They had passed a few people in the short walk from the corridor. All of them had given Themis and him a respectful distance. They were all wearing a similar jumpsuit to the one he'd been given, but with rank insignia on the right upper arm instead of the shoulder epaulets he and Themis were wearing. Themis' shoulder board held two diamonds and three diagonal lines, significantly more complex than his own single diagonal line. The only assumption he could make from that was that he was clearly a much higher rank than Drew.
"Are you a member of the Order of the Dragon?" Drew finally asked. Themis laughed involuntarily--it was the first time Drew had managed to break the man's calm facade--and then shook his head.
"No, I am a member of the Order of the Scale," the other man answered, glancing at the data pad in front of him. "Admiral Ares is the only assault mage in the fleet, aside from yourself, of course. However, it would be appreciated if you would please refrain from asking any questions. There are rules in place that prevent me from interacting too closely with a newly Advent'ed citizen. We're pushing the limits of what is allowed by bringing you here so early as it is."
That of course, raised more questions in Drew's mind. Who made the rules that these obviously powerful people had to obey? How rare were assault mages anyway? He realized that they must be relatively rare if simply being one had earned him an officer's commission and a knighthood.
Since Themis didn't appear to have any intention of answering his questions, and there was nothing but the quickly passing auras behind the walls of the lift for him to look at, Drew spent the next two minutes pondering the answers to his internal questions. When the door to the lift finally opened, it was onto the bridge of the ship.
It appeared to be more the bridge of an expensive luxury yacht than a warship. Brilliantly glowing wood paneling, sleek displays, and plush seats all focused towards a single man sitting in a throne-like chair in the center of the room. Another thirty or forty people populated the bridge at various consoles, but Drew's attention was caught by the man in the center chair.
It was impossible to guess his age, with a fit frame and young face that contrasted heavily with the shortcut, salt, and pepper hair that crowned his head. Most of the people on the bridge had epaulets as well, but the man in the captain's chair was obviously the most ornate. As Themis lead him towards the man, he got a better view of them; each shoulder sported two dragons coiled intricately around each other.
As they got closer, Drew could see Ares' aura, which was a turbulent red, with undertones of orange and yellow that made it look like a roaring fire. When they were within twenty feet, the man looked up from the three-dimensional star map he was examining. Seeing Themis and Drew, he quirked an eyebrow at the former, "You finally managed to sync him?"
With a salute, Themis confirmed his commander's question, "Indeed, Sir. He finally responded to the sync."
"Excellent!" Ares turned his entire attention to Drew, "Welcome to the Olympus, Drew Michalik!" His voice boomed and everyone on the bridge stopped what they were doing to glance towards the center of the room. Drew shuffled his feet slightly.
"Thank you, sir. Although I must admit I'm still not entirely sure why I have been...synced," Drew responded, glancing around at all the people that continued to stare at him.
Ares stood up and gestured to another man, "Enyalios has the conn." Another man who had been standing near Ares waited for the admiral to move and then took his seat. "Come, Drew, we have much to discuss, and little time." Drew and Themis followed along behind Ares, who led them to a door that connected into a ready room. Ares took the main seat and gestured for Drew to sit at one across from him. Themis closed his eyes briefly and the room glowed with a green light, though he remained standing near the door instead of joining Drew and Ares.
"I apologize for this highly irregular meeting, but we have never seen an assault mage appear prior to the third generation after Advent. In fact, your split's emergence on Earth-1 was so unexpected that we rerouted a number of assets to Earth to speed up the splitting process." Ares paused for a moment, pulling up a hologram that displayed Earth in triplicate. "And I think you are proof that it was a more than worthy use of our resources." He paused and steepled his fingers; Drew didn't dare interrupt the man who seemed to exude confidence.
"I know you have many questions Drew. Unfortunately, I am unable to answer most of them. What few I can answer will relate to this," he said, pointing to the globes. "As you know, Earth has been split three times; the first split was only seven Earth years ago. Normally we would wait longer between splits, usually between ten and thirty years. However, when Earth-1's Drew registered as an assault mage, the Pantheons agreed for the first time in nearly thirteen centuries to dedicate a significant allotment of mana to facilitate a more rapid splitting."
Glancing at Drew to make sure he was following, Ares continued, "Drew-1, that is the you that originated on Earth-1, was an amazing find. It's uncommon for an assault mage to appear before the fourth generation after Advent. To have one in the first generation...well, as I said, you and your splits are in a unique position." He zoomed in on the third Earth, and as he did so Drew realized that he was being shown the major ley lines of the planet. There were a few dozen major hubs, each corresponding to a city of some importance to pre-Advent Earth. However, the Washington DC node was considerably bigger than the others; while the others all seemed to be made up of smaller nodes around them, the DC node was fed by these other large nodes, and it was roughly half again the size of the next largest.
"What you are looking at are the ley lines on Earth-3. Each connection of lines creates a node. These smaller nodes," Ares said, pointing to the various major city nodes, "are the secondary nexii. Your other two splits appeared near the Denver and Miami nodes. While that allows us some exciting opportunities, your appearance nearly on top of the primary nexus is a boon we could not have hoped for."
"You do not know this yet, but it is possible to claim a nexus. When you do so, you are able to influence how the system interacts with the area that feeds that nexus. This comes in a myriad of forms, but a good nexus controller greatly enhances the progression and survival rate of those within the areas near them." Ares tried to say more, but frowned, "With you being near the primary nexus you could greatly influence Earth-3's progression, even going so far as to…" Ares continued, but Drew could no longer understand what was being said. It was only at this point that he realized that Ares and Themis were not, in fact, speaking English, but rather some other language that his mind was interpreting as English.
Whatever it was that had been allowing for that translation was no longer working. Ares looked at Drew's face and frowned, "You could not hear that last part, could you?" He glared at Themis, who shrugged slightly. Drew wasn't sure what the interplay here was, but clearly, Ares wanted to share more than Themis was letting him. The two conversed back and forth several times while Ares grew visibly angry. Themis' tone was adamant, but his entire body held a large amount of tension as if he were afraid of the other man. With a final growl of anger Ares ceased talking, and then after a few quick breaths, continued, and the translation magic re-engaged.
"My apologies, Drew. Themis has reminded me that there are some things I cannot tell you. Suffice it to say, that it will be in you and yours best interests to claim the central nexus as soon as possible." Ares paused long enough to shoot Themis one last glare and then steepled his fingers.
"Now, I think Themis told you that I would like to offer you a position as my page with the assumption that you would become my squire when you are promoted to an appropriate level."
Drew nodded his head, "Themis did say that. The way you say it makes it sounds like I have a choice in the matter?"
"Indeed, no one is going to force you to become my squire. As the commanding officer of the fleet which governs your world, I have primacy, but I assume that the others will also make offers when they have discovered I have already done so. Although the others may try to snatch up some of the earlier split versions or wait to see what later splits produce." Ares shifted the hologram and it zoomed out. Various star systems were shaded in hundreds of different colors. "These are the Protectorate Pantheons. Each color represents a different iron fleet. Eventually, if you survive and rank up as I expect you will, you will build your own fleet and be assigned a territory, as is the mandate to every member of our Order."
"Until then, you should know a little of what we fight. Humanity is the youngest of the known awakened species. But, we have some of the largest territory, due in large part to the fact that we are the only race which has given birth to an Assault Mage. The protectorate is surrounded by older and more established races who are jealous of our power. We are also one of the few awakened races that we know of without allies. There may be more, but our attempts to explore are usually met with stiff resistance."
"Our enemies are numerous; the largest group we face here in the Orion-Cygnus arm of the Milky Way Galaxy are the Daoine. They have several member races, but the main belligerents are the Elatrin, Da Danann, Spyry Jyon, and Piksies. For the most part, we spend our time fending off their fleets, although we do get the occasional Bauk refugee armada or Azura pilgrims." Ares paused considering, "The fact is, every assault mage we find means we can expand human territory. You and your splits will be the means by which quadrillions of humans will get a chance to live in relative peace."
"You are free to choose your allegiance to any pantheon until you become a squire, at which point you and your mentor will work together to train your fleet. But I hope you will stay here, where you can protect your home planet. In any case," Ares paused and straightened his posture, "I, Cassius Felix Ares, hereby offer you a position as my page on Olympus, and with that offer you the donum duplici. The first represents my faith in you, and it will ensure your integrity in the battles to come. The second is from the Order. It was entrusted to me with a gravity I cannot easily describe. You are to insert it immediately and never utter its name."
A blinking notification appeared in front of Drew's eyes, informing him that Ares would like to trade him two xatherite: one called stricto mentis clypeus and the other simply called aeon.
Xatherite Crystal Name: Stricto Mentis Clypeus
Xatherite Color: Green
Xatherite Grade: Rare
Xatherite Rarity: Limited
Type: Mental
Effect: Creates a shield around the bearer's mind that prevents unwanted mental intrusion.
Mana recharge time: Not applicable.
Xatherite Crystal Name: Aeon
Xatherite Color: Violet
Xatherite Grade: Intermediate
Xatherite Rarity: Singular
Type: Divine
Effect: The beginning of the path.
Mana recharge time: Not applicable.
Drew stared at the two xatherite for a full minute. The first was impressive enough, but what on earth did aeon even do? It was the first xatherite that didn't seem to meet the naming convention he was used to, as a primitive grade without an adjective preceding it. The description was completely unhelpful; the beginning of what path? It was a violet, but it didn't say what it changed. What exactly was a divine type xatherite? He had only seen magic and physical before, and now he had two new types: divine and mental. To buy time, he asked, "What responsibilities will I have if I accept this gift?" Drew kept the frown off his face as he considered what this man, this god, would want of him.
"Your only responsibility will be to survive, to grow so strong that your people are safe, that they need not fear the reapers in the night. To ensure that Humanity Prevails."