Darian didn't know how long he had been walking. It could've been minutes, or it could've been hours. The sun had set a while ago, plunging the Silverwood into darkness. The only source of light and illumination was the cat spirit beast. It emitted a warm, comforting glow that lit up the area around itself, but little else. Still, that was more than enough for him to avoid the worst of the underbrush and other obstacles that threatened to trip him up.
Darian followed after the cat spirit beast, like a lost soul being guided to the afterlife. Early on, when they had first started out, his excitement had provided a brief burst of energy. However, it hadn't been long before exhaustion set in again, and it was all he could do to keep walking forward, putting one foot in front of the other in a steady rhythm. This lulled him into a trance-like state. The rest of the world faded away. The trees around him, the faint sounds of woodland animals, everything. Even the sound of his own breathing faded away. All that remained was the gentle glow of the cat spirit beast, and the steady rhythm of his footsteps.
"We're here," the cat spirit said, breaking Darian out of his trance.
He shook his head, as if waking from a dream, before looking around. There wasn't much to see. This part of the Silverwood looked like any other, with one exception. In front of them stood a small, grass covered mound. From what Darian could see, it was broad and round, but not very tall. At its highest, it was barely taller than he was. A round tunnel had been dug into the mound, leading straight to the center.
The cat spirit beast stood at the entrance to the tunnel, gazing back at Darian with an expectant look on its face. Darian stared at the mound, unable to contain his disappointment. When he had heard that this was a cultivator's legacy, he had expected something…grander.
"That's it?" he asked the cat spirit beast.
It smirked at him.
"Don't be deceived by its appearance," it said. "There are many things in this world that are far more than their appearance would suggest. Go inside and you will see."
Once again, suspicion bloomed in Darian's heart. For all he knew, the cat spirit had lured him to this mound for some kind of nefarious purpose. He didn't know why it would go through all this effort when it could have just killed or kidnapped him with impunity, but the possibility was there. It didn't help that the mound reminded him of some kind of ancient burial site. What if it was filled with the restless dead looking to steal his life essence?
Still, there was no point in dallying. He had already come this far, he might as well go all the way. Turning away wasn't an option at this point. The cat spirit beast had said it would keep him company if he refused the legacy, before leading him to the nearest human settlement the next morning, but this was before he had said yes. It might become angry with him if he changed his mind now.
Darian took a deep breath to steady himself before following the cat spirit beast into the mound. The rich scent of the loamy earth helped calm his nerves. It smelled of life, lacking the stench of death and decay he expected to find in a place filled with the restless dead. Instead, he just found himself in a tunnel made up of black soil.
At the end of the tunnel, Darian saw a circular plate made of gray stone. It was small, just barely large enough to hold one person. Runes and arcane sigils had been carved into the plate, creating a formation. Formations were one of the ways cultivators could affect the world, using them to direct spirit energy in specific ways. There were endless varieties of formations, so much so that it would take a grandmaster to even begin to comprehend all of them. Darian, as a mortal, didn't even know the basics. He just knew that formations existed, and that they were powerful.
"Stand on the plate," the cat spirit beast said.
Darian hesitated for a brief moment, before stepping onto the plate. It was a little awkward, since there wasn't much room and he wanted to avoid kicking the cat spirit beast by accident. In the end he managed, but it was still a tight fit. He opened his mouth to ask what happened now, but he didn't get the chance.
In that exact same moment, the runes and sigils carved into the stone plate started to glow with a gentle red light. Right after that, Darian fell into darkness, one that seemed endless and infinite. There was nothing else in that darkness, not even the cat spirit beast, just him. Darian cursed himself for following the cat spirit beast and falling for its trick. It had led him to a trap after all. Just as he thought that, however, Darian found himself somewhere else. There was no transition, no landing, nothing. One moment he was in the darkness, in the next he found himself in his current location.
"Here we are," the cat spirit beast said, reappearing at his side.
Darian looked around to figure where "here" was. As he did so, his jaw dropped. He stood on some kind of stone platform that contained another formation identical to the one carved into the stone plate back in the mound. A narrow bridge without a rail connected the stone platform to a large stone plateau. Sitting atop the plateau was a grand estate, one that rivaled those that his higher status kin lived in. In fact, it might have been even grander. It was built of wood, and stood two stories tall. Floating balls of light illuminated the area, spaced apart at regular intervals. They emitted a warm yellow glow, similar to that of a candle, but much brighter.
Nothing but empty air surrounded the stone plateau. Darian walked to the edge of the platform he stood on, careful not to get too close to the edge since there was no railing, and looked down. He saw a layer of clouds beneath him that stretched out to infinite. The platform and the plateau jutted from the clouds like the tips of mountain peaks piercing the sky, their sides completely vertical. Up above, the cosmos covered the night sky, like a cloak made of stars, nebulae, and galaxies.
Darian stared at it all, open-mouthed, unable to say anything for several minutes.
"Is this…?" he asked when he found his words again. "Is this a secret realm?"
"It is," the cat spirit said, sounding smug. "Albeit a small one. It only encompasses an area about a mile out from the plateau. Everything else is just an image transmitted from the main world. It's a good thing too, otherwise you might actually freeze to death here."
Now that the cat spirit beast mentioned it, Darian noticed that the temperature here was perfect. It was neither too hot nor too cold. It was just right. Cultivators didn't have to worry too much about freezing cold or burning heat, even at the lowest levels, but someone like Darian did. There was also a lack of wind. If this were a real mountain peak, severe winds would have been buffeting him and he would have also suffered from freezing temperatures. He knew this from experience, since he had visited the upper areas of Mt. Wind Dance a few times before.
"A secret realm," he muttered to himself, before looking at the cat spirit beast. "This legacy you told me about. Did it belong to an Immortal?"
"It did," the cat spirit beast said, preening.
To say that Darian was shocked would be an understatement. Secret realms were pocket dimensions, worlds unto themselves. Some were small, like this one, while others rivaled the main world in size and scope. Some even had their own ecologies and environments. Regardless of how large or how small they were, every secret realm had one thing in common: only Immortals could create them. The path cultivators walked was divided into different states of being, with each state being more powerful than the ones below it. Above everyone else were the Immortals, ageless beings of immense power. They were gods in all but name. Only they had the strength and knowledge to create their own worlds.
"Come on," the cat spirit beast said. "Let's go inside. You'll rest here for the night, and tomorrow morning I can test you to see if you're a fit heir to this legacy."
"Which Immortal created this place?" Darian asked as he followed the cat spirit beast across the narrow bridge, sticking to the center. He didn't know the names of many Immortals, mostly those that had come from his clan, but there was a chance he might've heard of them.
"All in good time, young human," was the only response he got.
When the two of them reached the end of the bridge, a pair of figures emerged from within the estate and headed towards them, one male and one female. They looked so alike, it was obvious that they were twins. The male twin wore long, embroidered tunic with a pair of trousers. The female twin wore an embroidered gown that stopped just below her knees. Both were tall and skinny, with pale white skin and long black hair. They both also had amber eyes and androgynous features. The only reason Darian could tell them apart was because the female twin had feminine curves, however slight they were. Both of them moved with a fluid, sinewy grace that was almost mesmerizing to watch.
However, there was something about them that made Darian uneasy. He didn't realize what it was until they came closer and he got a better look at them. Their skins glittered in the warm yellow light, and he realized that they both had fine, iridescent scales covering their bodies. The scales became more pronounced and more obvious around their faces and around their eyes. That was also when Darian realized that their eyes weren't amber but yellow, each with a serpentine vertical slit for a pupil.
"Snakes?" he blurted out before he could think better of it.
"Yes," the cat spirit beast said. "These are the twins, Elliot and Ellen. They're snake spirit beasts who have learned how to take on human form. They serve the creator of this secret realm, and if you inherit the creator's legacy, they will serve you as well."
The twins stopped several feet away from Darian and the cat spirit beast, before bowing to the both of them. Thankfully, neither twin seemed to have heard Darian's earlier comment or taken offense if they had. Both wore respectful expressions on their faces.
"Greetings, guardian," they both said at the same time, their voices as mesmerizing and beautiful as their movements earlier. "Greetings, honored guest. How may we serve you?"
Darian assumed "guardian" referred to the cat spirit beast while he was the honored guest. It had been a long time since servants of any kind treated him with this level of respect. While none of Clan Wind Dance's servants had treated him with outright disrespect, none of them had been eager to serve him either, given his low status within the clan. They had all preferred to serve his more prestigious kin, and Darian had decided to not make a fuss of it. The only servant he had was his housekeeper, Stella, who had been with him since birth. Not that Darian minded. He had few material needs. Stella handled most of those, and Darian took care of the rest himself.
"This is the candidate I have chosen to be your master's heir," the cat spirit beast said to the twins. "Ellen, see that he is cleaned up and then show him to the master bedroom. I will test his suitability tomorrow."
The twins glanced at each other.
"Wouldn't one of the guest bedrooms be more appropriate for our honored guest?" Elliot asked.
"I said what I said."
The twins paused for a beat.
"As you command, guardian," Ellen said with another bow.
"No, that's not necessary," Darian said, feeling bad for imposing.
All three spirit beasts looked at him.
"What?" the cat spirit beast asked. "You don't want Ellen to look after you? Would you prefer Elliot?" It looked him up and down. "I didn't take you for the type, but I suppose that's no matter. To each their own."
Darian gave it a withering look. He was sure it was just teasing him, but it wore such a deadpan expression on its feline face that he wasn't certain.
"I can look after myself," he said, biting out the words. "There's no need to go through all this trouble."
The idea of anyone, especially a woman as beautiful as Ellen, looking after him as if he were a child embarrassed Darian. At this point, he had gotten used to looking after himself, except for the things Stella took care of for him. Even then, he helped her out from time to time. A part of him even preferred it.
"Honored guest," Ellen said, taking a step forward. "You are potentially Master's heir. Even if you fail, you are still an honored guest. It is my privilege and duty to see to your safety and comfort. Would you take that away from me?"
Ellen's eyes widened and her lips quivered as she spoke. Darian wasn't certain if snakes, or snake spirit beasts, could cry, but she looked ready to burst into tears. He found his heart softening. With great reluctance, he relented.
"I suppose not," Darian said.
Ellen's sorrowful expression immediately disappeared and morphed into one of supreme satisfaction.
"Excellent!" she said in a cheerful tone. "Please follow me, honored guest."
With that, she turned around and started walking back towards the grand estate. Darian gaped at her for a few seconds, before letting out a sigh.
"She played me, didn't she?" he said, feeling chagrined.
The cat spirit chuckled. Even Elliot struggled to keep a straight face.
"Yes," the cat spirit beast said. "She did. I'm surprised you gave in so fast. I expected you to put up more of a fight. Next time I want to get you to do something, I'll just throw a pitiful look your way."
Darian rolled his eyes at it, before following Ellen into the estate. Elliot fell into step behind Darian as the latter passed by him.
"If it's any consolation, honored guest," Elliot said from behind Darian, speaking in a low voice. "She does this with everyone. Even I have fallen for it from time to time, and we've been together since birth."
Darian thought about it for a moment.
"That is some consolation, I suppose," he said.
At least he wasn't the only one.
Like the exterior of the estate, the interior was illuminated by more of those floating yellow lights. There were many rooms inside, but Darian didn't have the energy to explore any of them. All he wanted to do was clean up, before heading to bed for the night. Thankfully, the bathing room wasn't too far from the estate's entrance. It was a large room with a massive marble tub in the center, one large enough to fit five or six adults comfortably. The tub was filled with hot, steaming water. An herbal scent wafted up from the water, mixed in with a hint of mint. The water also had a green tinge to it. Darian guessed there was some kind of medicinal mixture in it.
Ellen led him inside the room, and then helped him undress. To Darian's shame, he needed her help. Zayne and his band of thugs must have done more damage than Darian realized, because pain racked his body if he bent it too far. If Ellen had any thoughts about his current state, she kept them to herself. At least the cat spirit beast and Elliot had disappeared before this point, otherwise Darian might have actually died of embarrassment.
To Darian's relief, after she helped him undress and ensured he had everything he needed, Ellen left the room. The last thing he needed or wanted was for her to try and help him bathe. He could handle that part himself. Still, it wasn't easy. With some difficulty, Darian climbed into the tub. The hot water caused him to hiss in pain as it came into contact with his wounds, but soon a cooling sensation relieved his aches and pains as the medicine healed his body. He gave himself enough time to adjust to the water, before cleaning himself up. Blood and dirt soon turned the water opaque. When he finished, Darian dried himself off and put on a robe Ellen had left behind, before heading out. The woman herself was waiting right outside the door to the bathing room, which unnerved him more than a little bit.
Ellen led him to the master bedroom, which was opulently but tastefully furnished. The bed itself was massive. It had enough space to hold six or seven adults with room to spare. After leading him inside, Ellen left. However, before Darian could collapse onto the bed and fall asleep, the cat spirit beast reappeared. It jumped onto a nearby wooden table.
"Here," it said, before tossing something to him.
Darian, in his exhaustion, almost didn't catch it. Somehow he did, and then held it up to examine it. It was a maroon pill, one that Darian didn't recognize. That wasn't a surprise. The only pills he had any kind of familiarity with were the Spirit Energy Pills he received as part of his monthly stipend. Those were used to increase a cultivator's spirit energy, or restore it when it ran low. Since he couldn't use any of them, Darian had accumulated a small hoard of the pills. Thankfully, none of his kin had realized this or they might have tried to take them away from him. While Darian couldn't use the pills now, he still held out hope that he would be able to in the future.
"It's a slow acting Medicine Pill," the cat spirit explained. "It'll heal all of your injuries overnight, and will also ensure none of your wounds get infected in the meantime."
At that, Darian looked at the maroon pill with newfound appreciation. Medicine pills were worth more than their weight in gold. The weakest ones could heal most kinds of injuries as long as they weren't too serious. The more powerful the pill, the more serious the injury they could heal. Some of the more powerful ones could even regrow lost limbs. The cat spirit beast had just handed Darian a small fortune.
"I don't know if I can accept this," Darian said.
"Just take it," the cat spirit beast said in an impatient voice. "Your injuries might interfere with the tests tomorrow, and I can't have that."
Darian wanted to argue more, but decided against it. The cat spirit beast's words made sense, and there was a limit to his modesty.
"In that case, I will gladly accept," he said. "Thank you…" He paused. "I just now realized that I never asked you for your name. I'm sorry about that."
The cat spirit beast chuckled.
"It's fine," it said. "I never asked you for your name either. You can call me Astra."
Astra? Oh, so it seemed the cat spirit beast was also female.
"A pleasure to meet you, Astra," Darian said with a nod of his head. "I am Darian of Clan Wind Dance."
Astra nodded back.
"Get some sleep, young Darian," she said. "I will see you tomorrow."
With that, she leapt down from the wooden table and sauntered out of the room. The door closed behind her, seemingly of its own power. Darian stared at it for a brief moment, and then shrugged. He swallowed the pill, which had a sweet, floral taste, before climbing into the monster of a bed. In mere moments, he fell asleep.