The next morning was the official day of departure. The students took a quick tour around the empire. Due to the stroll Tyler had collected, they soon realised that this place was called "Abyssal throat", thus, updating the information they had about this place.
Meanwhile, a meeting was called, and Rowen had the luxury to attend this meeting. The remaining seated people were Haliad, Myai, Nel, Jordan, Tyler and Muon. Of course, Richard, at the head of the table.
"The information we got from the general," Gal unfolded the sheet of paper in his grip.
Rowen narrowed his eyes.
The paper was dyed red, and he could only imagine how the information had been gotten.
"The disposal owns four headquarters. He does not know the location of the first one. The three he knows, one is located in Azrun, another in Belgin, and the last one in Qud."
Tyler flinched. He exchanged glances with Rowen who looked equally disturbed. This was what told him while he was summoned.
"Is it in Salvador?" He asked.
"Unfortunately, he doesn’t know the exact location." Gal shook his head.
Rowen leaned back in his chair, his fingers drumming softly against the armrest. Three headquarters, one unknown. It was more than they had feared. The branches were another source of problem too.
"What we should really look at is the forces behind all this." Gal continued. "The numbered ones. Experimental subjects. Kidnapped children. People who never had a life to begin with."
He paused a while and let them digest what he had just said, before he continued.
"The generals. We have seen them. Numbered ones who eventually joined them. Accepted their fates. Then, there are the elites."
This was where the audience began to pay attention.
"The elites joined by themselves."
"The ones that came after the generals were wiped out?" Haliad asked.
"Yes." He confirmed.
"Those ones had an absurd level of power." Haliad muttered.
Tyler gulped down. He had remembered how he dismissed the news after he woke up, only to find Kael in a sorry state.
"The elites are still rookies compared to the unknown," Gal continued. "They work for the unknown in fact. According to his words, exaggerated or not, he said one member of the unknown measure up to a disciple."
Silence fell over the table.
Haliad’s jaw tightened. Myai, who had been tracing circles on the wood with one finger, stopped mid-motion. Even Nel, who rarely reacted to anything, lifted her gaze from the paper.
"These are not our words," Gal said, smoothing the sheet flat. "The general gave us the ranking. It is how the Disposal itself measures the unknown, and he recited it like a lesson drilled into him."
He read the lines aloud.
"Two stars. Dormant level. Three stars. Wary level. Four stars. Volatile level. Five stars. Calamity level."
Tyler waited for the rest. Nothing followed.
"That’s all?" he asked. "What does ’dormant’ mean?"
"A two-star can level a city." Gal’s voice did not change, which somehow made it worse. "That is the lowest rank on the list. They call it dormant because it does not wake unless it chooses to. They still follow explicit orders from whatever is higher than the unknown."
Nobody moved.
"And we can only imagine what a three star can do right?" Nel muttered. "Level a continent?"
"According to his words, yes." Gal answered.
"And if it’s exaggerated?" Nel asked.
"It doesn’t hurt to prepare for the worst." Myai shrugged.
"If a three star is leveling a continent," Jordan muttered. "Then what would a five star do?"
___
AN HOUR LATER>>
The students returned from their individual trips after an hour. They had things parked. Snacks, materials only seen in black empire, and unique foods.
Then Fayera did a count.
Claude, Tyler, Anya, Lane, Kael, Carlel, Tiana, Quil, Coco, Davon and—
"Is Elias coming back with us?" Kael muttered, hands shoved into the pocket of his uniform.
"We’re not sure." Claude shrugged.
"Where are the professors?" Lane glanced back at the building.
"Headmaster Rowen has had them sent back since yesterday." Claude replied.
They all went to the palace afterwards. On the way, they stopped to watch the royal siblings train. Brin was leading.
Coco immediately ran towards them.
"You guys go ahead. I’ll catch up."
They watched her run to Fin, and watched as the little boy’s face lit up after seeing her.
"When did they get so close?" Anya muttered.
"Sense of kinship, I guess." Kael muttered.
They continued ahead and met up with Rowen in the palace. He was standing among those who had attended the meeting.
They bowed the moment they saw Richard, the whole group dipping their heads in a rough line.
"Greetings!"
"Your Majesty," Tyler said. "Thank you for allowing us to visit."
Richard studied them for a moment. He gave a single nod, then turned and walked out, Gal behind him, footsteps fading down the corridor.
Nobody spoke until he was gone.
"Okay," Kael breathed, shoulders dropping. "I hate that I get nervous every time."
"You were fine," Claude whispered.
"I was sweating."
"Sweating? You literally called him by his name yesterday."
Kael almost felt embarrassed. He lowered his voice. "I was stressed! Besides, he said we’re equal now that we’re protectors too."
Maidens stepped forward and dropped boxes.
"Gifts from his highness." They chorused then turned right away.
The students were stunned for a moment as they stared at the boxes.
Fayera cleared her throat, and they straightened again. "Prince Jordan," she said. "Where’s Elias?"
Jordan, who had been leaning against a pillar with his arms folded, pushed off it. He did not answer right away. His eyes moved over the group, as if counting them the way Fayera had.
"Follow me."
He led them down a staircase none of them had used before, then along a passage where the polished stone of the palace gave way to bare rock. The air grew cooler. Tyler noticed the walls had no torches, no lanterns, nothing to light the way except the faint glow ahead.
The passage opened into a cavern hall, and they stopped at the entrance.
"Another funeral hall?" Anya whispered.
Candles filled it. Hundreds of them stood on the floor, on ledges, in tiny hollows carved into the walls. Some were tall and new. Others had burned down to stubs, their wax pooled and hardened around them.
The hall was much larger than the funeral cave.
"Whoa," Tiana said softly.
Davon took a step forward, then thought better of it. "Is this... a shrine?"
"Something like that," Jordan replied.
A few feet away, they saw him.
"Elias?" Kael called.
He turned around. "What?"
"We’re leaving."
"What is this place?" Anya asked. Her voice was smaller than she meant it to be.
Elias shrugged. He looked at the candles the way someone looks at a wall of photographs. "A memorial," he said. "Sort of."
"Sort of?" Kael pressed.
"Every candle holds the life essence of whoever it belongs to." He said it casually, as if reading a menu. "It burns as long as they’re alive. When they die, it goes out."