Noctis opened his eyes, but what he saw wasn't the sight of Spirit Magi's floating black scales or the bleak walls of the deep cave that he was in, but rather a wide-open area that was filled with endless amounts of mist, as well as the ground which was made up of strange foggy clouds.
He had become very confused because the last thing that he was able to remember was being able to complete the last step of accepting Old Great One Animo's inheritance. After creating the successful bridge and connection with the divine power to his mind and body, he felt his mind was being elevated to an extremely high state, but had passed out from complete exhaustion.
Noctis quickly recalled what had happened and didn't think much about it before he started to walk forward. He only walked for a couple of steps and abruptly stopped in place because he realized that after looking at his feet, he noticed that they were gray and transparent like a ghost!
He took a closer look at his 'body,' and realized that it was also the same. He didn't panic and concluded that it was either a dream since he had never seen such a bizarre thing happen to his body, or it was directly related to becoming the successful inheritor of Old Great One Animo.
Noctis felt like it was the latter since it was too coincidental, and that this 'dream world' was something that was meant for him.
He started walking forward again and didn't wander around aimlessly because he was being cautious. He didn't have any other direction to go since the mist was everywhere and he couldn't see through it, so he thought it was best to just walk forward.
Some time had passed and he was finally able to see something off in the distance. Noctis was able to see the silhouette of some type of building, but as soon as he got closer to it, a bright light had flashed in front of him.
He didn't have any time to react before this light had completely engulfed him, and the last thing that he was able to see were 2 words engraved on top of the building which read 'Qi Essence.'
Noctis opened his eyes again, and suddenly sat up before he quickly observed his surroundings. To his relief, he was back in the deep cave again and noticed that Spirit Magi was staring intently at him.
"Hahahaha so you are finally awake, kid! Wait a minute, I've felt like we've gone through this scenario already… Anyways, how do you feel kid? I told you everything would be alright, so you didn't have to worry about anything! You just lost a tiny amount of blood and had passed out after overexerting yourself… you better get used to this now because this will happen a lot in the future! The Old Great One Animo… to think that I had witnessed the birth of the successor to an Old Great One… I'm damn quite jealous of you, kid! Since you have completed the inheritance, it's time for you to leave now, so start walking!" |
"… How long was I out for?" Noctis got up and asked this question to Spirit Magi while he patted away the dust from his worn out and torn clothes. He didn't pay much attention to what Spirit Ster said, but he did think that it was a good idea to start walking towards the exit, so he immediately did.
What he did pay attention to were his clothes because he realized that he badly needed a new set of one, as well as extra ones in case his previous clothes would get torn on his journey. The clothes he was currently wearing right now was when he had turned 11 years old, the day in which he was practically forced to escape Highwind Kingom during its downfall.
At that moment, he had no time to worry about a trivial matter, such as packing a fresh set of clothes. Although he had been wearing the same clothes ever since he entered into a coma, he was at least quite thankful that his clothes were loose when he had received them, so his current body was just barely able to fit in them, although he looked rather weird.
["You were out for a couple of hours… and I know that you entered into that 'place' right?"]
Spirit Magi answered Noctis's question while it was following right beside him towards the exit of the cave. The spirit had then asked a question of its own that implied it knew where Noctis's state of mind had previously been.
Noctis furrowed his brows upon hearing the words of Spirit Magi and calmly said, "So you know about it too? I didn't know why I initially found it surprising considering you're a spirit created by Old Great One Animo… what is that 'dream world' then? You said a couple of hours, but I was there for what seemed like a few minutes before being expelled out… the last thing I was able to see were the words 'Qi Essence.' Is this related to one of the 12 Prime Insights of the Dawnfire World?"
["That 'dream world' that your mind had went to… you can call it the 'Insight World' and it was created solely for the inheritor of the Old Great One Animo. Time works differently in the Insight World compared to the real world, so a few moments there would be like an hour or so here. You see… Old Great One Animo was unlike any other Old Great Ones in that it had perceived everything, including the concept of time within its mind! It was extremely wise and sought out truth and power within the mind rather than fame and reputation like the other all-mighty beings... This was why it had not created any race, but instead it had created a unique system for itself that divided its own great power to several different states. This 12 Prime Insights that you have mentioned… it must be related to Old Great One Animo's inheritance because not only is it extremely unique, but it is tied to the present world… the Age of Insight!]
Spirit Magi appeared in front of Noctis and spoke loudly as if it was delivering a mysterious, yet terrifying truth!
"Directly tied… to the Age of Insight? How is that possible...? The Age of the Old Great Ones had ended by the annihilation of the all-mighty beings due to something that we cannot even comprehend! That era had ended an extremely long time ago and there was still the Age of Fire that had followed afterwards… you're telling me that Old Great One Animo was able to predict the current state of the world back when it had existed during the Age of the Old Great Ones!?"
Noctis was completely shocked and simply couldn't believe the extent to Old Great One Animo's power… or rather he didn't want to believe because this was something that was too preposterous!
["… Yes, that is exactly what I'm trying to say. Most of the Old Great Ones were gigantic beings with unimaginable strength, but there were some Old Great Ones that were known not for their strength, but for their mind and intelligence. Old Great One Animo had fit into the latter category, and it was also one of the very few who had the power of foresight! The great being must have known that their entire race would be wiped out, so I was created to pass down its inheritance… Similarly, Old Great One Animo must have known what the present world would be like, and it had made sure that its inheritance would be fitting of this world!"]
Spirit Magi turned away from Noctis and had started to move ahead of him, as it spoke in an eerie tone,
["Old Great One Animo… or any Old Great One for that matter… should never be underestimated! This is one of the many reasons as to why the lower lifeforms cannot comprehend them and their unfathomable power…"]