Chapter 3: Sensing mana

The Grey Keep was a great castle built on the edge of a yawning void. Beautiful banners of black and gold hung from its towering pillars, shining with countless lights high in the towers. The Keep was an ancient, grey, weathered castle, with a small city far below the hill, away from the dark void. The void, a lightless pit, stretched as far as the eyes could see on either side, even the horizon sank into darkness. The Grey Keep stood in contrast to the void at its back, like the fading light of a candle. Their entrance into the high halls, with corridors wide enough to fit five carriages, and the "small" room given to them was entirely missed by Lucen, who slept through the whole thing. A baby’s body was not one suited for the enjoyment of the environment, or enjoyment of anything, really. Boredom—on levels he had never known—was killing him. Most of the time, he could only look at roofs, and the rest of the time, he spent sleeping. He slept so much he started to lose track of time. And everytime they left the castle, it was dawn—the light of the sun just failing to rise from the horizon. Their major source of light was the arc of radiance in the upper atmosphere. The Halo. He remembered that dark entity’s horrifying voice. Could that be it? Seeing something so ridiculously massive was enough to make up for his day of vomiting, shitting and pissing himself... to some degree. The only perk of being a baby was that no one minded you listening to them. His mother had been given work as a cleaner. In the meantime, he was left with very loose-lipped nannies. "He doesn’t have hair like Lord Heimar or his kin," an elderly woman said while washing him. "But those are Lightcloak eyes." "The lord has borne him to a hard life then," A younger girl said, handing the older woman soap. "The Lightcloaks are disgraced... and the Empire will soon fall to war." Lucen’s ears perked up as they poured water on him, he needed to know where they were. The older nanny rolled her eyes. "I heard from a priest that the Heavenly Messengers no longer hear god," the girl said, insistent, "They say the shattering of the Heart killed him. Are we safe—this close to the void?" The older nanny gave her a harsh look, sighing. "Yet the Halo still covers the world, and divine magic still empowers the Lord’s knights. Fear not, child. Though his children now fight for power, Kal is a god, and he remains one." They talked about mundane things more often than not, but this was enough for Lucen to learn where he was after a couple of days. This country way ruled by an actual god, one people could meet and see. The big arc of light in the sky... was a Halo, a celestial body that granted the people power. They used this power to fight countless horrible, ancient entities and protect the empire. This immortal god had left behind demigod children after his supposed death. Now the Empire was fracturing. The one who sits on the throne now is a King whose face has never been seen. He had no desire to be embroiled in the madness that would consume the kingdom. All that was on his mind was surviving the danger coming and leaving this place for somewhere quiet and peaceful. A few days later, Lucen adjusted his body on the bed. He was currently in the room given to his mother, whose ceiling was unreasonably high, designed with intricate and shaded drawings of people and stories. The room was more prison than home, with towering wooden doors that they couldn’t hope to move an inch and cold, smooth stone floors. The message was clear: they were kept here to prevent future disgrace. The room was the size of an apartment, decked with lavish velvet furniture and thick curtains. The bed was not far from the couches and small kitchen. This was meant to be a small room? There was a big desk near the wall, and under a candle’s light, Selene was reading, early in the morning before she left for work. The light annoyed Lucen a little, but he was still awed by her dedication to reading every day. Would he inherit such dedication? He willed his status to open. Rank: mortal Vitality: Low Will: Low Might: Low Insight: Minor Dominance: Low Discovery: 2% Status Effects: tired Equipment: None He could guess what Rank, Vitality, status effects, and equipment were, but things like discovery and insight baffled him. As a child, he spent most of his time sleepy, or his focus was so scattered that he couldn’t concentrate. So being fully alert, he willed an answer. [User requires a tutorial...] Rank(mortal): You are a flimsy, short-lived thing, unaccustomed to calling on power or using magical arts and abilities. So pitifully weak. Vitality(Low): This is your ability to survive things and your resistance to curses, poisons or debuffs. Abilities and equipment may add modifiers (+0.00 resistance to certain damage types). A heavy breath could end you. Will(Low): Your ability to contain and use mana. Also governs your accuracy and resistance to madness and obsession. Quite the pushover, aren’t you? Might(Low): Your raw Physical strength. Also determines your ability to use weapons (+0.00 increases to certain damage types). Couldn’t lift a heavy mind with those arms. Insight(Minor): Your ability to understand knowledge and magic; to combine and analyse spells. Can’t see much, huh? Dominance(Low): Your ability to command spells, weapons and spirits you have gained. Spirits, that are powerful enough, may try to slay you if summoned. You’re a sub... Discovery(2%): Your chance of receiving Spirit lights, abilities and equipment from fallen foes. Unlucky. Status Effects(Tired): Your current physical or mental state. Why are you always tired? Equipment(None): The slots available for you to hold are five. Lucen’s face grew more incredulous with each line. His mother came over to check if he had soiled himself. Once she left, he wondered to himself if the system was sentient to a degree. [Sentience increases with user’s Insight and Will. Please become smarter.] Who made this ungrateful thing in his head? How could he raise Insight and Will? He was still a baby, after all. [I was made by... unauthorized.] [User can increase some of his pitiful stats by:] Sensing elemental magic present in the air. This is easier in the Grey Keep, which contains high elemental traces of fire and stone. After gaining a sense of elemental magic, user can read the Runes drawn into the walls to increase Insight and Will. User can sense and temper his Life magic to increase Dominance and Vitality. Lucen boiled over the unauthorised. The entity that made the Devourer system, and brought him here—could it be the same god of the Halo? The methods of sensing Elemental magic and then reading Runes... he had nothing else to do other than try it. He closed his eyes and focused on the soft, white bed he was lying in and its thick mahogany frame. A soft flame moved through the air, a slowly burning essence. Lucen gasped and opened his eyes, then pain flooded his body like an injection of fire.