The Last Dainv

Chapter 298

The next day, clouds blocked the light that came through the city, fitting Gale's mood perfectly. Snow still fell, although lighter than yesterday, slowly thickening the blanket by the meadow even more.

Erin touched both of them down right in the middle of the city's square. Citizens all around stared at their forms, stepping slightly back. Whispers grew, but none really mattered to either of them as they slowly walked towards the gate.

In one jump, Gale jumped over the gate while Erin floated herself over, both landing softly.

"Halt! Who goes there?!" an Awakened guard rushed at them from his post on their left.

However, they ignored him, not even regarding him as a threat.

"I said halt!"

The guard grabbed for Gale's shoulder. One sidestep, and the guard stumbled past him, nearly falling on his face. By the time he recovered, Gale and Erin were already halfway across the courtyard.

The castle doors loomed ahead. Massive wooden structures reinforced with iron bands that could at least fit two garbage trucks side by side and three garbage trucks stacked together.

Three more guards came from the walls they had just passed. One of them shouted, "State your business!"

Gale glanced over his shoulder and stopped a few metres from the door. "We're here for an audience with the king."

"Foreigners are not welcome here." The first guard drew his sword, and the others followed suit. "Leave now, or prepare for death."

"We're not here for violence. Just to talk," Gale said, not backing down. "I prefer not to get violent."

The guards exchanged glances. The first guard suddenly said, "Take them down!"

All four guards rushed at them at once, but they all moved too slowly for him. An idea popped into his head. If Distort could be applied to an orb, why not other skills?

Access. Shape. Garbage Truck sized square. Apply. Reflection.

[Max Load reached: 350/350]

A slight dullness ached between Gale's left and right brain, but it looked like it was working. And in that instant, he punched.

A wave shot out from his fist, expanding to the shape of a garbage truck sized rectangle that blew away all four guards simultaneously, launching them several metres away.

None of them got back up.

"Barbaric application of shape parameter," Erin commented.

"But it worked..."

"A waste of essence and load capacity. I suggest you do not use that application again."

Gale grumbled. Though it was true that it felt like he forced the activation of the skill, causing his current load to peak to max immediately. It wasn't practical to use in actual combat scenarios.

Turning back to the door, he moved until it was just in front of him. His fist raised into a fist. Three loud bangs echoed throughout the courtyard.

"Hear my call! I require an audience with the king!"

For a couple of minutes, he banged on the door repeatedly. No one answered until he felt an Early-Resonant signature coming forward towards the door in a hurry.

The doors creaked open, and he stood there with a clear disgruntled look on his face. He wore similar armour as the guards outside, but with additional gold trimming at the edges.

"What is the meaning of this?" he asked.

"We're here for an audience with the king to discuss the anger of Kair," Gale said.

"Leave. Now. Or you will be hurt far worse than those fools outside." The knight started to close the door.

But before it could fully close, Gale's foot caught the door. In a sudden action, he kicked the heavy door open, knocking the knight off his feet.

"I said we're here for an audience."

Running footsteps echoed from inside the large corridors of the castle. Three of the same knights from last night appeared from the inside. All of them, Early Resonant except for one Mid-Resonant.

Glancing to his side at Erin, they could probably take them. Four against one. Erin could take 2 while he could take 2. It'd be tough, but these four were the strongest in the city. Once they were out, the city wouldn't have anymore defenses against them.

The first one to reach the castle's door was the tallest. A black feather was mounted on top of his helmet that covered his face. This one was the Mid Resonant, the captain.

"You assault my guards. You break into the castle. And you claim you only want to talk?" the captain growled. "If all you wanted was an audience, you have a strange way of showing it."

"Your men told us to leave at the city's walls, told us to leave at the castle's walls, and gave us the eye that makes the stink," Gale said. Though, the stink eye phrase did not translate well into the language of these lands. "When words don't work, violence is the only answer. We require an audience with the king, or do you dare come at us again with swords and malice?"

The captain laughed sarcastically.

"A lowly two-star rank dares to challenge four three-star knights?" He shook his head. "How bold, child of the foreigners. How very bold."

"We're not here for a fight." Gale materialized the Drovairt badge and held it up for all of them to see. "We're here on a king's mission. Now move aside. We require an audience."

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

The captain's eyes narrowed at the badge. The other knights shifted and froze their movements.

"What mission?" the captain asked.

"The king must be present if you want to discuss it."

"That's not how this works. You tell me what mission, and I decide if it warrants bothering his majesty."

"No," Gale said sternly. "The information is for the king's ears only. If your king wishes to remain ignorant, that is his choice. However, we must hear it from his lips."

The captain paused, not speaking for a quick moment. His hand travelled to his sword, tapping on it, most likely deliberating whether the trouble was worth it.

"We are at an impasse," he finally said. "There is no reasoning with barbarians from another world who probably stole that badge off a corpse."

"You say those words as if your neck is more precious than a decree by a king. Do you swear on your head that this badge was stolen off a corpse?"

"A laughable concept by barbarians from a different realm to talk of honour," the captain said. "You have two choices. Leave now and never return, or stay and die a dog's death."

Gale materialized Erebus and raised it up for all to see, causing the guards to flinch and draw their own swords. "You are the captain of this city's guards. Swear on the Divine Dark's sword that those are the only choices that are offered to his disciple."

"I commend you, child, for having so many replicas. They are indeed very believable, yet still lack integrity of the real." The captain lowered his stance, readying for a strike. "Leave now."

A cold hand touched his shoulder.

Back off, Erin telepathically said to him. This is not the path.

Gale clenched his fist. They could take on these idiots, find the king, and force the information out of him.

Trust me, child.

Letting out a slow exhale, Gale dematerialized Erebus. "We shall leave for now. Consider this as mercy on your neck."

The captain eased his stance, but never letting his grip relax on his sword. "A wise decision. Do not return."

I'll return however many times I want, you stupid captain guard knight person. Gale inwardly cursed at the man. He was lucky, as it looked like Erin had a different plan.

A blue outline formed around them as Erin flew them out of the city. Through the snowy meadows they passed, and towards the cliff, they touched down slowly. The firepit he had made last night was already covered in a thin layer of snow.

"Well, that didn't go well," Gale commented.

"Tell me, child," Erin said. "What did you observe during the encounter with the guards?"

"That they're stubborn idiots who won't listen to reason?"

"Look deeper. What did you notice about them?"

Gale thought about it for a second. Although they were Awakened and Resonant, they had a muddy kind of feeling in their signature as if it was somehow changing.

"Their signatures were a bit muddy like it was..." he trailed off then finally said, "stained?"

"You observe well," Erin said. "The corruption infects from the inside. It does not simply kill. It spreads through the population like disease, weakening the minds of those infected."

"So everyone in that castle is infected?"

"To varying degrees."

"Why'd you stop me?" he asked.

"Violence does not solve systemic problems." Erin turned her gaze towards the northern mountains. "We must visit the peaks. Speak with the guardians."

A blue outline enveloped both of them as Erin's telekinesis lifted them off the ground. The cliffs below shrank rapidly as they ascended, the castle of Kulbran becoming a small grey dot against the snowy meadows surrounded by cliffs.

They flew north, and the lower lands gave way to the terrain that Gale hadn't seen just yet. His mouth gaped as cliffs jutted upwards, covered in frost and ice. Erin navigated through them without so much as a reaction.

"Child," Erin said as they flew.

"Huh?"

"If this corruption is left unresolved for much longer, the Origin Spirit risks being damaged. When that happens, the state will revert back to an active Origin Defense."

Gale turned to her face. "Isn't that why we're trying to solve it?"

"When a world is threatened by foreign entities, its Origin Spirit calls out for help. It reaches into the universe, seeking friendly entities to fight off the invaders." Erin flew them over a particularly high peak. "It does not discriminate between the mundane or the awakened."

"Is that how people disappear?"

"Yes, they are called to aid the world's defense. Earth's classification of rifts needs clarification. Rift classes depend on the stage of the foreign entities and integration of the rift itself from Class 0 to 7," Erin said. "Earth's Aurians only know of 6 classes. They are missing the 7th."

They passed through a valley so narrow that Gale could have reached out and touched both walls. He wanted to, but at this speed, it would rip his arm off even as an awakened.

"This world is in an unresolved state. Foreign entities exist that Kair herself cannot cleanse," Erin said. "Yet the tourists do not take her plight with sincerity. They take souvenirs and rest in mountain resorts."

A massive tree appeared ahead. Not just large. Enormous. Its trunk was wider than the castle they'd just left. Its branches covered an entire valley that it was hard to peek through between to see what was below. Definitely, the snow did not reach that low.

Then the terrain levelled out.

A flat peak stretched before them, surrounded on all sides by mountain walls that formed a natural bowl. Snow covered the ground in a pristine blanket that flew up as they passed low.

Presence Between caught the signature of large beasts. Gryphons, dozens of them, perched on rocky edges. Their eyes tracked Gale and Erin as they descended onto the flat. Their feathers, similar to Youmir, had varying warm colours that ranged from brown to red to orange, usually with black or white tips.

And at the centre of them all, sitting on the highest outcropping, was Youmir. His feathers were the only ones that were black and tipped with gold. The single horn on his forehead looked as if it were a crown for the gryphons.

Grand Researcher Erin Weber, Youmir said. Young master Hathie. You honour us with your presence once again.

"Guardian Youmir," Erin said, inclining her head slightly. "We require your counsel."

In time, in time. Youmir rose from his perch, his massive wings stretching briefly before folding against his sides. But first, we must observe the proper traditions. A newborn Dainv and the Grand Researcher grace our mountain. This calls for celebration.

He turned to the other gryphons.

Prepare the feast!

Gryphons all around launched from their perches, disappearing over the mountain walls in every direction. Within minutes, they began returning, each one carrying massive fruits in their talons.

They piled them at the centre of the peak, creating a mound that grew larger with each delivery. Gryphons of all colours contributed, some making multiple trips, until the pile reached higher than Gale's head.

Please, Youmir said, gesturing with one massive wing.

Nodding slowly, Gale approached the pile of fruits. They were similar to the fruits of Earth, and some were completely alien, like a porcupine-looking thing. A grape the size of his head, a mango the size of his torso. Strawberries that were... like strawberries except black with red dots.

He picked up the giant grape and bit into it. It tasted not like grape, but more like dragonfruit. Sweet, subtle, almost too watery for his taste. The mango came next, tasting like oranges, except without the fibery stuff. Then, he tried the strawberry. It tasted like strawberry.

"These are good," Gale said. "Really good."

But as he looked around, he saw no meat. As expected. They didn't even build a fire. What kind of feast had no meat? Maybe monsters don't like eating meat. But no, that wasn't true. There are predatory beasts that eat only meat! The gryphons must be on a fruit-only diet or something.

"Do you guys eat meat?"

The newborn is amusing, Youmir said. We do not eat meat at all.

Gale tried his best not to slump his shoulders. But at least the fruit was good.

A giant grape floated with a blue outline, moving towards Erin. She took one bite of it and then offered it to Youmir. "Your family must also eat."

The gryphons joined in. They moved close to where Gale ate and floated their own fruits towards themselves. Each one took the massive fruits in one bite with their huge beaks.

That completely explained why the fruits here are giants. The spirit of Kair most likely cultivated bigger fruits for these fellas.

Young master Hathie, Youmir said. Would you and the Grand Researcher like to meet my offspring? They have heard many stories of the Dainv and are eager to see one in the flesh.

Gale opened his mouth to respond, but before he could say anything, Erin had already begun talking.

"The Origin Spirit is weakening. Have you not noticed, Guardian?"