'Do humans need to be rebooted too or something?'
That was the first thing that came into my mind. And it was not even from my own thoughts.
My eyes were greeted by a strange light, the ceiling was decorated by shells and glittering pearls. The scent of the sea was so strong it felt like I was swimming on it for at least a century.
'Yman, do I have a cerebral shock?' Zero suggested so I had no choice but to wake up and sit up straight. The AI that I paired up with now had the capacity to laugh and make a joke.
"Where am I, Zero? Am I still inside the test?" I pondered.
'By the numbers and the feeling from your perceptions. Yes, you are 100% still inside the test." It said, and I could tell that his sarcasm was being apparent.
"Where did you get that feature?" I asked my trusty ai.
'I am capable of learning Yman.' It said proudly.
I racked my brain to the time when I wrote the Arcana. I remembered that the Arcana system was solely used for the dissertation of information. But an Arcana capable of learning? Another anomaly from the original. But I already told myself that I shouldn't rely too much on the events of the book. Since everything has already gone to pot.
"Anyways, where the heck am I?" I asked.
My surroundings were so foreign in design, slime green shells and seaweed decorated the walls, the pearls act like lights, glowing blue and green with the help of beautiful bioluminescence. At the top of the waterfall like door, was a large trident-like shape, but as I gave it a closer inspection: It looked more and more like a Seashell lyre.
"You're inside Nagakaboros, surface dweller." The Captain of the Naga made his way as he parted the waterfall with the help of his long, muscular arms. Up close, his face bore numerous scars, his bare chest had a large cross (X), and seared on his arms, were numerous tattoos and claw marks. This was one battle hardened naga.
"The Nagakaboros? You mean your capital city?" I asked with unbridled curiosity and fear. But I noticed something, I could have sensed that he was approaching, but the scent was gone.
"You are lucky. You brought the Dracaena girl to the Temple, and she pacified it. You are the only surface dweller alive to help us." The Naga said. "My apologies, I am Kairos, captain of Reconnaissance company."
"O-oh... Nice to meet you captain. I'm Yman Caliesto, a... er... recruit of Arcania." I said meekly and he flickered his forked tongue.
"A recruit was sent instead of a Magus? Why?" Kairos asked, his nostrils flared with quiet indignation.
'Wait a second... sent? Zero what does he mean?' I racked my brain for the AI. But even he was rendered silent because of the word 'sent'.
"I-I'm sorry, but sent?" I inquired the captain.
"Yes. Sent. Sage Iroh must've sent you, did he not?" The naga asked.
'Zero... any information will do now.' I panicked internally.
'Sage Iroh was the Grand Sage of Arcania 500 years ago Yman." Zero said.
500 years ago?! Wasn't this a simulation?!
"By the look of your face, that would mean... You were not sent here by Iroh. And by your scent and the state of your uniform, you are from a distant time." Kairos closed his eyes in contemplation.
"Captain Kairos, can I call you that?" He nods, "Great. Listen... Grand Sage Iroh's time was 500 years before I was even born. But this is just supposed to be a simulation... right?"
"Simulation?" He was perplexed by the word itself. "You mean this is just Data?"
I was taken aback that the naga knew the word data. But that's not the point.
"If this was a data projection like you said, wouldn't the Arcana detect it?"
Another point that made me even more confused.
"How do you know about the Arcana?" I asked, my guard suddenly went up.
"How can I not? Iroh would never shut up about his little construction project." Kairos said.
'Zero... Any authenticity on his words?' I asked it and sure enough... Zero flooded my mind with the information:
The Arcana was made by Sage Hamell. Hamell made necessary adjustments so that the information provided was authentic and only the truth. Another feature of the Arcana was the transmission of information towards another Arcana Terminal. But the sharing was proving to be difficult since the Arcana had sentience before. So to prevent the danger of Consciousness transfer, Hamell deactivated the Arcana's Capacity to learn information through the eyes of its host.
"According to the Arcana's Archives, it was Hamell who created the Arcana." I said and the Naga Captain gave me a sharp look of loathing and disgust.
"HAMELL?! That lazy and arrogant scholar?" He bellowed... hissed... whatever.
"T-take it easy. It's the information from Zero." I stammered, quickly taken aback by his sudden fit of rage.
"What happened to Iroh?!" He asked as he lunges forward and grabs me by the collar.
'Zero... Double Time!!' I panicked and Zero quickly searches for an answer.
'Yman... Grand Sage Iroh's files... They're missing.' Zero said.
'WHAT?! My head's going to be the next one that's going to be missing if we don't answer Kairos.' I said.
"What happened to Iroh, surface dweller pup!" Kairos snarled, spitting weird gunk on my face.
"According to my Arcana, the information regarding Grand Sage Iroh achievements were omitted. No such data exists from the time before he was made Grand Sage." I said and the naga puts me down.
Even I was perplexed by the situation. Why was the Grand Sage's past omitted? And who created the Arcana?
"Then... the other people before you?" Kairos asked.
"Kim mentioned them, there were others before me. Right?" I asked. And the Naga nods.
"According to the Dracaena, she got her names: Amos, Ygret, Luden, Petro, and Iansha."
'Zero. Those names ring any bells?' I inquired.
'Yes. They are the names of deceased scholars who died from an 'accident'.' Zero said and I froze. Died in an accident?
'How did they die?' I asked Zero.
'Unexplained. Ygret was the longest to survive. But they all have something in common. They were all Spellcasters.'
My vision blurred a bit and the wind went chilly. They were spellcasters?
"Kairos... Tell me. Grand Sage Iroh, how can he use magic?" I asked.
"Iroh? He was a progenitor of the art of Spoken Magic. Where the use of magic was the energy around them." Kairos said.
"Shimmer and dance upon the clear sky; Healing Circle." I cast a Light Magic, healing my wounds and Kairo's other wounds, and Kairos looked surprised. His face and expression confirmed something: Iroh was also a Spellcaster.
"Something wrong?" Kairos asked, his expression was still a bit miffed, but at least it has simmered down.
"I... I'm not sure yet. There's so much that even Zero doesn't know." I told Kairos.
"Zero?" Kairos asked.
"The Arcana I'm paired with. When we first made a connection, it-"
"Asked you for a name. Yes, that's one function of the Arcana that Iroh envisioned. That fool wanted to make a companion that is self learning, he wanted it to understand and have the capability to understand feelings. Or so he said." Kairos relaxed himself, a look of mourning plastered across the serpent captain's expression.
"You seem to know a lot about the Arcana." I noted.
Kairos nods. But he didn't say anything. The waterfall parted, and an entourage of naga came in, leading them was a pompous looking naga, but more of human than serpent. With his lower half legs, but with a collar of a cobra and serpent's head.
"Crown Prince Salazar. This is a surprise..." Kairos knelt down as I looked at the Cobra-Prince. He scowled as he saw me.
"You are in the presence of Prince Salazar, surface dweller!" The guards pointed their partisans at my throat, but I stood my ground. I was foreign to their ways, so I don't know how to address them.
"Impertinent little-"
"Stop. It's fine, a surface dweller's greeting might be crass as they appear." The prince scoffs and glares at me.
"But we should treat him as the guest that he is. After all... He and the Dracaena pacified the Temple's overflow." He continued and trailed off. As pompous and stuck up he appears, at least he has a good head on his shoulders.
"Who was that?" I asked and Kairos sighs.
"Crown Prince Salazar, the heir to the Naga Throne." He said.
"So... He's the first born?" I asked.
"No... He's the youngest offspring. To keep the bloodline alive, the youngest will be named as the successor to the throne." Kairos explained and I thought I misheard that. It sounds like this place is a safe haven for the youngest born kids. But I shook off the thought.
"Kairos... What's going to happen to me?" I inquired.
"Oh right... I was taken aback by the sudden appearance of the prince and Iroh's apparent involvement that I forgot to mention: The High Court has decided about your fate."
"My fate?"
Him puts on a grim expression and his eyes gave me a look of... pity?
"Yes... They would decided whether they should kill you or they should offer you to the Caeli." Kairos said, and my heart sank like an anchor.
Why is everyone and everything trying so hard to kill me?