The Primordial Craftsman: The Lost Lineage

A peculiar boy with ivory hair that was spun with an apricot color that only resided at the tips, that only seemed to accentuate the beautiful gem-like lavender colored eyes of the fifteen years old that sat in his room, doing nothing but staring out the window. He watched as the falling snow blanketed everything, from the jagged mountains in the west that scraped the sky, to the eerie forest that seemed to encompass everything in the east.

It all seems so peaceful, no sounds disrupted the silence. Nothing but the falling of cold snow and the gentle breeze of the early morning wind.

How can it be so peaceful considering that he may be ripped, cut or mauled to death by creatures only existing in nightmares very soon. He was going to be pulled from this Realm and tossed in a Corrupted one. 

The boy: Alister, was shaken out of daydreams by a knock at his bedroom door.

"Enter." 

Alister talked in a flat tone.

The man who entered happened to be a butler in service of the Matriarch of the Aetherbound legacy clan; his Mother. The man put a hand over his chest and bowed, he spoke in a respectful tone:

"Young master, the Matriarch has ordered that you come and see her immediately." 

She ordered? Looks like this isn't something I can turn down, or respectfully decline like I usually do. 

Alister thought to himself, clearly skeptical of the sudden order from his Mother.

Alister took in a deep breath and then slowly let it out as he gazed at the falling snow for a couple seconds. He closed his eyes in an attempt to think of a reason for his mother's sudden call, as well as to bring himself back to reality.

Once he opened his eyes, he looked at the butler and spoke:

"Alright, lead the way then."

***

He arrived at the door to his mother's office. The butler bows his head respectively then raises his head and walks away. Alister took a deep breath, then he opened the large extravagant double door to be greeted with the site of his Mother. Her long ivory hair shined ever so brightly in the early morning sunlight. But what struck Alister more about his Mother was the way she pieces him with her gem-like blue eyes mere seconds after he opened the door.

Only when he entered the room did he see that his Mother wasn't the only person in the room. His Father; the current Patriarch of the Aetherbound clan. As well as his eight siblings. four Brothers and four Sisters. His four Sisters on his right side and his four Brothers on his left.

Well shit.

Alister cursed in his head.

As if his Mothers sudden order wasn't enough his entire family stood before him. Alister felt his throat start to tighten. But he didn't let himself show any sign of weakness. In the Aetherbound clan the siblings constantly fought amongst themself. Some for the reason to secure the seat for the next Patriarch or Matriarch, some just for fun, and all just to see eachother bleed.

Finally his Mother spoke:

"My son, you're here. Come in and shut the door."

She spoke in a tone that was rarely ever heard within the Aetherbound clan. At first Alister couldn't believe his ears, she sounded worried for some reason and maybe the smallest hint of affection in her voice.

If Alister was surprise he surely didn't show it

"Mother, if I may ask, what is this about? As well as why the Patriarch and my Brothers and Sisters are gathered here?"

Alister spoke with some curiosity in his voice. Something he only did in front of others, Alister is the type to act indifferent to most things but put on a face for his family.

"I'm sure you know already, but the end of the year draws close. Meaning the Corrupted Realm will choose an assortment of 15 year olds to venture in and receive aspects. The same way it was when me and your Father did when we were your age, as well as your siblings."

"I already know of all this Mother, That I will be chosen as an absolute rather than a maybe, because our clan is blessed by one of the six main gods, Aether. As well as that once the second new year starts ill be taken there. I also know that the rival clan's children will be there."

Alister wore a smile on his handsome face, but not a smile of happiness. One of malice and condescension. His Father; the Patriarch seemed to like that and cracked a small smile of approval.

Alister's Mother chuckles ever so softly as she sits up and places her elbows on the desk and interlocks her fingers, bringing her fingers to her face.

"I knew that you would, but I called you here for a different reason. When you do get taken to the Corrupted Realm, I want you to succeed with results better than anyone else, regardless of the method."

Alister's smile slowly fades for his handsome face and his lavender eyes protrade a stoic resolve. Knowing what she was hinting at, he felt some animosity towards his own Mother. Though he tried not to show it.

Murder.

Alister knew that in the Corrupted Realm such a thing can and would happen, he knew about the system, the ranks of all Corrupted creatures. He knew that you could be rewarded for killing Corrupted and Humans.

Without knowing what aspect and abilities you will receive, you must take every situation into account. He would be lying if he said he didn't already consider such a thing, but no matter which way he looked at it, it left a bad taste on his tongue.

Hoping to quell the meeting as well as the murderous stares he was getting from his Brother and Sisters, Alister knew he would only be put in self-discipline by his Mother if he were to argue with her. So he chose the safest option, to agree and leave it at that.

"I will fulfill the task you have given me, be it if I stand as a lone tyrant feared by all or an unparalleled leader with an army of respected followers."

He spoke as if he was already one of those.

The Matriarch and Patriarch or simply the Mother and Father of the brazen teenager looked at each other for a couple seconds, then they both smiled a wicked smile. His Mother spoke:

"You really are my son! Ok you're dismissed."

Alister bowed respectfully, then walked out of the room. Past his Brothers and Sister who did not try to hide their animosity for the show he put on. He paid them no mind though, if they tried anything against him they'd be severely punished because he was going to be sent to the Corrupted Realm soon.

During his walk back to his bedroom, Alister thought to himself:

What a waste of time, a tyrant or unparalleled leader. What a load of garbage, your son is about to be forcefully taken to another Realm and you say: "I want you to succeed with the best results." The clan, the clan, the clan, your greed knows no bounds.

Alister walked slowly to his bedroom, taking in all that his eyes would offer him. The maid that passed him, the sun peering in from the windows, the colors. He felt as if he was absorbing everything he lays his eyes on.

As Alister reached his bedroom he sat in the chair he was sitting in originally, watching the falling snow hypnotically once more. Watching how it blanketed everything, it seems so calm yet so…suffocating. There was a couple seconds of silence which turned into a couple of minutes before he spoke:

"A silent, pristine canvas of snow, blanketing the world in white, a tranquil prelude to winter's drama."

He talked in a melancholy tone, before taking a couple deep, slow breaths. He decided that review on the Corrupted Realm to be better prepared instead of sitting reciting poetry about the hypnotizing ways of how the stone falls was for the better.

Alister looks at the clock on the wall, it was 11:00 am. 13 hours till he would get teleportation to the Corrupted Realm. He decided that reviewing for a couple hours and getting a full 8 hours of sleep would be for the best. He may not be able to get a full rest for a while, not while in the Corrupted Realm.

Grabbing some books from his bookshelf, Alister sat at his desk and started to flick over one of them. This particular book was about the creatures of the Corrupted Realm; the Corrupted. The Corrupted are ranked, from weakest to strongest it reads:

Dormant: Dormant Corrupted are strong and dangerous but lack intelligence.

Awakened: Awakened Corrupted are like the Dormant, only possessing more intelligence, though a very simple one. 

 Horror: Horrors have more semblance of intelligence as well as acquiring abilities. 

 Elder: Elders possess even more powerful abilities, similar in ways that a human would be granted by the system. 

Fallen: Fallen can lead the weaker Corrupted . 

Colossus: Colossus can influence their surroundings as well as other Corrupted, turning them into mindless creatures, to wither down their opponents.

Vile: Mythical creatures rarely ever seen, little is known about them. But from what is known is that they are colossal in height and strength. Possessing nature breaking abilities, some say that they are impossible to kill.

No matter how many times I read this book it is always so grim, yet fascinating.

Alister thought.

But not letting himself get distracted for too long and kept on reading.

Essence cores are how the Corrupted and humans draw upon their strength. Essence is the life of all things. Corrupted can have up to seven cores at a time before evolving. For example: if a horror is able to form their seventh core, the cores will combine and evolve. The horror going from a horror to an Elder with one core.

But essence cores aren't the only thing that is obtained from killing a Corrupted . Items of all kinds are gifted to the human that killed the Corrupted , Such as weapons, armor, tools, garments, charms, talismans, even miscellaneous things like water canteens or something along the lines of that. These items won't always be obtained to the person, they're obtained at random. But when they are, they're sent immediately into the person's system inventory. The higher the rank of the Corrupted , the higher the item.

So more of a high risk high reward type of situation.

Alister thought to himself but kept reading.

Although humans are somewhat the same when it comes to essence cores, they grow their power from their own essence core. They only have one, and the more and more of the essence core they consume from Corrupted, the purer their own essence core becomes. The purer the essence core is, the easier the user can utilize essence.

Though it says that those with a Seraph soul ranking can make seven essence cores like how the Corrupted do. Only difference is that they are completely incapable of combining them. The only people ever known to possess a Seraph soul rank were the initial founders of the six legacy clans.

 On that topic, there are seven soul rankings and they are listed weakest to strongest as such:

Dormant: Dormant is exactly as it sounds. Brand new humans that were just teleportation to the Corrupted Realm. They have just formed their essence core and obtained their aspect and abilities.

Awakened: Awakened are humans who have returned from the Corrupted Realm. They receive a large amount of power after returning.

Enlightened: Enlightened are humans that have conquered their 2nd trip to the Corrupted Realm. To become an Enlightened, you are sent to a different area of the Corrupted Realm. Where more dangerous and higher rank Corrupted creatures resided.

Ascended: Ascended are humans that have conquered their 3rd trip to the Corrupted Realm. To become an Ascended, you are sent to a different area of the Corrupted Realm. Where more dangerous and higher rank Corrupted creatures resided.

Titan: Titan are humans that have conquered their 4th trip to the Corrupted Realm. To become a Titan, you are sent to a different area of the Corrupted Realm. Where more dangerous and higher rank Corrupted creatures resided.

Transcended: Unknown, no one in history has achieved this soul ranking. But it is safe to say the process is the same. 

Seraph: Unknown, no one in history has achieved this soul ranking. But it is safe to say the process is the same. 

Additional information: A human is granted with abilities corresponding to the aspect after successfully conquering their trips to the Corrupted Realm.

Different areas? What's stopping from just venturing to that area?

As if answering Alister's thoughts. The book stated that the Corrupted Realm is extremely vast and would take many years just to get to such an area. Not to mention the increasingly difficult Corrupted one must fight to get there.

Alister leaned back into his chair and looked at the clock. 4 pm is what time it was. Alister tends to get immersed when confronted with things he finds interesting.

He stood up, pushed in his chair and started putting back the books on the shelf. After doing so, he laid down on his bed. Enjoying the soft fabric on the parts of skin that his clothes did not cover. His eyes grew heavy and ever so slowly he drifted off to sleep.

***

Alister's eyes twitched open, everything was dark. But it only seemed to Alister that he closed his eyes for mere seconds. The beautiful pale moonlight shone from his windows. The lucent moonlight brightened up the room just enough to see. Alister checked the clock.

11:55 pm.

5 minutes till his teleportation to the Corrupted Realm. Was it a coincidence that he woke up at such a time. No it couldn't be, some external force most likely did. 

Alister sat in silence. What was there to even say?

Words coming from nowhere or rather no one, spoke:

[Contender! Congratulations on being chosen by the system. Prepare for teleport to the Corrupted Realm.]