Chapter 87: You Want A Scripture

For the next several minutes, Yseult had to answer rapid-fire questions from all the members of the Bone Singers, as they queried her on the status of Elias and the unexpected arrival of an unwanted party into the equation.

“Did it have to be a Greater Fragment?”

“Yes… I had looked through all the data that Stone Monkey released on the experiments around the Red One, and while there were intensity in the many methods he used, I always thought he was looking at the problem from the lens of an Angel and forgets what it is like to be nurtured from the roots, and I was lucky with Elias, as he had certain traits and a mental resilience that I could not have expected from any mortal..”

“How did you know he would survive?”

“I didn’t, but I gave him a piece of my Divinity. If there was anything that could have made a difference, that would be it.”

A collective inhalation surrounded the gathering.

“You deliberately broke off your foundation? Thousands of years of toil and pain…. Why would you do such a thing, White Queen?”

“We all know the purpose for which we are here, so many of our fellows are dead and their thrones shattered. In time, there would not be enough of us to make a difference any longer… this is the only way, and my sacrifice is nothing to what the others had paid in the past to bring us to this point.”

“With a hundred pools of Lumina, that changes everything… What was his Ascendant level rated as? Surely it is not Platinum and Asulon has not sent his Angels to whisk him away?”

“Luckily, it is not Platinum… it is Bronze, at least, that is what he tells me.”

“Bronze? That cannot be right, even sixty open pools would warrant a Gold recommendation… Hmm, what is his talent?”

“From what I can see, it is Material Manipulation under the path of Armament, but it must be at the peak of this path.”

“That makes sense, having a Bronze rating with a hundred pools means his Talent must have several unique effects inlaid inside it. This is shocking, almost like wishing for a piece of cake and having another baby cake growing inside it… Surely there can not be that much of a good thing inside a single person, right?”

“His ratings have been brought down to Bronze, and I believe that balances the table, and it would give the other Ascendant Candidates with lesser Pools a chance to cultivate Divinity, else he would crush this entire generation of Ascendant Candidates. Still, would that not be a sight?”

After a while, Stone Monkey brought the meeting that had gone out of bounds to order, although Elias had talents and capabilities that were shocking, everyone here was a Supreme Genuis and in their long lives, they had seen several Ascendant Candidates with one hundred open pools, and it would not be strange if some of them here had a hundred pools of Lumina, the Bone Singers may come from a diverse background, but they were all the best of the best.

“His Talents are impressive, White Queen, but I believe you mentioned it and his present level because you want a Lumina Vein Art for him, is it not?” Stone Monkey said.

Yseult smiled, even when she knew that Stone Monkey would not be able to see it, “I don’t want a Lumina Vein Art, but a Lumina Vein Scripture.”

Knowing that a fierce counter would be coming up, she brought up her hand and continued speaking, “I am not requesting this without bringing forward certain payments.”

“Then I am sure all of us here are eager to hear these reasons for giving a boy whose purpose would be fulfilled in the next few hours, a Scripture.”

Ⓔ

Elias and Brother Valerius climbed the stairs he used to get to the top of the Asylum, but they walked a bit more slowly, as Brother Valerius spoke gently to him, “I cannot say I know all the intricacies of becoming and being an Angel, but I have seen these beings from afar when they unveil their glory… and they are terrifying.”

Inside the Asylum, the vision and the voice of the Passenger were silenced, and Elias breathed a sigh of relief and pushed this experience to the back of his mind. He would deal with his madness later; the final part of his Ascension was coming up.

After saying those words to Elias, Brother Valerius continued leading him through the Asylum as Elias memorized everything he was seeing. Finally, they reached an arched doorway that waited at the end of a long corridor.

The door was black iron bound in silver, etched with runes so old the lines had worn smooth in places. Elias could see a potent stream of Lumina flowing through the runes, and his interest was piqued as he wondered how Lumina could be kept within immaterial objects and what effect they would have on it.

Brother Valerius stopped when they reached the door, and he turned to Elias, and he seemed to hesitate, and he drew Elias closer,

“Whatever she asks of you,” he said quietly, “remember who you are. Not what you have become. Who.”

Elias met the one-eyed gaze; in his head was a storm as he wondered who he was, but there was always one answer waiting for him at the core of his being. He was a hunter.

“I remember,” Elias whispered back as Brother Valerius studied him for a long moment, and Elias fancied that he seemed to be searching for cracks, for doubt, for the boy who had so many questions about who he was, but slowly found it, and then he nodded once.

Stepping to the side, Brother Valerius gestured, “Go, and complete your Ascension.”

Elias gave his teacher a small smile, and he placed his palm against the door. He had not even pushed it before the runes inlaid on it flared bright, and the door swung inward without a sound.

He glanced at Brother Valerius one more time before he stepped through, wondering what was so special about his Incursion that was drawing so much attention from someone like the Commander.

All of those thoughts flew away from his mind the moment he entered this chamber, and he saw her… Commander Yseult was standing at the center of the hall, and everything else disappeared.

Perhaps it was because he had become well rested and his mind had entirely adapted to his situation, but he could not stop looking at her, and then the moment was gone, and Elias blinked, becoming equally amazed and annoyed that this kept happening.

“That is interesting,” the Commander said, “You recognize a part of my Divinity, and that must mean that you should have not just a high Will Attribute, but some of your points must have been placed in your Esoteric Attribute as well, because that can only be grown by using your points… and yet, you have such high Agility and Durability, even for a hundred pools of Lumina, you have too much Attributes.”

Elias blinked. He had been expecting this query, but he had hoped to be able to leave the Asylum and hunt so he could rank up to the next stage, so he could hide the inflated growth of his Attributes, but he did not have that opportunity.

With his ignorance about the true capabilities of Siphons or Angels, he could not even make a half-convincing lie, so he stayed silent with his head down.

“Tell me, Elias, do you have a Lumina Vein Art?”

Elias looked up in confusion, “I am sorry, Commander, I don’t even know what a Lumina Vein Art is.”

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