Chapter 37: The Scent of Power
Chapter 37: The Scent of Power
At first, the upper decks of the ship felt like a different world entirely.
As Oliver stepped out of the narrow stairwell, following the soldier who’d been assigned to escort him, the shift was immediate. The air was lighter and cleaner. It was almost sweet with a faint trace of scented oils and polished wood. For a second, he froze. It wasn’t until that moment that he realized just how foul the lower levels had been. The stink of rot, sweat, and old blood had clung to his skin like a second layer, so thick he hadn’t even noticed it until now.
It had only been a few days, but Oliver felt like a man raised in chains who’d grown used to the rattle. Then again, was it not so?
Up here, the light filtered through crystal-paneled lanterns instead of rusted sconces. The floor beneath his bare feet was smooth, the walls polished to a shine that reflected his ragged image in brief glimpses. It made him feel smaller, less real.
The soldier ahead didn’t speak. They passed through a long corridor, silent but for the soft hum of mana channels that lined the interior of the ship, pulsing like veins.
The eyes from the soldiers on duty had not been encouraging.
Why do they keep staring at me like that?
And then they reached them.
Two guards stood before a pair of tall double doors, each easily half a head taller than the man who’d led Oliver here. Unlike the standard soldiers, these ones wore a different type of armor—light and elegant, crafted with fine-scale plating that shimmered like tempered glass. There were no rusted bolts or stiff leathers. Everything about their appearance screamed precision and strength.
Oliver’s Aether sense tingled instantly. These men weren’t ordinary. Their cores were dense, and their energy flowed in heavy rivers through their veins. More than that, certain points on their bodies—just above the collarbone, on the back of the right hand, and near the abdomen—radiated unnatural aether compression. Dungeon Shards. He could feel at least two embedded in each of them.
Two shards…