They two made their way through the flower littered courtyard, down a winding trail of scattered dirt, before emerging into an open area. Several strange wingless ships sat on the marble of the large balcony, practically oozing magic. Caleb looked from the balcony with an unobstructed view. Further out the buildings grew smaller and smaller till they reached a large wall, littered with lights like a night-time skyscraper. And beyond that were hundreds of thousands of even smaller lights, much more distant, stretching all the way to the horizon where he could see the clear curve of the planet

  We have to be impossibly high up, he thought, following after Daen.

  [What’s with the face?] Daen asked.

  “I just…wow” Caleb said.

  [Don’t look at it like that] Daen responded, [People will think you’re in awe.]

  “I am” Caleb muttered.

  [You didn’t look at the palace like this] Daen said, frowning.

  “I know… sorry I just… I wasn’t expecting it to be like this.”

  They slowed as they reached one of the vehicles, a man stepping forward and nodding to them.

  [Master Daen sir. Master Caleb] the man said with a nod, [Please, step inside]

  Caleb followed Daen as the entered one of the strange vehicles, stepping into the main body, the interior of which reminded Caleb somewhat of a Gondola. Daen took a seat in one of the rows lining the sides of the body as Caleb looked out over the window, marvelling at the beauty of it all.

  Then, slowly the mana seemed to buzz to life, and the vehicle rose seamlessly, and started through the city. Daen frowned as Caleb pressed his face closer to the glass of the ships’ large windows, marvelling at the city of the staggering metropolis below him.

  [I don’t understand] Daen muttered, his arms crossed. [All the buildings look the same]

  “They still look beautiful” Caleb muttered. “And they’re huge. I can barely see the ground”

  [That’s not a good thing. I mean, it’s not that impressive. Even the smallest cities on Alareon are nicer than this]

  “They are?” Caleb said, looking back to the man. Daen nodded, smiling to himself.

  [If you think this is impressive our cities… our cities… wait I can get it… our cities will… uh… aha! Our cities will] blow your shoes off!”

  “Socks” Caleb said, chuckling to himself

  [Ah. Close enough. And get away from the window. You don’t want people staring at you when we land]

  “Where are we going?” Caleb asked, stepping away.

  [To the] Asumamorium [Adar Vedysar.]

  “Asumamorium?” Caleb frowned, noting that the word hadn’t translated.

  [Yep. It’s the reason this city is so special. Some people say that it was the first monastery ever built in Yuniea’s honour. I think it’s probably around the twenty-fifth though. Lord knows how many wars they fought here to be considered part Yuniea’s people. Don’t tell anyone I said that]

  “Right” Caleb said, looking at the skyline behind them. “Wait, is it here?”

  [Yeah. Where else would it be?]

  “I’m just confused. Why even fly us? Wouldn’t it be easier for us to teleport straight in.”

  [Well, some people like to walk. No idea why. The streets are even worse than the skyline] Daen muttered. [Suppose they tend to be the more religious ones though.]

  “Is the walk religious somehow?”

  [Everything here’s religious]

  “That makes sen-”

  Caleb did a double take, looking out the window. They’d emerged into some kind of open area, the huge buildings surrounding a large circular area of fountains, paths, and greenery. And at the centre a towering statue of a horrific faceless monster with a sword driven through its chest.

  Caleb stared at the statue trying to make sense of it, but even as they flew around it’s form seemed to change, growing more horrific with every second as the stone itself seemed to phase in and out of reality within places. As if moving.

  “What on Earth is that?” he said, tearing his eyes away.

  [That is the greatest monster the Akashic Federation has ever beaten. Well, on home turf.]

  “How’s it doing that? Being all weird?”

  [It’s just a property of the monster left over. The Akyrenai forefathers turned it to stone, but it still does its phase shifting. Not properly, but well you can see. They fought it was cool and used it as a monument. A reminder of what we’re fighting against. I hear it’s pretty effective at convincing some tourists who’re on the fence to join the effort.]

  Caleb looked down to the ground, then back up to the height of the monster, marvelling at the sheer size. He couldn’t even begin to imagine people fighting something as large as that. And he didn’t even want to know what kind of power it possessed that even after turning to stone, it could still move in some weird way.

  The ship continued, Caleb leaning back in his chair as he took a deep breath.

  [You alright?] Daen asked. Caleb nodded before frowning to himself.

  “How does this all work again?”

  [The festival?]

  “No” Caleb muttered. “Everything. The war, the orders or what you called them, the religion… if this is going to be my life, I need to know.”

  Daen shifted, before patting him on the back.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  [You’ll learn everything in time. There’s no need to get so worked up. You’ll be fine. I promise]

  “Can you tell me anyway? Just a basic summary”

  [Well, what do you want to know?]

  “Uh… well for starters, the war and us. People with records I mean. I can’t remember how many Ris said there were but… do other people fight? Regular people I mean. It can’t all be just us”

  [Of course. Most of the army is regular folk]

  “How?” Caleb mumbled, his mind flashing back to the orc.

  [Well, they don’t have magic, but many are wizards. And some are plain regular folk, with proper gear of course. It’s like your militaries, just better weapons. Well… your people were quite inventive. Probably your heritage. Some of your weapons are strange, but a few are seriously something. The nuke, for example. Quite insane. Etimos had research on it, but not even they used it to blow other people up. But anyway, they’ve got magic guns and stuff. I don’t know specifics.]

  Caleb frowned.

  “If you know about all that already, then can’t you just make it? I don’t understand how we’re exporting stuff like that or whatever the representatives are doing”

  [No. Each planet has a right to its own tech. You let people use it for a price, like a patent or you can just build it for them. Of course, people on the black market make stuff anyway, but that’s mostly for the non-magical, which in your case is everything I guess. Though I doubt anyone’s courageous enough to make a nuke]

  “Isn’t it still dangerous?”

  [You sound like the old records] Daen laughed. [It’s fine. We have failsafes for this stuff. We had to make a ton when Etimos came into the fold.]

  “Alright” he muttered, tugging at his collar. “But if there’s guns and stuff why do we have swords and armour. I assume we fight with them?”

  [You’d be right to an extent. We don’t really need the swords or the armour, though they do help sometimes. And as part of the order we can’t use guns or anything like that, though we don’t really need them. If things get tough on the frontier, there’s always an officer nearby with a bomb anyway.]

  Caleb nodded. It was strange to think that there were regular men and women out there, fighting against magical monsters with guns and bombs. Probably magical guns and bombs, and assisted by people with incomprehensible magic, but still.

  It’s like something out of a sci-fi videogame.

  “Why doesn’t Yuniea give everyone records?” Caleb asked suddenly.

  [Everyone asks this at some point. I understand. It makes sense, but if she could’ve, she would’ve done it by now. Some think it’s to conserve fundament energy she needs to put towards fighting herself. I’m inclined to agree]

  “But she gives records, or fundament energy to everyone who makes a mana connection. Or at least their people right? And there’s planets where they have magic but not mana connections?”

  [Either prison planets or exile planets. All the other planets with life have no magic]

  “What if everyone formed mana connections? Or at least everyone on all the planets with life?”

  [Well, that wouldn’t happen, but it’s not a bad argument if we ignore the fact that Yuniea’s not a machine. Either way there’s not really an answer to your question, but many great minds have theorised what could happen. A bit too much to get into right now though. Maybe another time.]

  Caleb nodded. It made sense. There probably wasn’t a question he could ask that hadn’t been thought of or considered before. It was best to stick with the simple stuff. He could ask the more complex stuff or even research it in the database another time.

  “What about the orders? How do those work?”

  Daen looked to him with a grin.

  [The Protectivat Orders. There’s three. The Akashic, the Epotaric, and the Yildaric. Ours is the best obviously, but everyone thinks that about their own one. The others are all wrong of course.]

  “There’s only three?”

  [Yep.]

  “Isn’t that too few?”

  [Well not everyone can just make a Protectivat order. And there’s other things to join. Like the Osslinder faiths, or certain military groups of units. The Orders are the best though. We’re a small gathering of elite soldiers, taken from all over the Federation, and trained to fight and win against the great forces of evil within our own realm, but most importantly outside of it. We’re the best of the best. Even the non-member planets who’re aware of the Federation know who we are.]

  “I’m not trained or anything though?”

  [You’re the chosen Caleb. And you already defeated a quasi-named monster, and helped defeat a named one. Your fine.]

  “I- alright. How many members are there? In the orders?”

  [Uh… the Akashic? About fifty something. For the Epotaric it’s about five hundred, and for us it’s about a thousand.]

  That seems ridiculously small, he thought.

  [I told you. We’re an elite group.]

  “Why’re there so few?”

  [Well, most people aren’t good enough. A lot of selected are only around level two to four, especially from the non-war right planets. And that’s over a lifetime. Yuniea tends to prioritise people with more promise as a species or who prove themselves early on.]

  “Only level four?”

  [Yep] Daen said. [Your already way above average. And the average selected is a vital member of the war effort anyway.]

  Caleb’s frown grew as he struggled to make sense of exactly what he was feeling. He couldn’t tell if it was the pressure of suddenly understanding his situation a little better, or the fear that most of the armies in this seeming God war, were weaker than him.

  “But if that was over a lifetime… there were like hundreds of people who were level three or level two in our trial. Pedro was level seven or something. That can’t be right? Right?”

  [Most of the higher level ones will get scooped up by the orders. And the rest will probably become pretty important for the war effort. Your planet’s been a major boon all around. Seriously. There’s a reason people think you’re the chosen. They see your planet as a sort of awakening. The start of the end.]

  Caleb frowned to himself, not entirely sure how to take Daen’s words.

  Suddenly the ship slowed and Caleb peered out the window. Below them stretched a large compound of marble, granite and stone buildings. It was nice, but far less extravagant than Caleb had expected. It wasn’t like the other buildings, a fusion between medieval and futuristic with an alien feel; it was simply a large, interconnected web of domed buildings, strange pyramids and corridors with a large horizontal version of the common skyscraper shape in the centre, headed by a statue of a faceless woman with a sword. It was somewhat reminiscent of Daen’s palace, though distinctly different in a way Caleb couldn’t quite place.

  Maybe it’s the lack of windows, he thought looking closer. The buildings, all throughout were only filled with openings, and window holes. Not a pane of glass in sight.

  They dropped faster, and Caleb pulled back from the window, gripping his seat tightly. Then they slowed, before landing in a courtyard in front of one of the domed buildings. Daen stood, Caleb following quickly, and they exited the ship onto the marble of the courtyard.

  Daen made his way forward, waving to the pilot who took back to the sky and disappeared into the distance, back the way they’d come. Caleb followed quickly after Daen, as they made their way across the courtyard, and over to one of the domed buildings, a few of the men and women looking to them and offering nods.

  A few people milled around outside the steps of the domed building ahead, mostly those that wore the same garb as the men and women in the place they’d been greeted. The air was crisp, noticeably cooler than it had been before, and the mana all around seemed to dance with a practiced rhythm, repeating shapes and patterns that emanated constantly from the structures around them endlessly.

  As they continued up the steps, Caleb marvelled at the intricate inscriptions gouged into the pillars and walls of the buildings marble, detailing names, faces, weapons and more artwork Caleb didn’t have time to look over. Then they finally reached a set of open doors, passing a group of men and women who bowed as they stepped inside.

  Like a switch was flipped Caleb was instantly met with a strange but fun music. He flinched slightly as Daen laughed, then continued forward, to a set of steps that led down into a circular hall. Ahead a crowd of people milled around, talking, eating, and laughing to each other as the music played.

  The interior was well decorated. The walls lined with hundreds of paintings of men and women battling monsters, thousands of strange ornaments filled with magic, and more weapons than he could count. And on the series of marble pillars throughout inscribed more of the beautiful artwork he’d seen on the exterior.

  But more than anything his eyes were drawn to the mix of people. Some with clothing like theirs, some with clothing in similar styles but black or red, and some with strangely simple gowns with intricately patterned trim in a varying array of colours and fits. It looked like some kind of royal ceremony out of a space opera.

  And it feels like a tsunami, he thought.

  Even Ekhut couldn’t hold a candle to the mana of this room. Suddenly, Daen clamped a hand on his shoulder grinning.

  [Welcome to Adar Vedys] he said. [Are you ready to meet the squad?]