Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

"Just as Luviya first told me, the final door appears only when all The Chosen Ones are present, and the surviving individuals become the Thirteen Rings. It's not easy to kill us. From the information I've gathered, once you gain the status through the ritual, fate will favor us. This doesn't mean we can't die, but most of the time, we will have good fortune,"

Iluna continued her introduction.

"That's an enviable ability indeed,"

Shard whispered in admiration. If he, too, could be favored by fate, life would be so much easier.

"What are you laughing at?"

A familiar laugh reached his ears, but Shard's question was met with no answer.

"What if a candidate dies before becoming The Chosen One? Wouldn't that mean the requirement of 'all thirteen The Chosen Ones' presence' would never be fulfilled?"

Luviya asked again, the excitement evident in the brown-haired Female Diviner at this rare opportunity to glean more information.

Iluna shook her head:

"No, if a candidate dies, another will emerge. It's not a succession by slaughter; it's just that there's never only one candidate."

"Oh?"

Shard looked at her in surprise:

"Are there others with your kind of ability?"

"No, actually, it can be likened to a succession ranking system. My place in the succession is the highest, so I possess power closer to that of a true Chosen One. As long as I am alive, no other candidates, no matter what, can gain the status of 'Balance'."

Iluna said, taking a small sip from her tea cup. Shard came to understand:

"So if the official Chosen One dies, can the corresponding candidate then..."

"No, there is and will only be one official Chosen One for each Ancient God during the Sixth Era. If I succeed in becoming the Chosen of Balance, then all other candidates for Balance lose their eligibility."

"That pretty much matches what I thought. If the other candidates could inherit the position after Iluna's death, then 'Whispering Verses' wouldn't be the epic of the Sixth Era, but rather the spark for an all-out war among Circle Sorcerers of the Sixth Era,"
Explore stories on My Virtual Library Empire

Luviya remarked. Iluna nodded her head, continuing to explain:

"As for the door, there's not much to it. The appearance of the door should actually be seen as a grand ceremony. What exactly the opening of that door will bring, I do not know,"

She pointed to her head:

"But I can be certain that its opening will bring us power and also bring significant changes to the material world. Whether the Old Gods will awaken, and the Eras will change, these questions have no answers. However, all The Chosen Ones, after that, will have to make a decision that will change the world, not separately, but together in one significant decision. What that decision entails, I still do not know."

Although the information from Iluna remained very vague, it could be deduced that everything Luviya initially told the pair about the 'Whispering Verses' was, in fact, all correct. Even the choice to rally The Chosen Ones as much as possible was the right one.

But remember, up until now, only the first of The Chosen Ones has just been confirmed. How Luviya gained the information, whether through divination or some other even more secretive means, was unknown.

"Is that all?"

the Female Diviner asked again, the seventeen-year-old girl furrowed her brow in recollection, shifting her body on the sofa at the Shard Family home, trying to get more comfortable:

"The other scattered pieces of information mostly pertain to power... oh, I almost forgot, there is one more thing. I can sense a space, shrouded by white mist."

"Hmm?"

Shard was startled, and Luviya was also stunned; when Shard had informed her about the basement space, she had learned about the "Spatial Labyrinth" and the "Time Corridor," even hearing Shard mention the "Creation Chamber."

"Could it be the mysterious space left by that Ancient God, The Upside-Down Judge of Balance?"

"How did you know?"

Now it was Iluna's turn to be surprised.

"I'll take you to the basement to have a look in a bit. During this week and more that you've been away, I've also experienced some stories."

Shard leaned forward slightly, his speech quickening:

"That's not important for now. Have you been inside that space shrouded in white fog? What is its specific function? Where is the entrance? Does it require a special item as a key or specific spell words?"

"Why do I feel like you know even more than I do?"

Iluna murmured softly, then said:

"That special space is known as 'Inquisitor's Court.'"

"Court?"

Shard said skeptically, but considering that the "Time Corridor" and "Spatial Labyrinth" actually had nothing to do with corridors or labyrinths, the so-called "court" was probably not a reference to a literal court either.

"Entering that space requires a specific incantation 'May the Power of Balance favor me who holds the Balance,' and besides, it requires the Holy Emblem of that Ancient God. Not just any crafted emblem, but a truly powerful Holy Emblem."

The "Time Key" is suspected to be the body of the Ancient God: Father of the Infinite Tree; entering the Spatial Labyrinth even requires the odd Divine Statue of the Ancient God: Primordial Rift, so the need for a Holy Emblem this time is also understandable.

"Do we have to go find the Holy Emblem of that Ancient God? That won't be easy."

Shard frowned, while Iluna pointed to herself:

"Others might need the Holy Emblem to enter, but I don't. I just need to speak the incantation."

"We can look for the Holy Emblem slowly, but what exactly does that place do?"

The brown-haired Female Diviner asked again, and Iluna finally remembered she hadn't finished explaining. She smiled apologetically:

"The court is a place to judge oneself. I tried once; entering the court leads through a White Mist Gate, and beyond the gate is a strange space completely surrounded by thick white fog. No matter how you move in the fog, you're always within it. But if you kneel down on one knee, some stone platforms will appear around you, forming a place that resembles a court in the mist. On the platform where the Judge should be, there's a set of dark gold-colored Scales. By adding weights to the right pan, you can make changes to yourself."

"What kind of weights?"

"Everything that is yours."

Iluna furrowed her brows slightly:

"Body, spirit, power, lifespan, wealth, experiences, memories, achievements, and so on. Anything that belongs to you can be used as a weight. Once you place your offerings on the right, you can make adjustments to yourself on the left. You cannot change the past, but you can impact the present and future, making yourself stronger, increasing your future luck, making yourself meet people you would not have otherwise met, or acquiring something..."

The seventeen-year-old girl glanced at Shard:

"But the more you want to gain, the more you will lose. Only when the scales are perfectly balanced can these changes become reality."