Markhram City was once the marvelous capital of a prominent marquisate six eras ago, managed by the altruistic and philanthropic marquis Kapevich Markhram who was on friendly terms with the royal dynasty of that time. Still, as the adage goes, 'all empires fall eventually,' the ruling regime crumbled, and while the Markhram family itself had managed to survive relatively unscathed, the new monarch had ostracized any and all houses on intimate terms with the previous dynasty. The family and by extension the domain they lorded over withered over time, the territory lost its previous grandeur and slowly diminished from the memories and history books.
After tens of thousands of years and multiple changes to the imperial regime, the Markhram family had been completely wiped out and bore nary a mention in the long annals of history. Following the Markhram family's fall, the subsequent lords of the domain paid little heed to the once-prosperous city because of the negative annotations associated with it.The territory was eventually swallowed by another nobleman during the Zephyrius reign.
Rambart Fiocchi Laquis was a simple count who lorded over a rather barren territory situated at the outer ring of the Solaris Empire 5500 years ago. During the coup d'état, he was one of the first ones to answer the Valthor family's summons and had taken up arms against the Zephyrius royal family. Count Rambart Laquis had supported the Valthor matriarch as a close aide and a powerful warrior, cultivating much fear, merit, and respect during the war against the tyrannical dictators and the battles following the enthronement of the Valthors as well. The countryside count was thus awarded the title of duke and granted a massive territory in the inner circle of the Solaris Empire which included the Markham city that had faded away into obscurity, and that would have remained the case if not for Singularity Academy.
Singularity Research Institute was constructed over four thousand years ago, during the massive surge of education and empowerment endorsed by the Valthor regime. Over this period, thousands of companies, academies, training facilities, manufacturing plants, research centers, and much more were established across the Solaris Empire and were blessed by the royal family with fiscal and human resources. Markhram back then didn't carry a percentage of the prestige of its present counterpart, for it was considered a mere backward city with a population of barely a million. However, the one thing Markham had going for it was its location and the amount of unutilized land.
The city was directly connected to multiple major cities through land and air and occupied a juicy chunk of landmass in the core of Laquis Dukedom's central domain. The Laquis dukedom was considered one of the best territories in terms of development and standard of living, even comparable to some grand duchies that had tens of thousands of years of foundation.
In addition to that was the favorable relationship that the Laquis shared with the Valthors, and the event that springboarded the Laquis family to the spotlight was the wedlock between one of Laquis' daughters and the second prince of the dynasty. The marriage had drawn quite a lot of attention to the newly emerging mammoths in the Solaris political scene and enticed wealthy businessmen and powerful families alike.
Markham city hadn't received much attention during the Valthor-led overhaul of Solaris Empire, even when the Laquis dukedom was swimming in wealth and fame, for the previous administrations had sucked the city dry of all its essence to the extent that even a child could see that any major investment in the city's development and infrastructure would hardly be a profitable venture. However, the people behind the Singularity Institute were different.
Since it was originally intended to be a research and development facility focused on awakener studies, specifically the study of agility-enhancement type awakeners or speedsters, all they required was a location with lots of space, limited interference by the bureaucrats and businessmen, and good connectivity to major cities. After scouring through the entirety of Solaris Empire and many of the neighboring nations, they found the perfect spot to realize their ambitions, Markhram city.
Singularity Academy covered a significant area, a little over five percent of city, which was an astonishing prospect if one took into consideration that the city was among the largest in terms of land area in the Solaris Empire. The academy comprised thousands of buildings, domes, grounds, facilities, and much more, among which was a track that stretched for fourteen kilometers around the circumference of the academy. The academy also housed tens of thousands of students, faculty, researchers, staff, and so on.
The academy provided the students with free accommodations incorporated into the tuition, which was already an exorbitant sum. The student dormitories were a major aspect of the campus as many of the students couldn't afford to live in the city that had seen a ludicrous increase in real estate prices post-remodeling. However, since Singularity was a business venture at its core, there were various iterations of dormitories fit for the students from the diverse social and financial strata receiving guidance in the academy. The Singularity Academy dormitories were categorized into five tiers, from Tier-1 to Tier-5, with Tier-1 consisting of the most dormitories, many of which provided either extremely cheap or free accommodation to the students. The Tier-5 dormitories, a representation of luxury and wealth, were limited in number, with only five properties across the campus, including the two Tier-5 lodging meant for staff.
The Arlaan-Pyjie Paradise was one of those five dormitories and the best among the three Tier-5s that the students were allowed to reside in. The Paradise, as the property was known among the student body, was situated on top of a small hill overlooking an ethereal waterfall falling into a serene lake, with rare and beautiful flora surrounding the area. The word 'dormitory' couldn't come close to doing The Paradise justice, for it resembled a super-luxurious gated community more than anything else, with each of the 'dorms' being a grandiose and opulent mansion complete with all the facilities one could ever desire from a home away from home.
The aether energy concentration in the area was extraordinarily dense compared to the rest of the campus, so much so that one could catch the energy liquifying above the mansions. Anything and everything about these mansions radiated luxury and splendor, so it wouldn't be a stretch to say that to dwell in these magnificent marvels one would have to pay an arm, a leg, and much much more.
Among the twenty-five sumptuous mansions that decorated The Paradise, three stood out for being a cut above the rest. They covered a larger area, encapsulated more amenities, were situated closer to the edge of the community directly overlooking the exquisite scenery, and were at the center of the energy redirection formation which made the aether energy concentration around these three mansions the densest, somehow conjuring a vortex in the space above with how much energy was being funneled into these three mansions specifically.
Triton gawked in sheer amazement and stupefaction, his drool finding its way outside his lips as he leered outside of the window as the stovetop vehicle passed the decadent mansions and made its way deeper into the community. Although he had read and seen the representations of The Arlaan-Pyjie Paradise in the novel and the TV show respectively, and had been smothered with its praises by the characters' conversations more times than he could care to remember, the reality was light years beyond even the wildest imaginations of the creators of his previous realm, for what he was witnessing was an architectural and artistic anomaly.
Each mansion was unique in design and represented the pinnacle of extravagance, completely mesmerizing Triton who, even with all his wealth, couldn't ever imagine owning a property this ornate and regal. Triton's jaw dropped further and further as the transportation apparatus made its way to the edge of the enclave and the mansions kept getting grander and more breathtaking. As the stovetop even passed those mansions and one of the three special estates entered his vision, Triton freaked out.
'Aldred lives in one of these!? Aelric had mentioned the community itself, but the details were vague at best. This is...'
Triton's thoughts were in complete disarray and his expression was the furthest thing from composed as his vehicle approached the mansion at the very edge of The Paradise, the residence situated in the middle of the three extraordinarily affluent properties. The estate was so vast that the mansion itself was barely visible from the main gate. The main gate of the estate was about ten meters in length and didn't do a disservice to the regality of the property it protected, with the wall covered in advanced security equipment reaching even higher. Two well-built men clad in a blue and black uniform were stationed outside the gate of the mansion, who Triton could only assume were his security personnel.
Triton straightened his posture as the vehicle approached the gates and one of the burly men walked over to the vehicle, making Triton somewhat nervous. The windows were tinted so the guard couldn't peer into the vehicle, as such the butler retracted his side of the window when the guard lightly knocked on the door with the baton he held tightly in his grasp. The butler retracted the window and smiled amicably at the guard, to which the guard hurriedly nodded in respect and signaled to his partner, immediately after the huge and magnificent gate opened to the sides and revealed the dreamy path that led to the mansion itself.
The vehicle floated in through the gate and Triton was finally confronted with the beauty of his mansion in its entirety, and it left him slack-jawed, flabbergasted, and gobsmacked. Triton's brain short-circuited as he moved his head about to take in the scenery and failed to realize when the vehicle had passed the compound and halted in front of the mansion's spellbinding door that seemed to be constructed from some kind of fragrant wood and was etched with enchanting designs that Triton was definitely not qualified enough to provide his expertise on.
"Sir, we have arrived." The butler's weary yet gentle voice broke Triton out of his trance.
"Oh, yes." Triton stiffly muttered as the vehicle descended and tilted to the side to make it easier for him to disembark. As soon as he did, the doors to the mansion opened in a dramatic flair, and what lay behind would take Triton a lot more than sheer willpower and love of the property to accept and get used to.
x—X—x
The time was approaching eight in the evening, Triton had arrived at the mansion a little over three hours ago and was currently seated silently in his room, or what was supposed to be the room of Aldred Allister.
'What the fuck.'
With that being the case, even those three hours were far from enough for him to come to terms with his circumstances, on the contrary, the time he had spent in the mansion had worsened the situation to a considerable degree.
As soon as Triton had entered the mansion, he was greeted by eight tremendously beautiful ladies, all adorned in similar black and maroon dresses that accentuated their tantalizing figures, over which they had slung an apron that enhanced their already overwhelming charm with a homely touch. As a recently dumped man who had resolved to get out into the market rather than cry over his ex, Triton sustained major psychological damage and had practically ground his teeth to dust so that his facade wouldn't crumble to pieces with a couple of coquettish glances.
Triton hadn't even properly come to terms with the presence of these extraordinarily charming women yet, and he was slapped in the face with the sheer lavishness of his residence that made him clench his fists so hard he nearly drew blood. He had made his way from the entryway under the gazes of the butler and the ladies and into the living space, the interiors of which blew his mind away, it was so opulent and grand that Triton felt himself inadequate in linguistic proficiency to express his sentiments so he just cried a little to convey his emotions.
Two of the ladies separated from the group and led him to a certain room on the second floor that was supposed to be his closet. The room extended for a little over thirty meters from edge to edge and was filled with all of the fashion choices one could ever need. There were sections for watches, shoes, ties, belts, jewelry, and who knows what else, with the bulk of the room filled with a plethora of clothes, all of which pervaded a sense of wealth. The women who had led him there urged Triton to change out of his uniform and were ready to help him with the procedure so naturally and excitedly as if it was operation as usual.
However, since Triton was unaware of if and how to take off his divine equipment, and was a man of chastity and integrity, he had to decline the maidens' enticing offer and insist on allowing him some privacy as he undressed, to which the ladies seemed heavily disappointed and stole glances at Triton as they exited the room. Triton changed into the simplest set of clothes he could find, but the materials and the shiny lining on the edges of the garment assured Triton that they were anything but simple. Although he was feeling uncomfortable since he wasn't much of a shoe guy, he was forced to keep the legendary footwear on because even when he gave it his all, he couldn't get rid of the Voidstar Pathfinders latching onto his feet.
He was then escorted to the utterly plush dining hall and was served a very unique and unfamiliar meal that was amazingly delicious, leagues beyond anything Triton had ever savored on Earth. Every single item on the table was extraordinarily fragrant, flavorful, and a treat to look at. Triton felt all of the fatigue and stress that had accumulated over the past couple of hours wash away from his body as he gorged himself on the dishes. However, since he wasn't used to multiple people gazing expectantly at him as he indulged in his meal, and didn't want to speak in case he would say anything that would expose him, he just kept his head down and drowned the awkwardness with the mellow and flavor-filled meat soup.
Following the meal Triton was offered a bath in the mansion's private marsaline bath which he had to unfortunately decline because of the unmovable equipment situation. Although he was desperately craving the bath to sort his thoughts out, he just couldn't for the life of him move even a single piece of equipment adorning his body, including the ring and the bracelet.
About an hour following his meal Triton was now seated on some remarkably soft and velvety sheets covering an even more remarkably fluffy mattress, and in his hand, he held Aldred's terminal. His expression was solemn and his eyes were dull as if his soul had been sucked out of his body. His complexion was horribly pale and his breathing was irregular as if something was blocking his oesophagus.
'What the fuck.'