B6 Chapter 11: An Enlightening Encounter

(First chapter. Second to come later (I'm working on it now) Not Moogs edited. (He dying from space or some shizz)

Chomperz sucked in the last box and slipped back into my chest. Once he was gone, Brelten rose from his chair.

He held out an arm. I took it, but he pulled me in for a hug. I tensed, ready to attack or try to escape, but his broad chest engulfed me as he rubbed my back.

“Listen, boy. You have so much hardship already overcome in such a short time. I won’t do you the disservice of lying and saying that things will be easier from here because we both know it won’t be. But you should be proud of yourself. Proud to stand tall despite everything.”

“I… Thanks? Brelten, wha–” I started, but he squeezed tighter.

“It wasn’t your fault. None of them would blame you. Not for a single second. As for Teddy’s parents? You know what they told me?” He paused, but I didn’t speak, so he continued. “They feel guilty for abandoning you when you need it. They owe you everything. They said so themselves. I know you feel guilty, but they don’t think that way. You gave their precious boys a chance. A way to live despite what they did.”

Khrem and Sereza had already been guided out by Hubold. In the vault, there was just us. Brelten relinquished his firm grip and slid his hands down to my shoulders, pushing me back just enough to see my face. I wasn’t sure what he was thinking, not with my mask on.

“I’m not–whatever, Brelten… And you're wrong,” I said, shaking my head. “Isaac definitely ha–”

“No. He’s an idiot. I love him as my precious nephew and student, but he’s an idiot. Wreckless, bold, and daring. He is also a brave, but fragile fool who wears his heart on his collar. I know what happened to him, and I worry for him as I do for the others. But you are not to blame, and you shall never be for the actions of a power that makes even gods children by comparison. Understand?”

“Fine.”

“Cyrus. I do consider you a child. I am old enough to be your grandfather when comparing ages. However, that’s no excuse to be petulant. And while you weren’t my student for long, you were my trainee. I expect better,” Brelten teased.

I snorted and pushed away. “Yeah well, I feel older.”

Brelten smiled and launched something at me. I instinctively grabbed it with my tail, but it was surprisingly light. I brought it closer and found a small pouch that glowed so brightly in my senses it hurt.

“A gift cashed in from Nathan and Anastasia. They wanted you to have this, and frankly, I agree.”

I pulled at the golden strings of the bag and saw what looked to be a thumb-sized crystal. It emitted a dim, pink glow and was composed of rough hexagons. 

“What is it?”

“It’s called an essence seed. Pseudo-ether crystallized with rift mana. Attempts to properly identify its composition proved impossible. It’s suspected that it is actually made of hundreds of minute mana of different aspects. It’s not ether, according to the system, even though it looks and acts like ether.”

“That explains the glow. So what’s it for?”

Brelten tapped his chest. “You’ve been slowed. From what I gather, it was partially due to a complexity involving your soul. Or that’s what Nathan assumed, gleaned from the tidbits of conversation. I also know that the spiritual damage has held you back enough that your progress toward ascension is slow. Mind you, it’s not truly slow. Even Broken Tower spent years in a time-dilated rift to get to where they were and they were considered prodigies.”

“Wait, am I meant to consume this? Is this like that one ascension crystal thing Teddy’s parents brought back from their expedition?”

“Yes. It will boost your refinement a few ranks.” He held up a hand and tapped his head with the other. “I, however, believe you can find a smarter use for the item. I do not have much experience when it comes to weave-crafted items, not in the way a scholar dedicating his life’s work could. With that said, I think you’d be wiser to hold onto it. For now.”

“Got a hunch?” I said while pocketing the bag.

Brelten led us to the door and Hubold appeared near the vault’s entrance.

With a blink, we were out of the vault and back in the throneroom. Sereza and Khrem relaxed upon seeing me, but they held back as Brelten clapped my shoulder.

“To answer your question, I simply believe that you may find more use in waiting. I’ve no doubt you’ll have many opportunities to complete rifts in your journey. Maybe, just maybe, the Weave will see fit to push that into something even more useful.”

“Thanks, Brelten.”

“No need,” he deflected. He gestured to Hubold. “Hubold here will teleport you all back to the manor. If there is trouble, I humbly request that you find a way to inform me first. The kingdom is in a troublesome state that frankly can’t afford drastic events at this time.”

Hubold waited for us to huddle together before he stood behind us and extended his arm. 

I nodded to Brelten and raised my mask, exposing my fangs in a smile. “Stay safe, Brelten. I expect to see you again.”

“And I you, Cyrus. May you find them.”

“I promise I will.”

He nodded and the world warped. The feeling of electricity came and faded quicker then the last two times. As I touched the ground, I shivered and that was the end of the transition. In the same blink, my friends appeared without the attendant.

Khrem looked toward me and cocked his head. “The effect is lessening.”

I shrugged. “Apparently.”

“You’re appearing before us too. You think it’s a side effect?” Sereza asked.

I pulled up my status and scanned my perks. I sent over the relative information given to me after contracting Galarion.

Sereza frowned. “That’s still such a weird name. Also, you just have this. Of course you do.”

“You knew about this already. I’m certain I at least showed you,” I said.

“Honestly it’s easy to forget. Your status is too long.”

Before I could tease her about getting on my level, a loud clanging ruptured the air. We turned as a wave of light took center stage, casting the area in golden radiance.

We started preparing our skills and summoned our gear, but Khrem and Sereza released a cry as an invisible hand forced them to their knees. Mana surged outward, brushing along my skin but failing to envelope me.

In my senses, it was like a wave of oil dispersing over rubber.

“I was warned of your ability to withstand our Lord’s grace. To think a heretic such as you has grown emboldened to walk through a city under his protection. I was wise in taking precaution,” came a male voice.

It was deep and flat. A distant chime echoed underneath, accompanying the words like a holy prayer.

Across the hill, a figure in white and gold robes held his arms akimbo, with a weighted chain dangling off one arm. A gold-plated lamp swung adrift, leaving light trails with each swing.

I summoned my spear and started threading mana.

Thriiiiing!

Another wave of light expanded and the oily film against my skin started to harden. At the same time, a rush of lightning covered my sternum. The threads under my control slipped from my grasp and exploded, slipping back into my mana pool.

The hooded man raised his head and exposed locks of silver hair underneath a braided circlet. A patch covered one eye, but the rest of his face was plain, clean.

“Do not resist. I seek to take you in. We can do so with as little pain as needed. But if not…” He gesturerd to Khrem and Sereza struggling to stand. “They will suffer in your stead.”

I grunted through the surge of muscle spasms and raised my spear. With a flick, my tail slapped a pebble and launched it toward the man. It exploded against a curtain of light, crumpling the spectral cloth before fading and deposition the stone onto the ground.

“Please, I will not warn you again.”

“Eat shit,” I snarled. I adjusted my stance and kept my spear pointed his way. “I figured you guys learned your lesson the last time.”

The man shook his head, almost sad at my anger. “Our lords and ladies have made it clear. You pose a threat to our kingdom. They are not without benevolence, you will come to no harm as long as you surrender peacefully.”

Sereza spat a wad of green and swiped her daggers in an arc. “Piss off!”

Two large curtains intercepted the attack as easily as the pebble, but while we were covered Khrem flung a vial at the man’s feet. 

A wave of brackish foam exploded around him, and I charged.

But the priest filled the air with bright light and a second chime rang. It wasn’t pressure, not like that from an aura. The air itself hardened as spots started to turn gold, creating a ripple of mana around me. 

As I slowed, he flicked his wrist and an orb streaked across the space. I cut my spear upward, channeling mana into the tip in a burst. It carved through the skill and I rolled to the side. The orb smashed into the ground and expanded, turning into several pointed blades that carved inward like the vice of a claw trap.

Behind me, Sereza and Khrem crashed against the ground, unable to withstand the pressure.

“If only the foolish would listen,” the man sighed.

I tried to thread again, but a third chime destabilized the mana as my rib creaked in protest.

Fucking, soul damage! I’m going to shove my spear right up your ass!

He lowered his head and his eyes flashed white. “Give up, now. My final warning before my duty demands my actions.”

Sereza groaned as a block of soldiified white formed above her leg. It slammed against her thigh, and the soil indented from the impact. A cloud of green dispersed, and reformed into Sereza a meter away, but the way she favored one leg told me of a break.

Another wave of daggers were met with the spectral curtains before she was forced to dodge again, this time from a smaller cube.

I snapped back toward the man and shoved my spear, but was slowed to a crawl before I was forced to abandon the lunge. “Did anyone ever tell you, you’re annoying?”

“Mockery is beneath you. Give up now,” he chanted.

“Eat me, bitch.” 

He sighed and lowered his arms. “Very well. By the lord’s grace.”

When he clapped, the shadows in the area disappeared. Above him, a floating mass of silvery-white light expanded into the size of an elephant before ribbons started to wisp off the center. 

Khrem and Sereza cried out. Another vial, a black one, exploded against the orb, managing to cover a part of it underneath a glob of blackened oil. Where light touched, it was drawn in. But the contents of the vial was quickly consumed as the orb continued to expand and surpassed its original size.

Khrem’s arms gave in with the sound of shattering glass.

I raised my spear and prepared to force skill activations when the man opened his mouth.

“For the heretics that dare invade the protected lands of our lord’s pantheon. There is but one outcome. For your crimes, may you rejoin the Weave in your next life,” he sang. The ribbons started to split and those that split forked into sharpened spikes, each the size of my spear. “I invoke Thy Judgement’s Armsta–”

Fwoosh!

A streaking meteor of red and orange hammered into the priest from behind. The crunch of bones could be heard as a meaty fist slammed the man’s head through the ground and into the earth like a cartoon character.

At once, the pressure disappeared and the orb dispersed in a firework of silver. 

The priest was then picked up by two burly arms and hoisted in the air with ease.

My eyes locked onto a pair that burned with fire, and a tusked smile below it. 

“Annoying timing,” I groaned.

Zog adjusted his stance and his smile expanded to show the entirety of his teeth. “I was travelling from the Underground.  Now excuse me, let me deal with the pest.”

After nodding once, a wave of flames burst from his feet and carried Zog and the unmoving priest high into the air. Jets of flames shot from his elbows and the two spun. With a shout of joy, Zog cocked his arm and launched the priest off the cliffside and into the city below.