Chapter 249: One Thousand (Patreon)

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AN: Got some editing suggestions? Suggest it on the Google Docs here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GfzyXAyJM_PKLAGaSWKCmMvRTRSPEPmZqGQMgkcccvE/edit?usp=sharing

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Elf POV:

“The vote is four to three,” Cardinal Oak declares. “We will not have the Time Warden release the seal on the Hourglass of Entropy to have the trapped cursed being fight Safyr.”

“Honestly! Why would any of you agree to it!” Cardinal Pine growls, crossing his arms, appalled that it even came to a vote, let alone a tiebreaker. “If Safyr defeats or finds a way to seal it, then she’ll not stop until every last one of us is slain! Why risk it?!”

“Safyr may be one of the strongest beings, but can she defeat it? This is probably our best opportunity to slay her once and for all, and then we can address the threat that Alysara poses,” Cardinal Cedar says, her calm demeanor annoying Cardinal Pine.

“Don’t speak of this as if it’s the logical solution!” Cardinal Pine says. “You saw the report from our expedition to the Soul Fields! The echoes of the battle that took place there show that the Dragons will come together to fight stronger cursed beings! Safyr survived that fight! She doesn’t need to slay it; she only needs to survive long enough for other Dragons to arrive! Do you want to bring doom upon us all?!”

“Pine is right.” Cardinal Winter nods. “But the vote is already cast; we should move on.”

“So what do we do about Alysara then?” Cardinal Oak asks. “Safyr is in the way; we can’t touch her so long as Safyr acts as guardian.”

“Can’t we?” Cardinal Fern asks. “Safyr will notice any Legendary beings entering that Nexus, but what about a Heroic or Exalted tier assassin?”

“That could work. They should be able to teleport in easily. Having such a powerful protector means they won't have developed defensive measures like the Dwarves who employ extensive networks of teleportation anchors.”

“It’s always the simple solutions, isn’t it?” Cardinal Oak chuckles. “Very well. We’ll vote on this idea and have a plan drawn up. All in fav—”

Ting! The Saintess of Mana and Magic, Alysara, the Runalymo, has reached transcendent levels in Sense Magic!

Ting! The Saintess of Mana and Magic, Alysara, the Runalymo, has grown the Relic Set, Alysara’s Eye and Alysara’s Library, to Legendary tier!

“What?!” several of the Cardinals exclaim.

“Is that a second Mastery?!” Cardinal Oak shakily asks, completely shocked by the sudden turn of events.

Getting a Skill to what they presume is level one thousand at her age is unthinkable, but not all of her breakthroughs were fully leveled like the first mastery point requires, so they didn’t think a second mastery point was near. Maybe this one doesn’t require fully leveled breakthroughs? And that’s not all; she now also has two Legendary tier items. It seems like Alysara is a much bigger threat than they initially thought.

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Aly POV:

Mana is alive and wondrous but also overwhelming. Seeing so much and so many new and different aspects of mana all at once overloads my mind as I am overwhelmed by their emotional impressions. It is to such an extent that I am forced to reduce my perceptive field to be able to process it.

Ting! Iron Will has met the requirements for a breakthrough and will continue leveling past level 220!

22nd breakthrough: You have witnessed enormous amounts of mana identity; this will help you parse the living concepts of mana.

Ting! Iron Will has obtained levels 189-190!

It’s always a welcome sight to see my other Skills being improved, and this will surely help me see more. However, I am not keen on having my vision reduced by ninety percent forever, so I will just have to suffer for a bit and improve [Iron Will’s] new breakthrough. I should also experiment with how I can reduce the impact of [Sense Magic’s] new breakthrough.

I focus on turning the edges of my perception to the old, lifeless, and dull color. It’s like I am clenching a muscle, but I can easily do it. However, the mana at the edges of my perception loses its luster in a way that drains me like I am being bled of life and wonder. I am able to extend my perceptive field to about thirty percent of its total potential volume but I have to seriously think about whether or not it’s worth it. Seeing the lack of life in mana hurts me in a way I never thought possible, making me shudder in uncomfortable pain.

Ting! Iron Will has met the requirements for a breakthrough and will continue leveling past level 230!

23rd breakthrough: You have deprived yourself of the sight of the living concepts of mana; this will help dull the sense of loss and lifelessness.

Ting! Iron Will has obtained levels 191-192!

This has helped me understand the nature of anima in mana. Anima is a part of mana, just like how the MM force is. In fact, the component of mana that determines the element seems to hold the majority of anima, with the rest sparsely spread through the rest of the mana particle.

I re-examine the living mana inside the storm core with my newfound vision, and to my shock, it is full to bursting with anima! The raging storm fills me with a sense of energy, a wild recklessness. It is a feeling of unrestricted potential and freedom, but there’s just too much! It’s like looking at the sun; I had to dull my vision to half its luster. Several chimes ring in my mind as [Iron Will] and [Sense Magic] gain levels.

Ting! Iron Will has obtained levels 193-194!

Ting! Sense Magic has obtained level 1000!

Ting! The Saintess of Mana and Magic, Alysara, the Runalymo, has reached transcendent levels in Sense Magic!

Ting! The Saintess of Mana and Magic, Alysara, the Runalymo, has grown the Relic Set, Alysara’s Eye and Alysara’s Library, to Legendary tier!

To my shock, I gained two more Legendary points, and my Eyewraps started drawing in and burning an incredible amount of mana and even a small amount of ambient Miasma, making me worry. Checking in on my Library reveals the same. I know that magic items require both divinity and magic, and my Eyewraps are skipping the Exalted tier, so it probably needs way more magic than it currently has, but I can’t help but remember how the Saintess’s Anguish was made.

Not nearly as much Miasma is being burned as was consumed by the Saintess’s Anguish, which is relieving, but I still worry.

“Did you just get a second mastery for [Sense Magic]?” Kayafe asks.

“I… don’t know. It doesn’t feel like it. I never got the impression that [Sense Magic] can become something more like last time.”

“I can ask Alex if he knows anything about it; otherwise, I suppose that since that Legendary point came from the Skill, trying to use it on the Skill can’t harm it. Normally, you can’t enhance a Skill a second time, so if you try and succeed, then that must be what it’s for; if not, you simply won’t be able to use it on your Skill.”

“I’ll ask Safyr about it; maybe she knows something, and she’s older than Alexander, so the chances that she’s encountered or heard of someone who’s done this is higher,” I say. “By the way, I notice that magic items take longer and burn more mana to transform into higher tiers. How long should I expect to wait for my two items?”

“Hmm,” Kayafe hums, thinking about it for half a moment. “That depends on the amount of mana available. Normally, it will take months; however, with the mana here in the Nexus, you can expect to wait only a few weeks at most.”

“That’s a problem.” I cross my arms. “I need my Eyewraps for a job. Can we speed it up? Like, put the items in the stream of mana the Mana Arc pulls toward it?”

“Yes, that can work.” Kayafe nods. “I’m not sure exactly how long that will take, but maybe a few days? I doubt it will take longer than a week.”

“That’s good enough.”

I hope my Eyewraps will be even better at protecting me when I finally spy on the Dwarves.

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Venaro POV:

Something has been bothering Venaro for quite some time now. When Alysara was reincarnated, she got a Mythic feat for surviving the Great Calamity and being reincarnated from a primordial realm.

To survive something, one must have been in danger; if she never was, then it wouldn’t have been mentioned. This means that the calamity must have extended into the void, which is a problem since it is nothing, or they weren’t the first to find Alysara’s soul. Greater spirits like him can only exist in the void because their powerful Bonds can create a localized reality around them. The first spirit to enter the void still lives, so unless there were others before, it might mean that Alysara’s soul had previously fallen into a realm, even if it didn’t have a chance to reincarnate.

But then, how did Alysara’s soul return to the void if that was the case? It’s hard to believe she was reincarnated before and, by all odds, had the same mistake during reincarnation that shunts souls to the void. Once is rare enough for a soul, but twice? No way.

So, the Great Calamity must have had some way to survive the void. Maybe it traverses through the soul layer? That’s how souls survive the void. The soul layer is the boundary between reality and the soul sea, extending far into the void and across all realms.

But this leads him to the next conundrum.

“Are you sure you were this far out, Myrou?”

“Yes, it’s quite beautiful here,” Myrou responds, gazing serenely at the shining cluster of stars that represent entire realms. “I was enjoying the view when the soul wandered near me.”

“This is the very edge of a conceptual infinity, Myrou. If you look closely at the soul layer, it’s faded quite a lot; I doubt any souls can exist here without external help.”

Nothing makes sense. He tested this: the weakening of the soul layer pushes souls back into a more stable area; it’s simply impossible for a soul to wander this far.

Then there’s the fact that Myrou got a Mythic point for accidentally coming across a soul? No, someone hid Alysara’s soul here, in a place no one in their right mind would look. Who would look for a soul here where souls can’t naturally stay? And how did they make sure one would remain here?

Venaro looks closer, scanning the area under focused perception. He notices something odd, and after studying it for several minutes, he realizes that the soul layer has been tampered with. There is a thin and barely perceptible pathway that has been stabilized, where any soul placed within will be pushed back into it should they accidentally wander out of it. Just who is so powerful that they can reshape the Soul Layer?

They weren’t the first to find Alysara’s soul, that’s for sure. But why not reincarnate her or make use of her soul like Urolon initially wanted? Why hide her soul? And who? Why was the void empty when Azeloth first discovered it? Why did those who came before not stay in the void?

What did their precursors know about Alysara’s soul that he, who has studied thousands of souls before, doesn’t? Perhaps they venerated her soul for being the Archive of Eternity? Did they think her memories might be dangerous? Was she the cause of the Great Calamity? No. She can’t be the cause if she was a survivor.

The only things they know about these supposed precursors come from two previous Legacy Souls who had some uninvolved memories about the Great Calamity; they knew about it from schooling but didn’t have any important details. All this is made worse when one considers that in the memories of those two, there were no Bonds. How did anyone survive the void without Bonds? If only those souls were more knowledgeable about the Great Calamity.

Ting! The Saintess of Mana and Magic, Alysara, the Runalymo, has reached transcendent levels in Sense Magic!

Ting! The Saintess of Mana and Magic, Alysara, the Runalymo, has grown the Relic Set, Alysara’s Eye and Alysara’s Library, to Legendary tier!

Venaro is yanked out of his musings as the messages chime in his mind.

“A second mastery point?” Venaro asks, looking at Myrou.

She shrugs.

“At least she’ll now have more supporters among the gods.”

“Don’t you think she’s leveling her Skill too fast? It’s only been sixteen years. Even geniuses would take thousands of years to reach her level of mastery,” Venaro asks, incredulity clear in his tone.

“She’s the Archive of Eternity; maybe as the memories are unlocked, she employs that knowledge?” Myrou shrugs again. “We can’t apply conventional logic to her.”

“Perhaps,” Venaro sighs. “Maybe I'm reading too much into it.”

Then there’s her Eyewraps and Library. Did Myrou know about them? It’s easy to guess the type of item the Eyewraps are; it should be the type that gains power from its wearer. It’s rare for someone to keep an item through so many achievements, but if one does, it can feed off of their achievements. Considering that it evolved with her achievement, it must have her perception.

So what does her Library do? Does it share her knowledge of Sense Magic? Libraries hold knowledge, and it’s a set with the Eyewraps, so they must interact in some way.

Venaro can’t help but get excited at the prospect of reading such a valuable relic, but Myrou wants minimum interference with Alysara.

“Myrou, please let me meet Alysara; I must read that Library!” Venaro says, eagerness bleeding into his tone.

“No! You can wait a few more years.” Myrou crosses her arms stalwartly.

“But you allowed Urolon! Why not me?” Venaro complains.

“We need more allies, Venaro. I knew he couldn’t do anything to her while Safyr was there, and he agreed to join our side if I did.”

Venaro pouts like a child being told to wait thirty more minutes for dessert, his swirling mana stilling in visible depression.

Myrou sighs. “You can come with us when we retrieve her past life memories. You can bargain with her for that knowledge then. It’s just a few more years, Venaro.”

“You don’t understand! Someone like Alysara only comes around once in a billion years. Plus, Urolon has been dangling that knowledge in front of me ever since he returned, and he won’t tell me!”

“There’s a saying among one of the races about not pulling out the bread before it’s cooked, Venaro. Waiting for Alysara to learn more and then trading for that knowledge will be better for you. As for Urolon, you will be able to get back at him since you will have gotten more from Alysara, so just bear with it. Now, have you gotten what we came here for, or are you going to continue whining?”

“All I’ve gotten are more questions.” Venaro says in a suddenly refined state like that of a wise old man. It was a rather sudden reversal from the child-like behavior of a moment ago, almost like flipping a switch.

He lets out a resigned sigh and stares off into the direction of Alysara’s realm. "I can only hope her memories can answer a few of those questions."