The Dawn of the New World

"Oh, sorry sorry. It took longer than I expected," Jin Wang smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"Learn to be on time. Not everyone is as free as you."

"I know, I already said sorry didn't I? You need to relax woman..."

"Don't call me woman, you melting mongrel!"

Watching the duo grumbling back and forth like old friends, Hao Xuan could not help but look at them suspiciously.

He nudged Jin Wang lightly and whispered, "Since when did you guys become so close?"

He shrugged, "Dunno. We're not that close really," leaving Hao Xuan speechless.

The grand priestess who was watching all this from the side instantly knew what Jin Wang was trying to do. Even though she hid rather well, Ceni's lingering gazes gave her away in a heartbeat.

'Ahh, the mischievousness of youth. How refreshing, kukuku.'

The group was led through a small trail in the forest to a stone altar approximately 1.5 meters in diameter. It had various glyphs and symbols etched around the edges forming a complete circle.

The grand priestess walked up to it and started chanting in an unknown language while the other waited patiently by the side. Hao Xuan felt more than a little nervous thinking of the events to come.

It felt like he was walking into the wolf den and he wasn't quite sure if the wolf was hungry or not. This was the gathering of all the most powerful members of each of the three great power and the chances were that he would not have any friends there this time.

If things went south, it could end in a rather bloody encounter.

"Hey," he whispered towards Jin Wang but Ceni's ears perked up too although she kept looking straight.

"Hmm?"

"If I don't come back in time or...not at all, just in case you know, take care of Ma Jiang for me. Tell Henrik to stay close to her and-"

*Crunch*

The noise from a branch breaking interrupted Hao Xuan. He looked towards the source and saw Ceni a meter away, her whole body shaking like a leaf.

"Are you okay, princess?" he asked but she didn't even bother looking at him.

Confused, he sent the remainder of the message through spirit sense, 'Tell Henrik she is Ryfon's niece, the girl I was looking for. Someone is after her so she needs to be protected at all costs until Ryfon gets here in person. She is using some kind of spell or something to alter her appearance so you can't tell-'

Jin Wang patted him on the back before he could finish, 'I know. It's not technically magic but rather a potion. Don't worry, she will be safe here. The grand priestess has taken quite a liking to her.'

Hao Xuan's brow shot up in surprise, 'That's what I'm worried about. I don't trust the grand priestess. Earlier she said...forget it, it doesn't matter. Just make sure she is taken care of yeah?'

'Yeah yeah relax, she'll be fine. You need to worry about yourself first. I heard the conditions on the surface are not good so it is extremely dangerous right now.'

'Come back as soon as you can and don't pick a fight with anyone during the gathering. Even if they belittle and treat you with disdain, just take it all and remember their faces for later. You won't win if you fight there, okay?'

'Yeah I know that already. I'm not that stupid,' Hao Xuan said jokingly.

'Heh, could have fooled me.'

'How about you suck a dick then, how about that?'

'Sorry I have standards, unlike your MOM!'

'You motherfucke-'

The grand priestess stopped chanting all of a sudden just as the altar opened up to reveal a path going straight down. It was just big enough for one person to walk through at a time.

It was full of dust like no one had been there in ages with a heavy musky scent of the earth all around. Hao Xuan had to take just a quick little sniff for the strong smell to crawl up his nostrils and render him slightly intoxicated.

"Uff, my god, what is that smell?"

"Smell?"

Jin Wang inhaled through his nose but couldn't pick up anything.

"Yea it smells like...earth, you know? Like freshly dug soil. It's so strong!"

Ceni tried to smell the air but couldn't see what he was talking about either. But the grand priestess explained what it was.

"It's magic. This tunnel is made of living soil, a portion of ground with magical properties. That's what it is."

Hao Xuan rubbed his nose and covered it with his shirt, "Why does magic smell so bad?"

But the other three exchanged silent glances knowing that 'magic' has no smell. How could it even be possible?