Chapter 555: Erdania |
Life
Erdania focused intently on her power, centering her entire being, anchoring herself in space. She was a constant, an immovable statue, reliable. Her power flowed out, her Authority flowing through her feet, seeping into the floor, holding all the Essence it touched together.
A strike of the hammer on top of the anvil sent explosions of power spreading in all directions. She felt the tremor shake through the tongs she held firmly in her hands. The ground threatened to split apart from the force, but she leaned her Authority on it, keeping it together.
At the same time when the hammer struck the item on the anvil, a great will pushed on it, bending its Essence from the side, while from the other a steady beam of fire washed over it, keeping the metal from cooling too much.
Ryun’s three vessels worked in tandem with her, all of their focus turned to their creation, their thoughts in complete sync.
Ryun’s being was spread around them, his Authority gently cradling all of them even as he had created three vessels. He had experimented a lot with the state of his being, and three separate vessels within his Aura Domain were the limit he could control at the same time.
Erdania’s Authority was very different than his. Her body and Soul weren’t the same thing, she still had a body of flesh and blood. Her Authority could expand out of her body, like his, though hers didn’t act in the same manner. Where his expanded in all directions equally along with his very being, the Authority of her Soul flowed out of her body and fell to the ground. It was a heavy thing. It couldn’t expand through the air, nor could it be infused into all Essences as his could.
In some ways, End was part of all things, so he could touch every Essence, though with varying degrees of authority over them. While Erdania could only expand her authority through solid Essences and a few laws, those which were related to her Authority over Reliability. It was easier for her to spread her authority through the ground, and anything solid that touched it, infusing it with a piece of her Soul and reinforcing it.
Which was how she was holding their smithy together, otherwise the powers Ryun was using would’ve torn it apart.
None of them wore any clothes, as had become a habit when they worked. The only garments that could survive in the conditions they worked in were the greatest of items, and even then they would probably be damaged. There wasn’t any need for it really, they were both powerful enough that they could weather the damage. She was incredibly hard to damage naturally, and Ryun just healed everything instantly.
Still, with his Authority though, he tried to keep most of it away from them.
One of his vessels held Bright Star’s hammer in its hand, bringing it down on the metal. One was the focus of his |Perfect Essence Manipulation: My Will, Shapes|.
The had both hands covered with Scorn, creating a kind of gauntlets over his arms up to the elbows. Through it, he pulled on Selia’s Qi, the Sanguine Flame of Laqruud, that was stored within Scorn’s core. The black and emerald fire washed over the item, while Erdania kept it still and her Soul’s authority spread through it. She had to keep it from shattering, reinforcing it, but it was a balance. She couldn’t reinforce it too much lest it be able to resist the flames and Ryun’s attempts at shaping it, she had to keep it just strong enough to survive without splintering.
It was a narrow path that she walked now, but they had a lot of practice at it. They had spent a lot of time doing this work, with their thoughts connected through their bond, it was second nature. The same as breathing. She shared in his perceptions and could tell exactly where the limits were.
They continued working, completely in sync, losing themselves in their craft.
Finally, with one last fall of the hammer they were finished. Ryun’s authority fell on the item, speeding up the process of cooling and Erdania reinforced it with her own Qi, letting the Metal Qi flow from her core.
There had been many changes since their fight against Ra’azel and the Unchained. They had grown, and been limited, but they were more still.
All three of them had experienced changes that extended over several perks. Her core and Qi had changed too, allowing her to now create and pull in any Reliability related Essences. For her, that meant things that were solid, that were reliable or could be made to be so. Her core could convert any of the related Essences into Qi, while it naturally only created Worldstone, Gravity, and Reliability. Though Reliability on its own was more of a concept, and hard for her to wield with her current techniques. Though she had been working on altering them.
A few of her other perks had been updated to reflect her changes. Sometimes she still wondered if all that had happened was a dream, something that she had imagined. Back then she had felt so strong, had felt as if she had touched something greater. The feeling of loss hadn’t left her yet.
She felt… almost ashamed to feel that way. She knew that Ryun didn’t feel the same, he was almost eager. He knew that he would reach that height again, that he had only been delayed. While Selia had her mind turned to other matters.
Erdania knew that it was a foolish emotion, so she tried to put it outside of her mind.
“It’s done,” Ryun said, his voice coming from three different mouths.
The item they had constructed was a javelin, a replacement for the items he had lost when he constructed Scorn—it had swallowed everything that he had stored in his territory.
It was an Eternal tier item, an improved design from one of the items that Bright Star had consumed and could now recreate.
It was at the peak of what the Eternal items could be, incredibly durable, made so by Erdania’s own authority. Its core was fashioned in a way that made it able to hold Qi with greater ease without shattering. Its purpose was to use it as a vessel for his techniques, when he wanted, or rather use its copies from Bright Star for it.
It was almost redundant in some ways. Ryun could utilize Qi from Scorn to shape constructs using Selia’s techniques to accomplish the same thing. But he wanted to have it anyway.
They had talked about their battles in the past and strategized about how to do better. At their level, battles that pushed them to their limits often came down to who had more Qi. Management of resources was important, and having an item that he could throw out without wasting their Qi supplies was important.
Especially since all three of them shared Scorn’s core. Erdania had to admit that being bonded to Scorn was a strange feeling. She could tell that it stretched across all three of their Souls, through their bond. She could even feel when the other two used it. It was an amazing item.
One of Ryun’s vessel’s picked the javelin up while the other two collapsed and flowed back into the remaining vessel as he pulled back his Authority and compressed his density.
Erdania did the same.
“Heavy,” he said, then he offered the javelin to her.
“It’s pretty,” she said as she took hold of it.
“That wasn’t exactly the point,” Ryun added.
He was right, it was incredibly heavy. They had compressed an enormous amount of metal to make it, and she had used her power to increase its density significantly. Its mass was equal to that of a mountain. It was a powerful weapon all on its own, without the need to put anything else into it.
The javelin was the color of snow, shining white, made out of the strongest metal alloy they could find and purchase in the sufficient amounts. It was simple, but beautifully made, smooth haft with a star shaped elongated tip.
They turned and started walking out of the smithy, leaving the weapon on a table nearby. They stepped through the boundary that held the burning nebula-like gas within the heart of the forge and leaving the intense heat behind. As soon as they stepped out Ryun’s body changed shape, from a nebulous person shaped Oblivion it shrank as Scorn rose up and changed into flesh and blood and creating his usual human look. Then a moment after another layer slithered over the body and created robes for him. He had started using Scorn for it, there was no need to wear any other clothes when Scorn could be whatever he wanted.
Erdania did the same. Her Soul wasn’t like his, but their changes had affected her too. She was part of True Death now too, she could assume a form very similar to what Ryun and Selia could do when they allowed made True Death to take the forefront.
Erdania’s change wasn’t as deep as theirs, so her form was more of a hybrid between flesh and blood and True Death, the piece that was within her wasn’t the same as what was within Selia. Ryun and her were the remnants of what once was True Death, while Erdania had been made into a piece of them. She retained the core of who she was.
Still, their experience had allowed her to learn how to do the same thing that Ryun did, to allow the various Essences that were part of her being to infuse her. She couldn’t do it to the same extent, but it allowed her partial changes.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
She pushed the piece of Worldstone that sang in her Soul back and her body lost its greyish-white color, color returning as her skin darkened to its usual hue. When she pulled on another Essence within her Soul, her body took on attributes of that Essence. Worldstone made her skin tougher and increased her mass significantly.
After that was done, she pulled on Scorn and it slithered across her body, wrapping in a single line across her chest then over her waist and nether parts. Thin strips wrapped her palms and wrists, then feet as she walked. With a ripple Scorn adopted the color red and a cloth-like texture.
Formations beneath their feet pulsed as they walked, lowering the temperatures around their bodies and draining the heat away. They passed through two more rings of formations, or rather scripts as Ryun called them—since many of them had been made with the knowledge he got from the yeti’s prison.
Finally, they reached the large double door and pushed it open and stepped out of the smithy. The world outside was strange and familiar, intimate.
Before them stretched a forest filled with dark green and black leaves, white bark filled with an echo of vitality they once held, the ground was pale, but felt as solid as the world itself. The Last Forest, a perk that all of three of them shared now. This wasn’t it, or perhaps not all of it. It was just a reflection, a tiny echo of the real thing, manifested here inside Ryun, or rather their, territory.
A little away from the forest was a land more recognizable to the world outside of this place. A territory that Ryun had once took hold and brought into his perk. There were buildings not far away, a small house, and a platform surrounded by stars and nebulae where Bright Star and Ryun’s armory stood.
Next to them was a large elongated rectangular building with curved roof. Within was a massive workshop, thought its size on the outside didn’t represent what was inside. If one was to step inside, they would see an opening above them with floors stretching above them into seemingly infinity. It was a workshop and a library of sorts.
Above them the sky was… different. There was a single point of light, though it was dim. Once, there was a sun here, brought by an item that Ryun had obtained. It was nearly gone now. A dark orb stood in the middle of the sky far above, pulling the collapsed sun inwardly in great spirals. A black hole, or something akin to it. It pulled the light in and kept it at its core, preventing it from escaping.
Most of their changes had been subtle, but some like this was not. Ryun and Selia had shared a perk, their Presences of the Eternal Hunters, and now all three of them shared this. Ryun’s Territory had combined with Selia and Erdania’s Domain perks. They were linked now in a way that they didn’t yet fully understand, but knew was the result of their connection.
The workshop was Selia’s Domain, and the thing in the sky was Erdania’s. They were part of this place now. But it too had changed from what it once was. Now Ryun’s territory seemed to almost stretch into infinity. A darkness surrounded them that was oppressive, that whispered of the End.
Still, it was their place. A private refuge from the world. Though it wasn’t a place that they could spend any real time, just living within. They had responsibilities.
“We going back?” Erdania asked as they walked toward the main house.
Ryun grimaced. “Selia said that Lesamitrius is still lurking around, I’d like to avoid him, if I can.”
“Ah,” Erdania lowered her voice. “You scared of getting yelled at?”
“It was your fault,” he glared back at her. “And besides, Lesamitrius would never dare yell at me. But I’m not in the mood for him to remind me that we agreed not to do that anywhere where we could cause damage.”
“That?” Erdania tilted her head, a wicked smile spreading over her face. She poked him in the rib with a finger. “You wanted to fuck just as much as I did.”
Ryun sighed. “Must you be so vulgar?”
“What? There’s no one here to hear me,” Erdania grinned at him. Then she jumped in front of him and took a step back, putting hands over her private areas. “After all the things you did to me?” She said in a soft, vulnerable tone, biting her lower lip and bowing her head.
He narrowed his eyes but didn’t respond.
“Or are you actually worried about your reputation, oh great Sect Head?” She straightened and smirked. “Worried that people will think that I’m the one corrupting you? Ravishing you?” She took a step closer, looming over him.
“That boat sailed the moment we demolished that inn in the middle of the city,” Ryun turned his head away as he answered.
“So then they should expect it of us. Look at it this way, we graduated from inns to mountains. As is proper for people of our stature and power.”
Erdania saw the corner of his mouth quirk up and pounced on him, taking him to the ground and straddling his waist. She leaned over him and put her mouth next to his ear.
“Want me to ravish you again?” She asked in a whisper.
He rolled her over and gave her an answer.
Some time and a big crater later—one that she repaired with a slight exertion of her Authority and Qi—they walked back toward the main house. Erdania grinned as Scorn wrapped itself around her again.
She was… happy. Her life had been full of struggle since she was a child. She had tried very hard to get away from the dark thoughts that lurked beneath.
She didn’t know where she would’ve been if she hadn’t found Selia, if they hadn’t fallen in love. Perhaps she would’ve allowed her baser nature to take over, perhaps she would’ve overindulged and become a monster like so many powerful individuals that she met in her life.
She tried not to think about it, but sometimes, in the moments when she felt true happiness, she couldn’t help it but let the dark thoughts out.
So much could’ve gone wrong with her life. Instead here she was, with two partners that she knew loved her without a shred of a doubt. When they had shared pieces of their Souls with her, when they had made her part of their being, that was a moment that she would remember for the rest of her life.
So many of her doubts had been shattered into countless pieces when she felt their emotions, when she finally just knew. They had tried to assure her before, of course. And she had trusted them, but always there was that tiny little voice in the back of her head—no more.
She walked next to Ryun, holding his hand with their fingers interlocked. She could feel his content through their bond and knew that he felt hers. She was glad of it. Before she had always worried about overstepping, about making him uncomfortable. She had a lot higher sex-drive than he did, with her being the one that initiated things most of the time. He had never refused her, but she wondered and worried that he was just indulging her. She didn’t want that.
Back when she and Selia had first started being together Selia had tried so hard to make Erdania happy, pushing herself until she finally said that she just didn’t enjoy things in the same way Erdania did. They might not have sex, but their relationship was still physical, they touched, they held each other, they kissed, they had intimacy. That was enough for Selia.
Outwardly, Ryun appeared as if he was the same as Selia, which had worried Erdania greatly. He just didn’t seem to think about those things often. He was content to just live, comfortable being alone.
Having the bond made it all so much easier. She could tell that he wanted her. Finally, she could live her life without always feeling nervous about overstepping. Without having those doubts in the back of her mind.
They reached the main house but didn’t enter, instead they walked to the back where the portal that led back to the Real Realm resided.
They walked through and returned to their home, their main one at least. They stepped onto the grass on top of a hill. They were high enough that they could see over the walls that surrounded their estate, and she could see Consequence in the distance.
Their new home was on top of a hill overlooking the city, next to a small forest grove and the river. They turned to the left, where the house stood out against the sky. They had purchased the home estate from the Framework, using the interface as they didn’t want to waste the time to build it. Most of the Sect builders were focused on other affairs, and they felt it was inappropriate to pull them away for a private matter.
They had added to it significantly since then though. The house was a two-story rectangular building with a courtyard in the middle, originally at least. They had since turned that courtyard into an inner garden. The house was white and had a single tower on one of the four corners that rose to the fourth story, and ended in a triangular roof.
Elaborate pillars framed the base floor walls all the way round, with the entrance nestled in the middle. There were a few support buildings near the house, some still in the process of being built. A training yard was at the bottom of the hill, next to the wall that surrounded their estate, along with a small guardhouse. Sect warriors stood on the walls, and two sat near the entrance of the house. Staff and servants walked around, doing whatever their current work was.
Erdania and Ryun walked by as they greeted them with simple head bops. This was their home, there was no need for bowing when they walked by.
They walked inside and headed up the stairs, knowing where they were going without needing to speak or even think at each other about their destination.
They had been sequestered for almost a full week in the forge, working on various stuff. There was only one place they could be going, and that was wherever Selia was.
They found her upstairs, in connected to their bedroom. She sat on a chair a brush in her hand, painting on the wall.
Selia glanced in their direction the moment they entered. She’d of course known they were coming, she could feel them in the same way that they could feel her.
“You’re back!” She smiled as she stood and walked over to them. She pulled them into a tight hug and gave them each a quick kiss.
Erdania raised her hand and rubbed at her cheek, cleaning the smear of paint on her skin.
“We're back,” Ryun responded. They could talk anytime they wanted. But they had made some rules, allowing for more privacy.
They tried not to constantly talk or peer into each other’s minds when they were away from one another. Not unless there was something important to talk about.
“You’re almost done,” Erdania commented as she looked around. The room was intended to be a nursery. Both Erdania and Ryun felt like Selia was getting a bit ahead of herself, but they couldn’t bring themselves to slow her down. Seeing her so happy made them happy after all.
They had spent the first few months after coming back to the Sect a year ago putting things into motion. Preparing for another encounter with Ra’azel. But there had been no sign of him for a long while. They had spread bounties for any information on a person matching his description both the body he wore now and what he used to look like—they didn’t know if he could recreate his body again. They hired people to search, spread the word to their allies and even those who were not. There had been no sign of him.
For all they knew he would never reappear again. They had defeated him, forced him to run. He could go into hiding for a hundred years, for a thousand even. The scale they lived their lives was so vast that they couldn’t live their lives waiting for him to reemerge.
They were doing as much as they could trying to find him.
So, they’ve started moving forward with their life.
“Almost,” Selia said as he turned around and leaned back into the two of them. The painting on the wall across from them was of a large pillar-like mountain, with a mythical creature wrapped around it—Laqruud.
He towered over everything, his mountain worn and weathered, but beneath him smaller mountains rose, filled with life bursting with nature growing over them.
“It’s beautiful,” Ryun said.
“I have news,” Selia added, her excitement spilling through their bond.
“Oh?” Ryun raised said as his hand wrapped around her and pulled her close.
Selia turned around to face them. “He accepted our offer. He’s on his way,” she said with a beaming face.
Erdania blinked, her heart suddenly lurching in her chest, beating faster. For a moment, her mind went blank.
“That’s great, Selia,” Ryun said and pulled her in a hug. “When?” He asked.
“A few weeks, I’ve sent a ship… well, a small flotilla, to escort him.”
Ryun pulled back and looked at her. Selia looked away her expression slightly embarrassed.
“A flotilla, huh?” Ryun teased her.
“What? I wanted to make sure he arrived safe and sound,” she said, her face turned almost into a pout.
Selia turned to look at her. “Dani?” Her expression suddenly guarded.
Erdania hid her panic quickly, and then smiled. Selia’s expression relaxed immediately as Erdania joined their embraced.
“I can’t wait.”
He was on his way, she had said. Tarsh Yuron, the man responsible for the first interspecies conception. The man that had risen as the top authority on the matter in the world was on his way.
And Erdania was terrified. She carefully focused on her bond, as Ryun had taught her, making sure that the two of them sensed nothing of what she felt inside.
