Runeblade

Kaius stared up at the floating ascendant in confusion, trying and failing to grapple with the implications of what Xenanra had said. That they were on a path — to what? Ascendancy? Surely she must have been metaphorical — men did not become gods, and even with ten-thousand levels, Kaius refused to believe that it would let him become something so…supreme.

Xenanra simply floated, looking down upon them from her throne of suede and lacquered wood. A smile was on her face — one that could have just as easily been knowing as it was mocking.

It had to be mocking — she knew the conclusion that he had reached. What else could such a thought be but impudence? It was by leniency alone that she had not struck him down already, surely.

Xenanra rolled her eyes.

"The Legacy, the Aspect Triumvirate — by the boundless, what did you think these things were? A simple product to improve your class? Please."

She let out a howling laugh, as if the mere suggestion was incomprehensible. A moment later her eyes snapped back to them — glowing with a zeal that stripped him bare.

"They are refinement. A test that only the greatest succeed at — and succeed you have! Two of your number are performing above expectations by the standards of a world with a far less tumultuous history, and two of you have somehow managed a near flawless record! And you!"

She thrust a clawed finger directly at Kaius. He noticed it was tipped by a dagger-like claw sharp enough to tear out his heart.

"You have a fragment of conceptual magic in the first tier — do you even understand what that means? You are quite the promising prospect, if you manage to avoid dying, falling, or going completely insane." Xenanra cackled, clapping her hands in apparent joy while space shattered into mind bending shards with each impact. "New planets are such fun!"

With little more than a twitch of her finger, Xenanra sent her divan rocketing through the air. It shot down, straight for them, and came to a dead stop — hovering two longstrides away and one above the ground. This close, Kaius suddenly realised the ascendant was small — the size of a child, at most.

Not that her statue gave any pretence at weakness — her might was undeniable, and he really would have to be mad not to acknowledge it after everything else.

Xenanra smiled — all genuine kindness washed away by teeth that looked designed to strip flesh from bone.

"I know you wish to know more, but I cannot speak more on the topic. I may not be bound to the same severity of restriction as the Watcher, but I am bound all the same. Just know this, and engrave it on your heart and soul to treat it as a balm in the harshest of winters."

Kaius leaned in — ready and willing to hear all that she would share.

"I said the integration is a good thing — something for the betterment of all at the largest scale of thing. Part — a small part — of that is to select for worlds, societies, and peoples that have the greatest potential to become fields that might one day grow an ascendant — and if one arises during the integration, all the better."

She twirled through the air, divan spinning as her arm swept over empty obsidian walls covered in shifting script.

"The path is long — filled with loss and pain and death. It is an unavoidable fact, a necessary pressure that is required for you to remould yourself into a likeness of greatness. For it is you who walks, and there is little anyone else can do to assist you with the biggest steps, and the heaviest burdens."

Her turn slowed as she faced them once more — mania radiant in her white eyes, six equidistant black dots flickering in and out.

"But you can still be fed — fertilised and pruned. Strife can be created and controlled, dosed with careful measure; a Crucible can burn so that you might temper — as long as you have the stomach to thrust yourself into the fire, and the steel to return with your heart still beating."

Her eyes softened, returning to unblemished ivory. She gave them a slight smile — a sad one.

"Much like the integration, it is a good thing — but not easy, and not without pain and loss."

Kaius saw her age then — the weight of uncountable millenia hanging over her head like a cloud, a graveyard of the dead reaching up towards her — as if she floated to avoid their grasp.

"There is more — specific instructions on individual trials, and the like — but I believe you have yet to ask me a question?"

Silence reigned as Kaius struggled to grapple with what she had said. It was too large — too insurmountable to even fathom. He'd always strived to climb to the very peak — but he'd lived under the natural fact that some things were just not equal. There were men, and then there were gods — how did Xenanra expect him to react when she told them that they too might obtain such heights.

It was preposterous! Sheer, unbridled avarice and pride! Only the most foolish, the utterly insane could dare to even try!

It made him hungry.

For a moment, Kaius could have sworn he saw the ascendant's featureless eyes flicking to him as her lip twitched, but even with his mental stats it was gone so quickly he could have imagined it.

Ianmus finally broke their silence, his voice filled with a curiosity that bordered on desperation.

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"The pillars of magic, how many are there — please!"

Xenanra laughed, "Simplified, and at a level that does not breach my restrictions, there are three mundane branches. Though, all three have so much variation contained within their breadth that it would be impossible to give even a passing reference to all of them. That, and they are not so discreet as calling them 'pillars' makes them sound."

Kaius was fairly sure he could hear Ianmus choking behind him, his breathing coming so fast he half expected to hear his body hitting the ground at any moment.

"Sorcery, keyseals, and the runic arcs — they're more of a sliding scale between focus on intent and form. Beyond that…there's more, such as conceptual magic. Which, I will note, I can only even mention because that one—" she inclined her head towards him. "—somehow managed to get a scrap of insight in the first tier. That's about the limit of what I can say."

A peak behind him revealed Ianmus on his knees, looking at the ascendant in fascinated awe — and clearly trying to restrain himself from pressing for more. No matter how much the mage might have wished, he hadn't forgotten who they were dealing with.

Kaius turned back, taking the time to ponder if he had any of his own questions.

There was one thing — something that had been scratching at him since Xenanra had outright confirmed the existence of other mortal realms like their own. Something he'd wanted to know long before he'd gotten his class, but had become more pertinent since.

He spoke up.

"Our skills and classes, the epigraphs — do they come from other worlds too, and do they reference real things?"

He had to know — too much could be solved if there was some way for him to eventually find the Order.

The ascendant gave him a nod, "They do, and yes, that includes the order named by your Class — though I do not know of them personally, and have no idea if they still exist. Much like artefacts, most epigraphs come from their creator's life, or the life of a person or institution closely linked to their use."

Kaius sighed — that was something. It at least confirmed his suspicions, but it seemed it wouldn't be directly useful information for a while yet.

Still, from a wider perspective, the ascendant had just offered them world shattering revelations. If more people came to challenge this or another Crucible — survived and spoke on their experiences — common knowledge of their place in the universe was going to change very fast.

Porkchop, it seemed, had different ideas of what was most important to learn. Kaius barely got a moment to react to the wave of bold determination that rushed across their bond before his brother started speaking.

"How do we become ascendant? I will listen to anything you have to say — any scrap, anecdote, or piece of advice. Anything!"

Xenanra laughed again, though this time with the purest and most unadulterated satisfaction. It seemed to infect reality, bolstering the world from within as Kaius felt himself weigh more in a way he couldn't explain.

"Finally! Do you know how long it has been since someone has had the balls to ask me that question?" she put up her hand to cut them off, as if any of them would dare. "Don't answer, it's rude to make a lady feel her age."

"It's a simple process really — but one that is by no means easy. Don't cross into the next tier of your class until you have completed that tier's step — and that includes waiting until you or someone else unlocks following steps by progressing the integration."

Kaius wondered why? Why was it so important to do them in lockstep with the more traditional progression — could it have been the soul crystallisation that the system mentioned so long ago? The thing that meant those in higher tiers were unable to access aspects?

Xenanra nodded at him as if he had asked the question out loud.

"It must be done that way because of natural processes that occur as you develop and grow. I cannot discuss it in depth, but certain milestones need to be hit at certain stages. The generic path the System offers all makes changes as you rise — certain temperings and refinements must take place before those occur. The Aspects are particularly unforgiving, in that all three need to be founded to progress further — at a base level, at least. But plenty more are like the legacy — they can be completed to varying degrees."

Xenanra paused for a moment, watching them closely. Evaluating them. A moment later, she nodded to herself — as if she had been satisfied with what she had found.

"I will note, however, that I personally recommend finishing steps to the total degree you can possibly manage at any given class tier, and to not move onto the next path step until you have done so — partial progress compounds difficulty over time, and many have found their paths cut short by lacking diligence early in life."

Kaius gulped, relieved that they had not had their paths cut short. Still…if that was the case — was Vaastivar doomed? Almost no one had legacies.

"Do you need to complete the steps to progress? Legacies are rare here — if others are cut off because they could not get access to four merged skills I fear that many will be doomed."

"No, the legacy is somewhat of a special case," Xenanra said, shaking her head. "It tests the culture and personal dedication, not capability and insight in the same way as later steps. It makes things easier, but anyone can develop as long as they form all of their Aspects."

As he opened his mouth to ask her more, Xenanra raised her hand — cutting him off.

"That is enough, for now."

Kaius felt a flash of disappointment.

"I do believe that you all have Guardian rewards that you have due — I've been withholding them while you got settled, but it is best you receive them now so I can get to explaining the nature of this Crucible challenge to you."

Kaius's disappointment vanished.

With a simple wave of her hand, Xenanra called on a twist of power that Kaius felt tingling in his marrow. A clouded vial appeared in front of him a moment later. Craning his neck, Kaius saw each of his friends had their own vials.

"I have had no influence on the selection of these rewards, but I will say that Crucible Guardians award gifts that are both more valuable and more tailored than normal." She paused for a moment. "They can often be stranger, too — and made more potent for the fact that you have chosen to enter this trial. Before you ask, you will only see this level of reward once for each tier of Crucible you challenge and enter."

Kaius looked back down at his own phial, barely larger than two thimbles. Through its frosted glass, he saw what looked like a thick flowing iridescent liquid. Tilting his head curiously, he focused Truesight.

Waters of Zarbiniel:

Legendary - Tier I

Affinity - Severance, Apotheosis

Fragment of a living world; the grinding severance that cut through time itself.

The thinnest dilution of the smallest scrap of a being that once hacked its way to life, and then rose to ascendancy.

Reagent

A Father's Gift lurched forward, like a bloodhound with a scent.