Chapter 5 - Beyond The Barrier

1st Saga - The Balance

Wandering Arc

• The Divine Realm

An endless blue sky stretched off into the distance, sparsely specked with clouds. Atop one of these clouds stood an ornately designed table adorned with intricate golden runes of an indecipherable language. The air itself began to shimmer at three points surrounding the table. Soon after, the wavering spots burst open, revealing rifts to other realms from which three figures emerged. Their very entrance seemed to make the sky itself quake.

[ Keeper of the Four Winds, Wind God Aeolus has entered the Conference ]

Compared to his previous appearance, Aeolus now wore flowing garments of the finest silk, truly befitting a divine being. The light in his eyes shone with a more youthful hue, yet his body seemed ever so slightly more worn.

[ The Tainted Bloodlust, War God Ares has entered the Conference ]

Pained screams of the dying and echoes of clashing steel slowly faded as the unstable rift closed in upon itself. The man who appeared briefly shook the blood and remains off his armor, the faded color of which not seeming any cleaner from doing so, before removing his helmet, revealing a surprisingly well-kept, youthful face aside from a few scars. 

{ Master of the Upper Sky, Light God Aether has entered the Conference }

The last arrival’s garments were flowing in similar fashion to those of Aeolus’, only reflecting a somehow even purer divine light. His torso was minimally covered to provide the large angelic wings sprouting from his back ample freedom.

“Woah, we’ve got a big shot here today-”

Aether shot Ares a look, instantly shutting him up. The differences in their statuses instantly became painfully apparent. 

“If that’s all we have to say for greetings, shall we get started?”

With a wave of his hand, Aether summoned three seats whose appearance would’ve suited the emperor of an entire world. The three of them sat down without another word. 

“It’s quite surprising… I would’ve expected a greater attendance for the revelation of a hidden world. It’s been quite some time since any of us have gathered like this~”

Ares scoffed at Aeolus’ remark. 

“And whose fault was it that such distaste for contact started, 50 percenter?

“Ah~ it’s closer to 52 percent now, actually. One of the shards has been awoken. How else do you think I even showed up?”

Ares made a face in preparation for a retort, yet stopped as Aether raised his palm.

“Now, Aeolus, you’ve called us here for a reason, correct?”

“Oh, right. I’ve made contact with the anomaly”

Ares suddenly began paying close attention, gaining the appearance of a schoolboy eagerly awaiting to take notes on a lecture.

“Wasn’t the anomaly deemed a failure a while back?”

Aeolus continued without addressing the question.

“As you know, this world, World Zero, as its inhabitants call it, has long been sealed from both the World Chain and our influence. Despite us previously being unable to oversee the development of this world’s humans, we now are capable of selecting a Prelude to descend to their grounds. Additionally, with the emergence of the anomaly and the awakening of one of my shards, that world is now ever so slightly tethered to the manaflow”

“Yeah, yeah, and that means we can now interact with its inhabitants through the manaflow’s system, right? Pfff, what for? A world that’s been deprived of mana for so long has no use to us, and neither do its inhabitants. I doubt the mana density there is even enough for the system to just map out the terrain”

“Just keep listening, will you? Aether, I think you’ll want to hear this. They’ve only just been connected to the manaflow, yet the behavior and lifestyle of the anomaly points directly to the fact they’ve been using the system for their whole lives. The generations before them too”

Aether nearly leapt across the table at the news. As the World Chain’s one and only overseer of the system, he treated its condition as if it were his own child.

“What?! Then someone’s been-”

 “Despite one of my shards now being active, I’m only able to sense a few of the other shards’ presences. Because of that world’s isolation from the manaflow for centuries, the humans there have regressed and are incapable of wielding even base grade magic, only primitively using auras which they’ve miraculously evolved to have astounding use in combat. This means not a single mortal there would’ve been capable of destroying or inhibiting the shards”

After wrinkling his brows and contemplating the implications for some time, Aether reached a conclusion.

“...The corruption’s power. They used those barriers that could block even divine aether in the war, did they not? It’s also the only power I could think of that’d be able to hijack the system…”

“Precisely. I believe this World Zero is and has been their base of operations, and they’ve developed controlled environments around each of the shards to further the development of this power that has been growing beyond our sight for the past few centuries”

Aether began muttering to himself.

“But what purpose could they have to keep my system active… It can’t be for information…their knowledge of the Possibility is nearly as vast as ours…”

Aeolus flashed Ares a disdainful look.

“And all of this has been progressing because some of us thought the creation and isolation of this world wasn’t worth further investigating”

“Okay! So I was wrong! It’s too late to do anything about it now… There were others responsible too, you know!”

Ares was now pouting and avoiding eye contact with the other two.

“So, what do you want us to do, exactly? I doubt a single one of those mana drought humans can withstand our presence to become a Prelude”

“There is already one”

“You’re crazy”

Aether sighed before masterfully maneuvering his hands through the air like a symphony’s conductor. Multiple system windows appeared before him. 

“Well then, let’s finish linking this ‘World Zero’ up to the system, shall we?”

• World Zero, Outside the borders of Hanakawa Village

I awoke with my face to a grassy forest floor. Towering trees surrounded me in all directions, the heights of which were beyond what I had ever seen around Hanakawa- Right… I had shattered that strange barrier around our village and slain that crazy corrupted. I wracked my brain for nearly ten minutes but still couldn’t find a logical explanation for everything that had just happened. I recalled the deaths of my family. Even now, they felt distant, as if they were characters of another person’s life. Why couldn’t I bring myself to feel sorrow despite how distraught I felt in the back of my mind?

[ Would you like to check the Record of the most recent events? ]

There was no point in stressing over matters I couldn’t understand nor change right now. I turned my attention to the message that had lingered since I had awoken. The system messages were now being much more helpful than before, likely due to the influence of Aeolus, whose presence was still missing. I addressed the message in my mind with an affirmative in the same manner I had communicated with Aeolus.

[ Gathering information from the Archives. . . ]

[ Defeated Calamity Rank Threat Corrupted Being, “Seraphim” (8 Days Ago)

- Origin: Unknown

- Affiliation: Unknown

- Purpose: Unknown

- Achievements: Increased mastery of the Adaptability trait (Lv. 1 -> Lv. 2), Unlocked Wind Attribute Mastery (Lv. 0), Unlocked Aether Awareness (Lv. 0), Unlocked Aerial Combat Mastery (Lv. 0), Liberated Hanakawa Barrier Zone ]

[ Blessing of Aeolus has recharged ]

I immediately set my eyes on the ‘achievements’ portion of the large window that had just appeared. It would seem there were now levels set in place for my development, likely another feature from Aeolus. I really had to remember to thank him the next time I got the chance.

Hold on, eight days ago?! I had been out for that long? In retrospect, it wasn’t a far stretch considering the amount of unfamiliar powers I had used in such a short span of time, not to mention that those powers were sourced from a literal god. My stomach growled ferociously as if to confirm the length of time I’d been asleep.

I began considering the implications of the feats listed in my achievements. ‘Wind Attribute Mastery’, ‘Aether Awareness’, and ‘Aerial Combat Mastery’ all made sense to me considering the techniques I gained and used while fighting Seraphim. Additionally, they were all at level zero, which corresponded to how I had just recently gained them. However, it was the ‘Adaptability’ trait that surprised me the most. While the others seemed to be like regular abilities I’d seen myself and my family using in the past, this one was explicitly labeled as a trait. Moreover, it was the only one that leveled up rather than being acquired at level zero, meaning I had already obtained this trait from before the Finale Event. Could it be related to my ability to borrow other attributes?

My stomach began growling again. The longer I spent thinking about the contents of this window, the greater the needs of my physical body began bothering me. It would seem Aeolus’ recreation of my body from the shard bore the exact same human needs and constraints as the original. I decided I’d ask Aeolus about the trait the next time I saw him and dismissed the window from my field of vision. 

With a final glance over my back, I stood up and began walking in the direction opposite of the ruins that once held the name of home.