Years Since Creation: 3993
Location: Significance Plane, Old One System, Sybil
Darvon sprinted through the maze, panting as he did so. He vaulted and twisted around spikes as he flew through the treacherous terrain by the skin of his teeth. Maroc had taught him a lot about combat, movement being a key component, but Sybil was an entirely new level of difficult. Usually, it was recommended to watch your every step to avoid getting impaled, but Darvon didn’t have the time to be careful. He had ten minutes to run through a kilometer of razors.
He had woken up half an hour ago, overjoyed at his success, with his mind running a million miles a minute. He spent ten minutes just sat there theorizing what he would do with his new power, and how he would go about altering his path to include Old One laws. It was only when he casually pulled up the crystal to check the time that he saw he had twenty minutes to get back to Ilios. While he didn’t care all that much about the hundred crown fine, spending a month in legionary service was unacceptable. He had used a solid ten minutes of insane speed and reckless running to get out of the underground relatively unharmed aside from a few scratches, but he still had next to no time to reach the destination in time.
Darvon quickly upped his pace, his Scout body’s alterations allowing him to do things no base Zhra would be able to. He was risking his life running through the deadly maze, and should have been completely terrified, but paradoxically a huge smile covered his face. No amount of pressure could worry him now, as he was finally free from the shackles of grief. Sure, he would have to continue to inject himself with sorrow for at least another month before his mental state could stabilize enough to function on its own. But it was all worth it. He had reformed his embarrassing Image and become a powerful figure who would be respected for his own accomplishments instead of that of his parents. A whoop filled his voice, which echoed throughout the strange land as he jumped from one spike to the next.
Soon enough Darvon saw the teleportation hall in the distance and could faintly see Ilios looking down at his watch with Eswin nowhere in sight, which made his smile grow even larger. Darvon’s distraction almost cost him his foot as he tripped over a spike, but he managed to get back on his feet and get to Ilios with five minutes to spare.
“Darvon, you were almost late.” Ilios said, before stopping as his third eye glowed. “Your Image changed? And so drastically at that! I can't wait to hear what you acquired.”
Darvon smiled at that, though internally annoyed at the fact that he would have to report his power. They had implemented that rule a couple centuries ago, after someone had acquired the ability to forge essence crystals to appear stronger than they were. They almost shattered the economy when they released a thousand Neutronium space crystals in one go, their stupidity being the only reason they got caught.
“Thank you, when will I have to report this?”
“When we teleport back you and Eswin will both give a report to the administrator waiting there.” Ilios said before glancing at his crystal watch. “Speaking of Eswin, I don’t know what is taking her so long, if she doesn’t get back here within a minute she will be marked late.”
Darvon turned to look at the vast expanse of crystal that Eswin had gone through with a smile that was soon dimmed once he could see a faint speck approaching at record speed. As she got closer Darvon could see that she was riding a thin floating eel which was glowing with black light which would flicker them forward a dozen meters every second. She was rushing but even from so far away Darvon could see that she had a huge smile on her face. It seemed that she had also acquired what she wanted out of the deal.
“Ten, nine, eight…” Ilios said out loud, but had to stop at four when Eswin appeared in a flash of light along with her eel.
“Sorry for cutting it so close Guardian Ilios, got held up.” Eswin said as her eel coiled up her sleeve into her dress, where it disappeared in its depths. “I did not expect to collapse after the bargain.”
Darvon sunk into the SR and looked at her Image, cursing himself for not checking beforehand. It was of a diadem in the shape of an eel with three emeralds attached to it, each reflecting the faint outline of a constantly shifting eye.
“I see that you also had a slight Image shift, though nowhere near as large as Darvon. Congratulations on both of your ascensions.” Ilios said prompting her to turn to Darvon and peek at his Image while gasping in awe and jealousy.
“I have never seen such a vast shift in such little time, congratulations Darvon. You must have greatly benefited.” Eswin said, leaving out that he must have lost just as much.
“Thank you, and congratulations to you too.”
“Alright, enough back patting.” Ilios said as he walked back into the teleportation hall. “We still have to summon your familiars, so let’s hurry through.”
Darvon and Eswin stepped inside ignoring the floating Drak and were soon enough teleported back to Ruthod, where a formal looking Zhra covered in livery was standing at attention. His robes had faint veins filled with mind essence, and his eyes shone with the same glow as Eswin. An Enchanter, and a Paragon at that.
“Hello, I am Urden Kazak Zhaber, Legionnaire of the Third division, and I’m here to record your bargained power.” He said as he took out a stone crystal from his pocket. “Be aware that I will be doing a surface scan of your mind in order to verify you are telling the truth.”
Darvon saw that there was no arguing with the man, and before he could offer Eswin to go ahead, she smiled at him and stepped back. It seemed he would have to go first. Dreading what was to come, and how after this he would never be able to hide who he was, Darvon stepped up.
Nodding to him Urden sent a wisp of white energy into the stone which sent out a flicker of light to wash over Darvon, and then his pink third eye shone brightly as Darvon felt a foreign presence enter the surface layers of his mind.
“Begin by stating your name, age, path, and then your acquired power.”
“I am Darvon Lunuen Zhaber, 20 years old, and on a path of my own creation. I am a Doyen of Material and Supernatural Alteration.” Darvon stopped to take a breath, everyone already awed by his accomplishments so far. “I acquired the ability to wield Quintessence.”
A gasp rang out from Eswin, as her eyes grew huge before narrowing down to slits as her face morphed in jealousy. The other two didn’t react, it was clear they did not know what it was.
“Please elaborate on what this energy is.” Urden said in a calm tone.
Darvon sighed, knowing his plot to leave it at that was a failure.
“It is the energy that Old One’s wield, it is the basis for mastering their law and powers.” Darvon said, having already intuited that from Qrumin’s conversation.
Once he said that, both Urden and Ilios froze, and then things started happening very quickly. Urden dove into his mind to confirm, nodded to Ilios who teleported away in a flash of black. The Enchanter then told both Eswin and Darvon to follow behind him at a rapid pace. They flew through four security checkpoints as they went deeper into the building, dodged around powerful groups of Legionnaires, and were weighed down by the engraved runes of secrecy covering the walls. Every time they would pass by a room, Darvon would look in to see a meeting room full of Generals and combat Paragons deep in conversation. They were in the heart of the Zhaber war hall and even than that wasn’t deep enough. It was only once they reached an empty room filled had a set of comfortable wooden chairs and absolutely covered in engravings which blocked out any form of scrying that they stopped and were corralled in. Once inside Urden took out a pile of crystals from a side bin and burnt through the whole lot to activate the runes within. That single activation likely cost more than all of Darvon’s research expenses in the last year.
The Enchanter than turned towards them with an apologetic smile.
“I am sorry for having to drag you here, but the information is too sensitive to be spoken about in public.” Urden said before turning to face Eswin. “I also must insist that you stay here as well, and we may have to swear you to secrecy later.”
“Of course, I understand. Matters of planar security.” Eswin said with a smile.
“Now if you just wait here for a few minutes, Ilios should return with–“Urden said before being interrupted by Darvon.
“Sorry to interrupt, but it seems you forgot something.” Darvon said before indicating to Eswin, whose smile stiffened.
“Ah! Of course, we can do so as we wait.” Urden said before taking out another stone from his pocket and activating it. “Same steps as Darvon.”
Eswin took a breath, her eyes shining pink for a brief second as she seemed to artificially calm herself down.
“I am Eswin Dula Zhaber, 19, on my own path. Doyen of Familiar Binding and Memory manipulation.” She said, Darvon’s eyebrows rising up his face. Seemed she was a genius on par with him. “I have become a champion of Qrumin.”
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Urden’s eyebrows furrowed at that.
“Elaborate.” He demanded.
“In exchange for some service, I am able to get favorable bargains and some special privileges when it comes to dealing with Qrumin.”
“What did they ask of you? They would not provide this for cheap.”
“They asked that I champion their cause in the planar competition, they did not feel that the current defenses would hold up to the invaders.” Eswin said.
Urden went to clarify again, only to be stopped by the entrance of Busari and Ilios into the room. The formers presence immediately dominated the local significance realm, as all the Zhaber’s third eyes twitched at the impact rolling off him, altering the room to better fit his path. His brown skin contrasting perfectly with the black robe before him, his very presence regal. He looked like he had just walked out of a royal hall, and from what little Darvon knew of the man he just might’ve,
“I am surprised that Qrumin would strive so hard to protect the very realm that imprisoned them.” He said in a deep voice, his pitch black third eye flashing as he stared at them both.
“I cannot claim to know their intent, I can only tell you what they asked me to relay to you.” Eswin said as a faint sheen of sweat formed on her face at the intense look the Sovereign sent her.
“We shall see if you know more later.” Busari said before waving Ilios forward. “Guardian Ilios escort Lady Eswin to the binding hall, she will have to confirm her words under a binding. While there you may summon her Extranar familiar for her.”
“Yes sir, right away.” Ilios said with a bow and took Eswin outside. She was looking a little shocked, but Darvon could see the waves of pink in her eyes. She could be altering her memory at that very moment.
“Darvon, I apologize for dragging you here, I just needed to confirm that you spoke the truth.” Busari said, as he indicated both of them to sit down on the chair. “You must understand that your claim is quite shocking, and completely unprecedented, no one has acquired such a groundbreaking ability without shattering their mind due to sacrificing a core emotion.”
“Of course, sir. While I was expecting a powerful ability, I have to say this went a little beyond my expectation.” Darvon said.
“What did you sacrifice for this? It can’t have been some low hanging fruit, yet you seem a little too mentally stable for anything above that.”
“I sacrificed Grief.”
“That’s a prime emotion, but even that shouldn’t have been enough for this level of power.” Busari said. “What exactly did you do to acquire so much energy?”
Darvon smiled and with some pride explained the process behind his bargain. How he had spent the last two years since graduating the Academy working on this project, making dozens of prototypes and schematics. How he had completely immersed himself in grief, avoiding any therapist or outside help. He would carry objects of great pain with him everywhere he went and had even captured a grief elemental. His whole mind was eventually overcome by a sheen of grief, to the point that he had to constantly have Vigil devouring it in order to be able to even move, as well as the occasional potion to keep his mind steady. That elevated a powerful emotion to reach the point of being a prime one.
“Enough quantity is a quality all of its own.” Busari whispered, his eyes going back to him. “You have created something unprecedented, and perhaps with your help we can acquirer even stronger bargains. Though you might make that need useless with Quintessential power.”
Darvon smiled at that, though secretly he thought that it was unlikely that most people would be able to handle the level of torture he had put himself through. The only reason he had been stable was because he had luckily managed to raise a grief elemental, but even then that was only possible due to Maroc helping him tame Vigil. Not everyone had easy access to a peak Paragon focused on elemental manipulation.
“Thank you, though I ask that you avoid spreading this news until I am stronger. I’d like to avoid being kidnapped in my sleep.”
“We will of course bind the three who heard this into secrecy, but I’m afraid that it’s impossible to completely suppress this.” Busari said. “Beyond you or me accidently leaking this, there are always people who are willing to go to Qrumin and exchange some powerful knowledge for a valuable rumor.”
Darvon cursed, he had forgotten that there were next to no real secrets among the Zhaber, especially something as simple as a single power. People may not be able to afford to acquire entire paths or recipes, but for something that five people already knew? Cheap.
“Regardless, we will suppress this as well as we can. But you will have to step onto the world stage soon enough, so I recommend that you prepare yourself as best you can.” Busari said taking out a scroll from his pocket. “On that note, I have a little something I am hoping you will consider participating in.”
“Is this about the competition Eswin spoke of?” Darvon said as he squinted at the scroll on the table, which was covered in fancy scripts.
Busari looked a little startled at that, before chuckling to himself as he handed Darvon the scroll.
“I had almost forgotten who you were raised by. Nothing gets past a scout.”
“You know of my parents?” Darvon asked, a little shocked that a Sovereign would know anything about him.
“Of course, I was the one who teleported them to the Inspiration realm. Me and Fina were the backers behind the mission.” Busari said with a grimace. “I am sorry for your loss. While I do not regret the mission, we could have been more careful.”
Darvon merely nodded at that but felt strangely hollow as the words failed rise up any emotion from him. He used to hate the Legion for giving the mission, but now that he wasn’t blinded by grief he saw the reasoning behind it. If it weren’t for their early warning, there would have been no war preparations being done, they would have had to face the enemy blind instead of having years to prepare.
“But yes, this is about the competition. As you know, historic amounts of essence have been spent on the defense budget, with dozens of projects created in an attempt to shore up our defenses. We have created massive legions of alchemy beasts, summoned millions of hollows, and recruited thousands of war paragons. We have spread our discoveries amongst each other and have managed to acquire another four sovereigns.” Busari said. “Yet it is not enough, the other side is too strong in peak strength, and even with the whole plane united we only have 14 sovereigns. While we can scrounge up some creatures to match another five or eight, that still leaves 8 sovereigns and a Mythos level being. We cannot win in a straight match, so we must alter the board.”
Darvon nodded along. He had of course heard about what Maroc learnt in his expedition. Thirty Sovereigns and a Mythos wasn’t something a few years can make up for.
“You need a new law.” Darvon guessed, already seeing the logic behind it. If their current resources weren’t enough, then why not just create more?
“Not just any law, but one that can boost our peak strength.” Busari said with a sigh, leaning back on his seat. “We have gone through every plane we have explored, and while there are several powerful skill laws that could alter our whole society, it would take years for it to boost our overall strength. We need an ability law like Ritual, something that would alter the way power works not add new ways to use it.”
Darvon was unsurprised that the man famous for bringing in the first ability law would want to summon another. It was because of him that people could cast together, allowing for a group of a dozen Doyens to be able to handle the work of a Paragon. It was a simple thing, but it had revolutionized the way the plane worked. Powerful beings lost a lot of their status, and massive labs started hiring thousands of people to aid in their experiments. It’s estimated that him bringing in Ritual had created as many as a billion Doyen, and a million Paragons throughout the whole plane. Admittedly most were researchers, but it had pushed forward advancement more than any other law brought in by the Zhaber.
“You need powerful Doyens to explore new planes, and then bring a new law back.” Darvon said, seeing the logic. Anyone below Doyen would be too weak while anyone above that would have already established their path.
“Exactly, problem is we don’t have much time left before the date of your mother’s warning arrives, and we want to be fully ready at least two years before. That gives us seven years to find and conquer a new plane.”
“That’s an impossible standard.” Darvon said immediately. “Every conquering has taken at least fifty years to reach their goal.”
“True, but luckily we are working in planar time, so in theory if you find a plane with a quick enough dilation you might even have time to spare.” Busari said. “Regardless we only get one chance at this since we don’t have enough space essence for anything more. On top of that you will have to find a plane which has a law valuable enough for us to spend that amount of space essence.”
“Wait, I haven’t even agreed to compete yet.” Darvon said, though he already knew the answer in his heart.
“Don’t try to fool me Darvon, I can see the hunger in your eye from a mile away. Plus, it’s not like you have much of a choice here.” Busari said with a sigh. “Either one of the contestants succeeds, or we all die.”
Darvon nodded at that, sinking into thought as glanced over the scroll. It laid out the same things that Busari had just said, with an emphasis on a base level of talent, alongside a few extra requirements to get in. Two Neutronium level Space essences, a group of at least three powerful doyens, an Extranar weapon, and most importantly coordinates to a valid plane. Harsh requirements, of which at least one he would not be able to compete.
“There is simply no way I would be able to get the spatial essence for this, not without burning through the entirety of my wealth.”
“Ah, but that is where I come in. If you agree to this competition, I am willing to fund the entire endeavor and give you a powerful ratking to lead your armies once you arrive on the other plane. All you would need to do is acquire a third member, forge an Extranar weapon, and get the coordinates to a valid plane.” Busari said and raised his hand before Darvon could interrupt. “I know acquiring such specific coordinates would usually be nigh impossible, but in six months we will open Themin for the most advanced contestants.”
Darvon’s eyes shone at that. Themin was considered the treasure trove of the entire plane. It was in the Spatial System, and was home to the Vorin, space dolphins who love exploring other planes and bringing back objects for their nest. Every inch of the planet was full of spatial essence, and it was the perfect place to acquire an object for planar coordinates.
“That changes things.” Darvon said his mind filled with calculations, but every time he thought about the risks he kept going back to one point. “Why would you risk me though? Not to brag, but I am potentially the source of a whole new level of power for the Zhaber.”
“Because it was Qrumin who taught us how to absorb laws, it is through his fundamental Zhaber blessing that we can devour planes.” Busari said while staring up at the ceiling before looking back at Darvon with deep black eyes. “If he can do that with a mere blessing, imagine what you could do with his entire arsenal.”
Darvon nodded at that, relieved this wasn’t some convoluted way to get rid of a loose cannon.
“Of course, others will try to block you. While I can assure you of me and Fina’s support, the rest are all aiming for their own projects which require as much or more energy than absorbing a law.” Busari said. “But that is for later, it is time to give you a taste of the gifts you can get from me once you agree.”
At that he stood, and with a flash of his eye teleported them to the center of a ritual circle surrounded by hundreds of Brob busily organizing themselves into groups in their chittering language, with every single one of them welding space and binding Images.
“Let’s summon your familiar.”