It had been three days since Karim’s day out to visit Kufu and word of his performance had quickly gotten around, causing quite the stir within the castle as many were left astonished.

Karim, however, was paying no mind to any of it as he was instead occupied by thoughts of when his grandfather would summon him. It had been a day since the old master’s return and Karim could hardly wait for the next lesson.

Such was his excitement, that he had yet to notice that the atmosphere in the castle was even colder than it usually was. It was especially strained amongst the higher ups like his father.

*vwoom*

A pitch-black door made entirely of shadows suddenly appeared in a corner of Karim’s room.

“Finally.” Karim excitedly cried. Tidying himself up for a minute, he then stepped through the door. An instant later, he was in the familiar chamber at the top of the tower.

“Grandfather.” Karim announced, slightly bowing to show his respect.

“You’ve come.” Nodded a seated, old master. “I’ve been rather busy these days so I’m afraid we may not see each other as often as I initially thought.”

“Is everything okay?” Karim inquired.

“You’re still too young to be worried about me.” Laughed the old master. He then motioned for Karim to sit as he poured himself a cup of tea.

“You’ve had a lot of time to think about what I told you during our last meeting. Tell me your thoughts.” The old master beckoned.

“My thoughts…I still don’t know enough to…” Karim countered, caught of guard by his grandfather’s question.

“You know more than most. Go on.” The old master remarked bringing the cup to his lips and taking a sip.

“I…I keep asking myself, what the point of all this is?” Karim said, fidgeting in his chair.

“The point of what?” The old master questioned.

“Why do we live the way we do? Nobles, commoners, the secrets, the Academy, what’s the point of it all if in the end this is all fake?” Karim asked, blurting out the bulk of his doubts.

“You have a lot on your mind child, more than I expected. Certainly, more than I did when I first learned the truth.” Replied the old master, looking into Karim’s confused eyes.

“Moto, Maji, Aarthi, Upepo, Hikari. These are the original Noble Houses. You must be wondering why I’m telling you something you already know but, be patient and listen.” The old master instructed, placing his cup of tea down.

“What connects these five Houses, despite their differences and conflicts is sacrifice. 200 years, that is as long as the strongest person in these Houses can live. Why? Because their elemental energy is needed at fixed intervals to allow Binguni to be kept safe. So, if you are asking me why Nobles exist or why these Houses are the only ones allowed to be Nobles, then one of the reasons is their sacrifice. A sacrifice that keeps Binguni cloaked, hidden from the Humans.” Stated the old master, maintaining eye contact with Karim.

“It can only be them to sacrifice and that’s why our House Night and the Taa’s were able to grow so quickly. While their strongest die, ours can hold on a little longer, just enough to give us an advantage. However, that is not what you want to know. You little Karim, want to know the point of all this. And that’s fair so allow me to enlighten you. The point is to survive.” The old master stated.

“The survival of our people is the only thing that matters. And the Nobles, they try to create an environment where order exists whilst ensuring this survival and trust me, that is no easy task. When resources are limited and people are scared but life still needs to go on, tough decisions must be made.” Explained the old master.

“So, to control panic the Nobles withhold information, in fact the first commoners had their memories wiped as they were too distraught to function as members of a thriving society. As the population increased, resources had to be prioritized, used only by those that deserve them and in turn these people contribute to the public by creating medicine, tools that make life more convenient and also protect the public from the beasts and often themselves. This is why the Nobles exist Karim.”

“They maintain this fragile balance, silently sacrificing and taking the blame for all of this world’s faults. Protecting the people from the reality that they are prey, and all it takes is for the balance to be broken for the predators to make their appearance, and should that happen, there will likely be no hope for survival.” The old master concluded, pouring himself some more tea.

Karim, meanwhile, was still trying to digest all he’d heard. So many things started to be clear to him but at the same time he was still left somewhat unsatisfied. Was survival all that there was to life?

Interrupting Karim’s thoughts the old master continued, “I understand your point of view Karim, more than you know. Our founder did too, which is why he will forever be remembered as the first revolutionary. He inspired many to join his cause to thwart the Nobles and to bring a new era of equality to Binguni however, that all changed once Taa came into the picture.”

“Taa, told him the truth?” Karim asked.

“He did, and if you think you’re conflicted now then just imagine the blow a man like that was dealt. His ideals and dreams proved to be nothing more than fantasy, as to destroy the Nobles would mean destroying all hope for the Hayawani. But the founder was a stubborn man and he insisted that the masses should still know the truth.” The old master narrated, closely watching the changes in expression on Karim’s face.

“But he didn’t do it in the end.” Karim said.

“No, he did not. Taa convinced him to keep it a secret as the truth would only cause unnecessary chaos. However, Taa shared something else with the founder, something that gave him back the hope he had lost, a new dream, one that was even greater than he had ever imagined possible.” The old master explained.

“What was it?” wondered Karim, sitting at the edge of his seat.

“What I am about to tell you can never be repeated unless in the presence of your father, the King of House Taa, or me. Do you understand?” the old master questioned, his gaze serious and his tone stern.

“I understand grandfather.” Karim promptly answered.

“Very well. Taa of House Hikari, was a man touched by God.” At this point the old master paused, his eyes revealing his awe and respect.

“He could communicate with God and from time to time received blessings in exchange for doing certain acts. These blessings allowed him to become extremely powerful, eventually surpassing the limit of this world. He even had multiple elements, at least more than three. And it was through one of these blessings that our founder was gifted the darkness element. There was never any treasure found, it was simply an act of kindness from Taa.” The old master emotionally described.

Karim’s jaw dropped as he listened. The conversation had abruptly taken a turn into the realm of Gods, and he was definitely not prepared for it.

“God?” He questioned, disbelievingly.

“It may sound farfetched, but I assure you, I speak no lies. Everything I’m telling you come from records written by the founder himself.” The old master assured.

“Wait, if he could communicate with God, why not ask the God to help us?” Karim wondered.

“According to the founder, that’s not how their arrangement worked. Only if he completed the tasks given to him by God could Taa be blessed and rewarded. The greater the task accomplished, the greater the blessing awarded.” Explained the old master.

“To save us from our enemy would require completing a task so great I cannot even imagine but nevertheless, such was Taa’s dream. A dream, he shared with the founder. To save the Hayawani and allow us to return to the Universe. Thus, it was this glorious purpose that caused the founder to abandon his hate for the Nobles, even becoming one himself.” The old master said, sighing.

“Taa defined that era Karim, even founding the Imperial Academy so that should he fall or fail, the next generation could have hope.” The old master praised.

“What hope?” asked Karim.

“Before the Humans arrived, the records say that the Hayawani were powerhouses in the Universe. The only thing stopping us was our population. The stronger we get, the longer we live and getting stronger simply meant eating more and what is the infinite Universe if not a giant buffet. The stronger we get, the stronger the things we can eat. In essence, we are born rulers, with the potential to grow astronomically powerful but like all things, we too have a weakness.” declared the old master.

“Our souls are rather weak or rather we did not know our souls were weak until the Humans arrived and thus begun the killing of our people.” He stated.

“But why? Why hunt us?” wondered Karim.

“Why do we hunt beasts? It’s a matter of because they can and because they have a use for us. Much like spirit beasts have beasts cores, we too have something similar that they desire but that’s not all they want. Some just want our bodies, destroying our souls and inserting theirs so that they can inherit our abilities and our natural gifts. In the end, it is the fate of prey.” Sighed the old master.

“To others we too may seem like devils, after all we are a race that devours all.” He begrudgingly commented.

“In any case, Taa devised a way with the help of God to help us strengthen our souls, addressing this weakness. But results have varied as the process is quite difficult however, it is still a source of hope and that is why you must go to the Academy.”

“Anyway, I believe that is enough for today. I hope I have eased your doubts little one. In truth, you are not supposed to hear of all this until you’re much older, but times are changing, and I fear things are about to become more complicated. Hopefully, by knowing the truth you can avoid falling into some traps.”