Book 3. The Long Journey. Chapter 211. Underground Complex.

“As you can see.” Once their group rode into the spacious grounds of the fourth mansion, which were filled with grass and some trees, Azuresky began explaining unhurriedly. “Generally speaking, there are three main features to Heaven’s Quarters mansions. The building in the centre is the above-ground part of the entire structure and functions as living quarters, while the underground part of the mansion is mostly for your private training purposes. Within the latter, you have a private entrance to the underground Training Pavilion of Academy City,” he stated casually while the four of them were riding towards the centre of the mansion. The area which each of those ten mansions took up was quite impressive, so it would take them a few minutes to arrive. Of course, they could drive their horses into a gallop and get there faster, but none of them felt the need to do so.

“What about privacy?” Laien inquired. He was glad that Azuresky’s idea of ‘showing them around’ was just a more thorough explanation of what they should expect within the mansion. If anything, unless they really needed someone to set things up for them for everything to work as intended, he’d rather explore the place with Yin instead of having someone else guide them.

“No need to worry,” Azuresky replied with a smile. “Our Runesmiths might not compare to those old fogeys from the Holy Forge Union, but I dare say our achievements don’t pale in comparison to the those of Southern Eulene in the times past. Once you bind the Core Rune, you will gain access to the many now-dormant systems. Of course, managing something as rudimentary as that underground door to the Training Pavilion will be entirely up to you. Even the Academy’s Rector will be unable to force his way into your mansion’s training rooms unless he’s willing to suffer the backlash from forcefully breaking through the runic formations that are protecting it,” he elaborated proudly. It was no easy feat to become a Heaven’s Order Student, so each and every one of such talents could enjoy treatment and privileges corresponding to their high position. He had been one of the people pushing for this extremely competitive and merit-oriented system in the Academy, so he naturally wanted Laien and Yin to understand how great it was and how good they were about to have it.

“Interesting,” Laien commented eagerly, caring little to conceal the excitement in his voice. However, this excitement stemmed from a different reason than Azuresky had been expecting. “I’ve got two questions. First, you called the people who set up those runes ‘Runesmiths’, are they different from Rune Masters?” he asked while looking Azuresky in the eye. He had received an entire legacy of a Rune Master from Flora, so while he wasn’t planning to study it thoroughly just yet, it would be a pity not to cross-reference Flora’s methods with those employed in this mansion.

“They are different,” Azuresky answered, nodding his head for twofold reasons. One to empathize his answer and two, because he was silently appreciating the confidence Laien was displaying while speaking with him. Perhaps had it not been for the little chat he had with Emeric on their way here, he would have felt slightly irked by Laien’s attitude, but as the matters stood, he bore only positive feelings towards Laien because of it. “Runesmiths and Rune Masters are both people who mastered the art of creating runic formations, but most of the former ones specialize in the crafts while the latter ones are more proficient in using runes for battle. Of course, that’s only a generalization and sometimes those elusive masters choose the title which suits their temperament more, so you shouldn’t go around assuming that every Runesmith is weak in terms of fighting prowess. In the same line of reasoning, there are famous Rune Masters who are extremely proficient in setting up static runic formations,” he explained, then raised his eyebrows slightly. He had thought that Laien would start getting bored after this somewhat lengthy explanation, but the look in the boy’s eyes was still as intrigued as a moment ago. Thus, he smiled and decided to say a few more words.

“Currently, there are five famous ‘Rune Masters’ or ‘Runesmiths’, depends on the person, who are recognized to have reached the Grandmaster level in their arts. Three of them reside in the Holy Forge Union while the last two are from the ancient Empire in the north-eastern part of the continent. Apart from those five Grandmasters, I guess the old hag that was screwing around as the ‘Guardian’ of the Faren Kingdom would count, too. Still, there’s been no news of her after the Bloody Dusk happened early this year, so no one knows if she’s alive or dead.”

Hearing Azuresky say so, Laien couldn’t help but reveal a wry smile. It looked like Flora didn’t have a good reputation in the northern Eulene, as expected. More importantly, though, even Azuresky recognized her as one of the five, well, six since she was still alive, Rune Grandmasters. Of course, he had known from the very beginning that Flora was a powerful person and that her legacy was likely to be priceless, but it was only now that his interest in runes was properly rekindled. Once he was done getting used to all the new insights and abilities of his, he would surely put in the effort to learn the runes. That being said, most of it would have to wait until he was in the Eclipse Academy.

“Thanks for the lecture,” Laien said playfully and laughed when Azuresky raised an eyebrow at him. “I think I know enough about that for now. The other question I had was in a way about runes too, now that I think about it. You mentioned that no one will be able to force their way into our training rooms, so are the living quarters not protected by the runic formations?” he asked just as their group of four was arriving in front of the large villa-like building in the centre of the mansion’s grounds.

“Mostly, yes,” Azuresky said with a smile. “It would be too dangerous to have warding runes set up on your living quarters as one mistake would be enough to kill your guests. Despite that, there are some basic detection-oriented runes installed aboveground so unless it’s a skilled Rune Master or a truly powerful expert, no one should be able to get into your house unnoticed,” he reassured, guessing that this was the thing Laien was concerned with. To be fair, this mansion was located in Heaven’s Quarters, so in the first place, the number of people who could get into its grounds was very limited. Still, having a degree of privacy from the messengers and other Heaven’s Order Students was to be expected, so the living areas weren’t left without their own protective systems.

“That’s good to know,” Laien said happily, appearing to be quite content with how everything had been set up at the mansion. There were some details which he would only be able to confirm once he went inside, but the overall description was very much to his liking. Even if he could have designed this mansion himself, he wouldn’t necessarily have changed anything about it.

“We’re in luck,” Azuresky said with a smile and glanced over his shoulder. What didn’t escape his attention was that not only Emeric but also Laien and Yin turned around at the same time. He had noticed it when Mustafa was coming over and those two reacted early on, but their senses were truly sharp beyond any reasonable standards of their cultivation realms. “Sebastian, you’re early,” he greeted, looking at the middle-aged man with a head full of shoulder-long, dishevelled brown hair.

“Of course I am!” Sebastian growled, stopping abruptly in front of the four riders. “You two were supposed to be in the north, but here I learn that you’ve come to my Academy City and you’re even forcing two kids into Heaven’s Quarters over my head!” he spat out in one breath, forgetting to even smoothen out his shirt, which had mostly come undone during his sprint. If any ladies were present, they would have been able to appreciate the sight of the undone buttons, the chiselled stomach, and the additional parts of skin revealed by the low-hanging pants. However, rather than feeling this way, the four guys Sebastian had to deal with seemed to only be amused by his appearance.

“Leave that for later,” Azuresky said, failing to prevent the corners of his lips from lifting into a grin. He did catch himself doing so the very next second, but the implications of the thoughts which came to him afterwards made him feel a bit awkward. Maybe it was his imagination, but when he was around Laien and Yin, he was somehow influenced by the former’s extremely carefree attitude. It was almost to the extent in which he tended to act differently around his wife and his younger son, thus making him wonder what was it exactly about Laien that made him relax to such a degree.

“Anyway,” he continued the talk, unwilling to linger on those annoying thoughts. “Hand over the Core Rune to those kids so they can bind the mansion first. We’ll explain it all inside,” he said with a smile. He didn’t budge when Sebastian’s face trembled in a mixture of shock and anger, either, finally getting the brown-haired man to let out a sigh and drop his shoulders resignedly.

“Fine,” Sebastian said unhappily. “Just so you know, I’m only doing this because I believe in you two. You’re not people who would do anything for no reason, so I’ll go along with it, no matter how ridiculous it seems. However, please do remember that a part of the deal we had was for me to have a large degree of autonomy in my Academy City. While I believe in you two, let’s at least try to maintain appearances with those important decisions,” he said alongside a sigh, then used a mix of wind-element Qi and spiritual energy to tidy up his clothes and hair in an oddly practised manner.

“Spiritual Master of the seventh rank!” Laien and Yin simultaneously exclaimed in their hearts. This brown-haired man, Sebastian, was the first spiritual master of the seventh rank they had seen! “And not an ordinary one, either,” Laien mused in his mind. “His aura overall is even a bit stronger than Magistrate Patrick’s from back then. Patrick’s cultivation was only at the fifth Realm of Heroes, but he had surely cultivated many powerful inheritances. This means that Sebastian is probably half a step into the eighth Realm of Heroes! He’s a martial master of the fifth rank, too,” Laien thought, a beast-like smile unknowingly creeping onto his face. Sebastian’s might was great to the point of making him tremble, but not because of something like fear. No, he was excited! He was so excited that he couldn’t help trembling and had to clench his fists tight to contain this excitement!

“Whoa, there,” Sebastian laughed carefreely, though the look in his eyes was anything but that. “I see that the spirit of these two little beasts you brought me is rather high. It’s the second time since Vladimir that someone so young looked at me as if he couldn’t wait to grow strong enough to tear me into pieces. And, this time there’s two of them to boot! Although one is more restrained with his emotions than the other, hah,” he pointed out wryly. He was beginning to understand what Azuresky and Emeric saw in those two kids. Even though he didn’t know the circumstances, he was willing to believe that children with temperaments similar to that Wild Beast’s were worth nurturing.

“So, to whom?” Sebastian asked with a slight smirk, producing a sphere-shaped Core Rune. To his surprise, however, the two boys didn’t have to even exchange a glance before the green-haired one backed down and the black-haired one raised his hand slightly, ready to catch the stone-like Core Rune. “Do they have hierarchy settled already or what?” Sebastian wondered. He was disappointed that he didn’t get to watch an interesting show as to get back at those two for looking at him like he was a tasty prey to devour in the future, but he threw the Core Rune over regardless.

“If you want to imprint it easily,” Sebastian said offhandedly. “I recommend to…” he was about to explain, but the words got stuck in his throat when he saw the thousands of complicated runic patterns engraved on the surface of the Core Rune lit up all at once. His mouth opening and closing repeatedly, he didn’t know what to say with Laien smiling and showing an expression that seemed to be saying ‘oh, so that’s how it works!’. “Just how powerful is his soul?” Sebastian wondered, unaware of the silly look he had on his face. “It usually takes a spiritual master of the fourth rank, and one with some experience in using runes too, to instantly bind a Core Rune of this level!” he thought in his exasperation. He had seen many talented youths who had mastered martial techniques far beyond their level and equally many who mastered many Secret Arts at a young age, especially in the past ten years. However, improving the strength of one’s soul was an entirely different matter!

“I’m sorry.” Finally, Sebastian could hold it in no longer and spoke up. “Are you perhaps an apprentice Rune Master?” he asked, incapable of restraining his curiosity. Improving the strength of one’s soul was one of the biggest headaches for all spiritual masters but especially for Rune Masters! Generally speaking, it was commonly accepted that only thorough countless hours of training could one improve the strength of their soul and push it beyond the standards of their cultivation base. However, if one accomplished that, then the benefits of this achievement would be long-lasting, allowing them to possess an above-average strength of the soul all the time as their cultivation increased! For Laien to already possess a soul this powerful when, judging by the fluctuations of his spiritual energy, he was only half a step into the ninth mortal realm, was beyond shocking!

Faced with Sebastian’s overly excited inquiry, Laien was about to answer his question honestly, but before he could open his mouth, Azuresky stepped in.

“Don’t you think it’s a bit inappropriate?” Azuresky asked with a calm smile. Yet, despite his quiet words and amiable expression, Sebastian still sobered up in an instant due to the stern look in the Warrior-King’s eyes. “You should be able to tell that those two aren’t from our countries, they are our guests. However, even if they were our people, it still wouldn’t be right for you to pry into their secrets. Whether the boy’s powerful soul is innate, is a result of a fortunate encounter, or stems from his practice of Runic Arts or anything similar to them, it’s not for us to ask about,” he reminded. He knew from experience, both personal and external, that the greater the genius, the more they disliked being coerced or forced into revealing their secrets. While Laien and Yin didn’t look as if they minded Sebastian’s question, he preferred to cut the subject before things went too far.

“…” Speechless, Sebastian gave Azuresky a dead-fish glare. “My bad for asking. Let me just say, those two better be worth the treatment you’re giving them,” he said, his expression returning to normal by the time the last word left his mouth. He felt rather sour that even after he had migrated to the Kingdom of Bolan and settled as an Honoured Guest in Azuresky’s territory over one hundred years ago and yet, his old friend had chosen to step on him to show his sincerity to those two boys. Perhaps he should have been more understanding of Azuresky’s and Emeric’s intentions, but he wasn’t like them, someone who put their subjects and countries in the first place. So, while he could understand where their actions were coming from, he couldn’t help feeling little aggrieved.

Suddenly beginning to feel a little ashamed of himself, Azuresky coughed twice and looked away from Sebastian. He might have acted a bit rash in his desire to show those two boys how much he valued them, but he wasn’t about to admit it there and then. “Let’s go inside, I’ll tell you the whole story,” he suggested and dismounted promptly, storing the saddle and the reins in his interspatial ring in the same movement. He caressed his horse’s back for a bit, then patted him twice, causing the mount to slowly walk away in a dignified manner. Curiously enough, with but a second of delay, Emeric repeated the same series of actions and obtained an identical result.

The two Kings proceeded to exchange a look, one from which it was hard to tell if they felt annoyed or amused by their similar habits stemming from the traditional Horse-Bonding Schools. What did make both of them smile slightly as they recalled old memories, though, was the scene of Laien and Yin mimicking their actions with some small differences. Laien had sent his horse off with one stronger tap, while Yin didn’t tap his mount at all, yet both left at the same time. Should they say, as expected of riders who could boast owning elite mounts that stepped into the Realm of Heroes?

“Say,” Laien started saying with a smile. “Do you need us for that talk?” he asked, his eyes landing first on Azuresky then on Emeric. The former of the two appeared to be the one who knew the Rector better, while personally, he came to like Emeric more. So, faced with the little dilemma, he could only compromise and direct the question to both of them.

“Yes,” Azuresky replied, able to guess what was on Laien’s mind. “But only for the second part. We can give you ten minutes to explore the villa, how about it?” he suggested, then let out a laugh when Laien’s expression brightened. It only occurred to him now since Laien’s temperament was so different compared to Alexander’s, but the way those two worse their emotions on their sleeves was the same. His wife similarly never hid from him how she was feeling at any moment and would often speak her mind to him openly, even if they disagreed. In a way, the latter of those two traits which he valued so much was more strongly present in Laien than in Alexander.

“That would explain some things,” Azuresky mused, watching the two boys enter the villa before anyone else. “With the Core Rune bound, Laien should have a fairly detailed image of the building’s layout ingrained in his mind, so they would have no trouble finding their way around,” he thought before following the two boys inside, with Emeric and Sebastian coming alongside him.

The three of them knew their way around the villa, at least roughly, since most of their planning advice had been focused on the training areas. So, even without spreading their aura, they walked straight to one of the many guest rooms and made themselves comfortable. Meanwhile, Laien and Yin descended into the villa’s basement and found the entrance to the underground complex.

“Amazing,” Laien said, his excitement growing with each second. Even though he had bound the Core Rune, all the knowledge which came with it was only activated by the corresponding thoughts or sights. Thus, now that he was crouching before a seemingly normal yet unnaturally smooth basement floor, he understood that he was looking at a piece of art that was almost comparable to what he had seen in that hidden village back in the Anarchic Lands.

“Hah.” Even though he was smirking, Laien had to admit that he was impressed. “It might only be ‘almost’ comparable to the utterly declined state of the Durash Clan, but I never thought I’d get to see something like this. I wish we used magic and especially runic magic more in the south! Those things are the epitome of the word ‘convenient’!” he mused, all the while sending a thread of spiritual energy into the runic formation embedded within the stone floor. The next moment, a rectangular portion of the floor in front of him parted in the shape of a gate, revealing a set of stairs.

“Let me correct myself,” Laien murmured. “In some ways, this Runic Formation is superior. Just like those at Flora’s hideout, it seems to be using elemental stones as a power source. But… maybe I’m jumping to conclusions? Are there demerits to using an outer power source instead of employing pure natural energy like Durash Clan’s formations do? It seems to lessen the burden on the one employing the formation, but does it perhaps lower its flexibility?” he wondered. At the same time, he attempted to spread his aura throughout the lines of runic formations, curious to see how far they reached. Within moments, he managed to have his aura wash over the entirety of formations within the villa, including its underground training area. However, when he attempted to pry further, his probing was met with a barrier, one which prevented him from inspecting two areas.

“The power source of this mansion and the runic structure of the main Training Grounds seems to be off-limits. I feel like I could break through this restriction if I really tried, but that uneasy sense of danger which I have means that the formations would likely assault me directly if I did that. Still, if I was an actual Rune Master and if my cultivation was at least in the Realm of Heroes, then with the access to this Core Rune and with some time, I feel like I could take over the entire formation… but that doesn’t mean there are no further fail safes. What I can sense now is just the outermost layer.”

“Do we go down?” Yin asked and gave Laien a meaningful smile. They had only about seven minutes remaining, so if Laien continued to marvel at those runes, then they wouldn’t see anything. Sure, they could go and look around the place later, but what was the point in asking Azuresky for some off-time, in that case? Though, if that was what Laien preferred, he would be happy to oblige.

“Let’s go,” Laien said with a laugh, reading Yin’s thoughts with ease. Compared to the above-ground part of the complex, which was more than enough to house five hundred people, the underground area was incomparably large. In fact, during the brief familiarization with the runes just a moment ago, Laien had confirmed that the training rooms spanned an area equal to the mansion’s size, not just the villa’s. Additionally, many of those rooms and chambers dug deep into the mountain, so the overall space available to each of the Heaven’s Order Students was indeed extravagant. So, if they wanted to see anything, they had to not only hurry, they also had to run!

“No point checking the huge rooms,” Laien said as the two of them leapt downwards, crossing dozens of meters with each passing second. “They are mostly designated sparring areas and places to calm the mind. The complex of medium-sized and small-sized rooms and caves is more interesting,” he added and imagined the detailed underground layout in order to share it with Yin. Even though Yin had picked up on some of the rough sketches before thanks to their Spiritual Link, it was still a bit hard for them to share such a huge imaginary picture without focusing on it.

“Straight ahead,” Laien said, getting Yin to follow alongside him without an accident. “Circular structure with seven middle-sized rooms on the edges, all in equal distances to each other. Every medium-sized room has two small ones paired up with it, while the central area is made up of eight large sized-rooms, two in each quarter of the area. All together they form and enhance the basic structure of the huge… well, maybe I should call it ‘fairly large’ runic formation of this mansion. The horizontal diameter is about five kilometres while the vertical one is a kilometre at the deepest point,” he thought casually, without bothering to form any proper words in his mind. Rather than that, musing in this way allowed both him and Yin to get a clearer picture of what they recalling.

“We gotta hurry, then,” Yin pointed out with a playful smile. “We’ve got more than twenty kilometres to run and less than ten minutes,” he sent the thought this time around. Without wasting any time, he stepped on the ground with much greater force than before and yet, in a manner that appeared light and gentle, as if he was but a streak of lightning crossing along water’s surface. This resulted in his speed increasing exponentially and reaching over three hundred kilometres per hour.

“Wow,” Laien uttered, then roused all the strength dwelling within his body and sped up, too. Alas, even when he gave it his all, he could barely reach two hundred and fifty kilometres per hour through his physical strength alone. Compared to Yin, who wasn’t even going all-out, he still couldn’t quite measure up. “But I can tell. I’m still much faster than I was before. Stronger, too. The same goes for endurance, agility, vitality… all physical aspects of my body are clearly different than before,” he thought joyfully. He hadn’t had much of an opportunity to test his new physique since they had been riding most of the time for the last two days, but now that he was moving with full strength, the sensation was simply ecstatic. He could feel this pleasant squirming in his bones, in his muscles, joints, and even in his blood vessels; the seemingly unlimited potential for future growth!