In the Serian Empire, Headquarters of the Aether tower.
A woman rushed through the hallway and entered the elevator. She hurriedly hit the highest button inside the elevator and clutched the piece of paper she was holding to her chest.
After a minute or so, when the elevator door opened, the woman once more rushed to a grandiose door and knocked on it.
The door opened on its own and the woman walked in.
"Your highness, we have a situation," she said.
An old, decrepit man with long white hair and beard, sat cross-legged on the floor instead of the table. When he heard the woman, he slowly opened his eyes.
"Does this situation have anything to do with the Apostle of Alexis?" he asked.
"Yes, your highness. From our report, he is on his way to the Ordain empire. If we don't stop him, he will spread—"
"That's alright," the man said, interrupting the woman. "I will take care of it. Tell the others to not worry about it."
The woman lost all sense of panic and felt incredibly relieved. "Will you? Thank you, your highness."
The woman left the room and the door shut behind her. The old man stayed in the room for a while and contemplated what he had to do.
So, he stood up and walked to the desk, and picked up the phone. He hit a number he had remembered and waited for the other person to answer.
"Your highness, is it you?" a woman spoke in a raspy voice on the other side.
"Yigri, I need you to prepare something," he said.
"What is it, your highness?" the woman asked.
"I need your best work," the man said and waited for the woman to answer.
He didn't get an answer for half a minute before the woman replied, "I will need at least 2 weeks, your highness. Maybe even more," she said.
"I am fine with that. Let me know when you are done with it," the old man said and ended the call.
He then went back to sitting cross-legged and started his absorption technique once more.
* * * * *
Ning arrived in a city called Harnot in the Ordain empire. He walked out of the train and looked around the station. The place wasn't any different from back in Xandria.
Even the ethnicities looked quite similar. There may have been a few differences here and there, but overall, they looked the same as the Xandrians.
Ning was about to walk out of the station when he was stopped.
"Are you new?" a pair of guards asked at the pathway outside. Ning noticed that it wasn't just him that was being stopped, but others as well.
"Yes, I'm new," Ning replied.
"Perform an Aether art," the guards said.
"I said, perform an Aether art. Are you deaf?" the guard was a bit rude.
'What the hell?' Ning thought before creating a tongue of flame that lasted for a second at most.
"Wear this on your arm at all times," the guards said as they handed him a red armband.
"This is?" Ning asked.
"To separate you from the dud. If you are found not wearing the band when you are in the city, you will be penalized," the guard said.
Ning looked and saw that the guard himself too had a red armband.
Ning nodded and walked on after wearing the armband. He saw other groups of people wearing similar bands, and a few of them wore white ones.
'Is… that the band for the duds?' Ning wondered.
There were almost as many duds as Aether users in the city from what Ning could tell.
Ning walked out of the city and thought of what he needed to do next. As always, his first choice was to find a publishing company to print his scrolls.
After that, he just needed to find a hotel for himself.
Ning looked around, trying to find a ride when he heard someone shouting.
"You think I will pay 10 Sils for your shitty carriage," someone was shouting at a carriage driver.
"Sir, that is the price of the carriage ride for where you want to go," the driver said.
"You dare talk back to me?" the man suddenly slapped the driver in front of the whole crowd.
"What the hell?" Ning said softly. He expected the driver to hit back, but for some reason, he simply stood there with his head low while holding his cheeks.
Ning looked at the crowd and not a single person walked up to do anything. Even the 2 children and woman next to the man looked at the situation with no hint of shame in their eyes.
"2 Sils, that is all I will be paying you," the man told him.
"Sir, 2 Sils is just not enough. I have a family to loo—"
The man slapped the driver again. "You dare talk back to me? Have you forgotten your place?" he screamed at the poor driver again.
Ning couldn't keep watching this, so he walked forward.
"Brother, how much will it cost me to go to the Sweetpea street?" Ning asked.
"Who the hell are you?" the man asked. "I already chose this carriage, go away."
"But it doesn't look like you are going to use it. If you are, why don't you pay his 10 Sils price?" Ning asked.
"Hah, are you empathizing with a dud? You are one stupid idiot," the man said.
"You think he's different just because he has a white band on his arm?" Ning asked. Without waiting for an answer, he snapped his finger and the man's red band slipped out of his hand and into Ning's own.
He then turned around to the driver and gave it to him. "Wear this," he said.
"I-I can—"
"You can after you eat this," Ning said as he brought out an Aether Ore.
The driver's eyes opened wide in shock. He may be a nobody, but he knew what an Aether ore was.
"Wh-who are you?" the driver asked.
"I am the Apostle of Alexis, and I have come to this city to turn every single dud into an Aether user."
"By the time I leave, I will make sure there is not a single person here that can look down on you all."
