CH.112 A Warm Welcome Part 2
The group reached the Nubian Kingdom by noon. Its walls towered—brick by brick, all hand-laid—casting long, cool shadows over the gate. Jack watched the guards in polished mail and neat sashes; the whole place looked prosperous. Still, he caught quiet faces in the crowd—people moving like freedom came in rations. Children chased one another through the dust while mothers called them in for food.
Sunlight flashed on the horses of Nubian commanders, but every eye kept drifting to the car. The kids who had been running froze, then sprinted toward it, yelling, "Look, it's a monster!"
Merchants' eyes glittered. Up near the palace, the wealthy peered from high windows—shocked, wanting the car more than anyone.
At the palace doors, Eboke Admone—the overseer of the pharaoh's affairs—stepped forward to receive them, while the pharaoh himself appeared on the balcony above. The group climbed out of the car.
Ramon stretched with a groan. "Oh, my back hurts with all this sitting."
"Come on, Ramon—behave," Khonsu hissed. "The pharaoh is right there."
Jack leaned toward Kamil, still taking it in. "They've really changed since last time, haven't they?"
"Yeah," Kamil said. "City looks… brighter."
The pharaoh spoke: "Welcome, travelers of the Theban Kingdom. We receive you with open arms."
"Definitely open arms," Henu muttered. "I just got attacked by four of your men." Luckily, only Ramon heard.
The pharaoh continued, "Your queen has agreed to gift us the vehicle you arrived in—the car—as part of our treaty. And in return, we will grant you passage to embark on your journey from our lands, using our ship, since yours had trouble being fixed."
Henu grumbled under his breath, "Okay, buddy, it isn't broken—it's just not ready for a long voyage."
Noya piped up, a bit too loud, "Guess he's still distraught that his ship is broken."
"Shut up, Noya—it's not broken," Henu snapped.
Inside, the palace cooled like a spring cave: marble tiles underfoot, their veins catching the light; tall columns banded in lapis and alabaster; painted friezes of lotus and papyrus along the walls. A breeze slipped through carved screens, bringing the scent of citrus and myrrh. In the central courtyard, water ran through narrow channels into a garden where bright parrots clung to fig branches. The lanterns were chased gold; attendants moved in linen and silk with practiced grace.
They were shown to their quarters: a circular salon with a round table at its heart and several doors leading off to shared rooms.
Ramon flopped onto a soft bed. "Ohh, I'm so tired."
Kasib, who hadn't said a word, set down his bags and headed for the door. "Right. I'm going for training."
"WHAT?!" Ramon and Noya shouted together. "Come on, man—you're going to train when you're clearly tired?"
"Yes," Kasib said simply. "Because I want to be strong."
Noya nudged Ramon, grinning. "Well, well, well—the weak must train to get stronger. Isn't that right, Ramon?"
Ramon folded his arms. "I guess I don't really need to train, Noya—because you taught me that one trick that always helps me win. Since that day, I didn't need any training."
Kasib's thoughts started racing. A trick? What trick? If I learn it, I can get stronger. He bowed slightly. "Royal Guard Noya, could you teach me the same trick you taught Ramon? I too want to be strong."
Noya's eyes lit up. "Well—hmm—yes, of course I could. But I'm a little tired right now. I still need to bring my luggage from the car… if only there were one person who could do it for me…"
"I'll do it!" Kasib said, and dashed out.
Kamil rubbed his temples. "You two don't have any trick. Stop using him."
Ramon and Noya exchanged matching smirks. "We can make him do anything," Ramon whispered.
"Let's get him to do all the dirty work while we rest," Noya said.
Yune, who'd been listening, had enough. He thumped both of them on the head and dragged Noya by the collar toward the hall. "We are going out to do some shopping."
"But I don't wanna go!" Noya wailed as he scraped along the floor.
Khonsu chuckled, shaking out sheets and blankets. "You guys sure are funny," he said, making the beds for everyone.
Henu sat in the garden outside the guest rooms, sharing a small table with Commander Drexel and General Amon. A folded piece of paper lay between them; fruit bowls sweated in the shade, and the juice beaded cold on their cups.
"So your headed to the White Land," Amon said, eating the grapes.
Henu replied, "yes a 3 Months Journey through ice cold winter to find the people on that land and do some research maybe we may find the truth about the Chronotex." He tapped the paper once, then looked up. "did you manage to find something out yet"
Drexel joined in the conversation. "nothing of much interest so far we only know this much
The Chronotex is almost a living material that existed since the beginning most likely there is no historic record of it being man made its tied really deeply with the structures of space nature and elements.
however it possesses no power when discovered in natural deposits but if its cut from the top and bottom in a pyramid type shape then it has a chance of possessing a power we do have records of it naturally being found in that exact shape formed by nature itself but those cases are rare to none but they do exist our own Elio Maren he found his Chronotex under a rock in his home village."
Henu questioned, "its a rare case however there is something similar with Jack he doesn't have a physical Chronotex while my Chronotex is my eye the eye of Helios the king of my people."
Amon evaluated Henu's claims with a slow nod. "well I guess these 2 rare cases are inexplainable the Chronotex isn't consistent it cannot be transferred to others without the will of its owner however why does it have a physical form why isn't it linked to the soul"
"Maybe because its part of nature, nature itself is physical," Henu added, leaning back.
Drexel continued, "it also evolves overtime we noticed 3 main evolutions and power types Core Powers – Foundational abilities Such as Thanes the power to stop time itself. Elemental Powers – Nature-aligned elements of nature just like yours & Mutational Powers – Unique abilities that evolve/mutate per user abilities like Kairos."
He set the paper aside and laced his fingers. "Furthermore, it's not a static power; it evolves as the user evolves as well, in levels up to Level 4. However, no one has tested the limit beyond that—it's probably not possible for a human. Its direct counter is a substance that exists in abundance: Dark Energy. It directly counters the Chronotex. I'm sure you're more aware of it than I am," Drexel said to Henu.
Henu nodded. "The highest-level Dark Energy user is my general, of course. I know there are three levels to it. The third level forbids the user of the Chronotex to ever use it. However, users somehow can still use Dark Energy at a maximum of Level 2, although not to its fullest potential.
"However, there does exist a Level 2.5—the peak in performance between the Chronotex and Dark Energy—but it's really hard to achieve. Our goal is to train most, if not all, of our soldiers who have the Chronotex to that level."
He exhaled, eyes drifting through the latticework of shade. "Hopefully we find some answers from the land of the white," Henu continued.
Amon's gaze flicked to the distant walls. "Are you sure people exist there, or is it just a fairytale?"
"I guess I'll find out when I get there, but for now I must go to sleep and rest my body to prepare for tonight's feast," Henu joked.
"And while all that happens we will showcase to you another piece of technology which will blow your minds away," Henu remarked, already pushing his chair back.
Drexel stood as well. "Sure, I'll escort you to your room."
Henu smirked. "There is no need for that. My man Usman will handle it for me." His room overlooked the garden. Henu cupped his hands and shouted, "Usman, get me into the room, please."
A crisp snap cut the air. Henu vanished from the garden and appeared on the balcony above. In the same breath, Usman arrived beside Amon and Drexel, bowed, and said, "Sorry for my intrusion."
Drexel accepted the bow with an intrigued tilt of his head. "I see your power has great uses, at least for him. Can you tell me more about it?"
Usman looked up at him and replied, "Well, yes indeed…"