Chapter 16 Great prophet Caelan
As Alden deftly steered the boat named "The Grape," his gaze alternated between the expansive horizon and the figure of Kreed, who sat nearby with his legs casually crossed, tending to the sizzling slabs of Dark Lyre meat on the makeshift grill. The rhythmic melody of waves gently caressing the sides of the boat provided a soothing backdrop to their conversation, punctuated by brief but noticeable pauses as they each contemplated their own thoughts.
Alden, with his tall frame and a weathered countenance that spoke of years spent navigating the intricacies of life, exuded an aura of quiet contemplation. Despite his relatively young age of 37, his experiences had carved deep furrows of wisdom upon his face, a testament to the unimaginable agony he had endured over the years. Yet, in Kreed, he found a sense of kinship and fondness that transcended mere acquaintance.
As they lapsed into a momentary silence, Alden found himself lost in thought, pondering the revelations he had shared with Kreed. It wasn't out of pity or a desire for validation, but rather a genuine affection for the young man seated before him. Despite Kreed's youth, there was a maturity in his demeanor that Alden found both refreshing and endearing.
Although he was only 37 years old, he had experienced many years of unimaginable agony. To have met someone so young but still so mature was absolutely wonderful.
He didn't care if Kreed could one day betray him, he was way much to engrossed in the present to think of anything other.
To him Kreed was like a little child who was listening intensely to their mothers bedtime story.
And he was the parent molding him into a good and responsible young man, who would one day make him proud.
Many thoughts had crossed Alden's mind, he had much to talk about and even more time to talk about it.
But the topic of Alden's interests in the young man seemed to be rather important to him.
He had given Kreed a vague background on why he was interested. Stating that Kreed was an irregular or implying rather.
And now he was thinking of the best course of action to take.
Instead however Kreed spoke first.
Breaking the short period of silence Kreed asked.
"Is Caelan really that important? I found something that belonged to him as well."
That was unexpected. Alden had spoken to Kreed about Caelan, but only because he needed him to understand the theory of parallelism and Beyond parallelism. He definitely did not see this coming.
"You found something? Perhaps a page of his work? Or a relic that he had created? I did hear that apostle island was a hub for hidden treasures."
Alden was awaiting Kreed's reply however when it came he was left stunned.
"Oh no it wasn't anything like that. It was some large ruins with his name plastered on it."
"Stone ruins?"
Kreed raised an eyebrow then continued.
"Yh, I believe they were stone. I found them a year ago and since then, I've been trying to translate it's language. I can't believe it took me that long to read it all.
Kreed needed to up his standing, so playing it nonchalantly was his tactic.
"It was a bit hard to remember the words. Probably because the words scribed unto the ruins were imbued with magical energy. It made my memory completely useless, and my eyes could never focus on them properly. Yet I still managed to read it all."
Alden was completely still, Kreed couldn't tell much of what he was thinking mainly because his large golden glasses covered most of his upper face. But it looked rather strange as if Alden had ceased breathing.
"Y-You, read them? How interesting." A sudden smile appeared on his face.
"K, I don't think you know just how important a thing like that is. I mean you've read a tablet of Caelan." Continuing to mumble Alden spoke to himself. "I see, my decision was correct. Perhaps this storyline is the one I've been looking for."
Kreed raised an eyebrow once again.
"A tablet of Caelan, you mean there's more?"
Alden focused before answering.
"Of course there's more. Well two more for that matter. The first one was found around fifteen hundred years ago. The whereabouts exactly are unknown. But since then it has travelled through many clans and guilds. Currently the great clan Mirage has it. The second tablet was found in the northern point of Pangea after the great war 500 years ago. It's quite something, at the time of it's discovery a second war almost broke out. Great clan IHOG was In possession of the first tablet at the time and so they wanted the second as well. However so did many of the other great clans and independent researchers.
The 13 heroes had to step in despite their dire injuries and put an end to the useless fight.
In the end clan IHOG lost both it's leader and the first tablet. The second I believe was retrieved by one of the 13 heroes and since then passed down to their respective clan. Which I believe to be clan Wilburn.The assumed strongest clan of the current era.
So for you to have been in possession of a different tablet can mean two things either the people that ruled apostle island had obtained a new tablet or one of the great clans were involved in the crimes that occured on Apostle island."
Alden glanced at the slabs of meat still sizzling on the makeshift grill.
"Um K not to change the subject or anything but I think those should be ready."
Kreed stared at the meat for a while, before silently removing it from the grill.
"It's best to let it sit for a while before eating, that way the full contrast of flavor can be experienced." Commented Alden.
"Right."
Kreed placed the slabs on a large scale that rested besides him. Alden had removed it from the Lyre alongside the slabs of meat to be used as a makeshift plate.
Opening a bottle that he had stored in his bags. He poured the poisoned water held within it over the fire putting it out completely.
"So Alden, your saying that the tablets I've read came from some powerful people? Then why was i able to comprehend it's meaning?"
Alden stared at him silently before answering.
"How should I know? In fact many of the things you speak of seem impossible. Yet I believe you... Tell me K what did the runes of Caelan say? "
Kreed scratched his head before asking.
"If I were to reveal such potent information, what would I get in return?"
"K... I didn't expect for you to be so conscious.
Here, since you are the only person to have ever read one of Caelan's tablets you will undoubtedly be chased after for said knowledge."
After a simple pause he continued.
"However if you tell me I can take the full impact and wrath that will be brought upon us.
I will offer you the highest level of protection and safety. Of course to ensure that I myself don't turn on you it's best that you omit some important details of the story. That will give you a bit of leverage."
Kreed was deeply impressed, was Alden always this compassionate?
Well he had only been with him for a couple of hours so how would he knows?
"I believe I'll tell you what I've learnt. I owe you that much for saving my life."
Well technically I could have escaped if things got rough but his appearance definitely saved me from returning to my dreaded home.
"Also you had already promised me safety and protection before learning about the tablets of Caelan. If I had to guess you have no reason to kill me infact I'd say you wanted me alive more that anything. "
Alden chuckled.
"So what did it say?"
"If I remember correctly, it spoke of a battle that had begun long ago between the gods.
Not of how it had started but, of it's greatest moment. It said that the gods formed a pact between themselves while the demons joined with other harrowing deity's. However all of this information is already common knowledge. So I don't know why Caelan would go thru such lengts to ensure that they were noted.
The rest of the tablets spoke of the following up events, it states that Sihe-Rimaz was created and that every god gave a part of themselves to do so. Other than that it tells a story of how a great demon called Damien managed to infiltrate the heavenly realm. Giving them the ability to spread their own kin on Sihe-Rimaz."
Alden listened attentively. Not missing a word that exited Kreed's lips.
"And that is how the demons came to spread their influence over the northern continent of ... which is now referred to as the dark region."
Alden nodded as if adding this piece of knowledge to his already great vault of information.
"If that's Soo. Then that makes a lot of sense. Caelan must really have been a prophet.
But that can't possibly be all can it? I mean how did you become a birthed then?"
Kreed thought for a while. He had indeed left out the most important part.
Although the runes spoke of the creation of Sihe-Rimaz it's main portion spoke of a summoning chant that when read aloud, allowed for the reader to summon any being they wished to desperately meet.
However he couldn't reveal that, he was yet to figure out why the father of all was summoned in his case. He had never even know of his existence before. So why? Well that was a thought for a different time.