With a new cool-sounding Lineage Path, Yun decided to summon the fragments and confirm his status. First, he spared the godly statue one more glance and sighed.
"Why do I think it's going to move or something?"
Name: Yun Morrigan.
Celestial Fragments: [1/7].
Rank: —
"Huh?"
Above his Authority counter, two new lines of text had appeared.
Class: Mortal.
Vital Fragments: [0/1000].
"Class?" Yun doubled back. "Does this mean I'm a Plague Monster, now?"
Authority: [6/1000].
Authority was the measure of one's capacity to command celestial essence. It grew when a Divine purged the Plague; Yun had earned him a bit of it during the First Vision.
Vital fragments on the other hand, were a bit more mysterious. They obviously determined the quantity of essence Yun possessed in his vital core as well his raw power, but he wondered how he was supposed to find and collect them.
Whatever it was, he had failed to do so…
Vestiges: [Loneliest Heart], [Minstrel's Veil].
Traits: [Court of Divinity], [Hatchling], [Eyes of Acuity].
Lineage Path: [Cloud Strider].
Path Description: [You are a creature that always seeks freedom above all else. As the hatchling of the divine beast of the sky, you have many strange and wondrous abilities. Thus, your destiny is to shed all burdens and always move forward towards an empty and lonesome future.]
Birthright Ability: [Hail Galing].
Ability Description: [You can summon a feathery companion.]
"Um… Okay."
The Lineage Path itself didn't seem al that powerful from its description. Unnerving? Yes, but not powerful. A Birthright, being the innate ability of a Lineage Path, laid the foundation for the primary way in which one's abilities would express themselves. And his was… to summon a feather?
Still, Yun was overall very happy with himself because of everything else. Even his Lineage Path was sure to surprise him in the future. Whether he'd like the surprise or not remained to-be-seen.
Just then, the voice of the Curse boomed:
[Evaluation complete.]
[Calculating Authority rewards…]
A pause, then—
[Authority reward has been calculated.]
The Authority counter appeared. Given how much Yun achieved, he expected to be handsomely rewarded.
[6/1000] …
The numbers started ticking up. Each numerical increase made Yun's heart jump with joy.
…[9/1000] …
…[14/1000] …
…[26/1000]… [31/1000]… [55/1000]…
It just keeps going!
Then finally, the counter stopped at [75/1000].
It didn't feel like much just looking at the number, but Yun could tell. The breadth of [Eyes of Acuity] had widened, and he had just inched ever-so-slightly closer to some larger power.
The proof was in how much his fear of the statue in front of him had dropped. Almost like he had become closer in being to whatever He was.
It seemed there was more to Authority than meets the eye.
"How blasphemous."
But then, it started dropping .
[70/1000]... [62/1000]... [53/1—
"No, no, no, no, no. S-stop!"
[33/1000]... [21/1000]...
"Why are you doing this!"
Then finally it rested at [12/1000].
Yun marched towards the statue. He stood at its feet and stared directly at its horn-eye things.
"Really? Are you that petty? It was just a thought, a stray thought!"
The Curse responded, cutting Yun off mid-complaint.
[As a creature of the vital flame, you have reduced affinity towards the celestial flame.]
"What does that mean exactly?"
Even if Yun purged as many Plague Monsters as he possibly could, his Authority would always be less than a normal Divine's would.
"Now that's some bullshit."
He sighed, and took a deep, deep breath.
"But what can I do? If it is the will of Severin, His will it shall be."
Now that Yun had been given his rewards for the Vision, all that was left was to become a Spark. The pool of water around him began to stir; ripples formed on its surface for the first since he entered the Curse Valley.
[The First Fragment has been consumed.]
[Your celestial core edges closer to completion.]
[Igniting the Spark…]
The water crawled up Yun's legs, and soon he found himself embraced by the refreshing liquid.
Against his better judgement, Yun was getting excited. Although he was receiving power, he also knew what it meant for him as a Descendant. He was about to become a slave — a slave to the Law of the Divine. The same Law that stuck the Descendants with Severin's Curse and made them living bulwarks for humanity.
At least, that's what he was taught.
Despite that, Yun couldn't help but tremble with anticipation. He never liked History class, anyway.
Yun braced for the terrible pain of the celestial core, but nothing happened. Until it did.
It wasn't pain per se. When he first awakened on the ship, he felt as if his soul was anchored to a separate object. Now, the weight of that object had doubled, yet the strain on his soul had lessened considerably.
Yun was not the same hungry boy he was when he entered the Vision. He wasn't the same Tainted Descendant everyone felt comfortable calling a mutt.
This Descendant had conquered his First Vision, a feat many Descendants with clan backing failed to accomplish. He stepped over an entire clan of swashbuckling, elite warriors to become the only survivor.
Although, he was still hungry.
And the discrimination he faced in the real world was definitely not going anywhere.
Okay, let's just say I'm not so easily messed with now, yeah?
Besides the added weight to his soul, there was this feeling like a missing piece had just slid into place, making Yun more complete as a being. He knew intuitively that this was the Celestial Fragment.
Which meant one thing: when Divines awaken, their celestial cores are incomplete. Gathering these Fragments is what defines their progression into higher celestial power. Their rank, if you will.
The pool water slid off Yun's body and returned to calm stasis.
[You have acquired a Path Ability.]
[Path Ability: Vision Swap.]
Yun hurriedly scanned the updated fragments, he already wanted to check his new rank.
Name: Yun Morrigan.
Rank: Spark
Okay!
He scanned further down.
Path Ability: [Vision Swap].
Ability Description: [You can share your eyes with your galing.]
"Cool… That's not it, right?"
Yun closed the fragments and summoned them once again, hoping to see something else. He turned to Severin's statue, ready to hurl curses at it, but thankfully, at that moment, the Curse's voice echoed throughout the entire valley.
[Your achievements have earned you a glimpse of Fate.]
At that moment, Yun saw something that made him tremble…
What the hell is that?!
[Be witness to a revelation…]
***
Yun saw the end of the world.
It was not the real world, nor was it the Forsaken Realm, at least not as Yun knew it. This was the world it was before it fell to the Plague.
Weightless as a feather, Yun allowed himself to be whisked away by the winds of the Curse Valley. They carried him up until he had a wide view of the entire valley shrouded in mist.
Before he knew it, he wasn't there anymore. In front of him now, was an island with a sprawling mountain range dominating its horizon. From the highest peak, drifted snow-like clouds that bloated out the sun. Yun was back at Falling Sky Island.
"Not this again."
Luckily for him, it didn't stay long. The Temple collapsed as if its construction had been undone.
A flash of light that looked like a massive bolt of lightning shot up from the ground, fleeing back into the sky's vast embrace. In response, huge masses of land floated up to the surface of the Lost Sea. They drifted towards the island, connecting themselves one by one until the island was a massive continent.
Time was reversing. Yun had just watched the Forsaken Realm scroll past eons of its history in mere seconds. Soon, millions of mortals populated this continent, and tears were pouring.
Standing on an elevated platform amidst a sea of bodies, were five shadowy figures Yun couldn't fully perceive no matter how hard he tried.
The people wept with joy and marvelled at the return of the five heroes. "Challengers," they called them as they sang with all their hearts.
One had torn open and revealed the sky, bringing the mortals wind so they may travel the seas, one had brought them fire to see, and one had brought back the blood of an angel that when spilled on the mortal's land, would bear a bountiful harvest.
"Huh?"
Looking at the Challengers, Yun didn't sense any pride in them. Drowning in a wave of weeping disciples shouting their praises, the heroes felt fear, guilt and a looming sense of dread.
Yun was unable to see the other two Challengers before time pulled back once more. He watched with awe as the stars turned into streaks of light. The sky was changing too, moving backwards into its own past.
Confused at what he was seeing — or why he was seeing it — Yun felt a pull as he was taken into another realm, much further away from wherever and whenever he was.
This realm was made entirely of a pure black storm. It reeked of sulfur and burning ammonia, like the scent of raw fury and malice.
Yun felt sharp prickles all over his skin; tiny mounds formed on the surface of his arms, it was like his skin was trying to tear itself away from him. His heart began to beat with such force that it was ramming itself against his ribcage. And of course, he was overcome with a cold sweat.
This was fear.
A fear so instinctual that he didn't need to fathom what he was looking at. His body already knew, and it was panicking. When Yun, the owner of the body, tried suppressing the panic, the fear fought back, refusing to be silenced.
He was still following the mysterious Challengers, at least, but something was wrong. Nothing about them seemed heroic. Not because Yun could see their bodies or anything like that, he actually couldn't. He just had a vague but deep impression of their presence.
Even then, he could tell that they were fleeing from something, but what? What was the source of this terrible storm? And why was Yun so scared of it?
The sky changed again, moving through a thousand years like it was a dream. And just like that, Yun received his answer, but it only left him with more questions.
[The consequence of cowardice. The cowardice of the Aeons, the so-called gods and angels of the Many Worlds.]
The voice of the Curse sounded indignant, even edging towards contempt. This was the first time Yun sensed a hint of personality from it.
[The gods have fled and the angels have fallen, never to return.]
[The future is no more.]
[And try as you may, life will follow.]
[But for you, little hatchling, you have been gifted a chance.]
[A chance to strive forward, and when you are finally able, to sprout your wings. ]
[Flap with all your might and escape that Fate.]
[For that is the only grace afforded to your Path.]
[Run, hatchling. Run.]
[End of revelation.]
[Yun Morrigan, return to your reality!]