Victoria was dying.
She was dying and all Eric could do was watch.
It was the morning after she miraculously made their childhood estate appear and fell into a comatose state.
Her faint breathing had been all that confirmed she was still alive.
Eric could see how great a toll the whole ordeal took on her, and it tore at his heart.
His powerlessness dragged him into an almost depressive mood.
Unable to simply watch doing nothing, he left her in a room within the house in Raz and Silas's care while he and Kai explored the new buildings within the estate.
Thea had been sedated again and kept bound in a repurposed but bare room.
So far they had gone by a clinic, a barrack, an armoury, living quarters, a workshop, wind, solar and diesel generators.
And South of the Mansion, extending till it reached a wall, was a sizeable farm devoid of any plants.
None of which Eric remembered previously existing.
He guessed they had been kept hidden within the veil by his father.
Nonetheless, their existence told of a paranoia Eric had never noticed in the late king.
"It's like a bunker" Kai said during their exploration. Exasperated by the sheer breadth of the estate's functionalities.
Although the extent of what was provided within the base shocked Eric, and the total number of facilities present was still unknown, it was overall a welcome surprise.
This would be the place from which they would build their strength, gather necessary forces and ultimately unleash their wrath upon Ario.
They soon reached the entrance of the estate after circling about a brick wall which enclosed the entire space.
There, two large gates stood, partitioning the rest of the island from the estate hidden within.
Beyond the gates were untamed flowers, plants and fruits. All in magnitudes and a naturalistic beauty his weary mind greatly appreciated.
Refocusing his attention on the gate, Eric received a type of premonition from them.
He would not test its boundaries
Not until Victoria had better explained the nature of the place.
And that meant an end to his little exploration with Kai.
He turned to the woman and said.
"You can go back to the mansion, tell Raz no one should leave. I'll remain here, and unless Victoria wakes I shouldn't be disturbed."
Kai only offered a silent grunt, before she began trudging back the way they came.
Left alone, Eric sat himself in the shade of a tree by the massive gates in a lotus position.
He closed his eyes and focused his attention on the new system prompts that assaulted him the moment the estate had appeared.
[MAIN QUEST: ESTABLISH THE FIRST REPOSITORY]
[OBJECTIVE: Secure, fortify and activate a permanent structure to install Heaven's Loom's core archival functions and subsidiary partition.]
[REWARD: CELESTIAL ARCHIVIST CULTIVATION TECHNIQUE]
[FAILURE: CULTIVATION STAGNATION]
[SECONDARY QUEST 1: CREATE ANCHOR POINT LINK]
[OBJECTIVE: Create local spatial wards interfacing Heaven's Loom's anchor points]
[REWARD: UNIVERSAL QI MATERIALS JOURNAL]
[SECONDARY QUEST 2: BUILD CULTIVATION CHAMBER]
[OBJECTIVE: Using formations knowledge, create a secure cultivation environment with Qi regulation.]
[REWARD: HEAVEN'S LOOM ELEMENTARY GUIDE]
[SIDE QUEST: CATALOG NATIVE ANOMALIES]
[OBJECTIVE: Document and analyze five distinct supernatural phenomena native to the planet.]
[REWARD: STAR FORGE BLADES]
[NOTE: MAIN QUEST MUST MEET COMPLETION TO RECEIVE SIDE QUEST REWARDS]
Eric took his time understanding what each quest demanded.
From his preliminary scan, he immediately made the assumption that like the previous quests, each of the secondary quests was greatly related to the main one.
Though he was incapable of determining the nature of their relationships as of yet.
And beyond the second secondary quest Eric had no clue as to what the remaining two entailed.
In that light, he'd focus on that quest for now.
As for the side quest, it was something he already planned on doing. The added reward which sounded like some sort of weapon was a welcome boon.
He knew the supernatural phenomena the quest spoke of had to do with the veil.
He'd have to ask Victoria about it once she woke up.
The sun had begun its slow descent, painting the sky in hues of bruised purple and bleeding orange.
Facing the dense, untamed jungle that surrounded them, he was trying to find the silence within. To stoke the furnace of his dantian as the Initiation Art demanded.
But the silence was elusive.
His mind was a storm of logistics. The Core. Panacea's retaliation. Thea's brand.
Victoria's illness.
His mind, once again wandered to the nature of her sickness, the closest thing they'd gotten to a diagnosis so far.
After Thea had mentioned Victoria's need for the immortal core's stabilising energies, his mind immediately thought of the inconspicuous yet ubiquitous life energy; _Qi_.
If known means couldn't save his sister, then perhaps unknown methods would.
Or at the very least it could buy her more time.
He had double checked with the system and its provided information.
By the definitions of the soul Ignition stage, a practitioner should obtain complete control over their internal Qi.
And by the end of body tempering, be able to absorb and withstand world Qi.
He hoped by this way, the natural energies of the world would act as a substitute to the volatile energy of the immortal core.
But before he'd even allow her embark on the gruelling path he'd set on.
Eric planned on paving the way to ensure there was a real chance of success.
Yet, his true obstacle was time, and the cost of failure his life.
'Empty the mind,' he commanded himself. Trying to regain concentration. 'Visualize the breath.'
Inhale. Blue wind. Exhale. Orange fire.
He was just beginning to feel a flicker of warmth, a faint heat in his lower abdomen, when the System screamed.
[WARNING: Anomalous Energy Detected.]
Eric didn't flinch. He didn't gasp. He simply opened his eyes.
He'd sensed the presence since he reached the gate.
Stalking, observing him in silence.
The world didn't bleed into Qi-colors, but the air felt heavy. It tasted of metallic ozone and wet earth. The birds had stopped singing. The insects had ceased their chirping.
Ten meters away, standing just inside the shadow of another treeline, was the familiar, yet unsettling pale man.
Baskar.
He looked exactly as he had in the Panacea facility.
Wearing simple, worn clothes that seemed out of place on his unnatural, marble-white skin. His rust-colored hair hung limp around his face.
Eric's hand moved to the rifle beside his knee in a blur of motion. He raised the weapon, the stock pressing firmly against his shoulder, his finger hovering over the trigger.
"Take another step," Eric said, his voice flat, "and I put a round in your knee."
How the strange man had found them so quickly was the lesser of questions nagging at Eric.
If others could find them just as easily was a thought more bitter to entertain.
Baskar didn't stop. He didn't even look at the gun.
He stepped out of the jungle and onto the grass. His movement was wrong. It was too smooth, lacking the bob and weave of a human gait. It was unnatural, just like him.
"My Lord sends his regards, Prince," Baskar said. His voice like grinding stones, grating yet strangely soft.
"I don't know your Lord," Eric retorted, tracking the man's chest with his sights. "And I don't know you."
"Is that how nobles show gratitude?" Baskar said, causing Eric to grimace at his obvious jab.
"Ignorance is a temporary affliction." Baskar continued, not waiting for a response.
Although he offered a small smile after he spoke, it didn't reach his eyes, which were pitch black pools devoid of sclera.
He calmly walked past Eric and the muzzle of his rifle.
Eric's finger tightened in hidden confusion.
The prince stood, pivoting to keep the weapon trained on the intruder's back.
Not letting his own nervousness through, Eric spoke. "I'm talking to you!"
Baskar stopped, facing the mansion.
And slowly, with a reverence that made Eric's skin crawl, Baskar fell to his knees.
He placed his pale hands flat on the earth, bowing his head until his forehead touched the grass.
"The seal is broken," Baskar whispered. The sound amplified by the unnatural silence and turning into a booming voice that would no doubt reach all corners of the estate. "The blood has remembered."
"What are you talking about?" Eric demanded, stepping closer. "Get up."
Baskar raised his head, but he remained kneeling. He finally looked at Eric, his expression one of pitying amusement.
He turned his gaze back to the mansion. "We felt the ripple. The moment she offered her blood to the Obelisk."
"Victoria," Eric said, realizing the target of the man's devotion.
"Queen," Baskar corrected. "Aspect. Vessel."
He reached into his pocket. Eric tensed, aligning his sights on Baskar's head.
But the pale man only withdrew a small, jagged bottle. It looked like a piece cut off the obsidian from Heaven's Loom, but rougher, unrefined. He placed it gently on the grass before him.
Eric noted the glass like object contained a thick liquid within.
"I am Baskar. I am of the Hollow Court. I pledge my breath to the Weaver of Fates."
"She isn't interested in a cult," Eric spat.
"It is not a choice," Baskar murmured, standing up in a fluid motion that defied gravity. "Like the heavens and firmaments, it simply is. And I am to be the ghost who guards her throne"
He turned to Eric, his black eyes boring into Eric's soul. Pointing at the object he'd placed on the floor, he said.
"Within is a tincture of extreme vitality. Give her a drop a day and she should survive. Though only a temporary solution as its efficacy wanes with each use."
"And why should I trust you?" Eric said.
"You shouldn't," Baskar agreed. "But you could not afford otherwise."
He stepped backward, and the shadows seemed to reach out and grab him.
"Your sister is dying with immense pain, Your Highness," Baskar's voice floated from the darkness, fading as his body became translucent. "If your pride and apprehension prevent you from delivering the medicine..."
A tense silence hung as those words filled Eric's ears. "Then you must pardon me in advance"
And then, he was gone from sight.
But Eric could still sense his chilling presence.