The Aether God: Chapter 25 - Heavenly Decrees

Or else of thee, this I prognosticate:

Thy end is truth's and beauty's doom and date.

Caladrius School South District: Residence Hall 5, Dorm 31

Once again, Cerulean’s eyes slowly drifted apart. Though he had gotten to sleep very late, he awoke quite early in the morning. After going about his usual business, he sat at his desk before materializing a number of items and neatly arranging them in front of himself - he was preparing to craft a large number of artifacts.

As he poured a bottle of blood onto a plate, he grabbed one of the items. It was quite small, but on its underside was a number of intricate engravings and embossed rune characters. It was a template for “stamping” sigils onto various items. The template itself was also an artifact, which would properly circulate ether around the sigil.

As Cerulean dipped the stamp in blood, he materialized a dagger in his other hand. Once he pressed down, he began injecting Ether into the stamp. His Ether began to spiral around the sigil. As it did, the blood changed colors and began emitting a blue light. Soon though, it disappeared, and the dagger started emitting its own aura. After putting the newly-runed dagger into his vault, he materialized another one and began repeating the process for nearly an hour.

“What are you up to now?”

Latia had just awoken, and was now standing over Cerulean’s shoulder.

“Ah, good morning… I’m just making a variety of artifacts… I need to equip the guilds sooner rather than later.”

“What ranks are those?” She was most interested in his work.

“These are all R7… Boreas gave me a Spirit Beast’s blood.”

Latia once again donned an amazed expression.

“How… How do you know how to make R7 artifacts though? Er... I mean... Can you explain?”

Cerulean laughed for a moment.

“Well… Contrary to what you’ve heard about artifacts, they’re actually quite simple to make. Runes are actually letters of the languages that Ethereal Beasts speak. Scholars generally refer to all beast talk as being spoken in The Ethereal Tongue, even though there are technically many languages that comprise it… I should clarify that they do so because the tongues are the simplest part of Runeology... Everybody implicitly understands the differentiations. The Ethereal Tongue also just sounds way cooler than the many ethereal languages or tongues.”

In Cerulean’s mind, Runeology was the most straightforward of the trades. This was an opinion that he shared with all of his contemporaries on the Divine Plane. To those of the Great Valley though, it was the most difficult trade because they did not understand its fundamental nature.

“So…” Latia was confused. “How many languages are there?”

“There are one hundred and twenty-seven… Each attribute and every combination of attributes has its own innate language. There are a number of these things called heritages that affect how they are spoken, but that’s more, like, intermediate subject matter I’d say.”

Cerulean spoke nonchalantly as he continued stamping an assortment of accessories. He was now holding a much smaller stamping template.

Latia widened her eyes, but tilted her head after a moment.

“How is learning one hundred and twenty-seven languages the simplest part of Runeology?!”

Cerulean laughed for a good moment.

“Good question…” He materialized a parchment paper and began scribbling on it with Abyssal Ether. After a few moments, he handed it to Latia. She perused it for a minute before it disappeared.

“What the…?”

Anybody hearing the noise coming from her throat would think that a snake was hissing. However, to Cerulean, this was clearly The Ethereal Tongue. He laughed before continuing.

“Most Runeologists in my other life also had constitutions of all seven elements, so they used this manuscript shortcut for every language. You're only able to do that with the abyssal language. If you want to learn the rest though, you’re going to have to study your ass off. It took me around fifty years to learn all of them.”

“Uhhh…” Latia was amazed for a few moments, but slowly drew a mischievous grin. “Couldn’t you like, teach me everything else that you know instantly?”

Cerulean turned toward her with a dramatically blank expression, and they shared a long laugh.

“No no, I tried things like that for a few years, but nothing worked. The Ethereal Tongue is different in that it isn’t simply processed by the mind as information… It has innate ethereal qualities, unlike other knowledge that you call upon. Most scholars generally argue that it was written by the heavens… That’s sort of corroborated by the fact that all beasts are born with the ability to speak… Anyway, that’s a good bit above intermediate subject matter.”

“So… Huh… That’s cool… Can you teach me more sometime?”

Latia was very interested now, but some of what he said still went over her head.

“Of course! Starting tomorrow I’ll be giving the peers lessons in the trades as well.”

Latia drew an embarrassed smile.

“How will I…?”

Cerulean smiled, understanding the question. He materialized a necklace and handed it to her.

“This is an R7 Azurean Transfiguration artifact that I just made… Try it on once I leave. It will allow you to at least make it to the Little Grove. None of the peers will see through it or suspect anything. Once I can get my hands on an Abyssal Beast’s blood, I’ll make you an even better one which will last you until the Caladrius School Duels begin.”

Latia kindly accepted the artifact and smiled. As Cerulean looked out the window, he spoke.

“I have to head to my lecture now, but I’ll be back before too long… I have many more artifacts and manuscripts to make, so I’ll be around for most of tonight.”

Latia nodded as he stood up. They shared a quick hug before he walked out the door.

………………………

Caladrius School East District: Court 12, Lecture Hall 34

As Cerulean sat through another mundane lecture, his gaze wandered aimlessly, until it landed on two disciples who stood out amidst the sea of faces. Before lectures began, he had asked them to meet with him in the evening.

Cerulean continued to ponder, but his thoughts were interrupted. Suddenly, the lecture hall’s door blasted open.

“Elder Roshi, please come to the square immediately!”

Elder Roshi nodded before turning back toward the sea of disciples.

“I will simply end the lecture here. All of you have a wonderful weekend!”

As Elder Roshi hastened out the door, murmurs spread throughout the lecture hall. Within a moment, a number of them had already stood up and dashed out of the room.

…………………………

Caladrius School East District: Central Square

As Cerulean and company approached the square, there were already over a hundred disciples gathered. They were surrounding the center of the square, where a number of elders stood shooing them backward. Some stood on tiptoe, craning their necks to catch a glimpse of the unfolding situation, while others jostled for a better view. Speculative murmurs rippled through the crowd like gusts of wind.

Elder Roshi pushed his way through the crowd before arriving at the center of the square. His eyes were met by a fellow elder holding a girl in his arms. It was Oriana Blackwood. She was convulsing violently as blood streamed down from her eyes. The strangest part though, was that her left leg was contorted in a most grotesque manner.

“You bumbling idiot!! Why didn’t you bring her to an infirmary!?”

“... It isn-”

Before anybody could hear the other elder finish speaking, Elder Roshi casted an infernal barrier around the situation.

…………………

Caladrius School South District

Cerulean, Triton, and Reed sat on a bench beside a pond near the residence halls. Cedar was skipping stones just in front of them. His arm cocked back, and with a swing and flick he released another smooth stone. It glided along the water for a few moment before decelerating and disappearing into the water. As the ripples faded into nothingness, Cedar walked back and sat beside them on the bench. They sat in silence for the remainder of the hour.