My eyes widened. “How do you know that?” I gasped.
“This is amazing,” she gasped, her words catching in her throat, too excited to speak. “You’re coming with me.”
I blinked. “Wait wha-”
“FREY!” the lady turned around and yelled. A man in a hooded tunic of grey shuffled through the tables, scrambling towards us. He had leather gloves over his hands and had a long sword sheathed on his back. A warrior of some kind for sure.
“Captain, what’s going on?” the guard asked, sounding confused.
“I’m taking custody of this man,” she said. “What’s your name?” she looked at me.
“Z-zoran,” I said.
“Well Zoran, I hope you like horses.”
“What?”
The next thing I knew the lady had grabbed me by the wrist was dragging me down the tower staircase. The hooded man she’d called Frey was right behind us, his demeanor silent and still.
“Miss, what’s this about?” I asked, unsure of how to react to the situation.
“Later,” she said as she headed down.
We exited the tower from the lower entrance and Viola headed around to the back. Two horses stood there, tied to a peg struck to the ground. She undid the rope for both horses, letting Frey take one, and then led hers away, heading straight for the gate. I followed her close, not wanting to be left alone.
“Captain!” the guards saluted as she walked to the pedestal with the crystal tablet. She placed her hand on it just as one of the guards walked over. A beep emanated from the tablet and a screen opened up in front of the guard.
“Your identity has been verified, Captain,” he said. The doors to the city silently slid open, which was a surprise since I’d expected such massive doors to make quite a bit of noise.
“Thank you,” Viola said and hopped onto her horse. She turned back to look at me. “Climb on.”
“Don’t I need to have myself scanned in order to enter the city?” I asked, confused.
“Not if you are travelling with someone like me,” she chuckled.
What does that mean? I wondered.
“Anyway, come along then, we should get going,” she said, patting on the space behind her. I nodded and half-jumped, half-sprawled onto the horse, nearly falling off as I climbed on.
Viola grabbed my arm and hoisted me up. “I take it you’ve never climbed a horse before?” she chuckled.
“I don’t think so,” I said quietly as I steadied myself on the horse. I heard a whoosh behind me and turned around to see the Frey jump gracefully onto his steed. Viola pulled on the reins and lead her horse into the city, with the hooded man following us close behind.
All of this is happening because my Ga’em recording is missing, I realized. I wondered what could possibly explain what had happened back there with the crystal slab. It felt quite ironic actually. I’d come to Langsdale hoping to get answers, and the first thing that’d happened just raised a ton of new questions, all of which probably had answers that were near impossible to find.
“Oh yeah,” Viola said, fishing into the inner pockets of her coat for something. “Here you go,” she pulled out a piece of red, velvety cloth and pressed it into my palm. “Make sure you keep that with you all the time. It’s very useful.”
“Thanks?” I said awkwardly, gazing at what she had given me. I folded out the velvet and noticed a symbol embroidered in the middle; the rising form of the morning sun.
“It’s beautiful,” I whispered.
“Of course it is,” she grinned.
DING!
You have obtained an new item: Seal of the Lumina Knights! This seal validates the holder as an ally of the Lumina Knights faction. Do you want to transfer this item to your Item Inventory?
I blinked. “Wait you’re from the Lumina Knights?” I asked, the name feeling familiar on my tongue. “Isn’t that a part of the Alliance of Light?”
“Indeed, we are,” she said.
Wow, I thought as I hit ‘Yes’ on my Ga’em prompt. The cloth glowed a dull white before dissolving away into nothing.
There were two major Alliances that I knew of - The Alliance of Light and the Dark Alliance. The Alliance of Light was very organized, followed a strict ethical code and was nurturing of all. The Dark Alliance was more chaotic, and believed that strength and power held the loudest voices, that a peaceful way of life was not possible in what they said was a broken world. The Kingdom of Aingard seemed to be the stronghold for the Alliance of Light, while the Dargonian Empire, a regime to the south of Aingard, was the main base for the Dark Alliance.
I seemed to remember that the Alliances were hostile to each other, but I couldn’t recall how hostile exactly. I wasn’t too worried though. I remembered that the Alignment section in my Ga’em menu showed I was neutral, which meant I was part of neither Alliance, and thus it’d be hard for me to get caught up in the crossfire of their fights.
Viola rode through the streets of Langsdale, keeping the horse to the side of the roads. I glanced around the city as we travelled, noticing all the different kinds of people that walked by. A lot of them stared at me, as though I was the oddest thing they’d seen.
“You’ll get quite a bit of attention here,” Viola said, noticing my unease. “It’s not every day that we see someone with silver hair and silver eyes.”
“Oh,” I said, quietly wondering if my features were that exotic.
“Also,” she said. “I know me dragging you away without explanation is quite confusing, but I assure you, everything will be explained in a short while. You just have to wait.”
“I understand,” I said, even though I was not at home with everything that was going on. I decided I was going to play nice until I figured out what was going on here.
Captain Viola, I thought, recalling what the guards had called her. How strong is she? I wondered. I stared at the back of the lady’s head and my analyze skill did the rest.
DING!
Name
Viola
Race
Human
Level
59
Health
700
Mana
300
Stamina
570
Whoa, I blinked. I’d expected her to be high levelled but this was really strong! I panicked for a second, wondering if she’d noticed I’d used analyze on her, and then I remembered the analyze skill’s new trait allowed it to stay hidden for the five seconds after generation. I quickly closed the screen in front of me so that five seconds didn’t pass since it’d generated.
I should test this more, I thought and turned around, looking back at the hooded man and concentrating on his head.
DING!
Name
Frey
Race
Human
Level
45
Health
640
Mana
270
Stamina
470
He’s quite strong too, I thought. I looked at him, waiting to see if he reacted in any way to the screen in front of me, but he didn’t either. It didn’t seem like he could even see it. I quickly closed this screen too, gleeful that I’d gained this neat feature.
“What’s wrong?” Viola asked, probably noticing that I’d turned around for a moment.
“Frey doesn’t talk much does he?” I asked impulsively, saying the first thing I thought of.
“Never spoken a word before,” she chuckled. “The only reason I even know his name is because he wrote it out for me.”
“Wait so it isn’t that he doesn’t know the language?”
“He knows the language, it’s just that he doesn’t open his mouth to speak it,” she said. “He keeps to himself. I’ve honestly never even seen what he looks like under that hood.”
“Odd.”
“Don’t worry,” she chuckled. “He’s a mysterious person, but he’s the most reliable one I know.”
“That�
��s nice,” I said, not knowing how else to respond.
We rode for about half an hour more until a large structure entered our vision, the citadel of the Lumina Knight’s headquarters. A grilled gate stood in the wall, the iron bars curling and weaving into beautiful patterns. It tremored as we neared it and slowly lifted up, allowing us to pass.
“Captain!” the soldiers at the gate saluted as she rode past.
Everybody knows her, I noticed.
My eyes shifted to the buildings inside the enclosure. There were a series of towers around me, with shorter and taller ones scattered unevenly across the place, almost all of them built with sharp corners and straight lines.
Viola rode a little further, pulling up beside the entrance of one of the larger towers.
“Come along now,” she jumped off, her voice sounding excited.
Okay, what is going on here? I wondered as I followed her down. Just what was getting her so excited? Was all of this because I had the resurrection ability? Or was it because my Ga’em record was missing?
We walked into the tower, through the wooden doors that had been left wide open. A red carpet lay over the floor, extending deep into the room. I tread on it hesitantly, easing up only when Viola went ahead of me at a faster pace.
“Come along,” she gripped my hand and dragged me away. I caught sight of Frey behind us, the hooded man slowly making his way forward, not deterred by Viola’s speed.
I honestly don’t know what kind of path the Lumina Knights’ Captain took me through after that. We headed into a lot of different corridors and climbed a few staircases before finally stopping in front of a thick wooden door.
Viola opened it without knocking and headed in, taking me along with her. The room inside, however, was much less grand than I had imagined. It was made of greyish stone, the crude cuts still seen on the unpolished walls. Books and parchments of paper lay around the place, collecting dust and cobwebs where they stood.
A man sat at a desk, his age much older than the chair he was sitting on. He wore white robes and had a beard of grey that was longer than his hair.
“Ah, Viola,” he said. “What brings you here?”
“Raffyr, sorry about coming here on such short notice,” Viola said. “But I found something of great interest to us.”
“Yes?”
“Him,” she pointed to me.
“This man?” he asked, quite confused.
“A man with a Resurrection ability and no traceable Ga’em record.”
The old man’s eyes widened, his demeanor filling up with excitement. “Amazing!” he exclaimed, seeming just as enthralled as Viola had been when she’d first found out. “Where did you find him?” he asked.
“He just walked up to the city gates actually,” she said.
He looked at me. “Where are you from young man?” he asked.
I hesitated for a second, unsure of what answer to give. I could either come up with something or tell them the truth, but I didn’t know which one would be more beneficial to me.
“I’m not from these parts,” I said finally, my voice a whisper.
“I see, I see,” the old man said, his voice still filled with intrigue.
“Raffyr, if the scriptures we had studied were true…” Viola said.
“Indeed,” the old man said. “This is amazing!”
“Can you perform the test now?”
“Most certainly,” the old man said and ran to a chest in the corner of the room. He clicked it open and furrowed inside, searching for something.
I leaned closer to Viola. “What’s going on?” I whispered.
“You’ll know in a bit,” she smiled.
“Ah, found it!” Raffyr exclaimed, pulling out a clear gemstone that fit in the palm of his hand.
“What is that? I asked.
“A lightstone,” Viola said.
“A lightstone?” I asked.
The old man shuffled to me. “Hold out your hand,” he said, a little calmer than I had expected.
I did as he asked, uncurling my fingers, and he placed the gemstone in my palm. “Hold it firm,” he said. “Don’t let it go no matter what.”
I gripped it, feeling the gem’s cold touch under my skin. What’s supposed to happen now? I wondered, my mind turning uneasy.
Suddenly, my fingers tingled, as if lightning was coursing through my nerves. The gemstone glowed, its surface radiating a bright white light. I felt heat surge from it, slowly pouring itself into the air around me, threatening to scald my skin.
What’s going on? I panicked, but held tightly onto the clear stone, afraid to let it go. The gem quickly turned a faint red, its heat increasing along with the shade. A wild hum resonated through the walls, growing sharper by the moment.
And then it all stopped.
A thundering crack sounded, tremoring through the room, and the gem shattered into pieces, dissolving in the air before it even hit the floor.
I stood there, blank, trying to fathom what had just happened.
“Amazing,” Raffyr whispered, disbelief prominent on his face. “It is true.”
My heart stopped. “What?”
He looked at me. “Ever since the world was born, there has been only one race that could shatter a lightstone with just their touch.”
My eyes widened, my heart beat thumping like a wild drum.
“Zoran,” the old man said, excitement in his eyes. “You are an Eternal.”
***
CHAPTER EIGHT
“An Eternal,” I told myself, for probably the fourth time, and for the fourth time straight, I had no clue what I was talking about.
“Indeed, young one,” Priest Raffyr stood in front of me, his eyes trying to contemplate what I was thinking.
“It’s normal for you to feel confused about this, Zoran,” Viola said from the corner of the room, Frey standing quietly beside her.
“What even is an Eternal?” I mumbled.
The old man chuckled. “A race as old as time itself,” he said, fascination springing into his voice. “They were believed to have been created during the birth of our very world and were beings of power that lived through all of reality, immortal and timeless. They were like gods!”
“So an Eternal is a race like a human is?” I asked. “Meaning there are people who are Eternals, the same way there are people who are humans?”
Viola shook her head. “Unlike normal races, the Eternals are basically non-existent,” she said. “They all vanished a long time ago, without a word, and without a trace.”
I kept silent, unsure of what to say, and unsure of what that meant for me as one of these Eternals.
“The records of the past do not tell of what happened or where they went,” Raffyr said. “But what is certain is that the Eternals did indeed disappear.”
I paused for a moment, taking in all this information. “And you think I’m one of these forgotten people.”
“I know you are,” Raffyr said.
I found myself a bit amused. “My Ga’em menu says I’m a Level 12 human with no special traits other than my amnesia,” I said. “How could I be an Eternal?”
“The very essence of the Eternal is the fact that their existence lasts forever,” he said. “They are the only race that can possess the Resurrection ability, and since they were born along with the World and by extension the Ga’em, their Ga’em record is different and thus cannot be read by the normal equipment we keep around us. It is quite likely that that is also why your Ga’em menu displays information different from what you truly are.”
“Ah, I see,” I said, still processing the information being fed to me.
“If that doesn’t seem like enough proof for you,” Viola said. “That stone you just shattered? It’s called a lightstone, a rare gem that shatters only in the hands of an Eternal. You are an Eternal, Zoran, whether you believe it or not.”
I stayed silent now, unsure of what to do about any of this. I’d already felt like I was lost in this worl
d, and this wasn’t making it any better. Granted, I’d gotten answers to a few of my questions, but at what cost?
I looked at the priest. “What does this mean? Me being an Eternal?”
“It can mean many things,” he said. “But first and foremost, it defines the aura of power that you hold. The Eternals are extremely powerful beings. They have been said to have held positions of great power and prestige.”
Well that can’t be right because I’m pretty weak, I thought to myself.
“This is big news,” the old man said, a gleeful expression on his face. “We must go to the Lumina Knights head council at once. I will set out and prepare things for the moment. I won’t be gone long.”
Wait what? I blinked.
“I’ll keep watch in here,” Viola said, and for a moment I felt as though I was being held prisoner.
“I will depend on you then, Viola,” Raffyr said, and with that he was off.
I sat still, wondering what I had got myself into. I’d gotten answers from these two, but I was starting to doubt how much exactly I could trust them now. I sort of understood why Raffyr would want to go to the Lumina Knights head council but that didn’t make me feel any better about the fact that I was actually going to be meeting them.
“Exciting day huh?” Viola smiled.
“Yeah,” I mumbled. “You guessed I was an Eternal the moment you heard about my Ga’em record, didn’t you?”
“Bingo!” she chuckled. “I’ve been studying Eternals with Raffyr for the longest time now, but I had no idea I’d actually meet one.”
“So you know how to tell if a person is an Eternal?” I asked.
“Know is a strong word,” she smiled. “The only information on Eternals comes from documents thousands of years old. In fact, the documents don’t really mention the word Eternal specifically. You need to do a lot of interconnecting to even process what each piece of information means.”
The Eternal: Awakening - A LitRPG Saga (World of Ga'em Book 1) Page 7
