The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

Blood dripped, making small and sharp noises against the clean green floor, originating from Oscar's hand, which held his bulwark so tightly the knuckles looked as if they would burst out of his flesh. A fiery rage erupted and spilled out the windows of his obsidian eyes, a dangerous glint that sought to annihilate everything in his sight. Oscar stepped forward, inching closer to the dragon gate, only able to see complete darkness within.

Despite his overflowing anger, Oscar kept his mind cool and held his bulwark, tightening his stance to protect himself from harm. There was no chance of retreat as he could not carry his two companions with him and the cellar door remained shut. Onward, he went, for the only way was through the darkness behind the dragon gates.

Step by step, Oscar's feet rang clearly on the green floor until he paused in front of the darkness. For some reason, the light could not penetrate through, as if a barrier existed to keep light out. But Oscar bravely stepped into the darkness, activating his Prinstyct and Eliren Breaker for good measure.

"Brave one. You did not falter. Even now, your breathing is steady, but your blood is hot, and your heart pumps faster than the norm. Is it fear? No, I sense anger." The strange flat voice without any highs and lows or emotions continued to speak. Its words came across as insult and mockery to Oscar, who flared his nostrils and clenched his teeth.

"You made me kill my parents and the woman I love. And you have shut the way out; what good would it be to fear at this time?" Oscar answered. His voice called out to the darkness.

Oscar looked down at his feet, unable to see them because of how dark it was. However, he felt no discomfort, and the sounds of his footsteps reached his ears, letting him know it was fine. But he was wary and considered the possibility he had entered another illusion.

"I know what you are thinking. The answer is no." The flat voice answered Oscar's unspoken thoughts. "This is reality. No illusion. Please stand by."

"Stand by?" Oscar readied himself for an attack, but the lights suddenly turned on, making him squint as his vision distorted from the sudden change. His hands held to the bulwark, and his feet remained steady, not allowing a moment of opening.

Once his vision returned, his eyes took in an amazing sight. There was a sculpture of a large dragon, like the one engraved on the gate, except it was massive and spiraled down a hole with its head as the entrance and body as the stairs. Oscar moved silently and carefully while checking his blindspots because the unknown voice still had not revealed itself.

"Show yourself!" Oscar shouted, his voice echoing down the pit of the spiraling dragon. Suddenly, he heard a low hum, like a mellow and slow buzz of a bee, that made it relaxing to hear. Turning with his bulwark facing toward the source, Oscar could not help but stare weirdly.

A floating head. Not a real human head, but one made of stone with a green glow in its eyes, floating about with a body and starting at Oscar. "Greetings. There is no need for violence. Welcome to the Dragon Vault of Oen Fortress."

Oscar did not lower his guard and shouted, "Are you the one who put me in that horrible illusion?"

The floating head tilted as the glow in its eyes brightened, but suddenly it fell to the floor with a loud clang. "Sorry for the sudden fall. Can you pick me up and place me on the table?"

Not willing to come close, Oscar stayed where he stood, watching the stone head squirm and roll around. "Are you trying to trick me?"

"None of the sort. I am simply quite depleted, only barely able to hang on. It takes me a while to gather enough Ein to float." The head responded. "By the way, my name is Gol-4."

"Are you a construct?" Oscar asked.

"Yes, I am. I mean no harm. Please assist me." Gol-4 seemed to be pleading, but its voice remained as monotone as ever.

"No harm?" Grinding his teeth, Oscar slammed his foot right by Gol-4's head with bloodshot eyes. The unspeakable things he had to do in the illusion were still fresh in his mind. "What about that wretched illusion?"

"If you place me on the table, I shall explain." Gol-4 persisted in its directive to return to the table.

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Oscar stared at the construct for a moment before picking it up and placing it on the table on the base of its neck. He stood, looking down at it. "Now explain. What is this place, and why was I put in that illusion."

"This place, as I said before, is the Dragon Vault. It contains the treasures and secrets of the Divine Stone Clan. The illusion is a safety mechanism that activates once the gates open to anyone without authorization."

"Divine Stone Clan?" Oscar had never heard of this clan, even in the Pavilion records spanning a thousand.

"Times change, and history is forgotten. As new overlords arise, the glories of the old are washed away."

Perhaps it was a trick of the eyes, but Oscar could have sworn he saw Gol-4 make a sad expression.

"The Divine Stone Clan was a vast power that ruled the entire Farsky continent long ago. By my calculations of how many years have passed, approximately four thousand years ago."

"Four thousand!" Oscar's jaw nearly dropped. "You're saying Ashen Grove has been around for four thousand years and even before that?"

"Ashen Grove? What is that?" Gol-4 asked.

"The secret realm we're in."

"Incorrect. The real name of this realm is Stonehaven." Gol-4 said.

"Wasn't Stonehaven the name of the town in the illusion?" Oscar recalled the fake Celestina telling him the name of their town.

"The illusion was unclear due to the wearing of time and my adjustments. However, this is concerning. If you said the realm is now a grove, it must be covered in trees and vines." Gol-4 inferred.

Oscar nodded, to which Gol-4's eyes flickered.

"Then the Divine Stone Clan is no more as I had expected. Seeing how you have no idea about who they are and the renaming of this realm."

"What happened? What were those vines and trees? The people said 'it'." Oscar wanted to know more. The questions and desire for knowledge burning in his heart lessened a bit of the anger in him.

"The Forest Heart Clan. They came long ago, intent on war against the Divine Stone Clan. The war lasted for many years, 237 to be exact." Gol-4 responded. "The 'it' refers to the spreading forest that originated from their power."

237 years? Oscar was not shocked at such a large number because Exalts lived longer and could keep fighting for years. He read about a hundred-year war in the past that made the Empire the powerful entity it was now.

"Enough of questions for now. How do I get them out of the illusion?" Oscar remembered his friends were still stuck.

"Normally, the illusion's purpose was to trap the person, replace their memories, and entice them with family and love. The way to escape was what you did, kill them." Gol-4 paused as his eyes stopped glowing. Then they started to glow again. "As thousands of years passed while I slept in hibernation and ran on barely any Ein to keep persisting, I adjusted the illusion to allow memory retention and to the last days of the Oen Fortress to start a loop."

"Why couldn't you shut the illusion off entirely?" Oscar shouted, holding the head and slamming it on the table, but no visible damage showed on Gol-4.

"I do not possess the power to shut it off, only a few adjustments by tweaking the mechanism. You have the power to shut it off." Gol-4 trembled until it started to float up. "Follow me."

Oscar followed Gol-4, who spluttered with a hiss of blue smoke, Ein escaping its neck. The weak Gol-4 led Oscar toward a strange device, a block slanted to face Oscar with a large green orb embedded in the middle. Many patterns, resembling the formation patterns within a core, were laid out all over the strange block, but all centered and led towards the green orb.

"The patterns you see here are all the information about the illusion. I could only tweak the pattern from time to time with my meager power, thus changing the parameters of the illusion." Gol-4 dropped to the floor, running out of Ein to support his levitation. "Destroy the green orb, and the illusion will come undone. But be careful not to cause collateral damage to the vault."

Oscar smiled and summoned his deer anima. It was enough as long as he could get some form of revenge on the illusion. Although the creators were long gone, this control block remained and became his new target.

Riding atop his deer anima, Oscar pulled back to get a running start. Once in position, his deer anima readied itself but scraped its hoof against the floor. Suddenly, Oscar's Ein burst out, the full power of his peak Lower Elite Exalt burning brightly and enveloping him and his deer anima.

'Adamasreis'

'Treble Lance'

A silver lance formed around Oscar's arm, and two others formed on his deer anima, wrapped by its twisting antlers. Oscar's face showed signs of struggle to contain the trifecta of spells and the sheer amount of Ein that flowed onto their sharp tips, but it was more bearable than before.

"Go!"

At this command, his deer anima took a heavy stomp, leaning its body forward, and shot across the floor of the Dragon Vault, becoming a blur of silver and blue. Oscar thrust his lances forward and clashed against the green orb. Sparks of green static flew out as Oscar struggled to push his lances forward.

'Shattering Wave'

The destructive wave of Reis spilled from his lances and dispersed the static barrier surrounding the green orb, allowing Oscar to plunge his lances deep into it. Cracks formed across its surface until it shattered into countless shards, spilling all over. The patterns across the control device dimmed until it turned dark.

Oscar got off his deer anima, panting and gasping for air. The 'Treble Lance' was fine on its own, but using it with 'Shattering Wave' made it all the more straining. But he chuckled and stared out the door at Austin and Erik.

"Huh?" Erik snapped awake, rubbing his head.

Austin also got up, staring at his trembling hands. "What happened?"

"Illusion," Oscar shouted, making the two stare at him.

"Oscar?" Austin and Erik looked confused.

"Come in. The vault is open." Oscar clung to his deer anima for support, but his eyes gleamed with the prospect of treasure.

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