"I'm here to invite you to join the alliance of Saints."
After those words were spoken by the smiling man, the room went so quiet you could almost hear an echo.
Hartley looked from one white haired man to the other, obviously puzzled about the identity of Kang's guest.
"You haven't even introduced yourself to the boy, yet you are trying to recruit him to our clandestine organisation." Kang snickered, sipping his milk nonchalantly.
There was an awkward look on the old lanky man's face.
He cleared his throat with a sheepish expression and flashed a smile.
Clasping his hands in front of his chest, he leaned forward, introducing himself to Hartley with a respectful bow.
"I'm Kim Suzo. My apologies, please forgive my manners."
Hartley returned the bow and replied with a courteous smile.
"No worries, I'm curious to find out what you do when you're not burning fertile lands to a crispy desert."
Kim Suzo's face went sour immediately. With an intense soul piercing stare, he pointed a trembling index finger at Hartley.
"That was only one time! and I was testing you."
Deep wrinkles extended from the corners of his eyes, the bone of his eye sockets could be seen printed under his skin and his pale cheeks slightly blushed as he spoke.
Kang laughed at Kim Suzo's petulant expression, setting down his half-filled mug of milk, then said, " yet you still didn't see Hartley's talent back then, even when it slapped you right in the face."
"That's unfair."
Kim Suzo turned to Kang, his expression returning to normal, he exhaled like a deflating balloon, settling down with his arms folded across his chest.
"Who would have thought he could become a saint in just two years." He added in a low voice. Slouching back as if swallowed by the padded chair.
Hartley rolled his eyes at the two eccentric old men and said, "life would be no fun if everything was predictable."
After personally lighting the torches mounted around the spacious empty chamber, Hartley took a seat facing the two elders, the yellow glow of the fire light sent a plethora of shadows stretching across the lounge.
The western hills was beginning to go dark, the waning winter's daylight dimmed, transitioning from late evening to early night in almost an instant.
Hartley poured himself a mug full of fragrant wine, then one for Kim Suzo across from him, the lanky white hair man's mood changed instantly, he accepted and gulped down a mouthful without hesitation.
The scent of wine and freshly lit torches lingered throughout the second floor lounge.
Kim Suzo raised his cup, sipping its content, taking a side eyed glance at Kang.
Kang was swirling his milk with child-like glee, without looking up he said, "cut to the chase, tell him."
Kim Suzo cleared his throat and turned to Hartley.
"I imagine you already know there are other planes, but did you know that there are other continents on this plane?" Kim Suzo asked.
Hartley wasn't surprised, even though he couldn't be sure, he already suspected the possibility.
Hartley nodded at Kim Suzo. "I suspected it."
"Well." Kim Suzo drawled.
"The Alliance of Saints is an elite collection of saints from the three prominent countries.
We venture on missions to other continents in search of riches, natural resources and most importantly, knowledge to broaden our horizons as saints."
Of course, other saints from distant places might turn up on our doorstep to pillage and plunder as well.
If such a situation were to occur, we from the alliance of saints will send people to hunt down or neutralise the rogue saint."
Kim Suzo gulped down the contents of his mug, placing it onto the table and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
"As you know, some saints prefer not to pursue strength, opting to stay at a relatively low and safe level, fearing being erased by black energy.
To an elite saint, those guys are pampered cowards, not capable of lifting a finger to protect the continent. That's why we gain certain liberties and privileges in exchange for our services. Our organisation stand above the governance of the political elite, giving our members special status anywhere on the continent, even among the royals."
Hartley kept quiet and refilled Kim Suzo's mug with wine.
Kim Suzo took the mug with a grin.
"I've kept an eye out for you since that blue column made an appearance in the western hills, later finding out that you were Kang's protégé, even going on to become one of the youngest saints in history.
You are more than qualified enough to join the ranks of the elites. Every elite saint has the ambition to reach the apex of the saint realm and ascend to a higher plane."
Hartley looked at Kang for his opinion.
Kang broke his silence on the matter.
"We are not the highest members or the longest serving in the alliance of saints, but our names hold weight.
After the unexpected thrashing you delivered to Patriarch Zhang, we decided to recommend you, and I think you should accept.
The backing of the organisation could smoothen some of the turmoil you are bound to face in the future, and the rewards from missions can enrich your territory."
Kang looked Hartley directly in the eyes with a smile like a proud father.
"The only thing left is to meet some of the council members."
Hartley promised to accompany Kang to see the council when things stabilized in the capital.
There was no reason not to, joining was like gaining diplomatic immunity.
With that, the unorthodox meeting was over, the men talked and drank late into the night..
...
Weeks went by in the blink of an eye. Spring was in the air, the great seasonal thaw had begun again. Sloshy mud was everywhere, sucking at the boots on one's feet. The perfect world of white was slowly receding.
Temperatures went up gradually, eliminating the need for winter gear.
Spring sunshine sprinkled across the buildings in the capital, the sky was finally clear of the long winter's gloom.
Although it was weeks removed from the widespread carnage, the general population was still living withdrawn, moving with quiet haste to buy necessities from the returning merchants, crowds were either sparse or non existent on the once raucous streets.
Mounted knights who had been patrolling for weeks, retreated to their bases, leaving a slow return to normalcy in their absence.
The bloody conflicts had run their course in the capital, the young prince, along with his noble allies and supporters, had gained full control of the southern region, branching out into parts of the west.
As the weather improved, the young prince started an intensive programme of fortress building, implementing a plan to build a string of castles, designed to militarize and control his newly conquered territories.
The eldest prince and his sister held the central and eastern areas, he had profited greatly from plunder and ransoms, the proceeds were spent on enticing powerful allies to his side.
Details about his operations were kept hush hush, the experienced royal was careful to not expose his future plans to the public or his rivals.
The nobles promoted to significant positions by Hartley, prepared for a new beginning.
If they could achieve big yields in the upcoming harvests, that would solidify their appointment, proving their worth and raking in big profits from the deficiency in supplies caused by the conflict.
The western hills hadn't missed a beat through this period of turmoil, profits from the coal mines were at an all time high.
Qin Li continued to train the new xiantians, Fu Qian worked to increase the numbers in their elite army. Alrick continued his obsessive experiments while Zhi Ruo lounged and relaxed.
The more things changed, the more they stayed the same. That was the most fitting description for the situation by the masses.
In everyone's eyes, it was likely that the power struggle in the capital would be a stalemate between the evenly matched princes.
....
In the Cassia province.
Kang waved his right hand and multiple spatial rifts manifested right in front of Hartley's eyes.
Space itself was ripped apart, dark swirls sent turbulence fluttering through Kang's impeccable estate.
Everything spun violently around, fading to black like the duo had stepped into a portal leading to another dimension.
Kang's fuzzy outline stood next to Hartley, barely visible on the stomach churning journey.
Swoosh!
The swirling unstable rifts disappeared suddenly, Hartley was left standing on what could only be a tropical island.
The bright sun overhead highlighted the vivid and diverse greenery, spread across the island like a botanical garden.
The treeline stretched deep into the horizon with dotted birds squawking and circling above, the tide brought continuous frothy wavelets crashing into the shoreline of glistening white sand.
Hartley looked around and inhaled a whiff of the fresh air, it was a soothing scenery, one could be easily lulled into a false sense of security, forgetting that this was the hq of the alliance of saints.
Kang's voice sounded, it was unusually stern, the buffeting wind flapped his white hair and robe.
He pointed to a massive stone structure in the middle of the island and said, "that's where we are headed," blinking out of sight without another word.
Hartley smiled, taking no notice of the old man's seriousness, he could tell it was derived from the man's nervousness, not for himself, but for Hartley's sake.
Hartley ignored the laws of physics, decreasing gravity around himself, then pushed off the ground. His movement whipped the stagnant white sands into a whirl beneath him.
He shot through the air like lightning, leaving a puff of blue particles in the shape of his silhouette as he entered a spatial crack.
Just like that he disappeared from the beach.
Hartley was now capable of moving through a spatial crack at a ratio of 16 to 1, meaning every kilometre travelled within the spatial crack equals 16 kilometres in the outside world.
In a blink Hartley caught up to the white robed Kang.
He exited the spatial crack with a puff of glittery blue particles, arriving a few seconds after Kang, which was impressive considering Kang had an affinity with space.
Both men dressed in white ignored the wind, standing at the foot of the chalk coloured stone structure, it climbed at least fifteen stories into the sky. Looking slightly out of place surrounded by the greenery of the island. Tall palm trees lined the path towards the entrance like an hedge.
"Come, let's go," Kang led the way, fishing out a cloth bag from his robe.
Kang took a golden token from the bag, walked up to an inconspicuous column and placed it into a matching slot.
There was a buzz with a slight tremble, a voice came from nowhere, please state your name and purpose.
"Kang from Aidonia here with a new member."
The buzz stopped and the unusual building came into sharp focus, all of a sudden Hartley could hear the din of voices, originating inside.
There was a short man in a yellow robe guarding the massive double doors. Hartley could tell he was a saint.
Kang flashed the square token once more for manual inspection.
The guard bowed respectfully after taking a look, "welcome back," he said, leading them in silence up the great staircase and into a massive reception room.
The walls were panelled with dark wood and chairs were scattered around the almost empty chamber.
Kang gave the older looking lady sitting at the desk the info needed.
"Your evaluation will be in room 12 in an hour." She said from her seated position with a straight back, jotting notes on the parchments laid across her desk.
She was also a saint, seems like everyone on this island was a saint.
The duo found seats, sat and quietly waited, the room was mostly empty, occupied by only a few others.
Hartley closed his eyes and meditated.
Three men in yellow turned up after an hour.
Kang got up and greeted the men, bowing politely before calling Hartley over.
"Here he is," Kang gestured to Hartley.
A dark skinned bald middle-aged man of average height, rudely introduced himself as Aiguo Bai from the country of Sasko. He stepped forward, looked Hartley up and down then frowned.
"Kang I hope you are aware that we don't train people here."
He turned to Kang with a look of disappointment, "he looks too inexperienced, likely to cower from one of our elites, much less face a vicious foreign saint, maybe he could get a job with us guarding a gate somewhere."
A short hair blonde man stepped forward to cut off Aiguo Bai, "lets leave judgement till after the evaluation, shall we." He said forcefully borderline rudely to the dark skinned man, turned to Hartley and Kang greeting them with a bright smile, "Im Chongkun An from Aidonia, we'll be in monitoring your evaluation today, just do your best."
"I've got things to attend to, can we skip the useless prattle." The third man snapped impatiently. He obviously was from the country of Buju and didn't care about the end result.
This wasn't going to be smooth sailing, there was obvious politics between the people of the three prominent countries within the organisation.
After a few corners, room 12 came into vision, the heavy doors swung open automatically, slamming shut as soon as Hartley entered.
Inside was a tall man donning a beautiful set of blue armour that glowed, giving his silhouette an angelic blue outline. He looked majestic, black silky hair reaching down to his shoulders, standing unconcerned in the middle of the room.
The ceiling was high and a few weapon racks displaying exotic weapons stood to the side.
As soon as Hartley took two steps onto the concrete floor, the man's confident voice was heard.
"Prepare to be tested, protect yourself at all times, your fate is in your own hands."
He disappeared instantly.
Rumble...
Boom!
The floor exploded around Hartley, spewing up a hundred exact copies of the saint, they all donned the blue armour, glowing like fire flies as they besieged Hartley, breaking through the concrete floor with ease like jumping dolphins in a pool.
Bits of concrete were flying around with impunity, moving in every direction inside the blinding cloud of dust, Hartley swiftly moved right in a blur, avoiding most attacks from beneath. A few hits connected with his left side, blue sparks lit up the room from the impact. Hartley shrugged it off, his body unaffected.
He landed twenty meters away, the annoying battle cries of the clones sounded loud and chaotic in the enclosed space, they kept bursting from the floor, rushing forward through the flying debris and dust, giving the ambushed Hartley no time to react.
Is this a domain? Hartley wondered.
There was no escape, this armoured saint and his clones were relentless. It was like a zombie apocalypse, they were going to wear him down slowly, then teach him a harsh lesson with the pure brute force of 200 fists in the saint realm.
Each clone would exert power just below the threshold of tolerance for the plane, avoiding the intervention of black energy, but stacking each hit from the hundred individual clones in a never ending assault, giving Hartley a crippling beating if he wasn't careful.
Surrounded by the screaming mob, Hartley wasn't even visible.
Two can play at that game Hartley thought.
Flash!
Within the snap of a finger, everything froze, the colour and sound of the world was removed instantly. The onrushing clones went still in mid action.
Monochrome was engaged, this guy dared to confront Hartley with brute force? Hartley was going pay him back with interest.
In the world temporarily frozen in time, only one white apparition appeared from the crowd of frozen zombie-like attackers. The smoke-like apparition just wandered around, blending into the chaos without joining in the attack.
That was the future actions of the main body of the saint. With all the advantages, he still didn't risk attacking personally, he even wore high quality armour as a saint, how careful was he?
Hartley identified the culprit and positioned himself a meter away, a grin plastered to his face.
He wasn't going to kill him or injure him too badly, but this was going to be an evaluation to remember.
The familiar crackle of black energy was heard in the quiet domain, Hartley deliberately broke the threshold for power with a right handed wave, executing four finger-gestures in one smooth motion, the crackling black energy roped around his fist like an ink-black gauntlet.
Bang!
A menacing fist rammed into the saint hiding among his clones. His shock could not be described, to be picked out of a crowd of a hundred was mind-blowing.
Poof! Every glowing clone blinked out of existence, the weird domain was broken with a bright flash of blue.
Pieces of the beautiful glowing armour went flying like a shattered vase.
A gut wrenching high pitched scream rattled the building.
The tall man was suddenly seen sliding along the rugged ground sprawled on his back, flailing and spinning like a bar of soap in a bathtub, colliding with the far wall, bringing another scream and a shower of dust and debris raining from the ceiling.