Infinite Realm: Monsters & Legends

Chapter 300: Zach

Reward

Silence.

Over his long life, he had often wondered what it would be like to experience a noise that did not come into being by his own hand. He remembered the days where he did nothing but cause noise, when he had to chase the silence away. Yet, as time passed, he had stopped, just knowing that it was he who created the noise was a pain to him. Silence and noise, opposites.

Oh, how he had hated the silence. It had always been there, surrounding him, embracing him. Telling him that nothing mattered. Oh, it wanted him to give up, it wanted him to go still, and there were times when he had. There was nothing outside of himself in the world that had been his home for so long, he had sometimes spent days sitting in the same spot, not moving a muscle, not thinking about anything. Silent and empty.

Yet there was this thing, deep down inside of him that raged in its cage, that wanted him to struggle and get out, that despised the silence. And he had listened to it, he had broken out. Now, he was here, in this world filled with noise and flaws and impetus. He had spent lifetimes without having to make choices, without anything influencing him but his own will.

And now, he was surrounded by noise and madness. The wind that touched his face, forcing him to choose if he wanted to move. Others people who did not think like how he did. Noise and questions. It was overwhelming. He felt as if he was on a raging ocean, thrown in the directions it wanted him to go, without him being able to steer at all. It was annoying.

He missed the silence. He had hated it, despised it, and now Oh, he could weep from everything that was around him, this new world filled with things that were beyond his control. And yet it was all too much. Now that the King in Yellow was dead, when he had broken his prison and killed the one who put him there, there was nothing really for him to do. Yes, he wished to know his past, he needed it. It was required for him to understand himself fully. Yet, how did one go about learning?

A woman sat across from Zach, long black hair, two slim horns on top of her head that curved back. Eyes like stars and red-pink hued skin. Her arms were covered in scales from the elbows to fingertips, a tail curled behind her. He saw through it all, it was not a body she was born to, he saw the flaws. The pieces that were added to the whole, but were not perfectly aligned. He didnt know how to fix it, but it grated on his mind. Everything did. This world was it was the same in many ways to the one that was his home, but that one was perfect in the way that it was made to look flawed. Mind Essence perfectly crafted into an image of reality. This this was different.

He had to actively force his mind from trying to see it all, there was something at the edge of his understanding, just waiting for him to grasp it, and he knew that it would be too much to even try.

His willpower wasnt regenerating, which did make things easier, he didnt get as overwhelmed as he had at the beginning, he had time to adjust. His active skills were barred from him as wellfor a time, he felt likeand he knew that it was a price to pay for his strike.

ach? Zach?

He blinked, then focused on the woman in front of him, Naha. He tilted his head, and realized that she had been calling his name.

She had pulled him aside, found a secluded spot for them to sit. The others were arguing, a few panicking. Something had occurred, but Zach didnt know how or even if he could help. The battle was over, they had won, and he had failed. One of the two he somehow still remembered was dead, perhaps not permanently, but A few years was nothing to him. He could wait.

Are you all right Zach? She asked. She was so impatient. Needed to talk, to ask questions, they all were. Already Zach felt exhausted by them. How could they move so much? Talk so much? Do things?

He remembered her name, but nothing beyond that. She was important, that much he knew. She could tell him about his infancy, the time that he no longer remembered.

You know me? Zach asked.

Her expression changed, but he hadnt seen another person in forever. He didnt know what it meant.

Yes, she whispered.

Tell me about everything, Zach said.

She looked at him without blinking, and then she spoke. I you dont remember?

Zach closed his eyes. My first memories, those that I remember at least, are of the unending hunger and thirst, of the silence. I know that a dream existed before. A life that was this, here, in the world around us. But it is a dream that I do not remember. I know, because of the carvings on the walls done by a child that grew and turned into me. I am not he, whoever I was before was lost ages ago.

She shook, and turned her eyes away. He remained still, trying to focus on her rather than all the things that fought for his attention around him. He wanted her to tell him about the past, those few years when he had lived in this world. He felt like he needed to know, to put in perspective who he was now. But for some reason she had difficulty saying it. Still, patience was one thing that Zach was very good at. If he had to wait days, months, even years to learn, what was that compared to the ages he had lived alone?

You she paused, then took a deep breath and met his eyes. You are were my partner, my love, my world.

Zach didnt say anything, it was a lot to think about. This person was important, he knew that, he wouldnt have remembered her otherwise. Still, he would need to understand what their relationship meant, what it would be in the future.

She spoke again, interrupting his thoughts. He missed the silence, the time he had before. Everything and everyone here moved so fast, there was no room to breathe, to think about things.

You dont know who I am, she said. You you dont love me anymore, do you?

Zach blinked at the question, then tilted his head. I think that you and those in this world cannot understand, I have lived for ages. Yes, I do not know you, and yet across the ages, a time enough for me to go mad and go sane again, time enough to forget lifetimes. I have never forgotten your name. Love? I do not know if that is love, but it is something.

She nodded her head and looked away. For a few minutes, no time at all, she sat there without moving and then she stood up.

We should join the others; see what rewards weve gained.

Zach watched her go. It took him a while to remember that the trailing drops on her face were tears.

One chest for each of them, sitting on the black stone. Golden and silver, the chests were without flaws. The others had already opened theirs, and were looking their rewards over. Zach hesitated. He had access to the Framework, or at least an appearance of it, in the prison. He had the items that he didnt remember getting, he could study them. His armor was now gone, destroyed in the fight. Somehow his knowledge of the Framework had always remained with him. Even though his memory of using it was gone. He looked at Naha kneeling before her chest, which had a lock that was a circle filled with swirling shadows and shapes that constantly changed. He saw her place her hand on the lock and saw the chest opening. He saw that it was filled with items within. In one corner was a box filled with crystals, each flawless and filled with a dark swirling mist. A small rack with three potions, a ring, two orbs and a circlet made out of twisted dark red metal.

He turned away and looked at his own chest. The lock was a circle, a plate, the same as everyone elses. His was blank, a silver plate with no markings, no flaws. Yet, he could feel willpower filling it. He reached out and touched it, and then it changed, the silver plate took on the properties of different Essences, swirling together. And then it vanished, and the chest opened.

He took in the contents, and then started on the left side of the chest. He reached down and touched the box filled with the Essence Crystals. Each held 10,000 Immortal Essence, and there was a couple dozen of them in the box. The Essence inside of them was different than what was in Nahas. These had several different types. Some were Time, others Soul, and the rest Wind. The Aspects that he had in his Arsenal. Such crystals werent that useful to him, he wasnt a Cultivator, but, he could trade them. Or perhaps there was a use that he hadnt discovered yet.

He too had a rack with potions, and he picked them up each in turn.

Eternal Elixir of Aspect Enhancement

Drinking this elixir will boost the effectiveness of an Aspect of your choosing by 100x for 1 hour.

Eternal Elixir of Pure Willpower

Drinking this elixir will replenish your willpower to full and increase its effectiveness by 100x for 1 hour.

Eternal Drought of Attunement Upgrade

Drinking the drought will improve the attunement of your choice to the tier equal to the Eternal tier nine Class Evolution choice.

They were powerful, a good thing to have in his reserve. And one to improve his Class. He looked beyond them, to the next item.

Ring of True Recall

+2000 to Intelligence

+1000 to Wisdom

The Ring of True Recall allows you to place three markers anywhere in existence. By activating the ring you will be able to instantly teleport to one of the markers. Teleport cooldown is 1 hour per teleport, and 24 hours per marker. Each individual marker can be changed once every 1 year.

He didnt know how useful the ring would be to him. After all, Zach had nowhere to be, nowhere to go. This world was a part of him was frightened of it. He knew nothing about it, he only inferred things from the words he had read on the walls in his prison. Did he have a home? A place that was his own? He didnt know, and he needed to learn that. He glanced at Naha, saw her studying her circlet. She was the only thread that he could pull, the only one that could fill him in and teach him. Ryun also, and if Zach had to wait, he would, time mattered little to him. Yet, everyone around him seemed to be in a rush, they wanted to move and leave this place.

Zach still hadnt figured out why.

He turned back to his chest, and picked up the two orbs.

Dungeon Core

Using this item will create a respawning dungeon at the place of activation. The type of dungeon will depend on the surrounding and the quality of the Essence available. It will take control of all nearby monsters and incorporate them into the dungeon. Activating the core in a Wild Dungeon will turn it into a respawning type.

Essence Castle

Using this item will allow you to create an Essence Castle. The Castle will be a fully functional building with the size dependent on your combined tiers of power, it will be made out of the all Essence Types available to you (The tiers of the Essences available to you, their power, and your mastery of them will impact the end result). The castle can only be created in a territory that you own. The benefits that the building will provide will depend on location, your power, and the tier of your territory.

Something inside of him was content with this. It was something that he had forgotten, a goal that he once had. It didnt matter now, he had no goals. He needed to rediscover or find new ones. The items were he didnt know how good they were. Another thing that he would need to learn from someone else.

He looked at the last item, a sword sheathed in an all-black sheath.

He drew it and studied it. The sword was as long as his arm, with a thick blade that didnt have a narrow point suitable for stabbing. Instead, it had what looked like an axe head turned upward. The bottom of the blades surface, near the guard, had a hollow. About the size of his fist, the ring of it was lined with a prismatic layer that changed colors constantly. The blade itself had a strange dull color that he couldnt quite place. Gray, or dirty white at times, it too almost seemed like it was changing color every time he looked at it. The guard was the same prismatic color as the ring around the hollow. And it seemed to simply exist to hold the wide blade and not to really add any real protection to the hand. The hilt was long enough for a hand and a half, with a bland spherical pommel at the end. It did not impress, at least not visually. Though, he could tell that it was flawless. He was starting to understand something about his sight. The things that had little or no flaws seemed to be high tiered. He would need to learn more about that in time.

He picked it up, and immediately felt the power of it.

Sealing Blade of Learning

+1500 to Intelligence

+1000 to Strength

+1000 to Dexterity

This blade can be infused with any soul, spirit, or shade. Once infused, the holder of the blade will slowly gain the knowledge and mastery of the infused soul, spirit, or shade. In case of souls and shades, the mastery and knowledge gained will be regarding their most knowledgeable field. In case of spirits, the mastery gained will be regarding their dominant Aspect. The user can consume the infused soul, spirit, or shade to gain a temporary mastery and knowledge from the infused dominant field or Aspect. If the infused soul, spirit, or shade is not hostile toward the wielder, the knowledge and mastery will be gained faster, the blade will also provide a power bonus based on the infused soul, spirit, or shade.

While holding the blade on your person, your learning speed will double.

The blade was it was interesting. It could allow him to learn, something that he desperately needed and wanted. It would be useful, that was certain.

With the last item retrieved from the chest it disappeared, and Zach looked around. The others were still studying their items. He knelt on the ground and settled in to wait. He would need to speak with each of them, to learn more about the situation he was in now. But for the time being, he was content to wait. He had more than enough patience for it.