Chapter 84 - The Stairway to Heaven

There was a small fort in a hidden valley in the Frontier between Ansem and Rhodnius. Rocky mountains were around the valley, and little to no vegetation could be seen. Several mighty magical beasts could be seen around it, mostly scavengers and poisonous creatures.

A man could be seen running towards the Fort at full speed, going at subsonics speeds, and constantly blinking ahead, appearing and disappearing from shadows non-stop. It was a young man, about 15 years old, with pale skin, and a callous demeanor. People could have called him handsome, however there were several hideous marks on his face that scarred the skin around his left eye. He was Sombra, who had fought bitterly with Nerun and eventually lost, having used the last of the strength granted by his taboo technique to run away from the ruins.

Sombra arrived soon at the fort, where he was greeted by a couple of cold looking guards that had no facial expressions whatsoever. If they were not breathing ever so slightly people could have confused them with statues. Sombra passed by them without saying anything, but the cold eyes of the guards followed him. There was contempt in their eyes, even though there was no true change in the expression of their faces. Sombra's face turned even gloomier.

The fort was a small maze, and there were young agents here and there. Several of them were training on the ground, sparring with one another. The violence of the encounters was staggering, the men fighting seemed to be fighting to the death, and gouging eyes and attacking fatally was the norm. After all, this was not a training ground for soldiers, but for assassins. Failure and defeat meant death. The walls and floor of the training area was dirty with the never ending dry blood of the trainees, and it was never washed. The baleful area was palpable. The men that left this facility were therefore numbed to death, pain and more. They were so-called death warriors.

Sombra arrived at a room in the fort, where there was a slim man dressed in dark linen clothes, currently standing by the window, looking coldly at the training ground. Sombra entered and stayed silent while looking at the man, who did not deign to even turn and look at Sombra. The man's face had thin lips, a hooked nose, and his eyes were akin to a slit.

After a long, uncomfortable silence, the man spoke without turning. "You failed."

Sombra went on to say: "There were unexpected variables. A legendary expert came out of nowhere, and fought Dagan's avatar. The ritual could not be fulfilled on time."

"Cheap excuses. Blood Redemption does not need failures. Do you think I don't know what happened. You were overconfident, and lost against a man much younger than yourself. You were followed to the ruins and were even caught off-guard. If that does not show your incompetence, I don't know what does." said the man coldly.

"I will try again in another County. I'm sure I'll be successful this time. Master told me…" Sombra tried to defend himself but was rudely interrupted.

"Your Master has told me to send you back to Avi-Cena. There, you will be re-trained and undergo several life and death missions for the Organization. You either pass three missions or die. We don't need useless wastrels. For the next operation, I'll be taking command myself. After all, we can't afford to fail."

Sombra's eyes darkened but he dared not retort. For once, the man in front of him was a cold blooded killer, that would snuff him out of life in a second if he was disgruntled. Second, and most important, it was his Master's order. Even if he somehow found the courage to go against the cold man in front of him, not even ten times that would be enough for him to defy his very own master.

In the end, Sombra could only nod. He knew that hellish days awaited him. He could feel the burn marks on his face as if they were made anew. This pain and misery, he vowed to remember deep in his heart. 'Boy. I promise to kill you myself'.

…

After some hours of flying through the air with no control Nerun finally landed a bit roughly at the top of a mountain. After a couple of minutes, a bruised Nerun finally managed to get some strength in his body and got up with some difficulty.

"Uggggh… He could have been a bit more gentle." said Nerun as he cracked his neck and dusted himself. "Now, where exacly am I? Well, at least he did not send me into the home of a high level magical beast, otherwise, my only fate would have been to become someone else's food."

Nerun looked around the mountain. Fortunately he was high enough that he managed to look several tens of kilometers in the distance. Nerun was flabbergasted for a minute. The cummulonimbus in the distance looked like a curtain from heaven opening to show the light from the dusk as it bathed the land.

There was an immense valley, filled with green grass and flowers everywhere. The road looked golden under the last lights of the sun, and there were trees and auspicious birds flying everywhere. However what was more mesmerizing was a majestic and enormous river, with rapid and crystal-like waters. The river at its widest was well over 400 km and was the broadest river in the world, and its name was Argent. It went through all the northern and center territory of Ansem, and well into the Barbarian Lands with a length of over 15000 km. By following the river, one could see a huge dam at the end, the Johanin Dam.

By following the river, one would arrive at a humongous city, the fourth largest city in the world. Eonia, the Capital of the Ancestral Kingdom of Ansem.

As Nerun was watching the landscape, all of a sudden he had a vision. The light that could be seen from the clouds started to spiral along itself, forming several stairs from heaven all the way to the earth. Along the stairway, Nerun could see thousands of creatures going up and down. These creatures looked magical to say the least, with white clothes that seemed to be made of the finest silk, and many were winged creatures, these wings made of a mixture of feathers, lights and gold. The power exuded by the creatures was such that for one minute, Nerun thought he was seeing multiple emperors and saints.

Nerun developed goosebumps from seeing the scene. After all, it was likely that the amount of Emperors and Saints in all the territories would likely be lesser than the creatures that he could see going up and down.

Suddenly, Nerun heard a voice that seemed to come from everywhere, "Beautiful, isn't it? Those are the Heavenly Hosts. They roam around the entire universe to serve and do as commanded. They can assume various forms and are creatures of great and many times unsurpassed power. That being said, they also have limitations. They are the guardians of the world of men."

"Ego Sum…"

When Nerun said those words, the vision seemed to vanish as if it had never existed. Even though the vision was quite grand, and the city of Eonia filled with powerful warriors was nearby, No one seemed to have noticed the existence of this stairway.

"No one can sense it, if I'm not willing for them to do so."

"Are you reading my mind?" said Nerun, a bit scared.

"I told you I know everything. There is nothing under heaven that is hidden to my eyes. Then again, humans do try to do so. Hide. It's in their nature. From the very beginning, hiding and escaping, and blaming… Such a complicated creature."

Nerun could have sworn he heard a sigh in Ego Sum's voice.

"Then, does that mean that I have no secrets I can keep from you?"

"Do you have any secrets you want to keep from me? Are there any secrets in you that are worthy of being hidden? Do remember that your biggest secrets, your heritage, and the stone around your neck, I already know. I also told you I'm alway with you. That was my promise. To be with you. Many times I will not talk. I might even seem absent. But I'm always there. Watching, caring."

"Who exactly are you?" asked Nerun, a bit absentmindedly.

"I already told you, I Am." said Ego Sum matter-of-factly.

Nerun did not want to go through the same conversation again. He noticed that Ego Sum had not really answered many of his questions. Yet, somehow, he made sense, which was weird. In any case, his life had been saved by Ego Sum quite literally, and the might that he felt when Ego Sum's Spirit took over him made him realize that if the latter truly wanted to hurt him, there was no need for such a roundabout way. And somehow he felt kinda happy with the idea that Ego Sum was always around.

"Then, could I talk to you at any time I want, and you would listen." asked Nerun amusingly.

"Indeed. But I do not promise to always answer. But I'm always listening. I promised to guide you, and instruct you. I also promised you to be tried and tried, and hurt, and refined 'til perfection. So be prepared. In Eonia, you will receive your first couple of trials. They might not be what you expect. I want to see… Your choices."

Nerun couldn't help but gulp a little. He wondered what kind of trial he was about to face.

"Hahahaha… Don't worry. I'm sure you will be much stronger after it. These types of trials are quite important as well. They develop character. For now, I will teach you a new technique. I already taught you a sword for your Master level, so I owe you one for your Grandmaster level. This is one of my favourites. It will also use your sword, but it can not be considered a Sword Technique. Also, do read that manual you got from the Vanillas. It has some interesting ideas. You better not slack on your practice and meditation. I will continue to guide to transform the rest of the Forms of the Free Flowing Fist. I will also guide you after you master the basics of sword fighting."

"Great." said Nerun with a smile. He knew that Ego Sum had changed his life with the new Forms of the Free Flowing Fist. He was excited when he felt himself growing stronger.

"Any advice you want to give me?" said Nerun.

"Just be true to yourself. Listen to your brother, but that does not mean that you have to agree with everything he says. That is also the right you have for being his family." After saying this, Ego Sum said no more, and Nerun was seemingly left alone.

Soon, he would arrive in Eonia. Soon, he would meet his brother once more.

For now, Ego Sum taught him a new technique. When he understood what the technique was, he was not sure whether to laugh or to cry. Nevertheless, he knew from the start that this skill could be very useful, especially when catching an enemy off-guard. This could very well be the difference between victory and defeat.

Nerun spent the night in a cave in the mountain. Before the break of dawn, Nerun got up early and started training. His usual routine consisted of practicing the first three Forms of the Free Flowing Fist. Even though Nerun had already mastered them, he still did them over and over. He made them part of himself, trying to make them second nature to Nerun, something akin to muscle memory. That way, Nerun's reactions towards any attack, and situation would practically be done on reflex. Also, by practicing the moves, he also mobilized the Natural Energy of Heaven and Earth, which allowed him to keep increasing his level. In the short time after leaving Radem, and all the time spent on Syracuse, Nerun had actually managed to increase his Qi and Mana to 11, which meant he was the equivalent to a Grandmaster level expert.

After that, Nerun dedicated some time to practicing his different techniques, and getting mastery over them. Being inspired by his success with the Dance of the Holy Fire, he tried combining his fire spell with other moves and attacks, sometimes for no success, and sometimes for actually pleasant surprises. Then he started reading the Manual, "The Sword of Beginning and the End", and started to practice the basic moves over and over. After the sun came out, Nerun had spent a good three hours training non-stop. This was his usual routine, with some small variations here and there.

After finishing, he looked for a small brook to freshen up, and went towards the Argent River in the horizon. The day went by with no major events, which Nerun used to continue pondering on his new abilities and also on the plans he was to accomplish once he arrived at Eonia.

The next day, when Nerun got to the river side, and the main road, Nerun started to notice that more and more people were around. A constant flux of people, carriages, beasts and more could be seen going towards a dot in the horizon that constantly got bigger and bigger. Thousands and thousands were going towards the dot, many of whom were excited, others gloomy, others joyful, others expectant… The spectrum of human emotions could be seen, as Nerun got closer and closer to the greatest city Nerun had ever seen.

'Eonia, here I come.'