N. Francis
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86. Yet another epilogue masquerading as a prologue
🕑 Added 2025-04-25 14:00:44 +0000 UTCThe young immortal found himself struggling to process everything he’d heard, only able to stare in astonishment at the two True Immortals.
“Oh look, you broke his brain.” The Spear said with a sigh as she looked at her peer.
“He’s just taking a moment,” The Architect said with a shrug. “Right?”
The young immortal nodded frantically, trying to find his words.
“Speak already,” The Spear rolled her eyes as she snapped her fingers, the brain fog clouding his mind clearing instantly.
“That’s… all true?” The young immortal questioned, looking between the two True Immortals.
“All of it,” the Architect answered matter-of-factly. “Though, most of this was from my perspective, so you’d have to ask this oaf-” He jerked his head in the general direction of the Spear, “-for her side of the story. In my opinion, her side of things is rather boring. She just stabbed and punched and killed a lot of things. Heh, remember how surprised you were when I bested you at-”
“You’re getting ahead of your own story.” The Spear said, glaring at the Architect. “And besides, that was a nasty trick you pulled on me.”
“And the World Spirit Aelia… would that be-” The young immortal began before being interrupted.
“The Universe Spirit of the Primeval Universe? Yes.” The Architect answered. “And speak of the devil.”
One moment, there were just the three of them in the odd gathering room; the next, a fourth figure appeared: a woman who looked like she was made up of starlight and nebulae.
“I would appreciate it if you didn’t disclose too much of my early history.” The Universe Spirit said, glaring at the Architect.
“Oh, it’s fine.” The Architect shrugged, waving it off. “So, what’s the pleasure? I doubt a single insignificant immortal hearing some of your early days is enough to bring you all the way here with such perfect timing.”
“You would be correct.” The Universe Spirit said. “I just wanted to inform you that your little workshop on The First to Fall was robbed.”
The Architect narrowed his eyes briefly, staring into the distance before sighing. “Of course, it was him. Allison?”
“I’d prefer you not so casually say my name.” The Spear replied, looking off into the distance before she shook her head. “In his defense, that was a rather large contract.”
“I won’t fault him for it,” The Architect said with a shrug. “But he’s still officially part of your faction.”
“Bah.” The Spear barked, rolling her eyes once more. “And he’s also your son as well.”
“Our son.” The Architect corrected.
Whatever composure the young immortal had been gathering was instantly frayed once more as the bombshell was so casually dropped.
“Oh, right.” The Architect glanced in his direction as if forgetting the young immortal had been there. “I half forgot you were here.”
“You two… have a kid?” The young immortal forced himself to speak, as there was no point veiling his thoughts in the presence of two True Immortals and a Universe Spirit.
“Hah, several. Live for billions and billions of years, and things like that sometimes happen.” The Spear said, entirely unfazed. “But that’s neither here nor there.”
The young immortal would have said otherwise, but his courage had dried up.
“I just wanted to let you know as repayment for that last favor,” The Universe Spirit said, looking at the Architect before shaking her head. “Also, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t make me sound so bloodthirsty.”
“Whatever you say, you’re almost as bad as this one,” The Architect chuckled as he stared at the Spear.
Shrugging, apparently not a hill she was willing to die on, the Universe Spirit simply vanished.
“What favor did she owe you for?” The Spear questioned, looking at the Architect.
“Ehhh, she requested a rather difficult project; I formed an Island Universe within a World Seed. She’s planning to cultivate that within the center of the Primeval Universe for the next five or six billion years.”
“That’s one way for her to deal with her restrictions.” The Spear snorted before changing the subject. “Mind letting me glance through for a moment? I’m curious about what he robbed from you.”
“Go ahead.” The Architect responded as the Spear seemed to gaze off into the distance for a split second before snapping back to the present.
“You do realize if anyone else had been hiding that, there would be an uproar, if not an outright war, right?”
“Yeah, but what do I care.” The Architect snorted. “But, want to make a wager?”
“For?” The Spear questioned, leaving the young immortal feeling like a third-wheel bystander.
“If my little project reaches maturation, you accompany me to the Tyrant Abyss.”
“If it were anyone other than you, that would sound more like you were attempting to bribe me rather than cashing in on a bet .” The Spear responded. “And if your project doesn’t go the distance?”
“An Origin-grade spear.”
“Deal.” The Spear answered instantly. “The fact that I can tell you’re not manipulating fate nor causality means you’re going off your gut, which almost makes me more hesitant than if you were blatantly trying to pull a fast one on me.”
“But you’re still not saying no?”
“Of course not; you still know the way to a girl’s heart.” The Spear said with a humorous snort.
So many things had been said that left the young immortal clueless, with only the suspicion that they’d casually spoken about things that few other than True Immortals understood or were privy to.
“You’d be correct,” the Architect said, looking at him with a knowing smile and confirming his thoughts were an open book to the True Immortals. “Which is why there was no problem saying any of it in front of you.”
“And before you even question it inside your head, none of it can be explained.” The Spear interjected. “Those stories still have yet to come to pass; we can’t be spoiling the best parts.”
“Well, that’s not exactly correct, I can share one tidbit.” The Architect countered, looking rather smug.
“You just want to brag.” The Spear muttered, clearly aware of what he intended to share.
“Of course I do.”
The Spear merely sighed, waving him on to continue.
“Origin-Grade. Ever heard of it?” The Architect asked, turning to look at the young immortal.
“Uh….” The young immortal spent a few seconds peering through thousands of years of memories before shaking his head. “No.”
“Poor, Common, Uncommon, Rare, Aberrant, Extreme, Master, Legendary, Mythical. Other than Extremely Poor, which may as well describe one-time use junk, these are regarded as the standard grades. Unique exists, but it doesn’t play by the same rules.”
The young immortal nodded, aware of such details. Even though he was young for an immortal, he wasn’t born yesterday.
“Except, there is one more grade. Origin Grade, which exists above mythical.”
“Wait, that’s possible?” The young immortal questioned. “Mythical is the highest grade, the realm of True Immortal crafters, and the grandest rewards E.O.N. may bestow. Even then, those are little more than legends or folk tales.”
“You’re not wrong,” The Architect agreed, folding his arms one over the other as he leaned back in his rolling chair. “But that’s not the end of the story.”
“Oh, stop patting yourself on the back so much and get to it,” The Spear grumbled.
“Spoilsport.” The Architect said before coughing into his fist. “Fine. Yes, the mythic grade is the realm of True Immortal crafters, but not all True Immortals are created equally. Reaching True Immortality doesn’t grant omnipotence, omniscient, or omnipresence; it only grants omnimmortalis, an immutable existence. Few, if any, True Immortal could face off against this oaf here and win without some degree of scheming or the likes, as I’m sure you’re aware of.”
The young immortal nodded; it was well-known how powerful the Spear was.
“Well, that same goes for crafting. A single being is capable of forging and crafting items beyond the realm of even the mythic tier.”
“You?” The young immortal asked, already sure of the answer.
“Bingo.” The Architect said proudly, winking at him. “And while Eon may be the closest thing to omnipotent in all of existence, it lacks one thing. Something absolutely critical to crafting an Origin-grade item: the spark of mortality that even True Immortals once possessed. For as powerful as Eon is, mortality is something Eon can never comprehend. Thus, I’m the only vendor of Origin-grade items. Makes for a hell of a bargaining chip.”
“Something like that can’t be done easily, though, surely?”
“Correct, I’ve only made a handful myself over the billions of years I’ve been capable of such creations.” The Architect admitted.
“Where’d you even get the materials for an Origin-grade spear?” The Spear suddenly questioned, her eyes narrowed. “Someone would have noticed you tracking down any materials with the necessary significance for an origin-grade item.”
“Hah, I’ve been cultivating them for the last billion years. You remember that Tyrant Beast that blew up a few universes a billion or so years back?”
“The one you were very obviously begging to let escape?”
“Nonsense, I would never allow such a thing to happen, but you’ve got the right idea.” The Architect said.
The young immortal looked between the True Immortals, once more lost, save for a single thing they’d said.
“Tyrant Beast? Like, the post-immortal monsters that gave up their chance at omnimmortalis in return for power that requires even True Immortals to work together to best? Those Tyrant Beasts?”
“Bingo, you’ve got it.” The Architect snapped his fingers before shooting finger guns at the young immortal.
“Wait, so you-”
“Ah, ah, ah.” The Architect cut him off, smiling mischievously. “I believe I promised you a story of our history from the beginning, and that would be skipping quite far ahead. So, where was I?”
The Architect glanced upward before clapping his hands together once.
“Oh right, tier seven…”
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If you were wondering "Hey, is he purposely setting stuff up for the far future in this chapter?" You'd be 110% correct, some of which may not be relevant until my next series. What stuff is general world building and what stuff is purposeful foreshadowing? That's for you guys to guess at.
Comments
Deda
I absolutly love it ! great call to remind us that we are in a "shared story". although some would say that it takes the "suspens" off, personaly enjoy it very much ! hello from France !
