Chapter 261 - Farewell for now

Nate sat on a stone bench staring out across the vista of the lands below. Ankh’Aris’s mountain continued to stretch above, with a layer of clouds concealing the peak. Even so, they were high enough up the mountain slopes to have a few clouds drifting below them. The archipelago they had found themselves in stretched into the distance, picturesque and perfect. Normally Nate would have taken the time to paint such a beautiful view, but they were preparing to leave and so he was focused on the last minute preparations.

A glance to his left had him smiling. Just beyond the portal framework that Nate had carved into the side of the mountain was a small, blue goblin wrestling with a smal,l gold and white dragon. As he watched, Frick pounced, bearing sharp, blue teeth as he descended on the baby solar dragon like a perfectly thrown spear. Luci, as they had taken to calling the little lady, didn’t back down an inch, raising her head and letting forth a roar that could be better described as a loud squeak, before she launched herself straight at Frick.

The pair of goofballs collided in a tangle of limbs, though to Nate’s trained eye he could see how Frick intentionally made sure he ended up on the bottom of the exchange. As the two ‘combatants’ collided with the mountain they kicked up a small puff of dust. When the cloud of dirt had cleared, Luci stood proudly, wings out and one of her front feet pressed down on Frick in a victorious pose. The preening dragon looked to Ankh’Aris for approval. The older dragon lay nearby, his body so large he was coiled around a good portion of the mountain, his yellow eyes watching the pair like a hawk. A snort of amusement from the ancient dragon had Luci dancing back and forth on her feet and bellowing another squeaking roar of triumph.

As Frick jumped up yelling for another round, Nate turned to Kiri.

“Ready?” he asked.

“I’ve been ready the whole time. It’s you we were waiting on,” replied his sister with a teasing grin.

Nate nodded, acknowledging she wasn’t wrong, and took the vial gifted to them by Ankh’Aris, downing the contents in a single gulp. The taste wasn’t horrible, nor was it terrible. The Depths Water in the alchemical mixture made the liquid itself feel like swallowing a small, hard ball whole. The taste itself had a mineral tang to it, likely from the sands, with an acidic bitethat Nate attributed to Ankh’Aris’s own blood. In the end, he neither liked nor disliked the flavour but he wouldn’t exactly be lining up for a refill.

That, however, was the only good thing he could say about the experience. As the dense ball flowed into his stomach he began to feel an itching in his skin. That itching slowly grew from a minor irritant to a pain-filled experience as it morphed into a burning sensation while the properties of the alchemical mixture bound themselves to his body. The experience was, thankfully, short-lived. Lasting less than ten minutes, by the time it was done he was covered in sweat. His luscious blond hair hanging limp and wet against his upper neck. 

Looking over at Kiri he saw his sister was sporting a huge smile. He supposed that enduring the pain and discomfort was likely a good thing for her Path. They’d had time to discuss their future plans with Ankh’Aris over the last day and knew the basics of what they needed to do to divest themselves of their Class Cores while continuing to advance down the non-System assisted Path of Ascendancy.

There were many ways to advance, but they all came down to a single consistent factor, absorbing Truths. Whether that was done by consuming Divine Artifacts, performing actions that aligned with your Truth, or expanding the reach of your Truths was up to you. Not all Paths were made equal after all. Ankh’Aris for example was currently using his cultivation realm to store Divine Artifacts that he could absorb Truths from while also expanding the nature of his Truth by delving into other areas related to Destruction. So, it made sense that Kiri would find Enduring the small torture of the alchemical mixture’s impact on her body be good for her Path. A small step, certainly, but a step forward nonetheless.

A notification pinged and Nate tried not to sigh as he brought up the new notification while also glancing at the last one that he had intentionally not dismissed.

Status Update: Divine Vessel Concealment in effect. Divine Sense Erosion applied to user. Duration: 1 standard year, 3 months and 8 days.

The new notification just confirmed that The System recognised the effects of the alchemical potion. Though, the countdown for when the effect would pass was helpful Nate supposed. Once upon a time Nate had been excited to get such notifications, but now he knew the true nature of The System and how it would prevent him from doing things for his friends and family back on Galle. That restriction alone was enough of a reason for his feelings towards The System to have shifted.

Surprising even himself, Nate wasn’t angry. In many ways, what The System had done by bringing mana to their Reality, had made even the normal method of Ascendancy easier. Mana empowered Concepts and Concepts gave birth to Truths. Simply through the presence of mana, there were now more possibilities for people to ascend. That was ignoring how without The System and its interference, Nate would never have left Earth. He would have remained there for the entirety of his life and never gotten to witness the magic of their multiverse, see the sights. Nate would never have met Kiri, Frick, Ankh’Aris, Luci, or the rest of his friends on Galle. Maybe his life on Earth would’ve been an alright one, but it wouldn’t have been a magical one.

Just because he wasn’t angry didn’t mean he agreed with The System and what it was doing. Reciprocity may have changed the nature of conflicts, but it didn’t prevent them. The Heartlands and their system of contests and how they used up those in the lower stratas like game pieces on a board was proof of that. Did the Law of Reciprocity prevent those with power from lording it over others? It didn’t. It just changed the nature of the game. Given that, Nate wasn’t convinced they wouldn’t have been better to do away with it entirely, only The System couldn’t. It was Reciprocity, and so everything it interfered with was bound to it. That was what Nate took issue with and wanted freedom from. 

Without Reciprocity, he suspected that his relationships could have been different. The reminder of his awkward parting with Britt was at the front of his mind and left a sour taste in his mouth that had nothing to do with the alchemical product he had ingested.

Ankh’Aris had shown them the path forward. With that in mind, Nate glanced at the other notification and prepared to finally dismiss it.

Congratulations on creating a Reality Manipulation Spell (Divine Quality).
Your achievement has been recorded.
I have a use for you Nathaniel.

The final line was what left him displeased. He loathed feeling used. Used by The System. Used by Arikanvil. After spending so long on Galle where he felt, at least to an extent, that he was in control of his own fate, he was now finding that he vehemently hated when others tried to interfere. To free himself from the chains that bound him, he first needed to free himself from his Class Core.

Dismissing the notification he smiled at Kiri who was giving him a worried look.

“I’m fine. Just getting in my own head again. You’re supposed to be the impatient one but I am just… in a rush to free us from The System.”

“We’ll get there,” Kiri replied, understanding writ on her face as she patted him on the back.

“Sooner than you think,” added Ankh’Aris, glancing at them. “I… you have given me a gift, Nate. A bigger one that you can imagine. I have been thinking about what I can do to show my appreciation, and perhaps, to encourage you to be willing to do so again. I have come to a decision on how best to do so.”

Ankh’Aris took a deep breath.

“Kali’Terra, transfer the debt you owe me to them and I will consider our agreement satisfied.”

Nate felt that presence descend again, like scales being balanced or the perfect exchange of energies. This time, it did not reach for Luci, who even now lay shielded in a bubble where no mana could exist. Instead, Nate felt the touch of The System directly on him.

“IT IS DONE.”

The words reverberated off the mountain slope and then the presence was gone and a new notification flickered unbidden in front of Nate’s vision.

Debt to Nathaniel Weber and Kiri Beaufoy significantly increased.

“Enough to remove our Class Cores?” Nate asked mentally, knowing The System would be able to hear him.

Enough to remove one Class Core, with debt left to spare. Not enough for both.

“How much will be enough for both?”

There was a pause in response which surprised Nate but a few seconds later a new response appeared before him.

Arikanvil desires three items from The Heartlands to complete his replacement Core. If you prevent him from getting a single one of those items, the debt owed will be enough to remove your own and Kiri Beaufoy’s Class Cores. If you wish to remove the Spirit known as Frick’s, you will need to obtain the other two items.

“Can Frick remain bound to me even if I don’t have a Class Core and he does?”

Yes.

Nate nodded and explained what he had learned to Kiri and Ankh’Aris. He could tell Frick was listening in as the little, blue goblin fought with Luci.

“Alright, so why don’t we remove one now then?” asked Kiri. “We could just remove one at a time as we fulfil the requirements with Kali’Terra.”

“You would be notably weaker for doing so,” interjected Ankh’Aris. “Your Divine Vessel right now can contain less Divine Energy than your Class Core. Not to mention you haven’t yet figured out how to merge Divine Energy and mana to enhance your physical capabilities. You have also not yet taken the Skill Imprints on the Class Core and worked out how to perform something similar without it, with the exception of Nate’s Art Imitates Life ability. If you divest yourselves of one of your Class Cores now, you may not be able to complete the tasks set by Kali’Terra to put it further in your debt.”

Nate nodded his acknowledgement but Ankh’Aris wasn’t done.

“Also, remember what I said. A true Ascendant does not spend their time creating a hundred different Abilities. They spend their time creating five to seven Abilities that can be used in hundreds of different ways.”

The saying was similar to one Nate knew from Earth but the idea rang true. He would need to spend some time to work out what his new Abilities would be and how he would adapt them to work in a cohesive whole. That alone would be months worth of effort, just to replace his existing Skills. That didn’t even include improvements to them. Thankfully, if what Ankh’Aris said was true, he would have all the time in the world to do so. As long as he wasn’t killed that is.

Kiri had it even worse. Nate’s existing Skills at least aligned with his planned Path. He might not copy them exactly as they were, but they would be functional templates for whatever he turned them into. Many of his sister's Skills, however, would need complete replacement. Unless she had plans for figuring out how her dancing and damage avoidance could be considered a form of Enduring. Maybe she could, or maybe she would scrap all but a couple of her Soul-based Skills and start over.

Whatever she decided, he would help her. Mostly because she was his best friend and the family he had always wanted. But partially because any study of Abilities, which to Nate sounded just like highly complicated Spellforms, would be of benefit to his own Path. As Ankh’Aris had pointed out over and over again, Nate’s Path was a wide one. It encompassed the entire nature of their Reality. He may never experience the depths of understanding that others with more narrow focuses developed, but he would be able to adapt and use any Truths he managed to incorporate. And those Truths would all need to link back to the core of his own understanding of what Reality was. The point in Space where Creation and Destruction met and the tug of war between those opposing Concepts.

Nate looked out over the archipelago one last time.

“I guess it’s finally time to go,” he commented.

“It is,” agreed Ankh’Aris. “But this isn’t farewell, my Disciples. This is merely the next step on your journey. If you prove that you truly are worthy of being my Disciples, by not dying to those fools in The Heartlands, then we will meet again. In fact, I will make sure of it. Luci’Nil and I will be making our own journey. Perhaps we will see you in The Heartlands. Perhaps not. But we will meet again, little humans. Do not die out there. I will be very disappointed in you if you do.”

“Pfft,” huffed Kiri. “As if. Don’t you know? I’m immortal! Think I can’t Endure a little death?”

Ankh’Aris growled, the sound rumbling the side of the mountain, slowly shifting into a full-belly laugh that caused rocks to dislodge from the edifice and sent them careening down the steep slopes. Not a single one came near the group or the portal though. Any stone that threatened to do so turned into dust and was swept aside by the cold winds.

“I thought Nate was the arrogant one, but I now see that you two are siblings in truth. Very well, Endure death and then wait for my coming. Let us together make this Reality tremble before our might!”

Ankh’Aris stood then, towering over the both of them like a second peak to the mountain, and let forth a roar that dispersed the clouds around them. The Ascendant kept the sound from harming them, which was all the encouragement Luci needed. The baby dragon matching the ancient dragons pose and letting forth her own loud squeak.

With a smile, a nod, and a little joy in his heart, Nate stood and activated the portal carved into the mountain slope. Ambient mana rushed in, the Wild Realm offering more than enough to ignite the portal. As the hole of darkness spun into view, Nate took one last glance at the two dragons, one gargantuan, a black so dark he drank in the light, and one tiny and golden, a shining light next to the darkness. Then Frick was on his shoulder and Kiri was by his side. Together they plunged into the darkness, rocketing through the space between universes as they returned home.

Home, Nate thought with a smile. Galle, not Earth, was home.