Defiance of the Fall

Chapter 188: Secrets

After a brief moment of darkness, Zac once again exited, but the unfamiliar sight gave him a start. It almost looked as he was standing inside a world tree, as the walls were living trees sprouting leaves around them. However, they were far taller than the usual ones he’d seen so far, reaching for the skies. There was also a good deal of holes in the structure at strategic places, flooding the floor in natural light.

The demons had been busy, as they’d grown a structure around the array. Zac noticed the design was slightly reminiscent of how it looked in New Washington, though the teleportation lobby was built with the signature Demonic architecture.

Zac suddenly felt there was a group of eyes upon him and guessed there were defenders hidden up amongst the branches in the air. It proved there were also proper protocols in place to make sure nothing untoward happened at this important location.

He was quite happy with the transformation and full of anticipation to see what else had changed in the weeks since he set out on his journey. There was only one exit in the building, and Zac eagerly moved toward it.

“You can’t just leave! You must register yourself first,” young woman nervously standing behind a counter said with a shaky voice, piquing Zac’s interest.

“Register?” Zac asked, but before the receptionist could answer three demon guards jumped down from the tree crowns.

“Lord Atwood,” they all said with a small salute, and Zac nodded back.

“Lord? I’m sorry!” the girl quickly exclaimed, but it was quickly waved away by Zac.

“What’s going on here?” Zac asked the demons who appeared.

“Administrator Adran has set up routines for visitors. Due to many people coming and going nowadays, a system to know who’s here has been put into place,” the demon, whose name Zac remembered being Yuruf, answered.

“There’s traffic in the teleporter?” Zac asked confused as the teleporter was still set to trusted.

“Only between the internal array system,” the Yuruf answered. “There are currently 12 arrays active in the archipelago.”

“I understand. My sister and two of her friends should have arrived some time ago. Are they settled okay?” Zac asked.

“Yes, we followed the instructions in the letter. Your sister is currently living in your compound. The other two have been provided houses in the residential district. They are spending most of their time at the academy improving their power,” the demon answered.

There were too many things within his compound that would be hard to explain, so he didn’t wish two strangers to stay there. It was better to make clear from the beginning, which is why he had them stay in the residential area from the start.

“Good. Have there been any trouble in the town while I was gone?” he asked.

“Nothing much. A few hotheads acting up, but nothing that we couldn’t handle. There also have been some disputes amongst the craftsmen, but the Administrators would know more about that,” Yuruf responded.

“I’ll visit them later. One last thing, are the fighters back from the fight in the other Incursion?” he asked.

“They returned some time ago. The mission was a success, though there were some casualties,” the demon nodded.

“I understand, keep up the good work,” Zac said as he headed toward the exit.

He didn’t actually register himself in the end. It wasn’t because he felt himself above it, but since it was a matter of security. Powerhouses like himself were the biggest deterrence from attacking a town, and if people didn’t know where he was, they would likely be less likely to cause trouble.

Satisfied Zac walked toward the exit, but before he left the large lobby Zac couldn’t help notice the large sign hanging by the exit.

Welcome to Port Atwood, the home of the Towers of Myriad Dao!

Don’t cause trouble.Don’t enter the restricted areas.Don’t forget to shop at The Thayer Consortia, the best deals on Earth!
“Uh,” Zac couldn’t help say as he looked back on the demon guards. “Towers of Myriad Dao?”

Yuruf scratched his chin as he looked at the gaudy lettering of the slogan, looking a bit embarrassed, before explaining the situation.

“The castellan of the Towers somehow found out about this sign. It felt… very strongly… that its grandeur should be advertised to all visitors immediately upon arrival. When Administrator Adran refused, citing security concerns, it wasn’t happy. A sign large enough to block out the suns that advertised the Towers appeared over the town. Thus the sign here.”

Zac could only groan and exit, inwardly complaining about the insane Tool Spirit.

It only took a minute of walking before the trees gave way to the town proper, as quite a bit of the forest had been cut down. At first look, Zac had a hard time believing the sight that met his eyes.

A proper town with a wide array of buildings sprawled out in front of him. The town wasn’t like anything he’d seen before, but rather a mix of various styles and concepts. Buildings wrought from living trees stood wall to wall with modern buildings that could fit right into some trendy affluent district.

The new Port Atwood felt very refreshing, with large amounts of nature being mixed with the structures. It was a far better place to work on one’s Dao or cultivation than the dirty and run-down towns on the mainland, and Zac had no difficulty believing that many would wish to move here if given the opportunity.

There was still a lot to be done though. There was no sort of pavement on the roads, and construction was taking place all over. People, a lot of whom Zac didnʼt recognize, kept scurrying back and forth, many carrying lumber or tools meant for construction.

Zac decided to head straight for his private area after a bit of hesitation, moving straight toward a large gate in the wall separating his private district with the newly emerging town.

He noted that the wall was manned by a few demons and Valkyries, who perked up when they saw his approach. However, with his robe and shiny bald head he was easily recognizable and the warriors hurriedly opened the gates for him.

“Welcome back,” one of the Valkyries said with a small bow.

Zac didn’t know how he felt about the bows and curtsies the population was starting to perform. He would have to talk with Ogras later to see whether he was responsible for it.

“Thank you. Is my sister at home?” he asked.

“She left for the Academy some time ago,” the guard answered.

“Could you have someone call her over,” Zac said.

“Of course,” she said with a nod, and one of the Valkyries immediately ran toward the direction of the Academy.

Zac simply thanked the guard, and soon found himself back in his familiar courtyard, relaxing and enjoying a bottle of whiskey he had saved for himself for some time.

Some noise from the outside half an hour later told him that his sister was back, and he shouted out to let her know which building he stayed at.

“I still can’t believe that this whole place yours. You’ve gotten an expensive taste,” Kenzie said as she walked into the beautiful courtyards with widened eyes.

“Well, Emily lives here as well. I assume you’ve met her by now? And sometimes I have guests. You can take whatever building you like if you havenʼt already,” Zac explained as he indicated for her to sit down.

“Was this place really just an uninhabited island before?” she curiously asked.

“Yeah, in the beginning it was just me and a bunch of barghest on the island,” Zac said with a shake of his head.

“What about Hannah?” she asked with a weird face.

Kenzie knew that he was away on vacation with his girlfriend when the integration took place.

“All of them turned out to be cultivators. What are the odds?” Zac said with a sardonic smile. “I still don’t know where they ended up.”

“What would you do if you found her? Would she live here as well?” she asked.

Zac only threw an amused glance at his sister. He knew she wasn’t the biggest fan of Hannah for some reason, but he was a bit surprised she still held on to those kinds of feelings after such a long time.

“I don’t know. Maybe not?” he said with a shrug.

“So you’re like the king of this island? Iʼve never been treated so well before,” she said, changing the subject.

“Uh, I guess. And donʼt take advantage of people. I don’t really bother with all that though, I have other things to worry about,” Zac answered.

“Then what do you do all day? Just sit here and drink like some hobo?” she said with a glance at the bottle of whiskey he had by his side.

Zac snorted and shook his head.

“I wish. I need to get stronger,” Zac said, his face turning serious. “I promised to protect you at dad’s grave, and there are so many enemies.”

Kenzie only looked down with sad eyes. He’d told her about their father the day he saved her, not wanting to hide it from her. Though she had cried a bit she soon recovered, only mentioning that she wished to visit the grave as soon as possible.

It was a harsh reality, but most people had already come to terms with the fact that most of their friends and family had passed away. There barely were any families that had gone unscathed by the fall, and theirs wasn’t an exception.

“By the way, those towers over at the entrance look so cool. You could learn a lesson or two from Brazla,” Kenzie said with shimmering eyes as she looked the towers shining in gold and white in the distance.

Due to the height of the structure and the extremely gaudy display, there were few places in Port Atwood where you couldn’t spot at least part of the building. As if by responding to her words the rainbows and celestial rays increased in intensity, almost reaching a blinding luminescence.

“Living in a place like that would be like living in the middle of a Las Vegas Casino,” Zac said with a grimace. “Have you talked with the Tool Spirit?”

“Yeah, he’s a nice guy. I think he’s a bit lonely, so I usually visit him once a day for a bit,” she nodded. “He says that one of the inheritances is a good fit for me.”

“Oh?” Zac said, curious.

That also worked as an excellent segue into why he’d asked her to come back to their home. There were still a few questions in Zac’s mind, questions that weren’t proper to ask in front of the other two girls.

The more he thought about the weird ball that entered Kenzie’s head, the more uncomfortable he got. It was simply unnatural that something so powerful didn’t give off a single speck of energy. He wanted to get to the bottom of the matter now that they were alone, so he could help out if there was some trouble.

But before he had time to go into that issue he was interrupted by Kenzie.

“I heard you’ve traveled a lot the past months. Did you find any clues about mom?” Kenzie blurted out with hopeful eyes before Zac had a chance to ask his questions.

Zac was taken by surprise by the question, as he honestly hadnʼt really thought about his mother since the integration.

“I couldn’t even find her before the world got randomized, I wouldn’t even know where to begin to look now,” Zac answered with a shrug.

Zac saw his sister was gearing up for an argument they’d had many times before, and could only groan inwardly. However, he quickly had an idea and took out a small box from a pouch. It contained the things he brought from their home in Greenworth, and he took out the amulet his father had left.

Their father mentioned that it was a memento from their mother in his diary, and Zac thought giving it to Kenzie might pacify her a bit. But before he had time to hand over the amulet they were interrupted by two demons entering the courtyard.

“So you’re back,” Ogras said with a small smile as he sauntered inside.

“Don’t you ever knock?” Zac asked with some annoyance as he looked over at the demons entering the courtyard.

“Get yourself an array if you want privacy, otherwise I’ll treat it as an open-door policy is in effect,” Ogras answered as he threw one of his annoying smiles toward Kenzie. “Hello again, beautiful.”

Zac’s eyes thinned as he glared toward Ogras, his aura starting to leak out a bit. Kenzie noticed her brother’s change in demeanor, and with a roll of her eyes slapped his arm.

“Cut it out,” she muttered under her breath.

“So sister-in-law is here as well. It is good to see you again,” Alea said as she pushed Ogras out of the way as she walked toward Kenzie with a warm smile, not even sparing Zac a glance.

“Sister-in-law?” MacKenzie asked with some confusion as she let Alea hook her arm in hers.

“Don’t let that human girl hear you say that,” Ogras said with a grin, drawing an angry glare from Alea.

Kenzie simply seemed amused by the chaos the two were creating and was content to be a spectator of it all.

“Alea is just kidding around,” Zac said to his sister before turning to Ogras. “What human girl?”

“Oh, we found a girl that claims to be your girlfriend. Hannah something,” Ogras said with a shrug.

“Hannah’s here?” Zac said, his face quickly souring as he glared at his sister.

She only shrugged her shoulders with an impish smile when seeing Zac’s face. Alea’s mouth curved up in a smile as she saw Zac’s reaction, but only ushered Kenzie out of the courtyard.

“Come, let’s sightsee a bit. Let those two bores talk things out. I have a great tea that I have saved for a special occasion such as this,” Alea said as she pulled Kenzie away.

Just before she exited the courtyard she threw one last look at Zac.

“It’s good you’re back.”

“Have fun,” Zac distractedly said as he waved the two away, a confused frown adorning his face.

Ogras snickered as he looked at a peeved Alea, who turned away with a harrumph.

However, the mirth on Ogras face quickly drained away as he saw the amulet in Zac’s hand.

“Why do you have that thing?” he said with an uncommonly serious voice.

“Why do you care?” Zac asked with some confusion as he looked down at the memento in his hands.

“Because it is a Technocrat insignia.”