Discordant Note | TBATE

Chapter 110: To Keep a Promise

I stepped into the pane of light.

The town zone had changed again since I'd last been in it. Each time I entered this zone of the Relictombs, the architecture had shifted and grounded itself into something more closely resembling my previous life. Houses built in a suburban-style were flanked by perfectly trimmed lawns. A sidewalk stretched all along the mock-street for about a block, before stretching into endless oblivion far off. Rolling hills and copses of trees dotted the far-off landscape.

But there was once again a change to this place. Instead of simple suburban homes, those in a Sehz-Clarian style interweaved among the modern sprawl. It should've looked janky and out of place. The architecture in Fiachra was flowery and reminiscent of Renaissance styles crossed with an almost utilitarian emphasis on vertical lines.

Somehow, the two completely opposing styles meshed together well. Two-story Fiachran homes were bordered by structures that wouldn't be out of place in an eighties movie, and it worked.

Sevren stepped through a moment later. There was an irritated cast on his face, no doubt because I went on ahead without him, but that slowly washed away as he took in the zone before him.

"I've been here before," he said breathily. "It looks a bit different from when I was here last, but..."

"This is why I rejected your offer to ascend together the first time," I said, turning back to the street. "Every ascent I go on, I travel through this zone. The Tombs puts it in my path." I gestured to the many houses lining the street. "It changes every time, sure, but it's the same place. But there's something here even you would have missed."

I felt that strange omniscient presence pressing down on me from all sides, same as I always did. Sevren didn't seem to notice it, but I had to restrain the urge to raise my shoulders as my spine tingled. "This place has your answers, Sevren. I just need to find the person who will give them to you."

Sevren gave me a strange look. "You've shown me so many anomalies already, Toren," he said. "I'm not sure what else you can throw at me that would surprise me."

I smiled, my mind reaching into my core. "Remember those words," I added jovially, slipping into my Acquire Phase. I felt my cheeks burn as feather stem runes appeared under my eyes, their warmth like hot coals. My chain tattoo glowed softly, superimposing itself over my coat.

Sevren took a step back as pressure pulsed from my body involuntarily, the ambient mana quaking as power suffused my being. His heartfire jumped in his chest, visible to me now as a plume of red fire.

The Will meshing with my mind alerted my Bond, who was still resting fitfully. She awoke, for lack of a better word, as her own thoughts brushed my own.

Welcome back, Aurora, I said with a hint of amusement. If you still need rest, I can manage this myself. I just need to search for something, and the capabilities of my Will are needed for that.

"No, Toren," the phoenix shade said, sounding slightly tired. I could feel her reading my thoughts, recognizing my plan. "I am well to assist you in something so trivial. And I have questions of my own which must be answered."

I felt some of the burden on my mind shift as the asuran spirit shouldered some of the weight. Absently, I wondered how long I could maintain my First Phase with my heightened physique and silver core reserves of mana.

Nearly indefinitely if I'm careful, I realized with a bit of surprise. With my semi-asuran physique and Lady Dawn's mind suffusing my own, my Acquire Phase was barely a strain at all anymore.

My sense for lifeforce expanded dramatically as I sunk into the Will. I turned in a slow circle, ignoring Sevren's focused intensity as I scanned the zone.