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Deep down where light could not reach, day and night were dictated not by the sun, but by men. That too, even if twisted, was the philosophy of the city of science.
A world free of the antics of the world above, a world where dreams could be pursued. Morality by mankind, for humankind… though even that had long lost its meaning to him.
The city of Rapture unfolded before him, and Antonoine gazed at the world beneath him.
"… What was I…"
Today, like any other day, marked his long retreat from the figure he once was. A multi-decade long retirement from the forefront of civilization in the face of something one might even call mundane.
Self-fulfillment.
Antonoine had gone through many ups and downs in pursuit of the word. It was hard to say if what he had now could be called that, or if it could even be called anything at all, but if there was one thing he was sure he had achieved after much pondering, was that he was ready.
Ready to draw his last breath.
He was scared, disappointed, and maybe even a bit regretful. But such was life, and there was nothing he could do about it… he had already tried everything there was for a man to do… perhaps even multiple.
He had defied logic and altered the fates of numerous timelines and realities in search of his own goals. In some of those worlds, he was a demon, a savior, and to most, perhaps, a swindler.
The man gathered countless talents and their creations across the future, the past, and the indescribable, all for the sake of achieving his long-held goal he kept deep in his heart…
The truth… the truth about himself, the world, and what stood beyond consciousness. For despite everything he was, believed to be the man who innovated science as they knew it; he held beliefs many would consider illogical if not ridiculous superstition.
But all he found was disappointment. So instead, he aimed to extend his own life so he could explore the worlds abound for a little longer… yet he was once again met with disappointment.
Decades of experiments had left his body a mere shell of itself. How many times had he reminded himself of that? How many times had he tried to revert to what time had taken away?
A shame that every cell within his body barely held itself together…
/Sheen…/
He looked at his palm, translucent energy bubbling inside his skin, like light passing through a prism, it refracted on his eyes and into the world beyond.
/Close…/
Antonoine closed his hand, looking away. He stepped to the side, and tapped on the wall with the back of his hand.
/Flip!/
A small section of the wall flipped over, static trembling through the gaps of an exhaust-like machine, "What will it be today, sir?"
"Something casual, I'm going on a walk." He said in a grumpy tone, voice raspy as he tried to clear it, though it stopped working some years back
"Understood!"
The plate returned, and the echoes of machinery came from behind the wall.
/Ding!/
Like a hotel bell, a cylindrical section of the wall spun, revealing a single stylish, dark-brown suit, pants, and a pair of dark boots.
"Would you like some assistance to put them on?"
Antonoine grumbled under his breath, "… fuck off. Just give me my damn cane." He demanded as the entire suit twisted and turned, flashing into his body in the blink of an eye!
"Understood! Which one—"
He didn't let it finished, "The black one with the silver decorations."
/Cashing!/
A single dark cane popped off from inside a hole, a mechanical arm slowly putting it before him as Antonoine grabbed it without much thought, "Close!… Close… whatever the command word is."
"Have a nice day, sir!"
"…"
He did not answer, merely stepping outside his room.
…
/Ding!/
Antonoine stepped outside his room into an extremely luxurious and wide, five-floor apartment. Perhaps the largest apartment in all of Rapture, it stood in the highest tower at the city's central point, a mix of a workshop and a living space, it was the epitome of authority in this land.
Visible from nearly every corner of the city, given Rapture was built like an inverted funnel, with the central section rising high above so all could witness it, with lower buildings stretching into the distance until further districts were allowed to build high once more.
During his earlier days, Antonoine had spent a lot of his time projecting the city. It was a great pastime for him, which helped distract him from his work whenever he felt like it.
In old age, he mostly enforced his own rules and adapted them for the future, not being needed anymore in any part of the process due to Rapture's own highly skilled staff.
At the corner of the apartment, a golden cabin waited, into which he stepped without hesitation.
"… Negative twentieth." He said aloud
/Twist…/
A small indentation in the wall twisted open like a cap, and a small arm moved from inside, pressing one of the two hundred buttons before retreating inside.
/Fuon!/
As the elevator came to life, he turned to face the city he had built, and for a moment, his own reflection came to his eyes… "… Humph."
With a snap of his fingers, his disheveled hair was combed, and his mouth was brushed and cleaned, leaving him utterly spotless as if he had just stepped out of a bath.
Much better now, he thought to himself as the city slowly vanished as he pierced deep into the very center of Rapture's most extravagant district — Mount Olympus.
Where the houses and hotels meant to house the wealthiest men and women existed, but at the same time, it was also where the offices of the most successful and ambitious resided.
However, amidst all of that, there was one place untouched by such. The very core of Mount Olympus, a series of buildings interconnected into one massive block akin to a wide wall surrounding a circular park, meant to host festivities and other events for all of Rapture.
Only a few stores stood here. It was considered one of Rapture's most prestigious locations to open shop, where only the most skillful could do so.
The Garden of Eden.
/Ding!/
Antonoine stepped out of his elevator into a wide lounge, one of over two hundred scattered throughout the floors. He was immediately welcomed by the receptionist in an orange-blue dress, going on his way after a short exchange.
/Chattering…/
Outside, a wide, slightly curved street stretched around a massive park whose end couldn't be seen from where he stood.
People in elegant dresses and suits walked around, mothers pushed their children in strollers, workers paved the streets, workers cleaned the walls, mending metal and brushing bricks, while children played in the distance with both simple and elegant toys that took to the skies, zipping around the area.
/Clank… clank…/
Robots walked past them with police officers, the specialty of Rapture together with its top of the line understanding of biology and medicine.
From time to time, he'd even notice people with unique appearances. A man whose eyes were like gems, a tall man with wings made out of wind, transitioning in and out of sight.
A woman with flowing blue hair like a moving tide… and a young girl just like her, short, wavy hair bubbling around her also as she ran around the place, her attentive father standing proud in the distance.
'… Even though we solved gene-splicing, we couldn't have predicted such a thing to come into being.'
'Or rather, we did many decades ago… but the damage had already been done. Rapture wouldn't exist if we took away the people's access to Adam… I already saw that decision firsthand.'
'With consecutive generations, children carrying those traits have slowly appeared, holding abilities similar, yet not entirely equal to what existed at the time… Dealing with this matter was a concern of mine, albeit not my specialty.' Antonoine thought as his eyes traced the crowd
'It has become the staple of people living in Rapture. I even fear that with further generations, the people of this city might become their own subspecies, which might one day secluded them further from the rest of the world.'
Antonoine looked away, 'I did my best to keep Rapture's sovereignty over the years while also trying to retain its contact with the outside world… but I'm afraid for the children of the future… not all in positions of power are as qualified as I'd like.'
'Nonetheless… I made a decision not to interfere… It's not up to me to make it, not anymore.'
He walked to the side, tracing the upper street, passing by each building on his way as he circled the massive, several kilometer long street.
Clothing, shoes, hospitals, academies, barbers, repair shops… anything one could ask for existed here.
But what he cared about the most wasn't those, but the metal panels stuck beside each building.
{Palonia's House of Creation — Built in 1963}
A long list of names followed, starting with one he knew very well, even though it felt… foreign now.
{Antonoine Gullios — Chief Construction Manager}
If he closed his eyes, he would remember. The days when he was younger and full of vitality, sticking his nose everywhere, lifting bricks and shoving cement down with telekinesis… every wall, every ceiling.
The workers would clamor around him. He would bend metal and melt steel… And seeing for himself the hurdles of the men and woman of Rapture, he'd go out of his way to devise new Plasmids to assist them in perfecting this wonder of civilization.
He built this city brick by brick, and that wasn't an exaggeration.
'… Though my hand has long grown dull for these tasks…'
He looked into the distance, 'I wonder how the new districts are faring? I remember approving the schematics, but now that I think about it, I haven't gone to visit even once.'
It was merely a gesture of faith and formalities. Those in power… had seen him around them all their lives. His achievements were legendary, his wisdom unmatched… to receive his approval, was to receive the support of all of Rapture itself.
Some would call it politics, but the line between goodwill and scheming wasn't exactly straight.
After thinking for a moment, he decided to step outside for once… but not before stopping before a middle-aged man on the side of the road cleaning shoes.
He smiled as he saw him, approaching him, "… How have you been, Frederic?"
The man stopped what he was doing, raising his head, slightly marked by grease, to face him, eyes opening wide as he exclaimed, "Lord!"
"I am no Lord… but seeing you like this, it seems you don't have the time to help me?"
He shook his head, "N-No, no… sit down! I'll clean your shoes in no time!"
Antonoine sat with a faint smile, looking at the street and thinking about the past, "… I wonder how many times I sat here in this exact spot?… My father once brought me here when I was young…"
His cane struck the ground lightly, /Tap!/… "Back then, we didn't even have a park… Instead, we had a few labs and even then, the streets echoed with the sounds of construction all day long."
He pointed with his cane, "We could see the ocean from there. It was a nice view I wanted to preserve… but we needed the space… So I had them move it elsewhere instead."
Frederic prepared his tools, laughing faintly as well, "That was indeed a long time ago. My grandfather would've been elated to know how long this little business of his lasted… though that's mostly thanks to you."
"Your patronage alone has supported us this far, hahaha..." He added with a chuckle
Antonoine looked away, "How long has it been? Ninety, one hundred years?"
"Around that? Grandpa never really said when he started… and father wasn't one to keep track of it either. As for me, I've been here for about twenty years? Give or take, I was fourteen when I first polished a pair of boots."
"What about your son? Is he not around?"
He exhaled, "It's a sad thing, but my son won't continue my work. He has his own aspirations, his own dreams… He set his sights on robotics, though I can't say much about it… I myself never really understood this scholarly stuff."
He coughed, "N-Not that I didn't do well in school. Rapture's Education system is the best in the world!…"
Antonoine closed his eyes, "No need to try to please me… It's been a long time since I last put my hand in it." He said as he looked into the distance.
'Indeed, when was it that the streets grew so… empty? There were once so many unique stalls all around… sigh.' He thought as he looked around
The children were still around, they just did their own things now… he had seen them change numerous times, and now, they were so far away all of it felt like stains in a mural, nearly impossible to recognize.
Time moved on, and the older he got, the more he understood how stuck in the past he was.
Perhaps… it was time to let go.
As he thought of that, his eyes narrowed… 'I need to… I… Deja-vu, huh… It's not a pleasant feeling.'
'I feel as if I'm forgetting something…'
"Sir?"
"… It's nothing, please continue."
…
After he was finished, he gave the man a simple coin and moved on, treading outward into the many districts of the beautiful city.
From the highest to the lowest, industrial to academic ones, he traversed the city up and down, stopping above his apartment, gazing at the city beneath thousands of miles of water.
Antonoine stood above a statue, unmoving, 'Tomorrow… tomorrow is the day.'
He had told that to himself a thousand times over… but today, it didn't sound like a lie.
/Fwoop!/
The ocean caved in as he vanished, bubbles of air dispersing in the water…
…
/Clack… clack!/
The echo of his cane reverberated across a silent hall. Rapture's largest museum, which was undergoing renovations…
Three months ago, he had realized his time was quickly approaching, and he wanted to at least be part of one last project before he truly left this world.
The time to sort through all of his experiences and leave them behind for others… A memoir of Rapture, and those that stood within it across the century.
/Scribble…/
A diary stood in his hand… a pen flying through its pages, recording every piece of his life, but mostly, his emotions…
{… 2075, I had ridden myself out of my despair and boredom. I was happy and satisfied, but at the same time, disappointed. I reached the very top of this world, yet I felt empty.
My research on Tears never really went anywhere. I could only open a random Tear and see where it leads, but every time it will be a variation of what I already have seen.
Never once did I truly find something "new". Never once did I achieve my dream of going into another completely different world.
It was always just another Rapture. No matter the name, the essence was the same.
What was the point of rediscovering ADAM and EVE one thousand times over?
I wanted something new, something thrilling…
The fire within my mind and soul were still strong, but this body of mine was far too frail… days ago, for the first time in nearly a century, I failed to use my abilities.
Ten million recombinations later, after destructing and reconstructing my genes countless times, not even the perfect molecules within me could take it.
They were breaking down, one by one… the perfect creation, Ambrosia, had met its match.
Time.
}
/Scribble…/
'…'
He struggled to write down the final line. How could he surmise his past year for the future?
{… 2076... Is this the end?}
For now, perhaps… Antonoine had no other words to add to his diary.
It wasn't his first time writing one, but it remained the only one he still had, for all others had met the same fate, to be burned and discarded under his own hand.
This was the only gate into who he truly was, and even then, he questioned his decision… Should he let the world believe the tale of his ascension, or should he let it be corrupted by something so utterly inconceivable?
'Would they even believe it? Or liken it to the ramblings of an old, ailing mind?…' He wondered as he stopped before a statue of a goddess, one that held his eyes for a moment longer
{The goddess of the hearth, home, architecture, and domestic life — Hestia}
{This is an original bronze statue depicting Goddess Hestia, dated to around 500 BC…}
As original as it could be. Given that he took it from the very city it was built in, leaving its original reality empty…
His eyes lingered on the statue, it was almost as if there was more to it.
"… Maybe I should do another trip. One last roundabout before I go up in flames." He said as he raised his head to face the statue
"Gods… sometimes I wonder if some higher power sent me here, and what was their reason to do so."
'Are you listening to me, after all this time?' He thought as he waited for a reply, but nothing came
Antonoine exhaled, "… Ugh… my head hurts… Hestia… hm?"
'Why did I think of her now, of all times?'
He faced the statue again, something about it felt wrong…
"… I… Huff…"
For a moment, all seemed to fall into place, like the word at the tip of his tongue had finally rolled out.
He frowned, 'This… is a dream too, is it?'
Something seemed to clear at the back of his mind. All of a sudden, everything made sense, "Right… I haven't dreamt in years, yet all of a sudden…"
"I did not dream, I was awake."
'I remember now, yes… this place… is already long behind me.'
Antonoine gazed at the statue, this time smiling faintly, his once worn-out eyes shining with light once more, "To think I'd see this place again so vividly…"
'I often dream of the past, but that and this are utterly different things.'
He smiled, a genuine one full of vitality, "I'm glad. It reminds me of what I truly fight for." Silver said as he looked away, 'My world, my adventure is out there… but I'd like to visit one place before going back.'
/Crank…/
The ground twisted and turned as a door formed before him…
One last stop before returning to his reality.
…
/Sha sha…/
"… There, all better now."
Vast grasslands spread to the horizon. In these endless fields, a small village could be seen at the bottom of an emerald hill.
As white, fluffy sheep moved about, Silver finished decorating two tombstones within a small cemetery, 'Now they can't blame me for being unfilial.' He thought with a light chuckle as he got to his feet.
The village where his parents married. It was a rather romantic story, of a quirky science girl and a nerdy village boy who sought his academic studies meeting together within the same laboratory.
Two brilliant minds from unique beginnings, being allowed to be who they truly were not within their world, but beneath it, in a world of water and metal.
'Up until the day they passed away, they never returned. Once father proposed to mother and they had their own ceremony, they were recruited to be part of Rapture's early development, and given its secrecy, to others, it was almost as if they had vanished from sight.'
'By the time I came to have the authority and means to move out of Rapture, my grandparents and extended family had already long passed away… unable to know of their fate…'
'I was only able to meet with my mother's mother, but our time together was brief.'
He exhaled, 'Though at the very least, I was able to accompany her through her last days, and give her some semblance of peace as I shared with her the story of theirs... and my life.'
'For my uncles and aunts, I provided them with some wealth so they would live their lives in decency. Albeit, given how busy I was at the time, and for their own sake too, I stopped there so they would live their lives without issue.'
'I should've taken the time to interact more with them… I should've tracked their descendants, at least this way I would've been able to know how many relatives I still had on this earth by the time I passed.'
"I suppose it's a bit too late to do it now." He mumbled with a broken smile as he looked around
He looked at the sky, which was already dark by now, "… I wonder if it's still there, somewhere in outer space?"
'Out of my many adventures, the city of the skies and the city of the cosmos were by far the most memorable ventures I had. Though I have had some bad experiences with both of them…'
Human ingenuity never stopped surprising Silver. Across parallel realities and timelines, humans always found a way to achieve what he once thought impossible.
Be it building a city deep inside the earth, or finding a way to build one far above, on the moon.
He shook his head, "It's time to return."
Silver tapped his forehead, "Waking up won't be much of an issue… and I trust myself enough to… believe my own memories and judgment."
'… It was filled with despair, but I enjoyed my time in this world… I just wished I could've done more.'
He held his emotions deep within, "Live on."
/FWOOP!/
Darkness embraced him.
…
/Shuaa…/
Silver woke up to the soothing sound of water splashing down.
"... Hum?... I'm awake."
He blinked, 'That was quite the dream… now…'
He looked around in confusion, "This place is...? No way… how did I get here again?"
The same pools, the same walls and ceilings painted with strange creatures and girls glancing down at him from above, moving on and about as if he were an animal in a zoo.
Silver was once again in the dream… "Cough…"
He reached for his throat, hiding his frustration, 'Dammit.' He thought as he punched the wall, making a small painted bunny jump in fright into the grassy fields behind it.
The bunny ran away and hid inside a painted bush, looking at Silver with its big round red eyes in fear.
After a moment calming down, Silver took another moment to look around, finding himself alone. The door ahead was still closed, and the place still looked the same.
"… I thought this was over, but here I am again."
'Why does this keep happening? Does it have anything to do with my Rank Ups?'
"… Staying in these pools isn't a good idea. Last time I was… kindly thrown out…"
Silver looked at the big doors, "Should I try coming back?"
Why not?
…
"That said, stepping out might prevent me from leaving. Either way, I can always come back…"
'If there is someone who knows something conclusive about this place… Then it's definitely those girls who knocked me out last time.'
Without hesitating anymore, Silver went to the huge metal doors and placed his hand on them.
He tapped them, looking for a switch, "Like last time, there are no handles… but how did those girls leave if that is the case?"
'I could look for it, but I don't have the luxury to wait.'
/Fwoop!/
Silver focused, and he suddenly disappeared, reappearing on the other side of the door. Once outside, he made his way down the hallway, unconsciously looking at the water running beside him.
"... The attraction I once felt for it is gone. Though I can't help but notice its faint aroma… This place irks me on a spiritual level, which isn't something I usually experience."
He crouched near it, "This water seems to be natural, though. What makes it special?…"
With no one to answer his words, he moved on.
…
Silver stopped before a large boulder blocking his passage, "Here I am again…"
/Fwush!/
Silver disappeared and reappeared outside… He looked around, seeing the beautiful lake with the yellow flowers and the strange egg-shaped boulder in the middle of it, just like he remembered.
He stretched his waist, "Easier than I thought…"
Following that, he looked to his side and saw the massive statue of a woman carved in stone, staring at him with a confused expression.
They looked at each other for a few moments until Silver broke the silence, "Hm? You're still here… no… I guess a statue wouldn't move too far, huh?"
But the woman was stunned, "... How did you?..."
"Last time I asked you that, you sent me away. I'd love to ask you, if you're willing to answer."
She frowned, but exhaled, breaking character as she decided to throw all pretense away, "Sigh, it doesn't matter… I was playing around, but this time, I'm serious. You shouldn't be here…"
Silver grew frustrated. He didn't want to be here, and yet she acted as if he were trespassing instead of helping, "Well! I would love to!"
"If only someone could help me! Or even better, explain to me why I'm here in the first place… would you know anyone like that?" He asked as he looked left and right,
"Alright, no need to sound sarcastic…" The statue remained silent for a few moments before it continued, "I suppose you passed all the trials… you are worthy of some answers…"
Her stony eyes opened again, "But a question remains, and that is whether you are up for it."
Silver shrugged, "What is it? Will learning about it bring forth the age of monsters again?"
She chuckled, "Not quite, I only fear that once you know, you'll only end up with more questions than answers… I've seen it far too often… Questions that you may not be ready to face yet."
"So if you aren't up for them yet, go back and enjoy your reward, and come back another time—"
Silver scoffed, kicking a small rock into the lake as he raised his thumb to point back, "Are you talking about the nice bath? It was nice and all, but I wouldn't call that worth my time."
It was her turn to frown, her expression trembling as Silver could swear he saw her fingers twitch.
"Lackluster, you say… Well, at least you saw some beauties, no?" She asked as her smile returned, "Do you know how many fought to catch even a glimpse of what you saw?"
"... Do I look like a teenager to you? I'm past that age!"
"…"
Silver's eyes shook, "… Fine. Forget what I said… Either way, the only reward I got was a punch in the face!"
The girl tried to hold her laugh, but a bit of it escaped, "Haaha… I thought as much. They were never too appreciative of peeping Toms… You know, its something they brought back from home—"
But before she could continue, Silver intervened, "Enough of this small talk, I need answers. I lost a few good nights of sleep last time this happened, and I'm not going to lose another again."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I am."
"... Fine, Ill share with you what I know, don't blame me later."
"But first…"
/Crack!/
/Bam!/
The statue cracked, shaking at its base. And in a sudden turn of events, it broke apart in one fell swoop, scattering rocks and debris all around the place.
Silver protected himself with a blue barrier as shards, and dust flew around him, his gaze falling on the woman that slowly descended before him:
The girl stretched like a cat after a long night's sleep, "Uggyaaa… Its been a while since I moved so much… I'm all sore… Umm!... My arms hurt…"
From the dust, a figure appeared, slowly descending gracefully from the air like a goddess. It was a girl with a striking similarity to the statue, if not an even greater otherworldly appearance.
Her hair was brown and her eyes were green with a golden tone, they even seemed to shine a little under the sunlight. With her messy, tomboyish hair, she was quite the looker… in an Amazonian way.
She tapped her chest, "Nice to meet you, Human… I am Terra, the Great Spirit of Earth… Hehe." She said with a cute smile as she did a small twirl in the air, scattering brown lights similar to fireflies.
She seemed like a fairy... Perhaps she was one? Silver knew better, or rather, he had suspected it from the start.
In tales of old, often the mystical and impossible could be explained in one word:
Spirits!
Silver's eyes traced her figure, 'She's small… I thought she'd be as tall as me, but she's about as tall as Hestia.' He thought as Terra continued to proudly display herself.
Terra was relatively small, about the same size as Hestia, however, unlike the virgin Goddess, her features were far more childlike. Despite her immense beauty, Silver's attraction for her was in no way greater than that of someone appreciating the sunset.
Recognition for what she was… Looking at her made Silver remember Tiona… just a bit though, for the Amazon was still growing, and would one day become a striking woman, like most of her kind.
Her skin tone was slightly tanned as well, but not as much as Tiona.
But because of how sudden all of this was, he stayed there, looking at the beautiful brown-haired girl with a poker face, thinking and overthinking as he usually did, prompting her to step forward.
She flew around him, waving her hands over his eyes, "Human? He-llo-oh? Are you there?"
"Did my beauty strike you senseless? Sigh... The curse of beauty..." She claimed dramatically as she fell in the air like a leaf, finally getting his attention as a headache fell over him
Silver raised his hand and frowned, massaging his temples. And after a minute, he replied, "Okay, I lost focus for a moment… So? Terra, was it?"
"That's me!"
"Okay, then... Let's start small… Where am I?"
"You are very direct..."
Silver crossed his arms, "I'm not too much of an expert on Spirits. I only know that after the Age of the Gods started, the Spirits were relinquished of their duties, scattering around the world."
"Some, like Gnomes, spend their lives mingling with mortals, but most vanished into the wind… I read in some documents that Spirits gather in unique locations called Spiritual Lands. Is this one such place?"
To his question, Terra smiled. She landed on the ground and grabbed his hand, shaking it excitedly.
"You are very much correct! 1 point for you, Human!"
Silver exhaled awkwardly, "... Coincidentally, I too have a name… It's Mellios… Silver."
"I'll call you Silver since Mellios feels rather strange in my mouth." She said as she thought, throwing her words out after she taped her chin
"...#!"
"So, so? What else do you want to know?" She said as she back-flipped in the air...
Silver took a deep breath, "Is this your true form? I heard some Spirits have no defined form…"
"Where did you hear that from? I guess its true… some of us do not have defined appearances, but that usually doesn't last long. I'd say it depends on how serious each of us are."
"In ancient times, we went with whatever our contract required of us. Though for me, I've always been pretty me, Terra!~" She claimed as the ground morphed into a podium for her to stand above him
The ground behind Silver morphed as well, shocking her. Silver took this chance to sit down, "Since there is a lot to ask… I'll be direct and ask what I've been meaning to understand…"
"How did I get here?"
Without hesitation, she replied with a confident tap on her chest:
"I have no idea."
"..."
Silver was starting to get angry…
Sensing his bubbling emotions, she coughed, "I mean, it has been hundreds of years since someone like you came here… Ever since the big guys came down from Heaven, things have been pretty stale…"
"Not that I complain, my favorite pastime is to relax... and sleep... and uh… those kinds of things."
"…"
Silver's gaze wasn't one of amusement… "A-Ahem… What I'm trying to say here is that… there are many possibilities… Maybe in the ancient past, you had an ancestor who contracted with a Spirit."
"Maybe they were blessed, touched, or anything in between… W-Who knows? Maybe you were a Hero contracted with a Spirit, leaving its mark on your Soul!"
Silver frowned, "How does any of this tie to me being here in this… state?" He asked as the stone beneath him morphed again, becoming akin to a throne.
"How are you doing that? Ahem! Well… this will require a deeper explanation." She added after trying to hide her curiosity about Silver's magic
She exhaled too, "What exactly do you know about spirits?"
"Like I said, not much apart from the usual… They can live for a very long time, can't have children, and they used to make contracts with people long ago to help them face monsters and the like."
As he talked, Terra walked in circles around him, "That's it! Long ago, Spirits used to make pacts with people to help them offset the monsters! Though you know what happened after..."
"Since there was no more need for us, most of us decided to live our own lives like before… Nothing much changed for me though, I stayed here enjoying my life all this while, and—"
He interrupted her, "Focus. How exactly does all of this connect with the subject at hand?"
'I feel like we're walking in circles… Is she doing it on purpose?'
She tilted her head, "Oia? You are rather impatient… Well, its simple really."
Terra jumped back, and the ground she was previously on morphed into a humanoid shape. She pointed at several areas within the clay figure before she continued, a pair of glasses forming over her eyes as she took on a more mature tone…
Silver silently gazed at her… 'Spirits truly do resemble the Gods…'
She tapped the clay figure, "You know that there is a lot of potential hidden within the body of a mortal, right? Potential that is usually impossible to tap into without decades of incessant training."
"The ancient people did everything in their power to match the monsters, and exploring the limits of their bodies was just one solution they came up with. Nonetheless, it was never enough."
"Monsters would always come in droves and waves, stronger each time... While people did not."
She approached him and observed Silver deeply, "The strongest natural Human I ever saw was about as strong as you... No… a bit stronger… probably far more skillful too."
"#!! Your point?"
She waved her hands around, "Th-That is already pretty impressive. You're not that bad!"
"I'm about average now… Sigh… But I agree. I thought it was impossible to grow so much without a blessing." He said as he laid back on his throne
"I know, right? Your kind was always full of ideas. You had to see the kind of things they did to survive…" Terra said as she looked at the sky, seeing the past fly through her eyes
But not all was nice about them, "Humans always had it rough… at least compared to most other species." She added with some melancholy.
Silver knew quite a bit about that though… "Humans are quite low on the racial tier list. Right at the bottom with Pallums…"
"It's a shame, but the truth was based on real data." She said, "Long-living races were particularly able… being able to train and develop themselves for longer was key to their success."
"After all, if power is lacking, you must make do with Skill. Dwarves were born craftsman, and able to evade 90% of monsters by choosing to live underground. Their tough bodies gave them skin akin to steel, and the natural strength to bend and shatter it with their bare hands…"
"Elves had innate magic potential, with some living for hundreds of years. Safe to say it was easier for them to achieve something others couldn't. Back then, magic was royalty."
"People revered those who could perform it, for there was little they wouldn't do to feel a semblance of safety." She said as she landed on the back of his throne
Silver shrugged; all of that was quite well known, albeit not very documented.
Funny enough, most depictions of ancient times came not from written records, but from the words of the Gods themselves. One would think that would be the most reliable source imaginable, but the Gods themselves were perhaps the very antithesis of it.
Even if there were more kind-hearted ones willing to share what they knew, unsurprisingly, most deities were not very interested in mortal affairs to know enough to share to begin with…
A most revealing reality about the Gods mortals worshiped.
"The ancient times were also known as the Age of Warlords. People with power used their abilities to rule over others, often tyrannically…"
He waved at her, "Spare me the history lesson."
She pouted, "I wasn't going to go deep into it, anyway! I never liked those times… Anyhow, it all changed slightly when we came onto the scene."
"With our support, excellent mortals could rise in power to levels never seen before, and achieve something truly heroic. That was the start of the Age of Heroes."
The clay figure behind her moved as she said that, "Nonetheless, despite our blessings, which eased the burden of growth, it was still up to the individual to rise beyond their limits. And never once was it easy…"
/Crumble!/
The clay figure jumped into the air and exploded into a thousand pieces, but from within it, a stone figure appeared, smooth and sleek…
"No matter what, one or two Heroes weren't enough to end that chaos. Though humanity persisted, and marched into the Dungeon, putting a lid over it once and for all…"
She jumped closer to Silver and said as she pointed at his nose, "And this leads us here!"
"... So?"
"Be it before or after their descent. Our tasks were never only about forming contracts with mortals."
"We fought the monsters, sealing those too dangerous, so they'd wither away with time…"
She crossed her fingers, "Everyone loves a Heroic story, but people often forget or ignore the hassle it is to raise a mortal into such heights… It's not an easy process."
"Spirits would often bend together to help each other, and in some cases, even train and teach others so they could better perform… Which is exactly what this place is!"
"These are MY trials!" She claimed as she puffed her chest up high
"Trials?"
Terra nodded in excitement, while Silver looked around… though he failed to see anything that hinted at what she had just told him, "So you made this place?" He asked.
Terra got a little embarrassed, "Not alone… I had lots of help from like-minded Spirits! So I can not take full credit for creating this place… Well, it didn't last long, anyway."
/Cough!/
Terra let out a dry cough and continued talking, "The trials were meant to help the inhabitants of Genkai face great hurdles and surpass them, helping them grow and achieve their true potential."
Terra pointed to the lake and the forest beyond it, "And this is what you passed through! The ancient challenges we set up a long time ago… Although… You weren't supposed to be here in the first place."
Terra scratched the top of her head in deep thought… though Silver wondered just how much of it was genuine, and how much of it was her faking it… While he believed a Spirit as old as her would be wise…
He did have quite the messy deity to take care of… so…
"… And we're back to step one. Great." He said as he held the urge to flick the Spirit's forehead, "At least I know where I am, now we only need to figure out how I got here."
"I'd love to help you, but as I said, that's not an easy thing for me to answer… Genkai has always been a world of surprises and unexpected miracles. Perhaps this is one such case yet again…"
Though Silver's gaze didn't seem all too pleased to hear that as an answer…
Feeling the pressure, she looked left and right and approached him, "You aren't dead, are you?"
"I plan to live at least two hundred more years, thank you." He replied as he pushed her head away
He looked at his hands, "Is this why I'm half translucent? Has my Soul somehow made its way out of my body?" He questioned as something he'd been searching for a lifetime made itself visible once and for all
'Is this it? The so-elusive Soul I've been trying to reach all this time?'
"Hum? Yeah? Don't you know what the soul is? You know, the things that stay deep within you and…"
Silver frowned, "Never mind that. Isn't this dangerous? How am I still alive?
She smiled widely, "I have no idea!"
"…"
"In any case, there is no need to worry… I think…"
He grit his teeth, "So let me put things straight. Somehow, my Soul got pulled into this land of Spirits to face ancient trials like the Heroes of old?"
She struggled to reply, "I wouldnt say, Heroes… Not everyone that came here is qualified for that Title… But that's mostly correct, that is the big mystery… They didn't come here like you either."
"How did they come here, then?"
"On foot? Like anyone else?"
"…"
"How did you arrive at this place and why? That I cannot answer. I don't know much about the state of the world outside, but from my experience, messing around with the Soul was never an easy feat…"
"… Nor one that ended well... Leave this to the Gods up there yeah?" She added as she put her arms behind her head, flying around without much of a care
In the end, despite his frustrations, Silver had to accept and take her words as the truth for now, "That answers a few things… But as you said, I now have more questions than before."
"Told ya." She said with a cheeky smile as she sat on the arm rests of his chair
Silver thanked her, "Thank you for the answers, I learned a lot today… somehow… I have much to think about… So I suppose its my time to step out."
"Sure go on, I won't leave this place anyway… You know where to find me." Said Terra as she turned around and climbed the rocks behind her, the stone stand her statue version was previously in
"Just take as long as you wish to think…"
She stretched for a second time as she moved back into position, "Phew… I talked too much, my throat is sore… I need at least another decade of rest. Socializing takes too much of my energy."
Silver, on the other hand, resumed his quiet pondering, but Terra interrupted him again:
"… If you want to think, do it in the thermal pools back there, its a reward after all, and as such, it has its own special effects… I'm sure you won't regret it. The girls love it for a reason."
This caught his attention, "Special effects? How so?"
But Terra did not reply as she slowly fused back into the stone, giving him a funny face as she disappeared into the rocky mountain.
"Sigh, I'll be back here anyway, so there is no point in being pragmatic about it." He said as he looked at the mountain's face, "If I find out you're lying, it won't end with me leaving next time!"
/Silence…/
Silver slowly went back to the thermal pools, repeating the same process as before, teleporting across all barriers until he eventually arrived at his destination…
Like last time, he removed his clothes and entered one of the pools, ignoring the paintings on the walls as he relaxed… Or at least tried to.
He had many questions in his mind, like what were these paintings? How was this place made? How…
A hundred more questions came and went as he slowly sank in the heated pools… So instead of thinking too much, Silver just closed his eyes and relaxed, letting the waters wash his Soul clean.
/A few minutes later…/
/Open…/
Silver opened his eyes… 'I'm here again… back home at last.'
"... There is a lot to think about and research, but at least I know a bit more."
He looked at a wooden clock hanging on the wall before checking a small calendar on his side.
"Time sure passed fast... Somehow… I do feel a bit less sore than yesterday."
'Though it could be just a good night's rest doing its work.'
Without further ado, Silver got up from his bed and started to get ready…
...
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Notes
Thank you for reading!