Chapter 60: Heart of the Leaden Blood
Lidien couldn’t stop his giggles and maniacal laughter at obtaining a treasure that even his adopted Mother couldn’t totally control.
He stood and walked through the Ancient Throne Hall, going outside to bask in the sun-like light inside the Rift of the Leaden Blood, a place without a sun.
He scanned the endless desert, sand twirling from the soft wind, and then stared intently at the corpse of the Skinless Leopard drying up with the dust.
"I don’t know if I should thank you for getting on my nerves..."
Lidien walked towards the Skinless Leopard, his foot sinking shallowly with every step he took.
But a few inches before his hand reached the Skinless Leopard, he was stopped by the sudden intervening voice of the Monarch.
’Don’t touch the melted skin, unless you want all of their kind to hunt you.’
Lidien’s hand shook, and he stared intently at the corpse.
"Even absorbing its newly formed Necrotic Essence is a bit tricky..."
Shaking his head, he turned back to the Castle. Now... unlike the first time he saw it, it stood not as a ruin, but as a decent, yet profoundly ancient, fortress.
"Old man, do you know how to get out of here? Or... can I even take this Rift outside of the Bone Orchards?"
A small, gentle laugh echoed in Lidien’s mind, and he heard the Monarch say.
’Being able to control the Rift will make you its Master... but it doesn’t mean you Master its control, and... that’s for you to find out yourself.’
Realizing that the Monarch of Blood was only guiding him, not teaching him... made him grateful for it, because in the end... it was not the Monarch’s decision that needed to be followed, but his own.
Lidien once again walked towards the castle and entered it... being able to access the Rift’s memory made him feel like a blueprint of the Rift was stuck in his mind.
He walked down the corridor, lit by unextinguishable torchlights with yellow flame, going deeper into a hall with an intrinsically ancient design.
As he stood in front of the large, towering door beneath the ancient castle, he stared intently at the runic figures written atop it, surprisingly... he could now read them.
’Let death be the start of a new beginning...’
Lidien’s eyes squinted, unsure of what to say after he read it. Was he mistaken in reading it? No... and as of now, he really didn’t care.
He placed his hands on the large door, another ancient memory flooded his mind as hundreds of crimson-black wings used it as an armory...
’Even this door has Essence?’
Sighing, he pushed the door with his full strength, even activating his Blood Form just to make it budge... till the veins in all parts of his body bulged.
The hinge creaked, along with the squeak of the floor... as he made a small opening in the large door, just enough for his small body to fit, he forced himself to get in.
After almost stumbling from the sudden release of his body, Lidien watched the ancient room light its torchlights one after another, sequentially until the end of the room.
He smiled at the thought of it being familiar, like inside the cave where Lidien and Lily retrieved the Relic of the Death Church.
However, it was not a chest placed atop the altar... but a suspended crimson vortex, sucking a thin film of essences from its top part, while releasing a crystallized dust of verve, till it accumulated and solidified, like the Verve Stones scattered around the place.
"The Core of the Rift... Will I be able to read its memories if I touch it with the help of my Echoes of the Flesh?"
Now, it wasn’t a gentle laugh that echoed in his mind, but something hysterical.
’If you’re eager to meet the God of Death face-to-face, then by all means, touch it.’
Sighing, Lidien raised his hands, and flooded his space ring with verve, activating it to store the scattered Verve Stones before pulling one out to study it.
The Verve Stone looked like a simple rock, yet even with his Echoes of the Flesh, it didn’t give him a memory of it... even though it came from an Essence.
However, unlike the Verve inside his body, that could be considered either part Spiritual or Elemental, the Verve that came from the Stone was neutral.
Lidien held it tight and willed the energy into himself, using the same method he used for Necrotic Essence. To his surprise, the neutral verve within the stone shifted, transforming into pure Spiritual Verve that flooded directly into his Dreamflow.
"Isn’t this much better than absorbing Elemental Essence to make it into Verve?"
Trying to confirm his guess with the Monarch, he was immediately refuted without mercy.
’It’s a good idea, if you have an existing Coreflux for it will surely become an Elemental Verve, however... a neutral verve can be considered chaotic, without basis... it’ll never be useful. That is why Mortals will not be able to use a Verve Stone to make their Coreflux.’
After storing all the Verve Stones, Lidien sat in front of the Rift’s Core, watching it produce a dust of verve that slowly accumulated, spreading inside the room.
Lidien didn’t dare touch it, and would not risk his life after knowing the danger of it... perhaps he had touched and tried to sit on the throne in the ancient hall because of his intrusive thoughts.
He hadn’t known then that its essence would be captured by his Echoes of the Flesh, forcing him to relive the Rift’s memories. It seemed that was one of the methods to claim its ownership.
Then he sighed, and stared at his hands.
"Is there any way to make my Echoes of the Flesh and Whispers of the Soul only activate if I will it?"
Lidien waited a few minutes, watching the Rift’s Core, mesmerized by its unnatural beauty, then he heard the Monarch say something he didn’t expect to hear.
’I am surprised, even with my knowledge... to see someone like you, who could activate the ability of the Corpse and Soul Pathway without willing it. You can only find it yourself.’