Zenith Online: Rebirth of the Strongest Player

Chapter 594: Alien Changes



Walking outside, Kieran saw that Aeredale remained in that strange, bustling state. It heightened that feeling of being an impostor he struggled with. He felt like an alien in a place he should be intimately familiar with.

'That Trial really screwed me up...'

The concept of how time went on unabated regardless of any one person was a daunting thought. Kieran was responsible for saving Aeredale, and for that reason, he was its Great Benefactor. And he should be happy for its rise to prominence on a small scale.

Yet he wasn't.

The events of the Trial had molded Kieran's thought process to doubt much good came without immense sacrifice in the end. Perhaps it was him being too cynical, but this all felt... fake to him.

'Am I being too over-dramatic right now?'

Kieran couldn't say his feelings were warranted, but he owned them with pride. He had precipitated Aeredale's upward trend, but the scale and swiftness exceeded his expectations. Of course, if he wanted to get to the heart of the problem, he could always pay Mayor Lowe a visit to get a brief overview of everything that transpired in his absence.

And as much as that interested him, it wasn't a particularly pressing issue. He had more urgent thoughts to attend to, like meeting up with Ezra. She was amongst the people who contacted him, but her message related to the matters discussed beforehand. If she had suggestions on where to take the guild, he wouldn't disparage her idea.

She was a well of untapped knowledge that he could benefit from. Thus, he was waiting outside the Bazaar building until she showed up. While waiting, he watched the massive crowds pass by.

Watching the procession of cavalcades, cohorts, and carriages progress deeper into the city reminded Kieran of why he had returned to understand how his abilities had advanced from their former limits.

First on the list was entering his Realm. He had visited Valdu's Realm in the Trial, but Kieran wanted to know how his Inner Plane would look. How would it compare to the human Argexes once was?

Closing his eyes, Kieran exhaled and focused on that abstruse place meant to represent a Disciplined's soul. It was their inner being, a plane only they should be able to reach.

'Why's it taking so long?'

Inside the Trial, Kieran could enter the Realm on a whim. It was always a thought away, and he had grown skilled at streamlining the process, yet back in his actual body, it wasn't as straightforward.

The problem lay in his Significance or lack thereof. It acted as a tether for Kieran to grasp, but he didn't have enough to form a tether.

Without a tether, Kieran had to sense for the entrance to his Realm. It was tedious but not time-consuming. He eventually found it through trial and error.

Upon entry, Kieran witnessed a great shock.

Unlike in the Trial, where he gradually guided the direction of Valdu's Realm and operated around the Anchor, there was no mass of anything here. Instead, a great many crimson chains were interweaving high above his head, creating somewhat of a crimson sky.

A bound, bleeding vista is what it was.

Despite its solemn meaning, Kieran marveled at the sight, reaching out a hand as if wanting to touch it.

One of the chains reacted to his unspoken desire, beginning a meteoric descent toward his outreached hand. Moments before it pierced him, the chain slowed, gently brushing his fingertip.

That soft sensation filled Kieran with knowledge of what these chains were. He had suspected it was his Oath as a Myth, but it was more than that. These chains were formed from the very blood he bathed in.

"I am beholden to these chains and cursed by what they stand for."

Kieran spoke as if voicing idle thoughts, but he was already bringing up what these crimson bindings symbolized.

[Fiend's Carnage (Greater-Mythic); Lv.5 - Bathed in blood and madness, the Fiend culminated its obsession. Carnage is your lifelong curse, bloody legacy, and dreadful duty. You are guided by its whispers and compelled by its many distant voices. The flowing blood of those ruined forges your mantle, and your gaze bleeds your unspoken fury. Bask in Carnage and know the end.

Abilities: [Bloodletting], [Vampiric Hardening], [Vim Rebuff], [Fervor Infusion], [Goreswath], [Manic Integration], [Goremancing], [Fiendish Obsession], [Gaze of Carnage].

His new Innate Ability, which was really an improvement of his former one, came with a wide array of abilities like the Zenith Frequency had mentioned. From what Kieran understood, an Innate Ability generally functioned as an amalgam of several synergistic abilities.

Many of them he knew, but it was the final three he paid attention to, beginning with Goremancing.

[Goremancing]: A bond of blood and Mana is woven intently to form you Gore Runes laden with madness and vengeance. Your blood is the ink from which runic circles are written and realized, imbibed with unspoken intent.

There was immense potential in Goremancing, and though its name sounded as if limitations were imposed, Kieran felt the description spoke to broader horizons for the skill. It was a matter of understanding how to manipulate the intent fed into his blood. Kieran reckoned this intent was likely the bizarre inspiration he was met with.

Moving along, Kieran looked at Fiendish Obsession.

[Fiendish Obsession]: You can not escape your obsession with blood. As the blood of the fallen flows and the madness within seethes, the power of a Fiend awakens, and your might becomes unbound.

Kieran stared unblinkingly at this description. He recalled that Fiend's Carnage was initially supposed to be called Fiend's Obsession, but it received a last-minute transformation because of the massive influx towards the end of his evolution.

It had instead been relegated to a minor ability which bore a likeness to Abhorrent Paroxysm. Only its description was much stranger, talking of the blood of the fallen. He was inclined to test these abilities out, but it wasn't exactly the right setting for that.

'Another addition to my to-do list...'

Kieran ignored that thought after a moment, settling on the final new ability.

[Gaze of Carnage]: The eyes are the window of the soul... and yours are stained by carnage. What is seen in your gaze can stop hearts and fell enemies.

'Oh...'

For a time, Kieran's expression was vacant, dull, and blank. Reality hadn't hit him yet while he deadpanned, and when it did, he staggered backward. If the description could be taken at face value... this new ability could end lives with a gaze?

'That's what it means by stopping hearts, right? My eyes are actually heartstoppers?!'

Kieran didn't quite know how to feel about that last ability. If it was a passive ability and not an active one... he could foresee a lack of difficulty in the near future.

Then again, there was no indication of how effective said gaze would be. It was something he'd have to change.

'Becoming an Adept somewhat sucks. It demands us to find out so much more on our own.'

Kieran sighed but shook his head after.

"Why am I lying to myself? I think it's more exciting this way. We can test our limits without having known them."

There was excitement to be found inside the mystique of the unknown. That's why he accepted to become a Truthseeker. After dismissing the description of his new abilities, Kieran roamed the Realm, finding it depressingly empty and much smaller than he

envisioned.

If there was something he was surprised by... it was the Mystic Gate and the Compendium at

its core floating far off into the distance, occupying the Mind Territory, which wasn't yet demarcated, but Kieran was aware of how a Realm was to be broken up.

At least... he thought he was.

More was to be explored, but Kieran could feel his body being tapped. It was time to depart

from the Realm.Nôv(el)B\\jnn