Wave: 2
Time: 20 days, 13 hours, 19 minutes, 23 seconds
Kal stood and stretched after he finally regenerated the last of his wounds. Wrathful Regeneration sure wasn’t efficient in combat but it was an amazing skill anyway. Being able to recover outside of battle so fast without potions or a healer was beyond useful. If he hadn’t got the skill when he arrived in the abyss he would have been fucked.
Health:
2000/2000
Stamina:
3800/3800
Wrath:
2000
He had siphoned a bit of extra wrath even though it wasn’t completely necessary anymore since he had forged Slayer’s Intent, but he felt it was worth having in case of emergency healing either way.
Glancing at the crimson pillar Kal thought about touching it before sleeping but he knew that it probably wasn’t wise. He should probably be well-rested if he was about to speak with some insanely powerful guy who was probably a god.
But sleep came with its own anxieties, the last time Kal had slept outside of the bunker he had nearly died, or at the very least been driven insane. He didn’t know what had caused the horrible nightmares but he really wasn’t keen on sleeping again. The voice he heard during them had said something about fatebinders but who they were wasn’t clear. Kal was pretty sure that the voice he had heard was Fyborh’s and he had seemed to stabilize him at least a little during the bad ones. Maybe being this close to a remembrance stone might help.
Honestly, though he could just be being paranoid, he had no idea if he would have a nightmare again especially now that he had grown stronger in his mental attributes. But he was stalling, it was time for him to just accept it and make the attempt. Even if sleeping ended up killing him, the lack of sleep would kill him just as surely.
Kal took off his serpent skin cloak rolled it into a kind of pillow and tried to find a half-comfortable spot to lie down. There wasn’t a whole lot of space in the small cave so he had to lie pretty close to the pillar, which was probably a good thing if it did what he hoped. The pillow wasn't comfortable at all but it was at least better than the stone ground. Taking a last look at his status and calming breath Kal closed his eyes and waited for sleep to take him.
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Kal screamed as he rode atop a sea of blood, hundreds, thousands, endless voices cried out for the end, cried out for it all to end. Anguish consumed him as he sank below the crimson sea into the vortex that twisted reality, his soul torn apart before being remade. Again, again, again. When would it en- again, again. Something from beyond watched him with glee, its joy churning the sea of his torment into a turbulent storm of gore and death.
The storm parted as the watcher drew closer, the barest hint of its form appearing on the vast horizon. Kal began to scream as his eyes against his will, began to focus on the watcher. His mind was utterly overwhelmed by the coming madness, but some deep part of him welcomed its coming. Soon his scream became an insane cackle as his throat tore from the exertion. Yes soon it would be over, he raised his arms in acceptance as the watcher’s eyes pierced the-
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Fyborh was standing over a small mundane work table as he began the finishing touches on the final construct needed for a personality matrix. The room was dark and cramped but once he was done with the matrix he would work on that next. Fyborh stared into the personality matrix he had been working on for a moment, as a strange sensation came over him and the realization of his existence came to him.
“Huh, why would I make a remembrance stone for a simple day like this?”
He shrugged not like it mattered, he was always terrible at keeping up the act for any of his remembrance stones to be that useful anyway. Maybe it was this personality matrix that was worth remembering. He smiled at the personality module. He had decided to name this one Mira. He hoped he would never need to make another. Fyborh had never been a father but to him these creations were close. Even though he was a destroyer he was at least able to create the guardians.
“Sorry Mira, I should probably go find whoever activated the remembrance stone and give them some of my wisdom or whatever.”
Fyborh willed himself out of his tiny workshop and appeared above the plateau of the fifty-third bunker. Which he hadn’t built yet but that wouldn't take too long, hopefully. Scanning the sky for wherever the spectator appeared, Fyborh grunted as he sensed a disturbing mana signature. In an instant, he was hovering next to the flailing form of a madman.
“Who the fuck are you?”
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“Who the fuck are you?” a voice said clearly confused, Kal’s insane laughter mixed with agonizing screams continued barely comprehending the voice.
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“Oh, yeah don’t look at that,” A firm hand landed on Kal’s shoulder spinning him around as the world wrenched, becoming a black void. Kal’s mind was still overwhelmed and shaken, but he could see Fyborh in front of him. He wanted to cry out again as his mind rebelled.
Fyborh raised a hand, “One does not look upon that thing without a cost, and I can see that you have your own demons as well. Fear not, I will lessen that cost somewhat.”
Kal felt a wave of calm wash over his mind as Fyborh stared into his chest, the anguish and pain were still present but he was far less aware of it like it was someone else's pain.
“I can see that you have used one of my remembrance stones before, but I know you’re not a devotee,” Fyborh frowned, for a moment before winking, “Don’t worry I’m not a fan of them anyway. I cannot do much more for you now, as always the remembrance stone will fail in a moment. But I can allow you the sleep you clearly need.” Fyborh reached out and touched Kal’s forehead, “Sleep well, slayer.”
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A tear fell down his cheek as the carriage pulled away from the courtyard. Kal waved but he wasn’t sure if Jayne saw or not, he was happy for her but she would be gone for a long time. Kal turned to see one of his instructors approaching. It was Mr.Ren. He was in charge of Kal’s studies, for the most part, his studies focused on geology to hopefully increase the likelihood of an uncommon mining class.
“Kalum, your father wants to see you,” the man said primly, “ensure you have made yourself presentable before then.”
Kal thought all the instructors were pricks, and so did his father but he had grown used to their overly proper manners. Kal knew his father wouldn’t care how he looked but in case he had guests, Kal needed to clean himself up to not embarrass him. Kal returned to his room, it was a mess as usual, he had heard other families around Farninghold had people to clean their rooms but his father insisted his children learn to look after themselves, “yeh own fault if yeh break yeh neck tripping over dirty clothes,” He always said.
Kal didn’t mind, he honestly didn’t need any more people to lecture him and look down on him. Now that Jayne was off to the academy, he was the last unawakened in the family, where he should have been the first to move on to leveling and starting whatever path he was destined for.
It had been nearly three years now. His birthday was in a few days though he doubted it would be celebrated this year. It was already hard enough on his father's reputation to have such a late bloomer in the family, they didn’t need to announce yet another year of failure.
Kal washed his face in a bowl of clean water he had prepared before his trip to the mines earlier that morning. He hadn’t gotten very dirty since it was just a visit today but what little dirt was on his face was made obvious from the trails of the tears he shed. He also changed his clothes into one of the nicer outfits that he was told to wear whenever he met his father in his office. It was a bit flashy for both Kal's and his father's taste, frilled wrists and all but it was the fashion apparently.
Kal didn’t think he would ever get used to all the fancy clothes and posh people around him all the time. Kal was seven when his father had gained the Opal Eye skill which, nearly completely on the merit of its utility, and his father's quick and intelligent navigation of the local mining company had gained their family a reputation beyond anything they would have believed possible. They had gone from living in a house barely bigger than a single-room shack into a small estate. Kal’s father had gained so much influence and gold that he could have expanded further if he wanted to, but it didn’t interest him. Instead, he spent everything he could to give his children a future. One that they would never have had the opportunity to get otherwise.
Even with all that Kal had failed to ascend. His eyes teared up again as he looked at himself in the mirror. Pathetic, Kal forced the tears back down as he left his room, heading towards his father’s office. Along the way, Kal noticed that there were several people moving around the housing estate that he didn’t recognize. Must have arrived while he wasn’t here, having guests was a common occurrence. Most noble guests were here to talk about trade deals or to request his father’s help in surveying a potential new mine. Some however came to speak of his sisters, both of them had great potential with Lillian already excelling in her studies and leveling in her merchant class and now Jayne a clear standout with her mage class the Lesta name would soon become even more well known.
Guests being here definitely wasn’t strange but everywhere Kal looked he was seeing men in armor his only skill Identify notified him that their levels were all between level twenty and forty. Some of the strongest people Kal had ever seen. He tried not to be noticed as he made his way to his father's office.
Kal was starting to sweat as he got closer and his chest was aching for some reason but he ignored it not wanting to embarrass his father with any tardiness. As he rounded the final corner Kal wiped his brow and saw that outside the office there were two guards in full plate armor, who immediately spotted him and chuckled to one another.
“So you’re the runt?” one grunted, Kal could see his face since both of the guards were helmeted, “why Lord Lesta keeps you around only the gods know. Get inside before Lord Traevan has you punished.”
Kal was immediately pissed off, his chest began to hurt even more but he swallowed the pain and wiped his brow again before opening the door and entering.
The room had fewer people than Kal had expected with the commotion outside. His father, Darian Lesta stood over his desk with a grim look on his face, his large frame stressing the seams of his fine burgundy coat and his dark brown hair tied into a ponytail. He was reading a stack of documents that Kal couldn’t make out what they were about from the door but judging by his expression his father certainly didn’t like what he was looking at.
Standing in front of Kal facing his father was another man in a frankly ridiculously fancy red coat with green frills. The man hadn’t bothered to turn around when Kal entered but just by the way the man was standing Kal didn’t like him. At either side of the door were another two guards in identical uniform to the ones outside, but neither of them spoke as Kal closed the door.
His father looked up after a moment and flashed a quick smile, “Good you're here, your sister managed to get away ok?”
Kal nodded, “Yes da-, sir. I made it back in time to see her depart.”
“Good, good, hopefully, we will be able to visit her soon,” Darian replied, his smile fading faster than it came. It seemed something important was going on.
“This is Lord Traevan, he has come here to offer his assistance with your… problem,” Darian’s frown deepened. He didn’t like speaking of Kal's failure to ascend, “He is in great standing in Dhinir’s order. If anyone can help you it will be him.”