PART ONE: A BEGINNING
They say, 'A moment's of insight sometimes worth a life's experience.'
But what they don't say is, how much you have to pay for that moment of insight. You know me for the wisdom and insight, but you do not know how dearly I have paid for it.
—From "Insight"
IT WAS THAT PERIOD OF THE YEAR AGAIN. The period of opportunity that comes once a year. And that opportunity is to climb the Maha Tower. A place where chaos reigns. A place where myth still walks. And a place where dream shapes itself.
Not just anyone can climb the tower though, and not just anyone is allowed to climb either. Only very few of the elites are chosen each year, and even after that, they have to go through gruesome tests and trials to qualify.
A thousand is the number. Only a thousand chosen can touch the power of Maha. Among many candidates, only a thousand are chosen each year. They get to climb the tower and learn the ancient ways of Mahasayer.
It was one of those rare days of fall in Elania. Like any other day, Anton jogged on the familiar sidewalk. But today, his pace was slower than usual, viewing all the sights on the walk. He would always feel unrest in this period of the year.
Anton and his brother were embarking for the Maha Tower this year as well. It had been two years since they were looking for an opportunity. Yet their dream remained a dream, as no Inquisitors exhibited any interest in them. Sadly, this year appeared to be the same.
Gusts of wind blew from the east, carrying few leaves away, leaving a heavy silence behind. It was the beginning of the day if you call 7 o'clock—beginning. The sun was shining in its splendour, dyeing the world bright
The breaths of wind blew away the hairs from Anton's youthful face. He faltered in his walk, and stood by a balding tree—unrecognisable without the leaves. Even with no leaves, it stood tall, welcoming the fall. No birds were there though, but the squirrelling of the squirrels came in his ear.
He looked around. No one was present apart from him, and it's the main reasons for choosing this path for the morning walk.
Rows of big old Oak stood tall on both sides, but rarely a few of the trees had anything green about them.
Anton sighed, looking at the green less. He shook his head and continued back in his walk. Slowly he came near an inn called Alpstone. It barely opened at this hour of the day.
Anton slid open the entrance with familiarity then to step in, not giving the doorbell a moment to ring.
"Good morning, Ton," greeted the innkeeper, a fortyish something man, with a balding figure.
"Morning Takln;" barely greeting back the innkeeper. Anton moved to a familiar corner after crossing a few rows of tables.
"You're late," a lanky youth, a few years older than Anton, said, noticing his arrival. "Again."
Anton snorted. He sat down across from him and poured out a glass of water. The lanky youth across him snorted back but kept his silence.
"Good morning, Red." Anton greeted, drinking his full glass of water.
"Did you get it?" The lanky youth called Red asked with impatience.
"Would I be here then?" Anton brought out a small packet from his vest. But didn't give it to Red immediately.
"Give it," Red said impatiently, "do you know how the Inquisitor been restless over the case?"
Anton gave him a mocking grin and tossed the packet from one arm to another.
"Alright," Red gritted his teeth. "How much do you want?"
Anton gestured two of his fingers in return.
"Two hundred penz? I can barely manage about a hundred and twenty."
"Red, red, why play dumb? I know better than you how much this package is worth." Anton kept his voice down, looked around to continue. "I'm talking about two thousand penz or the information I want."
"Impossible, I barely have about five hundred left."
"Information, then."
Red pondered for some time. While Anton fiddled with the package in front of him. Red gritted his teeth and finally sighed. "You should be aware. I know little about the tower. All I can give you are a few rumours, I collected here and there."
"I'll take the rumours," Anton said. "With the penz, of course."
"Fine," Red nodded and continued, making sure no one was eavesdropping. "I heard that the trial date is within few days. Few of the inquisitors were quite restless about it."
Trials, Anton knew about this. In the Trial of the Maha Tower, they didn't just take anyone. All the participants must go under this so-called trial to get the chance of climbing the tower. "Why?"
"How would I know? I'm just an errand boy."
"An errand boy with lots of connections,'' Anton corrected red's words.
"I don't know the specific," Red sighed high. "This time the Trial seemed to be a bit…"
"Dangerous?"
"I'm not sure." Red shook his head. "Let's call it special."
"And you know nothing about what's special about it?" Anton asked.
"As a matter of fact." Red hesitated. "I noticed more inquisitors this time than last time."
Anton nodded. Inquisitors, blessed by the Maha, holder of supernatural abilities. There're many mysteries held in them, left to uncover. They talked about the subject for a bit more.
"Anything else?"
"Mmm, nothing that would help." Red shook his head. "Now give me that."
Anton almost tossed the package at Red, but snagged it back with the other arm. He gave Red a knowing smug.
In return, Red gritted his teeth again, bringing out a few red notes from his coat. He pushed the notes towards Anton unhurriedly.
"Three hundred penz, eh?" Anton shook his head, counting the notes. "Your information isn't worth that much." He tossed around the package from one palm to another, "while mine worth over two thousand."
"I'll pay the rest later after I got my payment," sighed Red.
Anton hesitated a bit to nod. Red may be quite of a stingy fella when it comes to wealth, but he has his ethics. If not, he wouldn't last long in this business. He finally tossed the package towards Red, who pocketed it immediately, not even verifying it. Well, this much trust came with years of business together.
"And next time, would you mind changing the location to a more private one?" Complained Red, glimpsing at the bald innkeeper.
"Great doing business with you again." Anton didn't answer his question. "Now if you would excuse me."
Anton lifted his body from the seat and left the table. He moved his way towards the balding innkeeper, for the usuals—Bread, butter and few others.
"Takln, the usu..." Before even asking, the innkeeper held out a packet to him. Anton took the packet with a small nod. He didn't pay any cash in return and left the inn. It would be dealt in the monthly course.
It took him a quarter of an hour to reach in front of his apartment. Most of the time it would take only about one-fifth of an hour, but his unhurried walk stretched it out a bit. Suddenly he halted in his walk, seeing a lady standing in front of the entrance. She turned one-eighty degrees, sensing his arrival.
A lady with a tall and full figure, pale white skin and blonde hair. Anton could make out that she's no more than twenty-five, a few years older than him. Unknowingly, Anton got lost seeing her. Her red lips, sharp nose with elegant oval complexion. She had the air of superiority in her, with a hidden allure of maturity.
He was about to try a few of his tricks on her when he noticed her gaze—coldly staring at him. His back was icy cold at that very instant, while droplets of sweat formed on his forehead. His heart rate fastened at an overwhelming speed. And that moment lasted for a blink to disappear.
'An inquisitor? Or only a Mahasayer?' Anton mused inside, calming down. 'Whatever it is, it looks bad news to me.'
"Cough… how can I help you?" Coughed out Anton, not looking straight at her. He kept his composure as cool as possible—it wasn't that common for him to come across a well adept Mahasayer.
"Wrik Everknight. I'm looking for Wrik Everknight," she said in a cool tone. "I'm sure, I'm at the correct location."
Anton nodded unconsciously. 'Wait, how can she tell I'm not Wrik?'
She gave him the way to open the door, which he compiled without much sound. A white Persian cat came in haste, hearing the door opening.
"Go, arise your master, Kathrin." He said at the kitty, but it left, giving him a disdainful look. His mouth twitched, but kept his composure in front of the lady.
He brought her inside, still not looking straight at her. "Make yourself comfortable." he left her on the couch. "I'll wake him up."
Saying that, he moved towards the room left of the couch. He knocked a few times gently on the door, but no response came back. He sighed and yelled, knocking harder. "Wrik, wake up. Some lady wants to see you."
After yelling for a full minute, a response came back from the room, "quit yelling, I'm awake."
The door opened. A tall but lanky figure with shoulder-length black hair, wearing a loose shirt, came out of it. He didn't even give a single glance at the guest, moved straight to the washroom.
". . ."
"I'll make tea," without giving the lady enough time to refuse, Anton vacated straight at the small kitchen.
After about two minutes, Wrik came back from the washroom, tidying his mess of an appearance a bit. He finally glanced at the guest, giving her a small nod.
He moved straight at the couch across to hers, laid his bottom on it. Kathrin came straight at his lap, jumping in. She tugged around a bit to rest there. He ran his fingers over Kathrin's white, velvety-soft fluff. It had a calming effect on the mind, but it looked like it helped little in this scenario.
Nobody took the opening to break the silence. The lady was inspecting Wrik with an open eye, while Wrik did the same with as much openness.
"Cough..." Anton eventually couldn't endure anymore, coughed out. He left the plate with three cups on the table.
Wrik took a cup with his left arm, still rubbing Kathrin with the other arm. He smelled the sweet scent of the tea to slurp a bit. Then finally opened his mouth, looking at the lady:
"Are you not here to apprehend us?" Wrik asked. No, ask was not the correct term, it's more like he was assessing it. He was more or less sure about this matter. Though whatever they do was none of their area of business, could be stated as illegal, it's still far from putting them behind the bars.
"Wrik Everknight, a student of Elania University for over two years. It took a lot of effort to find you. I won't be willing to apprehend you after all the efforts I put in." The blonde-haired lady shook her head in approval. She paused for a moment to clarify their confusion. "—Even if I have the authority."
"You're not an inquisitor!" The frown on Anton's brow softened. He took a seat beside Wrik. More relaxed than before. He added, recalling. "Madame."
On the other hand, Wrik frowned, hearing her. Judging from her tone, it looked like she had done her homework. "How did you find me?" He corrected himself. "Wait, wrong question. Why did you put so much effort into finding me?"
She smiled, picked up her glass of tea, and sipped a bit. She was not rushed in the slightest in her demeanour. Putting down the cup, she said to Anton, "Lovely tea, where do you get this stuff here?"
"I," Anton corrected his words. "We have our ways." And the way was nothing but a gift from an inquisitor for solving a few days of investigations.
She nodded lightly, taking another sip in. She returned to Wrik with the main issue. "Actually, this is part of my job."
"Finding people?"
"Finding the correct people," she corrected him. "Special people."
Wrik frowned again, this time not alone. A wry thought came into his mind.
"Oh, look at my manners. I haven't introduced myself yet," she said, noticing their uncomfortable expressions. "I'm Sophia Syfinn, from Knightshade."
"As you already know, Wrik Everknight. A repeater at the University of Elania." Finding nothing to add, Wrik shrugged.
"I'm Anton, by the way. Anton Blaciel," Anton added with a smug, "—and I'm not a repeater."
"And, where's this Knightshade of yours?" Wrik asked immediately, not giving Anton enough time to embrace himself more.
"It's in the Tower," Sophia answered. Wrik nodded as if already expected it.
"So, you are a Mahasayer," Anton confirmed his speculation. Only Mahasayer could climb the tower. They were a bit different from Inquisitor, all Inquisitors were Mahasayer but all Mahasayer were not Inquisitor. But that didn't mean being a Mahasayer was anything lower than an Inquisitor. It's where the purpose comes in.
"You could say that," Sophia continued. "Now let's talk about the main issue, shall we? Why am I here?" Seeing the approved expression from Wrik, she continued, "I have a proposal for you."
"So, what's we have to find or investigate?" Asked Wrik, losing some of his interest.
"You don't have to investigate anything for now," Sophia continued. "But I don't know about the future."
Wrik gave her a questioning look. His senses didn't lie to him. She was not here for some cheap fugitives. It should be something broader than that. But he asked out, giving the same amount of enthusiasm he showed her till now, sipping another bit of the tea. "So what's this proposal of yours?"
She smiled, taking out a five by three-inch parchment paper. It was quite thick, embroidered with a few mysterious runic patterns and a symbol of a tower in the middle of it. Both of their eyes widened, seeing that.
"Is this…" asked Anton, standing up from his seat. "Is this the ticket to the Trial?"
Wrik's mouth crooked hearing that, he unconsciously scratched his forehead.
"So, you guys know about the trial, huh," the smile on her lips widened. And Anton finally understood what he had done. They weren't supposed to know anything about the Trial, they were just cheap underlings who helped in the investigation of local felons or outlaws. Though only a few knew about it, Wrik and he made sure about that.
"So, this is fake?" Asked Anton, he felt more unfortunate over the ticket than his mistake. Well, who can blame him? It's the Tower of Maha they were talking about. A place where passion meets ambition. A place where dreams come real. A place where legend turns myth.
"Ahh, no. It's as real as the Tower of Maha is." She smirked. "You guys don't need to worry about me, reporting about your little business, as long as you guys don't spread out about it yourself."
Wrik gave a small nod in return, whilst Anton nodded his head heavily. The thing they were most afraid of was passed, now only excitement left.
"So, your offer is…"
"Yes, we wanted to recruit you into our Knightshade." Sophia completed her sentence.
"And it's only me?"
"That was our plan in the beginning," she looked towards Anton and continued. "But it seems he knows a trick or two as well."
Anton's eyes widened hearing that. While Wrik asked, trying his hardest to calm his heart and voice down. "I'm sorry, but can you tell me how this recruitment process is conducted?"
"I'm afraid it's more complicated than you think." she shook her head. "Not everyone can invite a person to the tower. It takes a lot of effort and fortune."
"That was not what I'm asking," Wrik asked again. "I'm asking, how do you choose a person for recruitment? What do you look for in a recruit?"
"Oh, that." The blonde lady took another sip in. "Well, it depends on the specialty. There's an awful lot about that as well. For our Knightshade the general aspects are warriors or mage, then to a few support classes such as healer, artisan or even a common employee."
Wrik nodded. He closed his eyes for a moment, pondering. When he opened it again, the blackness in them seemed to have deepened. As dark as the night. As distant and deep as a nostalgic dream. "Why me?" He asked, looking straight into her sapphire eyes. "What's... distinct about me?"
For some reason, Sophia found herself uncomfortable. It lasted merely a blink of an eye. She hesitated before telling the truth. "To tell you the truth, I don't know myself. I'm but a middleman, carrying out orders." Then she smiled, looking straight at the deepness of his eyes. "But now, I have a bit of speculation over her reasoning."
"Her?"
"Forget it." Sophia shook her head. "You'll know it later if you accept the offer."
She finished her cup of tea, waiting for his reply. On the other hand, Anton was still standing. Wrik continued to rub Kathrin, closing off his vision. When he opened it again, he gave off a high sigh.
"Madame Sophia, I need more time," Wrik said in a milder tone. "It all still a bit fast to me. I need more time, it's not a decision you make in one sitting."
"I figured as much," Sophia nodded. "But time is the only thing, we don't have much of. You got one day."
"Barely a day?"
"Yes, you can stretch that to till six in the evening," she then looked towards Anton. "You too. I'll arrange for another ticket for you if you want to climb the tower, that is. But you got to have an answer before tomorrow evening."
She left after conversing a little more. Talked a bit about the Tower and their Knightshade—nothing new they didn't know of. And she left an address to contact her, mentioning one more time to contact her as soon as possible.
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END OF CHAPTER: A SILENT ROAD.
NEXT CHAPTER: A DECISION AND A MEETING.
AUTHOR NOTE (UPDATED):
The first few chapters are written in Tradition format, and the tension building is quite wrong for conventional Webnovel which was fast-paced most of the time. So, what I'm saying is the first 10 or so chapter is slow,
Later I transferred to webnovel format (around 30th chapter) with higher tension building and less descriptive.