7 WORLDS OF FLAMES

As he was falling through the abyss of darkness, Lynne actually felt space around him tear; they weren’t literally falling underground, but merely passing through a spacial tunnel which led to a different dimension of sorts. Their journey lasted for roughly an hour before light suddenly flashed, blinding Lynne briefly.

As he opened his eyes, his jaw immediately grew agape as his eyes bulged out like muscles out of their sockets. He had expected many things, but what welcomed him was an utterly astonishing sight. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call this place Arcadia Oasis – legendary place from the ancient legends in which every single plant grew. Mountains eclipsed the horizon, while countless valleys and fields ran rampart throughout the surface, covered with countless types of herbs, weeds, flowers, trees…

The entire place was colorful beyond belief; Lynne was standing in a small patch of empty land, with gentle breeze causing his hair and robe to flutter. His heart completely calmed, his mind was clearer than it ever was before, and his body felt as if it was growing stronger with each breath he took. He finally woke from the stupor after a few minutes, glancing around him.

“Eh?!” where the hell is everyone?!

To his eternal dismay – Lynne was completely alone. Forget Thalia, Anna and Elynal with whom he entered, not a single soul out of tens of thousands of Mages was anywhere in sight. Lynne had previously inquired about this ‘first layer’ of the sect’s grounds; it definitely wasn’t a herbal paradise. According to others, it was actually a form of a city, and it acted as a residence ground for nominal-disciples. It had countless buildings of various styles, which is why Lynne had imagined many different worlds.

However, not only were there absolutely no buildings whatsoever in sight, there wasn’t even another living soul in sight! According to others, they’d all reach the general same area and would be able to immediately locate thousands of others people.

“Shit, did I accidentally die in the tunnel?” Lynne cursed, kicking up the dirt. “What dogshit of luck do I have!! I don’t want to go to heaven bastards, give me back my life! What the hell’s heaven worth when there isn’t even a single, mature maiden in sight? There aren’t any rivers of gold or wine, just shitty herbs! Who the hell needs herbs?! Do you think I’ll just sit like an idiot for all eternity and concoct pills?! Ugh!!” his torrent of curses suddenly came to a halt as he was shocked out of his wits yet again.

From high sky, he saw a translucent figure fly towards him. It was human-shaped, except that it was completely burning in azure flames. It had no features on its face save for a spinning vortex spewing fires as if it was breathing. It landed a few meters in front of Lynne, seemingly scrutinizing him.

“Your insights into fire are somewhat lacking,” the creature suddenly spoke in language Lynne wasn’t supposed to understand, yet he did; he quickly realized it was similar to the way he understood ‘concepts’ of the symbols within his mind. “But, alas, you have only just begun.”

“Y-you… what are you?” Lynne asked, somewhat terrified of the newcomer.

“Me? I’m but an Eternal Spirit,” the creature replied in a calm, somewhat playful voice. “Eternal Spirit of Flame, that is. Or, if you prefer, Eternal Guardian of Flame, or Eternal---”

“I get it, you’re eternal,” Lynne interrupted. “So, eternal one, where the hell is everyone else?”

“Elsewhere.”

“No shit.”

“Ha ha,” the creature suddenly laughed lightly. “You truly do have a fiery temper. I like it.”

“… don’t tell me you follow some wicked path of taking bodies of young men? Ugh, no. Kill me instead.”

“Do you want to know why I brought you here, or do you want to spend the rest of eternity admiring this garden of mine?” the creature asked, chuckling.

“The first one. Definitely the first one.” Lynne replied immediately.

“Let’s take a stroll then.”

As the creature turned around and began walking towards the tall grass – one which far surpassed Lynne in height – incredible thing occurred. The grass split apart, revealing a path wherever the creature floated. It was a rather serene and beautiful sight; translucent, human-shaped fire seemingly burned its way through the eternity of nature. That’s… truly the nature of flames… Lynne thought as he followed the creature.

“I imagine you know where you are,” the creature began. “My Master’s sect used to be a truly everlasting legacy. We towered countless realms, and caused even Divine Emperors to shiver in fright. Alas… time is cruel wretch beyond compare. All things eventually come to an end,” almost as if it had a heart of its own, Lynne could feel ephemeral sadness permeating every word the creature spoke.

“While we were at the absolute apex of power,” the creature continued. “My Master built 72 sect grounds,” WHAT?!! “Afterwards, he anointed me a Guardian of 57th – this one. I have been guarding this place for nearly two million years…” … screw this, I want to become Eternal Spirit as well! “During the first part, I have welcomed hundreds and thousands of promising youth into this realm; yet, after that, as if the Wheel of Fate reversed for your realm, it all changed. In the past five hundred thousand years, you are only the third one deserving of chance to obtain the true legacy…”

“B-but…” Lynne was stunned beyond belief; after all, he wasn’t an idiot. He was slowly starting to put the pieces together; the creature, immediately upon its arrival, told Lynne that his insight into fire was lacking. This, connected with the fact that he was the only one here, led Lynne to believe that this ‘true legacy’ referred to actual grounds of the sect, while the places others came to were merely surface layer used as a guise. Indeed, it was as he thought.

“For some reason, Mages of your realm had slowly stopped listening to flames… and had forgotten their Origin.” I’m guessing that the Headmaster probably was one of the other two to have visited this place before me… “The Holy Ground has Seven Worlds in total,” the creature spoke as they reached another opening; however, this opening had seven passages leading deeper into the world.

“Garden of Flames,” the creature pointed at the leftmost passage. “It nurses Two Origin Flames, Seven Natural Flames, One Hundred Mortal Flames and Ten Thousand Sparks. To pass it, you need to understand them all, and be able to create them yourself.” You and your shitty master are absolutely insane!! How long would that take?!! Ten million years?!!

“Essence of Flames,” the creature then pointed to the second tunnel from left. I don’t even want to know… what’s the point? “It contains a singular trace of Essence Flame. Depending on yourself, it can be eany of the twenty-eight Essence Flames. Similarly, you need to meditate upon it and be able to reproduce it to pass.” What the hell is Essence Flame? Explain something!

“Soul of Flames,” third tunnel from the left. “Illusionary world of Firefiends. You will have to defeat ten thousand of them, extract their souls, and form your own Soul Flame to pass.” … just let me go, please…

“Will of Flames,” fourth from the left. “To pass this world, you’ll have to grant your Soul Flame a sentience.” … ah, what’s even the point… Lynne was already crying. He actually roughly understood only the first trial; yet, from his understanding, two Origin Flames should be Skyfire and Hellfire. Hell, forget those two; Lynne could barely summon three Natural Flames. He didn’t even know about the Mortal Flames or Sparks. As for the other stages? He hadn’t a whiff of an idea what they represented.

“Destiny of Flames,” fifth from the left. “To pass this world, you will have to battle Fire God and either kill it, or survive for a thousand years.” WHAT?!!! “If you manage to pass this world, you’ll be given Fire God’s Heart.”

“Divine Inferno,” second to last. “You’ll be baptized in Divine Inferno; to pass this world, you’ll have to survive for at least a divine cycle of time. Upon passing, you will be given a Spark of Divine.”

“Empyrean Inferno,” the last one. “You will battle a divine projection of Empyrean God. If you manage to defeat it, you will be reborn anew, and become an Empyrean Lord. If you survive for two divine cycles, you will be given another chance to fight it within the next divine cycle. If you survive for five divine cycles, you will be given Empyrean Seed, increasing your chances of becoming Empyrean Lord upon rebirth, if you---”

“Hold, hold, hold!!!” Lynne finally couldn’t stand it anymore. “Please, just reunite me with others.”

“Ha ha,” the creature suddenly laughed. “I was waiting for when you’ll finally crumble. Most others before you crumbled halfway through. You actually endured until the very end.”

“Eh?” Lynne was again left stunned.

“Naturally, I know you can’t even pass the first world,” the spirit laughed still. “However, I will give you a choice.”

“A choice?” Lynne arched his brow.

“In truth, the Master’s world is becoming unstable… I suspect it will be completely destroyed within a mere few thousand years. Although your current insight into fire is severely lacking, your talent is not. Three Mortal talents, one Supreme and one Divine talent. Even amongst the Empyrean Children you would be standing at the peak. I doubt that anyone close to your level would emerge in this realm within the next few thousand years. So, I’m offering you a choice.” the spirit’s voice grew increasingly serious.

“I shall allow you to bind this realm as your own, turning it into your tempering grounds,” yet again, Lynne’s jaw fell to the floor. “In return, you will supply it with enough energy to repair the current cracks and restore its original state. Best way to do it is to seek unique flames and feed it to the World’s Heart. In return, you can come here any time you want, whether it’s to ponder through the Seven Worlds, or to spar against incantations of leftover intents and wills. Naturally, the rules for the Seven Worlds will remain the same as I described previously.”

“… just how powerful was the creator of this thing…” Lynne muttered; considering just the very first World, Garden of Flames, it had already eclipsed anything and everything Alloy had to offer.

“Far beyond your comprehension,” the spirit shook its head lightly as it spoke. “But, you needn’t think of such heights at the moment. You’re but a child barely crawling on the Path of Flames. You also tread Darkness, Void, Space and Infinity. I suspect that, sooner or later, you’ll tread even more. However, if you ever desire to pass beyond first two Worlds, Flame needs to be your Origin calling. Otherwise, the Seven Worlds won’t be of much help to you…”

“So, it’s time you chose,” the spirit chuckled as it spoke. “What’s it going to be?”

“… ah, hell, I’ll do it.” Lynne nodded, gritting his teeth; someone just offered him future, path he would never be able to find on his own. He’d be insane to refuse it. Just from the bits and pieces of information the spirit provided through explanations of Seven Worlds, Lynne understood that Mages of Alloy were simply children playing with toys. Fifth World, Destiny of Flames, required him to slay a Fire God. And there were two more worlds after it. In comparison, what are Mages of Alloy? Not even sparks that Fire God unleashed by farthing. “How would I be able to recognize flames to feed the Heart with, though?” Lynne immediately asked.

“I’ll always be communicating with you through our bond,” the spirit explained. “If I ever sense one, I’ll inform you.”

“Good… damn well, fire it is. Heh, why not? I always liked burning bridges. And beds. He he.”

“…” when one has the ability to stun an Eternal Spirit with words, perhaps Path of Words might be a better choice. “Khm, you should enter the first world. Although you’re far from being able to pass it, it should provide you with decent benefits. After you solidify your knowledge, you can choose which flames to spar against.”

“Alright.” Lynne nodded, taking a deep breath before walking towards the leftmost passage. Skyfire Magus… looks like I’ll truly be able to fulfill the oath from that day…