Kharon gently landed on a soft, silk-like surface. His legs slowly seemed to be sinking into the fabric, but he didn't lose his balance. However the pitch-black environment was quite disorientating to say the least.
There were several silhouettes of objects lying around on the floor. Kharon could also make out the shape of several large creatures. But what caught his attention the most was a glowing, spherical orb embedded in the creature's body.
'Is that what I think it is? But how..."
Kharon slowly tried adjusting to the constant movement of the cloak while making his way to the glowing orb. But as he took another step he almost tripped and fell. He suddenly heard a faint whisper.
"Are you ok in there? Make sure to be quiet and don't die on me ok?"
Kharon rolled his eyes as he slowly lowered himself and sat on the rippling surface of the fabric. He would ask Aidan for the specifics later. It felt like the more he wait ask, the longer his list of questions became.
It was surprisingly cozy and warm inside the cloak. However the lack of oxygen was a problem that Kharon was still worrying about.
When he became an arcane weilder his body, mind and soul went through a qualitative change. It had greatly boosted his physical might and he was aware of some of his limits. But now he was getting to test out just how much his lung capacity had improved. He didn't necessarily feel pressed as he could definitely last for over five minutes without oxygen. However he didn't want to risk suffocating because he overestimated himself. That would be an embarrassing way of dying.
He felt slight tremors reverberating around him as Aidan took slow steady steps towards the city's gates. He decided to lay his head on the soft fabric. It would definitely take a while for Aidan to get through.
...
Aidan slowly made his way to the city gates, taking slow, measured steps as to not cause Kharon any discomfort or startle him with sudden movements. If Kharon ended up dying because he didn't walk carefully, Aidan wouldn't know what to do with himself. Killing someone in such a bizzare way would definitely mess up his mind pretty bad. He would probably be traumatised by his cloak.
'I just had to go and put more pressure on myself, didn't I...'
Aidan's steps slowed down even more but gradually sped up again. He had to hurry, if he took too long Kharon would end up dying due to a lack of oxygen. He would not let that happen, not while Kharon was in his cloak. There were many questions for him to answer, and there were many questions he wanted to ask.
As Aidan got closer to the gate, he was quickly spotted by two figures wearing dark blue uniforms adorned with a silver insignia coating several stars which floated above a wide tower. Aidan pulled out a circular, golden coin and presented it to one of the guards who tapped it with a small device before returning it to him.
A tall, skinny, middle-aged man raised his hand and patted Aidan on the shoulder, "Aidan! You are finally back from your mission. I thought something bad had happened to you. You are usually one of the first to complete your missions."
Aidan weakly chuckled as he said, "Hi James. Something came up and I was delayed by a bit. Though I am safe and sound as you can see."
"You look pretty tired. Aether exhaustion right?"
"Yes, I made to run all the way here to make sure I wasn't late. The sun has already set and you know how most officials get about the night time. I don't want to spend my night in one of those bunkers, they sound horrible."
James nodded before saying, "You are right, those bunkers are the worse trust me, I have been to one. But I doubt they would let you stay there considering you-"
"Yes, yes I know. Can I get in, I really need to go and rest."
As James stared at him and was about to let Aidan through, his partner a young man with hazel eyes blocked the way before saying, "You can't just go through, we need to search your cloak first."
Aidan's face slightly twitched as he said, "Is it really necessary Oliver? You know me, I go through here almost daily. Do you think I will bring something dangerous into the city?"
"No, but it's procedure you aren't exempt from them, not while I am watching."
As he said this he took a short glance at James before turning back towards Aidan. He outstretched his hand and said, "Your cloak."
Aidan had no other choice but to hand it over, it had already been two minutes and he wasn't sure how long Kharon would be able to last.
As Oliver took the cloak, he pulled a short, metallic stick engraved with several runes and pointed it at the cloak. Suddenly the contents of cloak started to fall out unto the floor one by one. As each item fell out, Oliver put them into a wide, open cube before placing the items unto a table.
Aidan was getting more nervous by the second. The more objects came out of the cloak, the higher the chance that Kharon would be next. If that happened, the repercussions of trying to bring an unregistered civilian into the city would be disastrous. Not to mention that the civilian in question was an unlicensed arcane weilder who had powers from an unknown path and had come seemingly out of no where.
If they ended up getting caught, he may have to do something he voewed to never do. He could only hope that it didn't get to that point.
...
Kharon had stood up almost immediately after hearing the conversation between Aidan and the two men guarding the city gates. He didn't know what to do but had to think of something quickly. The faint silhouettes of objects were vanishing one by one and very soon he would be the only one left. He didn't even know in which order the objects were getting extracted.
The only two things Kharon could see were left were the carcasses of the two Essence Beasts Aidan had killed. A second later, the first of the carcasses was gone and next the one containing the glimmering orb vanished too. Kharon quickly channeled Aether around his whole body as he used Veiling on himself to camoflauge his body.
A split second later Kharon felt himself being lifted up by an unseen force and a second later he landed on the ground. As he saw Oliver slowly reaching out to him, Aidan suddenly dashes towards his body, picking him up and placing him in the open cube before taking him out.
While Veiling allowed him to change the physical appearance of something, it was only an illusion. If Oliver had picked him up he would have felt Kharon's real body instead of the body of the wolf-like creature he had camoflauged himself as. While on the ground, Kharon took in a deep, quiet breath as he prepared for another round in Aidan's cloak.
Oliver looked at Aidan with a hint of suspicion before asking, "Where did you find this beast? I don't recognize it."
"I found it at the edge of the forest, close to a purple zone. Anyways, you have searched me. Can I go now?"
"I still have a few questi-"
"That's enough Oliver, just let him be. He needs to go rest before he passes out infront of us."
Oliver stared at James with a frustration look before spitting out, "Fine. But next time I wouldn't let you off so easily."
Aidan put all his possessions back into his cloak before going through the gate as he waved towards James.
"See you tomorrow James, Oliver."
James waved back before saying, "See you tomorrow Aidan."
As Aidan got through the gate, he was welcomed by a calm, picturesque scene. The city was bathed in starlight as the rift in the sky stood imposingly over everything. Aidan briefly stared up before walking towards a track filled with runic symbols. He waited for a bit as a vehicle came speed down the track and stopped at a precise marking.
Aidan pulled out the circular, golden coin and presented it before boarding the vehicle. As the doors closed, the vehicle went speeding off at an absurd rate. But despite it's speed, the passengers could barely feel the effects of the speed. After a few minutes Aidan pressed a button as the vehicle arrived at another station before he descended.
He quickly made his way towards a moderately large house, his pace quickening with each step. As he made his way to the building, he was greeted by several familiar faces who all briefly chatted with him before wishing him a good day.
Once Aidan reached the house, he once again pulled out the circular, golden coin and placed it infront of the large door which was filled with runic symbols. He then processed to draw a pattern on the door before pushing it open and entering.
As he closed the door, he took off his cloak and said, "You can come out now."
...
Kharon wasn't sure how exactly he was meant to escape the dark cloak so he asked, "And how exactly do I do that?"
Aidan realising his mistake reached into the cloak and offered a hand. Kharon proceed to hold onto the hand as he was lifted into the air and in the next second, he was on the ground in a bright room filled with golden ornaments.
"This is where you live?! Where are your parents?"
Kharon's voice betrayed a hint of excitement as he stood up and looked around in bewilderment.