Azimuth: The Elden Throne (New Version)

Chapter 403 The Ancient past

?Peace!

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[DING]

[Before the Red Sea, a new man was born, under the eyes of thousands, he emerged victorious, and with it, the desire for growth beyond anything anyone had ever seen]

[To grow, he will lead his people in an insurgency against those that used them, conquerer the lands in his name as he and everyone else were too tired of being under their tyrannical hands]

[So that one day all could live with their bellies full and without fear]

Like before, a series of notifications played by his ears as they manifested before his eyes.

This was the start of Balthazar's tale, where would it lead? Dale was excited to find out.

Just how much did his actions and self influence the life of a nobody? Would it lead him to greatness just as Maltur once achieved, or would it lead him to suffering and mediocrity?

Regardless of his end, Dale would be there to witness it all.

[A new future has been written; a new fate is being inscribed upon the stars]

[They shine, accepting the birth of a new tale, one of betrayal, growth, comradeship, wars, conquest, and honor]

[Its end would be of a Golden Fist, a Silvery prestige; it was what they declared, high up on the constalations]

"Urg!"

The world began to twist and turn...

Dale's vision suddenly began to spiral, and like before... No, worse than before, as he was injured, Dale felt immense nausea.

He was being sucked somewhere into his story, the life Balthazar could've achieved in a past that has already ended.

[A new story is being sung, witness the birth…]

Maybe it was intentional all along, before Dale even had the chance to hear the rest of the notifications, the vortex pulled him back from this moment, throwing him onto a chaotic spiral of memories and experiences.

What should he call this space?... A memory well? The core of this "Simulation"?

Just who was capable of creating and orchestrating such an unnecessarily complex System?

/FLASH!/

/FLASH!/

"?!"

It was impossible to prepare oneself for this surreal experience.

Like before, his mind was stuffed and assaulted with moments and experiences of Balthazar's life.

What happened after he defended the Fortress, how he convinced the Lord to send supplies to the Barbarians, how he trained afterward, their death march towards the Nobles who conspired with their downfall, and their successive beheading...

It wasn't just mere memories; they were HIS memories and experiences.

He felt in his skin as Balthazar trained for three weeks, day in and night, following the Barbarian Invasion and his consequential development of a technique...

Upon seeing it in action, they have a Title, Balthazar of the Golden Fist.

It was as if his mind had been set free; he kept recalling the memories from the debts of his mind; it felt as if he had been there, had done those things, that he was the so-called "Golden Fist."

He saw himself standing atop a reformed and restructured Fortress, gazing down at the hill where thousands lost their lives one day, now clean and peaceful; it was as if nothing had ever happened over there.

He saw himself sitting at the tip of a mountain, pondering over something of great importance, only to finally realize it and return, having achieved a new understanding of himself and the world around him.

He saw himself rallying soldiers upon news of a great catastrophe; it was

then he made the choice of his life, leading his soldiers outside of the Fortress and declaring their independence; this was the beginning of Balthazar's insurrection and their fight against the world for the wrongs they forced them to go through.

Dale witnessed it all; he understood them all. There were no more answers, all those years of preparations... Envisioning a man of great power...

He had now surpassed him, there was nothing to him back, it was time to stand for themselves, he knew it was time.

Then... A man walked alone at the edge of a great precipice...

He wore an exceptionally decorated piece of plate armor, together with a long sword hanging on his back.

He reached towards the edge and sat down, gazing at the world beyond, he looked at the passing clouds, seemingly seeing his own life reflected in them.

With little reactions, he took off his helmet, revealing an old, yet still healthy man.

There were a few light scars on his face, this wasn't just an old man, it was one that had gone through many life and death experiences.

This was Balthazar, the man who fought against an Empire for its people, the man who colluded with Barbarians for he saw Humanity others could not perceive in them.

He was the one who pursued strength; he was the one who redefined its meaning and reached what many would call the end of the road.

But here he was, and it was now that he... I realized that the end of the road wasn't a mere stop but a fall toward a greater, broader world.

The end of the path was no end at all, it was merely the end of the path in this world, this was how much this world could carry me, from here on out, my path stood beyond its grounds, at a land far beyond what others could conceive and perceive...

... For his people, he would be remembered for his actions and efforts. From a nobody to now, his life had been one without regrets.

Standing here at the edge of the world and the end of the journey, Balthazar took a step forward.

/Shine.../

His body shone with golden light as the armor around his body shattered to pieces, becoming glistering shards in the wind.

Like a phoenix, he flew onto the clouds, vanishing, leaving behind his myth and fables...

Taking a step onto the beyond.

[DING]

[Your time has come to an end, and the memory of Balthazar of the Golden Body has come to an end]

As Dale pondered over his own choices, the wind in his ears and the air in his lungs, the chime of a bell pulled him back from the glistering golden lights, causing him to gasp deeply as he felt his heart beat with vigorous force.

[...]

Meanwhile, the system began its narration, but like before, he was having difficulty paying attention to its words.

Give me some time to breath and... Calm down. He thought in frustration and pain as he raised his head to look at the blue windows.

[DING]

[A nameless draftee forced to be someone he wasn't rose to be much greater than he could ever be, the fable of a tool who became a monarch of Nobility, a God of the people]

[He who understood the pains of Wars and the sacrifices of the common people sought to create a world without them, a world where nations did not force their people to fight in conflicts they did not sign in for]

[Brutal but patient, merciless but lenient, a Commander in the eyes of the people, a friend and companion to those he led, he would usurp from the old Kings and establish a new regimen, one where men did not rule from blood but where chosen to be there based on merit and the voices of the people]

[By your hand, the tale of Balthazar, the one whose body's burned brighter than the sun has been born]

[The first to gaze down at the sea of clouds, Balthazar did not adhere to a second name as he believed one should prove to be Noble and not be born one]

[The story of a man who wished for peace amidst a hundred wars, his story is clad in the hypocrisy of man, but it was, at the end of the day, a Human tale]

[Following his departure, Balthazar of the Golden Body would be revered for ages to come, being given the name of Welmion and deified for bringing peace to all of the lands]

[The birthplace... all Myths, this... the end of the... Era]

As he reached the end of the extensive log, Dale's mind began to slow downandthe world beforehim,fractured.Dissipating and darkening before vanishing altogether.

He suddenly saw himself back in his room, clutching onto his head as he breathed quickly, taking in breaths with great pain as his chest weaved in and out rapidly.

"Da… Dammit... No-Not this sh....Huff... Shit again..."

"My head hurts… So damn... Much.."

...

Overtime, the pain lessened, and he rested his head on his pillow, trying to go over what he learned today:

'It's the same as before... I can't remember much.'

'Still, there's much I can remember and infer...'

'Balthazar's life was shorter than Maltur's mostly because he did not die from "old age" and instead chose to step beyond the boundaries of his world in search of the end of his path...'

'Maltur became a Ruler as he wished to become greater; Balthazar distanced himself from it as he pursued strength and enlightenment.'

'Their paths may have started in similar ways, wars, conflicts, growth, training, and so on, but as they grew in power, they diverged.'

'Maltur chose to become the center of the world and create a Dynasty that would last for ages to come...'

'While Balthazar pushed for something like a Ministry to be erected, for a world where people of ability rose to their respective positions while under the eyes of the people.'

'It seems to be like a rudimentary form of Democracy... Not to say it's bad, but it isn't better either.'

'There are problems with all forms of governance, and at the end of the day, it always boils down to their rulers and the people around them.'

'Anyhow, there is only one thing I wanted to go through before diving onto the last memory, which is by far the shortest of them all.'

'Balthazar's memory was tagged as "... of an Ancient Warrior", meanwhile, Maltur's was tagged as "... of a Coliseum Slave"... And there is evidence that both of them happened within the same world, merely due to a single line of text...'

'In Maltur's story, it was said that the Empire he built would stir the birth of a New Era. Unfortunately, I couldn't hear its name, but it doesn't matter as now I know the Continent's name, Welmion.'

'And somehow... The people gave Balthazarthat verysame name as he was deified as a God... It can't be a coincidence.'

'It could merely be word-play, thepeople may have given Balthazar the name of the Continent to symbolize something, it'snot like you don't have people with such surnames in the real world...'

'But could it be so simple?... What if the reason the Continent is called Welmion is because of Balthazar? It could make sense given he is an "Ancient Warrior",thus someone who existed in the distant past.'

'However, if that's the case, it means that the memory I first went through already knew of his existence, which makes no sense given I only just achieved this possibility... Unless...'

'It was meant to be from thebegining.'

'... I already traveled back in time... Either that or I experienced future events and was pulled back to the present.'

'If I can experience it once, why can't other beings not? And I think it would be ridiculous for the ones in charge of the System to be unaware of it.'

'There are some other possibilities...Like the fact that all along, I wasn't "creating" new memoriesbutinsteadI was compelled to act that way...Thus reaching an end that is actually reality.'

'But that would contradictwiththe notifications I received at the end of Maltur's story.'

'The other possibility would be that history can be interpreted in many ways, and maybe, under the eyes of the Gods, all possibilities, be them new or old, are worthy of being used to refer to the same event in time.'

'As for them, everything that happened and willhappenedcould exist in a singular momentof timeandhence, categorizing them would be...'

"... What am I even thinking about?"

Dale stood in a daze for a moment before shaking his head, finding his actions so farridiculuous.

"I'm trying to make sense of this system again, Ialready told myselfitsan effortlessendeavour."

'Nonetheless... At the end of the day,itsa scary thing to think about...'

/Growl.../

Dale's stomach growled, itwas time to fetch some food.

Speaking of that... What time was it?

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Notes

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