The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

The air was stifling. Oscar could only gasp for what little his lungs could take in, too little as his cheeks blued deeper every second. Dark storms brewed overhead, and the last warmth in his blood disappeared, vanishing along with the light of the two suns. It started with a shake in his chest, spreading to the tips of his toes, brittleness and weakness all over his body. Oscar fell to his knees, digging his pale fingers into the dirt of the hill. Next to him, Avril had done the same, the blueish-gray hue on her frost burns deepening.

The good mood he had earlier was gone. He was celebrating with Avril when they saw Erden diving into the pool, thanks to Ruvin's generosity and respect. It should have all been smooth sailing from there, but Ness soared into the air and unleashed her anger, the Ein changing the weather itself as if nature answered to her emotions, churning with rumbling as fierce as the fury she showed. Bearing against the entire might of the King Exalt, Oscar could do nothing more than lie down, cold like a corpse, an ant waiting to be stepped on.

"Ness!" Almos screamed, his great boar form rising from his hill. From his voice, the storms split, sunlight peering in through the great gashes wounding the clouds. Feeling the pressure lift thanks to Almos's roar, Oscar exhaled a sigh of relief, his heart beating normally again. His hand grasped Avril's arm, and her hand swung to his waist, pulling each other up.

"What have you done to my Ruvin? Did you put something in his mind? There's no way he would ever betray my trust!" Ness screeched.

"His decision is his own. And like a true beast, he fought his heart out. Rather than be mad, you should be glad we have two outstanding beasts in this group." Almos shined from snout to tail, his fur swaying like flames of brilliant white light as if a sun had come down to Talos.

Ness responded with the same shadowy visage as Ruvin, except hers continued to spew out a dark haze. Volumes of darkness spilled over the air with her in the center. He suspected if anything entered or even touched this darkness, they would be vaporized, corroded into dust. Oscar compared this scene to the legendary battles in many books, a shining sun against the devouring darkness in a titanic war of myths. But this was not a myth; it was a reality happening in front of him. On all the hills and the shores, every other beast bowed, digging their heads into the dirt, clearly fearful and in awe of the two King Exalts.

As Ness and Almos were about to fight, Hons roared, and a powerful wind expelled from his mouth and turned into a hurricane. A wall of endlessly turning winds divided Ness and Almos and continued into the horizon. Beating his chest, Hons stared grimly at his counterparts. "If you dare to ruin this ritual, I will not hesitate to let our great Primaere know of your insolences. Stand down, Almos and Ness. Don't force my hand against you two."

"That deer does not deserve that spot!" Ness shouted, her voice trembling with ire.

"What's done is done. That is not for you to decide. It happened, and so it shall be. If you still have objections, go into the pools and drag Erden out. Try it in front of me." Hons growled. Ness snapped her beak several times, stared a deadly gaze at Oscar, and retreated to her hill. Her brief glance made Oscar feel like he was at death's door. Ness was a fearsome beast.

It seemed Ness's anger was withheld for now and would no longer cause an issue. Oscar heaved another sigh of relief and patted Avril's shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"Better. I thought I was going to die." Avril leaned her body forward and held herself up by grasping her knees. Her face was flushed red and sweating bullets. The power of a King Exalt had taken its toll on her.

Concerned, Oscar retrieved a towel from his space pocket and handed it to her. He dropped it on her face and told her to dry herself. Seeing her return to normal, Oscar turned his attention to the Pools of Ascension, seeing Erden within its colorful waters somehow. He learned before that the Pools of Ascension usually took a day or two for a beast to evolve, but how grueling it was. Waiting seemed to take forever as each second only hastened his impatience and worry, his head and chest getting more uncomfortable.

Hours later, the two suns descended, and the moon greeted the Lands of Zeret with its pale light. The waters of the Pools of Ascension gave off an iridescent sheen of blue, red, and yellow, brighter than the moon itself, the light outlining every beast gathered much clearer than before.

"Oscar…do we sleep here?" Avril rubbed her eyes and yawned, dozing off as her head nodded down repeatedly, only to be snapped back up as she kept herself awake.

Oscar caressed her head and sighed, "As an Exalt, you should be fine without sleep for some time."

"That doesn't mean we don't need sleep. She feels tired after watching Erden fight. It was too nerve-wracking. Mother always said good sleep is needed." Avril droned off as her voice fell into a whisper. Her body wobbled around, and Oscar sat down, allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder. Her relaxed breaths and soft snores soon tickled his shoulder as she fell asleep.

"Really? You are a handful." Oscar shuffled around to give Avril a more comfortable spot to rest. Exalts could stay awake for a long time, but that didn't mean they didn't need sleep. As Avril put it, sleep was the best to refresh and keep one's mind from losing itself.

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Noticing someone's eyes on him, Oscar glanced up to see Hons giving him a thumbs-up. The brutal and domineering Exalt was nowhere to be found, replaced by a teasing old gorilla. Oscar's eyes twitched from the irritation from seeing the sly smile on the King Exalt, but he could do nothing, only turning his gaze away.

"Erden, you idiot." Oscar delved into his connection to Erden in his mind. He could only see Erden's mind was in a fog, a deep haze obscuring Oscar from finding a hint of rational or conscious thought. Whatever this evolution was, Erden was lost, unable to center his mind. Oscar pulled himself out of it before he got lost in it. Sweat beaded down his brow and trickled to his chin, and his breathing grew heavier.

Even he could not see what was happening to Erden's mind during the evolution through the Soulbond. Tremors reverberated to his fingertips, a chill from the soul, not of the flesh. To be lost in that fog of incoherence, Oscar could not imagine, having only gotten a taste of it before he retreated.

Suddenly, a tug tightened around his arm, knocking him out of his stupor. By his side, Avril had somehow wrapped her arms around his, hugging it tighter as if responding to the chill in his thoughts. Sighing, Oscar rubbed the bridge of his nose and shook his head to focus. What on earth was he doing with these needless worries? He had to only wait for the time to arrive and greet Erden with a smile, regardless of how it might turn out.

This time, the moon completed its journey through the vast sky to the other side of the horizon, and the two suns peeked their heads up. As the two suns traveled up and to the west, some of the Exalt Beasts, mainly the ones in the shallow waters for Elite and Apprentice Exalts, began to move, their bodies and eyes twitching slightly.

"Ah. The first ones are starting to awaken. When they do, their bodies will transform or not. They don't need too much of the special Ein to facilitate an evolution early in their Exalthood, a benefit of going earlier." Hons explained.

"Eh? Then, what about Ruvin?" Oscar asked, eating breakfast with Avril.

"He arrived at the place of Ness from a distant corner of the continent, fighting his way through to earn his place, and waited years for his chance at the Pools of Ascension. Like the Marshal Exalts there." Hons pointed to the center of the pool. "It's their first time too. They came and fought from afar to have a place here."

"Ah…." This setup sounded too familiar, much like the noble families, who held an inherent advantage over others, and the Blue Ocean Pavilion, who allowed others to fight their way up. Perhaps, the beasts were not too different from humans, after all. Oscar's thoughts were interrupted by a burst of Ein and power from the waters.

Several beasts erupted from the pool. Their forms had changed in various ways. New patterns adorned their fur, different style horns and antlers protruded from their heads, and other fantastical changes appeared over their bodies. Their presence and Ein had changed as well, elevated and broken through to the next realm.

"It also helps them advance to the next realm? Truly a miraculous place. Too bad it's only for beasts." Oscar stared in awe at the beasts exiting the pools.

Hours later, more and more Exalt Beasts left the pools. Some evolved into their ancestral forms, others mutated into new species, and some had the unfortunate result of staying the same with only a realm boost. Then, the Middle Knight Exalts came out of the waters. Ruvin screeched and cawed out of the pool, sporting a new pair of wings and two tails. He had mutated into an entirely new species based on the Yatscrow line.

With his four wings, he soared through the air and perched himself on the shore, taking glances at Ness, who scowled at him. It appeared she hadn't forgiven him yet.

"Wait. What's happening to Erden? Why hasn't he come out yet?" Avril pointed to Erden. Oscar saw his friend screaming and clearly in pain as his body contorted. This scene was all wrong. According to what Hons relayed before, the Pools of Ascension should not have such an effect.

"Lord Hons! What is this?" Oscar beseeched Hons to do something, but the great gorilla only stared absentmindedly.

"This is…what is this?" Hon's questioning tone only unnerved Oscar further. "Never before had this occurred. Just what in the world? All beasts! Step away from the pools. I must investigate." Hons flew over and reached his hand into the pool to grab Erden out. His expression changed as his eyes widened, withdrawing his hand out, covered in cuts.

Everyone lost their breath, seeing the great King Exalt injured without warning. Almos directed the beasts away while Ness unfurled her wings to carry all of her children out. Hons covered his hands in deadly winds and tried again, only for the winds to be torn apart, and his blood dripped into the waters from the fresh wounds.

"Oscar. We need to leave now!" Avril tugged on his collar.

Oscar gritted his teeth and turned around to follow Avril when out of nowhere, a low, clear, and powerful voice echoed inside his head.

'Enter the pools. See your friend. Witness me.' The voice said.

"Grah!" Oscar clutched his head and stopped. This voice was forcing itself into him through his connection to Erden. It was communicating with him with Erden's mind as a proxy. "Who are you?"

"Who?" Avril faced Oscar. "What's wrong?"

'Enter. Enter. Enter. Enter the waters. Or your friend will die.' The voice continued.

The mysterious voice faded and left Oscar to ponder on what it was. He had no idea, but there remained only one course of action. Clenching his hands, Oscar grasped Avril's shoulder and said, "I'll be back."

"Wait. What are you doing?" Avril shouted after him, failing to grab him.

Oscar rushed out under Hons' surprised gaze. Ness and Almos charged in to try to stop him, but something stopped them, forcing them back. Oscar dove straight into the pool and reached Erden deep inside, surprised to see not a single scratch on himself. The voice had the power to wound Hons and allowed him in, a truly frightening existence it was. Why did it want him?

The streams of special Ein flowed into him, and Oscar screamed out, bubbles streaming from his mouth. His vision faded as the last of his consciousness locked onto Erden, who had started to settle down, no longer in pain. Oscar closed his eyes and listened carefully.

'Witness me….' The voice called out.

Light filled his vision, and Oscar opened his eyes, confused at the sight around him. Below his feet was the edge of a deep pit, so dark he could not see the bottom. Rumbles and clacks resounded from the walls as the ground dipped, forming stairs to descend into the pit.

"Whatever you are. Let's see why you want me." Oscar extended his foot and took his first step, pausing. Nothing happened. Nodding to reassure himself, Oscar stepped down the stairs, one foot at a time, to depths unknown in a place of antiquity.

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