Chapter 14: A Trial

In a boundless area, comprised of what seemed to be a library, there was a nigh unsurmountable tranquillity. There was close to no signs of life; only the occasional reader, here and there. Other than that, there were only books, be it floating in the air, streaking across the skies, or resting, silently on the age old, and weathered bookshelves. A perpetual tranquillity; except for that one screaming man, being dragged across the boundless gray skies, by a small, leather book.

This one man, being dragged across the boundless grey skies, by a small, leather bound book, was indeed me, Isaac Coldblood, ruler of the vampiric race, conqueror of the Peninsula, slaughterer of continents, dominated by a small, leather bound book. But, truth be told, I had long stopped screaming already. It sort of, just grew old after the first few hours. And days. And years.

Indeed, I had been dragged around, by this small book for years already. I couldn’t even move a single muscle, as it forcefully moved me, to wherever it was it was going. All I knew was that it had already at least a few years, and that it somehow protected me, or the fierce wind would cut me to pieces.

But, it was truly a mystery. The time it had travelled, and the speed it had travelled at, would already have been enough to circle the tower a million times, so, just where was it going? I could only wait and see.

And, oh, did I wait. Time passed, ever so slowly, and before I knew it, I had lost all track of time. I hadn’t the faintest idea, of how long it had been, I just knew one thing; it was dreadfully boring. I couldn’t move a single muscle, nor take a single breath. Luckily for me, I had long surpassed the necessity of oxygen, or I would have long suffocated.

The only thing I had to entertain me, was the boundless gray skies, above. Nothing else; I couldn’t even do as much, as to move my eyes. I only saw the gray skies; I could never gaze below, and before I knew it, my mind started deteriorating. I started to see machinations of the mind; figures of Amelia, and my old friends; voices of the ones I used to know. Childhood friends from the nearby villages of my childhood; people long taken away, by the passage of time.

Time passed and passed, and after a very, very long time, it felt as if I had already been there for thousands of years. No, I was certain. It had been so long that I felt like I nations would have come, and passed. I started questioning. I forgot; why was I here? What was I doing; what was I? Was my purpose in existence only to look at the never changing gray skies?

However, as everything eventually does, it changed. One day, after what had felt like eons, I finally started to see something. The top of an old, weathered, perhaps wooden object started to fade into sight, from the bottom of my sight. However, I couldn’t see what it was. My vision was a constantly locked state, so I could only wait, and wait, while the old wooden object grew taller, and taller, ever so slowly.

Eventually, after many days, I started to see more objects, within this old, wooden object. They were small items, made of paper and leather; books. However, I had long forgotten what they were; where I was. Once more, I could only wait, however, this time, there was that small glimmer of excitement, in my bored, empty mind.

With expectation, I watched and watched, as they passed by me with unsurmountable speed, while still growing taller and taller. Before I knew, another shelf sprang up, with yet another set of books. Then, as the days and week passed, there came more and more shelves; more and more books, until a change, like never before happened. I felt contact, upon my foot.

Then, as if a new world opened up to me, I lost contact to the old book, and it fell to the ground, finally finished with its age old journey; finally, it had arrived at its mark. And just like that, my body collapse, and fell to the ground. There was a weird sensation; I could move my eyes, feel the motion of the wind, upon my pale skin, and feel my long, dark hair flutter in the breeze.

Suddenly, I felt a power in my body; something I hadn’t felt in a long time, and with a decisive motion, I stood up, and rose. It was completely as if a new world had opened up to me. It felt familiar, yet completely new, to stand up, and finally move.

Like that, I stood still for hours, enjoying the sensation of the cold wind against my skin, until finally, I let my eyes wonder to that small, leather bound book, which had dragged me onwards for as long as I could remember. With slow steps, I walked over to it with slow steps.

The book was weirdly centred on the floor, perfectly placed between the two opposite bookshelves. For a while, I hesitated, before I finally decided to pick it up. At first sight, there was nothing spectacular with it. Even after having it centered in the middle my line of sight, for an vast amount of time, there was still nothing special about it.

However, even after all these years, I had still not glanced inside it. Thus, it was with both fear and excitement that I finally opened the book, to glance inside it. However, what I saw was nothing like I would have ever expected. It was… blank. The pages inside the book, all of them, were completely blank!

However, I didn’t feel a single thing. Not despair, not surprise, I wasn’t even annoyed. After all, I had a bit of amnesia at the moment. I wasn’t even able to speak a language, as everything was simply blocked. However, even though the pages were completely blank, I am not to say that nothing at all happened. As a matter of fact, after I had gloated at the book for a while, it started glowing so brightly that it blinded me.

Then, when it finally toned down, to my surprise, I found that my surroundings had completely changed! I was no longer surrounded by bookshelves and books, but I was inside a chamber. Inside the chamber, there was gray. Gray walls, gray floors, gray roof. And in the middle, was a gray pedestal, with a gray book.

The first thought I had when I saw my surroundings, was: Lonely. A word. This sad word popped into my mind, the moment I saw this room, yet I had no idea what it meant. I just knew that this place, was lonely.

Then, as I had taken my surroundings in, I slowly walked towards the lonely pedestal, neither careful, not excited. I simply walked over there, with an empty mind, except for one word: Lonely. Then, after several slow steps, I arrived in front of the gray pedestal, and placed my hand on the book.

With a slow, unmotivated motion, I opened the first page of the book. And what I saw, I truly did not expect, and this time I mean it. On this first page, were words! Three words, written in black letters, on white paper, were on this first page, of the gray book. And I knew what they said. “An Immortal’s Trial” was the title to the book. And, as I read those words, and overflow of information started seeping into my brain. Everything from words, to memories were coming back to me. After this very, very long time, I finally remembered who I was; what had happened.

And the very first though that came to my mind, after I finally remembered everything, from who I was, to why I was here, was,

“Why the fuck didn’t it just teleport me here right away!”

Indeed, I was pissed. I had spent such a long time, in a brainless state, devoid of will. It had been agonising; worse than any torture you could ever undergo. But, there was no one here that I could went on, so I could only bite it in me, and read the damned book. So, I opened the next page, and was met with a few words,

“Enter the Trial, and you shall find the path to that which you most desire,” it read. Nothing else. I turned another page, and was met with a map. And weirdly, as I gazed upon this map, it was as if I instantly knew where it was, even though I had never been there before, in my life. It was truly weird, but I wasn’t surprised. After all, storing information in objects was a possibility, although, it would usually require me to do some sort of probing into the object.

Then, as I closed the book, in front of me, at the other end of the chamber, appeared a doorway, in same monotone, gray hue. I tried to take the book, but to my surprise, it couldn’t even leave the pedestal. It was as if it was glued to the surface. Thus, I simply dropped it, and walked over to the doorway. And, as I entered the mysterious doorway, the scenery around me, once more, changed completely, however, this time I met a more familiar scene. It was that great hall, where I first entered the Tower.

“Ah, he’s out,” I heard someone say, the moment I exited the tower. As I turned my head, I found it to be a silver guard, and beside him was another man. However, this man, he seeped with incredible power. I had no way of telling how powerful he was, but just from his aura, I could tell he was at least an Immortal. Of course, this puzzled me. Why would an Immortal wait for me here?

“Impressive,” the Immortal said with a shocked expression, “You’ve been inside the library for five hundred years, yet you’ve already reached this stage of power. Going from early Mythical Saint, to early Legendary Saint, with a power of a middle Legendary Saint, in only five hundred years? This is truly divine! And to even do it inside the Tower! It must truly be as I was told,” the Immortal said, as he walked towards me, with an amiable smile.

“What do you mean five hundred years? I’m sure it’s been much longer than that. And how do you know me?” I asked him, making sure not to seem to disrespectful.

“No, it’s only been a bit over five hundred years. I’ve been waiting for you, since the day you first entered the Tower. And I was notified of your existence, the moment you were tested. However, it’s best we don’t speak about it here. How about you come with me, for a while?” The Immortal asked.

I didn’t dare deny his wish, so I complied, and followed him. The Immortal didn’t take me out of the Tower, but instead took me to another hallway, and up a few stairs, until we found ourselves inside a comfy little room.

“Alright, here we can speak in peace. Let’s just get straight to the point. I know you’re a Demi God,” the Immortal said.

“What?! How?” I asked back, with a shocked expression, and mouth agape.

“It’s all in that power test you took. The only people that are able to be as powerful as you were at the time, at only that stage, are Demi Gods, and the testing ball itself, has a function that can tell if there is something special about the tested. Of course, there are limits to it,” the Immortal explained.

“Then, do you also know who my parents are?” I asked, slightly worried about the whole situation.

“No, I don’t. I only know that you’re probably a Demi God of Death, or at least mostly. However, I’m inclined to believe you have two God parents, considering you said ‘parents’, in plural. Demi Gods born from two Gods are even rarer. They usually have a mortal mother, at least from my experience. Not that I have met many Demi Gods. It’s extraordinarily rare for them to be sent down here,” the Immortal said.

“Then, tell me, why have you taken me here?” I finally asked.

“Well, there’s no big reason, I just wanted to meet you, and perhaps take you under my wing. So, what say you, interested in working for me?” The Immortal said with a smug smirk. I, however, remained silent for a few moments. I needed to think this through. Indeed, there could be quite a few advantages if I did join him, but I knew nothing of him. At least, I was fairly certain he would treat me well. After all, I was a Demi God.

“Perhaps, but I don’t even know who you are. Can you tell me a bit about you, and what you represent?” I finally asked. The Immortal, however, laughed.

“Of course, of course, I haven’t even told you who I am. Well, I hope you won’t spread this information around, but I’ll begin with my power level. I won’t specify my exact power level, but I’ll tell you that I’m an Exalted Immortal, the third and last stage of an Immortal,” he began. I was quite surprised; I had expected him to be powerful, but that I’d suddenly meet and Exalted Immortal, that was beyond my expectations.

“As for my name, it’s Valadriath, ruler of the Dominion of Valadriath, one of the Tower Guardians,” he announced with a mighty valour, which made it seem like he could topple the heavens themselves.

“You’re the ruler of the Dominion? That’s convenient, since I make my home in your capital,” I said slowly, as I was still thinking about taking him up on his offer.

“Yes, that’s convenient indeed. Now, what say you?” He asked, starting to get a bit inpatient.

“Can I think about it for a while? Right now I can’t, as I have a very important task to take care of. How about I give you an answer later, when I’m ready?”

“Hmm, that’s fine too. Since you have an important task, I won’t hold you. When you’re ready, just come to my Palace in the city, or the Tower. But first, you never told me your name,” the Immortal Valadriath said.

“Oh right, my name is Isaac Coldblood,” I told him.

“Alright then, Isaac Coldblood, well met. I will take my leave now, and hopefully, we’ll meet again at a later time,” he said, then, he suddenly disappeared without a trace.

Truly powerful. However, I had more important things to take care of now. First, I needed to get back to the city, and tell Targhas my plans, and also check on his progress. It’s been five hundred years, so he should be far more powerful now. Might even have reached the Mythical Saint stage, if he’s lucky. Never know what kind of techniques one could train around here.

But, there was something about what he said, which really puzzled me. He said that I had spent only five hundred years in the Tower, but I was certain that it ought to have been much, much longer than that. Sure, being frozen still, not able to move a single muscle was dreadfully boring, which might make it seem longer, but not to that extent. It had felt like thousands of years, if not several hundred thousand years, or even a million years. But apparently, it was only a short moment, as I had already spent about five hundred years inside there, when I grabbed the book. However, for now, that was an unanswerable question.

Thus, I finally left the Tower, after five hundred years, and made my way back to the city of Xarxes. It was at this time that I could truly feel how much more powerful I was. There was quite a bit of power difference between the early and middle stage, of a Legendary Saint. I only spent a little bit over a day, to get back, but I could have managed it in under a day, if I flew at full speed.

And thus, I was finally back in the city, after five hundred years, only to notice that barely anything had changed. As I made my way back to the building, in which Targhas’ home was in, it, too, hadn’t changed a bit. Thus I entered the building, and went up a few stairs, until I stood outside his apartment.

The door was unlocked, so I easily opened it, and took a step inside. The sight I met, when I opened the door, was a maid, cleaning the room, but it wasn’t one of the girls I took off the street. They were probably long dead.

“Can I help you, sir?” The old maid asked. Indeed, she was quite old, and had a head full of gray hair.

“No need,” I said, as I stepped past the maid, however, the maid took my arm, to stop me, as I passed her.

“Excuse me, sir, but strangers around allowed to just enter the house,” the old maid fearlessly said.

“Haha, don’t worry, I’m on stranger. In fact, I do believe I live here, if Targhas hasn’t moved homes without telling me,” I said, much to the old maid’s surprise.

“This is indeed Lord Targhas’ home, but I’m certain you don’t live here! I haven’t even ever seen you, in my entire life, and I’ve worked here for over fifty years!” The old maid said, ever confident.

“Well, that’s because I left on a small trip, about five hundred years ago,” I said, however, before the maid could even reply, Targhas burst into the room.

“By the Gods, you’re back! That was a lot longer than just a few dozen years! Those maids you got even died quite a while ago!” Targhas exclaimed. Well, at least this confirmed that it ought not be much over five hundred years since I left.

“Well, I do believe I said it might take a few centuries… Anyways, you’ve sure progressed nicely! You’re already an early stage Mythical Saint! That’s the same stage I was at, when I left. Now however, I’ve already become a true Legendary Saint,” said, much to the old maid’s surprise. She even stepped a few steps back, when she heard of my true power.

The reason she didn’t feel any fear before, is because I was supressing my aura, as to not scare her. She was an old woman, so she might get heart troubles. Targhas quickly walked over to the maid, to introduce,

“This here, is Isaac. You could say he’s my master, so you better treat him well,” Targhas introduced, and the old maid just looked on in awe, unable to introduce herself back.

“Let’s go Targhas, we need to speak,” I said, as I walked past the maid, this time without getting my arm grabbed. Inside another room, I told Targhas about my discovery, and that I’d have to leave again.

“You’re going to have to go again? How long this time?” He asked.

“No idea. I don’t know what to expect from that place, or what kind of trial it is. I’m pretty sure that not many people have ever been there, as the way I got there was far too coincidental. Just be prepared, as it might be a very long time again, or it might be very short,” I told him.

“Alright then. When are you going to leave?”

“In a few days, maybe a week,” I finally answered, after pondering for a while. Then after we were finished discussing matters of the Tower, and the mysterious Trial, Targhas explained the events of the past five hundred years that he had experienced.

It turned out that he had just recently reached the Mythical Saint stage, and had become a normal Saint just a few days after I left. As for his business, it had grown exponentially the past half millennia. In fact, he could easily have moved to much larger home.

He owned several caravans, travelled across trade routes, and he had a few stores in several cities and towns. All in all, he had his own little trade empire, and could definitely be considered a ‘rich’ man.

End of chapter 14.