Aetherios System: Whirlwind

Chapter 58: Opening

“I won’t get into the story, it’s a long one, and you young people will double in age before I finish it,” Celeste said. “But yes, I was once a commander of the Urhara Empire, back in my days as a Peak Magus Mage.”

“How you ended up in Vrung’s Quarry, we sort of already know.” Holly shifted forward in her seat next to me, now far more interested in the conversation than ever before. “But the big event, we never got told the details. Alex said he didn’t know either.”

The elderly water mage shot a glance at Alex, and he looked away sheepishly. Perhaps he shouldn’t have told everyone else about her cracked mage core. But, he didn’t exactly know what being Magus Tier meant back then, and he sure as hell didn’t know she was a big shot of the continent at one point.

“I won’t get too far into it, as it's not something you all need to worry about anytime soon. But I will tell you that the step from Magus into Sage Tier requires a special process, and that failing it usually kills the mage.”

“Yet, you didn’t die,” Garret said. “So what’s up?”

Celeste leveled a glare Garret’s way, and he stiffened instantly, his eyes moving to the disk of sugar cubes for a moment before he swallowed heavily.

“What’s up, is that I saw that I would fail, and I chickened out at the last moment. You can halt the process, which leaves one with immense consequences, obviously. But, I thought I would have people to lean on after, those who could help me springboard back up.” Her eyes became distant then, her face softening slightly.

Everything was quiet for a moment longer, then Celeste seemed to rise back out of her reverie and shook her head.

“So, what, your friends just turned on you?” Holly asked.

Celeste tsk’d loudly.

“Yes and no. As you remember, in this world, under the harsh judgment of the heavens, only power really means anything. Once I had lost the power I had, things changed. Not many care about loyalty, or honor, those are only a means toward power in their own ways. So afterward, I had to figure things out on my own. That didn’t go much better, obviously.”

Alex listened as Celeste talked, and while he did feel a pang of sympathy for her, he didn’t let himself miss the realization that Celeste was a commander, a Peak Magus, she probably—no, almost certainly, helped perpetuate the structure and culture that they were in today.

Might makes right. Weak makes wrong.

At this point, she was a victim of her own actions.

But, still, two wrongs and all that. She understands now. And she’s been helping us.

Alex remembered the day that he and all the other worldstriders had been arrested by the Terraxum army. They had stormed Celeste’s shop, treating her like a basic low-born citizen. They must have known who she was; her reputation. At least Captain Drenn had. And still she had been treated in such a harsh way.

Even her mighty history meant nothing, since she could no longer back it up. When she lost her power, she lost her reputation.

He couldn’t imagine how much of such treatment she had endured before even then. Having been relegated to a small outskirts town just to find some peace, no doubt.

It was tough for Alex to square that circle of emotional resentment and empathy. She was probably no better than the others, but she had also been a victim. A literal cycle of abuse and authoritative overreach. She was simply getting an extra cycle of it now.

“I’m sorry the people you counted on most betrayed you in your moment of weakness,” Alex finally said. “I get why you didn’t trust us at first back then. But… I’m guessing you weren’t exactly innocent when it came to upholding such a culture when you had the power, no?”

Celeste nodded, sighing deeply. “You’re right Alex, perhaps the karmic wheel has spun back onto me, and rightfully so. But that is neither here nor there. You have a chance to enter the Inheritance, yes?”

“We do, we have five of us who will be allowed in,” Alex confirmed.

“Then, I know it is horribly selfish of me, but I ask that you keep an eye out for anything that might help me. I never received a token in my Adept Tier days; therefore, I never had an opportunity to enter the Inheritance of a Supreme Aegis. But I’m sure their dungeon must be filled with incredible natural treasures and rewards. I have even seen some that had been taken out before, they are all top tier. If you find the chance…”

“If we get a chance, I’ll make sure we get something for you, Celeste,” Alex assured her.

He had been making a lot of promises to factions about what they’d do with and bring out of that dungeon, but turning their back on Celeste, as cantankerous as she might be, just didn’t feel right.

“Of course we will,” Holly confirmed.

“Gotta help Baba Yaga,” Garret said.

“I thank you all… ehem…" Celeste sipped at her tea, her normal scowl gone, at least for the moment.

“You’re welcome, Celeste,” Alex said.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Now, with all the mushy stuff out of the way. Let's see to it that you are prepared. Have you been training? Let me take a look over you and see how you can improve. Alex, I heard you have achieved a [Technique]? Tell me all about it.” Celeste brought the conversation back.

“We have been sparring in teams. Do you want to watch and give pointers?” Alex asked.

“Perfect, show me what you all have learned then."

***

“A pleasure to have a previous commander of the Urhara’s Western Army join us,” Lady Xhiu said.

Celeste smiled and gave a simple nod of her head.

Even Alex could hear the lack of genuine respect in Xhiu’s voice, and knew that lack of a bow on Celeste’s part was a pointed message all its own. But the two women knew the rules of etiquette more than Alex did, and he assumed a saving-of-face was made by both sides.

Alex wasn’t sure how the meeting of the two would go, but he figured that was as good as it would get.

Lady Xhiu finally turned to all of them as various servants ran to and fro, moving various supplies and making preparations.

Today was the day, after all. The opening of the Inheritance dungeon.

“It will be a couple of hours of travel into the forest and then to the location of the Inheritance gate. The opening ceremony will begin, and everyone will be allowed inside. Follow all the rules I had given to you, and do not fall for any attempts to rile you. Focus on the mission at hand, that’s it.” Xhiu said, for the third time in as many hours.

Alex and the others merely nodded. The small caravan was readied, and they all took off shortly after, Akus and Mr. Kim included, even if Lady Xhiu showed equal displeasure with their attendance as well.

The Inheritance was not within the city of Athrastas itself, it wasn’t even on the volcano the city was built upon.

North of the mountain was a large forest, inside of which the Inheritance had long ago been built, and then discovered, opening on its set schedule ever since.

They weren’t the only caravan making the travel inland, the event was a large one, after all. Which meant aether beast attacks were not a worry of any sort. Thousands of mages and soldiers were about, with the collected sum of the greatest and strongest Adept Mages on the continent, and beyond, let alone the sponsors and retainers that traveled with them.

Alex pitied anything that might even try to attack them.

As Xhiu had said, it only took a couple of hours, even in traffic, to reach deep within the forest and the location. The area was cleared out and filled wth immaculate stone buildings, oiled and polished to a sheen, that dotted the stretch.

It was set in a gargantuan circle, easily a mile across. As if a small city was perfectly preserved inside the wild of nature.

At the center, a one-hundred-foot-tall black stone edifice stood. It looked to Alex like the obsidian pillars that the Empire had used to get a reading of their stats and cores back in the arena. Only this one was easily twice the size.

Seating boxes had been constructed around it, some even floating in the air above each other, with thousands already either seated or milling about the immediate grounds.

“Everyone who is not going to enter will come with me to the observer area,” Xhiu called out once they had arrived. “Those who will enter,” her eyes scanned over Alex and the chosen attendees. "Will line up at the front of the obelisk. The Empire will take over from there.”

Alex and the others exchanged goodbye’s and good-luck’s, hugs and tears as the two groups separated. But he got control of himself as they walked to forward, finding an Empire attendant dressed in lavish robes.

“Token-holder identities?” They asked sternly.

“Alexander Pierce, Katie Locke, Henry Imose, Garret…” they each gave their names, and were checked against a list the attendant had in an aether slate.

They were then lined up in neat rows in front of the large pillar. Up close, the thing looked even bigger, its height and width looking as if it was impossible it could even support itself and surely should have toppled over long ago.

Some sort of magic was involved, perhaps even some System fuckery. Alex would have bet the entire contents of his storage bracelet on it.

“Hey, look.” Alex felt a nudge of an elbow and Holly’s whisper. He followed her eyes, noting other token-holders who had earned a spot in the top fifty were being arranged as well. Many of them were not a surprise.

Ulanni Mokosh was there, still wrapped in their many layers of clothing, hood and face covering. But there was also Viktor Freisten, the mage who had earned first place in the tournament. Aelius Scipio, from the Zarshadi Concord. Shava Yaldeerin, who had given Henry his first loss in the tournament. And Delg Glanhig, who had knocked Lance from the running before the double elimination stages.

And also, Kletos.

The kid looked almost bored as he stood among the lines of people. Even if his gear was now far better, his hair still looked mostly unkempt, and the dark bags under his eyes remained. Standing directly behind the kid, towering over him in comparison, was Aburi. It looked like the kid had chosen the large man as his extra to enter the inheritance with him.

Aburi’s eyes met Alex’s as he watched the two, and Alex gave the man a nod and a smile. The large mage nodded back to him.

“We might have some allies in there, if we can’t find each other right away, maybe stick to Kletos and Aburi,” Alex said.

“They won’t be our only allies,” Akus whispered in. “Take note of the two mages in full green robes, from the Narush Mountain Martial Sect. I have been informed that they have also aligned with Master Erich von Dämmerung. We can work with them once we make it inside.”

Alex looked at the two mages Akus pointed out. Each wore silken green martial robes with a stylized depiction of a mountain on the back and along the hem of the sleeves. From what Alex could sense through the murky crowd of auras and aether, they were both at least late-stage Adepts.

“Erich has put a lot into ensuring he has a stake in this dungeon, hasn’t he?” Alex asked.

Akus shrugged, “I wouldn’t dare to presume knowledge of his efforts or how far his power stretches. But I know I trust him, and by extension, the people he has put his trust in. Such as you.”

“Fair enough.”

Alex was about to ask another question when the blaring of a trumpet cut him off. The note was held for a few seconds, then the sound of more trumpets joined, along with drums that boomed over the entire area.

Everyone else went utterly silent, and Alex easily took the hint, shutting his mouth.

“Honored guests, and proven token-holders, the time is almost upon us.” Alex looked up toward the pillar, finding that once more Empress Yue had made an appearance. He was starting to wonder if the Emperor ever showed himself at events at all, but he supposed it didn’t matter.

“The Inheritance Dungeon of the Urhara Continent, created centuries before by the Supreme Aegis of the Unyielding Star, the path of Unbreakable Fire. As agreed to at it’s creation, it will only open after a System event that rewards tokens across the planet to worthy Adept mages, promising treasure, insight, power and the very path of the Unbreakable Fire, the Unyielding Star’s very Inheritance, to any able to claim it.”

The Empress looked down at the Adepts arranged before her. “Some of you may enter and walk out with little in reward, if you walk out at all. Some will gain the resources and knowledge you need to make your next steps. But one of you may be the heir the Unyielding Star has been searching and waiting for.”

“Bring glory to yourselves, your factions, and to the Heavens,” behind the Empress, the pillar suddenly was shot through with blue swirls of aether. The crowd erupted into whispers, the excitement mounting. Something was happening.

The Dungeon was opening.