SOML – Chapter 9: Trap in a dream

 Chapter 9 – Trap in a dream

…

“We have cast the stone.” A man stood on a balcony.

“Indeed. They have chosen the ‘one’.” A much smaller guy said. He sat in a chair while sipping a tantalizing red wine. He wore a mask and only his mouth was visible.

“The only thing we need to do is wait.” It is hard to see his face. Even though he was looking outside, his thoughts were somewhere.

“Nah, I’m going there. I wanted to watch.” The other guy stood up, patted his colorful clothes and swayed as he exited, leaving the man as the darkness engulfed him.

…

A new fresh day started as the horse’s shoes thundered on the road.

Ben, Jed and Jigen sat on a bench. Jigen wanted to have sandwiches, which Ben immediately agreed and followed him. They sat on the bench with a pack of foods.

Jed only ate one while scribbling on his notebook. On the other hand, the chubby kids kept on eating. There was a dozen of wrapper on the trashcan beside them. Despite the food in their mouth, the two could converse that Jed wasn’t able to understand.

“The weather is strange, isn’t it?” The cheesy flavorful of the bite brought satisfaction to his body. Ben gulped down a mouthful of juice to go with. His oil-filled fingers tapped on the music device, bringing in a cheerful song. “You see, these are expensive. Flour was in demand right now. Butter, for the moment, was higher than usual.”

“Rainy season is coming, and so is the festival.” Jigen got on the grooves while munching the bread wrapping the cheese, bacon and tomato. The juice and oil filled his mouth, leaking all over his lips. He didn’t mind the oil on his music device though. “It’s already slight cold. I’ll go check a jacket for tomorrow.”

“Do you use Algodon? They said it is expensive.”

Jigen looked at him weirdly. He sniffed, the sweat bugging down his nose. “There're cheaper kinds of clothes. And the people in my clan normally wear t-shirt or lab gown.”

“They are probably still expensive branded clothes. Hey, can you tell me about Constructs?” Ben went closer. “Are they cool?”

Jigen scoffed. “Plebian. Just wait, I’ll show it you.”

“Hmph. If you’ve seen what I saw, you won’t be that proud.” Ben raised his chin. Confidence painted his face, he spouted. “Do you know Lumina? She is a Transcendent!”

This disgusted Jigen. “Ignorant. You are so ignorant, Oaf.”

“Woah. Just tell me if you don’t know her.” Ben nodded with eyes curved. He felt that he’d won.

“Ew. That’s old news. Too ancient where it was million years ago. Where did you come from, rock?”

“Eh? You know her too?” Ben bleated, too taken aback.

“Duh. All people knew her.” Jigen wiped the stain from his face. “Not much. But Lumina is celebrated because she is the first Transcendent.”

Ben rubbed his nose. He chuckled. “Don’t be jealous, bro.”

Jigen nodded. “I don’t have energy to disdain you.”

“Anyway, I saw her within a book. I thought it was real. She faced those terrifying creatures and slaughter them like they were nothing.”

“Oh. Did you see it from the academy? I guess so. That’s called Memory Image. A medium is used to store a memory. We have many like that.” He hugged his arms with his oily fingers.

But Ben shook his head. “I feel it’s different from yours.”

Jigen just shrugged. “That level is pretty far away for us, anyway. Probably impossible. So don’t think about it and eat.”

Ben only pouted.

Their topic went anywhere without stopping. The two clicked because of their views and likes.

“Bro, I think I feel something when training. Like I am being lifted by something…”

Jigen ogled. “Dude. You are jesting. That’s not how Foundations Arts work.”

Ben smiled thin lips. “If you know, why don’t you explain to me how?”

“It should feel as if you are drinking water. But instead of using your mouth, you drink with your pores. Then, you focus to collect all the water into a single stream.” Jigen explained while his hands moved in tandem.

Ben inhaled. He felt jealous. Ben got this information yesterday. He just wanted to trick Jigen if he really knew. But the guy explained it with a straight face. “So, he already succeeded ah.”

Comparing himself to Jigen, Ben understood the difference between common folks and the clans. Clans had more resources, and they could take advice from one another. They might even have secrets that could help them jump start. As for him, the only thing he understood was he needed patience.

Shaking his head, Ben thought that maybe he felt jealous from how nonchalant and lazy his friend was. Yet he could still train much earlier than him. Moreover, he seemed to succeed already.

“How much gap do we have? One level? Or more?” Ben smiled close lip. “Anyway, the beginning is always the hardest. If I try hard, eventually, I will achieve what others have achieved.”

While Jigen describing his experience with vivid and flowerful adjectives, Ben sipped on his orange juice and listened. Jigen continued his boasting when Jed patted his notebook. Both boys looked at him at the same time.

“Let’s go, it’s almost the school time.” Jed smiled. This surprised duo how confident his voice was, but this didn’t bother them.

Of course, Jed was positive not because of himself, but about the future. He was not just scribbling earlier on without purpose. All the words written were his plans for the future. It was an in-depth series of actions he had to follow. He would try his plans later, after class.

They have no arguments and went to the school. But while walking, Jed quickly discovered there was no sewers on the county. So he asked.

“Why there're no sewers here?”

“Heh, we don’t have that here.” Jed winked. He put his palms behind his head. “You see, we are quite near to the South Region. In there, they are full of sand, a desert. They don’t have a proper sewerage system before, so my clan made a large formation that will act as the sewer system.”

“So, you used the formation here too.” Jed wondered aloud.

“Yep. It is only a prototype, though. The first experiment is a new pavement that can absorb the moisture on the ground to below ground. However, it is still lacking, so they added the formation that directs all the clean water inwards and waste water outwards without having sewer.”

Ben nodded. It seemed he also knew about it. But from the look of his face, he didn’t understand it entirely.

Hearing this, Jed fell on a deep thought. Formation ah… Jed knew little about formations, but he knew how important and mystical formation was to everybody.

He had read it on the Adventure of Roland that without formations, human would likely create something terrifying that could destroy the nature.

“So, it was your clan who made the formation.” Breaking his thoughts, Jed asked Jigen.

“You can say that. But the materials and budget were largely thanks to Coin Clan and Pendragon Clan. We are mostly responsible to the gears, mechanisms and construction, but the combined force of Metallon, Coin and Pendragon Clan created the whole formation. And I can tell you, Pendragon is amazing. They have so many Grandmaster Level individuals, so you won’t really be surprised a freak being born in there.” Jigen said, amazed. He sneaked his dirty hands on his shorts and wiped it.

“Is Grandmaster Level amazing?” Ben interjected. Unlike the privileged boy, Ben was wiping his hands without manners.

Jigen’s eyes were full of scorn, but he still answered. “Dude, what kind of cave or hole you crawled out from? Grandmaster Level is strong. They can control the winds to create storm and use their fist to punch through mountain. Tell me, if it’s not strong then what is?”

Ben wowed. “Sorry, bro. I don’t have any knowledge about it. So, how can you classify an individual as such?”

Jigen erased his scorn and talked as if he was reciting words from a book.

“The Expert Level–to build the foundation to prepare for receiving Power.”

“Master Level–to master a certain art in order to take a glimpse of what lies behind the curtain of Power.”

“Grandmaster Level–to master hundreds or thousands of arts in order to seek the Mystery of Powers.”

“And last, the Venerable Level–to journey into the sea of World’s Energy in order to comprehend the outline of the Concept of Power.”

Ben and Jed’s eyes shone. The former was fanatic while the latter have dreamy expression.

It was an unadulterated expression imprinted on their faces.

Although Jed knew already the levels of power, but hearing such description was mind-boggling.

It also wasn’t hard to imagine Ben’s current mind.

“Well, these are the words of my mother. She told me that these are the most apt description of power levels.” Jigen raised his chin.

“Who is your mother?” Jed and Ben asked at the same time. The duo looked at each other and saw the passion in each other’s eyes.

“Woah, woah. Stop it. My mother is researching a quite sensitive project right now so you will not be able to ask her anyway, so there’s no point telling. I’ll introduce you later when she’s finished. I also wanted to see her now, it’s hard to get my hands on a construct without her inciting my father.” Jigen rubbed the itchy feeling on his palm.

After a few minutes, they arrived at the gate of the academy.

“By the way, how strong our teacher is?” Ben suddenly asked.

“Von Ruler? He’s a Grandmaster.” Jigen stated.

…

Entering the classroom, the three boys sat beside each other. The duo Jigen and Ben were still talking. The two wanted to talk about different things. Jigen wanted to talk about constructs while Ben wanted to hear stories about strong people. So their conversation became rocky.

Jigen had enough. Arms akimbo, he said. “If we can’t compromise on topic, then just keep your mum!”

Ben pouted. His complexion magnified the scorn on his face. “This guy only wanted to be the steerer of the topic.”

Unfortunately for Jigen, it was Jed’s turn to bother him. “Jigen, do you know any information about our classmates?”

Jigen looked surprised, but Ben’s chattiness still irritated him so he just pointed at one person to another while giving a brief introduction.

“That’s Nina, from Casprey Family. They are almost a clan. They are experts of geography. Very nerdy.”

“That’s Mimosa Dult, a descendant of Dult Clan. The lamest kid in town.”

“That’s Jay Simoun, quite a simple guy with a simple family.”

“As for the other girl with short hair and a long sack behind her back, that’s Terrence Spear. Her family is quite formidable. They are already on the level of a clan but her family don’t want to be labeled and remains as a common folk.” Jigen explained more for how outstanding the family was.

“That’s…”

Hearing Jigen’s introduction, Jed finally knew a bit about others. He also discovered that a branch family of the Dult Clan was situated here. But from what he could see, this descendant was weak. It was instead the girl called Terence that Jed felt formidable for their age. Aside from Sarah, she should be the strongest out of them all.

It was as if she felt Jed’s gaze. She turned around and nodded at him. She was quite boyish in her actions, though. Of course, Jed felt a pang of awkwardness. He shouldn’t stare too much at people later on, the boy thought.

“I saw that guy yesterday, loitering around after class.” Ben gestured towards a child in a corner. It was a boy and was quiet, minding his own world.

Jigen’s glimpsed and answered. “That’s… Ayill. Dunno much about him.”

…

Von was in a dilemma.

Contrary to the student’s behavior after they left the school yesterday, they were very bored to death today. They wanted to go home immediately. So, the moment the class had ended, almost everyone jogged towards the exit.

The reason was their topic ‒ cleanliness. These students knew it already; it was their custom and ingrained in their behavior.

He just wanted to imply the significance of cleanliness. So, despite their boredom, Von rambled about some hours before dismissing them.

Hence, their enthusiasm yesterday was abated.

Von didn’t know if he was thankful or unfortunate that Ben stayed behind to complain about his training. This was the first time someone being naughty around him. Most often than not, people put a respectable distance between him and them.

People were tight-lipped because they knew who he was. Children in their households perceived the way they treated Von and adopted it. Hence, even though he wasn’t an excellent teacher, no one finding fault about him.

Von put on a straight face. He explained to Ben to be patient. There would be difference between people. But he didn’t want to crush the child’s ego and tell him he was untalented.

Engrossed in his words, Ben only left when the orange sky was nearing.

Seeing Ben’s disappearing back, Von felt tired. He walked towards the back of the academy, deeper than his current location. In there, a secluded house accompanied the foliage of plants and trees. He opened the door and beelined to the sofa. He laid down without minding his appearance.

Von made his material about cleanliness last night that he had no time to clean his own room. So, before his consciousness faded away, he casted a spell and all the dust inside vanished in the wind.

…

The Yellow Stone Era was the time where humanity stepped towards supremacy. But before that, they lived like cockroaches. Bugs that other races could step on anytime.

Thus, the virtues of predecessor were unquestionable. Humans won’t be of today if not for them.

But of course, certain individuals became famous because of their untimely sacrifice for the Mortal Lands.

One of them was the very last Transcendent appeared on the Mortal Lands, Deity of Hopes and Dreams!

He was one of the cornerstones and pillars that supported the humanity on their greatest peril and also on their greatest and momentous comeback.

His merits were undeniable reason humans achieved their current comfort and peace.

Thus, people called the current time the Calm Era.

But not all people were content. And one of them lost in a deep, eternal dream. A maze-like corridor of nightmares with all locked doors and no keys. Suffocating on claustrophobic fashion but could not escape no matter how hard he ran. Carried with him was a self-inflicted wound, a wound to the heart.

Gasping for breath, Von sprung up to his feet. Sweat filled his body, but all he could feel was the freezing cold temperature of the room. The season was changing, so he hurried to the windows. As he did so, he smelled the familiar fragrance of the flowers, the azalea. They plant a bunch of them near the window, so when the hot or cold breeze arrived, the fragrance would enter the room.

Von smelled. He closed his eyes as longing filled his entire body. He imagined being patted by a tall and robust man. The latter made fun of him, saying that he was a sissy. A while later, an old man entered. He had a straight posture and a pair of wise eyes. He laughed at the duo and stood beside them.

The breeze ultimately arrived, making the azaleas and the leaves dance along with it.

And in that moment, one flower swiped towards Von’s shoulder, making him tremble and open his eyes.

…

“Only being patient? Won’t there be some secret that can help me?” Ben asked the space in front him. Of course, no one would answer. So, he preoccupied himself with imagining the sculpture and maintaining his breathing.

One second turned into minute until the minutes felt like forever. Ben opened his eyes, helpless, tired in both body and mind. He still didn’t get it. He felt that he still didn’t picture the image enough. It was all a blur. But thinking about it now, Ben thought that the blurriness was quite lesser. Or maybe just his imagination.

Ben got up and started doing push-up. He recalled the teacher’s words and the mind-boggling recitation of Jigen earlier. He felt empowered and wanted to become strong too. But with Sarah’s precedent, he knew that he needed to be patient and grind for each training.

Although school and work exhausted him, he knew the amount of perspiration was lacking. Also, the work on the market couldn’t consider training, so he needed to make some routine exercise.

Ben started exercising. But his mind wandered about Lumina. “How strong is Transcendent? Jigen only mentioned Venerable. “

His imagination brought him to the drawer where he hid the book. He pulled it out and flipped to the first page. He scanned it before flipping to the second page.

This time, there was no phenomenon. He only saw the glittering name of Lumina. He smiled, before flipping to the third page. Yet Ben welcomed wasn’t a phenomenon but an intense pain from his left chest.

“URGH.” The book fell off from his hands. Ben curled up like a shrimp. His hazel brown hair covered the whitening of his eyes.

When Ben woke up, it was already six in the morning. Startled, he checked himself. Thankfully, there was nothing wrong with him. He remembered the pain last night, making him broke in a cold sweat by the blunder he made.

Right away, Ben read the book’s description again and knew that it will be hard for him to open the next page unless his heart got stronger. It was fortunate the teacher gave him the Anito Foundation Arts. This also made the young boy more impressed by his teacher, who seemingly knew everything. His impression of his teacher grew each day. Unlike others, maybe only Ben, who loved to listen to the teacher’s lesson without growing bored.

“Hays.” Ben sighed as he walked out of his room. He opened the window only to see people already up and noisy.

“Hahaha, I heard from a guard we will have hundreds of lechon.” One fat man laughed uproariously while rubbing his belly.

“I really like lechon. Last festival I’m the winner of Lechon Eating Contest.” Another man said. He was also an ardent eater of lechon.

“Fish is quite abundant too. We might have grand fish soup event this time.” A woman beside them interjected.

“It seems the festival is grand this time.” Ben saw all of this, eyes shining. He loved the festivals too. Well, no one disliked it anyway.

Aside from food, there were some games lead by clans or some families. Common folks could take part. Kids and teenagers competed in order to show their style and strength, while older people took part in indoor and more complex contests.

The festival lasted about three days to one week. And there were many formats to join. But the wedding was the highlight of the current festival.

If there were people who were annoyed about this, it was the army. They needed to tighten the security this time. They still have a day-off, so they could enjoy the festival. Albeit for a day only.

Ben was excited about the festival, but it was two weeks from now. His priority was to continue train in foundation arts.

About his brother. There was no progress in that part. They had talked little since then. Their relationship became strange and distant as time passed by, like between the rising sun and the horizon. Their conversation became little to nothing. They still smiled to each other but there was a daunting aura pushing them apart.

Fuu. After completing all his household chores, Ben sighed and jogged away from his house. He had a meeting with Jed and Jigen.

Riding on the open carriage, he looked back on his neighborhood. He saw a vague yet familiar silhouette in the distance, but he shook his head.

“Impossible.” Ben smiled while looking ahead.

…

Collins was a very shifty looking guy. Yet the County Lord trusted him.

“Guard the east section well.”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

Collins hurried towards the East Section. The entire job wasn’t bumpy at all, excluding the fact that he bumped to a group of three children.

He liked to whistle and hum with a lively tune. His gestures were sluggish, but he was very serious about his work. It wasn’t about the pay, but because the Pendragon Clan treated him greatly. Especially the County Lord.

Visible to the people, there were several pairs of guard patrolling and their patrols were lax, but in truth the security was secretly tight. Unless someone knew their actual rounds, then it would be difficult to make problems. Moreover, Collins himself and the other guy were Expert, so he wasn’t afraid.

Even a Master or Grandmaster could not finish him and his companion without alarming the others.

The guards strutted because there was no sizeable difference between Expert, Master and Grandmaster. They could still be hurt by a punch and subdued with numbers. The only difference was the higher your level, the larger the arsenal in their disposal.

“I don’t know why the County Lord trusted that Deputy.”

“You should stop that already. He will continue to bully if you are like that.”

Collin squinted. “He just looked shiftier than me.”

The other guard shook his head and threw an object to him. The latter caught it with ease. Psh. He flicked the crown, creating a parabola before landing on his other hand.

“Burp. That was refreshing. The Reviving Drink is really great!” Collins exclaimed.

…

Combat Arts were very famous and in demand with the public. First, it was because anyone could train in Combat Art. Second, schools and clans could offer it for exchange–to become a student or faculty or give their service in equivalent. And the most common reason, only a few people had talent for Spell Arts. Even when one had talent, Spell Arts were guarded by clans and schools.

Combat Arts had four grades that correspond to nine levels—Common-Grade Arts, Precious-Grade Arts, Grand-Grade Arts and Supreme-Grade Arts and each level were related to the amount of difficulty and time an individual needed to train in that art. Common-Grade arts could be found in the market and they frequently have a term ‘basic’ on their title. Even the academy had a ton of these, so Von let them the library. This grade only had one to three levels.

The second, Precious-grade arts, had four to six levels, and they were more complicated. Some families from the common folk had these as their heirloom or inheritance. As for Grand-grade arts, these were the clan’s heirloom and their defining art. They had a staggering seven to nine levels. Thus, only a few most talented individuals in the clan could train on it. And the Supreme-grade arts was considered something of the legend.

“In the legend, only a Transcendent can train or create a Supreme-grade art. But, so far, Transcendents didn’t validate this story.”

“Although that’s the case, they said that a Supreme-grade art can make an individual to become omnipotent.” Jigen told. He was narrating the story that his mother had told him to the duo–Ben and Jed.

The duo looked entertain by his stories and description about Combat Arts, especially about the Transcendent.

“Then why you only mention four levels of power before?” Ben knitted his brows.

Jigen shrugged and answered. “A Transcendent was different because it was a being outside the box.” This of course something that his mother told him too.

Jed also harvested a quite excellent information. Although he knew a lot better than Ben, he didn’t have in-depth descriptions about Combat Arts. And even though Jigen’s description was far from in-depth, it gave Jigen more ideas. Thinking of this, Jed clenched his fist.

It seemed as if Ben noticed his reaction. “Brother Jed, have you been training on combat Arts?”

“Yes, I’m just starting.” Jed smiled, though it looked force no matter how you see it.

“So, you mean… you already on the third level of your Foundation Art?” Ben was wide eyed. Even Jigen stared hard at Jed. Even he only gotten to the second level. If not for his father’s nagging every day, he might only be on the first level.

Jed’s face became awkward. He nodded, knowing what the two were thinking. Sure enough, the two had varying emotions on their face. Ben became envious while Jigen had a serious face.

Ben hidden his envy. As for Jigen, he felt that he underestimated his new friend. The meaning of Expert Level was worth thinking. Of course, Jed was only starting, so he was the weakest out of them.

Jigen thought that only a clan could produce talented individuals. Meteor was an exception. As for Von Ruler, he was a student of a Transcendent. And for the girl with surname Spear, people already considered them a clan so they could produce one.

Thus, Jigen inquired. “Are you from a clan?”

Jed blinked before shaking his head. “I’m an orphan.”

His response made Jigen intrigued. He felt Jed becoming mysterious in his eyes. But he didn’t push more questions. He was lazy and also the latter may or may not open up to him, so why bother.

Jigen could only count the number of geniuses within the county with two hands. And he added another to the list today.

The trio had fun teasing and talking to each other. The time to school was closing so they hurried on their way. They noticed that there were more guards than usual. They even bumped into one earlier.

“It is the military.” Ben wondered aloud. There were crumbs of bread on his face.

Jigen explained with languid tone while munching on his donut. “Yep, it looks like the they are preparing. But it isn’t surprising, Meteor’s wedding is a momentous event. He is only around his thirties but he is already a Grandmaster.”

“Bar any accidents, he will become a Venerable.”

…

Chapter 8 | Chapter 10