Chronicles of the True Wizard

Two things happened as Felix pulled the Realm Warden into his Core Soul, the white space around him along with the entirety of The Ladder of Ascension vanished and, Felix felt an immense burst of pain. That pain lasted for just a fraction of a second though as his Staff reconfigured the Mana Core in his Core Soul to somehow apply enough pressure to contain The Realm Warden.

As the pain faded, Felix regained awareness of his surroundings and realized that only the inner bubble had vanished, leaving the small city Lilian had attempted to rule over, in tact. Especially after fighting The Dragon who tore through Space constantly, Felix immediately realized the containing bubble was in the process of collapsing. It was a feeling he had through his Matter Senses and trained instincts for Space so, not something anyone else would notice just yet.

Due to the pain, and because Felix was still new to his Mana Body, his Soul had instinctively drawn himself inwards into a ball of Mana surrounding his Core Soul. That pain also scared his familiar, who began harassing Felix to let her out, assuming he was being attacked in some way.

Realizing both of these things, Felix got an idea and began shifting his body. At the same time, he had Nova shift into a ball as well before dropping her at his feet.

In a fraction of a second, Felix shifted his body from a ball of Mana, causing it to grow bigger and bigger until finally, it popped to reveal the body of his Persona, Arthur, beneath. Felix modified the appearance of his Persona to be stronger and denser, for his flesh to be made from small greyish scales, for his eyes to glow slightly red and for two large horns to sprout from his head.

Beneath him, Nova was also transforming and her transformation, was much scarier for everyone else in the realm.

Based on the body of The Dragon Titan she had just consumed recently, Nova transformed into a massive Dragon. The only difference between her and it, were the lack of Aura, and she was dark grey with a light grey scar across her chest.

For the Aura, though Felix couldn't perfectly match The Dragon's Aura, he could simulate it and no one outside of The Realms, would know the difference anyways.

Lastly, he moved his Staff into his Soul Space and pulled out Eretheas which, looked and felt a little different in Felix's hand. It was less of a green blue and more of a dark and rich azure color, more importantly though, it felt more aligned and attached to Felix.

He suspected that had happened a while ago, he just hadn't used the axe in a while.

Ding You have manually-

Ding You have manually-

Ding You have manually-

Huh? Did those just stop themselves?

I'm preventing them for the time being. The Nucleus answered immediately.

Ah, thanks.

Looking around, the city was similar to how he had left it. There were buildings and trees, a floating palace and people standing around where the bubble had been. Even accounting for the bubble though, that constant crowd that stood around the Ladder were much further back than he remembered except, for a pair of identical women.

[C - Arcane] Lillian The Twisted Trinity (Lvl 1997)

[C - Arcane] Lillian The Twisted Trinity (Lvl 1997)

Detonation Lilian had been completely restored, after having destroyed half her body to propel herself towards Felix, likely by Healing Lilian next to her.

Looking at them, both Lilian's rage seemed just as hot as when he had left and seeing him, reignited it in the both of them.

Unfortunately for the Lilian's though, they weren't nearly strong enough to not be crushed by Felix's simulated Dragon's Aura.

Both Lilians, along with everyone else around them, collapsed. Not just to their knees either, but all the way until their chests slammed into the ground.

Realizing a number of them were about to die, Felix patted Nova on the neck and lightened up on the Aura himself until he was certain everyone he could sense would live. That was enough for the Lilian's to get to their feet, as they were quite a bit stronger than even the weakest amongst the outer realm.

The Lilian's weren't so stupid that they didn't hesitate, seeing Arthur and the massive Dragon beneath him and feeling his Aura completely disable them but, they were apparently stupid enough to still charge towards him.

Detonation Lilian created an explosion behind her to launch herself towards Felix and his familiar while Healing Lilian, who seemed more hesitant, steeled her will and cast some kind of support spell on Detonation Lilian.

Felix really didn't want to accidentally level a thousand times as The System caught up to his current power level so, he didn't kill them. Instead, he had Nova take a step forwards and swallow Detonation Lilian then a couple more steps forwards to swallow Healing Lilian, storing them safely inside of her for the time being.

To everyone else in the crowd though, they were dead.

Seeing the strongest person in the outer realm, the one who had ruled over and oppressed everyone for so long, die in an instant, faster than most of them could follow, was more than enough for the screaming to start.

Felix, where are you? You see what's happening right? We have to get out of here, now!

Hearing Melody's voice in his head, through Mark and the nodes he had left with them, was a bit of a wake up call for Felix and he immediately looked around for her, Peace and Cobalt.

All of them were together, apparently waiting for him, just off to the side from Lilian.

Felix, along with Nova's massive Dragon head, immediately turned to them, causing Cobalt to literally jump. Felix could sense Melody's heart skip a beat slightly but she wasn't as nervous as Cobalt. Peace, was at peace for whatever reason.

At Felix's command, Nova raced over and swallowed all three of them whole then stomped through the realm, crashing through buildings like they were made of cards and crushing trees as if they were blades of grass.

She swung her head around and Felix created a Spell within her mouth to simulate The Dragon's breath but he made sure she didn't look at anyone in specific so he didn't kill anyone.

Then, after igniting the majority of the outer realm, Nova roared, empowered by a Spell, then leapt off the ground and soared directly upwards and out of the realm.

Passing through the outer realm bubble, Felix had no idea where they were. They weren't on the planet he had entered the outer realm from but rather, inside of some kind of completely rocky, barren planet that was made almost entirely of dense metals.

While it would have been trivial for Nova to bore through the metal, they didn't know how thick it was so, Felix didn't bother. Instead, he opened an Aether Tunnel to a planet he was pretty sure remained abandoned.

Nova stepped through the massive tunnel and Felix hopped off her back, clearing out the snow around them with his Matter Control so no one sank through it. Then, he had Nova spit Melody, Peace, Cobalt and both Lilians back out before letting her revert to her cat form and he, reverted to his normal body.

Lilian was the first to react and her rage was tainted with quite a bit of confusion at that point.

Felix didn't bother letting her figure anything out though and faster than she could react, slapped the both of them on the shoulder, pulling them into The Ladder of Ascension so he didn't have to kill them.

"You're…" Cobalt started.

With a wide smile, Peace stepped forwards and grabbed Felix, pulling him into a big hug.

Felix looked at him with confusion but only Melody and Cobalt saw the glance and the two of them were far too distracted to react.

Pulling back out of the hug, after much longer than Felix expected, Peace clapped him on the shoulder, "I don't know how long its been for you but, for me its been a long time." Peace looked him up and down, "Judging from… all this, I'm guessing its probably been just as long for you."

"It's been a while." Felix confirmed with a nod.

Peace's smile shifted slightly into a smirk, "So, The Dragon?"

Felix sighed, "I fought that stupid thing… a few thousand times in total I think?"

Peace laughed heartily, "Of course you did. You managed to kill it though, didn't you? That's what Nova was showing off?"

"Yeah. Eventually. That stupid thing almost took the whole Ladder with it."

"The what?" Cobalt cut in.

"Ladder of Ascension. It's the… original name of The Realms of Annihilation."

"So-" Cobalt shook his head, "How'd you figure that out?"

Felix shrugged, "Long story. Basically, all the Realms past The Dragon are joined together. There's this Spirit Guru guy and I met the Realm Warden, being that oversees everything."

Peace nodded, "That tracks."

"What… happened to the… Ladder? I guess?" Cobalt frowned in confusion.

"Oh, yeah. I said The Dragon was taking the whole Ladder with it, basically it was unstable after our fight so… we moved it."

"Moved it? We?" Cobalt looked to the others to try and see if they were as lost as he was.

Peace just shrugged, completely satisfied with the explanation.

"What did you do with the Lilians?" Melody finally asked.

"They're in The Ladder." Felix answered.

"Why?"

Felix shrugged, "Didn't want to kill them and have The System give me too many levels all at once to try and catch me up to my current power level."

She nodded, "So, this Arthur… Was that just to get us out of there unnoticed? Is he still in there?"

From her tone, Felix knew she suspected the real answer, she just didn't seem to want to believe it, "Mostly get us out of there unnoticed. I don't have the item anymore that let me switch to Arthur but, I don't really need them anymore either."

"So you are The Dragon Slayer? You're Arthur? And you have been ever since-"

"Ever since the first world event in my tutorial." Felix nodded.

She frowned, "You're… a mass murderer? You slaughtered millions of Drakene along with a number of Dragons… Why?"

Cobalt backed up a step, partly out of fear of Felix and partly out of fear of Melody and mostly out of fear of getting in the middle of a conflict between them.

Peace's smirk grew, on the other hand.

"Nope. I've killed exactly one Dragon and… Some number of Drakene that is likely in the single or double digits? I haven't exactly counted."

She opened her mouth to retort but Felix continued before she could, "A little while ago you asked me if you signed a Soul Contract, would I tell you everything. Are you still willing to do that?"

Melody hesitated, her face contorted with a confusing mix of emotions, "I don't… know."

Felix nodded, "I'm trying to learn to trust and consider others more so, I won't make you." He turned to Cobalt, "You on the other hand, I just don't know you well enough t-"

He stepped forwards and held out his hand, "Yup. Hit me with it."

Felix nodded and created and Soul Contract between the two of them then, turned back to Melody and completely obscured the area around them so there was no chance of being spied on, even by The System, "Back in my tutorial, I ran into a baby Dragon. It was terrorizing a city and I helped relocate it to its own island. When I first left the Tutorial, I just used Arthur to stay anonymous while I completed contracts for The Adventurer's Guild. I ended up in a contract with that Drakene clothing shop we visited and they were the only ones that knew because I asked them to make me something using some of the Dragon Scales the Baby Dragon had shed."

She frowned deeply in confusion.

"Shortly thereafter, Tekragoraxius set up a meeting with me and told me she knew I was Arthur and asked me for my help. She needed someone who was strong and had just the right history, none. I suspect she also didn't want to completely ruin someone's real identity which, made Arthur an attractive choice. After that, I used Arthur in Bastorus One and that was about it. Everything else, was all Tekragoraxius' plan."

She shook her head, "The Baby Dragon… What…" Her eyes widened a little, "It's Tekragoraxius'… isn't it?"

Felix nodded, "Yeah. One of a few."

Melody nodded slowly, "My brother then… You killed him?"

"Kind of. He wasn't exactly… healthy, when I fought him."

"What does that mean?"

"Even if I didn't show up at all, he would have died. He was… infected."

"You're sure? There was no way to save him?"

Felix shrugged, "No. I'm sure someone out there could have. In that moment, I couldn't. Even now, I'm not sure I could."

She nodded, "Okay." Then, she sighed and stepped forwards, "You need to put me in a contract too. Tekragoraxius wouldn't be happy with your telling me all this otherwise."

Felix nodded and stepped forwards but stopped before reaching her, "I don't care if she's happy. She trusts me and I've decided to trust you."

Melody shook her head, "Just do it."

Felix clasped her hand but she stopped him before he could offer the contract, "A Contract is too formal."

He cocked his head in confusion.

She looked over at Peace for support before continuing, "I… I'll explain more later but… my time in The Ladder… changed some things. Instead of a Contract, we should bond our Souls."

Felix cocked a brow, "Like how Nova and I are bonded?"

She nodded, "More or less."

He shrugged and looked at Peace, "I don't see why not."

Peace nodded, "Cool with me. Your Soul is more than strong enough to ensure we can't give anything away too."

Felix nodded, "Yeah. I'm not worried about that."

The actual Soul Bonding process was fast and easy without any complications Felix was worried might occur. Once it was done, Felix opened an Aether Tunnel all the way back to Eramith. Instead of the Arena, which would be packed, or Ked's lab, which he didn't want to deal with yet, Felix brought them to the A-SAM facility which, remained mostly empty due to his lack of attention and the ongoing tournament.

"I guess we have an Abyss to finish." Melody nodded seriously then, a smile slowly broke out on her face, "You killed The Dragon, right?"

Felix nodded, "We just went over this. Did your time in The Ladder destroy your memory?"

"What does that mean by the way? Why is it called The Ladder of Ascension?" Melody completely ignored his teasing for the moment, distracted by her own confusion.

"Long story." Felix shook his head, "Basically it was set up to get people to Ascend which… We can go over some other time."

She nodded slowly, "And my memory is fine thank you very much. I just meant, that if you're that strong after your time in the Realms- Ladder, the Abyss is going to a breeze, right?"

Peace crossed his arms and smirked, "Assuming it still lets him in."

Melody frowned, "Wait… I mean… Your level is still low enough but… You think it might… not?"

Felix shrugged, "Does anyone really know?"

She sneered a little in annoyance, "Not really. No one's gotten this far out of sync with their level I don't think. Why isn't it catching up by the way?"

"Uh… Another long story but… Basically, the thing that your brother was trying to hook himself into and the reason he died, I activated it and empowered it and now it's stopping The System from updating anything for the moment."

Her expression was completely blank as she stared at him for a moment. Then, her head fell slightly to the side, "You're serious? You have something that's blocking The System?"

"Not in the way you're thinking, blocking isn't the right word. More like it's interfering with its ability to read me."

She shook her head, "Still."

Felix shrugged, "It's not as complicated as you'd think."

"Okay well… Assuming it lets you in… Is there any point in doing it anymore? Are the items even worth it?"

"Not for the items." Felix stepped back to give them space then finally released Kerix, who had been knocking at his Soul to get out.

The Titan appeared in front of Felix then stepped off to the side and looked around, "Huh. Not what I was expecting…"

"Did the Warden fill you in?"

Kerix spun to look at Felix and shrugged, indicating his ignorance.

"Realm is stable now. No need to leave."

"Oh. Cool." Kerix nodded then continued looking around, like he was searching for something. Off hand, he mentioned, "You should probably let The Acharaya know."

"Good call." Felix responded before following his advice.

A path altered to avert fate and yet, the destination seems clear.

You want to stay in there or you want out?

My path is intertwined with those who remain lost.

Yeah but your students will be fine for a little while without you if you wanted to take a break.

I will consider this step.

"Is this…" Kerix frowned in confusion, "You sure we're from the same universe?"

Felix shrugged, "No. I thought you were."

He waved him off, "Yeah, The Ladder doesn't spread across universes or anything it's just… so different."

"Speaking of." Felix

I think it's time I had a conversation with the Warden. Mark, can you patch The Warden in to everyone else here?

Affirmative.

Felix looked at the others in the room and finally introduced them, "Cobalt, Melody, Peace, this is Kerix."

He waved casually.

"And this is The Realm Warden." Felix said as The Realm Warden was patched into their conversation through the Mark nodes in each of their ears.

I am The Realm Warden.

"Uh… Hi?" Cobalt responded in confusion.

Felix ignored him and got right to the meat of what he was looking for, "So, The Qal'Dari are the race that created The System. They also created The Ladder?"

Yes. Not race. Civilization. Empire.

"What about The Abyss? Do you know anything about that?"

Not by that name.

Felix had Mark communicate a number of his memories to the Warden, running under the assumption that their name for it wasn't the original name.

The Evolutionary Archives. The Ladder, Archives and System were all attempts to achieve the same common goal. The System was the most ambitious. The Archives the least. No one thought The System Project would actually succeed. Something changed and at that point, The Archives and Ladder were abandoned. They never left their beta phase.

"What was the goal of creating all of these?"

To distribute knowledge and power throughout the empire.

"All of these… The System especially seem a little… extreme for just… that?" Melody asked as she slowly got over the sheer shock of what she was hearing.

The Qal'Dari were a race. They expanded and eventually integrated or destroyed every other race in the entire universe. Consisting of all races that were willing, their empire spanned across the entire universe. They needed something to manage that. The Ladder was intended to replace most of the universe and provide a safe place to grow and discover. Archives already existed to keep a record of the past, creatures, realms and planets that no longer existed. It was adapted to let people in both to help cull the population of creatures and for them to grow.

"The Ladder was intended to replace the universe and you said The System was the most ambitious?" Cobalt shook his head in confusion.

Yes. For an empire to span a universe, they must have some mastery of Space. The Qal'Dari had more than some.

"What changed to make The System work?" Felix asked.

I don't know. Everyone thought it was a pipe dream. It was kept entirely secret and I only knew about it because I was consulted briefly. Even then, no one working on it thought it could work.

"Okay, moving on then. You said The Evolutionary Archives keeps a record of past realms, creatures and planets. How far back does it go?"

The Archives existed long before these projects began. It was merely adapted to allow entrants. That adaptation was never finalized but its collection of history is completely automated. It will even grow to accommodate as it does.

"So I could descend far enough in The Archives and go far enough back to see creatures and places from the era of the Qal'Dari?"

From before.

"In that case, I think we keep going with The Archives. Descend as far as we can." Felix sighed then looked over at Melody for ideas, "Unfortunately, I don't know how to do that without standing out."

She shrugged, "Don't try to hide."

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

"I know you like to prance about and show off to anyone who will glance your way but, I would like to remain unknown as long as possible."

She snorted, "Best you can do is probably to shift the attention off of yourself. Adaline isn't the worst choice, considering her affinities."

"That…" Felix nodded slowly, "…is not the worst idea."

"So we keep going?" Melody asked excitedly.

"Yeah." Felix nodded, "Let's do that." He looked over at Kerix, "What are you going to do?"

He shrugged, "I'll watch for now if that's cool. We're in some kind of arena right?"

"Yeah."

"I've got… some things I want to look into and I'll need you for that but, they can wait."

Felix nodded, "Sure."

"Uh…" Cobalt winced, "He's not exactly the most… inconspicuous… person… being."

"You can tell he's not… normal?"

Melody snorted again, "Yes. You really think any of the Gods aren't going to notice?"

Felix groaned, "So, as soon as I stop obscuring us, a bunch of Gods are going to notice us?"

"I was surprised no one had come to see who he was already." Melody shrugged.

"Kerix, can you do what I'm doing now? Obscure your surroundings?"

He shook his head, "Nope."

"I actually…" Melody smiled, "Might have the answer. It won't fool everyone but… most."

Before following Melody, Felix moved Kerix back into The Ladder in his Soul then toned down everything he could to make himself less conspicuous.

Cobalt flew back to the arena by himself while Felix opened an Aether Tunnel to the arena for the members of his own team. There, they flew into the arena and Felix paid very close attention to everyone around him.

He got a few glances here and there but the crowd in the arena seemed far more interested in the ongoing event and whatever they were doing at the time than him so, he felt fairly satisfied with his relative anonymity.

Melody led them up to the top floor where the Gods had their booths then around to a curiously blank wall where a booth should have been. There was no door but, Felix could feel with his Matter Senses that there was a booth on the other side.

She gestured towards the wall with her head, "Can you get us in?"

Felix nodded, "Yes but, do we-"

"Just do it before someone walks by."

He opened a tunnel and they all stepped through before he closed it. On the other side of the wall, the booth with no door was about as plain as he could have expected. It looked like the other booths he had seen except, it wasn't customized at all. The layout was generic and there was nothing there except some basic furniture.

"Who's is this?" Felix asked as he scanned the booth and those around it.

"Edras." Melody answered as she lounged on the couch, "Most people think he just portals in when he wants. He keeps the booth obscured so no one can see in but… being as awesome as I am, I know he hasn't shown up once."

"So it just sits here empty…"

"That and-" Melody smirked, "The booths are laid out so that the major factions are split up. This booth is the furthest one we can get from Rhonan and The Holy Mother."

"Convenient." Peace smiled.

"This is as good as anything I guess." Felix pulled Kerix back out then tuned into his senses to see if anyone twitched in their direction.

His senses were all good enough that he could completely cover the arena and the only one that did was Rhonan but, he just twitched slightly and frowned. Felix kept a tab on him but it seemed like he was more curious than anything.

"Not bad." Kerix nodded as he walked around.

"This is one of the three big God's booths."

Kerix nodded and gestured towards the wall, Felix with his senses knew where he was gesturing but the others were lost, "That one of the others I take it?"

Felix nodded, "That's Rhonan."

Kerix looked around then frowned, "Are they… your gods are the people on this floor?"

Peace nodded, "Yup. Other than Rhonan, the only beings stronger than the gods are the Primordials who have been around since before The System."

"I see…" Kerix shrugged then laid down on the couch and promptly closed his eyes, "Well, have fun I guess."

"You have a Mark node if you need anything."

Kerix waved them off, "I'll be fine."

Felix nodded to him then tunneled them back to their room in the Arena which he knew was empty for the moment.

"You two also just came out of The Realms so, it wouldn't be too surprising if you got stronger."

"I did." Melody nodded.

Peace smirked, "Not in the way he means."

Felix nodded in agreement with Peace, "No but, tell me anyways."

Melody pouted a little then sighed, "Well, I spent most of my time in 1500s. Got better at using my talents in a fight, reading everyone and keeping track of things. Learning to disrupt people just enough. I also started learning… some other things."

Felix nodded, "Your body seems the same but your Spirit is definitely more refined."

She moved to make a vulgar comment about her body but Felix cut her off and turned to Peace, "You?"

He shrugged, "Spirit shit. Got better at shifting but realized that wasn't best use of being a Spirit. Elemental stuff is more my style. I also don't want to give up martial arts. They're just too… fun. I only realized I wanted to combine the two near the end though."

"The end? Why'd you leave?"

Peace shrugged, "Things were getting stagnant in there and I didn't think I could beat The Dragon."

"You were on the 1999th?"

He nodded, "Yeah, stalled for a while there before leaving."

Felix snorted, "So you beat Adaline, Zeraxes and Romar then?"

"Hey," Melody cut in, "So did I."

"What realm did you make it to?"

"1986th." She said proudly.

Felix's jaw dropped, "How?"

She punched him on the shoulder, "Don't be so surprised. I'm not as strong as you guys in a fight but there are always other options."

"Did you use your instrument thing?"

She shook her head, "Not in the way you mean. I just mean even in the combat trials, there are always allies you can recruit and support."

"Plus, we had the collective knowledge of Mark in our ears." Peace shrugged.

"That… helped." Melody admitted.

"Okay well, would you have kept going if you could make it through The Dragon? Or the 1987th?" Felix looked at them both.

"I'm game." Peace nodded.

Melody shrugged, "Probably?" Then looked at Peace in confusion as Felix stepped forwards and moved them both into The Ladder, directly into The Acharaya's realms.

The Time Dilation in the Realms was different than before as they couldn't loop things in the same way but, there was still so much time dilation, that it wouldn't take more than a few minutes for them to have spent many epochs in there.

In the meantime, Felix Aether Tunneled himself back to Ked's Lab where, he met Rewdan, Eni and Art.

"It's been a while."

"Not for us." Rewdan shrugged.

"Fair enough. A lot has changed and most importantly, I have a new lab for you. If you're interested?"

Rewdan finally stopped tinkering with whatever he was doing and cocked a brow, "You have a lab for me?"

Warden, the building on the 2498th, what is it?

Was designed to keep The Realms growing and expanding once it was out of its testing phase. Never ended up being fully staffed though and we don't have the resources to keep creating realms.

Mind if I co-opt it for something else?

No.

"Yeah. There are already a bunch of my Mental World Residents in there now."

Rewdan nodded slow, hesitantly, "Let me see. I'll have to assess things…"

Felix nodded and moved him, Art and Eni, ignoring his surprised and hesitant expression, into the 2498th. He gave him a second or two, which was more like a large fraction of an epoch, then asked, How's the new lab? Up to snuff?

You can pry my cold dead corpse out of here.

Felix snorted, You're a Spirit and I made your body. That wouldn't be enough to get you out.

Exactly. I'm never leaving.

Trying to do a better job of paying attention to others and their needs, Felix asked Art, Art, you good there?

I am happy here.

Okay. Let Mark know if you need anything.

Thank you.

Warden, can we talk System?

What of it?

The System exists in The Realms? I used it.

It does.

How does that work? How did that happen?

The System is designed to spread and fragment itself into spaces. It managed to do so before the last testing phase was closed.

It doesn't seem to work though. The further into The Ladder you go, the more it starts to fail.

Some fragments haven't been updated since the beginning.

How would you feel about removing The System entirely from The Realms?

I would like that. It is impossible to work with.

Awesome. I have something that could use those fragments. We jus-

I can remove them.

In that case, Nucleus, can you overpower a System Fragment?

No but, I don't think I need to. I think I can simulate a technician.

Okay well, take your time with the first few at least. Felix said as he moved The Nucleus into The Realms.

With all that taken care of, Felix wanted to start working on some items for Peace and Melody when they returned but, he felt Space opening in the lab and turned towards it as Fin stepped out.

"You're back."

"I am."

Fin walked over and looked him up and down, shaking his head, "Is your body made of Mana now?"

Felix nodded, "It is."

"I guess I should have seen that one coming." He shook his head, "The Realms were productive for you then?"

"Very."

Fin walked around Felix and nodded to himself, "This should definitely be enough."

"Enough for what?" Felix looked over his shoulder at the Feline behind him.

"Not something I can talk about here." Fin said as he opened a portal and indicated Felix should follow.

Felix had other things he wanted to do but, Fin had been helpful to him in the past and he was curious so, he followed.

The other side of the portal didn't seem particularly significant and Felix realized that was the point when Fin then opened another portal from there. He then led Felix to a more permanent fixture, a single solitary box of a building as far as Felix could see. Inside of it, with his Matter Senses, there was nothing. Or rather, the entire box was warded in every way imaginable with spell work and enchantments that were almost impressive enough to rival Kryptos' work.

Felix could still feel enough though that he knew the inside of the building was empty. Instead, the space inside the building had been warped and twisted.

Despite that, Fin stepped in without hesitation and Felix followed behind him.

As Felix expected, stepping into the building teleported him from wherever they were, to somewhere else entirely. Instead of a planet though, Felix felt very much like he ended up in a realm or some other separate space. There was the distinct feeling of being moved but also passing through a spatial barrier.

On the other side, there was a circular room with non-descript, dark grey walls and concentric, glowing rings in the floor providing light.

Fin led Felix down the singular hall that led into the room and through what seemed to be the most polymathic and eclectic facility Felix had ever seen. His Mental World was completely diverse in environment and interests of the people within but, it was huge.

The facility Fin led him to was a building, a relatively normal sized compound at that. Each room they passed by though was a completely different. Some were alchemy labs, others were elixir labs, some were libraries, ritual rooms, warehouses, forges, bakeries, enchanting workshops and hundreds of others further down other adjacent halls.

Each one of the rooms, both the ones Felix had experience with and those he didn't, he could tell were far more advanced than typical. It wasn't just more advanced though, they seemed like more than that but Felix couldn't quite figure out what it was.

"What is this place?"

"This, is The Wizard's Sanctum."

Felix looked at him curiously as they flew down the hall, "I… the what?"

"You heard me." He responded without turning around.

Felix didn't bother continuing the line of questioning and just followed Fin to a large auditorium style room where there were already a dozen people standing behind the bench.

Fin joined Felix in front of the desk rather than behind it and Felix very much expected to be judged.

"Finley. You have called this meeting to present a candidate for the order."

"I have." Fin nodded as he hovered into the air and forwards, into the center of the half circle desk, "Well, kind of. I believe Felix more than qualifies for the order and has for some time but, his age prohibited him. Now that he's spent an exorbitant amount of time in the Realms of Annihilation, this is no longer an issue."

One of the people behind the desk, a woman with blonde hair sighed, "We've discussed whether or not time dilated areas should affect the age restriction before. We still haven't come to a consensus."

"I'm hoping the potential of this candidate will push us to do so. On that note, not only am I presenting him as a candidate for the order, but also as our Champion."

Felix raised his brows in surprise which, seemed to be one of the tamer reactions in the room. Most of the people behind the desk guffawed or gasped while the rest all reacted in some way, showing their surprise.

The blonde woman, once again, "We have yet to determine whether we are going to sponsor a champion at all."

"Yes well, I suspect he hopes his candidates potential will overcome our indecision?" An older looking, tired, man offered.

Fin nodded, "Precisely."

"Well, what have you to show with regards to his potential?" The older man asked.

Fin smiled and stepped to the side, gesturing back towards Felix, "I take it you have yet to inspect the candidate. Might I point out, his body is not quite as organic as it might appear at first glance?"

The people behind the desk leaned forwards and inspected Felix.

While Felix didn't want his every secret revealed to random people, a few things kept him there instead of walking away. First, he generally trusted Fin enough to give him the benefit of the doubt and they still had a contract that prevented Fin from revealing anything directly without his permission. Additionally, given how they got there, Felix was reasonably certain this was a secret society of some kind so, revealing something to them was far from revealing something to everyone.

Lastly, he was enticed by all the rooms in the building and how they had somehow managed to create enchantments and wards that were approaching the level of Kryptos' work.

Behind the desk, the people judging Felix looked confused. It took a few seconds for even a few of them to catch on and at that point, it was still only just a few,

The blonde woman frowned deeply, "Is your body made of Mana or are you simply coated in it?"

Felix, in response, reabsorbed the Mana from his arm to reveal nothing.

She, along with a number of others, gasped.

"Boy, what is your race?" A rather angry looking bearded man leaned over the desk.

Felix shrugged, "No idea. I can't check now but once I do, I can get back to you."

"What do you mean, you don't know and can't check?"

"I changed my race in The Realms and The System hasn't updated and figured everything out yet." Felix pointed at his necklace, using it as a simple lie knowing they couldn't really sense anything through his tight obscuring Aura, "This necklace is hiding me for now. I'm worried that if I let The System update, I won't be able to get into The Abyss."

Felix wasn't actually worried about that because he knew The Abyss had existed long before The System so tying the entry requirements to a System number didn't make any sense unless, The Abyss wasn't doing anything. It was entirely possible The System was preventing people from entering all on its own, for whatever reason.

If it wasn't The System though, he wasn't sure what would be stopping him from getting in and he was just hoping he could find a way through anyways which, he some plans for.

The angry looking man fell back into his chair and grumbled, accepting the answer.

"In that case, I believe we should start with the main requirement. Please present to us your Skill."

Felix looked at Fin for an explanation and he leaned in a little, "You need to present a Wizard level proficiency Skill."

"I don't have one."

"You don't have Mana Manipulation at Wizard proficiency?" The blonde asked in confusion.

"I don't have the Skill at all." Felix shrugged.

"That is not entirely true." Fin said, "You do have something at the Wizard proficiency level."

Felix frowned, "How do you know that?"

"I have a Skill that allows me to see the highest proficiency of someone I inspect." The blonde woman leaned forwards, "You do not have to present to us your Skill. I will vouch for your proficiency level."

"She saw me at the tournament I take it?" Felix asked Fin.

Fin nodded, "I suspected but she came to me on her own and asked if I knew you, considering my position and your status as a student."

"As for the candidate's potential role as the Champion of the Order, I do not believe there is a better candidate." The blonde said, looking to her colleagues for any disagreements.

The older man leaned forwards a little, "There is the other we discussed."

The angry man crossed his arms, "It is very clear he is the better candidate."

No one disagreed with him.

"Have we need for a Champion? We have previously discussed this and we generally do not involve ourselves in matters of Divine Politics."

"This affects the entire universe though. If we don't, things could end… unfavorably."

"If we do they could end unfavorably."

"If we let any of the other declared Champions Ascend as the Prophecy has described, we may lose everything we have worked towards."

"And you believe this candidate will be better?"

"You believe doing nothing will improve our odds?"

The blonde woman turned to Fin, "Is the candidate amenable to our goals?"

Fin turned to look at Felix as he answered, "His desires are similar to our own."

Felix looked at him questioningly but Fin just nodded.

"In that case, we should take this to a vote. All those in favor of the candidate as champion?"

A number of hand raised, the majority but not all.

"Any who are not in favor?"

This time, just a couple hands raised but, everyone in the room, other than Felix, gasped as one of them, was Felix's hand.

"As much as I appreciate the confidence, I'm not interested."

Fin looked back at him with a slack jaw, "You understand this position would simply result in our helping and assisting you to become more powerful?"

"It would also make me beholden to you. I have no interest in that."

The blonde woman smiled ever slightly, "In that case, I believe the results of the last vote can be taken for his candidacy to the order. Does anyone have any objections?"

Whether still too stunned or they just didn't object, no one said anything.

"Finley, you will act as the member's liaison?"

Fin nodded, "Thank you for your time."

With the vote over, Felix followed Fin back out of the room and down a few halls into what he assumed, was Fin's personal workshop.

It was a combination of a ritual room and just a plain office. There was room for rituals on the ground with material to craft permanent version with conductive threads. There were also massive Mana Boards, like the ones in Fin's classroom and office at Eramith and each one, was covered in complex Spell work that Felix didn't even know Fin was even capable of.

"I must say I am rather shocked you denied Championship." Fin shook his head in surprise.

"What are your goals here?"

"With regards to a Champion and the universe, to keep everything as it is." Fin stated, "We fear all other candidates exist to bring one specific God into power. Rhonan has no champion himself so any other choice will shake the balance. This has always resulted in massive loss in the past."

"So you don't want things to ever change?"

"No." Fin shook his head quickly, "We have orchestrated change throughout history however, gradual change from the shadows has always turned out better than a large shake up."

"So you're an order of people with at least one Wizard Proficiency Skill that tries to better society from the shadows?"

"No." He responded immediately, "The first part is correct but we exist simply to aid each-other. Provide resources and knowledge. You would be surprised, or perhaps you wouldn't, how much overlap there is between high level concepts and sometimes even techniques between disparate disciplines."

"So what changes have you orchestrated then?"

"Nothing you have been around for and nothing grand. Simple things like easing the rise of a specific empire over another or helping to prevent catastrophe here and there. No major historical events."

"How many members are there?"

"A few hundred."

"Anyone else I know that's a member?"

"Rhonan. My wife, Fen."

"What's Rhonan's Skill at Wizard level proficiency?"

Fin shrugged, "I don't know. As with you, you do not have to present your Skill. If I may ask though… What is the Skill you have at Wizard level proficiency? I believed you didn't have Mana Manipulation so I was surprised when Tithesh mentioned you did have an ability at Wizard."

"You're still bound by that contract?"

Fin nodded.

"My innate."

Fin's jaw dropped, "I've never even heard of an innate at a high proficiency at… all."

Felix shrugged, "System identified it back in the Tutorial."

"I guess… given your new race, it would be essential."

"It's also not really something I trained up a ton. I mean I did but, not to the point where anyone who did the same training would end up where I am."

"Of course not. You still have practiced more than most practice anything, from my understanding."

"Maybe. I don't feel like I spend that much time on it but… Melody's mentioned before that I never really stop practicing something, even if it's just Spells behind my back during a conversation."

"Are you training something now?"

"Yeah. It's just not behind my back anymore. That caused problems with triggering Danger Sense Skills. Now I have a Soul Space and other places to practice things. Even if it's not one to one, it's better than nothing."

Fin nodded, "And now that you've spent as long as you have in The Realms, you have practiced your Mana Manipulation, whether or not you realize it, far more than nearly everyone."

Felix shrugged in response, "I guess."

"Well, as a new member, allow me to show you the facility."

Felix nodded and followed along as Fin showed him the offices of a number of members of the order. That was less interesting to him. The library and other repositories of materials were more interesting. Even more interesting than that, was learning that the order was designed so that if someone who was a Wizard Proficiency Baker needed some exotic ingredient, an Wizard Proficiency Merchant could help them acquire it.

There was also a portal hub with a massive list of locations throughout the universe with subtly hidden portals they could travel to and from. There were portal destinations outside of the Portal Hub in Telviras, portals to Osgard and many other Divine facilities along with millions of locations Felix didn't know anything about.

Finally, Fin showed Felix to an empty room, "This, is your workshop. You are free to do with it, anything you please."

Felix nodded, "Thank you."

Fin nodded in response then left. As soon as he did, Felix began altering his plans around the facility.

The best way for him to stay under the radar an unnoticed, was to make himself seem less interesting. While he could try and avoid doing anything interesting, someone would inevitably see or realize something eventually so instead, he was opting to make everything else around him more interesting.

Melody had the right idea by using Adaline to make it look like she was the reason they were progressing so quickly but just her, wasn't enough.

Using Nova and his own Matter Control, Felix created a permanent ritual in his workshop in The Wizard's Order which created an odd looking glowing, vertical ovoid in the air.

Then, Felix opened an Aether Tunnel and moved himself directly to his team's shared bedroom in the Arena on Eramith. From there, he used his Matter and Anima Senses to locate Ayred who, was conveniently not in The Abyss, and Blinked to him.

Ayred jumped back, "What the fuck… Oh, Felix. Hey. Uh, could you maybe not do that in the future? Or at least… warn me somehow?"

Felix reached his hand out and offered Ayred a tiny object, "Sure, put this in your ear."

"The fuck is that?"

"It's Mark. A node in my distributed Mana Computer System. Let's me communicate with you and anyone else on the network so, Melody, Peace, Cobalt and so on. Also has access to everything I know."

"Uh… Melody has one?"

"Yes. I gave it to her before she went into The Realms so the knowledge inside could help her."

Ayred nodded then took it and tilted his head to the side, dropping it into his ear. Righting his head again he shook it to see if it would stay then shrugged when it did, "What now?"

I need a favor.

Ayred flinched a little as the voice appeared in his mind, Can you… hear me?

Yes.

Uh… Okay… What do you need?

How attached are you to your alias?

Pretty attached I guess. I like it, it has a lot of value for what I do.

I want to co opt it to make you seem like one of the most powerful organizations in the multiverse.

You want to what?

Felix explained what he needed Ayred to do and, by the end of it, Ayred fully agreed.

Before implementing the first part of that plan though, Felix created a puppet of Mana within The Acharaya's Realm. He didn't find The Acharaya in the main nexus but rather the first Realm he checked, the one with the once ruined city.

Now though, many of his Residents still occupied the city and they had restored every part of it he could sense.

The Acharaya had a building that seemed to be dedicated to him and within it, Felix conveniently found Melody and Peace along with Arassagul and Velerena.

Entering the building, Felix found all of them sitting around a table, everyone except The Acharaya eating a meal.

The first thing he took notice of, other than Arassagul being rather calm, was that both Melody and Peace's Spirit were now actually significant. They had clearly spent time to grow their Spirit and now, it eclipsed everyone's other than the big three Gods in strength and Felix's in the Systemverse, and now Kerix.

The second thing he took notice of, was that it wasn't just Arassagul that seemed calmer. Velerena also seemed more jovial than when he had last seen her. Felix didn't normally notice those kinds of things, or rather he pointedly ignored them but, the difference was too obvious not to notice.

Melody noticed him immediately but was wrapped up in a conversation with Arassagul.

He walked over and took a seat, Peace slapping him on the shoulder and nodding to him before getting back to his conversation with Velerena. Felix left him be and turned to The Acharaya, "How are they doing?"

It is rare that the path of a universe itself is altered and yet, I see no other conclusion.

"I agree. I wasn't even around back then but everything I've seen about the past leads me to that conclusion. At first I thought our universe was just old. Now, I know it was either drained or is being drained by The System or something else."

It is not impossible that the universe is simply old however, this is not the path an old universe takes.

"Really? What happens?"

The Qal'Dari discovered most universes follow a path that leads them to expand then collapse back, elastically. The collapse results in an explosion and the contents are spread throughout the void between, some elements ending up on other paths.

"So maybe this one just hasn't started collapsing yet? Snapping back to a smaller size?"

It had already begun before I entered The Ladder.

"Oh. Well that's concerning."

It is not a path I wish to observe further.

"Because that basically narrows it down to something or someone is messing with the universe. Yeah, I can definitely see not wanting to be here anymore."

You however, walk a different path.

"I am curious. I'm not at that level for sure but… I will at least look into it."

A fool takes a blind step. A coward takes no step. A wise man takes a cautious step.

"I know. I'll move The Ladder before I do anything too suicidal."

Felix turned to look at Melody now that her conversation was done, "How are things going?"

She smiled, "It's great." Then, through Mark in his mind, I need a break.

You've made lots of progress.

Yeah… I feel a little weird about… knowing how stunted everyone else in our universe is but… It's not like they can all do this.

No. We don't have the Anima for that.

I still have a ways to go but, I need a break from here.

Peace, you want to stay or take a break?

Either. If she needs a break, I can return with you guys.

Felix then turned back to The Acharaya, "I need Peace and Melody for something outside."

He nodded, Your paths are woven.

Felix took that as confirmation that he didn't need them to stay then pulled the two of them directly out into the real world.

Melody, I'm trying to be better about asking and considering other people's opinions as I'm not the best at caring.

Okay, that seems like a good idea.

Any issues with my wiping out The Ravens?

You're going to what?

I need them gone.

Ayred's going to like that…

He did.

You told him?

This is part of a greater plan.

She sighed, It's not like they're all bad and you really shouldn't just go around wiping out entire organizations but… I guess if your going to get rid of any of them…

Is that a yes?

Is it necessary?

No.

Do you have to kill them?

Not necessarily.

She sighed again and shook her head, Yeah. It's a yes. Avoid killing them if you can. They cause enough trouble.

Good. you want to come with or you going to stay here?

She shook her head, I'm a lot stronger but I would just hold you back.

Felix looked at Peace who just shrugged, Same.

He nodded to the two of them then Blinked back to the Wizard's Order facility and used one of the discrete portals to arrive on the same planet as The Raven's Nest. He quickly flew over to the building then, began casting Spells that created what looked like tall, completely black, lanky humans with a scythe in each hand. Shadow beings that were really just a manipulation of light and some Arcane Blades.

Dozens of the Shadow Reapers appeared, each one moving around the outside of The Raven's Nest to a different point.

Once Felix had created over a hundred of them, the assault began.

Each one moved through the wall with ease and on the inside, they tracked down and kidnapped the Ravens and customers within, where possible. If they had to fight back and kill, they did. Otherwise, the Reapers each opened an Aether Tunnel for Felix to reach through and pull the person into The Realms.

Then, they took the items which, weren't all that valuable to Felix anymore but it was essential that he took them for what he had planned next, to work.

In total, Felix's raid took a total of a few minutes to clear out the entire building then, he opened an Aether Tunnel off the planet. Everything else was already in place so all Felix had to do, was use Aether Tunnels to deliver some packages then, he waited.

It didn't take long for his packages to be received at which point, things started to get a little hectic.

Felix joined Melody and Peace in the participants area of the stands so he could watch as the show began. There were no events currently happening but the ever present screens that showed the events within The Abyss were more than enough entertainment to keep a massive crowd in the stadium.

Then, participants started to flood into the arena and towards The Abyss. The crowd began to notice and murmur amongst themselves but no one really knew what was going on. Even Peace and Melody were in the dark and looked at Felix for an explanation.

He just ignored them and kept watching though.

The participants flooding into The Abyss began to appear on the screens and as they did, it became painfully obvious something had changed. Specifically, they were all much stronger than the last time they had left and it wasn't always obvious it was because of an item but, most of the time it was.

Once the crowd was properly riled up, questioning everyone around them about what was happening and some of them panicking, due to bets they had placed or for some other reason, a loud silence washed over the crowd.

All sound was consumed in a wave out from the center of the arena and immediately drew everyone's attention towards the man at the center. He wore a billowing black cloak along with black smoke that began to spread and grow throughout the arena.

"I am The Deraav'n Shadow Dealer and welcome, to my gauntlet."

The crowd's murmuring visually escalated as they stood, their mouths opened wider and moved faster but no noise was produced whatsoever.

"I have already distributed items my Shade's have collected to worthy candidates. Those who rise quickly will be rewarded with even better relics. Now watch, as my relics forge a new path for this universe. The Gods aren't the only ones that can influence our path."

Then, the man was gone in a flash of light and with him, so was the deafening silence that had drowned the arena.

"Really?"

Felix looked over at Melody who was frowning in disgust, "That was the best speech you could come up with?"

Felix shrugged, "I left most of it up to Ayred."

She scoffed, "There's a reason he's a Shadow Dealer and stays out of the limelight."

"Fair enough. I think it got the point across though."

"What did you give them?"

"Mostly weapons and armor that kill things and make them move fast. Need them to move through The Realms as fast as possible."

She nodded, "What about Adaline?"

"She hasn't gotten back yet but I have something specific for her."

Melody nodded, "And what about little old me? You did get me something, right?"

Felix sighed and shook his head then handed her a folded up set of clothes and Peace, an orb, "Here. I set Adaline's things somewhere she'll find them. Let's head into The Abyss too so we get washed out in the crowd."

Melody excitedly took the clothes and flicked them outwards. The clothes weren't made of Asphellum, which was too heavy, but instead made from fibers of the crystalline World Tree in Felix's Pocket Home woven together with some custom engineered silks. It was elegant and stylish and beautiful all at once, not something Felix had contributed to, but definitely something he could appreciate.

Her excited and giddy smile immediately soured upon seeing it though, "Gross. What the fuck is this?" She held it out to Felix's face, "You expect me to wear this? It doesn't even let me show off any of my best assets!"