Kade struggled to keep the shock and fear hidden as he stared at the message on his bracer. Salarus clearly looked curious, but Kade indicated they should wait until after the lecture to discuss his unlocked Path. Lothros was well into the subject of Emergence now, but Kade could only catch bits and pieces as his mind was continually brought back to the disturbing Path name.

“...which of course covers what most of us already know about Emergence. The challenge is obviously that our own experience with the Trance is far removed from those of the Elders around us. While many among us treat the Trance as nothing more than an extended sleep, refreshing and renewing, for Elders it is much different.” Kade was just starting to focus again when his eyes started to pain him greatly, and it once again became incredibly difficult to breathe.

He forced his eyes shut against the pain, though he found no relief from the burning that seemed to go all the way back into his brain. He felt Sal’s hand on his arm, and whispered words, “Kade, what’s wrong? You look like you’re having some kind of fit, people are starting to stare. Do I need to get you help?” Kade was considering agreeing, when all at once the pain stopped. He tried to sit up straight and stop drawing attention, hastily waving away Sal’s concern.

Even though the pain was gone, he was still struggling to breathe, and he wasn’t sure if he should open his eyes, lest the pain return. At last his breathing seemed to slow and come more easily, and he managed to focus on the lecture to steady himself. “And thus, when an Elder was truly without purpose, or turning away from their purpose, the Trance would take them. But where few Children of Korthos ever stay in the Trance long, most Elders can only awaken once they’ve reached a kind of revelation. When this occurs–and believe me that it most certainly does occur–that Elder returns with more strength than should be possible from their generation.”

Kade remembered some of this from his discussion with Edwin, but there were also details and implications that he hadn’t heard before. At last he opened his eyes, wanting to give the Abbot his full attention. When he did, it was hard not to cry out in surprise. He managed to keep his mouth shut, but he was utterly overwhelmed by the changes his vision had undergone. Strange lights were everywhere, as if he was looking at a star-filled sky superimposed over the lecture hall.

Everywhere he looked the strange lights bombarded his senses, and it was only after several minutes of near-panic that his eyes seemed to slowly adjust. Finally he could see that there were actually many different types of light, with different colors, and different origins. Looking at a blinding light next to him, he tried to stare and focus until the blur slowly reformed into an image. With a start, he realized he was staring at Salarus’ Soul Core and mana pathways. The longer he looked, the more details seemed to appear, and he realized he could actually see the energy flowing through the man’s body.

Fascinated, he started looking around the room and found that the overwhelming cacophony of lights had died down, and he could now pick out individuals through all the noise. He realized why Salarus had been heedlessly staring if his own ocular ability was even close to this fascinating. Curiosity finally got the better of him, and he looked back to his bracer, seeing that there were numerous changes.

Attention! Interface update!

Name: Kadeus (House unknown)

Race: Child of Korthos (Variant)

Soul Core: Chains of Fate

Rank: Ascended Awakened (Dual-Path)

Lifeforce: 100%

Mana: 69/69

Chaos: 143/143

Strength: 11

Speed: 8 (+1)

Endurance: 8

Magic: 06

Energy: 16

Ancestral Totem 1: (Name and House Unknown)

Class: Chaos Energist

Creed: Mine is the will that shapes worlds. Mine is the power that ends them.

Ability 1: Chaos Energy Blast (Rank 4, 27%)

Description update!

Ability 2: Energy Construct (Rank 0, 0%)

Description update!

Ability 3: Sealed

Augmentations: None

Ancestral Totem 2: (Name and House Unknown)

Class: Vanguard

Creed: Ever moving, ever forward, ever fighting.

Ability 1: Relentless Pursuit (Rank 0, 57%)

Ability 2: Challenger’s Might (Rank 0, 0%)

Manifesting! Description unknown…

Ability 3: Aspect of Metallurgy (Rank 1, 23%)

Augmentations: None

Ancestral Totem 3: None

Kade slowly processed the new information, finding a number of pieces of unusual information. That the ‘anomalous energy’ was actually Chaos was both a revelation and a mystery at the same time. He’d suspected, in his darker moments, but didn’t want to believe. The fact that it had been purged when Graves cured his supposed Chaos Sickness had been an enormous clue, and too many small moments had added to the suspicion he’d refused to acknowledge. But how he was able to use Chaos was still far beyond him, and he wasn’t certain he was ready for the answer.

He was also surprised to see that the unusual attribute that hadn’t been revealed previously was just called ‘energy’, and he wasn’t sure what its purpose was, despite its high level. He was also curious about the update to his Chaos Energy Blast–now fully revealed–but he felt compelled to examine the newly unlocked power, curious if it was responsible for the strange change to his eyesight.

ABILITY (Updated!)

[Energy Construct]: (Rank 0, 0%)

Growth Rate: (Variable) Increases upon creating new construct, or slowly while construct remains manifested.

Cost: Chaos OR Mana (Variable)

Description: Form an object created from pure energy. This ability can channel either Chaos or Mana, but not a combination of the two. Size, strength, and density of constructs are all dependent on energy invested. Complexity of constructs is limited by the [Energy] attribute, and Energist’s willpower and concentration.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Kade reread the description several times, trying to figure out how the apparently simple ability might have affected his vision, but there was nothing there. Examining his Energy Blast technique was equally unhelpful, though it had its own insights he’d consider later. The best he could figure, it was just some unknown effect of his Chaos Energist Path–his unusual bracer had already warned him that it had incomplete information on several occasions.

Kade had to accept that he wasn’t going to solve this particular mystery in the moment, and instead turned his focus back toward the Abbot, hoping that embracing his new strange vision would reveal its purpose over time. Unfortunately, looking at Lothros was like staring into the sun, as the man’s energy had a blinding intensity. Kade realized his eyes felt like he had just exited a dark cave, and seemed as if they’d adapted to darkness. He forced himself to stare into the living star, and sure enough the light slowly resolved into the familiar form of the Abbot, animatedly continuing his lecture.

“Several cities were destroyed when Alo-yun’s Emergence took place. Remember, he was seventh generation. Typically an Elder manifestation of that power level would be handled by a group of Secundus-level Keepers without incident. In this case, the Bringers were forced to join the fight, and even with several Quartus in their ranks, there were still casualties before Alo-yun finally fell.” Kade heard gasps from the other students, and he could understand why.

One of the things that was finally impressed upon him since reaching Karthas, was the incredible difference in relative power across the different tiers of power. While Primus was relatively common among Ascended Awakened, the power it offered was still extraordinary, and on any other planet such strength would likely be enough to face armies. Secundus was many times more powerful than Primus, but most interestingly, Kade had learned that the power gap between the ranks only grew. Where a skilled Secundus would likely be worth a half-dozen Primus-ranked warriors, the weakest Tertius was often as powerful as twenty or more Secundus in terms of raw energy.

The gap in power only grew from there, though the comparisons became more vague as there were fewer and fewer examples in the higher tiers. Kade had found, however, that the opinions on the practical application of these tiers was divided into two very different camps. Most of the general populace, and even many Primus-level keepers were so in awe of the higher ranks that they were considered unstoppable. The more seasoned warriors like Edwin, and even the more worldly students like Salarus has scoffed at the notion–though their reasoning was as different as the men themselves.

When he’d pressed Edwin, the man had simply smiled and patiently given his take, “Experience, skill, willpower. I don’t care how powerful someone is, be they a Keeper or some Legendary Elder, if they’re nothing but a big container full of power, they’re nothing we can’t handle. You’d be surprised how many Elders were especially guilty of that. They thought that quantity was all that mattered–even if they lived for millions of years, they just strived to become the biggest balloon full of energy around. But all it takes to pop a balloon is a needle,” he’d finished with a knowing nod.

At the time, Kade didn’t have enough basic understanding of the world, or even how accumulated power worked to understand the implications of Edwin’s words. But thankfully when he broached the topic with Salarus later, the man–as always–lectured as if Kade was as much of a scholar as he was. “Balloon and a needle? Hyperbole, though not unjustified in an extreme case. If someone managed to accumulate an extraordinary amount of power without learning how to shape it, and more importantly–control its density–a more experienced combatant could certainly take advantage of that fact.” It was the first time Kade had heard someone speak of power density, but it immediately started connecting a few dots that had been bothering him. Sal continued.

“Put aside the power disparity question for a moment, and instead imagine a more baseline comparison: an Elder, and a Child of Korthos with equal power. Such a thing is more than common–that relation is exactly how new generations were able to so consistently defeat their forebears. If one was a hundred times the size of the other, but with the same quantity of power, the Child effectively becomes the ‘needle’. Continue the example and imagine they’re both Elementalists creating a ball of fire in their hands, using say–ten percent of their power. Their mana pathways would match their physiology–and their respective size–meaning the fireball in the hands of the Child would be a hundred times the density of the Elder’s.”

So much had clicked for Kade at that point, with the idea of smaller being better on Iros finally making sense. Though he was left with his original question. “But if you take size out of the equation, and instead compare two Keepers of disparate power levels, does Edwin’s example still hold?” Salarus considered further before answering.

“At that point, it’s down to what may as well be categorized as skill, as well as physiological limits. The skill essentially comes down to a Keeper’s mastery of their own abilities. For now you’ll simply need to trust me that a ball of fire conjured by a Primus, and the identical ability being used by a Tertius is vastly different.” Kade realized this might be tied to the so-called ‘rank’ his bracer displayed for each of his abilities, finding that once more his Fabulous Bracer of Hope was demonstrating capabilities well beyond the standard model.

“The physiological side is about mana pathways and how your body has adapted to them,” Sal continued. “Reaching Primus, or Secundus, or otherwise is largely about your body being capable of handling a new, more complex system of pathways from your Soul Core. This in turn allows you to project more energy, but as you progress, your Core will outgrow your pathways by a tremendous amount. This means that even if a Quartus has thousands of times your total mana, they won’t necessarily be able to create a ball of fire containing that same ratio of power–however, they will be able to create thousands more balls of fire.”

At that point Salrus had told him to “go read a damned book”, and Kade was forced to be satisfied for the moment. He was grateful for the knowledge now, however, as what Lothros was saying was making sense. “Understandably, as there’s a wide mix of students at today’s lecture, not everyone will be familiar with how Elder power grows, as it relates to our own understanding. First of all, they did not truly possess concepts such as Primus or Secundus, which is part of why they often get qualified by a tier system instead.

“You see, Elders didn’t progress in leaps the way we do. While they slowly accumulated power by slaying other Elders–much as we do more commonly with monsters–they were forced to develop their own mana pathways over time, essentially carving them into their own bodies.” That last thought made Kade’s blood run cold, as it reminded him disturbingly of how his veins had blackened during his early use of his Energy Blast ability, which was before he’d had any mana pathways. The Abbot continued.

“This is the true origin of our classification of power–our bodies need only be strong enough to survive the process of having our mana pathways reconfigured in order to gain access to Paths, and higher levels of energy. The reason for a Trial is simple: we must find an Elder who has already passed the thresholds we’re trying to reach, then allow them to rebuild our bodies in such a way as to achieve new heights.”

A bolder student finally interrupted with a question, “Forgive me Abbot, but I’m having a hard time seeing the connection between this and Emergence.” The Abbot smiled indulgently, but Kade sensed he was unused to being questioned by anyone.

“We haven’t drifted as much as it may appear. While we still talk of the Trance as a lack of purpose, Elders only ever had one purpose: accumulating power. Therefore, the only reason they would fall into the Trance was because they were no longer capable of acquiring more power. This could be because there were no more Elders they were capable of slaying, or because they weren’t skilled enough to improve their own mana pathways further.

“This is why the Emergence is so terrifying. Yes, their Trance ends in a Revelation as we so often say, but that Revelation is often the same: they have determined how to rebuild their own pathways in such a way that allows them to utilize vastly more power. The reason for Alo-yun’s incredible rampage should now be apparent. He had effectively transformed from a Secundus-level threat, to a Quartus. And I remind you, he was seventh generation. Were an Elder like the great Karthas to have a similar revelation, his power would be unknowably vast.” The room went deathly silent, as everyone absorbed that terrifying thought.

The Abbot gave a moment for the silence to echo through the hall before continuing. “Thus we know the terrifying truth about Emergence, and you should all be more prepared for what you’re likely to face soon as true Keepers. Now I thank you for your time and your indulgence today, and I hope you’ve found this enlightening.” With no hesitation the powerful man strode from the room, leaving hundreds of students almost frozen in terror. Some were looking backward toward the mountain where the sleeping giant that was Karthas now rested–despite the many walls and buildings blocking the view. Never before had his looming presence felt so ominous.

For Kade’s part, he’d become so engrossed in the Abbot’s lecture that he’d nearly forgotten about the unusual changes that had come over his body, and he realized that his ability to see energy had already begun to feel normal. It no longer interfered with his ability to see, and instead felt more like he was simply seeing things more clearly. He was still very excited about his new ability though, despite the unfortunate truths he’d discovered about his strange Path, and as people began to slowly exit the lecture hall, he gestured for Salarus to quickly follow him toward the training hall, hoping for the man’s insights into how to effectively use his new powers.

As they emerged back into the sunlight outside, however, he once again found himself struggling for breath, and Sal had to catch him as Kade nearly collapsed. “What’s wrong? Is this what was happening before?” Kade wheezed and tried to answer but couldn’t form words as strange pains wracked his body. Sal was starting to panic and was desperately trying to find a healer among the students exiting the hall, but Kade couldn’t even make out the words as his mind reeled with pain.

He realized his eyes were shut, and forced them open, a part of him expecting to spot some nefarious enemy responsible for his pain. Instead, he was once again nearly blinded as he looked at the energy around him, which was far clearer now that he was out in the open. He looked around wildly, but couldn’t see anything except waves of energy permeating everything–even the very air.

But somehow he recognized differences in what he was looking at that hadn’t been clear before. There were two distinct types of energy flowing around and into everything and everyone. One was a bright, pure light he recognized as Calm, and another had the dark, distinct purple haze of what he’d seen connected to all the Elders he encountered. He finally understood what was happening.

He could see Chaos, and it was everywhere.