Chapter 304

Ascendance (V)

Lear had come to learn a few things in the few days that he spent with the man called Cain--the latter was... difficult to keep up with. Not in the sense that he was quick in the places he had to go, but in that he was... too random. One day, they spent it completely rushing forward out of the Wilds and then, the next, they barely moved an inch, drinking and eating all day long.

Whenever Lear inquired as to why, the only reply he got was that ‘life’s only worth living if you mix it up frequently enough’. And frequently they did, indeed.

Today, as they were approaching the very edges of the Wilds, intending to cross over into the Crust, Cain decided they wouldn’t do that today and would instead perch themselves atop a fairly large mountain, and just ‘enjoy’ the view from the above.

As always, he started taking out cooking utensils and preparing a meal--it appeared to be some kind of a vegetable stew, today. A marked difference, Lear mused, from the meat-infused meals they’ve been having every day. Cain poured each of them a cup of another sort of alcoholic beverage--Lear had noticed that the man was quite a connoisseur of booze, at least when it came to types--and leaned back on the fairly comfortable chairs, enjoying the light breeze, though not so much the view as it largely comprised of dust clouds.

“Aaah,” Cain sighed after taking a few gulps, nestling further into the chair. “Leaving the Wilds. It’s a big moment for me.”

“... you’ve barely been there for a few months,” Lear scoffed. “It was a big moment for me, someone who spent over a hundred and twenty years here. For you? Hardly.”

“Tsk, what do you know? I’m a nomad! I go by the wind! That’s why it’s a big deal for me!”

“Ah, yes, of course, my apologies, Mr. Nomad.”

“Though the comment is dripping with sarcasm, I’ll graciously accept the apology part of it and neglect to recognize the rest,” Cain said, causing Lear to chuckle lightly “Do you think it’s worth it?” Cain asked suddenly.

“What?”

“All this?” he added. “Literally being stuck in a world of perennial darkness for hundreds of years. For what? A modicum of strength that will likely be easily topped by somebody else.”

“Oh, wow, way to punch me in the gut.”

“Ha ha, I don’t mean just you though. I mean everyone. Like the Tower. Don’t get me wrong--I’m beyond grateful for the fact that I no longer need to croak at the ripe old age of ninety with saggy balls and a list of issues so long you could write a novel about it, but it’s hardly free. I imagine many have died on your world as well, entirely unnecessarily.”

“... yes, I suppose,” Lear nodded. “But the Tower wasn’t necessarily the culprit. It simply... enabled the bad people to do bad things. My world... my world was in as much of a schism as you could get--inequality was ripe on every corner, streets were littered with corpses of the undesired, and few even mentioned them. And then... then the Towers came. Though they caused an influx of death initially, eventually, they reconfigured the world--you could, finally, grab your own fate and yank it by the balls. My people call it the ‘Grand Awakening’. The day our world was woken from the infernal slumber.”

“...”

“What? Not the answer you wanted?” Lear chuckled.

“No, not that,” Cain smiled lightly. “It’s just... you remind me of my friends. You all see the best of that place.”

“And you don’t?”

“No, I’m afraid,” Cain shook his head, sighing. “I see the worst. I mean, look at us. I should be back home, spending days with people that I love. I should be guiding my daughters through life. Expecting grandchildren. Growing old and jaded and yelling at the young people that the thing they’re listening to isn’t music. And yet, here I am. My greed for strength guided me away from all that and into here. And, my kids? Fuck. One of them’s already on a fast-track to demolishing records, and the other likely couldn’t wait for me to fuck off so she can also start her Conquest.

“But all their wants seem so innocent. They want to do magic. I can’t fault them for that.”

“Yours isn’t?” Lear inquired further.

“... I want to climb the fucker, man,” Cain chuckled. “Straight to the top. I want to leave everything in the dust and stand on the top, to finally understand what the fuck is going on up there.”

“Hardly much,” Lear said. “Are you aware of the Divines?”

“Oh, very.”

“It’s the regression that you will find,” Lear said. “In fact, you’d fit right in. It is a heap of jaded souls terrified of letting go. And so, they do everything in their power to prevent it.”

“... hah, so stupidity crosses species,” Cain said. “That’s... kind of comforting, to be honest.”

“Sentience does that, in my experience.”

“Great Te’gha smells treasure!!” both Lear, and even Cain, were startled by the sudden noise. Lear shot to his feet, ready to fight, while Cain quickly recovered, recognizing the familiar voice. A black shadow emerged from his ‘pockets’ and sat up on his lap, looking up at him. “Stupid human, I smell treasure!”

“Yes, I heard you. The entire world heard you, I think. It must be something else, though, to get you this excited,” Cain said while Lear calmed down, recognizing the lack of reaction on Cain’s part. It was then that he spotted what looked like a tiny cat on the man’s lap.

“Yes! Great Te’gha is never wrong! The treasure... the treasure stinks good!”

“Eh? Is that... is that a Primal Tiger?!” Lear exclaimed in shock. “Wow! A babe, even...”

“What? Great Te’gha isn’t a baby! Great Te’gha is great! Humph! Another stupid human! Stupid human, kill him for calling me a baby!”

“If you’re so great, kill him yourself,” Cain said.

“...” Te’gha began to shake lightly on his lap, while both Lear and Cain held their laughter.

“Ah, you better not; look how scared he looks. It’s best we left him alone.”

“Y-yes, G-Great Te’gha won’t bother with stupid humans!”

“Good,” Cain chuckled, petting the cat. “Now, this treasure. What can you tell me about it?”

“That way!” the cat pointed eastward, slightly into the lands of the ‘Crust’. “It showed up abruptly! It must be the birth!”

“Oh?” Lear glanced toward the direction. “It looks like it finally happened.”

“You know what he’s talking about?” Cain sat up, quickly packing away their things.

“Hm,” Lear nodded. “Maybe twenty, thirty years ago, some of us noticed a disturbance in Mana and went over to investigate. We found a ‘treasure cloud’, so to say, a natural phenomenon that signals the eventual birth of the treasure. From what I recall, it was somewhere in that direction. However, the cloud can’t be older than half a century. Even if born, the ‘treasure’, at best, would just be some fruit that raised your stat by 1 or something.”

“Humph, what does a stupid human know?! Great Te’gha wouldn’t sniff something so stupid! Bleh, stop listen to him and go! Go before somebody else steals it!”

“Yeah,” Cain nodded. “Looks like many-a-soul are headed that way. Some are... quite strong.”

“Should we head over? This might be a good opportunity to head into the Crust, actually, while everyone is distracted.”

“Nah, I was never really the type to walk away from the treasure,” Cain chuckled. “Besides, I said they are quite strong. Not that they are really strong.”

“Oh? There’s a difference?” two men began chatting through Mana as they took to flight, heading eastward.

“Really strong means they have the ability to push me to my limits. Quite strong? They could maybe face some of my friends on a good day.”

The journey wasn’t terribly long, taking up only a few hours. However, by the time the two arrived, the place was already packed--there were over a thousand souls hoarded together within a valley steeped between two tall, sky-piercing mountains.

The valley itself was barren of life, covered in dirt and dust, with jagged, naked rocks protruding from the ground ever so often. Nary a few paid attention to the newcomers as it was likely an accustomed-to sight by now, with most focusing their gazes forward.

There, toward the very end of the valley, was a gaping hole, a plaque with a golden inscription hanging above it.

“Oh? A trial type?” Lear commented, stroking his chin. “These are rare. No wonder it only took so little. It’s just a gate, after all.”

“You ever went in one of them before?” Cain asked.

“A few,” Lear nodded. “They are similar to the trials inside the Towers, albeit with a higher degree of difficulty since there’s no window telling you what things in there can do to you, so you mostly just have to figure it out blindly.”

“Hm,” Cain nodded. “So, now we wait?”

“It usually takes a while for the gates to completely coalesce, and if you go in before that, you’ll be stuck in a spatial storm that would rip you into shreds,” Lear said.

“Alright,” Cain shrugged, looking around for a nice spot to rest--he saw a protrusion in the mountain side. “Let’s go there. We’re yet to finish that scotch.”

“...” Lear rolled his eyes but obeyed. Though nobody quite outright showcased their prowess, his instincts were remarkably calm--with the exception of ten or so souls, he was likely able to match others completely. As such, Cain was, possibly against all common sense and odds, the strongest person inside the valley at the moment.

The two settled on the protrusion, with Cain taking out the chairs immediately and filling up two cups before handing one over to Lear. Though they drew quite a few looks, as Lear didn’t want any headaches, he maintained a slight aura around himself that let others know of his rough strength.

“Hoh?” Cain suddenly exclaimed, looking westward, toward the entrance into the valley. “First big shot finally arrived.”

“... big shot?”

“One of those ‘quite strong’ fellas I mentioned,” Cain said, but immediately looked away, seeming disinterested. Lear, however, kept looking at the entrance and, some ten or so seconds later felt the approaching aura himself. His eyebrows immediately began to dance, however, his lips quivering as he glanced at Cain.

“... quite strong?” he mumbled, sucking in a cold breath. After all, the figure who was approaching... was one of the vaunted thrice-Awakened. And he’s quite strong. Fuck, this guy...