Laurence could not breathe. He did not know why but there was some sort of resonance when he saw Cleo come off the ship. She seemed radiant to him, like a true elemental being, a perfect elemental being. He could feel the dark voice that invaded his thoughts bubbling quietly, like this single moment was the same as killing ten or twenty men. It was odd, but made him wonder if there was anything else that could set him off. He wondered if there were any other things that could pull the voice out of the depths that he had locked it up in.
He walked into the courtyard pondering the question but was disturbed from his musings when a man in white ran up to him with a light in his eyes. This same man was the one that Laurence had met on the boat and was a person that Laurence had actually known about for weeks before they first met. Manas Magellus, one of the eight living Primers of Biqiril since the stone flood had killed most of them.
The Primers were the kingdom's best and brightest, men and women who had given their minds to fundamentally improve the body of knowledge that the kingdom used as a basis for everything. It was a great honour to be given the title, albeit less so when it was also given to the third and fourth children of rich and noble families. The title was given out once a year, and there was great ceremony behind it, as well as subsidies to help the great minds continue their studies in the fields that Biqiril found most pertinent. Laurence discovered early on that Manas was the first double Primer, for his work in General Array Theory and the Arraynet. He was considered a hero for managing to walk out of the hellscape alive with twenty other people. He was a man that Laurence admired, though many would not have been as much of a fan if they had known how much of a part in creating the hellscape he actually was. His mistake, and the arrogance and will to succeed at the cost of everything held by Qema lead to the downfall of tens of thousands of people. The fact that he saved twenty from the widespread destruction was no mean feat, but if he had not done the work then there would have been no danger in the first place.
“Law, I’ve been wondering about something. You said that the best way to go through with dealing with the golems is destroying the matrix that makes them. But I have a better idea. The golems as a whole are not intelligent. They can only learn because they constantly transfer ideas between the child and parent. I believe if we can find the parent array then we could actually just cut all the children off from the source, rendering them guideless. Then one of two things would happen. Either they would all cease to work, as the virtual intelligence that has been built up between them would fracture apart and they would cease to work in any feasible sense, they would just become stone dolls again, big banks of data. Or, and this is a big or, they would likely become single units that retain some sense of purpose. They likely would not be able to function as well as they would in a group. They... They would... Would likely just burn themselves out as they would have no concept of... running out of mana anymore”. Manas seemed excited by his idea until he reached the end of his barrage. The words tumbled out of his mouth, only rolling to a stop as his face broke into a frown. He could already see other potentials as they popped into thought.
“Stop, stop, stop. Manas I understand that you want to look into arrays more, just take it slow. This is a process. Don’t walk before you can run and all that. Your knowledge of arrays is honestly miles beyond mine. I was just taught a different way to use them to you is all. The information I gave you back on the ship will help, but it’s all things that will build upon your own knowledge, not entirely new array symbols. You’re still limited to the eighteen core symbols to express everything. It’s just that there are certain combinations that work in ways that people don’t realise when they are used as prime marks or that have different effects when different batteries are applied”. Laurence smiled. “Surely that’s not all you came over for”.
“No, no... Not at all, no. I came over for... I came over to ask you about what your plans are from here on out. You escaped the hellscape that West Biqiril became, so now what?”
“Well, I think Yun is going to take another step in ascension soon, so we may stay in the kingdom until he achieves that. It should not take too long, I hope. None of us have actually done this before, so we aren’t really sure. It’s new steps for all of us”.
“So you’ll be staying? For a while?” Malas looked at Laurence hopefully. There was something else in his eyes, a yearning of sorts that echoed of Laurence’s own thirst for the unknown, for truth. He knew that while Manas enjoyed his company, he would much rather have spent the time with his wife and a book explaining something no one else understood. Laurence knew that that was where they differed. He could not help but feel a wanderlust, a pull to look beyond what other people thought, what other people treated as truth. While Manas wanted to dissect every problem he came across, Laurence wanted to build upon them. They were not mutually exclusive, and in some ways Laurence thought neither was better or worse at getting to a problem, but they lead to two very different outlooks on life. He could not help but feel that Manas’s outlook was much more passive than his, that he was willing to stay in a place and just be himself as long as he had access to enough intrigues to keep him busy. It was interesting for Laurence to see someone who differed from him in a way that he could relate to, in a way that was something other than feeling things Laurence simply had no comprehension of, like the sadness that Cleo often felt when she thought of her clan, or the disappointment that Jim felt when he heard the Caesar clan mentioned. It seemed to Laurence that he and Winoa were the only people from a major clan who did not have some vendetta with the clan they were from.
“Yes. We’ll be travelling with you to your base and then I will be helping Yun set up whatever Manifestation he intends to make to become a Heaven ranked Challenger. You should stay and watch. I’m sure you will find it quite enlightening”. Laurence smirked. He had not given Manas the Book yet, but he knew that he would soon. To get the best out of the book, Manas would have to be in the right situation, and Laurence could tell that his friend was still rattled by their proximity to the golems, even if he did not show it. It was not something that he felt himself, but rather something he felt from the Book itself. In some ways he felt like he had no real choice in the matter of who he gave the Books to, the Book of Creation decided it the moment he got near to anyone. There was a rushing sound, and an overwhelming sense of rightness that he had come to recognise as the signifier. He felt it the entire time he was with Jake and Trevor, back in Cie’Awll, but he did not know what it meant until they were leaving, then again, stronger, with Sleepy on Rosie’s Demise. He thought he would have encountered more people in Spirit to give the book to, but it seemed that the Book of Creation had other ideas. He had not even intended to give a copy of the book to Jace until the rushing sensation showed up two months into his training. It was like the Book had thought about Jace for a long time before deciding that Laurence had moulded him into an acceptable shape to receive the Book of Creation. With Manas and his wife, however, he had felt the rushing immediately. The sound had not gone away and was in fact building up even more. It was like the Book was expecting Laurence to stumble across something huge soon, like someone who was especially deserving of the book, or someone who would without a doubt master it in a short time.
In the end, all Laurence could really do was wait for the Book to show him the answer to his sense that something big was about to happen. There was no other way about it, so he grabbed Manas by the shoulder and walked into the fort with him, bringing up one of the finer points of arraywork to distract him from Laurence’s pregnant pause of thought.
They stepped inside and Manas began to show Laurence around. He made a joke about soldiers not being good interior designers, as all the forts in Biqiril were built to a set standard for ease of construction, so once you had seen one border fort you had seen them all. They walked from low to high, but ended up in the ground floor operations room, a big room with a three dimensional model of the border region set upon the table. It reminded Laurence of the board back in Spirit, and he could see Jim and Cleo felt the same way, looking at the table in wonder and recognition. Manas seemed to notice their recognition as well and spoke up.
“This is a region board that was made for us before the disappearance of the Hephaistia clan. It is something I have been trying to emulate for the last eight months, rather unsuccessfully. Have you seen one before?”
“Yes,” replied Jim. “There used to be a table very much like that in the place that we lived in”. He walked over to the table, placing a hand on it, stroking the wood. “It looks just like the one from home”. He laughed. There was a catch in his voice as he had spoken, and everyone had noticed it. Both Louisa and Cleo walked over to him, making sure he was okay, but a moment later he smiled. “Don't worry, I miss home is all”.
“I know the feeling,” Winoa whispered. It was quiet, but Laurence was just close enough to hear her speak. It seemed like he was not the only person who was battling with feelings within him that he did not understand. Admittedly their impulses seemed to be a lot less bloodthirsty than his own.
“That is because I believe the two tables were made by the same person. They have the same design characteristics in their production that would lead me to believe that they are part of a set. They would not be too difficult to replicate though. Most middle difficulty Infernal Devices are fine as long as you have the right resources”.
“Infernal Devices?” Replied Manas, looking at Laurence with slightly shocked and confused eyes. “Do you... Do you know much about Creation? I got a chance to speak with a member of the Hephaistia clan when I was younger and he had called his creations that. I've never forgotten”. That hunger for knowledge was back now that he suspected Laurence was holding out in him. Laurence could feel it. There was only one thing he could do in the situation. He simply smiled enigmatically.
“All in good time”. It seemed cheap, but it was a technique that he had picked up while dealing with impatient students back in Spirit. The Empty Throne school was full of people rushing to learn martial skills and become undefeatable within their little bubble, but these things took time. Laurence knew that there must have been a reason why he did not have another copy of the Book to give out, so he could only pull the enigmatic non-affirmation out of his toolbox to use. It was something that had been used on him several times, so he knew how annoying it could be, but he had to wait. There was a right time for everything, and now was not that.
They began pouring over the table and looking at the three dimensional map of the hellzone. They could see that the entire zone was grey, while the sea and surrounding area was full of vibrant blues and greens, browns and yellows. The distinction between the two areas was stark, and could only be caused by one thing - the lack of mana. Thin black lines shot into the sky of the miniature, representing the threat to the land, the golems, while thin white lines showed living creatures. The higher the light the more advanced the creature was spiritually. There were a few small spikes in the grey land, but in comparison to the coloured world it was a stark, barren place.
A nexus of long lines sprung from a small fortress near the front of the coloured world, signifying the place Laurence and his friends were staying at. It was so thick and full of life it actually made a circle that floated above the miniature border fort. In comparison there were several black hotspots all over the grey area, surrounding a larger hotspot near the middle of the land.
“From what you can see, the white lines are representative of the human presence, the black is obviously the stone soldiers, or as my friend Law here calls them, golems. We’ve been watching them for a while and they seem to be focussing around that large black area in the centre. The last time they broke apart from that was when we heard about you. We saw a small group of extremely bright white lines fleeing from a large group of the black marks. We never imagined that they would be you six. We did not really know what to expect, which was why I was brought along. They needed me to document and study you, but seeing as you are like us I don’t think there is any problem”.
“What’s that white spot really close to the border? It seems rather dangerous for such a place to exist so near the manaless zone”.
“That... That is the main base of study in Biqiril since Aledia collapsed. It’s the biggest collection of creative and scientific minds in our society, and where we are going to go after this. It’s further north, and is the eventual target of our journey in the ship. We just had to travel here to restock on a few days worth of food then we will be able to make it. There is no way we would survive if we crashed in the swamp though. It’s nigh impossible to cross on foot”. Manas traced a curving line from the Deliverance Plateau, round through the fort they were in and then up towards the mountain. It was obvious that if they had taken the three days that it took them to get to the fort then they would have been short by a week's travel on foot. It would have likely been disastrous.
“Well... that clears up a few things for me,” said Jim. He dragged a line across the map from the plateau, past the fort and all the way off the map. “I think this is the direction that we need to go. We need to get to the stone gateway, or stele, or Ohyl’Aget, or whatever else you call it”.
“Are you talking about the gate of the damned in Rodesa? Most of the people who go through the gate never come back, and the ones who do are either gods or are bordering in dying from old age”. Grikor said, staring at Laurence incredulously. “You can’t be seriously thinking about going through there. Even the Saints that are garnered by our kingdoms will die if they go through that gate, and you’re... You’re children!”
“It’s where we must go, I’m afraid,” replied Laurence. “If it makes you feel any better, It’s what we were made to do. We are all children of the great clans of Babel, of the tower, and it is built into the very fabric of our beings to climb. It's one of the reasons why we are so hardy and why we could survive the journey through the hellzone created in Aledia. Don't worry about it though, I personally want to stay in Biqiril until Yun reaches Heaven rank. When that happens we can move up the tower in relative safety”.
“That's ridiculous. You're still just children. Sure, you managed to sneak through-”
“Captain Grikor please...” Manas interrupted, stepping between the boy and the overly concerned Captain. “Law, did I hear that right? You're from one of the mythic clans? I mean you're called Absolution but it's not a rare family name... people call themselves clankin when they were... does that mean? Can it? Oh my...” Manas trailed off again, muttering quietly.
“Primer please, spit out what you are thinking!” Grikor said, pushing his arm away and straightening his military jacket.
“Don't you see Grikor?”
“Not at all”.
“It's amazing! These children, who are individually stronger than most of the special forces soldiers we have had trained in the kingdom, they are all Book-bearers! They are walking, talking repositories of the limits of knowledge!”
“So? What does that have to do with me?” Captain Grikor was beginning to become annoyed with the man. It was understandable, Laurence had found that when Manas got excited he quickly jumped steps in his explanations.
“Have you not heard the legend? That those who learn all there is to learn in a field will become Saints of that field? That those who master it all ascend to the Heavens? And that devoting your life to mastery of the true paths leads to immortality!”
“Isn't that just a inspirational saying? Like ‘if you master a field them people will remember your name even after you die?’”
Manas grabbed Grikor by the head and looked him in the eyes. His face was red and his grin was from ear to ear. “You poor fool Grikor! This is the path to true immortality! If I knew even a fraction of what Law and his friends know about their Books then I would have taken six months to do all the research I did over the six years of project Alamis. Not only that, if I had one of the books, then there would have been no need for the project in the first place! A single complete reading supposedly develops the reader's mana reservoir into a manifestation, which is the single thing that needs to happen for someone to become a Saint! Don't you get it, Grikor? They are what we were trying to emulate!”
The captain stared at Manas as he processed what he was saying. It was a lot for him to take in all at once, but as he began to realise the magnitude of Manas’ statement he slowly stepped back and sank to the ground.
“You're telling me that if we had a book... tens of thousands of people would not have had to die?” He looked up at the people around him, rage and confusion flashing over his face in equal measure. He truly did not know whether to laugh or cry. “Did you not tell the General this? The idea... It's laughable. Tragically laughable”.
“I doubt that it was Manas’ fault for not being able to get one of the six Books. They are the lifelines of each great clan, to the point where they desperately try to limit the contact of them to the outside world. It's awkward, and sometimes detrimental as a whole, but it is what they have done for millennia,” Winoa said. Her matter of fact attitude seemed to shock the people in the vicinity, but Laurence nodded. He could understand why. It was not that the clans were unwilling to commit acts of philanthropy, but rather that if they lost control of their monopoly then they would never regain it. They were only great clans because they could do things that no one else could do, though Laurence always thought that having the easiest path to immortality probably helped.
As Manas helped the captain up from the floor, his wife walked into the room. “Dinner's ready,” she briskly announced, before swanning up to Manas, straightening his overcoat and leading the first few people out of the hall. Conversation around the Books stopped after that, as Manas followed his wife like a lost puppy at her heels.
Afternoon became evening and evening quickly rolled around to the next day. With the ship refueled and restocked, the crew boarded the vessel. After much discussion over the night, Laurence and his friends finally decided on following the ship to the camp in the north, and staying there until after Yun had made the step up to Heaven. Jim swore against riding the ship again, so Laurence was forced to stick him in his minor world. It was more habitable now, as the world had settled. The only issue was that the land itself had not grown very much, so the entire realm was only just over a hundred meters from end to end.
The journey itself was uneventful, but Laurence enjoyed it. He spent most of the time perched on the top of the ship with Cleo and Winoa just enjoying the breeze like he had back on Rosie’s Demise. Four days and nights later they reached the mountain. It was like a lone tooth sticking up behind the row of teeth that made up the mountain range barrier of Deliverance. It was an oddity, but Laurence liked it. There was something stalwart about it, like it was a middle finger to the creator. He admired anything with such an outlook, and the creator moreso for having the sense of humour to allow it.
They moved into the docking and loading area of the mountain base. It was the only section above ground. A large platform on the east side of the mountain jutted out into the air, only held up by a few thick beams of a metal that Laurence could not recognise, and rocks that looked very similar to tornadrite. He could tell that whatever the substances were that made up the docking bay, they were not there to aid the thousands of array symbols that covered the floor and walls. Those were purely for lessening the weight of anything that landed on top of the shelf and for melting off any snow that accumulated on the floor.
The ship descended onto the docking bay and immediately shuddered to a halt on contact with the ground. The crew and passengers disembarked in an orderly fashion, quickly moving inside the mountain. Laurence asked if they needed any help with the disembarking or the ship's maintenance but in response Manas grabbed him and dragged him towards the main hall of the research and development capital of Biqiril. As they began passing more and more people, the ringing sound that Laurence heard from recognition by the Book came more and more often. Everywhere he looked it seemed like the Book was telling him to accept these people, until finally he and Manas had arrived at the hall.
Manas pushed open the doors and stepped inside, presenting the room to Laurence, saying something that Laurence could not hear. All he could hear was the deafening ringing in between his ears. Again and again it came overwhelmingly loud to the point where his vision swam and he lost balance. He tripped and fell, slamming into the wall before descending into a hellish, bell filled coma.
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