The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

The air was thin and rife with a weighty Ein that felt like heavy chains pulling him down, his clothes constricting like a second layer of tight skin on his body, and his armor becoming weights on the shackles. Did Aeon Peak desire for him to lay himself bare? To hide nothing from the storms, the winds, and the earth itself? Demon put away his grade-four sword armament into his space pocket to test his theory, and the pressure lessened in response. Erden also jumped out, groaning as his limbs extended and head enlarged to the creaking of the growing antlers, forcibly brought into his true form.

"Seems the mountain detests people who have something to hide. Are you certain something is up there?" Demon said as he removed his helmet, deer pelt, armor, and even his upper shirt, letting his bare skin soak in the mountain air. His pace quickened, spurred by the lightened burdens. But doubt remained. Aeon Peak was known to all inhabitants of the Lunate Continent, standing as a beacon and symbol of their land. Surely, whatever could have been found would have been found. And from the records he gathered, it had nothing noteworthy like the rest of the land.

But Ignyres was certain, and seeing how no one noticed the Ancient of Fire resting underneath the Brilliant Drake Empire, Demon was inclined to follow his lead. The climb was not even halfway done. Aeon Peak refused to let him fly, stripping him of his flight to force him to wander and climb on his two bare feet, which sank deep into the dirt and gravel caked with mud. He heaved his lungs, drawing in air, barely enough to sustain him, and stomped ahead, unimpressed by the mountain's antics.

Lightning flashed, blinding him, and thunder boomed, deafening all sounds from his ears. A large object hit him on the shoulder, heavy and cold. Luckily, he preemptively used Adamasreis and clad his body in Edureisclad, the object, now seen as hail from his recovering sight, breaking apart into chunks scattered in the winds. Ein and spells were an option, but the records of past endeavors revealed the storm and mountain being more unforgiving on the rude climbers. No matter. His Reis and transformed body were hardy enough to weather the storm.

Stones rolled down the mountainside. Pebbles clattered to larger stones, starting a tide of rock and dirt. More hail pounded from above as his legs sank into the rising landslide. Demon had no concept of fear, and this pathetic trial by nature didn't strike any in him. Holding firm, he gathered an immense amount of Reis into his artificial hand and unleashed it, parting the tumbling rocks, shattering the hail, and stalling the violent winds. He strode upward, slow and steady, calm to his core.

He finally reached the black clouds that channeled lightning on their surface. The Shattering Wave failed to push the clouds away as they closed the gap before he could react. Pushing onward, he plunged his body into the clouds, receiving a shower of lightning that threatened to burn off his skin. Having no sweat to wipe off since it evaporated from the immense heat, Demon scoffed at the lightning that felt more like a hot bath. The ends of his pants flaked off as the smell of burning rubber filled the air.

After a few minutes of walking and bathing in pure lightning, Demon peeked his head out, bright sunlight seeping into his eyelids and welcoming him in. There was no beast or even a blade of grass on the desolate mountain. Passing through, he wandered to the peak where a sight Oscar would describe as magnificent stretched along the horizon. The entire Lunate Continent revealed itself, one tip of the crescent land directly opposite the other and linking in widening widths to this mountain. Right down the middle, he saw Oldeye Island in the gulf.

"Reis isn't required to enter the peak. Anyone can climb as long as they can endure the injuries." Demon tried to put on his helmet, but the pressure intensified. It seemed the rules still applied. Other than that, the peak offered nothing else, a simple desolate area. "Ignyres, what's so interesting about this place? Erden, do you sense anything?"

"Nothing. It's just a plain mountain." Erden yawned, resting on a boulder.

"Foolish children!" Ignyres manifested, walking around like a clown. "I sense the presence of Volten lineage here. They must have come here before. But how could they ever know a secret exists here without the means to find and enter?" The Ancient of Fire spread his flames over the peak, turning the gray stone scarlet. Erden hopped off and growled as his white fur was burned slightly.

The peak trembled, and the stones shifted, the center of the peak rotating like a lock being turned. He was sinking. No, the ground underneath him was sinking, descending into the mountain, now revealed to be hollow. The light from the gap at the top dimmed, cut off by another rock that sealed the entrance from anyone else to wander into. Slowly, the stone delved deeper and landed, thudding softly on the ground. Crystals of all colors brightened the hollow world inside the mountain, almost making it seem unreal.

"That damned Tectones…always hiding his actions in the strangest ways! I should have known. In the past, he pretended to sleep for hundreds of years, allowing Okeanes's waters to drown him. Then he woke up, and out came a whole continent." Ignyres cackled, spraying embers from his volcanoes that matched the rhythm of his laughter. "The blasted Okeanes was infuriated to lose a whole section of the ocean so easily."

"Was it your flames it was waiting for? Did Tectones want you here?" Demon stepped off the stone and landed on the ground. The soft dirt under his feet was the feeling of fertile land, but what was the point of having this ground where nothing could grow?

"No. I believe anyone who possesses a primordial element can enter. To have one means you're a Volten or a special case like you where I chose to follow you. Either way, it's a person an Ancient would want to talk to." Ignyres cleared his nonexistent throat and shouted, "Tectones! Answer my call! What's the point of this place?!"

The ground quaked. It trembled and shook so fast that particles of dirt seemed to float above the surface. Demon leaped back to the platform, wary of his surroundings, leaving his back to Erden. A large stone rose from the fertile soil and turned around, revealing a face in the stone. Four golden gems gleamed brightly in the dark, darting independently in all directions, and a crack formed along the lower half, resembling the mechanical mouths of golems.

"You. Here. Good." The stone spat out some pebbles. An involuntary shudder halted Demon; an instinctual response from his body that screamed out the being before him was beyond comprehension.

"Tectones! Good to see you, old friend. I've been sleeping for eons, and none of you or the others ever came to wake me up!" Ignyres said, his voice shrill near the end.

"You. Strange. Why?" Tectones asked.

"Why? Why indeed? It's so much more fun. You understand, don't you?" Ignyres laughed, sitting down by the rock.

"Fun. Prank. Fun." Tectones laughed in the most flat, lifeless laughter. His gold gems rotated to Demon. "Recognize. Metures. Confused."

"He says he recognizes you from Metures's message. But he's confused about why you're so important." Ignyres clapped his hands together and exclaimed, "Tectones, can you relay my words to Metures and his to me?"

"No. Stopped." Tectones shook his stone head.

"He's asleep? What?! Are you kidding me?!" Ignyres flared up, flames spreading from his figure. Tectones groaned and buried Ignyres in a shower of dirt, smoke smoldering from the mound.

"Weird. Metures. Weird."

"Metures is acting weird, you say? Well, who isn't?" Ignyres complained loudly. "The Voltens have joined with a horrible ally. Metures changed the plan and involved this poor child. And you're all doing nothing!"

"Mountain. Good. Him." Tectones opened his mouth wide, revealing a glowing teal stone that resembled an ataerstone. "Take. Worthy. Leave."

"He says the mountain is your fortune. That is a piece of his primordial earth, similar to my heart of fire. Take it if you're worthy, or leave." Ignyres translated.

"What good is that to me? I can take it away from Volten's hands, but where is the clear benefit?" It was strange, very strange. Out of all the places he could have wandered to and set up his base, it happened to be where Tectones could be contacted and where a piece of primordial earth rested. Fishy failed to describe the events. It was beyond suspicion and into certainty. An invisible hand loomed over him, and he felt his anger rising, cursing at the indifferent controller. "Who put you up to this?"

"Me. Take." Tectones stated.

"It's his decision alone. No one else knows about this place, not even Metures. Out of all of us, Tectones is the most secretive. Metures may have created the plan, but Tectones can twist it. This is his contingency, so take it." Ignyres advised, backing away to clear a path to the primordial earth.

"Take. Worthy. Leave." Tectones's gem eyes focused.

Demon didn't move, still pondering. Should he take it or not?

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