Several days later and Stella had finally memorised the placement of all the lines in the poison resist formation array.
“OK, now it’s time to try actually engraving it.” Stella muttered to herself.
Just then, Lunam opened the door carrying a tray with lunch and a couple of drinks on top.
“How’s your studying going?” Lunam asked while she handed over Stella’s food and sat down on her bed.
“Good. I’m about ready to start practising on real beast cores.” Stella answered.
Instead of ruining countless beast cores, the general practice when trying to learn a new array, was to use normal gem stones. They had the same hardness, but they weren’t as valuable unless they had some of the world’s energy inside. Bule’s onyx had veins that also contained the world’s energy inside. The buildings were made out of the normal onyx, while the ones they sold to be base materials for formations contained their own energy.
Using this method, Stella was confident in engraving the actual pattern. However, stimulating the energy inside while keeping the engraving accurate would be a different hurdle.
“Great, you’re in the home stretch then.” Lunam congratulated her sister warmly. “You should take the rest of the day off. Come out shopping with me and celebrate a little, won’t you.”
“That sounds fun.” Stella agreed eagerly. “I’ve been cooped up behind this desk for too long now. It feels like my muscles are starting to seize up – not that that should be possible for cultivators.”
Laughing, Stella put her empty tray to one side before standing up and stretching with a muffled groan. Clear popping sounds could be heard as she moved.
“It seems like you should train more if just a few days are enough to cause you discomfort.” Lunam replied with a teasing smile.
Despite their conversation, Lunam and Stella’s cultivation’s were both quite a bit above average for their ages. Stella was a 10th Stage [Martial Manipulation]* cultivator, and she was in the process of trying to refine her inner energy to reach [Soul Expert]. As for Lunam, she was actually a 12th Stage [Soul Expert]. Her talent was one notch above her sister’s, and coupled with being 1 year older meant that her realm was quite a bit higher.
Since the average was around 7th Stage [Martial Manipulation] realm, it could be seen that they were better than they let on. That being said, neither of them could exactly be called geniuses in the world of Cultors either. In comparison, Scarlet Blade was at the 15th Stage [Soul Expert] realm while being 21 – the same age as Lunam.
Since everyone in Diei Noctis was at about the same level of talent as Stella and Lunam, Scarlet had called Diei Noctis’ members ‘low levelled’ in her report to her sergeant. However the older members Klaus and Paul, would probably only be step below her in terms of pure power, since they were both further along in the [Soul Expert] realm than the assassin, just with fewer cycles of repetition.
“You might be right about that.” Stella replied lightly. “So what were you planning on buying?”
“I was thinking we could get souvenirs for the others.” Lunam explained. “Plus, I’d like to get our clothes and supplies sorted for our trip through Sheol.”
“That makes sense. Most towns wouldn’t have the stuff we need – except much closer to the border, and they usually charge hiked up prices.” Stella agreed seriously. “Though I’m not sure how much difference it will make for us. Maybe we should leave getting the supplies to Carl, Clark and Paul.”
“You might be right, but it won’t hurt anything to just have a look. Besides, we might come across some more reasonable stores while we’re walking around town.” Lunam responded optimistically. “Most people are only doing as Prince Pravus says because they’re scared.”
“Even if that’s true, it doesn’t exactly change our current situation.” Stella pointed out as they left Hera’s Inn.
“Well … You’re not wrong …” Lunam replied slowly. “That isn’t to say that you’re entirely correct either, though.”
Stella didn’t answer her sister, but she did understand what Lunam was trying to say.
“This seems like a good place – they’re not asking for identification at least.” Lunam gestured at a large clothing store on their left.
* * *
After a few hours of wandering around town and entering every store they came across that didn’t discriminate against non-human species, the two women finally had everything they needed. Currently they were sitting outside a cafe, enjoying the pleasant early evening weather while snacking on some cakes.
“I’m not really sure what Ignis even likes – besides Nihil, that is.” Stella commented, surprised. “I never really noticed before because he always seemed to fit in with the group much better than Nihil, but he usually managed to dodge any questions about the two of them. In fact, I think the only time he ever gave us personal information was when he was trying to get the group to open up more to Nihil.”
“You’re right, now that I think about it. We only know that Nihil likes history and languages because Ignis got annoyed at you picking fights with him.” Lunam agreed thoughtfully, causing her sister to blush in embarrassment. “Otherwise we’d only have known that he often read big and complicated books, without actually knowing the subjects. Even when the two were killing time together, Ignis usually just kept Nihil company while he read, and didn’t seem to be doing anything himself.”
What neither of them knew was that Ignis was usually combing through his ancestral memories at those times. He was hoping to find a clue as to what had erased his memories from before he was 10 years old. The only reason his ancestral memories hadn’t been wiped too, was because his species was special and had them literally engraved on their bones. Furthermore, since the memories weren’t truly his yet, he had to relive each one individually until he had fully assimilated them all. Naturally this would take more than even the 15 years since his current memories began – never mind the fact that he’d only awakened then 2 years previously.
Luckily his ancestral memories weren’t fully comprehensive. They mainly consisted of key moments in his ancestors’ lives. He had plenty of memories of giving birth, falling in love, mating, and every single one of his ancestors’ deaths. There were a few battles as well, but not as many since it was rare for them to leave their clan and participate in other people’s wars.
“So, although we somehow managed to find a rare history book for Nihil, we still have nothing for Ignis.” Stella complained.
Everyone else had been sorted for over an hour by this point, and the redhead was the only reason they were even still shopping.
“At this point I’m seriously considering just making him a Nihil figurine.” Stella exclaimed after swallowing her last mouthful of chocolate mousse cake, only half joking.
Looking regretfully at her empty plate, she started eying up Lunam’s remaining vanilla and caramel cheesecake. Softly chuckling, Lunam pushed her plate towards her sister with an obvious eye roll.
“If you want two slices, you should just order two from the beginning.” She teased.
“But you never finish yours – so really I’m just helping you.” Stella cheekily replied, sticking her tongue out.
“Oh! How about a firestone?” Lunam suddenly suggested. “I think Nihil once said that ‘ignis’ roughly translates to ‘flame’, and it’s colour often happens to be the same shade as his hair and eyes.”
“Ah! That’s a good idea! We can get a pendant made. The material may be useless, but it’s definitely one of the prettiest stones.” Stella quickly agreed. “Wait. It can only be formed in the heart of a volcano, and only occasionally reaches the surface due to an eruption. Won’t it be rather difficult to find any just because we want to?”
“Actually, I think I remember Hera vaguely mentioning in passing that Master received one as payment for something. She might be able to tell us if her client has any more …” Lunam mused. “I think that’s why I suddenly remembered it now.”
“That’s a good idea. Should we still check jewellers in the area? Just in case we happen to get lucky.” Stella suggested.
“OK, but it will be dark soon so we shouldn’t spend too long.” Lunam agreed after some thought.
* * *
Several jewellery stores later, and it was just approaching dusk.
“One more and then we should head back to the inn.” Lunam stated firmly as they approached a jewellers near Hera’s inn.
“Welcome! Is there anything I can help you with?” An old man greeted the sisters as they stepped inside the shop. From the pin on his chest, it could be seen that he was the branch manager for this location.
There were quite a few customers, but it was still very quiet with everyone talking in low voices to their attendant. It looked like all the store’s employees were busy serving the other customers, which was why the branch manager had personally come to greet Stella and Lunam.
“Oh, yes. We were wondering if you have any firestone in stock. We’d like to commission a necklace with a piece as a pendant.” Lunam explained, not very hopeful by this time.
“Actually we do. I recently gave one piece to an acquaintance, but we still have one more.” The attendant answered, surprising the two sisters. “What kind of pendant were you hoping for?”
“We’re not exactly sure, but the colour absolutely has to be right.” Stella jumped in firmly. They were hoping the firestone would match Ignis’ eyes and hair.
“Would you like to see the raw material first before deciding, if you’re not certain?” The old man suggested.
“That would be great, thank you.” Lunam agreed after a brief glance outside.
The two girls then proceeded to follow the old man into the back of the store. On their way, they passed by several counters filled with all kinds of jewellery, each one made out of a different type of precious stone. There were even several high grade storage rings – though their prices were well above the two girls’ budget. Actually, now that they had finally reached this point, the two girls were suddenly worried if they’d even be able to afford the firestone. It had turned out that the gem was even more rare than they’d thought, so – despite it being functionally useless – the price could well be much higher than they’d originally estimated.
Finally they reached the back area of the store, and the branch manager led them into his office. Sitting behind his desk, he reached down and unlocked one of the drawers before opening it and pulling out a small box.
“Here it is.” He said as he opened it to reveal a glistening stone that gave the illusion of it being on fire with a deep red flame. “Every firestone has its own unique shape and this one happens to have the figure of a dragon. It is marred slightly with a deep scratch down it’s back, which was why I haven’t been able to sell it yet. Unfortunately the scratch is too deep to buff out, so if it doesn’t fit your needs then the only other one I know of in the capital, is the one I gave to your master a while ago. Maybe she might be willing to give it to you?”
“Our master? Do you mean Aria?” Stella asked, confused.
“That’s her. She had some pictures up of you two as children in her house. I wasn’t certain it was you two, but mint green eyes are uncommon, so I thought that it was pretty likely.” The old branch manager explained warmly.
“That explains a few things then.” Lunam muttered with a smile, drawing the attention of the other two people in the room, but she couldn’t be bothered to explain herself. Nihil might have rubbed off on her a little more than anyone had realised before.
“Can I take a closer look, please?” Lunam instead requested. The colour was perfect, so she wanted to see the stone properly.
“Of course.” The branch manager responded, handing the box over.
After turning the gem over and having a closer look at the small dragon, Lunam revealed something that shocked the other two. “We’ll take this one. The scratch looks remarkably similar to a large scar I accidentally saw on Ignis’ back.”
“Just when did you see his back?” Stella asked, both curious and just wanting to tease her older sister.
“When we were switching watch shifts during the evening there was one time that I had to wake him up, but when I entered his shirt had ridden up and he was sleeping on his front. So I just naturally saw it. Despite there not being much light, it still stood out very clearly in the dark. It didn’t look at all comfortable even though it’s healed.” Lunam’s voice clearly showed her worry over the matter. “Come to think of it, it was around then that Nihil started taking the shift before Ignis’ instead.”
Hearing this, Stella felt bad for teasing her sister. “So you want to get this one for him? Since he never brought it up, it seems he doesn’t like talking about it, so are you sure that he’ll like it?”
“I don’t know, but for some reason I think this one is perfect for him.” Lunam answered, just as confused as to why she’d have such a feeling.
“OK, we’ll get it for him then.” Stella quickly agreed with Lunam’s feeling. In these sorts of situations, her sister was rarely ever wrong – even when neither of them entirely understood it.
“How much would you like for it?” Stella turned to the old man resolutely.
“Don’t worry about it. This is a personal item and you two are Aria’s precious daughters. What’s more, it sounds like you know the gem’s destined owner. How could I possibly take payment after considering all that?” The man replied stubbornly.
The jeweller was a firm believer that each gem had a person out there that was a perfect fit to be the owner. Wherever possible, he tried to sell his jewels to people who could truly appreciate them even if they weren’t quite the perfect fit for each other. Suddenly he seemed to remember something and got a thoughtful look on his face.
“Actually, I have another gem in my possession that seems to compliment this fire stone.” He started. “I’m not sure if you’d be interested though – this one’s a bit … difficult.”
Intrigued by his words, the two women exchanged looks and Stella answered the old man. “That sounds interesting, can we see it?”
“By all means.” The man smiled. “This one is in the vault though, so if you could wait here while I go and get it. It seems to have settled down a bit in recent months.”
The last comment was muttered under his breath, but Stella and Lunam still managed to hear it. Sharing a confused look with each other, they decided to wait for the man to come back with the gem before asking anything.
A few minutes later, and the branch manager re-entered his office, this time laden down with a bulky case. It had a bulky latch on the front, and almost looked like it would open with a hiss and release dry ice smoke.
Contrary to expectation, it actually opened with a ‘pop’ and then two quiet ‘thud’ sounds. There was also no smoke. Instead, it seemed that inside was actually enchanted to be a perfect vacuum with additional antigravity magic incorporated as well. The thuds were actually the gems inside as it fell to the soft bottom of the container.
Reaching down into the case, the old man gently picked the two gems up and showed them to the two people in front of him.
“By the time I found this gem it was already in two pieces, so I have no idea if they were originally one which then split, or if they were two separate gems that were carved to fit together perfectly.” The man started explaining. “It’s also a type of rock that we’ve never come across before or since, so we’ve decided to call it ‘lapis inanis’ based on the unique qualities it has shown us since we picked it up.”
“Wow, it looks like an exact replica of Axis.” Lunam exclaimed in surprise, holding one half.
“If that’s the case, does it mean that this is the other half?” Stella asked, just as shocked.
“That’s our best guess. We spent a lot of time tracking down maps of the other side, but there were only able to find vague mentions, even in the oldest records we could find. The little information we do have seems to match up, though.” The branch manager answered uncertainly. “Then again, it could just be someone’s imagination of what the other side would look like.”
“Neither half has any borders marked, so it’s not even clear when it was made. How long ago did you find it, and where abouts?” Lunam asked the manager.
“I found it roughly 200 years ago, in a hidden cave on the surface of Agartha. It looked like the place had been thoroughly ransacked a short while before I arrived, but these two were left unnoticed in a back corner.” The man then continued to describe the circumstances with a small chuckle as he remembered. “In fact, I only noticed them because I managed to place my sleeping bag directly on top of them. At first I was worried that I’d broken it by laying on top, but after examining it it soon became obvious that it would require a force much stronger to break it.”
“If the cave was hidden, then how did you manage to find it in the first place?” Lunam asked at the same time as her sister asked a question of her own.
“Why would a simple cave be ransacked in the first place? They missed these on top of that?” Stella was clearly unconvinced by this explanation.
“I’m not sure why the place had been raided like that, but it could just be that whoever it was took all the stuff that would have given us that very answer.” He explained, just as uncertain. “And I only managed to find the cave because I was mining for some precious gems to get the initial stock for opening this store.”
“You’re the owner of Orbis Lapillum?” Lunam asked, surprised. His name tag only said ‘Branch Manager’ and the franchise was the go-to jeweller all over Axis, so it was understandable that she would be confused.
“Haha, yes.” The man replied with a chuckle. “I normally prefer to only go by ‘branch manager’, since this way I can avoid any unnecessary annoyances. That being said, I like to actually interact with the gems and customers, rather than just sit in an office all day.”
“That actually answers a few of my questions.” Lunam responded with a small laugh.
“So why do you want us to take these as well?” Stella piped up at that moment. “Also, what did you mean before when you said that it had been ‘quiet’ recently?”
“The reason these are kept in such a case is more than it just being a precious, unknown type of gem.” He started explaining. “Pretty soon after I picked it up it started behaving strangely.
“At first, I just thought that I was careless and misplaced a few things. But then I happened to witness something disappearing in front of me. It looked like it had been sucked into the orb just like with a storage ring. However when I tried to probe my mental energy into the orb, I just felt an endless void that started to devour even my mental energy. It seemed to stop after we separated the two halves, but just to be on the safe side, we decided to store it in this container.
“Every so often, we would take it out and run a few tests, and we would also check to see if it would always act the same way when the two halves were fitted together. Up until very recently or so, they would invariably act the same way. However over the past few months they’ve been inactive even when slotted inside each other. We aren’t quite sure why their behaviour’s changed, so we decided to still keep them inside this container.”
“That still doesn’t explain why you want us to have them, though.” Stella pointed out.
“Actually, we accidentally let the dragon firestone in your possession now get too close to the orb when it was still devouring everything near it. However, that was the only thing it didn’t absorb. We tried another firestone we had on hand, but that one was absorbed with no issues. Given that it wasn’t the material, I thought that it might have been something along the lines of ‘the destined owner of that specific firestone being someone close to the owner of the orb’. It may sound silly to you two though – gods know that the other researchers mocked me enough for that opinion.”
“I kinda like that reasoning, though.” Lunam spoke up with a gentle voice. “There’s something romantic about the idea.”
“Plus Ignis and Nihil are practically inseparable.” Stella pointed out.
“The person you’re getting the firestone for has a close friend that might suit the orb?” The old man asked excitedly.
“Yep. They joined our group together, and they definitely had history between them.” Stella affirmed with a nod. “Your theory might not be entirely wrong after all.”
This made the old man smile happily as he insisted on giving them the two gems completely free of charge. The women, for their part, were somewhat hesitant to take something so dangerous. However they decided to take it in the end, as they both agreed that it probably did actually belong with Nihil. It somehow seemed to give off the same air as the mysterious newcomer to their group.
Thanking the owner, they took the three gems (and their respective cases) and returned back to Hera’s inn. They sneakily left a storage ring on the owner’s desk with a couple of dwarven crafting tools inside. They didn’t feel right taking the gems for free so Lunam had distracted the man while Stella rapidly wrote a note and left the ring behind.
* A/N: The Cultor stages aren’t all that important in this series, but if you’d like to know how the names work, you can find the explanation on my blog at: Axis Cultor Realms
Aerone Grey 