After two days of boredom, Vivena had enough and asked Haruka to take her for a tour around the city. She was half-expecting a straight rejection as the royal family so far did everything to make her stay unexciting. She was treated well by servants and provided with delicious food but at the same time, Vivena couldn’t wander around the palace as she wished to.

Haruka tried to spend as much time as he could with her but it led to awkward silence several times as they didn’t share enough interests outside of delving rifts. Additionally, she was aware of being under surveillance and so they couldn’t speak openly about many sensitive things.

Why the royals didn’t reject her request to visit the city was a mystery because they clearly made a statement with their treatment of her. She’d been taught how to operate within such an environment, with all its political games and intrigues, and she’d enjoyed it until she met Keynes.

Now, more often than not, political games irked her and she just wanted to leave the palace and return to the wilderness to hunt monsters.

***

Vivena and Haruka emerged from the palace onto a cobbled plaza, cut across by vines and trees. They crossed the plaza on their way to the gate and were met by three dozen guards, all Level 2.

The iron gate had a runic inscription on its surface but the guards ushered them quickly through, not giving her a chance to read it. She asked Haruka about this but he only shook his head, in what she understood was a ‘not now’ message. She glanced back and saw two guards follow them, twenty metres behind. Even with them being so close, Vivena didn’t think they were there to eavesdrop on Vivena’s and Haruka’s conversations. She expected spiritual companions to fulfil that role.

The city from the ground level looked strange – as if people lived in the ancient ruins. Some buildings seemed unoccupied with their gaping glassless windows. Vivena mentioned it to Haruka.

“There are not enough tribesmen to occupy every building in the Capital.”

While the city was massive, she had the impression that there were hundreds of thousands if not a million tribesmen living right outside of the city’s walls. Vivena didn’t think it was the true reason why some of the buildings remained empty.

The Capital, for all its ancient feel, mesmerised her. The streets were very wide and filled with greenery and trees. Clearly, the streets weren’t built with cars in mind. Almost every tree bore fruits, most she couldn’t name.

As they walked away from the palace, the scenery changed; more empty buildings, fewer people and a stronger stench of decay. It looked like most of the attention was poured into the parts of the city around the palace.

No surprise there.

What she found interesting were people and their reaction to her and her casual clothes. They didn’t look surprised or much interested. There were other white people in the place although they followed the local dress code. She and Keynes were the only ones with clothes that had nothing to do with the tribal culture.

It made her wonder because everyone had a dose of curiosity in them. Her presence here should have sparked at least a tiny amount of interest in their eyes. There was nothing.

She was about to ask Haruka about this but something else caught her eye. One of the building’s windows at the ground level had faint runes in the frame. She’d seen runes before many times so it wasn’t something usual except runes were mana-hungry and therefore not practical.

She stopped and after telling Haruka she wanted to investigate the runes, walked over to the building with the glassless windows. No one was around so she peeked inside. The room was dark and empty, with stone walls and a floor with dry leaves scattered all over it. She looked back at the runes. They were faded but their design was complex, indicating an extensive understanding of a runic scripture.

“Who did that and to what purpose?” she asked when Haruka joined her by the window. The two guards kept their distance.

“It’s complicated,” Haruka replied enigmatically, perhaps not wishing to reveal more than he should where the spies from the palace could hear him.

Vivena turned to go but then froze. Something about the runes wasn’t right. To fade like this, the runes would have to be engraved ages ago… How long ago, she couldn’t tell, she wasn’t an expert, but she had a hunch that the runes were as old as the city and the Capital seemed ancient.

“I have an entire day.” She decided to press him for the answer this time.

Haruka wasn’t one to scowl or show displeasure openly but there was a delicate twitch on his face which told her enough.

“The royal family built the city, including the runes. How did they do it or why … I don’t know.”

His answer didn’t make much sense.

“Most of this place looks like overgrown ruins, Haruka. If your ancestors had built it, why has it been so neglected by later generations? Why have they stopped using the runes or how did they use them in the first place?”

Haruka glanced at the guards and then beckoned Vivena to follow him away from the building.

“There are many legends that the Capital was once a paradise with working formations and runes that would make most of your technologies obsolete. According to these legends, every building had a complex array of formations, runes in every window and door. It was… well, it is only a legend. A myth.”

It sounded like one. The whole array thing was only a theory, weak at that. Her family had their share of secrets, mostly related to poisons. And they possessed one of the most powerful formations in existence – the Talent Poison Affinity formation.

Even with their reach, accumulated knowledge and expertise, they knew that arrays were either impossible to create or the current understanding of formations was extremely lacklustre.

She treated the formation arrays the same way she treated stories about ancient empires that supposedly ruled over the world and wielded powers unimaginable to today’s minds.

But still, a question remained – where did these runes come from? Their origin intrigued her.

She pushed the question away though, understanding when to back off. She was in the middle of the mysterious and ancient city with a hostile royal family that possessed the means to eavesdrop on their conversation. She might not care about their wrath that much but she liked Haruka and didn’t want him to get in trouble for this.

As if reading in her mind, ten people in plain white robes approached them, emerging out of several narrow alleys simultaneously. The robes were made from ordinary material but one of the men was Level 3 and so he had to be quite important around here.

“Royal scion,” the man said with reverence. “I can’t help but notice your presence in a forbidden part of the Capital. Please, turn around and head back to the palace.”

Vivena glanced at the two guards, they were looking the other way.

Seems like we reached the extent of the royal hospitality. Unless it was the question about the runes that triggered the appearance of these robed figures. So there must be some ugly secrets the royals don’t want to be seen.

“Who are you?” Haruka asked.

“We are devoted servants of the royal family and our duty is to act in your best interest,” the Level 3 replied. “Therefore, I have to ask you to turn around and return to the palace.”

Yes. It seems so.

“Why?” Haruka frowned, confused. “We are permitted to roam the entire city without limits. If you don’t believe us, ask the guards who follow us.”

“That won’t be necessary. Your guards will confirm my words.”

Haruka beckoned his guards and when they sheepishly approached, to Haruka’s shock, they confirmed it.

“I’m going to take it up with the king,” Haruka said, keeping his voice flat. “What’s the name of the person who’s taking the blame for this?”

“We bear no names. We are the Cult of Shaper.”

***

Vivena and Haruka were on their way to the palace without a word of complaint after the name of the cult had been dropped. Vivena had never seen Haruka so shaken. And she wasn’t in much better shape.

The Cult of Shaper.

Vivena and her family were part of this cult and finding members of the cult at the heart of the World Reserve was something unfathomable. The Cult of Shaper was the domain of the Old Blood families. What was the cult doing here among the tribes?

The cult was something unique. Their role was focused on keeping secrets that could destabilise the world. Vivena didn’t know the full extent of the secrets kept by her family, that would be her grandfather and maybe her father and his siblings, but it told her one thing. If the cult was here, it meant they kept dangerous secrets in the Capital. And judging by the reaction of the guards and Haruka, the cult wielded substantial influence here.

Suddenly, she not only didn’t like the whole idea of the race, but she was also sure that Keynes and she were in grave danger. She grabbed Haruka’s arm and stopped him before they crossed the gate.

“What’s going on? What’s the cult doing here?”

Haruka glanced at her, blinking several times. She made a mistake of revealing the knowledge about the cult. Not many people knew that the wealthiest families in the world belonged to the cult because they were afraid of a boogeyman.

“You heard of the cult?”

Vivena gave him a long, intense look.

“I did.”

“I’m not an expert about the outside world but even I know that the knowledge about the cult is something reserved for the very wealthy. So, my question is: who are you, Vivena?”

She looked around not sensing anyone close but if a spiritual companion floated next to them, she wouldn’t know, not that she’d have told him the truth either way. There was too much risk in revealing her identity, though she’d like to put her hands on the privacy formation Haruka's mother had. It’d open a way to have a more meaningful conversation with Haruka.

“I am no one important, Haruka,” she replied, her voice hushed.

Haruka said nothing to that, his expression dark though. Things were going to take a turn for the worse. She could feel that in her bones.

***

Aurora appeared next to Venarys on one of many balconies overlooking the Capital. Venarys immediately activated the privacy bubble.

“You were right,” Aurora said. “She knows about the cult.”

Venarys pursed her lips. Her being right wasn’t necessarily a good thing in this instance. She pulled her robe tighter around her. This could spell problems. If that outsider girl knew about the cult, it meant she could be a part of one of the Old Blood families. The Capital didn’t need this kind of exposure right now.

“We must find out what family she is part of. I gather she didn’t say.”

“She didn’t. She’s not stupid. And she’s Level 4, Venarys. And from what we know she has some powerful items in her dimensional pouch. Your husband’s plan may not pan out. Even if she isn’t part of any powerful family, individually, she could be too strong for the king’s people to restrain her.”

Venarys understood her retainer’s worry. The System allowed individuals to gain enough power to challenge an army of Level 1s. The current President, and the only person in the solar system to be Level 10, was the most feared person beyond the wall. That was wrong and the reason why the Capital didn’t want to interact with the people from outside the wall.

For ages, the Capital enforced the law that forbade killing other humans and by doing so, they kept the populace at Level 1.

The law itself was ancient and predated the tribes, maybe even the Capital itself. But it was a good law.

Venarys wasn’t privy to her father’s politics but she was aware of plans being developed by the previous king Akarys and the previous president Vichy Ottoman to implement the tribal law outside the World Reserve. She didn’t know what had remained of these plans but she sympathised with that kind of world where everyone would be equal.

The outbreaks rendered that world impossible.

Now, the rise of powerful individuals was inevitable. The Capital needed that Level 3 rift to create their own army of high-level ascenders to even the odds, and the ability to open the hidden door was paramount for the Capital to grow even stronger.

But her husband’s plan, indeed, was risky. Both outsiders had no ordinary resources and strength. If Venarys father and her husband misjudged those two, it’d end fatally for them. If that happened, Venarys didn’t want to go down with them. She needed a contingency plan that would see her on top of either scenario.

“I understand your worries, Aurora, but my father’s decision won’t be changed. Tomorrow, when they come for the girl, observe them but do not intervene. If my father doesn’t have the means to restrain her, we don’t want to be involved in this.”

“You’re talking about…”

Venarys placed her finger on Aurora’s lips and smiled.

“No need to say it aloud. Now, go check on the outsider boy.”