Chapter 2 – Beast Lords

  “You want to… talk to the Four Lords?” Rayne asked.

  “I take back what I said,” Zajowle said. “That isn’t a difficult or impossible task. Just a crazy one.”

  “Why though,” Jack asked, turning to Victor. “You told me before that any beast or plant that gets strong enough could one day be able to speak and communicate like us. Doesn’t that also mean they can be reasoned with?”

  “Sometimes,” Victor said. “But that doesn’t mean they have to. They are beasts at heart and have their own motivations and rules. I can’t see any reason why a Beast Lord will be interested in anything we have to say.”

  “I think they will,” Jack said.

  “And why would you think that?” Reuf asked. “They haven’t been known for letting anyone else live that has come across them before.”

  “That’s not entirely true,” Daniel said, scratching his chin. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t know anything about them. There have been others that have seen them and have survived so there must be a reason for it.”

  “Most of that comes from the people encountering the Southern Lord,” Sylvian explained. “It is said to be more peaceful than the other Lords. Less likely to kill on sight. At least, that is the rumor. Most people leave upon seeing them though. That and the Western Lord, but the Western Lord is supposed to be the strongest.”

  “Then maybe we should approach one of those two,” Jack offered. “It might be dangerous, but is it truly impossible?”

  “No,” Reuf said. “Not impossible. Truth is no one knows why these Beast Lords are here and chosen to stay. Now that we know about the Akashic Order and some of what they were up to here, I agree that they might be connected. There is a chance they will be willing to talk, but I am not certain they will agree to let us stay and make a city here. If they do, then they will likely want something in return. It is unreasonable to think they will want nothing.”

  “They are letting Clayton live,” Jack said. “If they are that strong, isn’t that just more proof that it isn’t impossible?”

  “I still don’t like it,” Teresa said. “They might not attack us on sight right away, but that might just be that they don’t see us as a threat right now. Probably don’t see Clayton as one either. What reason would they have to talk to us?”

  “Because,” Jack said after a moment. “I am a member of the Akashic Order now. One of the last members. If they are tied to the Akashic Order like we think, then they might be willing to talk to a member.”

  “That is a dangerous assumption,” Elaine said. “We still have no real proof that they are connected.”

  “If it is true though, then it all hinges on you,” Teresa said. “You are the only person here with any status in the Order. Are you seriously considering approaching one of these Lords alone? And then what if they tell you no?”

  “He doesn’t have to be alone,” Victor said.

  “That’s right,” Zajowle said. “You joined from undergoing a challenge somewhere nearby. Isn’t that how you got your inventory skill?”

  Zajowle was referring to Jack’s Storage skill. The ability Jack got from his support class, Seeker, that he had gained after completing the Keeper Trials and becoming a Candidate of the Akashic Order. It gave him the ability to store items inside a dimensional space without using special items. A skill few had.

  “Exactly,” Victor continued. “If we can find the challenge here again, then we can undergo it as well. Then we can also be members and try approaching one of the Lords together. Then if they say no, we revisit the idea of building elsewhere.”

  “Hmph,” Savgar grunted. “You assume they would let you live. Even if you had a hundred people it wouldn’t matter. They are Beast Lords. Do you know what that means?”

  “No not really,” Jack admitted.

  “Admittedly,” Elaine said. “I only have a vague idea of what that means.”

  “Same,” Terresa said. “We are still new to all this. I understand a Beast Lord is strong, but exactly how strong are they?”

  “Strong enough that they shouldn’t even be on this realm anymore,” Sylvian said.

  Reuf took up the explanation next. “A Beast Lord is created when a beast reaches a stage of power that can’t be achieve on the lower realms like this one. Beasts progress through a different path than the Enlightened races. They must go through stages to grow in power and ascend the realms. Here, the highest a beast should be able to reach is the Apex stage. That means they had originally left this realm and ascended to become Beast Lords on one of the higher realms. Most likely the third realm as that is known as the realm of beasts, but even after ascending to that realm, they chose to come back here.”

  “Is that not normal?” Jack asked. “I thought it was always possible to go back to realms you came from. At least that is what I was told.”

  “It is,” Daniel said. “But there are always restrictions. Otherwise, a Divine Being could come down here. Those are beings that wield god-like powers, and if they could, then so could the Daemons. If they were to bring their war down here, they could easily cause planet-wide destruction. The System places restrictions on descending from realms that you ascend up to, and it usually can’t be done without assistance and a lot of power. Then there are the natural restrictions on the lower realms. Simply put, the higher up the realms you ascend, the greater the ambient magic density there is. A lower realm like this wouldn’t be able to generate enough cultivation to interest a Divine Being or Daemon.”

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  “Divine Beings and Daemons are of the fourth realm,” Savgar said. “That’s not one of the mortal realms. Once you leave the mortal realms, you can’t return to them. At least not directly.”

  “Then what could bring the Beast Lords here?” Elaine asked.

  “That is the thing,” Savgar said. “No one knows. But it isn’t for cultivation.”

  “But isn’t that just more proof then?” Jack asked. “Taking just what we know into account. The Four Lords, by all rights, shouldn’t be here. An Order and their city that few have ever heard about appearing right around where these Lords have always been. Now we found that they have been experimenting with magic devices, making headway in areas that even Daniel and the Wizard’s Order he is part of haven’t been able to do yet. Lastly, according to Daniel, Clayton is looking for something here that has the interest of a Blood Daemon as well. It would make sense if the Beast Lords were some kind of guards.”

  “I suppose that is possible,” Daniel said, rubbing his temple in thought.

  “That is making a lot of assumptions,” Savgar said. “If what you said is true, and that is a big if, wouldn’t it just mean that they are more likely to kill you and everyone else in this jungle if they find out someone is looking for the Blood Mage class? They might even kill us just for knowing about the Order.”

  “Maybe,” Jack said. “But I just don’t think that they would. Not to someone who is a part of the Order.”

  “You willing to risk your life on it?” Savgar asked.

  “I…” Jack started but was stopped by Elaine.

  “Maybe we are getting ahead of ourselves,” Elaine interrupted. “While it might be idea to make our city here, it certainly isn’t worth it if it means a confrontation with these Lords. We might be taking a loss if we go somewhere else, but we might have to do that. For now, we should just focus on getting what we can from this place. We can always come back another time.”

  “Reasonable,” Reuf said. “So long as we take care of the Clayton threat, then there shouldn’t be any risk at another finding the place for a long time.”

  “Or you could just…” Savgar started to say.

  “For the last time, we are not building a city underground,” Teresa practically yelled at him.

  “But then, what is worth taking for now?” Sylvian asked.

  “I can think of a few things,” Daniel said. “There is the Foundation Crystal of course, and texts from their libraries if we can find any. I am certain they must have had someplace that they stored their knowledge. At least some stuff that would be useful in the immediate, and we should see if they have any more magical devices or items lying around. Chances are they have some and anything might help. We should also take the time to find whatever Clayton is looking for and ensure it still protected.”

  “One more thing,” Zajowle said. “Becoming a member of this Order still has its merits, even if we don’t end up trying to convince the Lords. We should locate Jack’s challenge, and each of us should undergo it.”

  “The support class would be nice,” Rayne said. “But something like that doesn’t come without its own share of risks. Would it really be worth it?”

  “For me? Yes,” Zajowle said. “I told you before I was looking for a way to change my class. Something like that challenge might be exactly what I need to force a change. Jack, you mentioned the classes you selected were only offered to you after completing this challenge?”

  “Yea,” Jack said. “It is how I got my two classes, but Rayne is right. It was dangerous and the difficulty of the challenge changes depending on the individual so I don’t think you will be able to power through it. I only underwent it by accident.”

  “Still,” Zajowle said. “I am willing to try. Nothing comes from taking the easy path.”

  “It might not be a choice at this point,” Daniel said. He was staring off in the distance, thinking through the situation. “At least it may not be an option for some of us. Right now, Jack is the only one that can access anything in this place. Unless he is going to act as chaperone every time any of us wants to go anywhere in this place, then we have to either walk away or become members ourselves. I, for one, refuse to walk away from this city. Even if you take away the historical significance of this place, the knowledge we can find here could be invaluable for us humans.”

  “Not just humans,” Sylvian said. “It has the potential to affect every known race.”

  “I stand by my statement,” Zajowle said. “All ten of us should attempt the challenge.”

  “Eleven,” Savgar corrected pointing to Elizabeth. “The girl makes eleven.”

  “She been through enough,” Elaine said. “She is still just a kid.”

  “I’m not saying to put a sword in her hand and send her out to fight goblins right now,” Savgar said. “We would need to train and teach her. This place is a dangerous area to be in. If this was the dwarven city of Methal then maybe we could give it some more time, but here… she at least needs to be able to defend herself.”

  Elaine opened her mouth to say something but was stopped by Elizabeth speaking up.

  “I can fight,” Elizabeth said. “I want to fight.”

  Everyone was silent for a moment. Eventually Daniel broke the silence. “Are you sure?” Daniel asked. “There is no need to force yourself. You can take some time…”

  “No, I want to fight,” Elizabeth said. “I need to…”

  “See that,” Savgar said. “Only natural. If we start training her now, we can set up a good foundation for her before she has to choose her class. Who knows, might be able to train her as a mage or archer, keep her off the frontlines.”

  “Perhaps eventually,” Jack said. “But not the Trial. Not yet at least. She is still level one. I am not sure what skills or spells you have yet, but I got lucky with mine, and some I had to create while I was going through the Trial to get through it.”

  “We should focus on healing your arm first,” Elaine said to Elizabeth.

  “How long will that take?” Elizabeth asked.

  “At least a month,” Reuf said. “With constant treatments. Maybe two. Depends on how fast I can improve my healing spells. That is the biggest factor limiting my capabilities right now.”

  “In the meantime, you can focus on training,” Savgar said. “Maybe gain a few skills. Any idea what you want to aim for?”

  “I… I haven’t…” Elizabeth said.

  “It’s alright,” Sylvian said gently. “You have time. There is no need to make any rushed decisions right now.”

  “Ay, sure,” Savgar said. “We can give it a day or two. For the rest of us, training returns tomorrow. We need to go over the fight with those goblins and improve our formations.”

  Jack let out a groan and he wasn’t the only one. “Complain all you like,” Savgar said. “You want to put a stop to Clayton and his Wenduags. We will need to be a lot stronger than we are now to do that.”

  “Alright,” Jack said. “Back to training tomorrow, but if people are going to undertake the trial, then maybe we should focus on training for that first.”

  “Fine, fine,” Savgar said. “Where is this trial of yours?”

  “Er…”

  “You don’t know?” Savgar asked. “I thought you been here before.”

  “I never been to the city,” Jack said. “I do have an item that will create a portal back to the Trial if I need to go back there, but it only lets one person through. I checked several times. I suppose I could use it now and let one of you go directly there, but even if we do that, we might not be able to find each other in this maze of buildings.”

  “Might work,” Daniel said. “At least for me. Zephyr could then find me through our bond.”

  “We could do that if you wish,” Jack said. “But then there will still be the issue that you might not be able to leave until you complete it too. Are you ready to take it now?”

  “I rather wait a little while longer,” Daniel said. “At this moment, I’m more interested in finding whatever counts as a library here and see what we can learn from it. If I do the challenge now, I will probably have to rush through it, and I would rather take my time with something like that.”

  “Probably be a waste anyways,” Teresa said. “I’m sure a place like that will stand out. It might take a few more days of searching but we should find it. I think I have an idea of where to look as well.”