Chapter 10: The Price of Knowledge
The next few days were filled with a mixture of trepidation and resolve. Astraeus spent long hours in his workshop, scribbling furiously in his journals. The Sable Order's words echoed in his mind: You will find that you are not the only one seeking the secrets you hold. What did that mean? What forces had Korran been referring to?
Astraeus knew he couldn't afford to ignore their warning. While he had always believed that his research was purely scientific, something about Korran's words unsettled him. There was something ancient, something otherworldly in the way the Sable Order spoke. Their power wasn't just born of magic—it was rooted in a history that stretched beyond any living memory. They understood things Astraeus had only begun to glimpse, and they were determined to use his discoveries to their advantage.
And so, Astraeus decided to dig deeper—into his own work, and into the strange, shadowy history of the Sable Order. He could no longer afford to remain in the dark.
He began by examining his own creation—the Alchemical Energy Cell. The glowing device had been a triumph of his research, but now, as he studied it under the flickering light of his lantern, it began to feel alien. The more he examined it, the more it seemed to resist his understanding. The formula he had so carefully crafted, the way the energy flowed through the system—it was like trying to control a living thing, something far more complex than he had initially realized.
Each night, he would experiment with it, testing different configurations and materials. Some worked. Others exploded in violent bursts of energy, throwing him back and scarring the workbench. But each failure, each risk, revealed more of the power hidden within the cell.
One night, as Astraeus adjusted a set of crystal capacitors in the core, the device hummed more intensely than ever before. The light from the energy cell flickered and flared, casting long shadows across the room. But this time, the hum wasn't just from the device. It resonated from somewhere beneath the earth, a deep, rumbling pulse that seemed to call out to him.
Suddenly, his hands froze. The air in the room seemed to thicken. For a split second, Astraeus felt like he was not alone—like something was watching him. His heart raced as a cold chill crept over him.
Then, the hum abruptly stopped.
Astraeus exhaled sharply, shaking his head. Just my nerves, he thought. Just the pressure of it all.
But something gnawed at him, a feeling that wouldn't go away. The more he studied the Energy Cell, the more it felt as though he was awakening something. Each time the device hummed, each time the energy surged, Astraeus felt a strange connection—something ancient, something not entirely natural. It was like touching the fabric of reality itself, bending it in ways that no human had ever done before.
But at what cost?
He thought back to Korran's warning. Ancient powers... beyond your understanding...
Astraeus looked down at the device in his hands, a fierce determination rising in his chest. If the Sable Order wanted the power he held, they would have to take it from him. He would not be their pawn, not when he was on the verge of understanding something that had eluded humanity for millennia. He had come this far, and he was not going to stop now.
But as he turned back to his work, a part of him couldn't shake the feeling that the true cost of this knowledge was only beginning to reveal itself.