Chapter 364: The Missing City: Part 2

“Sure.” Tenko Kasumi nodded as she took huge steps forward. Lin Sheng quickly followed behind and the two quickly disappeared into the thick mist.

As just as the two disappeared, two men, one tall one short arrived slowly at where Lin Sheng originally stood.

Of the duo, one was an old, hunching man, while another was a well-mannered, bespectacled man with the air of a university lecturer.

“They had actually come here…” The old man looked slightly aghast as he looked at the thick mist before him, fear was apparent in his voice.

“What’s wrong, sir?” the younger man asked.

“This is not a place for normal people. A few days back, thousands of troops sent here for the lockdown by the three hidden realms had all disappeared without a trace in single night.

While we had immediately deployed and announced that we would be taking over this matter, but the upper echelons knew very well that this was just a method to increase our power and the fear we inspire.

But we did not do this. Even for a Palatinate would run into trouble here unless they are an all-rounder.” The old man frowned.

“Then, do we enter, sir?” The younger man asked, his voice was slightly tensed.

“Have you brought the device?”

“Yes. The latest model.” The younger man pulled a palm-size notebook from his coat, and the moment he flipped it open, it revealed a series of intricate buttons and a digital screen.

He quickly pressed a few buttons, but the reaction from the notebook disappointed him. The screen simply lit up for a bit before dimming quickly, and went inert.

“No use?” The old man sighed.

“Yes, sir.” The younger man nodded.

“Forget it, let the PIC wait outside, we’ll follow them inside.” The old man pondered for a moment before deciding.

It took him so much effort to locate that Marked one, and if he escapes again, it would be nothing but trouble.

This person could after all take out a six-wing elite from the organization. And it pays to be cautious went going up against a six-wing.

“Yes, sir.” The younger man responded.

“What troublesome runt. You better pray you don’t fall into my hands.” The old man took a step forward as a gleam of violent intent flashed through his eyes as he made his way towards the town.

…

…

Thane and his team had already been trapped inside this mist for three whole days.

They were backpackers who had simply just stumbled upon the place from the forest. And since they entered this misty place, all of their electronic devices no longer worked, much to their horror.

And what more, no many how they tried to head out of the place, they could not seem to leave the town’s perimeters.

Left without any recourse, they could only find a wide, unknown house in the town and lived inside it.

They had brought along plenty of food, especially those high energy compact food. With some scavenging they managed to hold on.

But their remaining foods stock would only last them another two days, and if they do not leave this place soon, they would all soon starve.

“Thane, I’ve went to the end of the street, the mist is even thicker there.” His fellow backpacker Eanna said calmly as they stood inside a hall-like room.

“No worries if we cannot find a way out. I have seen traces of human activity earlier. There is definitely a way out, the tracks are fresh.

Thane said as he wet a towel with water and cleaned his face with it.

“I had went to the mayor’s place. There’s nothing valuable there. This place seemed to have been abandoned for a long while now.” Another member, Varian said.

“Is that so? Then I guess we’ll have to look at another place then?” Thane said rather helplessly as he put down the towel.

“Okay, I’ll go and have a look at the houses beside the mayor’s place tomorrow.” Varian said.

“Our food stock is low, we gotta find a way out soon.” Thane said as he checked the number of energy bars left in his back. There were five left.

“At the rate we are going, this will last us another two and a half days.”

He started to worry. This was the last of his team’s food.

“Ah screw it. I’ll go around to have a look. Perhaps I could find some clues on how to leave this god forsaken place.” He stood up and grabbed the hunting rifle lying on the side of the chair, and stepped out.

“Wait for me here and rest up. I’ll be fine alone.” As the team captain, there were things that he needed to do himself.

“Alright.”

“Sure.”

The two team members replied.

Thane turned open the door knob and saw the thickening mist outside. He then stepped out without much hesitation.

And the door slowly closed by itself.

The mist inside the house slowly faded, and the house was empty.

Aside from Thane, there were no one else. Not even Varian or Eanna.

…

…

Within the mist, the old man walked calmly along the town’s street as his student -the well-mannered young man- followed closely behind.

Around them, a shapeless ward pushed away the mist around them.

“You have already reached the limit of a five-wing, and it’s time you should learn about things at a higher level.” The old man said as he walked.

“The questions you had last time, I have time to answer now. This mist has a certain sealing properties to it, and the two will not be able to escape.”

The young man looked at the warded off mist, as he suppressed his apprehensions about the place.

The moment he heard his master, he was elated as he finally have the opportunity to ask the questions about the transcendent knowledge that he had been meaning to learn.

“Thank you, sir.” He said respectfully.

The old man smiled as he continued walking with his hands at his back while searching the town.

“Your question from before, about what sort of existence a Palatinate is, and if we have any particular defining traits or markings of strength?”

“This question, is well asked.” The old man paused as he looked down at the footprints on the ground, and followed on.

“A Palatinate is an existence that had condensed his own strength, his own dark powers to the limit, and then activating the positive soul energy from within, thus achieving balance, and becoming the Tidal Gate.”

The Tidal Gate, can be separated into four levels, from big to small, from strong to weak. The Afterglow, Ashenlight, Witchlight, and Dawnmoon.

The size of the Tidal Gate, and the level of resilience of it determines how much power and strength a Palatinate could connect to and unleash from the Eventide.

This is the real point of the Palatinate, and once you have made contact with the Sea of Consciousness, you must try your best to create a larger, stronger Tidal Gate.”

“Then sir, how big is your Tidal Gate? The young man asked, unable to suppress his curiosity.

“This question, I’m not able to answer you, nor am I willing to.” The old man smiled wryly. “Right, do you know what the Palatinates are called in the other world?”

“What are they called?”

The old man lowered his voice, as he looked at the appearing figure in front of him.

“The Nyxian.”

“The upper echelon of the Darksiders are called the Nyxian. From the Afterglow to the Dawnmoon, each other them represents the four main levels of the Ashen World, and at the same time, four different levels of powerful monsters.”