Crystalise: The Exaltation System: ASCENDANT F.R. Brooks (the snowy day read aloud .TXT) 📖

James said. “I guess… It felt like I was just falling. Everything was dark… but it felt like there were lights in there, coming from somewhere. It felt like forever but at the same time, it felt like seconds before I got spit back out again.”

“There’s not a lot of research on the attack capabilities of obscuran mobs. That Lucienne even managed to acquire one and use it against us is shocking to me. Then again… she’s the Chevalier. Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised,” Liam said. “Just… after seeing all that, I’ve got physics questions.”

James squinted at Liam. “Your twin brother gets sucked into some crazy, obscuran black hole and you’ve got physics questions?”

Puzzled, Liam looked back to James, “…yes? I mean, you came back just fine.”

James just shook his head in disapproval and began walking to the chamber’s entrance.

Liam followed. “I’m just saying, I’d like to try and replicate that in a more controlled environment sometime.”

“Yeah? You do, huh? Well, you can throw Art in there next time.” James gestured to the mirrors, “I’m… good on mirrors in general for the next decade.”

* * *

EXP:+27,000 EXPEXALT ADJUSTMENTS: WILLIAM STERLING || LV.83 → LV. 84|| EXP: 1091029|| statsATK - 193 → 196 [+3]DEF - 234 → 235 [+2]AGI - 179 → 182 [+3]LUK - 121 → 124 [+3]EXALT ADJUSTMENTS: JAMES STERLING || LV.82 → LV. 83|| EXP: 1066321|| statsATK - 229 → 231 [+2]DEF - 174 → 176 [+2]AGI - 229 → 231 [+2]LUK - 240 → 241 [+1]

* * *

Chrysid is the capital city of Libelle and the Domicile of Novus Lucus. Chrysid is also an umbrella term referring to the governing body which oversees the creation of laws and regulations in Libelle.

13 | Balance

A soft, blue glow from illuminated circuitry along the walls. The once-dark hall of mirrors hummed to life as they made their return to the evigilari statue. Scattered flecks of luminous white paint on the ceiling glowed shone like distant stars.

With the glittering lights reflected on the mirrors around them, Liam felt as if they were walking through a long corridor suspended in space.

For a moment, he felt quite nostalgic for the observatory and science museum back home in Euclid. There had been a corridor quite like this one, albeit smaller and shorter. Instead of mirrors lining the walls and floors, there had been a dated hologram projection system to entertain the children passing through.

Serena Lucienne… she came from Euclid.

It was then that he realized how many of the corridors thus far had reminded him of places back home. Places of childhood memories. The aquarium. That art gallery.

All Chevaliers had the duty of designing their trial. Knowing that Chevalier Serena Lucienne had hailed from Euclid, the pieces clicked in Liam’s mind. Serena was replicating places from home.

The reproductions, however, were distorted in some way. As if she were painting an image from a memory out of a dream. Or perhaps a memory that had broken down over the years, elongating hallways and exaggerating the things that felt so much larger than they really were through the eyes of a small child.

“Thinking about something?” James asked.

“Home.”

James fell silent for a time. Liam thought about bringing up the space corridor from the museum in Euclid—but he opted against it. James never liked those field trips.

“There was another message back there, written on a mirror,” Liam said. “Remember your reflection.”

“I didn’t notice,” James answered.

“Did you see anything else odd back there?”

“Like…?”

“I… don’t know if it was a trick from that obscuran mob, but I saw something weird in the mirrors. My own reflection—and I thought it was the mob. Maybe it was. But then the mob would have to be in two places at once.”

“Wasn’t that what Nym was saying? When it showed up in multiple places across her map?”

“Yeah. You’re right. I just… can’t help but wonder if there was a second one or something. Or if we’re not entirely alone.”

“We’re in the Spire of the Chevalier. Think about it. You said it yourself, most of the floors below are research facilities, right? She probably has a whole zoo full of obscuran mobs. It was probably just another part of her collection screwing with your head.”

“Maybe,” Liam shrugged. “It just… didn’t seem like it wanted to attack me.”

“Don’t overthink it. Obscura as an element is all head-fuckery.”

“Yeah.”

The orb in Liam’s palm, collected from the obscuran mob, had the symbol for sulfur carved into it. Remember your reflection. Liam wondered if those words were meant to be metaphorical or literal.

Sulfur. Soul. Cardinal. Initiation, impetus.

Remember your reflection. Remember why they want you. Remember why you’re here.

Introspective, sure. But what did it matter to Lucienne whether they did any soul-searching or not before they challenged her? Whether they lived or died?

They returned to the central chamber where the evigilari statue awaited them.

“James,” Liam said, “after everything from Outpost 14… everything that they killed Jove for… how are you even going to change what Chrysid’s doing?”

“The Chevalier is the most powerful exalt in Libelle,” James answered. “Not even the heads of Chrysid can defy the Chevalier.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Think about it. Chrysid and the Chevalier work as equals because they must. The Chevalier protects Libelle from… creatures like that,” James gestured to the evigilari statue. “Without the Chevalier, mankind buckles under the next invader that comes to suck our planet dry. Humanity ends. Chrysid’s corrupt, but they know that they need a Chevalier. They need a weapon more powerful than themselves… and now, we also know why they don’t just wage war against the Chevalier if they deem them a threat. We saw what happened to the other realms. Think about it all, Liam—Lucienne’s complicit in Chrysid’s actions.”

“You’re sure of that, too?”

“If she’s got the best interests of human life in mind, she should be against them. But she’s not. As a Chevalier, you can’t just