Chapter 602 - 602 Information on Awakened

Seeing as how Matthias had sussed him out as an Awakened, Avery asked the man more about what he knew about the subject.

Despite being the one with powerful psionic abilities, there was very little that Avery knew about himself and others like him.

"I suppose that's only fair. I'm happy to tell you what I know." Matthias replied.

As it turned out, he started with a topic Avery had not been expecting. The origins of those that were most commonly called Awakened.

There were multiple theories, but the most credible one was that some experiment millennia ago caused a mass mutation event that changed a large population's genetic code.

Without knowing this, these people had children and over time their progeny developed powerful psionic abilities over many generations.

Though, it must have been a rare occurrence, seeing as how very few people ever became Awakened, even if they had the potential to do so.

Something Avery mentally confirmed from what his mother had told him.

The researchers that had gathered her and a bunch of other children killed most of the kids they had abducted without successfully awakening their psionic abilities.

"However, there is another theory that I know of that is not without some evidence. If not for records left behind by my grandfather, the one you know as the first Kaizer, I wouldn't believe it at all. "

Matthias told Avery that there were tales of unfathomably powerful beings that had come from another reality.

It was the decedents of these mighty beings that were the Awakened.

"These entities are often called gods in certain places. I'm sure you've at least heard of the nine deities worshiped in the Reswen Theocracy. They're probably the most famous."

"My grandfather actually met and fought with one of them nearly two centuries ago. It's due to the records that he left behind that I know about this." Matthias said, a hint of nostalgia in his eyes as he talked about his grandfather.

Except, what Avery had latched onto was that he receiving confirmation that the Reswen Theocracy's gods were actually real. Not just larger than life figures used as a means of controlling the populace through religion.

This was something Avery had started to suspect after their encounter with the creature the Theocracy had labeled the "Devil of Oppression".

The depiction in the ancient story had been too spot on to have just been someone's imagination.

At some point in time, the Reswen Theocracy had been attacked by that monstrosity.

'I really don't want to think about that thing. It's still out there somewhere. I just hope that it can't figure out a way to reach the Dramid Alliance.'

Avery shuddered at the mere memory of the monster that had forced the mercenary fleet Zefield had gathered into a retreat.

That was not something he ever wanted to encounter again.

"Should you really be telling us this? It sounds like the kind of information that could get people into trouble." Liesel said, wearing a concerned expression.

"I doubt it will be a problem. Most people would just dismiss you as fanatics, and I don't believe the Reswen Theocracy would really care if you started publicizing that their gods are real. That's what they want anyway. Also, it's not like we have any evidence about the true nature of their gods, and I can tell you that the higherup of the Alliance already know about them."

"No if you really want information that could get you into trouble, it's that only four of their nine gods are still alive." Matthias said with his lips curled up into a grin.

Had they been citizens of the Reswen Theocracy, this would have been something blasphemous to say.

Matthias likely would have ended up imprisoned for life or executed. The laws in the Reswen Theocracy were very strict when it came to their religion.

Luckily none of them were part of the Theocracy, nor did they particularly care about its religion.

"That's something I think we could have lived without knowing. But if they're meant to be gods, how could they even die?" Avery asked curiously.

"I don't have all the details on it. Just what my grandfather left behind in a personal journal he passed on to me when I became the leader of the fleet. The individuals that are worshipped in the Reswen Theocracy aren't really omniscient, all-powerful beings that most of their religious texts say they are. They are just incredibly powerful psionics users that have immense longevity. It's possible for them to be killed."

This was certainly all interesting, though it gave Avery more questions than answers.

He thought he might need to plan a trip to the Reswen Theocracy to dig for more details, but Matthias must have figured out what he was thinking, because he warned Avery against doing so without Avery even voicing his intentions.

"I wouldn't go to the Theocracy if I were you. They aren't always the friendliest with outsiders, and if they learned about what you are, they'd try to force you into their Holy Order or kill you if you refused. It's best to stay out of trouble that's not worth the reward."

Avery had no clue what the Holy Order Matthias was referring to was, but he decided it would be best to heed his great grandfather-in-law's warning.

He was a more experienced mercenary and clearly had far more information about the Reswen Theocracy than Avery did.

Moving on from the hypothesized origins of the Awakened, Matthias told Avery about some of the encounters he had experienced with them.

Two of the Awakened he knew turned out to be other high-ranking mercenaries, and Matthias told Avery he would be willing contact them on Avery's behalf if he wanted. Although he could not promise anything.

Five of the six others he had encountered ended up being enemies he had met on the battlefield.

With all but one of them being dead now since Matthias had killed them.

If this had been before their sparring match, Avery might have wondered how Matthias was able to have killed people with such extraordinary psionic abilities.

Yet, after experiencing equipment dedicated to countering people like him, Avery had a good idea about how the leader of the Kaizer Fleet had managed to win.