Chapter 5 (In the hall of Weizzas)

“So, you’ve told me that you are the experienced one. Right? So you might have gone inside that base. I hope your experience is better than mine,” Zeya asked the girl, Saw Nan Mon.

“Two of my companions died, and I was the only one who came outside alive,” the girl replied in a cold and deep voice. Zeya knew his words had gone too far.

“Oh, I’m sorry for your..” he said.

“Sorry for what? That was in the past. I don’t care about that now,” the girl interrupted.

Despite her having said that, her face showed sorrow.

“Umm, Alright… Can you tell me more about how these monk bandits got so powerful? I have been away from Ava for the past three years. Things changed a lot when I got back.” Zeya asked her. The girl stared at him and said, “You were somewhere off this world, right?”

“Yeah… How did you know?”

“By looking at your strange manners. Anyway, let me tell you how these things started. One night three years ago, many people from Ava saw a red light falling from the sky. And people went crazy on this. Astrologists said it was a sign that the current king, Narapati, would abdicate and bring bad luck to Ava. In my honest opinion, Ava is now in its final moments. The Government officers are corrupt, the Shan are becoming dangerously strong, and Taungoo declared its independence last year. All the king, Narapati, has done is squander people’s money while building a massive palace,”

“Oh….” Zeya exclaimed as he knew things had changed a lot in Ava while he had gone. The girl continued her words,

“Anyway, after the red star falling event, the conditions became worse as people thought it was a prophecy of Ava collapse. But a month after that, a strange monk gains increasing popularity in Ava. One by one, people told his story. He has eyes of different sizes and does many things relative to so-called alchemy. Some say that he’s the manifestation of Aizzagawna,”

“Wait, Aizzagawna, isn’t the wizard monk from the legends?” Zeya asked.

(Note* Aizzagawna is a legendary monk who is said to be able to make gold rain from the sky with his philosopher’s stone.)

“Yeah, just like the one from the myths, he made some so-called philosopher’s stones. These stones are said to cure diseases and make metals like iron turn into gold. Some even said these stones are giving him immortality. Here’s an example of the metal turned into gold,”

Saw Nan Mon hand Zeya a piece of gold-like metals. Zeya looked at it suspiciously. He thought he had seen these metals from somewhere else.

"Those are fake golds,"

"Yes, that's why I've said Aizzagawna is doing so-called Alchemy… Wait!! What's that on your chest?"

"What…"

Zeya looked at his chest and saw a glowing figure of an ankh appearing from it. It shone for a couple of seconds and then disappeared.

"What is that thing?" Saw Nan Mon asked in a surprised manner.

"It is the ankh… I got my power by touching it."

"Wait, Ankh !! Did you get your power from that figure? I thought you were just an ordinary Weizza (Wizard, Mystic)"

"It's such a long story."

“Umm... Where did you get that power?”

Saw Nan Mon looked so excited and surprised. And Zeya had no ideas to explain to her about space and astronomy. He knew a random witch girl like Saw Nan Mon knew nothing about astronomy. Zeya pointed to the third star of Orion and said,

“ I got it from land near that star,”

“Land near that star? I don’t understand,” the girl looked confused.

“ Yes, Madam, it’s confusing. You need to know about advanced astronomy. You need to know that the stars and the suns of faraway places and there are worlds (Zeya tried his best to explain to her about space. Instead of using the word “planet” ( ဂြိုဟ်), he used “worlds” ( ကမ္ဘာ) as it was a well-known word) Saw Nan Mon looked confused but also willing to learn more.

“Ok, what you said was confusing because I knew nothing about astronomy. But I know some people who would understand this. Now, let me take you to them,” she said. Zeya was a bit surprised by her words. Then, Saw Nan Mon sat on the ground and drew some shapes. After that, she drew a big circle and said, “Don’t go away from this circle!” Zeya agreed.

Suddenly, lights appeared from the circle, blocking all the views of the surroundings. Zeya felt like he was in an elevator. And when the lights were gone, he and Saw Nan Mon were in a large hall. Large pillars supported the hall and oil lamps were hanging from the ceiling. Despite many oil lamps placed there, there are many dark corners where the light doesn’t reach. Zeya couldn’t tell clearly how wide this place was. “Come,” said Saw Nan Mon. She grabbed a lamp and guided him to a dark place.

There he saw several middle-aged and old-aged people sitting and chatting on their chairs. These people include the one with a tigerish humanoid appearance to the one who looks like an old hermit. Buddhist monks were also there. They all look somehow weird in Zeya’s sight.

“Hey, Weizzas and guardians!! The boy here went inside the base of Aizzagawna and came out alive,” Saw Nan Mon said. All of their attention got to Zeya. “Which kind of Weizza is he?” one asked. “That’s complicated,” Saw Nan Mon said.

“Hey boy, you look so young. What type of Weizza are you? An Inn Weizza (A wizard who uses Mandalas),” one asked.

“No”

“A medicine Weizza?” Another asked

“No,”

“A mercury Weizza?” “An Iron Weizza?” “A yogi?” One by one, the Weizzas asked. “No. No. None of them, I got power by touching an ankh!” Zeya said.

“Ankh, what the hell is even that!!. Saw Nan Mon, what the hell do you take to our great hall of Weizzas!! This is not kids’ playground!” the one with a tigerish humanoid appearance said. Zeya was furious for degrading him at the meet, so he used his power and lifted that Tiger man.

“Huh, What are you doing!! Let me go!!” said the Tiger Man, but Zeya didn’t. The Weizzas were surprised. Some even prepared for an attack.

“Boy, release him. I want to ask you about the ankh,” the old hermit told Zeya in a calming and authority voice. Zeya initially freed the tiger man.

“Good boy, now come with me,”

Thanks you for reading this long part till end.

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