Chapter 9. Mt Ascartiya

**Despite what was happening,** Neil was forced to go. He ignored everything and **headed** towards his destination.

After traveling for **25 to 30 minutes,** Neil reached the mountain the king was pointing at. He said in confusion, "What's special about this place? Never mind, let's inspect the area first." He started exploring. After searching for a while, he muttered, "There's nothing special here. The only noticeable difference is..." He looked back at the Royal Castle he had come from and continued, "This place is covered in very powerful energy."

A strong gust of wind rushed towards him from inside the mountain. Neil covered his eyes, preparing himself for an attack and trying to see through the wind. Despite his actions, he was unable to see through it. He said, "What is this?" After a few minutes, the wind stopped.

Neil thought for a while and decided to inspect the area where the wind came from. He moved towards the mountain. After recalling the direction of the wind, he searched the area for the second time. After searching for some time, he found something and said happily, "There it is!"

He moved closer and saw a cut on the rock, glowing with light. Neil carefully checked the area and arrived at a conclusion, "That wind was certainly powerful. Maybe this is the mark left by it." He knocked on the rock and tried to hear a sound. After listening, he said in confusion, "This is hollow from the inside. Does that mean the wind came from inside?"

He tried to look through the cut and saw moonlight falling in the center of the area. In the center, there was a structure. The area was bathed in blue light. Neil searched for the source and looked at the other places he saw. Blue colored gems were present at the corners, and he thought, "Maybe those gems are the source of this light."

Neil smiled and continued, "If some of them have power, then I will have access to the water element." He opened his sword and replaced the red gem with a brown one, saying, "Earth magic will be best here," and continued in a non-serious tone, "As I don't want to die under rocks." He used his sword to push the rock.

As soon as the rock moved, the ground began to shake. After a while, the land movement stopped. A crack appeared on the rock, which traveled in opposite directions. From that crack, rocks began to crumble and create a path. Neil entered without hesitation.

When Neil entered inside, he was shocked to see beautiful green grass spread all across the area, luminous blue gems. The area was filled with energy, relaxing his muscles and mind. Neil found his strength increasing. He clenched his fists to check his power and cried in joy, tears falling at high speed. He muttered, "My strength..."

Neil's hands and voice started shaking with overwhelming joy. He continued his words, bending in front of the statue and joining his hands in respect, "I don't know who you are, but I know you are the reason I got my strength back. Although I haven't fully recovered, now I don't need to rest again and again. Now I can protect my people. Thank you, thank you a lot for helping me." He continued with tears rolling across his face. He wiped his tears and headed towards the center where the statue was placed.

Neil slowly moved near the statue and saw it was completely covered in lush green algae, entirely covering a large portion of the statue. Neil tried to remember where he had seen such a statue but didn't remember. He touched the statue to clean it. The eyes of the statue glowed, and Neil's eyes turned white. His body fell to the ground.

After some time, Neil opened his eyes and quickly took his battle stance. He scanned the area and said in shock, "Where am I? What just happened?" He tried to remember but worriedly said, "Why can't I remember anything?" He paused and continued after thinking for a while, "The last thing I remember is I touched that statue." He searched for the statue but found nothing.

**A sudden disturbance in the wind** made Neil anxious. He turned back and saw a blade about to cut him. Neil tried to dodge it, but his chestplate received a cut. Blood streamed through the cut as it tore through a part of Neil's flesh along with the armor.

Holding his wounds with his left hand, Neil jumped back. He quickly opened a vial filled with blue liquid and drank it down. Meanwhile, the blade retreated into the shadows.

Neil scanned his situation and was shocked to see that his armor had no mark on it, but the blood had completely disappeared. He quickly removed his chest piece while scanning the area, saying in disbelief, "My wounds could be healed, but..." He paused for a moment, looking between the direction of the sword and his hand holding the broken chestpiece, trying to figure out what just happened. "The blood marks are completely gone. What's going on?"

While continuously scanning the area, he added, "This potion can heal this wound, but despite this, why am I still feeling pain?"

Another attack came from the shadows, but this time Neil was prepared. He deflected the sword with his power and rushed towards the source of the attack, shouting into the darkness, "Your game is finished now!" However, his sword didn't find any enemy and hit the wall.

Confused, Neil quickly moved back. Due to his attack, the wall started to shake, revealing a path in front of him. Neil turned his head and realized the sword was gone. Muttering in confusion, he said, "What's going on here? Nevermind, I need to scout this area fast. Who knows what's going on in Acronyian? I hope the army is on the move."

Neil looked towards the path opened by his attack and after taking a deep breath, entered the area.

**Meanwhile, in Acronyian**

Causalities started to decrease as the Acronyian army under Aliyan's leadership began killing as many beasts as possible. "These beasts aren't that strong," Aliyan said, throwing one of the beast's bodies aside and asking the soldiers behind him while looking towards the corpses, "How many beasts are left in this area?"

A soldier rushed towards him and reported, "Vice Commander, that was the last one you just killed." He looked into his records and continued, "There were 25 beasts in this area, but this is strange. All the beasts were immature, and only Razor Beasts are present here." He looked towards his equally confused Vice Commander for an explanation.

Aliyan thought for a while and arrived at a logical answer. Showing his worry, he said, "There's only one logical explanation: this is just a distraction. If it's a distraction, what's their actual plan?"

"Vice Commander," a soldier called him. When Aliyan looked towards him, he continued, "What should we do now, Vice Commander?"

Aliyan thought for a moment and added, "We don't have any clue what they're planning. We can only face it head-on. But our priority is to protect the citizens of Acronyian first. The Royal Army will handle this." He ordered one soldier to call a messenger.

After a while, soldiers arrived with another soldier carrying a golden box. Aliyan gave him a detailed report about the beasts they killed, casualties and injuries, emphasizing that something was wrong – all the beasts killed were immature and only Razor Beasts.

The soldier quickly transmitted this message, and they waited for a reply. After 15 minutes of waiting, the golden box started vibrating. The soldier pressed his finger on it, and wave-like structures formed on it. When blood touched it, a voice appeared, "We understand your concern and are considering the situation. Please maintain your position. The Royal Army will be on the move soon."

Aliyan ordered, "Everyone gather here!" Everyone listened to him and gathered around him. He explained their situation and said, "There have been 125+ casualties in this area, with over 1000 people injured. The Royal Army is on the move, but we can't wait for them as there are still many areas under attack. We will divide into two groups. Soldiers with more experience will form a unit and take civilians to the Royal Castle. That's the safest place for the time being."

After discussing the plan in detail, Vice Commander Aliyan spoke to the soldier he was talking to earlier. "Veltaro Balka, from now on you are Captain of this unit. Go do your job, Captain Veltaro Balka."

**After some time,**

Veltaro gathered the most skilled soldiers with the help of the Vice Commander. He formed a group of 100 soldiers and instructed them, "**Fifteen men will protect the supplies: five in front and five at the back. The rest will form a rectangle shape and walk beside the injured." He looked towards the wind beasts and said, "For the injured, we cannot fight you beasts. Move people with serious injuries to the carriage, and whoever is able to move should walk barefoot."

One of the soldiers approached him and said, "Captain, first aid is being provided to all." Veltaro nodded and said in a commanding tone, "Okay, prepare everyone. We are leaving." He looked towards the people killed by the beasts and said in disappointment, feeling helpless. He then ordered the soldiers, "Gather the corpses of the fallen."

It took the soldiers a few minutes to gather the corpses. They piled them on top of each other and looked towards their captain for further orders.

Aliyan was also waiting for his order. Veltaro ordered him to burn the corpses. Aliyan glanced at the beasts' corpses and moved towards them. He asked the soldiers standing beside him, "How many beasts have bodies that are very badly damaged?" The soldiers opened a record and began to tell him, "Out of 15, only 4 bodies are in good condition. The rest have many injuries." He added, "Their body parts could be used, however, the whole bodies cannot be used in any possible way."

Veltaro requested 15 men from Julicious, who quickly agreed. Veltaro instructed them, pointing towards the bodies of the Neothaliyan beasts, "Their bodies release disease after 30 to 40 minutes of their death. Here," he handed them an hourglass that could tell hours along with minutes, "If the Royal Soldiers do not reach on time, then burn their corpses," he continued.

After some time, all the preparations were made. Veltaro realized something and ordered, "Stop!" The soldiers who were heading towards the corpses of the Acronyian beasts stopped in their tracks, waiting for orders. Veltaro explained his concern and said, "If we burn them now, it will attract nearby beasts here, and we are not in a position to attack more beasts in this area." He looked towards the people of Acronyian who were still shaking in fear and continued, "We cannot do this now." He turned towards the unit that was in charge of the Neothaliyan beasts and said, "Sorry, but you have to do this as well. When you are about to burn the Neothaliyan beasts, first set fire to your supplies. After burning the Neothaliyan beasts, do not stay in this place. Take the wind beasts and rush towards the Royal castle." The soldiers of that unit said in unison, "Yes, captain." The soldier who was holding the torch moved back towards the main army and took his position, at the same time handing the torch to one of the soldiers of that unit.

Aliyan was happy to see his thinking and said, "Captain, go. We will handle it from here." Veltro turned towards his unit and saw they were ready to move. He ordered, "Everyone, let's move." After half an hour, they were out of Aliyan's sight. He turned towards his men and said, "It's our time to go now. Kill or capture as many beasts as possible. We cannot let them move freely."

Meanwhile, Zellto stopped at a distance after witnessing five Razor Fangs blocking his path. Zellto's condition was not good. His breath was irregular, his armor was broken and about to fall apart, his body was covered with blood, but still, his eyes were calm. He turned back to see his fellow Kazo's comrades, who were worse off than him. He recalled how they were trapped between a group of 30 beasts. They tried to escape from there but saw people trapped there. To their rescue, they entered the battlefield. Kazo's became human shields for most of the attacks and protected the civilians, while Zellto fought head-on with the remaining beasts.

"Vice Commander," a voice which brought him back to reality, asked him, "Vice Commander, what should we do?" Zellto opened his sword and said, "No matter what happens to me, you want to leave your position. If you break it, there will be an opening that these beasts will use to kill them. I will handle them by myself for at least a week, then you can later kill them with ease."

Zellto took a deep breath and opened a vial filled with blue liquid and drank it. Within a few minutes, his wounds were completely healed. He told them to hide. When they hid behind the rock, he moved towards the beasts. One of the beasts noticed his presence and tried to bite him. Zellto predicted its move, bending at an unexpected angle and stabbing his sword into the beast's skin. Flesh fell to the ground, and the beast's eyes turned red. Its veins bulged in anger as it attacked him.

Zellto found himself surrounded by the beasts. His comrades wanted to help, but they couldn't move, aware of the consequences of their actions.

*Meanwhile, In the Royal Castle...*

King August Acronyious VII regained his composure and said, "I am fine, Arne. Thank you. Your family has always been loyal to Acronyian. But..." He stopped.

Arne understood there was something wrong and, understanding the king's concern, said, "My lord, we are, and always will be on your side. So please tell me how I could help you."

The King thought for some time and called the guards over. He whispered something in their ears while Arne, who was at a distance, couldn't hear anything. After a while, the guards entered the room carrying a small wooden box with a silver pattern on it.

After taking a deep breath, the King looked towards Arne and said, "Alright, Arne Helio, from now on, you will be directly answerable to me and no one else." He continued his words, "I, King August Acronyious VII, grant you all the rights given to my White Knights. From this day forward, you will work under the Royal Healer as her apprentice."

Arne bent on one of her knees and said, "Yes, my lord. I understand. This life belongs to Acronyian. If I have to die to protect my people, I will die happily. And if you think I have betrayed your trust at any point of time, just order it, and I will take my own life."

She opened a needle and pricked his finger. A drop of blood appeared. She continued, "I swear on my blood that if I betray you, my blood will lose its identity, and I will die as a normal person." Her blood present at the tip of the needle glowed for an instant and then turned normal.

The King said, "I know you will never break my trust. That's why you are here. Please accept this." He handed her the wooden box.

Arne looked at the box for a while. When she didn't open it, the King said, "Please open it."

She opened the box and found a 7 cm long and 2 mm wide silver needle with pointed edges on both ends. She examined the needle for a moment and turned it, finding a Royal Symbol engraved in the center. She quickly bowed down and said, "This is my honor to be of use to you."

The King replied, "Please stand up. This is because you are capable. I am certain you will not talk about my condition with anyone outside these walls. Now you may leave."

She bowed and left the area. The King nodded his head in reply and started thinking. He said to himself, "Please hold on a little longer, my people, just a bit. The Royal Army will move soon."

After some time, a soldier rushed towards the King's room and told the guards his message. The guards opened the door and let the soldier enter the room. The soldier kneeled down in front of the King and said, "My lord, the second prince has returned safely and is asking permission to enter the battlefield."

The King ordered the guards to call the second prince.

After some time, the second prince entered the room, greeting the King formally. The King looked towards the guard, who then left the room. The King placed his crown on the table.

As soon as the King put his crown on the table, the second prince rushed towards him and touched the King's feet. The King blessed him, picked him up, and gave him a tight hug. After a while, he released his grip and asked, "Are you safe? And where are your brothers?"

"Uncle," he replied, "Don't worry, they are safe, but they won't let them go. They are afraid of that myth and will not allow any of them to enter Acronyian at any cost. I was lucky enough to enter Acronyian. All princes and princesses are worried for you and their lands, but..."

"Don't worry. I am fine, and Acronyian will also be fine."

The second prince asked the King in joy, "Uncle, Commander Neil? Have they actually returned? Where is he? Can I meet with him?"

The King understood his concern and looked towards Mount Ascartiya with tension. He said, "Neil is on a mission that will determine our future." He paused and looked towards the second prince, continuing in a serious tone, "Neil still needs time to perform his task. Meanwhile, I need you to take charge of the Royal Army and help people get to safety."

The second prince took a brief explanation of the situation from the King. The King told him everything he knew and that they had sent scouts who would be returning soon. He advised the second prince to rest for the time being.

After half an hour or so, the scouts arrived. Meanwhile, the second prince had fully recovered from his fatigue. The second prince quickly gathered all the information from the scouts. He then started to move out of the camp and said, "I have to focus on rescuing people. The rest will be on you... Neil."

Everyone's hope rested on Neil. As Neil entered the new area, he braced himself for the unknown.

*At Mount Ascartiya...*

Neil finally entered the area. He was cautious and moved slowly, scanning for any possible danger. The path was shrouded in darkness, blocking his sight. Neil could only see a few meters clearly. He looked at the torch, his only source of light, and checked its oil. He muttered to himself clearly as he moved towards the end of the path, "Although there's nothing wrong with the oil, it's still a little lower than full. There must be someone or a mechanism that lights this area. Either way, it's a concern."

He looked towards the torch again and continued, "Judging from the oil mark, someone else must have been here just a few minutes before me."

He moved on and witnessed the greenery completely covering the walls. After walking for at least 45 minutes, he saw a bright light at the end of the path. He moved slowly towards it and stopped in front of the exit, tightening his grip on his sword's handle. He muttered to himself, preparing for battle, "I'll finish this quickly and go back to Acronyian as soon as this ends."

Neil took the last step. Due to the sudden change in light, he was forced to close his eyes defensively, sensing any possible danger. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes to see a beautiful waterfall reflecting the golden light falling on it from the broken ceiling. His eyes were trapped on the beautiful scene, but he quickly snapped back to reality when he saw a slight movement in the shadows.

He moved closer to that spot but found nothing. Neil muttered to himself in confusion, "I was certain I saw something."

This continued for an hour. Each time Neil detected any disturbance in the area, he turned back, but he found no one there, not even once. After trying to find this person for such a long time, his patience was wearing thin. Suddenly, he remembered something, and he stood up with determination in his eyes. He said, "Alright, I understand. You're testing my patience, right?"

He took a deep breath and continued looking towards the area where light refused to enter, speaking with a calm and confident voice, "Let's see whose patience runs out first."

Neil crossed his legs and sat near that place, his eyes closed. He remained silent there. He sensed that same movement again, but this time he didn't react to it. Soon, after a few seconds, the disturbance disappeared. This continued for a long time.

*After 3 hours had passed...*

Neil still remained silent in one place, his eyes closed. In these 3 hours, he felt that disturbance at least 63 times, a few of which were very close to Neil. Fifteen of them were so close that they could have even killed Neil, but despite sensing them, he still didn't move or show any change in his behavior.

*In the present time...*

Neil sensed three attacks heading towards his neck, heart, and head - all vital organs of the human body - but he still remained still in his place. When those attacks were about to connect, they disappeared just before touching his skin. The result of their touch wasn't bad; Neil sensed a warm energy flowing through his body. The pain he was suppressing from the very first attack disappeared, replaced with a gentle energy.

Neil opened his eyes instantly and found no one there. He muttered to himself, confirming his suspicion, "I was right. He didn't have the intention to kill me. His energy was smooth and calm, but there's still something wrong with this place. Despite being here for around 5 hours, it still feels like time has barely moved at all."

Suddenly, the light in the area dimmed. Neil turned towards the ceiling and saw the golden light coming from it start glowing orange. Neil stopped for a moment and continued, "I was right. This place showed a change in time after I mentioned that, it seems."

He scanned the area once again, trying to find any clues. In confusion, he started moving towards the area covered in shadow and said, "There must be some way."

He stood before the area covered in shadow. For one last time, he searched the area hoping he would find another clue, but no luck. He raised his foot and was about to touch the shadow but stopped and said in confusion, looking towards the waterfall, "I don't know much about this place, but judging by the energy, this is Mount Ascartiya. I don't know about this place, but I never heard about any water source in this area. If this was actually a water source, this area must have more moisture near this place, but..."

He closed his eyes and opened them again after confirming his assumption. He continued, "The moisture in this area is not uniform, but it's still not perfect. There are many problems with moisture in this area." He turned towards the fountain and kept his feet out of the shadow region. After inspecting the fountain for a few minutes, he found a clue there.

Neil said in joy, "There it is! I knew there was something wrong with this place." Neil pushed the wall from where the water was flowing, but nothing changed. Neil, confused, said, "Did I miss something?"

*After some time...*

Neil, evaluating all the possibilities, arrives at a theory. "Maybe there's a lock for something, blocking its movement."

He searches every corner of the place but finds no clues. He turns towards the entrance of the room, then quickly turns back, his breath very uneven. He takes deep breaths and says, "I felt someone pointing a sword at my neck." He touches the area and sees there's nothing there. "I'm certain it wasn't my imagination. That person doesn't want me to leave this place. But why? They don't have any intention of killing me, but I'm still afraid."

He pauses and looks towards the shadowed area, continuing, "If I don't play along, they might kill me."

Neil searches the area again and sits down facing the waterfall. After watching it for some time, he realizes something and quickly jumps to his feet. He rushes towards the wall and pushes it, but nothing changes. This doesn't stop Neil. He uses all his strength and is able to slightly move the wall.

Neil turns his head and sees the water quality has decreased. He pushes it with all his strength again, but it doesn't move any further. "Let me catch my breath," he says, collapsing onto his back and looking towards the water flowing through the opening in the wall.

"Should I use my blade?" he mutters, turning his head towards his sword. He stands up again, then sits properly and continues, "Earth magic would be ideal here, but I'm certain there's another way that person wants me to choose... but what is that way?"

He looks towards the wall and, after taking a breath, says in disappointment, "I think the only way I know for now is to push this thing."

After trying to push the wall for several hours, he's finally able to move it to the desired spot. The water flowing through the opening disappears completely. Neil turns to where the water was falling and sees a large hole there.

Neil carefully searches for some time to judge whether there's any solid ground below or not. He sees rocks fallen from the movement of the wall near it. He carefully throws one into the hole, and judging by the sound, estimates the distance. Calming himself, he says, "Don't worry, Neil. Everything will be fine."

Neil jumps into the hole.

Will Neil be able to get out of this place? And why was the king so afraid? For all the answers, join this journey.

**Next time...**