Chapter 228: Chapter 228: Arcania
The thick canopy of the eastern woods completely swallowed the morning light. The air was incredibly humid, carrying the scent of wet pine needles and damp earth.
Silas walked with a steady, unbreakable rhythm. The brass rings on his wooden staff jingled softly with every single step. He did not use the staff to feel the ground. He held it upright, walking perfectly straight through the dense, twisted roots and heavy bushes.
Khaos walked exactly two steps behind the monk. His tiny leather boots squelched in the mud. He had been walking for three hours. A normal boy of four years would be crying from exhaustion. Khaos was not tired. He was just deeply annoyed by the silence.
"Are you actually blind?" Khaos asked loudly.
"Yes," Silas answered without turning his head.
"Then how do you know where the trees are?" Khaos pressed. "You have not walked into a single tree. And you completely avoided that large badger hole back there."
"I do not need physical eyes to see the world," Silas replied in his raspy voice. "I see the ether. Everything in this world possesses a core. The trees have a slow, green pulse. The earth has a deep, brown hum. The badger hole was empty of life, making it a dark void in the ground. I walk through the currents of energy."
Khaos looked around at the ordinary trees. He squinted his bright violet eyes. "I just see brown bark and green leaves. I do not see any glowing pulses. Are you lying to me?"
"You are unawakened," Silas stated calmly. "Your core is incredibly massive, but it is currently a locked door. You only let the chaos leak out when you are angry. To see the ether, you must learn to open the door willingly. You must learn control."
"Then teach me how to open the door," Khaos demanded. He grabbed his wooden toy sword and pointed it at the monk’s back. "Teach me how to throw the beautiful fire. Right now."
Silas stopped walking. He turned around slowly. His completely white, sightless eyes focused directly on the little boy.
"Fire is the most basic manipulation of elemental mana," Silas explained. "It is entirely destructive and lacks discipline. If I teach you to summon fire right now, you will not throw it. You will simply ignite your own blood and burn yourself into a pile of black ash."
"I would not burn," Khaos argued confidently. "I am much too strong to turn into ash. My father says I am invincible."
"Your father is a mortal who swings a piece of sharpened iron," Silas said bluntly. "He loves you, but he is completely ignorant of the cosmic laws. Arrogance is a disease, Khaos. If you do not cure it, the arcane world will completely devour you."
"You talk too much," Khaos sighed heavily. He kicked a small rock into the bushes. "If you will not teach me the fire today, then where exactly are we walking?"
"We are heading east," Silas resumed walking, his brass rings chiming in the quiet forest. "Far beyond the borders of the Atrai Kingdom. We are going to a place where the golden kings have absolutely no authority."
"Is it a big village?" Khaos asked, running a few steps to catch up.
"It is not a village," Silas corrected him. "It is a mystical city called Arcania."
"Arcania," Khaos repeated the word carefully. He liked the sound of it. "Do they have red mages there?"
"The red mages of Atrai are nothing but trained dogs," Silas scoffed softly. "Arcania is the floating city of supreme scholars, exiled sorcerers, and arcane anomalies. It is a sanctuary for true power."
Khaos widened his violet eyes. "Did you say it floats? Like a cloud?"
"It floats like a mountain ripped directly from the earth," Silas explained. "The founding supreme mages severed an entire peak from the ground and lifted it into the sky using pure arcane will. It hovers continuously over the Sea of Mists. No army can march to its gates. No catapult can reach its walls."
"That is a very good prank," Khaos laughed brightly. "Taking a mountain so nobody else can climb it. I wish I had thought of that."
"It is not a prank," Silas sighed, his scarred face remaining entirely stoic. "It is a display of absolute mastery. The city is held aloft by a massive central core. The scholars there spend their entire lives studying the deep mysteries of the universe. They do not care about mortal kingdoms or petty wars. They only care about the pursuit of ether."
"Are we going to live there?" Khaos asked.
"We are going to try to enter," Silas answered carefully. "Arcania does not simply open its gates for anyone who asks. You cannot buy your way inside with gold or titles. You must prove your worth."
"I am very worthy," Khaos nodded proudly. "I am the prince of the void."
"You are a child covered in mud," Silas replied coldly. "To enter the floating city, every applicant must face the Trial of the Gates. The arcane wardens will test your spiritual core. They will measure your potential. If they find you lacking, they will throw us back down to the mortal dirt."
Khaos gripped his wooden sword tightly. "What if I just punch the wardens?"
"Then the defensive arrays will instantly vaporize you," Silas warned. "Arcania possesses magical barriers that make the Atrai Vanguard look like children playing with candles. You must follow the rules of the scholars."
Khaos frowned deeply. He absolutely hated following rules. Rules were for normal people, like the blacksmith and the tavern keeper. Rules were completely boring.
"Who rules this floating city?" Khaos asked another question. "Is there a chief? I can talk to the chief. I am very good at talking to older people. I can do a face that makes them give me sweet buns."
"Your innocent manipulations will not work on the Grand Council," Silas shook his head. "Arcania is ruled by seven Supreme Archmages. They are beings who have lived for thousands of years. They have seen every lie, every trick, and every deception in the cosmos. They look directly into your soul."
"Have you ever met one of them?"
"I am a defected monk," Silas said softly. "I have only heard the legends. They say the First Archmage has not stepped out of his tower in five centuries. He spends his days plucking the strings of fate and observing the different realms."
"He sounds lazy," Khaos concluded entirely. "If I had a flying mountain, I would fly it around and drop heavy rocks on the people I do not like. Like Commander Vane."
Silas stopped walking again. He let out a very long, very tired breath. He realized he was not just escorting a magical prodigy. He was escorting a highly dangerous, extremely volatile psychopath trapped in a tiny, adorable body.
"Khaos," Silas spoke with absolute seriousness. "Listen to me closely. The Atrai Kingdom wants to kill you because they fear your raw power. But Arcania will kill you if they think your power is entirely uncontrollable. You must learn to hide your dark thoughts. When we reach the city, you must act like a humble, willing student."
Khaos tilted his head. He looked at the blind monk for a long moment. He processed the warning. He understood the game. It was exactly like dealing with Auntie Yara at the tavern. You smile, you act polite, you get inside the kitchen, and then you do whatever you want.
"I can be humble," Khaos smiled his perfect, innocent smile. "I will be the best student they have ever seen. I will read their books. I will listen to their boring stories. And then I will take their magic."
"You do not take magic," Silas corrected him. "You learn it."
"Same thing," Khaos shrugged entirely. He patted his stomach. "I am very hungry now. Does your ether vision see any roasted pigs in this forest?"
"There are no roasted pigs," Silas replied, starting to walk again. "But I sense a stream nearby. We will catch fish."
"I do not like fish. Fish are too wet."
"You will eat what we catch, or you will starve."
"If I starve, my father will crawl out of the underworld and drag you down," Khaos reminded the monk cheerfully. "He promised."
Silas did not respond. He simply gripped his staff tighter and walked faster. The journey to Arcania was going to take three months. Silas was beginning to wonder if his own sanity would survive that long.
"Blind man," Khaos called out from behind.
"My name is Brother Silas."
"Okay, Silas. Can we do one magic trick while we eat the wet fish?" Khaos pleaded. "Just a small fire. I promise I will not burn my blood."
"No."
"What if I make the fish float?"
"You cannot make the fish float."
"But what if I try?"
"You will just drop the fish in the mud."
Khaos let out a loud, dramatic sigh. He swung his wooden sword at a passing bush, decapitating a large fern.
"Arcania better have very good sweet buns," Khaos grumbled to himself. "Or I am going to break their floating mountain in half."
They continued their long trek through the dense woods. The sounds of the Atrai Kingdom and the tragic fate of the Nameless Valley slowly faded away, replaced completely by the endless chatter of a strange boy and the chiming brass rings of a blind, patient guide. The mystical city of Arcania awaited them, completely unaware of the absolute chaos walking toward its gates.
