The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

Volten mentioned the exit led to some treasures, but from the leisurely tone of his voice, it didn't sound too impressive. Oscar mentally noted how a person such as Volten might indeed regard this sight as a mere pittance, like a wealthy ruler tossing a gold coin into the crowd. At first, it was extremely dark, then patches of light flickered into a beaming glow, showering radiance upon the stacks and piles of treasures. Squinting his eyes, Oscar peered far. The room was wide and long, enough for a small army of a thousand people to sit with some room in between. And treasures filled the room to its brim.

'Some treasures…what a fraud.' Vast shelves cataloged and organized hundreds of different kinds of plants and herbs, some dry and some somehow fresh in strange bubbles of Ein, similar to the old Pavilion Master's powers. The rest of his gaze was occupied by the staggering piles of elemental ores, the highest and rarest qualities in all of Talos. Oscar picked one up, crackles of lightning hissing on his skin as he turned the ore over. He tossed it back into the pile and wandered the treasury, scrutinizing every inch he passed.

"Cores?" At a certain point, he found mounds and piles of dim cores, his nearing footsteps shaking them slightly, enough for them to collapse and scatter all over the floor. Oscar grabbed a yellow one that bounced near his face and poured his Ein into it. A faint beastly groan responded, weak and listless. He couldn't tell how old these cores were, but the beast spirits dwelling within were all nearly gone, devoid of resistance, not even struggling against the grip of his Ein. Reaching the end of the room, he made a mental note of all he had seen. The room was filled with grade-four thousands of years old plants and herbs, grade-four elemental ores of all elements, including time and space, and beast cores of Marshal Exalt Beasts.

'Did he set it up like this in advance?' Oscar thought while spinning a cube on his finger. Luckily, he had a dimensional cube with enough space for a castle's worth of treasures, the room a far cry from that. All the treasures neatly packed themselves inside his dimensional cube in one swoop. Once cleared, the room was spick and span, its floor so clear he could see his own reflection. With the room clean, Oscar found an indent on the wall and pressed his hand, pushing it, and unsurprisingly, it clicked in place and dragged itself to the side, revealing a new exit.

He peered inside, finding darkness again. However, once he fully entered, the door behind him closed, and the next room brightened, showering light on another treasury. It was a quarter of the size of the treasury before, but a simple glance over the similar piles of ores, cores, and shelves of plants shook him. His heart raced as he lost his breath, entranced by the awe-inspiring gathering. He blinked and drew in a deep breath, but the treasures were not a dream or illusion. They were all grade-five, the treasures of King Exalts.

'This is impossible.' Oscar scrutinized every item in the room; indeed, they were all grade-five treasures. Hastily, he put them all inside his dimensional cube, glancing around before smacking his forehead in self-scolding. Who else was here besides him? It was good to have found all of these, including the cores. If nothing else, he could forge great elemental armaments for any of his allies if they should meet.

'You're kidding me. Some treasure, right Volten?' Oscar widened his eyes, walking straight through the room to the other side, where another faint indent was embedded in the wall. He pushed his hand forward, a familiar click resounding and a new exit greeting him. Having no caution this time, Oscar strode wide steps inside but halted as the light brightened. The room was far smaller. He had expected more treasure, but his eyes lowered as he knelt beside a coffin. Inside it, a skeleton, perfectly preserved, crossed his arms and rested on a soft bed of silk.

"Volten?" Oscar asked, and no reply came. The old warrior was truly dead. He chuckled and sighed, "How can you smile? You, of all people, have the right to hate the world." An aching swelled in his chest, a sharp pain stabbing his heart. The previous savior, the son of Talos, Volten, was dead, and there was no one to mourn his body or understand the man he was. Oscar closed his eyes and entered a moment of silence, only respect and empathy, as he knelt to the skeleton. He dragged the coffin's lid, the screeching scraping piercing his ears until it thudded into place.

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"I promise I will bury you in the place you cherished most. You will rest where your parents' ashes spread." Oscar lifted the coffin and slowly stored it in his dimensional cube. Simply absorbing it in without care was a disrespect he could not allow. Finished, Oscar gazed down at the hidden compartment embedded in the floor and placed his hand on the strange weapon, the one Volten wielded in their battles. As it was removed, a terrifying pressure forced Oscar low, his veins pushing against his neck and head. It rejected him. Oscar quickly tossed it in his dimensional cube and sighed in relief as the bone-crushing pressure disappeared, beads of sweat drenching his tattered clothes.

'Ah, that weapon is a marvel. Forged in the center of Talos itself, the wellspring of all life. Metures saw to it personally. I provided myself as the furnace while that bastard Okeanes quenched it. It carries a part of all of us. But only Volten or the one after him can wield it. You have the perfect body, but not the blood.' Ignyres said, his voice flaming with pride. 'It has drunk the blood of many Caerulumen and their foul ilk. The perfect slaughter tool. He had it since the day he awakened as an Exalt. It grew along with him.'

'You mean he was your tool, not the weapon.' Oscar opened a small box, relieved to find many articles of clothing, though all of them were the same white robes Volten wore. Well, he didn't have the luxury to choose. He changed and tightened the buttons and belt, stretching his limbs. It was the perfect fit.

'...you're right. We saw him as a tool, not a person. That was our greatest mistake. But the fires have already died. It is time for a new flame.' Ignyres said.

'I won't be that. Not for you or anyone.' Oscar observed two hooks on the sides of the compartment. He pulled them, trying harder, after hearing a loud groan, like gears breaking free from the rust. Like a door, the floor split open, unveiling a great pit going straight down.

'As you should. Like Volten said, be free.' Ignyres went first, falling into the pit.

Oscar followed suit and dove into the abyss. His heels scraped on the wall, heat rising on his soles. He was prepared to stop himself at any moment, but that moment never arrived as cold winds howled and a light flushed the tunnel, forcing his eyes shut. His feet skid off an edge as he felt weightless, like floating on the ocean. He opened his eyes and saw a blank white landscape, snowy mountains dotting the horizon along lakes and rivers of ice. His breath turned white, and his lungs grew cold. Quickly, he shrouded himself in Ein, abating the chill threatening to freeze his bones and flesh.

'That makes no sense. I was falling, so how did I end up in another land?' Oscar patted his stomach, not feeling the effects of teleportation. He had truly just fallen straight down and up into another place. He flipped over and landed on the soft snow, surprisingly not that deep as it buried his ankles. 'Weird. How can I still move after using the Guise? Was that place special?'

'There you are! Where the hell have you been?' Erden's voice suddenly roared in his mind, his head hurting from the Prielapos' rage.

'What do you mean? I've been gone for a day.' Oscar rubbed his forehead, easing the tenseness on his temples.

'No…you were gone for a year. I suddenly lost all connection to you besides knowing a glint of light letting me know you still lived.' Erden growled.

'A year?!' Oscar reeled backward, stumbling on the snow and painting his back white in frost. 'Avril! Did you find her?!' He had been gone for a year. It should be impossible, but Erden's memories of an entire year in Fallen Heaven merged in his mind. Erden didn't find Avril. So far, he had grouped up with Ruvin and other beasts in a blasted land of smoldering chasms and fiery slopes.

'I haven't yet. But the problem is you! There's a bounty on your head, and they're all hunting you,' Erden frantically said.

Oscar looked forward, and a faint shadow descended, clouds of snow rising from the wake of its fall. A frigid wave passed through Oscar, unable to penetrate past his shroud. He shivered and swept the snow off his Ein shroud, peering intently at the dark figure behind the sheets of snow. Cursing that his helmet was in his space pocket, Oscar knew it was too late to hide his face for the gleaming eyes shining beyond the icy clouds locked onto him.

"Oscar Terr, heir of Isaac, wielder of Reis. Is it fortune or misfortune that I have found you?" A sharp voice, one that could pierce through the rowdiness of chaotic crowds in a single word, dispersed the snow. He wore a black cloak from head to toe, a mask of a lion hiding his face.

"And you are?" Oscar asked, cracking his neck. The man wasn't friendly.

"Divine Enforcer Cel Standavish." Cel surged his Ein shroud, the dark eyes gleaming with a dangerous glint. "The Primal Council has deemed you a threat."

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