Chương 56: Chapter 53: Peaceless

After finally conveying to Neenaw that he could not be dissuaded from his actions, she'd taken him back to her house- after giving him a cloak to hide his face with. Though she said people would be more grateful at having seen him fight so desperately, he was insistent that he refused to face them; if she tried to make him walk through the town uncovered, he'd simply have left over the wall without any rations whatsoever.

Now, sitting tensely in a dining room chair, he barely noticed as she placed a familiar blue-and-purple feather in front of him, shaking him free from his spiraling thoughts and replacing it with hesitation.

"Why are you giving me this?" he asked, and she sat across from him.

"How else are you going to make another blade with it?"

"I'm sorry?"

"I've spoken with Ketzi. Gotten his insight on how you made your blade from your perspective. He's told me that one of the reasons you had such ease was that you already shared a rich history with the feather, giving you a more detailed insight into it. You understand how valuable these feathers are for us, you know that we were going to ask you to make more of them, so we cannot risk even the slightest variance."

"You still… want me to make one…?" She nodded.

"Three, even, but we can start with just this one." He gingerly placed his hand on the central shaft.

"But… I'm leaving. How will I…" She put her wrinkled hand over his, wearing a serious expression.

"No, Aaron, you said it yourself. You 'Won't return unless every single cultist and cannibal are dead,' not that you wouldn't return. This feather is a promise that you won't abandon us. That, after you're done, you will come back, you will sit in that chair once more, and you will talk to me, face to face."

"Yes ma'am," he choked out, fighting back tears. The ribbons of End wrapped around the new feather gently, balancing the tied-together artifacts at the edge of the table. Even as he relaxed though, he found one of his Windwhipps wrapping tightly around the handle of End, his subconscious fear of losing the blade extreme enough to manifest through his Secondaries. Neenaw crossed her fingers on the table in front of her, "Now, for your very last lesson.

We've had only a couple weeks, but in that time, you've made incredible progress in spell creation, but the limits of my tutelage run thin, and I… can feel that, if you do return, it will not be without strife, and it will not be soon.

"You will soon pay, this I know, as I have seen this story before. You will pay in blood and pain- are you absolutely sure this is what you wish to do?" He nodded seriously, "Yes."

"Then I will give you some hints I hadn't intended to, knowing the balance will be kept, knowing that you will experience every last one. Pay attention, for if you listen or not, you will understand the truth in my words. I tell you this as a mercy, knowing the Underworld will teach you whether I speak or not." She closed her eyes, collecting herself for a moment, then said "Corruption, as the System calls it, is no one thing. It is a dozen or more stats that the System falsely categorizes.

Before its descent, we had, at the low end, perhaps six different types of corruption. On the upper, our people estimated sixteen major types, a unique word for each that you will never hear. Be wary, for Corruption lurks in places you would not think, with differing consequences you will seldom understand before it is too late." Pausing to give him time to digest her words, they sat in as he turned it over in his head.

While he'd already handled multiple different types of Corruption, he'd come to believe he was kind of… immune to it. Just by virtue of the quality of his own energy; because his would always ramp up harder and harder, he'd come to believe that he would always be able to take back over, but he also knew there were hard limits at times. There might be a type of Corruption out there that was a full lock, no second chances; or another, that perhaps ramped up just as fast as he did.

Nightmarishly, he considered that there were perhaps even creatures out there that would fully suppress him or keep him trapped. He already knew there were "Hard" limits in place for the Underworld, and while he'd encountered many soft ones, he should be prepared for an enemy out there that was his absolute and total counter, able to puppet him indefinitely. He snapped back to attention as Neenaw gave her next lesson.

"Many live within the Pool, the reflection in which you will soon dive. More still sink down. The place you've lived until now is not the true Floor 1- the surface is the place of the cowardly and weak, but many are taken into the Pool to never return, of their own volition. Those that journey through willingly do so because you will see horrors… and memories. Many believe the record of paradise lies deep within the Pool, if only you can find it.

"And, adding to this, never break a mirror. Unless you know exactly the consequence, such as those here on the surface that summon powerful enemies, you will always invoke something worse than what might've been, if allowed to spew its filth- and, if it doesn't…" she trailed off, closing her mouth. She pivoted entirely.

"There is a limit to how complicated a spell can get, though such a thing can be pushed depending on the creature and the Corruption. The limit for the sane, though, are two distinct steps as the maximum for how much you can fit into the structure. Generally, most people split these steps into two categories: Transportation and Delivery. Your own, for example is only a single step- delivery; it has no mode of transportation, requiring you to cover that yourself.

If you can cover transportation in some other way, you may add another step, cutting out part of the supposedly required process." That one, he thought he might both know the cause of, and how to increase it, considering the notifications waiting for him. {Weight: 2. 22} -> {Weight: 2. 82) {Corruption: 2} -> {Corruption: 2. 5} {Weight: 2. 82} -> {Weight: 2. 22) {Corruption: 2. 5} -> {Corruption: 0} During the fight his Corruption had fluctuated rapidly at times, but there was a particular spike which he attributed to his spell on Richard. The Corruption was obvious as he had a myriad of opposing forces acting on him, but he'd experimented a lot with his Weight, and he was starting to get a better idea of the decimals too. When his Weight was 1, he could only summon a single Windwhip. When it was 1. 2, he could summon two; once his Weight hit 2, he could summon two whips again. 2. 2?

Still two whips. The period wasn't a measure of decimals, it was a measure of how far above his power level he was pushing. Take 2. 8, for example. That meant he had a Weight of 2, pushed to a Weight of 8. From his experience through the floors, he knew it wasn't a totally perfect conversion rate, so perhaps 70% of the power someone with a Weight of 8 would have, but it was a solid guess. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. And, what did Weight do?

It increased how many manifestations he could have, how strong they were, and- by his calculations- how complex his spells could be. 2 Weight, 2 steps per spell? Not a coincidence. Thus, if he reached into 2. 3 or 2. 4, would it be 3 or 4 steps per spell? Of course, the tracking he'd used on Richard had only been a single step, but it had the strength of someone with a Weight of 5- not easy to get off without falling to Corruption… and he doubted Ricahrd could slip in and out of his Imprint as Aaron could.

At first, Aaron thought Richard was actually fully corrupt, but after cracking through the shell, he saw that the metal casing was likely just one of Ricahrd's secondaries- considering the man didn't use any other tools, it might've been his only secondary for now. But he said none of it; knowing that the Underworld would be throwing everything at him, he would either need to start devising the base of his next spell, or adding onto the tracking. If it wanted him to demonstrate his finesse, he would be ready.

"The Underworld will torture you in many ways," Neenaw continued, "Hunger and thirst are not one of them, not unless it has another point entirely. Worry not for food, you will find it; despite that, I'll send you with rations, and teach you where to look to find more food, as well as how to test if it's safe for humans to eat- and, if not, how to make it safe.

"These are the lessons I was to tell you before you left to explore the Abyssals and what, exactly, they are… but, I have no doubt in my mind what awaits you. It is no coincidence that the Abyssal cultists have popped up in such a place, I suppose…" She let out a rattling sigh.

"... I suppose the world changes faster than I thought. A pilgrimage, that's what I'd considered your soon-to-be journey, but… fifty years is a long time, especially for the eddies of the Underworld.

"At some point, you begin to lose touch, or things fold into one another. Knowing that I will always, eventually, see my lost protege's… I guess I've become more senile than I thought, staying in a naive past."

"See your lost…? The dead on this floor do not rest either?" he asked, face twisting a rictus of frustration and rage. She looked at him sadly.

"No. Even now, there are no creatures, only the constructs. Death is never the end… there are always those insidious invasions. The best we can do for our dead is guard them for as long as we can in the graveyard, knowing there will eventually be something that quietly finds its way through the walls and reanimates their corpses." A thought occurred to him, and he hesitantly asked "Would it be possible to-"'Bring them back? I can take them over, then simply release them.'

"Don't," she said gravely, a touch of grief and anger in her voice.

'Why? What happens?'

"... Okay." Despite knowing that he may hate what the answer was, he couldn't help but ask, "What is going to happen to Aliata." Neenaw's expression softened again.

"It's likely that our dead will be put to rest within Bwurzix from now on. Considering its promise to keep them at peace for as long as it lives, the council will choose to go forward with it- I've been around long enough to know how the vote will go. From here on out… it's likely that Halisn will integrate more deeply with Bwurzix and its protections, despite knowing the risks."

Aaron had served as the spokesman of Bwurzix to the council after the war was over, presenting everything it knew and conveying their thanks to it for its… extremely helpful intervention. People already saw Bwurzix as a god, the last event had only exacerbated that.

'And maybe that's just fine. At least this way, they really will have a guaranteed peaceful afterlife, and Bwurzix will get a support structure while I'm not here.' If he wanted to do his part in ensuring another massacre like this wouldn't happen again, he'd just have to succeed. They talked for a while, and as she saw Aaron getting antsy, she went through a show of preparing some food for him as, despite it being the middle of the night, he felt like he wanted to prepare or be active.

Knowing that he'd be satisfied to keep the conversation going if he was actively doing something, Neenaw went through a meticulous checklist of several meals and how to find them in the wild- as well as how to make things edible, if they were from another planet. Apparently, if you "Corrupted" food with your own energy, it would transfer over to a nutritionally equivalent thing from your "Origin," or from which planet your species hailed.

It took a while, and you had to constantly "Massage" the food with energy, but she taught him nonetheless. Neenaw sometimes slipped in small tips as they worked which were often situational to the surface of Floor 1- such as where some other towns were, or verifying the fact that the husks hunted by detecting energy. Aaron believed he'd be able to hide from them if he smoothed his energy, but overall didn't want to risk it with morning so close.

He'd intended to stay up all night and simply battle fatigue with Onward Evermore, but with three more hours to go and a deep, indescribable exhaustion, he decided that, perhaps, he could take a nap. Neenaw had already stayed up all night with him, and though she hadn't complained yet, he thought it wasn't fair to make her skip a night of rest just to comfort him. She'd spent a while helping him unwind, bringing one last moment of joy to an otherwise grim day before his gruesome task.

The least he could do was let her sleep Yawning, he said "Maybe we should-" Someone knocked at the door. Looking at each other in confusion of who would be here this late, Aaron got up to answer the door, keeping End ready just in case. Opening it… he froze. Aliata's husband.

"Halmis," he said almost fearfully. Neenaw quietly stood from her chair, moving closer.

"Demigod Aaron, I've been looking for you," he said with a neutral, yet serious expression.

"Yes…?" Neenaw stepped to the side of Aaron.

"Perhaps tomorrow morning, Halmis. It's late, and everyone is stressed. Aaron was just about to head to bed."

"It will be just a moment, ma'am," he said respectfully, though his face made no twitch. He hadn't blinked even a single time.

"I wanted to know if Aliata will truly rest in peace. What will happen to her." Aaron hesitated, "I… I don't know. I don't know what happens to those who die," he said truthfully, and Neenaw imposed herself slightly between them.

"Halmis, truly, this is a topic for morning." Halmis ignored her, "I understand that, but I want to be sure that Bwurzix will not take advantage of her. She thought he was a god, but I never bought it. I've seen monsters. Will Bwurzix protect her?"

"Of course it will!" Aaron insisted immediately, "Bwurzix cares deeply for all those connected to it, Aliata included. It's even learned to value human and taurin life after observing the town." Halmis nodded, "Thank you," he said, turning around and walking away from Neenaw's door, making them both relax. He barely made it three steps before he stopped and pulled a tiny object from his pocket, looking like a metal disc with a button in the middle. Even from here, Aaron could feel the volatile energies within.

"HALMIS NO!" Neenaw screamed as the man pressed the object into the side of his head, a small, localized explosion ringing out. Aaron felt a splatter of blood fall over his face, and his entire body locked up. The headless corpse fell, Neenaw's outstretched hand freezing mid-air as both of them stared vacantly at Halmis' body. Aaron stumbled forward, feeling as if something pulled at him, and he didn't fight it.

He found himself going from a stumble, to a walk, to a jog as he fled around the body, following through alleyways to a part of the wall he knew was manned only by his plant monsters. Considering how many guards had died in the battle, there were simply not enough to man the stations, and Aaron had offered to make his plant people take over the most dangerous tasks in the town. He sprinted forward, seeing the silver wall but using his vines to simply hoist himself over.

Not producing any energy at all, he quickly suppressed the little aura he emitted, running through the darkness. Stumbling blindly through the field of mirrors, his mind was simply too deep in shock to register that he hadn't fallen into any of them despite not being able to see. He continued to run and run, the image of Halmis' headless corpse on the ground consuming his every thought. A dark hollow opened in his heart, threatening to consume him entirely, and he felt… nothing. No despair, no dread, just nothing.

After who knew how long, he found himself on the opposite side of the mountain from Bwurzix, stumbling squeezing himself into a gap between two rocks, into a narrow passage. By now, the force on his wrist of whatever… whoever was grabbing him had begun to hurt, but still, he couldn't muster the effort to pull away. {Resistance: 2. 21} -> {Resistance: 2. 22} The space he'd found himself abruptly widened, and as he was led further, light soon met his eyes.

In front of him, a building sat at the heart of the mountain, bright white glow pouring from the tall window-walls, giving him a clear view of the interior, the empty restaurant-like setting. {Place of Power - Buried Diner} Stepping through the doors felt like he was transported to a dream, reality fuzzing near the edges as his thoughts grew sluggish, the checkerboard floor and fluorescent buzz of lights overhead filling his mind, finally prying the image of Halmis' corpse from his mind.

As he found himself seated in a booth with red leather seats, he stared at the table, void of any thought, and slowly dripping blood.