The Elemental Relics

“Instructor Juraj,” said Ali, “what is this?”

The teenager was just handed a thick volume by his instructor. He had never read something so long and a brief flip revealed that each page contained more words he thought were possible. On the cover, the book said the words “Cheudal.” The word sounded familiar but Ali couldn’t recall where or when he last heard of it.

“Cheudal is the lightning nation. We will spend the rest of the week going through that entire book.”

“A week…on this?”

While Ali was confident in his reading skills, he doubted his ability to get through the volume in such a short time. He recalled Juraj mentioning a technique called speed reading but he hadn’t come close to mastering it.

“There’s little choice on the matter,” said Juraj who offered an understanding look. “After a week, your group will be sent to Cheudal for your first mission as C rankers.”

“First mission? Then why do I need to read this entire book?”

“Cheudal has a very complicated political situation. The more knowledgeable you are, the better your survival rate in the upcoming mission. Let’s begin with the establishment of the Cheudal nation. Before the nation was unified, there were four major powers vying for control. For nearly a century, the four powers were equal in strength and none of them could come ahead. Eventually, one power won through both military conquest and other methods in the shadows to establish Cheudal. Even the formation of Cheudal has been a bloody affair and history is destined to repeat itself.”

Juraj showed Ali a few maps of the borders changing drastically as soon as the balance tipped greatly in favor of the dominant power. The region went from four roughly equal sized territories to one territory absorbing large chunks of other territories until only one remained. The instructor then brought out a portrait of a powerful looking man with white hair and sharp eyes.

“This is Emperor Teja I. He was the one who unified the nation and became the most powerful man in the region.” Juraj then brought out a portrait of an old man who looked deathly ill. “Teja I is no longer the young man who held absolute control in Cheudal. He’s barely hanging onto life as his death is forecasted to happen in the next few weeks or so.”

“So we will see a bloody succession dispute?” asked the teenager.

“Correct! The political landscape in the nation is creating the perfect storm, especially when the current successor to Teja I is an imbecile.”

“Im…imbecile? How does an imbecile obtain power?”

“This imbecile is Teja II and his mother has maneuvered through politics and intrigue expertly. Last we heard, the mother got many of her family and relatives into powerful positions to solidify their control over the capital. They are ready to seize the throne while the other princes couldn’t do much other than watch Teja II ascend the throne.”

How does the Dark Cult gather so much intelligence? It’s terrifying what they know and how quickly they can act on it.

“The other princes won’t sit idly while this is happening. They’ll look to seize the throne for themselves.”

“That’s why we are sending a lot of our rankers to the different factions in Cheudal. You will all infiltrate and perform tasks that can benefit the Dark Cult. You don’t necessarily need to be part of the winning faction, though it wouldn’t hurt if you gain favor that you can use in the future. Given how quickly the situation can change, you need to be adaptable and learning the political landscape will aid you in that regard.”

Having been persuaded that this was the best course of action, Ali requested to borrow the book so he could do additional reading in his room. With his request accepted, Ali focused the remainder of his week in absorbing as much of the book as he could. While he couldn’t possibly memorize all the details, he figured that getting the gist of everything would be sufficient. He was also more and more fearful as he read about the princes and their respective factions. All the factions respected strength, whether one wielded through military might or through intrigue performed in the shadows.

This succession dispute will be far bloodier than I had imagined.

After learning all that, Ali found motivation to work even harder. He had Tian push his limits as he forced himself to master the levitating walls in time for the mission. Once conflict arose in Cheudal, there would be plenty of powerful opponents operating in the field. Recalling the strong foes he hid against in the forest when he was still part of the liberation army, Ali understood that he still wasn’t strong enough. One slight misstep and all of them would be dead.

“Tian, let’s keep going! My current self isn’t close to being good enough.”

Tian was initially the attacker while Ali focused on his defenses. As he grew more accustomed to his new ability, the teenager requested some teamwork training. He had wanted to actively summon and unsummon his walls to provide cover to Tian while the air serpent was on the move. That proved to be too ambitious and Tian had the misfortune of crashing into the walls repeatedly.

“Maybe it’s too soon for us to master that,” said Ali.

Ali then went for something simpler like concealing the movement of his air serpent. During close combat, he would summon his walls to block his opponent from seeing Tian’s approach. Such a scenario would guarantee the air serpent catching the opponent off guard. While it wouldn’t be ideal for an opponent to even get that close, Ali didn’t exactly have a reliable way of holding his foes at a distance. His walls, while useful, had very limited coverage. As seen during his training, the wall was better for fending off smaller attacks than keeping individuals at bay. His best defense was still keeping a safe distance from his foe and doing his best to fend off his foes from a safe distance.

“Once we reach Cheudal, we need to be ready for anything.”