The muffled sound of the crowd's cheers slowly seemed to lurch into reality as I held the half-head high into the air. I looked up at the box where Ysevel and the others were, standing up and cheering for me. Kalia, now standing next to someone who must have entered the box during the fight, gave me an approving nod.
"And the winner is Thoma Fayren!" she shouted, receiving an uproar of cheers and beating of plates in response. I did as Irun and Ysevel had before me, holding my still-dripping sword high into the air as I looked at the crowd of hegraphenes.
"Thoma has proven his strength, and as per tradition, we welcome him into our home! Bring out the next challenger!" Kalia announced, giving me a knowing nod. I bowed in response and went through the gate back towards the viewing box.
Fuuuuuuck, that was close, I thought as I walked down the hallway, allowing myself a moment to breathe away from prying eyes.
As I walked through the threshold of the door that led to the viewing box, still lost in thought about why my alternate acted the way it did, Ysevel surprised me by leaping into me, wrapping her arms around me tightly. "Don't scare me like that again," she said, her voice muffled by my shoulder. "Haha, well, I can't promise that, but I'll do my best," I said, pulling her in more closely and holding her tightly for a few heartbeats.
As soon as she released me, Irun extended his hand out towards me, which I looked at curiously. "Even without mana, you're still not half-bad, lanky," he said wryly. "You weren't so bad yourself," I smiled, clasping his forearm in mine. "Where did you learn that jumping move from, anyway? Was it Lady Kalia who taught you that?" I asked, genuinely curious.
Irun scratched the back of his head as if he were embarrassed. "Actually, it was Bernar who taught me that one. He used it on Dakzul and Kimzul during our fight in Coltend. Figured it was worth a try," he said with a shrug, eliciting a chuckle from me. "Old dog, new tricks, huh?" I said wryly. "Sh-shut up," he said, turning away.
"Thoma, there is someone here I would like you to meet," Kalia said, having allowed me a moment with my friends.
Is Irun my friend again? I thought but stopped myself from riding that carriage of thought any longer than I needed to.
I went over to Kalia and the other hegraphene, who stood beside her. He was about as tall as Irun was, but his thin frame belied his true strength that I could feel just beneath the surface. He wore a blindfold of kataki around his eyes, though whether that was due to a previous wound in his past, I didn't know.
"Thoma, I'd like you to meet the Duranjin of the Iron Plume Clan," she said, gesturing towards the tall hegraphene. "Greetings, Thoma Fayren, son of Siraye Fayren. I have heard a lot about you from her ladyship during your battle, which I enjoyed very much," the Duranjin said in a thin, gravelly voice, putting a hand across his chest in an elven gesture of greeting.
Not knowing how to respond to a blind hegraphene, I performed the same gesture just in case Kalia saw it as a sign of disrespect if I didn't.
"I'm glad I was able to entertain you, Duranjin, and know that the pleasure is mine," I said, grasping at whatever formal training I had and using his title for lack of a better way to address him. He chuckled, though it sounded more like a wheeze than an actual laugh. "My apologies. I know your name, but you do not know mine. I am Sabura, and it is very rare that we have visitors such as yourself and Princess Ysevel of Caegwen," he said, turning his head towards her.
Can he see her somehow? I wondered, astonished by both the speed and accuracy in which he did so.
"Lady Kalia has informed me that you two possess something within your cores that she has asked me to examine. Would you two mind stepping forward for a moment?" Sabura asked, lifting his palms out in front of him. "Of course, Sabura. Is it proper to call you that?" I asked, quickly realizing I might have made a mistake.
"Yes, of course. After all, if what Lady Kalia has seen in you is true, then we will likely be spending a lot of time together. Now, please step forward and place my palms just where your cores would be," he said, gesturing with his hands.
Ysevel and I stepped forward, with her going towards his left palm while I went to his right. "This might feel a little strange, but please, bear with me as this will only take a few moments," he said calmly. I could hear the sounds of the battle in the arena begin to drown out once more as a pulse of familiar mana began to flow into my core.
Waaait, is he…? My thoughts trailed off as my consciousness was sent to another realm far beyond the reaches of the Underworld.
The realm reminded me a lot of the Ethereal, but the scarlet sphere in the sky was swirling effortlessly, entirely unimpeded by its massive size. In the Ethereal, the green, grassy hills seemed to roll on endlessly as far as the eye could see. In this new realm, however, the lush forest and plants surrounding me seemed translucent, ghostly apparitions of a once-luscious forest now trapped in a space between existence and non-existence.
While I still couldn't explain it, I could feel the presence of others who were seemingly linked to this realm through mana. I could feel Ysevel's presence, as well as that of Lady Kalia, Ren, Aurae, and a few others I couldn't recognize.
The one that caught me the most off-guard, however, was that Sabura and Ysevel were seemingly right next to me but translucent like the rest of the realm.
I reached my hand up to the sky, only to realize that I, too, was in a similar state as the world around me. I was taken aback at first, and curiously looked at the ground beneath me through my hand. I tried again, this time commanding the scarlet mana towards me. It came down like a waterfall rather than tendrils, and greeted me as an old friend, wrapping itself around my entire body like a warm bath.
Before I could do anything else with it, however, the Underworld lurched, placing me back in the reality of the gloomy realm.
"Wh-what was that?" Ysevel and I asked simultaneously. "I could feel you there with me, but how is that even possible?" Ysevel asked, regarding me curiously. "So, it's true, then," Sabura said reverently. "Lady Kalia, you were not wrong in your assessment of these two, and I thank you for bringing them to my attention," he said, turning to look at her with unseeing eyes.
For the first time, I saw him. Well, it was obvious that he was standing before me, physically, but I could see him. His core, his personality, his strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes. Many of the answers to the questions I had began to fall into place, but there was something I still couldn't quite put my finger on.
"What do you mean she wasn't wrong, Sabura?" I asked, hoping to get an answer for both myself and Ysevel. He turned to face the two of us, leaning down and bringing his face close to ours. "As I'm sure you're aware, there are many different sources of mana throughout the realms. Only one of them, however, will grant you abilities that no other can," he began, reaching up with his hand to touch the plate that covered his eyes.
It immediately retracted, just like the kataki blade on my wrist, revealing a pair of scarlet eyes of pure mana. There was no organic material beneath them, as they were apparently constructs of pure mana.
"How is that even possible?" Ysevel asked, admiring his eyes. "You two have stumbled upon this power, though who you got it from remains a mystery to me that I hope we can, though a joint effort, uncover its full potential," he said, his eyes emitting a faint, red glow on both of our faces. "What is the name of the name of this power?" I asked, trying not to sound rude, but the burning questions in my mind needed an answer.
"It's not so much a name as it is a collective of those who can finely walk the spaces between life and death, using and bending the mana that controls those lines to their will," he said cryptically, prompting Ysevel and I to look at each other in utter confusion.
"For now, just know that you two are a part of it now, just as I and the others you felt in the realm are, Wraithborn," he said with finality.