Chapter 201: Chapter 182 : Journey To The Past (Part 1)

The duo’s session with their mother went on for nearly an hour, with the recent get-together being the main focus of the discussion. Overall, Hana was happy with the news, though some obvious signs of discontent could be seen throughout.

The duo - Ray read these signs clearly but could give her no answers, only awkward silence. Navigating past these pitfalls, the trio ended the session on a positive note and said their goodbyes.

Following the session, Ray didn’t disappear into the Mental Space as usual but stuck around. The reason being, their next destination - or rather, what could be found there.

Ralf left the Communication Centre without contacting the Bai clan as he had previously promised. After discussing the topic, the group decided to let Charlotte be the one to make contact. The choice was a no-brainer; the Onic Master held the highest social status among the group and was the most experienced in dealing with people. She would initiate contact later today, after a short nap.

With that task out of his hands, Ralf moved with his original intention. He summoned his Psi Bike and headed to the Academy’s main library, Evoc’s Wisdom.

The dome-shaped building was as large as the Colosseum and gave off a similarly ancient feel with its bumpy brown stony exterior. The archaic outside was just a front though, as stepping inside revealed. The place was as modern as this world’s technology allowed.

The interior was clean and well-lit, and everything was neatly arranged. Entering on a red carpet, the duo was treated to a giant open circular space, appearing as an endless vortex of knowledge.

The duo marvelled at the collection present, and then again when they saw the map of the place, which showed that the above-ground section of the library was just the tip of the iceberg.

At just over fifteen million books, it was said that Evoc’s Wisdom held a copy of at least ninety-five percent of all books to ever exist. The duo couldn’t verify this claim, but they felt like even if it was false, it couldn’t be too far off.

Ralf headed to the reception desk. He was recognised by George, the librarian/receptionist, who had been informed about the Transmigrator's mass transfer request by Mason.

“Given the sheer volume, it can take quite a long time. At four hours a day, it’ll take around ten days to transfer everything,” George naturally assessed.

“Expected as much,” Ralf said as his eyes swept over the vast collection.

“Since I’ll be here for a while, let's start with the first batch now."

“Sure thing, young man. Anything you want to be transferred first?”

“Nope, just transfer everything in descending order.”

“Very well.”

“One last thing, about Psi videos, can that be transferred as well?”

“They can, though they'll cost you much more than the books. To transfer everything over, you’ll need around thirty thousand credits, so far more than you currently have.”

“Hmm, I see,” Ralf rubbed his chin, “that's not too bad. I'll just view them locally for now until I earn enough credits.”

Following the exchange, Ralf was telepathically linked up to the library’s network. He made himself comfortable on one of the comfy couches not too far away and shut his eyes.

Shelves in Babel Library began filling up in real-time as books began flooding into the Mental Space via the telepathic link. True to their expectations, the contents were transferred in perfectly. Ray and Ralf watched the process unfold with great satisfaction.

Power came in many forms, with knowledge being one of them. To amass knowledge was to amass power and that fact brought a smile to the duo's faces. After indulging in their power surge for a bit, the duo moved on to the main reason for their visit.

It had been on their to-do list for a while now, and something Ray and Ralf had been looking forward to since they first heard about it. Yes, that’s right, watching old videos.

The Hunter Academies held the most complete collection of old videos dating back to the start of the Zenki Era. The duo’s decision to enrol had been greatly swayed by their desire to see them, and now, they finally got the opportunity to.

Ralf paid the necessary credits and got access to the library’s catalogue. Things weren’t as convenient as their Babel, but the duo didn’t mind too much. With a few requests, they were brought back in time.

The Chaotic Period was the most popular content, and as such, dozens of documentaries and compilations were made about it. The duo chose the most recommended documentary, a Psi video spanning just over four hours long. They didn’t mind the length and got comfortable. The video soon played and the narrator’s voice quickly carried them away, sending them to the distant past.

***

In retrospect, not bringing any snacks or drinks along was a good call. The documentary was an appetite and mood killer.

The brutality, gruesomeness and cruelty of the Chaotic Period were perfectly conveyed, leaving nothing to the imagination. Reading the descriptions of the period had been stomach-turning and upsetting but experiencing it, from the first-person perspective, was harrowing. The duo remained mostly silent during the documentary, at a loss for words.

You are reading story The Silver Path at novel35.com

After an opening narration, giving the context leading up to the Great Scramble, various footage was shown. Nearly all of them were from Naturals of the time, whose ability allowed them to record everything they sensed.

Unlike in Psi videos or movies, the Naturals who recorded these events weren’t playing 'camera lenses' but were genuine people living their lives. The video was Immersive, letting the viewer experience everything one-to-one. The duo entered their thorny shoes and experienced many nightmarish scenarios.

A thirteen-year-old Natural was shoved into a closet by her older brother. She protested with tears in her eyes but he shut her up with a shout before barricading her in with a couch. In the confined space, darkness reigned. And then, so too did her tears. In the blurry world, she tried to make sense of the chaos, but the plethora of loud bangs and screams overwhelmed her.

Without warning, another loud bang sounded. This one was much closer. She recognized it as her front door being swung open. The sound of the metallic clings caused her to shut her eyes tightly, for she knew what they meant. She slid down, making herself as small as possible, and clutched at her chest, hoping to muffle the sound of her thumping heartbeat. The girl's concerns were abandoned seconds later as she heard the ruckus downstairs.

Her father’s, mother’s and brother’s distorted voices sounded from down below. She couldn’t make out what they were saying from within the closest, but her heart clenched in fear nonetheless. Fear turned to terror seconds later as the scraping sounds of swords reach her ears. She prayed to Raiken knowing what was to come, but he wouldn’t step in to help her. The slicing winds and loud thuds bespoke her beloved family’s fate. The fact brought a stream of tears but these were but the first of many to come for the Natural.

The knights made their way upstairs, boots echoing dread with every step. They found her at once and dragged her out of the closet by the hair. The group of four were far from the holy warriors the Radiant Knights branded themselves as; each had a wicked glint in their gaze.

The Natural’s trembling form seemed to delight them as they stood over her. One of them took out a slab equipped with a valen stone and tossed it on her body. As a Natural, she was immune to this sort of testing, though, at the time, she wasn’t aware of this, so a great relief passed through her heart at the result.

Her body began easing up as she believed herself to be out of danger, but this wasn’t to be. The knights weren’t done with her. They disrobed and forced themselves upon her.

Thankfully for the duo, this part was skipped through. By the end, she lay staring at the ceiling with the men long gone. Eventually, she moved. Bloody and bruised, she went downstairs, only to find the slashed-up remains of her family.

The duo had to endure many such experiences. Doing so, they felt the invisible bubble around them begin to crack. Their emotions were thrown into chaos as they relived these accounts, to the point that Ralf had to erect an anti-electromagnetic barrier around himself to prevent anyone from being harmed by his frenzied mental signal.

The Demon Hunts were the hardest to sit through, but the duo managed it. The ‘scramble’ part of the Great Scramble was next. This was far more bearable, but still, nevertheless stomach-turning. Slaughter and bloodshed were the defining features of this part, and the duo was made to experience many of them.

These massacres were far removed from their own. Where their Red Star Massacre was extremely efficient and done against ‘strong’ foes, the massacres shown were anything but that; nearly all of them were on norins and incredibly messy and spiteful in nature.

The teenage psionics, fueled by hate and anger cared not for efficiency - no, they wanted to inflict as much pain and misery as possible.

In a time before potions became a thing, norins were powerless before the psionics' onslaught. They were torn apart, literally limb from limb, strung up by their organs, and used as materials for grand ‘artworks’.

And then there were the flames.

When one thought of Kai Fawkes, various images and ideas came to mind, all grand in nature. He was humanity’s first Ascendant, the strongest fire Mimic in all of history, capable of taking on a nation all by himself. These legendary feats coloured people’s perception of him, painting him to be some kind of mythical figure, straight from the pages of an epic fantasy novel.

The duo was guilty of this as well. In their minds, Kai Fawkes was closer to a fictional character than a real one. However, that all changed upon viewing the documentary's coverage of him.

When discussing Kai Fawkes during the Burning of Brenton event, the most overlooked fact was his age. He was young. At just eighteen, even younger than the duo was currently, he had barely experienced the world or himself. He was a broken man - no broken boy, having lost his most precious person. On the verge of collapse, on the verge of tears, held together by a sense of duty and the thought that it would all end soon, he was a pitiful sight.

The duo’s heartstrings were tugged at as they captured his dreary expression, swirling with sorrow, madness, anger and sadness. They felt as though they were staring at a mirror - a mirror of what could have been.

They were terrible losers - it was a known fact by now. A fight was unacceptable but a loved one? No, they just couldn’t lose one, even one was too much. Had Charlie’s words been true on that fateful day, they could see themselves falling down a similar abyss, and dragging all of creation down with them. It was worrying, but thankfully, the possibility hadn't come to pass.

Just like everything else, the Burning of Brenton event was covered from all perspectives, allowing the duo to understand how things were for the common citizens, their thoughts and feelings and what they experienced during this time.

The intense fires that ravaged the lands and settlements were sights to behold. The video went extra immersive during these parts, allowing the duo to smell the stench of burning flesh and feel the searing heat of the infernos.

It was horrid. The sight of people doused with Flames of Judgement was nightmare-inducing, as even those who ended up getting slight or no burns screamed hysterically as though their souls were on fire. Kai had taken a lot of things into account, but even so, most were made to suffer because of his selfish actions, during and after the infamous event.

The Final Stand, where Kai confronted tens of thousands of Brenton soldiers made for a spectacular watch though. While Psi videos and movies had yet to be a thing, there were clearly those among the Red Lions who had an eye for cinematography.

The one-sided stomp was flashy and epic. The image of Kai's Ascendant form, basking in golden flames, floating high in the sky as all of his foes were reduced to ashes, was a sight that burned itself into the duo’s minds.

The same held true for the legendary speech, the Flame of Justice, and the burning column that connected heaven and earth that incinerated Kai and Uri's corpse.

The end of his story drew out no shortage of emotions from the duo, even causing them to pause the video for a minute to collect themselves. When things resumed, another batch of individuals who fell into the died-way-too-soon category was focused on, the legendary band of psionics, Raven Tail.

You can find story with these keywords: The Silver Path, Read The Silver Path, The Silver Path novel, The Silver Path book, The Silver Path story, The Silver Path full, The Silver Path Latest Chapter