Chapter 23
“Technically a harbinger is something that signals the coming of something else, but in your case, it is the title of your rank. Everything you have done so far on Enternia has involved the dealings of the world’s most powerful, and I can assume that this aspect of yourself will stay the same when you leave Enternia. I have justly called the next rank Harbinger as you’ve become a harbinger of change, and the herald of your achievements.”
Kalex frowned at the explanation but kept his response to himself. “Okay, that makes some sense, but how did I get to the new rank? I restored my myst when I fought with the Lumen, but I didn’t think it would have boosted me this much.” Lex floated out of his pocket and blinked at a pace Kalex hadn’t seen since he first created Lex.
“The Lumen whose domain you entered gave a lot of information I was lacking. Some of the information was given forthright, but the majority, I was able to parse when you pulled her myst into your domain. While you ingrained your myst with hers and cycled it through your domain, you forcefully removed her presence signature and replaced it with your own. From what I can calculate, the process was not totally efficient, and the majority of what you brought it was formed into unaspected myst that you were able to fill your myst resources with, the rest went directly to the maturity of your rank.” Lex moved to Kalex's shoulder, his light pulsing in a breathing pattern. Kalex peered over his shoulder and gently patted Lex on its angular top.
“Thanks for the information, I’m happy we got something good out of that exchange. Actually, now that I think about it, how far up in the ranks are you? I’ve tried to see your status before, but nothing ever showed.” Lex swiftly zipped into Kalex’s pocket. “The reason you haven’t been able to see my status is due to the fact tha…” Lex was interrupted by the groaning of the Elder who had finally gained consciousness. His head turned to look at the dead Overlord, then to the rubble and debris. Wide eyes met Kalex. “What happened?” and in a much louder and annoyed tone. “Where’s my mansion?!”
Kalex gave Urok a brief explanation of what happened to his residence which was followed by various curses directed towards the Potentate. “I’ve only seen the Potentate a handful of times, and every time, something absurd happens. Good riddance, I say. He will not receive any invitations from me again.” Urok took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “On the bright side, at least whatever the Potentate did finally finished off the Overlord. That’s one headache I’m glad to be rid of.”
He turned to Kalex and spoke in a relaxed tone. “Don’t worry about the mansion, I’ll have the builders make a new one. I want you to know that you are always welcome here, but please don’t come too frequently. Every big recent event has had you involved in one way or the other. I’ll be happy when we can go at least a few days without someone in power causing a ruckus. By the way, where are you off to after this? If it’s in the Realm of Seeds, I may be able to provide you with some information regarding your destination.”
Kalex lifted his brows at the Elder’s question. “I’m not completely sure, but I know I have to make it to Everblade City at some point. Beyond that, I was hoping to stay in this part of the Realm.” Urok shook his head and began walking towards the street away from the wreckage. “I can give you a map of the Realm and show you where Everblade city is, but that is the extent of the assistance I can give on that matter. Also, please send someone to warn me before you come back here. With as much advance notice as you could–I’d like to properly prepare for your arrival beforehand.” Kalex chuckled and acquiesced.
Kalex followed Elder Urok to the main building in the city and had Lex mentally make a copy of the map that he had been shown. Urok quickly left the room and had his underlings shoo Kalex out of the building and accompany him to the front gate of the city.
“The Elder gives his blessing to return to the city once you’ve accomplished what you’re setting out to do. Please send a courier with a message to advise us of your return so we may be properly prepared for the Axiom’s return.” The Elder’s liaison said in a practiced voice. “May your travels be easy and your quest successful, Axiom.” He said as he motioned for the gates to close. Kalex gave a small bow and turned towards the worn path that led into the wilderness outside of Grangardd.
Kalex stopped a few steps away from the closed gate and smacked his face with the palm of his hand. “I guess I should say bye to Arla and Sorene, it would be nice to have a place to come back to if I ever make it back here.” Myst engulfed Kalex as the wind followed suit, and in the blink of an eye, Kalex was standing outside the Mix farmhouse, gasping for air as if his life depended on it. “I…really need to… stop… teleporting too often.” Kalex barely managed to pant out.
He fell to a seated position and soon heard a familiar voice. “Oh, not again. Ma! Kalex is dying in front of the house again!” Sorene yelled back into the open door of the home. “Oh geez, I’ll get the spare room ready.” Arla responded in a caring tone. Kalex smiled at the form of Sorene headed towards him as his vision went dark and his head impacted the ground. The only thing he could see was his status in the darkness. Before he allowed sleep to take him, he glanced over it one last time for the day.
Name: Kalex Wounder
Race: Human (Enternia), Beer (Diat)
Rank: Harbinger (Broken)
Maturity: 7,609/10,000
Path: Shifting Wanderer (Master)
Vitality: 99,823/100,400
Myst: 154,000,611/360,000,000
Strength: 1880
Wisdom: 4980
Agility: 3807
Charisma: 1240
Luck: 27,030
Taking a moment to reminisce on his journey so far, and the progress he had made, he closed the window. Lyla moved to the forefront of his mind and he quickly became nervous. He pinged Lex to ask for an update and waited for confirmation that she was okay to finally relax. He didn’t realize how exhausted he was after dealing with the Potentate and the Lumen. With everything he could think of taken care of, his last thought was a hope that he didn’t dream of Nurdles, because their weird claws were the things nightmares were made of.
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Objects flew into the air at a constant pace, only to land in a growing pile that was barely holding together. “What even is this thing? Well, into the pile it goes! At least the house came with instructions. I hope there’s something from that old ring that’ll help me get home. I mean, this place is nice, with its fresh air and thick myst, but I’d rather be on Enternia. At least I have someone to talk to there.” Lyla stood up with an exasperated sigh and moved toward her temporary abode.
The collapsible house was a three-story monstrosity that folded into a slate that could fit in two outstretched hands and it was one of the first items she found in the dead Lumen's belongings. The climate on the planet she found herself in was temperate and the house was only used as a comfort. The animals she observed seemed much more powerful than she was used to on Enternia, and the house luckily came with a lock that she could operate with her myst that protected the home from intrusion and damage from animals trying to break down the doors. The inside was sparsely furnished and was lacking some necessities, the biggest being a bed. She thanked her lucky stars that she had stolen the bed from Grangardd. The comfort it brought helped her cope with the situation she found herself in.
During her first day of being stranded, she immediately scouted her surroundings. After wandering for about a day, she found that she was on a small island with a dense jungle environment in the center that was ringed by large beaches. During her time as a roamer, she picked up a few skills in finding where she was and finding points of interest to dictate her position. She soon made her way to the highest point of the island in hopes of finding a way off the island. Unfortunately, all she could see with her eyes, as well as her presence sight was deep blue water that was teeming with oddly powerful myst signatures.
She concluded that she was stuck on the island for the foreseeable future as she made her way back to the beach where her house resided. A portion of every waking moment was spent attempting to contact Lex. She slowly made headway as she could feel the connection strengthen by the hour. Although exhausting, the window that showed her status grew clearer as she spent more of her time focusing on it. After two days of attempting to communicate with Lex and trying to cope with the hopelessness that began to creep into her thoughts, Lyla heard the most beautiful sound.
“Ms.Graves… Are you able to hear me?” a distorted voice of Lex rattled through her head. “LEX!” Lyla forced out through her throat that her sudden emotions were starting to close. “Listen carefully as I cannot hold this link for much longer. If my calculations are correct, you are in a training world where the Lumen take Axioms and prepare them for life in the higher worlds. Kalex made a link with Sorus before he took you and I was able to garner some information from that connection, and I've learned that he has something that will be useful for us to pinpoint your location. If he is still around, do whatever you can to take his ring from him. If it is too risky, I advise against this option as it could be suicidal.”
Lyla hiccuped her tears away at the serious tone of the stone. “I’m on a weird island and I think we crash-landed. When I woke up, I found Sorus dead and I already transferred everything from his ring to my bracelet.” Their connection crackled as Lyla could’ve sworn she heard a sigh of relief. “This is the best news I could’ve hoped for. In his ring there was a very small bauble, about the size of your palm. It works similarly to a mind sigil but without the detrimental after-effects. When you find it, send as much myst as you can to it and think of who you’d like to communicate with and you will feel the item click into place. Once that happens you need to say the following words. ‘Initiate cohesion via relation unity.’ This should allow me to create a copy of myself in your mind, which will expedite our journey to you.”
Lyla’s eyebrows scrunched together as she dedicated the words to memory. “I can do that. How is Kalex, and can you tell him that I’m fine? He’s probably worried sick.” Lyla waited for a response, but after a few moments, all she could hear was the waves crashing along the beach. The connection had cut out as soon as Lex got his final words in.
Lyla sifted through the Lumen’s belongings like a woman possessed as she searched for the item Lex had described. After hours of searching through Sorus’ giant horde, Lyla found what she was looking for. A small sphere the color of a well-oiled blade glistened in the palm of her hand. It was smaller than Lex had described, so she inspected it thoroughly before confirming it was the bauble. Lyla sat on the floor without preamble and sent her complete focus to the item in her hand. She focused on who she wanted to speak to and spoke the words with as much of her myst as she could.
“INITIATE COHESION VIA RELATION UNITY!” Her world spun as the myst was siphoned from her core. Lyla kept her consciousness by willpower alone as the item she just activated was meant to be used by a Lumen at the Axiom rank, and not a newly minted Platinum. As her vision closed in, a faint voice echoed in her ears. “Neural Lexicon, owner: Lyla Graves. Unit active. Unit installation incomplete. Force reinstallation true. Neural Lexicon not inhabiting original host. Neural link active. Connection to deceased host active. Error. Re-calibration protocol success. Fortified Neural link detected.” Lyla’s vision became a pinpoint as she slipped into exhaustion-induced sleep. “Hello, Ms. Graves. I am Ekk.” The last words of the high-pitched voice rang in her head as darkness took her.
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Kalex awoke to a blaring beeping sound as he jolted up in a familiar bed. “Mr. Wounder, you’re finally awake. I’d like to advise against using your path’s abilities too often. I’d also like to tell you that I have an update on Ms. Graves.” Kalex stopped mid-yawn. “Lyla? What happened? Is she alright? Come on Lex, you have to tell me!” Lex soundlessly moved in front of Kalex’s face. “Calm yourself, Mr. Wounder. Lyla has exceeded all of the outcomes I had thought possible. She has advanced to the Platinum Rank and acquired a very helpful tool. Although I planned to create a copy of myself using a mind sigil artifact Sorus had in his possession, the outcome did not go as planned.”
Lex blinked fervently as he explained the plan he had and what he had told Lyla. “It was only possible due to her focus on me and the fact that you grew in rank as well. When you fell unconscious, I was able to utilize the power of your core to boost my connection to her.” Kalex raised his hand. “I’m glad that she’s alive and doing well, but if she wasn’t able to create a copy of you using that weird mind sigil, what kind of tool did she get instead?” Lex shown with a vibrant blue hue. “She acquired a Neural Lexicon, Mr. Wounder. One that I can directly connect to. Although due to our position on a lower world, I cannot properly locate her, but I have a vague idea of her location.”
Kalex sat gobsmacked by the information Lex had given him. It took a few moments for him to gather his thoughts before speaking again. “Lyla’s an actual Seer now. But wait, I thought that the process to gain a Lexidex was unknown.” Lex zipped back into the robe that was hung on the back of a chair in the room. “It is unknown to those who receive them, but as I am a Neural Lexicon, I have innate knowledge of where we come from. It is in pieces and parts, but I know that we are seldom created and mostly recycled. You are, in fact, the first Seer to whom I’ve been acquainted.
Lyla’s Neural Lexicon is as old as Diat itself and holds familiarity with her family line. She is currently instinctively pondering deeply on the information that is being given to her, so it’s imperative that find a way to the higher worlds as soon as possible. You’ve spent a lot of time sleeping and it’s time to leave Grangardd. Follow the map to Everblade City and then we can start the process of ascension.”
Before Kalex could think of a reply, the door creaked open. “Hiya! I got some rootie stew for you whenever you’re ready to eat. Sorene has something to show you as well! So put a shirt on and come eat!” Color entered his face as he looked over to see his neatly folded clothes atop a small bedside table. "Gratitude, I'll be down in a moment."