32 All Is Well In Heaven

The world map flickered and the image twisted as it morphed into something completely different. It turned three-dimensional and a globe began rotating on a slightly tilted axis.

"This is Mu, the world we live in, and this, in particular, is the continent of Mulia," Axtorius said. He pointed at the projection and a small-sized part of the planet lit up in response. "That's our home... and the only area that hasn't been contaminated by the Infestation."

Reed stared at the globe and couldn't understand what Axtorius was saying, or rather, refused to believe him. From the look of it, Mulia roughly took up ten percent of the planet's surface. That was an optimistic figure and he knew that. It meant that...

He felt his heart beating out his chest the harder the longer he looked that the sight. It felt unnatural, but there was something gnawing at him from the inside. This was a unique brand of dread that'd he only ever felt when he tried to confront that hidden, buried memory from before.

Axtorius spun the globe and pointed at it again; the image flickered and then it turned a dark, murky red color. The planet was almost entirely covered in the color, except for a single location.

"Everything dyed in red has already been lost to the accursed Infestation. It is best to think of it as nothing more than the enemy's domain. Over the course of the last four thousand years, we've built a massive construct spanning the entire perimeter of the continent to keep them out, the Time-Lock Spatial Displacement Boundary Field." Axtorius chuckled to himself and said, "It's a bit of a mouthful, isn't it?"

Axtorius flicked his right hand and an image of a dome appeared in front of them. The word 'massive' couldn't even begin to describe it. Reed thought the Reef was massive when he first laid eyes on it, but this... was beyond description. It was so enormous, it was easily visible from space if the globe's projection was to be believed.

The dome that covered the entire continent looked heavenly and sacred as a host of divine beings and not mortal hands had created it. Gigantic wings made of light overlapped on top of one another, forming a seemingly endless amount of layers that blanked the continent in a sphere.

Eerily, an immense aurora hovered above the dome's only pole, shimmering in and out of existence...

"We just call it Heaven's Gate instead of its technical name, so don't bother forcing yourself to remember the whole name. It's the crystallization of our efforts in deciphering the lost technology of the ancient Mulians. The four empires built it right after the unification wars ended, in order to give us some much-needed breathing room."

Axtorius brought out two digital clocks and showed them to the class. They were out of sync with each other from the look of it. The clock on the left was in sync with standard time, but the other one was, well, completely off the grid. It was widely out of date, even appearing several years ahead of the current year.

"You're probably thinking the clock on the right is broken, right? It's not. In fact, it's working fine. Both clocks are in perfect working order. Time inside Heaven's Gate does not adhere to the normal laws that govern the universe. The flow of time inside Heaven's Gate is nine times slower than real-time outside. For every year you spend in here, nine years pass by outside."

He smiled and pointed at the globe and said, "Not only that, the entire continent has been shifted into imaginary space, where standard coordinates do not work as intended. For all intents and purposes, we tore the whole continent out of real-space and put it in a bubble outside of reality itself."

Axtorius's smile slowly faded and he brushed the projection out of existence. "As you can see, we owe our survival to the ancient Mulians. Without the artifacts they left behind, we would have never stood a chance. You've probably been wondering where all of you come into this, no? We've finally gotten to your part of this story, so perk your ears up and listen carefully."

He tapped his feet and a dramatic shift in scenery occurred. Space blurred and twisted around them; they'd teleported somewhere else. It was a giant warehouse of sorts, from the look of it. A wide variety of strange things were stored in floating glass containers.

Some of these objects looked pristine and some looked broken. A few of them were large, taking up a dozen meters of space and others were only the size of a pencil. Reed immediately knew what they were: Mulian artifacts. He'd seen the same kind back when he visited Julian's home.

"You have to two duties as contenders; The first duty is to kill. That's the responsibility the Will of the World has given you in return for the blessing you've received: Alma. The Great Will rewards us with further blessings for every Infested abomination we purge from the planet."

Axtorius looked and grabbed an odd-looking artifact that looked like a sword that did not possess a blade. It was just a handle. A second later, a menacing blade of light popped out of the handle. "Prove yourself enough to Will and it will grant you further strength in the form of a stronger body," he stated. He took the blade and swung on himself, startling the class. Some wondered if the old man lost his marbles.

The blade shimmered as it struck the Axtorius's arm and an awful screech assaulted their ears as it struggled to cut through his flesh. It eventually couldn't handle the immense force that Axtorius put it under and the artifact exploded violently into pieces.

"I can assure you that the blade could have cut through any of you like butter, much less the hull of a titanium-plated sovereign-class warship. If you prove yourself enough, some of you might even receive the blessing of immortality in the far future," he said.

He took the broken shards and assembled them back into the functioning blade in a single snap of a finger. It looked like time had wound itself back for the shattered artifact as it reformed into working order. "The more blessings you receive, the more in tune you become with Anima itself to a certain degree, of course. How far these blessings increase your skills will depend on your own innate potential, unfortunately."

The blade shifted between a state of disrepair and completion as Axtorius waved his finger in the air. "If you're lucky enough, you'll even be able to manipulate some laws that govern the world," he said. The artifact finally reformed and he put it back into the display case it had once been in.

Axtorius gestured at the entire warehouse and said, "This is your second duty as contenders: to recover these precious artifacts for study. That's the responsibility you bear as contenders who enjoy the god-like power of Alma. You are the fine line that stands between the four empires and total annihilation."

"Our detailed information about the enemy has come only from the ancient artifacts and ruins we've found across Mulia. All of our greatest technological advancements have come from them, too. It is of utmost importance that we continue uncovering what happened to them and what our enemy's weaknesses are."

A detailed map of enemy movements, potential ruin sites, and allied outposts winked into existence when Axtorius finished his sentence. It displayed the current operations going on at the moment and the various squads out on the field.

"That's where you come in: We send contenders and conquerors out on expeditions into the Outer Reaches to recover artifacts and to scout for ruins that might hold important secrets to our survival."

Images of various ruins and high-value targets flashed by, some censored by a black bar, some pixilated out of focus.

"Other than this, you can expect to get sent out on extermination missions if we detect the enemy planning something, or if an abnormal surge of Infested comes too close to Heaven's Gate."

Axtorius paused for a moment and collected his thoughts. His gaze became firm as he stared at his students that looked like they were about to fall over themselves in fright.

"Without you, there will be no tomorrow for the mortals that live under our care, he said." His voice carried a bit of his fiery will as his words echoed across the warehouse.

"Your families, your friends, and your homes are being protected from a grave threat they'll never know about, so they can sleep comfortably at night without any worries. We fight so they can live another day in what is, essentially, a paradise compared to the outside world."

"We've invested a filthy sum of money into our intelligence and PSYOP program to brainwash and erase any mention of the real truth that would ever reach civilian ears. High-level ranking staff in all empires, including us, are bound to the Grand Lie."

There was this serious, deathly intonation in Axtorius's voice that gave the class chills down their spines. None of them dared move so much as a micron of fear.

"We are forbidden from ever telling any mortals the truth, under the threat of... severe punishment. I will not specify what the punishment entails for your sakes; otherwise, you'd all soil yourselves. Take care to never break Grand Lie, or else one of the empire's boogeymen will come and send you off a one-way trip to your worst nightmare..."

Axtorius looked at them as they nodded silently and said, "Good, I'm glad you all understand. Never forget." He tapped his foot and space blurred once more in dizzying fashion. They had returned to the spire's main auditorium.

"The final part of your training will be to reach an outpost we've set up for you in the Outer Reaches. It's not too far away from Heaven's Gate and is in an area regularly patrolled by our forces. The threat designation of the area is green, showing minimal Infested activity."

"It will be your first mission out in the field and the last task we will give you. Reach the outpost, register yourself onto the terminal we left for you and wait for extraction. The mission will be in a week's time starting from today. Further details will be sent to your tomes, so keep an eye on them."

He sighed and said, "Take a couple of days to digest everything I've told you; understand that I hold no joy in being the one who had to tell the truth. We all have responsibilities we cannot run away from. This is one of them."

The class stared at their instructor vanish into the nothingness with blank looks on their faces. A few had vacant, empty eyes as if they had the soul sucked out their bodies. Astor and company had grim, complicated expressions as they stared at each other in silence.

Reed felt an indescribable feeling of dread as he clutched his chest. Lu'um was especially concerned as she supported the unsteady boy who looked as if he was about to faint.

His tattoo was burning; the scorching heat numbed his senses and his mind raced into unknown parts of his memory.

He felt like needed to speak something out, a phrase was on the tip of his lips. It came from deep within him, from a place he dared not touch.

"Wretched traitors, They Who Have Cast Themselves Into Stillness and Decay," Reed muttered in fury. "This. Will. Not. Stand."

Reed groaned and closed his eyes; he could no longer stand the pain. He blacked out on the spot. Lu'um quickly caught him and pulled him away from prying eyes, back to the dorms in a rush.

Lu'um felt her heart beat out her chest when she heard Reed's babbling but calmed herself down instantly. She guessed that was likely just a fleeting reaction. It scared the living the daylights out of her.

"He's waking up faster than expected, though..." she thought to herself. It was far, far too early.

She would have to make adjustments to compensate for this event...