Chapter 10: I’ll Draw My Own Line
“—then let us make haste while the weather smiles upon us.”
“Yes, sir.”
It seemed as if Alatair had won the negotiation battle. He and Pedri climbed onto two of the horses nearby, as the group prepared to head off.
Noah peeped out of the side as they began their journey. They seemed to be in the middle of the pack, with Alatair directly in front of them. The road was bumpy, but the hay in the carriage cushioned most of the shuddering.
“It’ll take about 3 hours by horseback to reach the city,” Alatair called. “In the meantime, make yourselves comfortable. It’ll be a long ride.”
The next hour passed by smoothly, with Noah and Sophie engaging in the occasional small talk. They noted the gradual shift in landscape, from the wide expanse of open grasslands to the dense shade of a coniferous forest. The carriage began to jolt more as they trundled over a path strewn with sticks and leaves.
Then it pulled to a halt.
“What happened?” Sophie asked. It was eerily quiet outside.
“I don’t know.”
Noah cautiously poked his head out. The villagers accompanying them were off their horses and staying crouched to the ground, clearly on high-alert.
The one closest to them caught Noah’s eye. “Bandits!” he mouthed. “Stay quiet!”
Ah, just his luck.
Noah’s eyes swivelled to Alatair for confirmation. The Elder was unmoving, staring straight into a particular part of the forest.
Noah activated echolocation. There, somewhere just a few meters away, was the sound of someone—no, multiple people—approaching. They were moving cautiously, obviously trying to avoid detection.
Everything happened at once. Out of the bushes jumped half a dozen men, each wielding a spear. In one swift motion, they threw their spears at Alatair. One of the spears was ignited, its wielder following up with a column of fire.
At the same time, a bright yellow line seared into the ground. A powerful gust of wind surged outwards, easily scattering the attacks. Alatair raised his hand again, conjuring another glowing sigil beneath the bandits. In an instant, all six were lifted into the air, held aloft in a swirling current. Their startled cries filled the forest.
Alatair turned to the youths. “Why don’t you two go ahead and try your Talents on them,” he beamed.
Was this guy serious?
“Uh, I can’t really control mine… I might actually kill them—” Noah stammered.
“I don’t have any offensive powers! I think…” Sophie raised her voice over the roar of the wind.
“Young ones, if you fear the burden of your own power, do you intend to wield it only when it is too late?”
“Oh, screw it. Might as well. Uh, Loot…?” Sophie called out.
Without warning, all the spears that were lying scattered on the ground shot towards them as if they were homing missiles.
“Duck!” Noah yelled.
The spears thudded into the side of the carriage. The one that was burning sparked a flame, and the carriage ignited.
Noah immediately jumped out, with Sophie scrambling after him. Alatair, still unbothered, conjured a small whirlwind that snuffed the fire out within seconds.
“Failure is the mother of success,” he reported.
“Put us down!” one of the bandits yelled. “We’ll leave you alone!”
“Noah?” Alatair prodded.
Noah knew this was a golden opportunity for him to test his Talent out. But there was also a serious risk of killing the bandits. As far as he knew, there was no way of stopping the HP drain once it started. Morals aside, he wasn’t sure what the consequences were for killing someone else. Would the system—or the Lattice—as mentioned by Alatair, brand him as a criminal? He didn't intend to find out the consequences.Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
He had killed his fair share of Non-Playable Characters (NPCs) in the games he played without batting an eye, but this wasn’t a game. This was real. The bandits weren’t exactly a threat for now, but if push came to shove, could he do it?
Yes, he was certain he would. If he or Sophie’s life was on the line, he wouldn’t hesitate to use Zero.
Alatair’s question echoed in his head.
“peasant…stolen crops…”
“…punishment is death…”
“…law bend for the sake of compassion…”
“…where would we draw the line?”
To hell with it, I’ll draw my own line.
“Zero!” Noah yelled.
In an instant, six HP bars filled his vision. They seemed to have already taken some damage from Alatair’s attack.
And now, they were dropping even further.
In his peripheral vision, he saw Alatair’s eyes widen.
Yes, this is my Talent. This was what I was afraid of.
It was time to halt the attack.
“Okay, Zero, you can stop now.”
The bars kept ticking down.
“Come on, Zero, I said stop.”
The bandits had noticed that something was off. “Help!” they started thrashing about.
“Noah?” Sophie was anxiously watching him. Oh right, she hadn’t seen Zero in action before.
Noah tried to envision his Talent retreating back to him.
It didn’t work. The bandits now had a fifth of their health remaining.
Okay Zero, you love making things go to zero so much, right? Then make the rate of decay go to zero.
It was a desperate gamble, but… it looked like it was working. Noah couldn’t believe it. The speed at which their HP drained slowed, dwindling to a trickle before stopping altogether. A few more seconds, and they would have died.
Alatair slowly lowered them to the ground. “When life gives you a second chance, will you grasp it? Or will you challenge fate until it no longer shows you mercy?”
The bandits exchanged frantic glances as they scrambled to their feet. Without waiting for a response, they turned and scurried off into the trees, disappearing into the underbrush.
Alatair dusted off his hands. “Now that wasn’t so bad, was it?”
Noah took a second to calm down. So he did have some control over his Talent.
Sophie, on the other hand, looked sheepish. “Sorry about that,” she bowed.
The Elder chuckled. “Every misstep is a lesson in disguise. What matters is not that you failed, but what you choose to do with what you've learned.”
Sophie shrugged, “I guess. I did unlock a new Talent skill though. It says TS1 Disarm, but they were already disarmed when I used it…?”
“Maybe if you use it after they’re disarmed, it just rounds up the weapons,” Noah suggested.
“Probably. Ehh… I’m not really sure if that’s useful.”
Fortunately, the fire hadn’t damaged the carriage enough to render it unusable. After Alatair conducted a brief check on everyone, they set off once again.

“Hey, Noah. Look at that!” Sophie whispered.
Noah’s eyes snapped open. Somehow, after their encounter with the bandits, he had closed his eyes for just a moment to rest… and ended up losing track of time. He turned to where Sophie was pointing.
There in the distance, was a long, grey rectangle jutting above the horizon. The landscape had flattened again, offering a clear view for miles. Were those… walls? Probably not… they seemed impossibly huge.
But as they got closer, there was no mistaking it. Towering stone walls encircled a massive city, its centre rising high into the sky. They stretched so far into the sides that Noah could barely see where it curved. Their carriage headed straight for a massive gateway in the stone walls.
There was a short exchange between Alatair and the guards at the drawbridge, but it seemed to go by smoothly. Once they were through, Noah got a notification on his Vitra.
—
New Area Unlocked: Mytharus
+1000XP
Level Up!
Level 4
—
Sweet, another level increase. But this time, the XP requirement to reach Level 5 had changed from 1200 to 1330. It looked like it was scaling up.
At the same time, he was offered his first real view of the city. The outer walls of Mytharus bordered a vibrant marketplace with modest housing, noticeably more modern than the buildings in Kamaru village. This area appeared to be the largest in terms of both size and population, alive with the hustle of merchants and citizens going about their daily business.
Farther ahead, Noah caught a glimpse of another wall, with more buildings beyond. And even further in stood the innermost wall, a final layer of protection for the Grand Palace, which was perched majestically at the top of a hill, He marvelled at the sight that lay before him, looking like something straight out of a fantasy.
“This place is huge…” Sophie murmured.
“You can say that again,” Noah concurred.
The group took a turn and rumbled towards a designated spot by the market, where the villagers wasted no time unloading their goods.
“Sir Alatair! I wasn’t expecting you to visit us!” A lean, athletic-looking man stepped forward, greeting Alatair with a warm smile.
“A good afternoon to you too, Franco.”
“I hope your journey was smooth. Word has it that bandit activity is on the rise near Cressio Woods,” Franco said, lowering his voice.
“The rumours hold truth. We encountered a group along the way.” He glanced towards Noah and Sophie. “Though it proved to be an enlightening experience for some.”
Franco turned his attention to them. “Greetings travellers, welcome to the city of Mytharus! May I ask what brings you here?”
“They have come to seek an audience with Anna Aurevella,” Alatair explained.
“Anna—“Franco gasped, before composing himself. “I see… If you’re bringing them, then I assume their cause must be significant.”
“Allow me to share with you the most interesting information.” Alatair pulled Franco into a huddle. Once he was done, Franco looked even more baffled than before.
“I—I see. I will assist them to the best of my abilities, Sir.”
Satisfied, Alatair turned back to the group. “Franco is one of my most trusted men in Mytharus. If you have any questions or concerns, you may rely on him.”
“You aren’t going to meet Anna with us?” Noah asked.
Alatair shook his head. “This path is yours to walk, not mine. I may have set you upon it, but how you navigate it is for you to decide.”