Chapter 254 - Course Correction

Kiri lunged at Ankh’Aris the moment he appeared in front of Nate. Even imbued with soul energy she was too slow. One second she was throwing herself at Ankh’Aris and the next she was dangling above the floor, a claw covered in black scales wrapped around her throat. Stillshe fought, trying to lash out with her tethered arms and daggers. The daggers vanished like dust, followed by her tethered arms as a pulse of pure destruction rippled across her form. Pockmarks appeared across her Mythic armour and her skin below. While her body healed almost instantly, the same was not true of her armour. In the space of a second she had lost her brother, her tools had been destroyed, and she had been taken prisoner. Still, she raged.

“Calm yourself,” Ankh’Aris intoned in his baritone voice.

“What did you do to him?!” she screamed.

Ankh’Aris squeezed her throat tighter and pulled her close to his draconic face, “I began his education. He learns by understanding, and for that he needs to experience that which he wishes to understand. You, however, are instinctual. You learn by doing.”

Then Ankh’Aris threw her through the wall. She blasted through the stone like a cannonball, her body torn apart in the process as a mutilated mess landed on the shiny stone of the throne room. A moment later she was whole and down a Soul Twin.

“So, that is how your rebirth works,” commented Ankh’Aris as he walked into his throne room through the doorway they had used. Behind him, the hole in his wall was slowly reforming into unmarred stone, with fragmented shapes melding back into a smooth surface. At the same time Ankh’Aris was changing, shifting from his draconic-humanoid form back into a dragon. The only difference this time was the size. Rather than monolithic, this new draconic form was smaller, stretching to roughly four metres in length.

Kiri looked at the dragon frantically, “Is he safe?”

Ankh’Aris laughed at her.

“None of you are safe. To ascend is to eschew safety. You made yourselves into tools for greater powers then agreed to my assistance to escape those shackles. I will forge you into actual Ascendants, or you will die trying. There are worse ways to go. At least this way you had a choice.”

Kiri snarled at the danger to Nate, then realised she hadn’t seen Frick since. At least he wasn’t alone, she thought, only for that hope to be dashed like eggs about to be devoured.

“Each of the three of you advance in a different way. For Nate, he just needs time and exposure. But, you don’t have time. Less than three months before you must answer your summons. Less time means more danger. For the spirit, well, in many ways he was the easiest. Those who incorporate Demonic Energies have a simple route to power, assuming they can resist the whispers of that dark path.”

“You sent Frick away?” Kiri asked, finding her anger dampened at the dragon's explanation. There was no power without paying a price. She just had to have faith that Nate could weather whatever the dragon threw at him.

“I sent him to the Third Hell. He follows a path of consumption, feeding on Chaos. If he wants to grow, he needs to feed.”

“And Nate?” Kiri asked, suddenly worried again that Nate had been sent to the Hells once more and how he would react.

Ankh’Aris watched her with one large, yellow eye as he moved around her slowly in a circle, stalking her like prey. Finally, after completing a full circle, the dragon deigned to answer.

“I sent him to my cultivation chamber.”

The words hit Kiri like a hammer, leaving her dumbfounded, to the point she lost her fighting stance in confusion. A fact which was not lost on Ankh’Aris who laughed at her again as he stalked her like a cat stalks a mouse, or a dragon stalks literally anything.

“You thought I was trying to kill him? While his death is a possibility, and while I would be disappointed if that came to pass, I am expecting a far better response. You both have potential. Potential to be the kind of force I want to see in this Reality. Potential to become actual Ascendants, so long as you can keep Kali’Terra in your debt. Potential to become a thorn in the side of my enemies. Now, stop worrying about Nate, and start worrying about yourself.”

Then, the dragon attacked and all other thoughts fled Kiri’s mind as she fought like her life depended on it, because it did.

*************

Frick stared across a barren, dust swept landscape where the winds themselves ate at his very being. The dragon’s words echoed in his mind.

“Consume the consumers until you are in balance.”

Frick knew what that ancient, scaly bastard meant. When Frick had first joined with Nate, he had been a low-level Spirit with a Rare Class. Becoming Nate’s Familiar had changed everything for Frick. His Boss’s ability with Concepts had started Frick’s own growth more than the additional mana had. Mana that had been incredibly difficult to get in the Spiritual Realm. Then his Boss had gone and gotten himself entwined with that demon. A demon of consumption, Devouring specifically. That alone might have been enough for Frick to start down a different path, but then the Boss had gone and figured out how to incorporate the demon’s exact Concept into his own creations.

And anything his Boss could learn, Frick could access, entwined as he was with Nate’s own soul energy. And oh how Frick had used that idea to grow. But Frick was an idea made up of many. Frick was, and always had been, the Horde. And a goblin horde was above all else, barely contained Chaos. So, Chaos with some Consumption had become Frick’s Path. A Path that had seen him grow by leaps and bounds. Epic at his first evolution, then Legendary at his second. Now he approached his third evolution, something he had started to delay when he had learned Nate could help him skip a tier. If they could just align Frick enough with one of his Concepts he could skip Mythic entirely and go to Divine.

That scaly bastard had clearly known, since he had pointed out he could help make Frick the equivalent of a Seed from the Heartlands. And those vaunted elites apparently achieved Divinity at their third evolution. The idea had Frick grinning from ear to ear. It also had him, in true goblin fashion, shitting his pants. With Nate’s help it would’ve been easy. Expensive, but easy. Boss could’ve just made him a Divine artifact then Frick could have leached off of it, just like he had leached off the Boss since forever. But that wasn’t what the scaly bastard wanted.

Frick was like three parts Chaos and one part Consumption. He was also like nine parts Spiritual Energy and one part Demonic Energy. If he was to be balanced, he needed more Consumption and Demonic Energy. Which meant he needed to consume both, and where better to do that than the Third Hell. The home of the Gluttonous. Frick began to creep forward along the barren landscape like a blue spider as he began to search for demons to sate himself upon. He just hoped that scaly bastard was watching because Frick was here in truth. To die here would be a final death. A true death. Frick couldn’t help but grin, the look wild on his face. He couldn’t have been happier!

*************

Nate appeared in a desolate landscape that reminded him of the Fourth Hell crossed with Ankh’Aris’s throne room. Red, yellow, and black sand swirled in constant eddies obscuring his vision for more than a few metres. His sphere of awareness could see even less, as he felt his tenuous grip on his surroundings constantly being destroyed. Conceptual Insight on the other hand was screaming at him, to the point that without the ability to split his focus, the Skill alone would have overwhelmed his senses.

Thankfully he could compartmentalise and left one part of his mind dealing with Conceptual Insight. The second and third part had spun up runes. A barrier rune to protect his naked form and a life rune to repair the damage done to his body. He’d only been exposed to the environment for a few seconds but that had been enough for the sand and winds to start eating away at him like meat dissolving in acid. 

That was where the first problem had arisen. Wherever Ankh’Aris had sent him was passively trying to kill him. A minute, Nate estimated, was how long he could survive before the environment killed him. What was worse was that he had lost his Divine Artifact and something was preventing him from opening a Spatial Anchor so he couldn’t access all the mana gems stored in his spatial zone. All that he was left with was his own mana, a finite resource in this environment.

Even with all the pressure, he wasn’t letting panic set in. He still had his Divine Energy, and with Conceptual Insight screaming he suspected he could generate more. The question was, could he use it to overpower the block on Spatial Anchors or better yet, to escape this hellscape.

As his mind was about to try to start solving his problems, a shadow walked out from the sandstorm surrounding him. At first Nate thought it was a small dragon, taller than Nate, but tiny when compared to Ankh’Aris, but as it got closer its face resolved and Nate realised it was Ankh’Aris.

As the ancient dragon got closer Nate noticed some slight differences. The horns weren’t as long for one and the scales were shinier.

“What do you think?” asked Ankh’Aris.

“Of this place? It feels like a deathtrap.”

Ankh’Aris nodded, moving like a serpent around Nate, “For many it would be. Maybe even for you. But we are limited in the amount of time we have together. If we had years, decades, I could help you rise safely. Teach you all the things you lack. Secure your foundations. Then unleash you upon my enemies. But, we do not have decades. We do not even have years. We have months. Months in which I will only be able to correct the greatest of your flaws.”

Nate remained quiet, listening intently.

“This place you find yourself in, is my Cultivation realm. The place where I keep all the Artifacts that resonate with a Truth that aligns with my own Path. Do you understand what that means?”

Nate nodded, thinking that he understood, “It is filled with Destruction.”

Ankh’Aris snorted, “This is the problem with Kali’Terra and their Class Cores. They limit you. They limit your thinking. I expected better of you Nate. You who are arrogant enough to walk a Path that could encapsulate a Reality.”

Nate had been distracted both by Ankh’Aris’s movements and keeping his runes up while monitoring his dwindling mana reserves. With an effort of will he cast those tasks to the back of his mind and bent his thoughts towards Ankh’Aris’s question rather than offering the first and simplest of answers.

“It is a tapestry,” he whispered, finally listening to Conceptual Insight, but more than that, listening to his own feelings and understanding of Reality. “It is everything that you can relate back to Destruction.”

Nate paused then glanced at Ankh’Aris, “Why? Wouldn’t it be stronger if it was pure Destruction?”

Ankh’Aris paused in his circling and flicked out his tongue as though tasting the destructive energies that swirled around them.

“Is a tapestry made of a single thread stronger than one made from many? The answer is, perhaps. A single thread would mean any flaw in the material, any linkage that wasn’t perfect, could destroy the entire tapestry. A tapestry made of many threads could be weaker, if they were not placed correctly, if they did not bind to each other properly. Loose threads creating a fragmented and weak fabric. But woven properly, the tapestry made of many threads is far stronger, because it can adapt. The breaking of a single thread would not unravel the entire tapestry, and repairs could be made. For an Ascendant, growth is not about a single ideal. It is about how a single ideal, a single Concept, can relate to the rest of Reality. Nothing in this Reality exists in isolation. Nothing.”

“For you, that needs to be more true than it does for me or any other Ascendant. That is, if you are still set on your Path?”

Nate grit his teeth. He was set. He wanted to paint it. Paint everything. Paint Reality. That was his Path. If that meant learning about every infinitesimally small Concept and how they related to everything else, creating some abstract three-dimensional artwork, then so be it. He could live with that, even if it took him the rest of his life. Even if he never succeeded. It was called a Path. Not a destination. He would walk it forever, if that was what was needed, to be true to himself.

“I am.”

“Then, begin to learn. Drop that barrier. Use your own Divine Energy to shield yourself and let some in. Expand your understanding. Acquire new threads for the tapestry that is your body, and start incorporating them. If you ever wish to be free of Kali’Terra, then you need to be able to store Divine Energy without its assistance. You, like your little globe of paint, need to become a pillar of Reality. A place where meaning, truth, and purpose collide.”

Nate paused for a moment, “And if I fail?”

“Then you were never meant to be an Ascendant and Reality has made its will known.”

Ankh’Aris flicked his tail, turning away, “Find me within this Realm. If you can manage that, I will give you your next lesson.”

Then the dragon was gone, vanished into the dark and swirling sands.

Nate watched the Ankh’Aris go and thought about his words. Was Nate willing to risk his life to keep following his Path? The answer was both simple and complex. He could say no, use his Divine Energy to escape this place, and continue as he had. A talented pawn of The System, but a pawn nonetheless. An artist who could stand atop the midden heap that was The Heartlands, or perhaps return to Galle and live out his life in peace, painting and caring for his friends. But he saw where that Path ultimately led. Eventually he would see all the sights of Galle worth seeing. He would paint all the moments and places worth painting until his works would become derivative, imitations of other works. Then he would slide into depression, and eventually, he would give up.

Perhaps he would wander, but the chain that was The System would keep him from straying too far. And if he didn’t keep rising, eventually he would just become fuel for someone else’s growth. Or perhaps he would reach True Divine only to find that those old practitioners, the ones who had witnessed The System’s arrival, would see him as a threat and gorge themselves on him. He would experience a full life, and then, despite his effective immortality, he would die to either his own displeasure or to sate the greed of beings far older than he.

Or, he could seize this opportunity. He could risk it all to start himself down a Path that would see him free of all shackles. Free him from The System. Free from those within this Reality who would seek to use or consume him. Free from this Reality entirely. He knew what Kiri would choose, but this wasn’t about his sister, this was about him, and what he wanted.

This was still more proof they were siblings in all but blood. With a firm smile and focused eyes, he sat on the black sand of this Realm of Destruction, and dropped his barriers.