Chapter 15 - The Cat's Cradle

A knock from Arthur's bedroom door ended their quibbling over what was considered honorable in a fight.

"Come in!" Arthur shouted.

The door opened, revealing a nervous Harkon. "L-lord, are you sure I was chosen as your personal guard?"

"You're so silly." Arthur giggled. "Why would I lie about something so easily proven?"

"Ew..." Kyren muttered as he floated a step away from Arthur.

"I-i don't mean to call you a liar, lord. It's just... I don't think I deserve such an honor."

Arthur giggled once more as he grabbed a parchment from the vanity and started scribbling on it. "Decide whether it's an honor after. For now, I just need you to follow me."

"Take this and bring it to the stable." Arthur handed Harkon the parchment. "It's permission to withdraw a mount. I want you to meet me at The Cat's Cradle, but you'll need to hurry and be there before I arrive."

Harkon received the parchment with a confused expression. "Lord?"

"I know it's strange, but I need you to follow my instructions without question, ok?"

"It's for my safety." Arthur added.

Arthur didn't feel the need to fully explain his plan to the kid. If he did, it would likely create more questions than answers.

"Are you expecting a fight?" Harkon asked.

"No, but father always says it's best to be prepared for anything." Arthur gushed out some lie and innocently threw up his fists as if he were ready for a fight.

Harkon smiled and bowed. "Ok, lord. I will meet you at The Cat's Cradle and handle any ne'er-do-wells we meet."

"You can count on me!" He added with gusto before exiting Arthur's bedroom.

Arthur's display appeared to convince him a little too well, and he began to worry whether Harkon would take the danger they may face seriously.

Now alone, Arthur suddenly had a thought and turned back to Kyren. "Can you see how many circles people have?"

"What?" Kyren's brows crumpled. "No, how would I?"

"Well, you're a spirit, and mana cores are something that exists in a spiritual plane, no?"

"Kid, I don't know what you think being a ghost is... Everything looks just the same as when I was alive, and since no one can see another's circles, I can't either."

Arthur pointed to the center of his forehead. "Look into my head."

"Do you really think I haven't accidentally walked through people in the last decade that I spent as a ghost?"

"Sure, but have you ever really paid attention when you did? Or did your vision fade to black for a moment, causing you to instinctively move out of the way?" Arthur asked confidently.

Kyren didn't need to respond. Instead, the answer was evident on his face as he searched his memories.

"Fine, I'll try it." Kyren mumbled in an annoyed tone as he floated over to Arthur before suddenly stopping. "Turn around, kid! I ain't trying to get that close to you're creepy little face!"

Arthur chuckled and did as he was told. Since Kyren didn't exist on the material plane, Arthur didn't feel a thing when Kyren's head phased through his.

"It's just dark like every other damn time I've walked through someone. It's like I told you, kid. It ain't gonna..." Kyren's words trailed off.

Arthur laughed knowingly. "Oh? You're suddenly quiet now. I wonder why?"

Kyren dashed away a few feet and stared at Arthur, clearly annoyed by his words. "Cut the shit, kid. How did you know it would work?"

Arthur laughed again. "It's nothing too mystical, just a very educated guess. The key was that you lost the ability to cultivate when you died. That made me believe there must be some bridge between a physical body and the spiritual plane where mana cores exist.

And since you're a spiritual being that exists on the physical plane, I figured you'd be able to see the bridge or whatever it is that connects them."

Kyren shot him a dirty look. "You knew this whole time?"

"I didn't know anything for sure." Arthur shrugged. "I told you, it was a very educated guess, and until now I didn't have a reason to check. Now tell me what you saw. I'm curious."

Kyren looked at him suspiciously for a moment before relenting. "Like I said, it was just dark. After looking around for a few seconds, I saw some light, and when I moved closer, there it was."

"There what was?" Arthur urged him to continue.

"What do you think? It was your puny little mana core with six rings floating around it."

"So there wasn't a bridge linking them?" Arthur asked, but his question wasn't directed at Kyren. "Hm... I'll put a pin in that for now. All I needed to know was that you could do it."

After confirming that Kyren could see mana cores, Arthur gave him the rundown of his plan before exiting Revan manor. Waiting outside was the carriage he had asked for.

It was elegant as they came considering everyone within the Revan family except Arthur cared deeply about keeping up appearances.

Strangely enough, even though some animals from Earth existed on Nithe, horses didn't; at least if they did, Arthur hadn't seen any in the past thirteen years. Instead, a few creatures seemed to fill the role horses did on Earth.

The various beast of burden used in Nithe were too numerous to list; however, the creature pulling Arthur's carriage was called a ruik.

Its profile was most similar to a deer, except that it stood nearly eight feet tall from its hoof to its crown. It had thin iridescent bone scales that overlapped each other, covering its body and giving the creature a sleek look. In place of antlers, two white horns curved at a ninety-degree angle a few inches from the sides of its disproportionally small head.

They were fairly docile once domesticated. However, according to what Arthur had read about them, ruik were notoriously skittish. That fact made them unsuitable for battle, yet nobles found them pleasing and often used them to draw their carriages despite the risk their skittish nature posed.

Arthur gave his destination to the driver before stepping inside alone. Ghosts couldn't lock themselves in a single position like in movies, so if Kyren was inside, he'd be fighting to stay in one place as the carriage's pace kept changing. Instead, he opted to fly alongside as they made their way to the city.

The Revan estate stood relatively isolated atop a small hill within the walls of the city of Munn. The surrounding land was occupied by opulent guest houses and smaller manors owned by nobles who would frequently visit when the weather grew colder in their own lands.

The collection of sparse high-class housing created a sort of noble district that had a degree of separation from the rest of the densely packed city.

Munn had a population of fifty to sixty thousand people and acted as the capital city of the Revan territory. However, unlike in Earth's medieval period, where large cities were few and far between, the existence of magic on Nithe solved Earth's main population limiter; food.

Thanks to magic, crops could grow twice as big in half as long, and the population in Nithe exploded after its application in agriculture was discovered. Due to that, it wasn't uncommon for a lord's territory to have multiple large cities, especially in regions where the weather was warmer, like Revan.

Arthur stared out the carriage window as it traveled across Munn's cityscape. Scores of people shot past his view, moving about their day here and there as the sounds of city life pervaded his carriage.

He wasn't sure where The Cat's Cradle was within the city, but the driver's instant recognition when he mentioned the name told Arthur that it was a reasonably popular tavern. At least it appeared so as far as the staff within Revan manor was concerned.

Thanks to the crowded streets, it took about fifteen minutes to reach his destination. Once the carriage stopped, Arthur stepped out into the ever-present humid heat he so despised. After exhaling an annoyed sigh, he told the driver to park the carriage down the street and wait there.

The tavern was easy to spot thanks to the signboard hanging over its doorway in the shape of a thin black cat. It was situated on a relatively quiet side street with a few closed-up shops surrounding it. The street itself was void of people except for a couple tanned laborers walking by.

It was only an hour past noon, so the emptiness of the street wasn't too strange, considering the area appeared to cater to the city's nightlife. Yet, for some reason, Arthur didn't see Harkon waiting outside the tavern as he was ordered to do.

He looked toward Kyren who was floating nearby and nodded before walking toward The Cat's Cradle. Despite his calm exterior, Arthur's heart was pounding like a drum as he reached for the tavern's swing door.

Once inside, Arthur stopped and looked around like the curious child he appeared to be. There were about twenty tables inside, yet only one was occupied. The four men occupying it stared at Arthur with confused expressions as he pretended to search underneath each table like he was looking for something.

"The big guy's a third circle, and the barkeeps a fourth." Kyren announced.

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