[Ties] Bootcamp 8

"Mmm~! So cold~!"

"It is actually soothing in this heat."

Axel and Arlianne were busily eating the cold sweets they purchased from Max the merchant. As for Malachi, he was conversing with Max the merchant about the peculiar crystals that existed in this world.

"Can you tell me more about the world's economy with regards to these crystals?" asked Malachi, "Also, had anybody made a study regarding the origins of these?"

"Well, I thought ye were just a wee lad," commented Max the merchant, "I thought ye'd 'ave known 'bout these before seein' yer getup. I'd 'ave thought ye'd 'ave been taught by yer seniors in the furnace."

"No, I haven't." replied Malachi, "I did learn about pyrocite from my village's furnace, but I learned about electrocite from a family friend. As for glacite, this is my first encounter with it."

'Hmm, must 'ave been a sheltered lad.' thought Max the merchant, "Ah, all righ'. I'll jus' summarize the details, 'kay?"

Pyrocite, glacite, and electrocite. Each of these crystals had befuddled the greatest minds this world had to offer. Pyrocite, as known by Malachi before, seemed to be a variation of flint. Unknown of the cause and process, flint that surrounded a piece of pyrocite slowly become pyrocite as well. This led to the construction of special "farms" that mine flint and place the flint in pyrocite "ichors". Pyrocite was more abundant in the hotter regions of the world.

Glacite, however, were mostly found in the colder expanses of the northern and southern regions of the world. The Empire of Taijun, that controlled much of the northern regions for example, is the prime exporter of these crystals as opposed to other producers of glacite. Like pyrocite, glacite has the peculiar ability of turning certain minerals in its area into more glacite. The mineral, in question, happened to be fluorite (or fluorspar). The empire also has "farms" that produce more glacite as long as they could mine as much fluorite as possible.

Finally, electrocite. Strangely, electrocite deposits were scattered all over the world. The largest deposit of electrocite was found in the former territory of the Industrial Union that was founded on a continent on the other side of the globe. Now, it became the territory of Clan Skali, a large Eskur clan that overthrew the Industrial Union. Clan Skali had closed off all trade with the outside world, allowing only purely Eskurs or a select few to initiate trade with them. The Empire of Taijun, due to its large territory, has a few deposits of electrocite. Similarly with the other two crystals, electrocite could turn topaz gemstones into more electrocite. This gave rise to large Imperial "farms" to produce more.

"So, Perlas has pyrocite farms, while we import the other two from the Empire?" asked Malachi, "Have you tried talking to the Southern Nomads to enter their territories?"

"The Eqarian Union is still in the middle of the talks." explained Max the merchant, "Frankly, His Majesty also wants ta trade with the Southern Nomads so he added the pyrocite veins we 'ave as bargaining tools. 'ere, 'ave a look at this map."

Max the merchant pulled out a scroll of paper from below the counter. He unfurled it and revealed a map of the world.

Malachi whistled in awe.

"Woah, I'm not wrong to assume that this world doesn't have efficient naval technologies, right?" he asked, "No wonder it's so freaking hot."

"How do ye know 'bout naval concepts?" wondered Max the merchant, "I'm pretty sure the Kingdom is a long way away from the nearest shoreline."

The map of the world displayed three supercontinents separated by unusually small bodies of water and surrounded by numerous archipelagos. The largest body of water that was mapped was only a quarter of the continent where the Kingdom of Perlas was situated in. All the rest were small pools, lakes, and rivers. This is merely what can be seen from the surface, however, and the depth of the largest bodies of water was yet unknown. Not to mention whether there were underground sources of water that exist or not was known.

Three names were printed in large texts on the map: Hasea, Oropafri, and Mereka. These were the names of the three continents. All the rest were the names of the countries, nations, empires, and kingdoms along with their geopolitical boundaries. In a way, it was comparable to the maps of modern Earth that students learn in world history and international studies, except that it wasn't as colorful.

Smack dab in the middle of Hasea was the Kingdom of Perlas. It actually was just a medium-sized kingdom in the middle of a hot region. It was still larger than the others around it. In contrast to it, however, was the large Empire of Taijun. Controlling the entire northern region of Hasea and more than 60 percent of the northern region of Oropafri, the Empire of Taijun was the largest international body that currently existed.

As for Mereka, there was one hegemon that controlled much of the continent. Apart from small nations and kingdoms that scattered within the south central and southern regions of Mereka, the entire north-central and northern region of Mereka was dominated by Clan Skali.

Despite being the largest international bodies, the Empire and Clan Skali do not necessarily own all of the land adjacent to them. In fact, large areas of land were still unconquered by this time. Judging from the recorded geopolitical boundaries, 40 percent of the land in this world was still untouched.

"Only the Empire and Clan Skali, along with the other waterfront nations, 'ave naval crafts." explained Max the merchant, "As for ye, how does a laddie like ye come 'bout this, eh?"

"I read." answered Malachi succinctly, "There were a lot of books at home, and one of the books mentioned naval crafts."

Suffice to say, this was a lie. Malachi panicked when he learned that naval technologies existed but were not spread out. Not really having a clear idea about how the world was like, he blurted out a thought from his memories.

"I see..." replied Max the merchant, seemingly satisfied, "Well, tha's all there is to it."

"Mn, thanks for the lesson." said Malachi.

"So sweet~" sang Axel.

While Malachi and Max the merchant were having a serious discussion about the state of the world, Axel and Arlianne were still in the middle of gorging on the iced sweets and candies. Malachi just stared at the two before him before getting back to Max the merchant.

"Well, do you mind if I come by from time to time to ask about the world?" he asked.

"Eh, I've got nothin' to lose." replied Max the merchant, "As long as ye 'ave a question that I can answer, you can come by as much as ye want... and as long as ye buy from me shop, why not? Hohohoho!"

Malachi thought for a while.

"Hmm, rather than 'buy' from you, why don't I sell some recipes to you?" he proposed, "Since we have glacite, I have a few things in mind that might help your business flourish further."

The light in Max the merchant's eyes suddenly changed. Once Malachi mentioned business, the air around him turned serious.

"I'm... listening." he said as he brought his face forward, "How profitable will it be, and what do ye want in exchange, eh?"

Malachi merely smiled.

///

Right after meeting with Max the merchant,

Malachi and company left the sweets shop and headed north.

"Wanna check out the royal arena?" asked Axel, "It's just to our north."

"We have an arena?" wondered Malachi, "What for? Gladiatorial battles?"

"Historically, it used to be." explained Axel, "Now, the Royal Military uses it to showcase their power to the public. Right now, though, it is merely a tourist attraction. A lot of people come from all over the kingdom to see it just once in their life, especially during the Martial Competition."

"What does the Martial Competition normally have?" asked Malachi, "Wait, is it for martial arts or or troop movement?"

"Both, actually." answered Axel, "There are events for 1-on-1 matches, and there are squad-focused matches. The Martial Competition expresses the importance of individual power and group coordination. That said, anybody with military training can sign up to compete."

"Interesting." commented Malachi. He inadvertently looked at Arlianne beside him.

'In that case, even if she might hate me for it...' he thought, 'If ever she was to uphold that vow she made years ago...'

"Malachi, why are you staring at me?" asked Arlianne, "Please stop whatever you are thinking."

"I won't stop." refused Malachi, "You do remember that vow/swear/promise you made years ago, right?"

Arlianne furrowed her brows.

'What vow?' she thought, 'Vow... Swear... Promise...? Ah... He remembers that!?'

Her eyes went wide upon her realization.

"You... You heard that?" asked Arlianne, "But, you were asleep."

"Well, Mama was hugging me tightly, after all." he commented, "I can't exactly be in deep sleep with her crushing my head."

"But... But..." she stuttered, "Does that mean you remember 'everything'?"

"Yup." affirmed Malachi, "E-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. If you ever plan to stay by my side, I will do my utmost to make sure you can catch up to me."

"What's going on?" wondered Axel, "Is it family matters?"

"Yeah, just some internal family matters." acknowledged Malachi, "Just about a promise we made three years ago, a promise about staying by each other's side."

"Ohh, I see." understood Axel, "I envy siblings like you."

Malachi and Arlianne were surprised by Axel's comment.

'Ah, his sister died, after all.' remembered Arlianne, 'Siblings still seems to be a taboo topic for him. What will you do, Young Master?'

Malachi tilted his head to the side, and snapped his head to other side making a cracking sound. He then held both of Axel's shoulders with both of his hands with relatively heavy grips.

"How about this, buddy of ours." he said as he smiled, "Why not treat Arlianne and I as your elder brother and sister?"

Arlianne and Axel were shocked at his out of the blue proposal.

"Eh?" let out Axel, "What? Why?"

"Why not?" asked Malachi back, "What's stopping you?"

"But... But we're not even related?" answered Axel.

"So? How is that supposed to stop people from one another as family?" argued Malachi, "Look at Arlianne and I, we aren't even related by blood, yet I treat her as family."

Arlianne smiled when she realized what Malachi was planning.

'A sort of "therapy", is it?' she thought, 'But, isn't this a bit too radical?'

Axel looked at Arlianne and found her smiling back.

"You are, after all, my first friend that is close to my age." explained Malachi, "Arlianne is an exception since she was unanimously adopted without hindrance into my family. Of course, even if I do tell you to treat us like your siblings, I'm not telling you to come live with us. We will still live with our respective families, yet still treat one another as siblings."

"Then, why 'elder brother'?" asked Axel, "I can understand Arlianne as she is older than me, but how old are you, anyway?"

"I'm ten (although I am past that, mentally) and I always wanted to have a younger sibling." he explained, "Arlianne is getting close to puberty and I may not be able to do the things I usually do to her."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Arlianne annoyed, "Don't put weird ideas into Axel's head, Malachi."

Malachi stared at Arlianne. Without warning, he poked her side with his finger.

"Poke." he said.

"Hyau!?" she screamed, "Malachi! Ooh!!! Hmph!"

"See, she gets angry, now." he commented.

"Well, when you do it so often, of course I will get tired of it!" argued Arlianne, "Grow up already, why don't you?"

"Never!" shouted Malachi proudly, "I will make the best out of this youth! Poke."

"Hyaa!?" she screamed again, "Ahhhh!"

"Wee-hee-hee-hee-hee~" laughed Malachi as he hid behind Axel, "Of course, I won't be doing that to you, Axel. Even if you're cute, I'm afraid your family may not agree with my 'methods' of endearment."

Malachi looked back behind them. Apart from the crowd of people, no one else was visibly following them. Of course, Lakeng was doing his duty of watching over Axel. Somewhere in that area,

'Sheesh, stop looking for me.' thought Lakeng, 'Creepy kid.'

"C-c-cute!?" cried Axel, "What the hell are you...!?"

"Cute is cute." concluded Malachi, "Especially your round face. Squeeze."

Malachi held Axel's cheeks from behind and squeezed them softly. He rubbed Axel's cheeks round and round.

"Ahh, why are your cheeks so soft?" wondered Malachi teasingly, "Such is youth."

"Amumumimimumi! (Let go of me!)" amumied Axel, "Amumumimimumumi! (Stop playing with my cheeks!)"

Axel tried to stomp on Malachi's foot, but Malachi released his hold on the child and jumped away.

"Woohoo! Success!" he cheered, "Well, what do you say?"

"Grr... I'll have Arlianne as a sister, instead, if that's the case." groaned Axel while holding his cheeks, "Having you as my elder, a brother even, would be bad for me."

"I'll take that as a 'yes', then." said Malachi.

"Shut up." countered Axel.

///

The Royal Arena.

A coliseum with a radius of 222 meters, it has an area of approximately 155 thousand square meters, and has a height of 66 meters. The Royal Arena can hold as many as approximately 100 thousand spectators, and could effectively host a large group of participants. The structure itself was built with dense and robust adobe bricks while being supported by large metal beams and pillars. This made the Royal Arena the second largest building in the city, just after the Royal Palace.

Similarly, the Royal Arena was colored white. As white as the Royal Palace, and seemed out of place with its intended use as a venue for combat. This, however, made the Royal Arena an effective tourist attraction during the off-season despite having no events being scheduled. Currently, there were droves of tourists flocking the Royal Arena.

"So... How do we get inside?" asked Malachi, "Never would I expect THIS many people to be here. Are they all from outside the city?"

"Judging from the bags they have with them, apparently so." confirmed Arlianne, "Look, someone from a mining town."

Arlianne pointed at a group of people being led around by what appeared to be a guide. The group of people seemed out of place with their heavy clothing, and with one man wearing what seemed to be a hardhat with a light. The light, however, was broken, and seemed to be just worn as an accessory.

Rhiamalka, despite having a large furnace, didn't seem to have any mining sites nearby. Especially since the nearest mountain needed a day by truck to get to, assuming that there were mining sites on a mountain.

"Follow me." said Axel, "I know my way around because I've been here since forever."

Malachi held his hands, each, out to Arlianne and Axel. The two stared at him.

"It's so we don't get separated." explained Malachi, "With the volume of people here, it will be easier to get lost that in other districts."

Satisfied, Arlianne held Malachi's right and Axel held Arlianne's right.

"Hey, I offered you my hand." complained Malachi, "Why did you hold Arlianne's?"

"Because you might do something to me." replied Axel, "I'm just making sure."

"An axe through my heart, my dear Axel." cried Malachi, "Ah well, guess I'll stick close to Arlianne."

"Malachi, what are you doing?" inquired Arlianne.

Malachi went close and embraced Arlianne's arm, holding it close like a lover would to another.

"Shh, do you not like my warmth?" asked Malachi.

"It's already hot enough in the Kingdom at this time." answered Arlianne, "Please let go."

Malachi retreated, surprisingly.

"All right, I'll just hold your hand." he said, "Well, Axel? Lead on!"

Like a train of children, the three wormed through the crowds of the arena. Like Axel had stated before, he really knew how to get around. Similarly, a small distance behind them, Lakeng was effortlessly weaving through the crowd. Curiously, though, it appeared that no one noticed him despite being surrounded by many eyes and ears. Not once did he even bump into a passerby.

Four people passed through an insane amount of people in record time.

...

"So, who needs a massage?" asked Malachi.

Having been pulled around by Axel, they arrived at an arena entrance. Arlianne was rotating her shoulders repeatedly from Axel's "guidance" and Malachi's "anchoring". Because of this, Arlianne felt the brunt of two opposing forces.

"Are you sure you didn't intend this?" wondered Arlianne.

"Easy there, how was I supposed to know that Axel could move like that?" argued Malachi, "I guess he really knew how to thread around a dense crowd."

"Sorry, Arlianne." apologized Axel, "It was usually just me, alone, to go through that."

"It's fine, Axel." said Arlianne, "I'll probably get used to it."

"Get used to it?" wondered Axel, "You plan to go through it again?"

"No, not that." denied Arlianne, "It's something else, but somewhat similar."

"Wanna know about it?" asked Malachi with a smile, "Wanna know what she's talking about?"

Axel became quiet for a while. He switched from watching Arlianne relieve her shoulders to seeing Malachi smiling mischievously at him, and back to watching Arlianne.

"No." he answered.

"Come on, you plan to enter the academy, right?" said Malachi, "We're doing this to make sure we don't fall behind the rest."

"I'll just tell him." added Arlianne, "Malachi had me train with him. Although I say "train", we aren't really doing anything too serious for our age. Just stamina and endurance training, and some exercises."

Axel raised a brow.

"For stamina, we're doing sprinting exercises." explained Malachi, "For endurance, we're just jogging for as long as we can. In the future, depending on the results, I may have to change the menu. From adding weights, to adding obstacles. At the moment, I can jog for 8 to 9 kilometers before tiring, and I can sprint a distance of 100 meters in 13 seconds. I don't have to mention Arlianne's, yet."

"I get it." groaned Arlianne, "Well, you ARE also doing it for my sake."

"Haha!" cheered Malachi, "Good, good! So, Axel, wanna join us? We could dedicate our future visits to exercise for some time?"

"But, even if I do join you, where would we do it?" inquired Axel, "The city is as crowded as ever, and rarely are there wide open spaces."

Malachi looked around.

"Well, why not here?" he said pointing at where they were standing, "Why not use to arena for it? Besides, it seems that even with the number of people outside, the ones inside are pretty small in number."

"Oh, good idea." agreed Axel, "Well, why not begin now?"

"Let me see how to get around the place for the time being." suggested Malachi, "I'm not yet familiar with the passages and the field of the arena to think of an exercise menu."

"Why not ask the arena personnel while we're at it?" proposed Arlianne, "Do you think they'll allow us to use the facilities without supervision?"

"Hmm, good point." agreed Malachi, "Is the arena maintained by a civilian body or by the military?"

"Both, actually." answered Axel, "They have the administrative quarters at the top overlooking the field. Let's drop by."

Axel led Malachi and Arlianne to the top floor where their destination was, which happened to be on the 7th floor. This was where Malachi was surprised, once more.

"So we have lifts, eh?" commented Malachi, "I never expected this."

"Did you expect three children to climb up 7 floors on their own?" inquired Axel, "From what you said before, I wouldn't find it hard to believe you could climb all that, but what about Arlianne and I, huh? Are you willing to carry the both of us if we get tired?"

"... Could be good exercise for me, heh heh." answered Malachi with a grin, 'I could give Arlianne a Bridal Carry, maybe...'

"What are you thinking as you stare at me?" asked Arlianne, "Stop it, seriously."

"Yeah, yeah." he replied as he shrugged, "Let's get on, then."

Three children entered the lift, and went up to the 7th floor. Lakeng, however, took the stairs. Surprisingly, he could climb the flight of stairs swiftly and effortlessly. In no time, he had already surpassed the lift, and waited for the children from a hidden location.

At the 7th floor,

"Nice view." commented Malachi, "I can see everything from here. Too bad I need binoculars to recognize whatever is down there."

"Is that a sort of telescope?" asked Axel.

"Yeah, in a way." affirmed Axel, "Can be held with one hand, but magnifies for both eyes. Helps with measuring distance, too, and gives depth perception. Twin telescopes precisely aligned in a single body."

"Hmm, interesting." commented Axel.

After that, Axel led them to a lone office situated nearby. On the door was a sign that said, "Administrative Quarters" in bold text. Axel knocked on the door, and entered before any reply was given.

"Hello, chief!" greeted Axel, "You've got visitors!"

Inside the Administrative Quarters were three people, two had their own desks and work-related equipment and one standing before the person seated at the back of the room. At the very front, near the door, was a bespectacled woman in formal attire. The bespectacled woman stopped whatever she was doing and greeted Axel.

"Good day, do you have an appointment with the Arena Chief?" inquired the bespectacled woman, "If not, I would have to ask you to wait for a while."

"Is that Little Axel, I hear over there?" said a man's voice, "It's all right, Clara. Lord Grigorio and I were just about to be finished."

'Grigorio?' thought Malachi, 'Uncle Greg?'

Two men emerged from behind the bespectacled woman, Clara. One was wearing formal civilian attire and another was wearing a military uniform. The one in military uniform was none other than Lord Grigorio Perez also known as Gregory to Malachi and Arlianne.

Once Gregory came to full view, he glanced at Malachi and Arlianne but didn't say a word of greeting to them. Instead, he acted as if he met them for the first time. Similarly, Malachi also acted indifferently towards Gregory, and also glanced at Arlianne subtly to keep her quiet.

The other man, who seemed to be the Arena Chief, welcomed the children into the office.

"Welcome, welcome. Little Axel, is there something you need?" asked the Arena Chief, "And who are these with you?"

"Ah, right. These are my friends: Malachi and Arlianne." introduced Axel, "Malachi, Arlianne, this is the Arena Chief who handles all civil affairs in the arena, from tourism to competitions."

"Hello." greeted both Malachi and Arlianne.

"Hello to you, too." greeted back the Arena Chief, "I suppose this is the first time you have met Lord Grigorio, right?"

"Grigorio Perez, Royal Phoenix at your service." introduced Gregory, "Well then, Chief, I shall take my leave."

"All right, all right." said the Arena Chief, "I'll get back to you once the negotiations have been settled."

Gregory nodded to the Arena Chief, to Clara, and to the children. Before leaving, however, he ruffled Malachi's hair as he passed by him.

"What the?" commented Malachi, "Seriously?"

"Do you know each other?" asked Axel.

"No way, this should be the first time we've met." answered Malachi, "Maybe he found me cute? Heh heh."

"Yeah, right." said Axel, "Then he should have done that to Arlianne instead of you."

"Thank you, Axel." thanked Arlianne.

"Now then, kiddos. What do you need?" asked the Arena Chief.