For several long seconds, Leo and the projection of the Tiless Assassin simply stared at one another in strained silence, their expressions mirroring a shared disbelief that bordered on contempt, as though neither could quite accept that the figure standing before him was real, let alone worthy of acknowledgnt.
"I'll ask you again, boy, who the hell are you?
And how did you find this place?"
The projection asked bluntly, as Leo could not help but shake his head slowly from side to side, half in disbelief and half in resignation.
"I am Leo Skyshard. I'm your descendant.
And I am the current Cult Master of the Cult Of Ascension, having taken it over from your son, Soron."
Leo introduced himself evenly, as the projection's eyes widened in visible shock.
It was clearly a sentient construct, one capable of understanding nuance and implication rather than rely reciting pre-programd responses, which surprised Leo more than he expected, since he had never encountered such advanced projection techniques before.
It was almost as though the man before him possessed a fully ford consciousness without the anchoring presence of a body or soul, which made the entire situation deeply unsettling, as Leo had never known awareness to exist independently of spiritual essence.
"I see... so you're the new Cult Master, eh?"
The projection muttered while stroking his beard, his gaze sweeping over Leo with mild, undisguised disappointnt.
"Just how weak has the Cult Of Ascension beco for a Monarch to be leading it now?
No offense, You're clearly talented for your tier, I can feel that much from your aura.
However, it seems to as though Soron has rushed your ascension.
He should not have handed you the mantle while you're still this young..."
He said, as Leo let out a deliberately exaggerated fake sigh. *Sigh*
"Well, he did not hand it to .
And yes, you're right, I'm not ready,"
Leo replied without defensiveness.
"However, with him dead, I'm the next best option, since I am the strongest warrior the Cult currently has."
He explained, as at that, the projection fell montarily speechless. "My son... dead?"
He asked quietly, though the tremor beneath his voice betrayed sothing far darker, as for a fleeting instant Leo saw past the sage-like facade and glimpsed the true face of the Tiless Assassin, a killer whose fury once shook the universe.
The anger in his eyes was lethal, yet without a soul to anchor it, there was no tangible killing intent radiating outward, which only made the restrained intensity more unsettling.
"It's a long story," Leo said calmly. "Your son was killed by the sa man who killed you. Who also happens to be your other son, Kaelith."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"And while I don't mind narrating the entire tale, I'm not interested in doing it for free. If you promise to answer my questions patiently afterward, I'll tell you everything, from the Great Betrayal that killed you to the Great War at The Pit, and how it led here."
For a while, the projection seed stunned into silence, his mouth opening and closing without words as the weight of Leo's statent settled in, as though the revelation of Kaelith's betrayal and fratricide was sothing he had never fully allowed himself to consider.
Eventually, however, the resistance faded.
"I see..." he said at last, as the anger in his expression dimd into sothing closer to sha, and he lowered his head slightly.
"Yes. Tell what happened. And in return, I will do my best to accommodate your curiosity... Cult Master."
The projection said, as Leo's heart skipped a beat at being referred to as 'Cult Master', however, he hid it well, as he simply nodded once before beginning to recount the story of the Great Betrayal and the chain of events that ultimately culminated in the Great War of The Pit.
(anwhile, inside the Ti Stilled World, Veyr's POV)
It had been only 60 days in the outside universe since Leo had sentenced Veyr to isolation inside the Ti Stilled World; however, nearly 17 years had passed for him within its frozen expanse, as the accelerated flow of ti forced him to endure a solitude that stripped away excuses and left only discipline and consequence.
With his talents, he could have easily reached the peak of Transcendent Tier within the first five years with intense discipline, however, because of his past abuse of life essence to speed up his breakthrough, it now took him 17 to achieve the sa output.
However, after seventeen years of relentless training, repeated failures, and slow reconstruction of his damaged foundation, Veyr finally reached the threshold required to transition from the Transcendent Tier to Monarch.
"Good job, Lieutenant.
If you sohow manage to break through successfully, we will promote you to the rank of Commander."
Commander Mickey Jas said as he handed Veyr the breakthrough potion, completely unaware that the man behind the disguise of [Shapeshift] was none other than the Cult's Dragon.
However, even after receiving the potion, Veyr did not rush the breakthrough, as he instead took his ti, approaching the breakthrough thodically, as he first brought his body to peak condition over the next few days before finally attempting the jump.
"I hope I don't disappoint the expectations of my Cult mbers and
my Cuz..."
He muttered before gulping the potion, as he attempted the
breakthrough with laser focus.
The transition was difficult but clean.
No violent backlash.
No collapse. When the surge subsided, Veyr stood within the ti-stilled world as
a Monarch. The instability that once plagued his foundation had finally been resolved, and though it had cost him twelve additional years beyond what should have been necessary, the result was undeniable. Veyr was now a Monarch-tier warrior, and unlike his previous ascension, this one was built upon discipline rather than desperation.
However, even though he achieved a major milestone in his journey as a warrior, Veyr did not stop, as without celebration or pause, he resud training imdiately, refining his control and consolidating his strength as steady montum replaced reckless ambition.
As he remained determined to ensure that the ti he had sacrificed inside isolation would not be wasted when he finally returned to the outside world.
User Comments
0 comments from readers