by L. M. Kerr
The powerful force of presence abruptly vanished, but the stern figure remained unapologetic as he continued,
“I won’t wait like this much longer, Myla. If you can’t find a way to track down these killers, then we will have to do things my way.”
“You would drag us into war, Gregor.” The woman’s voice was accusatory.
“They are attacking us, Myla. Do you ask me to let our people die for nothing?” The bloody air began to rise again around him as the male figure replied, his words cutting.
“The Kowalsi Tribe operates beyond your control. Do you think our entire race should be blamed for their actions? It is your duty to seek reason in all things, Lord Justiciar.” The woman replied back, her own words equally sharp as she continued,
“Why should we listen to the decrees of whatever vile creature dragged our people here? Who says we must murder innocents? How dare it try to force that blood onto our hands!” Bloody light began to gather around the woman as her voice rose, causing everything she said to boom out loud.
“That being dragged our entire species here, Myla. I have a responsibility to protect our own.” The male figure’s voice turned equal parts dark and grim,
“If the only way out for our people is to kneel down…” The man gritted his teeth, his voice trembling as if he could barely control himself,
“Then I will do what I must to ensure our people survive.” The man’s overwhelming Aura returned, bloody light cascading around him like a meteor crashing down into the earth.
The woman’s face was hidden, but her back stood proud as she weathered that inferno, her voice cool,
“I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees.” A weaker, but equally pure Aura of bloody light spread out around her, rebelling against the stronger man’s power.
The clash of energy caused the ground to split between them, bits of rock and dirt flung up into the air. Several loud creaks and groans echoed out as the earth shifted beneath them, looking as if it was bearing an enormous burden.
The woman began to sway, as if she was about to faint.
When the man saw this, his Aura immediately vanished and he turned away, exhaling in a long sigh.
“Just find a way to track down these human killers, Myla. I have a bad feeling about all of this.” The man pulled back his robe cover as he looked out into the darkness, revealing a stunningly handsome visage.
He had warm, light-golden skin, green almond-shaped eyes, long blond hair that fell around his shoulders, cascading off his strong neck and square chin. His features could only be described as a thing of beauty by human standards.
And that was for a good reason.
As the man spoke, a pair of faint, delicate-looking wings flicked out from two slots in his cloak, appearing on his back. These wings gave off faint particles of light, chasing away the nearby darkness.
He wasn’t a human.
He was a Farian.
“What did you say you called these killers again?” Gregor Mantorel, the Lord Justiciar of the Farian Race, asked one last question as he looked back at the female figure, preparing to leave.
The woman had recovered from her near-fainting spell in a heartbeat, resuming a cool, controlled posture. She replied without hesitation,
“It was my assistant who came up with the name, not me, and it’s for the ones that all act in unison.” The woman paused briefly before continuing,
“Seeds. She thinks we should start calling them ‘Seeds.’”
.
Chapter 10
What exactly was an Inheritance?
In the simplest of terms: It was a tomb. A grand, majestic tomb, guarded with strange magic and supernatural powers, often filled with esoteric knowledge or rare treasure. An Inheritance was this entire collection of things, from the meekest Inheritances built in mud huts to the grandest, golden castles hidden in the clouds.
The Fallen Deity’s Inheritance was not a light matter. Micheal had gleaned several important details about this place through his studies of the past, largely because of how interesting it was.
This site was a very obscure ruin in that very few people held any knowledge of it currently. There were thousands of similar ruins like this one, with almost all of them being valueless or of little worth. Most of the treasures left behind by the Tribes when they left this world had long since been looted.
The only ones that remained were ones that were extremely obscure or well hidden.
And as he had said before, opening up the stone gate that blocked off the entrance to the Inheritance Site required a living sacrifice.
More specifically, it required a sizable amount of life force, enough to rejuvenate the strange magic that controlled this area, offered in a very specific manner.
And thus, a couple of hours later, Micheal found himself sitting atop the large boulder that hid the cave-entrance to the Fallen Deity’s Inheritance, looking down at a writhing pit of large snakes.
“Careful! Slowly back now, slowly back!”
“Steady now, men!”
“Stay alert around the Boss!”
The Rury Group had come awake and alert, even in the middle of the night. They worked and functioned in clear and precise lines, with a group of Third Rate Warriors operating in a ring to protect Simone while she sat down in meditation, using her Silver Scaled Snake Type Ability to control more than 30 different snakes.
The rest of the warriors had formed a perimeter around the boulder, making sure that none of the snakes Simone was controlling could slip away. Everything was surprisingly orderly.
He could see some of them activate various tracking Abilities, keeping an eye on specific snakes, while others used physical-boosting Abilities to buff up their stats in preparation for anything going wrong.
‘They aren’t half bad.’ Micheal was suitably impressed by their level of discipline. The warriors didn’t question Simone’s orders and most of them didn’t even question why or who Micheal was.
The only ones that kept an eye on Micheal were two rather large men dressed in full sets of green and grey armor, with short brown hair and rough faces: Sub Leaders Biff and Thorin, Simone’s two officers. Both warriors were fierce fighters that had the Lesser Werewolf Type Ability and were pretty strong Third Rate Warriors.
Both of these two Sub Leaders stood right next to Simone, one of them keeping a wary eye on Micheal, while the other was the speaker, directing the group with loud orders. Exactly what they should be doing, in Micheal’s opinion.
Micheal watched everything unfold before him with keen interest.
The snakes were slowly piling into the cave entrance. Each one was roughly 3 meters long, but not powerful enough to be a Magic Beast. Hence, Micheal requested 30 of them, just to be safe.
Once the snakes moved into the cave, they slithered up to the stone door and then curled up and fell into a stupor. They weren’t asleep, but instead frozen, their minds dulled. Each creature was under Simone’s complete control, making this task an easy one.
Originally, this stone gate required a number of ‘intelligent’ living sacrifices, an especially cruel requirement. The Inheritance site was one created with harsh demands of any who wished to open it up and seek its rewards, with various magical locks and mechanisms controlling it.
This wasn’t entirely unexpected, given that this was the Inheritance of Yvvtal the Destroyer.
Yvvtal’s title was not a common one, nor was he a common Deity. He was a traitor to the Tribes of Deities, the meaning of the term ‘Fallen Deity,’ and an insane killer that preyed upon thousands of innocents in a mad gambit to seek immortality.
Even Deities were not immortal. While their bodies were vastly superior to that of a normal human, the chains of time tied down almost all races equally. The Tribes of Deities were no exception.
Micheal had what he saw as a very rational hatred for the Tribes of Deities. They had slaughtered humanity and caused his kind no end of grief, anger born out of years of bruta
lity. The arrogance of the leaders of the Deities was legendary, and their cruelty towards ‘lesser races’ even more so.
However, he also recognized that, just like how many humans were forced into this death game, even the Deities were forced to climb the Layers. While some lusted for blood, many others did not. He would not blame a random nation’s farmer for the pain inflicted by that nation’s General.
And thus, even if they were his enemies, he still despised people like Yvvtal, brutal killers that selfishly sought their own ends.
At least the Vile King was actually trying to help others, in his own mad way. Constantine was scum, but he was scum with standards. Beings like Yvvtal were the lowest of the low in Micheal’s eyes.
And with that in mind, Micheal made a mental promise to one day wipe Yvvtal’s Inheritance from existence.
“Alright, Legion! They’re all ready!” Simone called out to Micheal, using the name she now knew him by. Her face was covered with a sheen of sweat, but a determined glint could be seen in her eyes.
By this point, all of the snakes had successfully entered the cave, crammed forward right next to the door entrance. The cave sat ever-still, completely unaffected by the multitude of creatures that were now stacked within it.
The passage of time had damaged the Yvvtal’s Inheritance site in many ways that weren’t obvious to the naked eye. Some of that damage had affected the ‘intelligent sacrifice’ requirements.
In the records Micheal read, it was postulated that the original reason Yvvtal required ‘intelligent sacrifices’ was to ensure that whoever entered the Inheritance site was desperate for, or lusted after, power, and willing to make such a sacrifice. The designation of ‘intelligent’ was a bit arbitrary, eventually narrowed down to refer to any creature capable of cognizant communication.
Yvvtal had also likely left behind some trail of clues or hints that this was what needed to be done. Unfortunately for the Fallen Deity, it seemed those clues had long since been wiped out or some mishap had taken place, leading to no one ever actually opening up his Inheritance until long after the Deities had left this world.
That period of time ended up being tens of thousands of years long, stretching far beyond what Micheal could conceptualize. After so much time, the magic guiding these ruins had faded in many ways, leading to the situation they were in now.
The stone gate needed a large release of life force following a sacrificial ritual, but as long as enough life force was used, intelligence or a lack thereof would no longer matter for the sacrifices.
Given that the gate had to be reopened anytime someone wanted to use it, this was a blessing in disguise for any weaker intelligent beings.
“Alright! Everyone remain where you are.” Micheal stood up atop the boulder and tapped on his Spatial Ring. He withdrew a small, black grenade with a red button on its handle.
He then jumped over to the cave entrance, clutching the grenade in his hand. He peered into it, studying the unmoving snakes.
They were all sitting still peacefully by the stone entrance, just as planned. He sighed slightly when he saw this, mouthing a silent apology.
He then pressed the red button on the black grenade and lobbed it forward. An instant after, he flipped away from the entrance till he was back atop the boulder, out of direct line of sight.
A frigid couple of seconds passed as the various members of the Rury Group shifted about, but otherwise did nothing else.
Right after…
A quiet 'bang' rang out as a veil of black liquid splattered over all of the frozen snakes, layering them in viscous, flammable oil. The entire entrance to the cave was covered, staining the pale stone a mix of grey and black.
“Simone, are you ready?” Micheal’s voice was cool as he nodded over at the leader of the Rury Group.
She nodded stiffly back. Her eyes were centered on the still snakes, her forehead wrinkling in concentration.
With a bit of focus, she could deaden the nerves of all of these snakes here. This would numb their bodies and minds, preventing them from feeling anything that would happen next.
Micheal sighed as he stepped forward again. This time, he pulled out a small, red firecracker from his Spatial Ring, a normal firecracker from Earth.
Yvvtal’s Inheritance only accepted its sacrifices in a very specific way.
They had to burn to death.
If the sacrifices were knocked unconscious, no matter how much life force you offered, it would fail to activate the Fallen Deity’s Inheritance. They had to be awake and alive, consciously burning to death.
Micheal had managed to find a small loophole around that, using Simone’s powers to deaden the nerves of the snakes and send them into a relative stupor. He managed to assuage most of the cruelty of the requirement, though it still left a bad taste in his mouth. Things like this served no purpose.
Micheal took one last final glance around the hideout, ensuring that everyone was out of distance of the flammable black liquid. He then directly lit the firecracker and threw it, watching it flutter down.
The various guards all gripped their weapons tightly, some of them glowing as they activated various protective Abilities. Micheal noted all of that with a mild hint of amusement. At least they were proactive.
The moment the firecracker touched the black oil, a ‘whoosh’ rang out as it instantly blew up in flames. The fire rapidly sucked itself inside the cave, turning the insides into a glowing inferno. The screams of the blaze wracked the air as the snakes inside were annihilated, melted down to mere ash in a matter of heartbeats.
A torrent of smoke poured out of the cave entry, staining the already-dark sky a shade darker. This smoke carried with it the smell of burnt meat and cracked bones, a pungent smell that made some of the nearby warriors gag. Micheal ignored it as it floated by, his attention focused down below him.
His powerful Soul stat gave him an edge as it helped him begin to sense what was happening. He was ready to up and flee at a moment’s notice, opting to not place his full faith in all of what history claimed.
After a tense pause, however, Micheal nodded grimly.
Shortly after the snakes went up in flames, he began to feel a warm, friendly blip of energy start to spread out. This energy felt incredibly comfortable and welcoming, as if one had been discovered by a long-lost family member.
“Did it work?”
“Do you see anything?”
“Cough-cough… damned smoke.”
“Chan, are you okay? You don’t look so good.”
A multitude of voices echoed out as the curious members of the Rury Group leaned forward or back, depending on the state of their stomach. The explosion hadn’t been very powerful, more of a rapidly-developed fire that appeared and then vanished just as quickly.
Among the mire of confusion that swarmed the other warriors cut one voice in particular that sounded off clearly.
“I can see it… it really did change. Wait… can I feel it too?” Simone’s voice was awestruck as she looked at the stone gate, and then up to Micheal standing atop it, covered by a thin veneer of smoke. Her eyes seemed to be held tight, as if she was suffering from some sort of backlash due to the deaths of all the snakes she had controlled.
The smoke from the cave gradually faded and dissipated away, revealing Micheal’s calm figure resting atop the boulder and, below him inside the cave, a cool layer of yellow light shining forth from the stone doorway.
“I didn’t lie to you, Simone. The stone door’s been activated, enough to send everything into motion. And now, this whole site…” Micheal’s voice soared into the air crisply, his every word measured,
“It will open at dawn.”
Simone stared at him mutely for a few moments. Micheal looked down at her and then smiled slightly,
"Before we handle all of that, though, I happen to need a small favor from you and your snakes..."
.. .. .. .. .. ..
Micheal yawned as he rested in a small room that had
been provided to him by Simone. This was one of several spare rooms that had been set aside for storage as it was needed. Spatial Rings were not yet scarce, and wouldn’t be for a while, but there were still things people preferred to store in one place.
The bed he lay on was top class, as was the mattress. If nothing else, this ‘bandit camp’ out in the wilderness didn’t skimp on furniture, something Micheal was quite grateful for. A lush, white blanket was wrapped around his body, casting away the cool night air of the forest.
As he lay there, preparing to sleep for a few hours before dawn arrived, he began to contemplate his future here on the Second.
Over the past couple of days, he’d gone over all the major points in his head, thinking things through carefully. He’d added up the small things as best he could, and the big things as well. All the clues he had and all the information he’d been able to scrounge up.
He’d done this before, back on the First Layer, but there was no harm in doing it again, to look over everything he reasonably could.
And as he had before, he’d reached the same conclusion.
On the Second Layer, there were three disasters that struck humanity.
The Darmaton Plague that weakened humanity as a whole, the Tree Conflict that almost caused the collapse of the Human Alliance and created a huge amount of internal discord, and the final Great Disaster where all of the races went to war with one another, causing horrific losses.
If Micheal could stop each of these incidents, then the future of humanity would almost certainly turn around for the better. With the security and stability of the First Layer virtually assured, Micheal was convinced that as long as he could cement the stability of the Second, the future was certain to change.
Especially if he could stop the Great Disaster.
No races were spared from that final battle. Even the Byrium Race, the powerful Byrens that were the clear rulers of this world at the moment, eventually fell, leaving only humanity as the victor.
Brutal, horrifying, bloody, the Great Disaster was akin to the World Wars of Earth. Wars that lived on in infamy, battles of enormous scale that spread without care.