Chapter 67 - Undercurrents

"Indeed. Old Raphael Bertoldi was a good man, and an excellent Seneschal. It was said he was a level 95 Warrior, quite strong willed but very kind hearted. I once had the chance to see him at the Capital, back when he was the advisor to the late King. I was just a Squire back then, but Raphael was already the pillar of the Kingdom, and the Protector of the Realm. It's really sad that he has passed away", said Oliver Dai Vanilla in a sorrowful tone.

"What surprises me is The Temple's choice for a new Seneschal. It's both good and bad news for the Kingdom and for us. I mean, I think that she is totally worthy of the title, but many people will talk about it for some time", he continued.

"Let them talk all they want. What can they do about it, it's not like they can change the Temple's decision at all. The new Vicar has been quite headstrong about this choice, and the Conclave of Cardinals eventually acquiesced to his will. Anyway, even though this is important news, and we'll have to take a stand soon enough, we first need to address the elephant in the room. I've tried to coerce the Mint to stop the caravans leaving for the next few days, but we can expect a lot of opposition from the merchants. I'm sure that the Salento Family will use this opportunity to undermine our authority. Do you think they have anything to do with this, Father?" asked the lady.

"No, Serena, I don't think so. Even though the Salentos can be as lowly as snakes, I would still like to believe that they are above these shenanigans. After all, if proof of their participation in this kind of thing reaches the Royal Family, they will be absolutely over. No, I'd like to think that there is just another group of creeps behind this case. That being said, Rudolf that old prick will certainly use this to splash some dirty water on us. We need to solve this ASAP. Saras, please help Serena with anything she needs." commanded Oliver.

"Yes Patriarch. Young miss, please tell us what you need and we'll make sure to support you with any and all resource at our disposition" said Saras, the County governor.

"It's ok uncle Saras. Please keep calling me Serena as you did when I was little. For now I need all the info about the kidnappings, where did they take place, eyewitnesses, leads and such. We can only stop the caravans for 3 days, we need to find them quickly. Also, impose a curfew and tell the population that children must remain indoors if they are not in the company of their parents. Also increase security and the number of guards on the streets. For now we can only cover the city. I know most cases happened on the road, we'll try to also increase the vigilance there, but currently we are short on manpower. Should the need arise, I could use the Army's Sigil to call for the men of the noble houses to lend their guards to aid in our endeavor, but hopefully I won't need to use it, otherwise there might be some repercussions."

As Serena finished her talk with her father and uncle, she went up to the balcony and looked at the city that used to be her playground. Seeing the silent streets and the magnificent houses and views, She clenched her fists, and swore to protect its peace and catch the culprits of these events that were damaging the County.

She couldn't help but worry a little. She had asked for a special permission to come quickly and take care of this business, nevertheless she was sure that her every move was being monitored closely. Should she fail, this would not only damage her, but the people that had supported her to come. She could not allow such blunder.

…

"I hope they won't be mad because I decided to come out and play for a while. But really, I mean, can they truly blame me? I was getting bored out of my mind, they hardly let me get out at all. You agree with me, don't you Little Green?" asked a small girl, as pretty as a doll. She was breathtakingly beautiful, close to being otherworldly. She had black long hair, and elfish-like features. Her skin tone was a bit dark though, but this only added to her prettiness. She was dressed in a beautiful dress made of the leaves of trees and silk and she was barefooted. There was a small bird flying next to her, with gorgeous emerald like feathers and a small beak that seemed to be made of jade.

The bird was chirping all over and the girl listened attentively and answered back as if they could talk to each other. In fact, it was like that. She could actually understand and talk to the bird.

"You are right. I should at the very least change my appearance. Master always told me that it was enough to cause a calamity, though I don't see how if someone sees a pretty girl like me, would think of a disaster, wouldn't you agree little green?"

Chirp, Chirp!

"I know, I know. I'll do so right away. Jeez, you should not act like the old geezer. He also keeps pestering me non-stop. Anyway, where are we exactly". As she had talked to here, she waved her hand and a mask as thin as the wings of a cicada appeared in her hand. She put it right on top of her face, and her gorgeous looks changed to a somewhat more normal looking face, with a round nose and thin lips. Her black eyes looked less assertive and looked a bit droopy. Even though she was still a cute looking girl, she was kinda regular, in fact, you could easily forget about her face after seeing it once.

Chirp, Chirp!

"Yeah, this mask is the best. I borrowed it from the old man."

Chirp Chirp..

"He won't be mad. He was the one who wanted me to change my looks, how was I supposed to do so without it. I'm still not powerful enough to do it on my own. So, this is Ansem, you say. Ansem is quite pretty, I might add. Look over there, what are those walls. Is that a so-called city? It's majestic and enormous in a different way, so different from back home", said the girl with stars in her little eyes.

"Eeeh… What do you suppose those guys are doing?" Asked the little girl as she looked at some children being taken by a group of men out of some place.

…

There were some ruins relatively close to the capital city of the County of Syracuse, that went by the same name.

The ruins were said to belong to a lost time, back before the Kingdom had even formed. Back then, what is known today as the Ancestral Kingdom Of Ansem was nothing more than a collection of duchies and clans that were thoroughly disaggregated and that fought each other for power and resources.

There were several cults and the different places prayed to different gods and demons. When the Temple came to power, most of these cults were considered heretics and were chased until they were nothing more than dust in the wind.

So was the case for the ruins close to Syracuse, as they were part of a cult that was destroyed countless years ago. The ruins were, however, preserved as a proof not only of history, but of the fate that such groups would suffer, should they arise on the continent.

Normally, these ruins were only occupied by bugs and wild beasts, and barely anyone came to them. However, on this night, there were five men donned in black that were standing on a circle inside the ruins. There were some magickal patterns on the ground that were dizzying to the eye, and some lights seemed to flicker now and then. There was a rusty sword nailed to a wall close to the men, proof of the old traditions that once served on these lands.

The men were performing several signs with their hands, and the air felt strange and eerie.

Finally, one of the men opened his mouth, which sounded hoarse as if nails were scratching a blackboard: "Are the materials enough?"

"Barely. We have caught several children already, but they responded faster than we thought. It will be quite difficult to catch anymore. We'll have to post some men on the roads, and catch the unaware people on their way to Syracuse." answered another of the men.

"Mmmmh. This won't do. We are taking a big risk here, and the more that time passes, the more likely it is that someone will make a mistake and we'll be discovered. We don't need that many offerings, with a couple more, it will be enough", said the first man.

"It looks like Serena Dai Vanilla came to take charge of business. We need to be careful of her.", said another of the men in the circle.

"Actually this could also be a great opportunity. We could kill two birds with one stone if we use our chips correctly." said the first man again.

"You mean…" said another of the men who looked a bit smaller in stature than the rest. "There could be repercussions from the army. We should be careful to mess with someone from the Grand Army".

"It's not like we don't have any support from the Grand Army, and some Noble Families. It will be ok. The fall of the Vanilla Family will only come quicker with her out of the picture." said the first man again. He seemed to be the leader of the bunch.

"Fine. We'll try to get the offerings as quickly as possible. In the meantime, we'll add pressure on the Vanillas in the city. After all of this is over, we won't have to worry again for the rest of our lives". Said the last man who had not spoken yet.

The five men then extended their hands towards the center of the circle. A red light appeared and disappeared just as quickly as it arrived.

…

The night looked like a black veil, where the stars served as lamps filled with magic and wonder. Nerun liked the nights and sleeping under the dim light of them, so even though he had to leave the city to seek shelter, he felt no frustration. He wasn't used to luxuries anyway.

Nerun was actually laying down on a grassfield near the city, close to a tree and as he watched the night, he whispered:

"I can write the saddest verses tonight.

Write, for example: "The night is starry,

and the stars twinkle, blue, in the distance."

The night wind whirls in the sky and sings."*

This was a hobby that Nerun had acquired during the last 6 years. He liked to write poetry, though he could not tell if they were any good. He first knew about poetry from one the men that were courting Maya, and he wrote letters and letters filled with poems and such. When Nerun had the chance to read them, he could not help but laugh at the time, but he liked the writing style and the way to express one's feelings. Since Nerun sometimes felt sad and lonely, he started using poetry as a way to talk about the world. He never told them to anyone else, this was one of his secrets.

He had found out that as he recited the poems and such, his soul's fatigue tended to melt away.

As Nerun was feeling the marvel of the starry night, he could not help but think of the changes that had happened during the last 6 years.

Nerun's actual power level was not level 20 Qi Grandmaster. He was actually a level 10 Qi Grandmaster and a Level 10 Great Mana Adept. Nerun's Qi and Mana level had raised the slowest during the years, especially since he was trying to raise both at the same time, and he did not really follow a Martial Model nor a Meditation Technique.

Also, Nerun's focus of improvement during the last 6 years was not in increasing his power levels. No, the last 6 years were spent entirely in the modification to the forms of the Free Flowing Fist. The whole Martial Art developed by Maikal's ancestor had up to seven forms. Each form had a different set of moves but their style was similar, like a water whirlpool that engulfs everything on its wake.

Nerun had no issue learning the general movements of the seven moves. He actually did it rather quickly, and in just 3 months he had learnt the gist of it. However, what he spent time doing was modifying the moves. He was changing them according to the feedback of the Genesis Stone. And this took a lot of time and effort.

The change of the complete First Form took Nerun 6 months. The Second Form took 18 months. The Third Form however, which consisted of 36 moves, took him the best part of the following 4 years.

Nerun was a bit flabbergasted by the difficulty of the change, but he was not disappointed nor lost perseverance. Day and night, he worked on the forms, till they were deeply ingrained in his body. His knowledge of the human body, the meridians, and the circulation of Qi and Mana had become now a part of his strength, since by changing the Forms, he discovered the best and most natural ways to use his body. Also, since the forms used both Mana and Qi at the same time, his power was not simply the sum of one plus one. No… It was much more. That being said, Nerun still had not found the way for both energies to truly integrate and become one.

Since Nerun spent so much time with the forms, the increase in his energy levels was the slowest. That being said, Nerun was quite satisfied with his gains during the last 6 years. As long as he was fighting a similar level opponent, Nerun was confident that none would be his match. If Nerun were to use simply a Qi technique or a Mana magick on their own, he would certainly be weaker than most. But when using the Free Flowing Fist, Nerun felt invincible.

The only thing that Nerun was a little bit baffled about, was that besides the feedback from the Genesis Stone, he had not heard from the mysterious person named Ego Sum ever again.

__

* This is an excerpt from Pablo Neruda's Poem #20