Rise of the Devourer

Book 3: Chapter 33 — Wyvern Cliffs Pt. 3

The wyverns continued to circle overhead, a few more arriving in the area to scout the scorched landscape. The giant reptilians moved about with uncharacteristic speed, gathering wind and putting out any remnants of the fires that may have remained from the aftermath of their battle with coordinated work. Tony in his eye-bat form had split into multiple tiny pieces that were scattered around the forest, watching the wyverns, as they constantly fed information to Noah.

The three of them, in the meantime, sat inside a small cavern they’d found nearby. Noah and Aurelia looked at Vion questioningly.

The dragon woman sighed.

“Alright, where do I begin.”

“Maybe from what’s mythical rarity and why it’s hidden in the first place,” Noah suggested.

“And why you in particular felt the need to hide it from us,” Aurelia added.

Vion nodded. “So. I cannot claim to know the entirety of it. The Astral Script has many secrets, that much, everybody knows. There are systems and mechanics in place that are hidden by nobles and royals all around the world. Special requirements for certain Paths, rituals and magics that can allow someone to take multiple paths from the very beginning. Tomes, abilities, skills and their interactions and intermingling. Required skill fusion, skill tiers, among many many other things,” Vion said, in a single breath.

“I’m aware. It’s one of the things that had made Noah so strange, since he had managed to get three Paths from the very beginning, instead of the standard single path most people got,” Aurelia said, glancing sideways at Noah.

Vion continued. “Right, well, basically, there are certain rarities that are like that too. Rarities above Legendary. They exist, they are a thing. But they are hidden by the Astral Script, unless you have some really powerful perception abilities, or have managed to stumble upon the requirements necessary to find out about them.”

“…Or you happen to know a dragon,” Noah added.

“Or that,” Vion agreed.

“But why? Why have the rarities be hidden?” Aurelia asked.

“Before I answer that, let me ask you this. Is there a type of rarity type that you’re aware of, which is above Legendary? Besides the one you just learned.”

Aurelia thought over it. “There’s unique paths and items. But those are not necessarily better in all cases. There’s growth items but they, too, aren’t always better,” she paused as she realized something. “Divine items… and divine paths.”

“Exactly. Divine

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rarity. It is a special rarity above Legendary that can only be obtained by worshipping a god. Though few ever give out things of such power or influence easily, most Divine category paths of clerics and paladins are not actually Divine grade. There’s a difference between the two. But that’s a common one that almost everyone knows about. Divine grade. The reason it is commonly known is because the gods must directly give them to you. It cannot be obtained by any other means. They can control it,” Vion said.

Noah chewed over the information. This was the second new rarity tier he’d learned of just now, and it made him wonder just how much information he still didn’t have. If he wanted to ever truly destroy the cult and free himself from the Void God’s pact, he would need to learn. He returned his attention to Vion’s words.

“…which is why these rarities are kept hidden. Because, one of the conditions of unlocking a Mythical grade path, is simply knowing of the rarity in the first place. Well, it’s not quite that simple. But that is one of the factors. If you know of the rarity, you can unlock it. The other method is reach level 100 with a legendary grade ability, and then upgrade it into a mythical ability. Or to find a mythical grade tome and do it that way. But those tomes are guarded even more heavily. The money needed to get one would be enough to buy a large city.”

Noah thought of the Ancient grade tome he'd used very recently. He gulped.

“That still doesn’t explain why you would have to hide it from us,” Aurelia asked.

“I’m getting there,” Vion said, pausing for moment as if to sort her thoughts. “Okay, so, I’m not completely sure if this is true or not, but it’s what Draxias— err, the king told me when he was teaching me about my legacy. You are aware that the celestians were the one who created the Astral Script in the form that it is today, yes?”

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Noah nodded.

“Though they had help from the pantheon, but it was they who created the first spell that began the astral script itself, and as such, they have a lot of control. Now… it is debated how much control they have, as the first empires of the time have long fallen, and a lot of the knowledge of that period has been lost to time. It is said that the dragons had fought a war against the celestians during the period they had been conquering all they could, which had directly resulted in the fracturing of the empire and the formation of the alliances. I don’t know if this is true or not, but that’s how the story goes,” Vion said.

Noah remembered Zax mentioning something in relation to that at some point. Had the dragon been part of that war then? He would have to ask.

“Anyway, so, while the celestians have mellowed out a lot over the centuries, they still hold the most influence on the astral scripts of any race. And, I have heard that, if inconvenient people manage to gain this information and access to these special rarities and their paths, then the Ascendant Monarchs sent hunters, to take care of them. It is… almost a myth. But the King says he has met one of these hunters before. A man powerful enough to level kingdoms all by himself, with sharp pointed ears, but with white hair and blue eyes. His bones formed an ethereal armor around his body, cladding him in white. The Bone-clad Reaper,” Vion said.

“That… does not sound real,” Aurelia said.

“I know, I didn’t believe it either. But… you are aware of how there was this myth going around that dragons did not actually exist, and were just a lie to cover up attacks from ascendants? Well, these figures were almost always involved in that. That, and whatever group they come from, as there’s certainly more than one. It’s a folklore, the reapers and their actions. But there is truth behind it,” Vion said.

“And, they come after you if you get too strong?” Noah asked.

“Not always, not necessarily. But yes. Some say they control the central kingdoms, that all of them are Ascendants and the Monarchs are working under their orders. That’s a bit far fetched, but there certainly is some connection,” Vion said.

“This sounds like a big conspiracy theory to me,” Aurelia said. “An organization of ascendants running things from the shadow? I’m not so sure.”

“I would agree, but recently, something has changed. More and more incidents are rising. The shifts with the cults. Movements in the underground, spells. In fact, the city you two just came from. Heartillia, didn’t it lose its Lord to a mysterious assassination? Something is happening. There have been murmurs of the organization moving around, and somethings about a dead god,” Vion said.

Noah’s attention snapped to the woman at the mention.

“Draxias says a god has died, and that his shards have landed on Erandir. And the Reapers seek the pieces,” Vion said, leaning back. “Not that I get it. The gods are immortal, and none we know of have died.”

Aurelia looked towards Noah, surprise reflecting on her face as well, but Noah’s attention was captured instead by the new quest he had gotten.

New Quest obtained!

Quest: The Reapers

You’ve heard the legend of the Reapers. A mysterious organization of powerful people who do not like strangers getting too strong. Especially strangers holding the pieces of the dead god they wish to collect.

Objective: Find out more about this mysterious organization.

Difficulty: Hard

Reward: Unknown

Noah looked at the quest for a long moment, before waving it away. He would deal with it when he got to that stage. He already had the mystery of the lunar cult to solve, and the preparations for the dragon warrior’s trial to make.

Deciding this was a good time to bring it up, he turned to Vion. “So… where does the Ancient rarity sit at? That’s also one of the hidden ones,” he asked.

Aurelia jumped. “I… got another skill point,” she said.

Vion looked at Noah in surprise, before shaking her head. “It’s below Mythical, adjacent to Legendary, but a bit different. It’s more like unique in the sense that, it can be better or worse, but primarily just denotes things that predate the astral script and are not inherently a part of it. I don’t know much more beyond that.”

Noah gave the woman a nod. He had a feeling that if he could inspect the scale from the Life Wyrm again, it would have shown up as Mythical now.

He pulled up his own quest for the Shards.

Quest: Shards of [???]

Through strange and unknown circumstances, you’ve come to possess a shard of [???]. But it is far from the only one that exists. Memories remain hidden in these pieces that’ve been scattered across Erandir. It’d do you well to start searching.

Objective: Find all the Shards of [???]

Difficulty: Unknown

Reward: Unknown

He’d gotten this quest right at the very start, when he’d just arrived on Erandir. Noah looked at it once more, inspecting the shard directly.

[Shard of ???, (Divine/???)]

A shard of ** ******* attached to the soul of Noah Brown. Contains an aspect of the Devourer, and a piece of a forgotten memory.

Noah put the description away.

Taking a breath, he got up. “The wyverns have left the area, let’s move before they return. The river is nearby, I’ve had Tony scout the area. There shouldn’t be too much in our path to cross,” Noah said.

Vion and Aurelia both nodded at him, as the group got up.

Noah took a look at his quests, before focusing himself. The games of gods would continue on, and while he didn’t know what that future held for him, for now he knew what his task was.

He had some wyverns to hunt.