The Aether God: Chapter 19 - The Ethereal Tongue

The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness:

and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.

The Frostbane Mountain Range

“It’s freezing here. Did they set up a massive blizzard array just for ambience?”

Having passed through the protective barrier over the large gate, Cerulean was now traveling through the Frostbane Sect’s territory. To his surprise though, there was no road that led to Frostbane Mountain. Furthermore, a sigil array had been placed over the whole mountain range, enveloping it in a perpetual blizzard. This smaller mountain range wasn’t a pathway to the sect, but a territory to ward off visitors.

Novice Infernal Overlay Technique: Campfire - Art 1: Envelope.

A thin, red-glowing barrier came into existence. It was as though a form fitting garment, but entirely covered Cerulean. It radiated warmth.

“Infernal artists also have it too easy… Anyways, the sect likely has secret tunnels and passageways, but this is hardly a bother now.

Cerulean had been traversing the range for about an hour now, but he felt that he was only a fraction of the way through. He began to stretch for a moment before continuing.

Out of nowhere, Cerulean bent backward with an extreme burst of speed.

Swoosh~

Almost ten dart-shaped globules of blue liquid flashed from the right side of his vision to his left, mere inches in front of his eyes. Cerulean felt relief for a moment, but his expression quickly turned grave. Before he could even cast an art, another bullet of liquid reached his torso. He hadn’t even time to cast an art before it pierced straight through his liver and out of his back.

Cerulean wanted to let out a terrible scream, but knew doing so would waste valuable time. He quickly casted an abyssal concealment technique.

“Apprentice Propulsion Technique: Blastoff - Art 2: Human Missive”

Before he could fall down in pain, flames appeared under the invisible Cerulean. They grew enormous within the span of a couple seconds, and with a spark, they spontaneously combusted.

With a large explosion, Cerulean blasted himself away from whatever was attacking him, reaching a few hundred feet in the air before falling parabolically toward the side of a nearby mountain. He hadn’t yet casted any variety of perception arts, so the speed of his thoughts were many times slower than they ought to be during combat - surprise attacks were extremely effective. Cerulean hadn’t enough ether yet to constantly circulate perception arts, thus was even more susceptible to such an occurrence.

Luckily, he had enough time to whimper out an art to soften his blow against the icy rocks. As he crashed down into them, he was in a state of absolute panic. The childish half of himself was entirely consumed by fear, and being soaked chest-down in blood wasn’t helping. He didn’t want to die such a meaningless death.

“I need to get the hell out of here!!”

Once again, he hadn’t a single moment to rest before a blur appeared before him. All that he could make out was the silhouette of five claws, and a furry arm outstretched in preparation for a visceral slash… Cerulean’s eyes widened. Before his instantaneous demise, he had but time to utter a single word.

“Pithikos”

At this moment, Cerulean’s eyes were as wide as could be. The blur in front of him soon took a visual form as its movement halted. Its massive form was cloaked in a thick layer of fur, each strand glistening with a gray frosty sheen. Its arm extended outward, and extended from its wrinkly hands, five crystal claws. Cerulean saw his own fearful figure reflected in the four ugly green eyes of the ethereal beast. As its red, droopy eyelids blinked, a viscous and luminous liquid dripped from its gaping maw, freezing upon contact with the frigid air. As a drop fell, it shattered on the ground. Despite the whistling blizzard, it was as if all sound had halted. This beast was a Frost Troll.

“What know ye of the tongue?”

To the untrained ear, nothing but gurgles came from the throat of the troll, but it was a sound that Cerulean was ever-familiar with… The Ethereal Tongue.

“Enough for you to not kill me… I hope.”

The frost troll slowly ended his stance, and stood in front of Cerulean. It withdrew its aura - one of a Master Beast - and continued.

“Why know ye of the tongue… and the abyss?”

“...Not the friendly type I see. Old and of the Eastern Glacial Heritage…” Cerulean thought to himself. Although he would have been happy to explain, his consciousness was quickly fading. He needed to heal himself with his remaining Ether before sharing pleasantries with a Frost Troll. However, the beast stretched out its wrinkly hand, and a blue glow emanated from it. Within a minute or so, Cerulean’s wounds had healed.

“Speak.”

The troll donned a serious expression. Cerulean had to make something up, and fast.

“I am come from afar, where the rivers flow from the northern moon.”

The troll’s eyes widened. Cerulean had touched upon a most ancient proverb within his heritage, one referring to the higher planes of existence. To the troll though, the saying had become a boiled down version of the heavens, as the existence of higher planes wasn’t easily verifiable. Cerulean’s words though, were suggesting he was from a different planet - or something of the like. Furthermore, Cerulean even spoke for a moment in his own dialect.

“And what lieth there?”

“It’s a different planet within the universe, and exists among the stars. I know quite little of it as I was cast out here when I was only seven. But I learned enough to speak, and heed the Glacial Good Tidings.”

Proclaiming that one heeded a heritage’s good tidings meant they came in peace. The Troll’s eyes widened once again, and it offered a hand to Cerulean, to lift him from the ground.

“Forgive mine insolence.”

The troll helped Cerulean off of the ground. It stood silent in front of Cerulean with a blank expression.

“Umm… No worries?”

As it continued staring blankly, Cerulean almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. He was still practically shaking from his brush with death, but it was also extremely awkward.

“I am… traveling to the great mountain where the human cultivators live. Do you think you can bring me there?”

“Indeed it lieth east of here. Heed my footsteps.”

The troll turned and began walking. Cerulean laughed to himself. The troll’s lack of emotional depth was little more than funny now.

“I’m assuming that most beasts on this plane lack understanding of character. They must not interact between races, as they haven’t inherited the tongues of other heritages. I’ll half to try speaking with more of them as I go along.” Cerulean thought to himself

The troll lumbered forward on all fours, its massive fists pounding the ground with each step. And its legs followed suit, displaying sinewy muscles and sending loose stones tumbling in its wake. Despite its brutish appearance, there was a certain fluidity to its movements.

After the course of an hour, the blizzard began to clear, and they arrived at a large barrier. In front of it was Frostbane Mountain. Though it could be clearly seen from the districts, it was actually quite difficult to find on foot. Cerulean hadn’t the ethereal capabilities yet to fly over the blizzard array, and it quite successfully obfuscated any pathways known to the sect.

The troll once again stood still, staring blankly at Cerulean. Cerulean was trying not to smirk once again. The grotesque figure in front of him was seeming more and more like a child.

“I have to go now… I hope you’ll accept these as a token of my gratitude. However, I ask that you won’t just randomly kill humans for game.”

As Cerulean spoke, he materialized a satchel artifact. It was ‘invisible’ to the eye, but the troll perceived it immediately. The troll’s four eyes widened, and it bowed before accepting the gift. As it spread the opening to peer inside, it projected a current of ether throughout the satchel. Its mouth dropped.

“It’s nothing much, but should do a lot of good for your tribe… If their condition is as I suspect”

Despite being an emotionless brute, the Troll’s four eyes almost began to tear up. It kneeled before Cerulean.

“I swear upon your condition, me and mine tribe. We take ye as master by mine own word.”

Cerulean for probably the last time, wanted to laugh. This sequence of events was just too absurd.

“There is no need for all of that. I may not see you again, so I wish you the best.”

The frost troll stood up while bowing, and soon lifted its head.

“I depart in peace. I will your presence to grace mine own again.”

The troll bowed again before turning and walking toward the blizzard. An idea passed through Cerulean’s mind, and he smiled before interrupting the troll’s strut.

“Wait… One more thing.”

 

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