Chương 6: Genesis

"Did you just destroy a dungeon core, sir?" Viren asked. The boy wore an expression that was curiously more resigned than shocked or surprised.

"Just like that?"

"I did indeed," Ryland said.

"It was unfortunately necessary." While the storm of magic hadn't fully abated yet, Ryland was still able to find what he was seeking within its centre. A tiny sliver of one of his fingernails. It was so small, so unassuming, that he'd have been forgiven for missing it had he not been employing his Glyph of Questing yet again. Yet, this tiny portion of a nail, this minuscule piece of his original body, was what had led to the birth of this dungeon.

Then it started glowing and transforming as a window from the Grand Frame came into being. [Achievement Recognized: Dungeon Ender You have eradicated a dungeon core, an eternal being that most can never even witness, much less interact with and kill. Reward: Rank up from Silver [30] to Silver [50] Reward: Soul Glyph of… <METASTASIZING REWARD>.] The notification was an odd one. Even the Grand Frame apparently needed to think before it could settle on a proper reward for his actions.

Next to Ryland, Viren was muttering. None of his words were directed at Ryland, so he let the boy carry on without replying or interjecting. The incoherence was somehow helping to keep him calm, something Ryland appreciated since he had removed the Glyph of Tranquillity now.

"Destroys a dungeon core like it's nothing…" Viren was murmuring.

"… eternal, not supposed to be found… defies Kolmik's Laws… nails turning into Soul Glyphs…" On second thought, some of that might just have been indirectly directed at Ryland. [Achievement Recognized: Dungeon Ender Initial Reward: Soul Glyph of Life. Recipient found to be already in possession of Soul Glyph of Life. Evolving Soul Glyph… Reward: Soul Glyph of Genesis.] Interesting. The Grand Frame reward had been something he already possessed, so the reward had just shifted into evolving his Soul Glyph.

Or rather, transforming his fingernail into a new Glyph. He held out his hand and manifested it. The shape was certainly different now. Gone were the chaotic twists and helixes that his Soul Glyph of Life had possessed. Now, there was a bit more etherealness to the magical etching. Curls and lines that faded to nothing, indicating a stronger spiritual component to it. Xyke would have been fascinated. He would need to remember to show her next time he visited.

"We should probably exit," Ryland announced pleasantly. Viren froze, then shot to his feet.

"Right. You just destroyed the dungeon core, sir. That means everything's about to collapse, right?"

"Indeed." Right on cue, everything began shaking. The walls started sporting cracks that spiderwebbed outwards, the debris raining down from the ceiling growing larger with every passing moment.

"Not to worry," Ryland said.

"We don't have to waste time finding the actual exit." He channelled his mana into the familiar spell circle.

"We can simply make our own."

"You mean you can!"

"True, I suppose. [Translocate]." A rift formed in front of them with a thunderous spatial crack. Viren, rather rightfully, hesitated stepping into the anomaly that had torn open in the fabric of reality.

"I assure you it's quite safe," Ryland said.

"Your body will experience some spatial sickness, but I think that beats getting squished by a collapsed dungeon." Viren took a quick breath.

"You know, your words aren't reassuring at all, sir." Then he steeled himself, holding his orange tabby closer to his chest.

"But your actions definitely are." What an odd thing to say. Now, Ryland was nonplussed by just what exactly the boy meant by that.

"Just avoid the edges."

"I—" A rock fell close enough to make Viren jump.

"Will do!" Then he rushed through the black rift. Ryland took a fond look around. All this was the remnant of his own self in a way. An expression of life itself, born from a piece of his old body that had been shattered. A chunk of the ceiling bigger than an elephant bounced off his skull to crash frightfully somewhere farther off. What a rude interruption to his little reverie. Shaking his head, Ryland stepped through his rift to re-enter daylight. He breathed in deep once he was outside.

The wind felt fresh on his face, the grass swayed with a gentle susurration, and leaves on the trees rustled around them as well. Standing in the middle of that sort of serenity made the experiences in the dungeon feel almost dreamlike in comparison. Viren was standing a safe distance away from the rift, though his bespectacled eyes were taking it all in with careful scrutiny, like he couldn't believe he was out and free. He also appeared rather queasy.

"I can cast Glyph of Tranquillity again," Ryland offered.

"It does help to calm down upset stomachs."

"It does? What doesn't it calm down?" Ryland considered for a moment.

"Quite a lot actually, now that I think about it." He started counting off fingers.

"Very strong wills. Insanity. Lots and lots of monsters and other creatures who are incapable of feeling anything even akin to peace of mind. Spirits embodying various traits. And—" Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"It was a rhetorical question, sir."

"…ah." Viren's mouth hung open for a second, before he quickly clamped his hand over his lips again. He had a strange propensity for it, for some reason.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for interrupting you! Especially when you were just concerned about the… the spatial sickness you called it, right?"

"Oh, yes. Do you think you'll be alright?" Viren made an effort to swallow. He seemed to be considering his next words carefully, which wasn't a bad thing. Deliberation and all that.

"I think I'll be fine after some time, sir. I think I'd prefer to recover unaided. But I wouldn't mind knowing why I'm sick."

"Understandable," Ryland said, referring to his decision.

"And you're sick because you broke through the spacetime continuum. Your body doesn't approve."

"I see…" Ryland raised his eyebrows.

"You do?"

"Well…" Viren kicked his feet on the ground.

"Not really." Ryland chuckled.

"Think of reality like a puzzle. When you travel through a rift, you're ripping out the puzzle piece that represents you from its correct location to a new one. Do you understand what I'm getting at?" Viren's glasses flashed.

"I—yes, I think I do. A puzzle piece needs the surrounding pieces to make sense. So if you stuff it into a spot where it doesn't belong, it's going to be all awry. So my body is the puzzle piece that doesn't fit in with my current surroundings." Ryland smiled wide.

"Excellent, yes. Thankfully, the feeling passes eventually. Now, let's see here…" He cast the Glyph of Questing again, this time focusing his intention on the next piece of himself. The Glyph pointed off into the distance.

"What are we looking for, sir?" Viren asked. His cat looked around inquisitively, meowing its echo of his question.

"To where I need to head next," Ryland said. He was certain the Glyph was pointing in the direction of Viren's academy.

"Come. Let's get going." Viren quickly followed in his footsteps. He got a tight grip on his kitten so it didn't inquisitively jump out of his arms.

"Where are we going, sir?"

"To the nearby town. There was one nearby, yes? I don't believe the local geography has changed too much since I was last here."

"Right…" Viren hesitated for a tiny bit.

"I was actually in Sunstile before I got, uh, wrapped up in the dungeon business."

"Ah, yes. Sunstile! That was what it was called. Nice to see it retained its name. Your Excursion Club should still be there, yes?" Viren looked a little surprised that Ryland had pinpointed exactly how he had come to be in a little town called Sunstile despite being a student of Arcoryx Academy.

"Unfortunately no, sir." Ryland frowned.

"Did they already leave? Without you?"

"Yes." There was tight anger in his voice.

"I don't know for sure, but I think the bullies who brought Tallow to the dungeon also lied to the excursion leader that I was on board the return trip when I wasn't."

"And they won't turn back once they discover you're missing in truth?"

"I don't know, sir… I don't think so." Viren didn't explain further. Ryland was done taking in the golden-grassed, golden-leaved countryside and turned to face his young companion. Viren was looking down at the ground, so his current expression was unfortunately not visible. That said, Ryland didn't need to see the boy's face to know that he was troubled. Watching his cat nearly die had to have left a mark on his psyche, a trauma that wasn't going to leave him very easily.

Ryland liked to think of himself as capable of a great many things. Yet he was aware of his limits. Viren's current plight was one such example. Nevertheless, that didn't mean Ryland had to remain ineffectual.

"I sense you have a great many questions, Viren," he said.

"How about we make a deal?" Viren had flinched when his name had been uttered, which made Ryland frown just a bit.

"Um, a deal?"

"Yes. An even exchange. You'll answer a question for me, and I'll answer one for you. Sound fair?" Viren's eyes turned large behind his glasses.

"Yes, sir. Very fair."

"Good. You go first, then." Viren took his time considering his question. Ryland didn't mind waiting. The breeze was pleasant. Their path was well-trod. The sun hung high, but the season was on the chiller end, so it wasn't too hot out. There was a faint rumble indicating the dungeon's collapse far behind them, but Ryland ignored it with ease. Viren either didn't feel it or thought nothing of it. Or maybe he was just reserving it for his question.

"What did you do with Fate back in the dungeon, sir?" Viren asked.

"With that black Glyph and everything."

"Ah, right. I haven't explained yet, have I?" Ryland nodded. It was a good question.

"Essentially, I created a permanent spell circle on you with my Soul Glyph of Barricade—no sorry, it's Aegis now. I had to modify the spell circle a bit since the Centreglyph is a little different now, but thankfully, the definitions of Aegis and Barricade are rather close."

"Uh…"

"The point is that the spell will protect you, but only against anything touched by Fate. In other words, just as I said back in the dungeon, you don't need to worry about anything." Viren still appeared to be trying to wrap his head around everything Ryland had said.

"You're… protecting me against Fate. Permanently?"

"Of course." It was the least Ryland could do. With the flabbergasted look that Viren was giving him, one could be forgiven for thinking Ryland had just crowned Viren the emperor of Realm 18.

"My turn," Ryland said with a bright smile.

"How in all the Realms did you and your cute little kitten end up inside a dungeon that was several rank-tiers above you? What exactly happened?" The cat poked its adorable head out from Viren's academy robes and meowed approvingly at being called cute. Viren fidgeted with his buttons.

"Um, it's a bit of a long story."

"I believe we have some time. I can see the town in the distance, but we'll need a few moments to get there."

"…why are we walking when you can teleport us there?"

"Uh, uh, uh." Ryland wagged a disapproving finger.

"It's your turn to answer, Viren. And it's not teleporting, it's rifting, if you really need a verb." Viren hemmed and hawed a bit but slowly, as the town grew clearer in Ryland's field of view, the boy's story became clear. Arcoryx Academy had a certain club that liked to lead field trips beyond the academy walls. It was called the Excursion Club. Ryland was familiar with it from his time at the academy. Viren had been part of one such excursion that had visited the locality around Sunstile.

During the excursion, he had gotten into a spat with some fellow students, which had led to a duel with a wager. Viren had looked like admitting that he had lost was killing him. With everything Ryland had seen of the boy so far, he had a good feeling Viren's soul had shrivelled up at reliving his defeat. The wager had required Viren to spend a day in the local dungeon. As an upstanding lad, he hadn't run away from it. Although, he had made sure to keep his cat—Tallow—back in town before heading out.

But one of the students he had gotten into a spat with had stolen the cat before releasing it into the dungeon. And so, despite Viren having survived a day in there, he had been horrified to learn that Tallow was now inside a Gold-ranked dungeon, and had returned to it as fast as he had been able to find and protect his kitten.

"That is reprehensible," Ryland said. Viren frowned back up at him. He was silent for a moment, before his words finally spilled out.

"You don't sound too bothered, sir."

"Hmm. Did you expect a harsher reaction?"

"Yes!" Viren scowled behind his glasses, his fingers curling into clenched fists.

"What those pig-sons did was vile. If you hadn't been there, we'd have both died." He looked to the distance, seething.

"When I get my hands on Kohn and Vrahm, I'm going to…" For all that he was enraged, Viren seemed to be wrestling with something. Ryland considered trying to understand what was going on inside the boy's head, but they had nearly arrived at their destination.

"Don't get me wrong, Viren," he said.

"I truly believe that what those two did was utterly unconscionable, even if they are mere boys like you. I hope, for all our sakes, that they receive their just desserts." Ryland paused for a moment.

"That said, acting out of emotion instead of deliberation would be ruinous. Case in point—Tallow nearly died." That made Viren go quiet, save for the sound of his footsteps. Perhaps Ryland ought not to have been so harsh. It really wasn't the boy's fault that his precious bonded manabeast had ended up at death's door. But that didn't mean there hadn't been faulty choices along the way. Could he not have asked for someone's help before rushing headlong into the dungeon?

Could he not have asked Ryland for help when they had met? Admittedly, he had been anxious and stressed, desperate to save a beloved little pet. It didn't help that he was at an age that wasn't exactly well-known for careful consideration and forethought. And also, he wasn't entirely wrong to think Ryland was a lost madman. Nevertheless, there were lessons to be learned. Lessons that Viren seemed to be synthesizing, going by the look Ryland briefly caught in his eyes.

"I just thought I could be…" Viren swallowed before his voice went quiet.

"I'm just glad Tallow is safe." The kitten nuzzled into his chest.

"I'm glad you're both safe, Viren," Ryland said. Viren sniffled. They walked in companionable silence for a while. Ryland didn't mind. The whole point of not using rifts to jerk Viren around everywhere with him was so that the boy could relax a bit.

"Where are we going first, sir?" Viren asked as the town walls grew larger in the distance.

"We're going to the bank," Ryland said.

"The bank? Which one?" Ryland paused.

"Right. It makes sense the economy diversified over the years to introduce multiple banks. But let us proceed. I might be able to recognize the symbol." Viren was quiet for a while, but his questions came bubbling out anyway, clearly not forgetting their little game.

"Sir, when exactly was the last time you used a bank?"

"Hm, I'm not quite sure," Ryland said.

"I'd have to think if you want the exact time and date."

"An approximation is fine, sir."

"Ah. Well, I'd say it's been a few centuries at the minimum." Ryland had almost travelled down the entire street before realizing that Viren was no longer with him. He turned to find the bespectacled boy staring at him with his mouth a little agape. Ryland wasn't keeping track, but he felt as though he was seeing that expression more often than not. Viren blinked hard several times." Centuries?"