Chapter 199: The Storm (2/2)

”Rakna Xiorra,” the therian replied and went inside the city without another word.

The guards blinked at each other. ”Wait… I've heard that name before.”

”Idiot! It's from the Missive! He's a new Emperor!” Someone said. ”He's also the guy who appeared on TV with a Nine-Tailed Wolf! Everyone knows about him these days.”

”Wait, THAT guy? Didn't he have black hair?”

”Can't you see it's because his magic?”

Rakna groaned as he distanced himself from the voices and skillfully attuned his senses to stop hearing them. With senses like his, control was the only way to stop hearing things without him willing to.

He looked around at the rather empty streets. From what he understood of the time he was on the 30th Plateau, inhabitants of 'The Storm' rarely came out during the day since it was the time where the weather was at its worst.

'In other words, it's a nocturnal society… a good thing if you want to be a slave dealer,' he thought and leaped on top of a building to inspect the city from there. His objective in this Plateau was of course the Hit Task he had taken two weeks prior. He was here to demolish a criminal organization and assassinate its leader; one that goes by the name of Fang.

'Well, while I spend my time here… Fray, are you still here?'

”{I am, indeed.}”

'Fill me in about that then. Did you find anything?'

”{As a matter of fact, I did,}” the author replied. ”{I am currently trying to find more material on it because it is quite an obscure text.}”

'Obscure?'

”{Yes. I will be frank, what I found is rather… surprising. The text that included similarities to your soul realm; I remember it now. I read it when I was young; I never expected it to be anything more than a small fable. It was such an ingenious and meek story. The thought that it might have been real never crossed my mind.}”

'Stop yapping and tell me already. What is it?'

”{The Sage of the Crystal Mountain,}” Fray said seriously. ”{It is an anecdote. Or, I believed it was a simple anecdote. It is about a Sage living on top of a mountain made of crystal. The Sage is told to be omniscient and omnipotent.}”

”{The story goes like this; 'If you find yourself in the endless path of turmoil, you might end up on the Crystal Mountain. If you see a chalet, knock at the door, the Sage will answer. He will let you in and inquire about your wish. If you pay a sufficient price, he will fulfill that wish, no matter how ridiculous it may sound'.}”

'A Jinn…? Is that my Kzanaria?'

”{You got it wrong. Jinns do not exist. To be exact, there is no True Jinn. None of them can fulfill all wishes, regardless of scale. But… this… Sage is told to be capable of everything without fail. Even if he demands a price, it is not what he uses for his powers. The wish-granting abilities come from himself and himself alone. For all intents and purposes, he is omnipotent. I understand now why Wis claimed that your Kzanaria could rival Eternal Night.}”

'Wait, Wis said 'if they were still alive'. That means… this Sage was real but died at some point. How did someone that powerful perish?'

”{That is what I'm trying to find out. I am searching everywhere for a book that relates to the main story but I have not had any results for now.}”

'I see…' Rakna mused. 'A wish-granting being… what I can tell is that he doesn't seem to be described as a sort of god. Then, there's the 'Endless path of turmoil'. The wind currents in my soul that lead to the mountain might be a representation of that. Then what should I do now? Make a wish?'

”{I am more inclined to believe that the path is yet to be over,}” Fray said.

'Not over, huh? Maybe the winds are the first part… But that would mean… that I need to, myself, fall into turmoil to have the access to that mountain granted.'

”{Indeed. It is plausible that you will find yourself on that crystal peak when you are at your very lowest and require a miracle; such as an all-powerful wish-granting Sage.}”

Rakna snorted and looked down from the edge of a building as a layer of snow began to cover the city. ”I guess we will see in time. Now, wandering around here is getting me nowhere,” he said and produced a beautiful paintbrush with Star Hearth. He started drawing a very simple pattern with only ten variations.

”[Star Monarch – Pyxis,]” he intoned.

The constellation optimized its arrangement and then changed shape to construct a cold energy compass with several needles. They collectively started spinning and stopped to point in different directions.

Rakna looked at the dozen of needles and mused. This was a very candid spell he had made back on the 40th where he had no idea of where to go because it was exclusively underground. It was a Tier 9 spell with twelve needles. Once cast, the needles will spin in a direction that is beneficial for the caster. Based on the description, it was very similar to divination-type magic.

”Four of the needles appear random but the rest is situated around one needle that points about 40° North,” Rakna commented. ”That needle is probably what I want. It's most likely calibrated on my objective while the ones around are correlated to it… I guess I know where to go.”

”{That is an interesting spell,}” Fray said interestingly. ”{Did I miss a lot while I was preoccupied with searching my library?}”

Rakna very faintly smiled. ”You can say so,” he replied vaguely and disappeared from the rooftop in a blur; silently and unnoticed, as always.