Shades of the New World

At the top of the Cataract, Evin could feel the superiority of the Ivari. Just by looking down on the vast lands of the kingdom from four kilometers high above, he could confidently say that a war between the West and the North would never happen. Or at least, it would never be declared from the kingdom's side. It would be such a doomed war from the start, no one would want to bother with it even if the Empress promised a seat beside her divine throne for their victory.

And it wasn't even a problem of topography, the Northerners weren't a bunch of weaklings in combat either. So with such heavy disadvantages, the Kingdom's side was doomed to lose from the beginning. It felt almost refreshing, since everyone could confidently say that they will lose.

It felt the same as having too much debt. Most people had some sort of debt to a bank and it amounted between 1000 to 5000 dollars. And those people lived in constant stress and worry, since one or two missed paychecks would be enough to destroy their livelihood. But if they ever manage to accrue millions in debt, the number starts making less and less sense to the person and they stop caring about it, eventually.

Evin sighed and followed the group towards a building at the end of the stairs. There was something written on it in Northern and under it, "Customs house" was written in Imperial. Evin felt that the building was there just as a formality, or strictly for commoners, or the people who wanted to go through the proper procedure, since there were a thousand ways a mage could just go around it.

Evin shook his head and entered the building after the others. A large old man was sitting behind a counter, his teeth gnashing on a hard, brown jerky. There were pieces of meat stuck on his grey beard and a slight tint of red painted his cheeks. He also had a ram shaped purple horn on top of his head.

Seeing Ssatsko, the man harrumphed unhappily.

"Damn sly wolf, how many years do you need to come visit me once? You either come to take missions for the Tribe or you just come for the Horn Ceremony for your grandchildren," the old man bellowed and went up to give Ssatsko a pat on the back.

The full size of the man was enormous. He easily stood a head taller than Ssatsko, who had a thin, but tall and fit build.

"You expect too much," Ssatsko replied and gave him a pat in reply.

Evin could see that his grandfather was struggling to reach the giant man's shoulders.

"These your brat's brats? What's with the cat? One of your kids don't want to part with their pet?" the man asked after eyeing the rest of the entourage.

"The black-haired one is. His name's Eviendra, Evin for short," Ssatsko said, but a loud laugh interrupted his introduction.

"Puhahah, a wise drakeling in our little customs house, huh? Never thought I'd see one in the flesh!" the man laughed with tears appearing at the edge of his eyes.

Evin could only shrug with resignation. Perhaps it would be best to not introduce himself as Eviendra in the North.

Ssatsko continued the introduction after the man calmed down.

"Arza over there is Theor's friend's son. Rith is actually a Cosmic, who was sent to monitor Evin"

Hearing the true nature of the Cosmic, a worried look appeared on the man's face.

"Ah, sorry for calling you a cat and a pet. These eyes of mine seem to have been failing over the years. I go by Purzo Lokan, I'm an old army comrade of Ssatsko here." an unnaturally polite voice appeared from the man's mouth.

"Don't worry, it is difficult to tell, since I'm not a pureblooded Cosmic," Rith reassured the man.

"Well, let's get you registered. Even though it's not absolutely necessary, it will surely make your life in the North much more comfortable," Purzo said amiably.

Evin didn't really feel it due to his close friendship with the Cosmics, but most people regarded the Cosmics as something unreachable or untouchable to them. Especially so for ones who lived in the countryside and never had a chance to go to big cities, or more populated areas. Evin found the giant man's panicked expression quite amusing.

The group received their new identification papers with their names and details written neatly on them by Purzo. Evin found it impressive how the man managed to write so adeptly with those fingers as big as Evin's hands, while also a bit tipsy with some ale as well.

The group was not in a hurry, so they decided to stay in the customs house for a bit longer, so Ssatsko could catch up with his old friend for a while. Purzo gradually went back to his normal personality, and his loud laughs filled the customs house once again.

Arza seemed to like the big man very much and wanted to stay at the post for a little more as well. Evin on the other hand was sitting in a dark corner feeling out the new World Sprites in his shadow.

He could easily will the World Sprites to assist with his Dark World's workings, and the cute little things seemed to like helping Evin as well. They were a bit afraid of the sudden brightness of the world outside the dark cavern and were a bit shy at first. But since they were vaguely connected with Evin's mind, they understood that the bright lights weren't harmful to them, so they could more easily get used to the new environment, and their fears soon turned into curiosity.

A similar situation was happening with the Black Blood inside Evin. The boy would randomly feel the urge to hide, or run because the blood found something that felt dangerous to its host. A good example would be the giant man that was sitting inside the house.

The blood's instincts told him that big enemies were strong enemies, so it was reluctant to get near such a mighty foe. The instinct inside the Blood was the same as a newborn cub, so it had to learn a lot of new things on its journey with Evin. Evin didn't know why the blood of a Beast Lord would be this timid, but the reasons were for his own safety.

The Vulpine Mother made sure to clean every bit of her own personality from the Blood, as the chances of a Blood with her will inside taking over Evin was so high it wasn't even funny. Especially so for her, since she was a Beast Lord proficient in the World of Thoughts.

But ignoring its timidness, it was still a very useful thing to have for Evin. He could tell that the presence of the blood did wonders to calm the World Sprites and made it much easier for them to acclimatize to their new environment. It seemed to passively increase Evin's affinity with the Dark World as well.