The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

The first hour of the procession was a mere scrap on the skin compared to what came next. Oscar had thought the worst was behind him, but as usual, his expectations were rarely met and cast into deep disappointment. The stakes and needles impaling him began to burn, searing unending agony in his very flesh as if he was melting. His struggles never surfaced, unable to lift a finger nor twitch a brow, his body no longer his to control. Being a fabricator, He understood now that he was like an ore, an unrefined material undergoing the fires of the furnace and purified into what Metures needed him to become.

The unimaginable pain blacked him out of consciousness but then brought him right back, never letting him go. It doubled from the fact he could share his senses with Erden, who underwent a similar procession in Ignyres's flames. Rather than dispersing and sharing the pain to lighten the burden, their connection, which helped him throughout many battles, acted against them and amplified the pain. Their agony merged and stoked each other into greater suffering. Somehow, he lost the ability to scream or, rather, the attempt to scream.

'Where am I?' Oscar saw a strange world. Mists blocked his view, allowing him to see a mere foot forward, and he looked down to see he had regained his hands, feet, and speech, shouting once. Perhaps the ground was of mist as well since Oscar saw no dirt or stone under his feet. A gray world lacking vibrant colors, shrouded in endless mists that never ceased no matter where he went. But there was a light, a source from somewhere that allowed him to see, and it came from behind this veil, yet after hours of walking, the distance hadn't closed.

"Oh…am I dead?" Oscar stopped and wanted to turn his head to look back, but the mists extended and grasped him, forcing his eyes forward. Faint whispers of the ones lurking beyond beckoned him, and he unwillingly carried on, treading the pathway down. In his heart, he knew now that this place had to be the in-between, the road between the living and the dead, where thought and memory died and led to what may be next. His struggle had changed, and he tried to resist death's call, yet like Metures's procession, he lacked control over himself. Step by step, he drew closer to his death.

…….

"This isn't working; you rusted lump of metal!" Ignyres fumed and raised flames. He could sense the flames of Oscar and Erden dwindling to a faint ember, barely holding on. Forcing one to inherit the will and power of an Ancient was hard enough, but bringing a person back from the dead was impossible. Ignyres wanted to let up but clenched his fiery hands tighter, knowing a moment of reluctance and hesitation would unravel their efforts. Everything had led to this moment. The boy's suffering, the tragedies of his past, the sacrifices of his fellow Ancients, and their own lives were all meant for this.

"Do something!" He shouted.

"It's so close. Very close. But the two are unable to fuse with our essence. Was I wrong?" Metures sighed, cracks splitting from his visor. "We are lacking. We are finished. The Caerulumen have won. I had hoped, planned, and gambled, and I have lost. Forgive me. I have failed you all."

"No. There must be something. I have been beside this boy for many years. His path cannot end here." Ignyres refused to believe it. Ever since he met the boy in the fiery caverns under the Farsky continent, he had known a grander destiny awaited Oscar. He had witnessed Esteres's death at the hands of the Caerulumen and laid dormant for countless years alone before meeting the boy. He lowered his head and felt despair, his own flames waning and losing its brightness. They lost. "Even at the cost of our lives and essence, we can't start the fire. Perhaps this was meant to be. Since the moment Esteres strayed from Talos's design, we lost."

"Fools. Despair. Not Alone. (You pair of fools. The long years have wasted your brilliant minds and thrown you into despair. Remember that we are not alone. We are all here together.)" A deep voice, rumbling like an earthquake, echoed deep in the chamber and shocked Ignyres. Oscar's body pulsated with a familiar Ein, and it took the form of his old friend, Tectones, the Ancient of Earth. His gigantic stone figure, condensed of mountains and cliffs, emerged.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Tectones! Where did you come from? When did you place a part of yourself in Oscar?" Metures asked, also clearly shocked.

"You kept yourself hidden even from Metures? You damned joker! One last prank before we go?" Ignyres cackled and flared up a brand new set of flames. He had forgotten it so long ago when the alter ego met Tectones in the hollow mountain.

"Watch. Ponder. Decide. (I remained hidden to watch and see the passing of time and the decisions of others. I pondered as Metures explained his plan and decided it was my time.)" Tectones reached out his hands and encased Oscar and Erden in his stone grip, covering them completely.

"Tectones…what can you do for them?" Metures asked.

"Metal. Flames. Earth. (The last step for them to awaken. That is me. In the deep earth, metals rest, waiting to be found. In the earth, flames smolder and flow before erupting to freedom. They cannot be without. In the earth, formed and bound. Thus, I shall do the same. In the earth, their powers will be complete.)" Tectones rambled on, as usual, the most talkative of the Ancients. Ein rippled from his stone hands, beating like the thumping of a heart. That was it. The final step…the part they lacked. The flames of their life blinked and flickered, growing brighter and stronger.

"It's here!" Ignyres poured in all of his flames. His volcanic shoulders collapsed, his fingers cracked like brittle clay, and his body slowly flaked off, the embers phasing through the barrier of stone and entering Erden. To the side, Metures did something similar, tearing apart his own body into sands of pure metal and entering Oscar. Tectones grunted as his wide stone hands trembled, keeping the rampant powers of two Ancients locked inside his palms and binding them to the two inside. Cracks spread over his friend's form, irreversible damage to Tectones's spirit, and Ignyres knew today that three Ancients would die, sacrificing themselves for the sake of the future.

Ignyres focused on Erden and then turned to Oscar. "Come back to us, boy. I only wish I could have seen how great you would have soared. How amazing your flames would have burned and shone on Talos. Thank you for letting this failed existence witness the two suns once again."

"Goodbye. (Goodbye.)" For the first time, Tectones spoke shortly and only one word.

"The time of the Ancients has gone. Now, it is the era of mortals, of humans and beasts. May your world be better than the one we built, or perhaps be the one that should have been. Talos will watch over you. Our end…is your beginning…" Metures said faintly, the red eyes flickering and dimming in the visor.''

Ignyres cackled in amusement and felt like he might shed tears if he were human. He had never felt so alive at this moment of death. Despite his flames weakening and dying out, he could feel something greater than himself starting to burn so brightly in his sight and renewing his spirit. Strangely, dying for such flames was worth fading into the annals of the misbegotten past and made him feel alive. Ah, he wished he had but a little more time to live and witness their rise. But as the last flickers of ember crackled and flaked off his flaming head, he knew his death was here.

"Never let those flames die out. Burn brighter than anyone has in all of history. Goodbye, my boy." Ignyres whispered out and faded out of existence, dying with a nonexistent smile.

…….

Oscar woke up and gasped, staring at the ceiling. He raised his head and looked around, seeing no one else besides Erden. Memories flooded his mind and replayed what had happened during his trek down the gray mists. He witnessed Tectones intruding and helping and listened to the farewells of all three before they passed away. "You three…going on and leaving it all to me…." He stood up and looked at the empty throne, at the patch of charred ground, and at the pile of rubble behind him, chuckling. "Thank you. And I promise. I won't let Talos fall; its people and beasts will prosper as intended."

'This power….' He lowered his head and glanced at his hands before clenching them. Even after being told he would receive their essence and power, becoming an Ancient in human form, he lacked a single clue of what it meant, and he still didn't know. This power lurking underneath his skin, buried in his bones, was so foreign yet felt natural at the same time. He expected to explode into a thousand pieces at any moment from the weight of such power, but he felt he was capable of anything and could withstand the harshest the world could throw at him. It was as if his very existence was a contradiction.

Human and Ancient. Moral and Eternal. Frailty and Supreme. He was taken aback for a moment and only snapped his head toward Erden after hearing a loud roar. "You haven't changed, Erden."

"Neither did you, Oscar. But it's strange. I feel it, too." Erden said.

Oscar gazed up at the ceiling and finally peered past the floors and ceilings of stone, gems, and marble, spotting Avril, his children, Auren, the others, and the Caerulumen. Putting on a fresh set of Volten's white robes, he strode toward the exit. "Let's go, Erden. We have a war to finish."

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