The Arcadia System

*Whoosh!*

It only took Zev a few seconds to propel himself back to the duo. He snakily stayed beside Reve and didn't dare disturb Circe anymore. With a weaker voice, he indulged Reve, "Hey, you still want to know about Vagoroth, right?"

Reve nodded his head, "Yes."

"Very good, haha. Oops!" 

His close attempt at laughing received a heinous stare from Circe. She was getting fed up with the wolfman. 

Zev stares at the clouds and didn't look up for a while. He moved closer to Reve and whispered, "You still want to know, right?"

"....."

The young cat emperor sighed for the umpteenth time. Unfortunately, if he didn't reply, then he might not get the desired information.

"Yes," he voiced out.

"Hehe. Where to begin? Firstly, Vagoroth is considered a domain, a region. It is not a kingdom. Going with that, it is no surprise that Vagoroth doesn't have a monarch," whispered Zev.

He went on, "It is ruled collectively by a council of elders. Apart from the council, Vagorth also has regional lords for each region of Vagoroth. The regional lords answer are guided by the council. This leads to a smooth operation between both parties. Hehe, the position of regional lords change every five years. It been like that since its founding."

Despite him looking brutish and insanely barbaric, Zev was good at painting a good mental picture. Reve, with his experience from Earth, could imagine the political system of Vagoroth. However, it wasn't really something he had to be concerned with.

Nevertheless, it was good to know the political system. The almost democratic system showed him how things have changed from the usual monarchy used by Arcadia in the past.

'It is said that the new continent is a continent without monarchs,' mused Reve.

….How time changes things?

He listened earnestdly to Zev, "If you know the map of Azea, then you would notice that it is just a collection of big islands connected by rivers. Vagoroth is not exempt from that. The domain of Severed Sanctuary was marked by a circle river that bordered all its sides. At the center of Vagoroth was its most important location, Triton Key..."

Zev continued telling Reve more about Vagoroth. From the way he said Azea instead of beast continent, Reve could tell that he was one of the traditional ones.

Apparently, Triton Key was an island city where most of the council members stayed….even Zev!

Yes, Zev was a member of the council. He was the Gehenna Order's way of watching over the council. The council had no idea, but the honorary member they had accepted was a demon prince. The white wolf!

It was at this moment, Reve understood that Zev wasn't even demi-human. He was a magical beast and his ability to maintain a humanoid form for what seemed like forever was actually impressive.

On that note, Reve had already begun feeling the stress of being in his new prime form. He couldn't wait to shed it off but that would wait until he had reached his destination.

.....

A few minutes after Zev was done, the group finally spotted something different from the mass of trees.

A couple of kilometers from Reve's location was a long river. Due to Reve being high up in the sky, he could see that the river coiled around a cluster of huge islands.

This was the Serpent Ring, the river said by Zev to border all of Vagoroth.

"We are here," Circe announced.

Her clouds crossed over the river and dropped them on the nearest island. 

Zev looked around for a while. His wet nose took a scent of the island's air before he said, "Smells like salt. The Salt Coast!"

Seeing as Circe paid attention to him, he led the group to a small cave close to the shore.

"If I remember correctly, this cave was built as a leyline terminus. Oh, found it!"

As they went deeper into the cave, specks of light shimmered from the torches fixed on the walls. Close to them was a glass-like platform.

There was a magic circle drawn on it as well as a beaming line beneath it. The blue line pulsed like a heartbeat beneath the earth. It gave a feeling of familiarity to Reve.

The latter thought with great interest, 'So this is an active leyline.'

A leyline….

It was materialistic yet spiritual. Simply put, a leyline was a natural oddity that came to existence with a clear purpose. A leyline was the physical path of earthly energy from the core of Arcadia.

It was interconnected and served to empower the earth, protecting it from being exposed to things natural disasters or famine.

What made it even more special was that leyline used earthly energy, a form of energy only produced by the earth of Arcadia. It coursed through the globe and acted as the power source of leylines. However, despite being a form of energy, it was hostile to mages and ki masters.

In that way, earthly energy was special. It could never leave the earth and would flow back to it even when been used to power a magic spell or ki art. It was a highly renewable source of energy!

Yet…..Arcadians would always be Arcadians.

They found a way to manipulate it. Since the earthly energy could never leave the earth, what would happen if it was used for a magic spell which effects covers the subterranean domain?

This was the basis of one of the greatest magical discoveries; Leyline Terminus. 

It was named after leyline eyes, specific spots on a leyline that coagulates a lot of earthly energy. A spell would be imbued in the leyline eye that would allow anyone to move to another leyline eye!

This invention quickly became one of the best modes of transportation in Arcadia. Of course, it had its fair share of worries.

'Now that I think of it, Zatius' cave also had a leyline eye. He used it to power his barrier. Hmmmm...' pondered Reve.

He, Zev, and Circe went on the platform. The magic circle on the platform felt their presence and activated. It surged with abundance of green lights that showered the group.

The next thing they knew, they were in another place!