CHAPTER 36: ETHYRIC REALMS

"The Seal is weakening…"

Hermes furrowed his brows the moment the sentence came out of her mouth. 'The Seal is weakening? What Seal?...'

His mind became a large vortex of ideas and thoughts; unfavorable ones would consistently be thrown out, while useful ones would eventually merge at the center. In the end, he came up with a few theories he knew were ridiculous, but could be plausible when placing it with the context of Elizabeth's vision of an impending disaster.

For one, the seal could have something to do with a mutant they are sealing inside the city, which might or might not break away and cause lots of destruction. Another theory was that Sanctuary City has some kind of defensive Stellar Artifact that protects them from outside dangers and it has weakened. All of them sounded like they could fit the scenario, but with no evidence, there was nothing he could use to validate them.

Hermes sighed and looked back up at Elizabeth, who was also stuck in contemplation.

"So far, there is nothing we can really use to better understand the meaning of those words; unless you are willing to continue spying on your mother."

Elizabeth gazed back into his eyes and nodded. "I'll try my best…"

Noticing the depressing mood, Hermes decided to try to change the subject. Talking further about it won't yield them any answers.

"Say, a lot of people say you are really competitive. Is that true? I was kind of afraid you would challenge me to a duel the first day I met you."

"..."

Silence permeated the library, creating a suffocating environment for both of them. Hermes' plan to change the mood only made it worse!

After what felt like an eternity, Elizabeth spoke in a soft voice. "Yes… I am very competitive. But not in the way people think…"

Sighing in relief, Hermes tilted his head slightly. "Not in the way people think? What do you mean?"

Her angelic voice answered his query. "I like winning; I like doing well and being the best so I can please Mother… However, I began using that trait of mine as a mask; some may call it a shield…"

Hermes decided to stay quiet and listen attentively.

"Ever since I was young, many men would try to court favors with me. Many of them lined up to be my potential suitors. Some of these men were older than me by at least 30 years… A majority of them were wealthy merchants seeking to form a relationship with the Lysange family."

Disgust began to encroach upon Hermes' heart. 'Those pigs… Even a child is fair play to them? Then again, this is the same society that sends 5-year-olds to the iron mines every day with only minimal protective gear.'

Hermes had heard from Kevin, who used to work in those mines as a child to provide for his siblings what treatment they were subjected to. As a 21st-century man, he found it all to be appalling.

But even he knew that such practices existed in his period as well. In Africa, for example, there were many cases of children being used to farm cacao from trees with their bare hands. And on that very same continent, the blood diamond industry reigned supreme.

Even with the anger swelling within his heart, Hermes knew how weak he was. His current level of strength is nothing compared to someone like Arthur. If his own commander, who is said to be the strongest Celestial currently alive, could not create meaningful changes in Sanctuary City, it would be arrogant of him to think he could accomplish it instead.

However, changing society was the only meaningful goal left he could dedicate this life of his to. He had lost all meaning the moment he stepped onto the white sands of the Moon and had even contemplated ending his own life numerous times. Even if it was arrogant, even if it was close to impossible, he would become nothing but a hallow shell of his former self if he abandoned this ambition.

Elizabeth noticed his expression and decided to continue her account without pointing it out.

"Because of these people, I decided to create riddles that were so complex that no one but me could solve them. I would then present it to them and tell them that only the person who can solve the riddles can have the right to marry me. My nature as a competitive person was already known among the social circles, so they all accepted the proposal."

Elizabeth looked down at the table. Glimmers of melancholy radiated from her pink-hued eyes.

"Eventually, I learned gunplay as well and became proficient at it. To expand on my competitiveness, I started challenging every boy my age to duels. I would try to be as cruel as possible with my shots; in the end, no one tried to approach me out of fear…"

Hermes nodded his head slowly. "Indeed, that was very smart of you. The rumors all make sense now."

"Yes… But sadly, it didn't end there. 40 Years ago, an incident occurred with my family that caused the deaths of many people. The situation was eventually resolved by the head of the Verdier family. Ever since then, the Lysange family owed a favor to them…"

After interpreting her words, an annoying thought struck him. He knew where she was going with this.

"To pay back this favor, the two families suggested an arranged marriage between me and Charles. There is still lots of debate regarding this, but many see it as a fact that we are already betrothed."

'Knew it…' Hermes decided to ask a simple question. "He is somewhat handsome is he not? What do you not like about him?"

Elizabeth tilted her head to the left and muttered in a soft tone. "... He isn't my type…"

"Pfff…" Hermes tried his best to hold back his laughter.

'Poor Charles… He never stood a chance in the first place…'

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Noticing his expression, the rosy tint on her cheeks blossomed into a lighter shade of red.

"B-besides… H-his strings of fate h-have no connection w-with mine…"

"Hahaha… Yes, yes… That makes sen- haha!…" He couldn't hold himself back any longer!

Displeased by how much he was enjoying her embarrassment, her cheeks puffed up into a pout.

"Ok… ok. I'll stop, sorry!" He began holding onto his mouth and decided it was best to change the subject before making her even angrier.

"Say, what exactly was that incident that occurred 40 years ago? Does it have anything to do with the Disharmony War that occurred during the same year?"

Elizabeth noticed his obvious trick to move the subject elsewhere and waved her golden hair strands behind her ear.

"Hmph… Yes it does…"

Even when she was angry, her voice was a delicacy to his ears.

"Hm? Does this mean the Lysange family was partially responsible for that event?"

Elizabeth sighed. "Yes… But also no…"

Hermes decided to keep silent and await her explanation patiently.

"40 years ago, a young man of the Lysange family entered into the Regiments as a Guardian. Before his entry, he had already become a Celestial on his own; He was one of the gifted ones that specialized in the Dreams domain after his awakening."

"At the time, he was celebrated as someone who would bring hope to humanity… Some even claimed that he would be the one to become the head of the family in the future. But then that event occurred and changed everything…"

'Why does this seem so familiar? Have I heard of this elsewhere?'

"Two years before the Disharmony war, he was turned into a Mutant somehow during one of his missions outside the city… Because the Mutant's Cosmic Force signature matched his, he flew under the radar until he enacted his plan two years later."

"Targeting a residential complex, he snuck in while everyone was sleeping and used his powers to create mass hysteria. The residents all woke up and began rioting and killing each other randomly. They then set fire to the entire complex and burned themselves inside. By the end, over 300 people died, including 120 of them being children…"

Hermes looked down at the table as he began to imagine the chaos she had just described to him. Unbeknownst to her, Hermes had finally remembered where he had heard this story before. It was when Ming Xue was explaining to him the history of Dream Parasites and how they controlled their hosts.

Elizabeth continued her story.

"After the residents learned of the identity of the man behind the massacre, rage and anger that was already festering for the nobles boiled over and exploded into the most recent Disharmony War…"

Hermes had finally understood the entire history of the event. This caused him to fear the Dream Parasites even more.

'A single one of these bastards can cause an entire war to break out due to their actions…' The more he thought about it, the more his horror for the creatures grew. He decided to get his mind off of it.

"Say, I keep hearing about how the Gifted are special or how they are the hope of humanity. Yes, their ability to awaken without an Elysian Monolith is unique, but don't they take the same tests as everyone else does?"

Elizabeth shook her head calmly. "No. They do not take the same tests as someone who would normally activate the Elysian Monolith… Their tests are much harder and more complex. The reason they are rare isn't that not many awaken, but it has to do with the fact that about 90% of people who take the test in their sleep fail and mutate into a monster."

"What? So the fact that they are called 'The Gifted' wasn't because they were chosen but because they were able to survive the ordeal?"

She nodded her head in confirmation. "Regarding why they are special, spirits tend to seek them out first for contracts. This makes it fairly more simple for them to gain affinities with elements."

"Huh? So they don't even need to negotiate? Wouldn't that give the Knowledge domain users an advantage? They have the ability to contract with all elemental affinities."

"Yes. That is true, but it isn't as simple as that. A contract means that your soul is tied to that spirit. And spirits tend to hate having to share a vessel with other spirits. This is because your soul in a contract is essentially divided between the two parties, and if more elemental affinities are included, the slice each party gains becomes smaller and smaller."

She continued, "malignant spirits will also tend to seek out the gifted themselves to consume their souls entirely without a contract, so scouring an Ethyric realm becomes that much more dangerous as a Gifted One."

Hermes rubbed his chin. "Why do spirits even sign contracts in the first place? What value does a soul give them?"

"It is because spirits do not have the ability to increase their dimensionality or stage like we do. They are stuck at their rank forever, unless they form a contract. The contract will bind you to the spirit and give you their authority over a certain element. At the same time, the spirit will wait for one of two outcomes: the human's death or their ascension."

"It is theorized that some realm higher than what we currently call Celestials exists that allows a human to gain autonomy over Ethyria and also the ability to grant a part of their soul to the spirit which helped them; effectively ending the contract."

"However, in the case that the human dies, the spirit will eat their soul to increase its own dimensionality."

"What?!" This was the first time he had heard of such a thing. Although Arthur had warned him of the dangers contracts pose, he didn't believe it would be this dangerous.

Elizabeth nodded her head. "Yes, but it's not like how you are assuming it." Leaning back in her chair, she folded her arms and continued her lecture. "You see, our souls are made up of two layers: the soul core and the astral projection."

"Astral Projections are unique to the person you currently are, and it changes based on your dimensionality. A Soul Core, on the other hand is the foundation of your entire soul. It does not change and is eternal. It is a substance made entirely of Ethyria of the soul element."

Hermes nodded. "So, does this mean that a spirit only needs to consume the astral projection for a Celestial to honor his or her agreement?"

"Yes, correct. Your soul core would be sent to the underworld; after that, the details are unknown. We do not have much knowledge in this field. It's highly under-researched."

Hermes' lips curved into a frown. 'Sigh, even this city has bureaucratic aspects to how it allocates research funding... I'm getting PTSD just thinking about it...'

Breaking him out of his thinking, Elizabeth continued her lesson: "By the way, this doesn't apply to malignant spirits. They enjoy capturing the soul core even if it doesn't benefit them. Because they are indestructible, they usually store them as trophies or may even use them for other unknown practices we are unaware of..."

"..." Hermes was left speechless. He decided to shift the conversation elsewhere.

"why can the gifted have an easier time with contracts, anyway?"

Elizabeth nodded. "The Gifted, you see, have a special ability of sorts that allows the spirit to gain power in tandem with their contracted. This essentially makes it so that they have no need to wait for any change to occur with the human. Just being in a contract with a Gifted One gives them the ability to gain incremental strength."

Hermes grabbed his chin and began pondering over her words. "You said 'their respective realm domain'. What do you mean by that?"

Elizabeth nodded once more. "Just like how the Knowledge Domain holds a connection to the Spirit World, the other domains also hold connections to other realms of existence. The Dreams domain, for example, their realm is called the 'Dreamscape'. This realm only encompasses Spirits from the Mind, Soul, and Dark elements."

'Interesting… So this is where the disparity between elemental powers between the domains comes from. Unlike the Spirit World where spirits of all kinds live, the other realms seem to be specific to only some elements.'

One thing that did confuse him, however, was where the Technology Domain fit into the picture. From how Ming Xue described it, they had no elemental affinities at all. He decided to ask her.

"Say, does the Technology domain have a realm like the others?"

Elizabeth nodded her head. "Good question. The realm they are connected to is called the Cyber Depths."

"Ah? But then what kind of Ethyria do they use? They have no elemental affinities; do spirits even exist in this realm?"

Elizabeth sighed. "Spirits do exist there, however, the elemental affinities those spirits hold are unknown. It seems the properties it provides, like conjuration or magnetism, imply an authority over the rules of Real Space, the realm we live in. Some scholars have given it a name: Atomnium."

End of Chapter