Chronicle of the Eternal: Volume 1 (29 page)

Regal continues to read
the book and finds that it contains much of the human’s history, including all
the wars, international politics, genocide, and other gruesome details that are
to serve as a lesson for those guiding the new race of Immortalis to govern the
people better  and not repeat the mistakes of the past.

The will of Shen Wan Xing
also mentions the two treasures in more detail. The skill book ‘Soul Authority’
and the two paths one can choose from. Shen Wan Xing called them the ‘Path of
the Warrior’, and the ‘Path of the Leader.’

The human described a
location to take the title deed to as well. It is an unexplored region far to
the west of Grand Theore that is only referred to as the Forest of Dawn, a
place filled with brightness and has a small town that will serve as a perfect
location as the base of a new community.

After reading the
biography twice, Regal places it in his inventory with a grim expression, not knowing
what he should do. He doesn’t fully understand why most of this information
wasn’t passed on, other than the human’s dignity. Despite that, some of the
first generation immortalis are aware of a few of the details, yet never passed
on the information either.

While Regal is thinking, a
white light suddenly surrounds Regal before forming into a strange alchemical
array. Six different alchemy arrays, each formed with countless sigils and
formulae, surround the student on all sides and enclose him into a box. A
constellation forms within the enclosing formulae, enveloping Regal and
teleporting him away with a flash of bright light.

Regal blinks his eyes with
surprise as he is blinded by the light, but when the light subsides he looks
around with relief, finding himself back at the entrance on the first floor of
Theore Substructure.

***************************************************

Not long after Regal was
teleported out of Shen Wan’s legacy room, Ophius returned to the holding room
with a large Mutant Rat King in its claws. It only takes a moment to notice
Regal is no longer in the room.

The giant wolf Ophius has
a fit of rage at losing its interesting toy, slashing the rat corpse into
pieces. He sniffs the air and catches Regal’s scent, intent on tracing it and
punishing the Immortalis that left it all alone again.

To Ophius’ surprise, the
scent doesn’t leave the room. Instead, it almost seems to enter a wall.
Thinking that the student is simply hiding again, the beast howls at the walls,
telling Regal to come out or face its wrath.

When the boy doesn’t exit
the wall, Ophius ignores the bitterness in its chest and shreds the wall. The
small room at the rear is revealed and Ophius hesitates before crawling through
the hole he made and into the room.

The wolf discovers that
the scent of his target simply vanishes from where it was standing. Curiously,
he heads over to that location and stands in the same spot, trying to figure
out exactly where it went. Without any warning, the teleportation alchemical
formulae instantly boxes him in and without giving him a chance to escape,
teleports him away.

The only difference is
that while Regal was teleported to the entrance of the first floor of Theore
Substructure, Ophius finds himself in the center of a dark, eerie forest where
only vague strands of light break through the canopy. Countless beasts scuttle
about in the dark, some even more frightening than himself.

Completely lost, Ophius
uses his claws to climb up a tree almost as dark as night and quickly arrives
at the canopy. With a large vantage point over most of the forest, the wolf
sees an incredible scene that towers above the whole forest. There is a
mountain that has had its peak  cleaved off to form a plateau, as if a god
beheaded the mountain with a sword.

On top of the plateau
formed by the cut is a black castle, with some grey mixed in. This castle
easily spans a diameter of thirty miles, with grand buttresses, spires that
pierce the clouds, and an enormous bell that would ring loud enough that the
entire endless dark forest below and beyond would hear.

The castle is damaged
however, with several sections caving in and forming piles of rubble. Ophius
can only see one side of the castle, so he leaves the tree and starts moving
toward it.

Regal ascends the stairs
and exits Theore Substructure, emerging from the clocktower at the center of
Grand Theore with a dazed expression. It is still early in the morning so the
two city guards stationed outside are surprised to see a student leaving the
dungeon so early. They take a moment before noticing that Regal’s uniform is
actually different from the students who entered the dungeon this morning and
move to apprehend him.

“Hey, you don’t belong
with Mountain Gate Academy, what were you doing in the dungeon?” The taller of
the two guards grabs Regal’s elbow to prevent him from escaping.

“I was just leaving, sir.
I was trapped within the dungeon and only managed to escape now.”

Regal thinks that once he
explains himself, the guards will let him leave, so he isn’t worried. But after
the guards give him suspicious looks, his hopes quickly plummet.

“No one has ever been lost
in the dungeon before. What nonsense. Thodrick, take him down to the guard post
to verify his age and question him. This could be a hunter pretending to be a
student just to cause trouble. Interrupting an academy when they have reserved
the dungeon is a crime,
kid
.”

Once Regal turns eighteen
and graduates from the academy, he can halt his body’s external aging and look
the same for centuries, preventing anyone other than those with certain
analysis skills from discerning his age. Regal realizes this is what they
suspect and quickly tries to explain.

“No! I am a student of
Bluemist Academy, seventeen years old this year. Everything I said is the
truth, I am not suspicious at all!” Regal frantically cries out, attracting the
attention of some nearby people in the process.

The guard named Thodrick
frowns as he grabs Regal and forcefully cuffs his hands together with a set of
solid bronze handcuffs. Regal tries to claim his innocence a few more times,
but the guard just tells him to shut up and drags him away.

Hundreds of people witness
Regal’s arrest and watch as he is dragged through the streets toward the guard
post, some of them recognizing him and spit on the ground in disgust while
cursing, “Soulless!”

While the students at
Regal’s academy don’t harass him for being a Soulless anymore and most have
fully accepted him, there are still adults on the street who hate and
discriminate against Soulless no matter the circumstance. Seeing him in
handcuffs only fuels their courage to act out, even in front of a guard.

Thodrick glares at the
crowd with hostility after he hears the “Soulless” comments, but he doesn’t do
anything else to shield Regal from their slander. He does notice that some
people in the crowd do recognize him though, and begins to think Regal may have
been telling the truth after all.

They eventually reach the
guard post and the guard takes Regal inside and places him in a small temporary
holding cell.

“Wait here. I will be back
with someone to verify your identity and question why you were in the dungeon.”

Thodrick leaves the
depressed Regal in the cell, leaving to find his captain who is known for his
excellent investigation skills.

The penalty for
interrupting an academy in the dungeon is a month in jail, but if someone lies
to the guard as well, that will often double or triple the jail time. The only
exception to this is for first time offenders but even then a month in jail is
usually enough to discourage most would-be offenders.

When Thodrick returns to
the holding cell, he is followed by the captain. The captain is a tall man,
with charming blond hair and captivating eyes as blue as the sky.

“Captain Justice!” Regal
exclaims in surprise and stands up abruptly.

The two city guards show
immediate reactions. Thodrick quickly turns his head away to hide a smirk that
flashes across his face, while Justice’s facial expression darkens
dramatically. Captain Justice then looks closely at who is in the holding cell
and turns to Thodrick with a confused look.

“Thodrick, why is this boy
in here again?”

“Captain, he was in the
dungeon while it was reserved for Mountain Gate Academy, and is suspected of
impersonating a student.”

“Release him.”

“Sir?”

“I said release him,
Thodrick. You have five seconds to do so before you get a pay cut.”

“Yes, sir!”

Thodrick frantically
rushes into the holding cell and unlocks Regal’s handcuffs. Justice then barks
at him to return to his post before turning to Regal with a smile on his face.

“Regal, it has been a long
time. I hope you have been well, but can you please explain to me what happened
and why you were in Theore Substructure off schedule?”

Regal thanks Justice
profusely and then tells his tale of how he fell down a shaft and found a
fourth floor in Theore Substructure. Justice is amazed as he hears about the
Mutant Rat Kings and the Obsidian Wolf. Regal then explains how the monster
captured him and held him hostage for a month and a half.

Regal hesitates, debating
whether to tell the guard captain about the notebook and the words left by the
human Shen Wan Xing.

“Captain Justice-”

“Please, Regal. Just call
me Justice, or captain.”

“...Justice, if someone
told you something important, and asked you not to tell anyone else, what would
you do?”

“That depends. How
important is the information?”

“Very.”

“Would knowing it change
the person it was told to?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t
understand what you mean.”

Justice seems to ponder
over his thoughts for a while before saying to Regal, “Okay, let’s say you told
me some information. Would it change the way I do my job? Would it change what
I will do tomorrow, or in ten years?”

“Umm, when you put it that
way, I don’t think much would change. But I believe it would make the other
person worry a lot.”

“Then it won’t help the
other person but instead harm them. If that is the case, perhaps it would be
best to respect the initial person’s wish and not pass on the information.”

Regal thinks on Justice’s
explanation for a while before understanding. The information hints toward a
danger somewhere beyond the horizon, and everyone knowing this would surely
result in a degree of panic. Rather than warn everyone, Shen Wan Xing placed
his trust in Regal to wear the burden and help them prepare for such an event.

“If that’s all, Regal, you
can leave now. Go rest for the day and return to your academy tomorrow.
Everyone else will surely have been worried about you.”

“Yes! Thank you, Justice!”

Regal hurries out of the
guard post, startling some of the guards on his way. Justice emerges from the
post himself a moment later and mumbles to himself, “I forgot to ask how he got
out of that fourth level of Theore Substructure. Who would have thought that
there is more to that dungeon than we ever knew? Never mind all that, thank the
king he stopped calling me Captain Justice.”

***************************************************

The next day, Regal
arrives at Bluemist Academy with an awkward expression. All the other students,
and even some parents, stare at him incredulously. After all, as far as they
know, he simply didn’t come to the academy for over a month. Only a few
students and teachers knew that he went missing in Theore Substructure and was
most likely trapped there this entire time.

As Regal is halfway toward
the academy building, Veronica appears in front of him, staring at him with a
face void of expression. She simply stands there and stares without moving as
Regal silently looks back. Regal notices the other students taking a few steps
away from the area and watching as if there is a large scene about to take
place. He even notices Astore and Kilde looking on with a trace of curiosity.

Regal notes how everyone
is maintaining their distance warily, but he doesn’t feel as if there is any
hostility coming from Veronica so he doesn’t understand why. Just as his
confusion is reaching its limit, Veronica pulls her arm back and punches him
square in the face in a manner that is very unlady-like. Regal’s back arches
from the blow and he takes a step back as he cries out in surprise and pain
while grasping his eye, but Veronica’s voice overshadows his.

“That’s for disappearing
for a month in a half, and for leaving the squad so suddenly. We thought
something bad had happened to you,” Veronica explains in a stately manner, her
expression not changing in the slightest nor any hostility coming from her
face.

Regal rubs his throbbing
eye. He can tell that Veronica has definitely put a few points in her strength
stat.

“I, I can explain that-”

Before Regal can finish
what he is saying, Veronica steps forward and wraps her arms around him. She
pulls herself tightly against Regal and places her lips over his. The pain in
Regal’s eye fades and is replaced by the sweet sensation of her lips.

“Umm, Veronica,” Regal
awkwardly pulls his head away, his entire neck, face, and ears red. “You’re
supposed to close your eyes. It’s really awkward if you, umm, keep staring at
me like that.”

“Oh, right,” Veronica’s
face turns slightly pink as she pauses speaking. She then closes her eyes and
kisses Regal once more, this time for longer.

Regal’s mind begins to
waver and he can’t focus on anything other than the blissful sensation of each
of his lips pressing against each of hers. He doesn’t know what else he is supposed
to do in this situation, but he has heard some of the other students talking
about it. He pulls Veronica closer to him and tightly presses their bodies
together. At the same time, Regal gently extends his tongue and feels her
quivering lips.

Veronica is about to meet
him halfway, when suddenly her chest starts pounding harder than it ever has
before and she pulls away in a flurry. She takes a moment to catch her breath,
her face a deeper shade of pink than it was before and says to Regal,“That is because
I love you.”

Regal gently smiles at
Veronica and replies with, “I believe I’ve said this before, but for one reason
or another, I can’t remember it. So I will say it again now. I love you too,
Veronica.”

Regal and Veronica stand
out front of the academy, oblivious to the crowd around them. They seemed to
have formed their own world around them, which all the students stare at
silently, like it is some kind of spectacle.

There is a disturbance in
the crowd, as a student with fiery red hair cut at her shoulders comes rushing
out in exasperation. It is Piora, whose jaw drops as soon as she sees the two.
Rather than speaking to Regal who has just reappeared after over a month
missing, she shouts at Veronica instead.

“How could you do that
here?! What I told you is something you are meant to do in private, not in
front of everyone!”

Veronica only looks at her
strangely, as if she doesn’t understand what she is saying. Regal chuckles and
grabs Veronica by the hand, ignoring Piora while leading her to class and
telling her what happened to him over the past month and a half. He only leaves
out the words of Shen Wan Xing, silently vowing to protect her instead.