Ancient Kingdom

"Don't take it to your heart," Ace shook his head, "I just felt a little unwell."

Sun Ki didn't believe it but also didn't ask further.

"Where do I find this underworld whale?" Ace asked, "His Majesty didn't detail things out to me."

"Of course not, he is the king," Sun Ki laughed, "He probably wants me to take you to the military advisor, she will explain everything to you."

"Who is this military advisor?" Ace asked.

"She is in charge of the kingdom's military actions and plans, as the name suggests," Sun Ki explained, "She is from a mysterious type of fox race, she is smart and resourceful, but also very treacherous so be careful around her."

Sun Ki then took Ace to another place inside the palace, a more reserved but busier place.

Many people full of diverse auras walked in and out, some were aggressive, some reserved, and some were confusing for Ace to read.

In the center of the vortex, was a beautiful black-haired woman sitting in the middle of a huge hall, seemingly unperturbed by the people walking by while she used a small crafted stick to put inscriptions on a tablet.

In front of her, there was a queue for people wishing to speak to her directly.

'Is that... cuneiform?' Ace was shocked in his heart but maintained a calm face, 'Very similar to cuneiform, indeed!

'However, why is a military advisor sitting in the middle of the hall like that? And the others seem to be ignoring her as they walk in and out.'

"Curious?" Sun Ki noticed his curiosity and explained, "She can transmit sounds to other people's minds directly, and can also partially read minds."

"She can read minds?" Ace was dumbfounded and in panic.

"Kekeke, don't worry," Sun Ki patted his shoulders, "It's not without limitations. First, she can only read the thoughts directed at her purposefully, not just any thought."

"I see..." Ace felt deeply relieved and also understood why most people walked inside silently and left without saying a word.

He praised the military advisor for being able to communicate with so many people at the same time. But he also felt it was natural, he could also think much faster than it would normally be possible for an ordinary human.

"She takes care of everything by herself, she even refused to take in a few underlings for herself," Sun Ki muttered to Ace, "That's why this place is so strange, she is just like the center of everything here."

Ace nodded and waited in the queue along with Sun Ki, their time came rather quickly.

"It has been a while since we met, boy Ki," the military advisor spoke without even looking at them, she continued to write on the tablet.

"It's an honor to meet you again, great advisor," Sun Ki greeted her with a slight bow, "I bring to you the new general of our great king, his name is Ace, from a race of chameleons."

"A new general?" she stopped her hand and looked at Ace, "Unexpected, but a happy occasion."

When he met her eyes, Ace discovered she looked exactly like a human woman in both manner and demeanor.

"I suppose His Majesty gave you the quest to kill the damn whale, am I right?" the military advisor asked with a slight smile.

"You truly possess great wisdom!" Ace nodded and praised, "I desire to be instructed for this important mission, please guide me."

"Come here," she gestured with her hand.

Ace approached her without thinking much.

"For my ability to work with people at your level, and by that I meant the level of a general, I need a sort of deeper connection," she began to explain with a calm voice and clear eyes, "After all, a general is a very powerful being already, and it's not so easy to read memories of such being."

"What do I need to do?" Ace nodded.

"Simple, a small drop of your blood," she said with a smile and curved eyes.

Ace twitched the corners of his mouth and looked at Sun Ki, who avoided eye contact, clearly feeling guilty.

'Damn lion- no, damn cat!' Ace cursed in his heart, but he knew he couldn't back down at such a place, it would look suspicious.

He pointed his finger at the military advisor and a small drop of blood made a gap in his skin to float towards her.

"Red blood? So you are not a strange species, huh," she muttered carelessly and began to make strange signs with her hands as she received the floating drop of blood.

Ace felt a strange power covering his drop of blood and eroding it. After a while, his drop of blood thoroughly disappeared in mid-air.

"Done," the military advisor's voice sounded directly into Ace's mind, "Easy, right?"

Ace felt that his soul power came in contact with a very gentle foreign soul power, and didn't thoroughly reject it, but allowed it to pass to his mind her words.

"So that's how it works," Ace muttered, "What an interesting ability."

"Thanks for your praise," the military advisor said with her mouth, "Since you are a new general, I don't mind giving you the details of your mission with my mouth, but it would take longer, are you in a hurry?"

Ace and Sun Ki exchanged glances and the first said, "Of course not, I'm glad to talk with you."

"Then let's go to a more private place, alright?" she smiled and got up from her seat, she waved her hand at the others in the queue and said, "Sorry, I will be leaving for now."

Ace felt a few glares hitting the back of his head, but he ignored them since they were too weak to pose a threat to him.

The military advisor took them to a garden outside the palace and ordered a few servants to quickly arrange a place for them to sit and drink tea.

After they settled under the shade of a cherry tree, with servants taking care of everything, Ace felt strange.

Obviously, everyone there except him and the servants were humans, but even those of "animal origin" acted almost identically to humans.

The military advisor gave him the impression she was a pure human through her behavior and small details, but he could feel power comparable to his dormant within her body, she was at the level of a general.

"Even without reading your thoughts, I can feel your great curiosity towards me, may I know why?" the military advisor asked after taking a sip of tea, full of elegance.

"Why is it that everyone in this... kingdom, even those who aren't humans, act like humans?" Ace asked straightforwardly.

The military advisor glared at Sun Ki and said, "It seems your colleague didn't explain things clearly to you."

Ace frowned and noticed Sun Ki was acting like a fool again.

"Our king and his ancestors have deep connections with human beings, and he ordered all beings to act orderly and learn human manners," she began to eloquently explain, "Mainly, the manners of those of the nobility among humans."

"Nobility?" Ace was dubious, how could such a harsh world allow for human nobility to rise?

"Our king's most ancestral ancestor once discovered a hidden human kingdom hidden in great depths," the military advisor continued her explanations, "He was enchanted by its culture and knowledge, and decided to protect it from the outside world and learn from it.

"It is said that the ancient humans of that kingdom had ways to invoke great power for their use through strange weapons, without possessing any power within their weak bodies.

"Even, some weapons of that kingdom could even threaten that ancestor, so he never dared to act recklessly.

"The ancient humans also wanted to learn about the things happening on the surface, so they exchanged knowledge with that ancestor and made a vow to help each other after a long time of dealings.

"Over time, those ancient humans began to spread over the surface of this world and disperse, giving birth to the many tribes spread through the whole world.

"That ancient kingdom inevitably exhausted its powerful background and mighty weapons after numerous wars against numerous enemies.

"But when that kingdom was finally destroyed, that ancestor's race already rose to power and could protect all humans within their territory.

"In many ways, our king's race owes the humans the fact they were able to reach such height.

"That ancient kingdom had always been loyal and always helped when enemies tried to destroy that ancestor and his descendants.

"So, even to this day, the feeling of gratitude still exists. Therefore, our king always treats humans very reasonably, and never uses or allows cruelty toward them."

After hearing the story, Ace had many complicated thoughts in his heart. So many that he didn't know how to organize them.

"You still didn't answer my question," Ace said after a few seconds of silence.

"The reason we, of numerous different races, share a behavior native to humans?" the military advisor smiled, "Because, at a certain point in time, our king's race began to treat that ancient kingdom's culture and manners as their goal.

"They began to believe it was for the better that all beings learned from humans on how to act calmer and more organized, to stop being too wild to be controlled by the ruling power."

After a longer silence than before, Ace sighed and said, "I never expected humans to once have had such a rich and prosperous civilization in this world."

"Neither did I when I first learned it," the military advisor nodded, "But eventually, I was convinced by the many records of that ancient civilization. And even our current form of writing was learned from them, and we always kept it the way it was."

"Do you know how incredible my race is now?" Sun Ki snorted and patted Ace's shoulder.

"I never saw someone as shameless as you," the military advisor frowned at Sun Ki and mocked, "Even your father wouldn't dare to act so cocky before me."

"Ahem, I suddenly remembered I have business in my body, excuse me," Sun Ki felt embarrassed and ran away shamelessly.

"I believe you gained a title from His Majesty, what is it?" the military advisor asked while taking a sip of tea, awakening Sun Ki from his absent-minded state.

"...Human Chameleon."

The military advisor couldn't help but stop her action and gave him a surprised look.

"I grew up alone humans, perhaps this is the reason," Ace said.

"I see..." she nodded but still had a hint of doubt in her face.

"Can you tell me more about the underworld whale, now?" Ace said and took a sip of tea for the first time.

"How is it?" she asked with a curious expression.

"Honey and a kind of... leave? No, is it a kind of flower?" Ace muttered while tasting the tea with relish, "I once felt a similar aroma while walking in a grove,

"I now remember! It was from a pink flower growing in a dead trunk, it had quite a lot of animals eyeing it."

"Are you well versed in tea making?" the military advisor asked with surprise, "Did you learn it from the human tribe?"

"Indeed," Ace nodded, "By the way, let's return to the main topic."

She nodded and began to tell what she knew about the underworld whale.

In short, it was an abominable monster even by most monsters' standards. It ate everything in its way and destroyed all life and did its best to leave a mark of destruction even in the empty bottom of the sea.

However, the world was chaotic enough as it was, and the kingdom had no spare power to cruise against it. Even the bored lion, Sun Ki, had the duty to guard a certain border, and only left temporarily.

But then, it began to attack cities on the western coast, and the kingdom saw itself obligated to do something.

Coincidentally, Ace appeared and was appointed as a general, a powerful being capable of cruising against that damned monster.