Yun opened his eyes.
The barely illuminated interior of the containment cellar revealed itself to him in all its decrepit glory. No longer was he standing on sacred water. Instead, he was back on the not-so-comfortable wooden chair on which Virtue Dion had plopped him.
Her seals promptly burned to ash and disappeared as soon as Yun woke up, freeing him from his restraints.
But Yun remained still. So still that an outsider looking in would have thought he was still undergoing the First Vision.
"Someone please tell me what I just saw."
The fear of the revelation still hung over him like a storm cloud. Were revelations even a thing Divines experienced after a Vision?
They had to, and after thinking about it, it almost made sense. In the classic stories, seers and oracles would often receive revelations of the future via visions as well.
The only difference was that Curse only awarded them to certain Descendants who had outstanding performances during a Vision.
"Argh.."
The image of the black storm had seared itself onto Yun's retinas. His nose still stung from its furious stench.
His first thought was that it was the Plague, but he wasn't so sure that was correct. There was a palpable rage in the black storm that one could almost mistake for a personality.
The raw malice was almost poisonous; its only goal was snuffing out the Challengers of the Falling Sky, even if they still managed to flee somehow.
"Now that I think about it, it wasn't just barrelling towards the Challengers aimlessly. It was chasing them. Oh…"
Yun shuddered at his own words.
And then there was the Curse's message to him at the end: "Run, hatchling. Run."
Yun chuckled slightly, clicking his tongue to produce a sharp pop. A small part of him wondered why that message didn't bother him at all. Shouldn't there have been some form of protest against running away and abandoning the world?
But then again, the world was coming to an end. Who'd be stupid enough to be home when the time came? Definitely not Yun.
"The world is overrated anyway."
It was best not to dwell on it too much for now, but Yun had to reevaluate his goals.
Because now… his memories were back.
He fished the Morrigan Clan's crest from his pockets, stroking its cold surface. "Looks like I have a meeting to attend."
That person was waiting for him, after all.
Yun sneezed after some dust that tickled his nostrils, which was enough for him to finally take the musty room in.
There were no jade clouds, no mist, no wandering ocean, and no tongue-snatching entities. Just mildew, mold, and of course, the resident cockroach skittering across the ground; a few more of his friends poked their heads out the dark crevices they called home. The image would be incomplete without them.
Yun nodded to his fellow comrades. He too spent most of his life hidden away from light, scraping the giants' leftovers for survival.
Now that he was a Divine, hopefully that would change. No, he was going to change it.
Yun stood up, savouring the new strength in his muscles. He made his way to the wall and traced its rough and damp surface. He was really back in the real world. A Tainted Descendant really took everything the world and the Forsaken Realm threw at him and persevered.
Yun's eyes started feeling heavy, like tears were coming. Crap. He quickly caught himself and sniffed them back.
"No time to be emotional. Job's not finished."
Yun reached for the handle, leaving the cellar behind him.
***
He opened the door, stepping into a corridor leading up to a spiraling stone stairway.
The cellar was located among the many rooms occupying the mid-floors of an old tower. He turned left, strolling over to the window so he could catch a glimpse of the outside view. Dion's incredible speed made that impossible earlier.
A vast woodland carpet was spread out in all directions, with massive identical towers jutting out the ground at set intervals. This building was one of those towers.
"Dion didn't just leave me here, did she?"
A soft voice drifted over from the other side of the corridor. "Are you and the Priestess that close?"
Yun jumped back, raising his fists. He turned his head over repeatedly, but no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't see anything. The corridor was empty. "Who said that?"
"Answer my question first."
Yun relaxed his hands. "I didn't catch it the first time, can you repeat it?"
He crept over to the other side, listening for the source of the sound.
"I said, are you and the Priestess that close?"
"Who's the Priestess?"
The voice let out a frustrated grunt. Yun should have been scared, but whoever was talking lacked the confidence to be threatening. Why did it sound so… childish?
"Ugh, the Virtue! The Virtue that brought you here."
"Oh, you mean Dion. We barely know each other. We met, uh, wait. How long has it been?"
A shadow suddenly appeared behind Yun. "Then why do you say her name so casually!"
"Ah!"
Yun dove away, leaning against the cold wall. "What's your problem?"
Fabric fluttered as a figure materialized from thin air. They were invisible just a second ago.
"My problem is that you have neither rank nor authority to say her name. Don't get cocky, Spark!"
Yun finally got to see who he had been speaking to. The boy, yes, the little boy in front of him stood with his chest sticking out. Long, auburn hair draped over his shoulders like curtains, with eyes like emeralds filled with nothing but arrogance.
Although, his puffed cheeks had gone red, betraying his embarrassment.
What the…?
That wasn't the only odd detail. The boy was decked out in premium silver robes, embellished with ancient designs and fitted with armour plates. Clearly an armor-type Vestige; this kid was Divine.
Yun smirked. "How old are you?"
"None of your business."
"Twelve?"
"I just turned thirteen! And I said it was none of your business!" The kid raised his chin. "You're a child too, who are you to talk?"
"We're not the same; I'm sixteen, not twelve."
"Thirteen!"
As the kid spoke, Yun kept being bombarded with the raw data of his facial tics: micro-shifts in the position of his eyebrows, his quivering lips, and just how much his muscles twitched to form his proud smile. A splitting headache was starting to form.
These eyes would take some getting used to, to say the least.
It wasn't this bad within the Vision. The rank-up to Spark must have been to blame.
"If you say so. But still…" Yun's eyes narrowed. "A thirteen-year-old Divine. How does that even happen?"
The boy's face suddenly froze in excitement, like he'd been waiting ages for someone to say those very words.
He crossed his arms and widened his stance, pointing a finger at Yun.
"Hmph! Listen, you Tainted Spark."
The boy's face flushed even further. Who was he doing this for, exactly?
Judging from his posture, the kid was about to perform the official Descendant introductory speech.
"I am Herald Yves of Clan Lycan, a servant of humanity under the Law of the Divine."
And then he added his own flavor to it, which Yun suspected was the true source of his embarrassment.
"Tremble and bow to Yves Lycan, the youngest Descendant ever to survive the First Vision, cross the Great Break and ascend to Divinity!"
Yun's smirk faded. A weak chuckle escaped his mouth as he whispered to himself, "What is going on?"
"The Priestess herself has chosen me to be your temporary guide. Rejoice!"