Under the Veil of Darkness, where the veil was thinnest and glimpses of the heavens beyond would grace the world, was a perfect sea of clouds that denied those small gifts to those underneath its seemingly infinite reach.
The Southern Cloud Sea blanketed the southern hemisphere in perpetual darkness even more complete than the Veil of Darkness above.
Another sin of man from the Last War.
Atop this vast perpetual sea of white cotton peeked a single human structure of steel and magic, the tallest man could currently build to be a closer to the elusive light.
Of the three Gate Cities that lay under the Southern Cloud Sea, only the Luna Family of Luna Gate City had the wealth and influence to pierce the clouds.
The very top level of the majestic Tower of the Stars was open to the heavens, protected by powerful rune barriers. Motes of soft magical lights danced with the summoned breeze of purified air within that belied the true dangers of the poisonous winds outside.
There were rare new species of flowers and trees that had been artificially developed by their Family that could only survive under extreme care and fortune and fountains and pools spouting streams of magical waters that danced in perfect sync through the air, creating a fantastical picturesque scene of a magical paradise sitting in the clouds.
In the center of this beautiful Sky Garden, where only a few had privileged access, was a crystal desk where a graceful beauty with long, flowing silver hair sat with an imposing elegance.
She wore a regal dress of crystals and magical threads that only served to accentuate her natural beauty and poise.
On her pale and delicate wrists, her favorite silver bracelets, covered in hundreds of minuscule rune inscriptions, chimed with her gentle gestures as she entered the last commands on her display.
Her perpetually aloof, deep silver-gray eyes showed a rare focus that her followers associated with moments of great importance.
And it was.
It was a momentous day of great excitement.
So extreme was her anticipation that she had cleared her schedule for the day by force, something she had never done before that was bound to have offended many. But they were not important, so she cared little.
Seeing that the time was near, Celestia Luna, the new Tower Master of The Tower of the Stars and Guild Master of the renowned Heavens Piercing Guild, straightened her posture and, with a profound dignity, raised her voice to call out, “Bitches! It’s starting! Where the hell are you?!”
Suddenly, figures began emerging from all corners of the Sky Garden.
Cries of “Here! Here!” sounded out like the call of little chicks responding to their furious mother as a group of powerful people gathered with childish excitement.
“Shut up! It's starting!” Celestia gave a final shout that returned her treasured silence before hurriedly activating the primary display. The motes of light dimmed out of existence and all the streams of water arcing above moved out of the way as the sky became their screen. People began taking out comfy seats or laying out in blankets. Snacks and drinks magically materialized and were passed around in eager silence. Don't piss off the boss and everyone could have a good time.
The members of the Heavens Piercing Guild were greatly amused by their cute Guild Master. She had been the last to join the group, but had immediately taken leadership once she had.
The Silent Sculptor was, at first, a favorite streamer among some of the younger guild members that sought comfort from their grueling training and the constant dangers they faced on missions.
The Silent Sculptor soothed their weary souls without saying a word. He would take mundane materials and transform them into gorgeous works of art. The entire process was a magical experience that was a pleasure to watch. His masked form as he worked magic with his hands and tools held so much charisma that he had began captivating more and more members of the Guild till even their Guild Master had been caught.
When Tom had casually introduced his leader to the stream, nobody had expected her sending out an official guild announcement proclaiming herself as the official president of the Silent Sculptor's Fan Club.
Every member of the Heaven Piercing Guild found they had been forcefully enrolled in a club that had its own clubroom in the coveted upper levels of the legendary Tower of the Stars. The walls were covered in photos and looping vids of every streaming session that had ever aired with illegally fabricated replicas of all the sculptures proudly displayed in personal pedestals with dedicated spot lights.
Tom had cold sweats when faced with absolute obsession. He really hoped nobody outside of the Tower found out about this. Her obsession aside, just the illegal replicas could land her in actual trouble.
Digital ownership laws were no laughing matter in their world. Even the S Rank Families could be liable for legal sanctions. Although small, the trouble would still tarnish the Luna Family name.
When broached, Celestia scoffed at his petty concerns and said that as a true follower of the Silent Sculptor she was merely creating a center of appreciation so that more people could learn about his greatness and that she knew with all her heart that the Silent Sculptor would approve.
She had said that instead of worrying about something so nonsensical; they had to battle the True Enemy. The forces of darkness that hide within the shadows. The angry sea of trolls must be battled and defeated. She would no longer tolerate the intrusion of the barbaric scum that had polluted the sacred Chat.
Because of them, it was impossible to discuss with the other believers in peace.
She and the most devote began an all out war in the Chats and her artillery was the massive donations she would drop. She didn't even pay Tom that well.
Now, almost every one of his live streams was displayed in the sky for the elite members of the Guild and fan club to enjoy together with the Guild Master. The days she was forced to miss a live stream meant that hellish torment would befall the guild members, so an unspoken agreement had been formed to never hinder the Guild Master in her viewing pleasures.
When the announcement for the Unmasking Event where received, Tom had thought his leader was having a stroke. He hoped for her emotional stability that the Silent Sculptor wasn't hideous. Or maybe that he was. It was difficult to process.
The silence was interrupted with grandiose music and the darkness was illuminated with a scene that differed from the normal format.
Instead of the quiet corner of an artist's studio, which had become the opening trademark of every stream so far, they saw from an aerial perspective a large crowd of people standing before a giant towering white cube. From the surrounding academic architecture and the many youthful faces, most could tell that this was being taken from some prestigious university, while a few even recognized its source.
“That's the Student Square at Trident University! That's my Runes Studies Department!” came an excited voice among the viewers.
Tilly Bluesky, one of the dignified Rune Masters of the Heavens Piercing Guild, hopped up and down, squealing in excitement. “The professors are all there! That means this is a masters thesis presentation from the Rune Studies Department! Gates! The Silent Sculptor is a student?!”
“Thats amazing!”
“I knew our dude was talented, but runes too? That’s crazy!”
“SHUT UP!”
Silence fell again, but everyone could see the Guild Master's giddy excitement.
The images on the screens converged into the form of a simple rune and the melody became still and anticipatory with a single, repeating chime.
Most of those present recognized the base rune of purification, while only a few recognized this one was slightly different. This in itself wasn’t anything strange. Rune-smiths were constantly experimenting with the usage of base runes in search of new efficient ways of productivity. What stood out with this rune was the nature of the alteration.
All rune knowledge came from the Nexus's gifts. Anyone that slew a monster from beyond the Gates for the first time would receive White Merits and a Rune Seed. This rune was first thought to only serve as a terminal that accessed the Nexus Local Market, a mysterious virtual market that allowed trade of specific goods throughout the world, with Merits as currency. Once used in a transaction, White Merit became Gray Merit and was only good as currency that fueled the new economy.
Only when Hunters accidentally offered their White Merits directly to the Rune did they know it grew. With greater offerings, the first examples of completed Base Runes shocked the world. Runes could alter reality.
Materials altered, manifested and disappeared, defying modern physics and combined human wisdom.
The excitement for all related industries came when they discovered the upgrades did not end there.
When powerful Hunters continued to offer greater amounts of White Merit, the world learned that the personal rune could grow three more times, with rumors of a fourth being the key to becoming an S-Ranker. Each level up resulted in a more complex rune and specialization of power. People that started with the same base rune had vastly different abilities by their third-level runes.
Rune-smiths were those dedicated in the search of meaning. Studying the base mysteries of the Runes and their use had started an age of exploration separate from the Gates. The resulting fruits had brought wonders to their bleak worlds.
Magical rune barriers and purification runes elevated living conditions while accessible runetech like rune powered vehicles connected people to their city and wrist coms reconnected people to the world.
Modern fabrication technology, integrated with simple but powerful runes, made the cities plentiful and rich.
While the Hunters brought peace, Rune-smiths brought prosperity, and the relationship between the two could not be unwoven.
Rune-smiths learned from the growth of personal runes and based their theories and designs around similar growth patterns and complexity. Base runes represented the rank zero foundation for rune-smiths to build upon one level at a time, from rank-one runes to rank-three runes.
The base rune of purification on the screen was not altered to the rank one standard which would have tripled the rune’s complexity. No, there were just a few extra lines. Then a second base rune appeared and connected with those mysterious lines. Absorption.
Many heads were tilted when the second base rune connected with the first. That’s not how that worked, right?
But it looked alright? Why wouldn’t that work?
Their normal thought process was to integrate properties of absorption into a base purification rune to form a single layered rank 1 rune with two attributes. This was just pairing two base runes to work together in perfect sync. It made a lot of sense.
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The strange double rune on the screen shrank in size before multiplying from one to two to four, and so on till they flooded the display and a new supporting rune structure tied them together.
The sea of purification runes was now tied in an organic structure that resembles veins before a third rune cluster arose from the ground and joined.
It came alive.
The previous black backdrop crumbled away into motes of white light that covered the Student Square.
When stillness returned, there was a tree.
It looked nothing like a normal tree they had all seen from the old movies.
This was a crystal tree that glimmered with countless glowing runes.
For those who understood runes well, the presentation was clear. This was a brand new rune structure proposal that interwove many smaller rune nodes into a whole. It was a completely new way of looking at rune structures that simply ditched the preconceived limitations every rune-smith bound themselves to. Instead of looking at a ranked rune, it was like looking at a living, breathing entity made of simple runes.
Then there were two and then four and so on, till a new world emerged.
The wonderfully choreographed display of lights and music told a story of a beautiful potential.
Everyone in the room were considered masters of their fields and had received the best educations in the world. No one had missed the significance of what was being freely displayed.
Most thesis presentations would deliberately obfuscate key components of the Rune structure being presented. Although base theories were easily shared, any competent Rune-smith would hold their core secrets close at heart. This was so they could secure their own positions in the cutthroat world of runes.
This presentation was the opposite. For those who knew more about the world of runes, they couldn't help but feel helpless.
Was their idol a fool?
He was detailing the entire rune creation process, as if he was afraid people wouldn't understand.
But as they watched more, their eyes widened in wonder.
Tilly couldn't help but marvel at what she was seeing. The slowly forming strokes of the runes held a beauty in its simplicity that even the uninitiated could appreciate. It was like watching the Silent Sculptor's other live streams, but instead of stone or metal, he was now sculpting with lines of energy.
This should have been presented at a world summit, not a live stream for sculpting fans with who knows how many people that understood anything.
As a recognized master of her craft, Tilly was captivated by the beautiful sea of runes that wove together into something organic. A tree. A forest. A clean world.
The concepts she saw were refreshingly simple and yet groundbreaking. It went against the current trends in rune research, yet it made absolute sense once presented to her.
For free.
All of it.
She and a few others could understand the generosity of the act for what it was. He wanted to spread this technology. Not for fame or recognition. His desire was plainly spelled out for them.
This was a noble goal that would require the cooperation of all ten Gate Cities. A Second Great Human Miracle with the same noble spirit as the first.
Numerous practical and elegant applications of the Modular Purification Runes System were freely detailed, one after another.
Simple runes kept forming and growing into new and miraculous things.
Ornate towers arose among the trees and pierced the skies. Runes sparkled in arching masses along its surfaces that periodically generated magical clouds that dispersed into the poisoned skies to purify them, forming lost rainbows.
Titanic floating airships could be seen speckled throughout the skies of toxic clouds, leaving streams of clean air in their wake, rising higher and higher till they reached the untouchable Veil of Darkness and brought back the stars.
Small rivers and streams of purification water were being generated from different sources to pool into a pristine lake of crystal clear water. Fish and fisherman swam in their endless chases as people and animals of all shapes and sizes gathered on the shores for nourishment.
Runes formed tracks in the air as trains crisscrossed above the trees at different levels, connecting towers in a growing organic web of civilization.
As the city grew, the skies cleared, and a forgotten sun openly greeted mankind once again, real trees and plants began replacing the beautiful fakes as the world became beautiful with new vitality. The earth finally healed, and the city finally had a backdrop worthy of its dream.
Everyone knew what the world looked like outside the City even if they hadn't ever been outside themselves. Why would they go there? It was a nightmare!
But a new spark of excitement was lit in everyone watching. Could we live in a world like that? A clean world with trees? Can they breathe the air and see the sun? Could they and their children live like their blessed ancestors?
Drip
Drip
Drip
Tears rolled down Celestia's blushed face in a nonstop torrent.
“So this is the world he wishes to see. How marvelous.” She whispered.
Celestia had been moved every time she had watched the unnamed artist in his work of creation.
Her relatively short life of 25 years, first as the Princess of the Luna family and its future Head, to her recent ascension as Tower Master of the mighty Tower of the Stars and Guild leader of Heavens Piercing, the largest and most powerful guild under the Luna family, had all been about strength and conquest. It was her strong dignity and her powers of destruction that cemented her lofty position in a fiercely competitive family.
She had created nothing in her life. Only destroyed and conquered. Never stopping.
The first time she watched something Tom, her annoying but competent subordinate, had recommended watching on her down time, her life had changed, irrevocably.
She had, not once, ever considered the value of something that served no purpose but to be beautiful or what the creation process of such a thing would be like. Why would she divert any of her most precious limited resource such as her time on things like that?
Simply put, Celestia Luna was charmed.
She was charmed by how delicately he handled his creations as if he was holding a lover.
She was charmed by the Switch, where a normal man became a master with a focus that was blind to all but his craft, and how expressive his warm brown eyes became when he was happy with his work.
She was charmed by the masterful dexterity and flow of movements that put to shame even the masters of hand to hand combat within her mighty family.
She was charmed by the body that held so much skill and potential for destruction, used solely to create.
The works born from those magical hands were something else, however. She couldn't demean her appreciation for this mysterious man's works as merely charmed.
They made her look at her world differently and brought attention to a void in her soul that had finally found nourishment.
Watching the soothing hours of his work and the creations after, had brought the first peace she had felt since she last embraced her sister. She was grateful.
She had believed herself emotionally prepared for anything that could happen, but she was pleasantly surprised to have been foolishly mistaken. He hadn't even shown up yet, but just the vision he had shared was enough to shake her spirit. Compared to this man's overwhelmingly generous nature, she felt like what she had been doing to be small and selfish.
So what if she had beaten out all her brothers and sisters and claimed her birthright as the Lord of the Tower and secured the seat as the heir of the Luna Family for a bit more time? What had she contributed to the world? Just more blood debts. So much blood.
And then there was this man that freely shared what could have made him the wealthiest Rune Master in the world. She wasn't one of the fools that couldn't understand the value of what had been freely offered.
A city that was one with nature, skies so blue and clear like a dream, clean lakes and oceans filled again with life.
What a dream.
Was all this possible?
This thought emerged in every viewer, old and young, dreamers and cynics. It didn't matter. The dream was too beautiful. An unknown yearning grew in all who watched.
And then the images vanished. The music stopped.
While Celestia was still immersed in her visions, the white cube began to slowly fade. The barrier was lifting. The mystery was being unveiled.
A slow melody herded their collective breaths for the single moment of revelation.
As the last of the barrier faded away, they saw it bloom.
Trees.
Colorful flowers.
A pavilion.
A small stream and pond.
A real magic garden from a fairy tale everyone wished they lived, had sprung alive in the middle of the Student Square.
Magical trees, flowers and plants were given permission to grow and expanded well beyond the original boundary in moments. Those that stood closer now stood under the shade of crystal canopies.
Each side was lined with gracefully twisting trees and bushes with impossibly beautiful flowers. A single ornate entrance covered in beautiful floral reliefs gave passage.
The view followed and past the first crowd to give a tour that no one would have believed to have been real without conviction.
It was all too much.
The flowers chimed and glowed with a tinkling that followed the breeze. The trees slowly swayed their branches, and crystal leaves glowed in waves of soft greens and blues, releasing a gentle orchestra of ethereal music.
A mist magically formed from the trees into small glowing clouds that formed above the tree canopies, creating a new sky for the Garden that glowed in spots like hidden stars, changing the air all around. Those present experienced the cleanest breaths of their lives.
The view moved along the lightly meandering stone path that spiraled around and down, leading from one marvel to another.
In the first corner, a large tree had branches that arched protectively around a rippling giant floating sphere of water that was constantly spilling down a glittering stream of crystal clear water that ran freely down the path between the stones and filled the garden with the sounds of trickling. Two delicate crystal clear fish, only visible from the small runes that lighted their eyes, slowly swam around a small light at the center.
The path went on, lined with fascinating little sculptures of animals that had an undefinable quality that made one sure that they would blink if you looked away, surrounded by flowers and plants that came out of a dream.
An elegant creature with antlers stood tall and proud as its mate and children grazed and played in security, while a family of squirrels and other small critters played between the branches.
The flowers came in all beautiful and delicate sizes and colors, glowing and chiming with different tunes as they contributed to the audible feasts as well as the visual.
The second corner, now slightly lower, sat a small crystal pavilion overlooking the Garden. The pavilion was small and intimate and immensely intricate and visually delicate, only made possible with the lines of runes that wove through the crystal latices. Even more beautiful crystal flowers embraced the three sides of the pavilion. This was a seat for lovers.
Beautiful works of art lined the sloping path that lead down to a final landing. The water had finally diverged into a small, independent stream that flowed into a small, glowing pond. Crystal water lilies sparkled and sang their songs from a gently rippling surface as colorful glass fish swam in little schools, the small runes that controlled them glowing from their cores.
Facing the pool of purification water was the final piece. Sitting on a large stone under the most beautiful tree in the garden was the most beautiful sculpture, surrounded by the most beautiful flowers.
It was a woman sculpted from white stone. Shoulder length hair framed a young, pretty face with the look of absolute love. There was trust, dependence and a bit of playful yearning all tied together with a confidence that was addicting.
She was small and slim with a modest chest, draped in flowing sheets as she sat relaxed under the tree, one hand supporting her gently leaning frame, shoulder bare and mischievously leaning forward, as the other delicate hand held the sheets to her extended life nurturing belly, protecting her modesty.
It wasn't vulgar.
She was simply beautiful and there was a purity to that.
And standing in front of her was the back figure of a man.
Celestia caught her breath. She knew this back. This was the back she saw, even in her dreams.
She both yearned for him to turn and finally reveal himself and hoped he never did.
She realized as more was revealed that this garden was a dedication to love and new life. Seeing the final piece shook her for its natural beauty and seeing the face of the one this Garden was made for.
She was beautiful with a youthful delicate features, but it was the expressiveness of those features, captured in stone, that drew the eyes.
Celestia wanted to deny it but, the emotions expressed, was what she wanted. She wanted to be able to make that kind of face.
She wanted to see his face, but didn't. She'd never felt so contradictory before, never having allowed it. Decisiveness and always moving forward had been the traits that she had nurtured since the young age, when she competed for dominance. She loathed the indecision and felt some embers of anger and frustration begin to light before the drone cam adjusted its position.
A small group had formed closely behind the figure that was decidedly not happy. Even surrounded by the wonders of the garden, there was a clear distress in the way they watched the back of the sculptor.
Celestia and all the other viewers now realized that the atmosphere was strange. Even the people further behind that had just entered the garden were cautiously paying attention to the sculptor, even as they marveled at their surroundings. There was an atmosphere of watching a show they weren’t meant to see.
He hadn't moved a muscle since the beginning, not attempting to address the growing occupants or progressing his presentation as the music stopped. Only the sounds of the Garden and murmurs of the crowd remained.
He just stood there.
Staring at her.
There was a tense stillness that didn't suit the surrounding beauty. Everyone was waiting for something that Celestia and the viewers couldn't understand. What had happened? They couldn't hear the soft whispers.
Slowly, there was movement. A step. And then another. And then one more.
The drone cam, awakened at last, gave the view they’d been waiting for.
Only the real active supporters had been invited to view what they had all longed to see. The face that beheld the hands that created so many beautiful works of art, uncovered by any masks.
After seeing his greatest masterpiece, their curiosity was mounting. They needed a face to go with their admiration.
And now they got it.
A haggard face they didn't recognize.
The eyes were wrong. Even though those were the only features they had known, once familiar eyes had become a stranger’s. They didn't have the light and gentleness that had captivated them.
While Celestia was growing in a suffocating anxiety -
A deep sigh.
His right hand moved up slowly.
Celestia stood violently, her seat sent flying, while she and everyone on the top level of the Tower of the Stars stared in shock.