Rivers of the Night

Theron walked around for a moment, touching the glass, feeling it to see if there were any seams.

There didn't seem to be an obvious entrance. But if there was no entrance, then how had he been placed inside to begin with?

Of course, Theron had been awake during the process, but with all the blinding golden lights, it felt like one moment he was walking through a hail of gold, and in the next he was in the cage.

He didn't feel anything, sense anything, and it was obviously controlled by a mysterious process he didn't understand—likely involving a Light Mancer.

The obvious answer was some sort of spatial teleportation, but he didn't sense any runes around here. He had already seen the methods of a Divine Realm Space Mancer, so it was impossible that anything here could be beyond that.

At the very least, he would need to exhaust all other options before he even considered that a possibility.

It couldn't have been a one-way teleportation either, though that would work—or else there would be no way to get him out.

Of course, there was the possibility that they had no intention of taking him out in the first place, but once again Theron highly doubted it. It wasn't the answer that made the most sense.

No one would build a prison they couldn't easily regain access to. It was bad practice.

Theron sat back down after a while and closed his eyes, allowing all the tiny details and curiosities he had picked up on to seep through his mind.

'I see.'

Theron was lucky this time. The secrets were hidden away in the Law of Refraction. Without it, he wouldn't be able to grasp what was happening here at all.

The doorway was only opened up to this place by a specific configuration of the light. This glass was embedded with countless small imprints that formed divots and valleys that weren't even perceptible to the naked eye, but they did form the foundations of Runes.

The light would flood in, form networks of reflections and such with them.

In most cases, this would do nothing at all. But when the light was at just the right angle, it would fill just the right runes with Light Mana and cause the glass to change shape, forming an opening.

This glass was quite special in that it didn't interact with any Mana type outside of Light. And even if they did trap a Light Mancer in here, you would have to recalculate the angle.

That was because the light source was designed to come in from the outside. From the inside, the mesh of hidden runes was completely different.

Under normal circumstances, one might even assume that it was impossible to do the same from the inside. But Theron had already deduced the proper angle.

Unfortunately, he was no Light Mancer. Plus, even if he was, his Mana was technically supposed to be under lock and key right now. Even if they did trap a Light Mancer in here, there was no getting out. And someone from the outside couldn't save him unless they reoriented the entire room.

Of course, one Light Mancer who knew what they were doing would be enough. But would they?

Theron had a better understanding of how much stronger his Third Eye was in comparison to Gold Mancers of his side of the world rather than this one. But from what he had seen from Raan, his Third Eye was still substantially better than these few.

It was hard to say that anyone but the very best would be capable.

Theron, however… felt he had already found a way out.

'Simple enough.'

Theron closed his eyes and didn't move, though. One would have thought that he had already done his best only to find nothing and give up.

…

An entire day passed like this. No one seemed to think to bring food or water, and the Water Mana in this place was so scarce that he couldn't possibly be expected to use it either…

Not that he could cultivate right now to replace his need for sustenance.

Silver Mancers could do that to some extent, but only for a short few weeks at most, and definitely not longer than three or so. Theron had already been starved of food for the half week it took to get here, so he actually didn't have all that much time left.

But then all the lights in the room suddenly vanished.

Falling into darkness, all Theron could hear was the slight clicking of shoes—or that was what he thought he heard. But the rhythm was off and not frequent enough.

It was either this person was exceptionally slow, or…

'A walking cane.'

Theron was proven right a moment later. A hunched elder appeared, a dim white light forming around them, just enough to see the reflective casing of the cage and the figure before him.

Just behind the old man was Elder Pipen, who stood with his head slightly bowed and his hands clasped behind his back.

The old man didn't speak for a long while, but his murky eyes seemed to look through Theron—not because he was so insightful, but instead because…

He was blind.

His irises had turned to a milky grey, but it didn't seem like a natural blindness, nor one caused by age. Instead, it looked like something had burned away his sight entirely.

Theron's eyes inwardly narrowed.

He couldn't sense much with this cage around him, although his Third Eye was practically the only thing left alone by his Mandate Mark. But he had a feeling he could guess at something.

"Break the mark," the old man suddenly said.

"Can I ask what will happen if I can?"

"No."

"I see." Theron nodded. He looked down at the mark and did as he was told.

The Mandate Mark shook, and the old man's murky eyes seemed to brighten considerably for a moment, as though a flash of lightning was ready to erupt out of them at any moment.

Beads of sweat poured down Theron's brow and his skin paled considerably. But then…

**BANG!**

Theron's body shot back, slamming against the edge of the cage. Coughing, he heaved up several mouthfuls of blood.

Elder Pipen paled, clenching his jaw and not making a single sound. In that moment, the only thing that could be heard at all were the echoes of Theron's coughs.

The Ancestor Veil, however, didn't say a single word. The look in his eyes had dimmed somewhat, but not completely. Elder Pipen was too worried for his life, but there was one very obvious oddity here…

Even Theron's attempt should be impossible.

"How many Laws do you know?" the Ancestor Veil asked slowly.

Theron was still coughing and couldn't answer immediately, his mind shaking from the backlash. But the Ancestor Veil was nothing if not patient.

"I… know four…" Theron said finally.

"When did you learn them?"

"I don't… know…" Theron said. "I didn't… know what Laws were… until…"

"Your battle with Raan Tyre."

Theron didn't respond, but this seemed to be the answer the old man was looking for.

"And why did your master not explain these things to you?"

"I haven't… learned any cultivation from my master… and I've only been… under his tutelage… for a week…"

"Open it," the Ancestor Veil said calmly.

"Right away, Ancestor!"

Elder Pipen dashed off, and soon the room was flooded with light again. Then, an opening was quickly formed.

Theron seemed far too out of it to understand what was happening, but the Ancestor Veil stepped into the cage and grabbed his wrist.

A great amount of energy poured into him in wild streams, and Theron immediately felt uncomfortable. He wasn't just being scanned—he was practically being stripped naked.

This was something he couldn't account for and wasn't quite ready for, but he had no choice but to accept what came and decide how to deal with things after the fact.

However, after the Ancestor Veil was done, he said nothing. It was impossible to tell if he had seen through everything or nothing at all, and that made it even more difficult for Theron to understand how to read this situation.

In the end, though, Theron decided that this wasn't a huge deal. If being able to destroy the Mandate Mark meant what he thought it did, there was practically no other secret on his body worth the same.

The only worry was his father's short sword. He would prefer not to have to launch another chaotic plan to get it back… again.

Luckily, the Mandate Guild was so arrogant they didn't even bother to take his spatial ring. The white ninja was probably too preoccupied with his desire to report. Either that or… they didn't care about what he had in his ring at all, nor did they put much stock in the plaque.

They cared more about the principle than the value of the plaque itself. And now that they had found that Theron was actually valuable to them, they had long forgotten what landed him here in the first place.

Pulling his hand back, the Ancestor Veil took out an item with a flip of the palm. To Theron's surprise…

It was another plaque?

"Study this. Comprehend it. If you cannot, you die in three days. If you can, we will try again."

After saying this, the Ancestor Veil turned and left without a word.

Elder Pipen reacted as though he had finally been given amnesty, hurriedly closed the cage, and rushed away, excitement in his eyes. He knew that his gamble had paid off.

Theron, though, felt a heat in him he had to suppress from coming up.

'…Predictable.'