Whispers of a Dead Empire

Chapter 144

Last chapter till monday! Enjoy :)

I felt the air twist and churn as dozens of forces assailed my body at once. But as soon as it all started, it ended. My stomach churned as nausea nestled with it, weighing it down. I kept my eyes shut, at least until the feeling passed.

When I opened them, I glanced around, trying to find my bearings. The sun was low in the sky, and dark clouds were moving in from the distance. The air was humid, and the scent of rain was heavy, and it mingled with the familiar smell of undeath that permeated everything here.

Soldiers bustled about all around me, but it felt a little more empty here than before. I believe it was because Octavian had left with his crusading force. But I wasn't sure. I lost track of time when I was at home.

I gathered my wits, stood up, and carefully shrugged off my backpack. First, I needed to store the information that mother gave me since it was of the utmost importance. I wanted to read it, but I stopped myself.

Once the valuable information was stored, I looked at the sheathes that mother made for my new weapons. They were black and were smooth to the touch, and the best part was that I couldn't see a single wrinkle or flaw on them. Mother always made everything perfect. In fact, I expect nothing less from her. I grabbed the sheathes and slid my arms through the gaps. It took a minute of finagling, but once I got it, I discovered that the axes nestled onto my lower back, with both handles running up the length of my back.

I reached my hand back, gripped both handles, gave them a gentle tug, and felt them pull away from their sheaths. They left their homes with such ease that I didn't expect it! I grinned as I carefully slid them back in. This was perfect. Absolutely perfect. I adjusted the harness slightly before I reached down and grabbed my backpack and the metal container. Onwards to Mr. Kharon!

I skipped through the stronghold, humming to myself. A few soldiers saw me, stopped what they were doing, and gave me a slight bow, which brought a grin. Yes, bow to your princess. Oh, being royalty was fantastic, if I say so myself. I raised my head slightly as I kept skipping through the area. At least until the main building came into view.

My skipping came to a halt as I approached the stairs. Ugh, this was the worst part. I hated dealing with staircases. With great effort, I scaled what felt like an eternity. Each step I took felt like a bag of stones weighed it down. I wasn't out of shape, but I just hated climbing these things.

Eventually, I reached the top and stared at the large double door. Posted next to it were two soldiers clad in tattered armor. Their flesh was decrepit, and a strange slimy liquid was seeping from within. I wanted to twist my face in disgust, but I wouldn't. That would be unbecoming, and I knew that mother would disapprove of it. So, for now, I would deal with it the best I could.

I could feel their lifeless gaze land on me, and they quickly snapped off a salute before they pushed the door open. "Thank you!" I told them as I pushed into the depths of the building. Mother said that manners would get me far in life. But I wasn't sure what she meant, so I went with it. Maybe one day I would understand, but I would keep doing it in the meantime until I did. There was so much that I still didn't know, but thankfully mother did her best to guide me.

Finally, I stood outside of the classroom door. I could feel my heart thrumming in my chest with pure excitement. I love magic, and I love learning about it. It was just so mystical and powerful that it was enthralling. I cleared my throat, reached the door, and gave it a quick knock. As much as I wanted to just rush in, I didn't. Mother told me it was rude just to barge into places and that I needed to announce my presence first.

"Come in." Mr. Kharon's voice radiated from the other side of the door a few seconds later.

Without hesitation, I pushed the door open and rushed into the room. The candles that lined the room were dimmed and struggled to emit the red light that radiated from their flame. Not that it mattered to me, anyway. My night vision was perfect as could be.

"Oh, little dragon, I didn't expect you to be here. Did you sneak out again?" Mr. Kharon sat at his desk, with his feet propped up on it. In his hand was a brown book without a cover. It was just slate brown, and nothing else. That was a little odd if you asked me, but I wasn't going to question him about it.

"No. Mother told me I could come here. She asked if I wanted to duel, so I wanted to come to see you because I need some help." I explained to him as I pushed further into the classroom and claimed the desk closest to him.

His teeth clattered together every quarter second in a steady wave that sounded much like a thoughtful sigh. "I see. You do know I'm on vacation, right?" He asked as he closed his book and moved his feet away from the desk.

"Mother told me, but I still insisted. She can't help me in the ways that you can." I carefully removed my backpack, placed it on the desktop, and wiggled my way into the seat. It was a bit uncomfortable with the axes on my back, but I would get used to them, no matter what.

"I see. Magic isn't the mistress' strong suit. But that is to be expected. For now, I will indulge you." He leaned forward in his seat and interlaced his fingers.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Kharon! Oh, by the way, I brought lunch!" I motioned towards the metal container. I wasn't going to tell him that mother made me do it, since she said it was a way to show that I cared.

"Lunch? That sounds lovely. I haven't eaten in a very long time." He let out what sounded like an amused chuckle as he pushed away from his chair. "Come along, little dragon." He motioned for me to follow as he glided down the steps of his podium and towards a little door that was nestled into the corner.

I nodded, grabbed my bag and lunch box, and quickly rushed to follow him. He was always so strangely fast. It was almost like his feet didn't touch the ground when he walked, but I wasn't sure. That cloak always just barely seemed to cover everything up.

He pushed the door open, and it swung open silently on its hinges, revealing a small room. Inside of it was a simple table with a few chairs and an open space with runes inscribed on the wall. This was one of the magical training rooms, and those runes would absorb any mana that slammed into them. They existed just in case a spell went wild, or something dangerous happened.

Kharon reached the first chair, pulled it out, and gestured for me to take a seat. "Thank you!" I replied as I set the backpack and lunch box on the table and clambered my way into the chair.

"Of course." He glided down to the chair across from me and sat down. "So, tell me, little dragon, what can I help you with?"

"Well, I need my wand, for starters. Next, I think I decided on what I want my core affinity to be." I replied as I got myself settled and reached out for the small metal latches on the lunch box. With a quick flick of my fingers, the metal latches broke away, and I opened it. The delicious smells radiating from the box grew in strength, and I found my mouth watering even more.

"Oh? Already?" His voice was monotonous, but I could detect a faint sense of surprise in it.

I glanced down and saw that within the box was something that I had never seen before. There were two sets of strange food items. Both of them were golden brown, with the surface of it being a little flaky. The meat was nestled in between and seeping juices in a steady ebb and intermingling with something else, but I couldn't find a name for it. "Yeah! Well, I want to have a dual core affinity, actually." I looked up from the food and had to fight the desire to stuff my mouth."

"A dual core? That's not unheard of. What do you have in mind?" His eyes lingered on the food for a split second before they traveled back to me.

I pushed the metal box over to him and met his eyes in turn. "Gravity and Arcane."

He froze mid-movement as he reached out towards the lunch box before quickly chittering a sigh. "I swear you and your mother are constantly pushing the boundaries of what is possible." He reached out and grabbed the lunch box. He reached into its depths and pulled out what looked to be two small plates, a set of napkins, and some deep brown liquid clad in a strange bottle.

I cast him a wide grin. "Mother is powerful. I want to be like her when I grow up." I nodded, but my eyes lingered on the food he was busy dispersing.

"Nyx, what you are asking is going to be difficult. Do you even have arcane mana? What about gravity mana?" He asked as he set the first food item down on the plate and reached back into the lunch box for more.

"I do. Mother had arcanum lying around, so I absorbed it. But she also gave me a gravity orb!" I reached out to my bag, and undid the zipper, and pulled out the first of my precious mana cores.

He froze mid-movement once more. "If I were still alive, Calixa would have given me a stroke by now." He mumbled as he grabbed a small bag filled with even more golden brown food items. These were in the shape of wedges and were covered in a very fine powder.

"Calixa?" I asked as the strange word left my mouth. "What is that?"

"It's your mother's name." He replied as he opened the bag, poured it onto the small plate, placed the bottle down next to the plate, and slid it over to me.

"I didn't know that Mother had a name!" I was shocked! In all my time, everyone has always referred to her as Empress, or mistress, or even Lady Asteria!

"Well, of course, she has a name." He chuckled once more as he reached back into the lunch box and quickly divided his portions.

I felt a little bad that I didn't know her name. It felt like something that I should have known. "Anyway, can I eat now?" I wanted to change the subject since I felt a little uncomfortable. But I also just wanted to eat some food.

"Of course," Kharon replied, and without hesitation, I dived into my food. I reached out and grabbed the first thing in reach.

"Kharon, what is this?" I asked as I grabbed the golden brown item with the meat that sat in the middle. It pulled away from its other half, and a long white strand of something stretched across the space between the two.

"It's a sandwich. It looks to be grilled." He replied as he did the same that I did.

I shrugged and brought it to my lips, and took a bite. Instantly, warm juices flooded my mouth. At first, it had a slight hint of salt, but the salt quickly melded into the other flavors that existed within the food item known as a sandwich.

This was so good! Quickly, I devoured it and moved on to the next one, which quickly suffered the same fate as the first. My biggest regret, however, was how fast I ate them. It made me feel a little disappointed that they didn't last any longer.

"You know, little dragon, it would do you well in the future to take your time with your food." Mr. Kharon's voice tore me from my inner thoughts, and I looked at him. He was still munching on the first half of the sandwich and didn't seem to be in a hurry.

"I couldn't help myself; it was just so good." I pouted as I stared at the plate. All left now was the strange wedge-shaped things I had yet to eat.

"Just a thought for next time." His eye flickered in a facsimile of a wink as he took another bite of his food.

Yes, perhaps I should slow it down and enjoy. That was a mistake that I won't make again. I reached out and grabbed one of the wedges, brought it to my nose, and gave it a quick sniff. "Mr. Kharon, what is this?' I asked as I eyed the strange thing.

"It's a potato wedge." He replied once he was finished chewing his food.

The smell was a little off-putting, but I couldn't quite understand why. I shrugged and bit into it. It had a salty flavor, but a touch of heat mixed into it lingered on my tongue. The consistency was a little strange, but it still tasted superb.

This time, however, I took my time and just relished the moment I was spending with Mr. Kharon, and I finally understood what mother meant. It felt nice to just sit here, spend time with him, and not do anything important.

"How about this?" I reached out to the strange bottle and grabbed it. It made a weird crackling noise as my fingers wrapped around it. I brought it to my face and tried to sniff it to get an idea. But I couldn't smell anything. I gestured towards the bottle, unsure of what it could possibly be.

"It looks like tea. Try it." He reached out to his bottle, placed skeletal fingers around a white top, and gave it a quick twist. The sound of something breaking filled my ears, and a scent reached my nose shortly after. It was a bit floral, with notes of something that I had smelled before. Mint, I think it was called.

Mimicking his movements, I did the same and brought the liquid to my lips. At first, the liquid tasted sweet, but then it was swept away by notes of mint and other things that I couldn't quite place a name for. Tea was really good. I should ask mother to make more for me whenever I get back.

"So the mistress offered to duel you?" Kharon asked as I polished away the last bit of tea.

"Yep. She chose her new class, or whatever, and wanted to test it out. I also wanted to test out some magic stuff and show her I could take care of myself, so I thought it was a good idea." I nodded my head matter-of-factly. "Oh, that reminds me! I had mother write some notes for me to study regarding gravity!" Quickly, I reached into my bag, pulled out the notes she wrote for me, and skimmed them over.

Kharon was quiet while I drank in the information, and honestly, it hurt my head a bit as I tried to understand what was written on the sheet.

Apparently, gravity is considered one of the fundamental forces of nature. Though my mother didn't write what the others were. I would need to ask her when I see her next. But it was also so much more than I thought! According to my mother's notes, it's more than just giving mass to objects! It bends space and time to do it. Apparently, there is a bunch of math involved, but I didn't really care about that.

The most interesting thing was that gravity gets stronger based on the object's size. It also traps worlds in orbits of stars in a constant cycle. According to mother, there is even an object whose gravity is so strong that not even light could escape its grasp!

As I read further, more and more ideas flooded into my mind about the magic I wanted. Oh yes, I made a good choice. Gravity seemed to be a part of the fabric of the world, just as much as the arcane was. Where gravity, it seemed, affected the physical, the arcane was the fabric of the magical. If I could master both, there wouldn't be a being who could stop me. I would be a mighty dragon indeed.

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