A Dance with Darkness and Light: Re-Origination

39: Inside The Library

Three days had passed since the conclusion of the hidden dragon trials and the royal tournament was set to begin in five days.

Deep in the night, somewhere in the royal court of the capital city Leizyr, in a room barely lit by two candles, a young man sat on an exquisitely carved wooden stool. Next to him stood a middle-aged man, and in front of him kneeled three cloaked figures that seemed to melt into the environment from time to time.

"Your famed shadow of the blade is useless! Losing eleven people to a child that has yet to hit puberty!" The young man roared as he smashed the wrist-rest on his wooden chair into bits and pieces.

"My lord, please give us another chance. We will send out our top assassins in the capital and definitely succeed this time." Said the man in the middle with a slightly muffled voice.

"Forget it! I'll take care of that pest myself! Now get out of my sight!" The young man said. The three assassins vanished immediately.

"Heidr, send a message to Arkenon, I want him to meet me early tomorrow morning." He said while rubbing his glabella.

"Of course, my prince!" The middle-aged man said and also turned into air.

~~~

At the same time, in the same city, in a room inside the Ralunian embassy, Bazuul sat cross-legged on the floor deeply engulfed in his cultivation. The last couple of days, he had dueled a lot and was able to further increase his control over his power of attraction and repulsion. So much so that he could not only make objects or living beings float but also increase the gravitational force of the body in question. Albeit minimal, especially with the resistance of a living creature, but in Bazuul's mind this ability would only grow stronger with time, and for now, the precise use of it could still decide between a win or a loss.

By now Bazuul had already begun sparring with much stronger individuals than himself, even with the elders available. Since the others, like for example, his brother Kuzan had almost ceased to be a challenge. As the crown prince, he certainly had one or two trump cards, and this would probably cause Bazuul some trouble, most likely even defeat or outright kill him. Yet, it was completely understandable that he would not reveal this trump card easily. After all, this was just a friendly training match. Also, this wasn't home, prying eyes would even be within their embassy. There was no need to reveal those unless he was in a life or death situation.

All the while, Faolan had been watching over his training and gave both Bazuul and Kuzan pointers from time to time. Although he would not admit to it now, Bazuul's learning speed and battle sense terrified him, mostly because of his nephew's young age. He still remembered clearly how he and his big brother were merely in the second and third true qi realm respectively, when they were thirteen — wasting away on the training ground, swinging their wooden swords against dummies, all day every day.

In hopes to also gain a better understanding of his abilities, Bazuul drifted into the akashic library.

This time, Bazuul stood in a sort of foyer. For all, he knew he might have stood there all along when entering the library but simply did not have enough access in the past. As aforementioned, he now stood in the middle of a large lobby, all across the walls were large bookshelves filled with scriptures. Right in front of him was a desk along with three cushioned seats similar in design as one would imagine them on earth. The ceiling, on the other hand, was precisely the same as the whole of the afterworld he entered after his death, littered with the myriad of stars that abound in the great dark beyond.

The only difference this time was that this room had a sort of cosmic clock attached to the ceiling. Multiple fine cogwheels followed along with certain stars, continually moving in a predetermined rhythm. The whole scene felt entrancing for the onlooker, in this case, Bazuul.