As our chariot took us further east into the Zalethi Kingdom, many sights were granted to us.
We passed through one of the lesser cities, named Fortunus. It was a large settlement, though nowhere near the grandeur of Truest, the capital.
Travelling further east meant that we made our way away from the border of the two lands. The further east we went, the further away from the battlefields we were.
However, with every meter our chariot covered, the closer we came to a new danger. One that breathed danger into our land, without many of us knowing.
"Do you want to know what I've always wondered, Vale?" Princess Rain asked, breaking the momentary silence.
To my surprise, the princess was more talkative than one would expect. I didn't mind or anything, however, I still was having trouble figuring out how to approach our conversations.
Before I could even respond, she continued.
"The Zalethi are afraid of being pushed further east, as eventually, we would end up at the edge of the land, Hades. If this is such a threat to us, then why do we not just conquer Hades itself? Surely, the land would be inhabitable after we rid it of its dangers."
It was a stance I hadn't heard before, and at first, I had to consider it. But it only took a few moments for me to come up with an answer.
"Perhaps we could live in Hades, and maybe the Ordenians would leave us alone if we chose to. But in a way that would be surrender. Accepting that the war was already lost."
Rain considered my words for a few moments rubbing at her chin in thought.
I imagined that she knew more than anybody why we couldn't just live in Hades. After all, her father was the man who made all of the decisions in the war.
Perhaps she was just testing me?
If so, did I pass, or fail?
Rain gave no immediate answer to my question. In fact, there was only one more conversation we had during the journey.
"Excuse my abruptness Vale, but I must ask. Why have you already awakened your second seal?" The princess pointed out inquisitively. The question caught me off guard, as I had no idea how these people could tell what tier I was at.
"I killed a Blightcursed in the forest. It was entirely a battle determined by luck, but I was somehow able to awaken"
"Truly?" She responded, now surprised herself. "A Blightcursed managed to escape the Executioners?"
Now that the girl mentioned it, I realised that she was right.
The Executioners were a group of awakened whose sole purpose was to travel the land and slay all Blightcursed before they could cause any danger. Assuming the Blightcursed came from a nearby settlement, there should've been an executioner posted there, keeping an eye on things.
It was a strange event, but I could hardly complain. After all, it had led to my awakening.
But now, I had a question of my own.
"How can you sense what seal I've awakened?"
Rain looked at me with a raised eyebrow.
"The knights didn't explain to you? Oh, perhaps they assumed that you already knew since you were at the second seal... No worries, I can teach you."
With a proud smile on her face, Rain explained to me the process of 'Sensing'.
It was a simple technique, one that I could have figured out myself with a bit of trial and error.
All who had awakened carried blight in their core. Naturally, the blight drawn into your core is slowly pushed from your body and out into the world, before then being replaced with new blight. This process is called filtering, and although Rain could not give a detailed explanation of it, it seemed that the body did it to purify and strengthen the blight it retained.
The more powerful one's core was, the more refined the blight that was seeped into the air was. If an awakened was around another awakened and focused, they could sense the blight filtering from the others core.
Instantly, I tried this process out on Rain with her permission.
I was expecting her to surprise me. Perhaps she was like me, someone who had prematurely awakened and was already ahead of others our age.
But as I sensed the blight around her, I could tell that it had only passed through a single seal of her core.
She was still a first seal awakened.
Rain went on to warn me of sensing the blight of those stronger than me. Not only could it give me a mental shock, but it could also physically damage my body if I wasn't ready.
I could only imagine that she knew first-hand; since she was in the capital, she must have always been around powerful figures.
I wanted to ask her about her father. About the knights of the sky. I wanted to know if she had known Ryder Burst, or perhaps some of the other awakened spoken about in tales and legends.
But before we knew it, the scenery around us began to change.
The sky darkened, though, in the distance, we could still see the sun. It was a strange phenomenon and a sign.
A sign that we were had entered Hades. The land of Forever Darkness.
The green grass beneath our chariot slowly started to fade and become colourless, as did the trees and other forms of nature around us.
All that held colour slowly faded to black and white as clouds began to loom over our heads, and a deserted field stretched out ahead of us.
Our chariot pulled itself to a stop, as a sound echoed in the distance. It was an inhumane sound, similar to that of a shriek. I struggled to keep my body from shivering.
"We're here." Rain suddenly announced, her usual joyful voice now solemn.
At the same time, the knights called out to us.
"We'll take you no further, Kids. In a week, we will come and collect you from this exact spot, ready to take you to the capital. Hopefully, by then, you will be the second seal—"
"You idiot." The other knight cut in. "The pink-haired kid is already the second seal, and the princess hardly needs the usual speech. "
The hammer wielder climbed down from his seat and opened the doors of the chariot for us. Rain stepped out first, and I followed afterwards.
A cold wind whipped against my skin, sending chills through my body.
"Hades is an important place." The knight continued. "Not just for awakening your next seal, but also for preparing yourself for danger. The land of Forever Darkness is dangerous, but it's still nothing compared to the battlefields, where Saints clash with Saints."
Me and Rain listened intensely, and I noticed the woman wore a smile of amusement on her freckled face.
"Spend this week gaining strength. Familiarise yourself with your cores and use Blight. No one who enters Hades will leave as the same person. Survive this trial, and you will return to us anew."
It was the most serious that the Hammer-wielding knight had spoken to us during the entire time. His words set the tone of our situation, making it seem like a legendary quest.
"Do you understand?".
"Yes!" We responded in unison.
The knights looked at us one last time, before nodding their heads and returning to their chariots.
They told us to be safe one last time, and although the words held good intentions, they only made me more anxious.
As we were about to step into the unknown, where dangers beyond our imaginations lurked.