortal were to set foot in this misty land, they would die immediately. The forest, like a living organism, exuded a pressure comparable to that of the aura of a practitioner at the Formation level.

  “Maybe that’s why the ordinary disciples are only allowed access to two zones?” Hadjar asked.

  As soon as he and Einen had found themselves beneath the black canopy, they’d felt the pressure of this strange forest. It was as if the energy of every tree, every flower, and every blade of grass had merged into one, trying to destroy the interlopers.

  “I’ve learned some information about the ancient places in this area, my barbarian friend.” Their Three-horned deer had apparently already been here: despite nervously twitching their nostrils, they were rather calm overall. “They’re so ancient that, over the millennia, they managed to create their own power.”

  “How?”

  Hadjar looked around. The midday sun was shining brightly in the flower meadow. There were no clouds obscuring the azure sky, so the valley of Dahanatan, after which the capital of the Empire was named, was bathed in a warm, soft light. However, here in the Forest of Shadows, there was only an acrid half-light. If not for the keen vision they had as true cultivators, they would barely be able to see past their own outstretched arms. A mortal or a weak practitioner definitely couldn’t last even an hour in here.

  “Do you remember meeting the spirit of the Kurkhadan oasis?”

  “Of course I do,” Hadjar answered.

  He would never forget it. The oasis itself, a soulless and lifeless piece of land, had suddenly appeared to him in the form of the most beautiful of maidens, one who’d had the kind of knowledge and power that had surpassed the limits of what Hadjar had been able to imagine. It had been both exciting and frightening.

  “Kurkhadan, compared to the Forest of Shadows, is a bumbling newborn that has barely spent any time under the light of the Evening Stars.”

  “I would argue that this child was far from foolish.”

  “It’s a metaphor. Although, I think I should first explain what a metaphor is, considering you’re a barbarian.”

  Someone else would’ve taken this ribbing as an insult, but Hadjar knew Einen too well. He could detect the faintest hint of a grin in the islander’s dispassionate tone. Einen was having fun.

  Like Hadjar, he had an unhealthy obsession with adventure.

  “You mean,” it suddenly dawned on Hadjar, “that there is a spirit nearby which is several times stronger than the spirit of Kurkhadan?”

  “Several times?” Einen chuckled. “Do you remember the mortals in the oasis?”

  “Sure.”

  “Can mortals survive here?”

  Hadjar blinked a few times and shivered. His friend was right. If there was an ancient spirit wandering through the Forest of Shadows, the personification of the consciousness that had appeared over thousands of thousands of years, it would’ve been able to crush the spirit of Kurkhadan with a single glance.

  Indeed, the Heavens were still far from Hadjar’s reach. For now, he could only look at them as a little boy would look at an unapproachable mountain whose peak was among the clouds.

  They rode along small paths. Tall, powerful trees were all around them, as wide as ten grown men and three hundred feet tall. Their huge roots looked like ancient boulders. Green moss covered the blackened trunks, making it seem like they were covered in boiled resin. An acrid fog, almost as thick as smoke, crept under their feet. They sometimes felt danger ahead and immediately changed direction.

  From the stories they’d heard while they’d been discussing Anise (for a cultivator, it was normal to do multiple things at once. They could remain aware of the area around them, always ready for battle, and still do other things), up to a thousand ordinary disciples died every year in the Forest of Shadows.

  They had to watch out for strong monsters, poisonous plants, and many creatures that Hadjar didn’t know much about. In addition, they’d heard a legend about how the forest itself had darkened because some cultivator who’d used negative energy had been buried here in ancient times. Their energy had been so dark that misusing it could turn a human into a demon. Despite the fact that Hadjar had seen this unnatural energy with his own eyes, he strongly suspected this legend wasn’t true. The demons were most likely something as alien as the gods.

  “I wonder what kind of pressure the Storm Mountain exudes…” Einen said thoughtfully.

  Among the six zones of ‘The Holy Sky’ School, there were the safest, like the Forest of Shadows or the Valley of Swamps, and the most deadly, where even the personal disciples along with their Masters and Mentors could perish... The most dangerous of all the areas surrounding Dahanatan was considered to be the Storm Mountain.

  “I don’t even want to think about that yet,” Hadjar snapped. “Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it.”

  “I agree, my friend. We’ll find out sooner or later.”

  While they dreamed of adventures and new discoveries, they weren’t fools. The levels of cultivation were something ephemeral and blurred. For example, a Heaven Soldier at the initial stage could sometimes fight almost on equal terms with a Spirit Knight. And a Spirit Knight could sometimes lose to a simple practitioner.

  One’s power didn’t really depend on the amount of energy that a cultivator used, but on their knowledge, skills, Techniques, artifacts, and how deeply they plunged their consciousness into the mysteries of the spirit along whose path they travelled. The world of martial arts was complicated. Where one could go easily, another couldn’t make a single step.

  “I think our priority should be acquiring Glory points.”

  “I hear a slightly different meaning in your words than before.”

  “Yeah…” Hadjar said. “After exchanging blows with Anise-”

  “After she knocked you down with a single effort of her will,” Einen corrected with a snort.

  “Okay, sure,” Hadjar agreed easily. “After that, I felt like her understanding of the Sword Spirit went beyond a mere Wielder’s comprehension. That’s why, my friend, I think that you and I can still do more with our weapons.”

  “Yes, I feel it too. After the battle with Ragar, I was able to grasp other mysteries of the Spear Spirit, but I can’t put them together. I don’t see a way forward.”

  “It’s the same for me.”

  Einen turned to Hadjar. His inhuman, purple eyes flashed.

  “You discovered something.”

  “Back when we first came to the Hall of Fame,” Hadjar nodded. “The Masters train the inner circle disciples in the ways of the Spirits. I think if we want to improve our weapon skills, it can only be done there.”

  The islander thought about it for a moment.

  “I don’t think that’s necessarily true,” he said at last. “We’ll probably find scrolls and books on the subject in the Treasure Tower.”

  Hadjar, after considering the suggestion, came to the same conclusion. Unwritten knowledge was lost knowledge. So, there must’ve been a source of information to be found there, in addition to training with the Masters.

  “Then we’ll split up,” Hadjar suggested. They’d already gone several miles into the forest, but so far, they hadn’t encountered a single living soul. “One of us will go to the Masters’ training, and the other will copy the scrolls.”

  Einen nodded.

  “By the way, what task did you take?”

  “We’re supposed to gather the leaves of the Night Shrub,” the islander replied. “Forty points for ninety pounds.”

  “Forty points for ninety pounds?” Hadjar couldn’t help but cry out. “One shrub weighs about fifty grams!”

 
Einen opened his mouth, but didn’t have time to say anything.

  “Forty-seven, to be exact.”

  Hadjar and Einen were in a ravine. The people who came out of the thickets on its edges had the advantage of high ground.

  “When you spend decades plucking the bloody shrubs clean all day long, you can determine how many grams you will collect from them at a glance.” The muscular giant, Araz, was standing in front of a crowd of more than thirty people. “But I don’t think you’ll get a chance to learn that particular skill. Kill them!”

  Chapter 437

  I’ve been waiting for this!” Hadjar shouted.

  Freeing his left foot from the stirrup, he pushed off the saddle with his right knee. Hovering above the ground, he struck four arrows with two elusive swings of his sword. Each of the arrows looked like a Phoenix’s feather. Wrapped in flames, they blazed through the air, leaving a trail of gray smoke behind. Hadjar didn’t recognize this Technique, but the fact that it was being used simultaneously by four different cultivators following the Arrow Path suggested that it was very common in the Empire.

  Einen, in turn, immediately dove into the shadows and jumped out of them in the center of the ravine, twirling his staff around him. Forming a kind of circular barrier, he deflected one arrow after another. For him, it was as easy as swatting mosquitos. The islander’s defensive Techniques had reached a point where Hadjar could honestly say that he wasn’t capable of the same feats. Just like how Einen wasn’t capable of attacking as well as his ‘barbarian friend’.

  “Melee!” Araz commanded.

  The giant himself was in no hurry to fight. The more ‘comrades’ died in this battle, the more Glory points he would get. Both from the newbies and from his dead ‘friends’.

  As soon as Einen and Hadjar got off their Three-horned deer, the animals rushed into the thicket. They didn’t escape, they just hid. The trained deer knew exactly what to do…