Tale of Eldramir

It was painful. He could feel his body being ripped apart at the seams. It was not unlike the times he’d been hurt from bad [Jumps] in the past. His fight against the Flame Cultist that attacked him in Tarquessa came to mind. But this was a thousand times worse. If only physically.

That didn’t mean that he couldn’t feel his [Will] and soul straining as it worked hard to keep itself from being torn up. The pressure was even more intense as his soul tried to hold Shine’s together as well.

He could feel himself being pushed and pulled in all directions at once.

He was here.

He was there.

He was everywhere.

He was nowhere.

Suddenly, it stopped. Something clicked within his mind, and Ezekiel remembered.

He remembered the time spent traveling through the Void as just a soul. The time where he had been asleep, and nothing seemed to happen, even as his soul grew larger and larger as time passed.

Then, a breaking of barriers as he entered Eldramir. A massive, gaping maw of oily flesh and bones in the distance. Sealed within the centermost point of the only true continent in the world.

Suddenly his mind was filled with concepts and [Understandings] that he couldn’t comprehend, so he didn’t. Even now, with his increased [Will] and even more powerful soul, he did not comprehend it all.

So, he didn’t.

Instead, just like before, he forgot, but this time, a portion of it remained. Including the fact that he had forgotten anything at all. Which was more than he recalled from the first time.

Now, even as his body was quickly coming apart at the seams, he saw something in these memories. A piece of himself that he had thought he hadn’t realized that he was losing. A burning desire that he had once felt in his previous life, but the trials of his new life had nearly washed away.

A question that had been left unanswered, but now screamed loudly within his soul.

“What are you?”

Unconsciously, the words escaped his lips, even as it hurt to think, let alone speak. He said those words, nearly screaming them into the Void. Only for silence to be his only answer.

The next moment, the rest of his spell formation activated. His soul called out in fear and loss, as he could feel that he was incredibly close to his [Truth]. But it was too late.

A moment later, as the light within his soul had just begun to flicker, he disappeared from nowhere. Reappearing elsewhere, with a burning desire, and worthwhile frustration at being denied.

----------

The moment they had reappeared, Shine knew that something had happened when they were nowhere. Their partner was covered in wounds that were bleeding profusely, and it seemed like the only thing holding his body together was mana and grit.

Yet even though they knew that Ezekiel’s wounds were purely physical, with no soul damage at all, besides some minor strain and tiredness, they were worried.

Ezekiel was utterly silent when they had reappeared. No word of worry or reassurance was to be had. Instead, there was just a firm determination that was as tough as magically reinforced steel.

In fact, Shine wasn’t certain that there was anything in the world that could deter Ezekiel from whatever he had currently set his mind on.

‘Are you okay?’ They asked in a nervous tone. A small part of them felt ashamed of the fact that they sounded scared of their partner, but there was a change in Ezekiel’s presence that they didn’t understand.

A moment later, that worry disappeared, as Ezekiel seemed to realize something, and their answer was full of feelings of regret and apology.

‘Sorry about that. I just... I saw something that I needed to see, and it nearly got me what I needed.’ Ezekiel sounded uncertain of himself, but the sense that his emotions were once more stunted by his element were disappearing.

Hearing what he had to say, Shine could see why Ezekiel was feeling so intense. They also understood why Ezekiel felt so different. If before he had been at the door to the Mythic Tier, then now, it seemed like that door had been opened, and he had even gotten one foot through.

Now, he just had to get the rest of himself through as well.

‘Well...I think I know what will make you feel better.’ Shine directed their senses to where the two cultists were now talking to one another.

Silently, Ezekiel grinned as he was covered in a [Shroud]. Preparing themself, Shine readied a proper long range [Jump]. Reveling in their partner’s emotions as Ezekiel readied them for battle.

A moment later, and a quick stab forward, the Void Hunter and Spirit had stabbed through the lightning throwing bitch that had gotten them in so much pain and trouble in the first place.

As her body fell into the ocean, they had an idea, and a small flow of mana entered the body of their deceased enemy. Ezekiel’s approval for their plan made them grin.

----------

Ezekiel hadn’t expected the Glacial Cultist to have just started running after he had killed her partner. Who he now recognized was the Cultist that seemed to have had a presence in Quintessa. If the reports that he had gotten from the Church were to be believed.

‘Well... at least we can confirm that the Cult in Quintessa has more or less been rooted out.’ While he wasn’t certain how high up these two had been, they knew that they weren’t just your run of the mill cultists. They were better equipped than any he had fought before.

‘Are you sure we should keep on fighting? You got the drop on the Lightning user, but this one is in far better condition, and we couldn’t take her down before.’ Shine had shifted from being overjoyed at taking out the one who had hurt Ezekiel so badly, to concern for his health as his primary focus.

By this point, the Glacial cultist had slammed into the barrier that Ezekiel had thrown up. A dark sense of glee filled him as he saw her bounce backward with a crack in her helmet that swiftly repaired itself. She dropped to the ocean once more, but Ezekiel didn’t let up. He charged at her and locked his arms around her before pulling her up into the sky, further and further from the ocean.

She flailed in his arms, but she couldn’t summon up as much water as before. The attacks she made against him were comparatively weak, as the cost of each spell had increased exponentially.

He could now tell that she wasn’t a primary combatant. Had it not been for the fact that the ocean was augmenting her power, he was almost certain he could’ve beaten her much sooner. His own strength seemed to be much higher as well. Though the injuries he had suffered were beginning to act up.

Perhaps it was a side effect of rediscovering a portion of his [Truth]?

‘We should at least try. Besides, you set a marker this time, right?’ Ezekiel thought back to the mana he had sensed Shine channel into the dead Cultist’s body. ‘We’ll be able to escape without any issues if that’s the case.’

Due to the general suddenness of their battle, Ezekiel and Shine hadn’t been able to create any [Jump] points to get away more quickly. Especially since they had to ensure that their opponent didn’t get away from them to help the Cult’s Exalt either.

Had they thrown their daggers, they would’ve sunk into the ocean, or been too far away to [Jump] to. But with a corpse, it was likely that it would float, and he’d be able to get to it more easily.

‘In the future, we’re making badges or something that Riley and Wendy can wear. I don’t like that we’ve been stuck like this.’

Shine silently agreed with him. Having something that wouldn’t be concealed inside a Void Pouch would be of great help later, since Void Pouches tended to cut off their connection and sensing, unless they physically touched the thing.

“Grrraaahhhh!” Ezekiel suddenly found himself frozen in a block of ice that the cultist wasn’t stopped by. She was able to slip out of his grip during the brief few seconds when he couldn’t move.

But he broke free from the ice easily enough, and once more took chase after the Glacial Hunter. He could sense that the spell that she had just used was incredibly draining.

By this point, his armor had finished repairing itself, and he was easily avoiding the hastily formed constructs that were thrown at him. She was no longer trying to conserve mana. Now, it was apparent that she simply wanted to get as far away from him as possible.

Of course, just as he had caught up to her again, a flare of danger screamed at him, and he allowed Shine to activate the [Jump] point that they had made earlier.

Right before he disappeared, a wave of gold and green leaves filled his vision. As did several wooden figures that seemed to be humanoid flowers roughly half his size began attacking.

The next second, he saw a large cloud of petals and leaves in the distance, before turning around and fleeing straight back to where he could see his fleet falling from the now dying giant tree it had been trapped on.

----------

Moments before, the battle between Wolken and the cult’s Exalt was reaching a much more frantic state. Wolken was no longer fighting just one figure. He was now fighting several dozen. Most of which were Incredibly weak, barely Legendary, but thanks to the regenerative abilities of the Life element, they just weren’t dying. Those that did still had their remains floating in the air, and he couldn’t afford to waste mana blowing them away.

“This style of battle is very different from the one you used before.” Wolken let out a loud cry, the air vibrating as it shattered the constructs in front of him.

He was suddenly blasted upward from a gust of wind that blew a few more constructs off course. Then he dodged around the swing of one of the branching tendrils from his enemy’s back. Her figure had closed the gap in the moments he had taken to deal with her pawns.

“I cannot afford to hold back to kill you. Now die already!” The cultist screamed as several flowers budded along her branches. More pawns took shape, and Wolken found himself surrounded.

Before he could destroy them, they all let out a stream of spells. The bombardment was an annoyance, as it distracted him long enough for the cultist to get away.

“Why do you keep fighting!? By this point, the Anathema is already dead! Just give up and return to the Light!” She was referring to the explosive Lightning that had shattered the glacier that had been not far from them.

Wolken had felt a little bit worried when this had happened, especially when it had happened again, not long after, but the fact that the hidden attacker had taken at least two shots meant that Ezekiel hadn’t died to the first one. So, for the moment, he would focus on his opponent. Especially since he didn’t know if, or when, she’d get reinforcements.

“What’s your name? I figure I should at least be able to identify you once I kill you.” Wolken refused to show any signs of strain as he continued to fight. Even though his mana was running low. Though not as low as his opponent’s, he noticed.

“Ha! Go to hell with the knowledge that Endaria, Verdant Light of Radiance, was the one who killed you!” A sudden glow surrounded the two combatants.

Wolken made a mad dash to get out of the Runic circle that had taken form from the broken remains of the puppets he had been destroying. The formation caused the mana in their surroundings to vibrate, and the puppets exploded into trees that grew into a massive sphere of roots and branches.

Both Exalts were entangled, but only Wolken found himself having trouble. Endaria simply shifted the wooden constructs out of the way.

“This is the end! Die you traitor to humanity!” Endaria clenched her hands, and the ball of wood seemed to shrink inward. Yet, the Life Exalt didn’t celebrate her apparent victory. Instead, she backpedaled away as fast as she could. “Ancients damn you wretched heretical traitors!”

A buzzing and grinding sound filled the air as a massive orb of wind sawed away at the wood that kept Wolken trapped. At the very center, the Tempest Exalt held his limbs outward, and the orb of compressed and cutting wind turned the remaining floating bits of wood into nothing more than dust.

“That was a good trick.” Wolken idly spoke as he allowed his spell to fade.

It was difficult to tell, since neither of them revealed any physical tells, but they were both able to sense the tiredness that their opponent was feeling. The amount of mana needed in both of those attacks had been great. At this point, it was unlikely that either one of them could do such a thing again.

The two prepared to charge forward to clash once more, but the sudden explosion of lightning in the distance, nearly ten times larger and louder than the previous ones, drew their attention.

There was a sudden lull in their battle, before Wolken made a mad dash to get over there as fast as he could. Only for several dozen more branches to wrap around his body as he tried to get past Endaria’s spells.

“You think you can leave now? After things are finally going right!?” She screamed in gleeful rage.

“Get out of my way you crazy bitch!” Wolken dove toward the water to avoid the attacks aimed his way. “There’s no way that such an explosion was planned. Are you not concerned about your fellow cultists?”

“Of course I am! But if they die for our Lord then it will be a death that is well earned. Besides, keeping you here means that my allies won’t be killed by you.”

“Who’s to say that they aren’t dead by Ezekiel’s hand?” Wolken wasn’t certain that Ezekiel was still alive. Not after that explosion, but he had to keep some hope in him.

“Ha! There’s no way the Anathema could’ve survived that! My fellow Lights are equipped with Artifacts granted to them by the Avatar of our Lord himself!” The confidence that Endaria was displaying was beginning to grate on Wolken’s nerves.

Ultimately, they simply couldn’t know for certain until someone either joined them, or one of them got away to investigate.

“Give up, Tempest Exalt! Beg for forgiveness and I will ensure that you will be welcomed in our ranks-”

A shrill whistling sound cut her off. Had Wolken been able to see her face, he would’ve seen her go stark pale, then and angry red as she realized that something had changed.

Waving her hand, a swarm of leaves and petals filled Wolken’s vision. This time it is much denser, and harder to blow away than before. While he wasn’t attacked, and had kept his defenses high, he was unable to get free for several seconds. He wasn’t willing to bring up another sphere of wind to grind it all away. It would be too costly if the fight was going to continue for much longer.

But, when he could finally see clearly once more, all he saw was Endaria’s fleeing figure. Focusing on where she was headed, he saw a small blue figure now locked in the hold of an opalescent one. He pushed himself as fast as he could, the puppets of the Life magic cultist were just about to strike, when the opalescent figure disappeared.

This brought Wolken up short before he could even make it a hundred meters.

Instead, he turned back to where the last massive explosion had occurred. He decided to ignore the fleeing cultists, though he took note of the ones that were fleeing in the other areas of battle.

Once he reached his destination, he saw a sight that made him smile.

“It seems you won!” He called out to the figure treading water below.

Ezekiel just looked up at him in exasperation. Wolken just continued to smile, even as he pulled Ezekiel out of the water and flew toward the now dying giant golden tree.

----------

Riley had just run her spear through the body of another enemy. The insides of the Imperial Hunter became nothing more than a charred mess, and smoke burst from his mouth as he fell to the ocean below.

The current battle had been somewhat of a slog for the Azure Flame Legendary. While she had certainly helped whittle down the enemy numbers, it was obvious that the somewhat higher numbers were enough to keep the battle evenly matched.

“How much longer will this go on for?” She didn’t receive an answer. The Hunter who had been helping her had gone off to join another battle elsewhere, and she was just about to do so as well.

Then she noticed that she was close to her ship, so she decided to check on Wendy and her crew. Descending toward the golden tree, she heard another blast of Lightning in the distance. This one was much larger than the previous ones. To the point that it drowned out the noise of the battle around her.

“Ezekiel...” Roley gazed into the distance. She just knew in her gut that the most recent distraction from the battle had something to do with her Void Hunter.

She only hoped that he was handling himself well, and not tearing himself apart like he usually did when left alone for too long in enemy territory.

There was a momentary quiet before the battles started up again. But much to her surprise and joy, the massive golden tree began to shift. The tide quickly turned in favor of the ships that had been stranded in the massive tree.

“Quickly! We have a head start, but we need to maintain it before those bastards can retake control of the tree again!” A Legendary Life Hunter that was sitting in a hidden spot on the golden tree called out orders to the Archipelago’s fleet.

The ships in the vicinity immediately turned as the large branches holding them up shifted.

But rather than fire at the Legendaries above, they tilted downward so as to fire at the enemy ships below.

“Smart. They won’t be able to differentiate between the enemies in the air and the allies that are already fighting.” Riley idly let loose a stream of fire at a group of Adepts that had climbed up from beneath one of the boats.

The Azure flames took the form of a serpentine dragon. They curled around the ship without damaging it, and the Adepts cried out in pain as they were seared within their melting armor.

“Wendy!” Riley called out once she landed.

The Obscure Hunter didn’t reply. For a moment, Riley grew worried, since she didn’t see her lover’s sister anywhere on the deck. But a loud ‘hooting’ echoed from the door leading below. Just as a shot was released from the cannons below.

Taking one more look around, Riley made sure that there was nothing else she needed to take care of for the moment before heading down.

Right in front of her, with several other Adepts manning different cannons of their own, Wendy was taking aim and firing at the ships below.

“Riley! Are you okay? Why aren’t you fighting?” Wendy spared a glance at her mentor and watcher. “We’ve got things handled here. You don’t need to be worried.”

Riley opened her mouth to speak, but a sudden shrill whistling rang through the area. The lower Tier Hunters flinched and held their ears. Riley stuck her head out one of the openings where the cannons were mounted.

Up above, the enemy Legendaries were now retreating. There was no order to it at all. They were just getting as far away from the battle as possible.

“Brace yourselves!” Riley called out a warning, but it was nearly too late.

A sudden jerk nearly made everyone lose their footing, but it was the weightless feeling of their descent that made them panic. For a second, it looked like the Adepts in the cabin were floating, but then gravity reasserted itself as the ship began falling out of the sky.

Above them, Riley could see that the tree they were perched in had begun to fall apart. Rapidly decaying and dying as the Archipelago’s fleet was dropped back into the ocean.

“Wendy! Get out and into the air. Now!” Riley helped the Mages and Hunters in the cabin get out. Those with Flying Spirits found said Spirits growing to a much larger size, so as to carry their partners and whoever else they could.

The ships had nearly hit the water, with the assorted crews all flying in the sky, when a massive whirlwind surrounded them all. Even the ones that were still on the tree, or were trying to get away from the falling tree.

“Is everyone alright?” Wolken’s voice filled the ears of the allied Scholars and Hunters. “Get away from the tree. We can’t have it crushing you when it finishes falling.”

Looking into the sky, Riley and Wendy saw Exalt Wolken waving his hands. Massive constructs that slowly manipulated the ships and debris gently flew through the sky. The supportive style of magic was enough to make sure that no further damage occurred.

But as overjoyed as they were to see the Exalt, as it meant that their enemies had been successfully sent packing, the familiar body that was currently hefted over his shoulder made their hearts sink. The fact that he was covered in blood and open wounds made them even more worried.

“Oh, Ezekiel... What did you do this time?” Riley’s exasperated sigh made Wendy look at her aghast, but the older Hunter just ignored it. “You’ll get used to it.”

Unfortunately, rather than reassure the younger Hunter, it was apparent from the look on her face that Riley’s words had horrified her instead. “Let’s just go see how bad the damage is.”

As the ships all landed safely in the water, Wendy dropped off the Hunters she had helped, and she and Riley flew off to the ship they saw Wolken descend on. Concern and curiosity filled them both.

----------

Clean up after the battle was relatively short. The ships had mostly gotten through everything undamaged. It was the Hunters that were the enemy’s target, so they were the ultimate focus.

As a result, not everybody was needed to make sure things were up and running before they were ready to head out again. This meant that Riley and Wendy had an ample amount of time to hover over Ezekiel when he was pinned to his bed by the healers looking over him.

Their berating and worries tugged at his heart, but they all knew that there was nothing else that could’ve been done. He had been ambushed by two apparent members of the Cult’s top members. Regional leaders that had entire armies following their beck and call.

Fortunately for Ezekiel, his injuries, being purely physical, were not as bad as he had expected. Even though they were incredibly painful. But the numbing sensation from his mana as he reinforced himself so as to keep fighting meant that he had exerted himself far more than he should have.

“Are we ready to set out again?” Ezekiel asked from his medical bed. Riley and Wendy had finished watching over him, and Wolken had returned to speak with him. Asking the ladies to leave while they talked.

His body was covered in green bandages that glowed with Life magic. It had only been a few hours since the battle had ended, and the Imperial, Kindled, and Cult forces had successfully retreated, since Wolken had decided to remain with the fleet, rather than risk the enemy coming around attacking them while he was gone.

“We started moving again a few minutes ago. Lie down, rest, and meditate on what you figured out.” Wolken was relatively gruff as he spoke to Ezekiel this time. The bags that had started forming under his eyes betrayed his exhaustion. “The fact that you got away with merely physical injuries from casting an incomplete Tier five spell means that you’re on the cusp, not just at the door. Focus, things are going differently than expected, and we’ll need a second Mythic sooner, rather than later.”

“... Understood.” Ezekiel watched Wolken nod in approval before leaving.

‘Do you think you’ll be able to figure it out?’ Shine was worried, and Ezekiel could hear it in their voice. ‘I’m not the only one that felt chills run down their spine when he finished speaking, right?’

‘... I don’t know if I’ll figure it out before we next clash with the enemy Mythics, but I do know that it’ll happen this year.’ Ezekiel wasn’t sure where his confidence came from, but he had a feeling that he was right. He had taken the first step through the door. Now he just needed to get the rest through as well. ‘I’m more worried about the fact that the enemy Exalt simply ran, rather than taking me out at the cost of her life. That’s certainly what she was aiming for last time.’

‘Maybe she just knew that it would be futile this time?’ Despite their hopefulness, Ezekiel could tell that Shine wasn’t very confident about their guess.

‘Regardless, we’ll have to deal with it later. For now, we need to ensure that the Imperial Exalt that’s been brought in on this can’t overpower Wolken by teaming up with that Endaria woman.’

With that said, the two Void Legends fell into a deep trance of meditation. Shine worked on gathering their mana up again as fast as possible, so that they could begin diving into Ezekiel’s Spirit Paths to find his fifth Chakra.

While the aforementioned Hunter focused on his memories. Reflecting on who he was, what the promises ingrained in his soul truly meant, and how he resonated with the Void.

At the same time, two Hunters, one clad in black, the other one in red, sparred on the deck above. The younger was doing everything she could to pull out just a few more scraps of power. The older, more focus and control. Something new, something powerful, was taunting her from just outside her current [Understanding].

Their fleet had yet to reach their destination, but they had already suffered casualties, and they had no idea what to truly expect once they made landfall.

While the first storm or war had passed, another one was brewing on the horizon.