Chapter 38

Jorgan had left Bardia a few days ago, he had borrowed a Wind Rider from his clan before he left in search of the brothers, one that was left in the care of the Adventurer's Guild while he was in Bardia. His current magical ability allowed him the option to use a special spell that could increase his speed greatly, essentially making him fast than the magical beast he was riding on, but doing so drained his mana greatly on prolonged use.

Travelling towards Larravass via its most direct route would have him arriving within a week, but he opted for a different path, one that took him by Hell's Abyss. He had wanted to see the final resting place of the brothers before returning to Larravass, to hopefully see the remnants of the battle that had taken place between them and their stronger attackers. He knew the instructors had reported that one of them was a mystic, but he had his doubts and wanted to survey the scene for himself.

When he found the road to Logara, he followed it to the point where one would set up an ambush, from there he tracked through the forest on foot, his Wind Ridder lazily following behind him. He knew he wouldn't find the brothers trail and had to rely on the instructors report, or whatever remaining tracks that were left behind, yet he had no need to do so as the heavy knight left a thunderous wake behind him when he charged into the forest.

At first, he didn't find much except the odd holes and the occasional arrow lodged into a tree, but when he came across the torn patch of earth deep into the forest, he knew he found part of what he was looking for.

"This has to be where one of them unlocked their element and became a mystic…" Jorgan wistfully stated aloud to himself, admiring the marks in the trees and the ground where the mass of vines must have exploded from. Just the sheer volume of vines alone was enough to convince him that one of the brothers had to be a mystic as only a high rank Baron of the nature element could cast such a spell.

He followed those markings back to the starting point of them, examining the patch of dried blood on the ground. From there he took the most direct route to the Hell's Abyss, forgoing any further search through the forest as he was sure the brothers' attackers wouldn't have tried their hand at tackling a mystic head on. He had skimmed past the full report Paylor had the instructors write up, focusing on the main parts rather than the finer details.

Entering the barren patch of land that was Hell's Abyss, he stared sullenly at the crevice before him. He fully realised why the attackers brought the brothers here, the nature element of the forest was drowned out by the evil aura of the abyss. Here, the mystic would be next to useless.

"Cautious, cunning and insightful… these instructors must've had in depth knowledge and great skill…" Jorgan commended the instructors insightfulness, they must have known they didn't stand a chance within the forest, but here at the edge of the abyss, they would have the advantage.

As he stood there, a loud chittering echoed through the area, drawing his attention away from the abyss. There on his side of the abyss, stood a large dark crab like scorpion, it stared angrily at him and did its usual chittering and bashing of its pincers before it charged.

A Corrupted Metallic Fiend, a nasty critter of the baron rank with a high defense and a poisonous sting that could easily kill a magical beast of the same rank if it struck a vital area. Jorgan wasn't frightened by the appearance of such a creature, even though his own physical strength was one rank less than the magical beast, his magical power far out matched it.

That wasn't to say it wasn't a difficult opponent, if it had been in its uncorrupted form then Jorgan would have had to be careful with his attacks as its defense would be far higher, but in its corrupted form its defense was reduced in favour of increasing the potency of its sting. A foolish error as Jorgan watched the magical beast charge towards him.

With a quick chant of words, he pointed his staff at the beast. A sudden massive ice spike exploded from the ground and impaled the beast, it screamed relentlessly for a few moments before going silent. The body of the Corrupted Metallic Fiend quivered slightly, eventually stilling and leaving the forest in a dead calm.

Jorgan just coldly stared at the creature for a moment before turning away from the abyss, deciding he had enough of being around this evil place. Just before he left the area, he heard another angry chittering and bashing of pincers behind him. With a sigh, he turned around and advanced upon the magical beast, irritated that the creature had the arrogance to pester him.

Opting for a longer chant, Jorgan watched as the magical beast bared down upon him before casting one of his more powerful spells. His staff glowed bright ice blue before the light suddenly transformed into an icy form of a phoenix. The ice bird sped towards the magical beast, tearing it apart effortlessly in a matter of moments.

"WE WILL DO THIS!" Those roaring words broke him from his reverie of watching the ice bird kill the Corrupted Metallic Fiend, snapping his gaze upon the abyss before him, he strode forward to is edge. Peering over the side, he scanned the walls of the abyss, wondering if he had heard the noise in his mind.

Yet, as he panned his eyes along the other side of the abyss, he saw two figures barely holding onto the wall for dear life. He couldn't make them out, but they were in trouble. Springing into action, Jorgan easily leapt over the abyss, landing softly on the other side before rushing towards the figures' location. He made it just as they lost their grip and started to fall, Jorgan seized hold of the wrist of the closest figure, and with little effort he wrenched them from the abyss.

The figures landed with a thud behind him, though Jorgan didn't turn around, rather he stared at the abyss in wonder as to why two idiots were holding onto the wall, let alone why they were anywhere near it.

Ignoring his pondering, he turned to give the two morons a stern lesson on acting stupidly around such a dangerous place, when he finally saw who it was he had just saved. There before him, laying in a heap with one atop the other, were the brothers he had been told were dead because they fell into the abyss.

Jorgan stood wide eyed as the brothers tried to untangle themselves, he barely managed to wrench his sight away from them to look over the edge of the abyss, finding the markings of them scaling the wall from far below. Returning to the brothers, he just stared incredulously at them, debating if he had somehow ingested a hallucinogenic substance or if those scorpions had hit him with their stingers.

Gideon and Rhordan had been saved by a mysterious person that they wanted to thank, but they were currently tangled against one another when they landed atop one another. After a few moments of separating themselves, they turned to find that their saviour was none other than Ice Master Jorgan himself.

"Ice Master!" Gideon exclaimed in shock, he had never thought someone like him would be anywhere near such a place like this abyss. Gideon's words caused Rhordan to whip around, finding that he wasn't joking about their saviour, and that the Ice Master stood there with his jaw hanging off its hinges.

"Thank you, Ice Master." Rhordan respectful thanked Jorgan, profoundly grateful that they hadn't fallen to the deaths after managing to escape from the accursed abyss.

"How?" Jorgan could barely say that one word, his mind unable to think of anything other than how they not only managed to survive inside the abyss, but also escape it. The brothers looked at one another, unsure how they should answer, wondering how much of the truth they could get away with not telling.

"Where do I begin… umm… what do you know about Alex Greyhound?" Gideon asked, figuring that starting at the beginning would give him enough time to come up with a convincing lie that held enough grains of truth to convince the Ice Master without telling the whole truth.

"Everything, Paylor brought me up to speed." Jorgan managed to collect himself, intent on learning how the brothers survived the abyss. He settled his cold icy eyes upon them, determined to get the truth out of them. Gideon winced as he realised he had a lot less time to think than he wanted, though he didn't need to as Rhordan spoke for him.

"My brother's nature element allowed him to call out into the abyss." Rhordan explained, happily recalling who their saviour was when they fell into the abyss. She had seen Gideon wince when Jorgan told them he knew everything, she knew he needed a moment to come up with a convincing lie. Yet, she figured that if Jorgan had been brought up to speed then the instructors would have told him about his mystic ability, revealing who had saved them wouldn't be too far out of the norm for being a mystic, and it would give Gideon enough time to think. "An Ent named Kagaras answered his call and saved us!"

Jorgan jaw nearly fell out of place once again, Ents were another myth he hoped to one day prove true, but here was the first myth proving that the other one was true. He suddenly made a mental note to start a logbook of impossibilities the brothers had broken, he was sure Lady Luck had to be smiling on them otherwise they had to have some serious skill, and a lot of hidden secrets they weren't revealing.

"Sadly, he was dying from the chaos energy and wanted his final moments to be of saving us." Rhordan gave a soft smile, remembering his favour as she toyed with the ring. "He managed to teach me how to create a spiritual barrier that could ward off the chaos energy, from there it was an impossible climb up the side of the abyss."

"Those fiendish creatures didn't help." Gideon snorted, playing along with Rhordan's lie. He passed her a happy smile before returning his face to its mask of irritation at the magical beasts. "Reset our progress climbing up that wall every time. It was lucky we packed enough food, though we had to ditch our backpacks to make the trip easier."

The Ice Master just stared at them, his cold eyes revealing nothing. Though, on the inside, Jorgan was seconds away from punching himself to see if he was dreaming. An Ent passing on their knowledge was priceless, especially an ability that could protect oneself against the evil energy like that of the abyss.

"You two have to be the luckiest people on the land of Altharia…" Jorgan muttered aloud, baffled by how they managed to pull off one impossible feat after another without pause. Shaking his head, he opted to delve into their story later. "Anyway, you two need to come with me. If word gets out that you two survived might jeopardise Paylor's plan."

Looking confusedly at one another, the pair realised they forgot why they had ended up in the abyss in the first place. Eagerly, they nodded their agreement and rose to their feet, happy to be going anywhere that was far from this accursed abyss. Though, they did want to meet up with their friends, and Rhordan wanted to make sure that Aurelia was safe.

Jorgan grabbed them by the back of their shirts, he launched himself over the abyss and set down on the other side before putting the brothers down. Briskly striding off towards the Wind Ridder, he didn't wait for the brothers to clear their mind from their sudden flight they had been subjected to. He searched through the bags attached to the Wind Ridder, each of them containing various necessities a traveller might need on their journey, he pulled out two large brown leather cloaks that had hoods sewed into them. They were designed for colder and windier weather, but they would do for the purpose of disguising the brothers as they headed to Larravass.

"Put these on." Jorgan threw the cloaks at them, turning around once again he tied his staff to the saddle of the Wind Ridder. Gideon and Rhordan hesitated for a second before complying, they didn't exactly trust Jorgan, but if he was working with Paylor then they could trust the old blacksmith by complying for the time being. Donning the cloaks, they covered their faces and hid their clothes underneath, the slight warmth of the cloak wasn't a problem for them after spending ages in the dark coldness of the abyss. "You two will ride the Wind Riders, I'll run alongside. We should make it to Larravass in two days."

Complying once again, Gideon mounted the magical beast with a strained groan, helping Rhordan up behind him. Gideon had learned to ride horses from his parents back in Africa, they used them all the time to get around as cars were too noisy and unable to reach certain areas due to the foliage and trees. He watched Jorgan set off at a dizzying pace, stunning him for a second before he pushed the Wind Ridder to follow. He was lucky the magical beast had been trained to respond to ques a horse would, otherwise he would have struggled with controlling the beast.

The Wind Rider's speed was far faster than that of a horse, and its intelligence was also higher as it effortlessly glided through the dense trees without any indication from him. Watching Jorgan just speed through the forest far faster than the magical beast, they wondered if someday they too could do such a thing. Wondering if their physical strength could be enough that they could cover miles in moments, or leap mountains with a single jump, they chuckled slightly as they remembered the ridiculous idiom that follows a certain famous hero everywhere.

As night fell, they didn't cease their speed, rather Jorgan pressed onwards. The Wind Ridder showed no evidence of being tired after running for most of the day. Travelling at night was a different experience for the pair, after being in the evil darkness of the abyss, the night no longer held any fear for them. During their travel across the land, they suddenly remembered the barrier was still active on them as their mana dropped to the point that their mind started to feel the effects of mana exhaustion.

It took Rhordan a few attempts to break the rune, but she managed it as the purple light around them faded out of existence. She made sure to recall the process she used to break the rune, in part to remember how to break her runes and possibly others, but also to see if she could incorporate exit or dispel clauses within the runes themselves so she didn't have to actually break them herself. However, breaking a rune required her to sever the main strand holding the rune together, something that she doubted she could incorporate into a rune as it might defeat the purpose of the rune.

By dawn the next day, they glided over several lush farmlands and dark stone roads that crossed in just about every direction. Farms and small groups of buildings dotted about them, though their frequency grew less as they drew closer to Larravass. The terrain especially changed as they approached the city, numerous hills and mountains suddenly honed into view as the ground became increasingly uneven. A note of interest that drew the pair's attention was that the mountains each had their own cluster of buildings atop them, and the closer they got to the city the larger those groups of building got.

The city itself was something out of a fantasy, six impossibly large mountains surrounded an enclosed in valley that was filled to brim with just about every house or building type one could imagine, some that even extended high above the ground that had been raised by the mountains. They had altered course from directly aiming towards the city to curve around the side of Larravass, the change of course gave them a scenic view of the colossal city, its size becoming a feat that struck them dumb from just witnessing it from the outside. Atop each of the six mountains resided an astonishing set of buildings beautifully decorated in differing styles that nearly covered the entire surface of the mountain, however two of them seemed rundown or abandoned.

Rounding Larravass, they headed towards a mountain not far from the six surrounding the city, this one also had lavishly decorated buildings, but they were nowhere near as amazing as the six groups atop the mountains, even the rundown ones held more brilliance. Approaching this mountain, they saw that the buildings coating the sides of it ran to almost halfway down the mountain, the further down the building was the less design and construction was actually put into them. Some of the buildings near the bottom of the mountain seemed akin to wooden shacks, though from this distance they weren't sure.

There was also a decent sized village surrounding the base of the mountain, one that resembled Bardia in many ways. Skirting the village, they ascended the mountain quickly from a hidden path, arriving at a set of gates guarded by ten heavily armed warriors that upon seeing Jorgan approach, immediately opened the beautifully carved white and gold metal gates.

The courtyard beyond the gates held a simple beauty to it, the basic lighter stone road leading through a mass of various darker stone buildings with wooden roofs and bases. Some of the buildings changed in size, others looked to be actual pavilions made from either white stone or white wood.

Inside the courtyard, there were hundreds of people in various coloured robes or armour milling about until they saw Jorgan stride passed them, they immediately hit the floor and bowed respectfully towards him. Cautiously manoeuvring the Wind Rider behind Jorgan, Gideon kept his face hidden behind the cloak, unwilling to risk his identity being exposed with so many people staring at Jorgan, and the various curious stares directed towards them.

They made their way through the courtyard to a set of white stone stairs that lead all the way to the top of the mountain, they branched off occasionally into different rings round the mountain with heavily armoured guards standing at each junction. Jorgan motioned for the pair to leave the Wind Rider with an attendant that had suddenly appeared from nowhere, Jorgan snatched his staff before the attendant took the Wind Rider away. Climbing the stairs behind Jorgan, they watched enviously as the guards bowed to Jorgan and let him pass without incident. Since they were following close behind him, the guards didn't attempt to stop them.

The buildings in each ring grew in extravagance as they climbed, taking on lighter and much more intricately designed shapes and features. There were even ones that looked like a pagoda from japan, made from the same white themed stone as the rest of the buildings with the only exception being their roofs were made from a dark red stone. The people in each ring looked different from the ones below, the most notable difference was age as there were some that were far younger in the lower rings as there were older ones in the upper rings.

Gideon assumed that as time passed a person would get stronger, and from this they would ascend the mountain, though that theory was proven wrong as he saw numerous younger people milling about in the higher rings. He put the thought aside for now, but made a mental note to ask after how the clan organise themselves.

Jorgan immediately turned off at the branch just before the stairs ceaselessly continued onwards up into the mountain itself, indicating it to be the last ring available on the white stone path. They walked along a row of high white walls, large metal gates with heavily armed guards standing in front of them were equally distanced from one another. Two guards far in front of them had spied Jorgan's arrival and were opening the gates to whatever lay behind the wall.

Following behind the Ice Master, the pair entered into a large courtyard of a small mansion, a beautiful garden filled with glowing flowers and miniature waterfalls laid on either side of a path leading up to what looked to be an eastern styled mansion. It was built wide across with its sides nearly touching the walls, it had a dark wood platform jutting out in front of it with white pillars holding up the dark wood roof. The walls were a beautifully intricate array of light wood squares with white stone filling them. Jorgan stopped short just inside the gates and turned to address them.

"You're safe here, the staff inside will give you a room each and a new set of clothes." Jorgan motioned towards the mansion itself, ignoring the stunned looks that the pair gave him. A stout middle-aged man suddenly exited the main building, standing expectantly by the front door. He wore a dark blue suit and had short white hair, the pair couldn't see much else from this distance though they could tell he was rather tall and broadly built. "I need to conduct a few errands and send a message to Paylor, for the time being, you two cannot leave this place until I hear a response from Paylor."

"Thank you, Ice Master." The pair bowed respectfully to him, following the example of the others that had done so upon seeing him. They were ecstatic to get a new set of clothes as well as a proper room to sleep in, the cold hard ground wasn't an ideal resting place despite the clothes they used to prop their heads. Now that they were safely away from the abyss, they felt their strained muscles and exhausted bodies for the first time since Jorgan picked them up.

"It will take a few days before I receive a response from Paylor, but I will instruct the staff to bring reading material on your elements." Jorgan stated, he had pulled out a piece of paper and was hastily writing something down on it. "I know your element is nature, but yours?"

"Lightning." Rhordan answered when the Ice Master pointed at her, excited at the prospect of learning more of her element. She didn't want to tell Jorgan about her spirit element, or that she was a mystic in it as well since they didn't fully trust Jorgan yet but she couldn't pass up the chance to read about her element in great detail.

Without another word, Jorgan departed out of the gates, striding off out of sight from the main gates. Gideon and Rhordan shared a look as the gates closed behind him, setting off down the path towards the mansion, they felt somewhat at ease with the serenity of the place. After the hell that they had endured, this was literal paradise, though that didn't mean they were going to let their guard down.

For now, they were willing to listen to Jorgan as he was working with Paylor, but the moment that that turns out to be false or that he shows any signs of turning against them, they would do whatever it took to flee. They refused to ever be tricked or held against their will again, determined to become stronger and fight against anything threatening their safety.

"So, you came in with old man Jorgan?" Whom they thought was an middle-aged man was in fact a young lad with shocking white hair and a powerful build, he had pale white skin that hugged tightly to his sharp angular features, his icy blue eyes pierced both of them as he scrutinised them. He looked to be the spitting image of Jorgan as a teenager, complete with a fancy black suit and frigid exterior. "I am Pavel Frostmare, Grandson of Ice Master Jorgan Frostmare. I know not why you are here, but do remember whose house this is."

"Of course, young master Pavel." Gideon immediately bowed, trying not to convey the irritation he felt at the other's superiority complex. Rhordan followed suit, agreeing that Pavel's attitude was somewhat bratty, but he was the grandson of Jorgan and for now they couldn't afford to upset the Ice Master.

"HAHAHAHAHA." Pavel exploded into laugh, his seriousness disappearing instantly as he cried with laughter, leaving the pair before him baffled beyond belief. They watched the striking young man gleefully wipe a tear from his eye, the serious and piercing gaze long gone, replaced by a youthful vigour. "You don't have to be so serious, I was just messing with you. The old man expects respect and recognition of status, but he isn't here so you don't have to follow proper decorum. Anyway, what's your names?"

Gideon and Rhordan shared another look, uncertain as to what had just happened. Pavel's attitude was all so stern and high strung a second ago, and now he grinned merrily as he awaited their response. He reminded them of Grey and Paylor, though Grey was more rude and uncaring rather than the happy gentleman before them. The pair doubted they could get away with using their adventurer names, and they were sure Jorgan would find out their fake names from Paylor eventually.

"Gideon Voidsaber, and this is my twin brother Rhordan." Gideon introduced them, both he and Rhordan nodded to Pavel who looked curiously at them for a moment before waving his hand as if he was dismissing something in his mind.

"Well, its great to have new faces around here." Pavel grinned, spinning on the balls of his feet, he turned towards the mansion, beckoning them to follow him. As they entered the large sliding wooden main doors, they found themselves in a large room with red pillars running the length of it, the dark oak wooden floor matched that of the roof above and the walls were a similar white stone. At the far end was an elevated decorated wooden chair, two more sat lower on each side against the wall, and several more lined up in front of it on their sides and far enough apart that it would be considered a conference room without the table. "Welcome to the Frostmare Mansion, its not our family's ancestral home but it is where we sometime hold meetings or house our family members if they have business in Larravass."

"Its impressive…" Rhordan muttered aloud, gazing over the fine works of art that adorned the walls, as well as the pieces of armour and weapons displayed in glass boxes intermittently throughout the large room.

"Meh… most of these antics are practically useless, unless you're old man Jorgan." Pavel grumpily admitted, looking forlornly at the weapons, a desire to use them burned in his eyes. "One day, I'll be as strong as him and can wield all of my family's heirlooms… the power they have is amazing!"

"What's that one?" Gideon had spotted a beautiful ice blue glaive hanging above the main seat at the far end, it was encased in a glass panel that had actual glowing runes shining on it. The blade itself was weird, it looked more like a massive talon coated in frost than a blade of glaive.

"That's our family's most prized possession, The Frostmare's Talon, it was the weapon wielded by our founder." Pavel 's gaze turned to one of pure adoration when he looked at the glaive, a small amount of drool escaped his lips as he coveted the blade. "Unfortunately, no one in the last four hundred years of our family has ever been born with the Dragoon secondary core to actually wield it, and the last one that did, didn't have the ice element."

"A Dragoon secondary core?" Rhordan enquired inquisitively, her thirst for knowledge slowly returning after the abyss despite the extreme exhaustion she was under. She looked eagerly at Pavel to explain.

"Dragoons are powerful mobile warriors that can utilise a mass of movement abilities, they focus on controlling the battlefield through using wide arcing attacks and powerful crowd control abilities." Pavel grinned as he spoke, gazing upwards into space as if he was imagining himself as the warrior he spoke of. "They use pole-arms like spears or glaives to keep the enemy at bay while having the range to strike quickly and repeatedly, but they also can grow dragon scales on their body that increases their defence greatly. They truly are amazing warriors!"

"And that glaive can only be wielded by someone with the Dragoon secondary core, and be of the ice element?" Gideon asked, wondering if any of the equipment they had acquired had such restrictions. Though there was something that did intrigue him, at the base of the glaive were several familiar feathers, ones that match the ice armour they found in the underground base although the armour's feathers were over twice the size and actually exuded a powerful ice essence.

"Yep! I have the fortune to be born with the ice element, and I hope that I too have the Dragoon secondary core." Pavel was now drooling profusely, staring with lust in his eyes to just touch the blade. "But… No one in our entire family has ever been that lucky, only our ancestor four hundred years ago was… In truth, I have no chance to use it, if I was a Dragoon then it would have shown up by now… and the chance of a secondary core showing up later in life is far worse than actually getting one."

"So, you know a lot about weapons?" Gideon quickly pushed the topic onwards when he noticed a deep depression set into Pavel's eyes at admitting his inability to become a Dragoon. An idea formed in his mind as he mulled over the idea that Pavel could be properly trained to use various weapons, it was the look in his eye as he looked at the weapons lining the walls that gave him reason to believe this. His look was one that Cyborg got whenever he got his hands on the latest tech, or when the latest super hit game is released, one that showed that they had an incredible interest in their chosen subject matter.

"Oh yeah, I even trained with many unusual styles as well, though I focused solely on the glaive." Pavel exuberantly responded, he turned to address them, his eyes still trying to shift back to the amazing weapon resting on the wall.

"You wouldn't mind teaching us? Rhordan uses a bow, and I have short swords, but we aren't exactly as proficient in fighting with them as we like to be." Gideon hoped that someone like Pavel, who valued and loved weapons to the point he was drooling over them, would be willing to at least give them some pointers to help them better themselves. Pavel thought pensively, scrunching up his brow as he held his chin, looking off into space for a few moments.

"I could do with the practice actually… the tournament is in a month's time anyway, can't be caught slacking." Pavel grinned, revelling in the opportunity to face off against another opponent and test his skills against someone he hadn't trained with before. "Tomorrow morning, the training yard out back. James!"

Pavel called out to an unknown person, one that entered through what looked to be a hidden doorway in the white stone wall near the centre of the room. The man wore a set of white robes engraved with a flying ice blue bird of prey with its wings outstretched, he had light green hair that was cut short and a matching set of green eyes. Walking over professionally, he bowed slightly before Pavel, awaiting his orders.

"James, have these two settled into the guest rooms and bring them new clothes." Pavel instructed James, waving his hand towards the brothers before heading towards the front door. "I need to head to class, if you have need of anything else, ask James."

Pavel departed out of the front door, disappearing out of the estate fairly quickly. James bowed to both Gideon and Rhordan before leading them through the door he had just entered through. The corridors had plain light wooden floor and the continuing theme of plain white walls, several corridors branched off from the main, sliding wooden doors made entirely of thin paper were spaced at regular intervals.

James led them to a wing near the far-left side of the mansion, there were six sliding doors in this one wing along, each one had a plaque above them with the words 'Guest Room' above it. Opening the door seemed far more difficult than what they had assume was simple sliding doors, James placed a hand to a hidden sigil beside the door, and with a subtle flash off power the door moved by itself.

The interior of the room held a majestic beauty as it was filled with lavish flowery painted walls and ornate furniture lining the decent sized room, a large double bed with icy blue sheets laid in the centre of the room. Of the furniture in the room, one stood out as it was a large sapphire coated chest at the foot of the bed.

James opened up the second room and before he could explain or even say anything, Gideon and Rhordan had entered a room and just fell face first onto the bed. When they were speaking with Pavel, they had momentarily forgotten about how tired they were, that scaling an impossible wall and traveling for two days straight on the back of a lizard hadn't actually happened until they saw the beds perfectly laid out before them. With the last ounce of strength left in them, they managed to reach the bed before falling asleep before they even hit the sheets.

LINE

Paylor had taken a short break after going through another pile of reports, quickly regretting taking the lead role in fighting against the king of Averia's plans. He had enjoyed his leisurely lifestyle, he would sit in his little shop and grumpily argue with anyone that happened on by, or he would be happily forge whatever he felt like making.

Now, he was reading through reports, writing letters and organising teams to infiltrate the kingdom. He had to critical evaluate each and every report, news article or gossip for any minute detail that could make or break a mission. So far, they hadn't been discovered, but that was solely due to his refusal to let anyone he was working with know the real reason they were conducting these missions, though no operative had been discovered yet to his knowledge.

Ever since Paylor got his hands on the dark jade armour piece, he had been wished to examine it and discover its secrets, yet he hadn't had a single break since he got it. It infuriated him that the one thing he never expected to ever get his hands on, now resided within his spatial ring and he had absolutely no time to look at it.

"Lord Blitzenwolf!" A voice rang out from just outside the Yellow Bird Armoury, it seemed highly panicked and frantic to find the person they were calling upon. Paylor grumbled heavily, the one and only break he had managed to secure himself after endlessly slogging away and now it was about to be interrupted by some upstart. "Lord Blitzenwolf!"

A young boy came scrambling through the front door, he wore the standard clothes for a courier, simple leather garments with a white feathered hat adorning his head. He had skin that was far whiter than Paylor's hair, his panic-stricken brown eyes set on the old man as he shakingly stormed into the armoury. He bowed low before holding out a sealed parchment, his hand shaking violently as he awaited Paylor to take the letter from him.

Whoever had ordered this letter be delivered must have sent it by the fastest method possible, through the use of the Sound Displacement Mirror. It was a legendary magical item that had survived through the ages by the studious care of the Intelligence Guild, a powerful organisation that offer every kind of service from postal delivery to buying or auctioning intel reports. Over the years, they had grown so strong and invaluable to not just the kingdoms, but all the major clans as well, so much so that no one would dare to challenge them.

As for the Sound Displacement Mirror, it was a magical device that allows one to connect to any mirror within a certain radius of the item itself and project sound through it, why it was created still baffles the historians, but the Intelligence Guild never let that stop them from using it in the capacity to send instant messages from almost one end of the land of Altharia to another. To use such a magical device to send a message didn't just cost an absurd amount of gold pieces, but the person had to have a background with high accomplishments or from one of the original six clans, not even the kings of the three kingdoms were allowed to use it.

Snatching the note out of the kid's hand and waving him off, he set about unsealing it as the young boy bolted from the shop. To seal a letter like this was just one of the services that the Intelligence Guild provides to their well-respect customers, or for another absurd amount of gold again, and that was before the cost to open it again for the recipient. However, since the recipient was none other than Lord Blitzenwolf, they didn't bother to send the letter with a high-class mage to open it.

Reading the letter, he found it to be just an ordinary message from Jorgan, one that spoke of his grandson's acceptance into the tournament and his recent breakthrough into the apprentice rank of physical power, a feat many seventeen-year-olds struggled to do with the assistance of either a wealthy family or that of a clan. Paylor sighed, he knew Jorgan to be the over excessive type and do something as drastic as sending a letter via the most expensive method in the Intelligence Guild, but if they hadn't had that conversation a few days ago then he wouldn't look twice at the letter.

Moving aside his reports, he recalled to his days when he and Jorgan use to send secret messages to one another behind their masters' backs to talk about how irritating their master was, they got caught eventually but their master never figured out the code they used. Deciphering this message wouldn't be particularly difficult, however it was time consuming process as their code had many layers and encryptions within each layer you peeled away from the previous line you transcoded.

When Paylor had finally managed to decode the letter an hour later, he felt the blood drain from him.

Dear Old Friend

Apologies for the drastic way to deliver this but it couldn't wait. The brothers are alive! How they survived a full month in Hell's Abyss isn't exactly clear, but for now they are hidden away at Frostmare's Mansion in Heaven's Mountain. I can't keep them hidden indefinitely.

So, how do you want to play this?

Sunset on the peak of Mount Bloodbane

Jorgan

Paylor had to reread the decoded letter several times, checking over his calculations and workings to bring him to this final version. Though, he knew it was correct, the code line 'Sunset on the peak of Mount Bloodbane' was a phrase they use to indicate the final version of the letter as well as a way to inform the other if they were speaking the truth. Had the code phrase been dawn rather than dusk, then it would mean the letter was compromised and the exact opposite of what was said is true.

He set the note down and breathed a sigh of relief, for a long time now he refused to let the other three adventurers know the truth, telling them that the brothers had escaped into the forests and were picked up by a team he had mobilise to secure them. Paylor needed them to be focused on the mission at hand rather than despairing over the loss of the brothers, though he knew Grey and Sapphire would be relatively alright, Xan was another matter.

The mysterious warrior had taken quite a liking to the brothers, and after they left their yellow bird in the care of the those three, Xan took it upon himself to look after it personally. Paylor was sure that if Xan knew the truth about the brothers then the situation would have dissolved into anarchy, one of the main reasons he lied about the true conditions of the brothers. Though, now that they were alive, he no longer needed to lie about them.

That said, he was astonished beyond belief at how the brothers managed to survive a full month in Hell's Abyss, even more so that they escaped it. If that news ever got out, the six original clans would be literally begging them to join their ranks, and the three kingdoms wouldn't be far behind. That kind of attention wasn't needed right now, especially with Brutus looming over Baltharn.

Quickly collecting his writing gear, he set about writing a letter to Jorgan, he knew the Ice Master wouldn't wait long for a reply.

Dear Old Friend

Good to hear they survived, though no one can know the truth. For now, keep them hidden until after the tournament. Once Alex is on our side, then we reveal that they survived by the mercy of their attackers. Less anyone knows, the better. As for their future, I leave that up to you, though be warned that trying to chain them won't end well for you.

Sunset on the peak of Mount Bloodbane

Paylor

Finishing the letter, he quickly resealed it into the container provided. Paylor needed to send it away as soon as he could, except he didn't have the luxury of using the Sound Displacement Mirror without first sending a letter to the current head of the family, an annoying fact but one he had to avoid to ensure the secrecy of this operation.

Paylor knew that once Alex was on their side, it would matter little if the brothers were found to be alive as the enemy would have to believe that Alex now knows. That and with Jorgan being their current caretaker, the king of Averia will have to be even more tactful than before, otherwise they risk exposing himself and making an enemy of Heaven's Mountain clan and the Frostmare family.

It was a gamble to think the deranged lunatic sat on the throne of Averia wouldn't go after the brothers again with Jorgan in the way, but considering the payoff if his malicious venture were to succeed could make even the most vigilant person blink. Yet, that wasn't what worried him, Jorgan and Heaven's Mountain had enough forces to dissuade any would be attacker, what did worry him was if the truth got out about the brothers' survival from Hell's Abyss.

Paylor sighed, heading towards the Intelligence Guild's office in Bardia, wondering if there were far more secrets buried behind the lie that was the brothers. He had learned their backstory from Baltharn, as a man that had gone on numerous adventures, he knew the southern region well. Enough so, that out of the extremely few towns in that region there were absolutely no independent traveller housing they described. No-one passing through the south would dare stray far from the towns during the night, the monsters around that area were far stronger then even Jorgan was willing to fight.

Whatever the reason they had for lying, they hadn't given him any reason to believe they had ill intent towards anyone. It was most likely that they were running from something, or avoiding someone, regardless of why, they had skill and talent. Many masters wouldn't care about their past if they showed a gift for magic or strength, some even would go the length of taking care of anything that might threaten their apprentice.

With the possibility of Jorgan becoming the brothers' master, it was highly unlikely that anyone after them would try to get to them now. Only the six original clans or the three kingdoms have the power to take on the Heaven's Mountain clan, though there were a few other major clans or families that have enough power to risk it given the right incentive.

Author's Note: Would do you think of Pavel?

Comments:

Chapter 35

Eris – Thanks for the comment. When a person dies, life carries on regardless, it's a sad fact but one that few people realise until they either lose someone or come close to death themselves. The plan requires a significant amount of luck, something that Paylor isn't concerned with as if they fail then life after Averia invades would be far worse than whatever the Silver Wolf clan could do to him.

Chapter 36

Frog31791 – Thanks for the comment. Yeah, me too. I love BBRAE stories, especially ones that build up the relationship as either a subplot or in connection to the main story. As for this story, its there and I am trying not to make it glaring or awkward, they will have their moments but nothing major will happen anytime soon as I want to build up their characters through life and death experiences.

Chapter 37

Eris – Thank you for the comment. I have a perfectly reasonable explanation for his ability to not only control his core independently, but the bindings as well… however I cannot say as it would be a major spoiler.

Undaria was a bit of fun to make, at first I wanted her to be nice and kind, helping them to survive and escape the abyss, but I already did that with Kagaras. (Also, the bone cage may hold a certain importance later) So, I twisted her around and made her evil, and she revealed a major point to be wary of… the Nine Lords… not saying anything yet but…

I don't know if Dark Gideon and Nega BB are similar, DG is more animalistic and predatory while NBB taunts and is just the embodiment of all that is evil in BB. Chaos energy is evil itself, and depending on the amount of energy absorbed into the body, the more bestial they become. In lesser amounts its possible for Nega BB to appear, but I'm unsure if I should bring Dark Gideon back yet or not. It was an interesting idea to play with.

Technically speaking Raven unlocked her spirit element back in the dryad village, though she hadn't fully realised what it was and dismissed it as an extended power of Kagaras. But when the old Ent expressed his surprise at her ability she was forced to revaluate her opinion on that power. As for how she did what she did, she was preying on luck to do what she wanted. Undaria's new crystal core wasn't fully formed nor was her soul, so by forcing spirit energy into the core itself she was able to temporarily break her control over the core and she was forced out. In truth, Raven took a leaf out of Garfield's book and went with her instincts.

Gideon's condition wasn't something I was intending to use in the story, but I had to have consequences for what happened to him. As for the conscious sleeping, that is part of his mysterious power that I won't reveal yet, and his condition will be explained much later on but for now just remember how he was back when Dark Gideon was in control, it is much in the same way as that except he has far greater control.

Frog31791 – I hate you… I read your review and thought to myself that I was evil for ending it there with them in another life and death situation until I remembered what the exact situation was… laughed like a madman before I facepalmed myself.