Rise of the Devourer

Chapter 35: Avera's Palace

Noah stared at the goddess, lounging upon her throne with a silver goblet in her hand, containing some kind of golden liquid inside it. The woman’s face was the definition of perfect. But not the kind of symmetrical face Noah would’ve expected. No, Avera looked a lot like a normal woman, one in her thirties who had gone out of her way to take the best care of herself, but her beauty rested in the draw she had. There was an aura of pull, of… divinity that captivated Noah.

Out of habit, he tried to use identify, but found the skill not even reacting. The goddess gave a chuckle.

“I am not under the Astral System, Noah. It’s funny that you’d even try to identify me.”

“How do you… know our names?” Noah asked.

“I know many things, Noah. I am the goddess of Knowledge after all,” Avera said, sipping from her goblet.

Aurelia took in a sharp breath, putting her hand on Noah’s head as she made him bow, repeating the same motion herself. “Please forgive our intrusion and insolence Avera, we did not intend any disrespect. This guy is just an idiot and followed an elemental inside here,” Aurelia said, clutching Noah’s head tightly.

“Oh, far from disrespect, I’m quite amused. I left that gate open for the elementals to travel freely, but I never expected people to follow through from there,” Avera said, raising her hand. The elemental twirled, whispering into the goddess’ ears.

“My friend here tells me your companion is quite an interesting person?” Avera asked.

“Umm—“ Noah tried to speak, but Aurelia pushed his head down again.

“No, goddess. He’s merely lost, and stupid. I think his parents may have dropped him on his head as a child for him to think jumping in an Astral Rift is a good idea,” Aurelia said, almost growling under her breath. Noah felt heat starting to build upon her palms.

“Now now, no need to loosen up your anger like that, Aurelia. It was not entirely Noah’s fault. Fate is a fickle thing, and it had pulled him, or rather, the thing he carried here alongside him,” Avera said, rising from her throne. “My, you do stink of Void though. Perhaps a shower will help,” she said, snapping her fingers and Noah felt a torrent mana flood his body, coursing through him. An intense feeling of invasion filled his mind, but it vanished just as quickly as it came, and Noah realised he felt rather refreshed.

“What did you do?” Noah asked, patting himself. He felt more awake than ever before.

“Washed away the muck you’d picked up on Erandir. Especially the bits of Void your little parasite creates,” Avera said, as she stood right in front of Noah.

Unlike the Wyrm, he did not feel a crushing presence from this woman, but her aura was far vaster instead. He could not feel its end, or the depth of how far it ran.

Avera extended her hand, and Noah felt something pull from somewhere inside him. “There it is,” Avera said, holding Noah’s new spear in her hand. The cloth wrapping it vanished, alongside the lock, as the bright red spear appeared in front of her. “Ah, the Scarlet Valkyries. What a pitiful state to have been reduced to for such valiant warriors,” Avera said, a deep seated sadness in her voice. “Not only do you possess Raelinah’s Valkyrie’s spear, but you also bear the touch of her hand upon your very fate. Tell me, has she returned to us at last?” Avera asked, looking into Noah’s eyes with a pleading expression.

“I…” Noah trailed off, unable to look away from the entrancing circles inside Avera’s gaze that seemed to suck him in. “I don’t know who you’re talking about.”

Avera stepped back, looking once again at the spear. “Perhaps you are not aware of your own fate yet,” Avera said, as the cloth and seal reappeared on the spear. “This weapon did not come to you by coincidence. Do you think it is random chance which creates these quests you follow? Do not be so blind, child. Seek her, and once you have, let her know that I still remember the promise she gave me,” Avera said, handing the spear back to Noah, before pressing a finger to his forehead, as the words engraved themselves in his mind.

“I… if I may ask. Who is this Raelinah?” Noah said, before glancing at the spear in his hand. “And what does this spear have to do with her?”

“Raelinah’s the old Goddess of War, I believe. Shaya had told us of her,” Aurelia said.

“Indeed. She was the old goddess of War on Erandir. And she led the most valiant order of Valkyries against the Crimson Heart. This spear belonged to one of the Valkyries from that order,” Avera said. “Though it has been tainted with Crimson Rot now, but perhaps even that can be a boon, if you learn how to make use of it,” Avera replied.

“What happened to Raelinah if she was so powerful?” Noah asked, looking at Avera.

“She left,” Avera replied, turning away as she took another sip from her goblet.

“She left? Where?”

“I do not know,” Avera said. “But you have clearly met her, given that [Fate-Touched] mark upon you.”

Noah paused, trying to remember something. He could vaguely recall meeting someone… but the memory was near his death, and barely coherent.

“I… I think I did,” Noah replied.

“You most certainly did, Noah. And if you’re here that may mean she is about to return as well. I suspect the [Fate-Touched] mark will lead you to her, if you can follow its guidance.”

“May I ask you something, goddess?” Aurelia said.

“You may.”

“Could you tell us what’s happening with the Abyssal cult, and how they’re intruding upon the guild? Innocent people’s lives are being lost because of them, and we’re both on a quest to find the ones responsible,” Aurelia replied.

“Knowledge is wealth. And I do not part with mine for nothing,” Avera replied. “But, in this regard, I cannot help you even if I wanted to. The void protects those under its shade. I cannot perceive their movements from here,” Avera replied.

“I see. Thank you, goddess,” Aurelia said, bowing, though her voice was quieter.

“Though I cannot help you directly, I can allow you the ability to help yourselves,” Avera added. “As the goddess of knowledge, I have collected many books, teachings, and items in my library. Some of these may lead you to your target.”

“Can we look?” Noah asked.

“Not for free,” Avera replied. “Knowledge for Knowledge. That is the price. You must each give me something you possess that I do not know of, or do not possess myself.”

Aurelia frowned.

“Easy. Do you know that electricity is actually caused by tiny particles of negative charge called electrons that orbit around a cluster of positively charged particles in the centre called protons, and that is what forms all of existing mass?” Noah said.

“I do indeed know how atoms work, Noah. And quantum mechanics, their function, and even vibrating energy matter theorems. I knew of a man from Earth who’d found his way here, and he’d traded me a lot of information. Wonderful guy, he even had this recording of music from your world about all the rock music that was the new craze,” Avera replied.

Noah heard the goddess talk, before his eyes widened as an idea came to him.

“I do have something, but I cannot say it out loud,” Noah said, walking closer. Avera raised her eyebrows in curiosity, before leaning in.

Noah walked up to her ears, whispering.

Avera’s eyes widened, and she looked at Noah with a gasp.

“Is that true? Oh my poor heart,” Avera said, clutching her chest.

“Yeah, it was tragic. But the man’s still a legend,” Noah said, before walking closer.

Aurelia watched the interaction from afar, feeling strange as the goddess chuckled, before outright laughing out loud at his words.

“That is most delightful! Very well, the two of you may roam here freely. But do not disturb Vati if you find him, he does not like strangers. Oh, and do not step outside this palace’s grounds. Only my magic is keeping you two from being ripped apart into dust particles.”

“Noted!” Noah replied cheerfully, as she waved her hand, and a door cut open in reality, leading them into the library.

Noah looked back at Aurelia, giving her a wink. “You wanted to go to the library didn’t you? So here we are!”

“Just what did you tell her?” Aurelia asked, baffled.

“Brought her up to speed on celebrity news from earth. From the way she was talking, I could tell she was a few decades behind,” Noah said. “You can never say I don’t know how to deal with gods again.”

Aurelia stared at the amused Noah, who walked into the library. Shaking her head, she followed, and the portal leading in closed behind her.

Looking up, Noah stared at the vast library with swirling stairs leading up high enough he could not see the top. Books upon books sat in an infinite row of moving shells. Space was not linear, and neither was gravity, with the walls having their own planes of existence interconnected into the other spaces present within the library.

“Well, I guess we better start looking then?” Noah said, glancing at Aurelia.

“Yeah,” Aurelia replied. “This may take a few days.”

Walking through the shelves, Noah slowly began to go through the sections. There was an order to everything, and Noah thanked the goddess for her foresight. Making his way through the many sections of topics, he eventually found his way into the sections on the primordial gods, before picking up a book on Crimson Rot.

Finding a pile of books to read, Noah walked, before taking a seat on one of the swirling stairs as he began to read through the contents.

Hours flew by as Noah read, learning more and more context about this new world. The mana within the library made him feel as if his concentration was at its peak no matter how long he had to focus, and the information continued to fill his brain with each new line he read.

The Crimson Heart was a strange primordial god. Fundamentally, it was the God of Growth and Life, which did not sound at all like an evil god. But the more Noah read, the more apparent it became why it was such.

The Crimson Heart embodied unchecked abundant growth. It embodied mutation, cancer, and pulsating tumors. The kind of growth that ran wild without regard for life or death, simply existing to multiply. And then, after it grew, it would begin to rot.

The Crimson Rot did not merely decay things, it mutated the body it affected, growing pustules and limbs and eyes and hair as it twisted the person afflicted beyond recognition, painfully and agonisingly growing them beyond their capabilities, before all life escaped the affected limb, and it began to decay. Then the rot would settle in, as the blood seeped through the pores, turning the skin red and mushy, earning it the name of Crimson Rot.

If the Void was the antithesis to Life, then the Crimson Heart was unregulated abundance. Two ends of the same spectrum, with both leading to death.

The Rot was a nasty way to die, for any unlucky enough to come in contact with it. But Noah also remembered that he had been made immune to cancer from when he’d gained his Devourer aspect. The fact that Crimson Rot used the person’s own lifeforce against them was problematic, given how much of it Noah had. But if he could control the Crimson Rot’s ability to run life apart, and then reverse it into an enemy while feeding them his own lifeforce from lifeblood, he’d be able to destroy them by healing them wrong.

“Reverse Healing,” Noah murmured, the idea taking hold in his mind. Given Tony’s void abilities, he should be able to regulate the Crimson Rot, and if that was true, then he may be able to allow just enough to seep through for Noah’s own healing to fight back against the rot, as he slowly gained resistance. It was a risky move, especially if it didn’t work, but poisoning himself to train his resistance looked like the only possible way for him to make use of his spear at this point.

As Noah was flipping through a section, detailing methods on how to purify the rot and safely contain it to increase rot resistance, he sensed something stir in his left arm.

With a sudden pulse of mana, his left arm lifted itself, stretching his fingers as if waking up from a long nap, as a consciousness he hadn’t felt in a few days made itself aware to Noah once more.

Noah smiled, feeling pleased.

Tony had finally woken up.