Azrie Part: 1/2
I slowly processed the information of Scarlet Bloom — the name of my Prophecy — it was a bit different to what I was taught by, Lumina. But I found new memories with some rudimentary explanations, namely just knowing what the new plants did. I felt weird, and couldn’t help but question if that was all there was to a Prophecy. Somehow it was a bit underwhelming, but—at the same time it was as if I had gained numerous skills just sitting. Granted, I hadn’t tried them yet, but… I looked at Elasia, the dryad that was staring at me curiously.
“Sorry,” she apologized. “I just wonder why Lumina’s memory did that…”
I thought for a moment. I felt some adversity towards trusting the secretary dryad Elasia, and The Illusionist himself, but at the same time I had been given a Prophecy with no questions asked, and had also gained things from becoming a Champion. In short, if they wanted to do something to me, I felt like they would’ve done so already. I recalled what Lumina had said towards the end.
“She said she still owed a favor, and that this would be it,” I said, feeling some doubt.
Elasia’s eyes opened with some surprise. “So, you spoke with Lumina’s memories, she personally taught you the Prophecy?”
I nodded, and the dryad sighed.
“Of course she did, solving debts after death…” She shook her head evidently dispirited. Her eyes looked distant for a moment before turning to me. “Such a heavy investment for a champion… Though it makes one out of three now…”
I felt a bit awkward seeing her expression. “Is that bad?”
“No it is not,” she said, still in a somber mood. “Lumina is just someone who is dead, and is the co-founder of this island, the Island of Eternal Delusion, a safe-haven… where things are seemingly—perfect. But nothing is perfect, so it's all a delusion.”
I felt awkward as I saw the dryad stand up and look out of the window.
“Blair, I will be honest with you,” she spoke, giving me her back. “We—The Illusionist and his faction—are unwelcome here. In this star cluster, we are nothing, we are no one. Not out of lack of power, but of lack of relations.”
I frowned. “That sounds bad.”
“Nothing bad for you at the moment, but just know that your help might be required at some point.”
“Will I get to know then?” I asked, feeling the atmosphere shift.
“Yes, and you will most likely have to risk your life for it too. But just keep in mind that whether it is us as your patron, or them, or nobody. Life in the universe is unstable.” She shook her head. “I will get straight to the point, you might not know this but there are about a hundred different factions vying for ownership of your planet.”
I frowned. “So many?”
[Stop!] Glim interrupted the both of us. [Elasia, The System might just have a bone to pick with you, if you continue to speak of this!]
“That is alright,” she sighed. “I am tired of life, things are a bit boring around these parts of the universe and The Rifts have closed, so there is no way out. Oh well, at least Blair is a Champion of Illusion, so there is that. No more stagnation for my lord.”
I didn’t understand much other than she was stuck here and that she was disillusioned with her situation. Though, wasn’t she supposed to be The Illusionist’s secretary? She was rather odd, but then again I did not even understand what was normal, it seemed that even between me and a human there were key differences. So, maybe it was just normal behavior for the dryad to speak like this and her fanaticism for The Illusionist was just an extra.
“Anyway, you’ll probably be working with me rather than— The Illusionist, since I notice he makes you uncomfortable,” she spoke as her golden eyes met mine, she seemed a bit unsure. “Blair, do you feel scared of him?”
I nodded with some hesitation. I was unsure about whether to trust The Illusionist or the secretary Elasia, but things were—well aside from the nightmare trial, things were relatively accommodating. Yes I had felt danger numerous times, but perhaps it was just from the level difference, an instinctual response. Or maybe not. I felt—unsure. Logically my mind told me to trust them, but my feelings told me otherwise.
As I was having an internal conflict, the dryad sighed.
“Yeah, such approaches cause that. But he underestimated your worth, so I hope you can forgive him, for a smooth cooperation. Anyway, there is a chance he contacts you, but you can always contact him.” She threw a small object my way, which I caught without struggle.
It was a small pebble—rounded and unassuming.
“Oh, right, you don’t have storage either,” she said in realization before throwing me another thing. Once more I caught it, it was a small ring of silver color, it was a bit unassuming and it had a cut that kept it from fully looping.
[Fonamyte Ring (Epic) — A storage type ring, provides a secondary space to store things. The secondary space has a capacity of 0.5m^3. Distributes inside weight across total subject mass.]
I scrutinized the description, especially the weight part. Did it mean that anything that was placed on it would weigh me down? If I filled it with water then wouldn’t that mean I would be unable to move? Well it seemed convenient nonetheless, at least it was better than moving a backpack that could break at any moment. I quickly put on the ring, and nothing happened. I moved my mana and prodded it, and soon— I saw a space within my mind, it was relatively small and maybe I could fit if I curled myself in a ball. It was the storage space?
“Just imagine you want to put the bead in there.”
I looked at the bead and inquired it as well.
[Communication Bead (Rare) — A small mana communication bead marked as (Blair) tuned to the frequency of 2 other beads. Beads: 1 (Elasia), 2 (The Illusionist).]
Well that seemed awfully convenient. But then again, I was told I could contact him, Elasia was a bonus it seemed. I saw no point in contacting either of them for now. It wasn’t the time for any of that, it was time to store it. I pushed my mana onto the ring and thought about getting rid of the bead—it disappeared from within my fingers, nowhere to be seen. I saw it appear inside the space through my mind; it had gone inside the ring now. And that was that.
“Blair.” Elasia got my attention. “Unfortunately no armor will be provided given nothing we have is suitable for you, but next time we meet we will give you the best. So that leaves us, with…” she thought for a second. “Your weapon is good, and perhaps giving you something better might upset The System. It doesn’t take too kindly to introducing things into Skirmishes. So, you’ll need seeds, some potions and perhaps that might be it.”
I listened for a second. “I have potions some, though… And, what do you mean by introducing things?” I sort of forced myself to speak more with Elasia.
She turned to me with a bitter smile. “Well someone tried to give their champion a legendary one-time use item, and— well the Champion died as soon as they entered the Skirmish space? System deemed it as too much interference and killed the Champion.”
I suddenly got a small amount of nervousness. “Then wouldn’t receiving these things make me die?”
[Er, no, it was part of the contract. But giving you too much might, don’t worry though, for I am here!] Glim bobbed and the dryad chuckled.
“Yep, your naughty little light will be our measure. If it deems it to be too much then we can simply reduce it.” She smiled.
“I see.”
Azrie Part: 1/2
I slowly processed the information of Scarlet Bloom — the name of my Prophecy — it was a bit different to what I was taught by, Lumina. But I found new memories with some rudimentary explanations, namely just knowing what the new plants did. I felt weird, and couldn’t help but question if that was all there was to a Prophecy. Somehow it was a bit underwhelming, but—at the same time it was as if I had gained numerous skills just sitting. Granted, I hadn’t tried them yet, but… I looked at Elasia, the dryad that was staring at me curiously.
“Sorry,” she apologized. “I just wonder why Lumina’s memory did that…”
I thought for a moment. I felt some adversity towards trusting the secretary dryad Elasia, and The Illusionist himself, but at the same time I had been given a Prophecy with no questions asked, and had also gained things from becoming a Champion. In short, if they wanted to do something to me, I felt like they would’ve done so already. I recalled what Lumina had said towards the end.
“She said she still owed a favor, and that this would be it,” I said, feeling some doubt.
Elasia’s eyes opened with some surprise. “So, you spoke with Lumina’s memories, she personally taught you the Prophecy?”
I nodded, and the dryad sighed.
“Of course she did, solving debts after death…” She shook her head evidently dispirited. Her eyes looked distant for a moment before turning to me. “Such a heavy investment for a champion… Though it makes one out of three now…”
I felt a bit awkward seeing her expression. “Is that bad?”
“No it is not,” she said, still in a somber mood. “Lumina is just someone who is dead, and is the co-founder of this island, the Island of Eternal Delusion, a safe-haven… where things are seemingly—perfect. But nothing is perfect, so it's all a delusion.”
I felt awkward as I saw the dryad stand up and look out of the window.
“Blair, I will be honest with you,” she spoke, giving me her back. “We—The Illusionist and his faction—are unwelcome here. In this star cluster, we are nothing, we are no one. Not out of lack of power, but of lack of relations.”
I frowned. “That sounds bad.”
“Nothing bad for you at the moment, but just know that your help might be required at some point.”
“Will I get to know then?” I asked, feeling the atmosphere shift.
“Yes, and you will most likely have to risk your life for it too. But just keep in mind that whether it is us as your patron, or them, or nobody. Life in the universe is unstable.” She shook her head. “I will get straight to the point, you might not know this but there are about a hundred different factions vying for ownership of your planet.”
I frowned. “So many?”
[Stop!] Glim interrupted the both of us. [Elasia, The System might just have a bone to pick with you, if you continue to speak of this!]
“That is alright,” she sighed. “I am tired of life, things are a bit boring around these parts of the universe and The Rifts have closed, so there is no way out. Oh well, at least Blair is a Champion of Illusion, so there is that. No more stagnation for my lord.”
I didn’t understand much other than she was stuck here and that she was disillusioned with her situation. Though, wasn’t she supposed to be The Illusionist’s secretary? She was rather odd, but then again I did not even understand what was normal, it seemed that even between me and a human there were key differences. So, maybe it was just normal behavior for the dryad to speak like this and her fanaticism for The Illusionist was just an extra.
“Anyway, you’ll probably be working with me rather than— The Illusionist, since I notice he makes you uncomfortable,” she spoke as her golden eyes met mine, she seemed a bit unsure. “Blair, do you feel scared of him?”
I nodded with some hesitation. I was unsure about whether to trust The Illusionist or the secretary Elasia, but things were—well aside from the nightmare trial, things were relatively accommodating. Yes I had felt danger numerous times, but perhaps it was just from the level difference, an instinctual response. Or maybe not. I felt—unsure. Logically my mind told me to trust them, but my feelings told me otherwise.
As I was having an internal conflict, the dryad sighed.
“Yeah, such approaches cause that. But he underestimated your worth, so I hope you can forgive him, for a smooth cooperation. Anyway, there is a chance he contacts you, but you can always contact him.” She threw a small object my way, which I caught without struggle.
It was a small pebble—rounded and unassuming.
“Oh, right, you don’t have storage either,” she said in realization before throwing me another thing. Once more I caught it, it was a small ring of silver color, it was a bit unassuming and it had a cut that kept it from fully looping.
[Fonamyte Ring (Epic) — A storage type ring, provides a secondary space to store things. The secondary space has a capacity of 0.5m^3. Distributes inside weight across total subject mass.]
I scrutinized the description, especially the weight part. Did it mean that anything that was placed on it would weigh me down? If I filled it with water then wouldn’t that mean I would be unable to move? Well it seemed convenient nonetheless, at least it was better than moving a backpack that could break at any moment. I quickly put on the ring, and nothing happened. I moved my mana and prodded it, and soon— I saw a space within my mind, it was relatively small and maybe I could fit if I curled myself in a ball. It was the storage space?
“Just imagine you want to put the bead in there.”
I looked at the bead and inquired it as well.
[Communication Bead (Rare) — A small mana communication bead marked as (Blair) tuned to the frequency of 2 other beads. Beads: 1 (Elasia), 2 (The Illusionist).]
Well that seemed awfully convenient. But then again, I was told I could contact him, Elasia was a bonus it seemed. I saw no point in contacting either of them for now. It wasn’t the time for any of that, it was time to store it. I pushed my mana onto the ring and thought about getting rid of the bead—it disappeared from within my fingers, nowhere to be seen. I saw it appear inside the space through my mind; it had gone inside the ring now. And that was that.
“Blair.” Elasia got my attention. “Unfortunately no armor will be provided given nothing we have is suitable for you, but next time we meet we will give you the best. So that leaves us, with…” she thought for a second. “Your weapon is good, and perhaps giving you something better might upset The System. It doesn’t take too kindly to introducing things into Skirmishes. So, you’ll need seeds, some potions and perhaps that might be it.”
I listened for a second. “I have potions some, though… And, what do you mean by introducing things?” I sort of forced myself to speak more with Elasia.
She turned to me with a bitter smile. “Well someone tried to give their champion a legendary one-time use item, and— well the Champion died as soon as they entered the Skirmish space? System deemed it as too much interference and killed the Champion.”
I suddenly got a small amount of nervousness. “Then wouldn’t receiving these things make me die?”
[Er, no, it was part of the contract. But giving you too much might, don’t worry though, for I am here!] Glim bobbed and the dryad chuckled.
“Yep, your naughty little light will be our measure. If it deems it to be too much then we can simply reduce it.” She smiled.
“I see.”
