The Mage of Primordial Chaos

Chapter 439 - The "Key"

"... That is the story of the Advent," Lorelei concluded. Her voice remained monotone throughout the entire tale, emotionless and calm despite the horrible things that happened to her tribe.

"..." Ling Xin fell silent, resting her chin on her hand. Even Axilia, usually talkative and clingy to me, was still and quiet for once.

After some more silence, I decided to finally break it and speak.

"... So. What are you planning on doing after this, Lorelei?"

Lorelei paused momentarily, then looked at me beside her. "... What do you mean, master?"

"You're agitated. You want to get revenge on those Nightwolves, do you not?" I smirked. "I have to say, you're one of the most skilled people I've met at masking their true emotions. But..."

I glanced at her tail, twitching slightly behind her back, and Lorelei immediately realized.

"My... tail..."

"Mhm." I nodded. "Your expression may not change, but your tail doesn't lie. I've pretty much figured it out. It waved left to right earlier when I gave you your name, signaling happiness. Slight twitching like this is anger or annoyance, and drooping is sadness, I'm assuming."

"..."

And not only that,  I thought in my head, causing Lorelei's eyes to widen a bit. Ling Xin and Axilia, however, didn't know.  I can also read your mind.

"Master, you can... read Lorelei's mind?"  She was utterly shocked for reasons unbeknownst to myself.

Mhm. From what I've gathered, the Soul Realm is the origin Realm for something called Psychic Magic, much like how the Death Realm is the origin of Necromancy Magic. I can use both, rendering me able to see what you're real thoughts are. Think of it as payback for reading my soul without any consent earlier.

"That is not why I am so surprised, master,"  Lorelei said.  "As the most powerful Soulfox, it should be impossible for any human to read my mind. Even if you can use Psychic Magic, that is merely a lower form of the power I have. So... how...?"

After some silence, I replied.

... You passed the test.

"Test...?" Lorelei cocked her head in real life and her tail began wiggling in many different directions, signalling confusion.

Mhm. I was testing to see if you were going to read my soul without me saying you could, just to test your loyalty. But you've proven your loyalty to me now, so I can show you my power. It is also... my deepest secret. Even those two sitting across from us right now don't know of it yet.

Go ahead. Take a look.

Lorelei confirmed my approval by glancing into my eyes one more time, then closed her own and entered my soul. After several seconds, her eyebrows furrowed a bit—the first sign of emotion on her face—then she opened them again.

"Master... what was... that...? That power... it was incredible. Even I have never witnessed something like that before. Dark and light, fire and water, life and death... it is like all the most polar opposite elements have been blended into one, creating something new. Something strangely chaotic yet blissful at the same time, something far stronger than anything else."

It's called the Primordial Chaos. The origin of all things, the entity that gave birth to the universe. None can surpass it, and none can hope to recreate it. But honestly... I'm not exactly an expert on this myself, despite being its wielder. Once we return to the Living Realm, though, there is someone there who can tell you more.

"I see... Lorelei certainly would like to know more, master."

Yeah... though she may be hostile towards you since you call me master as well. Don't worry about it though.

"Uh... hello?" Ling Xin cut in, interrupting our conversation. "You two have been staring at each other for the past two minutes. Lorelei, you didn't charm him or something, did you? I won't forgive you if you did~"

I quickly shook my head. "Relax, relax. She didn't charm me or anything, I was just talking to her in our minds. And Axilia, put that goddamn scythe away."

"Hehe~" Axilia did as told, an innocent and playful smile on her face.

"In any case... Lorelei, I want you to take a look at this." I took out the rock that I had obtained from the auction yesterday, polished and flawless despite being mined out from the core of the planet, according to the auction house. "You can inspect souls, correct? I'm guessing you can see the nature of an item to a degree as well?"

Lorelei nodded. "Correct, master... but my powers are quite weak in my current state. I cannot promise I can provide a detailed analysis."

"That's fine," I replied. "Just a general idea is good enough."

"Very well, master." Lorelei took the rock from my hand and inspected it closely, then closed her eyes once more as she reached out to the essence of the object, its  soul.

After several seconds, she opened them again and handed the rock back to me.

"This rock... it appears to be a 'key' or some sort," she said gently. "Though... for what, Lorelei is uncertain."

Hearing this, a slight grin appeared over my lips. I see... just as I thought. 

"A key, eh?" Ling Xin giggled. "For what, I wonder? A chastity belt, perhaps~?"

"Master... do you know something about the key?" Lorelei asked in my mind.

Mhm. If my assumption is correct... I have to go through all the elemental Realms, each correspondent with one of the 21 elements in the Living Realm, and gather one 'key' like this from each. Then, and only then, will I be able to access  that.

"That...?"

I smiled.  The Chaos Realm.

"But in any case..." I stood up from the chair and glanced at the door where the boy ran out not long ago. "I think it's about time to go get him back."

Lorelei nodded and stood up beside me, turning into her fox form and crawling up my arm and onto my shoulder.  "Lorelei will accompany you, master."

"Ling Xin, Axilia, we'll be right back," I said. "In the meantime... think about what we'll do about tonight."

"Mkay~ don't start making out in the forest or something, you hear?" Ling Xin cackled and flashed a wink.

With a snort, I left, Lorelei on my shoulder.

*****

It didn't take long to find where the boy was, since Lorelei could sense his location as he was one of her kin. He sat on the cliff, legs dangling over the edge. Lorelei hopped off of my shoulder and entered a bush, where she could spectate what was about to unfold.

"The rest is up to you, master."

I know.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped out of the woods, purposely not camouflaging my footsteps so that he would be notified of my arrival. The boy, hearing me, immediately got to his feet and raised his arms in defense.

"W-What do you want?"

"Woah there, calm down. If you want to fight me, sure, but before that..."

I moved closer and sat down in front of him, showing that I didn't come here to hurt him or anything.

"Come on. Sit down. Let's have a little chat, shall we?"

But the boy, being as defiant as he was, refused to obey my orders. "I-I don't want to talk with you!"

Well, that's within expectations.

I sighed. "Well, stand if that's what you prefer. But I came here to ask you something."

"What...?" He asked, frowning and narrowing his eyes.

"Do you... have any idea how weak you are?"

"W-Wha...!"

"In your allies' eyes, you are nothing but a weakling who needs to be protected and supervised. In your enemies' eyes, well... you're just a flaw. A maggot that can be stepped on and killed at any time they want."

"Y-You're wrong! My sister doesn't think of me as a weakli-"

"Your sister?" I laughed darkly. "You mean Lorelei? You heard that conversation she had with me in my head, didn't you? She purposely made it so that you could hear. Why do you think that is?"

"Hngh..."

"She doesn't want to say it to your face, little guy. She pities you. She is the queen, the matriarch of your race. But beyond that, you two have no connection. She cares about you as one of her kin, but not as a sister."

"Even so... even so... she still saved me from what happened all those years ago! I'll protect her, even if she doesn't want me to!"

After some hesitation and admiring of his attitude, I smiled.

"... Good."

"H-Huh...?"

"I said, good. But if you want to protect Lorelei, if you want to become her loyal knight... you have to get stronger first. That fact does not change. The place where she wants to go is filled with danger, and as you are right now... you won't even be useful as bait."

"Tch... you sound so high and mighty, looking down on me like that!" He yelled in fury. "I bet you aren't even that strong anyway!"

"... Heh."

I smiled darkly, then slowly looked up into his eyes.

"Wha..." He instinctively took a few steps back, nearly falling off the edge of the cliff. The aura radiating from my body was dark and powerful enough to make anyone think twice before challenging me. Such was the intimidating power of Chaos, able to strike fear into anyone who lays sight on it.

"Would you care to test that theory, young fox?" I asked, voice steely and cold.

"Y-Yeah!" He roared, not wanting to back down. Even in the face of fear, he put his pride before anything. That can both be a good quality and a bad one.

I laughed darkly, then tipped my hat.

"Very well. Go ahead, try your best. If you can even do so much as touch me.... I'll acknowledge your strength."