Amdirlain's PoV - Hades - Halls of Athena

A steady progression of knowledge points into the Arcane Knowledge had caused two evolutions. Her understanding of the realm's rules and True Song made it far easier to see how the arcane elements of the realm linked. After hundreds of points had been spent, another significant notification shone in her awareness amid the pattern of runes and information.

[Arcane-Lord [G] (212) evolved into Arcane-Prince [G] (81)]

With that push through to Arcane-Prince, she still had half her knowledge points in hand, so Amdirlain stopped. The broad scope of the knowledge meant that some things she'd hoped to learn fell outside its limits. However, it gave her avenues for later exploration of specialised fields. Amdirlain allowed the meditative state she used to shift through the rush of knowledge to fall away and come back to her surroundings. The trickle of water from the fountain's spouts was reminiscent of those fragile days within Nytherion's memories. As the memories rose inside her, Amdirlain focused on the sound echoing through the chambers' open doors. That they'd not reset made it clear a whole day hadn't passed within the time bubble. Her focus on the current day allowed her to hold his grief aside.

I've had so many fucked up lives. Should I beat this trial or use it until it kicks me out? All the spells I hastily cast to attack Ekdikésis did nothing to progress Mana Mastery. I should focus on the formation of each Spell and refine what I'm doing. The rooms won't provide enough space for any area of effect spells, so I'll have to stick to ones that allow me to be very selective. I will break that barrier.

The patterns within the strands provided Amdirlain plenty of targets to study the reactions of the divine wards. The sturdy energy stopped her initial spells flat, but the first lightning bolt that reflected off shattered a bookcase and obliterated scrolls. Amdirlain paused, bottom lip caught between her teeth as she studied the wreckage. Though the next cycle should restore the contents, she still whisked the remaining texts to the antechamber. With the room clear, she started throwing out spells that blackened the chamber's walls. As the air hummed with power, she caught stray wisps from imperfect spells siphoned off by the temporal barrier.

The number of them became her gauge for efficiency as she continued the exercise; hours later, between spells, Amdirlain reappeared in the archway before the statue. Throughout, the barrier hadn't wavered, no matter which section of the pattern she'd targeted. Undeterred, Amdirlain pulled the fire scroll free from the statue's hand, emptied the chamber, and restarted her casting.

The flow of Mana through the Spell formations became a reflex meditative exercise of its own, as she randomly struck at different knots in the pattern with varying energy. Her spells and techniques tightened as the days flowed by, and the tally of visible wisps lessened. She alternated spells with strikes of Excising Concerto, but neither caused the barrier to ripple. She visualised Moloch's face within the energy opposing her and struck harder, making the air in the chamber scream with the unleashed infernos. Under her steely determination, her pace of casting and using Ki technique remained constant against the regular resets of the chamber. Each occurrence allowed her to tally the days, judge the pace of her advancement, and prevent her focus from drifting.

The frequency of notifications dwindled as days turned into weeks, months, and stretched into years. The impact of experiencing the long Elven past lives with their days of desperate toil became clear as the tally of training spun past her years alive as Julia by decades and then centuries. Throughout the exercise, Amdirlain kept to her goal of breaking the barrier by her own strength and not by solving Athena's puzzles.

The growing numbers shown in Profile provided less satisfaction than the disappearance of the last wisp and the clean lines within her assorted spells. Even when they grew to possess razor-sharpness, she persisted. Throughout it all, her sigil blazed, and Ki fed through into her Soul. She heard the Ki soften the pox-marked scars that glowed amid the flames caused by the conflict of her gestating nature with Sun Wukong's headband. The continual floods of life energy renewed the battered landscape that contained desolate aeons of grief and loneliness. The temporal barrier drew in the golden light she emitted, hinting at its source. Rather than investigate other people's issues, she focused on perfecting a trio of abilities.

Neither the evolution of Mana Mastery nor Mana Critical helped breach the barrier. The spiralling phoenixes within finger-thin Excising Concerto cored through its resilient shell and caused the room beyond to explode in an apocalypse of white flames.

[Excising Concerto-King [G] (235) evolved into Excising Concerto-Emperor [G] (71)]

Oops?!

Did I get the right combination, or did the Power Evolution do the trick? I've only been using Primordial Mana wrapped around my Ki with it, so it wasn't the combination with a different Affinity. I can repeat the strike pattern with spells tomorrow, but the impact of spells is different.

The sour notes of burning chemicals and reagents caused Amdirlain's nose to twitch, and she threw acidic blasts into the chamber to add fuel to the mix. She stepped sideways and aimed at the barrier in the left room. The white phoenix ripped through it as well and ignited the room beyond. A secondary explosion from materials within the chamber rocked the building, causing the ground to shudder.

Or can I blow up the place now?

"The prize for lack of subtlety goes to me," Amdirlain playfully threw her hands in the air.

She thrust them forward with a scream of rage that rose from the pit of her stomach; the technique fed with her perfect recall of Nytherion's centuries of growing despair. A white egg the size of her torso formed in her hands, and from it leapt a Phoenix the size of a Dragon's head. The course of the Excising Concerto ripped straight through the complex, leaving ashen dust in its wake until it struck a decapitated head at the far end. In the rush of light his feature were recognisable, the remains sucked in the Primordial flames and life energy, causing Kronos's clouded gaze to glow briefly.

"Hello, grandfather."

Amdirlain walked calmly around the fountain, which now had only a truncated plinth, as the marble plates started to grind downwards. The dusty path through the building was awash with drifting ash and falling rubble. She drifted through the debris until she leant against the shattered railing within the last chamber. Her perch was part of a walkway around a sunken depression, yet the top of Amdirlain's head only reached the point where his bottom lip started to curl. The still-gleaming black locks that graced his unrotted head pooled in the pit's base, hiding the stump of his neck.

"Did you see me here? Glimpse this future or even a hint of what might be? Did you hope I'd help? What's stopping me from just leaving you this way?"

There was no answer, so she floated forward and rested a hand on his chin to take in the lingering energies with the flesh. She detected the residue from Nike's weapon that had severed his head and the gleam of slumbering intelligence and strength hidden within. The golden light of Universal Life shone from her palm, and she felt tiny muscle filaments regrow.

Yeah, he isn't completely dead. It's something akin to Protean, needing his remains destroyed for destruction to sink its teeth in—a hibernating bear.

"Athena used your nature to fuel this place. How many millions of years could you sustain this loop even though technically dead? I should use you to grow even stronger, but I'm giving you an eviction notice, Gramps. It's time to return to your ancestor's home and never return here. I'll need a sheltered moment where the Domain can't sense us. Can you manage that, or are you staying put?"

The bubble stuttered and collapsed. The damage she had inflicted on the image in the temporal loop translated into the ruins, and rubble sprayed outwards from the devastated structure. A long way behind her, the gold pane of her exit glowed at the cavern's far end. A change in the energy across her skin prompted Amdirlain to use True Song to cast Kronos out of Hades and the realm itself into the chaotic expanse beyond.

With the clean-up over, she admitted a tiny seed of truth.

I miss Sarah. She's going to laugh about the rubbish detail I keep copping.

As Amdirlain turned to go, she saw crystallised blood droplets on the bottom of the slope. She tapped her fingers on the stone railing, and its length crumpled into dust. With a headshake, Amdirlain turned and walked away, her instincts and Precognition agreeing it was best not to touch the bloodstones.

When she reached the shattered antechamber, a watery figure appeared. Amdirlain stiffened at the familiarity that itched in her mind, and a whisper from Lethe provided the Aspect's name.

"Hello, Mother, or should I just call you Am?"

"That's up to you, Chrona."

She stretched out a hand to point past Amdirlain. "He left you time seeds. Don't you want them?"

Amdirlain grimaced and waved a hand. "He's trying to control or influence me yet again."

"Might I claim them then? I don't want them left lying around."

"You're welcome to them if it will help you."

Chrona speared a watery limb past Amdirlain and it retracted to display the gleaming droplets on an outstretched palm before they vanished. "I'm securing them to prevent future problems. The realm follows only one path chosen in an amalgamation of choices that go into each moment. I don't want someone forcing their preference for the realm's temporal course on everyone else."

"Does that include what I plan to do to Atonement or the Abyss?"

"You're just changing your house, Mother; you're not telling anyone what to do. I won't tell you how many aspects wagered you'd abuse the loop longer. I hope you've done enough healing."

"Was my encountering this trial your doing?"

"No, Gideon already hinted at who helped you there. You took her pet project away, but Rachel had already stirred many pots for her, so she'll find a new opportunity," Chrona snorted. "She always does. Though you're a lot healthier in yourself, a few million years of healing would have done you good with the trouble others are stirring."

"It was tempting to indulge in a few thousand, but a million would have been too isolating. Still, I've got some better Wizard classes available, so I earned something."

The water across Chrona's form rippled gently. "You're much different from the old you, Mother. Before, being alone wore at you; now, it gives you strength. I like this change, but then, I also crave solitude."

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"You can't find that in the Spire?"

"There is always someone around or within awareness range. Sometimes I feel I might put an eye out if I turn too fast."

Amdirlain snorted at the mental image of the aspects flailing around in a mosh pit together.

Chrona plants her hands on her hips. "Mother, I hope you're not laughing at me."

"I just had a cute mental image about the aspects cramped together. Why do you have a watery form, Chrona?"

"The future is always fluid; while Gideon can tell you which ways atoms will bounce, beings can still make surprising choices. Gideon is such a stick in the mud that they never give conversations with anyone but you or grandfather a chance. Yet, if everyone were utterly predictable, making wagers would be pointless."

Amdirlain smiled.

"I'm glad you're home again." Chrona blurred and pressed watery lips to Amdirlain's cheek. "Love you."

A blush like a sunrise across an ocean spread through Chrona's body, and she vanished.

How did I earn such affection from so many of them and not see it? I was so caught up in what I didn't have that I couldn't see what I had. Because I blamed myself for letting mḗtēr die, I couldn't see their love.

Amdirlain checked the last Class she'd unlocked as she continued towards the exit.

[Arcane Magistrum

Details: For most people, the study of the arcane is about the capabilities allowing them to bend reality to their will. Yet, for some others, the arcane is about exploring its rules and sharing that knowledge. These arcane teaching authorities freely share the gift of the arcane with others, unlocking the capabilities of magic and encouraging children and adults alike in its pursuit.

Requirements:

- Acquired thirty or more affinities.

- Helped over three thousand beings gain an Affinity.

- Helped guide wizards who founded fifty or more magical schools.

- Arcane at Prince Tier or higher.

- Four other arcane-related knowledges at grandmaster or higher rank.

- Mana Mastery at Prince Tier or higher.

Adjustments:

- Increased chance of sage insights into learning arcane-related skills or progressing knowledge.

- Increased chance of significant insights when advancing arcane-related powers.

+30 Intelligence per Level.

+4 Free attribute points per Level after 22.

+4 Health per Level.

+20 Magic per Level.

+50 Mana per Level.

+2 Defence per Level.

+6 Skill points per Level.

+6 Knowledge points per Level.]

Okay, I've helped a few people gain affinities over the years, but fifty magic schools? How? I only know of three. Though, I guess the folks from the monastery and the dwarves had time to set up a few. Is it bad that the attribute I want from that Class is the magic rating? I should have spent more Skill points; I'm still hoarding my freebies. What am I keeping them for? To split my skull with True Song Architecture again?

She snorted, dropped five hundred points into Spell Gaze, and felt her Protean react to the Skill's refinement. The years of neglected harp work prompted her to drop two hundred points in each of her harp skills before putting five hundred into Perception. Among the expected notifications, Perception evolved and then indicated a continued growth in the Prince Tier. Fluctuations within her body's themes became clearer, the level of detail bypassing her existing filters and sorting. Amdirlain stopped to shake her head at how much she'd been missing but carefully set more filters to avoid drowning in the background noise. Among the changes were details of the scars and ongoing conflict in her Soul.

I need to get rid of Sun Wukong's headband.

Get mḗtēr and the boys free, and then I'll see about shifting gears to get my two Prestige classes.

Amdirlain stepped through the gold pane to find Damon and Medusa still waiting.

"It would have taken me longer to walk across this amphitheatre. Did you kill something with a flick of your finger?" asked Damon. "The moment you stepped through, it turned gold. Did the clean-up take longer than killing the monster, or were you looking around?"

"There was no monster. I was in Athena's puzzle complex."

Damon nodded in understanding. "The time loop."

"That's the one."

"How long were you there for?"

"Don't you know it's not polite to ask a lady her age?"

"According to who?" Damon asked in confused innocence.

"My customs."

Damon shrugged broadly. "Not here. How many chambers did you make it through? The best record shows them only beating the puzzles in six rooms upstairs and nine downstairs."

"Athena's trial had nothing I wanted to learn, so I blasted my way to the end. Shall we get the next one done?"

As Damon stammered and blinked, Medusa laughed joyously and patted Damon's back. "Come along."

He had paled under his tanned complexion but led the way under Medusa's repeated prompting.

Amdirlain stepped from the wormhole onto a heavily wooded riverside. In a large clearing ahead of her were a massive pack of gore-encrusted mastiffs. Around them were well-chewed bones and a soft ground covered in blood, and cracked armour, along with odd pieces of broken weaponry. Their attention was fixed on forty-nine Grecian women—from their early teens to mid-twenties—carrying jugs to fill a massive basin more sieve than a solid bowl. Clad in rags and barefoot, the women trekked across sharp, blood-darkened rocks. As the next woman emptied her jug into the basin, the holes allowed all the water to pour out. The woman, with a resigned look, merely turned to trudge away.

[Danaides

Details: Their father, pressured by his brother, agreed to let them marry their cousins. Secretly, he ordered his fifty daughters to murder their husbands on their wedding night. The intention was to prevent their uncle from using their forced marriages to seize control of Argos. One daughter didn't kill her new husband, and the uncle seized the city through him. Hades decided on further punishment after they died, dooming them to fill the basin until the water reached the rim.]

Her Precognition pointed her away from the group, but Amdirlain called out anyway. "How long have you been trying to fill that basin?"

So they're not my problem?

The youngest desperately shook her head at Amdirlain, tears filled her eyes. "Please just leave. There is no one here you can save, and you'll experience the same torture we endure if we rebel against our punishment."

"How long have you been here?" persisted Amdirlain.

"Thousands of years. Hades made sure we'd be aware of every step we took. If we stop trying to fill the basin, the dogs eat us, and then we reappear with a new jug." The first woman called out as she trotted back towards the river.

After slightly adjusting her profile, the blackness of an enervating aura swept over the dogs and the women. The aura shredded the spirits of torment and pulled the women into her flesh.

[Combat Summary:

Hades Hounds x 200

Total experience gained: 109,000

Arcane Magistrum: +109,000

Arcane Magistrum Levelled Up! x 11]

Right! Let's go find out what my trial is in these parts.

A wave of energy hummed across her skin, and Amdirlain prevented another Mantle from forming; again, the belief focused on music, beauty, playfulness, and a strong sensual energy.

That is a lot like my stage persona. Should I slip the next attempt sideways and send it Klipyl's way? It feels so suitable to her. Yet, that's unfair, since she just got married and doesn't deserve the headache of the mess on Qil Tris. Also, it would betray the folks trying to pray to me. Yeah, not okay. If Klipyl is going to get a Mantle, she'll have to do that on her own, and I can help her afterwards.

With Precognition pointing her downriver, Amdirlain started looking for her destination or other messes she could clean up.

After coming across more sites of women being held underwater or continually pecked by flocks of birds for the crime of being nagging wives, hundreds more souls joined the Danaides. The various Hades's spawn fed experience into her new Class, while the Ki within her kept all the souls in a placid torpor, blissfully unaware. As her journey continued, the path started to climb a steadily increasing slope.

The bleating of goats echoed from ahead, drawing a groan from Amdirlain. As she continued along the path, she heard the low voices of men and a snoring grunt.

When she reached the grassy hillside, the sight ahead matched her expectations from Greek legends. On the churned grassy slope was a herd of goats with a sleeping Cyclops who had a sunken eyelid behind them. He lay on a bed of roughly felled trees beside an enormous cave mouth. Concealed by his snore came the cries of men in a penned enclosure at the back of the cave. She took in the meagre stats provided by Analysis, even as the Cyclops's eyelid snapped open, revealing a sunken, blinded orb.

"You'll join the rest, thief." Polyphemus snatched a tree from the ground beside him and smoothly rose to his feet.

"Hello, Polyphemus. My apologies for disturbing your rest. I'm not interested in your herd or fighting you. Could I trouble you to let those men go?"

"You are polite, but they tried to steal from me," growled Polyphemus.

"Stealing is certainly wrong. Would you consider a trade? I'll commit to taking them away from here and not allowing them to return to bother you."

Polyphemus sniffed suspiciously. "There is just one of you, woman. Why should I trade with you? I could just as easily put you in there with them."

"Would you like to hear some music? If you lock me up, I'm certainly not going to sing for you."

"How many songs?" asked Polyphemus, tilting his head. He fixed his unseeing eye on her.

"I'll trade you an hour of singing for all the men."

Polyphemus chuffed with laughter, the booming sound not bothering the goats. "A day each man."

Amdirlain blew a derisive raspberry. "I've limited time."

"A time limit? How is time limited in this land of the dead? Did a trial of the gods send you here?"

"Yes, and it took me some time to find you."

Well, an hour at a slow jog for me would have been days of travel time for a normal person.

"Ten days of singing."

Amdirlain laughed. "Look, we can go back and forth, or you can propose a sensible number you think I'll accept."

As Polyphemus opened his mouth to argue, Amdirlain pushed her Charisma towards him. Polyphemus stammered. "What will you sing?"

"Beautiful music, to make a Siren weep."

"Let me hear five minutes of your singing first, then I'll decide how long. They tried to steal my entire herd."

Amdirlain closed her eyes with a smile dancing on her lips. When her voice lifted in a sweeping aria, she wrapped up all the emotions she experienced witnessing a sunrise in Sarah's arms. Tears of longing trickled from Polyphemus's eye before she was done, and the Cyclops sobbed with loneliness.

Amdirlain waited for his initial burst of emotion to run its course. "Will you hold still for me? There is something else I can trade you."

"What?" sniffled Polyphemus.

"Hold out your hand, and I'll heal your eye."

Though suspicious, Polyphemus crouched and reached out a hand towards Amdirlain, the other holding onto the trunk that groaned in his grip.

She stepped forward, and a short use of Universal Life renewed Polyphemus's ruined eye. He blinked in surprise. What was the grey sky of Hades to Amdirlain, in his sight, was a blue sky with gentle golden sunlight.

Polyphemus swallowed a sudden lump in his throat. "Take them and some goats."

As he stopped speaking, Precognition informed her of the task's completion.

"Would you like to be free of Hades?" asked Amdirlain.

"Who would not wish that?" With the back of his hand, Polyphemus scrubbed tears from his face.

The black cloud of Enervating Aura absorbed them all, including Polyphemus. Within her flesh, she could hear the music of their souls and the loneliness that ate at Polyphemus. In response, she sent peaceful images into the Cyclops's slumbering Soul to allow him pleasant dreams while she held him in torpor.

"We're all getting out of here."

Amdirlain turned and blazed back towards the gold pane, gathering more scattered souls as she went.

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