LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 286: Zach and Ryun
Zach
The Emperor sat on a simple backless chair. All of them had moved to a large canopy tent, with a round table covered in maps. They stood to the side, waiting as the Emperor took a seat and was given a large glass pitcher filled with water by an attendant. As he drank, another attendant stood behind him, healing the cuts on the drake’s wings. The Emperor finished drinking, put the pitcher on the table and an attendant placed three bottles filled with green liquid on the table. Erakael ignored the potions and turned his eyes back to their group.
Zach recognized the look in the ruler’s eyes, the way that he sat, the way that his body shook from exhaustion and he tried to hide it. The weary resignation, the knowledge that no matter what you did, you couldn’t save everyone. The realization that you were losing, and there was nothing that you could do to change that, no matter how much you struggled. Zach remembered the familiar feeling, but he didn’t yet see the true hopelessness in the Emperor’s eyes.
From the stories that Zach had heard about him and his people, this was not the first time that he had faced odds like these. He was a Ranker, and while his world didn’t end up like Earth, he had struggled there before. And then there was the reason why his Empire was here, so far away from the core. No, he was not a stranger to facing odds like these, but nevertheless it still took a toll, that was plain to see.
It was a testament to just how things were going that the Emperor didn’t maintain his regal posture with which he had greeted them previously. The sound of battle was muffled, something about the canopy blocked or lessened most of the noise, but they could still see. Soldiers firing from the walls, catapults and all kinds of other weapons on the other walls firing over their heads. The mountains of corpses in the distance, the clouds above them made out of thousands of ships and monsters fighting in the air.
It was… a sight that was almost unreal, on a scale that even Zach had not seen before. He had witnessed cities on Earth get overrun, had fought losing battles on their walls—this was a stalemate, just death and fighting. The attack in the core might be close, but that had not been a true battle, just a fighting retreat. No, this was a battle on a scale that astounded.
“You see,” the Emperor said, and Zach noticed that he was watching them carefully as they in turn watched the battle. “That is what we are holding back, what we are dying to protect everyone else from.”
An endless tide of black, charging across the sand.
“You could’ve had us on the walls,” Vryull commented. “We could help, and train against this enemy at the same time.”
Zach remembered Vryull killing the monsters that came for their airship when they arrived at the city. Still, the rest of them hadn’t fought the enemy monsters, and perhaps that was why the Empire had scouted ahead of their escort, to keep them out of the enemy’s way.
“I am thankful that you came,” the Emperor continued. “Despite everything. And I am sorry that you were attacked while under my roof. My enemies have… taken advantage of my people’s eyes being turned elsewhere.”
“Why did they? Do they not see this?” Eratemus gestured at the battle.
“They don’t care,” the Emperor sighed. “If the monsters win, they get what they want. Regardless,” the Emperor stood up. “We no longer have time. The attack on you was hastily organized, my investigators tell me that the cult learned of your presence here only recently. They did not have as much time to learn about you or plan the attacks, you were targets of opportunity. But they have succeeded in killing a dozen of my strongest people, including two who were meant to come on your mission. Those loses mean that our effective power on the walls is lessened, it is only a matter of time before we start losing more and more people. I am forced to cut the preparation time short, the mission will depart in a month—you won’t have the time to familiarize yourself with the others that are coming on the mission, I only hope that you manage to succeed despite that.”
The Emperor turned his head to look at the battle, his eyes narrowing. “I don’t know what we will do otherwise.”
Eratemus took a step forward. “Erakael,” he said. “There is time, you can call for more aid. There are people in the core who remember what happened and understand the errors of the past. We can show them this,” he waved at the battle beyond the walls. “You don’t need to stand here alone.”
The Emperor shook his head. “Choices have been made Eratemus, lines drawn. It is spite, and it is unreasonable hate. Mistrusts and stubbornness, we are all what our Classess made us to be,” Erakael smiled weakly, showing his teeth. “Power has a cost, and we were desperate. We survived because we built our power on hate, on the desire for vengeance.”
Erakael turned and look in the distance, then pointed the same way. “Do you see that, the people on those walls.”
Zach followed his finger, and saw people fighting in the distance. He didn’t immediately realize what the Emperor wanted them to see. The soldiers there all had collars around their necks. Slaves.
The Emperor turned back and met Eratemu’s eyes. “The people in the core would never accept that, the slaves that they have are not like ours. Theirs are only slaves in name, but you must know why we allowed that, why we use them. Your people must’ve told you.”
Eratemus didn’t say anything so the Emperor continued. “Every criminal we turned into a slave, at first. Every soldier that stole food on the march in the desert, became a Slave Soldier, every miner that killed his fellow a Slave Miner. We took them and changed their Class forcibly. We lessened the rules, the crimes and punishments later, but still if we did things right, we rarely lost slaves, and when each could live forever… well. We built an empire on them, these walls that you stand on, my city, everything. Because it was power, it was a resource that allowed us to survive the desert. Because it allows us to survive now. Do you know what a high enough level Slave Master can do? It turns those who are weak into those who are strong. Those soldiers on the wall will not feel hunger or thirst for weeks, they will not tire, and their wounds will heal faster as long as they are around a Slave Master. He can order them to march into death, despite their fear, he can sacrifice them in an instant if that means buying time for reinforcements to come. They can be stronger than their levels, they can gain abilities that on their own they never would’ve been able to. It is cruel, but without slaves we wouldn’t be here now. Slaves are operating our mines, gathering resources without rest, for us to still be able to fight. No force from your core would’ve ever been able to hold this enemy off, not how we can. Because every one of you dreams of getting stronger for themselves, being someone on top. The people of the Empire had always only wanted to survive. And we are willing to pay any price for that. Even asking you for help. I could send messages, call for others in your core to come, but how many would? They think only of themselves, and I will not waste my time.”
Eratemus turned his eyes back to the Emperor. Again he didn’t say anything. Zach wondered just how close to the brink were they pushed to become like this. The benefits that he spoke about that a Slave Class could have, it didn’t mean that it was right. The slaves that Zach had encountered in the frontier were indentured servants, paying their debt back. They had collars that kept them from escaping but they retained their own focus. Nothing that he heard in the core even spoke about forcibly changing someone’s Class. That was… it felt worse, an invasion greater than even what Zach had imagined.
But Zach also knew how desperate people could get. The memories of a small room and a dagger in his hand came to the surface of his mind. Mistakes made out of a desire to find vengeance, out of frustration and desire to survive.
Erakael sighed and got back to his seat. “I didn’t summon you here for that. I wanted you to see that before you leave for your mission,” he pointed at the battle.
“You won’t come with us?” Eratemus spoke, finally.
Erakael’s eyes hardened. “I cannot afford to,” he reached over the table and picked up the three potions that the attendant had left there for him. He picked up all three, drinking them in turn. “These are all that is keeping me going, and I can barely afford a single hour break every few days. The enemy knows where our strongest aren’t there, it pushes us. If I left they would push us here,” he looked at the battle, his eyes glossing over. “They would overrun the defenders and break through. My Empire would fall in weeks. What use would it be for us to kill the Dome Leader and lose the wall? I doubt that all the enemy monsters will just fall dead with the leader. No, it will be up to you and the others that I can spare. And still we might lose the wall.”
Zach exchanged a look with Naha. He saw fear in the Emperor’s eyes, fear for his people, and an incredible desire to protect them.
“I’ve given my people instructions to help you in any way possible. We’ve already opened up our vaults to you, given you our knowledge. I don’t know what more we can give, but… ask, and if it is possible we will try and provide it. You have a month left for training, and then… hopefully a release from this nightmare.”
The Emperor walked over to the edge of the wall, he spread his wings and flew away, rejoining the fight.
Ryun
He found Eratemus outside, in one of the open areas of the citadel. He was surrounded by crates, each filled with raw ore or small metal plates. He was looking through the crates and moving certain pieces to a pile on his left.
“You need something?” Eratemus asked without turning around.
“Advice,” Ryun said. It was… hard for him to ask it, not because he hated taking advice, but because he preferred to make his own way. Sometimes, though, there were issues that could be better addressed with knowledge from someone more experienced.
Ryun had been struggling with a decision. He could cycle and advance, he probably wouldn’t be able to get a lot out of his core’s special property, but he could cycle the minimum required. Though, he had already hit the cap to his Cultivation bonus. His core now housed tier nine void, which was what he was worried about. That using Essence other than Void related would pollute that, perhaps even downgrade his Qi. He had cycled with Pure Essence before arrival in the Infinite Realm, it hadn’t given him any real improvements, but it hadn’t taken anything away either. He had cycled for a bit with mixed Essence, but his later Realms he had only used Void.
“About?” The necromancer asked.
“Qi, advancement, drawing in Essence,” Ryun said.
Eratemus stopped what he was doing and turned around to face Ryun. “What about it?”
“We need as much power as we can get, I am debating advancing. Of course, I cannot gather enough Void Essence to do it properly or take advantage of everything that I could. The Empire had granted me a small amount of the Void but… I could draw in Essence around me, ask them for more Essence to speed up the process. I only worry about the side effects, if there are any. I have reached the maximum of my Cultivation Bonus, and my Qi is tier nine.”
Eratemus tilted his head. “Ah, well, yes there will be side effects. When I was advancing I didn’t have the knowledge nor the opportunity to always cycle Essence of my Aspect. It harmed me, I haven’t reached tier nine quality of my Qi, I doubt that I ever will. I suspect that it also impacted my ability to gain inspiration, though that might just be an excuse of an old Cultivator.” The undead face grimaced into a smile. “Regardless, if you pull in the Essence around you, there is a big chance that you will contaminate your core, if you continue to do it by Ascended Realm you will probably lose your tier nine Qi. Though, unless you have already reached your Ascended inspiration, I don’t think that it would be worth it. The Mid Evolved Stage is not a big power jump, it isn’t a power jump at all. It is something that will take time to develop. Peak Evolved… that might offer something, though not on our mission, I doubt that there will be unbound Void Essence around us for you to use.”
Ryun grimaced. “It would give me stats at least, a bigger core,” he said. Ascended Realm inspiration was something that he had an idea about, based on what his understanding of the steps before were. And from something that he felt in the memories. Though, he wasn’t quite sure how right he was about it, perhaps this wasn’t exactly the time to experiment with it.
Eratemus waved his head. “Small increases, your core is already vast and if what I heard from the tournament is correct you can refill it extremely fast if needed.”
Ryun nodded. He could use Essence to convert into Qi. He currently had one full cycle of Essence inside his core, but he didn’t cycle with it as he kept it for emergencies. He hadn’t even used it when he was ambushed in the dungeon, he had some Void Essence in his storage, but he couldn’t waste any. He might need it for the mission.
“So I shouldn’t even bother?”
“I didn’t say that,” Eratemus told him. “Stages will give you stats, as you said. It may be a small number, but… we are going on a mission where everything might be needed. Where the difference between life and death could be so small.”
Ryun narrowed his eyes. “So, I should do it? Cripple my future, for a small gain that could mean success.”
Eratemus held his eyes. “It would be the logical decision, we are all obligated to do everything that we can to survive and succeed, even if it means hurting our future. What does a future mean, if we die in the attempt to reach it? There is always a chance that you can find some elixir or item that could help repair the damage. But…” he smiled again. “I am not actually saying that.”
Ryun frowned. “What are you saying then?”
“Understand, this is not something that I know. This is something that I suspect. Something that I believe will work but have never seen done. Though, if you want this information, this advice, I think that I will need something in return.”
“You’ve been open in our previous conversations, don’t we need to work together in order to survive this?” Ryun raised an eyebrow.
The necromancer chuckled, which looked and sounded weird on an undead. “Of course, I know that you won’t refuse, you will share and I will share in return. I only say it because… It is something that I have been wanting for a long time. I’ve spoken with Selia, she tells me that your mind thinks very… uniquely about advancement and inspiration.”
Ryun waved his hand in interest, wanting to hear more.
“I’ve been stuck in this realm for a long time. And I do not know why. I’ve met one Eternal Realm Cultivator, though he did not share what he knew with me before he died. Now… I feel like this might be my opportunity to finally reach the next Realm. You told me about the memory you experienced, now… do you have an idea about what her inspiration was?”
Ryun did have an idea. And looking at the necromancer, he even had an idea why he couldn’t advance. If Ryun was right, it was the necromancer’s own fault.
“I think that it has something to do with the way that the soul is connected to the body. A… insight if you will, into how and what it means to you. You are a necromancer who inhabits different bodies, I can see how you would’ve never reached the level of understanding required to take that leap. After all, your soul is not bound to any of the bodies you are using.”
Eratemus blinked, his expression… complicated.
“That…” and then he started to laugh. “It would be something like that. I have made enough mistakes on my climb already, what is one more?”
He shook his head, then met Ryun’s eyes. “Thank you for your idea. Now, let me tell you what I believe; taking in many different Essences from your surroundings might pollute your core, but… if you limit yourself to one, and balance it out with Void… that might be enough to limit the damage, or perhaps even help you. Though… I think that it should be a very specific Essence.”
Ryun opened his mouth to speak, but then paused. He was about to ask if he meant a related Essence, but… Something told him that Eratemus didn’t refer to that. Then it dawned on him.
“Early Ascended Realm,” he said.
Eratemus nodded his head. “You gain access to another Aspect. Your core will be able to produce both types of Qi. There are different ways to use them, I use a special cycling technique that keeps both of them separate because that suits my needs. There are a few Ascended Cultivators that allow the two Aspects to mix, creating something… unique. Though I have also seen some where the effects were… debilitating. Compatibility between the Aspects and your understanding of them matters. If you decide on a second Aspect now, and contaminate your core with it… it might bring some benefits. But that is only an idea, a theory, I don’t have any evidence for that.”
But it did make sense to Ryun.
“How does one pick a secondary Aspect? The same way as the first?” Ryun asked.
“Yes,” Eratemus answered. “Though… if you do want to do it now… I would suggest something that is common, and easier to get to than Void.”
Ryun tilted his head, thinking. He didn’t have a real idea about what he could pick.
“A common Aspect doesn’t mean that it is weak,” Eratemus said. “Though many would think that. It is lack of understanding on their part. But… ultimately the choice is yours. Though I suggest that if you decide to try, you also decide if you will try to combine the two aspects or keep them separate.”
Ryun looked around him, the Essence that surrounded him. So many different types of it. It was not going to be an easy choice, and he had little time, if he even wanted to try.