As Kiefer came closer and closer to Latiase, the rain gradually subsided. He could not proceed as fast as he had wanted and by the time he had arrived above the city, night had already fallen. Ever since Kiefer had entered the Rashael province, he had been regularly releasing mana pulses to look for the titan, but he could find none, even after passing through one city and arriving at the second northern one.

Though not as bright as Luminas, the first city, Latiase was still relatively well lit, even during the night. Luminas however, was like a shining beacon that tore through the dark torrential rain as Kiefer passed through it. Kiefer chose to move on from Luminas since his mana pulse did not register anything significant.

As he descended onto one of the streets in Latiase, he observed his surroundings carefully, realising that this city was almost as advance as Arigan. He walked down the empty brightly lit street, he feet splashing water around as he stepped into the puddles of rain water that littered the cobbled street. There were lamp posts stationed at regular intervals. It was just a simple steel pole protruding from the ground about 2m tall with a flat top, looking kind of like a huge golf tee. Floating above each of the metal posts was an orb of bright white light that lit up the surroundings like daylight. On closer observation, there was a runic circle engraved into the top of each pole for the light orb spell.

Windows were made out of wooden shutters unlike other cities where they were made out of glass plane. Kiefer suspected that this was to keep out the never ending light that flooded into the houses from these street lamps. The streets were clean and well organised, houses arranged neatly in rows like in Diantes.

Kiefer already knew that Rashael was not in the cities, he had sent his mana pulse countless times to check and double check. Walking around, the streets were lined with stone and wooden buildings, all no more than 3 floors high. Most were shop houses from the looks of it, with the families running businesses on the ground floor and sleeping in their homes upstairs. He even saw a shop that sold draeries as domesticated pets. Naturally, it was dead at night and with nobody around to ask questions, Kiefer decided to rest on one of the clay tiled roofs nearby, waiting for day time.

He could go to the battlefields but being a human, he would most likely be taken for an enemy and would have no progress in his search for Rashael. He took out a thick blanket from his PD and laid it on the sloping roof, sat on it and stared at the moons.

[[Deep down below Latiase]]

“Oh? It would seem that someone is in my city. Weird that he/she only seems like a normal human, but to be able to open a PD within my airspace? This is a first in history.” Rashael looked up from his deep underground library.

“I suppose Drigor wouldn’t be coming here from underground any time soon, so might as well go up and take a look. No point holing myself down here anticipating Drigor’s approach any longer than I need to.” Rashael thought to himself as he got up from his chair and left the library.

He walked through the corridors of his underground castle and finally came to a small room with a floating platform. As Rashael stepped onto the platform, white light glowed brighter from is convex bottom and rose up through the narrow tunnel, ferrying the Titan up towards the surface. It was a long ride, with his hideout built more than 5km underground.

A soft hum echoed up the tunnel and through a small room behind a door in a run-down shack just at the edge of the city. Finally, after watching the brown and grey earthen walls of the tunnel speed past down below his feet, the Titan with pure white feathers on his forearms finally stepped out of the dilapidated little shack. There were still a few hours before morning and he sensed the human had not moved from its spot.

Silently taking his time a strolling down the empty streets, Rashael finally came up to the building where Kiefer was sleeping on the roof. With a light jump, he landed gracefully and silently on the same roof, only to find a young man fast asleep on a thick blanket. Rashael walked towards the sleeping man and suddenly hit face first into an invisible wall.

Feeling around the wall with his hands, Rashael realised that this talented individual had actually set up a physical barrier around him while he slept, so there was nothing Rashael could do. Sure there were methods he could use but he wanted to avoid conflict with this man, and if he allowed it, even study him. Hence, Rashael sat down on the boundary just outside of the barrier and stared at the sleeping man’s face.

Kiefer awoke as soon as the first rays of the rising sun hit his face. Stretching his body out like a cat, Kiefer relieved his joints of the ache from the weird sleeping position he had been in the night before. As he turned around, Kiefer discovered that right at the tip of the roof, was a young boy about Fiora’s age what was staring intently at him and smiling.

“Umm… Hello?” Kiefer asked, still confused and a little startled by the unwelcomed stalker. From the looks of it, Kiefer already guessed that this was the Titan Rashael, the Avian titan of light.

“Good Morning!” Rashael replied enthusiastically. “Don’t mind me, please, do your own stuff! I just want to observe.” Rashael reassured Kiefer, not moving at all from his position. He was still sitting down with elbows on his knees and head resting on his hands.

“Uhh… ok… Nice to meet you too?” Kiefer was unsure how to proceed since the titan had actualy come out to look for him and unlike with Drigor, Kiefer actually wanted to make a good impression to form an alliance. “My name is Kiefer, it’s nice to finally meet you Rashael”

“Hahaha. This is fun. You already know who I am without even asking. I’m getting more interested in you, human. So tell me, how is it that you are able to open a PD? You did it last night didn’t you?” Rashael asked, seemingly amused, but still not moving from his spot.

Kiefer’s eyes widened as he stared at the titan. Then, he managed to mutter out a single word. “How…?”

“That’s easy! I can sense all the mana within my territory and how they are being used. U used a considerably large amount of mana opening the PD last night, so do you not have enough to open another to store your items away? Also, are you working with Drigor? Because I can sense a little of his mana lingering around you.” Rashael explained, still trying to figure out the full extent of Kiefer’s abilities.

“Wow this is new, a titan with mana sensing capabilities that exceeds mine.” Kiefer muttered under his breath, but was heard by Rashael who burst out in laughter.

“AHAHAHAHA! This guy! You are the first human ever to be surprised that a titan’s ability exceeds your own! You surely are interesting. Why don’t you tell me more about yourself? I am so tempted to cut you open and study you before healing you back up!” Rashael exclaimed excitedly, accidentally showing his psychopathic tendencies.

Opening his PD to store his items away and take out a small metal flask of water, Kiefer took a sip and looked at the titan who was still barely able to keep his laughter stifled and spoke. “I’ll get straight to the point, I intend to kill Drigor and just came from his academy for necromancers after spying on him. I am here to form an alliance with the 3 avian Titans.”

“Hahaha. You really do say some interesting things! You know that is going to be easier said than done? My sister Fiora hates men on a pathological level so I highly doubt you will be able to bring her to your side for whatever reason you may have to want to kill Drigor.” Rashael rebuked, still smiling at Kiefer’s childish dreams.

“That won’t be a problem. You, Rashael, should be the last of the avian titans to join my cause. I’ve already helped Isana and Shearwood to bring Fiora over to our side long ago and now they should have done the same with Luna too. From what I’ve heard about you, you specialise in healing magic and from what you’ve said earlier, I’m assuming sensing magic too? I would really like to see the extent of your powers if you don’t mind.” Kiefer requested politely, explaining his current situation.

“Ha! So this isn’t for your personal reasons after all. Since you seem to be related to Isana, it must be to help her take revenge over Wanda. Isn’t that right Kiefer?” Rashael deduced the reason with pinpoint accuracy.

“Yes that is indeed true. However, you were wrong on one thing. It is a personal reason. Anything that is personal to my companions is personal to me. I trust them and will gladly share any responsibility from their actions and will support their actions as if it were my own.” Kiefer now stood up proudly, reassuring that he was as committed into this revenge as Isana was.

“I see. That’s good then, for Isana to have found such a reliable follower. But I still do not trust you completely, so I will not show you my abilities until you show me some of yours.” Rashael bargained.

Kiefer smile, relieved that Rashael was mature and sensible, unlike a certain hot headed lesbian bird. He agreed to Rashael’s condition and immediately teleported behind Rashael. Then he quietly whispered into the startled titan’s ear, “This place is too crowded, so shall we take this to somewhere where there won’t be any collateral damage?” before teleporting to a spot higher up in the sky and standing on his mana platform.

Rashael’s eyes widened at the previously unknown magic. He could sense Kiefer opening and closing a PD really quickly, but he did not know how Kiefer was moving in and out of this world so quickly. He also sensed that Kiefer did not cast a flying type spell, if one really did exist, but instead was using mana in a way he had never seen before. Excited to have found a new toy, Rashael finally got up on his feet and floated into the sky, chasing after Kiefer.

Rashael did not want to be outdone by the human, so he too, showed off some of his skills. While standing in front of Kiefer in mid-air, Rashael started to disappear right in front of Kiefer’s eyes. Sending out a mana wave, Kiefer could sense that Rashael was closing in on him while invisible and he immediately set up a dome shield, just in time before Rashael once again hit the dome face first like the night before.

“You know this thing is really annoying! Do you keep it up even when you sleep?” Rashael complained, still invisible, but rubbing his nose.

“Haha yes of course, how else will I protect myself while I sleep? But your illusion really is interesting. I never thought to use magic in that way but I will be good for espionage activities. Let me see if I can do it.” Kiefer remarks jovially, excited that Rashael had already taught him a new way to manipulate mana.

Concentrating his mana around him, Kiefer used his mana particles to guide the photons hitting his body to circle around, making light swerve around his body instead of hitting and bouncing off. Rashael watched in amazement as the human he had just met a night ago perfectly copied one of his skills without being taught how.

Not willing to be out done, Rashael shouted excitedly, “You know, I can’t see you, but I can still sense your mana usage! So it really doesn’t work for me. But you can’t see me so I have the upper hand since you can’t tell me locate—What!”

Kiefer had already bound the invisible Rashael in his mana threads, showing that he knew full well where Rashael was. Then, while reappearing, Kiefer shut off his mana completely and then yelled back to Rashael smugly, “You didn’t think I could not sense you, did you? Why don’t you try sensing me now?”

Rashael activated his mana sensing skill and could only detect the tiniest amount of mana emanating from the platform below Kiefer’s feet. Kiefer himself, however was completely undetected by his ability. “Boy! We have so much to discuss!” Rashael yelled out gleefully. “You can manipulate pure mana can’t you!? This opens up so many avenues into learning about mana. Why don’t you come down with me to my lab? I have so many things to ask you!” Rashael requested, his face beaming, but his mouth visibly drooling.

Imagine Jibril

“Gladly!” Kiefer accepted his offer, while backing away slightly from the weird drooling bird. They then descended back down, to the abandoned broken down shack that Rashael had come up from. As he opened the door, Kiefer was greeted with a familiar sight – one of those elevator mechanisms that he used in the library in Arigan.

The 2 of them stepped onto the platform and descended slowly down the never ending tunnel. Seeing the tunnel travel so deep down, Kiefer finally understood why his mana pulse did not detect Rashael. Rashael had been so deep underground that Kiefer did not even think to extend his range from the usual 2km radius. Hence, being almost 5km underground, Rashael escaped his detection easily, proving that his detection ability was superior to Kiefer’s mana pulse in certain aspects.

After a long time, the platform finally slowed to a stop and as Rashael opened the door, a huge lobby greeted Kiefer. It was as if there was a mansion build underground, with even a large garden outside the building with artificial lighting on the tell ceiling of the cavern. The whole cavity underground was so large, the ceiling was at least 200m tall and the area was comparable to the Varradon household.

If he had not just gone down the elevator for the past hour or so, he could have believed that he was actually still on the surface. There was even a light refreshing breeze flowing about, which was unexpected as Kiefer had thought being underground would be stuffy and dim. Looking closely with his enhanced eyesight, he could see Ventilation shafts dug into the cavern walls at regular intervals. Kiefer would spot the occasional elven maid bustling about in the mansion doing chores and tending to the garden.

Still amazed by what he was seeing, Kiefer followed Rashael through several doors and finally came to large empty room with many metallic mechanisms lying around and tools sprawled over the floor. It looked like a workshop of some kind, and with just a simple glance, Kiefer could tell that Rashael was experimenting on some new runes. Rashael turned around and finally welcomed Kiefer in a warm angelic voice, “Welcome to my abode, Kiefer!”

A little late, but this is the bonus chapter for Sunday.