I woke up slowly.
The day after the showcase had been mostly uneventful. Just more drills and quiet repetitions in the training grounds, nothing surprising.I did manage to refine a few movements, adjusting my sword technique by instinct, just what felt right.
And now, it was morning again. The day of the ceremonial marking.
Somehow, the city felt brighter.
Not just in the literal sense, though there was more light than usual, faint gold drifting down from unseen sources, but something else. Something in the air. Like the entire place had been polished overnight, humming quietly beneath the surface.
I sat up, blinking away the haze, and then I heard it.
Music.
It was soft. A melody floated through the stone corridors, played on some kind of instrument. I was not entirely sure which one. It was calming. Clean. Pleasant in a way that made the silence around it feel deeper.
For a moment, I could've sworn it was a piano.
I stood, stepped toward the window, and looked out.
It wasn't.
It was a flute. Long, carved, smooth. I could barely make out the player, one of the Yuxians, seated calmly on a ledge across the clearing. The tune was winding through the air like a thread.
I didn't know how I could've mistaken one for the other.
I frowned.
Not because anything was wrong.
But because everything felt… right.
Too right.
There was a stillness in this place that didn't line up with its size. Thousands of people, and yet no friction. No unrest. Just contentment, like it had always been this way.
Maybe it was tradition.
Maybe it was something else.
We were going to find out soon enough.
Jackal was still in bed. I walked over and nudged him awake.
"They're coming today," I said. "Reya. The Explorers. And the research party."
Jackal groaned and rolled over.
"It took us days to find this place. We're more likely to die in the duel before they even show up."
"What do you mean, die? What got you so depressed? Where's the usual Jackal?"
"I'm not depressed. What are you even talking about?" he muttered, sitting up. "I'm just saying the odds are better for them to find us after it's over."
He stood, still half-squinting, waving his hands as he talked.
"Are you always this stupid in the morning?"
We both paused. Grinned at each other.
Then burst out laughing.
This whole situation was so bizarre, what else could we do, if not laugh?
After that, we slowly got ready. There was no breakfast this time.
Then I sensed Elicia at the door before she knocked. I knew her presence well now. An elegant, but still somehow sharp aura. Not the one of a warrior.
"I see that you two are in a good mood," she said as she entered the room, "Come. We will be eating together. You will meet my House before the ceremonial marking."
Elicia led us through the winding halls. Her steps were measured and unhurried, as if she walked in rhythm with something older than time.
Two more members of her House joined silently along the way. Their robes were similar to hers, layered and light, shifting even when they were still. Their masks were just as smooth and abstract, etched with patterns that looked more like calligraphy than decoration.
There was no animal motif, no snarling jaws or carved expressions.
Just shapes and lines, swirling like ink in still water.
They moved with quiet dignity. Not warriors. That much was clear. None of them carried the weight of combat. Their presence felt different. Calm, deliberate, built on something other than strength.
We arrived. The house was a bit bigger than the rest around it. Not luxurious, just larger. Broader steps, higher ceilings.
As Elicia opened the door for us, a man came to greet us, wearing a long white robe.
"Welcome, guests. My name is Thuvan," he said. His mask was a little tougher in shape than the others we had seen, though it still held that same abstract elegance. His hair was gray and long. A trend, it seemed, among the Yuxina.
"Thank you for having us," I said.
Jackal glanced up, vaguely realizing we were still in a formal setting. "Oh, right. Yeah, yeah, thanks."
I had the feeling Thuvan smiled beneath the mask.
"It's our pleasure. After all, not many people are given the chance to participate in the holiest ritual of them all."
Elicia stepped in. "Father, let's eat. You can talk to them more while we do."
He seemed like a talkative man, fitting for Elicia's father.
We sat down. A wide spread of meat and fungi had already been prepared. It seemed they hunted through the tunnels often, judging by the abundance of game.
Jackal, unprovoked, asked, "How do you guys even eat?"
Thuvan laughed, the sound warm and full. "You are an interesting one. We do not use our mouths, if that's what you're asking. We absorb nutrients through the mask."
As we ate, the conversation drifted, touching on pieces of Yuxina history. Brief mentions, hints of deeper things left unsaid.
It ended with a statement from Thuvan, spoken with quiet pride.
"Thankfully, our Emperor saved us from the invasion. He is a powerful Yuxina. The most powerful one at that."
The conversation was over.
Not that it had been much of a conversation, considering he was the only one who spoke.
He had already shared more than expected, fragments of history, legacy, power, the kind of knowledge you pass on to those who won't be around to use it.
He thought we were going to die. As such, he didn't want to be bothered with any of the things we could have told him.
That much was clear.
He was a foolish man to think that.
"Excuse us, Father," Elicia said gently. "It's time for the ceremony."
She rose, and we followed.
No words left to exchange.
Only the path ahead.
We arrived shortly before a temple, a much smaller one than the towering structure where Zuran resided. It was set apart from the rest of the city, tucked into a slope of stone and roots. Secluded.
The architecture was simpler, but the markings here were far more prominent, etched deep into the walls and pillars, glowing faintly with mana. Dozens of symbols lined the outer walls. Suns. Moons. Variants of both. Some split down the center, half eclipsed, half radiant.
It felt older.
Not in ruin, but in reverence.
Like this place had been built first, and everything else had grown around it.