Chapter 42

Shadow in the Light

"The accursed await beneath the Stairs of Light; Follow me, children, into our Night; Where we shall forever wail and Fight; To take the wrongs and make them Right."

Bard Collection, Vol I.

An elongated shadow traced over the edges of the stone buildings, bending inhumanely and folding over and through, speeding past so quickly it was difficult to catch a glimpse of it. The nightly streets of the Fort were lonesome and quiet, void of the living, yet the shadow still continued on with care.

Noah came to a sudden halt in front of a majestic wall within a wall; beyond it, he knew, members of the House Myrsell lived, separated into numerous mansions. Even deep in the night, he saw at least a dozen guards patrolling the thirty-feet tall walls, four stationed in front of the iron-cast and chained gates upfront. The wall curved along, meeting the outer, much taller one, as the compound was situated right next to the edge. Tail ends of the buildings inside peered above the surrounding walls, some sparkling faintly in the moonlight.

He sat in the shadows and observed – the exact number of guards, their patrolling habits, whether they ever changed shifts, their awareness, whether they lazed off… rather than memorizing it all, he slowly started writing everything, using English for safety reasons. It has been nearly a whole week since he'd 'swallowed' the dark lump. During it, he slowly started experimenting with the newfound powers, while leisurely trying to find a way to pawn off the goods. Myrell and Sash had been busy teaching their chosen slaves, so he had a lot of free time on his hands surprisingly enough.

With faint confidence in his ability to mask himself, he chose to scout out Myrsell’s compound, as the knowledge might come in handy. The walls were sturdy – and there seemed to be no simple point of breach. Sneaking in would mean climbing over them which, while not impossible, was risky. His newfound ‘powers’ so to say didn’t cloak him completely, making him invisible. They effectively acted like camouflage, helping him blend into his surroundings better, though not perfectly.

If someone looked directly at him while moving and managed to keep the track of the 'shadow', they'd easily notice his figure. That wasn't all there is to it, however; using it also increased his speed considerably, and reduced the consumption of stamina. In addition, he could externalize it – for instance, as an experiment, during lunch yesterday, he whipped out a knife in the middle of the tavern, in front of everyone, using the tender shadow to mask it, and nobody seemed to have noticed it.

He only scratched the surface, however, that much he knew himself. Yet, even with this little, he felt far, far safer than he did before. He was yet to dig into the parts that would help him in direct fighting, but even with what he knew right now, assassinating became twice as easy.

What surprised him the most, however, was how the world around him changed. If he looked up above, the stream of thin, thread-like arrays of light sprung all above and around the fort, almost like ley lines, forming difficult and complex patterns. It appeared he now saw the projections of the Light, rather than just their output. It was like peering behind the app’s coding, rather than just the accessible UI.

Though, similarly to how he’d feel if he did peer behind app’s coding, he hardly understood any of what he was seeing. He didn’t know what any of the lines above him represented or how what they made projected those blistering shimmers of light during the day, or whatever else it did. All he knew is that it was eerily beautiful, almost like the star-filled nightly sky captured through long exposure, in which the stars moved quickly and seemingly at random.

The light of those lines, however, didn't reach the floor of the fort; it seemed chained to those lines, only illuminating the parts around; though, when the thousands and tens of thousands were combined together, it truly was a blinding sight to behold.

Sighing inwardly, he turned his attention back onto the mansion. It was almost time for the sun to dawn, and there had been no changes of guards. There only seemed to be one shift during the night, and, chances are, there would be an exchange in the morning. Nobody relaxed either, as far as he could tell; those patrolling did so with commendable attention, and the four guards stationed in front of the main gates never as much as yawned.

Seeing that there was no point in staying any longer, he spun around and left, rapidly dashing through the narrow alleyways in-between the main and wide streets. What startled him the most upon obtaining the 'power' was that he almost intuitively knew how to use it. It became like breathing, sort to say, in that he could consciously take over that part of himself and utilize it by his wishes – like taking a deep or shallow breath or holding it for prolonged periods of time. In the same vein, he could take that set of 'lumps' that existed within him, and move them about, both within and without himself.

As to what exactly he could do with it, he was still somewhat blind. In that way, it was nothing like breathing, and more like being able to consciously feel the blood flow in the veins, or to be able to stop your heart from beating temporarily. Neither of which should be physically possible, at least as far as Noah was aware – which made it all the more difficult to ‘play’ with the ‘lumps’. There was still time, however; he was in no rush to learn and know and to perfect it. He had no grand plans in which he could utilize it for the time being; at best, it will help him sneak around from time to time.

Just before he reached the inn and sneaked back in, the ground beneath the fort trembled. An earthquake? He mused inwardly, finally experiencing the first natural phenomenon in this world. Right, the map did show that cracked part up north that they couldn’t explain, he stroked his chin, looking down at the faintly trembling stone. Maybe that’s where the fault is?

The quaking suddenly intensified, so much so that he actually nearly lost his balance and fell. Frowning, he glanced up to the lay lines in the sky and saw them tearing.

“E-eh?”

Right then, a bell rung. It was hollow, long, and mournful, like a wail of a dying, weeping animal. It outstripped the sounds of the quaking world and turned even Noah numb and dumb for a moment, stifling him. There was something strange about the sound, something that pierced directly into his heart. The ‘lumps’ suddenly shuddered as he came to, dispelling the strange sensation. There was a brief lull and the sense of calm as the sounds of the bell came to an end; then, like thunder from the cloudless sky, the fort exploded into the string of screams, each new one toppling the last.

People swarmed out of their homes and the inns and out into the streets in droves, each making a beeline to the place Noah just returned from. He could hear them screaming ‘the Bell of Fire…’, ‘the Kindled have returned…’, ‘the Light is punishing us…’.

Though he couldn't quite make sense of it, he'd be an idiot if he hadn't made a connection with what he relayed to the King and the happenings of today. Whatever the 'fire' that he was supposed to warn of was, it was dangerous and hateful enough to awaken the slumbering city and drown it out in the flames of chatter. None of the passersby noticed him, too focused on their goals.

Soon enough, people poured out of the inn as well while Noah waited for them, entering only when everyone else left. Whatever was needed to be learned, he’d learn later from the chatter; there was no need to go and fold amongst the masses.

Walking up to his room, he saw that both Sash and Myrell were there, waiting for him with impatient expressions, the latter biting the nails on her hand while the former repeatedly paced back and forth.

“Master!!” both exclaimed as they saw him, racing toward him. “Quick! We must go to the House and listen—”

“We’ll hear about it later,” he stopped the two. “Instead, let’s go into my room and drink.” He couldn’t exactly ask the two of them to explain to him what’s going on, as it looked like everyone in this world knew what the bell meant. So, as he always does, he’ll have to pry it out carefully.

“M-Master—”

“Relax,” he patted Myrell’s head as he opened the doors to his room. “Why go and sweat with them, when we can just listen in on their chatter later on today and learn everything they’ve learned?”

“… I… I suppose so…” Myrell relented while Sash sighed, the two following him in.

“You… don’t seem worried… Master…” Sash said with an uncertain tone as Noah glanced at him with a smile.

“… will the worry keep the Fire at bay?” he said vaguely, yet the two seemed perfectly understanding of what he said. The hell’s the fire anyway? Maybe volcanic eruption or something? There was that Mt. Kindled… ah, that must be it. He recalled looking at the map of the peninsula and noting the distinguished mountain down south called Mt. Kindled. It really looked to be a volcanic eruption; but, the volcano was still a considerable distance away. No matter how explosive it is, he thought as he poured the three of them a drink. It shouldn’t be ‘Fire is coming’, but more along the ‘smoke is coming’, right? “Sit, you two,” he added, sitting down onto his bed while the two sat down onto the wooden floor. “How’s the progress with your slaves?” he asked.

“It’s going well,” Myrell said. “Ah! I sent mine… to listen in…”

“… smart,” Noah smiled. “That way, we won’t even have to listen in on the chatter.”

“… I did the same thing…” Sash joined in with a sigh.

“… it is surprising to hear the bell ring out so suddenly…” Noah probed stealthily, taking a sip.

“Hm,” Myrell nodded, biting away at her nails once again. “It’s only been three hundred years…” she added. Ah, a new piece of information… three hundred years… I must have missed it if so. Or is it something relegated to more secretive histories?

“I wonder when it’s going to happen…” Sash said. “Do you know anything, Master?”

“… no,” Noah shook his head. “I’m here with you, no? Well away from Elucido.”

“Ah, yes…”

"… I heard that the last time it happened, almost all of the members of the Royal Family of the Kingdom of Freemen were killed…" Hm? “It took almost twenty years to clean everything up…”

“Hm,” Sash nodded. “I heard that both the Lightbringer and His Majesty Uon had to take to the frontlines… when I was traveling with my previous Master, we ran into a bard in one of the traveling inns, and he sang about the event, saying the battle lasted two whole months…” Battle? What the fuck?! So it’s not volcanic eruption? Or… wait… maybe they fought with magma? Or the ash? All the while, though, his expression remained indifferent. That fuckin’ king… you should have said something man… ugh…

“R-really? That’s… that’s scary…”

“Relax, you two,” Noah said again. “It’s not as though the three of us will be tasked with going to the battle. Besides…” … this might be a good opportunity to clean up some plans. I imagine that the panic will stifle the economic growth… which should mean the increased necessity for Crowns after the fact… I should try and increase my capital now, even if it means I have to start stealing…

“Besides?” Myrell quizzed.

"Nothing," Noah shook his head. "Just thinking aloud."

“Ah…” I should probably meet with Claire, he mused inwardly. She’ll probably be a more useful source of information than these two…