B3 Chapter 389: A Cycle; an End, Pt. 2

Xenanra’s pure white, six-dotted eyes flicked straight to him. A smile spread across the Ascendant’s face, revealing her pointed fangs.

The soft silence that followed them since they had entered this strange realm seemed to amplify, until Kaius could hear nothing but the pounding of his own heart.

A single finger on the Ascendant’s hand twitched. Kaius felt an ineffable power swirl and twist through the air around him. It brushed up against his Authority for a bare moment, bringing with it a sense of pressure. But it was so quick that he didn’t have the time to explore the sensation.

There was a pop of displaced air and a hollowed-out and steaming wooden mug appeared at eye level — standing as solid and still as if it rested on a granite table.

Kaius looked at it quizzically, before he choked back a laugh when he saw that Porkchop’s mug was just as small and dainty as his own. How in the hells was he supposed to even grab it?

Xenanra twirled her fingers, gesturing for them to take their drinks.

“Laugh it up,”

Porkchop flicked his ear, mentally prodding him towards the stud that glimmered at its base. A moment later, a ghostly hand of mana snaked out from it, and snatched up the floating mug.

Kaius rolled his eyes.

Holding her own cup, Xenanra smiled as she brought it close and breathed deep.

“This is, strictly speaking, not necessary, but it is a custom of my people to share a cup of thras before an important teaching is shared between elder and student. So drink deep, and we may learn.”

They raised their cups slowly, curiously, to their lips.

As Kaius felt the hot drink hit his tongue, he was surprised by how mundane it tasted. Foreign, but without the tingling bite of alchemical reagents.

It was a simple tea — sweetened by something similar to honey and full of herbs.

“Good. Now we can begin.”

Xenanra set her cup down, slowly turning the handle towards the fire. A moment of ritual, or an old custom, perhaps?

“The Aspects Triumvirate are old. One of the oldest things we’ve seen evidence of, and something independently discovered by many a world, even preceding the System.”

Her words were matter-a-fact, like she was commenting on the weather — but they rocked Kaius all the same, resonating through the quiet temple like a thunderclap.

The Aspects — or at least the pillars that supported them — had been placed into their soul by the very System itself, so how could they be older than it?

“However,” she continued, “Pillars are not so primaeval. From the observation of newly integrated worlds, we occasionally see that they have something analogous to the path. Not identical to ours, but reminiscent. Always, the first step is tied to the same triad — body, mind and soul.”

Across the circle, Ianmus stirred. “Wait, so—”

She gestured for him to continue.

“From what Kaius mentioned about his encounter with Ekum, our world had spellcraft and mana before the System arrived. Were we one of these worlds?”

Xenanra shook her head.

“No. Worlds without mystic energy are the most common, followed by those with mana, and occasionally something like health or stamina, or something odder. Rarest are those with the natural conditions to allow for something more elusive: the stable accumulation of essence. Those are the most fascinating to observe, for they are where you find things similar to the path.”

Pausing, the Ascendant reached for her cup again, taking another measured sip.

Kaius remained frozen the entire time.

Essence — something he had wondered about for so long. It was a mystery; mentioned in the descriptions of ocular skills like his and Kenva’s, and a dozen other hanging references that many a System scholar had obsessed over.

He had his suspicions that it was the bright points of energy that had appeared during Aspect ignition, but it sounded like it went deeper than that.

Finished with her tea, Xenanra repeated her earlier actions in reverse — almost ritualistically aligning her cup at the mid-point between her and the fire.

Xenanra slowly twirled her finger through the air — her tea stirring itself in time with her movement.

“As I was saying,” she began, “from what we’ve observed, some worlds do have something like a Path. None as strong, stable, or accessible as the System’s own creation, but… they exist.”

The steam from her tea drifted between them, mingling with the wafting smoke of the fire.

“The first major step is always the triumvirate — a revelation and empowerment of body, mind, and soul. Linked, yet separate.”

Kaius’s brows drew together. That matched with what he had found during his experiences in the crucible. Each of his Aspects was individual, but it was impossible to deny that they were all grounded in linked truths about his identity.

“Of course, there are differences. The System is without equal. Its pillars are a far more stable and digestible way of creating and supporting the Aspects; it greatly increases the number of people who seize them successfully.” She gave a faint shrug. “Though their complexity all but requires the System’s direct intervention to create.”

Porkchop flicked an ear. “So the System’s just… better at it?”

“Incomparably,” Xenanra agreed. “But what is universal — in our Path and in every other one I know — is that the triumvirate is a foundation. The start of authority.”

Her gaze settled on each of them in turn. “It quite literally makes you more real; grants you influence over everything your Authority it touches.”

More real? The idea snagged in Kaius’s thoughts, drawing up memories of when the world had seemed sharper, heavier, under the weight of his progressive Aspect embodiments.

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“What Authority is, and what it’s used for, grows complex at higher levels,” she went on. “For now… just know it makes the world more likely to listen when you flex your will and intent. Our lesson will focus on one technique that makes use of that. A supremely important one.”

Xenanra turned, locking eyes with Kaius. Her gaze all but nailed him to the spot.

“Because of one oddity in your number, I will add one thing — Authority inherently plays into many higher truths. One of which can be seen in great runes. You’ll find that with your Aspects completed, you’ll be ever so slightly more resilient in the face of VOS — able to tune into smaller facets of its being, or, when the time comes, to survive larger pieces of the whole.”

Kaius grinned. That was fantastic news.