Arson was bothered by the progressions of the trials. He was still within Origin, but the count of completed trials rose, without signaling him.
He once again hadn’t noticed the collection of runes that being captured as he traipsed through the city, now trying to uncover the mystery of what was happening. Normally, the runes he sought would bloom in his vision like stars in the night sky. Now, however, he had to comb through his memories with the assistance of Anastasia to become conscious of the runes he’d found.
Many of the runes didn’t even come with the normal burst of information that came with runes witnessed for the first time. Arson was truly only able to guess at their uses by their positioning, or the flows of magic mentally captured in his vision.
It was only then that Arson realized that Master Acu was alluding to the very presence that may be overwhelming his senses.
Many of the places he’d been in the past had far less mana, so when coming across a rune of substantial magical power, the symbol once seen would obviously stand out in his vision, but in Origin, a city flooded with mana to an explosive degree, this was clearly not the case.
Even as he made his way to the stealth guild to register for the dungeon dive his master directed him towards, he’d missed about a dozen runes.
A rune that formed a circle of separated water droplets that spun slowly sat above a glass fountain in the center of a garden, moving the water perpetually.
Another, formed by clouds in the shape of a pyramid with a halo of water around its midsection, shot lightning bolts onto a roof lined with mana glass panels that drank in the energy, powering the area from what Arson could tell.
The runes seemed to be more physical entities than inscribed as Arson thought all runes were. In fact most seemed to be alive, which made Arson wonder how anyone couldn’t see the potential danger. Forming a single rune to both be alive as well as draw in power, all while serving an additional magical function was already astonishing. Forming a city almost completely out of living runes, that all drew power from creation, on top of serving various purposes all in one place, was ridiculous.
“I wish you could see this, Momma Almarine,” said Arson to himself.
“I’m sure she has,” responded Anastasia from his wrist. Arson lifted his hand to respond, raising a questioning eyebrow in the AI’s direction.
“What makes you say that?”
“We know that Almarine is here now, Ocean said so, she may not be the woman you know as Almarine, probably far younger, but it is still probably her.”
“Woman, are you speaking gibberish at me? What do you mean?”
“Oh geez, let me spell this out for you. Carter has many sons and only one actual daughter, you met her in a different trial, which was more than likely in a completely different time period, with the way the trials work... From what we’ve learned, we are probably somewhere in the far distant past, runes were far more prevalent then,” stated Anastasia slowly.
“Yeah, and…”
“I told you earlier, Carter and Almarine are siblings, and in their younger days Carter was afflicted with a disease that made him look old, even though he was young, Almarine constantly teased him, so he got even and made everyone think that he was her father, so… how much do you want to bet that if we were to go to the palace now, that we’d see a young Almarine, rather than the Valkyrian daughter of Carter that nearly choked you to death before you got that rune burned onto your chest?”
Arson thought for a moment, feeling as if Anastasia could be right. The thought made him eager to potentially meet a young version of his grandmother, but he still felt reticent to acknowledge that they were related.
He’d learned about their potential blood connection from Anastasia while inside the runic skyscraper, and had no way to confirm the authenticity of the statement, and felt that just because they’d become closer throughout the trials, didn’t mean she was telling the truth. She knew how much he loved the Orphan Mother, and could easily play on his own desire to be a blood relative of such an iconic figure.
“Almarine wouldn’t leave the orphanage to take a trip across time and space to hang out with Carter, I think we both know that to be true, so why don’t we just check. A little trip to the palace won’t hurt, right?”
Arson sighed, wanting to say that he already had enough to do, but the tingle that normally drew him toward danger rather than to safety crawled up the back of his spine, compounded by exhilaration at the thought of witnessing an Almarine unchained by responsibilities.
“Whatever, let’s just get registered for this dungeon and if we have time, I’ll go by the palace.”
“Sparks… first a bank robbery, now you're actually taking me up on my temptations. Is this place rotting your brain with the abundance of magic in the air?”
Arson froze on the rooftop across the street from his destination. The thought striking his mind like a lightning bolt. Was the mana in the air so rich that it was causing damage to his mental faculties?
“Shut up. I’m just tired of your griping all the time, nothing more…”
He stepped off the five story building and hero-dropped to the cobbles below.
There was an very long line of people in front of the Stealth building. The obsidian structure cast in shadow by the two larger buildings to either side, causing the Stealth Guild’s base to seem to be forever dark or drenched in the deep black of night was intriguing to Arson.
He watched his trial counter click upward three times as he looked the building over, coming to the understanding that the entire building was both a rune, and an illusion.
One rune caused the shadows to be tangible, another caused the darkness to form the structure, and the last allowed those who entered to use the obsidian pillars that kept everything upright, separating entire rooms from one another, as dimensional gates to other rooms and hidden spaces.
Arson would have hated to have waited in line, glad that Master Acu had given him a badge to use for entry. Arson made his way past the large mob near the two guards at the front, approaching the pair of security workers from the side.
“Where do you think you are going?” asked one of the spear-wielding men. The badge flashed into Arson’s hand, and the man looked at the platinum coin with the symbol of a runically-inscribed arrow across its face. His eyes went wide, and he stepped aside, pushing the front of the line back far enough to give Arson a wide birth as he entered.
“Hey, why does that brat get to go ahead of us, I’ve been hear all bloody day!”
Arson heard a slap and looked back as he crested the first step to see the guard he showed the badge to withdraw his hand from the man who must have yelled.
“Shut it, you idiot! Master Acu has chosen a student, and I’m not going to bring down his ire on our guild for your unnecessary complaints,” demanded the guard in a whisper as he glared. The man stepped backward at the guard’s words, noticing that Arson was looking at him and bowed.
“Sorry, young master, I meant no disrespect.”
Arson looked around at the bewildered onlookers and sighed, before giving the man a beckoning hand as he spoke to the guard.
“Let him by, I don’t want people to believe my master uses his power and authority as some brutish bully. If it's okay with you sir, I need an escort anyway. I’ve never been inside the Stealth Guild of this fine city,” said Arson, trying to invoke a regal presence in a way that was earned and deserved, rather than expected.
“Yes, young master,” said both the guards, stepping aside slightly to pull the man through and push him toward the waiting Arson.
“What is your name?” asked Arson as the now nervous man stumbled slightly in an attempt to keep up with Arson as he strode up the steps, speaking without another look back at him.
“My name is Frank, sir.”
“I see. Well, Frank, what can you tell me about this place, anything I should know before I enter?”
“No, sir, unless you aren’t accustomed to pickpockets, you should be fine. The interior of the main hall is entirely dedicated to signing up for this new dungeon the Stealth Guild uncovered today, otherwise, many of us that were in line would never even approach the building.”
“Why is that?”
“This place is filled with conmen, thieves, assassins, you name it. Some enter and never leave, but no one ever seems to be prosecuted for any kind of mysterious deaths. It's just an all-around dangerous location, unless you have a master’s badge as you do.”
“What’s the difference?”
“You can enter and find trainers in stealth craft, weapons, and even offer contracts, anyone else enters at their own risk.”
“Hmm, thank you, I’ll keep all of this in mind. Know anything about the dungeon yet, or are you as clueless about it as I am?”
“I would never dare say I know more but…”
Frank described the story of what was rumored to have happened and Arson didn’t know if he believed the man.
Apparently, members of the Stealth Guild had entered and found something called an immortal gate. The dungeon within the gate was somehow able to create a countless amount of items, treasures and more, all without a seeming limit to what was potentially offered to those who entered.
Sounds like the portals inside the dump…
Arson thanked the man after he escorted him to the right table, and quickly found himself greeted by a trinity of attendants.
All three bowed in his direction, but only the middle of the three spoke.
“How may we help you, young master?”
“I have two requests,” started Arson, all three nodding as he spoke, urging him on with their bubbling excitement.
“First, I need to complete the task given to me by my master, and sign us up to enter the dungeon at dawn before the grand opening—“
“As the student of Master Acu, your request is nothing. We shall sort this out immediately,” said the attendant cutting Arson off. All three still nodding in a way that made Arson wonder if they were somehow fearful of not handling the situation successfully.
“And I am also looking for someone to train me in the use of a scythe, I was told that weapon training here was unrivaled,” finished Arson feeling as if saying anything further would result in him being cut off once more.
It was Arson’s last statement however that stopped the nodding trio completely. All three froze in a way that made Arson feel as if he’d made a mistake somehow.
“Something wrong?”
“Umm, no, young master,” said the main attendant, looking between the pair that flanked him.
"Why am I getting the feeling that I should run?" thought Arson as a voice spoke within his mind.
“Because you should…”
Arson looked around for the speaker, but saw no one nearby but others fully consumed in their own sign-up processes.
That was weird…
The voice he’d heard felt familiar, but he couldn’t place it. The thought pushed further and further out of his mind the more he tried to recognize where he’d heard the voice before.
“It’s just that Breaker, our guildmaster, hasn’t trained anyone in the scythe in so long… dare I say our guild wasn’t even formed yet the last time he had a student,” started the attendant, only for the young man to stop speaking as he looked over Arson’s shoulder.
“They're right, child. I wouldn’t know what to tell you either if I were in their shoes. You’ve put them in quite a predicament,” a deep voice came from over his shoulder and Arson turned around to face the speaker.
Just behind him stood a man. His Closed Eye Dominion hadn’t alerted him to the man’s presence at all, which Arson found odd due to the man’s large stature, and the seven foot scythe at his back that seemed to be made from a peerless diamond, with a snath made from what seemed to be pure lightning.
“That is the most beautiful weapon I have ever seen in my entire life…”
The blond man with eyes completely black across the cornea, lens and iris, smiled, but Arson missed the gesture as he was completely captivated by the allure of the guildmaster’s weapon.
What can I do for you, child. It seems you are truly wanting training and not just some idiotic brat playing games with my guild.”
Arson nodded, still incapable of looking away from the weapon. The guildmaster forced to put it away with the tap of a finger across the diamond blade; the weapon disappeared in a flash into the man’s spatial inventory. Arson noticed the ring glimmering on his hand as he was forced to look toward the man’s face.
“Hi, uh, my name is Arson, I would love to learn scythe craft and—“
“Are you willing to give every bit of your soul to accomplish this task, as the test to learn from me has killed many and broken many more,” said the man interrupting Arson’s introduction entirely.
Straight to the point, I like that, old man. Now let's see this test of yours. It’s not even the first one I’ve faced today…
“Yes sir, what kind of test is it?”
The man grinned and strode off, Arson quickly followed. They walked to one of the many obsidian pillars on the far side of the room and Breaker grabbed his shoulder as he touched the pillar.
They were instantly in another place and Arson looked around at a open stadium. Stands surrounded a large field, filled to the brim with statues holding scythes in various positions all throughout the area. Arson even noticed a few caught mid-air as if they were frozen mid-combat.
“Are you sure?” asked the man, handing Arson a simple scythe. Arson once more nodded.
“What must I do?”
“Survive for the night in the golem yard of scythes with only your unrefined talent with this simple scythe, and I will teach you everything your mind, body, and soul can handle with my favored weapon.”
All of the statues began to move, and for the first time in a long time, Arson felt true fear…”
“Bloody embers…”