“Why is he here? Do you think he’s recruiting again?” Arson smiled as he ran through the orphanage in search of Almarine. He took his time making his way to her public office, wondering if the woman was even on the grounds.
“Hello Momma Mari,” started Arson. The woman set her book down and raised a brow before he could finish.
“What do you want, child? You only call me that when you want something,” Arson slowed, and smirked.
“Well, the way you threw me in front of oligarchs and offered me up like a prized kill before a celebratory feast, I think a small favor isn’t too ridiculous an ask, it's innocent and small anyhow. I want to borrow, I mean, use your Architects Puzzle-Kit,” requested Arson. The woman laughed and rolled her wrist through the air in front of herself, an implied expectation of more.
“No seriously, that’s it, I just need to use a feature of your APK, I promise,” said Arson. Almarine sighed and smiled.
“That would be the day boy, you may not know this but there is always more with you. I’ve heard you make a trio of tasks sound like a single action. Just give it some time. And as far as the APK as you called it, it's still in your room, child,” said Almarine.
“I thought that you gave my room up when I moved?”
“Which room? The original room that you were given and still have, or the room with Troy that you never actually moved into?” Arson was shocked by the statement. Still not aware of how much special treatment he’d received while he’d lived on the orphanage grounds.
“My room…” The woman in front of him nodded, her brow furrowed as she smirked at him.
“Your room. Now hurry up and use the Puzzle kit before I change my mind.” Arson smiled at his former caretaker still unaware of their own blood relation. He gave the woman a customary nod, turned to run out of the room, then froze. His shy smile when he returned his gaze back in her direction told the woman everything she needed to know.
“Remember what else it was that you need?” offered Almarine playfully.
“”You know me better than I know myself. I still need to talk to you about recruitment. I have an absolute incredible amount of jobs that need to be filled,” said Arson, his lips pressed together when Almarine sighed heavily once more, a single raised finger pointed in his direction accompanied a newly adorned glare.
“Out!”
…
“What are we going to use the APK for again?” asked Xani. Flying beside Arson as he ran through the sewer with the Architect’s Puzzle Kit on his shoulder. The box, a seemingly normal chest, but Arson had long figured out even its underwhelming outside appearance was intentional.
“If the APK thinks the tower being destroyed is an event worthy that it ended an age at the school, for better or worse, we may be able to view the event that occurred, and even the rune underneath the academy before it was broken,” said Arson. Xani smack a palm into her forehead, and was instantly forced to dodge a wall. The turn violent yet graceful as if she’d done similar things countless times.
“Never would have thought of using that function. I completely forgot we ever found that feature. Some of those extinction level events still give me nightmares.”
“Dude, the evisceration of the third Imperial nation, I ended up using attack strategies from that event to infiltrate…” Arson trailed off, realizing he’d been about to talk about his time within the trials of Endless. The place the last thing he wanted to focus on. An unintentional glance at the timer in the corner of his vision enough to make his gut wrench.
“Here for you buddy, if you change your mind, I mean. You seem reluctant to talk about your time away, regardless of how beneficial it seemed for you to have gone through,” said Xani.
“Thanks, and it's not that I don’t want to share, it's that I don’t know how, or where to begin,” said Arson.
“Wherever you want, you don’t have to force it,” said Xani. The pair was silent for a while, moving rapidly through the tunnels from memory by that point. Then Arson let go of a tension he hadn’t known was there through an absolute commitment to word vomit.
"Still freaked out about the entire thing. Something was truly odd about nearly every experience, good or bad. At first, I thought I was losing my mind, because there were times when I would look into a reflective surface and see my own face, then other times I would see complete strangers, and some would act like they knew me, called me various names, but then there were places like the lands Amorra was from, and I was me, but still, the whole time I was me you know what I mean,” explained Arson to the best of his ability.
Xani expecting to hear about how he’d learned the runic language he now spoke in private conversations with Jade, when speaking in front of others, was completely flummoxed by what she received.
“Are you hearing any voices, my friend,” asked Xani. To which Arson rolled his eyes, but the young woman was not joking.
“This is serious, Arson. Many in the realms of cultivation lose their minds when dealing with traveling through unknown realms and being forced to do things outside their normal limits.” Arson nodded, but sighed with frustration that he didn’t exactly have a grasp on what he’d experienced.
“I wish it were that simple, Xani. If I were hearing voices or even seeing things, I’d be able to cope with that, but some of the places I was taken, some of the things I found myself thrust into the middle of were horrific,” stated Arson dismayed by the memories that flashed through his mind.
“You sound like you were forced to burn cities to the ground,” said Xani with a chuckle, trying to lighten the mood.
“Sometimes the demons left me no other options,” said Arson underneath his breath. The statement was heard by his longtime friend, who decided not to react but digest his words instead.
They ran in silence for a period, but the length of their friendship allowed them to both be unaffected by each others presence while being silent, and easily return to a casual environment, breathable enough to converse once more.
“What have we learned about the—“ Arson tried to ask about the project they would start soon, but Xani cut in.
“Seriously, it’s killing me, how did Autumn get Titan underneath Adroit,” asked Xani.
“Were you serious about that? I thought you were joking, she is using her ability along with the roots below Adroit to make platforms, as Titan climbs down the rhizome,” said Arson with a point toward one of the nearest holes in the large dome above them. The intricate plant life system above far more visible next to the hole where direct sunlight touched the mana stone bases of the nearby platforms.
Xani seemed as if a wrong had been righted in her mind, a pleasant smile now on her face. Arson laughed at the thought that she’d been that bothered by the how of Titan being beneath a mountain Arson was sure could either fly, teleport, or maybe both. The workings of the formations of runic patterns aligned to construct an even grander rune, and Arson had never dealt with something so complex.
Anastasia was no help, as when she scanned the rune above, she first giggled at Arson for too long. Then had tested Arson by showing him as complex a runic design as the one he needed help with, only difference being, it was completed and working at 100%.
When Arson woke up a brief time later, he’d received a notification that detailed how he’d seen his first ever true runic system, In addition to a skill to be learned from his training & development tab within his Overlay that would help him process the large amounts of information more quickly, and potentially remain conscious.
Xani flew to the top of the ruined platform they worked on, while Arson experimented with Jill and Jane. Allowing the light ropes he’d connected to his living Hand constructs to wrap around the shaft of Sky, he held onto the APK while maintaining a grip on the weapons handle. He pulled up the side of the platform as quickly as it would take for an apex mortal to run up a hillside.
“Hey, you two,” extended Autumn. The young woman smiled and waved toward Xani excitedly, then gave Arson a solitary nod.
“Hey, Autumn, I guess it's a good thing I didn’t get to start asking Xani questions yet. I may need you three to explain some things to me,” said Arson. Xani looked confused, but Autumn moved on, ignoring that Arson had misspoken. Only two people beside Arson, further away from them, all the construction teams stood in groups toward the center of the platform.
“So where do we begin? The runes, the stone work, or the vegetation required?”
“Is that all there is to this really,” asked Arson seriously. Xani doubted it was as simple as Autumn made it out to be, but felt the young woman may be aware of factors she and Arson weren’t.
“Honestly, it wasn’t until a few moments before you guys arrived that I realized what we are actually building, and felt a little slow for not seeing it sooner,” said Autumn. Arson glanced in Xani’s direction in the same moment that she glanced at him. Arson’s own excitement displayed in the smile that graced his eyes.
“Come on, spill, it's been killing me,” asked Xani. Arson set down the APK, then sat on the handle of Sky. The weapon deadly enough to vanquish a horde of skeletons, being used like a swing, something Arson felt bad for, only until he sensed the weapons glee for being used in any way that resulted in it not being sheathed or held within his spacial storage.
The diversity and complexity of the weapon's thoughts and emotions were supposed to grow subtly and slowly, but as nothing in his life moved at what he imagined to be a normal pace, nor did his weapon’s growth.
“It's a storm based hydroponic garden!” The shriek of excitement attached to the words made Arson wince, and want to frown, as he was unsure of exactly what his sister had suggested. Xani’s jaw dropped, so Arson assumed she knew, but the number of questions he wanted to ask made him once more nervous that he may be shooting too high.
“Explain please, or break it down for me like I’m a child,” requested Arson. Not entirely unaffected by his sister’s excitement.
“This is a perpetual energy system, little brother,” said Autumn. It was in that moment that multiple pieces of information solidified in his mind. Arson was close to the truth of Adroit Academy, only he wouldn’t learn its truths in the way his best friend had.
…
“Do it now!”
Troy alongside dozens of clones of herself stood beside two giant doors. Each one weighing dozens of tons, yet Troy slammed the two doors together the moment the Giants leg swung into the space.
With a bone shattering crunch. The giant wailed, and all the Cultivators that accompanied Troy into the classroom, assaulted the leg, while the giant thrashed against the doors until it fell over.
Even before the monster fell entirely over, Troy heaved, both sides of the doors opening enough to let the giant fall, and the others next to her swarm the now injured monster.
Troy wanted to give into the sleep that threatened to take her, but knew the teacher that waited within the expansive classroom, had no problems teaching those with the fortitude to both make it to class alive, and stay alert, as the woman who had already started instructing, ignored those who’d passed out just within the interior of her classrooms entryway, and glared at the disruption the newest students brought.
I guess I’ll sleep when I’m dead.
Troy had no fight left in her, and was glad the other students that she’d followed to class were still invigorated enough to end the giant, which left Troy to close the door when they finished and rushed inside. The teacher waited long enough for the new group to take their seats, and continued a lesson.
“All of those who have just arrived, welcome to the Illusions of Light 103. I am your professor, Zeal Chanter,” said the woman. Troy felt herself slouch down in the stone booth seating, until she realized the teacher’s eyes lock onto hers momentarily, which left Troy with a direct urge to sit upright.
She hadn’t liked how the woman’s eyes consumed her being in that fraction of a moment. The sensation made her feel small somehow, and Troy hadn’t felt small by any means in quite some time.
“Through light, almost anything can be created, most of you were taught to believe that your ability to control light in some way shape or form, fire, lightning, illumination, shadow even, are entirely the same ability,” said professor Chanter. The woman opened her hand at the center of the vast room, and an entire city of order and chaos was shown in a near blink.
The explosions of light that formed the true Adroit Academy showed the halls plagued by beasts and monster dens, all working together to destroy classrooms, dormitories, and any other potential safe zones hidden within the school.
Those not strong enough to traverse the halls, died. Those incapable of following the curriculum, either suffered greatly, or died… While those who could, barely survived.
All of this for a single chance to enter the Port of Heaven a single time…
Troy did her best to memorize the layout of the labyrinthic design. Glad the walls weren’t in motion after a recent encounter. Then the teacher spoke up again, and Troy’s perception of where she was was solidified again, as the things she’d seen while there were impossible to wrap her head around completely, and only continued to grow more unreasonable to her.
“You all may believe that I a light based cultivator is weaker than your favored flame cultivator, or that particularly strong immortal you followed back home, but I’m here to show you that you haven’t seen anything, nor do you truly understand anything,” continued the teacher. Few in the class laughed at her remarks, but the image of what was being displayed changed slowly. Like a satellite camera being zoomed in, a section of the roofless Academy was magnified more and more, until the inside of the class they all were in was displayed.
“You may find what I am saying to be funny, but trust me when I say this, my time is no laughing matter…” The projection of light lowered itself around the woman. Troy now able to see herself within the class, cloning herself in a nearby seat was enough to confirm what she was seeing, was the real deal, and far beyond a normal illusion of light.
The woman reached down into the projection, and to the shock of most there a hand descended from the sky above them, and blotted out the light provided by the eternally lit sun above, within the Dungeon.
Students screamed as the door that led into the class was opened, and the professor’s hand scooped dozens of sleeping students within her entryway up and tossed them underhanded back into the chaos beyond.
When the professor started picking sleeping students up from the booth and tossing them one by one into the hall while she continued her lesson. Troy quickly cloned herself and did her best to wake up any sleeping students near to her as others throughout the room did the same.
The class room doors were closed with a slam. Echoing screams of students no longer asleep, being woken up by violence and massacre just beyond sent chills down many of the students' spines, Troy’s included.
“Embers, and sparks…”