Chapter 159: Teleportation
Grand Inquisitor Korvin led our small party through the city in an unceremonious parade. Occasionally, students or citizens noticed our passage and gathered, clapping or whispering rumors of our departure. The amulet
Glancing behind, I found the campus lonely and forlorn. Many of the towers were damaged, and the proud pennants that had greeted our arrival were in tatters. But, somewhere in the broken university, was the source of the light that sustained me.
"Till we meet again," I whispered.
As I turned and followed Soltair and Trithe through the gate, the amulet pressed heavily against my chest. For some reason, it was harder to adjust to its oppressive presence than the pain of the Sunpurge had been. It was an omnipresent shadow woven through the very fabric of my soul itself, and I couldn’t even consider drawing my mana except its taint coursed through me.
"Where are we going, exactly?" Trithe asked, quickening her step to walk beside Korvin.
"The Shard of Omniscience. The church’s teleport network uses them as its center. The Nexus itself is based in the Origin Shard in the Archives, but we can jump between shards without passing through there."
"How many shards are there, exactly?" Soltair asked.
"Hundreds," Korvin said shortly. "Nearly every city in the world was built with one at its center. They serve pivotal roles in distributing magic and quantifying abilities. Without them, adventurers, soldiers, and even kings have no way to determine their value and power without engaging in life-threatening combat. A child might have ninth-level magic, but could live their entire life in ignorance, depriving this world of a new and rising power."
I recalled my conversation with the Keeper of the Archives, a ninth-level mage named Rithon. Although our encounter was brief, his knowledge, as well as his unusual mind magic, held a firm place amongst my memories, many of which of that time were scattered. If Rithon was to be believed, the Shards of Omniscience didn’t simply allow users to see their abilities but were solely responsible for them as well. The gods claimed magic was a miraculous gift to the sentient beings of their various worlds, yet that was all a facade. Magic was a naturally occurring force of chaos that altered reality. The gods simply created the shards that allowed it to be harnessed. So what then would happen to a world if its shards were taken?
"What the hell?" Soltair’s voice cut me from my revere.
Looking up, I found our party at the base of the mountain facing the summit where the Shrine of the Shard rested. A massive thirty-foot crater cut away the base of the road, blocking our path forward.