Chapter 556: Two Vessels

Close to two months had passed; in his opinion, he had wasted too much time climbing up. He wasn’t going to have a lot of time for his trial; he wished to reach Enlightenment in at most one month, but sadly, that was just not possible.

Both he and Sena had tried their best, working as hard as possible. And they were going fast; after all, Fate had gotten lucky, just like Iris remembering small moments from the past, when she had been trained for the time he was in the Wonderland for so long. But it wasn’t enough.

It did make him wonder if both Sena and Iris remembered fragments of the past. Why Lilith didn’t, he had a theory: maybe it was because he was dead at the moment it happened.

He had also gone to the Withered; Maeve was back, which was incredible. He got her a blade so she could prepare herself. This time, he asked Atlas when he found him training in his Anchor, which had grown, but he didn’t care for it a bit at the moment. It was going to matter in the future, since he had made little progress in the Withered with Maeve and Atlas; of course, he was going to depend on them during his time away to continue helping others.

...

[Character Codex: Sync Stable]

Name: Aether Moirai

Age: 17

Race: Human

Affiliation: Royal Family

[Path]: —Stray of the Abyss—

> A being without a home, striving for survival in even the most dangerous situations. You will survive, no matter what you have to do.

Knowledge Rank — [Beast]

>1730/3000 knowledge shards

Codex Class — [Seeker]

> Sync Rate: 100%

Affinity — [Abyss]

> A slumbering void stirs within you. It gazes back.

[Affinity Bane]: —Stranded Resolve —

[Mental Fortitude Thresholds]

> 80 — Clear Mind: Subject resists Abyssal influence entirely

> 60–79 — Subtle Echoes: Whispered thoughts emerge

> 40–59 — Instability Detected: Reflexive Abyssal traits may emerge

> 20–39 — Possession Risk: Abyss seeks control

< 20 — Vessel Breach: Control lost temporarily

Mental Fortitude: 85/100

Status: Stable— Subject is in full control.

[Skills / Abilities]

Abyssal Abilities — [Shadow Speech][Mask of the Fool][Abyssal Matter][Gravewalker][Hollow Body].

Skills — [Echo Word],[Eden][Whispers of the Lost][Erosion]

[Relics]

—[Hair extension]

— [Mantle of Quiet Dread]

—[VoidPiercer Wound (Replica)]

—[Unwavering Paint]

—[Tear of Darkness]

—[Raven of the Desperate]

—[Raven]

***

[Raven of the Desperate] - A beast born from the Egg of the Harbinger of Death. Despite being born as a Reader-ranked creature, it possesses the potential to grow alongside its owner and eventually reach its ultimate power.

Category - Entity

Class - Seeker

Knowledge rank - Demon

Growth - 300/2000

Abilities - [Perception],[Passing Wind],[Form Change][Stealth][Deep Connection].

Progress: he had made a lot of progress, but at the same time, he wasn’t sure just how much these things mattered. If he could, he would let everything he had gained go just to be a Bearer when the war started; it was that big a difference.

Though, with Inky, he had found something interesting, something he never realized, and that made no sense... back in the Wonderland, he was able to check its abilities, to check the Codex, even though it was nonexistent at that point. It was at the beginning of his time in that place, so you could say he wasn’t used to not having it, but still.

He wondered why... was it because it was special? He hadn’t heard of anything like it before, so maybe it was just that... even so, he didn’t have time to dwell on that.

He had reached Enlightenment, and he wasn’t planning on wasting any time. That was why, after coming out his last story today, he asked Sena what her plans were, since she had also reached it. Fate was more than happy to join him, but the King, who had authority over her and her progression in the grand scheme of things, and for her greater good, made her go with the other Vessels and Orion. The Hale family was also negotiating with the King to let Elise in.

The thing is that he wasn’t against it; they were going to enter their trial tomorrow, and it was enough time to get Maeve to ask the King if he could also join. If he let Orion and Elise join, he didn’t doubt that he would also be let in. He had a feeling the King had started to take a liking to him.

But before that... he needed to rest for tonight; after all, tomorrow was going to maybe be his last day in the real world as a Seeker.

...

...

He had awakened early the next morning; after all, from what Elise told him, they were going to enter the trial in the Castle’s courtyard. He hadn’t gotten any news from the first, and so he thought that, just in case, it was good to ask Avius to request permission from the King to enter the castle, since he really didn’t want to try to sneak in.

Arriving at the old wizard’s office, Aether knocked on the door.

Opening the door, Avius was suprised to see him. But he didn’t bother to question what he was here for, letting him inside as he went back to his desk, while Aether sat in his seat.

"Ask away." He said, as he worked on some papers.

"Well, I wanted to make a request: could you get me permission to enter the castle?"

"Hm." He said, as he wrote something on a piece of paper. "I could, but what do you need it for?"

"Well." Aether chuckled, scratching his chin. "I asked Sena to ask Silas if I could enter the trial with them, and I wanted to get the castle’s permission until she gave me the news, just in case, you know?"

...

...

Avius stopped, putting the pen he was writing with on the table, as he looked up at him. "The Vessels have already entered their trial; you don’t know that?"

...

...

Aether sighed, as he clenched his fists slightly... how funny, even after so much he’s done, did the King still not consider him important enough to let him challenge the others? Did he not see him as worth it? Or maybe he didn’t trust him enough.

Did his title really haunt him this bad? He didn’t act scared of him at all... or maybe he didn’t want him to get stronger; that way he could die... it wasn’t like Silas had suddenly started liking the Abyss; maybe this whole plan was just a way for him to lower his guard, and then to be easier to kill.

...

He hated it... He felt useless. To think he was going to enter his trial alone again...

"Thanks for telling me..." He said, getting up from his seat as he headed towards the exit. But stopping at the door. "Hey, Avius." He said, smiling, as he watched the gaze of the man lift up once more from his papers.

Aether chuckled, before rolling down his sleeve and revealing to the man his mark, the Abyss’s mark.

He watched as his face fell. Using Erosion, he quickly passed through the door as he dashed through the shadows, just in case he wanted to chase after him. But he didn’t think that was the case.

Walking down the stairs at the Academy, into the front yard, and heading towards his dorm room, he couldn’t help but feel down; taking on his Bearer Trial alone was going to take an eternity; he knew how much his Seeker took. And he was sure he was going to get a high rank, so if he just rushed things, he was going to die.

He heavily doubted he was going to be here for the war’s start...

’It’s my fault for not expecting this to happen. Silas is a despicable man; he was and will always be. He doesn’t care for me.’

He stared at the ground, kicking a rock in his way, watching as it rolled on the ground... and hit someone’s foot.

He stopped, surprised, as standing in front of him seemed to be a boy his age, with black hair and black eyes.

Aether tilted his head. He’d never seen the guy before, not once in his life... and yet he was on Academy grounds, so he must be a pretty high noble... but if so, who was he?

"Are you Aether? Vessel of the Abyss?"

Fallen Eden’s eyes widened as he heard the boy call him by his title... he shouldn’t know it. Hardly any people should be aware of it... and yet here he was, saying it all loud.

He frowned. "I am... but how do you know that? Who are you? I’ve never seen you around this place."

The boy’s face seemed to light up as he walked forward, extending a hand towards him, for Aether to shake.

"Cain, Vessel of the Fallen.

Do you want to challenge the Bearer Trial with me?"

’Fallen’s Vessel?!’ This was the first time he had ever seen him; before Silas even told him about it, he wasn’t even sure he was real... and yet here he was... and with a pretty intriguing deal.

He didn’t know him in any way, but what he did know was that he was a Vessel just like him, one born in the Withered, and that had rejected, and also been rejected by the Blue Rose.

Aether looked into his eyes for a while, debating what he should do, before smirking.

And took his hand.

"Sure, why not."

[End of part two of volume two: Wonderland]