Valcroy and Erik stared at the maiden, their faces reflecting a mix of emotions. They had just witnessed the beginning of everything—a star that literally chased away the "fog" and a darkness as it paved the way for creation. They saw a realm flourish from nothing to something beyond their wildest dreams.
Though they didn't see the Dream King clearly, only his silhouette as he vanished with his knights, they did witness the First War, the Star Collapse, and the Second War, called the Great Strife. It felt as if they were truly there, the experience so vivid that they couldn't tell whether it was real or just a vision. The chaos and the brutality when they saw those heads at the stakes, piles of bodies burning while and many other brutalities, it made them deeply uncomfortable.
The power of those Demi-Lords, who later became Abyssal Lords, was beyond their comprehension. Each time one Demi-Lord clashed with another, the stars shattered just from the sheer shockwaves, leaving them astonished about how Lorein could host such powerful beings. A deep respect for the realm bore in their heart, well one heart.
They also saw the Endless Abyss, which made their skin crawl and their bodies shudder. They couldn't pinpoint what it was, but the sight of what they saw filled them with deep discomfort.
Now, standing in stunned silence, they didn't know what to do or say. The hooded figures around them remained silent as well, simply watching, allowing them to process the shock.
"Wha—" Valcroy stammered, unable to form proper words. He looked at the maiden, wanting to ask countless questions, but the memories of Lorein kept flooding his mind, rendering him speechless.
After what felt like an eternity, and finally freeing themselves from that dazzling experience, Valcroy asked, "Was that real?" He was having trouble believing that, and felt it must be a trick from the maiden.
The maiden nodded in response. Valcroy opened his mouth to speak again, but quickly closed it. Should he call her a liar or not? Deep inside, something was telling him that what he saw was true. Erik, however, had mostly regained his composure. He studied the Star Keeper for a moment before asking, "Where did the Dream King vanish to?"
The entire set of events had begun with the Dream King's disappearance, which struck Erik as suspicious. For some unknown reason, his thoughts kept returning to the Dream King, as if he was the key to the downfall of the realm.
The maiden shook her head and replied, "None knoweth where the Dream King hath gone. Many hath departed in search of him, yet none succeeded and none returned." They could feel a sorrow in her tone. They had lost too much.
"Maybe the abyss has..." Valcroy trailed off, but Erik understood what he meant—it was possible because the abyss had taken over the realm the moment the star shattered, like it was a plan from a master planner. But speculating without evidence would be just that—speculation.
"What do you mean by the 'last Starborne'?" Erik asked, setting aside the matter of the Dream King. He couldn't do anything about it. He wanted to ask about the First of the dead Starbornes, Hecator, but something was telling him to not ask about it.
Silence filled the room.
No one replied. Even the maiden remained quiet, simply staring at the two of them with a long, contemplative gaze. Valcroy felt uneasy a little but stayed silent, noticing that Erik was maintaining eye contact with the Star Keeper, almost as if they were engaged in a silent battle of wills.
Finally, the maiden spoke. "The Last Unique Starborne, the first and final of its kind to roam Lorein, bearing the core of the Dream Star and the vessel of abyssalborne, taken from the boundless Abyss. The sole undying who could wield the miasma of the Abyss."
This answer only raised more questions. Valcroy couldn't contain his curiosity and quickly asked, "Can you tell us about the Starborne, the mad Abyssalborne…?"
He spoke out a string of questions, causing even Erik to glance at him with a raised eyebrow. Erik wanted to ask those questions too, but Valcroy's rapid-fire inquiries had thrown everything off course. He just stay quiet and let the maiden explain one thing at a time.
"Starbornes were the race that did rule Lorein, holding dominion since the dawn of the universe. Their latent gift in wielding the Dream Star's power set them apart, allowing them to shape reality and mold the very fabric of dreams to their will. This unrivaled mastery, bestowed by the Dream Star, granted them the might to create, destroy, and reshape the realms within the universe, making them not merely rulers but the very architects of existence itself. Their bond with the cosmos and the Dream Star rendered them nigh invincible, both revered and feared across all realms."
"So they weren't human," Valcroy muttered, realizing that everyone in Lorein was "not human" despite their appearance and facial structure matching humans, a fact the maiden soon clarified.
"The Universe hath fashioned humanity in the image of the Starborne."
"Makes sense," Valcroy conceded. After all, the Starbornes came into being at the beginning of the universe, so he couldn't argue who was fashioned after who. At least he learned Starbornes were the most powerful beings in the entire universe.
He remained silent, waiting for the maiden to continue. He shot many questions at her, after all.
"The only race that could rival the Starborne in strength were the Mad Abyssalbornes, the original denizens of the Abyss. Said to have been born mad, cursed with the affinity to wield the limitless miasma of the Abyss. They shaped nightmare into reality. Nothing was known about them other than that they were the beloved race of the Abyss."
"They're not that different," Valcroy added. To him, Starbornes and Abyssalbornes both used a special type of energy to bend the laws of reality, whether it was a dream or a nightmare. In his eyes, they were essentially the same.
The maiden didn't refute his observation. There was some truth to his words, but she chose not to elaborate, preferring to let them discover the differences themselves.
Moving on, she explained the highly awaited question. "Lorein, in its final struggle against the Abyss, used the Dream Star's core and the essence of the mad Abyssal kin to birth the last Unique Starborne."
They were suddenly transported to the battlefield where Valcroy had first found himself, and both of them stared at the source of light. This time, they could see what was inside. There, within the source of light, they saw a figure floating in a suspended state, encased in a cocoon of swirling energy. The figure was humanoid, yet ethereal, almost translucent, as if made of stardust and the essence of dreams themselves. Its skin shimmered with a soft, silvery glow, and faint traces of dark, inky veins—remnants of the Abyssalborne's DNA (Aka Essence)—wove through its body like the delicate threads of a spider's web.
The figure's hair flowed like liquid light, shifting from one color to another, as if reflecting the vastness of the cosmos. Its eyes, though closed, seemed to hold the light of a thousand stars, hinting at the immense power and wisdom contained within. With great difficulty, they moved their gaze from its face to the Dream Star core, a myriad-colored orb that seemed dense enough to hold an entire star. Now it was peacefully embedded in the figure's chest, pulsing gently with each breath, merging the energies of creation and destruction in perfect harmony.
"This being was the last of the Starborne, the embodiment of both the Dream Star's purity and the Abyss's corruption—a living paradox, forged in the crucible of Lorein's final stand against the encroaching darkness. A creature of light and shadow, fated to bear the weight of the universe's hopes and fears within its very essence. The last of the Undying."
They remained on the battlefield as Erik and Valcroy saw Val holding the Starborne and bringing it closer to his chest. After that, Valcroy lost consciousness, which he vaguely remembered.
However, they didn't get to see what happened next, as they found themselves back in the hut, hearing the maiden's voice once more. "But a wondrous miracle did occur when the Starborne was coming into being."
Their vision changed again, and they found themselves in the arena where they had first appeared from the blood puddle. But this time, they noticed something different.
"The Obelisks…"
The obelisks they saw when they appeared were missing from the arena. In fact, the entire ring that had hovered over the Colosseum was nowhere in sight. Just as they were wondering what was happening…
Ba-dump*
Like a pulse, it silenced everything, announcing its presence in the realm.
Both of them turned when they felt and heard this familiar sound. The moment they did, it was like a bolt of lightning as they witnessed a marvel. There, they saw the heart. Erik finally understood what had happened to his heart. He glanced at Valcroy, who was staring at it in awe, but this wasn't the end. Just as the heart announced its presence, it got enveloped by the radiant Source of Light—the First Ember or the Last Starborne. The surrounding atmosphere pulsed with energy, causing the entire realm to tremble.
"Lorein, overjoyed at the discovery of two Starbornes coming to its embrace, did straightaway prepare to welcome the new guest."
Erik and Valcroy looked up and saw a black crystal ring forming above the arena. It pulsed as bridges formed, converging in the middle, and the familiar inverted black obsidian-like obelisk emerged, pointing downward. But this was not all, as they saw something similar happening underneath the arena. A ring of myriad colors formed, covering the entire colosseum. The arena then also gave way as the earth parted, and a shimmering rainbow obelisk appeared, piercing toward the sky. Contending for the heart.
The two obelisks, one emanating the Abyss miasma and the other exuding the Dream energy, began converging their powers. The heart, suspended between them, was caught in a powerful energy flux. As the obelisks channeled their respective energies, the heart was gradually encased in a shimmering crystal with a red fire burning brightly, giving it a reddish hue—the same color Erik and Valcroy had seen when they first noticed the octagonal red crystal trapped between the two obelisks.
"That's—" Valcroy started, but words failed him as he looked at the scene. He had been rendered speechless so many times today that he thought he had become numb to surprises, but Lorein kept defying his expectations with its otherworldly wonders.
Erik shared the same sentiment as he felt his heart thumping in that crystal.
"Lorein halted the forging of a new form for the young Starborne when it beheld this unforeseen variable and set about crafting something wholly new."
The maiden waved her hand, and suddenly, something pierced their minds, causing them to jolt in surprise. They wobbled as a flood of information overwhelmed them, making them dizzy.
Before they could collapse, they found themselves seated by the maiden. It took them hours to process the memory, and when they did, both of their eyes changed color, as if they had accepted their new identity.
Erik's eyes turned a silvery color, pulsing with an ethereal light. His entire being exuded a silvery aura that gave one the sensation of being in a dream. He accepted his new form, feeling changes occurring within his body. These changes had been happening all along, but he hadn't been aware of them until now.
Valcroy underwent a similar transformation, but his was the complete opposite of Erik's. His eyes turned completely black, with no iris or pupils, yet he could see everything clearly. Like Erik, his entire being emitted a black miasma-like aura that seemed to corrode reality itself. He felt his body being flooded with the black miasma, tuning itself to this newfound energy.
They now understood that the obelisks outside were helping them transform their body structure while ensuring they wouldn't feel any discomfort. They realized that the Abyss Miasma—the black mist or black mana they had previously encountered—was changing their very essence (Aka DNA), turning one into a Starborne and the other into an Abyssalborne.
But this wasn't just about creating new Starbornes or Abyssalbornes. Lorein was altering their entire being to create an entirely new race, crafted specifically for Erik and Valcroy. This was the extent to which Lorein was willing to go to save the realm.
Soon, their bodies reverted to their normal forms, though the transformation process was still ongoing. Erik closed his eyes and meditated. Using his inner vision, he found himself standing once more at the edge of the miasma near his heart.
But this time, something was different. He focused intently, and he saw it—a reddish light pulsing within. Erik concentrated on it.
As he did, the reddish crystal outside in the arena began shuddering, trembling as if the heart inside was about to break free. It strained with all its might but remained trapped.
However, something else happened. The thunderclouds above the arena rumbled, and the earth trembled as if trying to tear itself open and reveal the scars it bore.
The reason for this upheaval was the strange yet mesmerizing process occurring inside the crystal. The heart inside began to replicate itself, creating a second heart—or perhaps that was just a heart and its shadow—within the octagonal crystal. Even more astonishing was the way the shadow slowly materialized and etched itself onto the upper surface of the crystal, the side facing the black obelisk.
Meanwhile, another shadow heart appeared and turned bright white and etched itself onto the bottom of the crystal, the side facing the rainbow obelisk. With the original heart in the centre, the process continued, but no one knew what would happen next, except perhaps two beings—one who announced it by shaking the entire realm in clear joy, and the other who simply smiled as she observed the two figures before her, who remained oblivious to what was happening.
"Now that thou knowest of Lorein and of thyselves, thou must needs learn of thy purpose."
Her words brought a solemn atmosphere to the room. At some point, the hooded figures had disappeared, but neither Erik nor Valcroy had noticed. Nor did they notice the strange occurrence affecting the infected they had brought with them.
"The purpose of the Hunter."