EPISODE 108: SIX — 9
— Edryan Queendom, Year: 7291. Season: Color Fading.
Alidra Edryani floated away, leaving me with my thoughts, Madria, and a decision to make.
“Let’s… have a seat and cook ourselves something to eat,” I turned to Madria and said. At the same moment, I focused on my spatial bracelet to pull out several parcels of wrapped meat.
“You prepare the meat, I find the stones?”
Madria nodded, still not looking me in the eyes nor speaking as she took the food. Awkwardly, I handed the parcels over before looking for suitable stones to serve as a hot plate. Fire and producing heat or water wasn’t a problem for those who wielded magic. Simple condensation spells could draw liquid from the air, and converting your mana into water wasn’t a difficult process.
Like this, we worked in silence for many minutes. Madria took to one of the shorter stones and used it as a makeshift countertop, while I focused on finding a suitable flat stone to cook our meal on. We converged once we both finished. Madria still hadn’t said anything, and I figured a meal in our stomachs before our conversation would do us good.
I pulled out the cloth we’d been using as a blanket before ripping off a small piece and handing it to Madria. I did the same for myself.
“For your face, Water is the origin of life, I call upon you, (Conjure Water).”
Water condensed in the air before us, around the size of my head. We both dipped our cloths in the water before cleaning our faces. We definitely needed a proper shower, but now wasn’t a good time.
Together, we sat and Madria began to grill the meat. Its smell wafted around the room, and together we began to eat.
Several times, I wanted to say something, but I paused each time—unsure of how to start. Madria’s emotions on the subject were valid, but I didn’t think I was fully in the wrong either. The dangers around me would only grow as time passed, and I didn’t want her to get hurt. She was only just entering a world I was thrust upon the moment of my death and rebirth into Genesis.
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Madria ate in silence, unsure of what to say to Lawruthian after her… outburst. She knew why he didn’t want her there…
She was just too… weak.
Never before had she wanted strength so much. Never before had she had a drive to improve her abilities and more in such a manner.
She’d grown up in the Gamal compound, training under her elder sisters, cousins, and occasionally, her mother. There, they were taught the ways of healing, of imbuing Life into objects should they possess the right traits for the element.
She did, and she trained diligently nearly since she could walk. Now, all that training seemed insufficient. It lacked the Power she needed to stay by his side. Even her goal of staying behind that back seemed to be growing distance.
Then hearing Lawruthian always attempt to push her away didn’t help . She was her own person—an adult as far as the world of Genesis was concerned. Madria was able to make her own decisions and understand the consequences of them. Perhaps she needed physical protection against stronger dangers, but it was her decision to face them.
No one else’s.
“I-,“ she began.
“I’m sorry,” Lawruthian said suddenly. He paused as they spoke at the same time.
“Go ahead,” Madria said—giving him the initiative.
“You’re more than able to make your own decision on staying or leaving, but I’ve attempted to make that decision twice now without your consultation.
…
I’m sorry. It is not out of malice or…,” his words trailed off.
“I know,” she responded softly. “ But allow me to make that decision. ”
Her voice was firm as she looked into Law’s eyes. “I want to help you, even if that puts me in danger.”
Lawruthian smiled at her. It was filled with warmth and trust.
“I understand… I- thank you. I won’t do that again. I gave you the title of [Hero] to have someone stand by my side. It is disrespectful of me to not put my trust in you afterward.”
***
The pair stood under Alidra after they’d rested a few hours. They’d come to a decision, and it was time to announce the results.
“An-ancestor,” Lawruthian called.
Alidra opened her eyes immediately, her gaze settled on the pair of magi-humans under her. Slowly, she began to lower herself to the ground, a slight smile on her face as she appraised Lawruthian and Madria. They’d cleaned themselves somewhat from the muck that covered them. Now, judging from their confident postures, the pair were confident in their success.
“Good. I did not expect anything less from you,” Alidra’s bright gold-red eyes studied Lawruthian.
“Can you give us any hint as to what the other trials consist of?”
Alidra was already shaking her head before Lawruthian finished. “No, that is not possible. Certain rules were established, written in magic, and enforced by such. All who enter here must come to understand the Great Six themselves. Of course…,” she gestured.
“…consulting others who are undergoing the trial is permissible. In the days of Union, you’d see a few hundred people here constantly, now…” she finished—sadly shaking her head.
“Go, Olvido is not close. It is best you attempt Vitality and Mind, as they are the simplest to comprehend. Head to the next pillar, as you travel you will understand. The beasts of the hall will guide you. I will be waiting.”
Alidra didn’t bother waiting for a response from the pair before she dispersed into motes of light—leaving the two alone.
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We emerged under the setting light of the false sky. An ashen area of destruction covered the entrance to the Pillar of Power and Endurance. The air smelled of death—a rotten, decayed scent, that smelled of raw sewage and other harmful effects.
Immediately, I chanted and began to cast the same spell I’d used to protect myself in the mouth of Olvido. Madria followed suit, and two formless bubbles of air surrounded our heads.
Traces of the converted [Raid Boss] were everywhere. Long gouges in the ground that looked like farmer’s furrows waiting to be seeded. A loose miasma clung to the air, and our skin, as we moved through.
“I think you should attempt the Trial of Endurance before we move deeper,” I said.
“Perhaps, but we should move a distance away first. Look, it seems after we made it to the pillar,” she began—pointing toward a direction. “…we’ve unlocked the next area.”
Before us was a forest, thick with trees and other vegetation. It wasn’t close, perhaps an hour or so by a slow walk, but with my new understanding of Endurance, that time would be cut by half. I was confident, even if I used a lazy pace, I could make it within thirty minutes or less. Every step I took, just… ate up more distance. Nothing had changed, not my walking gait nor my style of movement. I just crossed more distance for the same step as before.
This especially became notable as Madria and I began to travel. She’d have to take two—sometimes three steps, for each of mine. Although walking didn’t eat up stamina, once your pace increased beyond what was considered normal movement you’d begin to use SP.
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Together, we moved from the destroyed area and into the open grassland—creating distance between us and the carnage Olvido wrought as it chased us. My thoughts were on Vitality and Mind, and I began to discuss what, I thought, was needed to complete their trials.
“I believe the Trial of Vitality has something to do with using Health Points,” I began.
“Vitality can be used for numerous things—imbuing Health Points into skills for greater effects and damage. The ritual magic [Witches] and [Warlocks] tend to practice and more.”
“In the healing aspect, there are some spells, (Life Link) that can tie the health of several together. It allows them to share any incoming damage that may take a person’s life. Not many use it as it can be abused and requires absolute trust, but…,” Madria responded.
“…it is just one of the various examples of how Health Points can be shared.”
I nodded in agreement with her words, doing my best to slow down our pace and prevent Madria from nearly jogging to keep up with me.
“I think it makes the most sense to imbue your health in some format for the trial. When thinking over the attribute, there are various examples of imbuing Health Points for different effects,” I said.
“It would fit the attribute,” Madria began. “Power was about control, Endurance is maximizing the distance you can get from every single point. Both fit with their respective Attributes, but I’m unsure as to what Mind would entail. Even more, it makes me curious if Divine has hidden aspects to it.”
We’d come to a general understanding of what we believed the Vitality attribute would entail. Now, as we cleared the area destroyed by the massive remnant, we’d slowed even more in our talk as we neared the halfway point to the forest.
Madria’s words made sense and made me wonder if the Divine Attribute held secrets to it. My thoughts drifted toward the Lesser Six attributes and what their aspects were. Chi, Energy, Divine, Soul, and the unknown two might each have unique properties about them that many in Genesis were missing.
“Perhaps… perhaps not. Only time and experimentation will tell. I’m not sure what Mind would require to pass the trial. The attribute is simple in its expansion of Mana Points and its restrictions on learning higher-tiered runes and magic…
I want to know why the hidden features of the attributes are kept hidden.”
“Classes and secrets have always been kept hidden for a single reason, Law,” Madria turned to face me. “Control… isn’t that why you target the Houses?”
My lips pursed. She was right. It was why I started Imperius Academy. It was why we began to have every citizen receive a [Mark of the Citizen]—a badge, much like the bracelets the students of my school wore.
Eventually, I shrugged, “I think we’ve come far enough.
The treeline was only a few minutes away, less than fifteen at the most. The light of the night sky allowed us to see where we traveled.
“Now is a good time for you to complete the Trial of Endurance,” I said as I turned to Madria. “I’ll set up camp. Put everything you have into it. Every single Stamina Point.”
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Alidra watched the two of them silently. Her gaze was gentle, pained, and filled with remorse. “Seven thousand years and this game still goes on.”
She let off a sigh and the sky of the hall shifted—winds blowing and clouds dispersing.
“I truly failed. Such pure souls, such potential… oh Mother… what price have you paid?”
…
The price Alidra paid was heavy. For she lost it all when Union shattered from within. Her hands were stained with the blood of her fellow Saphens—both the magi who refused to answer the call of their Goddess and the Saphens who stood with them. Now awakened… she recalled her state of mind before this part of her soul was split off from the rest. A task given to it in hopes of one day atoning for the Sins she would commit.
“ Nothing in life is promised except death. ”
That was the final words that Quinarax — Light of the Sun said to her before their parting. Before she left to seal this fragment of her soul away. When she returned—Union shattered.
She watched the two young magi. One a piece in a game far beyond his means of playing. The other… a friend who lacked the strength to support such a piece. She watched them, pain in her soul as she used everything to keep Olvido from breaking out of this space.
She could tell the state of the magi just from seeing Lawruthian alone. The first generation… those who became the New Gods of Genesis held attributes that were the same as Lawruthian. They were much more common of a sighting, now, judging from the state of Madria… Lawruthian’s Cohort was severely lacking.
His capture at the hands of the Aspect of Knowledge spoke volumes. “Oh, Mother… how much have my actions failed you?”
…
“How much pain have the magi gone through?”
She gazed from above, formless, as Madria began to understand Endurance. The young woman was at an all-out sprint. She did her best to follow the advice of Lawruthian, who ran next to her—words of encouragement continued to emerge from him. Alidra listened—a smile gracing her formless features as she watched.
“You’re almost there!”
“One last burst, Madria, I know you can do it!”
It was a beautiful sight, but it reopened wounds the fragment of Alidra didn’t know whether her original body was solved or not.
She didn’t know much, but when the second [Chosen of Madris] invaded the Hall of Attributes—corrupted by Rasheed—she knew of her failure. Now she knew of his as well as a third, and most likely—the final, [Chosen of Madris] arrived.
Her time was running out. [Olvido] was absorbing the magic within the hall, using it to fuel its growth toward a calamity. Her awakening, alongside its own, signified that the process of its transition would accelerate.
She would die here to stop such a calamity from descending on the magi.
She would die here and fulfill that promise.
If Lawruthian and Madria represented the peak of what the crown prince’s generation had to offer, then they were severely lacking in the hope of unifying the continent. Lawruthian’s presence here without several others spoke volumes about the current status of Edryan society.
Although it wouldn’t make him stronger, the inheritance at the end of the trial should help with his current situation, Alidra hoped. Her mind concentrated on Olvido—she mentally frowned as she realized its direction and intentions. A path of death trailed through the forest—headed straight for the Pillar of Vitality and Endurance.
Hordes of [Power Beast — ★ ★ ★ ] charged against the remnant of [Oblivion]—gnawing, clawing, and doing their best to slow it down. None of it worked—the stronger beast wouldn’t be able to emerge until the trials were complete. By then it would be far too late, and both Madria and Lawruthian didn’t possess the necessary attributes to take on a monster of its might.
She knew of almost everything the pair had on them and the golem Lawruthian held was powerful, but she doubted it held enough to kill a rising calamity.
“I have to help them. They must succeed. Edryan needs them…”
She concentrated, reaching out to the higher-tiered beings that were asleep. Perhaps they may not be a match for Olvido, but as long as they could serve as distractions in opportune moments. Then… that was enough.
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— ???, Year: 7291. Season: Color Fading.
The night sky shone on the Genesis realm—fading starlight allowed those just enough to see by, as the three moons did not shine their radiance upon the land. A towering, dark castle stood in the silence, not a sound emerging from its walls or internals.
Within the castle, a single coffin rested. It was carved from black granite and the outside held runes that read ‘ Not even death is promised in life. ’
Dust gathered everywhere, it showed that nothing and no one had breached the halls of the decayed castle for centuries… perhaps longer even. There was no sound that invaded the land around the castle—not even the chirp of an insect or bird. The land was dead, hard blackened dirt compacted together. Surrounding the large castle was a city in ruins… one that stretched far into the distance. Decayed and crumbled walls barely contain the massive city. It might threaten to challenge the greats of cities built upon Genesis. Unfortunately, the city was long dead—a single crack ran its entire length… only halting at the castle itself. Yet, once past the castle, the crack would continue as it split the city nearly in twain. The crack extended deep, but a fog filled the internals, disallowing any to see further than a half dozen meters deep.
The land was dead…
Shattered.
Nothing lived here—even in a city that could house millions… nothing lived here. Not in the vermin expected to be found in such dwellings.
Only silence.
The Silent City.
For centuries, this was how it operated—only the bravest inhabitants of Genesis dared enter. [Adventurers] hoping to gain riches and more. Some succeeded in their endeavor… most failed. Yet, none ever made it to the center of the Silent City, not out of a lack of trying.
“[Brava Guild] shall take on the request,” Zedra said—long raven black hair flipped to the side as she excitedly looked at the down payment. A smile on her face as the glint of gold and other precious items flashed through her eyes brown eyes.
Six other members surrounded the table as their leader ended the call with the man who hired them. Their destination was the Silent City. A request sent by a party they just couldn’t refuse.
The black granite coffin continued its rest, unmarred by time, without a speck of dust touching it.