Nyx sighed,” That was a terrible mistake and one I will not defend but instead offer an explanation. First, though I want to explain why we were taking children at all. Eighteen years ago, the elders of our order located a structure previously unknown to them. Within they found the prophecy I spoke of.”
Kal wanted to cut in but held his tongue.
“The prophecy they found there reads,’ The puppet of puppets is made free, as the innocent forgotten falls before the might of the first arisen to fall. As the firmament falters, and the wrathful weaves the threads of all, He will be witnessed. He will come with the cries of men, and we shall know His wrath. Forever a slayer. Forever a calamity, He will rend the worldweave asunder, and eradicate those that would bind fate in a war of the first and lost.’”
Kal frowned. He saw a few too many similarities from his experiences over the last months. ‘Innocent forgotten’ sounded awfully like Fyborh but ‘the first arisen to fall’ he wasn’t sure. It could be Dhinir but it could also be the demons.
The firmament was certainly faltering and everything else put Kal on edge. It was close, too close. None of it he liked but a single word stood out to him, distracting him from the rest. What is the worldweave?
Nyx watched Kal take in the words of the prophecy, obviously watching for any signs of recognition but Kal gave nothing away.
“I don’t see how this prophecy gives you people the right to take kids from their homes,” Kal said bluntly.
Nyx looked frustrated but nodded,” You are right but please let me explain the rest first. Many scriptures, both old and new, call the act of finding a birthright ‘To witness destiny incarnate’ This led the order to believe that whoever He was would bear the birthright of a slayer.”
“Your entire kidnapping spree was solely based on a single word in an obscure prophecy?” Kal thought it was ridiculous despite the fact it sounded very close to the order of events he had experienced, at least before his memories had begun to return. He knew now that his “birthright” was something called soul tempering and that he had been this way for some time. It was just hidden away.
Nyx frowned,” Yes. The elders believe it was necessary for the future of our world, despite the sinister wording of the prophecy.”
“Why kids? Couldn’t anyone possess the birthright you were looking for?” Kal asked heat leaching into his voice.
“The exact academic reason is beyond my understanding but Elder Jaliete explained to me that most birthrights manifest very early in a person’s life, normally before ascension. Even in the early days of learning of the prophecy The Order was hunted, we believed that if the prophecy was true that the birthright bearer would be hunted as well. The Order sought to locate the birthright before it had manifested or at least before the followers of the other gods found it first.”
It made logical sense but Kal still didn’t like it. Never mind the fact that the prophecy was legitimate and it was truly him that they were looking for. Then prophecy was missing some pretty major details. Like the fact that he apparently wasn’t born with his tempered soul, it was-
Outforth through tearing flesh and sinew reached a hand of dark blood and bone-
-Kal shivered. It was made.
Dhoerin and Dhinir had taken him on a whim apparently for some vessel experimentation but he wasn’t sure how much of that was actually true or just a lie Dhinir told to Dhoerin.
Nyx didn’t seem to notice Kal’s sudden distraction as she dove into her next explanation,” But even so The Order did not simply grab any child they could reach and put them to the test. No, if the appropriate kind of mage class was available many could be tested without ever knowing, and those who couldn’t were left alone or if they met certain criteria they would be recruited.”
Kal was about to speak up but Nyx didn’t give him the chance.
“I was one of those children… I was once a part of a noble house in Sadar. My family prepared me to become at best a mage or at worst a merchant. Instead, when I ascended I received the Laborer class,” Nyx smiled sadly.
Kal grimaced. He knew where this was going.
Nyx looked away but continued, “As I’m sure you are aware. The noble houses across The Empire don’t look kindly on families with runts like I was among them. So of course, like countless children before me, I was sent away. Obviously, I was devastated but at the time I felt it was only right. I wasn’t worth their time and only brought shame upon my brothers and sisters. But then Elder Jaliete found me. At the time The Order was just starting to focus their efforts on anomalous ascensions, apparently getting the laborer class when you're surrounded by mages and merchants, counts.”
“Of course, I didn’t pass the test. I wasn’t the one, not that they really believed I would be considering the fact I’m not a man,” she chuckled quietly,” At first I hated them. I hate Jaliete for taking me, I hated the rest for allowing it. But eventually, I realized I wasn’t really a captive. If I truly wanted to leave they would have let me.”
“One good outcome doesn’t outway the rest,” Kal said.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“I agree. Like you said some have been taken from loving homes. Our order is not as unified in thought as any of us would like. Each cell worked towards finding more information on Fyborh, and you as well as recruiting where we can. Some go about it the wrong way.”
Nyx’s face was filled with shame but Kal ignored it,” Then what about Harlm’s boy? Is your cell willing to grab whoever they want?”
“No. Harlm’s boy was not supposed to be taken in the first place. The Empire soldiers you traveled with forced our hand. He would have been returned as soon as it was feasible in any case but we were forced to flee to the north to evade the soldiers,” She looked angry,” Believe me, I argued with Elder Jaliete for some time after leaving Farninghold with the boy. But I am pleased to say that now that you have been found, all testing has ended and all orders have been ordered to return any children who wish to return to their families.”
Kal didn’t like how her words implied there were many who were still held against their will but if he could believe her words at least they were now being freed. He also didn’t comment on his “birthright”. If The Order believing that Kal was some prophesied leader or whatever got some kids back to their homes he could live with it.
“That’s enough. Whether what you say is true remains to be seen. I’m surprised Dalen is willing to travel with you lot at all,” Kal said.
Nyx frowned but nodded, “Dalen told us of your feelings about the kidnappings.”
“Good at least he still has some sense,” Kal grumbled before standing,” I will still tell you about my time in the abyss but we can do it while I cook. Ander will be hungry when he wakes up.”
Nyx went from shamed to straight to pale worry when Kal dumped a large slab of seeker shadow hydra onto the ground. Thankfully like the dark serpents the demon’s meat looked pretty normal but it would no doubt need cleansing to eat it properly.
Kal didn’t need to worry about it now that he had his Abyssal Consumption skill but the foreign mana within the meat would likely kill Ander and possibly Nyx but she is significantly stronger than Kal was back when he first ate demon meat.
Since the hydra was more of a fusion of multiple dark serpents the slab in front of him was just a section from one of the seven bodies about a hand thick. It would be more than enough for all three of them, assuming he could make it edible for the other two.
“What do you want to know first?” Kal asked as he wreathed his left hand in crimson flame and began to cook the meat.
Nyx thought for a moment pulling her eyes away from the demon meat,” How did you ascend? You were still unascended when I first saw you in Hurius’s camp. How did you survive being in a place like this without even having a class?”
“Of course, she was going to start with that…” Kal grumbled internally but he had already decided on telling her most of it,“ I was lucky. The abyssal mana that fills the atmosphere here was at least part of the missing piece to my ascension. The system assisted me to a degree but either way, I gained my class only moments after arriving here.”
“And this class allowed you to survive here? What was your first class?” Nyx asked, seemingly forgetting the pain of her injuries.
“In a sense. My first class was the Slayer class-”
Nyx almost exploded,” The system granted you the Slayer class! How can you ignore the prophecy so easily?”
“If you’d let me finish,” Kal said, looking up from the sizzling meat,” I was given the choice of three classes when I ascended. Warrior, Binder, or Slayer. I doubt the system would have allowed me a choice if it cared about fate.
Kal chose to ignore his prior thoughts about the system’s manipulations…
“What?! You were given a choice? I’ve never heard of that before,” Nyx said, shrugging off his comment on fate.
“Yep. I know that isn’t normal but almost nothing about my ascension and path has been normal,” Kal shrugged, turning back to meat.
Nyx thought for a few moments, no doubt about the prophecy or something related but Kal spent the time trying to get his story straight. He didn’t want to tell her everything just yet but he has never been a good liar.
Nyx dragged herself from her thoughts and continued,” Clearly. I want to know everything you’re willing to share… Tell how you have stood when others would have fallen.”
“Gods…” Kal really hated talking about himself.
----------------------------------------
Over the next half an hour or so Kal described his time in The Abyss in relatively broad strokes. Mainly focusing on the early days, when he found Mira’s bunker and The Mountains of the Forgotten One. He described the hunt for garghounds and eventually the trial of the slayer and elites he had to kill.
Kal stayed away from talking about his returning memories and his soul. Both were something he didn’t really know that much about anyway but were both far too personal to be sharing.
Nyx listened quietly the entire time and only spoke up near the end, “You have too many skills.”
“Shit…” Kal had forgotten about that, “What do you mean?”
“At most, you should have seven not including Identify but I counted at least eight. Your amplification skill and weapon enhancement skill I witnessed on The Fractured Path, your fire skill, your language skill, and your regeneration skill, I believe I also saw you activate an endurance-based skill in the fight with the demons on The Fractured Path, and during all the fights I have seen you in and while we traveled here your eyes glowed with what I suspect is the activation of a potent perception skill.”
“Yep definitely observant…” Kal guessed he shouldn’t have been surprised that Nyx had paid attention to his skills. He had barely mentioned them throughout his telling but he suspected she knew he was avoiding them. She had no way to know about some of his skills. From what he could tell there was no way to know if he had activated Slayer’s Intent besides being targeted by it and Slayer’s Apathy he hadn’t used or mentioned in front of her and likely never would.
Before Kal had to answer a sleepy-looking Ander stumbled out of the darkness of the cave and plonked himself down next to Kal, “Uuugh, I’m hungry.”