Chapter 29

The Elder’s Grandchild

* Confront Madison Wickerwood in Grangardd

* Wait for the event in Grangardd (Estimated time: 4 days)

* Optional: Assist farmers with storage crisis

* Witness the Potentate’s proclamation

* Travel to Everblade City

* Find the identity of Zilg’s patron Lumen

* Use Zilg’s connection to contact the Lumen

* Intercept the connection between Zilg and his Lumen

* Find a way to gain myst equivalent to the Lumen’s

* Travel to the origin of your power. Employ the seat where intangible became reality. Distribute your myst into the font of the stone's maw. Imbibe deeply in the learnings of higher and reflect on Diatian ideals. Gather those worthy of trust to seed the teachings of the Broken Axiom. Ascend to your place of belonging.

- Reward: The Memories of The Elder, Ascension to training world Rime.

Kalex read over the quest quickly as he made his way over to the pedestal. It had the same mystique around it as when he’d first laid his eyes upon it and in his presence sight, he could see ambient myst being pulled into it from the top. “The quest said to distribute my myst into it, so here we go.” Kalex said to himself as he started the same process he took when doing his eclipse tests.

Myst gathered on Kalex’s fingertips as he stretched his hand toward the stone outcropping. As he got closer, the myst gently wisped from his hand directly into the top of the pedestal with Lex assisting the process. Making contact increased the myst transfer by over ten-fold and Kalex peeked at his status to get an idea of the expenditure.

Name: Kalex Wounder

Race: Human (Enternia), Beer (Diat)

Rank: Harbinger (Broken)

Maturity: 9,999/10,000

Path: Shifting Wanderer (Pseudo-Paragon)

Vitality: 100,400/100,400

Myst: 310,000,000/360,000,000

Strength: 1,880

Wisdom: 4,980

Agility: 3,807

Charisma: 1,240

Luck: 27,030

With his recent exchange with Scyris and the Captain, Kalex had felt the changes to his maturity without having to check his status, so it wasn’t a surprise to him that it was at its peak. Just like the other times he had gone up in rank, there seemed to be certain criteria needed in order to take the next step. Every time he had that thought and sent the inquiry to Lex, he remained close-lipped on the topic. The rank of his path was another point of conjecture, but he would look into that when his myst wasn’t actively being drained at a prodigious rate. In the moments after he’d touched the stone pedestal, more than a tenth of his myst was transferred; the bowl portion on top of the stone dimly emitting a blue glow was the only visual representation of the power it had consumed.

Minutes wore on as Kalex began to feel weaker due to the drain on his myst reserves and he silently wished for it to be over. The process was completely out of his hands as Lex handled the process in its entirety. He was able to glean a small amount of what was happening; his myst seemed to flow into the waist-high stone and filter through Lex, then be ingrained into the stone’s structure afterward. Kalex’s mind wandered as the procedure continued. Close to a minute into his attempt to keep his mind blank, the strain of his internal myst channels and the weight of his core bearing down on his body became too much and Kalex was unable to keep his feet under him. His sight became foggy soon after and he decided to pull up his status once again so he could have something to focus on. As he watched his myst drop into four digits, a deep thump echoed through the cave, causing a clueless Timik to miss his hammer blow, hitting his finger in the process.

Kalex awoke groggily to someone shaking his body. “Hey Kalex! Are you alright? I hit my finger with my force hammer and need a little assistance. Also, your floating rock is shooting fire through the cave and into the sky. Priorities come first, you can stop the cave from collapsing and go back to sleep after you fix my flat finger.” Kalex sent a strand of myst that was thinner than a hair over to Timik’s burnt and smashed finger as he beheld what was in front of him with wonder.

Lex was in the same spot slightly above the pedestal, but something had changed. Instead of being a slightly translucent black stone, he looked a little larger and with a blueish tint. At first, Kalex thought the change in color was due to the tree trunk-sized beam of pure myst shooting out from above him directly through the cave ceiling, but he soon saw that the slight sheen was a new permanent feature of his favorite rock.

“Mr. Wounder, do not be alarmed. This beacon will be a guide to those hoping to become part of a Realm. After the Consolidation where many were thrown from their homes and told to gain power, there ended up being a large amount of people who yearned to have a place to belong. This beacon of your myst may be a marker for your location, but it has other purposes as well. Similar to your presence sight, this beacon is laying an invisible shadow over Enternia, allowing me to communicate with anybody covered by it and project myself anywhere. This is how I will continue my stay as Overseer in Celegail and also how I will send invitations. I will first contact the Roamers and give them the choice to take the test then and there. This will be a one-time situation as we have little infrastructure to sustain a key Realm city. Once the Roamers have passed the test and become citizens of the Realm of the Broken, I will give them access to the status screen and appoint tasks to them with rewards upon completion.” Lex bobbed up and down on top of the pedestal as if it were filled with water.

“Question.” Kalex fired back at the stone’s lengthy explanation. “Firstly, how did you know that this particular stone outcropping would be viable to be used as… whatever you’re using it for? It was one of the first things I noticed when I woke up here, but that alone wouldn’t make it special, right?” Lex became still as the beacon above his head calmed and lost its chaotic edge. “Yes and no. The truth is that many areas on Enternia have the ability to absorb ambient myst, but this one is special, not only to you but to me as well. As this is the place I transferred into the physical world, I feel an intrinsic connection to the location. In a similar way to the process that happened unconsciously with your clothing, I infused the pedestal with your myst and changed it on a fundamental level, boosting its ability to intake myst.”

“That sounds well and good, but where is everyone going to stay? I can expand the cave so people will have some protection from the elements, but that’s as much as I can do right now.” Kalex said while looking over to the back of the shallow cave. Lex stayed stationary on the pedestal but his voice echoed throughout the cave.

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“There is no need to worry about things of that sort. I am testing prospective Roamers as we speak and have some that are already heading this way. They are a resourceful bunch and are accustomed to not having everyday luxuries. The majority of the quests I will be giving is to start construction on basic groundwork so we can make the area surrounding the cave into a proper city. It will take time, and you need to focus on other things.”

Before Kalex could ask what the other things Lex could be referring to, a barely bearable weight fell upon Kalex’s shoulders. “Prepare to ponder, Mr. Wounder. Your reward for finding an acceptable area to act as the nucleation site for your Realm is a small snippet of Elder Tora’s memories.” Kalex dropped down into a seated position and delved deep into a ponder. He briefly stopped in his Domain, but his internal sight was soon drowned out by bright white. A breeze and the scent of afterberry blooms hit his senses first. When his eyesight cleared, he found himself looking up at his younger self. A young Beerian Kalex looked ashamed, with his ash-white hair drooped over his face in a small bow towards two imposing figures.

“Father, please allow me to test again. I promise my result from the Seer assessment was a fluke.” Kalex remembered this moment. It was the last time he’d spoken to his parents. The Elder was present as an officiator to take Kalex to the Council to be assigned.

“From this day forward I am not to be known as the man who sired a Seer. If we meet again in the future, I expect you to bow. From today until the end of days, you will refer to me only as Lord Wounder, and I will have you executed if you trend otherwise.” The deep voice of the Wounder Emperor boomed as Kalex’s mother began to step forward to say her piece. Kalex had the same memory of the ordeal as Tora did and knew what was about to be said. He sat down next to his weeping counterpart and prepared to hear the last words of the Wounders for a second time.

—

Mid-afternoon sunlight streamed through the leaves of a tree that grew close to the beach on which a building stood, starkly out of place. The dappled light met the lids of a girl whose eyes were beginning to flutter open, glistening through the violet irises hiding within. A droning alarm grew in intensity as the seconds went by. “Ms. Graves.” A quiet echo said for only one to hear. “Ms. Graves, it’s time to wake up.” The voice said with more volume. Lyla opened her eyes but the allure of sleep won her over and she began to doze once more. “Hey! Lyla! You’ve already taken in everything that you can from our new bond, now you’re just being lazy. You can’t expect to get this place ready for Kalex and Lex if you spend all your time sleeping!” The voice said with a headache-inducing loudness.

Lyla bolted upright in surprise at her surroundings. During her time in a sleep-like state, she had relived some of the memories of Ekk’s past companions. The memories played as if she was actually there, causing her to forget all about the little island on which she was marooned. “They’re coming here? Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy they found a way, but won’t they be trapped just like me?” Lyla said as she took in her surroundings for the first time in what felt like a lifetime.

“Ah, I’m glad you’re finally awake. You left me here with nothing to do but twiddle my non-existent thumbs. As far as them being trapped; it’s a non-issue. Kalex has grown greatly in power in the short time you’ve been separated. Looking at you now, it looks to me like you’ve grown almost as much!” Ekk said in a joyful tone as a warm sensation blossomed in Lyla’s head. “I’m not as advanced as Lex is, but he’s taught me a few tricks! Try opening up your status, I’m sure you’ll find it much easier than before!”

Lyla scrunched her eyebrows together in thought. “He? Lex is a rock. I literally saw how Kalex dug into a wall and found it.” Ekk gave the impression of sneaky laughter. “He hasn’t given me the full details, but something happened on Enternia that pushed him and helped him develop a sense of self. I didn’t know that was possible and I hope I’ll be able to reach a similar level at some point in the future.”

Lyla took the information in stride. The weeks since she met Kalex had been full of new unorthodox experiences and she chalked this situation up as the same. Opening her status was effortless and just as quick as when she was on Enternia. Peering at the values the pane showed made her double-take. If her jaw didn’t have bones and muscle, it would have hit the sand beneath her.

Name: Lyla Graves

Race: Human (Enternia)

Rank: Axiom

Maturity: 1569/3000

Path: Mystknit (Master)

Vitality: 10,800/10,800

Myst: 199,800/199,800

Strength: 392 (Diat’s Bounty)

Wisdom: 504 (Diat’s Bounty)

Agility: 797 (Diat’s Bounty)

Charisma: 474 (Diat’s Bounty)

Luck: 9653 (Diat’s Bounty)

“Uh, Ekk. Are you sure this is working correctly? When I left Enternia, I was only a Silver and this says that I’m Axiom Rank.” Lyla’s eyes left the screen as she looked around for a floating stone, a habit from speaking to Lex.

“I am positive that it is reporting correctly, Lyla. Is it alright if I call you Lyla? I’m going to call you Lyla. I shared the results with Lex who confirmed their correctness. If you open your presence sight, you’ll notice the reasoning behind your rapid growth. It was mine and Lex’s efforts working in concert to make happen.”

Lyla closed her eyes and sent her presence outward. With little focus, she noticed the blanket of her senses covered the majority of the small planet she found herself on. With slightly more effort, she engulfed the entire thing. Other than a few islands, the planet was mostly covered in a deep ocean, but one thing caught her attention.

“Where’s all of the myst? This whole planet is completely void of it.”

Ekk sent a mental chuckle. “This planet isn’t void of myst, it’s just all in one place. When binding yourself to me, it seems like you inadvertently entered a deep ponder and absorbed all of the available myst around you. With Kalex giving you the tools to bring in myst and convert it to a Lyla-aspected version, you were able to grow, with only a little help from yours truly.”

Lyla became quiet after learning how far she’d come. On Enternia she had felt only slightly more powerful than the general population, but after Lex’s system, she was able to confirm that. Before she had been taken, Elder Viv felt like the pinnacle of power on the planet, sans Kalex, but now she had exceeded that. She only hoped Elder Viv was proud.

“I’m sure she would be. I spent enough time with her to know that she held the personal power of her family as her proudest accolade. And yes, I can feel your question. I was the Lexidex of a particular family who held the ability for Seer status on Diat more so than any other. In the case of Kalex, there needed to be another since having two individuals in this same family with the Seer presence was something that shouldn’t have happened. As I was the Lexidex of Toraxia Wounder, or Elder Vivian Graves as you knew her, Kalex got Lex.” Lyla sat down in shock. The feeling she felt when she first saw the scarred child who was thrown away wasn’t just her curiosity, but something else. Before she could enter a shallow ponder to put her thoughts together, her attention went to something just off the coast.

After she had woken up, she noticed all of the ocean's wildlife that she could see was slow and lethargic due to the lack of myst to sustain them. Every being containing myst was able to naturally replenish their reserves with time, but with the power everything on the planet held, it would be a while before anything was active again. What took Lyla’s attention was the sound of splashing about one hundred feet from the beach. Thinking it was a floundering fish creature at first, Lyla immediately evicted her attention from the water, intending to process the information Ekk had just told her. A sound she thought that the loneliness of the world had made her imagine made her eyes lock onto the splashing, and focus her hearing.

“You Lumen bastards! Mark my words, I will get off this dead planet and exact my revenge!” An angry voice carried over the water. On instinct she didn’t have before, Lyla produced a cloak of protective myst that clung closely to her body. Her myst cycled in a way that felt strange and familiar at the same time in preparation for the owner of the watery voice’s expeditious arrival to her island.

As they landed, Lyla noticed a battered and weak woman falling to her knees and she made land. Lyla took advantage of her path and instantly began triage on the woman’s shredded and torn myst channels. The woman lifted her head to behold Lyla, her hard eyes relaxing. “There is someone on this world.” The woman let out a sigh as the tension in her shoulders unwound. “Is that your house?” The woman looked at the ostentatious building, smirking slightly as she did. “I was almost killed by the Lumen and dumped here to slowly die. I could really use some rest.”

Lyla acquiesced quietly and helped the woman into one of the many spare rooms. She crumpled to the floor as soon as she entered and looked up at Lyla with sleep entering her eyes. “I can’t thank you enough. I believe that if I had run into anyone else, I wouldn’t be breathing right now. I’m going to sleep now but before I do, may I have your name?”

Lyla let a small smile enter her face. Having someone to talk to after being alone on the planet and in Ekk’s memories for so long made her happiness show. “My name is Lyla. What can I call you?” The half-lidded woman gave Lyla a genuine smile as she let sleep start to take her. With the last of her consciousness, she answered Lyla. “What a nice-sounding name. Hello Lyla, thank you for saving me. My name is Scyris.”