Timeless Prominence

Rein was astonished when the narrow passageway opened up into a gigantic hall supported by pillars of a height that the Iron Ant Team’s light orbs could barely illuminate. He had expected the ancient ruins constructed by dwarves to be barely transversable by those of human height. A misconception.

Swiveling his head around, Rein noted down the worn and cracked long stone table with seats a measure too low for humans. This must be a room for either some form of gathering, perhaps a feast hall.

The other members also turned their heads left and right, filled with the same curiosity as Rein.

It was then that Rein felt another call from his heart that signaled a vision from the remnant will of Gent. Rein was very much surprised by this-- why would Gent visit this dwarven structure in ancient times?

He closed his eyes and allowed the tingling from his heart to take over his mind.

In the vision, he immediately found himself walking into the very same hall in the body of Gent. The hall, structurally, was identical. However, it was far more vibrant in craft and colors.

Although the dwarven etchings of their own language upon the walls endured to Rein’s day, these etchings, in ancient times, were far more sharp and crisp, layered with a wondrous glittering sheen that glowed like clear water on a sunny day.

The pillars and stone table within this very hall? In the past, it was a smooth and lacquered stone surface, layered with scarlet silk. And upon this silk rested many meat delicacies. Rein received the tantalizing smell of such delicacies as Gent in his vision.

“Are you making a mockery of me?” Gent questioned in a low tone as the figure of the Dragonknight Zelli lumbered into view. Rein himself gazed once again upon this female dwarf, who was also one of the figures when he received the echoes of the fallen gods…

To Rein’s knowledge, this dwarf was renowned for slaying dragons. How did she manage to convince Gent to meet her here, alone in private? Unfortunately, Rein could not manipulate or request answers from Gent’s remnant will. It only showed specific moments when triggered by certain elements on Rein’s journey.

“I would never,” Zelli replied in her deep melodious voice. “Worry not. None of it is dragon meat.”

Dragonknight Zelli was the only other existence in this feast hall within Gent’s vision. 

“Tell me, noble Gent,” Zelli asked as she prepared to shove the meat dishes of exotic beasts into her wide mouth. “It is said that you dragons primarily consume meat. It is also said that dragons are the ancestors of all scaled beasts. Will you not be sometimes, consuming…your descendents?”

A deep growl emanated from ‘his’ own throat in response. “Hardly. This is nature. We dragons grow by consuming meat. A species far removed from us are no dragons.” Gent proceeded to chomp down on the meat delicacies after testing their smell.

Rein, sharing Gent’s senses, was given a taste of ancient meat. Soft and tender, with pure meat juices rushing down Gent’s throat every single bite. There was no need for herbs or spices.

Their feast was soon finished. Neither Zelli nor Gent had any table-manners, and in Rein’s eyes, swallowed their meal in a frenzy.

“Now,” Gent growled. “Why did you invite me for such a meeting? This is not you. You’ve always slain my brethren for sport.”

Zelli remained silent for quite some time, her expression glum as she took a swig of what must be, advancer beer, from a stone cup.

“I’ve been around for many… many years,” Zelli finally began, “And I’ve begun to wonder… what will come after? If I exterminate you dragons… will that automatically mean eternal peaceful existence for us humanoids? Or will we fail and be in an eternal battle until the end of times, the destruction of the realms? Already, a realm has fallen, not dissimilar to the hellish worlds that were once jewels of the fallen gods.”

“It is also said that certain scaled descendents of you dragons, under certain conditions, become dragons…” Zelli mumbled, lost in thought at the prospect of having to wipe the many realms clean of all scaled demons.

Rein assumed that Gent would be bewildered by Zelli’s words. Not so. Instead, his shared sense felt relief! Joy!

“It is said that you once shared a bond with our progenitor, Human Ancestor Yirn! Tell me what you know of him! Was he truly the one who killed the Gods?! Did he truly abandon us humanoid races after the fall of the Gods, in the Dark Ages?!” Zelli’s eyes suddenly bored into Gent’s with a blazing intensity as hot as the deepest forges of the Molten Stone Clan.

Gent momentarily had no words. Too many memories ran through his mind of a far different age. He felt like an anachronistic being as he recalled the Age of Gods. Much had changed.

“Though none believe my words…” Gent sighed. “It is true. After all… I was his partner in action.”

A fervent worship overtook Zelli’s face.

“I know your husband, the Allfather, claims that the human ancestor betrayed your kind. Others say it is impossible for a human, pre-advancer era, to be of any threat to the Gods.”

“My brother Yirn… he is a man filled with tricks up his sleeves. Hah! He slowly turned the Gods against one another!” Rein could feel ‘his’ own lips curling with devious joy.

“Why?” Zelli beseeched.

“All beings must be free to carve their own path,” Gent said as his heart filled with passion. “That was what he told me. The Gods never change, their existence eternal. Their rules and power, absolute! The world was static, all beings living under their very grasp!”

“Brother Yirn once spoke to me thus,” Gent continued. “He had been placed in charge of the peach garden, ensuring the supply of golden peaches to the Gods.”

“He asked me this: ‘Have I really achieved my position, or am I just placed here because a few Gods looked favorably upon me?’ He then uttered another phrase that etched itself into my mind: ‘I wish to be the one to plant the peach trees and create the garden! What is a man’s will if it is given by the Gods?!’ ”

“And the Gods…? Is the tale of Uni true?” Zelli wondered.

“Not even I can verify that,” Gent  replied. “However, the Gods were simply born at the beginning of time, and thus absorbed much of the many rules of the universe. Though we may be born later and even created… that potential exists in all beings.”

“The Gods certainly knew this,” Gent said as his expression darkened.

“Did he really abandon us?”

“No,” Gent sighed and shook his head as he remembered that final moment of his human brother. “To defeat the Gods, he, of course, had to pay a price…”

“But,” his voice hardened. “He is still around. In… some aspects.”

The feast hall became silent for quite some time.

“Thank you,” Dragonknight Zelli finally said. “I feel as if my mind has cleared. Gent. Some may consider me a traitor, but I wish to warn you. My husband has promised your scaled descendents that if they assist him, he will allow them to partake in the feast of dragon blood, and become dragons themselves through the purification of their bloodline.”

Gent’s eyes widened at this casual offering of information.

“Likewise…the dragons are about to embark on a massive campaign against you dwarves,” Gent replied as he returned the favor. “The ancestor dragon has long grown distrustful of me, and as such, I am not privy to the details. The gist of it, however, is that much of my race believed that you dwarves have used your many treasures to corrupt the minds of many of our younglings.”

“They believe that you have inherited some knowledge from the dark dwarves that served the Asurans in the Age of Gods, and used irresistible treasures to infect our race with the ‘Golden Madness’, turning our children into dark dragons that hoard treasures in their isolated lairs.”

“Whether that is true or not is of no matter. It has driven my people into a frenzy,” Gent’s voice turned into a rumbling whisper. “They seek to exterminate you dwarves.”

As the vision began to fade with Gent moving towards the exit passageway, he suddenly turned.

“Say,” Gent wondered. “I’ve always had a curiosity… Are you a carrier of origin magics? I could never tell. I thought your molten form to be an expression of an origin ability, yet you soon passed on this ability to a few of your people.”

“Forgive me,” Gent immediately apologized before Zelli could reply, and turned to the exit again. “I should not be impolite. I hope that one day, we will meet again in better times.”

The vision faded, and Rein found himself back in the dilapidated ancient feast hall, his companions having just taken an extra step forward.

The Iron Ant Team moved through the feast hall and entered another narrow passageway. Rein contemplated the vision’s revelations. He did not care much with regards to ancient history, and was instead preoccupied by the fact that Zelli had completely hidden her origin ability in a perfect manner, despite occasionally using the art of teleportation as was seen during her battle against the dragons in a previous vision.

This opened up Rein’s mind. He simply needed to employ trickery to obfuscate the nature of his spatial origin ability. As long as it stayed within the realms of ‘normalcy’, and if he employed a far more eye-catching ability such as Zelli’s molten stone form… None would be able to determine if he carried an origin ability or not.

He simply needed to be… creative with its use.

The winding passageway eventually led to an octagonal platform that extended out into a dark abyss.

Many advancers, whether they be orthodox or devilish, were assembled at this very location, gazing across the dark abyss. Occasionally, a sudden lava spurt would sprout out of the dark depths like a geyser accompanied by the final scream of a struck figure.

The figure of Nunan moved to approach the Iron Ant Team, only to be pulled back by Zehz. Nunan furiously shook free her sleeves and came before Rein.

“Many have already attempted to cross this… spatial maze. It is known that the dwarves build many checkpoints to protect their halls. Most are experts in their crafts, and work with fire and lava.”

“The oddity here is that this maze is layered with a spatial magic that bent the space above this endless chasm into a twisting path with many invisible deadends. One wrong move and an advancer will be showered in Makma, ancient dwarven lava of the highest temperature.”

“And well,” Nunan paused as a row of spikes strengthened by inscriptions appeared in space and impaled a fallen devil. “As you can see, the space within is also connected to various traps with equivalent strength to a ‘Spear of Heaven’.”

“The Harvest Devil Ailehr and that Larne scion have already passed through…” Nunan said as her eyes bored into Rein’s.

Rein now knew why Nunan had approached. She must be truly desperate to retrieve Lyne, to come to him, just a peak inner advancer, for help. Indeed, the remaining two Xuere elders now accompanied her should be far more helpful.

“I… I do not believe myself capable of much help…” Rein muttered. That trapmaze across the chasm seemed impenetrable for the Iron Ant Team at first glance.

“...” Nune opened her mouth hesitantly before closing it again. She bit on her lips and lowered her head. “Forgive me, but prior to our cooperation, I discovered that you have a decent spatial affinity. The Xuere do have some oversight in the Hall of Heroes. This spatial maze… We need one with spatial senses…”

“There is no need for discussion,” one of the hooded Xuere elders interrupted. “It is simple. Either you cooperate or--”

“Please stay silent, elder!” Nunan daringly cut off this Xuere elder. The second Xuere elder gripped the more aggressive one on the shoulder to calm him down.

“Forgive my elder. We are, after all, desperate. They will channel their outer realm aurae into your body to activate your aurae vision. Your affinity with the spatial element should give us a relatively safe path through the spatial maze, that is, if your senses are sharp enough.”

Rein recalled how his vision had changed when Mystrygon had used his outer aurae and guided Rein into forming an inter-realm spatial tunnel. The current task seems simple enough.

“This sort of magic obviously can’t be maintained for long… that is, the channeling of aurae into another’s body. So… you cannot hesitate,” the calmer Xuere elder spoke. The voice of a woman.

The Iron Ant Team would have no choice but to walk away under normal circumstances, due to the nature of this checkpoint.

Rein nodded as he accepted the task, which very much brought excitement to his companions.

At this point, Zehz came over as well, filled to the brim with hostility.

“One of them must be a traitor…. That Chirh, especially, must have been blackmailed or some sort!” They had discussed the events along with the remaining two Xuere elders, and came to the conclusion that someone must have leaked their plans to the devils, or forces associated with the devils.

They would not be able to fully investigate it until their return to the Xuere Gap.

“We should attempt to hypnotize this… potential traitor, else he will guide us into a trap,” Zehz declared. Already an aurae shell of bright light encased his body, ready for the task.

It was not only Zehz-- Bohr and Karsutz similarly glared at the Iron Ant Team in suspicion.

The Iron Ant Team surrounded Rein instinctively and a battle aura arose.

“Stop. This is unnecessary. Do not be ridiculous. For what reason would he kill himself alongside us within the maze? What has gotten into your mind, Zehz?!” Nunan squinted at the brightly-encased form of Zehz.

“It is better to be safe than sorry.” Zehz replied. Though he eventually cooperated, he glowered as he retrieved his aurae shell cloud into his body.

The two elders approached Rein.

“Let us take turns,” the hooded male Xuere elder said and was the first to place his hands on Rein’s back.

Rein felt a vast reservoir of aurae flowing into his body as his vision transformed. He could now see a deluge of different aurae flows in the very air. He nudged his spatial affinity into circulation, and surprisingly, the originally invisible maze that spanned the chasm gained a shattered form, much like multiple mirrors layering and blending into one another.

Rein nodded to indicate he was ready. Despite rarely employing his spatial affinity, he could only trust in its uniqueness to pull through, particularly because the Dragonknight Zelli might very well be the one who designed this checkpoint in the first place!