Chapter 100 - A Herald of Flames that Chains Memories
Ignoring the bold, 'Shut the fuck up,' and 'aaaaaaaaaa,' he wrote down his planned conversation starter, "Hello, Esther."
It was very hard for him to try and communicate like this. After all, one couldn't send a letter just to say two words. Usually, any kind of communication includes a complete purpose, intent, and expectations from the receiver.
But I have to adapt. It would seem unnecessarily formal of him to send a page full of words when the communication was almost real-time.
At least, that's what he assumed. He didn't know how long it took for the message to arrive at its recipient. But the way Esther and her mother talked about it, there was no way it was as slow as other means.
A couple seconds after his pen stopped, the golden runes converged into a singular pattern before being shuttled off into a list that appeared for a fraction of a second.
Even though he had done this a couple of times, his heart still rose in anticipation. How would she react? What exactly would be the focus of the conversation? And how the hell do I ask about her sister without making it seem weird?
He rubbed his forehead. He didn't know. Talking face-to-face was far easier than this. The body language spoke so much for a person, and he had become adept at listening to these unspoken voices. But how was he to do something similar in this context?
Confounding was the fact that she hadn't messaged him for all these days when she seemed eager to do so last they met. And even worse was the sad reality that the documents De Flanc alluded to regarding the experiments on Convergence Notes weren't available at his clearance level.
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Vern tapped his foot repeatedly, waiting for something to happen. It had been a few minutes already, and he hadn't felt a notion in his mind or anything of the sort.
Is it not real-time, then? He sighed, sliding over the stack of the Observation Records. He knew something like this could happen, so he had prepared himself.
But then he remembered an important point. The notion produced due to sending messages was fleeting. What if Esther couldn't get to a convergence note and pen down the message in time? Because if she could, wouldn't she have replied right back, assuming it's actually real-time?
This created another problem. When should I try again? If she couldn't pen it down, how was she supposed to even reply back?
He pondered the question for a couple breaths before deciding. Once every half an hour should be a good balance. It shouldn't come off as too pushy, in case she's intentionally ignoring me.
Having made up his mind of that front, he nodded and focused on the stack again. All of them were quite thin, but the one in the middle was at least twice as thick compared to the others. So he picked it out and assessed it.
The sheets were bound together using some kind of reddish string that weaved through the holes punched on their edge. On the brownish surface were words in bold red, 'Flame Herald.'
Vern took a deep breath, shutting out the distracting and destructive thoughts over Esther's lack of response and focused. He flipped open the sheet that acted as the cover and quickly found himself faced with an intriguing first page.
It read, 'Archivist's Insights: Flame Herald, a renowned Shade Sequence, has perpetually meandered through the annals of the Observer's society and is often hailed as one of the most versatile paths to power.
It guides one to the path of flames and destruction, allowing them to wield fire in its myriad forms, from the gentlest of embers to the most ferocious infernos. The Sequence not only empowers one with control over the element of fire but also imparts a deeper understanding of its essence.
As Observers progress through the shades, they gain the ability to create, manipulate, sculpt, infuse, and sense fire, making it into a tool for both creation and destruction. This path is known for its duality, offering the power to protect or devastate, making it a sought-after but challenging journey for those who dare to walk it.
Prior to embarking upon the scrutiny of this record, several considerations merit attention. This sequence encompasses no fewer than five shades. Superior shades, should they reside in obscurity, remain unfound. The honorifics for each of the five shades are enumerated as follows:
1. Kindling
2. Blaze Shaper
3. Fire Sculptor
4. Flame Infuser
5. Pyro Seer
However, I'd like to forewarn those excited beyond measure to find such a robust path that merely the first and second records are found publicly. Rest are tightly guarded by the firekeepers of Hirul Familia.
Some even conjecture that the firekeepers haven't gone out of their way to remove the records of the first two shades so they can find the future generation that will guard the fire. However, this notion is naught but a foolish hope, for only a solitary keeper is chosen every decade.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
Nevertheless, aspiring to attain and ascend to the third shade is an ambition overly ambitious for most, and these initial two shades alone may illuminate your journey for this lifetime and beyond.
To one such dear reader, all I have to say is—may the clarity guide your path.'
Vern's eyes narrowed as he re-read the whole thing yet another time. This is…interesting. There was no other way to put it. It seemed the only reason he could read this at his clearance level was because it was a widely circulated Observation Record.
Something to note was the fact that each shade in the sequence had a name designated to it. It seemed quite telling of their abilities. Besides that, he chuckled at the idea of 'Archivist's insights.'
It got him curious, too. Did all the records have similar insights? So, instead of burning through this record, he closed it and shoved it to one side—picking the next one in the stack.
It was only a dozen or so pages. This time, the cover declared, 'The Chain of Memories.' The name alone had him interested, much less the intriguing words presented to him when he flipped it open.
'Archivist's Insights: Dear reader, this is a highly dangerous, experimental, and incomplete Observation Record. We have decided to archive it, not for the sake of usage by an individual, but as a cautionary tale and learning experience.'
Vern leaned back on the chair, a curious glint shining in his eyes. So this archivist's insight is a running theme for these records, huh? Wonder if they're the archivist of this library or someone from beyond this place.
It was definitely not Irene. He was willing to wager a hundred crowns that she could never write like this.
However, that aside, his interest was thoroughly captured by the words. What was in this record that called for so many warnings? With that question in mind, he read on.
'This record is said to have come from a genius scholar of the Institute who embarked on a path never seen before. However, it isn't the creation of a Vision that's so miraculous or heretical about this record. It's the nature of what it entails.'
Vern furrowed his brows. Created a Vision, eh? Someone really managed to do that without a whisper-free realm like the Land of The Dark Sun?
'This record proposes the idea of viewing the world as a chain of memories. That everything that was, is, and can be, is made up of memories linked to each other.
As fantastic and almost plausible as it sounds, the author of this record is said to have died a terrible death trailblazing the path to the next Vision for this unfinished sequence.
There is no designated name for the only shade in this sequence, but the author calls the Vision associated with it—'Rewrite.'
It is said to allow one to be able to rewrite the memories of reality, essentially suggesting that one could change any aspect of reality as one wished.
Many have tried and brought upon themselves a terrible death by following in the footsteps of this genius. Not one in the hundreds that have tried to attain resonance with this uncanny Vision managed to succeed.
All they ever reach are disturbing contradictions and whispers that break their mind. As mentioned, it guides one to view the world as a chain of memories, but the path that the author suggests to achieve resonance is beyond illogical. It’s nothing short of a miracle that he survived long enough to finish writing this record.
It's documented that this brilliant scholar vanished shortly after penning down this alluring yet paradoxical shade sequence. It is widely conjectured that the man's first real attempt at 'rewrite' erased himself from the memory of reality.
So, my dear reader, beware that this is not a path to be embarked upon. It exists solely to depict the words of a genius who created his own Vision but also one that lost himself to the very thing he toiled for.
It is a cautionary piece to learn from. To know that even though we Observers bend reality to our will, We shouldn't be too eager to try to achieve everything with a single Vision.
Many consider that the biggest folly of this Vision is that it attempts too much right from the beginning. If the genius author had taken his time to slowly create a suit of Visions for each shade, building up to such a potent idea of rewriting, things might not have gone down such a damning path.
Other geniuses have tried their hand at furthering this work, only to give up soon after or find themselves lost to the whispers.
And that's where I must let you be, dear reader. For I know, nothing I say can stop you from reading on. May the clarity guide your path.'
Vern had planned to move on to the next Observation Record and also read its Archivist's notes before digging down further into the Flame one, but this…this was too damn fascinating.
It was the record of someone who created his own Vision! And not just that, it was such a disturbing idea, too. It was as the archivist said—if this Vision could be achieved, it would allow one to rewrite not just current reality but past, present, and future.
Such a Vision had the potential to destroy the whole world's balance. But how did that play with the idea of 'Objectivity healing the pollution?' Wouldn't the memories of the world want to revert to their prior state?
Maybe that was what happened when the author of the vision disappeared?
Shaking his head, Vern dug in. He would go through this 'failed experiment' to see how it compared to his own.
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He only took a break to send the next message to Esther before diving right in. It was only a dozen or so pages, but he had to reread multiple sections of the esoteric wordings and incomprehensible concepts. What was worse was that it was written in old Celestine.
Many analogies that the author tried to better portray the already elusive idea of considering the world as memory was made worse by the internal translation Vern was doing to modern Celestine.
The old rendition of this widely adopted language had a very complex grammar compared to the current times, and Vern was no linguist. Still, it was all so interesting he marched on.
A couple of things jumped out to him, which he promptly jotted down on the notepad—like the concept of Vision Resonance and catalysts to further this resonance.
But he was pretty sure this convoluted record wasn't a benchmark for him to learn and understand necessary concepts, so he'd first cross-refer other two before jumping to conclusions on how exactly Visions worked for others.
Right as he was at the final page of the sheaf, he felt something. An idea appeared in his mind, a notion. Vern's heart tensed instantly. That's Esther, isn't it?
Putting down the cryptic record, he flipped his notepad to that special page—not wanting to waste the 'real estate' of Convergence Note's pages unnecessarily.
He let the thought in his mind guide him and the words formed on the paper.
They were three simple words…