As soon as the Lightbearer’s Lantern fully dematerialized, the lightweaver’s hate-filled eyes glazed over. Jack waved a hand in front of the man’s eyes a few times with no response. The lightweaver stayed that way for several seconds until his eyes slowly started to focus.

Jack gave Cordan a sidelong glance and said, “Looks like he’s coming to. I assume you have a method of communicating with him since it was your idea to keep him conscious.”

Cordan nodded then grabbed the sides of the lightweaver’s head and forced the man to look him in the eye. When their gazes met, Cordan’s pupils shone with pink light reminding Jack of the light that had surrounded Ciel’s hand before Ciel marked him with the Sigil of Tranquility. Suspicion bubbled up inside Jack as he watched Cordan; however, rather than making an issue of it at that moment, he filed the information away for later. A few seconds later, the light faded and a new presence entered Cordan’s mindlink. Letting go of the man, Cordan stepped back.

From the new presence, a wave of confusion and fear flooded the mindlink causing everyone to grimace at the sudden influx of visceral emotion. The bound man locked onto the staff Cordan held. The confusion disappeared; replaced by hatred. The lightweaver started struggling in the shadow binding, his anxiety growing as he failed again and again. Calmly, Cordan held out both hands, simultaneously emitting pulses of calm and benevolence through the mindlink. Jack realized what Cordan was trying to do. He sent his calm thoughts into the mindlink. Alindal and Raina picked up on the tactic following suit. Soon, the lightweaver’s struggles abated as his expression cleared of fear.

The man said something in his language. Although they couldn’t understand him, the sentiment of anger and hate was clear. Cordan responded, “We cannot understand you, but we are not enemies.” With each word, he delivered a feeling, image, or sensation providing a mental illustration of his meaning. The lightweaver looked at Cordan then at the Eternal Light’s Pillar, suspicious continued to spill over the mindlink.

Jack joined the game of mental pantomime. Following a hunch based on the man’s reaction to the Relic, Jack shared his memory of the statues that Kafkë had shown him. The carved visages of the Earth Mother, the Ore Father, and the Crystal Child flowed one by one through the mindlink. The lightweaver’s eyes switched from Cordan to Jack. A staccato of emotions and thoughts came from the lightweaver: confusion about his whereabouts and the unconscious lightweavers strewn about the room, desire to be free from his shadow shackles, and apprehension about being within a temple of the Eternal Light.

Jack released the Shadowtitan’s hold on the man to foster a bit of goodwill, but he basically collapsed on the spot. Jack had to help him to a nearby bench. In helping him, Jack realized how thin the man really was. It reminded him of the malnourished street dwellers that populated much of Asylum’s impoverished areas. For the next half hour, Cordan and Jack communicated with him through mental imagery and basic thoughts. Though taxing on Jack’s patience, the process yielded a few interesting nuggets of information.

The lightweaver’s name was Dorek and he had been a hunter. His village had been destroyed by inquisitors during a war between Dorek’s kingdom and the Church of the Eternal Light. When Dorek thought of his king, Jack noted the amount of pride in his cognition. The man was clearly a staunch patriot, but Jack felt he was missing a piece of the puzzle. It only took a small amount of probing for Jack to confirm that Dorek’s king and the Twilight King were one and the same though Dorek knew the world boss as King Arcen, not the Twilight King. What’s more, the Twilight King had come from Dorek’s village before he rose to the heights of royalty although Dorek had never met the monarch personally.

Additionally, of the five other lightweavers in the room, Dorek identified four as members of his, and by extension, the Twilight King’s, village. The man bore an enormous amount of shame because he had surrendered to the inquisitors instead of dying with his brethren. His last memories were his initiation ceremony into the Church of the Eternal Light which was when he received his lantern while everything afterward appeared to be nothing but numbness and light.

The conversation, though mostly silent, tired Dorek out. When his head started to bob up and down, they left him alone to rest while reconvening with Raina and Alindal who had gone to check on the lightweavers upstairs.

“That was an ordeal,” Jack said aloud, rubbing his chin pensively. “But I’m starting to get a better picture of what’s going on here.”

“The power struggle of church and state taken to its extreme,” Cordan replied, stroking the stubble darkening the lower half of his face.

“Are you two in sync or something?” Raina asked looking between them with a glint of amusement in her eyes. They exchanged a glance noticing what she meant. Jack lowered his hand with a slight scowl. Raina smirked. “I got the gist of the conversation but honestly, the telepathy thing is a lot weirder when you talk with feelings and images.”

“Really?” Alindal asked. “I thought it was quite interesting with the language barrier. It was more honest and visceral; like a painting come to life in our minds.”

Cordan’s lips twisted into the barest hints of a smile. “It does take some getting used to, I’ll admit, but enough of that. Was anything amiss topside?”

Raina nodded. “Yeah. The lightweavers are still unconscious, but I checked outside and saw something strange.” She glanced at Alindal who shrugged but showed no sign of following up on her statement so she continued, “There is something going on at the wall of light.”

“What did you see?” Cordan asked.

“Well, I think it’s the distraction Rovena mentioned. The wall looked like something was hitting it. There were these ripples going through it every couple of seconds and parts of it were going dark, but its mostly on the far side from where we are.”

“Must be more attacks from the Twilight King,” Cordan mused.

“Sounds like it,” Jack said in agreement remembering dark energy the Twilight King had shot at the light wall. “Greater Destruction had been the name of the ability. A shiver ran down his spine as he recalled the feeling in the air when it had been used.

“We should depart now, I say,” Alindal said. “I’m not sure how much attention is paid to this place, but I’d rather not chance being caught after all the trouble we went through.”

“Al’s right, we need to get moving. I saw a beat-up wagon on our way in here. It isn’t too far and it should fit all of the lightweavers if we cram them in.” Jack grabbed Alindal by the shoulder and gestured toward the exit. “Alindal and I will go get it. You guys gather the lightweavers up. We’ll load them up and make our way back to the wall.”

“Shouldn’t I go?” Raina asked stepping up. “I probably have higher Might than Al and I can help you pull the wagon.”

Jack waved her off. “True, but he has much better eyesight than you do and I can pull the wagon myself. With his sharp eyes and my keen ears, we should notice any threats before they catch us. Besides, Al wouldn’t be much help lifting dead weight.” Jack nodded toward one of the unconscious lightweavers for emphasis.

Raina scowled but shrugged. “I guess that makes sense.”

“How far is the wagon exactly?” Cordan asked.

“About three or four blocks away, not too far from where I stopped to dig through the ash.”

Cordan frowned. “Then you should be careful. The mindlink only extends to a little over three hundred meters from my position. If something happens, you both will be on your own unless you make it back here.”

“Ah, that’s a good point. We’ll have to hustle then.”

“See that you do,” Cordan said, his gaze stoic. He jabbed a thumb at the Shadowtitan. “By the way, can that thing lift people?”

“Not really,” Jack said. “Despite its size, it’s about as physically capable as Alindal. It’s mostly good for locking things down or being a distraction. Though now that I say that, we could use it to keep the passengers secure in the wagon since it’ll be a tight fit.”

Cordan grunted but said nothing more.

As they walked away from the others, Alindal said, “I’m not sure whether you were complimenting me or insulting me.”

“How bout neither. I was just stating facts,” Jack replied. He bumped his friend’s shoulder with his fist causing Alindal to stumble slightly to the side. “you couldn’t hurt a fly with your arm strength, though I doubt you would if you could.”

“Hey! Don’t bully Alindal, Jack!” Raina called over the mindlink. They glanced backward and saw her hefting an unconscious woman while Cordan lent a shoulder to Dorek.

Alindal burst into laughter as Jack battled with a sudden bout of annoyance and amusement.

“Mind your business!” he responded. To his surprise, the thought came across far more lighthearted than he intended. Cordan shook his head in exasperation and Jack promptly walked out of the chamber, feeling mildly uncomfortable with how the exchange reminded him of the past.

***

They were almost two blocks away from the temple when Jack received a notification.

[You have left the Defensive Mindlink.]

“So, what’s the real reason you wanted me to come along?” Alindal asked as they stepped out of range of Cordan’s mindlink. Jack looked away from the spectacle in the distance where the light wall bore the Twilight King’s assault.

“Was it obvious?” Jack asked, scowling somewhat.

Alindal chuckled. “You aren’t as hard to read as you think, my friend.”

Jack grunted. “I wanted to talk about my designation and some things I’ve found out but didn’t want the others overhearing.”

“I understand the caution,” Alindal said. He wiped a bit of sweat from his brow and squinted into the distance toward the floating castle under the shadow of his hand. “Admittedly, I’ve been eagerly awaiting this conversation. The curiosity was starting to eat at me.”

“Yeah, well, I’d have spoken up sooner but we haven’t had much privacy.”

“Yes, though honestly, I’ve enjoyed the company.”

Over the next ten minutes or so, Jack delivered a bullet-point rundown of everything that had happened concerning his World Core, his designation, and his interactions with Kafkë and the Twilight King. Alindal listened quietly as Jack led the way to the wagon. When he finally finished, they were heading back with Jack pulling the wagon behind him. Its decrepit wheels made a racket clattering over the broken streets though it was somewhat diminished by the thick layer of ash. Jack intentionally slowed his pace so they had time to talk and to cut down on the noise from the wagon further.

“That’s a lot to take in,” Alindal said. “But it does explain quite a lot.”

“Yeah,” Jack said as a cocktail of emotions old and new rolled around in his thoughts. “I’m happy to finally have some answers, but I’d be lying if I said, I was feeling completely positive about the reveal. What I know now really puts into perspective how fucked my situation is. The Celestials, the corps, and whoever else decide to make it their business to ruin our lives; they won’t stop. I’m like a gold mine waiting to be claimed as far as they’re concerned and I bet there’s still a ton that I still don’t know.”

Alindal gave him a meaningful look. “It’s not all bad. With your traits, you can level-up incredibly fast and you finally have a designation. Not to mention, the boosts from your core are significant even if it’s expensive to upgrade.”

“Sure, that’s all true, but we’re talking about the fucking Celestials, Al,” Jack sighed. After talking about everything that had happened, he couldn’t help but feel as though nothing had changed. “If it was just the corps, I could see your point, but it just feels hollow when those immortal assholes get thrown in the mix. Even if I reached S-rank, I’d still be at their mercy. Normal people can’t win against them. Plus, who knows if my designation will scale well in the later ranks. Sure, my current Skill is really flexible but it goes through Mana like no one’s business and I’m already at a deficit by one or two Skills compared to the average D-ranker.”

“Out of curiosity, why did you pick that particular designation? I’d have imagined you with a more martial-oriented designation or a destructive mage designation.”

“I don’t know,” Jack grumbled. “It just kind of felt right at the time, but I keep wondering if it was just plain impulse. Knowing my luck, I’ve probably royally screwed myself over.”

“You know, you don’t have to obfuscate when its just us, my friend,” Alindal said giving Jack a meaningful look.

“Not sure what you mean,” Jack lied. He didn’t want to unearth the feelings of loneliness and longing that had contributed to his designation choice. The naïve hope that somehow, he would find companionship if he required it for his own advancement. Really, the entire exchange left him in a worse mood, so he fell silent.

About halfway back to the temple, Alindal said, “I think, maybe you are looking at the situation the wrong way.”

Jack snorted. “Oh yeah? How do you figure?”

“Well, you mentioned winning and I agree that seems an impossible task, but why not try making yourself too troublesome to capture? What if you made it so that even the Celestials would be better served working with you than against you?”

Jack stopped shaking his head. “Like I said, Al, even if I became the strongest guy around, it wouldn’t matter. Think about it. S-rank World Bosses like the Twilight King are a thing but well-organized raids of top-tier raiding crews still take them down. With the incentive of my capture, there will always be someone stronger or groups willing to take a shot at me. Even if we both got to S-rank, it wouldn’t be enough.”

Alindal seemed undaunted by his words. “Then we find others willing to support us.”

“Al, wha—.”

“My friend, as you just said, you represent an incentive that’s hard to refuse,” Alindal said interrupting him and gesturing with his hands emphatically. “Rather than wait for those who seek to use you, offer yourself up to those who would stand with you. It is true, many are driven by greed but that fact is not necessarily to your disadvantage. Look at what you did to build the truce between our small group. If you can get strong enough, what is to stop you from doing the same thing on a larger scale? I'm not saying it will be a simple thing, but would it not be better than running and letting others decide our fate?”

Jack stared at Alindal for a long moment. His friend’s word had grown more intense the longer he spoke. Their eyes met and Jack saw something he recognized beneath the star elf’s normally clear eyes; the shadow of emotion hidden from view.

“Is everything alright, Al?” He asked tentatively.

It was Alindal’s turn to sigh. He looked up at the featureless blue sky above and said, “Have I ever told you about the settlements of my people?”

“No, you haven’t,” Jack said, a lump forming in his throat.

“Ah. Well, we live in fairly small settlements. My people are,” he paused, pursing his lips as though trying to find the right word. “Close-knit. Everyone in a settlement knows each other. A settlement is a family and blood relations are unimportant by comparison. My old home was one of the largest among my people. I barely ever had time to myself and people were always looking over my shoulder.” He smiled but his eyes were distant and clouded. “I used to curse the closeness of it all. I always seemed to stand out in a bad way which made things unpleasant, so I wished for solitude.” He turned to look Jack in the eye again. “It’s funny. Fracture has more people in it than I could’ve ever imagined back home. They're packed in so tight it's suffocating but even in such proximity, it's like there's a barrier between people.”

Silence fell over the two friends and with it, an emotional divide separated them. Alindal’s words played through Jack’s mind over and over. He couldn't remember if he had a family but the sentiment resonated with his own unspoken thoughts and desires. Sadly, unspoken thoughts weren't much good for conversation.

When given the choice between vulnerability and friendship, Jack bridged the gap. “I’m sorry, Al. I know how you feel, but I always get caught up in my own thoughts. I’m sorry that you’ve borne that weight alone.”

Alindal smiled. “It's easy to feel much and say little. We all bear many burdens. It is not your purpose to bear the weight of mine.”

Jack frowned. He gently put down the bars of the wagon and hugged Alindal. Admittedly, it was awkward. Jack was too tense while Alindal’s confusion at the sudden affection left him a bit befuddled. It wasn’t their first embrace but, in some ways, it felt like it. However, by the end, they both smiled like madmen sharing in a conspiracy.

Releasing Alindal, Jack said, “It might not be my purpose but don’t hesitate if things get too heavy. We both know you can’t carry much without help.”

Alindal laughed clapping him on the shoulder. “Forgive me for not being a brute like you. But I have strength in my own way and it is at your disposal should you need it.”

“Well,” Jack said throwing his arm around Alindal's shoulders. “There is something you could help me with.”

“Oh,” Alindal said, smirking.

“Yeah, there is this thing in my World Core Status called a Link. I wasn’t sure what it was for, but Raina’s hidden objective rewards gave me some idea. I wanted to try using the Link on you to see what it does though fair warning I honestly have no idea what will happen.”

Alindal shrugged. “Our fates are already intertwined, my friend. Go ahead.”

With a nod, Jack grasped Alindal’s hand and closed his eyes. He wasn’t sure if the touching was necessary but he did it anyway. First, he listened for any danger in the surrounding area with the full capability of his head. There was nothing. He opened his World Core Status.

[World Core Status]

Blue Heart

Maturation Level

1

Logos

0/10000

Links

0/1

[Abilities]

View Skills?

View Traits?

Initiate Relic Creation?

Focusing on the Links section, a notification appeared for his trouble.

[You have 1 available Link.]

Scanning for available Link targets…

Available Targets Found: 1

Alindal

Race: Star Elf (Augmented Humanoid)

Designation: Sorcerer

Advancement: D-3

Link with Alindal? Y/N

[Warning: Links cannot be severed once initialized.]

He confirmed the Link and Alindal blinked in surprise. “Ah, it’s asking me if I accept the Link.”

“It’s permanent so that makes sense,” Jack said. “It’s up to you to accept.”

“Easy choice,” Alindal said. A second later, several notifications popped into Jack’s mind.

[Link Protocol Initiated.]

Compiling creature statistics and abilities…

Applying attribute bonuses to Linked creature…

Generating Linked Trait…

[Link Protocol Complete.]

[Linked Trait Gained!]

Blessing of the Seamstress

Advantages

-The World Core gains 20% bonus Eidos from Relics containing aspects of creation, fire, or light.

-The World Core increases the Dexterity and Focus attributes of its Linked and Bonded creatures by 10%.

-The World Core reduces the cost of Relic Creation by 20% when creating Relics with aspects of creation, fire, or light.

-The World Core gains the Starforged Passive Skill.

[New Skill Gained!]

Starforged (World Core Skill, Passive)

The user takes reduced damage from harmful effects with aspects of creation, fire, or light.

Damage Reduction: 20%

Range: Personal

Cost: N/A

[The Blue Heart has successfully initiated a Link with Alindal!]

-The Blue Heart may exchange Eidos freely with Alindal.

-Alindal may use any Relics created by the Blue Heart regardless of his Resonance attribute.

-10% of any Eidos absorbed by Alindal is converted to Logos for the Blue Heart.

-The Blue Heart may view Alindal’s Status

As he processed the new information before him, Jack’s entire body tingled causing him to tremble. Surprisingly, Alindal didn’t notice so preoccupied was he with his own notifications.

“By the goddess, all of my attributes increased!” he exclaimed. He glanced at Jack and went wide-eyed. “My friend, your neck—”

He trailed off staring.

“What?” He asked reaching up to touch his neck, as he did, he noticed a faint glow beneath his sleeves. He hastily rolled back the sleeves of his coat and shirt on his left arm revealing his blue metallic flesh which was covered in glittering silver symbols. Alindal grabbed his arm with shaking hands, his face twisted in disbelief.

“What is it, Alindal? If you know what is going on tell me.” Jack said becoming agitated because of the goosebumps running across his body.

He met Jack’s eye. “This, this is the language of my people.”

A few seconds later, the tingling subsided and the two stared at Jack’s now bare arm in silence. Jack said, “Looks like we’ve got more to talk about.”

Alindal nodded, a strange look in his eyes. “Yes, I think we do.”

Jack knelt down picking up the wagon bars and started walking. “Well, let’s walk and talk. I don’t want the others to come looking for us.” He looked at the wall and noticed the timing between attacks was growing longer. “Let’s hurry.”