Soul Weaver, page 14
part #1 of The Seeded Realms Series
Celia raised her hands and got to work. “Heat Shield,” she muttered, and the air around her rose in temperature, enough that the rock below her feet began to glow a bright red.
Vhal chuckled, which quickly turned into hysterical laughter. His complicated series of symbols pulsated with black energy, and even with the intense heat of her shield around her, Celia’s blood went cold.
She didn’t know exactly what that spell was, but she knew it would end her if she didn’t do something. She had underestimated Vhal and overplayed her hand. Even though she was many times stronger than before her evolution, she was still practically a newborn compared to Vhal’s experience and knowledge. She maintained her Heat Shield and started weaving another Focused Flame in the hopes of intercepting Vhal’s spell and possibly weakening or even blocking it.
Vhal’s laughter began to quieten, but he still grinned at her menacingly. Before he could unleash his spell, however, a voice came from behind her.
“I believe you two have shown me enough.”
Vhal’s frown was immediate, but he stopped what he was doing. The symbol he had so painstakingly worked on puffed away into black mist, and his eyes flashed a few times. His body sagged a little, as if something had just drained him of mana. Celia also ended her spells, before turning and kneeling in one smooth movement.
“Master,” she said, and let out a small sigh of relief. “I hope my demonstration pleased you.”
“It did,” Aziel said, then looked beyond her. “Vhal?”
“I am fine, my lord,” the lich replied as he moved and knelt beside her. It was true, he looked completely unharmed from the duel. “She caught me off guard, but her power is noteworthy nonetheless. She will require some training to utilize her full potential as an Elder, however.”
Celia frowned, but then nodded in agreement.
Vhal grinned at her. “You are lucky, succubus. Things would have progressed quite differently if our lord had not stopped us.”
“Sure,” she replied, dismissively. Then her expression turned serious as she addressed Aziel. Her master had spent a great deal of mana on her so that she might complete a mission—a mission she had yet been informed of. “Master, what is it you ask of me?”
Aziel leaned forward, interlacing his fingers together. He stared at her for a few long moments before he began to speak. “Celia, I need you to find and bring me weavers… preferably several of each mana proficiency, so that I may study the mana within their vessels.” His tone made it clear he expected no excuses, and for some reason that made her body tingle with desire.
At that moment, her mark began to heat up, and a block of runes appeared before her.
Your Faction leader has offered you a faction quest: Knowledge of Mana.
Your Faction Leader has tasked you with gathering mana weavers so that he may increase his knowledge and understanding of mana.
Quest objective: Collect weavers of different specializations and deliver them to your Faction Leader.
Reward: Variable.
Celia grinned. This was the first time she had been tasked with an actual quest. Unlike everyday requests, quests were tasks recognized by the World Seed. If a task was challenging or important enough, then the World Seed itself granted a reward in the form of skill points, attributes, and in rare cases, items. She had heard that adventurers and high-level professions were more likely to receive quests due to the nature of their work, and it was well known that completing them was the quickest way to gain power.
“As you will, Master,” she replied courteously, then stood to leave only to be stopped by his voice.
“Wait… not yet,” Aziel said. “There is something we should do before that, and I wish you to be around when we do it.” He only gave her enough time to raise a questioning eyebrow, before he turned his attention to the lich beside her.
“Vhal, what is behind the last gate?” he asked.
The enchanted gate they had left behind. Celia couldn’t help but feel a jolt of excitement. Their discovery of Vhal had distracted them from exploring it.
Vhal, however, wore a confused look. “Gate, my lord?”
“Yes, beside the room we found you in was another,” Aziel explained. “It remains sealed by another of those aranite gates. We didn’t interfere with it, as it still had active enchantments placed on it.”
“Hmm,” Vhal said, as he stroked his beard thoughtfully. “If my memory doesn’t fail me… that would be the Imperial Wing of the Facility. I have never been in there; no one was allowed in, other than the emperor, his immediate family… and perhaps some invited guests.”
“There is a place called the Imperial Wing here? This was still a Wilds even when the Caelian Empire was at the height of its power,” Celia said, more than a little skeptically. “The location makes sense for a secret research base, but an Imperial Wing?”
“We can answer those question when we get into the wing itself,” Aziel said. He then addressed Vhal again. “So? Can you open the gate?”
Vhal remained silent for a few seconds. “I don’t know if I can. When we were sealed in that room, someone changed the words that would have unlocked the gate which trapped us. If the same was done to the rest of the gates, then there would be no way to open it other than force… which I would advise against.”
“Is there any reason we should not try?” Aziel asked.
“I suppose not…” Vhal replied, hesitantly. Celia noticed him finger the hem of his sleeve, which looked somewhat singed, though it was difficult to tell as his robes were black.
“Then shall we?” Aziel asked.
Celia nodded, but couldn’t help feeling a little anxious. Although she was interested in—even excited—about the thought of entering an Imperial Wing in a Caelian facility, that place had smelled terrible. And the last sealed room they had opened had given them Vhal. She wasn’t sure she could handle another Vhal… With that nightmarish thought, she followed her master down the path toward the passageway beyond.
As they made their way to the library, Aziel updated her about what had occurred while she was unconscious. She wasn’t sure about how she felt about Vhal swearing fealty, but having him appointed as head researcher was interesting, especially if it led to ancient Caelian technology. That single wish had her worried, though… very worried.
When they reached the sealed gate, they all stopped in unison. Vhal looked upon the gate and the glowing encryption with something like trepidation.
Celia, however, let out a sigh of relief when she discovered that the horrid smell seemed to have lessened. It now resembled something akin to bad mold, which was nowhere near as terrible. Noticing Vhal’s hesitation, she asked, “Something wrong?”
The lich glanced at her for a moment, before focusing back on the dimly glowing gate. “I never opened this gate… I was never allowed to,” he replied solemnly.
“But you can though… right?” she asked.
“As the appointed lead researcher of the Facility I was given the method of doing so…” he agreed.
Aziel took a few steps closer and gestured to Vhal to get started, which he did.
He slowly placed his hand on the center of the gate, and it hummed in response. He then took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
“Aslan Da Caelian,” he whispered, and visibly tensed as if expecting something horrible to happen.
A moment of silence followed, but then the symbols glowed brighter and a loud click emanated from somewhere deep within the gate. It slowly began to swing open, as whatever mana was left within it struggled with the weight involved.
Celia was just able to restrain herself enough to not cry out with excitement. Vhal took a step back, allowing Aziel to grip the handle and pull the gate wider.
“It’s much lighter than the other two…” he said, puzzled.
“The enchantments lighten the load when activated, allowing anyone to use it,” Vhal replied, his voice distant.
Celia glanced at the lich again with concern, noticing his slumped shoulders.
“Bones?” she asked.
Vhal quickly straightened and smiled. “My apologies. I was lost in thought, that’s all.” Celia noticed his hand go to the right side of his robes, but he didn’t remove anything from what she assumed was an inner pocket there.
“Riiight…” she said, narrowing her eyes. As Aziel worked on the gate, she moved closer to the lich. “Listen, you’re insufferable when happy, so I can’t imagine how much worse it would be with you being all gloomy and depressed. And since we’re stuck together… spit it out.”
Vhal chuckled softly. “If I didn’t know any better, Celia, I would think that you’re actually worried about me.” His grin returned as he withdrew his hand from his robes, still empty.
“On second thought, just keep it to yourself,” she huffed, walking back toward the open gate.
“I was hoping the password wouldn’t work,” he admitted, causing her to stop in her tracks.
He sighed before continuing.
“The password I used worked for all the gates here… at least, it used to.” He pointed at the gate Aziel had pried open earlier, and which had imprisoned him for so long. “When my colleagues and I entered that storeroom… the same password didn’t work. So we were trapped.”
“Someone changed the password to that specific gate…” Celia mused. “But who could have done that?”
“Only someone with imperial authority, and they would have had to be here in person to do it,” Vhal replied, solemnly. “But I don’t know why the emperor or princess would go through all that trouble to get rid of us… all they had to do was order us to be killed. Whatever the reason, I was right… we were betrayed.”
“Maybe we will find a clue in there, then,” Celia said, indicating the doorway, which Aziel was pulling open even wider. “Plus, whatever the reason was, it happened a long time ago… the Caelian Empire no longer exists, and the Imperial Family are long gone. So at this point, maybe it doesn’t really matter why they did it. Also, the final years of the Caelian Empire were known to be turbulent, and not a lot of records survived from that time. Discovering what exactly happened could prove difficult.”
Vhal gave his beard another long stroke, before saying, “Perhaps you are right.” But Celia could tell he didn’t mean it.
“Shall we?” Aziel asked, now holding the door wide open.
Together, the three took their first steps into the Imperial Wing. Celia glanced around and noted the rocky walls and V shape of the room they had entered, which led to yet another door. This one was made of some type of dark wood and was not enchanted.
“Well, this is underwhelming,” she commented.
“This looks like a security room,” Vhal replied, pointing at the slanted walls. “It is shaped in a way to force any attackers who get past the gate into a chokepoint.”
Aziel stepped forward and pushed open the next door. Immediately, the darkened room they were in shone brightly as light crystals sprang to life. Celia followed him in and stood staring open-mouthed at what she saw laid out before them.
This room was long and wide, with a high, arched ceiling. The walls and floors of mountain rock were covered by polished white stones. Multiple pairs of tall obsidian pillars stood on either side of the room, connected by overhead arches. Between each pair of pillars hung large black silk banners, with golden embroidered borders that reached all the way to the ground. The imperial silver phoenix of the Caelian Empire decorated each of their faces.
In the center lay a long black carpet, with silver and gold threads woven in intricate designs all along its surface. The symbols shone as they reflected the golden light emitted from the large chandeliers and small light crystals that hung from the ceiling. The carpet stretched from one end of the room all the way to the other, marking the path forward.
As they neared the end of the great hall, the walls shifted inward to focus on the central point. The carpet they were walking on also expanded to cover the whole area in front of them, including a raised dais.
They stared at the throne at the center of the raised platform. It had a wide seat, large armrests, and a tall, imposing back which ended in a rounded top. It was made primarily of a marble, but also had what looked like obsidian worked along the outside of the throne.
“I’m not the only one seeing this… right?” Celia asked, breaking the silence that had engulfed them ever since they entered the chamber. The sheer wealth on display here was staggering.
“No,” Vhal replied. “I always thought the Imperial Family used this place as some sort of vacation home, a place away to escape the capital and its politics for a short while. But, this place looks exactly like the audience chamber in the Imperial Palace.”
“I thought you said this place was a secret,” Celia said, glancing at the lich who she saw was deep in thought. “Can’t really hold court in secret, can you?”
Vhal crossed his hands, his ethereal eyes focusing on the throne and the massive Caelian banner hanging behind it. “I don’t know… I don’t even know how they got all this material in here without any of the researchers noticing.”
Aziel had his eyes closed, but now opened them again. “I don’t sense anyone nearby,” he said. “No one with any soul mana, in any case.”
Celia let out a long breath. “Good to know we can look around without anything trying to kill us.” She glared pointedly at Vhal, who simply ignored her.
They all looked about themselves for a few moments, then shifted their gaze to a large set of wooden double doors to the left of the throne.
Celia moved first, pushing the doors open. They were met by a hallway beyond. Light crystals again sprang to life in the ceiling, illuminating the area. The walls and floors were of the same white stone as the throne room, but the hallway was otherwise empty.
They proceeded cautiously along it until they reached a medium-sized rectangular room containing eight slightly raised circular platforms arranged in a row along the middle. Each platform also held a thin rectangular dark stone jutting upward out of their centers. Celia stepped closer to one of the platforms, then looked over her shoulder at Vhal questioningly.
Vhal smiled and moved toward another platform. He stepped onto it, and a long strand of symbols along the platform’s edge instantly lit up. The whole thing began to hum lightly.
“What are you doing?” Celia asked, taking a few steps back. She didn’t trust the lich, and now he was playing around with things she didn’t understand.
“Calm down, Celia, it’s just a simple levitation platform,” Vhal said, in a matter-of-fact way.
“Levitation platform?” Aziel asked. “As in… it will rise?”
All three of them glanced upward. The ceiling was gone, and now all they could see was a darkness staring back at them. Even with her Dark Vision, Celia couldn’t see far enough into it to discern where the ceiling actually was.
Vhal grinned. “Shall we, my lord?” he asked.
Slowly, Aziel stepped up to join him, Celia following hesitantly a moment later.
Vhal placed his hand on top of the thin rock at the center of the circle, then turned back to face them. “There are apparently two floors above us,” he said.
“Two floors?” Celia said incredulously. “They dug through a mountain both horizontally and vertically? How can you be so nonchalant about this? This levitation platform is Magitech no one else has… well, maybe the Ejani do, but they wouldn’t tell us if they did.”
Vhal’s eyes flashed. “The Ejani Empire is still around?” he asked, staring at Celia.
“Well… yeah. Why?”
“I’m surprised such an expansionist nation survived for this long,” Vhal replied. “My guess was that they either would have been stopped by another at some point or would have taken everyone over by now.”
“Expansionist?” Celia replied, with a raised eyebrow. “They might have been during your time, but today’s Ejani are peacekeepers.”
“Peacekeepers?” Vhal echoed mockingly, then chuckled.
“While this is all interesting, can we proceed with what matters at the present moment?” Aziel interrupted, pointing upward.
“Of course, my lord,” Vhal replied, and swiped his finger along the surface of the thin rock in the center of the platform. Celia watched as three separate symbols which seemed to illustrate floor numbers lit up, with one flashing more brightly than the others.
The platform reacted and shook lightly before it began to rise. As it did, the tunnel above them started to brighten as light crystals came to life around them. The platform rose and rose, and then came to a rest before a wide stone path leading to another set of double doors, similar to the one they had passed through below.
They made their way toward it and Celia pushed the doors open. A long, curved hallway stretched out in both directions, seeming to form a large circle. Celia glanced up and down it, noting the many doors on each side of the hall.
They split up to explore, painstakingly checking every room, until they met at the opposite end of the long circular hallway.
“Well I’m impressed,” Celia said. “There seems to be a room for everything here.”
“Studies, meeting room, dining rooms, several types of training rooms, a rather large bath house and a massive compartmentalized storage room,” Vhal said, then pulled out a small clear bag with some sort of brown paste within it. “Too bad most of the normal food had gone bad, but we are left with a rather large stock of emergency rations. They were made to last. Of course, sacrifices had to be made to reach that result.”
Celia tried her best to hide her disgust at the sight of the thick brown paste. “Did you notice the crystals embedded into the furniture? What’s with this place and using crystals to preserve things? I get the books, but furniture?” she added incredulously. “Guess the imperial family always got the best.”
“With every passing generation, the imperial family used this place to escape their responsibilities in the capital more and more… I just didn’t realize just how much they had invested in it,” Vhal replied, while brushing his hand over a piece of fine purple silk cloth that covered a table, an expensive-looking vase resting on top of it.
