"Let me teach you a bit about this world," Favia said.
"Lucens that can regenerate limbs are rare. Even if a Lucen is powerful, they can't heal someone unless their Crest of Light gives them regenerative power."
Caelen already knew that—Idel had told him the same thing. But still, there were plenty in Yria who could heal limbs. He'd seen it with his own eyes.
"You're thinking about the Lucens in Yria, aren't you?"
That irritated him. She'd read him like a book.
"Hehe, you're too easy to read. That's why I said you were sheltered. Yria isn't the standard. Not even close.
Even most barbarians outside the capital live differently from you. Remember the ones chasing my hoverbike?
They're a lot closer to the real barbarians than you are. Of course, they are also not the perfect example."
"There's no way that's true. I might've grown up in Yria, but I've seen other cities too. And I spent the last three years in a village."
"Sorry to burst that bubble," she said, not unkindly, "but that was probably your parents' doing.
If it weren't for their influence, you wouldn't have been sent to a village that far south.
The southern part of Continent Elure is the safest. If you'd lived in one of the northern villages, you might've cried."
Caelen clenched his fists. He wanted to argue—but he didn't really know if she was wrong. Also, she didn't seem like lying.
Favia kept going. "Being sheltered isn't necessarily a bad thing. The barbarian kids in Yria are usually the strongest, thanks to better training and resources. But they don't know the world.
And Lucens that can regenerate limbs? They don't exist outside Yria anymore. Do you know why?"
Caelen shook his head.
"Because the barbarians killed every last one of them. And the Lucens disappeared since they don't have a nation anymore."
---
The war had dragged on for nearly fifty years. Most nations managed to endure, but one couldn't.
Lumina, the nation of the Lucens.
It fell after standing alone for twenty years.
With little offensive power, the Lucens were never equipped to face the barbarians by themselves.
And the barbarians had made sure no one could come to their aid. Many believed they used enslaved magi to create the plans to isolate the nations from one another.
In the end, Lumina was gone, and nearly all the Lucens were wiped out. All except those captured and taken by the barbarians.
---
Caelen didn't like being injured—sure. But as a barbarian, he didn't have a problem injuring others.
Not that he would strike down anyone he saw. Still, some kind of anger was growing against barbarians in his heart.
This was because he had a mind, and he could deduce the unsaid parts.
For instance, what was happening to newborns born with the Crest of Light?
He hadn't asked, mostly because he wasn't sure he could handle the answer.
But he had plenty of guesses.
One, in particular, came to him like cold water: those children were raised like livestock, kept under watch until they turned fifteen.
Only then, once their crests fully activated, did the barbarians decide what to do with them, based on whether or not they had regenerative power.
There is no way they don't know this.
His family sat high in the hierarchy. Even if they didn't hold official power, even top military officers wouldn't dare go against them.
They were also old enough to know what had started the war. There was no way they weren't aware of things like this—no, even worse things than these.
"Ah, seems like we veered off topic." Favia broke the silence. "You don't need to overthink it. None of this is new. That's why we're trying to end the war."
She gestured around. "Anyway, this is Elarith-17. And what I'm about to tell you is a big secret. I'm trusting you with it because Oras accepted you.
If you ever share this with someone untrustworthy, Elarith-17 will fall. Everyone inside will die."
Caelen felt his stomach twist. The weight of that responsibility settled hard in his chest.
But he had to shoulder it. After all, the secret he was already carrying—the one about the crystal fragments—was heavier.
"As you know, the magi stopped Elarith's invasion. No matter how strong the barbarians are, magi aren't weak.
If things were fair, we'd win every time. But the conditions weren't equal. That's why the magi had to retreat to the safest part of Elarith, sacrificing a big part of the nation.
But it made defense easier. And even now, it is standing. But we wouldn't just stand there, always defending.
So, we built cities like this one. We named them all Elarith. This is the seventeenth."
She leaned in close, lowering her voice to a whisper. "There are more than seventeen. And they're all hidden inside Barbara."
Caelen drew his head back, flustered at how close she got. But the meaning behind her words struck deeper than her proximity.
If he told the barbarians about this, they would wipe out everyone here—and maybe in the other Elariths, too.
And the magi's plan, whatever it was, if there was one, would be discovered.
"By the way," he said, trying to shift his thoughts, "you never really answered my question. Where are we going?"
"Huh? Didn't I?"
She pointed ahead at a large, circular building. "We're here already. This is the arena. You'll be fighting here today."
"Huh?"