Chapter 164: 131-140

Chapter 131

It was raining the next day, almost as if the weather had matched my mood of melancholy as we prepared to leave. I was subdued and quiet through breakfast and was the last to say goodbye. Each of the ladies hugged my aunt and spoke in hushed tones, about what? I had no clue and perhaps at another time I might have been more curious but at the moment I was feeling slightly depressed and my thoughts were elsewhere

I gave my aunt a tight hug when it came time to say goodbye.

"Thank you." My voice was shaky but I didn't care. "For everything."

"Your welcome, Aiden," She said warmly. "And thank you for not forgetting about me."

"Never," I muttered. "Aunt or not, you've been more of a mother to me than anyone else."

Whatever happened in the great scar and whatever reason my blood mother had, Aunt Jenna would never stop being my closest family. She raised me when she didn't have to and had treated me like her son. I'd never said it before, but we both knew.

When I pulled back I saw that a tear was trailing its way down her cheek. "Promise you'll come back?"

I smiled. "Promise."

I made my way out of the house, my footsteps heavy and the sound of the front door closing behind me was quiet but It felt like a bang and I turned back one last time to gaze at the place I'd called home for so long.

It was early morning so there weren't many people out and about so we left with no fanfare or stops, making our way out of the town and down the road, towards our next destination.

"You ok?" Misty asked as we walked, the town long out of sight.

I nodded. "I'm good, sad, but it'll pass, especially when we get back into our usual rhythm."

"Speaking of our usual rhythm." Zirnai turned to address all of us. "We'll be finishing up our foundation training on our way to Bullrock."

"So we are heading there then?" Sandra asked.

"We have enough time," Zirani answered. "And it should be a good learning experience, and who knows what we might find down there. I've only ever entered an aether labyrinth a few times in all my years. Most arcanists tend to stay away from them."

"Why?" I questioned. I knew they were dangerous but I'd also heard of many stories of great riches and power found in them. The reward sounded like a fair pay off for the risk, not to mention that the escape pillars meant getting stuck or trapped wasn't really a worry.

"As I said before, they are unpredictable and don't have a pattern like at her towers," Zirani explained. "Sure most of the time it's not too dangerous too, but all it takes is one bad dive and it's over. They're more akin to the great scar, a mesh of different landscapes, or pieces of worlds if scholars are to believed."

She shook her head. "You have to go deep to find such things though. Most only come across stretches of empty land with the occasional beast or odd trinket."

"And we'll be fine?" I asked. Escape pillars were not foolproof and time was needed to teleport back to the one you'd attuned to, not to mention a decent amount of

aether.

"Don't you worry about that?" Zirani smiled. "Even without the escape pillars I heard they have here, I have ways of getting us out in case of an emergency."

Escape pillars were the reason why people were able to venture into the labyrinths at all. They were similar to the pillars in aether towers that allowed for transport out and through the tower floors, except an escape pillar's main purpose was to get someone out and back to safety. All one had to do was attune to the pillar, which basically meant feeding some aether into it, and if they ever got lost they would be able to expend some aether to teleport back to the pillar. At least that's what I'd been taught at the academy. They weren't devices we'd built, certainly not arcanists in the plains at least, they'd all been discovered near the labyrinths, most likely having been put there long ago, though no one knew by who.

We continued on for a few more hours until Zirani was sure that we were far from the town. Her plan was to teach us the basics of changing aether and finally some advanced techniques, something I'd been looking forward to for a while. I liked the techniques I had at my disposal, but they felt lacking for someone at my stage, and in recent fights had shown, that while against lower-level arcanist and those at my level, they were fine, against higher-level threats where more power was needed, they just didn't cut it.

"All right we can walk and training," Zirani said. We all turned our attention to her as aether began to appear in her hand. She made no discernable motions or actions, but something within the aether shifted, and then suddenly it had formed into a pattern so fast if you blinked you'd have missed it. The aether turned into a pinkish gas, which floated up and quickly spread through the air.

"Is that perfume?" Misty asked incredulously.

"Just an example of a transformation," Zirani said. "It's better this than a poison that will rot your flesh off."

It had to be the sweetest thing I'd ever smelled and was very overpowering, to say the least. It seemed to push away any other scent, and directly hit my nose. Lilacs, roses, honey, cinnamon, and something else I couldn't identify. It was an odd blend, but definitely better than poison.

"The key to changing your aether is the forming of specific patterns that affect the shell of your aether directly," Zirani explained. "The pattern you just saw me use was a mix of a few, including a few whole origin patterns rather than just pieces. You saw how the pattern seemed to form in an instant, well that's because of the shell. When you use a normal technique, you simply from your aether into a pattern then release. With this, you need to form the pattern via just the shell which is the hardest part of this. Once you get the hang of that the rest won't be as difficult, but being able to mold the shell without the ki moving or doing anything is a hard and dangerous task, especially when you're trying a more dangerous transformation. I'm going to teach you a few basic exercises to try with your aether. Once each of you is able to do the exercise near-perfectly then we can move on."

We were all eager to learn, but it felt rather deflating when she finally showed us the exercise. They all involved trying to do minor changes to the shell of one's aether and attempting to sense the shell and ki, and mentally separate them. It was clear that it was meant to prepare someone for the real practice and though I knew it to be true, it was still rather boring. Even so, I tried my hardest.

I'd been avoiding looking at my inner self, and my core, simply because as of lately my focus always flicked to the other core I now held, the core she resided in. I pushed those thoughts away as best I could and practiced as hard as I could, not letting her cause me any more problems than she already had.

We traveled for hours and well into the night, not seeing much of a reason to sleep. None of us were particularly tired and I knew there was also another reason for Sandra. Zirani had half-heartedly lamented the loss of the baths and strength enhancement, which had made Sandra eager to not let us stop as to not give her a chance to resolve that problem. I didn't care either way because knowing Zinrai, she probably had something planned so we could catch up on all that lost time. I also didn't think the pain it could cause would ever bother me again, not after everything I'd been through.

I winced internally as a wave of memories washed through my mind, and Zirani glanced over with a sympathetic look in her eyes.

"Phantom pains?"

I nodded in repose to her mental question. She'd explained it was likely due to the direct attack on my soul, and that it would take time to heal the mental scars. The soul was linked to mind and body in an irrevocable way, and the fastest way to cause lasting damage to a person or beast was to attack the soul. Luckily Zirani had said my soul had no actually scars or injures. Apparently, even beyond the great scar, soul damage was not an easy fix. She explained there was always the inherent risk that more damage would be caused or a mistake made which could lead to memory loss, loss of function in certain parts of the body, and more. Zirani told me of a time she'd encountered a man who'd had an array carved on his back that numbed all his pain, because his soul had been partially stitched back together, and not in a clean way. He could function like a normal person, but every action was painful.

Just imaging having to live with that pain for every waking moment made me shudder. Thank heavens for my bloodline.. Without it, well I didn't want to imagine where I'd be now without it.

Chapter 132

It took over half a day to get the exercises down to near perfect, and even then Zirani had each of us perform the exercise for her to make sure we were ready. We were, but there was one problem concerning Misty and Sandra. Zirani could try and teach them basic transformations but in truth, she had no clue about either of their affinities when it came to aether transformation. Both would have to eventually find teachers in the great scar, not that Zirani wasn't a good teacher, but she was a nature beast, and though she had a ton of knowledge about all affinities, she wasn't a master in all of them.

"Your family will be able to teach you, Sandra," Zirani said as we took a quick break by the road we were on. There was no need for us to take any forest paths. The way to Bullrock was a straight shot from Orton.

Zirani tunred to xonsdier Misty. "You on the other hand will be much more of a problem."

"How so? Misty asked with a frown.

"As I've said before, vampires are not a generous and magnanimous race, not usually at least," Zirani explained. "In vampire society, it's all about power and presenting yourself with as little weakness as possible because every weakness you do show will be used against you, either to kill, drain or enslave you."

I didn't like the idea of Misty being pushed into much of a place, but Zirani clearly had other thoughts as she glanced at me.

"She will have to deal with her own kind sooner or later," Zirani said mentally. "I know you care for them both, but there are their own people, and both wish to grow."

I nodded mentally, knowing her words to be true. I couldn't protect them from such things and them go into danger myself. That would make me look like a hypocrite and despite our close relationship, I didn't own them. It was just the idea of either in pain that got me riled up. I'd never had to deal with things like that before, not at West Vale and even dring the way, neither had ever gotten too injured.

"And I'm guessing I'll be heading with you to the green court?" I asked when the conversation went into a lull.

"Yes." Zirnai smiled. "It's going to be a shock when I reveal that I'm bonded, but I think your bloodline will make the difference. It's mainly my mother we have to be worried about. If she accepts you then it will be smooth sailing for the most part, but if she denies then she's more likely to administer… tests to see your worthiness."

"Tests." The way she'd said it had sounded ominous. "And if I fail these tests?'

She winced. "She'll most likely attempt to rip me from you."

With that unpleasant thought in mind, we continued on, practicing our aether transformation. Zirnai had me scanning plants on the roadside, simply greenery like a blade of grass and flower, and then had me try and replicate certain parts like a petal or the stem, and from there she slowly had me doing more and more. By the time night fell, I was able to create a simple flower and blade of grass, which didn't sound too

amazing, but I'd done it with my aether. I'd created life, an existing thing with just my aether alone, and unlike normal techniques, I could tell this plant was just that a plant. Most aether techniques when formed were still discernible as having been formed from aether, but the plants I created had no such discernability. they looked just like normal plants. When I could do more, the possibilities were endless.

The next few days were the same for the most part. We trained, traveled, took the occasional stop, and just chatted about different topics. Zirani was a well of information and all three of us asked her many questions now that we had the time to.

The more she answered the greater the excitement grew for the coming expedition became. It honestly felt that the lands beyond the great scar were an entirely different world, and it also became clear as to why the plains were called the peaceful lands. If I'd thought power reigned here greatly, then beyond the great scar it was all that mattered. Power via knowledge, physical strength, or great numbers. By any means possible, people over there sought to increase power.

"I think we're getting close," I said on the second week of travel. The road had widened a few miles ago and it had branched off, but we'd kept going straight. Now I could see a few people coming towards us from the opposite direction.

Zirani sighed and moved back into her core.

It was a family of farmers leading a small number of odd-looking beasts I'd never seen before. They looked like chickens, but more muscular and walked on four legs. It was an odd sight, and if I hadn't been so strong then I'm sure the owner would have gotten angry that I was staring for so long, but they just kept their heads down. None were above the first core, and all three of us were at the second core.

Misty tried to offer a friendly smile, which made a younger-looking boy blush and whisper to his mother who chuckled. I nodded to the oldest-looking man who seemed nervous but nodded back. It must have been a surprise for them to run into young arcanists at such a high level.

"Where are they're going?" Sandra asked. "I didn't see any farms nearby."

"Then you weren't paying attention," Misty said. "The road forks off into multiple smaller paths a few miles down and there are plenty of tracks."

Misty was right, the ground was covered in footprints, goof prints, and wheel tracks. It meant that civilization was nearby.

"How exactly do we find the city if it's underground?" Sandra asked.

"There's a smaller city above ground on top of the entrance to lower city," Misty explained, once again showing how, besides Zirani, she was the most knowledgeable when it came to such topics. She had always been the best when it came to general knowledge at the academy. "It serves as a first line of defense and well, not everyone is comfortable with living underground. A lot of the traders leave their goods above ground to be ferried below. It's handled by the stone revenant sect. They found the city, and created all the paths that lead to it."

"Found?" I questioned. "Not founded?"

Misty shook her head. "No, apparently it was already there, damaged and partially destroyed, but they rebuilt. I'm sure you've heard of their earth traveling."

The stone revenants all were able to travel easily below ground via a technique only taught to sect disciples. It's why they were called stone reveals, at least thats what I remembered. Professor Luten had always spoken of his time in the city, of the large crystals that provided light and the odd beasts.

Around an hour after seeing the farmers, we started to run into more and more people and after asking a few, we confirmed that Bullrock was only a few hours away, and so we increased our pace. We came across more and more people, some just simple folk while some looked like hunters. Plenty of merchant caravans and wagons traveled the road, but one thing was the same. We never had to move. I hadn't noticed it at first, but everyone seemed to move out of our way. It had only been when a caravan had swerved to the right that I'd noticed as I'd been too busy training which must have caused some worry. It might have looked like I was forming a technique.

I glanced over at Misty who shook her head. I stopped and moved to the side of the road to cause fewer problems, and after a few more hours, we finally came upon the higher city, which to my shock seemed to be built in the shadow of a mountain. Large smooth stone walls rose up high into the air, and a large open gate let people in and out. It didn't look as large as Orton, but then again it was two cities, one above ground, and the other underground, and I had a feeling the one below the earth was larger since that wasn't most people talked about.

As we drew closer to the gate, I noticed it wasn't like a normal set of large doors. Instead, it was raised up and presumably lowered down when it came time to close the gate. Guards wearing grey armor waved most people in, but those with carts or part of a caravan were stopped and questioned before being elt in.

We caused quite a stir in their number. Two guards froze as we passed and one whispered something to another nearby guard who ran off.

"That looks like trouble," I said, my eyes tracking the sprinting man.

"He's probably just informing a higher up that three unknown second-core arcanists have entered the city, not to mention our high-density cores." Misty sighed. "We should have had Zirani hide us. Don't worry though, we'll most likely just get questioned and politely at that. If were any weaker then force would be used."

"If we were any weaker this wouldn't be happening," Sandra muttered as we entered the city.

Chapter 133

The high city of Bullrock was a lot more organized than Orton had been. Crowds of people still moved about here and there, but it didn't have the same messy feeling as Orton. It helped that they seemed to have pathways and a system in place, which helped traffic along, and caused fewer problems. They were separate paths for wagons and carriages and together it made movement through this city a lot easier.

"Where do we go?" I asked Misty. If anyone would know where to go in this city it would be her, because I had no clue.

"It's near the center," Misty replied. "We just need to keep moving and we'll get there eventually."

"If we don't get stopped," Sandra interjected.

I hadn't seen the guard or anybody who looked to be watching us since we'd left the gate, although that wasn't counting the normal folk who would take glances at us, and I heard plenty of whispers of 'second core.' Perhaps Misty had been right and Zirani should have masked us so we weren't drawing this much attention.

We followed Misty's lead as she led us through different parts of the city. It was set up in the same way as Orton with different districts for different things. We passed a market district, a residential district, before finally coming out into a large open square that held a tall and large building at its center with people going in and out, though not as quickly as had been at the gate. The people waiting in line spoke to robed figures wearing stone masks who would then lead them off into the building.

"Stone revenants," Misty explained. "They lead people through the underground paths to the lower city. We just need to wait in line and pay a few. Normally there's a ticket system, but we have enough money that it won't matter."

We were just about to head towards one of the lines when a voice caught our attention.

"Excuse me!"

I turned to see a finely dressed older-looking man walking towards us, accompanied by four guards who were all at the first core. He stopped a few feet away and bowed. "I'm glad I made it here before you ventured into the lower city. If you would be so kind as to lend me but a moment of your time to speak."

"Depends," I replied, moving my gaze over the four guards who glanced away when my eyes tried to meet theirs. It was clear they were nervous, and one actually had aether half puled from his core, though it fell from his mental grasp when I raised an eyebrow in his direction. "What do want to speak about we've done nothing wrong."

"Of course not." The man gestured to the guard and muttered something which caused them to take a few steps away. "I am merely here on behalf of the higher city mayor. I am Porter, his secretary, and if you wish you may ignore me and walk away. I will not force you. I am merely asking for but a moment of your time and in return, I will make sure you get to the lower city as fast as possible."

nodded and made a face as though I was thinking his words over as I sent a questioning thought through my three bonds. I got back suspicion but acquiescence from Sandra and the equivalent of a mental shrug from Misty while Zirani left it up to my choice.

"A bit of lost time won't hurt us," Zirani said in my mind. "Besides it's not like we've agreed to anything yet."

With the decision made, I nodded at porter. "We'll listen."

"Wonderful." He clapped his hands together. "I promise you will not regret this."

"Can you please get on with it," Sandra said.

"Of course, of course," The man replied. "As I said earlier I am here on behalf of the mayor who wishes to ask if the three of you would be up for doing a job for him."

I raised an eyebrow. That had not been what I was expecting. I was expecting some sort o pitch or perhaps some questions, but not this. "What sort of job?"

Porter's face took on a sad expression. "His daughter is a free spirit and a few days ago she entered the labyrinth without his permission. She did not attune herself to the escape pillar and she hasn't been seen since."

"A rescue mission?" I questioned. "I'm not sure if you're aware, but if she's lost in a labyrinth then how exactly do you expect anyone to be able to find her?"

It was a maze inside a maze, and the entire reason for the escape pillar was so that things like this didn't happen. The mayor's daughter must have been a fool if she'd gone in without attuning to one, and there was also the fact that the labyrinths were guarded, and I had no doubt the stone revenants were guarding this one so hadn't they checked her before letting her in or had she used her father's authority.

I glanced over to Misty who looked sympathetic and to Sandra who had a faraway look in her eyes.

"She has a tacker on her," Porter explained in a hurry. "It is an expensive device and lets her father know if she is still alive and her general location. We would give it to you as a tool to help find her."

"Why not the stone revenants?" I questioned. "They probably know it better than any of us."

He sighed. "They have deemed it too big of a risk. They don't have powerful arcanists to spend on such an endeavor, and their elders certainly won't risk it out of fear of destabilizing their current power. We've tired pursuing mercenaries, but none have taken the job, not even for an outrageous sum. They all agree that it's a lost cause."

I frowned in confusion. Why was he telling me all this when it would just make me more likely to refuse. Of course, it did sound interesting and we were already going heading to the labyrinth, but I didn't want to take a mission that had a high chance of failure.

"We can manage," Zirani said. "We have the escape pillars if things go wrong and I have my own methods if we find the girl."

Speaking of escape pillars. "Surely a mercenary could attune to a pillar and the find her and get her out?"

"Escape pillars don't work that way," Misty said. "It's a one-person thing. If we found her we'd have to retrace all our steps within the labyrinth, which is near impossible."

"Zirani I trust you, do you think we could pull this off?" I asked mentally.

"I do and were heading in anyways," Zirani replied. "Ask him if we can get essence cores as a reward instead of coin or crystals."

"We'll take the job," I said and raised a hand to stop Porter from speaking. "But we want your highest level essence cores as a reward, and I mean the best you have or can get your hands on."

"If you can bring her back then the mayor will grant you nearly anything," Porter said with a smile. He looked utterly relieved and he actually seemed to deflate. "You have no idea how thankful he will be. Now, if you could please follow me."

"The labyrinths that way," I said, pointing at the large building.

"Yes, but we need to pick up the tracker and get you anything else you think you might need," Porter replied, waving over his guards. "Don't worry it's not far from here."

Porter led us away from the square and down a road before turning onto a street lined with a few tall buildings. The tallest stood at the end and looked similar to the official building in Orton though not as tall. The guards split off when we approached the front door, two waiting outside while the other two left.

The receptionist greeted Porter with a wide smile that grew wider when she spotted us. Porter simply nodded as if in answer to her silent question before leading us through another door and up a few sets of stairs.

"Anything we should know beforehand?" I asked.

"Mayor Jerchio isn't as… formal as most expect," Porter replied. "Apart from that as long as you are respectful then he will offer the same courtesy to you."

After walking down a long hallway we finally came to a door with a plaque that read 'Higher City Mayor, Jericho Lin.'

Porter knocked three times before a gruff voice shouted, "Enter!"

Sandra nudged me and I received a blurry mental image of our meeting with the Orton mayor. I smiled. It did feel very reminiscent of that time, although we weren't being chased by twin horn arcanists, though I guess we were still sort of risking our lives with this rescue mission.

Porter led the way in, the rest of following him into the room.

Chapter 134

The mayor's office looked far less like an office and more like a lounge. It was a wide-open room lit by a large orb of light at its center that was clearly arcane in origin. To the right was a mini library full of bookshelves and other bits and pieces, and to the left was a fully stocked bar with a variety of drinks most of which I assumed were alcoholic, but the main piece of the room was at the center where the mayor sat.

On a large comfy chair sat the largest man I had ever seen. He must have been at least seven feet with a mane of wild brown hair, scruffy beard, kind eyes, and a wide mouth that split into a grin at the sight of us.

He stood and spread his arms out in welcome. I'd heard of the term, tree trunk-like arms, but the mayor took it to a whole other level. His biceps were bulging with muscles and instead of being dressed in a fancy suit, he had on a white shirt that looked like it would rip open at any second and a pair of cargo shorts with a greenish blotch pattern.

"Porter, you've returned and with the three!" His voice was booming but held no sternness, just joy, and relief. "Come in and take a seat, friends. I'm glad you've decided to take me up on my offer, you have done so, correct?'

Porter nodded. "They have."

"Excellent," Jericho shouted and sat back down before gesturing to the bar. "Porter get our guests something to drink, bring out the brandy."

"Oh, we don't—"

My words were cut off as the mayor began to speak over me. "So you've heard that my dear little Hope has gone missing?"

I glanced over at Sandra who had a bemused expression on her face while Misty looked downright shocked. I was a bit surprised myself. Porter had said the mayor wasn't as formal, but I hadn't expected this. He was treating us like we were old friends rather than mercenaries, not that I minded. I wasn't really one for formalities either.

"We did," I replied. "And we are willing to track her down and rescue her."

"That's good to hear," he said in a much softer tone. "I've failed her for most of her life, and only recently have we grown close. I'd hate to lose her now. You understand, she is the only family I have."

That hit close to home and I felt a wave of sadness wash over me as I shot the mayor a sympathetic look. I couldn't imagine my aunt being in a similar position. I didn't want to imagine it. It must have been difficult for being both a mayor and a father and being unable to do anything yourself because of your responsibilities, although if I were in his position I wasn't sure that I would make the same choice as my aunt meant a lot to me. In fact, it would be the same for Sandra and Misty.

Porter came back just then with four glasses full of a dark amber liquid, brandy. I wasn't a fan of alcohol but I guess I could make an exception. It

did smell rather nice and must have tasted good as Sandra took a small sip then a large gulp before wincing with a smile.

"That's good," She exclaimed with a sigh.

"I didn't know you were into drinking?" Misty asked with a small sip. She scrunched up her face cutely before placing her glass down on the small table between us and the mayor.

Sandra shrugged. "I'm not, not really at least, but I'm not going to pass up on a good brandy. This stuff is expensive."

I took a sip and came to the conclusion that it wasn't that bad. I focused back on the mayor who had just finished downing his own drink.

"I want to thank the three of you," The mayor said sincerely. "This means a lot and anything you need to help you accomplish this, if it's in my power, I shall grant. Porter go prepare the tracker, is there anything else you might need?"

I opened my mouth, but before I could speak, Misty spouted off a long list of things too fast for me to catch most of them, but Porter jotted them all down in a notepad he'd pulled from somewhere before leaving the room at a brisk pace.

"Good," Jericho said. "Now my daughter is around your age."

He pointed to me. "She's small for age and has bright strawberry blonde hair, you can't miss it. Please, just bring her back to me. Those bastards at the stone revenants"

He growled and a shadow passed over his features. "They've refused to help. So now I must take things into my own hands."

"We'll do our best," Misty said softly. "Is there anything else we should know?"

The mayor shook his head. "No, that's about it."

We stood and he followed, shaking each of our hands in a very firm grip. Unsurprising since he was at the third level and his two cores blazed brightly. His size was not the only dangerous thing about him, and I imagined that if he wasn't mayor he would have gone down there himself. A man with many responsibilities. I could relate in a way.

We left the room and found Porter waiting in the receptionist area with a ring and paper ticket in one hand and a necklace in the other. "This is a storage ring with everything you asked for and a premium ticket to get to the lower city with the mayor's seal and this necklace is the tracker. Simply put it on, and you will get a general feeling of the direction she is in, and you will know if she's alive."

I took the ring and ticket while Misty took the necklace and placed it on her neck. She frowned and then nodded, turning towards the door. "It's working, well we'll be off then."

Porter bowed low. "Thank you for this. Hope has always been kind to me."

I smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder. "We'll do our best, and trust me, our best has never failed, for the most part."

It took only a few minutes to retrace our steps back to the square and thanks to the ticket we were able to bypass the line completely. The stone revenant, a masked woman, led us inside the building, through a side door, and down a long winding staircase that lasted for a good ten minutes before we finally came to some sort of lift contraption similar to the one we'd used in the first treehouse in the aether tower.

"Just hold on," the woman said. "It gets a bit bumpy. We only use this life for those with premium tickets and so the enchantments can get rusty."

"Or they're just bad enchantments," Zirnai said mentally, and I held back a chuckle.

"How long will it ta—"

Sandra's question was cut off as the life shot down at a far faster speed than expected. I stumbled into Misty who caught me, and Sandra cursed as she quickly grabbed onto one of the railings.

The stone revenant was completely still, one arm on a railing and the other next to a set of levers which I assumed controlled the lift.

I leaned back onto the railing and settled in for the bumpy ride.

It took over ten minutes to reach our destination and by the time we left the lift, Sandra looked like she was about to vomit. I wasn't feeling well either, but I shook it off after a minute as did Sandra. We followed our guide down a long tunnel and up another set of winding stairs before we came to an open area with a large door at one end and two stone revenants guarding it.

Unlike our guide, these wore only half masks and wore scale mail amour that looked to be made of some type of stone I was unfamiliar with. It had a faint sheen to it, and for a moment I thought it was a gemlike material, but it looked too dull. Both held a long spear in one hand with an odd four edge design at the tip and on the other was a large rock gauntlet with symbols carved into it that gave off faint hints of aether. Both were at the higher end of their first cores and at the hydro stage in density and while I knew we could take them, it was still a surprise as up until now we'd only ever seen weaker end guards. These two definitely looked like they could hold their own.

Our guide nodded once and one of the guards tapped his spear on the ground and knocked once on the door with their gauntlet, a small burst of aether passing from his gauntlet into the earth in what must have been a signal as a moment later the door began to lift up, revealing the lower city behind it, in all its glory.

"Woah."

Chapter 135

The city was unlike anything I'd expected. I'd imagined a warren or tunnel-like system of attached rooms and spaces, but what I was witnessing was nothing like that. Behind the door lay a vast and wide space that stretched on for what must have been miles in all directions like a big chunk had been taken out of the earth. Large crystals lay upon the roof of the space embedded in the earth and they shone down sunlight or at least a light similar in color to sunlight, down upon the city, which for the most part looked like a normal city.

The buildings were made out of different sorts of stone, but there were roads, different districts that I could from the vantage we were at. We were outside the city, on a cliff that looked down upon it.

"Even more beautiful than I read about," Misty commented.

"Must have taken a lot of effort to make the space," Sandra said.

"Maybe, maybe not," Our guide said. "No one actually knows who made the original city or how this space came to be. Now let's get down there."

We followed her down a long zig-zagging staircase that was on side of the cliff we were on, and I was actually worried one of us might fall until I took my first few steps. The material the stairs were made of was adhesive, though not overly so and it made falling or tripping a lot less likely.

"It's similar to the fleetwood we found in the tower," Zirani explained in answer to my thoughts. "Though it's not as potent in terms of aether. If you focus your arcane sense closely enough then you should be able to sense faint traces of earth aether."

I did as she said, and was able to sense faint hints of aether, though nothing compared to the fleet wood. The earth aether seemed to react each time I took a step, just like a natural enchantment that made the material adhesive.

"What are those?" Sandra asked, pointing up to a large stone block that lay next to one of the shining crystals.

"Air purifier," Our guide answered. "They keep the air fresh and circulating. There are dozens above us and all over the city."

"You aren't worried about anybody tampering with them?" Misty asked.

Our guide chuckled. "They are all heavily guarded. It happened once by accident and he tried to run, but we locked everything down and caught him within the hour. He paid a big fine and was banished from the lower city for a few years, but that's about it. It's hard to cause us harm down here, we are the 'stone' revenants after all."

We asked a few more questions about the city as we made out way down the stairs and across a stretch of empty space to the city. No walls surrounded it, not that it would need them. This palace had the natural defense of being underground, and one would have to get passed the higher city first which would give the lower city plenty of time to react and prepare.

"It's a large hazard," Zirani said. "I suppose it doesn't matter here in the plains,

but an earth-focused arcanist from my lands could bring the roof down with relative ease. It's not like there's any reinforcement enchantments keeping it up or any enchantments at all as far as I can tell."

That was a scary thought to think about, but I didn't think it would be happening. As far as I knew, Bullrock had been around for a long time and was a neutral city, never having taken part in any conflicts.

We finally made it to the city after an hour of walking. It hadn't looked too far away from above, but the underground space was vast and if the city ever wanted to expand they could for a very long time before having to worry about space.

"I'm assuming you three are here for the labyrinth?"

"How did you know?" I asked our guide.

"It's what most people come here for," She replied. "And you three are powerful arcanists. I can't think of any other reason you'd come here if not for the labyrinth. By the way, I'm going to have to report your presence to my superiors so you might get a visit later on."

"We were expecting something like that," Misty said. "I hope there will be no trouble."

There was a hint of a threat in her voice and the guide quickly shook her head. "Of course not. Just a few questions to make sure your not here to cause any harm, and probably an offer or two."

That was also expected. Sects were always looking for new powerful arcanists to take in and make alliances with, and well we were perfect candidates. Young, powerful, and easel influence or so most probably thought. We wouldn't be staying here though. We had a bigger goal in mind.

The guide led us through the city, giving us bits of important information and general information about things like the market, the most popular eateries, clinics, and the auction house. It was truly like a tour up until we got to the labyrinth. It lay near the center of the city and was heavily guarded with dozens of stone revenants. The entrance itself was a wide opening with a staircase that led into darkness, and close by lay a pale white pillar etched with intricate carvings that gave off all sorts of aether. People would approach and after a quick inspection and payment for some, they would be allowed to enter the labyrinth. Of course, each was also made to use the escape pillar, since they wouldn't be able to get out without it, at least not unless there were either very lucky or had a damn good memory, but even that wouldn't help in some cases as labyrinths were known to shift their layout and held warping properties.

There was a wide variety of people waiting to get into the labyrinth from stone revenants to mercenaries and even common folk. They probably thought they might get lucky or had heard one of the stories about grand riches and wealth. It's not like I'd thought that just a day ago.

Our guide led us to the pillar, and with our ticket, we were able to bypass the line. Some began to complain, but the moment they noticed our strength, they promptly shut up. It wasn't the lands beyond the great scar, but power still meant a lot here in the northern plains

The process of attuning to the pillar took seconds as all we needed to do was feed some aether and then a connection formed. It was similar to my bonds with my three ladies, but not as strong and I could tell its purpose.

"It's not that complicated," Zirani said, and I might have disagreed with her a few months ago, but not now. I could understand the pattern and pillars' inner workings. It was essentially a one-time bond with an embedded pattern that when fed, would trigger an effect that would pull on one end of the bond, bringing the person who'd attuned to the pillar back to the spot they'd been in when they'd first attuned to it. That might have caused some problems, but I noticed that apart from us, the guards hurried anyone who spent took long near the pillar. A closer look at the pattern showed that anyone with a bond would not be able to teleport out if an object was standing in the position they'd been in when they'd attuned to the pillar. That of course raised more questions, and I might have asked about it if Sandra hadn't pinched me to get my attention.

"Think about it later," Sandra muttered. "Labyrinth first."

"This is where I leave you," our guide said with a short bow. "I hope your delve into the labyrinth is fruitful and as interesting as you hope for."

We thanked her then made our way to the entrance, the people around it parting for us. The guards near the staircase had seen us with the guide and waved us forward. There were whispers and murmur about us and who we could be, but I just ignored them.

"May your delve be fruitful and grand!" the guard's recited in unison, their voices booming.

"It must be some sort of saying," Sandra said as we took our first steps down into the darkness.

It looked similar to Sandra's smokey darkness in a way, and I guessed it was actually a portal. It sure as hell wasn't natural darkness. I was at the third level and my enchanted eyesight meant I could see pretty well in the dark, but I couldn't see a thing down there.

"Misty, are sure we don't need anything else?" I asked. We had our rings and everything we'd acquired in our time spent in the tower along with plenty of other things, but it never hurt to ask and double-check.

"No." She shook her head. "We've got everything we need."

"Then onward we go."

Chapter 136

My assumption that the entrance was a portal was correct as the moment it fully engulfed me and the others, a feeling of weightlessness overtook me, only for a brief moment before the darkness faded, and I found myself standing in a long stone corridor, lit only by faint specs of light which seemed to clump together on the ceiling.

"Everyone ok?" I asked, looking at the others to make sure we had all made it.

"We're all here," Sandra answered, taking a look around at our surroundings. "Wherever here is. I expected something more… shocking?"

"Well don't," Misty said. "Most of the labyrinth will be like this if our guide and what we've learned is to be believed."

"Which way do we go?" I asked since Misty was still wearing the tracker necklace.

She focused for a second before turning to the right. "This way."

"Well then, let's begin." I formed my bark armor around myself. "Let's be cautious. Remembered what Zirani said, all it takes is a bit of bad luck or one wrong mistepp and we'll stumble across something we can't beat."

Sandra cloak appeared as I spoke as did Misty's aether claws then we began our first delve into an aether labyrinth. For the first few hours, it was nothing but corridor after corridor with the occasional odd scattering of stones or dirt. It was very underwhelming, and nothing like what I'd heard about labyrinths, at least not like the stories I'd heard.

One of the negative aspects of the labyrinth was the fact that there was no way to tell how much time had passed, or so I thought. When I complained about it, Misty asked me to hand over the storage ring, and then proceed to pull out a watch.

"Didn't you check the ring?" She asked with a sigh.

"My bad." I took the watch and spent the next hour staring down at it.

"I think I might go crazy." Sandra sighed. "These corridors are getting old real fast. Are you sure we're going the right way?"

Misty shrugged. "I'm just following where the tracker is leading me, besides that, I've no clue. I mean it's not like we expected any differently, right?"

"No," I said. "But this is tedious."

"Not everything is excitement," Zirani said with a chuckle. She'd left her core the moment we'd arrived since the chances of running into other arcanists was very low. "You three have gotten so used to the constant action and training you're put through, that things like this feel even more boring than usual. Something similar happened to me when I returned to the green court after my time with my aunt's people."

"How did you deal with it?" Sandra asked.

"I didn't," Zirani said and smiled at Sandra's reaction. "I don't have special methods to fix everything. I just adapted over time, and got used to being able to switch lifestyles."

"I can do that," I said, remembering how my time with my aunt had felt. "It's just that this type of stuff isn't relaxing, or exciting."

"Well you ca-"

Zirani's reply was cut off as an odd chirping noise came from in front of the current corridor we were traveling down.

"Is that a bird?" Sandra questioned.

"Or a beast,'' I added. As far as i knew they weren't normal animals down

in the labyrinth, just different kinds of aether beasts.

"Whatever it is, is getting closer," Misty announced, getting into a fighting stance, her claws at the ready.

The rest of us followed her lead as the sound grew closer until a large bipedal beast appeared from the darkness. Although the specs of light lit up the corridors, for some odd reason, it was impossible to see far down any of them.

The beast looked like a large chicken around the size of a man, but with a curved blade-like beak and talon on its feet which looked like they could cut through flesh like butter. Its feathers were a mix of red and white, which gave it a disturbing look as though it was covered in blood. Its eyes locked onto us as it made another chirping sound.

"Two cores, wind affinity" I said. "You wanna deal with this one Misty?"

She nodded with a danged smile. "I haven't had beast blood in a while since you spoil me with yours so often."

The bird either understood us or had already been about to attack as it leapt at the blonde who casually dodged to the side, bringing her claws up and tearing one of its wings which were tiny in comparison to the rest of it. It let out a shriek this time that might have caused more damage if we were at a lower level, but Misty ignored it and followed up her first attack with two more that quickly ended the beast's life. As she dug into her meal, I tried to listen to see if anymore were approaching.

"A giant chicken." Sandra shook her head. "I think I've seen it all now."

"Not even close," Zirani said as she leaned down to pick up one of its feathers. "Not a bad material, though a bit too weak for us."

"We could sell it?" Sandra suggested.

"For what?" I questioned. "We have plenty of crystals, not to mention the crystals we do have will be worth little if anything beyond the great scar. That's why we asked for cores."

After Misty finished her drink we continued down the corridor and around a minute later, I stopped in place, and held a hand out to the others. "Do you feel that?"

Everyone paused before a smile split Sandra's pretty face. "A breeze. Oh, we're finally going to leave this endless maze of corridors."

We did leave the maze and entered into a large cavern, however unlike the corridors we were forced to create some artificial arcane light orbs to follow around us. It took Zirani only a few minutes to teach us how to make them with our affinities, and I smiled as we each easily formed orbs, each a different color matching our affinities. Mine was a vivid green while Sandra's gave off a purplish light and Misty was a mix of red, blue, white, and black.

Zirani rolled her eyes, and snapped her finger, sending three bursts of aether to destroy our orbs before forming three sunlight orbs around her. "Keep it simple."

"I think it looked good," Misty grumbled but kept quiet as we moved deeper into the cavern. "It's this way."

She led us towards the right once again, and we all took care, not to trip on anything as we moved. The cavern was only somewhat flat as spikes of rock stuck up from the ground, though I was the only one who ever hit them. They hadn't said it, but we all knew the light was just for me. Zirani, Sandra and Misty would see fine in the dark, and while I could see better than I had before, it wasn't really something to risk my life on.

"You need to teach me that dark sight technique soon," I said to Zirani metnally.

"I will," She promised. "How have your exercises been coming along?"

"Quite good," I replied with a smile. "I think I could pull off a simple poison technique, simple mind you. I know your definition can differ from time to time."

She chuckled. "Simple it is."

"Ermm, guys."

Sandra's worried voice snapped me away from my conversation with Zirani and I turned to see her looking at the ground with wide eyes. "I don't want to alarm anyone, but look down."

I followed her gaze and almost tripped as I spotted the bones littering the ground. "What the hell!"

"These haven't been here the whole time have they?" Misty asked.

Sandra shook her head. "No, the ground was just rock before, I only spotted this by accident when my foot crunched on something. You think these are dead arcanists?"

I leaned down and picked up one of the bones, examining it. At first, I thought it might have been a human but after a few moments, I realized it was far too thick. Thanks to my Aunt I knew quite a bit about the human body, including how things should be. These were certainly not human bones, but as I looked around, I came to the conclusion that they weren't similar though.

"Not human, but human-like," I said. "Look at the cracks, I think this is the bird's layer or where it eats."

"You mean the bird Misty killed?" Sandra asked. "You can tell that from the bones?"

I shrugged. "My aunt's a healer and these look like they could have been made using that thing's beak, although it's just a guess. I could be wrong."

"I don't think you are," Zirani said slowly.

"Why?"

That's when I sensed it or should I say them.

"Well, that's not good." I backed away slightly as the dozens of glowing red eyes stared at us, the bipedal bird-like shapes clear thanks to our light. There must have been at least a dozen of them if not more, and that didn't count the large one at their center.. It seemed I was right and we'd entered into a beast nest.

Chapter 137

"What do we do?" Sandra asked aloud as the largest of the bird beasts stepped into the light fully. Now that I could see it more clearly I could tell it was at least twice as big as the others, and instead of wings, it had a pair of long arms tipped with long curved talons. Its beak was straight and narrow instead of curved and its feather were mainly red with only bits of white here and there.

"We fight," I replied, knowing that there was no point in running. If the necklace was pointing in their direction then we would need to get past them and I did not feel like having to run from them when we could deal with them here and now.

"Is that wise?" Misty questioned.

"We're not as weak as we once were," I said in a firm tone. "We can take them."

I formed four impact seeds rapidly as the alpha beast sighted on me, and charged letting out a loud screech that the others echoed before they charged towards Misty and Sandra.

It had been a while since I'd fought with my glaive, but it still felt natural when I pulled it from my storage ring and spun it once, getting into a fighting stance as the alpha closed in on me. I met its gaze which seemed to infuriate it as it let out another screech and swiped at me when it was close enough. I nimbly ducked and countered with a low sweep, scoring a shallow gash on its side. I frowned, glancing at my weapon. That blow hadn't been weak and had definitely connected fully, which meant this beast had thick skin and good defenses. Its three cores also blazed brightly and I knew that it most likely had one or two innate techniques.

I leapt forward and brought my glaive around it overarching blow, which the beast dodged much to my surprise, before lashing out with its talons and landing a strike at my chest. My bark armor took the brunt of the strike, but the sound of cracking told me it wouldn't last for long under continuous blows.

I purposefully fell backward as it lashed out with its talons, and kicked up at its chest using aether burst to increase my strength. It staggered back and I used the opportunity to send an impact seed into its face at near point-blank range. It didn't do much damage but the beast did look dazed, allowing me to jump back to my feet and land a deep slash across its chest. It attempted to blindly attack me, but I ducked and hit its legs, which proved to be far weaker defense-wise.

The beast finally snapped out of its daze and before I could react opened its mouth and sent a powerful burst of condensed wind at me, which sent me into the air, spinning twice before landing on my back with a crack, that worried me until I realized it had been my armor and not a bone-breaking.

I quickly got back to my feet and just in time to dodge another wind attack that hit the nearby ground, sending cracks spiderwebbing around the impact area.

It screeched

and dashed forwards while I reoriented myself and prepared to end this. Its long neck was smiler in color and size to its legs which had been far weaker than any other part of its body. It was time to take a risk.

I pulled aether from my core and formed a thorn vine in my left hand while I spun my glaive with the right. The sound of the vine craking the air was loud as I sent it to warp around the beasts leg. Its momentum was too great for it to stop and even as it screeched in pain it continued to close the distance.

I waited and just when it was a few feet away, I pulled, using aether burst to increase my strength. It stumbled forward and I dodged to the left as it fell with a pained shriek. The glaive that had been spinning and gathering speed came down upon its neck. It took two strikes to decapitate the beast as even its neck, while weaker than the rest of it, was still strong.

I sighed and looked over to the others who seemed to be doing fine with their opponents. Misty was a blur as she slashed apart beast after beast, and a literal tornado of shadow tendrils moved around Sandra, denying any of the beasts access to her.

As for Zirani, well her beasts lay dead around her, white foam pouring from their mouths. I watched as a beast screeched and charged at her only to fall over the moment it got within a few feet. I watched in morbid curiosity as it convulsed wildly before it began to choke as white foam poured from its beak.

Zirani only spared it a single glance before she yawned then smiled when she caught my gaze. "Done?"

I nodded. "Mhm, it was more challenging than I expected."

"Good," She replied. "Its challenging fights and acts that will help you grow and learn. Training is good and integral but so is experience."

We'd learned something smiler in the academy from professor Luten. He'd always been the sort to get us out of the building and actually doing things and trying to get us first-hand experience. My aunt was the same way. She'd had me help her at the clinic multiple times to learn first aid and what to do if I ever received a similar injury.

I waited beside Zirani as the others killed the last of the beasts.

"That was tiring." Sandra yawned. "I think I used too much of my bloodline."

"You kept it in control though." Zirani smiled. "That progress and you should be proud, and don't think I didn't see what you were doing Misty, trying to tame the beast."

Misty blushed. "And what did you think?"

Zirani smiled. "You did well, all three of us. Now, let's grab their cores and continue on."

It was tedious work, collecting the cores, but we got it done in a few minutes and then Misty led the way once again. It must have been another hour of walking through the cavern before we came across something of note.

We stopped as Misty leaned down to inspect a torn piece of fabric. It was a bright blue and covered with red stains that were clearly dried blood.

"You think it's her's?" I asked.

"We've been down here for less than a day," Misty replied, not needing clarification as to who I was talking about. "Then again most people don't have trackers to use. There were dozens of turns we could have taken."

She sighed. "Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. I can say one thing for certain though, its human blood and a woman', over eighteen years of age."

"How can you tell?" Sandra asked.

Misty shot her an obvious look then gestured to herself. "Vampire remember. I can smell blood from far away, and once I have the scent I can tell a lot from it."

"Well, either way, we should keep moving," Zirani said.

Misty placed the bandage in her own storage rind before we continued on. Two hours later just as I was starting to get sick and tired of the cavern we came across a wooden door that looked far too normal. It was a bright green with a knob lock and an odd symbol at its upper center. It was a swirl with a single link cutting diagonally through it.

"It's leading me through the door," Misty said when I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Can you sense anything?" I turned to Zirani who shook her head. "Nothing, not even ambient aether which means this door is blocking my senses, though not through any arcane method."

"Let's just open it." Sandra walked forward but Misty held a hand out to stop her. "Let's do it from a distance, just in case something pops out or it's booby-trapped."

Sandra agreed and stepped back as I sent a lashing vine to wrap around the door handle. I twisted and then snapped the cine out at the door to push it. It creaked open on what must have been rusty hinges.

"It's just a room?" Sandra questioned in a confused tone.

"Seems so," I replied as I peered in at the cozy space beyond the door. Firelight lit up the room and its aesthetic was old-fashioned, to say the least. A single rocking chair moved back and forth eerily as wind chimes blew in an invisible breeze. I could also see a few shelves, and further back an attached kitchen.

"Is that snow?" Misty questioned.

I frowned and tried to see where she was looking but realized that my angel was different from hers so I moved over to where she was standing and followed her gaze to see a window and a field of white through its clear glass.

"Welcome, travelers.. It's been long since I've had company."

Chapter 138

The voice was melodic and echoed through the cavern. Instantly all four of us were on guard, and narrowed my eyes in direction of the voice, but frowned as I failed to see anything. The room was empty as far as I could tell, and the voice was coming from the direction of the chair, which was empty.

"Hello?" I called out.

"Well, you four are certainly energetic." The voice sounded amused. "There's no need for worry, I won't harm you, in fact, I've been watching you. You're here for the girl, Hope."

"You've seen her?" Misty asked, taking a step inside.

"Misty!" I hissed.

"What?" she replied. "She said she wouldn't hurt us, and she had information of Hope. Besides what stepping in going to do?"

"I can understand the caution, Aiden," The voice said. "But it is not needed, please step in so that you may be assured I have no desire to hurt you."

"Where are you?" Zirani asked with a frown. "I can't sense you."

"My dear dryad, it saddens me that you are unable to recognize my form of power." Sadness tinged the voice. "Please step in, and you will see me clearly."

There was something about the voice that eased me, but that in and of itself worried me since I couldn't be sure it wasn't some mind-alerting effect. There were beasts who used such things to lure in prey and then pounce.

"Screw this." Before anyone could stop her, Sandra walked through the threshold. She remained still for a moment, staring at the chair before she turned to us. "It's just a woman."

"Where?" I asked, unable to see anything.

"As I've said." The voice chuckled. "Step inside, and you will see me. The only reason you see the door is because I've allowed it but I cannot turn off the other enchantment so easily."

Seeing as Sandra looked fine, I decided to trust the voice and stepped into the room Misty and Zirani following behind me a moment later. I blinked in surprise as I saw the figure in the chair who definitely hadn't been there a moment ago. It was a young woman, dressed in a simple robe, with long glossy black hair and violet eyes that belied her age. They were similar to Zirani's eyes, though much older, and deeper than any set of eyes I'd ever seen, like bottomless pits.

"Now you see me." The woman smiled warmly. "Before you bombard me with questions allow me to introduce myself. I am Allana, wandering witch, and explorer. You are Aiden, Misty, Sandra, and Zirani. A group of many threads, woven together with bonds and love."

"How do you know us?" Zirani asked, taking a step forward.

"I have some skill with divination," Allana replied. "Something you might have once been able to do, before the calamity as you call it. I also have other ways of viewing the surrounding area."

"You said you'd seen Hope?" Misty asked, stepping forward as Zirani stood there her gaze locked onto Allana, confusion and something else in them.

Allana sighed. "I did. She was running from those beasts when I first spotted her. I offered her help and she took it, but she ran off soon after."

"You didn't

stop her?" Sandra asked annoyed.

"I do not force anyone to do anything," Allana said in a frim voice brimming with something. "I offered her help and the moment I turned my back she ran off. I suspect she thought we were outside, but this."

She waved to the window. "Is just another part of the labyrinth,"

Misty sighed. "And here I thought we might get lucky. Do you know which way she went?"

"Misty, we have the tracker," I said, confused.

"No we don't." She winced. "At least not a working one. It stopped working the moment I stepped through the door. I can't even tell if she's dead or alive."

"I'm afraid you'll find that this broken piece of a world is not fully adapted to the labyrinth, or should I say assimilated?" Allana looked off in thought. "I'm still not sure. In any case, I can find her exact location if you wish."

"We do," I said. "And we'd be very grateful, we can pay."

Allana waved a hand. "You have nothing OF use to me unless you'd be willing to part with some of your blood, though I won't force you."

"My blood." I raised an eyebrow. "For what purpose?"

"For many things," she answered with a smile. "None harmful to you of course, but as I said I'm a witch and there are many things I could do with a drop of divine blood no matter how changed it is."

"Divine?" I'd never been described in that way before, but she said it with such surety that it made me wonder. Was that what my bloodline was, a divine power of some sort?

Suddenly, Zirani moved forward until she was only a few feet away from the woman. "What is this?'

Allana smiled. "It's a foreign form of energy your ancestors once used when they lived in their homeworld, a form of magical energy. As I said this piece is not yet assimilated, yes, let's use that word, into the labyrinth, and bits of ambient energy that aren't aether remain, and a piece of you long forgotten is trying to harness it, except it can't. You are a creature of aether now, not of magic, though if you returned long enough to a world ripe with potent magical energy or underwent a ritual then perhaps, but I do not think you want that."

"Magic?" I frowned. "Like in fantasy books?"

"In a way," Allana said. "Now, as much as I'd like to talk on such topics I should get to locating the girl. Who knows how long she will last if she still lives at all. In fact, Misty if you take a step outside your device should function once more. Be and dear and check if the girl still walks among the living."

Misty's eyes widened and she quickly ran out of the room.

I opened my mouth, a dozen questions on my tongue, but Allana held a hand up to spot me. "Another time. My spell may take some time as being in this piece hinders me in many ways. If you want to you can take that door and head up to my room to rest."

She pointed to a door in the corner that definitely hadn't been there earlier. I really wanted to ask some questions but I nodded instead and walked over to grasped Zirani's hand. My aether beast seemed to be in some sort of a daze and our bond was weaker than normal, as though something was causing problems.

"Come on Zirani." She allowed me to lead her to the door, though she kept glancing back at Allana who was rummaging through one of the shelves.

The door led into a short hallway, and to another door which led into a wide and well-furnished room with a single large bed, cupboard, and bedside table. It was pleasantly warm, and well lit despite the fact I could see no visible light source.

"Is she ok?" Sandra asked, motioning to Zirani who had walked over to the bed and laid down.

I shrugged. "She's not hurt, and you heard what Allana said. Somethings going on with her body."

"Magic huh?" Sandra shook her head. "It should say something about what we've been through that I'm not even that shocked. I mean everyone does say that the calamity brought creatures over from other worlds and that there are pieces of other worlds in the labyrinth."

"Yeah, but those are just stories." I took a seat on the bed. "This is real."

Just then Misty walked into the room, a relieved smile on her face. "She's still alive."

I sighed and my shoulders slumped. "Thank goodness. Does anyone else feel that?"

I hadn't noticed it earlier, but the ambient aether seemed weaker and there was definitely less of it, even than what was in the plains. Allana's words about this piece not being fully assimilated came to mind, and I considered the implications of them. Did that mean that this piece was new or that it took a long time for some pieces to assimilate? There was also the talk of other forms of power, besides aether.

I shook the thoughts away since they'd only raise more questions and I couldn't answer themselves or ask Allana.

"I think I'm going to get some sleep." I moved over to lay next to Zirani whose chest now rose and fell with the cadence of rest. Whatever had happened, had clearly tired her out.

"We'll wake you when Allana's done," Sandra said.

I snuggled up close to Zirani who leaned her head against my chest. I smiled and brushed a lock of hair from her face before I yawned and felt my eyes droop.. It wasn't long after that I fell asleep, a dozen questions and more fading from my mind.

Chapter 139

Sandra woke me up an hour later and informed me that Allana was done, and waiting for us out in the main room.

As I stretched, I turned to wake Zirani but frowned as I felt at our bond. I always checked it and it was instinct at this point. It was even weaker than before like something was diluting the connection. I tried to send a thought over but it just faded the moment it was halfway across the bond, swallowed up something I couldn't sense. It was a moment later that I also noticed Zirani's shallow breaths.

I shot Misty a worried looked as I placed a hand on Zirnai's forehead. "She's burning up. Did she do anything while I was asleep?"

Sandra shook her head. "No, she just slept."

"Zirani?" I slowly shook her. "Wake up, Zirani!"

I shook her harder, but she didn't respond, and I cursed as I grew worried. "Somethings wrong. Misty go get Allana."

"No need," Allana said, appearing out of nowhere. "I'm already here."

"How did you…?"

"This is my domain." she laid a gentle hand on Zirani's cheek and closed her eyes. "I hear and see all that occurs within these walls."

"What's wrong with her?" I asked.

Allana didn't respond for a minute as she muttered unintelligible words other than her breath. She opened her eyes and sighed, glazing at me with a sympathetic look in her gaze. "it's just as I suspected."

She stood. "I'm afraid you three will have to find the girl on your own."

"Why?" I asked insistently. "What's wrong with her?"

"Like I said earlier her body is reacting to the ambient energy in the air," Allana explained. "The bits of magical energy were attracted to her due to her bloodline. She is not a simple dryad, her years of constant growth via aether had enchanted her blood and allowed her to become something more than a common dryad. That part of her that was created to harness magic grew with it, and now it's finally in an environment with magical energy, no matter how weak. It is attempting to absorb the magical energy into her, but the problem with that is her aether. As I said earlier she is a creature of aether now, and the ambient mana is clashing with her aether. If she did not bear the blood of a dryad then her aether would have expelled the foreign power, but it isn't because a part of her that's always been empty is finally being filled and it's not so easy to let that go."

"And what does that mean for her?" I asked, my mind coming up with all sorts of dreadful possibilities. I couldn't lose Zirani.

"It means she's fighting," Allana said. "Either she will deny the foreign power or she won't. I don't think she could handle both. I've never seen aether and magic meld before, so it could be possible."

"You can't do anything to help her?' Misty asked.

"Oh no I can," Allana replied. "I can help with the fever and pain, but not her inner struggle, that's up to her. Now, as for the location of the girl. I have crafted a necklace similar to the one you have. Simply wear it

and you will know where to go. Take care as you travel, the beasts out there are in a process of change and far more volatile than usual."

I didn't want to leave Zirani, but I also knew that there was nothing I could do so I leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead before whispering into her eat, praying she could hear me. "Fight on, for me and for everything will still have to do."

With Sandra and Misty in tow, I made my way out of the room. The necklace was lying on a table and I quickly put it on. Just as Allana had promised I instantly knew where to go. It was like constant thought in my head informing me of her location.

"Are we really going to leave Zirani behind?" Sandra asked.

"We can't bring her with us," I replied. "And you heard Allana, she's dealing with her own problem so let's take care of this so we can return and congratulate her."

I didn't let myself think of the possibility of her losing the fight. No, she was too strong, not just physically and when it came to the arcane, but mentally as well. She would survive this, she had to.

With one last glance back in Zirani's direction, we left through the front door. Almost immediately I held a hand up to ward away the blizzard that was in progress. Where the hell had the serene white snowfield gone?

"Damn it's cold." Sandra placed her arms around herself and shivered.

The cold was biting and the fact we were feeling it meant that it was strong as all three of us were at the third level. Normal, even extreme cold shouldn't have poised this much of a problem. In any case, there wasn't much we could do about it but put on a few extra layers. I formed my bark armor while Sandra formed her cloak and had it wrap itself around her.

Misty on the other hand did nothing as she looked fine.

"You aren't cold?" Sandra asked, her breath misting.

Misty shrugged. "Not really. I think it's because I'm a vampire."

I led the way through the snow, moving east in the direction I knew Hope was. The snow was thick and we weren't able to move as fast as we wanted. If there had been trees then maybe we could have used those, but I couldn't see anything else other than snow. We pushed on for an hour, keeping our eyes open for any potential predators, which was hard since the snow flurries hampered our vision. If we were attacked, we wouldn't have much time to spot them beforehand if we spotted them at all. Beasts tended to adapt to the environment so it wouldn't be a surprise if the beasts here could blend into the snow.

How the hell was Hope even still alive. She was only level one, and at her first core. She'd have a hard time dealing with the cold let alone the threat of beasts. Unless the cold was at severe at certain times. Whatever the case it was good for us as it meant our mission wasn't over.

I stopped for a moment and turned to make sure Misty and Sandra was still behind me. The blizzard had gotten so bad that I could only see a few feet in front of me, and I was mostly relying on my arcane senses which was only working half the time in this place.

"I think we're close," I said when Misty and Sandra came to a stop.

Sandra opened her mouth to reply, but a white blur shot out from my right and slammed into her, sending her crashing into the snow.

"Sandra!"

I stepped forward to kick the white beast of her, but something slammed into my back and sent me slamming face-first into the snow. I rolled onto my back quickly just in time to dodge the claws and fangs of a giant white wolf.

It turned its red eyes to me and growled, but that didn't last long as Misty appeared at its side and slashed at its flank. It whimpered and blood sprayed onto the snow as it shot away at an incredibly fast speed. Misty followed and I Quincy tuned to Sandra who had gotten to her feet and was staring down at the corpse of another white wolf, though hers was smaller than the one that had attacked me. A long scratch marred her neck, though fortunately, it seemed like a flesh wound and nothing too serious.

"You ok?" I asked, just to be sure.

She nodded. "It stings but I'll live. Where's Misty?"

Almost as if in spoken, there was a loud pained howl, and a moment later, Misty walked back, partially covered in blood. "I'm here, are there any more?"

"Not sure," I said as I glanced around. "It's hard to tell since their fur matches the color of the snow."

It seemed I'd been right when I'd considered the possibility of ambush predators. It was the perfect place for them after all. Low visibility, long stretches of flat land, and an easy way to hide via the snow. Hell, all it would take for a person to blend in would be white clothing.

"Well I think we should keep moving," Misty suggested. "There's no point in just standing around and waiting. Maybe we'll come across some shelter soon. I mean how else is Hope surviving this."

She waved a hand around herself. "This blizzard would probably kill a normal person and even weak arcanists."

I nodded and we continued on, still keeping an eye on our surroundings, even though it was unlikely we'd spot any of the wolves.. With their speed and natural camouflage, we could only hope that we'd be able to react once they pounced and not take too much damage.

Chapter 140

After the first two, we didn't run into anymore more snow wolves as we traveled across the snow, and after another hour of travel, we finally came across something that wasn't just snow. A tall wall of rock that stretched on into the distance both right and left, and I assumed it was part of some mountain or cliff face.

"Please tell me we don't have to climb it?" Sandra asked.

"We don't," I replied and turned right. "The necklace is pointing this way, and I'm guessing we'll come across some cave or opening. How else is she surviving this."

The blizzard had increased in intensity, and the winds were so strong that if we weren't careful, we would be blown forward and sent tumbling into the snow. There was no way a normal human could survive out here, and it may me wonder what sort of world this was from.

We followed along the stone wall, which made it easier to keep an eye out for potential threats as they could only come in three directions instead of four, though I did let myself think of the possibility of something attacking from above. I wasn't sure of how high it went, and I had no clue of the wolves true strength. They hadn't had cores, at least not complete cores. It had been like they had been in the process of forming a core, but with the dampening effect this place had on my arcane sense, I hadn't been able to tell how strong it would have been or even the affinity, though if I had to guess I would assume it would either be wind or water with a focus on snow and ice.

The opening I'd expected was a large crack in the surface of the stone and small enough that I had to get rid of my bark armor to squeeze which left me open to the cold momentarily. If it had been bing before, now it was gnawing. I quickly pushed myself all the way through and waited for the others before forming a sunlight orb.

It was still cold, but nowhere near as bad as outside.

We had entered into a cramped narrow space that led deeper into the mountain or whatever it was.

"Is she in here?" Misty asked.

"Deeper in," I answered. "At least that's what the necklace is telling me."

I led the way through the cramped space, for once cursing my height as I hit my head several times much to Sandra's amusement, though she herself ended up trapping on her own cloaks a few moments later.

The orb provided light though there wasn't much to see much but cold stone and jagged spikes. Whatever this space was, it had clearly been naturally formed, and if not, then the person who'd made it had done a terrible job. The only people who could get through easily would be children or small animals. It made more sense now how the wolves hadn't gotten her. They were far too large to fit into this space, and the temperature rose the further we moved in, going from biting cold to a pleasant chill.

"Stop!" I said as I heard a faint sound coming from ahead. The three of us moved silently and slowly enough that we made little sounds and no sounds came from the space we were in so I was easily able to pick up the sound of breathing.

I turned to the others and slowly raised a finger to my lips.

They both nodded, and Misty sniffed once before giving me a thumbs up and mouthing 'it's her.'

I dimmed

the sunlight orb and slowed my pace. A minute later the space opened up into a larger yet still cramped space, but my focus wasnt on that. It was on the girl sleeping at the center, covered in numerous blankets, and shivering slightly. From the description the mayor and given to us, I knew this was Hope.

She looked a lot smaller than I'd expected, and if not for the fact I could see her face and had been told her age, then I would have assumed she was a child.

"What do we do?" Sandra asked in a whisper.

"We wake her up," I replied. "But I don't think I should be the one to do it. Misty, can you wake her up and explain everything?"

"Why me?"

"Because you're the best with people," I replied. "And I don't how she'll react to a strange man in a tight and small space with her."

The last thing we needed was her freaking out and screaming, so I moved back and allowed Misty to walk towards Hope. She gently shook the girl and it took a moment but then the girl opened up her eyes and turned her blue orbs to Misty. For a second there was no reaction then Hope's eyes widened and she opened her mouth, presumably to scream or shout, but Misty's hand shot out in a blur and covered the girl's mouth before she could.

"Hope, calm down," Misty said as the girl's fearful glanced from Misty to the two of us. "We were sent by your father to rescue you. These are my friends, Sandra and Aiden. I'm going to take my hand from your mouth so don't scream or raise your voice, ok?"

Tears had begun in the form of eyes and she nodded frantically. The moment Misty took her hand away, the girl leapt up and wrapped her hands around the blonde before beginning to weep quietly. "Thank you, thank you. I-I t-though I was going to die."

Misty gently patted the girl's back and spoke a few comforting words, proving that she indeed had been the best choice for this.

"Ok Hope," Misty said. "I need you to listen to my friend ok?"

Hope nodded and filled Misyt's gaze as she turned to me.

"Well, firstly, do you know when the blizzard stops?" I asked. "Or is it even a common thing?'

Hope wiped her eyes before answering. "It's last a few hours. I ran in here when it started and I tried to go back out, but it was going on. It stopped b-but t-the wolves were waiting."

She shook and Misty brushed a hand through her hair. "You don't have to worry about them anymore."

"I think they smelled me," Hope said. "H-how did you get past them?"

"We killed two," Sandra answered with a feral grin. "We didn't see any others."

"How strong are you three?" Hope asked in a shocked voice.

I was about to ask why she couldn't sense it when I realized that if the world was damping my arcane sense then she probably wouldn't be able to sense anything since she was only at the first level and now I could see her core was at smoke stage. This girl truly had been a fool to come into the labyrinth, worse, she was dressed in casual clothing, not even basic armor or combat robes.

"We're all at the third level," I said which earned me a wide-eyed look full of relief.

"So, are we going to stay in here until the blizzard is over?" Sandra questioned.

I nodded. "One of us should check now just to be sure it hadn't died down, but if it hasn't then we'll check every hour. It only took us what, ten minutes to get this deep?"

"I'll do it," Misty suggested with a shrug. "I don't feel the cold and I'm the fastest."

Hope was reluctant to let go of Misty but when Sandra moved over and paled a comforting hand on her shoulder, she turned from the blonde to Sandra who smiled hesitantly, clearly unsure of what to do.

"How did my father know I was here?" Hope asked as Misty left.

"He had a tracker on you," I explained. "It allied us to find you. I don't think i need to tell you how stupid of an idea coming into the labyrinth was. You came in alone, at the first level with no amour or weapons to speak of."

She looked ashamed and like she burst into tears once more. "I'm sorry."

"Tell that to your father." I shook my head. "He's worried sick and if we hadn't come, then you would have most likely died. I doubt you'll be seeing a labyrinth or tower again for a very long time."

She flinched at my words and Sandra shot me a slight glare. This was the reason I wasn't good at comforting people, at least not strangers.

Misty returned later with the news that the blizzard was still going on strong, so we settled into the cramped space. We offered Hope food, and water which she happily took along with some new clothes since hers were pretty dirty and ripped up in places. I had to leave for a few minutes while she changed and when I returned she had gone back to sleeping, apparently having tired herself out.

As I leaned against the wall, I thought about Zirani and what she was going through. Our bond was still not working so I couldn't sense her at all, apart from the fact I knew she was still alive, which was a comfort. It felt odd, not having her around, not being able to talk to her whenever I needed help. I realized that I might have become sort of reliant on her in a way that made sense, but I also questioned if that was a good thing or if I had become too reliant if I had become dependent. We were bonded of course and would always be together, so it sort of felt stupid to wonder about. I wished Zirani was here, she'd know the right answers.

I snorted at the thought that sort of proved my former point. It was good to rely on someone, but there was a certain point where it evolved from reliance to becoming dependent. Had I reached that point?

"Bad time to have an existential crisis, Aiden," I muttered to myself.

Eventually, I grew frustrated at the constant thoughts and questions, so I pushed them all away and tried to get some sleep, even though I didn't really need it.

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Chapter 164: 131-140

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