On the second level of the tower was this luxurious courtyard, furnished with pure gold and precious stones. Two elders sat facing each other with a chessboard and a jug of wine on the table between them. A glance, and others would know the younger elder was inexperienced while the other was guiding him in between small sips of wine. A stone's throw away from them was a peach tree, and under it were the twins, concentrating hard on a bucket of water. Occasionally the elders would glance in their direction, but after that they were left to their own devices. The younger elder was a lanky young man with a beautiful face and a very masculine body, but the combination was pleasing to look at. However, the outlines of his body were hidden by the unadorned pastel red robes and white fur coat he wore. His face was quite similar to the other elder, making one immediately recognize them as father and son. The younger one was the current head of the Hunter clan, Cant, and his father was the former head, Richard. The Hunter clan was one of the Three Great Clans: the Shana clan of Yogtharlarth, the Klaugsh clan of Dluugotha, and the Hunter clan of Atlarth. It was originally meant to be four great clans, but the kingdom of Glotulzcha was secluded and evasive, wanting nothing to do with the alliance of the clans. Nothing was able to entice them to join, not that they really cared. All he was curious about was why Glotulzcha was apprehensive towards them and the Tower in particular.
After his last piece was placed on the board, he realized he had lost, so he relaxed. Beating his father was not his intention. He poured himself a glass of wine and gave the twins his attention. The bucket was still half full.
"Their natural talent is poor," his father, Richard, observed as he also poured himself some wine, "but the tower master seems to think highly of them.
"Cant," his father turned to him, "you have to take advantage of this to put the master in your debt."
Cant sipped his wine leisurely and turned the fog that had begun to gather around the twins back into water, which fell into the bucket. One of them sent a withering look in his direction, and he raised his glass in return.
"There are four of them. One was sent to Cornish, the Shana girl to Lockhorn, and these girls to me," he said. His father began to set up another game: "The one sent to Cornish made a huge commotion during the test; he made the three spirit drums sound, but he turned out to have no magic."
"So did the girl, but she is the best apprentice of her year."
Richard sighed, "Anyway, leave the boy alone and vie for the Shana girl; her talent is above average and her connections are even better."
"I understand, father."
His father heaved a sigh of relief, saying, "She is not a good match for you."
To that, Cant gave no answer, but the glass in his hand cracked a little. The twins successfully turned all the buckets of water into fog and were celebrating. The scenery no longer looked beautiful, and the wine had turned bitter. He stood up and directly left the second level of the tower without his father.
"There are four great kingdoms: Glotulzcha to the north, Artlarth to the east, Dluugotha to the west, and Yogtharlarth, which we are in, to the south. The tower sits in the middle," Duobing explained with a map after he had successfully dragged Eizan away from his work. He was appalled when he found out he knew nothing about the continent they sat on, and he was even more shocked that he knew how to read and write. Bless his poor soul!
"There are smaller independent cities and towns scattered around the borders of these kingdoms except for Glotulzcha; that kingdom squashed and absorbed all the cities bordering Dluugothat to the west and Atlarth to the east. As for me, I am from Vaughad, a small town close to Atlarth in the southeast. Can you point out where you are from?"
Eizan searched for the city where the Goto mansion stood and found out it was called Subarasii Raito, the city of a thousand lights. He never got the chance to enter the city, much less find out if it really had a thousand lights. After he found it, he traced backward and pointed at an area. Duobing looked at the place he marked, then looked at him and said, "You must be kidding."
"No, I am not," he answered, a little confused.
The boy sighed and said, "Subarasii is the only habitable dwelling in this area. Everything else beyond it is the woodlands; you can't be from there.
He laughed nervously, saying, "I must be mistaken then."
Duobing stared at him for a short while before continuing, "Apart from the royal families in these respective kingdoms, there are influential noble families that hold sway over the politics: Shana in Atlarth, Hunter in Yogtharlarth, and the Klaugsh clan of Dluugotha. As for Glotulzcha, nothing is known about them. The Tower has deep roots in these three kingdoms; all the court magicians, physicians, seers, and astronomers are former apprentices of the Tower. Once one is taken by the tower, one will always belong to the tower. Even your generation will not be spared."
A thunderous applause arose behind them after Duobing ended his speech, and they turned back to find three senior apprentices. They wore sapphire robes like Lady Meredith, so they must be fifth-years. "You are knowledgeable," the one in the middle observed. "I am Thom Klaugsh, at your service."
Duobing leaned towards him and said, "Don't worry about him. Look at his belt.' Eizan's eyes slid toward the other's belt, but he didn't know what to look for.
"Thom Klaush—" Eizan began.
"Klaugsh." The other cut in
"Klaugsh. How may I help you?"
Thom handed him a list of herbs to prepare, and fortunately, all but one on the list had been harvested. Duobing went to prepare the herbs while he harvested that one. After everything was prepared, the older boy dropped a pouch of gold on the table and left with the herbs.
"Why did you tell me to look at his belt?" Eizan asked Duobing.
"You know how our token traces our location? The clan's token traces their clansmen's location too, and you can see there was only one token hanging on his belt, which means—"
"He ran away from home. Eizan completed.