Chapter 40: Their Path

KNOCK!

KNOCK!

The round, twenty centimeters thick metallic door trembled. Moment later it calmed and opened sideways into the walls.

The interior of the room four by four meters room was humid, devoid of any object and with small glittering, blue paddles on the floor.

The person knocking grimaced when the strong scent of sweat assaulted the nostrils and ceased breathing.

“Junior brother, our Mor is calling for you”. A crisp voice said from outside.

“You knocked me out of my meditation session, senior sister. Our Mor will not mind waiting to spare me the risk of a backlash”. A tall, handsome man exited the room. He tied his long black hair in a ponytail as his vibrant green eyes looked attentively at the senior sister waiting for him, reading her gorgeous black expression for nothing but her thoughts, specifically those who brought her to interrupt him.

“If I had knocked gently, you wouldn’t have answered. Besides, I was ordered to call you, not asked”. Talhera hurled a yellow towel on Neyrar. “Icy attribute’s essence is mixed with your sweat. You can’t waste it by spraying it with your aura”.

Neyrar rubbed the towel. It was clearly made of special fabric to not get torn easily by someone below the third Core Master level and be able to absorb attribute’s essences.

“You broke through?! Did you... ?!” Talhera suddenly paled, about to say more but the words stuck in her throat.

“Only to the Peak of the second realm. I’m still not there, yet”.

Heaving in relief, the black, enchanting luster returned to Talhera’s face. “Good. I can’t imagine how angry the General would be if you dared to breakthrough before achieving that. Even Elijah Mor warned that he will commit suicide if you’ll disappoint him”.

“Stop, stop!” Neyrar frowned, threw the towel back, put back on his Mist Concealment Jewel and cupped his ears. “If I’ll hear those premature allegations again, the General can go ahead and blow a fuse and Elijah Mor declare to the entire world that his Tal is unfilial”.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry, geez!” Talhera apologized, knowing his outburst was her fault, a product of the interruption to his meditation. The regular Neyrar would have been stoic even under the duress of a three scales Deformed Being.

They left the small compound, saying goodbye to the old, tanned, scarred soldier on the rocking chair in the entrance. The solider donned a golden tank top with a four colors “Golden Desert Fort” badge, sandy military pants and boots.

He smiled back at the pair and returned to what occupied him, which seemed like rearranging grains of sand.

Golden tank top, four colors badge, those were two of the three distinguishing marks of the Golden Desert Fort’s Lieutenant Generals, fourth level Martial Mortals!

“This senior has been keeping watch for you ever since you entered the Four Seasons Room. In all previous occasions there were third level Martial Mortals guards”. Talhera whispered and felt a tinge of jealousy.

After his performance in the Elite Tryouts, General Beking was gratified with how he thinned Luminous Church’s goods seeds; she rewarded him with entry to the most precious cultivation ground of the Golden Desert Fort, the Four Seasons Room. In total he had ten months that he could divide up to ten sessions.

“I don’t know what Elijah Mor wants from us, but I feel like it has something to do with the recent change in the atmosphere around the high ranks”.

Elijah’s residence was in a well kept district in one of Golden Desert Fort’s most populated cities, Gurgimash City, near the border with the Northern Icecaps.

It was a military city and of its tens of thousands families, at least one member in each family had enlisted.

In this time of the year, a light coat of snow covered the rectangle buildings and streets. People drove and walked on their dealings in winter’s attire and red noses, yet neither the cold nor the snow obstacle could freeze their ingrained feistiness and liveliness. In fact, winter was the most bustling time of the year in Gurgimash City, for that is when blood constantly boiled.

Neyrar and Talhera arrived to the city gates in a Golden Desert Fort aircraft and landed it half a kilometer far from the city. They could fly the aircraft all the way to Elijah’s residence, but decided against the idea. The people of Gurgimash City tend to congregate and cheer whenever Golden Desert Fort’s vehicle entered the city, for most times the arrivals were either their returning sons and daughters or messengers with propaganda news.

There were three luxuriant districts in Gurgimash City and Elijah lived in the most verdant one. His house was a triangle shaped pillar fifty meters tall, like a stretched pyramid. Encompassing it were nine hundred square meters of lavish gardens and mini forests. With such lush residence it stood for reason that only a handful of families could accommodate the district.

“Sir, Miss, Owner is waiting for you in the Observation Gallery”. An old maid greeted and guided the pair in.

“How are you, Nuris?” Neyrar asked.

The old maid amiably smiled. “My dear Neyrar, I’ve been doing well alongside Owner. Five months ago my nephew, my younger sister’s second, left New Earth and visited me. I was very glad to see him all grown up”.

“I’m happy for you, Nuris”.

The pair followed Nuris, climbing a spiral stone staircase that was wrapped around a support beam from the ground floor to the tenth and last storey of the stretched pyramid. From the first to fourth floor every storey had four rooms. From the fifth to eighth the number reduced to three. The ninth had two rooms and the tenth only one, the Observation Gallery.