Symbiotic Ascension : A Progression Fantasy Adventure

Glenn rapped his fingers against the table, staring at Exan with a complicated expression.

"Twenty-one days?"

"Twenty-one days," repeated Exan. "In twenty-one days, if our intel is correct, the Celestial Gods' invasion plans will begin."

Milena crossed her arms, eyes wide open. "No, no, but what do you mean we will lose? The Celestial Gods use necromancers and orcs, they only have numbers to their advantage!"

Exan scratched his beard, nodding. "Numbers they have, indeed. It takes only a couple of years for an orc to grow into an adult. They might have reduced intelligence, but their high loyalty and initial proficiency in Aura make them very dangerous." He pressed his hands together and leaned forward, a sharp glint in his deep marine blue eye.

"In the past, orcs lived in tribes scattered across the East. Some in the Ink Dunes, some in other lands you never heard of. But that changed when the Celestial Gods arrived. They took over the Orcs, united them, and..." He stared at Glenn, "...Taught them modern strategies."

"You mean...?" Glenn stood up in disbelief. "Someone from Earth is on the side of the Celestial Gods?"

Exan shook his head. "No. The Celestial Gods are from Earth."

Glenn took a few seconds to digest the information. Milena chuckled slowly, confused.

"I feel so lost in this discussion. Even though I know you both come from this other world, it is still a struggle to wrap my head around it."

"I don't blame you," shrugged Exan as he took a long drag from his smoking pipe. "Your grandmother took years to accept that my soul stemmed from another world."

Milena's face brightened. "Talking about her! How is Grandma Luna doing?"

Exan looked to the side shamefully. "Too well. I fear she might go hunting for me if I don't return soon. Oh well... I'm sure it will be fine."

Glenn's eyelids twitched. 'Hunting? What?'

"Anyway, back to the incoming war. It's thanks to the Dark Wall flying away that the Celestial Gods think they can set their greedy eyes on Munirp." Exan conjured a map of Munirp and its surroundings. He pointed at where the Dark Wall once was, replaced by a large red slit called 'The Horizon Gate'.

"The war will happen in the Beyond. There are entry points on both sides of the territory, and Munirp simply can't hold everything. Not enough men, not enough powerhouses. And we have to consider other forces looming over the realm. The northern barbarians have heard of the Ice Wolf's death, and something ominous is happening on the Southern Continent."

Exan slammed his fist on the table. "Munirp must seize this opportunity before things go off the deep end. Who controls the Beyond and is allied with the demons will control the Eastern Continent."

Glenn leaned back, unfazed by the Omniscient's patriotism. "And what's our place in this mess?"

"You and that Black Heir, Sahro. You both have very high chances of breaking through to the Seventh Circle," Exan stated. "Your sudden rise to power isn't thanks to luck."

"What do you mean?" Glenn's eyebrows creased.

Exan took a drag. "Cough, you see, reaching higher levels of strength isn't so complicated, in theory." He let out a wisp of Mana, letting it play around his fingertips. "My research shows that struggle is directly connected to growth. You see, there are very, very rare instances of fighters or mages growing through training alone."

He crushed the wisp of Mana with a dauntless expression. "On the other hand, many stories speak of warriors rising to prominence after defeating heaven-defying odds. Legendary mages who survived from the brink of death."

"The common link of every legend is how much blood they shed." Exan tapped his finger on his cheek lightly. "Diamonds are created under pressure. And so are powerful combatants." He pointed his finger at Glenn and Milena.

"You both grew incredibly fast. The first record of Glenn's appearance was a bit more than a year ago. A First Circle. In a bit more than a year, you reached the Sixth Circle." He turned to Milena. "You came out of the Court at the Second Circle, broke through the Third in your escape, and continued to grow as you escaped the claws of death. It's the same for me, for Alaric, the Crown Prince, anyone worth their weight."

Exan stared at them with a slightly unhinged look. "Potential doesn't exist. Anyone can become a legend, as long as they survive through the ordeals this world throws at them. Potential only changes how likely it is to happen. And even so..."

Glenn couldn't help himself, scoffing. "If it's so simple, why aren't there more powerhouses? More people who grew as quickly as I or my teammates?"

Exan took another drag, exhaling a large cloud of smoke in his granddaughter's face to annoy her. "Because they die. Many tempt their hands at reaching the higher Circles, the stronger Core. But they die. Pressure can do more than create diamonds." His gaze hardened with painful remembrance. "It can kill. I am sure you know what I'm talking about."

Glenn froze, thinking back to the corpses he had left behind. Josh, Tarana, Redan... Many died, many he knew, many he didn't.

Indeed, he knew what Exan was talking about.

"In other words, had things gone slightly wrong, we should be dead. We're the one in a thousand, right?" Milena asked hesitantly.

The Omniscient shook his head with a chuckle. "Hmm, the odds are more around one in a graveyard. But it is also the only way to rise, to make a name for yourself, and to possess the power to dictate your fate."

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Glenn cleared his throat. "That was very instructive indeed, but I don't see how it explains why the Celestial Gods are guaranteed to defeat us. If we can't mass-produced powerhouses, neither can they."

Exan pointed his smoking pipe at him. "And that is where you're wrong. Orcs are fundamentally different from humans. It takes only a couple of years for a newborn Orc to become an adult, with each female birthing a dozen Orcs at once. A wonder of nature, these Orcs."

Milena blinked in realization. "Oh. By Onnea, I understand."

"Of course you do," Exan scoffed, amusedly. "You're my granddaughter. The Celestial Gods have factories creating warriors one after the other, artificially putting them through the wringer to try and make them grow beyond their strength. They teach them military discipline, inoculate them with near-fanatic levels of loyalty in their leadership, and use them as expendable."

Exan looked at them with a dark expression. "After all, it only takes a couple of years to get another batch ready."

"This is quite the horrifying point of view," winced Glenn. "A little disgusting, too. I don't know how to feel, learning I've been slaughtering three-year-olds during the war. And will continue to do so."

"You'll be happy to do it," ordered Exan. "Because if you aren't, you'll torture yourself with guilt and be unable to protect the country housing those dear to you."

Glenn sneered. "Sure, chief."

Milena sighed heavily, burying her face in her hands. "This is... I don't know how to take this. I feel like jumping out of the fire into the frying pan. It was the vampires yesterday, tomorrow it'll be a war with an unending tsunami of Orcs."

Exan laughed widely, unbothered. "That's the beauty of life, sweety. It changes and puts you to the test, challenging you until you either break, or win."

Glenn stood up, stretching. "Well, that's totally not ominous for our near future, but... whatever."

"Yeah, like we care about that. Glenn and I are going to rule the world one day, so what's a few Orcs in the way?" Diamanes suddenly exclaimed aloud. Glenn blinked at his purple hand, amused.

"You're finally done being confused?"

"I don't know! And I don't care! I just want to see some bloodshed and watch as Glenn the diamond is refined even further!" Diamanes clamored excitedly.

Exan stood up, making his smoking pipe disappear with a wave of his hand. "I've said all I needed to say. If you have any questions, it's now or never—"

"Where did Earth go?!"

"Tell me everything about my spine!"

Both Glenn and Milena exclaimed at the same time, nailing Exan back to his seat. The Omniscient sighed, and he rubbed his forehead.

"I should have expected that. Fine. Who's first?"

Glenn politely took a step back, doing an exaggerated bow. "Ladies first, of course."

Milena rolled her eyes before flexing her back. Two robotic arms surged beneath her fleshy ones, rustling under the blue sunlight. "I'm done with the 'You'll figure it out eventually.' If the war is at our doorstep, I'd rather wait for it with a loaded spell instead of cryptic bullshit."

Exan rubbed his chin. "Well, as I've mentioned earlier, I've created an AI to monitor the Arcane Spinal System, which is how I called your new spine."

Milena looked at her grandfather like he was an idiot. "Really, grandpa? A.S.S?"

The corner of the Omniscient's lips curved upward. "Ah, darn. You got me. Well. Feel free to rename it later." He chuckled lightly. "Anyway, there are indeed a few more features in this Spinal System. The two robotic arms, even if they might feel a little foreign for now, should be able to make you a melee powerhouse once you get used to them. Also..." His eyes narrowed. "You might have felt some sort of refreshing feeling, making you look at the world in a cold, calculative way."

Milena squinted. "...Maybe? What about it?"

Exan rubbed the end of his nose. "This is when the AI helps you in your decision-making. It only acts as a support and will never steer you. The AI will only help you achieve what you want to achieve." He raised a finger at the sky in warning. "For now, it only activates during crisis, but once you get control of it, you'll be able to use it at will. I have a few dozen of those, they do wonder to help control my mechas."

Glenn's eyes shone, but Exan silenced him with a dismissive hand wave. "No, you can't see them. They're protected under a Royal Seal, I can't show them even if I wanted to."

"That just means I have to ask Lucian, right...?" Glenn's eyes kept shining.

Exan muffled a curse. "I forgot you're a friend of the Crown Prince. Divine Sage, help me..."

Milena flicked her fingers, annoyed. "So? Anything else I should know about my Arcane Spinal System?"

Exan slowly shook his head before suddenly realizing. "Oh, yes, almost forgot; If you think 'status', a blue window should appear to tell you the status of your Spinal System and other sorts of stuff. This is almost like a Soul-Weapon, but instead of being bound to your soul, it's, well, bound to your body. If pulled out, it'll explode, so try to avoid that, yes?"

Milena's eyes widened at each revelation as she muttered multiple 'what? How? by Onnea!'.

"Last thing. It will grow alongside you," Exan smiled warmly. "I hope it will save your life at least a few more times."

Milena frowned at the empty air, pushing invisible buttons. "How do I turn off this 'monitored' thing?" She walked off, trying to figure out how this new A.S.S. system worked.

Exan ignored her and turned to Glenn, his face a mask of peace. "Earth, then?"

Glenn shook his head. "Screw that. I want the same spine as her," he asked shamelessly.

"No," replied Exan. "I said, Earth, then?"

Glenn sighed. "Earth. I couldn't ask any questions last time, but I want answers now. Onnea told me Earth was gone. You said Earth was gone in your books. How? Where?"

Exan pinched the bridge of his nose, grunting with a complicated expression. "I've investigated the process Onnea used to take our souls from Earth to put them in new bodies. I was lucky to be born as a noble, but I believe many others ended up as peasants' children and died early. That was probably your fate, right?"

Glenn frowned. "No. This body is the same as the one I had on Earth—minus the scars, Diamanes, and magic, of course."

Exan's eyes widened. "What? No, that's—that's not how it works!"

"Well, I'm not lying," shrugged Glenn. "I woke up on a battlefield with my guts spilling out and a spear in my chest. But my body is the same, as is my mother's and my sister's."

"Your family is here too...?" Exan clasped the back of his head, confused. "This... this doesn't make any sense. I'll have to ask Onnea and the Divine Sage next time I see them."

He shook his head, his gaze trembling slightly. "In any case. To answer your question, I've come to realize that Onnea took our souls from a... repository of some sort. A storage. Earth... Earth doesn't look like it even exists." He conjured a map of the stars, showing multiple galaxies. Glenn recognized the Andromeda galaxy, as well as the Milky Way, but the rest was unknown to him. As if to add matter to injury, there were thousands of such galaxies, spreading in the illusory magic Exan had conjured.

"I could map out the universe with my powers, but... Limbo is a place where space and stars are not accessible. So take it with a grain of salt," warned Exan. He zoomed in on the Milky Way, zooming and zooming and zooming... until he finally arrived in the Solar System.

The Sun was gone. What was left was a dying ember of what once was, surrounded by dead, icy rocks. There was no light, only darkness.

Like Exan said, like Onnea said, Glenn could only come to one conclusion.

Earth was gone.