Ten minutes of tense small talk passed before Turi felt a presence, more powerful and dangerous than anything he’d ever felt before; a crushing weight not on his body, and not even on his essence core, but his essence and his essence alone. His very existence was being suppressed, and while it didn’t hurt, it felt like he was suffocating.
“So, the sentient beasts on the other side of the city want to ascend. The crow is in charge… of course it is. Crows are annoyingly clever.” A voice said verbally, but the words resounded within his head. Turi looked up at the looming ten-foot-wall a few dozen feet away- it was impossible to miss the person’s presence-, where a woman stood. Her face was entirely hidden behind a pale white mask, but her eyes were visible- they glowed a royal purple. Her blonde hair was cut short, falling down to her shoulders but no further, and a pair of thin swords hung from her hips. She wore a dark, red-lined robe that was lined with inscriptions that Turi could not make out, even with his incredible perception. The humans standing around him seemed meaningless now- in his mind, only she and he existed.
“…You are the Guardian, I presume?” Ascenturi asked. “So you do know how to ascend to the third Realm- one of you already has, after all.”
The ‘Guardian’ leapt off of the wall, her knees not bending in the slightest when she hit the ground. “What’s your name?” She asked.
“I am Ascenturi.” Turi said. He almost added on the ‘ascension crow’ bit, but in front of her... well, that was simply too arrogant.
“I am not in the habit of wasting time, Ascenturi. You want to know how to ascend to the third Realm, and I do not want to tell you. Unless you can offer me something of incredible value, you will turn around and leave this place.” The Guardian said simply.
Turi hesitated. He’d come here with a tremendous amount of wealth, but… it wasn’t anything that could tempt someone like her, most likely. “Why is it that you keep the knowledge of how to ascend to yourself, Guardian?” Turi asked.
“Third Realm beasts would be dangerous. No other human needs to know, because they are not strong enough to ascend yet. You’re not- I can feel that you’re bordering the limits of the second Realm.” She said, “Now, what do you offer, Ascenturi?”
Turi took a deep breath even as he spoke, since his communication didn’t require his beak anyway. “We have come here with a great amount of wealth, Guardian. Essence cores and crystals, weaponry, armor and even essence ores. Furthermore-“
“I’m not interested.” The Guardian cut him off. “Those things are meaningless to me.”
“They are not meaningless to your subordinates, Guardian.” Turi pointed out, but she shook her head.
“They can acquire those things with relative ease regardless. More would be nice, but it is not worth what you seek.” The Guardian said.
“Then what might you want? We’re willing to work. We can destroy the ant nests in the city’s park. We can work together, or… I could even teach you something.” Ascenturi said. The last bit was a gamble, but it was one that he was confident in.
“Oh? What is it that you believe you can teach me?” The Guardian said, interested.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“The Earth told me something a while ago- of a form of magic different from ascension and essence. It is called psionics.” Turi said. He could not see the Guardian’s face, but her eyes lit up at his words.
“Well?” The Guardian urged.
“I will teach it to you, in exchange for learning how to ascend to the third Realm.” Turi said. He felt the pressure on his essence double, but he held firm.
“I could make you teach it to me without cultivating a new threat,” The Guardian threatened, and Turi scowled.
“You are stronger than me, but I can escape.” Turi said. His words and demeanor were confident, but internally, his mind was already searching for a way out. He was ready to escape at a moment’s notice, and he was carefully examining the Guardian’s every move.
The Guardian stood silently for an eons-long couple of seconds, before finally speaking.
“…I want everything. The cores, the ores, the crystals, the equipment, the psionics, and I want you, Ascenturi. It has been a long time since I’ve found something able to come anywhere near matching me, and it is difficult for me to become stronger facing only the weak.” The Guardian said.
Turi hesitated. She was exploiting him- that was incredibly obvious… but he was already toeing the line. He had leverage, now, with his knowledge of an entirely different system of magic, but he didn’t have the strength to back it up. If she attacked him, there was only a… fifty percent chance, maybe, that he escaped.
Still, he didn’t want to give up everything- thus, he pinned the blame on the others. “I have not come alone here, Guardian. There are a dozen other beasts, the entirety of Anoptera, and an ant nest here to negotiate as well. I cannot give up everything and more.” Turi said, as if the matter was out of his hands. In reality, Turi was more than willing to sacrifice everything they’d gathered for the knowledge of how to ascend, but everyone around him would be annoyed, and it’d be a struggle to pay Porgul and the others back.
“You’re testing your limits, Ascenturi.” The Guardian said. “I want everything I demanded, and you might want to get it over with before I change my mind.”
Turi grimaced. That he’d managed to get where he’d gotten at all was a tremendous win, considering the Guardian had already hit the third Realm.
“Fine,” Turi said. “The resources are all with the rest of the caravan. I will have them give up everything I own, but I can’t give away Anoptera’s stuff. It is simply not mine.”
“That’s fine. There’s not much of interest that they own, anyway.” The Guardian said, the pressure on his essence vanishing. Her voice no longer reverberated within his head, and Turi almost staggered from the sudden difference. “There’s no time to waste, is there? Come with me, Ascenturi. Yltra, deal with the others- I don’t care for them.” The Guardian ordered bluntly. Turi hesitated, but took to the air and followed after her as she leaped over the tall stone wall.
He followed the Guardian through the horde of heavily-armed humans, but not one aimed their weapons at him- not when the Guardian was there. The humans all parted in front of her- after all, it was impossible to miss her presence.
The moment that they left the crowd of humans, the Guardian took off. Despite being the one with wings, it took Turi everything he had to keep up with her. With their tremendous speed, it didn’t take long before they arrived at a large stone building, made out of the rubble of the city. It was pretty deep within the encampment, and there were four guards posted around the building.
‘That’s dumb. If anything were to attack the Guardian, four second-realm guards would be meaningless.’ Turi thought. ‘I guess they’re to protect the building itself and all of her stuff, though? Or maybe it’s for appearances.’
Turi felt a powerful fluctuation of essence, and the heavy stone door swung open when as she approached. She didn’t stop once they entered, though, continuing over to a stairwell and descending.
It… was a very deep stairwell, apparently. A minute passed before they finally arrived at their destination- a colossal underground room, the size of a warehouse. The concentration of essence was extreme in here, and the walls were lined with essence ores. Despite that, there were dozens of craters across the room. Blood caked the floors, and cages containing powerful but wounded second-realm animals lined the walls. The guardian turned to him, and although he could not see her face, he was certain she was grinning.
“Welcome, Ascenturi, to where I spend most of my time. Now, let’s talk.”