Reaper of the Martial World

Book 2: Chapter 64: Game

Dyon and Ri sat comfortably, each on one shoulder of the stone puppet.

The world around them was a dense bluish-white fog… so dense, in fact, that it was hard to see even a hand they placed directly in front of their face.

Dyon could faintly feel that as they walked forward, the pressure around them was increasing.

‘This is probably the part of the world that requires a True Empath to see through… what is hiding here? And this pressure it’s… a time limit?’

Using his aurora to constantly keep tabs on Ri, Dyon felt more secure about her safety. But, he still kept his senses sharp. The reason was simple. In the past, a True Empath would have led the young geniuses through this area. These True Empaths would have been so rare that it was unlikely that it could have been anyone else but the King or Queen of the time… after taking that into consideration, how could the King or Queen of the ancient Elvin Kingdom be a mere lower Celestial stage being?

As such, Dyon lied to Ri to help her feel better… telling her that they’d be able to cheat their way through, when that may only be the case after they left this fog. After all, if even the almighty True Empaths of old couldn’t protect all of the geniuses, how could a broken-down puppet do so?

Dyon knew that Ri most likely understood he was lying for her benefit. But, he still moved forward with utmost confidence in his actions. For one, he refused to give up such an opportunity… he had to use the energy etching the words into the sky for another purpose soon as part of his plan, so he couldn’t use them to keep the castle vacant forever. The second reason was that he knew regardless of the danger, Ri would insist on coming. With that set in stone… the only option was to continue forward.

Ri wasn’t a damsel to be protected. Dyon knew fully well that the only reason he handled the stone guardians better than she did was that he had been prepared. Ri could have adjusted on her own. If she couldn’t have, how would a simple touch from Dyon snap her out of her fearful state?

Dyon’s aurora suddenly picked up something odd, ‘there’s spatial distortion everywhere…’

“Ri?”

“Yes?”

“I’m about to command the puppet to make some odd movements so we can get out of here, be prepared for sudden movements.”

“mm,” Ri sent a slight sound of confirmation.

Dyon silently chuckled to himself. He felt like the leader of a road trip who swore they weren’t lost, yet had no real idea what they were doing.

From what he could tell, the fog was concealing what was happening to them, and manipulating them. When they wanted to turn right, they went left. When they wanted to go forwards, they went backward. However, Dyon was sensitive to things like this for one reason: it was an array.

‘this array is too high level… how do I get out of here…’

Dyon closed his eyes in meditation, sending his waves of calm towards Ri so she understood he wasn’t panicking in the least.

Just like that, a week passed.

With each passing step, Dyon memorized more and more of the array. And with each passing second, his brows furrowed more and more.

Dyon inwardly sighed, ‘you’re not meant to figure out the array… a True Empath would simply be able to feel the right path… but this is the only option we have. I’m not willing to use another.’

What Dyon didn’t know, was that the wills left behind by the Elvin Kings and Queens of old were watching the scene intently. It had been too long since the last members of the younger generation had entered… and there had never been such an odd occurrence.

The crowd of them was endless. They all floated in a fog-filled, yet royally decorated, room. They themselves no longer held any power… not because the wills of the dead had the inability to do so, but because sustaining a special legacy world like this required some sacrifice.

Though, despite being Kings and Queens, they were an odd sight. No longer having humanoid forms, they were but lightly bobbing spheres of light. As such, the communicated with their minds, leaving the room completely and utterly silent.

‘a human boy and a half-elf… is this what our kingdom has fallen to?…’ a sigh rang out, ‘they’re just walking around aimlessly… if they had a True Empath with them, this wouldn’t be necessary…’

A pause reigned over as no one seemed willing to speak. They had placed so much of their hope for the future in these kids. And, although they had no way of knowing what was happening in the outside world, the drastic declining in talent was clear for them all to see. In fact, since the Elvin Kingdom moved from their original universe, not a single monarch or genius had been worthy of being buried with them all.

However, just as they were about to resign to their fate, a voice of disagreement came, ‘it’s been a week… and yet they haven’t stepped into any of the traps… they haven’t crashed into the barriers… in fact, if you pay attention, you’ll notice the fact that they’re systematically stepping through every area of the array… as though they were studying it…’

This voice came from a will older than many here. It had been so long since they heard his voice, many had thought he had succumbed to his fate and officially passed on.

‘Elder brother… what does this mean…’

They were truly confused. How does one study an array that can forcefully make you go in a direction you don’t want to? It wasn’t a simple matter of thinking you want to go left, but going right, just to force the array to send you in the direction you want. If that was the case, wouldn’t it be too easy? No, the array read the will of the those it trapped… it was impossible to trick it in such a simple way.

‘that boy, he has an innate aurora.’

‘what?!’

If Dyon had been there, he would have found this reaction odd. He had never kept his innate aurora a secret, and yet many of this low-ranking universe took the news of him having it in stride. So, why would ancient wills, who had most likely seen much more than the experts of this universe, act so surprised?

The old bobbing will sent the faint concept of nodding into the minds of those listening, ‘ai… his manifestation has an incarnation of his aurora… he has the perfect innate aurora… his future in array alchemy, should those hypocritical old bastards not kill him… will be limitless.’

This was a concept Dyon had yet to come across. In fact, it was a concept even his master’s memories wouldn’t have.

When Dyon began his foundational understanding of array alchemy… even he had found it hard to differentiate the soul and the aurora. In the end, he concluded that the basis of array alchemy was using the soul as a power source for the aurora to produce an aurora flame for alchemy, or to manipulate that aurora flame into the lines of an array.

This conclusion was flawless. In fact, many took decades to grasp this concept while Dyon was able to do it within days. But, this was not the most important point…

Often, the importance of the power source was glossed over when it was actually an important concept into and of itself. When one has a manifestation, that manifestation of course effects your aurora. This was what made Dyon conclude that there was likely something different about Ri’s soul considering her aurora’s blue color… However, what would happen if you manifested the embodiment of an aurora? What if your manifestation was so in tune with your aurora, that your array alchemy reached all new heights?

This was what happened to Dyon. One of the 6 flaming black-gold circles contained an eye… a mind’s eye… another name for an aurora.

This was why Dyon’s innate soul was at the peak of the 3rd stage… his aurora wasn’t in its complete state until he unleashed his manifestation… In other words… Dyon’s innate soul strength was never at the 3rd level, but instead at the peak of the 4th stage! Thereby completing the cycle of meridian formation and bringing his affinity for array alchemy to an all new height.

Those with innate auroras without a matching manifestation couldn’t hope to match up to Dyon.

After this revelation, minutes passed before another thought rang out, ‘but… this array isn’t so simple. We all know very well that this array wasn’t left by us… even we don’t know the secrets of it. How could an array of such a level be analyzed and cracked by a child not even 2 decades old?’

This was something Dyon had deduced as well. Why would the Elves make it so that part of their test for legacies included the need for a True Empath? It didn’t make sense. If you wanted to test the talents of the younger generation, why would you make a test they couldn’t pass without outside influences? If that was as difficult as you wanted the test to be, shouldn’t you only allow True Empaths to enter?

But, this wasn’t the choice of the elves currently present…

The old will sighed again, ‘[A God’s Will: Soul Sacrifice]’

Those words would have sent shivers down the spines of the wills had they retained their original bodies.

To those of the outside world, that technique was one that predicted the destruction of the ancient Elvin Kingdom… but, these old spherical wills knew it as something else… something that Dyon had come to think through for himself.

According to the story Elder Flyleaf told, that technique was taken out of dead kings valley during one of their last expeditions in order to try and find a way to salvage their declining Kingdom… but, if that technique was found within dead kings valley, didn’t that mean it originated from an even older elf? An elf that would have brought the technique into dead kings valley in the first place?

Dyon couldn’t have been more correct. The destruction of the Elvin Kingdom wasn’t the first prophecy that technique had ever told…

At the expense of the soul of the one who created the technique… it told of one more thing. Something that etched a new tradition into the lives of the elves.

It told of a day the Elvin Clan would decline. A day where they would barely be able to rise again on their own. A day where their once thriving universe would come to be known as ‘Chaos’.

However, it also told of hope. It told of the legend of the True Empath. It told of the fact that one day, love’s bond between a True Empath and an unprecedented genius, would lead the Elvin Kingdom back to their former glory.

As such, from that day forward… a race of Elves that derived themselves from a singularity technique transformed from simple guides to the Kings and Queens of a powerful race. Waiting for the day that savior would come to them, binding themselves with their monarch, and leading the elves to glory… a singularity technique that happened to be grasped by the Eostre family ancestor.

The old will continued, ‘this won’t be where he stumbles…’

And just like that, the wills watched silently as another half a month passed.

Ri only quietly mediated. Dyon had never once stopped sending her a calming feeling.

Warmth blossomed in her heart as Ri thought about how it had been so long since Dyon had slept, yet he still cared about something as meaningless as her feelings.

Suddenly, there was a change in Dyon’s psyche, “YES!”

The old floating wills heard this shout and focused intently on Dyon.

‘did he really figure it out…’

“what happened Dyon,” asked Ri softly.

“I figured it out! This is like a simple block game. There’s one piece you have to shift outwards while diligently and cleverly shifting all the other out of the path.

The problem and complexity come in with this array because it’s the pattern of our movements that decide the shifting of the blocks… and every wrong move resets the blocks.”

Suddenly Dyon realized his explanation was ridiculous. How could Ri possibly know about a mobile phone game from the human world? But, the concept was simple:

Within a set space, there was an arrangement of vertical and horizontal blocks with one opening. Among those blocks, there was a single one that had to be pushed out of the opening in order to complete the puzzle. However, the difficulty of the game came because every block seemed to have the sole purpose of stopping you from sliding that penultimate block out of the opening. In addition, each block had access to only one-dimensional movement. Meaning, you could only move a given block either left or right, or up and down.

The worst part was that this array took this difficulty to a whole other level. For one, instead of a simple and straight forward sliding of the block by pushing or pulling, all movements were dictated by the pattern of movement a person trapped in the array executed. And to make it worse, the patterns of movement became convoluted because the array was constantly making you go left when you wanted to go right, or up when you wanted to go down.

And to add yet another layer of complexity, while this block game in the human world usually maxed out at maybe 10 total blocks… this array had 999!

Ri’s voice rang out, “Dyon?”

Dyon looked confused, “yea?”

“did you say something?”

Dyon frown deepened, “you didn’t hear me?”

“no… you said something?”

A sudden realization hit Dyon, “this is an ancient game!”

“an ancient game?…” Ri shivered, “so I can’t hear your explanation…”

She had seen ancient games many times before… but their scale was much smaller than this. How could this be an ancient game?

But, she didn’t doubt Dyon. The fact he had tried to explain something she didn’t hear was all the proof that was needed. What they hadn’t realized was the mere fact Dyon could even attempt to explain meant he had reached a watershed moment in his understanding of the game. If it had been anyone else, they would have been blocked off from even attempting to speak on it. Yet, to Dyon, he spoke, it was just that Ri didn’t hear! Which meant, Dyon had grasped the game, but the array blocked Ri from gaining Dyon’s knowledge!

Dyon thought deeply to himself, ‘no wonder elves are supposedly the best at these games… their legacy world literally opens with them!’

Because of the Eostre family, the elves were nigh untouched in this game. Their movements held mistakes because they were technically ‘fake’ True Empaths… but much less than that of a normal human or beast. And, the truth was, if True Empaths were also mistake free, why would past geniuses ever have died?

Being a pseudo or True Empath only made the game easier… kind of like having a modified controller to cheat a video game. It wasn’t perfect. Only by knowing the true rules of the games would you succeed 100% of the time.

So… because of this experience, Dyon had suddenly gained an all-new skill.

But… if it wasn’t for the puppet protecting Dyon and Ri from the pressure, they would have long since died. But, thanks to proper planning, everything worked out.

Dyon chuckled, “it really took me almost a month to figure out the rules of a game… how ridiculous. Hold on little feu glace, we’re about to start moving really fast… the pressure is getting to be too much. If it wasn’t for our friendly puppet here, we would have long since been crushed!”

Dyon flashed to Ri’s side, seemingly now completely unbothered by the space distortion of the ancient game.

Ri looked happy to see Dyon for the first time in weeks. In fact, she hadn’t even heard him speak. All she felt was the constant pressure of his aurora, keeping her calm.

Dyon hadn’t had any rest. His brain felt like it was on its last heels, but, the strength of his body had vastly increased thanks to the food of Heaven’s Wine… so, he was barely holding it together.

When Ri saw Dyon’s haggard appearance, she felt a dull ache in her heart, “are you okay?” she asked softly.

Dyon grinned despite the space around his eyes looking as though he had been punched repeatedly, “I’m just fine… I just need a rest, but I don’t want to fall off the puppet. So, I came to lie on you.”

Ri rolled her eyes. How ridiculous was that excuse? As if the puppet would ever allow Dyon to fall.

But, she only sighed as Dyon collapsed into a deep sleep as soon as his head fell into her lap. It was like he no longer had any strength to stand.

‘I came to help you… but I only became a pillow…’

Ri blushed a bit when she felt Dyon’s hands wrap around her waist, faintly touching the exposed skin between her sweat pants and sports bra. But, she couldn’t bring herself to push him away… so, she just gently played with his golden-brown hair as the puppet acted on Dyon’s final commands….

Dyon slept a long time… fully aware that this set of commands would take at least 3 days to complete…

The last thought Dyon had before becoming unconscious was one even the elves had themselves, ‘why is an ancient game guarding a special legacy world…’

**

Outside of dead kings valley, the Elvin Kingdom was getting restless.

The alliance felt they no longer had a head and could only conclude that maybe it was best they chose a new side to support…

At the same time, the Sigebryht and Norville families were taking full advantage… announcing that they would have important news that would change the direction of the kingdom come the banquet in one month’s time.

The sub-families had no idea how to take this. They could only sway with the wind, hoping the bloodshed would be kept to a minimum.

But, many thought there would be no bloodshed. What use would there be for it? The king was gone. His daughter was dead. His niece was missing. And his brother had no power to do anything.

Headmaster Acacia could only believe in Dyon. He had met the boy himself, he was absolutely certain that he wouldn’t harm Ri. If Ri’s father was wrong about this… what use were his centuries of experience be? To be unable to read the motivations of a teenage boy? How ridiculous!

He had kept himself distant from the alliance because he was aware that his actions had been closely monitored ever since his brother appointed him this position. But now he felt like a useless figurehead. One with no real sway to do anything…

Headmaster Acacia sighed, ‘just what are you planning… I know you’ve been there… so, just what did you figure out to make these moves…’

**

In a far corner of the Elvin island, in the Sigebryht holy land, a secret meeting was taking place…

There, a man who looked like a much more mature Zaltarish stood.

He was almost 3 meters in height. His skin was a pale grey, yet his long dark hair and piercing red eyes gave him a devilish handsomeness few could match… it was impossible to tell that he was thousands of years old.

He stood in a dark throne room, a layer of palpable darkness layered everything.

Suddenly, the large doors of the room pushed open, allowing a rushing teenage boy in.

Kneeling before his father, Zaltarish quickly spoke, “father, they’re here.”

The head of the Sigebryht family, Sinaht Sigebryht, nodded faintly, turning his body towards the entrance as an old Chinese man many heads shorter than him walked in.

On one side of him was a beautiful fair-skinned Asian girl. Her hair was a jet black, but her eyes were a twinkling purple color. Despite this, she seemed deadpan, unwilling to express any emotions.

On the other side, was a handsome Chinese young man. He stood taller than his elder and he had the air of a genius but was still reserved in the presence of his elder.

Sinaht’s eyes sharpened as he looked at the old man. Despite their difference in height, he felt unparalleled danger, ‘celestial realm…’

The old man chuckled lightly at Sinaht’s serious reaction, not minding at all. Although they looked like a member of the older generation meeting that of the younger, they were in fact around the same age.

The old man slightly nodded, “this is my second granddaughter in law, Meiying. This is my grandson, Chenglei. The Daiyu family greets the Sigebryht head…

Now, shall we get to business?” –> <img src=’https://st.moonquill.com/avatar/129′ alt=”…” class=”avatar-img rounded-circle border border-4 border-body”> <h6 class=”header-pretitle”> Author’s Note </h6> <h1 class=”header-title”> Awespec </h1> <h3 class=”header-subtitle text-white”>Yikes… I guess Dyon was right about the Elvin Kingdom having something to do with the destruction of the Celestial Deer Sect… AND WE FINALLY PLAY OUR FIRST ANCIENT GAME! If you’re confused about the explanation (or I didn’t explain it well enough), you can try the human world version of the game for yourself! It’s called ‘Unblock Me’ (at least that’s what it’s called on android. I’m sorry iPhone users if that’s not the name in the apple store) (and no… this isn’t an advertisement… as if that would be possible… :'( ) I basically just took the idea from that game and made it a million times more complicated than it needed to be… then made Dyon figure it out… cause, well, he’s Dyon, lmmmaaooo Important concepts in case you missed them: -the previous Elvin universe is the same universe that Arios called the only uninhabited universe in existence -Dyon’s manifestation+aurora fusion = his full innate soul strength at the peak 4th stage. Which means when he found it odd that his innate soul strength seemed incomplete at the middle of the meridian formation stage, he wasn’t wrong! -ancient games + special legacy world… important connection for later -Daiyu clan is connected to the Sigebryht… but Meiying is the second wife? Not the first? Oh my …</h3>