Three hours had passed since the start of their journey.
The Second ring was massive—perhaps even larger than the First. Every barracks in this region had been strategically positioned across the twenty states under its authority. Of the Empire's fifty-four states, twenty-four lay within the First Ring.
Twenty occupied the Second, and the remaining ten were split—five controlled by the Imperial Families for private endeavors, and five tucked away in the enigmatic Third Ring.
Marcus had been deployed to the Nile—an outgrowth of Eawan and two other First Ring states. Like all the Second Ring states, Nile housed its own regional Mansion Palace—a branch of the headquarters stationed deep within the Third Ring.
Despite the silence during the journey, Marcus wasn't nervous, he had battled his nerves earlier. Earlier, he had been thinking about the mission too much and it had affected his mental state. So he forced himself to forget about the mission and returned to self-studying Runes.
Instead, he shut his eyes and turned inward, diving back into the sea of knowledge he had drawn from Logan's books. To his surprise, the information surfaced easily. Every passage, every Prime, every nuanced interpretation—all came back to him with clarity.
And that familiarity grounded him.
Marcus was careful not to visualize anything. As he was now aware that it could cause unwanted commotion. But that didn't stop him from deriving interpretations from the Alphonic Primes he had learned.
While doing this, he found himself wondering how one had come upon Alphonic Primes. Who had created and compiled the Primes? And if the Alphonic Primes were the actual universal language of the world, or if it was something else.
The thoughts spiraled for a time before he pulled himself back. I'm not ready to answer any of that yet. I need more knowledge. More understanding.
Marcus could tell that delving into those questions would make him deviate from the path he was on, and so he avoided it.
Up front, Keeyah had been a bit worried for Marcus, and from time to time, she glanced in the mirror to see what he was doing.
At first, after seeing that his eyes had been closed for a while, she thought he was asleep, however, seeing as his hands moved around subtly, as though he was drawing lines in the air, she figured that he was thinking about runes.
Even Charlotte had noticed this.
What if… what if I combine Irregular Primes with standard ones? Marcus mused. Do I still get the same Prime with the same or similar meaning, or something entirely different? Or do they collapse entirely?
The moment this thought crystallized, something inside him expanded—like a gate creaking open in the recesses of his mind. His mental stat ticked upward once more.
Both Keeyah and Charlotte could sense this. The two of them exchanged a glance, a quiet understanding passing between them. Neither spoke, but the weight of Marcus's growing presence lingered in the air.
About half an hour later, the silhouette of the Western Mansion's Palace comes into view. And unlike the Eastern Mansion's Palace, Division-B wasn't close to any cities. If anything, they were far off from civilization.
From afar, the loud dings of metal being pummeled were heard. Each ding came with a tremble on the earth's surface. The sound of this woke Marcus up from his thoughts and he soon came to see what the place was like.
The barracks of Division-B, Western Palace, stood like a fortress carved from dark marble and sun-scorched iron—in a low, wide, and brutal architecture. Unlike the elegance and serene scenery of the Eastern Mansion's Palace, this place exuded a militant silence. Broken by the distant echo of metal clashing against others.
As they got closer, Marcus realized that there were no banners, no ornamental sigils—only the insignia of the Division etched into stone walls like a scar.
Every corner was being monitored.
He also noticed that the soldiers on patrol were all looking at the vehicle that they were in, recognizing its status.
From the entrance to the buildings and their occupants, Marcus could tell that this place wasn't a welcoming one. Nexus's voice seemed to echo in his mind, telling him to show no fear.
The vehicle slowed to a halt before the massive gates, where heavily armed officers stepped forward. They didn't waste time. The sigil on the vehicle made its status clear.
As though the officers at the gate had informed the rest within the barracks, soldiers of different ranks assembled in full formation across the parade grounds. High Examiners, Commanders, Enforcers, down to the newest recruits—each one stood at rigid attention, eyes forward, backs straight and their expressions neutral.
They stood in line, stiff and expressionless, like programmed robots. Waiting for the guest of honor to come down from the car.
Soon, Keeyah parked to the side before turning off the engine. She was the first to get off.
Marcus was just about to open the door when Charlotte stopped him. "Your rank is above ours… act like it." She warned him, right before stepping out of the car herself.
Then Keeyah walked to the other side of the car to open the door for Marcus. Immediately the door opened, all the soldiers on the parade ground stopped at attention, creating the illusion that they moved as one.
I can't believe I'm being treated like this as an Iron Marshal.
While he felt this level of respect and turnout was enjoyable, it felt bitter to him as he was certain that they weren't doing it because he deserved it, but because they respected the sigil on the car.
He took a deep breath, stabilized his emotions and expression, before stepping out of the car.
"Salute! To the Imperial Armature!!" The moment he stepped out, the highest-ranking officer, on the parade ground, commanded.
"Salute!" The thousands of soldiers chorused at once as they raised their hands to their heads.
A wall of sound hit Marcus like a tidal wave—powerful enough to shake the bones, clear the mind, and silence ghosts.
Marcus felt it difficult to contain himself. He wanted to leave the area as his heart was shaken by their voice.
From their narrowed eyes and subtle frowns, he could tell that many were already questioning who he was. Doubting him.
"Bring out the medal and show it to them, before saying anything," Keeyah said in a low voice.
Doing as she said, Marcus raised the medal, and said;
"At ease," he commanded with a firm voice, though it lacked the weight that the medal carried for him.
Upon seeing this medal, every soldier who began doubting his validity refrained from doing so. Seeing the medal was like seeing the Imperial Armature himself.
Following Marcus's command, they stood at ease, all at the same time. Their legs struck the ground, raising dust and crushing gravel beneath their feet.