Stellar Echo: Heart of the Myst

“18 Generals?”

Seeing Erik's confused expression, Chen could only sigh in defeat before asking, albeit somewhat surprised.

"Fellow student Erik, is it possible that you know nothing about the Jade Lotus Union?"

"No, I have no idea how the factions work aside from the Arcane Order." Erik shook his head and responded, as he really hadn't paid special attention to any of the other factions in the galaxy.

"I see. If you want, I can explain how the different factions operate," Chen offered kindly, to which Erik agreed with a nod.

"That would be nice."

After Erik's words, the chair where Chen had been sitting before approaching suddenly lifted into the air, which startled Chen quite a bit. He quickly activated his ethereal projection, allowing him to sense some sort of invisible 'arm' that gently grabbed the chair and placed it near Erik's desk.

"Was that solidified Myst?" Chen asked in astonishment, to which Erik casually replied, motioning for him to sit.

"Yes, a very useful trick."

"How can you do something like that?"

"With a lot of effort."

Faced with Erik's nonchalant response, who was looking at him with a small smile as if nothing had happened, Chen couldn't help but force a smile. He began pondering how the star-haired boy could accomplish something like that, especially since he never sensed Erik's mana—in fact, he hadn't even felt the Myst move, even though he was widely known in his clan as the genius with the best connection to Myst.

The truth was that as Erik's power level increased, he realized something interesting: his ability to control the Myst around him improved by leaps and bounds. Now, he didn’t need to use his mana to solidify the Myst around him; a single thought was enough. 

Although the structure was rather poor and could only support a couple of tons before breaking, it was very useful for making airborne platforms or the ghostly hands. As he liked to call what he had just done with the chair.

"You truly are worthy of being Master Eldurdóttir's first disciple, fellow student Erik; this is the first time I've seen something like this," Chen remarked with mixed feelings as he sat down in the chair, to which Erik responded casually.

"Well, thanks for the compliment, and drop the 'fellow student' thing; it's annoying to hear it all the time."

"Hehe, alright, classmate Erik" 

Upon hearing how Chen addressed him now, Erik could only roll his eyes, but the boy quickly began explaining, so he said nothing and instead listened to the young man.

"Let's get started. First of all, let me tell you a bit about the Jade Lotus Union. As you must know, we primarily use the Zazen Discipline as a magical system, although there are a few minor systems that could be considered applications of the same system. Besides, the faction is led by the Xiao family and the six noble clans."

Erik quickly interrupted Chen's explanation to ask with some interest.

"Why is the Xiao clan the leader?"

"Because it's the clan of the great legendary cultivator, Xiao Xiuwen. All the other powerful factions in the galaxy have a legendary-level leader. How do you not know something like that?" Chen looked at Erik with surprise as he asked, to which he simply responded indifferently.

"It never interested me. After all, I don't plan on leaving the university anytime soon."

"Do you know you're in one of the most important education and trade centers in the galaxy?" Chen asked somewhat incredulously, to which Erik replied without much concern.

"Yes, so what's the problem?"

"The problem is that you're destined to meet all sorts of people from all kinds of places. It's important to at least know the basics about the other major factions. Who knows when you might end up offending someone you shouldn't."

Chen commented, stupefied, as he wondered how Master Eldurdóttir hadn't told him something so basic before. For example, his clan hadn't let him leave his planet until he had memorized the faces and emblems of all those he should not offend—a very common practice in the galaxy.

"Offend? What do you mean by that?" Erik asked, confused, to which Chen could only smack his forehead as he began to doubt the education the boy was receiving at home.

“Look, your status in society depends on two things. First, your power: the one with the biggest fist is always right. So, if you offend someone stronger than you, you automatically become the bad guy, and no one will come to your defense. Second, your skills: even if someone isn’t very strong, if they have special abilities, they’re also highly respected, like the Auric Awards. Every faction wants as many of them in their ranks as possible, so if an Auric Award demands someone they dislike be removed, they’ll do it if it’s profitable.”

“Do the others really operate like that?”

Erik looked at Chen in surprise. After all, the Arcane Order wasn’t like that. Here, there were very strict laws, and from what he had read, they were enforced to the letter, to the point that most within the Order feared facing the court and avoided breaking the law as much as possible.

“Yes, that’s how things work. The galaxy is a jungle of stars; it’s not a kind place for the weak." Chen repeated with a serious expression, echoing the words he had grown tired of hearing in his clan, leading Erik to comment with evident disdain and contempt.

“What a stupid and backward system. I can only imagine the immense amount of talent that must have been lost because of that mindset. No wonder the Arcane Order easily cornered them.”

Hearing Erik’s words filled with disdain, an unpleasant expression formed on Chen’s face, but he couldn’t say anything because, after all, Erik was right. It wasn’t uncommon for a talented young person in other factions to be killed for offending someone they shouldn't.

This made it very common for them to defect to the Arcane Order, where they grew to become powerful on their own merits, turning the Arcane Order into a gigantic and untouchable power. Despite being a little over two hundred thousand years old.

“Oh, sorry, I forgot you’re part of one of those factions,” Erik apologized half-heartedly, as if wanting to rub salt in the wound, to which Chen could only respond after a small sigh.

“It’s okay. It’s well known across the galaxy that if a genius isn’t born into a powerful family within one of the three great factions, it’s better to go to the Arcane Order. This has caused a massive talent drain from the other factions. But still, they refuse to change their ways. After all, it’s difficult for the old to adopt new ways.”

“Well, violence is a great way to maintain power, so they’re not going to change. The most they’ll do is use more violence to keep talent from leaving, which will only increase their losses. In any case, they’re doomed, as far as I can see.”

Chen could only remain silent with a bitter smile, as once again, Erik had hit the nail on the head. In the three great factions, desertion had started to be punished with death, and the birth of new powers was becoming less and less frequent, to the point where it was already being treated as a top-priority issue.

Only a few powers within the factions, like his own Ming family, had considered changing their ways and taking a path similar to the Arcane Order, where murder was a serious crime. Besides, reason could only be won through solid arguments, evidence, and replicable experiments, in addition to having a clear set of rules that allowed for defense.

“But go on, tell me about these noble families…”

Wanting to continue the conversation that had piqued his interest a bit, Erik commented with a small smile but quickly sensed Professor Sunflare approaching, so he quickly corrected himself.

“We better talk later; class is about to start.”

After saying that, Erik used his ghostly hand to send Chen back to his seat, who looked at him with a forced smile as he was carried through the air. Shortly after, the beautiful woman with white hair and violet eyes entered the room, greeting them with an elegant, serious tone before beginning the class.

Classes at the university were very different from what Erik had imagined. In reality, they were very free and short, and quite spaced out in time, giving him a lot of time to work on his own projects, which made the idea of returning to 'university' more acceptable.

For example, the class he was attending consisted of a two-hour lecture followed by a one-hour Q&A session, held once a month. And this was considered a basic class with a high frequency. At the Arcane University, it wasn’t uncommon to find classes that were held only once a year or even once a decade.

….

A few hours later, when the class was over, Erik approached Chen, greeted him, and then asked with a smile.

“Do you want to finish telling me how the factions work?”

“Sure.”

“Let’s go to the library then.”

Soon after, Erik took Chen to his private room in the library, which had been assigned to him thanks to Sigrún and Eleonora, who had requested it for him since he spent most of his ‘free time’ there. Now, he didn’t have to worry about not finding a good place to read, as the room was his to use.

With great familiarity, Erik settled into an elegant sofa while Chen watched in surprise as two impressive mystical wolves emerged from the star-haired boy’s shadow, one with silver fur and the other jet black.

“Well, we left off with the noble houses.”

Erik commented as he activated the automatic teapot in the room, which released a pleasant aroma moments later. The star-haired youth then proceeded to pour a cup for Chen and one for himself, before pulling out some cookies. He only shared them with the wolves that sat at his sides, leaving Chen with nothing but an ironic smile on his face.