The Exan-Egg, a marvel of technology for the world of Limbo, was bouncing up and down, the brass glimmering its hull with an orange-brown tint under the sun. Glenn suddenly caught the Exan-Egg in mid-air, lost in thought. He was standing in front of the two massive gates separating the Fringe from the Bourgeoisie, the two doors sealed shut while waiting for an important enough occasion to open. It only took him one year to come this far.
He had murdered more than his share of people. Criminals, secret organization members, cultists... Here he was, standing in front of the gates, his hands bloody and his conscience guilty.
But oh well. It's not like the world had given him a choice, did it? He would have been more than satisfied exploring this world, its magic, and secrets, but no. There had to be evil gods, insane humans, twisted ideals and religions, and way too many things that wanted to rip him apart.
A true shitshow.
'Can't you stop complaining? At least you're alive!' Diamanes exclaimed in disagreement, making his host's head ring. Glenn grimaced and looked at the longsword hanging off his waist.
'Isn't it time for this idiot to wake up already? I'm so tired of that fucker...'
'Hey!'
Sahro walked up to Glenn and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him out of his trance.
"You're ready?" The Black Heir asked with a grin. Glenn grinned back and shrugged.
"Nope, but that'll have to do. I can't wait to see what fuckery is going to wait for us up there."
Sahro laughed and shook his head.
"Me too. Hopefully nothing too terrible, right?"
Glenn smiled and glanced at his other teammates waiting in the back. Milena, Javier, and Liara were in the middle of a very active discussion, where only Milena could speak. Liara reacted with smiles and nods, while Javier simply...existed.
"Right...Let's go, then," Glenn muttered as he pulled out an envelope from his dimensional pouch. It wasn't the black envelope that Manalok Calopea Truant gave him, but a white one with golden filigree. It contained a recommendation from the Gold Church for the whole team to ascend to the Bourgeoisie. Courtesy of Maron, who was in the middle of transferring most of his headquarters to the Bourgeoisie. At least Glenn would still get the merchant's support once they were in the Bourgeoisie.
The Watchers, halberds-wielding guards with steel armors had noticed them since earlier, and were waiting for them to ask for the "Ascension". A grandiloquent term for the opening of some small doors hidden in the two massive ones. No way they would open these massive gates for five persons only, after all. Glenn walked up to the guard post and waited for an officer to come see him. A few seconds later, a bald man with a serious expression and thick steel armor came and saluted him.
"Sgt. Colarri. Do you wish to Ascend with your group, Sir Glenn?"
Glenn's eyebrows rose in surprise, not expecting the guard to recognize him.
'I guess I'm kind of famous now...' Glenn thought dejectedly. He had a hard time finding a way to react to this fame. It felt great, and yet... a little constricting. Well, this fame would probably fade away once in the Bourgeoisie, so whatever.
"Absolutely, Sgt. Colarri. Here are our Recommendations."
Glenn tried handing the envelope to the officer, but Sergent Colarri refused with a shake of his hand.
"No need for that, Sir Glenn. We were expecting you. Five persons, right?"
Glenn frowned, "...Right." They were expecting him? Was this Truant's work? Probably. The officer turned back and barked orders at his subordinates, who hurried to the gates. One of them used a small wand with a crystal set on its end on the gate, drawing a symbol on it. Nothing happened for a minute or two, but then something clicked in the gate and an opening revealed itself in it, five meters high and wide. It was nothing compared to the size of the gate, which was probably a few hundred meters, but it was still impressive. What did set Glenn off was the sound of gears cranking and turning when the opening appeared.
There seemed to be something else than magic there, but he didn't want to get his hopes up... Not yet, anyway.
Sgt. Colarri stepped to the side and smacked the butt of his halberd on the ground.
"We wish you well on your ascension to King's Rise, Sir Glenn." He bowed, before repeating this salute to each member of the team. There was something ceremonial to it which Glenn couldn't pinpoint, but whatever. He entered the hallway that had been opened up, a smell of grease and metal welcoming him. As soon as the team stepped into the hallway, the wall closed behind them and pale lights opened up to guide their way. Sahro glanced back with a frown.
"...Any chance this is a trap?"
Milena shook her head, a bit hesitant.
"No, this should be just tradition. The ascension of King's Rise is supposed to be a noble thing with a lot of important meanings, but...I'm not sure."
Glenn pressed his lips together and took the lead, his hand resting on the pommel of his sword. The walls, floor, and ceiling of the hallway were made entirely out of metal, which was disturbing him a little. After all, the last time he saw this kind of construction, it was in the Blumar Quarry and in the Laboratory that contained Doyle Malory.
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'...Strange coincidence, isn't it?' Diamanes remarked sarcastically. Glenn smirked but didn't comment. After all, it didn't take a lot to see the similarity. At least there was nothing carved on the walls, and it was steel instead of bronze and brass. The lights hanging on the ceiling were magical ones, glimmering with a pale glow. Glenn and his team continued to walk for a while until they arrived at a checkpoint, marked by a change of color in the walls, which turned slightly brown/orange.
The group stopped when they heard the heavy steps of someone walking toward them, the sound of their boots echoing in the hallway. Glenn squinted, unsure of what he was seeing. The squint soon turned into wide, amazed opened eyes when he discovered the incoming guard. The man was wearing what could only be described as the most badass, steampunk power armor.
'...What the fuck?' Diamanes muttered, confused. Glenn would have repeated those same words if the power-armor-wearing guard wouldn't have stopped in front of them, releasing a cloud of steam in his back.
"PRIVATE LORZENSKI. PLEASE FOLLOW ME." The guard said in a robotic voice, unrecognizable through the layers of metal covering him. Glenn followed with his jaw hanging out, still shocked. Javier didn't seem to care, nor did Milena, but Liara and Sahro were bearing the same surprise and awe as Glenn.
"Wait, did someone say POWER-ARMOR?!?" Nelg's voice exploded in Glenn's head with excitement. The young man paused for a second, still taken aback, and gulped with difficulty.
'Yes, Nelg, there's a fucking, steam-powered armor right there! And welcome back by the way,' He replied instinctively before rubbing his eyes to try and see if he wasn't dreaming. Just seeing this cool, manly, steampunk power-armored had soothed his heart and healed all of his problems.
'...Is the book genre changing in real-time?' muttered Diamanes, incredulously. Glenn couldn't help but let out a small awed chuckle, following behind the cool Pvt Lorzenski. They finally arrived in front of a large contraption of massive steel gears, pipes, and heavy-duty pistons. The guard stopped in front of the gate and pressed on his right shoulder. Glenn suddenly paled as he felt his Mana fading away.
"DO NOT PANIC," Pvt Lorzenski suddenly said, "THE BOURGEOISIE IS UNDER STRICT SECURITY MEASURES, AND USE OF MANA, AURA OR DIVINITY IS STRICTLY REGULATED. PLEASE REFER TO THE NEAREST IMMIGRATION OFFICE FOR MORE INFORMATION AND CLEARANCE TO USE YOUR POWERS. THIS WILL LAST FOR AN HOUR."
Sahro gasped as his left, thunder arm crackled and faded away, while Javier fell to his knees, clenching his heart. Milena and Liara didn't seem too affected and were simply shocked to see that they were now unable to access their Mana or Aura. Glenn gasped as every drop of his Mana seemed to get sucked out, leaving nothing but the bare minimum behind. He leaned against the wall, before sitting down, overwhelmed.
"Huh. It doesn't work on me, I think," Nelg remarked with a surprised tone, "...Yep, you can use my Mana as your own if needed Glenn. Haha, I'm the joker now! The secret guard! The trick up your sleeve! Hahahaha!"
Glenn ignored the weapon's shenanigans and instead concentrated on himself. His Mana being pulled out of him was a horrible sensation. Almost instinctively, he closed his eyes and sank into a Meditation status, trying to refill his Mana Heart, but to no avail. He could only watch in horror as the Magellanic Clouds bottomed down, lacking their classical luster and mystical lights, slowing dying out to whatever was stealing the Mana.
The young man took a mental step back, at a loss. He felt naked without his Mana. He couldn't use his spells, he couldn't use Diamanes, he could only fight mano-a-mano. Wasn't that unfair for mages? Aura users were already used to fighting melee, but what about mages? No—this was only temporary. The soldier spoke of clearance to use Mana; there had to be a way to get that clearance. Why the sudden change in security, though? Was it because the Bourgeoisie was that much more important than the Fringe? How did they take care of Rifts and Corrupted?
Yes; the individuals with clearance did. Or maybe they didn't. This was a lot to take in for Glenn. Why did he feel so panicked, though? This was unusual.
"You're too used to relying on Mana to protect yourself. Let me guess, you thought that as long as you had magic, you could fight back anything, right?" Nelg's voice suddenly chimed in Glenn's thoughts. The young man grimaced and turned toward his other, armored self.
"Maybe. Probably. Shit, this is awful. I feel terrible."
Nelg smacked his lips, "Yeah, I can see that. Just to let you know, in case you didn't understand earlier. I can feed my Mana to you, now that I have a working Mana Heart. Look at that!" He pointed back at the Black Sun hovering far away, a large ring spinning around it.
"My own Mana Heart! Haha, now I'll be able to actively contribute, instead of just being a...a tool," Nelg spat the last word with disgust. Glenn rubbed his forehead, trying to calm himself.
"Alright, yes, that's a good thing to know. Okay. This could be worse. And I can probably get clearance to have my Mana back. I'll just have to look into it. Okay."
Glenn drew one deep breath after another under Nelg's careful watch. After a moment, Glenn looked back at the Magellanic Clouds, finding them to have completely faded away. The stars had died out, leaving behind nothing but dark gases and darkness. And yet...
The young man frowned. Yet, he could still feel his Mana being pulled out of him. Nelg's eyebrows rose in puzzlement.
"...Your Mana Heart is empty, where the hell is your Mana coming from?" He muttered, confused.
Glenn moistened his lips, the panic leaving place to curiosity, "...I have no idea. But I can probably figure it out, right?"
He crossed his arms and floated around the Magellanic Clouds, trying to find maybe one star that was still lit, still powered by Mana, but there was nothing. He grimaced and floated backward, lost in thoughts. The Magellanic Clouds were barely visible now, besides from the gases illuminating the place.
...The gases? What were they powered by, though? Mana? This didn't seem like it...and yet...maybe? Why wouldn't they be powered by Mana? Glenn's heart stopped as his mind suddenly made a connection. He recalled the Bloodblade's words: "I believe you could certainly go further if only you took a step back"... The God had strangely insisted on two words, going further by taking a step back.
Taking a step back? The gases were still somehow powered by Mana? Why...Why did it make his brain itch?
"Glenn?" Nelg asked as the young man suddenly went silent. Glenn couldn't hear his weapon's worries, though, feeling as if he could almost grasp something, something that would allow him to...reach further. With practically no hesitation, Glenn turned back toward the Magellanic Clouds and wished to miniaturize them, to render them to their smallest forms. The Magellanic Clouds shrank and shrunk until they were rendered into two small, barely shining clouds of gases in the distance.
But those two small clouds didn't matter, for something larger than that had appeared, something Glenn could have never possibly fathomed existed within him. Like a cut through the universe, a closed eye waiting to open to watch over the cosmos, a large, irregular slit shining in light and darkness, of purple and deep blue, of shining stars and black void... Glenn reached for it, unaware of the tears flowing down his cheeks.
Glimmering gently, immovable and immortal, was the Milky Way. And around it, like four watchmen sealing an unspeakable power, were four rings of stars, spinning gently with immense power. Mana kept on flowing out of Glenn's body, but the young man couldn't care less, for it was barely a leak into the ocean.
Glenn, one year into the Limbo.
Fourth-Circle: attained.
Rank: Magi.
End of book 3, Paradox pt.2