“Jovae… You’ve long past Severance. Leave the lines of those chasing it behind. The heavens no longer have bearing on us.” Current Seat of the Beyond to Jovae Chanthel
The cell had been silent for quite some time as Hugh began to wonder if this life would be a repeat of his second. The smooth dull gray walls that matched the stone path at the entrance of the town did nothing anymore for his curiosity. Peering out through the bars lining one wall, he wondered how long he would have to wait this time. The only major thought being that he would have to be more careful in the future.
Soon the padding sound of footsteps falling on the hard surface of the ground rhythmically fell in the distance. Hugh and company turned their heads toward the bars in anticipation as though sounds trumpeted the arrival of somebody new.
Long adjusted to the dim light, Hugh set his eyes on the two as they entered his line of sight. Both men approached the doorway as one fumbled about with some keys.
The man behind waited with a bored expression and glanced at the four through the bars before focusing on Hugh.
The man opening the door wore garments like the guards at the town's entrance. It was some sort of armor that had a faint sheen to it giving it a look as sturdy as the buildings around them.
Hugh was interested in the other man. He wore a long purple robe that looked more luxurious than anything he had ever seen. The fabric swayed some with every movement and gave a feeling of incongruence of elegance against the placid look the man showed.
The door swung open and a clear voice rang out, “Stand back against the wall.”
The others stood up and moved to the side of the benches to stand against the wall at nearest their location. Hugh stood as well, only to get a different command when the same man pointed a finger at him. “You. Stand in the center of the cell. Appraiser Falk will be checking on your potential and ability.”
Hugh's meek steps took him to the center of the cell. As he faced the two men the purple-clad man entered the cell. Having pieced together that he could have some chance of a decent start if he did have potential, he dared yet act out in the vain attempt to have a quick end.
Falk walked in, steps crisp against the cool cell air, as he approached Hugh and spoke in a nasal tone, “Well boy. It seems you’re not from here since there is no record of your existence in the town's knowledge pool. You better hope you're worth me stopping my cultivation.”
With that said Hugh watched as a large translucent orb about two hands wide appeared in the man's hand. Raising it up in front of him, he spoke again, “Let’s get it over with. Place your hand on this orb and we’ll see if you’re worth me coming down here.”
Hugh gulped and reached out. Placing his hand firmly on the orb, he awaited his fate.
A second passed and he watched as a dull purple light seemed to flow from the side Falk was holding onto. The glow eventually settled in the center of the orb and soon the hue began to fade as it shifted to a dim white light held inside.
Hugh wondered how it worked as the light inside seemed to congeal and move to his outreached palm on the surface.
It had only been five seconds, but that was not near as fascinating to Hugh as the feeling he got. An eerily cool sensation flowed into his palm and began to slowly move up through his arm.
It didn’t hurt, until it reached his shoulder and began to speed up as it rushed down his right side, bouncing around in a limited area as it made its way down to his foot. Coming back up a different path and repeating the same on his other leg and back up through his arm.
It was moving much faster now as it shot up from his shoulder and into his head as it swished around, now leaving a chilling bite throughout his insides and a splitting headache. Surprised by the sharp pain as it shot through his head and across his eyes, Falk noticed the flicker that shone through them in the brief instant and said, “Don’t collapse now boy.”
Hugh squeezed his eyes shut, trying to outlast the tyrannical energy, and grit his teeth. He grew lightheaded and the energy shot down from his head and began to rampage across his body. It seemed to hit every place it had yet to go, darting in strange angles every moment as the sensation now ran closer to searing his insides. An irony tang began to suffuse Hugh’s taste buds as his gums began to bleed from clenching.
At last, the energy swept up and through the same arm it came from before shooting out of his palm and into the ball.
Hugh's hand fell from the orb as he collapsed onto the ground, grunting and gasping for fresh air to carry away the pains wrenching his insides.
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Falk lifted up the orb squinting at it as he said in his nasal voice, “Well, well. This is definitely interesting.”
On the ground with pain subsiding, Hugh cracked open an eye to look at the item of intrigue.
The orb resting in Falk's palm glowed a pearlescent silver as a thrum of inky black silk strands spun around to create a small swirling storm inside.
Everyone waited as Falk peered into the orb, watching the contained swirling storm. Face now in a contemplative position, Falk paid no mind to those around him.
Why would he? Only the guard had any sort of internal energy and he would not dare to strike him.
The guard soon asked, “Appraiser Falk, if I may. What does that mean?”
The others in the cell were also curious as none of them had seen such a result before but none dared speak up at the moment.
Falk's gaze never left the orb as his brow furrowed, “It seems the boy has some potential since there is a color, and judging by the activity, he also has quite some ability as well.”
Everybody knew that except for Hugh, who had finally abated his deep breaths and was also staring intently at the orb. With hesitance in his voice, he asked, “Does that mean I can learn to use magic?”
Falk snorted at the idea before stating, “Boy. Do you know why I wear a purple robe?”
Hugh had never given it much thought in the short moment prior so he shook his head to indicate he did not.
Gaze still focused upon the orb, Falk continued, “Well. I’d expect as much. It matches the color the orb glowed when I had my talent and ability checked. Though it was actually slightly lighter than my robes.”
Falk lowered the orb and stowed it away as he looked down at Hugh, “Interesting… Interesting indeed.”
Hugh shrank back at Falk's piercing gaze as the guard asked, “Is there anything else we need here appraiser Falk?”
Falk turned his head, “Hmm? Oh. This is fine. Let’s go.”
Falk turned to walk out of the door and began to head down the hall as the guard hurried to re-lock the cell before catching up.
The cell remained silent as Hugh rested, still recovering from the ordeal as he could barely make out the mage’s voice from the echo down the hall, “Don’t register his results. I know a couple of people who might be interested.”
“Yes, appraiser Falk.”
The padding steps soon left Hugh's earshot and he made his way back over to where he was before they all came in. Once he had rested his back against the wall, he looked at the others and saw a few different emotions on their faces. While Joff seemed to have a contemplative look staring at the cell door, Krom and Heron were both looking at Hugh.
Krom’s seriousness carried into his question, “Where did you say you were from?”
Heron spoke quickly after the question, excitement plainly on his face, “Boy, it looks like you are in luck. It doesn’t matter where you are from, whoever that appraiser has in mind must obviously be a good deal since he told the guard not to report the result. When they come back to…”
A pulse of energy swept past the group as they all halted their breaths. Hugh was yet again frozen and was really getting tired of being so helpless constantly. Yet, the thought had only just formed as the energy shifted to apply a new pressure. Hugh heard a couple of thuds as the others fell from where they were standing or ended up falling off the bench and onto the floor. The intensity was so great that Hugh had a flashback to the end of his fourth life. The invisible mountain resting atop every fiber of his being crushing him from every possible direction.
Hugh and the others' breaths were forced from their lungs as the immense pressure left just as swiftly as it arrived. Moments passed as no words were said as all but heavy breathing met Hugh's ears.
In short, bursts between those breaths, Hugh asked, “What… was… that?”
It took a minute before Heron answered, sounding quite a bit better than how Hugh's question came out, “That, Hugh, was somebody powerful pissed off releasing their aura.”
Nodding along, Krom added, “At least they weren’t strong enough to kill us.”
Joff's low voice asked, “Do you really think they weren’t holding back? If they were truly pissed off, we’d be dead.”
Hugh gulped and looked to the cell door again as he began to have a couple of second thoughts about coming all this way.
Some time passed and Joff spoke first, “It seems like whoever was angry resolved the issue.”
Krom grunted, “Not necessarily. We don’t know what happened. A person that strong making a move would’ve been heard, even in here.”
Heron cheerfully said, “Does it matter? It’s been half an hour and nothing else happened so whatever the problem was is long dealt with. I’ve seen Encapsulation level people go wild before and what happened before was probably just a warning.”
Joff mumbled something under his breath while Heron turned to look at Hugh. Standing up, Heron walked over and held out a hand toward Hugh, “Heron Caldwell, what’s your name?”
Hugh looked at the man with his scraggly beard and unkempt hair two shades away from a dark brown. As the hand stretched out in front of him, Hugh glanced down, a little confused before stating, “Hugh.”
Heron heard a slight chuckle from behind him as he pulled his empty hand back. Half talking to himself before inflecting back toward Hugh, “Hugh. I guess the last name isn’t all that important. Hugh, it seems that you do have the talent. I know you’ll probably be picked up and sold to somebody and who knows who that somebody would be. From what I see, and the fact that you are in here with us, means you haven’t progressed into the mist stage yet. I can teach you how to do that and you can just say I am your distant uncle.”
Krom and Joff were silent while Hugh was in thought. In truth, Hugh would love to know how to at least get into whatever the mist stage was but wasn’t sure about Heron. He didn’t seem that bad, but something was a little off. Heron reminded Hugh a little of the merchant Kino. In the end, Hugh wanted to become stronger and even this small step would be in the right direction. Still, Hugh asked, “And what do you want from me?”
Heron beamed a smile, “Not too much. It’s actually free for you. All I want is you to say that you want me, Heron Caldwell to come with you since I am your distant uncle when you are bought.”
Hugh thought furiously of everything he knew, but he really couldn’t see a downside to it. It’s not like he would have to do anything else and at least Heron was more friendly than the others. Having thought a little too much, Hugh nodded in agreement before asking a question on his mind, “I can do that. What is the mist stage?”
