Taken Horizon Origin, volume 2, Descension

Episode 27 : introduction from the beyound

"The finality gem. An object of immense aetherical power. When the deep universe explorers returned with it from their mission the entire crew had killed each other trying to keep the gem to themselves. There was only a single survivor. The astrophysicist and charter for the group. For an entire week the whole of <soldered penumbra> knew about him from news reels of his arrival but no one ever caught a glimpse of them."

Pettel's tone was grave and thespian as he told the story. Making me think of it as some sort of morbid tale.

"The man had already gone insane from the finality gems influence. All he ever muttered was something relating to a 'stairway' and 'three axis'. What either meant was a mystery to everyone."

"How did you learn about this?" Thorn asked in my stead, interrupting the story.

"Using my authority as the kralscell of ash, I got the corpse of a scientist I had killed to reveal all this information to me. I only ever told Invoker though."

Gesturing for Pettel to continue with the story I lifted Thorn up onto my lap on the bench and remained silent.

"The gem radiated enough aether to make anyone who had prolonged contact with it go insane. It was not until the miracle of Doctor Gitaren's genius that people could safely interact with the gem with aid of a special suit. After that, it did not take long for the experiment's to begin and the worst mistake in the rich history of the universe was made."

Recognising the name 'Gitaren' I recalled the time Ingrik cursed the woman out. She must of been quite the big shot of <soldered penumbra> in the past.

"It started with something trivial. Like most things do. But the biggest happenings often begin with a small spark of nothingness. A single touch of bare skin against the crystal and a man completely lost his mind. The man shattered the diamond into fourteen parts on the floor after accidentally pushing it off the pedestal before his mind was completely erased in insanity."

For such a thing to turn a man insane with simple contact... there's nothing I can think of capable of doing that. It's honestly terrifying.

"At first it seemed like nothing had happened. Even Doctor Gitaren was surprised by the finality gems frailty. Weeks passed and different tests continued on the smaller fragments of the finality gem being named; genesis fragments. It wasn't until the glow in one of the genesis fragments completely disappeared that they realised just how terrible the previously unsubstantial mistake was."

"The first kralscell in recorded history...." muttering aloud I got a slight nod from Pettel's tense face.

"You already know the rest of the story. The gods of <soldered penumbra> were too weak to handle the kralscell's and tried to flea but were stopped by the humans that stole their divinity and killed the kralscell's from then on. What you don't know however is that Doctor Gitaren had created an apparatus to seal and reuse the powers stored within the genesis fragments that eventually became known as what we call the <quest line>."

The realisation that the <quest line> was not only a relic and a warden of <archon hold> but also the vestige of the kralscell's stolen power was incredible to me. No wonder it's so formidable and doesn't leave its monolith.

"One kralscell after another. The people of <soldered penumbra> were being slaughtered by the millions but their methods in killing the kralscell's were also getting stronger. The same weapons used to kill gods were improved and turned on the kralscell's. The vjestikhan as it was called. Power suits developed to overclock a persons natural strength in exchange for shortening their lifespan."

Remembering the giant black exoskeleton I stole from Ignis compound during the raid by [gluttonous warrior] to give Ouroboros a body to be summoned into I began to wonder just how strong the ancient kralscell's must have been.