CHAPTER 201: THE WORLD BELOW

When he straightened, he turned once again to address everyone gathered in the chamber.

"Captain Dominic de Beaumont and his aide Shiao Yi not only distinguished themselves in the recent incident," the Prime Minister continued, "but also rendered great service during the previous ancient magic circle crisis. Without them, we could not have stopped either of those disasters and the damage to our kingdom would have been catastrophic. Furthermore, both of them contributed immensely to the development and production of magic stones. Their deeds deserve to be fully engraved upon the memorial. We intend to place the monument at the site of the latest event, on the outskirts of the capital. Since, regrettably, the remains of the two have not been found, the monument shall serve as their grave marker as well..."

The solemn silence that followed was suddenly shattered by a desperate shout.

"A grave for Dominic and Shiao Yi? No! You can’t do that!"

The voice came from Aaron. His face was ghastly pale, his eyes sunken deep in his skull. His hair was disheveled, his expression contorted with emotion.

"They’re not dead! You can’t say they’re dead!" he cried. "Shiao Yi can’t be dead! He wouldn’t die like that! There’s no way! And Dominic, he was a monster in his own right! They’re both alive, I know it!"

As Aaron spoke, his eyes began to glaze over, his tone wild and uneven.

Quintus could feel a chill run through him as he watched.

The young man’s mind seemed dangerously unstable.

Quintus quietly considered whether he should signal the guards to restrain him before things got worse.

"Shiao Yi still has so much to teach us!" Aaron continued, voice trembling yet full of feverish energy. "The magic stones have finally succeeded, we can produce them now! And with them, we can create incredible things! Tools that make life easier, machines beyond imagination! A carriage that moves without horses! A craft that flies through the sky! Devices that let us speak across distances! There’s still so much to learn, and Shiao Yi promised to teach me! That’s why he’s not dead, he’ll come back! He’ll return with Dominic at his side, I know it!"

Aaron’s sunken eyes now burned with fierce light.

The hollow, broken man he had been moments ago was suddenly gone, it was replaced by someone burning with manic conviction.

"Prime Minister Londonderry!" he shouted, he turning sharply toward the head of the table. "We don’t need a monument! The two of them will come back, I’m sure for that! Maybe tomorrow, maybe a month from now, but they will return! I can feel it! And when Shiao Yi comes back, I want to show him everything we’ve made! I want him to see it all and say, ’Well done!’ So we must begin right now! Mr. Vundo this is it! A revolution! An industrial revolution! Let’s start right away!"

Before anyone could stop him, Aaron jumped up from his seat and dashed across the room toward the elderly scholar Mr. Vundo.

He grabbed the old man’s hand, pulling him to his feet, shouting excitedly as the two hurried toward the door.

Moments later, they were both gone, their footsteps echoing down the corridor.

For a long moment, the chamber remained still.

The Prime Minister sat motionless, his face blank, as if all strength had drained from him.

Finally, he let out a deep, exhausted sigh.

"Let this conclude today’s session," he announced quietly and with that, the meeting was adjourned.

...

A deep, thunderous explosion echoed through the air and Shiao Yi felt the violent shockwave strike his body.

He was thrown off his feet and rolled across the ground.

Instinctively, he leapt up and scanned his surroundings. Right beside him, Dominic had already drawn his sword, standing ready for whatever might come next.

They were inside a vast cave. Dirt and rubble had been blasted outward, scattering and piling up near what appeared to be the entrance.

Just moments ago, they had been endlessly falling through complete darkness.

Dominic had been suppressing the overwhelming surge of magical energy that threatened to swallow them whole, while Shiao Yi used his telekinesis to push back against the rising pressure.

No matter how far they pressed forward, the descent never seemed to end.

It had felt as if they were about to pierce through the crust of the world itself, perhaps even fall straight into its molten core.

Could it be that the force they released had carved out this cavern?

Shiao Yi thought they had been falling vertically, but at some point, their descent must have shifted direction.

When had that happened? He turned to look behind him.

The hole they had fallen through was now completely blocked by collapsed soil and debris.

Despite what should have been an immense depth underground, Shiao Yi felt no dizziness or shortness of breath.

There was no crushing pressure from the earth above, no shift in air density, no reduction in gravity.

It didn’t make sense.

Were they truly that deep?

Dominic began moving toward the mouth of the cave.

Shiao Yi quickly followed after him.

It seemed they had torn straight through the side of a mountain.

The spot where they emerged opened onto a gentle hill that overlooked a wide expanse below.

And what lay before their eyes was...

A world of forests, hills and mountains stretched out endlessly.

Enormous slabs of rock rose upward, soaring so high that they seemed to merge with the heavens themselves.

From where they stood, Shiao Yi could see several of those massive stone pillars some like jagged mountains, others like towering walls all rising together, perhaps supporting the very sky above.

The cliff from which they had just emerged was part of that same colossal structure, fused seamlessly into the canopy of stone that loomed far overhead.

Even craning his neck until it hurt, he couldn’t see the top.

There was no sun, yet the entire world was softly illuminated.

The ceiling, the moss, and even the rocks seemed to emit a faint glow.