430 Shadow Lord's Inheritance and the Lord of Light
Kai was seated in a meditative posture in front of the blazing hearth, eying the thousands of tentacles of fire.
Behind him, Cersei stood tall, covered in a tight suit of shadows from the tip of her nose to her toes. Two giant bat-like wings were curled on her back, failing to hide her sumptuous curves.
The Characters in the Book had no concept of aging. So, even after so much time, Cersei looked like a 15-year-old young lady. However, her experiences had even surpassed that of her main storyline self, especially under the influence of her lord, Blood Demon. This all gave a mature appearance to Cersei that one just couldn't help but admire.
The sight of two soul-sucking fiends hovering just behind her ruined that appearance, giving it a hideous, ominous tone.
The two 2.3 meters tall Dementors levitated on Cersei's left and right like two sentries. Their long, tattered black cloaks were rippling noiselessly.
And, way into the back, hovered Lilith, the Lethifold.
The piece of smoothest black silk fluttered, coiling and uncoiling into itself, caring nothing about what was to happen.
It was then Kai lifted his right hand, a black crystal bobbing up and down, hovering over his palm.
Kai took a deep breath and pushed the crystal toward his forehead.
The moment the Inheritance Crystal touched Kai's skin, ripples originated around it, and it melted into him.
Within the space containing a sea of yellow mist and a white room, a giant black crystal appeared. Then, with a bang, the entire crystal shattered. It dyed the entire space, representing Kai's consciousness, into a hue of the darkest black.
Outside, everything about Kai went still as if he wasn't alive. His heartbeat slowed down. His breathing become indiscernible. Even his infallible instincts seemed to have gone drowsy, losing the sense of his surroundings.
The Shadow Lord Inheritance had begun.
Instantly, Cersei's figure went taut, and even the Dementors began revolving over Kai, howling with a rattling breath.
At this moment, Kai was at his weakest. Even a 1st-floor Contestant could kill him easily if he could approach Kai unhindered. This was the flaw of assimilating the Inheritance. There was nothing one could do about it, except preparations.
And Kai trusted no one.
He had called out Cersei to watch over the two lvl 1 Dementors, using her newly gained powers. Kai had ordered the Dementors to watch her in return.
The group of Cersei and Dementors would monitor Lilith. The Lethifold, in return, would monitor both Cersei and Dementors.
Kai's no action was meaningless; a hidden, cold reasoning was hibernating behind all risks.
Inside Kai's consciousness, though, everything had changed.
The sea of yellow mist had vanished, along with the white room. In their place, a giant cave could be seen, glowing red under the light of several lanterns. Everything about this cave was a blur, except the middle portion. There, a middle-aged bearded man was reading a heavy book.
Suddenly, the middle-aged man snapped his head up.
Bang!
An ethereal bang rang out, shaking the entire cave. When the trembles died, the middle-aged man's head drooped once again. But something about him seemed to have changed.
Kai felt incredibly odd. One moment he was seeing the middle-aged Pirate Lord Henry Morgan, in the other, he was the Pirate Lord. All his memories and experiences jumbled with that of Shadow Lord.
No. Perhaps it was better to say Sir Henry Morgan wasn't Shadow Lord. Not yet.
Compelled by some unknown and irresistible force, Kai/Henry Morgan began reading the contents of the book again. However, upon taking another glance, it became evident that it was not a book, but a collection of rough-handed notes.
The notes contained vast knowledge of Alchemy, directed at the dark and shadow magic. There were thousands of ingredients based on plant and animal lifeforms, hundreds of types of minerals, dozens of types of water, and several collections of oils and spirits. Not to mention, thousands upon thousands of half-created formulas using those ingredients as a basis.
Kai/Henry Morgan felt like he was reading this all for the first time, but it also felt like he was just reconfirming his notes.
His eyes fell upon an ingredient Mutated White Whale Oil, and then, a shadowy ripple originated in front of him, taking the form of the said ingredient. It didn't end there, though.
Whenever he thought of a particular ingredient, it would appear in front of him. This occurrence brought neither joy nor sadness to him. It was as if he was incapable of showing emotions.
Not only emotions but even time seemed to have lost meaning in this place.
The middle-aged man kept reading, learning, and experimenting with those ingredients.
Days passed, and then weeks melted away.
Kai/Henry Morgan had now understood the basic principles of Alchemy, the ancient art of shattering, restructuring, and making anew, keeping the balance of equivalent exchange. When the principles of Alchemy took root in his heart, he began the study of runic diagrams that would assist him in carrying out practical applications.
These runic diagrams contained a vast knowledge of geometrical configurations that acted as the conduits which focused and dictated the flow of power, tapping into the energies that already existed within the earth and matter.
Kai/Henry Morgan learned how to use these alchemical runes to attack a particular set of ingredients and elements.
Thousand ingredients - Million possibilities!
If it was the original Henry Morgan, he would have taken years to go through this process.
But this middle-aged man wasn't Henry Morgan, per se. He was Kai, too.
When Kai/Henry Morgan arrived at this stage, it felt to him as if he had done something like this before, deriving countless formulas based on a single principle. That he possessed an astonishing memory, recalling all ingredients and their elemental affinity with one thought, also assisted him greatly.
Weeks became months, and two years passed by in this cave.
The middle-aged man wasn't seated in the cave anymore. He was crouching over the rocky ground, drawing a complex geometric diagram using black blood. This diagram comprised three circles, 23 triangles, and a pentagram. However, that wasn't all. Wherever the intersecting lines of pentagram and triangles were creating another, smaller polygon, he had drawn a runic script there; a complex sigil of some sort.
Kai/Henry Morgan then placed several ingredients ranging from solids and liquids to vials of foggy, shadowy substances over those runes.
Then he placed his hands just under the two vertexes of the pentagram.
Called by a bubbling sensation in his heart, the natural force of the world poured into the alchemical runic diagram.
A brilliant dark light shone into the cave, beginning the process of deconstruction and reconstruction.
When the light faded away, a jelly-like shadowy mass bubbled in its place. This newly formed shadow creature looked more like slime, trying hard to gain shape.
However, this experiment was a failure. It was fated to never know success. Not with the Inheritance's percentage Kai had obtained.
Ultimately, with a soundless boom, the jelly-like shadow creature exploded into a mass of black fog and entered the middle-aged man's shadow.
It was then that the world trembled, the entire cave shaking like a twig amid a storm.
Rumbleeee!!!
The entire cave shattered, and an unseen force pulled Kai's consciousness out of this imagined world.
In the library within the suitcase, 90 minutes had already passed by.
Gently, Kai's eyes opened, a shadowy hue rippling within his hazel pupils.
The moment he came to himself, Kai's shadowy eyes landed on the countless tongues of fire. Red, orange, white, and a touch of blue were dancing over the burning logs, sending warmth in all directions.
To Kai, however, the entire fire had gone silent, becoming a mirror.
A mirror of fire!
A red fire burned into the deepest parts of Kai's eyes, becoming an enormous fire tornado. The eye of this fiery monstrosity looked as if some distant eldritch being had cast a gaze toward Kai.
In the mirror of fire within the hearth, Kai saw himself, but he possessed no face. It was only a blur.
Suddenly, this blur stirred, and Henry Morgan's face appeared in the place of Kai. It was as if it wasn't Kai who was looking into the fiery mirror, but the middle-aged Henry Morgan.
Before one could even blink, this face blurred once more.
This time, Murtogg's face appeared in Kai's place, judging his murderer with hollow eyes. Then it changed again, and Darcie's face appeared, calmly looking back at him.
It didn't end there, though.
Cersei's face followed Darcie's, and Petyr's face followed Cersei.
Rintaro… Item-M… Item-S… Arlen… Shae…
All faces kept appearing, blurring, and vanishing one after another.
At last, when it felt like there was no end to these changes of faces, all faces vanished, leaving behind a constant blur in their place.
Only one moment has passed for all this to happen.
Kai gently closed his eyes and opened them again, the red fire tornado that was burning in the depths of his eyes vanishing as if it was a mirage.
No longer could he see any mirror of fire. Nor could Kai see more blurry faces.
There was no elation on Kai's face or any sign of victory. Only a frown originated because of a thought. What the fuck HE was trying to tell me through the fire?!
Since his meeting with lady Melisandre, this was the second time Kai had felt the mark left behind HIM, the spark of fire burning deep into his eyes.
A mark of another Deep One…
The Lord of Light, R'hllor!
It was then a notification materialized in front of him, like a splash of cold water.
[
Congratulations Kai Stormborn…
You have gained 40% of Shadow Lord's Inheritance
Inheritance grade: C+
Rewards:
1. Condition to gain Ability - Elementary Alchemist
2. Skill: …
…
