Crimson Ascension

The runes spoke in a mysterious tone. Rather than words, Draven understood impressions, a vague idea of their function. Space. Stability. Amplification. Absorption. Regulation. He had never seen this many up close while not being worried about getting a blade through the neck.

It was fascinating.

Thin metallic circles encased each rune, a single line connecting them like the branches of a tree. Though the remnant had a cube shape, Draven suspected its function might work just as well if placed on a sword, perhaps on human skin. But without testing the hypothesis, it would not produce an answer.

Hexion flowed into his veins, trickling into his fingertips until it touched the cube. The Absorption rune beckoned it, storing the refined energy within the boundaries of its circle, before letting a trickle pass through the line that connects it to Regulation.

Draven immediately felt a connection between himself, the remnant, and something else—something far away. He pushed more hexion into it and the feeling grew stronger, but only barely.

With a sigh, he stopped the flow of hexion from his astra, and the Regulation rune flared with light before dimming. It was unwise to drain his reserve needlessly, especially when hexbeasts prowled in the night.

But that's enough. This is more than I've learned in years. He felt the metal circle with his finger. Each rune needs to be contained, somehow. The rune on my face doesn't have one. It doesn't have a way of controlling its output, either. It will drain and drain and drain until all my hexion is spent.

The simple way to resolve his situation would have been to mend the scar, rid his body of the rune so that its imperfect design would not needlessly endanger his life. But Draven had tried that already. No matter how much hexion he spent, the wound refused to close. It was deeper than flesh. The rune seared his skin and soul in ways he alone could not fix.

Draven grabbed his knife and began methodically drawing runes on the ground. He drew Absorption, Amplification, Regulation, and Stability, surrounding each with a jagged circle. Artistry had never been one of his gifts, and his writing lessons with Myra had not changed that, so each rune looked like a mockery of the ones depicted in the cube. The containment circles resembled broken eggs.

Dammit. This is harder than I thought.

The first steps often were the hardest to take, but he had taken them. That was all that mattered. Draven suppressed the annoyance at his lack of perfection and drew lines connecting the runes. Satisfied, he pressed his hand on Absorption and let the hexion flow out of his astra.

The ground exploded, searing the skin on his arm. Pebbles went flying in all directions, some striking him directly in the face. A cloud of dust and fading blue light erupted before silence overtook the night once more.

"What the fuck!" Finn cursed, arriving with a blade in hand and an angry scowl. "Where are they?"

Draven looked around, at the burn in his arm, at his dust-covered clothes, and at the shattered ground. Abyss take me, if that had been in my skin… I would probably die. He silently thanked whatever gods still lived, praising his caution with wide-eyed relief.

The first attempt might have ended in disaster, but Draven refused to let that dissuade him. It was the first of many—the first step on a path untrodden.

***

The shadows stretched under the lifeless landscape like tendrils infused with sentience. It was just another odd sight amidst the many that flooded the Old World with eerie mystery. Draven didn't overthink it—he had plenty of other problems to focus on.

A hexbeast core inside his soul, now no different from an astra. The arrival of Elevalein. Finn's sour mood. The latter puzzled him to no end. Finn kept looking at the horizon as if he expected something to change, but the quiet stalemate didn't comply.

"What's going on, Finn?" Draven whispered.

"What do you mean?" Finn replied, clearly taken aback by the question. He looked at Elevalein before adding, "Nothing. Nothing is going on."

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Draven let the matter rest. Distractions were a luxury he could ill afford, especially since the last hexbeast ambush. Five Lesser Eminences had attacked them at the other end of the bridge, their frenzied fury uncharacteristic of the semblance of intelligence they had.

An Evoker's presence certainly helped, but Elevalein's request to split the cores surprised Draven. Helvan had warned him about other Empyreans wielding Az'Tenri Circlets, but he failed to consider his brother amongst that group.

Three more cores. That and the others from Helvan should push my attributes to ten. He could assign the hexion to his attributes right away, but without Helvan and Corvanis to hold the hexbeast at bay, it was too risky. I'll just wait for them.

After one day of walking, the desolate remains of a forest amidst hills replaced the ruins of an old city. The trees and bushes were dead, their trunks dried and cracked, but the moss was more vibrant than ever. It clung to the dead vegetation in a mockery to replace the absent leaves.

Far ahead, perhaps one more day of walking, a lone mountain poked out from the ground. It had sharp ridges, even when viewed from a distance, and though the sun all but stood above it, no light could illuminate its rocky surface.

That's not eerie at all. Draven swallowed, attempting to convince himself. Not one bit.

The familiar echo of Helvan's Presence echoed in the distance, pulsating in set intervals, carried by the wind and mixed in the shadow-ridden desolation of a dead forest. Draven followed it, urging Finn and Elevalein in its direction.

Faint smoke wafted in the air. In a man-made clearing, Helvan, Corvanis, and two strangers sat in quiet conversation. An armour-clad woman with short black hair poked at the fire with her bare hands. The man at her side was dressed in a matching set of equipment, and his face was covered with a thick beard and confident smile.

"I'm telling you, Helvan, the four of us are more than enough," the woman said. "You're not an Ascendance, but you are a Chroner, so just stand back and assist us. Corvanis can attack from a distance while Orun and I deal with the beast."

"Morgan's right." The man by her side, Orun, nodded. "The Ruler of Shadows is amongst the weakest Ascendance beasts. The two of us are plenty enough to give it a beating—"

The man abruptly went silent, turning his attention to Draven's approach. Helvan threw him a glance, scrutinizing Elevalein's presence before nodding.

"You missed us so much, you had to find a replacement, Gramps?" Finn clicked his tongue.

Helvan groaned.

"Who are these three?" Morgan frowned. "They look… weak."

Corvanis, who had been silent, showed a thin smile. "Appearances can be deceiving."

"Helvan, I didn't know we would have company," Draven said, taking a seat next to the fire.

"I could say the same," the Sovran said, undoubtedly referring to Elevalein. "But if you trust him, I suppose it's not unwelcome. Having an Evoker is better than not having one."

The strangers went silent at the mention of Elevalein's path. Evokers and Chroners were the Empyreans that commanded respect even from a stronger fighter, as their resourcefulness and abilities were enough to turn the tide of a battle in the blink of an eye.

"Elevalein, meet Helvan and Corvanis," Draven said, motioning to the two sitting men. "He's my brother."

Corvanis's eyes widened at that, but Helvan merely nodded and made the introductions.

"Allow me to cut to the chase," Helvan rasped, getting the attention of everyone. "We are headed to the Erratic Mountain for a single aim: hunt the Ascendant hexbeast known as The Ruler of Shadows."

"You can't be serious!" Elevalein blurted out. "It's not a Reverence or Eminence, it's an abyss-damned Ascendance hexbeast. It will have a domain."

"We're aware, boy," Orun chuckled. "It has a domain, but so do the two of us. The Ruler is only a Lesser Ascendance from the previous reports, so its domain won't affect our souls."

"That's true, but—"

"If you're too scared, turn tail and run!" Morgan snapped. "We sure as the abyss won't. Do you have any idea the treasure trove the body of an Ascendance hexbeast is? It could change our lives. Abyss take me, it can even be molded into becoming soul armour."

"Draven, surely you must understand. It's not worth the risk," Elevalein whispered. "Even if the Ruler is only a lesser Ascendance, one hexbeast is generally stronger than one Empyrean of its corresponding rank."

Draven sighed.

The Evoker's reluctance was reasonable, but the path to power was not one without risk. Helvan's aim for the hunt was clear; he wanted to supply him with a core strong enough to push his Az'Tenri circlet further. How could Draven say no? He needed every shred of power he could get.

"Can't change things if you don't—"

"Take risks…" Elevalein spoke, eyes wide. "He really enjoyed repeating that drivel. I've come all this way, so what's another step?"

As the discussion dwindled into silence, Draven produced the accumulated cores from his pouch and absorbed them into his circlet. Surrounded by two Ascendances, a Chroner, and an Evoker, no hexbeasts would carelessly risk an attack.

It was time to push the Az'Tenri Circlet further.