"Ligverborge, hidden light." I release these words as a grunt, in an almost hypnotized state. I don't know what those words mean, but I can't shake the feeling that whatever it is is going to envelop every moment of my life.
"Were these paintings done by members of the tower?" I ask the Tower Master as soon as I come out of my mesmerized state.
"Yes, but they don't originate here, these paintings are identical replicas of the ones one of our members found in a ruin of Eternal Dawn." The Tower Master responds with a strange look, for a second I feel like I'm being dissected alive.
"May I know the reason for the sudden curiosity?" The Stargazer Master asks after seeing that I wasn't going to ask any thing more.
"Honestly, I don't know." No, that's not quite true "I'm just fascinated and drawn to these images and..." That's not all.
"AND?" The Tower Master asks, barely containing his curiosity.
"A sense of… fear and loss." I complete my answer.
The Tower Master puts his hand on his chin and alternates a thoughtful look between me and the Ligverborges murals and I hear a faint murmur:
"Is it a coincidence? Unlikely. The paintings are a formation? Plausible." You can see a mixture of anticipation and anxiety building up as he talks, until they reach a higher point and the Tower Master starts pacing back and forth.
"But in that case why didn't any of our members have that kind of reaction? Considering the tribe's relationship with light maybe an exact sequence of lighting? Not one of ours would have figured it out already if it was that simple. So maybe the source of that feeling is not the murals but the boy himself."
Silence.
The Tower Master looks me up and down with such focus that I wouldn't think it strange that he could even see the movement of my pores.
"That's it then: karma and lineage." The Tower Master speaks, loud and clear this time, staring at me.
"Sorry but I couldn't follow the line of reasoning you were drawing, and I don't think Baha either." Definitely not, Mingten. "So can you simplify for us?"
"Ohh, sorry, it's just that this occasion opens up far too fascinating research possibilities for me to contain myself, but as you asked I'll keep it simple: this boy's lineage is somehow linked to the Ligverborges." The Stargazer Master does as Mingten asked and simplifies the conclusion he had come to.
But now I have even more questions.
"I related to a legendary tribe?" This guy went crazy "I think you made a mistake."
The Tower Master's eyes lock onto mine.
"Haaaaaarrrhhhrrg!"
And I feel a strange distortion all over my body, as if there's an invisible force twisting every cell in my body into spirals turning in reverse, I feel it's getting harder and harder to breathe, I'm dangerously close to stopping breathing.
"Haaarhg!"
I try to hold my breath, but the pain is so excruciating that I end up letting out another scream.
"I being mistaken? It's a possibility indeed, but who are you to question me boy?" The Tower Master asks, averting his eyes from mine and the force that twisted my body is relieved a little and a moment later is completely dissipated as if it never existed.
"What's that for?" I ask without thinking obviously, because if I was thinking I would be paralyzed with fear.
"A lesson." The Tower Master responds.
"Lesson? What was this torture supposed to teach me?" My dissatisfaction forces me to speak, but when the last letter of my question becomes sound, my thoughts finally align and I realize: I'm screwed.
"That high stage Synchroners are temperamental and because of their strength they will often ignore the opinions of others as someone who hasn't reached the same height as us are just children learning to crawl in our eyes." The Tower Master speaks.
"Wasn't that too harsh a punishment for a 'child'?" I ask with a hand groping my neck.
It doesn't feel like I actually had my body twisted.
"How many Synchroners above the fifth stage do you know?" The Master asks.
"Some, well to say I know is an exaggeration, but I used to interact with my family elders between training breaks." Mingten responds, pale as if she's seen a monster.
Did the Stargazer Master also teach her a 'lesson'?
"And you?" The Master asks me and I reflexively avert my eyes from theirs.
"Kaz, I think." I answer looking at the floor.
"That explains your recklessness a little. Listen well Baha." The Tower Master starts saying "Synchroners who have manifested the second dantian only fear another Synchroner with a second dantian or more, so we often ignore common sense, image and morals if there is no opposing force capable of threatening us."
"Damn it!" Seriously "Doesn't that mean I can be attacked by some bullshit?"
"Yes. Do you understand now?"
He just asked both of us so yes, Mingten also had to experience twisting torture.
"Understood." We responded at almost the same time.
"Now getting back to the topic before, is there anything else you'd like to ask about this floor?" The Tower Master asks me without threats, I think, this time.
"Yes, if this was a mighty legendary tribe how did they end up extinct?" You spoke before as if they were some kind of mythological being, and yet they are extinct.
"It's quite simple actually, as the Ligverborges had the potential to grow too strong for other forces to challenge them, the powers of the time decided to get rid of them before that potential was realized."
How to kill wolf pups before they learn to hunt, huh? I don't think being related to this legend is going to do me any good.
"Can I ask one more question?" Yes, I know this is already a question in itself.
"Sure, go ahead." The Tower Master speaks in the calm, graceful tone he had at the beginning of our conversation, sounding like a gentle, harmless gentleman.
I won't ever believe in the kind face of a Synchroner from today onwards.
"You said that this tribe, the Ligverborges, have some kind of special ability, how do I know if I have that ability?" While I don't want to admit Mingten's point when she called me naive, it's hard to disagree now after this lesson.
I have to accept the fact that carelessly getting involved with Synchroners has left me in a situation that exposes me to almost senseless violence.
"Ligverborg abilities originate from the visible spectrum of light, try synchronizing with light to begin with."
So I won't know if I have a special skill until I advance in stage.
Damn.
*********
I walk down the stairs, I could jump to the floor I want no problem, but I want to enjoy the moment a little bit, so I walk down the stairs slowly sometimes looking at the spatial maps and the native inhabitants that are research interests of each world.
Not that there is much on the first three floors of the basement, on the fourth floor things start to change.
First of all, there is no golden line that represents a cosmic bridge, five giant planets around the sun and the entire solar system of that world is infested with asteroids that form layered belts in the same orbits as the planets, giving the impression that the planets are separated by a wall of asteroids.
On the walls, floor to ceiling, are painted blue giants with three silver horns so straight and pointing upwards that they appear to be imitating a crown, some of the giants are white or reddish brown with blue horns or golden orange, and what all they have in common is how they reach out to grab the stars while the other hand brings a star to their mouths.
'Titans' I haven't seen one in a while, honestly better this way, where there's a titan it's bound to have a colossus hunting it.
Sometimes I wonder how 'Ring of Kronos' didn't turn to dust.
I think I've enjoyed the nostalgia enough, time to find my room, knowing Old Star he must have left something to mark the place and I think I know what it is.
I direct my awareness to my second dantian, the one in the center of my chest. I see the energy of the wind and water that comes from my channels pouring into it, with a speck of dust here and there, it all condenses on my dantian forming a dark cloud with occasional flashes from the lightning.
Deeper.
My consciousness goes deep into the cloud and goes to the center of it, there is a beam of red electricity that distorts around itself, ending up with the shape of a sphere or...
An eyeball.
The source of my electricity connection and what was used to create my second dantian.
The 'Eye of Seth'.
I used one to create my second dantian and the other to my favorite sword, an unnamed zweihander, if Old Star was smart he already left my sword in my room and I can use the connection between the two 'eyes' to find it.
Two beams of light extend from the 'Eye of Seth' on my dantian and spread through my body.
A faint flash of red light lights up behind my eyes.
In the transient realm, the vision of the sixth sense, a red ripple spreads out with me as the center, and a little later another red ripple appears, answering mine.
Seventh floor? Is it supposed to be symbolic?
Since one of the founders, Old Star, has his office on the seventh floor above, I, the other founder, have the office on the seventh floor below.
A founder in public view, above the ground, close to the stars and a founder out of public view, below ground and away from the sun.
'Has he gained a taste for poetic things in recent years?'
I mumble in my mind, not that this is a bad thing.
Now for my new workplace.
With one hand on the banister to get momentum, I jump over it and throw myself into the hollow center of the stairs, leaving my body in free fall.
In seconds I'm at the height of the seventh floor, with a breath supported by Synchro I leap into the air and stand at a height just above the banister, I reach out my hand and a blue flash shoots from it to the banister and stores itself there.
A negative charge on the handrail and my dantian with a positive charge, at the moment.
Like a magnet my body is pulled to the banister, I place my hand over it and hop back up the stairs.
At the floor level of each floor there is a wider step that extends to touch the base of the floor forming a path with enough space for three people to walk side by side.
Now where did you leave my treasures Old Star?
Again I send my consciousness to my second dantian and activate the 'Eye of Seth'.
Let's see how this place is.