Drake found herself in a bedroom now that Lilith was done speaking with her and the others. She didn’t know how to handle what she’d been told by Lilith, and Aurora wasn’t making processing the information any easier.
“Everything I’ve ever known,” said Aurora for the eleventh consecutive time.
“Are you going to say anything else,” asked Drake, sucking her teeth in annoyance. She’d gotten so used to speaking to Aurora within her head that she now found it odd to hear her voice aloud, but was honestly more rewarded by the fact that she’d confirmed that she wasn’t losing her mind.
“What is there to say, I can only imagine how you feel, you were born on a planet of exiled gods too powerful to not effect the natural order of the system of creation and destruction,” said Aurora with a sigh.
“I wouldn’t know what to think of that, I don’t know how you are keeping yourself together at all.”
Drake sat on the bed in the luxurious room she’d been given to use by Lilith, grasping at silken sheets as thick as wool comforters. She felt conflicted in so many ways that she found her thoughts foreign.
Fucking gods, how could we all be exiled gods, doesn’t that mean that all of earth is dangerous though? What if we were to discover the truth. I guess that doesn’t matter, but Lilith said that things should be okay because at least earth still didn’t have magic anymore… Should I tell her that has changed? For fuck sake, why are these sheets so fucking soft?
“You okay,” asked Aurora. Drake simply shook her head, and Aurora floated closer putting her hand on her shoulder, smiling down at Drake.
“We can’t stay focused on this too long, we are about to be trained by one of the strongest individuals to ever live, aren’t you excited, I can’t lie, I’m starting to feel like we are all being blessed by the gods at this point.”
Drake nodded., still clutching at the blankets for comfort.
“Are you not nervous at all, we are about to work to get into a school full of god like children, that doesn’t put you on edge at all, we will be far less educated than all of them,” stated Drake looking up to see the smiling Aurora.
“Absolutely, but there is nothing I can do about it, but at least from what Lilith said we might be able to get an edge, most of these Godlings are born at higher ranks and can’t get any of the achievements that we can.”
“True,” said drake with a timid smile.
Then Aurora’s brows rose and Drake could hear a sound coming from out of her room and down the hallway.
“What the fuck is that noise?”
“I don’t think you would believe me even if I told you,” said Aurora, making Drake wonder just how far her odd sense of sight encompassed.
“Now you gotta tell me, what is that?”
“Nope, we might as well go look, you won’t believe me otherwise.
The two exited out of the doorless room, and traveled down the hall to see a large space like that of the gymnasiums of Earth. Inside was a group of armored skeletons all attacking Lilith. Each struck out with different weapons, some large and others small more for stealth than savagery.
The sound they heard was Lilith blocking each and every attack sent in her direction with the flat of her palms. Drake and Aurora could only see the Cultivator in the moments where she blocked.
The woman’s body was a blur of fluid motion, only becoming visible in seemingly random flashes as if the girls took pictures of her, capturing every deflection, block or parry in a moment of encapsulated vividness.
“The art of Genocide, has two schools, one is known as Massacre, which is the offensive school’s technique, while what I will teach you first is known as Infallible, the defensive art,” said Lilith, stopping her demonstration. The attacking skeletons all stopped with their weapons a inch from Lilith’s body and Drake was for the first time since they approached able to look away from the Cultivator to see that Vanish sat in the room. He was in a throne like chair against the far wall of the room, looking more pale than Drake had ever seen him.
I thought she said she would be training us all, did something change?
“Where do I begin then, I’ve never been trained in magic nor martial forms to know what I would be more skilled with, is there a way to tell,” asked Vanish
Drake felt strange watching the interaction. She couldn’t quite understand the sensation overwhelming her emotional state in that moment, finding that when she thought on times previously that she’d felt this way was rare.
Am I jealous of Vanish?
Once she put her finger on what she now recognized as envy, she couldn’t help but feel ashamed of herself, rage at being left out and stressed by the flood of memories that emerged from the depths of her mind.
Her mind filled with a past full of teachers that picked others over her, showing favoritism , even though she had talents that put her leagues above other students. Her flashbacks then strayed to a plethora of competitions where her rivals obviously lost, but still managed higher scores, gaining medals for sub par skill.
She was Even struck by the loss of her older brother in that moment, the skilled fighter that her parents doted on until he disappeared, leaving a scar on her family effecting her more than ever before as she looked at Lilith smile at the nervous Vanish. She’d never met her elder brother, but the pictures of her parents joy in the photos next to his trophies, had always been enough to make them smile, simply by looking at them.
Now she couldn’t help but feel the same way she did when facing the photos of her once happy parents.
“I’ll never be enough for anyone it seems, and I thought that would change here… ha, just keep pushing Drake, nothing else matters,” muttered Drake underneath her breath.
“What did you say,” asked Aurora, but Drake shook her head slowly.
“Hey, have you found the library in this place yet?”
“No, what did you,” started Aurora, but Drake cut her off, not wanting to get into her past even in the slightest
“Nothing,” said Drake, taring her eyes away from Lilith and Vanish, setting her powerful gaze on Aurora.
“You okay Drake,” asked Aurora, and Drake smirked, trying to keep a wall between herself and her feelings.
“Yes, but I need to get to work, I’d rather not die before I learn magic, at least I have that,” said Drake, not able to keep the intensity of her thoughts from her tone.
“Are you sure?”
Drake set her hands on Aurora’s shoulders, and both were surprised that she was able to.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“Have you found the library, we have work to do, your going to need to learn as much as possible too if you are going to keep up with me, I’m not going to be beaten by anyone, even those with more advantages than us,” said Drake, jabbing a thumb over her shoulder toward Vanish. Aurora nodded, and smiled.
“Wow, your a hopeless battle junkie aren’t you, or is it magic junkie, oh well, follow me little dragon, I guess we have some reading to do.”
…
Lilith let the girl’s leave the sparring room without a word in their direction. She heard their conversation and was forced to push what she’d heard from her mind.
As the once banished daughter of a powerful monarch, Lilith knew what it was to feel unwanted, and though she felt the urge to help Drake, her fears in doing so far outweighed her desires.
The exiled gods were in a different class of being entirely. The reason that the planet Earth was made in the first place, was to provide a secured location, where the rarest of minds and powers could be safely stored away from the volatile wars and delicate peace found throughout the realms.
The very laws of reality were bent to restrict the use of magic there, creating what was known as a dead world. However Lilith had her suspicions that something may have changed in that regard, as no soul born to a dead world could ever travel beyond its limits.
How are you here Traveler…?
“Am I doing this correctly,” asked Vanish, and Lilith pulled her attention away from her growing worries. She was being given a second chance to guide her family toward ascension, and felt she wouldn’t ever be given another.
“No child, you must pull the energy into your core,” said Lilith.
“I’m sorry lady Lilith, if I’m being honest when I close my mind and try to imagine anything, all I see is the darkness behind my eyelids.”
Hmm, it seems he has a visualization issue, that will be hard to overcome. Between this and discernment I don’t know which is more integral for a Cultivators growth.
Lilith had told Vanish to imagine a cyclone of dark energy in the center of his torso. With every breath taken inward, the faster the draw of the cyclone needed to become.
From what she could see of his core, his current level of bodily refinement would be slow. Unlike Drake who Lilith believed would more than likely feel constant changes to her body.
The girl’s core was like and ocean being devoured by a small black hole. With the right training, Lilith knew that Drake would become a manifestation of pure power and unstoppable will.
I feel your hand in this dark father, how you taunt my desires…
Lilith had long prayed for a disciple as talented as Drake appeared to be, but instead she was handed a crippled youth, while a treasure was dangled flying to new heights before her very eyes.
“Is everything okay lady Lilith, you look like my mother when father comes home after dark,” asked Vanish.
“I’m fine child, just worried that I won’t be able to get you ready in time for the next acceptance ceremony.”
“Do you already know when it is, you haven’t been awake very long, how did you find out so quickly?”
“The light of day moves very specifically within this dungeon world, I can tell what section of the season cycle we are in by that alone, summer is coming soon, and you will need to be ready by then.”
“Will Drake and Aurora be ready?”
“I don’t know, I can only focus on so many things at once.”
“But I thought that you said that you would help us all?”
“I did and I may have to break that agreement Vanish, your companions are far too volatile a force to support the growth of.”
“Too volatile, how much more dangerous may Drake and Aurora become if they are left unguided, isn’t that just as dangerous, if not more??
“You bring up a good point, but still the potential for folly if I do help is far higher than if I don’t.”
Vanish nodded, frowning as he did so. Both of his minions stepped away from the edges of the room, approaching to either side of him. Lilith was confused as the pair of skeletons began to lift Vanish upward, wrapping his arms around their necks and rising. It wasn’t until he was a few feet away from the chair he’d been sitting in that it hit Lilith that the boy was leaving, and Lilith nearly laughed, unable to remember the last time she’d been dismissed so brazenly.
“Where are you going child?”
“To go and find the girl’s and let them know we are leaving, we shouldn’t overstay our welcome, I apologize for wasting your time lady Lilith.”
“What, what do you mean, you can’t leave, there is far too much on your shoulders for you to leave child, sit down…”
Vanish’s minions stopped and a black light consumed his head, bone manipulation assisting in the glance over his shoulder at his Ancestor.
“This may be the most rewarding opportunity of my life, but I will not take it up if those that helped me stay alive up to this point aren’t treated with the same respects as I am, especially after being thrown away by my homeland, and taken from my family, for nothing more than a lack of skills.”
Vanish turned back and Lilith sighed.
This isn’t going to end well for you Lilith, and you know it…
She couldn’t lose this chance, nor did she believe that she wouldn’t pay dearly for following through with aiding the child of Omni.
“Wait… stop right there.”
“Yes lady Lilith?”
Vanish didn’t turn back. His minions froze in their strides, but the boy had no intentions of staying if he didn’t hear what he wanted, and Lilith knew it.
Maybe there is a bit of my brother’s grit in you boy…
“Go and gather your friends, your training begins as a group as soon as you return, and don’t doddle, the longer I wait, the harder you all will train, do you hear me child…”
“Yes ma’am,” said Vanish, an obvious smile in his voice as his minions once again started to leave the room.
“By the dark I hope this doesn’t come back and bite me…!
…
Aurora and Drake had found the library only for Aurora to fall in love. The room itself made no sense to her as she could tell the interior of the library seemed larger than the entire manor did when looking at it from the outside.
Their were eleven floors inside, with shelves that lined every wall and created sectioned off areas like rooms. There were even balconies filled with shelves, as well as bridges and incredibly long staircases that had shelves filled to either side of each step.
The most amazing aspect of the areas they could see when they entered, were the ornate bookshelves. Aurora didn’t know why they were various colors, or why they could be seen flying in the distance at first, until she saw two of the cases land next to one another, and she watched as the cases traded a series of books.
Wow, the books can reorganize themselves, I wonder why they would need too?
The deeper the girls went, the more Aurora grew in awe that was the spectacle within the library. The rune work had to be advanced, and the more she analyzed the areas they trekked through, the more it became apparent that the bookshelves were color coded by both category and rank of the knowledge held.
No way this is all Beginner material, thought Aurora, feeling as if they’d already traveled a mile or more.
No wonder there are so many places to sit, thought Aurora laughing inwardly.
Every floor had lounges that were filled with seating and tables. They passed a dozen or more of these areas before they even managed to approach a single bookcase.
It was then that they interacted with the magic of the room for the first time. Aurora reached out to pick up a book, only for her fingers to press up against invisible glass.
The girl frowned at first, until a glimmer of light flashed, and the sound of air filling the space the books were held touched her senses.
She tried again and this time she was able to pick up the book that had interested her without issue.
Woah… this must protect the books from aging or degrading. Not even the books of the palaces library are this well kept.
The pair had lost themselves roaming the various levels, until Aurora found an area with an archway that had the words, Cultivation Techniques, carved into the stone above the entrance.
What are we on the third floor of this place, how could be the first sign I’ve…
And only then did she notice that the large area they’d been in was only meant for general knowledge.
How big is this place truly, I bet you could spend a lifetime in here and not read the same book twice!
The more specific categories of information were held in hallways that branched off from the main room. Now that Aurora knew what she was looking for, she began to read every archway that lead deeper into the library from a distance.
“From what I can see from up here, we can head towards everything from different crafting styles, skill manuals and even histories and legacies,” said Aurora excited by all the options.
“Why not just start here, we are already here, might as well right?”
“Yeah, your right, don’t let me forget to look up matter manipulation manuals before we leave,” said Aurora, striding passed Drake before she headed into the Cultivation Technique corridor.
They found a place with basic manuals and moved to the closest lounge within the area. Aurora without the slightest bit of hesitation began to gather books from every shelf in sight, as Drake seemed to just roam around, looking at all the options.
I wonder why she isn’t picking anything out, does none of this pique her interest?
It wasn’t until Drake muttered under her breath in annoyance at the system not deciphering the texts that Aurora understood, shaking her head in amusement before offering to help.
She soon found herself reading to Drake. The number of tomes that had peaked her charge’s interest was not small by any means. However Drake quickly found that she couldn’t read any of them at all, which only angered her further, as she’d hoped that maybe some of the books would be in her language.
Further more surprising was that the multilingual Aurora even found that she couldn’t read a large amount of the collections, nor could she even try and translate the elder prints she came across in the slightest.
Regardless Aurora was able to find many volumes that fit their needs that were perfectly understandable to her, not written in tongues long dead or lost to the living.
“There are many styles of breathing techniques, some physical and others spiritual or mental,” started Aurora, reading as she floated a slow circle above the seating area that Drake sat in.
“Those of a physical foundation are often seen as the strongest, however many forms of cultivating void energies are only powerful due to circumstance and how they are wielded, or changed to suit the individual Cultivator, while some believe that mental forms of energy processing are far beyond any mundane techniques known to mortal or monster, many know the truth that spiritual cultivation cannot be ignored either, but the truth of the matter is that only the breathing techniques that fuse styles from all three classes of bodily refinement can take a Cultivator to the heaven’s.”
The pair continued like this, learning the basics of many various breathing techniques in all three styles of Cultivation and bodily refinement, and Aurora came to the conclusion that Drake had a head start on the subject matter, even though her charge seemed to not even realize how close to completing a trinity refinement technique that she already was.
“So I have to find a way to combine what I’ve already done with a compatible spiritual technique, how the fuck am I supposed to figure that out, my current breathing technique was a lucky fluke, my dad taught me how to circular breathe when I was like five or maybe seven at the latest,” said Drake coming to her feet, beginning to pace underneath the flying Aurora.
“You already can draw the energy inward, you already hav the focus aspect down, all you have to do now is learn how to move the energy to specific points within your body, this alone should show you how to access your soul, and achieve the more advanced version of the technique you are already using.”
Drake grunted, asking Aurora to continue reading, hoping that she would get a deeper understanding of what she needed to do with more information.
“Hey you two, mind if I join you?”
Aurora smiled at Vanish, knowing he was coming well before he entered the library, already putting the book down at Drake’s utter puzzlement until she saw Vanish enter. Her brow furrowed at the sight of him being carried, dangling from the shoulders of his minions.
“How did you even find us back here,” asked Drake, seeming annoyed by the boy’s appearance at first.
“It was easy, you are the only sound in the entire place,” answered Vanish, and Drake nodded in understanding.
“So what’s up, you done training today?”
Vanish shook his head and smiled even deeper than normal.
“Nope, came to get you, Lilith said we better be back quickly or she is going to make the training even more difficult…”
Aurora and Drake shared a look before Drake rolled her eyes and charged off, now wearing a smirk that let Aurora know that whatever had been wrong with Drake must have been due to not being able to train with Vanish and Lilith by how quickly her mood changed in that instant.
And I thought I was a brat… thought Aurora with a mental chuckle, floating off after Drake as she looked back at her and Vanish.
“Start with the we are being threatened by an immortal being next time, we can skip the pleasantries when our lives are not at risk!”