Yuer run to the wall. He touched the cold stone and enveloped its bloodied surface in a layer of Earth Echo. His Echo responded, affirming the existence of a lock mechanism. Yuer pressed into the wall with his Echo and the wall shifted slightly. It then parted, revealing an underground staircase of hardened soil.

“Get in.” He ordered.

Sakina rushed down the stairs. Yuer swept his gaze across the room one last time before marching toward the white-haired boy. Without uttering a single word, Yuer hauled up the child into his arms and followed Sakina into the secret passage. He made sure to return the wall to its previous position before descending down the stairs.

The passage was dank and dark so Yuer activated his Light Echo, forming a little orb within his palm then sending it up into the air. The orb floated above their heads, following the trio as they moved, illumining the path ahead.

Soon enough, the trio met another set of stairs, except this one led upward instead of downward. They ascended the stairs hurriedly and once they reached the end of them, they found themselves facing a bolted door. Sakina rushed to unlock the door but found the metal bolt across the door too hard to even rattle.

Her heart started to thump wildly against her chest. Yielding metal was within the capacities of Earth Listeners. However, no beginner-level Earth Listener could control metal. They needed to be at least middle-level or above to able to shapeshift metallic essence. She was aware of such things thanks to the many books her master would read outloud to her in his courtyard’s garden during hot, long summer days.

Sakina glanced at Yuer. Her master was supposed to be less than a beginner-level Echo user, on both of his attributes. However, she was promptly reminded of the horror he personally induced within the Shakoura subordinate’s office. That ghastly and gory scene was still very fresh in her mind. Those black, sinister, inky things pouring out of her master at that time, she had never seen anything quite like it, not in Thurul and definitely not anywhere else.

She had no idea what sort of Echo that foul-looking substance is supposed to be, she was even doubtful if it was an attribute of the Divine Echo to begin with. The Divine Echo was supposed to a blessing of the Mahatir thus holy and sacred in nature. That black ink looked the furthest thing from holy in her eyes. Instead, it brought up another image in her mind, an image she glimpsed once in one of the books her master showed her. An image of a massive, pitch black Nak’e coiled around itself: The Dawaha.

The thick, black ink that harbingered death looked far more fitting of the originator of all evil than the Holy All Mother.

Sakina shook her head, attempting to drive away the treacherous thoughts trying to crowd her mind. Instead, she reminded herself of her eternal vow to her young master. No matter what kind of power he had or whatever kind of man he became, she would follow him to the ends of the known world. This one secret of his, she would take to her grave.

Yuer noticed his servant’s distress. He walked toward her and handed her child. “Hold him for a bit. I will take care of this.”

Sakina didn’t say a single word. She simply took the little boy and took several steps away from the door. She decided she would no longer question her master on his abilities anymore. It looked like she had been ignorant of many things regarding the youth, despite spending every single day of her life by his side.

Yuer placed his hand atop the metal bolt and closed his eyes. He gathered up the Earth Echo residing within his soul and directed it toward the lock. He willed the iron to shift and morph. It only took a moment for the lock to break apart. A thud sounded as the broken iron met the ground, stirring up a small amount of dust in the way of its fall.

A horrible pain suddenly exploded across Yuer’s temples.

His slender, thin figure staggered for a bit from the force of the agony.

Nrai and Damnation! I overused my Echo. I should’ve expected this.

Sakina rushed to him, offering a free hand to steady him. Yuer shook his head slightly, afraid to aggravate the headache any further. “I’m alright. Let’s leave now.”

A quarter of a candle-hour later, a pale skinned long-haired young man in black garbs stood in front of the blasted door. A small group of similarly dressed people crowded around him. The black outline of spider tattoos was starkly visible against the skin of their foreheads.

The young man with the glaringly white long hair held the broken metal bolt in his hand. He inspected it several times before throwing it at someone among the group.

That someone turned out to be a young woman. She closed her eyes for a brief moment as she clasped the lock in her hand. She opened her eyes and a glint of green flashed in their depth before disappearing.

“Earth Echo. Above middle-level.” She stated in an even, cold voice.

“The work in Lone Eye’s office?” The long-haired man asked.

The woman shook her head. “I don’t know. I don’t think it’s this person's work. There wasn’t any Echo presence in that room, except around the secret passage. I sensed Earth Echo and Light Echo but that’s about it. That level of killing… it’s likely a master assassin’s work. A subordinated of this person, probably. At least three people should be involved from what I summed up. ”

The young man nodded. He swept his black gaze across the dank place and said to the woman, “Round up all the Shakoura men assigned to guard duty today. Question every single one of them. Whoever let these people through, kill them.”

The young woman beat her hand against her chest and barked, “Yes, Sir!”

She turned and briskly marched out of the dim passage, the rest followed behind her.

The white-haired young man remained alone in front of the door. A sinister red glint flashed within the obsidian depths of his sharp eyes, “How brave, walking into the Nak’e’s lair and stepping on its tail in your way out.”

Bright orange flame burst out of the youth’s hands, illuminating the dark cavern. The fire grew darker and darker in shade until it turned into a mesmerizing deep crimson. The blasted iron door couldn’t stand the heat as it started to melt and bubble. The young man dashed out of the underground passage. His sudden and sharp movement caused his long white tress to slash through the musty air like a snow-colored whip.

A moment later, the passage became utterly devoid of human presence, it remained silent and dark except for the sound of bubbling metal that continued into the night.