Chapter 8

Serpentine Chaos

“Come now Charles, that’s hardly civil. It’s clear that he got here ahead of us and was deemed worthy before us. As per the laws of the world, we can no longer interfere. We’ll find you another one.” Aarok said, an exasperated sigh escaping his lips. They had sunk a lot of resources into finding this Heritage, and to have it snapped up from under their noses like that stung quite a bit. But such was the flows of Chaos, he would just have to have faith that the boy before them was selected for a reason and continue on their search for a suitable Heritage for Charles.

“Well I suppose we might as well introduce ourselves to the new Inheritor, my name is Aarok Susurro, heir to house Susurro and my beautiful friend here is Celeste Incantator, heiress to house Incantator. The body guard’s Ragnor and our friend over there is Charles.” He greeted both Nohochacyum and Ray. Turning his attention to Nohochacyum specifically he asked “I thought we arrived first?”

Nohochacyum weakly rolled his eyes as a faint rumbling rippled through the area. “Yes you were first, but the chosen passed by but a second later, and since you had not completed the challenge I set out before he entered, he still got a chance, which he succeeded by getting here before you. His was easier of course since he did not have a group of people guarding him.”

A look of irritation flashed across Aarok’s face, but it was quickly replaced by his poker face. “I see, well there’s nothing I can do about it now. But I’d at the very least like some kind of consolation prize. It’d be a shame if a fuss about this was kicked up.”

Nohochacyum and Aarok stared off. The meaning here was clear. As a vampyr, Aarok had the clout to make life difficult after he got out. It was blackmail, plain and simple, but they did come in beforehand Ray. You see the way Heritages work is that an imprint of the soul of the god is left behind to administer trials for the first time the Heritage was discovered. This imprint would passively scan the surroundings within a set range for potential candidates. However, should someone find their way inside through either own skill or sheer luck, they also earned the right to participate. The trials themselves were considered famously easy, as the whole point of these Heritages were to be available to mankind for their own research and defense. So a relative balance was installed, the trials would still test the candidate in some way while giving them a decent chance of inheriting. After the Heritage was won, it would move from person to person, either by choosing it themselves or by passing manually passing it down to the next in line. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on who you ask, the passage of the Heritage could not be something as simple as keeping it in the family. It instead went to whoever matches the personal domain of the god in question. Most gods, with a few exceptions, also added a clause in the magic that limited the inheritance to people native of a certain land as well as the base requirements. Should the Heritage not be passed on successfully before the holder died, then there would be a 50/50 chance of it choosing on its own via the soul imprint, or it would return to where the original trial was located. This brought out the problem that since the nature of Heritages themselves was anchored to fabric of Chaos itself on Earth, the rules were enforced by the world itself.

Simply put, there was a glitch in the system, and that was that the god had found a suitable candidate in Ray but Charles and his party had entered first. The world would recognize Ray as the inheritor, but Ray would be handicapped in some way. He’d be lucky if his ability to draw in Genesis from the flow of Chaos would be all that was impeded. Aarok knew this, and such he was offering to be given compensation for coming all this way for nothing, and the World Glamour would recognize that Ray had truly inherited his power and had also resolved his conflicts with those he technically cheated.

“I have nothing to offer any more. All of the important items have already been given to Ray here.” Nohochacyum said flatly, “It is up to him if he wishes to give this compensation you speak of.”

“Oh really? Man, I feel bad now. I imagine Charles was the one who was planning on claiming this Heritage I just got?” Ray asked. He truly felt bad. After all, he had come in here by a stroke of luck, but it sounded like the group before him had worked to be where they are now.

“Yes, he was to be the benefiter of our trip. He had been looking forward to it as we have been planning for a long time.” Aarok said, confirming Ray’s suspicions.

“Oh well, how about one of these weapons I got? Um, actually, would you mind if kept the staff and you pick from the sword and shield?” Ray asked, holding the staff between his armpits as he slung the shield from his back and held it out towards Aarok along with the sword.

“You would so easily give me a Divine tier item just like that? Because you felt bad?” Aarok ask, his shock blasting through his previous stony indifference. This guy must be absolutely insane to offer a divine item, especially one that came from his Heritage. Those were usually especially suited to the god’s class it came from.

“Is that what it is? I know it probably is really powerful, but truth be told I only have two hands, and when Nohochacyum over here said that magic was real, I figured I’d go the wizard route you know? Whatever is left would just be secondary.” Ray stated. The excitement that magic was actually real and that he had the potential to become a wizard had his mind rushing forward with possibilities since the moment he saw the silhouette appear from Nohochacyum. Magic was real and by the Progenitor he’ll learn to bend Genesis to his will. As such, the moment he had accepted that magic was real, in his mind, the sword and shield were degraded by several notches.

“Truly? Ha, you are most interesting. What is your name friend, anyone who would willingly hand over a divine treasure like that because he has a sense of justice is alright with House Susurro.” Aarok laughed. Maybe this trip hadn’t been entirely worthless.

“Oh sorry, that was rude of me. My name is Raymundo Gonzalez. My friends call me Ray. A pleasure” Ray said, as gentlemanly as he could. He’d kept his attention off of Celeste this entire time through sheer effort of will, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t try to impress in subtler ways.

“I shall remember it. Well, I shall not hold back Ray. Charles here has the disposition of a warrior, so I’ll leave it to him to choose.” Aarok gestured to Charles, who had made his way over to the group by now. His eyes still burned with anger, but had been somewhat doused when Ray had offered to share one of his treasures.

“I still despise you for having taken this Heritage, but if Aarok won’t hold it against you then there’s nothing I can do.” Charles examined the treasures that were presented to him. He took up the shield, moved it around, and took poses with them, checking to see if it was comfortable for him. He then handed it over back to Ray and picked up the sword. He began to perform stances, swinging it around a bit and then finally ran his thumb over the obsidian. Obviously, it blooded him, but he did not seem to mind.

“What do these treasures do?” Charles asked.

“Well if Ray’s really going to hand these over, then I might as well tell you their functions. The Shield is capable of forming a panel of mana, regardless of the attribute, in any shape as a shield. The Shield also has the ability to disperse the mana and qi of attacks. Enchanted for durability, it can withstand the blows of anything weaker than it. You called these a Divine tier item?” Nohochacyum explained, direction his question to Aarok.

“Yes, we’ve made many advancements in our systems of power. One of them includes a rating system of items, beasts and humans. A divine tier item is the highest and is typically given to equipment used by the gods.” Aarok explained back.

“Interesting. Most interesting. I am glad to hear that humans have not given up in their pursuit of knowledge and developing the Progenitor’s gift. To get back on track, the shield should be able to withstand the blows of anything below this ‘Divine tier’ of yours without a scratch if the power is consistent with what I remember. It can heal itself if provided enough Genesis and finally, it can extend a ring of obsidian blades, for a quick melee weapon in combat. As for the sword, it can use Genesis energies to extend itself for as long you wish, should you prove sufficient in its manipulation. Or, an energy field can be generated along the edge, giving a massive boost to cutting power. Using attribute infused Genesis provides different effects appropriate to the energy used. Durability and repair of course, and it has a berserker effect. It draws in Genesis passively in battle, providing a steadily increasing increase in strength as the battle progresses. The con of these abilities are that the effectiveness is limited by the skill of the wielder. When these were made, there was not enough power left to enchant assistance into the items. So you best practice well.” Nohochacyum finished. Turning to Ray, he continued “As for your staff, durability, repair, it empowers spells cast through it, and can even be tinge them with positive or negative attributes, potentially changing their effects. The gem on the tip can act as a spell catcher, and can store up to 5 spells for quick cast. The most important function, however, is the ability to record spells cast within a radius. Stored as an illusion, you can play it for yourself in your mind or in real life. You can store 10 recordings like this and can delete at will.”

Ray marveled at the staff in his hands. Such a powerful thing, if he learned how to wield it fast enough, he’d be over powered. Nohochacyum’s pale face broke into a smile. The boy would realize how difficult to use these abilities are. To use it in more modern words, it was the equivalent of someone getting excited about flying a fighter jet without knowing a thing about flying in general. Sure, they could get into the cockpit, and might actually be able to figure out how to take off, but they would not be able to push the fighter jet to its limit as they were then.

Charles regarded both items, the shield in Ray’s hands and the sword in his own. Oh well, he was never much of a defensive fighter. “I choose the sword. I’m doing you a favor, since a mage using a sword and staff would just be unwieldy.” With a final glare he returned to stand next to Celeste, still somewhat sulking that he had not gotten the inheritance yet also excited about having gotten a hold of such a powerful Divine sword.

“The transaction is done, Ray you are now the inheritor without question. Now, as promised, I will be guiding you in fighting and destroying the shard of Chaos.” Nohochacyum said.

That was when the bubble holding the shard of Chaos cracked.

Nohochacyum coughed up a mouthful of blood. “No…… it is too early, we should have had more time.” Yet the truth was there for everyone in the room to see. The crack that split down the middle of the sphere was growing, forming spider webs all over. The shard inside began to secrete a dark liquid, filling up the sphere before folding in on itself over and over until it began to look like a noodle. Said noodle sprouted a mouth on the end closest to the shard and swallowed it whole.

“Get out of here children. I’ll open the portal out so your guardians can come in and get you, but for now please run. Ray, I’ll go with you to courtyard outside. There we will face our foe until your family can get here.”

The group rushed outside, Nohochacyum included since his control over the sphere had long since dissipated. The only thing holding it together were the energies that had been present already. As they left the room, the snake in the sphere began to grow in size, slamming itself into the sphere. The sphere tried to grow bigger and maintain its structural integrity at the same time, but it was a losing battle.

Chaos was here.

*****

The group had barely made it to the bottom of the steps before the temple exploded behind them. The blast took them all off their feet, even Ragnor. Everyone reflexively rolled over to look behind them. They were just in time to witness a deluge of black mist blast outwards with all the force of fire hydrant. It streaked in all directions up above them, the force of the blast keeping the mist away from them at the moment.

“Go now, this is not your fight. I and Ray shall handle this.” Nohochacyum bellowed. Despite the massive wound in his gut, he drew forth a roar that would make a Nimean lion proud. Celeste, Charles and Ragnor all looked to Aarok for guidance as he was the one who had set up and guided the group so far.

Aarok took a glance at the sword Charles was holding in both hands, and then looked at Rays back as he strode forward, wondering how the heck Nohochacyum would use him to fight the thing forming above them. Aarok held a calculating look on his face as he watched Ray strap the shield to his left arm and hold the staff in his right. Once it been fully given over to Ray as their master, both shield and staff adjusted themselves to match Ray’s height. The staff was now as tall as him and the shield had grown to the size of kite shield.

Aarok knew he could run, but to do so when someone he had declared friend would be a shame on the Susurro name. Resolving himself, he made the decision to stay and fight. It was not every day that one could fight a true Chaos beast.

“I’ll stay and fight alongside Ray, you two can take Charles and escort him away from here. With the portal open, Lucius should have felt the chaos and will be coming here any second now.” Aarok hastily said, his hand slipping into his robes to take out the gems for his Lamia and recently acquired Howler Moon-key. This was the perfect opportunity to test its capabilities.

“We will stay with you, Charles can take care of himself so he just needs to not get in the way” Celeste said with no room for argument in her voice. Charles nodded in the affirmative, but Aarok could still see the anger he held for Ray in them. He probably wanted to leave him to face the enemy alone, but would stay if Celeste did. Not that he had any real choice in the matter. On the other hand, Ragnor was hired muscle and fighting a Chaos beast had not been part of his contract. In actuality, the contract had expired the moment the Heritage had been claimed by Ray. If anyone here had the right to back off it would be him.

“I will be staying too. There aren’t many chances to fight such a creature. Just consider it as owing me a favor.” Ragnor grinned. Today was turning out to be a good day. Getting a favor from a vampyr and fighting a mighty foe.

Aarok rolled his eyes. “Fine, I, Aarok of House Susurro, owe you a favor.”

Celeste did not say anything, but she took of her robe, revealing her combat suit underneath. Made of a dark leather with tiny scales made of platinum covering her body and legs and her fore arms without compromising mobility. Her the rest of her arms were bare, revealing the runes that were tattooed there, the runes reminding him of the Henna style. The same went for her upper back, the tattoos there forming wings. The Incantator’s magic involved surging forth one’s mana and then forcing it to conform to special shapes that would settle into the object – or person – in question. Celeste used her family’s magic to vastly increase her physical prowess, up to the point that Aarok once saw her run straight up a wall, the balls of her feet leaving small holes where she dug in to launch herself upwards along the way.

In contrast, the Susurro’s magic revolved around embedding magical constructs into the minds of their beasts. This gave a myriad of benefits apart from granting control to the practitioner. A sufficiently skilled Susurro could borrow strength from their beasts as well as mimic certain abilities. The strength he could borrow however, was nothing compared to what Celeste could bring forth, so he would have to resolve himself to using spells.

Celeste completed her preparations, her mana visibly cloaking her, forming vortices around her legs and taking the shape of armor on her upper body and arms. What made Celeste a genius of her family was the fact that she displayed remarkable ability at using both qi and mana. Her Incantator skills utilized mana, but she had supplemented it with a warrior’s training and had built part of her Class to allow her to have a qi pool. He could clearly see her legs and arms slightly bulging, silvery veins running all alongside them.

“I am with you, Aarok.” She finally said, hopping lightly on her feet, getting into her tempo.

“I’ll keep Charles alive while you and Ragnor help Ray defeat the beast. Lucius should have sensed that wave of Chaos when Nohochacyum opened the portal and should already be on his way here.”

Ray heard the entire conversation and was relieved that he would have help in this. He had never gotten into a fight once in his life, and he was beginning to have second doubts about this as he wasn’t sure how Nohochacyum would control him to fight whatever was coming at them. They all looked capable and experienced in fights.

Suddenly, the upper half of the temple imploded into itself. Rising from the rubble was the shard, glowing so bright it looked like a miniature sun. An immense wave of energy surged outward again, but this time the debris from all over the city was pulled towards the shard. Ray looked on in growing horror as the stones, clay, thatch and broken weapons began to build up around the shard, slowly forming a serpentine shape. The transformation was not complete, but Ray would bet his remaining two treasures that he would be facing a giant rock snake monster thing.

“It has begun.” Nohochacyum said from beside him. He had aged once again, his skin almost as pale as the people behind him, what remained of his hair plastered against his skull. Where he had been imposing and regal when Ray had first met him, he now had a slouch to his form, his bearing giving the impression of a bone deep wariness. “I will now complete your part of the deal. You will feel a disassociating feeling, but still feel, hear and see everything that’s going on. I advise you to pay attention carefully as you may benefit from my actions here today.”

Nohochacyum did not give Ray time to reply, his form rapidly turning into mist, not unlike the silhouette that Ray had walked into to claim the Heritage earlier. The mist enveloped Ray, sinking through his skin like water being soaked into a sponge.

Suddenly, Ray felt his vision shift and he lost control of his body. He felt himself begin to fall before something tugged on his limbs. He had only ever lucid dreamed a few times that he could remember and that was the feeling he was currently experiencing. Like he was a passenger in his car while someone else was driving.

‘I will now begin, I apologize in advance for the pain’ he heard Nohochacyum whisper all around him. Ray mentally panicked, ‘what pain?!’ he shouted into the abyss before mentally slapping himself. It was a fight, of course there was going to be pain. He hardened his resolve, he had already taken what was offered. All he could do now was pay attention like Nohochacyum recommended and hope he got through this alive. He felt two people come to stand on either side of him. Nohochacyum turned Ray’s head to either side and bowed his head to Celeste and Ragnor, but they paid him no heed, their attention firmly fixed on the scene above them.

Celeste settled herself into a fighter’s stance, taking a squatting position, her right leg behind her while her leg led the front. Her right hand held firmly, fist clenched with the knuckles facing downward, against her right thigh and her left fist raised and stretched out slightly in front of her in a guard position. On Nohochacyum’s right stood Ragnor, his glaive pointing downward, electricity crackling along the blade. His overall posture was a standing one, but Nohochacyum could clearly see all of his muscles coiled to strike forward in explosive movement.

Nohochacyum himself slung the shield unto Ray’s left arm in a guarded position, his right arm holding the staff aloft, pointing towards the shard. He began to channel mana from his body through his right arm, up along the staff, passing it through both dragons before condensing it in the gem held there. Slowly he began to filter it out of the gem, forming a needle of concentrated power and holding it there. He would only be able to strike like this once before the battle erupted. He had to make it count.

The beast above had already grown to a massive size, easily half of Hapikern’s true length. An invisible force had crushed a majority of the material used to make the body, leaving most of it smooth with large spikes sticking out along the monster’s back. Ray had been on the money, its form already having taken on the form of a snake. Someone looking at this scene from outside would wonder why all parties involved hadn’t simply smashed the shard instead of letting it build strength. The simple answer to that was that you wouldn’t try to smash a grenade whose pin had already been pulled to stop it. Instead you’d let it explode to sort itself out. The same concept applied to shards of Chaos. Once activated, the best thing to do would to let it play itself out, as interference would end up doing more harm than good. Chaos was possibilities, and interfering with the playing out of these possibilities would end up affecting everyone who tried. Thus, Nohochacyum, Celeste, Ragnor and Aarok had no choice but to wait for the shard to play out its purpose. The only advantage was that the opening move was theirs.

Time seemed to move at a slower pace. Although it had only been a few minutes since Nohochacyum began to prepare his magic, the snake above was still forming. Thankfully, the wait seemed to be over.

Coiled around the massive temple, the stone snake raised its massive head, the sides of it expanding outwards to form a hood like a king cobra. It had the color of stone, but this quickly changed as black mist began to pour out of the tips of the spikes on its back. The mist clung to the body of the snake, adhering to it like tar. Rearing its head back, its eyes opened, a blood red light harshly glowing within. It opened its mouth to bare its fangs at them, the spears and swords that had been used in its construction taking the place of teeth. The mouth too was a blood red, and a deep hiss rumbled out of its throat, sounding more akin to a roar.

“It is done! Strike!” Nohochacyum roared back in defiance, his prepared magic tearing through the air between them, an even loader screech challenging them both. Space itself seemed to be torn asunder as a grey spear smashed into the snake’s head, an explosion following right after.

At the same time Celeste dug her right foot into the ground, the power so great that the surrounding ground cracked with spider webs. That simple motion send her forward like a rocket, and she repeated the motion, alternating between left and right feet. Her speed was not the equal of the spectral spear Nohochacyum used, but it hardly mattered, for she more than made up for it with the earth shaking punch she delivered to the part of the snake’s body closest to the ground.

Ragnor too followed suit, but instead chose to cleave his glaive in an upward arc, sending a crescent shaped wave of electric destruction towards the snake’s midriff.

The exchange took less than a second, but already the temple the snake clung too was falling apart, dust clinging to the air obscuring their vision.

The entire time, Ray felt nothing but elation. The feeling of channeling all that mana and launching that spear had been the most profound experience he had experienced in his life so far.

This was magic. This was power!!