Chapter 251 - That Which Is Beyond Me

Nate pondered Kiri’s question about why Arikanvil was in a research station floating around Galle.

“The other three I get,” continued Kiri. “They’re Lesser Divines. Probably somewhat like us. Somewhat because, you know, they suck. I bet they didn’t evolve to Divine till level one-hundred-and-eighty.”

“Not two-hundred-and-forty?” countered Nate, playing devil’s-advocate.

“Nah. Think about how much mana the Etruan Royal Family had to siphon off just to use their Mythic Dungeon every six or so months. And it was a Low-Mythic Dungeon. They’d be struggling to level beyond one-hundred-and-ninety. I am not saying it’s impossible, but unlikely. Don’t you agree?”

“I do,” replied Nate. “Okay. So we get the other three. Arikanvil though. He’s a True Divine. Why would he keep his research station near Galle?”

Kiri waited, looking pointedly at Nate, and he chuckled in response.

“Okay. The place is low in mana density. It’s a backwater basically, on the outer edge of the universes with mana. So, whatever he is doing doesn’t require a lot of mana. In fact, a lot of mana may be bad for whatever he is researching. Also, not a lot of Divines around. Only a few Lesser Divines, and those probably on the weaker side.”

Nate looked at Kiri to pick up where he left off.

“So, he might be hiding as well. Reckon he pissed some people off? Other True Divines?”

“Maybe,” Nate agreed. “Would make some sense. Especially if he doesn’t want to fight. Or perhaps he wants to conserve his Divine Energy.”

“Right,” Kiri responded. “And whatever he’s making, The System doesn’t like it. It doesn’t want him to succeed. We get pulled into Arikanvil’s plans…we owe him. The System is what? Playing us as well so that we can interfere with the plans of a True Divine? That sounds like using a toothpick to break a hammer and we’re the toothpicks.”

Kiri took a deep breath and whispered, “Fuck.”

Nate couldn’t help but laugh.

“These are all just guesses. We won’t know for a little longer. Not till we get back to Galle, unless you want me to try asking The System directly?”

“Think it would charge you for the answers?”

“Oh definitely,” Nate responded. “We want to know. I don’t think it could get away with not charging us.”

“Then save it,” Kiri replied off-handedly. “I want to know but I can wait. Rather use the debt it owes us for something else. Like saving us from an Ancient Dragon if it decides it would rather snack on us than talk to us.”

As if on cue, the ship rose through the clouds and they got their first view of the mountain's crown. Waiting before them in the distance was a triple peak, the highest stretching upwards like a knife. At this height, Nate would have expected to see snow capping the peaks, but instead the air was warmer than it had been within the clouds. Nate could almost taste the Concept of Fire in the air, though it was warped, and he felt it was closer to Heat with something else in the mix.

As the mountain loomed closer, a yawning cave became obvious. The hollow entrance into the mountain could easily have fit three buses abreast and almost as many stacked on top of each other. As Nate got closer, his enhanced Perception let him start to make out the details around the entrance. It was not simply a cave, but contained detailed scrollwork of countless battles. Every single piece of sculpted artwork had one consistent element. A dragon, defeating whatever lay before it.

As the ship sailed into the maw of the cave, Nate felt his skin start to itch. Conceptual Insight was going wild in the back of his mind and though he had never encountered the Concept directly, it took him only a few seconds to identify it. Divine Energy rushed into him as he tried and failed to push back against the Concept of Destruction that hung thick in the air. Nate wanted to enjoy the feeling of Divine Energy flowing into him, but instead he was reminded of Kiri’s worries and the possibility that the pair of them were marching headfirst towards their deaths.

Jumping down from the ship, he was joined a moment later by Kiri and then Frick, until, with some effort, he was able to use Spatial Anchors to open up their home and tuck the flying ship away. Even as he did so, he recognised he would likely need to make some repairs just from the exposure to the Concept of Destruction in the air.

Before them stood towering doors made of black stone, decorated on either side with the shape of a roaring dragon standing tall in all its dark majesty.

“COME,” a voice boomed as the doors began to open of their own accord.

Nate and Kiri glanced at each other before stepping forward as one and slowly entering the lair of the Divine being. Death’s Shadow lay within a room that looked like something between a temple and a throne room. Pillars of black stone lined the walls on either side, stretching towards a ceiling at least fifty metres high. Without his Perception Stat, Nate doubted he would’ve been able to see the ceiling. Each pillar detailed more battles with the dragon motif being consistent, and at the end of the room stood a black dragon that towered over the room with both its size and presence. Black scales shimmered in the small amount of light that leaked into the room from somewhere Nate couldn’t see. Though dim, it was more than enough to make out the form of Death’s Shadow. The dragon's head alone was larger than a truck and he was longer than a jumbo jet. That wasn’t to say he was thin.In fact, the dragon veritably rippled with muscles.

Seeing the size of the hall, Nate realised it’s width was so large just so that Death’s Shadow could fully unfurl his wings if he so desired. The Divine dragon watched them with yellow eyes as large as Nate was tall and waited for them to approach.

The sounds of their footsteps as they marched towards a being that could likely snuff them out in an instant were subdued, rather than echoing throughout the expansive hall. The Concept of Destruction was destroying even the sound of their approach. The itch across Nate’s skin hadn’t grown worse and he was thankful for that, even if the discomfort was a constant reminder of what they had gotten themselves into.

After what felt like an hour but had likely been only a minute, they arrived before the dragon. Nate stared up at the creature and saw in its form, both beauty and death. He had to restrain his urge to use Conceptual Sight of the Runic Artist to look at the being, unwilling to risk offending the Divine.

Next to him, Kiri was gritting her teeth, whether to keep her fear in check or out of anger at the treatment, Nate didn’t know. As for Frick, the Spirit, for once, was deathly silent, clinging to Nate’s shoulder. The action reminded Nate of how Frick had espoused the glories of goblins and how they were the greatest race in the multiverse. Seeing Frick’s reaction now, he wasn’t sure if the little goblin spirit believed his words still, because Nate certainly did not.

Death’s Shadow slowly lowered his head slightly, staring at them with huge, yellow, slitted eyes. Then Nate felt a presence wash over him, prying open the spatial zone within him and entering into his Regalia. The breach was instantaneous, his protections washed away in an instant, though Nate did feel a brief whiff of something Divine in the mix.

“YOU CARRY SOMETHING INTERESTING, ARTIST,” boomed the dragon's deep voice.

Then it was holding the fossilised egg of a Solar Dragon in between two claws. Within the dragons grasp, the egg that was normally the size of a ripe cantaloupe looked like a bead for a necklace.

“WHERE DID YOU COME BY THIS?”

“It was encased in a Divine sealed box that I…recovered…from the Fourth Hell,” Nate answered, his voice feeling like a whisper before the dragon despite him not lowering it in the slightest.

“YOU ROBBED A DEMON LORD?”

The dragon started laughing, the sound almost enough to knock Nate off his feet. 

“BRAVE FOR A FRESHLY GROWN ASCENDANT. ESPECIALLY ONE SO WEAK IN KALI’TERRA’S PATH.”

“I was not an… Ascendant… when I acquired it,” replied Nate.

Death’s Shadow moved his head lower, looking at Nate more closely.

“THERE IS A STORY THERE. I WILL HAVE IT. BUT NOT NOW. NOW WE WILL DETERMINE WHETHER YOU ARE WORTH MY TIME.”

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

Ankh’aris’kol’deravian watched the child’s reaction closely. He was lying to them, but for a purpose. He would give the children whatever Kali’terra desired. The System, as they called it, always paid its debts, which was more than could be said for others.

The fossilised egg was a cause for sadness. A sadness Ankh had long hoped to forget. His kin were almost entirely gone. The few who remained were pale shadows of what they should have been, yolked to Kali’terra like so many others. Eventually, Ankh would likely leave this Reality behind. But he would not be forced from his home. He would make that journey when he was ready, so that he might stand among the greatest beings of all Realities. And for that, Kali’terra could assist him. So, he would play this little game. Besides, these children at least seemed interesting. Young, but interesting. Now, it was time to see what Kali’terra wanted for them.

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

“I AM ANKH’ARIS’KOL’DERAVIAN. TELL ME YOUR STORY, CHILDREN,” demanded the dragon.

Nate glanced at the fossilised egg, the Divine energies it emitted blending easily with the heat of the dragon’s throne room.

“About how I acquired the fossilised egg?” Nate asked, uncertainty colouring his tone. Kiri shot him a worried glance.

Kiri’s glance wasn’t what was worrying Nate though. Ankh had simply taken the egg. Had demanded answers. Was effectively pressuring them with his mere presence. And through all of that, Nate had not felt Reciprocity once. Not a whisper. And that was quickly leading him to a single conclusion, one that made him far more concerned about being in the dragon’s presence. Seek that which is beyond me. Nate had interpreted those words to mean older than The System. But now he was thinking that meant that the dragon was in fact outside of The System. And if it possessed no Class Core, then it was not bound by the Law of Reciprocity. It could extinguish them in an instant without a worry in the world. His fear rippled through him and the dragon noticed.

“KALI’TERRA DIDN’T TELL YOU?” snorted the dragon.

“Didn’t tell us what?” Kiri asked worriedly.

“GO ON, LITTLE ARTIST. TELL HER.”

“He doesn’t have a Class Core,” Nate whispered. “He’s not bound by Reciprocity.”

Kiri’s body language shifted as though she was getting ready to run, or more likely teleport. But Nate could sense it was futile. The throne room was sealed, as though nothing existed beyond its confines except for a sea of destruction. They couldn’t leave.

“SO NOT A COMPLETE FOOL,” commented Ankh, placing the fossilised egg between them. “YOUR ACTIONS ABOVE PINORETH MADE ME WONDER. RARE FOR ONE OF KALI’TERRA’S PAWNS TO CREATE A DIVINE ARTIFACT. RARER STILL TO CREATE ONE AS INVESTED AS YOURS. WHAT DO YOU CALL IT?”

“Regalia of the Conceptual Artist,” Nate answered quietly.

Ankh laughed again, the sound rolling over them like a crashing wave.

“ARROGANT! FITTING FOR AN ASCENDANT. I APPROVE.”

The dragon looked back at them, still as stone.

“TELL ME HOW YOU CAME TO MY WORLD.”

Kiri glanced at Nate and gave him a nod to speak for them both. Launching into an explanation Nate told how he and Kiri had come from Galle, a backwater with almost no Divines and low ambient mana concentrations. How on the cusp of reaching Divinity, Arikanvil, a True Divine, had come before them and offered a trade. Tasks completed for him in return for saving them from their own ignorance. About how The System, Kali’Terra as Ankh named it, had interfered, pushing them to accept Arikanvil’s offer in return for a debt owed to them. Finally, how at the moment of being sent to a Wild Realm for their training, The System had once more interfered, changing their destination and sending them here.

“A DEBT FROM KALI’TERRA IS NO SMALL THING. IT HAS SENT OTHERS TO MY WORLD BEFORE. BUT NEVER BECAUSE IT OWED THEM A DEBT. ALWAYS TO PUT THEM INTO ITS DEBT. THIS ARIKANVIL, DOES HE GO BY OTHER NAMES?”

“I have heard him called The Wanderer…”

Ankh laughed again, louder this time, and Nate felt his body lifted off the ground by the blast of air. He tried to weave a rune of Air to cushion himself and felt it dissipate in the Concept of Destruction that surrounded them. Crashing into the polished stone floor didn’t hurt, but it did feel very undignified. Kiri had faired better, only being pushed back, but Nate could recognise she was imbuing herself, which was an internal Skill and likely less affected by the Concept surrounding them. Frick hung on for dear life and Nate could sense that he was minutes away from banishment as the Concept of Destruction ate away at his pale existence within the Physical Realm.

“THE LITTLE THIEF GREW UP I SEE. GREW UP AND HAS DECIDED HE WANTS TO GNAW ON THE CHAINS THAT ALLOWED HIM TO RISE IN THE FIRST PLACE. I SEE NOW WHY KALI’TERRA HAS SENT YOU. VERY WELL.”

Conceptual Insight activated, humming in the back of his mind that ‘something’ was descending on the throne room. The Concept was as clear as day to him as Reciprocity pushed back against Destruction, carving a place for itself between Nate, Kiri, Frick and Ankh.

In that space hung an orb like a perfect yellow moon.

“DO YOU ACCEPT?” came a voice from the yellow moon, its presence far less oppressive than Ankh’s, but its strength…endless.

“I ACCEPT, KALI’TERRA.”

“YOU WILL HAVE WHAT YOU DESIRE WHEN MY LESSER DIVINES LEAVE YOUR REALM.”

“AGREED,” answered Ankh, no less haughty or dignified in the presence of The System.

Then the moon was gone and only the Dragon Beyond The System remained.

Watching them for a moment, Ankh began to change. His body shrunk, the monolithic draconic form shrinking until a black-scaled humanoid stood before them. Two obsidian horns curled up from its forehead and a thick tail flicked behind it. Standing at almost three metres tall, the draconic-humanoid still towered over them and Nate still sensed that endless well of destruction contained within its reduced form. Then even that sense of destruction retreated and for the first time since arriving, Nate’s skin didn’t itch nor did he feel like he was a breath away from being dissolved into nothingness.

“For the duration of your stay, you may call me Death’s Shadow, as the Calikex do, or Lord Ankh’Aris if you prefer.”

Ankh bent down and picked up the fossilised solar dragon egg, his yellow eyes roving over it sadly before he placed it in Nate's lap where Nate still sat on the floor.

Then, looking between Nate and Kiri, the Ancient Dragon asked them the golden question.

“Kali’Terra has paid for my assistance. What is it you desire?”