Moyo stepped into his deific vault of the titan and quietly observed the changes that ran through it, eyes roaming around the vault whose real location transcended space and time, appearing both in his mountain world core, his room back at dominion in Bastion and currently in his room at the quarters given to him by house thousand blades. Where the walls where previously smooth, purple crystalized arcs of power ran like webs around the entirety of it, all coming from one spot, the new door chamber that stood at the far end of the room.
He could feel the palpable power coming from the door, pure undiluted primordial aether, if anything could be called such, but that was how it felt to him. The door was a solid purple crystal, stylized images of him carved into it and hummed softly, the part that bordered him was the fact that these crystalized arcs of power extended past his vault and into his mountain core directly, with signs of it jutting out of the mountain into the volcanic Ash that was his aura and trailing its way into the ocean of Ashe. He had tried breaking a piece off, but that was as easy as Moyo pre archailect days trying to lift a truck filled with logs of wood.
He knew what it was though, the glowing crystals, his aspect, the titan aspect that he tapped into. This much miniscule power was enough to begin to warp his core and Moyo wasn’t sure if for the better, the effects were beginning to show, his Ashe felt a bit more powerful, his strength felt colossal and the pure power he contained was close to nuclear at this point. Some quiet voice told him he could tank master attacks right now but Moyo wasn’t in the mood to test it out, despite the looks master Ajax had been given him. He felt the power slowly but surely transforming his body and whenever he stared at a part of his body for long, he saw a blip of purple glow emanating in a flash.
His spirit rode heavy with power and he instinctively knew he had to expend it once in a while, diamond ranked bodies weren’t built to handle this much aspect power, if they were built to anyways. His mountain had also increased in size, adding an upper layer to it that looked more like a Greek pantheon sort of layout, a large dark purple chair sat in the middle of six chairs that surrounded it, the other chairs glowing with otherworldly power he instinctively understood again.
The first raged with aether,
The second raged with intent,
The third raged with authority,
The fourth raged with aura,
The fifth raged with mana
The sixth raged with energized construct power,
How he knew all these, Moyo couldn’t explain, and he had broken enough fundamental rules about how the archailect worked for one day to even begin to reveal these to those he called allies, even Ashira. Not because he thought they would betray him, but because they simply knowing could put them in trouble, it was the chair in the middle that bothered him. He could feel it from deep within him that it belonged to him and it lorded over the rest of the chairs, if the size wasn’t telling already, but it was what it represented that bothered him, not what it was it felt to his soul,
Creation and destruction
He stood in front of the chair and placed one hand on it before he sucked in his breath, withdrawing his hand like he had been burnt,
Pure titan aspect,
It ran through the chair, acting like a conduit of some sort between the crystal gates that held back the power of the titan aspect and his core world. He turned and marched all the way to the edge of his mountain, free falling down below towards the gates of his forge before appearing in front of his forge itself and as he guessed, the crystals had snaked their tendrils towards the forge table that glowed purple.
The fact that the HUD display of the archailect didn’t bring anything up concerning it was distressing enough, but as he lifted his hammer, he felt the aspect of the titan ring through him, feeling him with inspiration,
Create, destroy, shield, attack, protect, destroy
They sang like a choir within his mind, urging him on till he dropped the hammer, stumbling backwards,
“Such pure power” he murmured,
Eyes glowing, he finally understood what was happening to him, he was evolving. Into what or who, he had no idea, but he knew he was evolving. As for the power that soaked into his core, realm and body, it felt akin to a house built on water with its foundations slowly eating away. Diamond bodies as he previously noted weren’t built for this sort of power, and Moyo knew well enough that he needed to ascend as soon as he could to master to reduce the power rampaging within him,
That brought up a whole new set of problems, to everyone in the archailect, he was a broken diamond, he couldn’t just magically ascend to master, that would draw unnecessary eyes to him. He hissed in annoyance, rolling his eyes, the act he’d need to put up with already grating on his nerves. Moyo felt Ashira step into his room and effortlessly transported himself to the doors of his vault, stepping out of it and into reality proper.
Ashira paused, glancing from the door to Moyo as it winked shut,
“You didn’t get another insane power up, did you?” she asked, eyeing him,
Moyo snorted,
“Pssh, me?, no” he waved it away, averting his eyes from her,
Ashira Kairos folded her arms,
“Moyosore titan blade, are you lying?” she asked,
Moyo glanced at her and saw the food on a plate next to her, a sort of pastry that seemed to inhale and exhale,
“Is it me or is that bread breathing?” he asked,
She glanced at the plate,
“I have no idea what a bread is, but that’s a dish called mag…. let’s just call it mag, the name’s too long and depressing, it’s a dish baked in…...wait a minute, you’re distracting me again” she said,
“nope” he replied and took the plate biting into, a burst of wonderous flavors releasing into his mouth,
“Oh my, this is good” he murmured,
He glanced at her, seeing a stoic look cemented on her features. He sighed and frowned at the plate, wondering how he finished the pastry in one bite, perhaps he was that hungry. He stretched,
“Look, I’m not sure what I’m dealing with, but until I am, I have to keep it under wraps” he said,
“Even from me?” she asked a trace of hurt in her voice,
He turned to her, his full gaze boring into her,
“Do you think I’d hide something from you without good reason?” he asked,
She stared at him for a few seconds before sighing,
“Just be careful” she said,
He nodded, she sighed and turned to his window,
“I need your help” she said,
“I’m surprised you’re asking” he replied,
She smiled and turned to him,
“I have it on good authority that Kenuran acquired an authority weapon from the vault of the true blade” she said,
Moyo narrowed his eyes,
“Sounds just like the thing he’d do” he replied,
“So I need training in authority suppression” she said,
He raised an eyebrow,
“We have multiple masters for that task, pretty sure their authorities surpass mine” he replied,
She nodded along,
“That may be true, but I believe with the potency of your authority, it serves the same use” she said,
“Never really thought of it that way, what does my authority feel like?” he asked,
“a force, a large heavy force of nature that just keeps pressing down on not just the body but the mind and spirit, like you’re watching a planet collide with you” she replied,
He eyed her skeptically,
“Well if you’re sure it’s what you want then no problem” he said,
“Great, I need to meet with the masters, meet up when I get back?” she asked,
He nodded, watching as she left, with a wave of his hand he summoned the vault door again, seeing the lines of purple crystals emerging through cracks bored in the doors. He waved it away and made his way to the planet below, following a tele hub that had been installed on the ship for easy access. Appearing at the main tele hub transport station on Altera, he drew his robes tighter to his body, throwing the hood up before mingling with the throngs of crowds around. The last thing he wanted was to be recognized as the titan blade with the holographic vids of duels been shown.
The entire district was known as the trade district and everywhere you looked, large shops had sprung up in the wake of the tournament. Trade was booming and different wares, relics and even essences from common to rare creatures were on sale, Moyo was looking for dungeons though, sure he would find the nearest delving guild office somewhere around. He doubted there would be dungeons on the planet of the harbinger, but how else did the members of house true blade ascend?.
His eyes trailed its way to the large spire in the distance, putting on his Digi Aye to see the flow of aether and intent funning around,
“Marvelous, isn’t it” a voice asked behind him,
Moyo froze and turned, staring into the solemn face of Sigmar true blade. He glanced around as people walked by, ascenders from different factions just milling about,
“Oh, they can’t see me if I don’t want them to, master perks” Sigmar said as if reading his thoughts,
“An honor, master Sigmar” he said,
Sigmar eyed him skeptically,
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“is it?, under our watch, my watch, the Dracons caused irreparable damage to someone with a bright future like you, and I’m forced to watch” Sigmar replied,
“I’m sure you did your best honored master” Moyo said curtly,
Sigmar simply hummed to himself,
“Make your way to the base of the spire” the master said and vanished,
Moyo sighed, pinching his nose between two fingers, he was about to be drawn into another conflict and he despised that. Mentally opening a pathway, he watched it struggle to open and snap close back, with a frown he probed it again as he forced open another one, watching it snap shut again. Subtly leaking his aura around his surroundings, he felt the protective runes in the air, a warding spell that prevented anyone not authorized to open pathways from doing so.
With his diamond ranked mind, he stored the runes for later study, with a power like that, Asa and by extension his world would be safe. He felt a pang of guilt about not checking after the progress of his world during its calamity, but with the issues he had going on it was understandable for him. He made his way towards the spire in the distance, as a leader of a clan, he had no excuse not to watch over his people even in a galaxy far away from his.
Leaving a message with master Ajax through his HUD, he began his long walk towards the spire in the distance. Moving past the throngs of people of people making their way across the trading district, he sighed, this was too slow for him. Activating his step of Ogun, he felt the runes assess the ability holding him in place for few seconds before deeming the skill acceptable and of low risk, he bit back a snort.
The skill while similar to the blink ability of golds had a wider and farther range, but it seemed the runes only warded against straight opening of pathways around the continent. His steps took him across the entire district, phasing in and out of existence in flashes too quick for anyone under diamond to even make out. Trailing the path towards the spire, he stopped at the border of the trade district and the weapons district, due to the abundance of intent being spewed by the spire, most weapon forgers and sellers moved closed to the spire, as close as they could get without infringing on the land of the true blade.
He glanced up at the air above, seeing the floating islands the members of clan true blade resided in, then back down to the silver level guards who stood at the gates of the weapons district. They stared at him with baleful eyes,
"State your identity and intentions” the first guard barked,
“I come at the discretion of Sigmar true blade” he replied,
Glad to have shrouded his core to gold, he saw the reactions of the guards first hand, and Moyo wasn’t sure he liked it. The guard who asked the question chuckled,
“hear that men?, he came at the discretion of master true blade” he said as the rest laughed,
Thinking back on it, Moyo was sure it sounded insane, hardly anyone saw the master himself, and it was only due to his affiliations he even knew who the master was. Ashira was right when she said he was spoilt, he moved with people way above his station and it was beginning to show in his interactions. He sighed, prepared to blitz his way past them, but then he thought about the security issues that might come up,
“Apologies, but I simply state the truth” he said,
“Look, I don’t know who you are, but you would have at least tried to putting up a better lie, perhaps the lady true blade sent you, as insane as that would also sound anyways” another guard said,
“Lady true blade?” he asked confused,
The guards eyed him skeptically,
“Came to watch the duels from offworld?” the first guard asked,
He nodded his head,
“Well that explains the bad excuse of a lie” another guard said from behind them,
Moyo was getting a bit frustrated, about to turn back and just make his way to the trading district, perhaps he’d see delicacies to buy when a man in a white robe dropped besides the guards. It took them a few seconds to realize there was someone next to them, eyes widen in awe and terror,
“a guardian” the head guard whispered,
Moyo inwardly groaned, he’d had enough of guardians, he carefully watched the man who turned to him, white hair brown skin and startling white eyes,
“You must be Moyo titan blade, diamond of house thousand blades, apologies for the delay” the man said,
Calling his name to cement his status as well as revealing his identity while making it seem like clan true blade owed him, Moyo instantly respected the man, whoever he was. He bowed a bit to him,
“It was no trouble at all, I and these diligent guards were simply having an interesting…. debate” he said,
The man glanced at the guards who shot grateful looks at Moyo, realization dawning on their faces as he threw back the hood,
“Be that as it may, to hold an esteemed guest of master Sigmar, apologies and also” the man said as he withdrew a crystal directing it in front of Moyo as it flashed once,
Moyo activated his Digi Aye, watching as the runes that restricted his pathway ability loosen,
“you’re now free to move around via pathways now” the man completed,
“My thanks, and you are?’ Moyo asked,
“Arden true blade, shield of clan true blade, I welcome you to our humble abode” Arden true blade said,
Moyo nodded and with a thought opened a pathway, no longer needing to actively use his blade to rip open the pathway. He appeared at the base of the spire, feeling the abundance of intent, closing his eyes and reveling in the feeling of the pure power,
“The spire of intent” Arden said as he appeared next to Moyo,
Moyo opened his eyes, glancing at the true blade,
“That explains one of the reasons your clan is this strong” Moyo replied,
“One of the reasons, right this way Mr. diamond blade” Arden said,
Moyo felt the diamond power coming from Arden and unleashed his core, cycling his power back into its full strength. He felt Arden stumble on his feet, glancing back at Moyo,
“Such power” Arden whispered,
“you’re diamond too” Moyo remarked,
“it’s different, I’m beginning to see why lord Sigmar advised caution when dealing with you” Arden chuckled,
Moyo frowned as they reached a large circular gate where two gold rankers with war helmets and in white robes with plain swords strapped to their sides bowed to them,
“I’m not some loose cannon” he replied,
“You misunderstand me, he meant good relations, alliances and I can see why” Arden said,
He glanced back at Moyo, placing a hand on the circular stone gate that pulsed with blue power that went skywards in a flash,
“Despite your, disadvantage in the previous fight, your fighting spirit stands strong, you have a bright future should you be able to mend your path back” Arden said,
Moyo nodded silently, his pretense had been placed under the test for once and he passed it, at least they thought him an invalid. The gates swung open to reveal a blue swirling fluid, Arden passing through, disappearing as a pulse went skywards. Moyo followed through, guessing it was the path to the islands above, the liquid felt cold and he felt his body moving skywards in a flash. Appearing in a green lush garden, he stepped out of the exit gate, Arden with his arms folded behind him waited for him,
“Welcome to sanctuary, home of lord Sigmar and his branch of the true blade family” Arden said,
Moyo glanced around at the scope of the island, not sure if that word qualified any longer. It felt like triple the size of the artificial fighting island the earlier stages of the tournament had taken place. With a nod he followed Arden, glancing around as carriages, the first he had seen on any world flew past, birds of different colors as well as ascenders of different levels, ranging from as low as acolytes to as high as gold moved around, barely noticing him or Arden.
Sanctuary was built like an overly large estate, with cobbled streets that shone and pristine statues that adorned the sidewalks. Moyo followed silently behind Arden who led him towards the large building in front, a work of pure metal and bricks, no fancy gold decorations. Moyo guessed Sigmar true blade was a simple man from the onset and the way his mansion of a home looked like seemed to depict that. Soon enough they arrived in front of a carriage with shimmering hazy figures that looked like reptiles harnessed to the front of the carriage.
The construct opened up as Arden got close to reveal a woman seated inside, dark lush hair, full red lips, red eyes and a modestly large breasts, Moyo raised an eyebrow at Arden who coughed,
“Do come in sir titan blade, may I introduce lady Ida true blade, wife and partner of lord Sigmar true blade” Arden said,
Moyo hesitated for a second,
“I don’t bite” the lady said, her voice sultry with a smile,
Arden coughed,
“mother” he said in a chastising voice,
“Mother?” Moyo asked,
“Ah, yes, I am the child of lord Sigmar, first of a twin” he said,
Moyo glanced between the two of them,
“You look nothing alike” he observed,
Lady Ida gave a light smile,
“He does so look more like my husband, my daughter bears more of my heritage” lady Ida said,
Moyo sighed as he stepped into the carriage, surprised to see a young woman there, eyes furrowed as she glared at him. Arden entered, saw the tension between Moyo and the lady who glared daggers at him, turned to his mother who had a smile on her face and shook his head,
“I’m guessing that’s your other twin?’ he asked,
“The name is Sierra, but it’s lady Sierra to you lowborn” she bit harshly,
“Sierra” Arden said, anger lacing his voice,
Moyo glanced at her from head to bottom, biting back a snort, Ashira would have her for breakfast, but then again, she was of the true blade line and he doubted any heir of master Sigmar would be weak, relatively speaking. He glanced at lady Ida,
“Have I offended the good lady?’ he asked,
“Quite the contrary, you’ve impressed me, many men have wilted under the gaze of my Sierra, it speaks of your…. masculinity” she said,
Moyo rolled his eyes and sighed,
“I see where this is going” he said,
“a smart one to boot, impressive” lady Ida said,
“Mother, father would disapprove” Arden said,
“Hush, let them converse” lady Ida said,
Moyo glanced at Sierra,
“Dearest lady, I have no idea what your mum is planning, but my apologies” he said,
“You are beneath me as far as I’m concerned, a tournament battle for children doesn’t change my view on someone who shattered his- “Sierra said as she paused,
Moyo had wrapped her up in his aura, the oppressive feeling that had his aspect leaking into it like a faucet. The looks on lady Ida and Arden’s’ faces changed to interested,
“Now look here you spoilt brat, I don’t care how old you are, whose child you are or what notion of me you have tucked up in that head of yours, I have no interest in you, definitely not with that snarky tongue of yours” he started,
“Yes, I shattered my path, but I’m here at the request of your father, after that I’m gone, like the wind, hopefully we never meet again for a century or more, deal?” he said, eyes glowing,
Sierra nodded mutely, Moyo keenly aware of the smile on lady Ida’s face. He glanced at her,
“See Sierra, told you he deserved the sobriquet” lady Ida said,
Arden sighed,
“I do so apologize for my mother and sibling, Sierra is usually not this…impulsive” he said, glaring at Sierra who shrugged,
“Had to see if he was all dad said, I might consider your proposition titan” she said,
“Sorry, not interested” Moyo replied,
“why?, are you spoken for?” lady Ida asked,
“Indeed, and she, they, still sorting that issue out, don’t like to share” he replied,
“I have no issues being number three, bloodlines and genes are all that matter to me” Sierra said,
Moyo looked mortified for a few seconds, his expression becoming stone cold,
“Apologies, but I refuse” he replied,
“While it might seem cold to you, I am from the house Wolftide, we value genes over conventional feelings” lady Ida said,
Moyo began to notice the subtle differences between them and the average humanoid races, pointy ears, light brown tone of skin with sharp claws,
“Werewolves?” he asked,
“Close, we are called Fenrai, we are a predominantly body aura house with a few of us preferring the path of the blade” lady Ida said,
He nodded, they were arriving at the mansion,
“Apologies on your path, house Dracon has aways been a thorn in the flesh of everyone, however I assure you that clan true blade will do its best” lady Ida said, all serious now,
Moyo nodded tersely, the carriage opening up to reveal another man in white robe with white hair tied to the back of his head tightly. He bowed at the sight of lady Ida,
“Master Ida, lord Arden, lady Sierra, lord Sigmar awaits” he said,
“Thank you Sebastian” lady Ida said,
The lady and Sierra followed Arden, Moyo behind them as he surveyed his surroundings. The main building itself looked like opulence but hushed, like the owner wanted to hold back the fact that they were wealthy with just a bit of the lavishness showing. The servants that tended to the gardens and house bowed as they passed, Moyo quietly following behind them, climbing the steps into the large house itself.
The doors of the house swung open, revealing an absolutely large interior, made out of gleaming wood work and lighted up by the bright sunlight that shone in throne room. A large circular table sat directly in front of Moyo, chairs around it and people discussing. The moments the door closed shut, all conversations stopped and those seated turned, stopping Moyo in his tracks.
Master Sigmar true blade who stood in front of the fire place turned to Moyo, arms folded behind him,
“Welcome titan blade” he said,
Moyo glanced at those seated, Titus pure blade, Curtis eclipse blade, Kel fading blade and Sonya red quill. He glanced from them to the true blade,
“What is this?” he asked,
“Be at ease titan blade, please, take a seat” master Sigmar said,
Moyo paused for a second and moved briskly to the chair, Sonya nodded at him, eyes glowing red, he nodded back. Master Sigmar clapped,
“Good, now that we’re all gathered, we can move on with the reason we’re here” Sigmar said,
Moyo glanced at him, Sigmar threw bottle at him, he caught it, eyebrow raised,
“Courtesy of the patriarch, it’ll help your issue, it’s a step in the right direction” Sigmar said,
Moyo noticed the uncomfortable looks they all threw his way; they all knew what had happened to him. He opened it and drank it, feeling his body jolt as pure power ran through him, eyes wide as he felt his leaking aspect absorb the power of the pure distilled intent he finally felt that ran through his body. Wincing at the aftertaste left in his mouth, he nodded, master Sigmar nodding back,
“Now, as to why we’re all here” the master said,
Moyo and the rest watched as the jovial look on the face of master Sigmar was wiped off,
“The cult is coming, and we know where and how” master Sigmar said,
They all sat up at that, all attentive,
“You expect we diamonds to handle the cult?” Curtis said,
“The golds, we intend to get them off-guard, and we need to strike immediately” Sigmar said,
“Why us?” Moyo asked,
The houses had enough diamonds and even golds to throw at the problem,
Master Sigmar folded his hands behind him,
“The patriarch intends to send a message to the cult, and he wants the future of the archailect to be the ones to do it, it is also a covert mission, only select few of each house aware of your current locations right now, so, are you in?’ he asked,
Moyo cracked his neck, purple eyes glowing,
“When do we start?” he asked.