Chapter 12
After being chauffeured and observing the lush plant life of the countless garden plots that dotted the area around the mansion, Kalex and Lyla found themselves in a cleared area with a remarkable open-air pavilion at its center. The same group of people who had attended the previous test were gathered in loose clusters around the structure, discussing the potential outcomes of the next test.
As the man guided Kalex and Lyla closer, a great iridescent sphere could be seen atop a pedestal made of a white stone in the shape reminiscent of a grasping claw. Seeing the sphere, Kalex felt an itch in the back of his mind that he hadn’t felt since his last day in Mourtia. To try to find the source of this phenomenon, his eyes met with a man standing to the side of the sphere. A force that could only be felt in his world of darkness instantly hit Kalex.
Taken aback by the surprise attack, he began slowly pondering his presence to bolster his internal defenses. The force quickly subsided and the man took on a look of astonishment. The man escorting them showed no signs of noticing the mental challenge that just took place, so Kalex and Lyla continued to follow the man as he led them up the stairs of the pavilion.
“You must be the boy I’ve heard so much about. After hearing about you from the Elder, I had thought you’d be taller.” The man said with a snide smile. “What is your name, boy?”
Lyla balled up her fists at the blatant disrespect this man was showing them. Kalex sent a whisper of his presence to her and it visibly calmed her.
“My name is Kalex, I was brought here to participate in a test due to the last ones breaking. What is your name, sir?”
The man looked away from them. “You do not deserve to know my name, you worm.” He spat. “You may refer to me as Overlord when permitted to speak.” This time it was Kalex’s turn to ball his fists. Lyla laid a hand on his shoulder. Kalex took on a faraway look for a brief moment as he pulled up this man’s status.
Name: Madison Wickerwood
Race: Human (Enternia)
Rank: Platinum Seer Sayer Savant
Maturity: 277/400
Path: Avaricious Well-born (Adept)
Vitality: 1200/1200
Myst: 3050/3250
Strength: 46
Wisdom: 9
Agility: 62
Charisma: 164
Luck: 231
Kalex snickered as he shared the status screen with Lyla who giggled in return. “What is so funny? I did not permit you to exhibit any act of merriment. STOP AT ONCE! You will act properly in my presence!” Kalex felt the words of the Overlord attempt to make him do something against his will but with his stronger presence and advantage in stats, he let the words roll off of him and Lyla without having their intended effect.
“Look here Overlord Madison. Actually, I’m going to call you Maddy. Look here Maddy, I came here out of my own volition and was a Roamer before this with no loyalties to any Realm. Nothing is stopping me from leaving right now without any of you being able to do anything about it. I said I would do the test. I do not go back on my word often, but if you’re going to continue with your act, I will take my leave.” Kalex said with a defiant stance.
The Overlord took the posture of someone ready to attack, with an expression full of barely contained anger. The Elder slipped up close and quietly whispered in his ear. Lowering his aggressive stance, the Overlord spoke. “Impressive feat to shirk my proclamations, boy. And you will refer to me as Overlord! At the advice of the Elder, I will allow you to proceed with the test. Although I doubt anything will come of it with what I’ve witnessed of you. I continue to hold the idea that you’ve made it this far due to dumb luck, let’s see if you prove me wrong.”
Kalex grimaced at the bravado of the Overlord but guided Lyla with him up to the pedestal. The Overlord and the Elder stepped to the side to watch the test. The Overlord showed hints of boredom while the Elder looked on with anticipation. “Wait here.” Kalex said as they got a few feet from the sphere. “Don’t worry about what happened last time, if anything happens, I will protect you.”
With a somber nod, Lyla agreed. Kalex created a thin layer of his myst around Lyla and fortified it as much as he could. It became so dense that it could be seen with the naked eye. The observers of the test's eyes all lingered on the light blue bubble encasing the girl until they moved on to the main event. Kalex slowly walked up to the sphere with an outstretched hand.
Similarly to the previous tests, Kalex couldn’t feel any myst coming off of the object even though he knew it was chockablock. Before Kalex could make contact, the Elder spoke up. “Elite Kalex, before you begin the test, do know that this is territory of which we have frighteningly little information. Unlike the other tests, this one will test your strength directly and the results have always been unfortunate. The last elite who placed their hand on the eclipse moon was weakened to the level of a child and had to pass on the right of Overlordship to his heir. We have staff on duty in the event of anything going awry.”
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Now Kalex understood why the Overlord still allowed Kalex to go through with the test even though he had overpowered him in their unseen battle. If Kalex was to fail this test, all his power would be lost the same way he had taken the strength out of Voric. The Overlord looked ready to get his retribution once Kalex had been reduced to someone weaker than him. Kalex focused on the sphere more intently. If he failed, everything he had worked towards and all his gains would be moot. He would not be able to take care of his basic necessities, much less work on his presence and his artificer projects. He would need a caretaker if he was brought down to that level and the last thing he wanted to be was a burden.
With his intent focused to a point, almost silent words escaped his mouth without him realizing he had spoken. “I WILL NOT FAIL. I WILL NOT BE PUSHED. I AM THE WOUNDER SEER. I AM KALEX!” Kalex emitted a ripple of power in a plane horizontal to the ground, pushing back everyone in attendance other than Lyla who looked on with surprise as a blue fog surrounded Kalex.
Kalex let every thought leave his mind as he laid his hand on the sphere. His eyes grew wide when he felt a suction coming from the sphere. He got the feeling that this sphere was similar to a rainless desert fraught with eternal drought and his myst was moisture. The sphere sapped his myst at a prodigious rate as it began to glow a dim yellow. Kalex held on as he was drained. Trying to ponder was useless as the demand of the sphere could not be stopped so he checked his status to make sure he wasn’t going to be tapped out.
Name: Kalex Wounder
Race: Human (Enternia), Beer (Diat)
Rank: Sage
Maturity: 999/1000
Path: Shifting Wanderer (Master)
Vitality: 25,080/25,100
Myst: 58,509,000/60,000,000
Strength: 310
Wisdom: 830
Agility: 269
Charisma: 120
Luck: 19,200
He noticed his maturity first and was confused at the high number. He remembered Lyla’s progression and instantly knew his gains had come from pondering the myst from their room the previous night. He noticed the number equating to his myst next, the sphere had already taken almost a million and a half myst and hadn’t slowed in its gluttony. Kalex could only imagine what would happen if that number reached zero and the demand on your system was still present. Just like the disgraceful guard, one would have their progress siphoned away.
Luckily for Kalex, he had a lot of myst to spare and it would take a long time to tap out his reserves. The idea that the sphere would expunge his core was soon shown as unwarranted. The sphere took exactly ten million myst from Kalex as it began to lift from its pedestal. Everyone looked on as the luminescent sphere rose into the sky apace, showering the city in light brighter than the sun had before the scarred child was born.
The sphere grew as it rose through the atmosphere, becoming a beacon that could be seen throughout the Realm.
The onlookers, sans the Overlord, promptly fell to their knees. Tears welled in the Elder’s eyes. “The Days of Many have returned to us. The prophecy is realized and the curse lifted. All hail the Axiom.”
A chorus of ‘All hail the Axiom’ followed suit. Kalex turned around at this and met the eyes of the Overlord. With a sneer, the Overlord bent a knee in reluctant reverence. “Pardon my past indiscretions, Axiom.” The Overlord spat. “Your light and your power will bring prosperity to the Realm. We will leave at once to hold an audience with the Potentate to organize our war efforts. With our capital and your power, we will soon become inviolable.” The Overlord’s demeanor visibly softened as he spoke. “Please return to your residence as we clear the testing area and prepare for our departure.”
The last thing Kalex wanted to do was have a meeting with the leader of the Realm. From what the Overlord had said, it seemed like Kalex would be forced into a war as its spearhead to prove the power that the realm could produce. Agreeing to be escorted to their room, Kalex began planning his escape.
Promptly shutting the door to their room as they entered, Kalex sat on his bed. “We have to leave. They won't be able to see me but they definitely will be able to see you.” Lyla sat down next to him. “I’ve always been sneaky, I’m sure I can leave without them noticing.”
Kalex shook his head. “With this many powerful people around, one of them is going to figure out that we’re trying to leave. Wait! I have an idea! Lex!” A blinking rock floated over his shoulder. “That is a good idea indeed. Transferring memories to Lyla’s neural pathways.”
Lyla gasped at the rock as she fell backward onto the bed. Her eyes momentarily rolled back into her skull and she came to a moment later. “So that’s how you do it!” Lyla said as she sat upright. “It seems so easy now that I learned how you were taught. That memory was so vivid. I’ve heard you mention Tora before, she’s an amazing teacher. It felt like I was in the woods with you as she taught.” Kalex felt Lyla release her presence. “Is this how you see the world with your presence sight? This is the best! I can see everything!” Lex blinked again. “Transferring information on cloaking presences and exuding false ones.”
Lyla took on a faraway look and came back a second later. Kalex closed his eyes and sent his presence sight out weakly. Lyla wasn’t there. Even though he could sense that she was sitting next to him, she was invisible to his shallow presence sight. It would be more than enough to fool the Elder and Overlord. “It looks like it worked! Nobody but me will be able to see you now!” Kalex cheered. “Time to go!”
After each stored a bed in their respective storages, they used their presence to blend into their surroundings and left through an open window. Making their way through the large area that the residence occupied was child's play for Kalex and gave Lyla a lot of practice using her newfound abilities. As soon as they made to exit through a large gate into the street, they hit a roadblock.
An audience made up of hundreds of people lined the gate as the Overlord and the Elder were giving lip service to the populous. At the sight of the large group of people and the strongest people in the city, Lyla let her presence slip. The Overlord turned in their direction and was able to put the situation together.
With a mighty breath, the Overlord ordered the population of Grangardd. “STOP THEM!”
Kalex immediately wrapped Lyla in his presence to hide her and they took off in a sprint. “Will they be able to catch up with us? I know we’re stronger than most, but the amount of people will overwhelm us.” Lyla looked at the bracelet on her wrist. “I don’t want to be captured. They’re weaker than you but stronger than me.”
Lyla was frazzled by the state that things had devolved to. Kalex sent a piece of his presence to her in hopes of calming her and helping her think straight. “In situations like this, I’d always gather my things, swallow my cube, and hide in plain sight.” Lyla looked over to him and then her bracelet.
“Do not swallow that thing! Whatever you do! I can get us out of here faster than you can say Nurdle!” Lyla glanced at Kalex. “What’s a...” Kalex gathered his myst and sent his presence sight to the surrounding area. He saw an isolated outpost with only a few people milling around. He had found their destination. Within a blink, they had arrived. “Nurdle…Woah.” Lyla stopped and scanned the familiar surroundings.