Shadow of the Abyss

Chapter 332 Soul Weapon I

Altair awoke like a buttered hotdog, sandwiched between Tasha and Morigan. The thick scent of pungent wine he'd had in celebration still lingered on his breath. Be it Tasha or Morrigan, both of them were somehow bare, clinging to his left and right.

'Heavens…' he thought, as his mind trailed off at the soothing heat their bodies generated. Who needed a blanket when you had two baddies? He smiled, noticing that he still wore a tunic, but his lower half was bare, and his manhood spearing the Heavens. He sighed, unsure what happened last night.

"What a day!" Altair freed himself to stretch his limbs, which felt stagnant from the wine. He'd been unsure what he drank but, for the first time, felt nauseous. His head was spinning with an ache that made him want to lay down.

Ashen Blood had been able to metabolize the wine from his system, but he still found himself sore. Perhaps it was just in his mind. He shook his head, remembering where he was, and glanced at Raven and Seina, who'd hit it off last night. He could vaguely remember them awakening to drink some more but wasn't sure how they winded up cuddling together beside the campfire.

"Master!" Came the voice of Therion through his Astral Sea. "You've awoken. Are you alright? I've been trying to contact you since—"

"What is it, Therion?" Altair interrupted.

"We've successfully infiltrated Ravel's group. I'm unsure how Tasha got in, but it seems they wanted us to track down seven men and women as a test." —Altair narrowed his eyes— " Tygor has confirmed that they are eating those we save to survive, your grace."

"I assume that Tygor was force feed human meat in order to join."

On the other end, within a secluded building, monitoring all that occurred with Ravel, Therion coldly nodded. "He wasn't happy about it, but he did what was necessary. We've found something interesting. It's about Ravel. It seems he's manipulating things."

"Manipulating? Manipulating how?"

"In the month we spied on him, he's been left camp on more than one occasion. I followed him once and found he was in collusion with a rather interesting Skeleton Knight, shrouded by azure flames."

"A general, perhaps in the Lich King's army?"

"Yes," said Therion calmly.

"And you weren't spotted?"

Therion smiled. "Surely you jest, my Lord. I'm, after all, one of your Shadow Demons. In me lies an infernal lingege. It's nothing to hide myself from those whose perception is nearly twice or thrice my own."

Altair gave an amused snort. Therion sounded so prideful it made him smile. "Then we can assume that Ravel is working for the Lich King. However, to what end? Survival, or is there something else?"

"Could be out of loyalty or for whatever other reason, my Lord. But I don't think that matters." Therion said, narrowing his eyes. "Now that we've confirmed that Ravel is a Traitor, I'm inclined to kill him now and save us the trouble."

"Leave that to Tygor," Altair commanded. "I want you to track that Skeleton Knight. We need to find his Master. I want a dual against this so-called Lich King. A battle between two Necromancers ought to be quite interesting."

"As you command, my liege."

As Altair felt the communication connection fade, he smiled before deciding to clothe himself. He woke everyone up, amused by their rather annoyed faces. Raven was groaning, clutching her head at the throbbing headache alongside Seina. Morrigan only blushed slightly, hurrying to clothe herself while Tasha shot him a wink, joining Morrigan to get change.

***

For the next month and a half, Altair continued to make the trip toward the center of the city, where Raval once said the Lich King lived. A possible lie he knew. After all, Ninth Circles were allowed to enter the Tower. The Lich King would not place himself in such danger by giving his location away.

'Up until now, the first trial taught you how to flee, the second trial trained your skills, and the third is meant to raise your level. In the two months I've been on this floor, I've gained seventy-five levels.'

Every undead horde he'd seen on his way toward the heart of the city had been cut down without hesitation.

"Altair, are you listening?" Tasha asked, annoyed. "You are aware my services are not free. A Lilm's Knowledge of the Arcanes is renowned all across the Hells. Necromancy is a very complex field of magic. It's best if you listen."

Altair smiled. Ever since he asked her to teach him about one of the Seven Schools of Magic, Necromancy, Tasha has truly taken the role of instructor seriously. Not once during their lesson had she made any sort of advances, which felt strange. He never knew Tasha to not say anything inappropriate. Yet when it came to the Arcanes, she was as hard as stone.

"Yes, Professor Tasha."

Tasha nodded. "As I was saying. Necromancy isn't truly about summoning undead but the Manipulation of the Soul. A True Necromancer can place a soul into the soulless husk of his weapon and armor and command it to cultivate just like you can gain levels. We call such things Soul Weapons. The name itself has changed many times, but in this era, we call it as such."

"But doing so will slow your cultivation," Altair said, narrowing his eyes.

"That is correct. That is why Devil's Souls are the best since we possess an innate skill to increase our stats with the souls we consume. That ability stacks as the days continue. For example, if a mortal soul gives me an increase of 1 point per day, can you imagine how many attributes the devil would have after, let's say, two years or for shits and giggles a hundred years."

"Devils sure have a broken ability."

"The Angels have an even stronger ability that comes from the School of Animus. When it comes to the manipulation of the Principalities, we are not their match. At least normal devils and demons are not."

Altair hummed in response. "The School of Animus is just about manipulating the soul, so how is it different than necromancy."

A/N: Animus means soul in Latin

"Because Necromancy is a Branch School of Animus. In all of the Myriad Heavens, there is only one person who has reached the peak of Animus, and that's the Silver Devil, his Majesty Zariel Snow. Even our Father admits as such. But to take a single step into the path of Animus, one needs to have at least one foot in the six schools as they all relate to the manipulation of the soul in some way."

Altair folded his arms, occasionally monitoring the buildings overrun by nature. "So the School of Animus is without a doubt the core of all Arcane Arts."

"That is correct. Primordial Spells or, God forbid, Infringement Spells, the strongest type of magic to exist, are all heavily tied to the Soul. So—"

"Infringement Spells?" Altair asked.

"Ah! Sorry, I forgot you're not aware of the levels past the Realm of Diva. Well, there are Nine Realms of Godhood. The second to last known realm is called Infringement God. It's when one is free from the binds of the ONE and the All.

'Almighty God and the Abyss,' Altair thought. And he said, "So these Nine God Realms are—"

Tasha interrupted. "Technically, there are Ten. But the Tenth is currently in the process of being made by the Second Monarch of Hell, his Infernal Majesty, Lord Arsene Snow, who was able to push his state of being to the next level."

[Divine Sin, Daddy, greatly praises this Arsene Snow]

Altair tried with his all not to roll his eyes at his father's silly antics. Still, he found himself pressed beneath some invisible pressure. Both his Father and Uncle had done something that seemed to change the very state of the Myriad Heavens as he knew it. He had to wonder if he'd be able to do the same.

"Can you teach me about the Godrealms?" Altair asked.

Tasha looked rather pressed. "Ummm," she scratched her cheek. "It's not that I don't want to… but certain rules bind us, devils. If you reach transcendent, then I can tell you."

"But you just told me about the Realm of Infringement God," Altair snapped, not understanding. "What type of game are you running?"

Tasha appeared a bit embarrassed. "In truth, I'm not supposed to talk about the Silver Devil or the Monarch of Hell as their names are so heavily tied to certain sources of power. But it's only because of your Authority that I'm allowed to speak of it."

"My Authority?"

She touched her eyes. "We Lilms possess the ability to see someone's Authority. And yours is high enough to allow some things through the cracks, but if I outright state them, I'll run the risk of being cast back into hell."

"That's stupid. Who the hell created such a rule?"

"It's to keep people ignorant," Tasha explained. "The more ignorant a man is, the easier it is to control. If I ask most awakeners, most will tell you Diva is the peak of cultivation, but they'd be wrong. You and I know the truth, but what about the rest? Knowledge is power.

If I can convince you to join the Hells or whatever other major power for the knowledge of higher realms, almost everyone would agree to do so. It's all about leveraging knowledge to control the Myriad Heavens."