《Risky Sailing》chapter Five: A gift... and a chance...
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The three embodiments hovered over Gabe's sleeping form. "Really? This is who you chose?" Destiny said incredulously. Fortune was also looking at Doom with a raised eyebrow. Doom smirked, he may not be able to actively help the coming apocalypse anymore, but there were ways around that. Giving the rune to this boy would be an action that walked the line between helping Primeway keep balance and not wanting to stop the coming Storm. It was a little risky but he was willing to chance it, after all what did he have to lose? "You made a promise, I could choose the wielder of the Rune. Are you going back on that?" Destiny gritted her translucent golden teeth. "If I could I would. But I can't." She said while handing him the pouch with the precious drawing in it. Her face was as red as it could get. Doom took the rune gleefully. "I hope you choke on it!" She demanded. "Your picking this boy just so the rune can't reach it's full potential! This is low even for you." The rune while powerful, was still limited. And that limit depended largely on the potential of the wielder. They should be giving it to the most powerful Channeler they could find with enough rune talent to draw it. Instead they were giving it to this sad excuse for a Channeler laying on a mushroom bed in the shadow Forrest. Destiny had never seen such a weak Soul beast. A boat? In a bottle? The kid was still an embryo For heck's sake!! ten year old’s could toss him around like a play thing. Doom didn't answer and Fortune likewise stayed quiet her face cool but her eyes piercing. With gentle hands doom opened the pouch pulled out the glowing Rune and pushed it into the Boys head through the back of his skull. With a quick snap of his fingers the deed was done and there was nothing any of the three could do. Doom was just happy his soul wasn't corrupted. He grinned, he'd been successful.
In Gabe's dreams he suddenly woke up, not his body but his mind. He was aware that he was dreaming and watched the scene of dragons chasing him through a cave with little emotion. It wasn't every day he had a lucid dream, but he wasn't sure why he was having this one. He felt a pull, a small tug that was growing each second. Just to satisfy his urge he relaxed his body and let the tug pull him wherever it wanted him to go, suddenly the dream in front of him vanished and a new one appeared in its place. This one was of a golden sword and a rune pen. A rune pen was a thin tube made of channeling mettle that allowed power to flow freely through it. The tip was thin and the top was wide so that Fairy dust or Beast blood could be easily pored into it. The pen then began to draw a golden glowing rune on the sword with intricate designs and almost impossible curves. Gabe felt overwhelming joy overtake him as he realized what it was and his mind suddenly flooded with everything he needed to know about it.
Outside his body hovering above him and waiting the three embodiments stared in silence, destiny was seething. Doom had chosen this boy in hopes to ruin any chance the world had of surviving. He hated Primeway. From the Beasts to the people. She only wondered why his soul hadn't corrupted, clearly this had been an act against the Balance of the world, something that would instantly corrupt their being. Her anger turned to sorrow when she realized though that it was because it didn't matter. Even though he was trying to lessen the effect of the rune, it wouldn't have mattered even if he had given it to the most powerful mortal on Primeway. A single tear escaped her and she suddenly wanted to be done with the whole thing. Before she left she took a glass vile out of her robe pocket and placed it on the boys chest, she had worked hard to gather that for the man who wielded the rune, she couldn't just let it go to waste. "Gold fairy dust!!" Doom exclaimed with shock. Fairy dust came in three different levels. Regular, silver, and gold. There were a few even above gold but those were Heavenly Treasures that no’one could ever get their hands on. The level of Dust used to write a Rune deeply effected it's power, even a Heavenly Rune was subject to this rule. Truly Destiny had planed on creating a powerhouse in this world, Doom could only imagine what would be created if the Spirit giver had made this rune himself and then it had been drawn like Destiny's plans. "How in the world did you get that with no power?" Before he got an answer however Destiny was gone. flying away, covering millions of miles before he even saw her leave. Doom sighed it wasn't like anything they did could help this world. Without their power they were obsolete, perhaps that was why he wasn't corrupted. He turned away from the young boy and was gone in the blink of an eye. Fortune however stayed, curious as to what this boy would think when he woke up. She smiled. she wished someone had done something like this for her when she was mortal, but her story had been a sad one. At least this kid would have some fun before the end. And as long as she didn't have any power to help or anything else to do she might as well watch him.
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Gabe woke and sat up with a grin, he felt the vile fall off him and caught it before it hit the ground. He looked through the glass and cursed. "This is..." He didn't know why, he didn't know who. But someone from the heavens had just given his life a second chance. He couldn't explain it, he was nether a really good person or a really evil one. Why? His excitement was only slightly tampered by this fact however, as the knowledge of what he'd just been given overwhelmingly thrilled him. He wanted to scream thank you to the heavens, he wanted to dance with the nearest living creatures. But he also wanted to hurry. Heavenly runes could only be used once. They were one of the most coveted heavenly gifts on Primeway, only below the gift of a soul with room for more then one soul beast.
Gabe didn't even consider waking Colin who was sleeping some distance away, he wanted to surprise him. He also didn't trust anyone with what he now had. Not even a bound by death servant. The gold Fairy dust was enough to make Channelers flock to this Forrest, a Heavenly Rune would bring thousands upon thousands of even the strongest Cultivaters down upon them. Gabe allowed himself one moment of excited glee and shaking before setting to work. He had the deep inner feeling that this would change his life more profoundly then any man had ever been changed in all the world. Everything had a different feel to it as he reached into his low grade space pouch and pulled out his sword. The weapon was a short sword made from crude unpurified steal. From the knowledge imparted to him from who knows where, Gabe knew he had to put the rune on a weapon. Any weapon. And he had to be careful while drawing it or he could explode. The ugly thought didn't even faze him though, he was willing to risk it. After all the reward would be much greater then the loss.
The only problem Gabe had was wasting such a beauty of a rune and such expensive dust on a piece of junk like the sword he was holding. As he pulled the Rune pen out of his pouch he suddenly froze. This was the best weapon ether him or Colin had on them, and he'd be dammed if he was going to wright the rune on a stick, but... he wanted to not think it. To put the genie back in the bottle. But it was too late. The thought of wrighting this rune on his soul was there and it wasn't going away. He looked at the sword with his soul sense in the dark, it was such a disgrace. Maybe he could wait and buy a new one in the nearest city... he knew that wasn't an option. He was absolutely not willing to risk forgetting the rune on the way there. It was solidly in his head now, he could picture it perfectly but a week from now? A day? An hour? He wanted to hurry. "I've never even written a rune on myself before..." He thought trying to convince himself not to do it. Wrighting a rune on a physical object and wrighting one on your soul were two completely different things. The consequences could be even more detrimental then an explosion. His soul could be torn apart. Evaporated even. Or worse.... it could be corrupted. A corrupted soul was the worst fate imaginable. It started with excruciating pain, the feeling that your insides were becoming your outsides, then your mind started to go numb. All thoughts began to fade slowly and only the pain stayed. This took months, years sometimes. Then after your soul finally stopped feeling like a meat grinder was rending your intestinal track, you woke up a different person. An evil being, one you could only watch as it took over who you were. The worst and most violent Beasts and channelers were Corrupt. Some killing entire cities if they were powerful enough, others made it their life mission to kill children and babies. These were horrible beings that were hunted by every Chaneler on Primeway. And the worst part was that even though something else was controlling your actions you would be very much aware of what you were doing. You would lose all control over your own mind or choices.
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Gabe could only imagine, he held back a shiver and considered what he would be risking ether way. The idea was crazy to begin with. After all this rune was specifically designed for weapons, it would almost certainly kill him if he tried to put it on anything else. Wouldn't it? Fear was beginning to rise in his chest, why was he even thinking this he should just put it on the sword and accept the good thing he'd been offered. Who knew what it would do to the weapon. Maybe it would become a flying sword, and he could travel to his destination in time and save his life. Or a weapon that could shave a god in two with one strike. As he looked at the Gold Fairy dust in his hand and the sword in the other he put all doubts aside. He was going to risk it. After years of being tortured by Sisfar he learned the best way to combat the unnatural fear was Taking risks. When he'd started doing it, looking in the face of death and fear itself as he disregarded his own life he became less controlled by the Demon. When he realized this he immediately integrated it into everything he did. It became part of him. Sure he always figured his luck would run out sooner or later and maybe that was tonight, but Risking everything he had was what he did, a true gambler was what he had become. He dropped the sword and raised his fist in the air. "To Deaths gate, and through." He said softly trying to invoke the Hellvine family warcry and not wake Colin. If the man knew what he was about to do he would freak! But Gabe felt really good tonight, like the presence of fortune herself was in his mists.
Opening the small glass vile softly and with shaking hands Gabe poured the precious powder into the open side of his rune pen making sure not to waste a single fleck. It had just now occurred to him but if he wanted he could sell this stuff and have enough money to buy a portal scroll. He and Colin could make it to the Yellow belly mountains within the month. For a moment he froze… He soon scoffed at the idea. Who would waste this stuff on a petty scroll or wealth, he was about to use it on a Heavenly rune. Finally after getting everything set up Gabe closed his eyes and projected his soul outside his body. He was just an embryo Chaneler so the result wasn't much, just the outline of his soul around his physical being. This was an extremely dangerous move for any Chaneler as an attack to the soul was a serious threat. Some had extremely tough souls that had been built up to higher levels of power then even their Channeler ability, but most had soft souls that when exposed like this could be crippled by a single blow.
Gabe didn't worry however he was still under the SickleBack dragon's protection, anything in this Forrest would be killed for trying to hurt him. With a quick incantation he learned from his father he was able to steady his breathing and his hands. The move would last for a little over an hour with his weak ability but he was pretty sure that the rune wouldn't activate until he finished it. So he could take short breaks to do it again. He began. The sharp point of the Rune pen hurt as it touched his soul, penetrating less then a hairs with into the soft glowing outline of his abdomen. But he ignored the pain as he began the rune drawing. The fairy dust left a razor thin golden trail across his soul's stomach and he could feel it's raw power tingling amongst the searing pain of giving himself a soul tattoo. He drew curve after corner after twisted lines, then a swirl. It was all in his head. He drowned out the thoughts of how crazy this idea was with the work he had to do. He could see every detail of the rune he needed to draw and his mind went into a trance state like it always did when he was drawing. He didn't even need to stop and take a break, for hour after hour he drew the design. Following the rune perfectly knowing a single mistake could destroy everything but not caring. He counted his life lost already and just wanted to give this last rune his absolute best. His focus was paramount the moment he lost it he would be a dead man so he completely shut the world out and only saw the rune.
Nine hours later he stopped, all the rune needed was a single line. One line to connect the circle completely. His breathing stopped and his hand started shaking again he knew that the moment he drew that line that would be it. He'd ether be one of three things, dead, corrupted, or the luckiest Bastard to ever walk the face of the planet. He forced his hand to steady with sheer mental power, the last of it he had left after his long concentration. And he drew the perfect line, with the perfect curves to meat both ends of the right corner of the rune together. Immediately the whole thing started to glow. Gabe laid his pen down let his soul sink back into his body. He could feel the glowing intensify and the power flowing into his soul, as numb as his soul was after the pain, it still felt extraordinary. He wasn't sure how long he had before it blew up on him but at least he had made it. He looked up and his neck popped from the prone position he had held it in so long. And there was Colin staring at him with the fury of a man debating if punching Gabe in the face was worth dying for. The blonde headed dark skinned man suddenly released his hateful aura. And it was the most intense hate Gabe had ever felt before even from the servant. Colin didn't speak his eyes were saying what he felt clearly enough, that and the aura he had been holding back for the past six hours. Gabe stared up at him with a cold stare. He knew why Colin was so angry, and if the roles were reversed he would feel the same way. But he'd just spent nine hours drawing a painfully ornate tattoo on his sensitive soul, he didn't have the mental energy to answer the call of nature, much less deal with unsatisfied traveling companions. "Colin, I order you to sit down and calm down." He demanded with a strained voice his soul was really starting to light up, and not just the rune anymore. His whole spiritual being was burning like the Celestial sun. Colin didn't budge, he scrunched up his face using his anger to fight the pain. Disobedience caused his rune to hurt him, but it would take more then a few minutes before it became deadly. Gabe looked at the fighting man with annoyance obviously right now had not been a good time to use an order. His good friend was standing there in pain, his anger keeping him from doing as he was told. "Fine, you may stand up. In fact go ahead speak your mind. It will only be a few minutes before we blow up anyway." Collin's eyes widened as his strained look went away. "What! Blow up? You mean you just spent hours wrighting an explosion rune on your soul!!!" Colin's anger was overshadowed by his confusion, he couldn't comprehend in a million years why someone would do such a thing. Gabe was really burning now, in fact his eyes were starting to glow. Pale bright light was shooting from his face and lighting up the pitch blackness around them. Some of the plant life was turning away from it. Colin took a step back. "Why?" He said sorrowful, his hateful aura disappearing. The look in his eyes was that of a betrayed friend, and Gabe had never seen Colin like this. "Why would you do this thing?" The man asked waiting for the explosion that would kill them both. Gabe didn't sigh or roll his eyes, he took his friend's hurt very seriously. "I think I'm just a horrible friend Colin.” Gabe said resigned to this truth and hurt deeply by his own lack of kinship and loyalty. He decided that if he survived this somehow then he would would try to treat the people around him a little better from now on. “But I have a reason... someone gave me a... a Heavenly Rune last...." Gabe was gasping in deep breaths. The burning was starting to hurt. Hurt bad. Every part of his soul started to crackle with pain and energy like lightning was coursing through his viens. His senses started to feel different, strange somehow. Gabe lost all track of his thoughts and mind as he stared forward blankly. Colin tried to talk to him but he wasn't there. He was in another place. One where everything was white.
"Child of chance." A deep voice spoke through the inky whiteness. "Step forward." Gabe followed orders. And found himself in a white camber with a glowing light. The glowing light spoke with the deep voice. "I have waited hundreds of thousands of years for this moment." The being said. The white room was filled with shapes, all of which resembled bedroom furniture but was made of solid white material with no shadows to be seen in the whole space. "Who are you?" Gabe asked with an awed expression looking at the bright light that didn't hurt his eyes. "I am the Heavenly rune Known as Celestial FrightNot. In only a few moments I will cease to exist. But I called you here first because there are things you need to know." Gabe went to ask questions but felt a finger over his mouth even though there was not one there. "Don't speak, I have little time. And you need to know what has happened to your soul. Firstly you would be correct in taking our meeting as a sign of success. Yes I have been fully integrated into your soul." Gabe didn't speak but a surge of incredible joy shot through his chest. "But I was not able to fulfill my purpose. So the energy was forced to change other things about you. I was made to turn a weapon into a beast furnace that would absorb beast carcasses and turn them into perfect spirit energy. Souls however are not designed to do such a thing, and instead I created other changes. The wrighting of the rune has very little leeway in most cases, but young and weak souls are surprisingly flexible. And the dust you used had enough of its own energy to make things much easier then would be expected. Most of the changes were little things, soul strength, speed, energy absorption. Even focus and hand eye coordination which I figured would be extremely helpful to someone already so talented with runes as yourself. The rest was used to increase the capacity of your beast space to ten, allow removal of soul bonds. And even enhance..." "what!?!" Gabe had to interrupt at that. "I can hold more then one beast now? And what do you mean removal?" His mind was running too fast to understand what he was hearing. Everything really was changing for him. The light sounded annoyed as it answered. "Yes you can hold up to ten beasts now, though I assume that as you grow the space will also. And you have the capability to cut soul ties now, even those ordained by the Heavens. Along with an array of...." Before Gabe could learn any more about his new gift, and before he could even get over the shock of what he'd just heard, the light snuffed out of existence. The room instantly began to fade and he suddenly wished he'd kept his mouth shut.
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