The Aether God: Chapter 21 - Osiris Blackwood
Save that my soul's imaginary sight
Presents thy shadow to my sightless view.
Blackwood Sect Sanctuary
As the thunderous roars of the storm continued, Osiris sat upon his ornate ebony throne within the sanctuary of the Blackwood sect. The room, bathed in a purple light from the Umbrous Torches that adorned the walls, pulsated with an ominous energy. They seemed to resonate with the power of the storm raging outside. He had finished the majority of his daily duties, and was now listening to his midweek reports, given by one of his present attendants.
“A report from the Safety Elder. Esteemed Sectmaster Blackwood…
Item one. I tentatively deem the storm no threat to the valley, despite the presence of Infernal Tempestroths within the clouds. Their behavior is normal, and seem to be migrating north as is usual this time of year. They will most likely continue migrating within the hour.
Item two. Based on this week’s South Haven filings, the frequency of beast sightings has increased by nearly five percent, once again.
Item three. Based on this week’s South Haven filings, fourty-nine crimes or safety issues have been reported. Of these, thirty-six have been resolved. This leaves a total of two-hundred and forty-seven unresolved at time of writing. Signed, Eldrin.”
With a respectful nod, Osiris thanked his attendant.
“Thank you Alaric. You’ve always been such a great help.”
After bowing, Alaric replied.
“I do not deserve such high praise, sectmaster. It is just my familial duty.” Alaric smiled, before furrowing his brow. “If I might ask, what is your opinion regarding the beast sightings? If my mathematics are correct, they have increased three-fold over the past year… Have they not?”
Upon hearing this, Osiris sighed. After looking up for a moment, he shrugged.
“That would be correct… The Aurora Sect promised that they’d look into it, but I doubt they’ll be putting any effort in, at least within the foreseeable future. Please ask Tyson to write Blaze regarding the beasts. I’m preoccupied with other matters outside the valley at the moment.”
Alaric nodded. “Consider it done. I failed to mention this because he did not write a report, but Ezra sent word that his excavation work to the east is going very well. He claims to be on the brink of a magnificent discovery. He says that he ought to return by the season of intemperance.”
Osiris smiled gently. “Wonderful. Please send my regards to his father. He raised such a brilliant young man.”
Alaric returned a large smile. “Of course. Please excuse my input, but the sect is truly blessed by the heavens to have such a thoughtful sectmaster. The elders are all greatly pleased by your leadership, whether or not they have mentioned it.”
Osiris let out a loud laugh.
“Hah! Now it is I who isn’t deserving of such high praise. You know that I only act in the best interest of my own sect. That is all that they ought to expect… But thank you. I’m honored to serve in this manner.”
Alaric returned a final smile and bow, before his expression darkened.
“Sectmaster, I have another report for you, it is regarding… The East Division.”
Osiris gave Alaric a blank nod before standing and turning to his other attendants, speaking nonchalantly.
“Would you two please run and make me a beverage? Also bring some fruit, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course, esteemed sectmaster!” The two attendants bowed and left the sanctuary. As soon as the door closed, Osiris looked Alaric in the eyes with a grave expression.
“Did something happen?”
Alaric’s expression eased, before shaking his head reassuringly.
“It was nothing serious. They had an altercation with a descendant of the Scorchbloom sect, but left with only minor injuries.”
After a few moments of suppressing a contemptuous expression, Osiris sat back down in his ebony throne. After letting out a sigh, he began speaking.
“That’s at least something of a relief… Please continue monitoring everything. Thank you… Truly.”
Alaric bowed. “Of course. I wish there was more that I could do.”
The sanctuary door creaked open once again, and the two other attendees returned with a beverage and a plate of assorted fruits. As they reached Osiris and bowed, one of them spoke.
“Esteemed sectmaster, a young descendant has been continuously requesting your audience over the past few days. She was rejected many many times, but remains persistent. Furthermore, she is just an attributeless descendant. I humbly ask that you advise the situation.”
Osiris took on a confused expression. “What’s her name?”
“Oriana.”
……………………
Caladrius School East District: Court 12, Lecture Hall 34
“Sigh… Lectures are finally starting to get unbearable… Sorry Elder Roshi.”
As Cerulean sat through his Thursday lecture, his palm digging into his cheek, he pondered about his encounter with the Frost Troll. Despite being leagues ahead of cultivators his current age, his knowledge wasn’t enough to bridge the gap between himself and any being far above himself rank-wise… Mere hours after the midweek duels, he was brought to death’s door in the span of a few seconds.
“How long till I have an exciting fight? That’s just embarrassing…”
Cerulean had put his head down on his desk for a few minutes, dejectedly. A few disciples in the class looked over at different points and rolled their eyes or snickered.
“I have so much more to do now… Still… It’s only been a week… I ought to give myself credit where it’s due.”
Cerulean lifted his head and yawned while stretching, but suddenly, Reed let out a quiet exclamation.
“Only three minutes and eighteen seconds… That’s a new record!”
“No way!”
“No… Impossible…”
Cedar and Triton’s faces donned exaggerated expressions of a grave nature. Triton put his hands on the sides of his head as he quickly turned toward Reed. After turning all the way towards Cerulean, he continued.
“I can’t believe this… What kind of dream could have cut your nap that short?!”
The boys began laughing. Cerulean, as usual, put his head down in an embarrassed manner. Before Elder Roshi could tell them to quiet down, the chalice began to ring. The students lined up to exit class before slowly piling out of the room. After Cerulean and Elder Roshi gave each other their typical courteous bow, Elder Roshi returned to his desk. This time, upon sitting down, he found a letter that he hadn’t noticed before.
........................
Cerulean immediately headed towards the Trade District. He was quite torn.
His initial plan was to begin involving many other guild and sect markets, using them to sell items cheaply - but without revealing his identity to them. He thought that if so many guilds and sects became involved, the Legendary Sects would be at a loss. He assumed that they wouldn’t use violence, as it might greatly damage their reputation. However, going off of Boreas’s advice, they would still most likely murder every member of the three primary guilds he was working with - making an example out of them.
“The worst part is, none of the other guilds or sects would be willing to speak up”
Fear was quite a powerful motivator. Cerulean had studied a good bit of history, and understood why tyrannies were so common. Despite the peaceful state of the Great Valley, it would not take much stirring until the pot would boil over. That would create an even worse situation than had he not involved himself.
“Could I do it in secret? No… That would be logistically impossible.”
He considered, for a moment, an alternative plan: slightly tone down the operations of the guilds, and begin distributing items in secret. However, this would be exceedingly difficult. If he were to gift items to a large number of families in secret, the Legendary Sects would surely get word of it. Surely it would at least come up among the ruling assembly.
“For now, I’ll just tell them that we ought to slow things down by the end of the week. Once I think of something concrete, we’ll go from there.”
Cerulean did, for a moment, consider one other option, but ruled it out before even giving it a second thought: making pacts with many of the families and sects of the South Haven. Obviously, asking that many establishments to make a pact was a terribly silly idea. There was absolutely no way that they would all agree, and any who rejected could immediately tell the Legendary Sects of the conditions of secrecy for the pact. An adult, such as one from a guild, introducing a pact that required keeping details from The Legendary Sects was courting death.
The only reason he was confident in the pact with the Peers of the Abyss was because he knew how desperate the attributeless were in the Great Valley. Who among them would care more for informing the Legendary Sects of some details than the opportunity to cultivate? His greatest risk was definitely the descendants of the sects, but he knew how scorned they were. Which of them would even be taken seriously? He even offered them the position of sectmaster! Furthermore, if any family members of the Peers of the Abyss rejected the pact, they would not feel compelled to report it to the Legendary Sects… Reporting such a matter as a young child’s pact offer would receive nought but laughter, even if it regarded the Legendary Sects. But the most obvious among all these reasons… Cerulean had an absolute monopoly on all abyssal knowledge. Selling him out would entirely halt their cultivation for the rest of their lives. They would never, ever see another manuscript again.
“Hah! There’s absolutely no way. Should be smooth sailing for a good while.”
Lastly and, by far, most importantly - revealing anything would be breaking a heavenly pact!! Surely, not even one person among all the stars could ever even think of doing so. Who in the entire universe could possibly be so foolish?
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