Aidan's eyes slowly widened as his gaze fell on Kharon. He slowly clenched his hands as his face contorted in anger.
"Hollow King must be responsible, I wil-"
"I don't think it was him per se, but my own mind. I am not fully sure if my emotions are completely gone or if they are suppressed. All I can say is that, it was a defense mechanism which ensured that I didn't go mad."
Aidan's clenched fists slowly relaxed, as he let out a short sigh, he took a bite of his untouched food. The pair ate their meal in silence before cleaning up and walking into a large, furnished room with several couches.
As Kharon took a sit on a small couch, Aidan made his way to a device before turning it on. There was suddenly a hologram on a blank sheet nailed to the wall. Kharon stared indifferently, as Aidan changed the images being projected, until he reached what he was looking for.
An image of a man in bright, multi-coloured clothing could be seen as he did several tricks on a unicycle before comically falling down. Aidan's slightly chuckled as his attention turned towards Kharon's unchanging expression.
Aidan continued to laugh and chuckle at the silly entertainer, but Kharon's face remained unmoving. Standing cluelessly next to the projector, Aidan turned it off as he made his way next to Kharon. His head drooping down as he sat on the floor.
"What are you doing? There are several couches for you to use."
"I don't know what to do Kharon. I feel useless if I can't help anyone. How can I become a wielder who will protect the whole world, if I can't help a friend?"
Kharon's gaze met Aidan's as he said, "I don't need help. And you don't need to feel guilty for what happened. You couldn't have known that he would do that... And there is an upside to all of this. You got your tier 4 ritual, which you should be attempting instead of worrying about me. And you got me registration documents; without having to pay a high price for them."
Aidan slowly looked up to see Kharon's face change a bit as a small smile crept on to his face. Aidan's eyes met Kharon's as he sprung up and walked away.
Kharon followed after him shortly as they made their way to Aidan's room. As they went inside, Kharon face subtly changed as he looked around. It was a large, spacious room; however it was sparsely furnished and only had the bare minimum of what would be expected.
As Aidan walked around, he stopped in front of a large wardrobe before drawing several patterns. The doors slowly swung open as Aidan stepped inside an armory of sorts. It was filled with several items and piece of equipments brimming with aether; mystic constructs.
Kharon stared at the objects which were all carefully placed on platforms. His eyes darting around, analysing all the constructs while speculating about their functions.
"What is this place? Is it a spatial storage like your cloak?"
"Yes, the wardrobe we went through is the gateway to this space. Another gift from my mother when I moved out. She was adament that I took it, especially because a beast hunter needs good equipment."
"You and your mum must be close."
Aidan stayed silent before answering, "We are, atleast we were once close. But I don't see her very often this days. There is a lot of work to do, mainly due to the arcane obelisk's increased influence."
Kharon took a moment to think before asking, "What exactly is this arcane obelisk? You seemed to be against me knowing when we met. What changed?"
Aidan's tone subtly softened as he said, "We became friends..."
As these words were said, Kharon expression shifted once again as he smiled.
'Are my emotions not gone... No, I don't think so. But they are definitely dulled. Maybe if I just keep talking to Aidan, they will naturally come back. But, I also need them to stay dulled, for the sake of my ascension to tier 4 and the other tiers. I need to stop relying so much on Aidan and taking advantage of his kindness.'
Kharon's smile slowly faded as Aidan continued.
"The arcane obelisk is the reason why the world is as it is. Several hundred years ago, humans were a modern species with billions. We had grand structures and advanced technology, however it all came crashing down with the arcane obelisk... When it landed on the Earth, it caused all the 7 continents to converge and form one single mega continent. A lot of people lost their lives. Ecosystems were ravaged and all seemed lost..."
Kharon's eyes narrowed as Aidan continued to explain.
"However humans started to develop the ability to control a strange energy which began to flow in everything; aether. With aether, humans began to rebuild. Though billions died, there were still many that survived and rebuilt the world. Then the Gods saw the state of our planet and had mercy. So they gave us the rituals to ascend through arcane paths. Atleast that is what is believed by many. But those with power know the truth. The Gods didn't emerge out of nowhere, it is said that they were humans who reached the top of the arcane paths; tier 0."
"Wait, how do we know this and how did the Gods go through the arcane paths?"
"They learnt the truth of the world by reading the arcane obelisk. Though it is still unknown how they reached it without dying. All those that have dared to venture near it have vanished. It is a black zone after all... Anyways once they ascended, they provided humans with knowledge of the paths to help them. This resulted in news of their existance spreading and they started to be worshipped by all. However arguments arose on which God was to be worshipped as the leader of the pantheon. This led to humans having to pick a single God to worship after a war broke out. Lunaris Haven holds the churches of three Gods. The Father of Phoenixes, the Undead Queen and the Keeper of Knowledge."
Kharon's face didn't betray any emotion, but internally he was feeling a mix of emotions.
'The Gods are tier 0 existence that have been alive for centuries... It doesn't even surprise me that tier 0 exists... Maybe they will know what happened to me. They are probably older than I am, so they should have been present during the battle I saw in my vision. Unless that battle was caused by their disagreement...'
"Why are they named in such strange ways? Shouldn't they be called the god of their path? And just how many gods are there? Are all the paths occupied? "
"They are mainly called by their path's name. However they prefer to be addressed in different ways. I was using parts of their honorific names which are used in prayer... As far as I know, there are 7 active gods ever since the God of Darkness perished. But considering that the path of mysteries exists there may be 8 gods."
"So it's still possible to become a God... Why don't you aim for that? Becoming a god would allow you to accomplish your goal. You will probably be able to protect the whole world on your own."
"I would but, the path of radiance is occupied by the God of Light."
Kharon stayed silent for a short while before he said, "Then why not go down another path. I don't know how to do it, but it is definitely possible. I just know it is."
Aidan's smiled at Kharon as he picked up several items and placed them in a leather bag.
"I don't think that's a good idea, there have been people who were brave enough to do the ritual of a path which they weren't going down. It didn't end well for them... Being a wielder is already very rare due to the danger posed by the rituals; going down a different path from yours is pretty much a death sentence."
As Aidan finished his sentence he made his way to the gateway.
"Are you coming?"
"Yeah"
Aidan closed the gateway to the storage before he led Kharon to another room. The two walked down the stairs in silence for several minutes before they reached a wide door which Aidan promptly opened. Inside there was a large open space which seemed to be made for fighting. On another side of the room, there were expensive looking training equipment.
"Is this your training room?"
"Yes it was specially built to ensure that a tier 4 wielder can use their full power; that is to say this room can withstand continental attacks. But don't confuse it with a tier 4 being able to destroy the whole world. The type of continental attacks I am talking about use the measures of the pre obelisk world."
"If you are correct, then does that mean the tier 4 essence beast we defeated wouldn't be able to damage this room? Also does it mean that it would devastate a whole continent if we were in a world that wasn't reinforced by the arcane obelisk's power?"
"No and yes. This room can withstand a tier 4 going all out while indirectly damaging the room. If a tier 4 was focused on destroying this room, they would succeed with a great deal of difficulty. If we were in the world without the arcane obelisk then a tier 4 creature or wielder would probably be able to destroy the world within a week or two. It would depend on how quickly they can go around the world..."