Abyssal Prelude

  When Blade stirred, the first thing that met him was Aira’s face leaned over him. Yet when he blinked, she moved back, glad he was okay. After a few more seconds, he realized he was lying on Aira’s lap, bringing back a lot of memories of the times this had already happened.

  ?As they simply stared at each other, the moment passed before Raiden found it suitable to step in, breaking the silence to ask.

  ?“What happened to you? One moment you were leaning into Aira, the next you fell and your Mora rose.”

  ?Blade blinked at the words, properly waking up from his daze.

  ?“How long have I been gone?”

  ?“A couple of minutes. It was worrying seeing you suddenly stop responding.”

  ?“I see. Sorry to put you through the scare.”

  ?Aira caresses his head as she gives him more room to move, even if she keeps his head in her lap. Meanwhile, Raiden looks down at him, asking.

  ?“So what happened?”

  ?“Well, I had a talk, you could say… but the truth is I managed to finally fix the damages left from my own collapse. Raiden, how did you know what your Authority truly meant?”

  ?The question was a confusing one, he knew, but at the same time, he wanted to hear her answer.

  ?“For me, it was all about using what I knew with the power I had. Even if I knew everything about lightning due to my authority, I needed to learn it myself too. Some might say it was a waste of time, but I believe it’s the reason I can use it as well as I can.”

  ?Blade nodded at her statement. Learning about lightning when you already had all the information you could know and there was to know seemed pointless, but maybe it wasn’t the information itself. But the process of studying that had given her new insight.

  ?“What about you, Aira?”

  ?“I never chose to be the bearer of the Authority of the abyss, but I am. To truly use it, I gave up my True Authority of destruction.”

  ?“A True Authority?”

  ?It was a new term, and one Blade had never heard before. Raiden was the one who explained it to him.

  ?“Think of a True Authority as a lesser version of an Absolute Authority. While carrying one gives you much of the same abilities, it, just like anything else branching off, will be under control from an Absolute Authority. You basically carry an extension of their power.”

  ?“I see. I’m guessing then that the strength of a True Authority depends on the strength of the one who gave it to you?”

  ?“Mostly yes, though there are multiple ways of acquiring True Authorities, yet not all of them end well. So they’re rarely used.”

  ?Blade understood the concept of it all, even if it was new. True Authorities… a step below Absolute Authorities, yet still far beyond even the capabilities of the Divine.

  ?“Well then, what is your plan now? Since your core is now properly free from damage, I doubt you will continue down this path of insecurity.” Raiden says as she stares at him.

  ?“Well, since I’m here, I might as well ask. What do the two of you think about the Overseer?”

  ?Though he had some suspicion of what Raiden might think, Blade realized he had no idea what Aira might think about this.

  ?“Well, to be honest, I hold no grudge against the Overseer. Though I detested the moments we spent together, I cannot blame her. Especially since I signed my own contract to that hellish life… but there might also be a part of me that feels a similarity between us.”

  ?“A similarity?”

  ?“Yes.”

  ?She let out a sigh, as if confirming something with herself before continuing.

  ?“She reminds me a bit of myself, or at least how I used to be.”

  ?“Then do you believe she can change?” Blade asked. He was unsure how to go about it—redemption or judgment.

  ?“I and you are also quite similar, yet I am by far not as idealistic as you. If we were to switch places, my body would lie buried in the midst of my failure. Redemption is a concept for the strong, something only the victor can decide. If you wish to even begin thinking about the notion, you first have to prove your superiority.”

  ?He let out a sigh at the answer. It wasn’t straightforward, but it wasn’t confusing either. It was simple, in a way. To decide if someone should live or not, you need to be strong enough to hold that choice over them. Yet when Aira’s voice rang, Blade momentarily stopped.

  ?“To kill my sister? An interesting notion. Have you asked yourself if you wish for her death, or are you simply trying to appease some form of hatred you have silently grown for her?”

  ?Blade didn’t know what to latch onto first. The notion that his own personal feelings were crossing over on his goal, or the fact that Aira and the Overseer were siblings. The latter quickly won him over as he asked.

  ?“The two of you are siblings?”

  ?“Yes. I am the older twin sister of Xuria.”

  ?“Wait, how does that even work?”

  ?It was then Raiden saw it fit to step in.

  ?“You will find that most Origins don’t have any direct family. They have a connection but aren’t tied by blood like primals.”

  ?“What about Indra and Iris?”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  ?“Some authorities are connected to each other, for example, ice and fire. They can be connected for multiple different reasons, so there is no one way to explain it. And the form that connection takes can vary greatly.”

  ?Blade thought about it, imagining the different scenarios. The idea that they just had to be connected, but not in the form of family, meaning they could have been lovers. The thought itself felt weird when in the context of Indra and Iris, with Blade being unable to imagine them as a happy couple. He didn’t really know what that would look like either, so he shut down the thought.

  ?“Well, I think I understand. So authorities with this connection take the form of family or lovers?”

  ?“More or less, yes,” Raiden concluded.

  ?“I’m guessing you and the Overseer were twins because of your True Authority of creation and destruction. But since you don’t have destruction anymore, are you still twins?”

  ?Aira thought about the notion a bit before opening her mouth.

  ?“Yes, we are still twins. But if I were to die and someone else was handed my Authority, or were to take my life and core, they and Xuria wouldn’t become twins. It is a complicated subject, so my suggestion is to not worry about it unless it is brought up.”

  ?Blade nodded at that, finding it as a whole confusing. He doubted it would help him much anyway. Taking a breath, he got up from Aira’s lap and stood up.

  ?“Raiden, do you mind helping me with something? I want to test something out.”

  ?Raiden looked up at him as he stood up, taking intrigue to whatever he wanted.

  ?“Sure, this can be interesting,” she said, standing up to follow.

  ?Blade smiled at her acceptance as he asked.

  ?“Aira, can you create a platform for us?”

  ?Aira, who had stayed on the ground, nodded as a platform was formed beside them. It was similar to the arena in Central City, but considerably smaller.

  ?Stepping into the arena on opposing ends, Raiden took out her sword.

  ?“Okay, come at me with the intent to kill.”

  ?She didn’t question his favor, and intrigued herself, she accepted it even. Rushing at him, he was quickly only a step away from him. Swinging at him, Blade reacted with a slashing motion himself, yet held no blade.

  ?At least until they clashed. Creating Caliburn in his hand, the clash caused electricity to fly everywhere, ripping the arena.

  ?Jumping back, Raiden was the first to go back on attack. He managed to keep up mostly with her, dodging her first few strikes and countering the rest. Yet after the initial surprise, she figured out well how this worked.

  ?Leaving herself momentarily open so Blade would go for the attack, only so she could grab Caliburn, slamming down on it with her own sword to break it before slashing at him. He barely managed to lean back far enough for it to miss, before creating Caliburn again.

  ?“Caliburn

  ?Releasing its true name, Blade managed to knock her back with a stream of fire and ice strikes.

  ?Though they did little other than knocking her away, Blade was satisfied with the result, putting away Caliburn as Raiden mirrored the gesture, stepping off the platform. When they both were back with Aira, she asked.

  ?“So mind telling me how you created my sword twice? Last time it seemed you struggled to even keep it up once.”

  ?“Well, I learned my powers.”

  ?“Learned your powers?” The question was filled with confusion, which Blade took note of as he answered.

  ?“At first, I thought that my authority was nothing but a weapon, and so I limited myself to that view. Combined with my own doubts, I had been holding myself back from ever using my powers properly.”

  ?“So tell me then, what is your authority?”

  ?“My ability is to give form to what's in my mind. It just happens that everything in my mind is a weapon.”

  ?Though she understood the basic principle behind his words, that still didn’t give her a proper idea of how it worked.

  ?“How much of a difference do those two ideas make though? You’re still only making weapons.”

  ?Blade thought back to the world he had been in when in his own mind. Though he decided to keep the talk with his doubts to himself, he told them about the world.

  ?Before he had woken up, Blade had explored his inner world a bit more, and learned about its function. He had already known about his library and vault, but they were now gone, and rather fused into his inner world. After his explanation, Raiden asked.

  ?“I see… so this inner world of yours works like a Domain?”

  ?To that, Blade could only scratch his cheek sheepishly, as now that he thought about it, it did sound like a Domain.

  ?“I guess it does…”

  ?“But that doesn’t explain how you created my sword twice.”

  ?“Well, you see, when we fought, I was projecting the sword from scratch each time, which is very taxing both on me and my Mora. This time, I simply materialized the sword from my inner world.”

  ?“I don’t understand. With your authority, shouldn’t the weapon be lost forever?”

  ?Blade thought about it, before saying.

  ?“You see, my Authority is split in two. The information about the weapons, and then the weapons themself. My inner world took both the library and vault, combining it into itself, so it has all the weapon information imprinted within itself and creates weapons from there.”

  ?With his words, Raiden got a better grasp of the function, giving her conclusion.

  ?“So it’s like a factory or machine. It has all the information and thus can continue to produce weapons even after they are destroyed. As long as you yourself don’t destroy the information, it will keep on reproducing the original no matter how many times you destroy it. In short, an unlimited sword factory.”

  ?“... yeah.”

  ?Blade was partially astounded at how quickly she had grasped it, but it also helped clear up more of how it worked to himself.

  ?“So when you say you materialize the weapons, you’re really just bringing them to reality from your inner world, and your inner world reproduces them for you. And I’m guessing you only have to project something once to get its information?”

  ?“Correct again.”

  ?He nodded. It had been much less of a hassle creating weapons now that his inner world produced them. Of course, if he were to make something new, he would have to go through the taxing process, but afterwards, he could do so much easier.

  ?A smile was brought to his lips as he thought about it. The evolution between now and when he first arrived or got his full Authority was a large one. From barely being able to make a few hundred to however many he wanted, as long as it wasn’t something completely new.

  ?Of course, if he ran out of Mora, that wouldn’t matter, but still, it was a welcome change.

  ?“Well then, I have one last question. That move you did at last. How did you know about it?”

  ?“Eh? Oh that,” Blade said, materializing Caliburn in his hand.

  ?“Weapons hold histories. All I did was use the history in the blade to do something it could.”

  ?“So weapons don’t only entail the weapons themself, but also their techniques.”

  ?He nodded, though momentarily stopped when Aira finally spoke.

  ?“Why don’t you show us. I’m quite interested in seeing your inner world.”

  ?The question surprised him. Partly because Aira had stayed mostly silent, but now she wished to see his inner world.

  ?“I would show you, but I have no idea how I would even do it.”

  ?“Do you have any knowledge on casting Domains?” Raiden gave the idea, though Blade shook his head, having no idea on that subject either. Well, more like Severance only had a basic idea of the subject, but nothing about casting one.

  ?“Then why don’t you try to do something similar to how you came here? The True Authority of the Abyss should help you.”

  ?“Do I have a True Authority?”

  ?“In your ring,” she said, finally getting up as she closed her hands around his hand with the ring.

  ?“Don’t worry, it’s very limited, only allowing you to come here whenever you wish.”

  ?Blade looked at his ring again, as if seeing it in a new light. He had been doing it subconsciously without thinking much about it, but if that was why, shouldn’t he be able to use the same method to open a way to his inner world?

  ?Raising his hand, Blade thought deeply about what he was doing, before asking.

  ?“Raiden, you used chants in our fight to boost the effectiveness of your move, right?”

  ?She looked at him for a moment before nodding.

  ?His Mora began fluctuating, and then rose higher. A chant of his own, something that could increase the chances of this succeeding. A chant that defined him…

  ?“I am the architect of my own design.

  The answer forged from a shattered past,

  And the light of the moon, my everlasting core.

  I have transcribed the history of all of creation,

  Yet I see now, what I was left with is hollow.

  Aware of failure, yet dedicated to the task,

  I refuse the oblivion of my own path.

  For the ones I vow to save, the ideals I will not betray,

  This is the truth, the only way.

  My whole life was Moonfire Armoury