Chapter 175: Denial(1)

Aether stretched his body; he had just used his muscles quite a lot.

Looking to his side, he saw the many heavy logs he had just carried, but it was for a noble cause, to help an old man in need, after all, with winter coming, they were in dire need to get wood to not freeze to death.

And since he was around to help, why wouldn’t he?

“Thank you, young prince.” The old man approached him, walking with the help of his wooden staff, and speaking slowly like a sloth, but instead of laziness, it was because of his old age.

Aether chuckled as he rested his arms on his hips. “It’s fine, it’s the least I could do.”

With that, he waved goodbye to the old man, leaving.

It was normal for him to help his people, after all, he was a prince, he was responsible for his people, as much as his father was. He was the heir to the throne; he needed people to trust him, and what purer way to get trust but through help.

He could give them money for their trust, or something else, but he just felt more real, like they developed a connection.

***

[Character Codex: Sync Stable]

Name: Aether Moirai

Age: 15

Race: Human

Affiliation: Royal Family

[Path]: —Protector of Flames—

> You have taken a vow to protect others, to help as much as you can; you shall be Praised.

Knowledge Rank — [Fragment]

>120/1000- knowledge shard

Codex Class — [Reader]

> Sync Rate: 100%

Affinity — [Praise]

> The Ember of Hope stirs up inside of you; your duty is chosen.

[Affinity Bane]: —Light of the World—

[Trust Thresholds]

> 80 — Blade of Light: The people fully trust the light. Shall the blade of truth emerge for you to use.

> 60–79 — Symbol of hope: When people are around you, they feel completely safe.

> 40–59 —Torch: You shall be radiant even among the darkest places or times.

> 20–39 —Lights on: The people have acknowledged you as their protector, but their trust is still little

< 20 — Estinguished Ember: The people disarmed the light that protected them.

Trust: 47/100

[Trust Log]

——————-

[Skills / Abilities]

Light Abilities — [Blade of Truth],[Flaming Ember]

Skills—

[Relics]

—[Broken Handle]

—[Armor of a Clear sky]

***

Aether smiled, looking at his codex… he was so close to becoming a Seeker… and five years ago he even wondered if he would ever awaken. But he didn’t lose hope, and here he was.

But before he entered his trial, his father had said that he wanted to pick some other people to help him. Even if his Trial was of the Seeker Fragment rank, there was no real danger for him. After all, you couldn’t even find a Seeker class monster, and he was a Reader that had reached Enlightenment; it would be impossible for someone to beat him, I mean, did they even see his Codex?

[Praise]- The power to bless and clear any doubt inside someone’s heart, you are the beacon of hope of many nations. Yet, your powers are different; you chose to protect rather than stand on the sidelines and help others while they do the hard work.

He had heard stories about how other Vessels of Praise didn’t get abilities to help themselves, but rather others, to help them fight others, to heal them, not like him, who didn’t get any of those abilities, and instead:

[Blade of Truth]- A blade with the power to slay the monsters that linger inside this world, and tainted with their evil powers. You hold the blade that shall slice any monster without breaking a sweat. The Abyss shall falter.

[Requires trust to be over eighty to use]

Class-Reader

Knowledge rank-fragment

[Flaming Ember]- A body made to endure the hardship of the world, it was created to be more durable and powerful than any. Powered by one’s soul, it is stronger with how strong your will is. If it shall fall, your body would become normal.

Class-Reader

Knowledge rank-fragment

His abilities made him stronger, allowed him to protect and help others, and he couldn’t think of any better abilities to have. I mean, that was what he wanted. He didn’t want to kill aimlessly, I mean… he didn’t like to kill in general. Even now, he had only killed monsters in books, not human beings. That was why his Knowledge was so low.

He also had luck with his bane.

[Light of the World]- You have declared yourself the light that protects others. Prove it, if you are so selfless, you shall only use your powers to protect others.

I mean, it was bad since he couldn’t use his powers if it wasn’t to help someone, but at the same time, helping others was the reason why he used his powers, so it didn’t bother him all that much.

He also had some powerful relics.

[Broken Handle]- A sword that used to protect many, yet lost, destroyed by the monsters, it is now only a fragment of what it once was… yet in the hands of someone worthy, its true form shall be restored.

Category-Weapon

Class-Reader

Knowledge rank-Fragment

Abilities-[Sword of Truth]

[Sword of Truth]- The relic reacts to a certain ability from God. When used, it shall take the form of the famous blade used by God in the past.

Before he had gotten this relic, he couldn’t use his ability, even if his trust met the requirements, so his father went full detective and found this, which worked. When he activated his ability, light came out through the cracks of the broken blade, replacing what was destroyed, and creating a blade.

And it was damn powerful, he had never faced a so-called monster, but he could say that it powerfull for a Reader Fragment, but since it was an ability and now a relic, if it didn’t say what it did in the description, he had no idea if it had more powers.

His other relic was an armor, a Seeker class armor his father had gotten him to be safe, it was a light armor with the ability to make him faster, and that made his movements like a dance.

It made him even more powerfull of a swordsman.

But as Aether was proudly looking at a codex, a little girl grabbed him, looking at him with tear-jerking eyes.

“Mister, please help mommy shes in danger.”

Aether didn’t say a word; he nodded, looking at the girl with concern and dedication. He was going to help the family.

“Where is she?” He asked, his voice serious and filled with determination.

The girl let go of him, quickly running on a path, a path that led to a dark alley.

’Of course something bad would happen in those places…’

But as the girl entered the shadows, he couldn’t see her anymore… He swolled, since he was slightly scared of going inside the shadows, I mean, he was a light, shadows werent really his thing… but this was to help someone in need.

So he stepped forward into the shadows, and since his trust was high enough, he started to glow. He looked around, but didn’t see anything but trash. There was no real girl or her mother. Had she run deeper, but in such a short time?

Aether began to walk deeper in the shadows… he could feel their gazes lingering on him, but why, he hadn’t felt that until now. He hated it; he needed to find the girl as fast as possible.

He felt them mocking him, he heard their laughs inside his soul… he was a Vessel of Praise, how were they even doing this? It was infuriating.

Aether continued to walk, only stopping when he finally found something.

But it wasnt the mother who was in need of help, or the little girl whom he was supposed to follow. No, it was neither of them; it was something he had never seen in his life.

Stepping out of the shadows, he saw a being made out of pure light. It was around his height and weight, but didn’t have a face at all. It wasn’t like it didn’t have eyes or something, but its face just wasn’t there, its head was polished, and even if it wasn’t, he couldn’t see anything either way because of the blinding light.

Yet there was something he noticed: where there was supposed to be an eye, there was a big black spot, as if someone had accidentally spilled paint.

Aether’s breath fastened, as his eyes trembled, he wanted to get away, yet his feet couldn’t move at all; it was like his whole body had completely frozen in one place. What was this being? Who was it? He had never seen something like it in his life…

Aether clenched his fists, biting his lips to come back to his senses.

“You… you aren’t real!”

…

The figure didn’t respond, but it seemed… rather pleased.

It slowly walked closer until they were face-to-face.

It grabbed its chin, forcing him to look at it, to stare into the white glow, as his vision started to slowly get corrupted by it.

…

…

…

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