Chapter 116: A Grand & Intoxicating Innocence Finale

Kaius sat frozen, locked in the chair. His heart pounded in his chest, every thump straining to push blood through his system, like his vital fluid had turned to treacle. He longed to turn his head, to check on Porkchop. He felt his bolstering support flowing through the bond, and sent his own across in turn.

He dared not reach out with anything resembling real speech. Not here. Not in the presence of divinity.

Could it possibly be true? That he had potentially doomed everything? He’d merely strived for success, merely strained to reach the rewards that the system had offered. How could it deliver so cruel a punishment?

Ekum chuckled, flippant in his disregard of his dread and fear.. “It is only a punishment if you fail, my boy. Show me that steel that you’ve held for the last year. You’re better than this. I might only care for my freedom, but it would certainly be more… pleasant if it was your success that led to my release, instead of your failure. I get a little golden star on my record if your world survives. Hence, a proposition.” The ascendant paused, the room falling silent except for the slow constant crackle of logs aflame.

“Bear the weight of your crown and burn the world in your ambition, for it will be lost if you do not. Do not let up, do not relax, and do not slow down. Forge a power base, cultivate allies, and destroy your enemies. Temper your strength, and plumb the mysteries of power. Above all else, delve. Delve as deep as you can, as fast as you can. If you do this, I will give you guidance. Enough to ensure you have a goal, a place to direct your struggle.”

Ekum the Pale stood up, his full height looming over them both. The ascendant turned, leaning back on the hearth’s mantle. 

“Which leads me to the last. A piece of advice. Master your aspects and reach the fiftieth layer before you rise to the third tier. I recommend a lot of killing, a lot of soul-searching, and delving as high above your level as you can manage.” The ascendant said, a thin half smile barely visible on his lips.

Kaius stayed rooted to the spot, trying and failing to digest Ekum’s words. Reaching the fiftieth layer before the third tier would mean facing creatures up to a hundred levels higher than him, at best. Let alone the Champions or Guardians. Did the ascendant wish him death? And the third tier? On what time frame did he expect him to become a powerhouse of humanity?

And what the fuck was an aspect?

Ekum laughed. The very essence of the world quaked. 

“Third tier? Powerhouse? That’s not even true on this backwater shithole.” He chuckled, throaty and deep, as he wiped tears from his eyes. “Oh, that is too good. No. I do not suggest suicide. Both of you are Observed, you are not cut from the same cloth as the unwashed masses. More than that, you’ve achieved a Major Honour in your assessment period, ushering in the second stage! Have some bloody faith in yourselves!” Ekum’s tone grew flinty, threatening to stop his heart with toxic intent alone. “This will be the work of decades, but this does not mean you have time to slack. And no, I will not explain what an Aspect is. The whole point of them is self-discovery, and the update will cover the bare essentials. ”

Ekum the pale waved towards them contemptuously. “We’re done here. Follow my advice and we will see each other again soon enough.”

Shock fired down Kaius’s spine, arcing through his limbs like branching lightning. What did he mea-

A hand of adamant will set its grip upon him, and he slid above-through-towards the world.

…

Kaius slammed back into his body. For a moment, all he could do was reel, then as the finely carved dwarven statues surrounding him continued to twist and sway he bent over and hurled. The leftover remnants of that morning's breakfast splashed against the pavestones, his throat constricting painfully as he slumped his weight onto his arms.

Porkchop moaned off to his left, his brother’s splitting headache seeping across their bond to aggravate Kaius’s discomfort further. 

Shuffling away from the pool of sick, Kaius scooted until his back rested against the cool stone plinth of the statue they had rested beneath, before their rude abduction. His head sank back, resting on the uncomfortable edge as he stared blankly off into the distance, eyes hollow and haggard. Processing what they had just been through.

He cared not what Ekum the Pale had said, the being was a god. No two ways about it. It was the only valid descriptor. Even if he was somehow beyond gods, or whatever he had meant by being an ‘ascendant’, from the perspective of a mere mortal, it made little difference.

Never had he been so totally trounced, so totally sure that his continued existence occurred only at the whims and behest of another. Having the sanctity of his mind violated so casually was the smallest thing that weighed on him. The entire time he had felt the weight of looming death. A doom that screamed at him from all angles, as his skills lay barren and silent, abandoning him in his time of need.

“Fuck.” He whispered, tensing his fist in a half hearted attempt to rouse some fire and indignation within him. His blood stayed as cold as ice. What use was anger in the face of a god? It was like raging against the wind or the mountain. Useless.

Yet it was the content of Ekum the Pale’s words that worried him the most. What could he have possibly meant, that he might have just consigned his world to ash? Did the heavens and hells care so little? 

There was a shuffle from beside him as Porkchop pulled himself over to him. Kaius turned, looking at the haggard look on his brother's face and feeling the uncertainty and anxiety that washed across their joined souls in waves. A reflection of him.

“What did he and the system mean by the second phase, Porkchop?” Kaius asked weakly.

Porkchop slumped. “I don’t know, I’ve never heard of it, or about the ‘integration’. The start of the system is as opaque to the Matriarchs as it is to everyone else.”

“He made it sound like we would find out for ourselves soon enough.” Kaius whispered, eyes unfocused as he stared aimlessly forward. “What are we supposed to do? All I wanted to do was escape and find Father.”

Porkchop grunted and shook his head, before he sat up, his spine straight. “We will do what we have done for the last year, Kaius. We will fight. Strive towards our goals with everything we have. So what if the world is at risk? What does that mean to us? That we might die? We’ve been staring death in the face for over a year! Look, Kaius!” 

Resolute strength flowed across their bond, waves of conviction, surety, and faith washing over him. It warmed the frigid claws of ice around his heart, stoking the fire of his blood. Porkchop caught his eyes, before he jutted his snout back behind him. “I said look!”

Kaius twisted. He saw the remnants of a great battle. Shattered statues, pulverised into rubble and dust. Smears of red and pools of green dotted fractured flagstones, one particularly large one surrounding an oversized iron-braced club. There, at the end of the trail of destruction, lay the ragged and torn body of the Siege Ogre, submerged in an ocean of its own viscera. Entrails spilled from a hole in its side, and its head had twisted to reveal a neck so cut that he could see down its throat. A Guardian of the Great Depths, brought low by the actions of two unclassed. 

“Look at it! That is who we are! Killer. Climber. Delver. That is what you are. So what if the world is at risk. I saw the notification, I heard Ekum the Pale, it was destined. Ordained. If there is to be a coming calamity, I would face it with fire in my heart and flesh in my claws. Not frozen, fearful of the consequences and implications of a secret yet to be revealed.” Porkchop thundered, the words rattling deep into the fire of Kaius’s soul.

His bond-brother was right, this wasn’t like him. He breathed in, collecting his worries, his fears, and his uncertainties. Then he breathed out, and released them. They didn’t leave, such was the way of the mind, but no longer did he clutch them to his chest where they could worm their way into his heart. 

“Thank you, Porkchop,” he said, turning to wrap his arms around his brother's neck, ignoring the unmentionable muck that was matted into his fur. Kaius sighed, before he shifted back.

“You’re right. There’s no use worrying until we know more. At the very least, Ekum left us with actionable goals. Complete our aspects and reach the fiftieth layer before crossing into the third tier. Though I know nothing about the former, and the latter is years off, it gives us a target. I just hope that if everything is destined to go to shit, we’ll have time to seek after Father.” Kaius frowned as he thought over potential futures, at the very least, they had a lead there too.

It took a special kind of wound to leave a scar that Health couldn’t heal. A man with a mark like that on his face would be memorable indeed. There would be someone who would know more.

Porkchop headbutted him gently, smearing gore on his face. Kaius gagged, shoving his bond-brother away from him.

“That’s more like it,” Porkchop chittered. “We’ll find him. Besides, things will be far less fraught this time around. We unlocked our class and bloodline early, remember?”

Kaius started, what with the onslaught of notifications, and the visit from a divine entity, it had completely slipped his mind. He grinned. “Oh yeah, that’ll definitely help. Though, we might have to wait to do that. The system still feels…distant.”

He could still feel it, its omnipresence blanketing his entire being, but it was less responsive. Part of him wanted to pull up his status, to check his latest Honours and see the long awaited words that he had been anticipating his entire life. He didn’t though, if he tried and the system didn’t respond it would be all too much.

Luckily he didn’t have to wait long. They sat against the base of the statue for a minute, calm confidence slowly returning as he savoured the achievement of a year's worth of work.

Then the world thrummed once more, unleashed potential washing through Kaius like a wave. To his True Sight the omnipresent mana in the depths roiled, falling into a frenzied current. Kaius flinched, staring at the mana in shock, his hand snapping to his blade as he sought the cold reassurance of steel.

The system spoke.

*Ding! Global Announcement: An Integrated Individual has Performed a Major feat of Strength in their Assessment Period! Integration Phase 1 Objective #7 Achieved!*

*Ding! Integration Phase 2 Initiated!*

*Integration Phase 2 comes with a number of significant changes to the local biosphere, the Great Depths, and the System!*

*Mana density will rise and equalise over the next (1 Local Year), leading to less segregation of non-sapient System Integrated lifeforms!*

*All sentient but non-sapient lifeforms will now become integrated at their birth, and will finish their assessment period at full maturity!*

*Tyrants have been created and unleashed! Challenge these powerful unshackled System-born, if you dare.*

*Rare Crucible Grounds have opened in the Great Depths. Seek them out and attempt their challenges to obtain potent rewards, if you dare.*

*The Aspect Triumvirate has been unlocked! Similar to the Legacy Skills of the first Phase, Aspects are an optional advancement path. Enshrine your pillars of self, and develop them in the crucible of Soul and Skill. It is highly recommended that all aspects are fully developed before reaching the Second Tier, and fully tempered before the Third. Due to soul-crystalisation, Aspects are unavailable to those who have already ascended past the First Tier.*

*Integration Phase 3 will commence when one of several objectives are met. Good Luck.*