Depthless Hunger

Chapter 276: The Insane First Crest

After a week of travel Kai was beginning to wonder when they'd reach Traeton, but Omilaena just kept saying that he'd know. The Commonwealth looked basically the same so far, if a bit wealthier with even fewer wild spaces, so he wasn't sure what she meant.

Then he saw Traeton, and he knew.

It was actually in the evening, when the sun was setting and visibility continually declining. He was watching the sunset and deciding how long they should keep traveling... when the sun just didn't set. At first he wondered if his sense of time was thrown off, then the glow only continued to increase and shift whiter as they drew close.

In the distance, the capital of Traeton looked like it was on fire with pure white lights. He'd seen cities that could spend tons of money lighting themselves with crystals or magic lanterns, but this was something unreal. The lights spanned so high, over so many buildings, that the city must be taller than any he'd ever seen. Even when they slept that night, the lights of the city continued burning through the darkness.

As they drew closer, they saw even more of the city's wealth - not gold and crystal like in Yulthens, but overwhelming abundance. Even ordinary people traveled on floating platforms and lived in massive homes. Zae Zin Nim put on a serious expression but she seemed a little intimidated as well. Eventually he had to ask.

"Alright, how does Traeton actually work?" Kai asked. "I know you said it has an Insanity, but... what?"

"It's called the First Crest," Omilaena told him with a grin. "I've never seen it personally, but I think we might be strong enough now. No slave mines here, nobody toiling for all this power - all of that comes from the Insanity itself."

"I can believe in a magic object that grants infinite power. I can't believe they don't have slaves or toiling."

"Oh, I didn't say it was all equal. Everyone in Traeton has luxuries you wouldn't find elsewhere, but you also find the poorer folks crammed into buildings to try to take advantage. Not many slaves, though. They only exist for the egos of the wealthy, because everything else is easier to do by magic."

That idea, thrown off casually, was actually what stuck with Kai most as they traveled closer. Could abundance do more to change society than any number of revolutions? How much of the inequality and even the pettiness in Goralia had been because their region was so starved of mana? The problem was that he wasn't sure if he was looking at a potential solution or just the shape of reality.

When they flew into the city, they didn't have to spend many Crests on a small and secure inn. Even the modest place they'd chosen was filled with heated floors, lights controlled by chakra switches, and instantly hot water. The amenities were offered for free with a normal room, far more impressive than luxuries he'd needed to save up for or even steal.

All of the power seemed to arrive through a single bright cable that flowed from the center of the city... Kai was too interested in seeing the Insanity to relax or talk to anyone. Apparently Zae Zin Nim felt the same way, so after a brief rest they all headed toward the center.

Once in the air again, Omilaena began an impromptu tour. "We're skipping the Great Library and the seat of government because you're not allowed to fly near those. But on our left you'll see the wealthiest district - it's built to the west of the center, because the First Crest itself could be a target of attacks."

"I thought it was invulnerable," Zae Zin Nim said.

"The Crest is, but the chakra cables distributing all the power aren't. Anyone who wants to cripple the city will attack there first." Omilaena gestured out east as they took a broad circle to avoid more floating platforms. "The First Crest powers a perfect circle around it, but the city bulges past the powered region in two directions. The east is the roughest because the wilderness out there is a chakra-poor environment."

When they flew lower, Kai noted that there were large crowds but fewer people from the Commonwealth. Instead he saw elves, lamia, lizardkin, Dominion uniforms, and more. They seemed to be streaming inward toward the center and he realized that they must be tourists, here to see one of the wonders of the world.

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Well, for once he was happy to be a tourist. A guard on a floating lotus intercepted them, ordering them to land and get in line. He and the other guards wore gold and white armor, and carried an average of 500 Power. When he realized Omilaena and Zae Zin Nim's strength, he directed them not to the line with the majority of the tourists, but a raised street that seemed to contain only warriors.

There were at least a dozen of the guards, all powerful. Since they must be getting eyeballed by everyone in the area, Kai decided to scan one of them.

Name: ???

Total Power: 534

Yang Knight: 11 (220)

Physique: D-0 (200)

Soul Level: 8 (64)

First Crest Armor (50)

>

Despite their common armor, the guards weren't all identical. They had uniformly high Physique and Soul Levels, but otherwise they drew their power from entirely different sources: multiple "Yang Knights", some elemental powers from the Coiled Empire, and more. He looked in vain for any Savage Hearts, but didn't see any of those.

"That's the Crestguard," Omilaena whispered when she saw him looking. "Not the strongest people in the Commonwealth, obviously, but they have one of the highest average strengths of any organization on the entire continent. In theory they're completely neutral, dedicated to preventing the city's power from being disturbed."

"And in reality?" he asked.

"Obviously an organization with so much strength has influence. I don't know their current position under the demons."

From the raised walkway it was much easier to finally reach the center, and when they got in sight, Kai was a little surprised. A grand dome soared over the center, covered in elaborate paintings, but the core of the city itself was surprisingly simple. It was actually recessed into the ground, like a pit with far more elaborate furnishings.

Given how bright the city was, he had expected the First Crest to be blinding. Instead, at the very center, he saw a simple white disc. It lay on disarmingly normal stone, the one part of the whole complex that wasn't gilded or ornamented. Yet countless cables snaked away from the base, coursing enough power to fuel the entire city.

Some of the visitors seemed to find it awe-inspiring, while others wept with near-religious reverence. But a few, like Kai, felt just a faint sense of disappointment.

"Is it just me," Zae Zin Nim asked, "or does that look like a coin?"

"They say that the Commonwealth Crests are based on it." Omilaena flipped a coin out of her pack to her fingers. "Of course, they also claim that the First Crest is the symbol of the Commonwealth and a sign that the fates have blessed it to endure forever, so you shouldn't take everything they say seriously."

Kai pulled out a coin of his own and compared. The modern Crests had octagonal corners, unlike the perfectly circular symbol at the center. Perhaps more importantly, he didn't see any markings whatsoever on the First Crest, unlike the carved symbol and head on the coin.

"It seems more like they stumbled across something they couldn't explain and built their nation around it," he said. Omilaena smirked and flicked the coin away.

"Most likely. In addition to being invulnerable, the First Crest has never been moved - the Crestguard is just here to protect the cables, not the object itself. They probably would have preferred to build their capital somewhere else, but they're stuck here because there's an Insanity here."

"Do we know if Matiavel has tried to destroy it?" Zae Zin Nim asked.

"It would be stupid of him to try," Omilaena said, "but I don't think it would work. God abilities have been seen before; people have trained for them. The Insanities are beyond everything."

"So you don't think the Primal Loom that you're so obsessed with should be counted as one of them?"

"It creates some of the most powerful clothing in the world, but it's not inexplicable. The 'Insanity Loom' would create clothes that made someone completely invincible, or cured all wounds, or something else ridiculous."

And there were allegedly eight of these Insanities throughout the world, or at least throughout history. Kai wondered at just how vast the world was, and if the unknowns stretched even vaster still. Could it be as simple as another continent beyond the Blood Current? The idea of a tiny piece of metal that could power an entire city forever... that was unfathomably far beyond the world he understood.

Well, now they had seen one of them. As they retreated, Zae Zin Nim and Omilaena discussed whether they should try to see the others on Rosemount: the Slumbering Colossus in the center of the mountain range and the Glorious Tree to the far east. He thought it was more idle hypotheticals on their part than real planning, though.

Then again, it wasn't just an impossible dream. If they didn't falter on the insane path upward that they'd set for themselves, they wouldn't just see the Eight Insanities. They'd surpass them.

Because he wasn't directly involved with the conversation, Kai was more alert as the crowds shifted around them. He felt something else toward their back, a subtle presence that nonetheless carried a dangerous hunger. Before he could call out a warning, it approached their back, so he whirled to intercept.

A thin man wearing a gray tunic and large glasses had been reaching out toward Omilaena's back. Kai caught his wrist, but even though he could feel the bones in the other man's arm, it held immense strength. The man glanced at him with pure gray eyes and Kai realized that he was using a demonic art.

By now the others had turned around, ready to fight in the middle of the city if necessary. The man smiled thinly and pulled his hand back.

"I'm surprised to see you again, Omilaena. You should have known better than to come here."