A pair of large brown sofas, with golden embroidery, were placed in the center of the hall. A glass table was between them, with a tea kettle, a plate of biscuits, and three teacups on it. A short man with a long full beard and a paunch was sitting on the opposite sofa. But his hands were thick and calloused, and his arms were full of body hair. There was a mace beside his sofa, almost as tall and big as him.
Wearing a T-shirt and a big smile, he welcomed them, "Good to see you safe and sound, Kant." Then he paused to take a proper look at Sharv, who was observing the hall. On the right side, there was a big transparent glass display on the wall, and on the left, there were more such displays on a table. People were working on the smaller ones, but the whole setup was clean, wireless and just consisted of chairs besides the table and displays, nothing else. "And how about you introduce this friend of yours?" he added, still wary of Sharv.
"Yes, Commander. It's good to be alive and kicking. And this guy here, Sharv, is the one who saved my life," Kant vouched for himself and Sharv.
"Hmm, then he must be powerful." The man nodded. "Sit, sit. I want to hear the full story." He poured tea into three cups and offered one to each of them after taking one himself.
"Well, I met him outside the forest," Kant started speaking while Sharv just sipped his tea and observed the conversation. He told everything, from Sharv's motive behind traveling the land to the point in the fight where he had lost consciousness. Obviously, he left out the part about Sharv's Chakras changing colors.
"That must have been horrifying. Getting bombarded by a combo attack of two commanders is no joke, especially for a knight," the in-charge commander comforted Kant and then addressed Sharv. "And you just shrugged it off. Really amazing. What happened after that?"
"What else? We were obviously in a death battle, so they had to die," Sharv said nonchalantly. "I also got some info after dismembering one of the commanders. Apparently, those knights and the commanders were sent by the City Magistrate of the next city…"
"Swarnaa, it is," the man filled in the name. 'He really is strong. I should not come across as unfriendly. He might become a new recruit or partner.' "So you killed two commanders without a problem and even got some info. That's incredible. So what can I help you with, for saving Kant's life?"
"Nothing in particular. I… just want some answers, Mr.…?"
"Suvan, that is. Ask what you want," the man spoke with a big smile.
"Okay, Mr. Suvan, it might be a little inappropriate, but I heard this is a rebel organization. So why do you use the same insignia as the Army?"
Now both Kant and the base commander lost their smiles. The base commander cleared his throat then said, "Straight up, huh. Well, Sharv, as it is, you can clearly see a little distinction between the feather colors. Ours is golden. But the details are… you can say… exclusive to the organization. So I can't tell you that. You can ask the real base commander, Marshal Jay, after he returns. After all, I am just temporarily in-charge."
"I understand," Sharv nodded, "so can you at least tell me the name of your group?"
"Yeah, yeah. We are called The Embers Of Avanti," Suvan said with excitement.
Now Sharv looked at Kant and then turned to Suvan. "You see… I made a promise to save his brother." He pointed to Kant. "Can you give me some details about him?" The question caught Kant off guard as his face turned somber. He looked up to Suvan's face with pleading eyes.
"That's… a really big promise and a really precarious situation," Suvan said in a solemn, serious tone after looking at Kant. "His brother is in the City Jail of Varnaa, two hundred miles west of the next city. But many of our brothers… cadets, you may say, are in the Swarnaa city jail. I can't say much, but the Base Commander has gone to our different base to do something about it."
"That is troublesome but manageable. When should I bring your brother to meet you, Kant?" Sharv asked.
"Are you craaazyyy?" Suvan almost jumped out of his sofa. "YOU ARE PLANNING TO INFILTRATE A CITY JAIL ALONE?"
"Hmm, what's surprising about that?" Sharv asked, oblivious to the gravitas of the situation.
Suvan looked at Sharv, then at Kant, who was facepalming himself, to confirm if he was the only one bewildered and aghast. "HE SAYS WHAT'S SURPRISING ABOUT IT!" Saying this, he laughed out loud. His laugh reverberated in the hall. Sharv looked around to see that nobody else had stopped their work, as if it was routine. "Oh God, it's really good to be young, powerful, and ignorant."
"Okay, okay, let's just talk about it," Sharv said, squirming from the situation. "Who is the strongest person in a city?" he asked.
"The City Magistrate."
"And how strong is he?"
"A Marshal, at least."
"Then it's no problem."
Suvan had controlled himself by now. He said in a serious tone, "Yes, the City Magistrate is no problem. But there are many other powerful people always present in the city, both secretly and openly. He is just the strongest, but there is no rule preventing many powerful people from staying in the same city."
Sharv nodded as if understanding the situation now.
"I say you wait for our commander to come back and then do what you want." At first, Sharv was reluctant, but once Kant urged him, he accepted the offer.
"But I won't stay here. I will be staying by the lake," he insisted.
"Don't get misled by the term 'rebel'. We are hospitable people," Suvan joked.
"Oh, it's not about that. I like nature and practicing my art in nature. And this is a really good chance, so I don't want to miss it. You can just come there and find me," Sharv clarified. He left the base after inviting Kant to come and meet him.
After he left, Kant also left the hall to rest.
"What an interesting fellow!" Suvan mused. Sharv had already left an impression, even without trying.
"Sir, you might want to take a look at this." A lean man, who was working on the consoles, interrupted his amusement.
"What is this?" Suvan asked after turning to take a look at the big transparent screen, which now showed a map of a city with some kind of movement of a particular group.
"Sir, that is Swarnaa. And city knights are being mobilized to the city borders and the East and North sectors of the city."
"Did they send Ward Chiefs with knights to capture the boy?" Suvan asked.
"No, Sir. They really did send the Void Corps, according to the intel," the intel guy answered.
"Ohh, so they really believed that Sharv was a Voidheart," Suvan was surprised. "What do you think of the lad?"
"I would say he is calm, calculated, and confident. Nothing in particular about him was like a Voidheart. But that's my assessment."
"Yeah, I also think the same. Otherwise, why would he save Kant, risking himself? He could have just surrendered." But then he waved his hand and added, "Anyway, keep an eye on the situation. I think Sharv hit them hard."
"As you say, Sir." The intel guy returned to his seat, and amusement again filled Suvan's face.