Chapter 17
Loneliness was something Kalex was intimately familiar with. Most of his time alive had been spent alone, but now that he was on Enternia, he felt lost. He had spent almost every waking moment in the company of Lyla and now she was gone and there hadn’t been anything he could’ve done to change the outcome.
He was too weak. Weak like he had been when he found himself in this world and Lyla had to save him from being splattered. A gracious action that he still felt in debt towards. After he let the self-deprecation pass, he called Lex to help him figure out what to do next and for a little company.
“Lex, can you help me figure out what I need to do? I need to save Lyla but have no idea where to start.” Kalex grasped the glaive that had pierced Vivian and felt an odd familiarity. As his curiosity piqued, Lex appeared beside Kalex.
“Yes, Mr. Wounder. With the data I retrieved from the Lumen, I can create a model that will help in attaining the same level of power.” Kalex turned from the glaive to the black rock that looked more like glass. “I don’t want the same amount of power, I need to be stronger than the Lumen to have a chance at saving Lyla. He said he was going to make a new Axiom out of her, so hopefully they don’t kill her outright. Actually, you connected to her, can you still pull up her status?”
Lex blinked as if searching. “I maintain the ability to see Lyla’s status and the changes she is undergoing. She is still alive, Mr. Wounder. I will also prescribe a plan to grow your power to rival that of the Lumen. I was able to glean information from your direct connection with the Lumen. While you were siphoning his power, some memories came across as well which I was able to parse. They spoke of Sorus’ fears of Lumen more powerful than him and it gives me a target to set your plan to. The process will not be a quick one so I have assigned the plan as a quest. Please open your status and look into the tab named as such.”
Kalex peeked at his status and opened up the Quests tab. There was only one entry called ‘The Elder’s Grandchild’ under quests, but before he could open it further to see what it entailed, he felt a slight burning sensation in his hands. Kalex placed the glaive to the side and relief flooded his fingers.
“Lex, what is this thing?” Lex hovered over the weapon for a moment and gave his answer. “This is the Glaive of the Axiom. The memories from Sorus gave me an idea of how the weapon ranks in power. In my initial scan of this planet, I observed many weapons and can create categories for them so you can appraise them using the same system that you use to pull up statuses.”
Kalex was having a hard time getting his thoughts in order and disassociating from recent events, so any stimuli that could help him think of anything other than the death of his mentor and the kidnapping of Lyla were appreciated. Focusing on the glaive, he pulled the status of the weapon.
Name: Glaive of the Axiom
Rank: Axiom
Durability: 2998/3000
Note: Weapon given to the chosen when ascending from a lower world. Can only be wielded by an Axiom rank or higher.
Holder: Sorus Weldef (deceased)
*Weapon available to bind
“Sorus died?” Kalex asked the floating rock. “I know he was in bad shape when he left, but after the connection broke, his status seemed fine! If he’s dead, what happened to Lyla?” Kalex began to hyperventilate at the thought.
“Please calm yourself Mr. Wounder, I am monitoring Ms. Graves’ status constantly and there has been no change in her vitals. I believe that is an issue with the way weapon appraisals are currently configured. Sorus is no longer on this planet, thus showing the availability to bind the weapon.”
Kalex let out a breath. “Okay Lex, thank you. Please let me know if there is any significant change with her.” Lex blinked and flew into his pocket. “Of course, Mr. Wounder.”
The glaive was huge, towering over Kalex’s meager stature. “This is too cumbersome to wield.” Kalex said to no one.
Opening his presence sight, Kalex was almost blinded by the myst the weapon contained. Squinting his mental eyes made it a lot less painful to look at. The next hurdle was wrapping the entire thing in his presence. What he thought would take hours, took seconds as his presence snapped into place around the weapon.
“Woah, that was easier than I think it should’ve been. Even creating Lex's vessel took more effort.” Kalex felt a soft heat in his temple. “Mr. Wounder, please review your status.” Confused, Kalex pulled open his status and paled at what he saw. His concentration on the weapon waned as his presence around it faded into the air.
Name: Kalex Wounder
Race: Human (Enternia), Beer (Diat)
Rank: Axiom (Broken)
Maturity: 2245/3000
Path: Shifting Wanderer (Master)
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Vitality: 50,000/50,200
Myst: 120,000,000/180,000,000
Strength: 620
Wisdom: 1660
Agility: 1269
Charisma: 620
Luck: 21,200
“Lex! How on Diat did I make it past Sage? How can I be an Axiom and still be here? I thought an Axiom had to go to the higher worlds to get this powerful!” Kalex said frantically. Lex’s voice echoed through his mind. “I have quantified everything to the best of my abilities. There was a change in you that made you more powerful. I have yet to note the exact trigger, but with the power that you hold, you can be comfortably categorized as an Axiom.”
The past few hours were more stressful than Kalex had ever experienced and he needed to focus on something other than everyone he knew in this world leaving abruptly. Focusing on the glaive again, he repeated covering it in his presence.
Like before, it slotted into place. He tried to imbue the weapon with his presence next and as the weapon started to absorb it, the myst ejected causing a gust to blow Kalex onto his back. He pinged Lex, but the stone was quiet.
Kalex tried a few more times with the same result and was ready to give up and try again when he was in a better mental state. Then he remembered how his voice affected the Lumen so strongly and thought it was worth a try to do the same to the glaive. He again wrapped his presence around the weapon and spoke.
“BOND!” A million myst began to expel out of his every pore and pour into the glaive. A message popped into his view. It looked identical to the pane that appeared when he looked into the status of others but this window only had one word.
"BOND?"
Mentally accepting, the glaive started to glow a shade of blue that Kalex had never seen before. As he took in the light, his consciousness left him.
Kalex awoke in his area of darkness, though calling the area dark now would be incorrect. His internal world was lit with the vivid light emitted by his humming core. Vibrant myst roiled throughout the space in a torrent with a bright golden light at the center.
Kalex peered into the light and found familiarity. A chill ran through him as he felt the touch of the ion blade that tore him asunder. He was moments away from ejecting himself out of this area and into the real world, until the grave feeling disappeared, replaced with a soothing calm. Looking into the light again, he reached out to it with his myst. The light joyously drank the myst that came close to it until it allowed Kalex to wrap it. Kalex felt like the light was a part of him now, pulling away from his area of darkness, he was greeted with a chilling sight.
Gently hovering above him, Kalex saw the glaive, although in a much different shape. A small dagger with a cerulean blade that looked almost fuzzy to the naked eye, took up the entirety of his vision. Kalex knew this blade, although he got the sense of comradery in the connection he now had with the weapon.
Swallowing his doubt in the blade that was a perfect duplicate of the one that took his life, he reached out and grabbed the hilt. Kalex’s myst circulated through his body all the time, and only when something odd happened, like growing from the form of a baby or teleporting, did it turn chaotic. Holding his new blade threw his whole system out of balance.
Kalex attempted to gain control, but the myst injecting into him from the blade was more powerful and much more dense than he had ever felt. Kalex finally decided to bolster his myst against the torrent of blade’s. To his surprise, after a moment, the flow of myst stopped and started to mingle with his until it became one with it. Kalex circulated his myst and his eyebrows shot to the top of his forehead when he noticed the blade became part of the circulation. He immediately appraised the new weapon.
Name: Fool’s Requiem
Rank: Axiom
Durability: 3000/3000
(Axiom Armament) A weapon given to newly ascended Axiom. The weapon will take the form that rings true with the user’s core and adapts to surrounding myst. This armament takes the form of a Diatian ion blade.
(Ion Blade) A legendary dagger that originates in the higher worlds. Although seldom used due to its value and low durability, the ion blade is deadly to any myst user with a high myst concentration.
Holder: Kalex Wounder
Kalex could feel a sense of regret when holding the dagger. He didn’t know if it was due to his feelings of loss permeating through the air, or if the Elder’s myst caused it to gain its shape and feeling. Forcefully pushing the thoughts of dread from his mind, Kalex decided he needed to focus on something productive else he would fall into a pit of despair. Pulling up his status, he mentally clicked on the quests tab. It was time to set out and start on his path of strength.
The Elder’s Grandchild
* Confront Madison Wickerwood in Grangardd
* …
“Uh, Lex? There’s only one line to this quest.” Kalex felt a buzz in his pocket. “There is only one objective so far, Mr. Wounder. As you complete each part and depending on the outcome, another objective will be visible.”
Kalex groaned as he stared at the quest. “Okay, looks like I have to go back to Grangardd, then. Hopefully, things have calmed down a little bit. Lex! Before we leave, can you show me what the Elder wanted me to see? I think I need to go through that before moving on from here.”
A smooth heat spread over Kalex’s brain. “Negative, Mr. Wounder. Please follow the quest. The Elder’s memories will be revealed at a later time.” Kalex reached into his pocket and quickly pulled out the rock.
“It was her dying wish, Lex! Why can’t I see them now?” Lex grew uncomfortably warm in Kalex’s hands as he replied. “You are not ready. Please have patience Mr. Wounder.” Kalex harrumphed but conceded. Storing his new blade in his internal storage, he started to walk through the clearing, only to disappear a moment later and arrive inside the gates of Grangardd.
Looking around, Kalex noticed that things had calmed down a bit. The streets were still awash with residents but Kalex found it easy to veil his presence and seem unnoticeable. His first time in the city was quick and rushed. It was a beautiful city but he hadn’t seen much of it and the thought of spending the day browsing shops and seeing what it was like in a big city on Enternia sounded like a good idea. Anything to balm his shredded mentality.
Kalex found himself at a pastry shop that he could smell from a few blocks over. As he was about to step into the quaint shop, the gnarled finger of an emaciated man pointed at him from the shadow of the building.
“You!” the man coughed wetly. “You will pay for what you did to me. The Overlord will not let you escape this time!” The man took a shaky hand and placed it on an amulet hanging around his neck. The bauble broke with ease as a light that lit up the shadows of the buildings caused Kalex to cover his eyes.
The man remained sat where he had been, head hanging down dribbling blood over his tattered clothes. Kalex was shocked. Who was this man and what did he do? Before he could scan the corpse, he felt a presence directly behind him. “It looks like Landor was actually good for something. Hello Kalex, we have a lot to talk about.” Kalex turned around knowing who was there. “Hello Maddy. Indeed, we need to talk.”