138 The True Beginning

"Are you saying the truth?!" Cray jumped at Iliana.

Iliana blinked once, then said, "Of course, I always say the truth."

Cray slumped his shoulders, and sighed. "Huuh... I am glad we don't lose our friend this soon." He turned to Whitney, then bumped Whitney's chest lightly. "He's still alive, Whitney. Loosen up a little bit."

Despite that, Whitney didn't loosen up in the slightest; he knew the matter didn't solve just with Basil staying alive.

"What happened to Basil, anyway?" Iliana asked.

"He's trapped inside the Dungeon together with a Kinslayer."

Iliana looked at Whitney sceptically. "Hoh? They are real?"

"We would've brought him home with us, if they are not."

Iliana hummed to herself, before looking at Alcott. "My Subjugation task with this guy," she raised Deacon up, "was successful. Therefore, I will go on to the next task, in which I volunteer myself in."

Alcott quirked his eyebrow. "What do you mean by that, Iliana?"

"I will rescue Basil," Iliana answered firmly.

Alcott sighed, and shook his head helplessly. "Huuh... Take a seat first. We will talk about it once again." He turned his eyes to Whitney. "Can you tell us what happened once again."

Whitney nodded his head, and recounted what had happened once again. Iliana listened to him intently in her seat without giving any reaction.

"Can I assume no one knows about it, except the four of us—five including Deacon?"

Whitney shook his head. "No. I have only told professor Alcott about this."

"I see..." Iliana turned to Alcott. "How should we handle this matter, professor?"

"We will wait, and let him be for the time being."

Surprisingly, Iliana agreed with Alcott. "Indeed. That is the best course of action."

Whitney stood up from his seat once again. "We will wait? What about rescuing Basil instead? We know he is still alive!"

Alcott smiled bitterly, and Iliana was the one who answered Whitney's question.

"You forgot that Basil also has the Dungeon in his control. I'm sure he will do many things to the Dungeon just to escape from the Kinslayer's chase. Going there in that kind of condition will risk our lives instead."

Whitney wanted to retort, but Iliana beat him to it. "He has food supplies in his Spatial Storages; I have made sure they were full of them before he left. With his meticulousness, he will be able to sustain his life for at least 2 months in the Dungeon."

"Are you telling me we have to wait until his food supplies run out, then he starves to death?"

Iliana frowned. "Stop being a whiny brat, Whitney!" Her stern voice managed to shut Whitney up. "You are currently driven by your guilt and frustration on your failure. Take a deep breath, and calm down."

Whitney did just that. When he was sure he had calmed down, he nodded his head at Iliana.

Iliana continued talking, "What Professor Alcott means by waiting is, we will prepare ourselves to save him in the mean time."

Iliana gestured at Deacon, who was sitting mightily on her lap, then said, "We will communicate with Basil through this little guy."

Whitney's eyes lit up in realization; Alcott nodded his head in appreciation at the brilliance Iliana had shown.

"Alright, little guy. Contact your Master, and ask how he is," Iliana said to Deacon.

Woof!

Deacon nodded his head, then proceed to contact Basil through [Link]. It didn't take him long to get connected to Basil.

Woof!

Deacon notified the others.

"Wait!" Alcott put his hand in front of Deacon. He quickly opened his drawer, then took out a a blue jade pendant. "Before you talk to your Master, wear this first." Then, he put it on to Deacon.

"What is that?" Cray asked.

Iliana answered, "That's a Transmitter. It is created by Mentalist, the only item that is not created by a Craft Master; used mainly by a mute Mage to convey their thought. In this case however, it will transmit what Basil will say to us."

Cray nodded his head at the explanation. Then, Deacon asked how Basil was going on via his [Link]. No one heard what Deacon said, but Basil's instantaneous answer could be vividly heard.

"I am fine. Tell those people crowding you not to mind me. This place is a better place to train myself than any Magic Institute in the entire Kingdom."

Just like that, the room descended in silence once again. They didn't quite catch what Basil meant by his word.

...

Basil, who had just replied to Deacon's question regarding his well-being, looked to his cell door; someone was knockimg on it, and it annoyed him.

Although it was called a cell, it looked nothing different than a normal room except it's position; it was high on the big stone wall. The cell Basil was in was one of the many niches the Exploration team had seen in the wall.

This was his place to gain some privacy. The main reason why he needed privacy was Caesar.

Ever since he had met Matheus in his Mindscape—which is roughly a week ago—Caesar seemed to follow him anywhere, giving him guidance he didn't really need from time to time.

"Young Master, I know you are awake. It's time to train!"

Caesar even went as far as to address Basil as a Young Master. Basil knew Caesar definitely knew something about the history of his clan, Pacifer.

However, whenever he asked about that, Caesar had always brushed the question aside. Therefore, Basil also decided not to engage himself with Caesar, as he didn't see any benefit out of it.

"Huuh... You know your act is unneeded, aren't you Caesar?" Of course, the lonely old man, Caesar had told Basil his name. "Ku-ku-ku. If that is the case, you should get out of your room now, Young Master," Caesar replied.

He perfectly misunderstood what Basil meant by his word.

Basil sighed lightly, before opening the door. Since he was in the highest cell, he was 70 meters away from the ground. Therefore, all he could see from his cell was the other side of the wall.

To reach his cell, he needed to climb. Since the cells were meant for the captured Kinslayers in the very first place, there were no stairs provided.

Basil stood in the doorway, before looking down. As he had expected, Caesar was there, latched onto the wall like a lizard, while smirking at him.

"Good Day, Young Master! Let us train again today!"

Basil's mouth turned into a thin line at the annoying old man; he curbed the urge to sigh, as he was afraid he would also breathe a part of his soul out this time.

Then, he jumped from his cell onto the ground.

Whoosh!

While free falling, he gathered the wind, and slowly wrapped his body with it. Therefore, by the time he was a meter away from the ground, his body fully stopped in the air.

Thud.

His feet touched the ground lightly; he felt a breeze, and Caesar also appeared beside him. Cesar had just teleported beside him, showing his mastery over Space Magic.

"Alright! What do you want to learn today, Young Master?"

Basil glanced at Caesar. "What about nothing? I am fully sure I have not the need to learn from you."

"Ku-ku-ku. You may never know, Young Master." Caesar caressed his beard. "I have many things that can surprise you."

"Very well." Surprisingly, Basil nodded his head in agreement. "Let's have a meal together, and show me how you can surprise me."

Caesar slightly widened his eyes in surprise, but quickly accepted Basil's invitation. He was tired of eating tasteless Demon meat, after all. Also, it was a good chance to properly speak with Basil.

Basil tapped the ground once with his foot; a table, and two chairs made of earth structure emerged from the ground. He took out his plates, knives, forks, mugs, and napkins out of his Spatial Ring, before setting them on the table.

He sat on the chair, then also motioned Caesar to do the same. His Spatial Ring flashed once again; the empty plates were filled with a slab of an expensive steak, while the empty glasses were filled with an equally good liquor.

"Wow... That is impressive." Caesar couldn't help but be amazed at Basil's thoroughness in preparing everything. "You care about manner as much as how you look."

"Mannerism is my least concern. However, I know how to treat someone with respect."

"Heh... I am glad, I am respected." Caesar smirked.

Picking up his knife and fork, Caesar immediately cut the juicy and well-cooked meat. Stabbing it with his fork, he quickly brought it to his mouth. Then, he felt a sensation he hadn't felt for a long time: the sensation of his taste buds screaming in glee.

"For Akasha's knowledge, this is amazing! It's easily the best food I've ever tasted in my life!"

Basil lightly smirked at the compliment Caesar had given to his cooking, and took a sip of the liquor in his mug.

"Let us talk about why you are not acting violent in front of a me, a citizen of the Empire you hate."

Caesar woke up from his daze, then turned to Basil. "Oh, about that... It's actually pretty simple." He drank his liquor then continued, "As young Master has already known, I hate the Empire—my hatred is exactly on the Empire."

Basil quirked his eyebrow, prompting Caesar to elaborate.

"I mean, I hate those people in power, the people governing over the Empire; they know of the wrong thing they predecessors have committed in the past. The citizens are innocent—I have no grudge against them."

He cleared his throat once, then continued, "Furthermore, you are my Young Master—I can't hate you."

"I see..." Basil sipped his liquor. "Now to the next question, why are you calling me Young Master?"

"Because, you ARE my Young Master."

"I don't like word games, Caesar," Basil said lightly, but seriously.

Caesar sighed. "Since you are so adamant about it, I will tell you a little bit about Pacifer Clan." Basil nodded his head, and Caesar continued, "To say it simply, I used to serve Pacifer Clan."

He shook his head. "No. All of us used to. Pacifer Clan was the only clan trusted by our Lord; they were his direct servants, his strongest weapon—his army."

Caesar fiddled with his mug, then continued, "Being able to serve them is an honor to us, who can't directly serve our Lord. When our Lord was betrayed, Pacifer Clan took most of the brunt by themselves." He gulped the liquor.

"Before I got jailed here, I witnessed the massacre of Pacifer Clan right in front of my eyes." He looked to Basil. "Therefore, meeting you, a descendant of a Pacifer is an honor to me."

Basil silently looked at Caesar, and took another sip of his liquor.

"Can you tell me more about Pacifer Clan?"

"I can, but not much." Caesar lied, and Basil knew it.

Still, the story continued.