Chronicle of the Eternal: Volume 1 (11 page)

Six hours after entering
the dungeon, the four person squad has killed nearly forty Mutant Rats, four of
which were the stronger variations, such as the Shadow Rats. Despite this, each
member is only 23 percent toward level 2. They also haven’t found any more skill
books.

Passing down a corridor
that seems like any other, the Soulless suddenly come across a completely new
room.

‘Halt!’
 Veronica conveys to the squad with the raise of her hand.

Peering through the
quickly clearing mist, Regal notes this room is half as large as the entrance
room. The surprising part is that the room is full of rats. Not just Mutant
Rats, but Shadow Rats, Boulder Rats, and even the Flame Rats that gave the
squad a lot of trouble barely half an hour prior.

In the center of the room is
a grandiose staircase, spiraling down into the ground toward the second floor
of the dungeon.

After they back away as
quietly as possible, Veronica whispers, “There is no way we can cut through
them, nor survive on the second floor. We will head back the way we came and
get close to the exit. As it hasn’t even been half a day yet, let’s try a
different path.”

When leaving the room full
of Mutant Rats behind, the sound of footsteps echoes from the fog in front of
the Soulless. Veronica, Regal, Astore and Kilde all freeze in their footsteps,
trying to not make any noise. But the other party already knew there were some
players up ahead and continues walking unabated.

From within the fog in
from of the Veronica’s squad, six students emerge. This is Frederick’s squad,
who had lost the trace of the Soulless several hours ago.

Frederick, and three of
his lackeys standing behind him, gaze upon the four Soulless with disgust. The
other two squad members are not in Frederick’s circle of friends and were just
brought into the group to fill up the numbers. They don’t have any dislike for
the Soulless, but are mildly afraid of the rumors that they can take other’s
souls.

The two squads stand
silently and stare at one another. Regal uses half of his mana with ‘Foresight’
to see five seconds into the future to assess the situation. Alarmed at what he
sees, he wraps an arm around Veronica and pulls her out of the way moments
before Frederick casts a lightning based alchemy Divine Art. Regal’s actions
were barely faster than Frederick’s as a single bolt of lightning is discharged
to where Veronica was moments ago.

The static charge of the
lightning bolt disperses the mist as it passes the squad of four and continues
travelling down the corridor, all the way until the room full of Mutant Rats.
An ear piercing screech of twenty Mutant Rats in unison causes all ten students
to have their minds disoriented.

Veronica is the first to
react to the situation, pointing toward the other squad. “Run! Shoot them as
you go, we will die if we are caught between them and the rats.”

Regal raises his gun and
fires ‘Ice Bullets’ at Frederick’s squad without focusing on any one person.
His accuracy drops as he fires while running, but three bullets still hit the
opposing squad.

Kilde and Astore begin
firing bullets and alchemy at the same time as the opposing squad. These
students are still young and have much to learn about the world, so the area
becomes an incoherent mess of bullets and alchemy Divine Arts. Frederick’s
party is constantly retreating to prevent Veronica’s party from overtaking them
and using them as a shield against the approaching Mutant Rats.

As Veronica’s squad is
nearly upon Frederick’s, Regal uses ‘Foresight’ and dodges three consecutive
attacks, closing the remaining distance at the expense of his mana running out.
With no mana, his mind slows down the speed in which it reacts to the enemies
attacks, dulling his movements and making dodging impossible.

The fight between the two
squads becomes even more scrambled as they mix together while escaping.
Veronica’s squad is faring worse than Frederick’s. If they can’t escape soon,
they will likely die before the rats can even reach them. Everyone is down to
half their health and every inch of their bodies are hurting from the pain of
burns, frostbite, blunt trauma and bullet penetrations.

The most unfortunate is
Regal, who is almost absentminded. Two stray bullets hit him along with
Frederick’s electric bolt. The latter of the attacks is the worst, bringing him
near death and stunning him for two seconds. The small lapse in time where he
can’t move is enough for him to fall behind the party and have the rat swarm
reach him.

Helplessness flashes in
Regal’s eyes and Veronica calls out to him, also panicked, as several claws
descend on him and remove the sliver of health he has left. Regal’s body
becomes limp and he cannot move a muscle nor speak. He can still feel pain as
the rats claw and bite his body before passing him and chasing after everyone
else. He watches helplessly and pain as everyone disappears into the mist,
shortly followed by the rats.

Moments after everyone had
left and the area became peaceful, Regal’s vision begins to turn black, and all
the pain in his body subsides.

Following a brief peaceful
respite, Regal’s body begins to disintegrate. Along with his body being removed
in preparation of revival is an agonizing torture that no words from the
teacher could have described. His body and mind feel like they are being torn
to shreds, which are then torn into smaller pieces, and torn again, and again.
Regal’s screams out in pain as the agony replaces all conscious thoughts, but
his voice only echoes out in the void of his mind, unable to reach the outside
world.

This process only two
minutes within the dungeon, but it was an eternal torture to Regal. Only after
it was finished, did his mind become numb, not noticing that his body was once
again being reformed.

***************************************************

Regal opens his eyes to
see the inside of a golden domed roof, depictions of the dawn sun and mighty
warriors valiantly fighting adorning it. This dome seems to radiate sunlight,
filling the building with a warm golden glow. Gold encased pillars stretch down
from other parts of the roof, supporting the weight of the structure.

Rows of bench chairs form
lines on the marble tiled floor, but there is no one sitting in them.
Ornamental doors are wide open at the end of the building, allowing anyone to
enter or exit at their free will.

This is the interior of
the Temple of Life, and Regal is currently floating in the Rebirth Pond, a
large square pool where Immortalis are revived after their death. The last
Rebirth Pond an Immortalis entered is where they will be revived, regardless of
the distance. With the exception of Soulless, it is also the location new
Immortalis are born into this world.

The water in the knee deep
pond has mysterious properties that numb pain. Regal remains floating in the
water until all the agony has vanished from his body, before standing on his
feet and wading his way to the edge of the Rebirth Pond.

The sound of splashing
water fills the cathedral that is desolate of anyone except Regal. The radiant
light quickly dries him as the last few drops of water fall with a lonesome
echo of droplets hitting the marble tiles.

Feeling unwell, Regal
proceeds to the exit of the cathedral when something unexpected completely
happens. His vision goes black once more, just like when he previously died.
This time, there is no pain, and he feels like he is floating in an endless
void.

His body had vanished from
the middle of the Temple of Life without a sound, as if it never existed
there in the first place.

***************************************************

Deep in the Earth’s crust,
the enormous array that contains the Immortalis and the world of Grandosa is
experiencing another earthquake as the land directly above it is still being
reformed. Shock absorbers dilute the majority of the tremor, but this
earthquake is the largest so far and a large force is still transferred through
to the facility.

The shaking causes
hundreds of Mind Bubbles to fall from of their sockets in the server pillars.
The indentations in these sockets’ purpose it to prevent this, but it is a
feature that never had the chance to be tested and this earthquake is beyond
all predictions.

Regal’s Mind Bubble is one
of these. His is extremely fortunate however, as it took the position in the
pillar where an early Immortalis decided to enter the Temple of Death. His
Mind Bubble only falls distance of three feet before hitting the ground. All
the other Mind Bubbles that are raining down, par two or three, are broken into
pieces upon collision with the floor and are completely destroyed.

Regal’s Mind Bubble
doesn’t come out undamaged, as the superconductive sphere within it and several
of the connections are split. The device registers the damage, and the dormant
nanomachines become active as they rapidly circulate the sphere and a couple of
other section that received minor damage to repair all the deficiencies.

Whilst they are repairing
the Mind Bubble, the mercury-like liquid within the superconductive sphere
begins to seep out. This process is almost identical to the creation of a new
Immortalis. The only difference is that there is no expansion of the mercury-like
liquid, so the overall volume doesn’t increase, but the density is respectively
much higher in return.

Cleaning robots arrive at
the scene and quickly begin collecting up all the broken pieces and polishing
the floor. Regal’s Mind Bubble is almost swept up along with the rest of them,
but before the robot picks up the device, its sensors register that it is still
operational and sends out an electronic signal. From other locations, similar
signals are sent from cleaning robots

A droning noise fills the
air as small flying robots arrives shortly after that, picking up the mind
bubbles that did not break and placing them back in their original sockets.

***************************************************

Regal reappears within the
Temple of Life mid step, just as he had vanished. There is no physical
change to him after what happened to his Mind Bubble, and initially he doesn’t
notice anything either.

Continuing to walk toward
the exit, Regal’s footsteps slowly come to a halt and his expression fills with
confusion as he mentally asks himself an endless amount of questions, 
‘Huh?
What was that? What just happened? What is this strange feeling? Why am I so
uncomfortable? Why did… This is Regal, fourteen years old. These are his
memories, but, who am I? Am I Regal? Why do I feel like I am not
? Why do I
feel like I am?’

Within the Temple of Life,
Regal continues to bask in the golden radiance of the light within the chapel
while calming his inner thoughts. Eventually, he wanders out the entrance with
glazed eyes, as if he is lost in the world.

For the first time in his
life, Regal looks up at the bluesteel ceiling of Grand Theore’s first floor,
three thousand feet above him, and thinks to himself, 
‘The sky is so
high. I wonder what the true sky outside this city is like, and how high it is.
Is it twice as high as this? Ten times as high? A hundred? Such a thing is
unfathomable.’

Lost in his curiosity and
self-reflection, he wanders through the streets aimlessly. Eventually, he
enters Market Street and his questioning of who he really is comes to an end.

With a new light in his
eyes, Regal mumbles quietly enough that nobody other than himself can hear,
“That’s right. My memories are those as Regal. I have no memories of someone
else, nor any existence other than as Regal. This body is as natural as my own
and everything seen with my eyes is the same. Therefore, I am Regal.”

Despite developing what
others refer to as a soul, Regal is still extremely decisive, and has an
indomitable perseverance. He continued to pursue and understand himself without
even a moment of rest, eventually coming to the conclusion that he is still
himself, and not someone else.

However, a flood of
various emotions run rampant through Regal, half of which he does not
understand, no matter how much he tries. Suspending the matter to a corner of
his mind, he proceeds into Market Street toward a store he is familiar with:
Atelier Gun & Bullet.

He has no ‘Ice Bullets’ to
sell, instead his intention is to go visit Aqua. She has become friendlier with
him lately, offering various pieces of advice in response to his questions, so
she will likely be able to help him understand the reason for the changes
within himself.

Regal is surprised when he
enters the shop and find a burly man the size of a bear behind the counter,
rather than the usual Aqua. His face is gaunt and covered in soot, his pitch
black inch and a half long hair  is knotted and unkempt from excess sweat
and production filth. He wears a brown short-sleeved shirt with the top few
buttons left open, exposing a barrel-like chest, covered in hair and
overflowing with tense muscle.

Regal understands that
this is most likely Aqua’s father. She mentioned he is a very nice person, yet
he can’t help but feel intimidated by his enormous stature. The man is many
times bigger than him.

“Excuse me, is Aqua here?”
Regal asks Aqua’s father politely.

The shopkeeper’s gaze
lowers to Regal and pierces through him like he is made of glass.

“She is still at her
academy. I know you boy, you’re the one who comes to sell those bottom-feeder
‘Ice Bullets’. Come to sell more?”

Regal’s cheeks flush with
embarrassment as he knows his ‘Ice Bullets’ are of a low quality; that has
already been made clear to him at the first store he visited when trying to
sell them.

“No, actually… I have come
for something else. I, umm… wanted to ask her for some advice.”

The man’s gaze from behind
the counter loses its hardness and he looks at Regal quizzically while asking,
“Say, Aqua hasn’t noticed, or perhaps she doesn’t want to, but are you a
Soulless?”

“I suppose… I am,” Regal
answers hesitantly while worrying about the discrimination against those like
him: Soulless.

“Is that so?” he seems to
ask himself more than Regal, but quickly brushes off the subject before smiling
at Regal with a curious gaze. “I’m sure you’ve already guessed, but I’m Aqua’s
father, Tanner. Why don’t you have a seat and speak with me for a while? Tell
me what your problem is and perhaps I will be able to help.”

Regal, thinking that
Aqua’s father must definitely be someone reliable from all her praise, sits on
the provided chair and explains his day, starting from when he first entered
Theore Substructure this morning. Tanner nods his head when hearing about how
the Mutant Rats were incredibly strong, and frowns slightly when hearing about
the other party chasing and trying to kill them.

Eventually Regal reaches
to the point where he resurrected at the Temple of Life, describing how
everything turned black and seemed to enter an endless void before pauses
briefly, contemplating again what happened before continuing the story.

Tanner’s eyes reflect a
light of curiosity. Shortly after, they widen in surprise when Regals starts
describing how his senses returned, and how he felt both the same, yet
different inside. The remainder of the story, to the point when Regal entered
Atelier Gun & Bullet, is relatively short, but Aqua’s father listens as
intently as before.

“So, what is going on? I
don’t understand it. I am me, without a doubt, but I also know I am different.”

“Interesting, very
interesting. There isn’t an easy, or simple, answer to that question. Nobody
else will be able to answer it for you either.”

“Then what should I do?”

“You are still a child.
Play with your friends, practice your skills. These changes of yourself, nobody
other than you will be able to find an answer for it. Give it some time, and
you will come to understand yourself better.”

Regal ponders the advice,
repeating it within his mind before saying, “I will do that then. I won’t come
to understand the changes straight away, but eventually I will. Thank you.”

“Har har, there is no need
to thank me. Just be nice to my daughter. You don’t want to get on my bad
side.”

“N-no, I could never be
mean to Aqua.”

“Say, you’re in need of
money aren’t you? That’s why you come sell your goods as persistently as a
Plague Hound, right?”

“Umm, yes, I do. All my
money was stolen, so I need to earn more.”

“Stolen? What about your
parents? Surely they can earn more money without you needing to.”

“My house was broken into.
My parents… entered the eternal rest seven years ago.”

Regal grabs his chest,
which suddenly hurts with a piercing pain. Tears start to form in the corners
of his eyes. It is a feeling he has felt once before, when he read their
farewell note, but had not experienced again, until today. Tanner looks sombre
when looking at Regal, but nods his head stately.

“I understand now.”

Regal speaks while choking
on the feeling he doesn’t recognize: anguish, “W-what do you m-mean, you
un-understand?”

“Regal, you understand how
people view the Soulless better than any other. But you don’t realize what it
is like to be the parents of a Soulless. Because you are so young, many people
can’t bring themselves to hate you because you are so young, or they fear the
rumors that Soulless consume souls. Where do you think this hate goes?”

“I-I don’t know.”

“It gets directed at the
parents of the Soulless, and many people can’t handle it, especially those who
choose the peaceful life of living in one of the Grand Cities.”

“So, th-they’re gone
because of m-me?”

“No, they decided to
escape because they were weak.”

Regal wanted to stand up
for his parents, against Tanner’s scorn, but he couldn’t bring himself to. He
silently sits in place while holding back tearful sobs. He must be strong, so
he forces himself back to composure, despite how much it hurts. His lip quivers
slightly, proof that there is still much work to be done if he is to harden his
heart.

Aqua’s father decides to
end the conversation, saying his final words before shooing Regal away, “Well,
if you still need money, come see me first thing Saturday morning. Also, don’t
waste your time selling more ‘Ice Bullets’. You will never make more than
scraps, and disposing of them wastes my time.”

Regal finds his emotions
incredibly difficult to control as he leaves Market Street and walks toward the
Training Center. His sense of time seems to be affected by his emotions as
well, the trip there seeming to take much longer than it has in his memory.

The Training Center is
much quieter than usual when Regal enters. He immediately heads to a private
room on the second floor to do his usual practice.

Starting with the creation
of several ‘Ice Bullets’, he discards his stray thoughts as best he can and
focuses on the mana used, tracing its path as it travels through the alchemical
formulae. Perhaps it is a result of him gaining a soul, but he finds this
process to be slightly easier than before.

He continues to ponder its
mysteries, constantly re-questioning himself about each aspect until he can
gain a hint of the truth of each formulae section. This process is
significantly different than how he used to try analyzing the formulae, and the
results are much better as well. He is far from being equal to the class’ upper
talents, but still better than before.

The Divine Art ‘Radiant
Flame’ is similarly easier to comprehend. Regal also found that it is possible
to adjust the temperature of the flame, even though it uses the same amount of
mana regardless. Unfortunately, he can only adjust it slightly, but the
potential is endless.

He stays in the Training
Center until late at night, maintaining the same indomitable perseverance he
has always had. There were lots of cheap sandwiches leftover in his personal
inventory, so he eats those to slightly increase his mana recovery. Whether it
is a result of the change he has gone through or not, he takes note of the fact
that the sandwiches actually taste quite bad.

Once he finally leaves,
both ‘Ice Heart Alchemy’ and ‘Flame Forge Alchemy’ have increased to levels 8
and 7 respectively. His returns home with his mind weary from the lack of mana,
and a bad taste remains in his mouth from the sandwiches.