Arson hadn’t believed his mother when she’d said that the elements he was aligned with would join his body much more quickly than the rest, but as always, she was right.
He completed air, and felt what it was like to be vibrated at such an intense speed that he almost evaporated. Water, by actually being forced to fill his lungs with the substance. Light, by being forced to experience his veins be filled with the energy in all of its forms. Which included, liquid light, hardened light, and even pure electricity.
What halted his current progress was the understanding that the magics that were the building blocks for gravitational forces were separate from legitimate spacial magics. He only had three poisons left to experience, and had decided on gravity, time & space, then creation.
He knew the order of his intake would matter but the how had honestly eluded him. He felt the changes to his body, but only slightly.
As Arson had only had his core for a few days before he’d begun his tempering, the drastic changes that would normally be felt, were overshadowed by Arson’s core growth.
Instead of being filled with the sensation of endless flexibility one normally felt after they’d experienced the poison of water manna, Arson felt increased regeneration. Instead of the endless stamina gained by air poison, he instead felt increased regeneration. The same could be said for practically all the other poisons he’d undergone, and Arson assumed that nothing would change that.
Then he chose gravity in the first kingdom of magic and immediately realized how wrong he’d been. The wand that symbolized the force created by existence itself hadn’t seemed threatening compared to what he’d thought he’d experienced with all of the other elements. It was nearly invisible in its structure, and seemed to be more reflective rather than actually translucent. Then the figure that represented the last master of the wand could be seen temporarily and Arson cocked his head.
The woman looked like Jade, but oddly enough, her eyes were identical to Arson’s own. As if her irises also had been formed from a ripped piece of the night sky painted across a red canvas.
Arson also realized that the woman wasn’t robed as the other masters had been, but was instead in a uniform identical to a graveyard officer. Instead of the normal message prompt that asked if he was sure, the woman spoke up in question.
“Are you sure, my grandson? I unlike the rest of the natural forces you have consumed a small piece of cannot bestow anything but the full intent of my power, and once received you will no longer be shielded by the illusions made to support your non-ascended mind,” said the woman before Arson. Arson’s mind flickered to the image he’d seen of the monstrous beings that the magical masters stood before during his experience with the darkness elemental poison. He then wondered if he was truly ready to experience what his apparent grandmother had next for him.
Even when Arson visited the star that had been created in his memory dedicated to the experience; he couldn’t quite recall, or reimagine the image of the creature-like forces that had been gathered behind the floating wands and the forms of their projected masters in his mind.
It was as if the mental picture he had captured, was actually an ever changing portrait, with a different variation for each master, wand, and being in the background, as there were raindrops to clouds in the sky.
Arson assumed that this was because the wands potentially had many masters previously, or due to the chaotic or many different forms an element could be physically represented in. But while his ancestor stared him down, he began to feel as if maybe it was a combination of all of those things that made his mind unable to see the entities as any one thing.
“I am ready,” said Arson after a moments thought. He’d long subjected himself to the pains and problems that came along with the process of being poisoned by elements, and feared failure more than death at this point in the process.
His skill with magic and the strength of his body were virtually the only things that could truly hinder his cultivation journey, and his foundation with the elemental poisons directly effected both of those areas in his life.
Arson wouldn’t be able to use any type of magic that wasn’t a part of his foundation. Nor would he be able to use real magic without completing his core first which moved both of those hurdles to the top of his priority list.
Arson felt himself be lifted off the ground and heard his grandmother speak to him. At first he couldn’t help but stare into the eyes that mimicked his own. The two stared down one another as the stars within their eyes spun slowly.
“Gravity is the truest energy in all of existence, It is created through the momentum and movement of the stars,” said Arson’s grandmother. Arson felt the pressure begin to close in around him, and his mind drifted. He still heard the words being spoken to him, but his mind filled with questions.
“The first sun in existence has the largest influence over gravity in all of the realms,” said the woman. Arson’s mind wandered and questioned how this woman could be his grandmother when her eyes were nearly identical to his own, but she looked like Jade, and not like the queen.
“Gravity is shared by all things, even as you grow in power, you will one day have your own gravitational pull,” said his grandmother. The pressure grew and Arson felt his body begin to heat up drastically. The pressure caused by the g-forces that pressed into him, began to mix the poison in his blood, bones, muscles and even the supposed dead cells of his body like his hair and fingernails.
Even still the eyes of his grandmother kept his mind on questions he didn’t have the answers to. If Jade was only his adopted mother, then how could Arson have inherited this woman’s eyes, a woman that Arson felt undoubtedly was Jade’s supposed dead mother.
He’d assumed that his grandmother was an Archon, it would only make sense, but just like with other significant details about the 11 families that form the Omni as a whole, Arson was completely in the dark.
His family from what Arson had come to understand from his research, had always been cult-like in their holding of knowledge and secrets, and Arson didn’t know if he wanted to change that fact, or even be involved at all.
Arson of course had secrets of his own, but none of them he felt could affect society as a whole, as the things he learned about the Omni did.
Arson was unable to read the prompt aloud as the red box popped into his vision. The storm within his body threatened to shut off his mind. Pain the only sensation that Arson could hang onto to stay conscious.
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He felt a strange new energy fill his body. It felt like when he’d tested his conductive waters orb by touching it. Unlike his foes, Arson only felt a cool breeze and the sensation of warm water rush across his skin.
The sensation brought on by the new energy was odd in that he felt it was alive. He felt the same sensation when he looked at the energy above the creation wand and its master.
Then Arson realized that his grandmother was now flanked by both the creation master and the time & space master. They too were also different than they once had been, and Arson knew instinctively that he had just been poisoned by both creation, alongside time & space mana.
The mixture within his body grew to a volatile state, before a literal pop was heard. Followed by a gong-like sound that filled the entire area. It was in that moment that Arson’s body completed its first round of tempering.
A flood of mana and energy rushed into his veins through his pores and a sludge like tar pored from his mouth as the toxins within his system were forced out of the nearest exit point. Arson puked on top of the sludge after he unwillingly tasted it, and was glad that he hadn’t soiled his pants instead.
After a moment the influx of energy stopped and Arson was slowly returned to the ground below, but with all of the subtle changes that he should have been aware of prior being forced to the front of his mind.
He felt as if he could fly. Well he already knew he could fly, but felt he could potentially achieve the feat without the use of mana. Xani had informed Arson that he actually used a variation of his conductive waters skill to fly, and was now shocked to understand the difference.
He knew that if he willed it, his body would propel him through the air, but it bothered him that he didn’t truly know how the actual flight would be possible. Magic eluded him, but he felt lucky to have access to the skills his ancestors’ blood gave him the ability to use.
By the time he opened his eyes the entire scene had changed. Arson could no longer see the rest of the dump. Instead he seemed to stand near the edge of the night sky itself.
All he could see was a black void all around him which only further confused him when he took a step back and didn’t fall through space. He wanted to flee for his life, but sensed that he might not be able to leave.
“You have officially awakened your blood, my grandchild. Welcome to the world of magic, you must still complete your core to continue any further, as we cannot train you unless you are able to use mana to its full extent.” Arson’s mind tried to turn off at the sight behind his grandmother. The woman continued to speak, but the rest of her message fell on deaf ears.
Arson couldn’t take his eyes off the living forces behind his grandmother. The only one not in their natural form was the woman, and somehow she was still the hardest thing for his mind to set his eyes on and perceive in reality.
The magnitude of power that separated him from the 11 magical masters in front of him, made it almost impossible for his body to operate normally. He was like an old computer attempting to survive at the bottom of a pool of water.
The light master looked like a seven winged angel, but Arson couldn’t tell if it was a trick of the light, but the woman seemed to grow more wings and lose them by the breath. Entire wings fell from her back like feathers from a bird.
What Arson considered to be the most basic of the primary elements, water, fire and earth, were in reality titanic elementals. The humanoid figures flickered between the forms he had once seen, to an iceberg in motion, the inside of a volcano, and a shifting mountain.
The entity that represented darkness, formed the shadows of all the other forces that were present, able to shape itself into any of the other beings it touched physically. But Arson couldn’t help but notice the outline of a face in the joint shadows of all the monstrous beings.
The only one of the forces that seemed normal was the man with the analog clock that ticked above his head, but Arson quickly realized it didn’t matter what elemental force he looked at, a clone or copy of the man could be seen. On the shoulder of the earth elemental being. Crouched under the waterfall like hair of the water elemental, and even right next to his grandmother.
Not only that, it seemed like the man teleported every time that Arson managed to blink or change targets visually. He felt like he’d been there for an entire day as time stretched, but would have noticed that time had practically stopped, if he would have looked at his watch.
“Are you ready…,” finished Arson’s grandmother. Arson’s gaze was pulled back to the woman in front of the rest of the god-like beings, and he frowned not having heard the entirety of her warning, and explanation.
“What?” asked Arson confused. Only to immediately experience pain unlike anything he’d ever felt before.
The force of fire punched Arson in the chest so hard, that an explosion occurred around the being’s fist the moment it made contact. A deep and heavy laugh could be heard as three more explosions went off. Arson felt like a pinball temporarily, and tried to fly the best he knew how in an attempt to correct his chaotic flight path.
Arson barely took a breath before the rest of the 11 Purities were on him. He was struck by boulders that erupted from the unseen ground below. Blasted with a bolt of lightning and sound so large his heart stopped.
Arson couldn’t breathe. As his cells were being frozen by hundreds or thousands of toothpick sized shards of water and ice. He couldn’t feel his body as gravity distorted his sense of direction so badly that he felt like he may end up with a concussion, even though he had not been struck in the head during the process.
Between the light and dark entities’ use of their abilities on Arson, he couldn’t tell what was real, and what was nothing but a trick. He lashed out with conductive water orbs more than a handful of times, only to miss completely, or to find out what he’d hit was a mere illusion.
Arson felt on the verge of death and only grew more and more angry as each elemental struck him. They cursed and yelled at him for his weakness. Insulted him for being unable to defend himself as an heir to Omnipotence. As if they saw the lack of confidence Arson had in himself. About being a leader, about being an orphan, even his fear of unworthiness was as apparent to them as a person’s hair color at a glance.
He was an open book to them, and Arson knew that most likely had something to do with his gestation of the poisons in his system.
Finally he was speared through the stomach with a lance of creation energy that caused his neurons to misfire sporadically. He flew through the air. Unaware of pain, and sensation. All he could feel was rage.
He crash landed. His chest barely rose and fell with each breath. All he could see was the night sky above.
Fear and panic caused him to rush to his feet in an attempt to escape. He blearily tried to blink through the bruises on his face while his eyes watered and his bones cracked from his movements. Only to jerk back when he realized he was nose to nose with his grandmother.
The woman’s face was a cross between serene and pure malice. Arson wobbled on his feet and nearly passed out, but refused to ever miss another word spoken by the woman in front of him.
“Welcome, child, to the true path of Cultivation. We are the 11 pure forces of existence, and you are now the disciple of the elements. Any questions?” Arson blinked and looked around to see the area he had been in, now was surrounded by a dome shaped barrier of energy and various colors. All that could be seen from outside the area where Arson now stood, was his grandmother.
He only realized he was about an inch outside the edge of the first kingdom of magic’s zone and this was most likely why the savage beating had ended. His heart skipped a beat at the thought that he’d nearly died for power, and that he would be expected to return for more abuse.
He spit blood on the ground and was shocked momentarily to see that it pulsed with energy and was imperceptible from the white gold of his own mana. His grandmother seemed pleased by the sight and Arson nodded as his regeneration slowly returned the ability to think straight to his faculties.
He didn’t push his rage aside, but instead used it as fuel to stay upright and focused on the words being spoken to him. This was the next level of his training, even if he didn’t feel he was prepared, he would make himself ready. A conclusion he met as he stared back into the eyes that reflected his own.
In that moment all of the other masters could be seen, not in their natural forms, but as humanoid figures once more. Gods in mortal coils, normal enough to be both conceived and witnessed by mortal eyes.
Regardless of the unfathomable odds stacked against him Arson sneered and nodded as he took in his new teachers. Then he spoke simply.
“You’re going to have to do better than that to break me, grandma.” The woman jerked back as if slapped, and Arson wondered what he’d said that could make her react in such a manner. The frown she sported only made Arson want to smile more, even after he’d just faced death.
“I’m no one’s grandma boy…, even if I am your mother’s mother, you won’t be calling me that and make it out of your training alive, that is a promise.You may call me, Momma Diana, or Mum,” said his grandmother.
Arson shrugged and took a step forward. Fear of the unknown pushed him to run, while the words spoken by the Purities echoed in his mind, and pushed him forward. He wasn’t going to be the weak boy the Purities believed him to be if it was up to Arson.
“Well Grandma Diana, what’s next then?” said Arson. The woman sneered at him and Arson felt he may have made a mistake when she began to look back at the other Purities. The elemental beings all nodded and Arson felt he’d confirmed he’d made a mistake by the looks they gave each other alone. Then Grandma Diana looked back at him and answered.
“I think we are going to like this boy. As for you, child, only one thing is next…” Arson stayed silent, only to wish he had run when he had the chance.
“It’s time to begin reforging your mortal soul, boy.”