[[Volume 1]]: Humble Beginnings

  Sidestory 1: The Devotee |COMMUNES WITH A SILENT GOD|

  In The Theocracy's capital, Prima Tacta. In a cold, stone cathedral.

  An old man, with long white hair, and a long white beard stood.

  Myrren worked tirelessly. Over the years, he had transformed the interior of this cathedral into a place optimal for magical cultivation. The air was brimming with magical potential.

  He sat in the center of the runic circle he had constructed out of priceless materials and looked inward. He cast a diagnostic spell and determined his mana reserves were around 70 percent full. He ran through his Mana Gathering technique 'Thorough Devotion,' drawing countless mana particles into his bright Blue core.

  After half an hour, his core was saturated with magic. He was ready for his next attempt.

  Myrren shifted through various runes in his head. He started with the basis of the Wormhole spell he had learned, stripping off runes which allowed transport of material, keeping only sound transport. Then, he strengthened the space-breaking runes, adding extra layer after extra layer. Then, for localization, he referenced the origin of the holy artifact he wore around his neck.

  He added stabilization runes throughout the weave. To complete it, he added his own special touch, encapsulating the runes in his own spellsong, a type of magic he had been pioneering for decades.

  After another half an hour, he had finished his 15312th attempt. He prepared to cast.

  He walked around the room, making his stances of ritual prayer, while chanting the chants of old he had been taught when he was young.

  The mana in the room gathered around him and moved with his steps like a ghost following him.

  Right before he got to the final step, an invisible tremor shook him, and blood fell from his ears. The casting had failed.

  He subtly frowned, then sat down, and cast a healing spell upon himself.

  Myrren had been incredibly devoted to his Lord since he was a child. His parents had imprinted upon him the importance of faith. If he prayed with sufficient devotion, his wishes would come true. He had seen it happen himself, when he had prayed for some good fruit to eat, and the next day, a tree he often sat under had borne fruit.

  This delighted him and reaffirmed his faith in the Lord. He decided to enter the Church, beginning as a choir boy. Even now, singing those songs he learned reminded him of the good days. Those good days hadn't lasted long though.

  War was declared against The Principality when he was 7, and his parents, as high ranking members of the Clergy, had been sent to go fight.

  He was praying when it happened, to one of the Lower Faces of the Lord. He heard it from his room in Prima Tacta, a sonic boom shattering all the windows, and the Lower Face he was praying to fell silent. He tried making contact with them again, but it didn't go through. At the time, a dreadful feeling permeated his being.

  Over the next week, he continued trying to make contact and continued to fail. The upper ranks of the Church fell into disarray, as they couldn't make contact either. He then received the news that

  both of his parents had been killed in battle.

  He grieved for years, losing himself in service to the broken Church. The relic which used to belong to his parents was now his only connection to them.

  Eventually, as his Core rose in rank, he realized that if he could not reach the Lord with existing spells, he could create his own.

  He delved into research on how to create spells, coming across information that Blue cores usually used runes in order to conceptualize their spells. He heavily invested in rune research, learning how to make basic spells with runes at the late Green core stage.

  It only took him a few hundred attempts at making his 'Communion' spell before he realized just using runes wasn't going to cut it. He would need to innovate and create his own method of spellcraft.

  He searched for renowned mages and interviewed them, even reaching the Cardinal of Magic. From these countless interviews, he concluded his own method of spellcraft, which he called Spellsong, taking inspiration from his days as a choir boy, and an ancient sect he had learned about in his research called the Instrumentalists.

  Spellsong involved weaving strings of mana into notes of music and turning the spell into a song to be performed.

  He developed Spellsong over many decades, making many successful spells that he neglected to release to the public.

  The healing spell was almost finished casting. His core was at 68 percent full. He ran 'Thorough Devotion' until his mana reserves were full.

  After reminiscing more on his past, while casting his healing spell, something snapped. He had been working on this spell for decades, and while he had gotten close at the beginning, it seemed he had made no progress in the past ten years. The healing spell had misfired and done something to his brain. Myrren's eyes became crazed. He tore the holy artifact from around his neck and crushed it into dust in his hand. He poured the dust into his mouth and swallowed it, before lashing out with the most powerful combat magic he knew, wrecking the cathedral's interior. Stone pillars crumbled, tables were broken into pieces, and the ornamental rug was torn to shreds.

  He came back to himself and realized what he had done. At least the reinforcing enchantments he had added held up this time. The loss of the artifact was... decidedly not good. However, it gave him an idea.

  Myrren prepared for his 15313th attempt. He proceeded as he did last time, but instead of using the artifact to localize the effect of the spell, he used his heart.

  He stood up, and went through the ritual at a rapid pace. This time, he reached the final step of the ritual, and felt all the mana vanish from the room, as well as his heart vanishing from his chest.

  Myrren knew he had succeeded, and cast a slew of spells to keep him alive for as long as possible without his heart.

  In the center of the room, a glowing purple light appeared, slowly elongated and stretching into a circle. A portal slowly took shape, and a subtle energy rippled from it. Through the portal was a dark and foggy place.

  He stumbled forward, then kneeled in front of the portal. Faint fog, tinged purple, flowed out from it. Despite being without a heart, Myrren's blood circulation increased rapidly, and he became flushed.

  ["My Lord? Are you there? Are you okay? What has happened?"]

  He saw a shadow appear behind the portal, followed by two more shadows. The fog stopped coming out through the portal. Suddenly, Myrren was overwhelmed by an invisible force he felt emanating from those figures. The glow of the portal faded from purple to red.

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  One of the figures spoke.

  ["What have you done?"]

  The deep voice reverberated in Myrren's ears. This was not the voice of the Lord he knew, nor any of the Lord's Lower Faces.

  ["My Lord, you fell silent and we couldn't contact you. I spent my life inventing my spell, 'Communion,' in order to get through to you." ]

  ["I see. An insect has wormed his way through, with a paltry but focused power. What a shame."]

  Before Myrren could feel surprise, an overwhelming force came through the portal, destroying everything, including Myrren.

  ---

  The Pope sat on his steps, below the Throne symbolically reserved for the Lord. He felt a familiar force, and snapped his head, looking in the direction where it came from. His brow furrowed, and he stood up and took out an emerald bell from inside his robe, and rung it. It rang without sound, but sent out mana ripples.

  After a second, four robed men appeared in front of him, kneeling. Their robes were colored red, blue, gray, and green.

  They spoke in unison.

  ["What is it, your Holiness?"]

  ["I've detected a signal, it seems to be from that place. Go and investigate it. I'll transmit the spatial coordinates of the signal's origin to you."]

  The Pope raised a hand, and made complex gestures with each of his fingers. The Cardinals eyes flickered as they looked inwards for a moment, confirming the reception of the coordinates.

  The Cardinal of War was the first to act, raising his hand to his nose in a praying motion, before lowering it to his chest, and vanishing from sight.

  The Cardinal of Magic repeated his motions, chanting 'Beware, Be There' before vanishing.

  The Cardinals of Peace and Mundanity made more elaborate motions with their hands, chanting the full incantation before vanishing.

  The Pope sat back down on the steps, tapping his fingers beside him, before heaving a deep sigh.

  He turned his head and looked in the direction where the signal came from as if staring at something a thousand kilometers away.

  ["Celestalis..."]

  ---

  The Cardinal of War in his red robe arrived first at the scene. He was quickly followed up by the Cardinal of Magic in his blue robe, then the Cardinal of Peace and the Cardinal of Mundanity in their green and gray robes.

  The Cardinal of Magic waved his hands from right to left, and a magical hologram appeared, reconstructing the structure of the cathedral from before it was destroyed.

  He whistled looking at the runes inlaid in the walls.

  ["Whoever this was had some serious expertise. With these Cloaking runes, I wouldn't have sensed whatever was going on even if I was standing right next to the building. And the Mana channeling runes are very sophisticated. The Warding runes could've stood up to multiple Tier 8 Piercing spells."]

  ["Whatever magic that destroyed this place was at least on the order of Tier 9."]

  The Cardinal of War brushed his hands through the dust, picking some up and letting it fall from his hands.

  ["The intent of this spell was not primarily attack."]

  The Cardinals of Peace and Mundanity chatted in the background, while the Cardinal of Mundanity turned over one of the fallen stones in his hand.

  The Cardinal of Magic sniffed the air and raised his eyebrows.

  ["This is a spell I haven't seen before. It forcibly bores through the dimensional barrier, conserving energy by using a communication intent. It seems to be a sacrificial spell. Let me see if I can recreate the structure."]

  He sat down and looked inward, a light purple glow enveloping him.

  ["This is fascinating work. It is based off runes but then uses a unique structure that I haven't seen before. It has the flavor of the Instrumentalists, but it doesn't seem to be their work. I should be able to recreate it, substituting the sacrificial component with a high-tier mana crystal."]

  The Cardinal worked for a while, then stood up.

  ["Alright, let us head back and report to the Pope."]

  The Cardinals of Peace and Mundanity looked at each other, then dropped the stones they were holding to cast their Teleportation spells.

  ---

  The Pope felt the mana ripples and looked at where the Cardinal of War would appear a split second later.

  He stood up, brushed off his robe, and addressed them.

  ["What did you find?"]

  The Cardinal of Magic replied.

  ["As you expected, a portal was opened to Celestalis. A few moments after the portal opened, a Tier 9 spell came out of it, and killed the Blue Core mage who opened it. That mage invented the spell themselves. I've reverse-engineered it, but I'll need a high-tier mana crystal if you want me to cast it."]

  The Pope rubbed his head for a while, nursing a headache. It had been over a century since he had managed to contact the Lord.

  ["Let's try it. We'll need a High Tier protective barrier, just in case."]

  The Cardinal of War stepped up.

  ["I can cast a Tier 8 barrier. With the support of the other cardinals, it should reach the quality of Tier 9."]

  The Cardinal of Peace spoke up as well.

  ["We can retrieve an additional Tier 9 barrier artifact from the Holy Vault."]

  ["Go ahead."]

  The Cardinal of Peace vanished after casting the Teleportation spell.

  The Cardinal of Magic drew a runic circle on the floor, with four foci in the four directions, and a fifth one ahead of it. He took a powder out of a pouch on his waist, sprinkling it along the runic circle, and towards the fifth focus.

  During this time, the Cardinal of War and Mundanity were absorbing mana from their surroundings.

  The Cardinal of Peace reappeared, holding a golden-blue crux in his hands, with multi-colored gems embedded at each end.

  The Cardinal of Magic gestured to the center of the runic circle, where the crux was placed.

  The Pope went behind the Throne and flipped a lever.

  ["The protective barrier of the Holy See has been activated. No one should be able to disturb us."]

  ["Alright. Stand in the front circle. "]

  The Cardinal of Magic guided everyone to stand in their respective places. He stood at the very back of the circle, with the Cardinal of War at the front, and the Cardinals of Peace and Mundanity on the sides. The Pope stood in the isolated circle at the very front.

  ["Begin the protections."]

  The Cardinal of War began chanting protection hymns, and the other Cardinals joined him. The crux at the center of the circle lit up, and a faint blue parabolic barrier appeared in front of the Pope, extending to the sides of the runic circle.

  As the protective chants stacked, a faint yellow barrier appeared, following the shape of the first barrier.

  The Cardinal of Magic spoke while making complex gestures with his hands.

  ["I will begin to cast the spell."]

  The Pope nodded, and a purple ring began to take shape outside of the protective barriers. It took shape quickly, revealing a landscape of purple fog beyond the portal.

  Again a shadow appeared on the other side of the portal.

  The Pope spoke up in shock.

  ["Is that... Ultima Excidium? Sir, I'm the agent of the First Circle on Corpalis, chosen personally by an Envoy."]

  A chilling voice came through the portal.

  ["Ah yes, you're that one's toy. I remember you. I must thank you for opening a portal straight to me. I can get rid of a loose end easily."]

  The Pope's eyes widened.

  ["Shit!"]

  At the same time, the Cardinal of War shouted.

  ["Maximum power to the barrier, now! Close the portal!"]

  The portal began to shrink, but a hand from the shadow on the other side grabbed it and stopped the shrinking.

  ["I've been able to study this spell long enough to stop it from working again. Here's my thanks."]

  Another hand of the shadow pointed towards them through the portal, and a spell blasted through it, sucking in all light from the surroundings.

  The first barrier cracked instantly, shattering into a thousand tiny yellow pieces.

  The second barrier held on for a little longer before the crux at the center of the circle exploded.

  The little black ball that came through the portal continued forward towards the Pope.

  He managed to raise his hand up, and quick cast a basic barrier spell, dumping all his mana into it, forming what looked to be a tangible green cross. He followed it up with a use of his Innate Spell, attempting to draw power from the Lord to empower himself, which failed.

  The black ball hit the green cross, diverting its power around the Pope. However, the cross shattered before it could be fully blocked, letting some of the energy from the black ball seep rush into the Pope.

  He dropped dead instantly.

  The Cardinals of Magic and War were next to get their barriers up, both in the shape of a golden aegis.

  The Cardinals of Peace and Mundanity were too slow to cast their barriers, and the black energy from the ball rushed through them.

  They both dropped dead instantly.

  The barriers surrounded the remaining Cardinals, as the black energy ferociously attacked them.

  The Cardinal of Magic cast another spell on the side, an amplified Tier 8 purification spell.

  The purification spell fought against the rampaging decay magic, and with it having already lost a lot of energy traversing the dimensional barrier, and breaking through 3 protective barriers, the decay magic lost the battle.

  The Cardinals looked around warily, before dropping their barrier spells.

  The Cardinal of Magic spoke first.

  ["That went well. I think you should be the new Pope."]

  The Cardinal of War nodded and began picking items off of the dead Pope's body.

  ["Do you have anyone in mind for the other Cardinals?"]

  The Cardinal of War thought for a bit, then shook his head.

  ["Let's brainstorm together before lifting the barrier around the Holy See."]

  ["Alright. We also need to put together a story of what happened."]

  ---