Chapter 178: 174. Weakness (Part 2)

It’s warm...

From when it flickers alive inside...

It spreads throughout my body...

Hellfire...

They were flames that reminded Rai of nature, such was its disposition as a fundamental mana.

The Hellfire that Rai called forward was, in fact, not purely made for destruction.

Rai could tell.

The fires that he already knew were much weaker in comparison to Hellfire. They were also one dimensional. Whether it was the pitch of the flames, or their temperature, Rai couldn’t know what gave him that feeling. But he knew within his heart that the Hellfire that coursed through his mana channels was destined for far more than to bring about only death.

Feel it course through you, Rai. It isn’t something so simple as fire-attributed mana. This is raw, it’s pure... it’s almost primal.

Why though...

Why does it remind me of Vitria?

The mother of all dragons.

The master of life and death.

My ancestor.

Vitria Eld.

Will you tell me? Hellfire? Show me your story.

And so it did.

A primal force, a fundamental mana, they were one in the same.

Far from a raging fire, Hellfire seemed to have a mind of its own.

A circle of Hellfire surrounded Rai. Immediately, once the circle completed, four trails of Hellfire spiralled out from the circle’s edge, forming into another surrounding circle on the ground.

If one were to look down at this situation from the sky, they’d think they were looking at a purple flaming eye.

Rai’s eyes were closed, and he kept them closed as he communed with the primal Hellfire.

But something switched.

The sounds that he was accustomed to hearing while on the field...

Disappeared.

Rai slowly opened his eyes, only to be greeted by a light.

From a single sun.

He was on a field, much like the one near his home.

But this place wasn’t the same.

No... it felt very different.

There was but a single sun in the sky, and no home of his own to look at.

Rai stood up from where he sat.

It wasn’t like there was much different about the fields themselves. In fact, the more he looked around, the more he knew that this was definitely his home.

But that didn’t change the fact that Rai couldn’t find his house, or his farm.

Then he remembered.

This... is Hellfire’s story.

Rai turned around, only to find himself staring back into his own eyes.

But...

His eyes weren’t his own.

They were empty.

Void of all life.

Purple flames began to envelop the two Rais, before dissipating quickly.

Now, Rai was somewhere else.

Fortunately, it was somewhere that Rai recognised. He’d been here a lot when he was a kid, and was actually here just recently.

Acies.

Rai and his doppelganger ended up in Acies.

But he didn’t know why.

Rai watched as people walked past where he stood.

He looked around at the buildings, which were all different. The only thing that was the same was the road layout. What was even more confusing was that there was no massive portal leading to Aurum.

The more that Rai looked around, the more he realised exactly where he was.

He was just outside Townsend, except Townsend wasn’t Townsend. It was a different building entirely.

In fact, it looked a lot like a blacksmith’s.

Rai looked back at himself.

His doppelganger pointed at the blacksmith’s door.

It... it wants me to go in there?

Rai followed his doppelganger’s instruction.

As Rai entered, a waft of coal-scented air assaulted his nostrils. The blacksmith’s smelled a lot like metal after that initial scent disappeared from his senses.

The smith, Rai presumed, was a man with long, brown curly hair, sat on a chair just behind the counter. There were countless weapons, armour pieces, and other bits and bobs. But none of them looked all that special.

Then the man looked up at Rai.

“You’re here to collect?” He said, in the language of the Ancients.

Rai understood it because he had their language downloaded to his mind, thanks to Ig’lyn.

But Rai didn’t understand how the smith could see him.

“You can see me?” He asked.

“Aye, I’m here to collect. Ye said it’d be ready by noon today, nay?” Came a voice from behind Rai.

Of course, Rai. That’s the only thing that made sense! Why would he be able to see you? Alright, I’ll just quietly watch this play out since that seems to be what Hellfire wants me to do.

“That I did. I must say, it might be my best work yet!” The smith said.

“Ye said that bout that last one! Argh... at this rate, ye’ll be the worst smith in all of Zenith!”

Wait... this is Zenith? But there’s only 1 sun... how does that make sense?

“I promise. This piece really is better than the last. I used a... new type of magic I made to make it.”

“Oh? Do tell, little Hephy. Ye knew I searched far and wide for a smith to make this! So tell me, just how good is yer new make?!”

“Come! I’ll show you in the workshop!”

Hephy, the man at the counter, hopped off of his chair, and walked through to the workshop.

Rai noticed that he walked with a limp.

The man who’d entered the smithy followed Hephy into the workshop.

Rai followed the both of them.

As they entered the workshop, Rai was blown away.

The vast amount of contraptions and creations that lay here were... unreal.

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There was a shield of some kind that seemed to harbour the strength of the sun, Rai felt from the light that came from it.

Hephy covered it with a thick cloth as they entered.

Then, there was a pair of boots with feathers sticking out of them. Rai could only wonder what kind of marvel they were designed to be.

Everything out in the front of the shop looked like toothpicks in comparison to the elegance of these creations back here.

“Here!” Hephy said.

He dragged a cloth off of a beautiful golden throne.

Hephy gestured towards it, all proud and happy.

“That... that’s it?” Asked the man.

“... Fine. Allow me to show you how effective it is.” Hephy said.

He put his fingers in his mouth and let out a whistle.

Instantly, from under a mountain of random creations in the corner of the workshop, out came a... golem of some sort.

It looked just like a person.

Rai went and took a closer look. He examined the golem that stood beside Hephy now. Something drew him to it, but he wasn’t sure what it was just yet.

Before long, Rai managed to figure out what exactly drew him towards it.

Hellfire.

Within the golem’s eyes burned bright the light of Hellfire.

“Now this... this is a creation!” The man said, looking at the golem.

“No no, this is my personal assistant. It’s not for sale, as I made it tailored specifically for me.”

“... A pity... ye would’ve fetched a pretty penny for it.”

“Forget it. Let’s talk about what you’re here for. I’ll display the effectiveness of the product now. Hel, go and sit on the throne, will you?” Hephy asked the golem.

The golem, which looked like a female humanoid made out of some type of special metal, looked back at Hephy. It made some sort of sound that Rai couldn’t quite understand, and went and sat on the throne.

“Now try and get up, Hel.”

The golem struggled to lift itself from the throne. In fact, it seemed like it was stuck there completely.

After realising that it couldn’t leave the throne, Hel gave up.

Hephy snapped his fingers, teleporting Hel from the throne, back to his side.

“See? Is that enough for you?” Hephy asked the man.

“... It’s perfect! Oh, I can’t wait to see that bitch’s face when she sits on this! A fitting throne, for a tyrannical queen!”

“If so, then how about payment?”

“Yes, I believe ye deserve full payment for this. What a splendid display!”

Rai watched as the man paid Hephy a number of coins that didn’t look like any of the currency he was used to.

Then, his view was obstructed.

By himself.

Rai looked into his own eyes again, but this time there was something other than an empty void.

Fire.

The fires of Hel.

They flickered to life in his doppelganger’s eyes.

Then, like before, he was enveloped in flame along with his doppelganger.

*Clang*

*Clang*

*Clang*

Rai looked up at the huge blacksmith.

He looked very familiar.

In fact, he’d just seen him only a moment ago.

“Hel quite likes ye.” He rumbled.

His voice shook the entire room.

Much like the first time Rai encountered Hellfire, and this man, he was hammering away at an anvil.

But he could actually see much more of the room now. It was almost like they were in the middle of a castle. The walls were exquisite, and there were pillars at the opposite end of the room that seemed to lead outside to a vast and beautiful land.

The one thing that Rai wanted to do though... wasn’t possible.

He couldn’t speak.

Rai’s eyes rolled down to look at his lips, but all he saw was purple hellfire stopping his mouth from moving.

*Clang*

“BAHAHAHA! She holds yer tongue, much like a mother suffocatin’ a babe!”

EH?! What kind of mother suffocates her baby?!?!

“Tis fine. Ye are not my successor... nay... that role shall belong to another.

Clang.

Ye may call upon Hel, for she hath chosen thou.

Clang.

Know this, child of dragons.

Clang.

Hephaestus hath granted thee a tool!

Clang!

Make best use of her, lest she shall devour your soul!”

CLANG!

Rai’s ears rang.

He slowly came back to his senses, and eventually he was able to hear the sounds of nature once more.

Specifically, he heard birds warbling, tweeting, and being all around annoying.

Rai gently opened his eyes. Zenith’s twin suns were right where he left them.

In front of him, sat a woman.

She was of a humanoid shape, but had no hair, skin, muscle, or bones.

Her entire body was made of Hellfire.

“Hel.” Rai said.

He held out his hand.

Hel took it.

Slowly, Hel’s body made of Hellfire siphoned into Rai.

After a moment, he’d absorbed her completely.

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