Aetherios System: Whirlwind

Chapter 44:

“The Despicable One, Arnan, was the first being after the Heretic Wars to reach the sixth tier,” Brielle began. Her tone was soft, and her cadence felt as though she were reciting a long memorized passage of text, a prophecy passed down through ages. Something learned long in childhood at Sunday school.

Alex leaned back in his seat and squared his shoulders, taking in her words.

“The Heretic Wars, is the event many know as the Asura uprising. When the eight Asura fought against the Heavens,” Brielle started to explain.

“I assumed as much,” Alex said. He had a very rough and spotty timeline in his head, and began slotting this story into it. “These wars were after an even older war against the Dragons, when the heavens first brought themselves to Aetherios, yes?”

Brielle nodded and smiled. “Exactly right. So you do know a bit of our history.”

“Some, but not enough, clearly. Please continue.”

She took another drink from her cup before doing just that. “Arnan reached the sixth tier, becoming a Celestial many centuries after the Heretic Wars. As I said, the first known being to do so. He was known for having immense knowledge of aether and magic in all forms, some saying he was Master-grade in every known form of enchanting, [Imbuement], [Infusion], [Alchemy] and more, and was a Grandmaster-grade in [Glyphcraft].”

“In the planetary system, he was seen as the absolute, and he garnered a huge following. But his closest friends where six individuals that were said to know him better than any others. Among them was Beldia of the Dawnlight.”

Alex raised his brow at that. He knew only sparse bits about the solar system of Aetherios. But he did know that the current planet they resided on.

“Dawnlight, as in…”

Brielle nodded. “As in the namesake of this planet, yes. Beldia’s light reaches all seven planets in Aetherios, but she favors this one. Though this only happened much later. Many events occurred between then.”

“I’m sorry for interrupting,” Alex leaned forward now, far more interested.

“It's fine," Brielle cleared her throat. "As I was saying, Arnan’s friends, as mentioned, included Beldia. But, also five others, each a powerful Supreme Aegis of the other elements. They are of the other gods of the pantheon, as under Arnan’s encouragement, they too reached Celestial power; the sixth tier.”

“After which, Arnan told them a plan he had concocted in order to reach the ascendant realm. The lands contained within the ascendancy itself, the heart of the planetary system.”

A small gasp sucked in between Alex’s teeth before he could stop himself. He also knew what Brielle meant by ascendancy. It was the massive cosmic structure that hung in the sky each day and night, the void which the system's star orbited in a cycle.

Alex always assumed it was a black hole, as it was the only logical thing he could think of. It sure as hell looked like a black hole to him, anyway. But if someone tried entering that, thinking there was some holy land beyond, well, Alex knew enough science to know they would be dead.

So, it’s not a black hole? Or not just a black hole? It's a gateway to some other realm?

He regained control of himself. “Sorry,” he said, and motioned for Brielle to go on.

“As history says, with the help of the divine six, Arnan created a passage through to the ascendant realm, and all of them entered together, the first to ever do so,” Brielle paused here, her face turning sour. “But that was when things changed.”

“Arnan revealed there was no way back for them, and that he planned to create a new existence in the realm, where he would rule over the heavens, as the only true god. He planned to use the divine six and their power to achieve this, turning them into magical slaves and power receptacles.”

“He planned to betray them all along. Turn their love and respect for him into a tool to manipulate them all for his own evil ambitions. Creating a wasteland for him to lord over and rule with absolute power.”

Alex listened intently, but as he did so, he felt the anger and hatred that simmered inside his soulspace begin to boil and churn even more. Something about this story was enough to create a time-bomb of wrath inside him and start a ticking countdown.

On the outside, he remained calm, but it took more than he’d like to admit to restrain himself.

“The divine six, after learning of his plan, worked together to stop him. They fought, using the limits of their strength to assail and defend against him for days, weeks. The ascendant land was torn up and stripped bare in the fighting, and in the end, they only just managed to defeat Arnan.”

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“Even after such a brutal fight, and after his betrayal, the divine six still felt love for him, refusing to forget the great things he had done until that point. They couldn’t bear to kill him, and instead sacrificed a portion of their power to cast him out of Aetherios, far beyond the reach of the ascendancy, the heavens, and beyond, for him to never return,” Brielle closed her eyes, as if mourning some sort of loss.

“He was declared the Betrayer, the Despicable One, and was not to be worshiped from that point forward. The divine six then rebuilt the ascendant lands, and after some centuries, reconnected it to the planetary system. Their teachings are spread back to us through that connection, and we all strive to reach the pinnacle and join them over in the ascendant realm.”

Alex let out a long whistle and collapsed back into his seat. “Wow, that really was a lot.”

“As I said, it’s a long story, and I shortened it by many times for brevity.”

“And so, you are hunting down someone who might be a follower of the Despicable One, Arnan?” he asked.

“That is what I have been sent for, yes,” she finally set her cup down, now empty. “Bishop Ghin, the head of the church branch here on Dawnlight, sent me personally. At least that is what my orders say. I do not know how far up the command originates.”

“Well, thank you for explaining that all to me. But I’m afraid I can’t be much help,” Alex said. “I didn’t even know of all this until just now, and I assure you I’ve never met anyone that I recall being a worshiper of any such entity.”

Which was the truth. Alex couldn’t recall any person who might follow this Despicable One.

Sylvaris was an elf, far removed from such things, he was sure. Even if he had given Alex the [Demon Asura Style], as Brielle had said, there were no explicit laws against its use. It was simply heavily looked down upon by the church, and was dangerous to those who practiced it.

“I understand.” Brielle stood then, her robes falling back down around her legs. “I have fulfilled my task for now. I will stay around to investigate further, perhaps to see the end of this Inheritance Event. If at any point you think of someone of note, I ask that you reach out to me.”

She placed an Aether slate on the table, which I presumed contained her contact information stored within.

“Also,” she added, “please accept this gift as a token of apology for being so abrupt. I understand you have no need of such a thing, but there are two talented light mages among your group. They can perhaps find use of it.”

Next to the Aether slate, Brielle set down a small gemstone, the outer surface of which was covered in runic scripts. The inside of the gem shone with a bright pure white, as if it held a miniature star within its confines.

He reached out to the item, picking it up carefully. The complexity of the object made it so he couldn’t determine its use from initial glance. He pulled his Echo Lens from his bracelet, an item he had not been forced to use in a long time.

After a minute of studying, he realized that the object was beyond his understanding of enchantments, and [Glyphcraft]. It was obvious it was attuned to the light element, and contained instructions or aether pattern directions of some kind. But he wasn’t able to discern any more than that.

He looked at Brielle quizzically, still holding it in hand.

She smiled, as if looking at a child trying to open a puzzle box for adults. “It is an aether gathering manual for light attuned aether. A rather good one, actually. It is the exact gathering method I use for my cultivation, and I am a Magus who has reached the Naive stage elemental truth.”

Alex very carefully set the item back on the table.

That really was an amazing gift. Aether gathering manuals were expensive, most of which were harshly guarded secrets that were only passed on in families, or between masters and students. Even members of the same martial sect didn’t necessarily use the same gathering method.

To give this to a stranger as a gift, Alex couldn’t imagine the cost in gold pieces. A hundred thousand, more even.

“I thank you a thousand times for the gift. I will ensure it reaches Allie and Peter.”

“You are welcome, Alex,” she smiled, more genuinely this time.

“You said you would stay for the event. I assumed the Church would have already been in the city. Does the Church not have a contestant vying for a spot to enter the Inheritance?” Alex asked.

“The Inheritance of a Supreme Aegis does not interest the Church. There are many dozens of such beings that have reached the fifth stage in the last eight hundred years, and then moved on to the ascendant realm to learn under the Tower of Light directly.”

“Fifth stage mages can enter the ascendant realm?”

“Oh yes, even a fourth stage mage, a Sage, could survive on the other side. But that would be difficult for them, and is almost never done unless moving there with a spouse who has reached Supreme Aegis. Or a parent and child, in some cases,” she explained.

That made sense to Alex. It was always a question he had in his mind after learning about Inheritance Dungeons. Why an Aegis would leave a Dungeon to teach their path or pass down treasures, instead of doing it themselves.

In fact, the utter lack of fifth stage mages anywhere among the factions of the planet or beyond perplexed him. If such beings passed to the ascendant realm upon reaching fifth stage, it made more sense.

“I see, well hopefully you may find the rest of the tournament entertaining. Thank you again for coming to see me, and the lesson.” Alex stood and bowed.

Brielle bowed back before exiting the room, leaving Alex alone once again.

Well, not alone exactly. Alex was never truly alone these days, as he always had his good buddy in his head with him at all times.

Right then, though, just like all the way back when Alex had first discovered the small sentient rock, he was wondering just what kind of motives the damned thing had. How much evil had been just hanging out in his pocket for months.

Just like so many times before, Alex looked inward, projecting himself into his soulspace.

His attention locked onto the bond that tethered him to the object, a circular collection of runes and glyphs he still didn’t fully understand.

“Obby,” he said sternly in his mind and out loud at the same time. “Get the hell out here. We need to talk.”

The illusory image of Obby’s “body” popped in front of him, its usual pale blue color now replaced with a tinge of vibrant red-pink as anger seemed to almost drip from the projection in tangible form.

“Those… fucking liars…” Obby seethed.

“So its true,” Alex said flatly. “You’re an acolyte of the Despicable One. Aren’t you, Obby?”