Revelations

Through the tunnels past the bunker filled with dead gobling smiths was a workshop. Glyphs like those covering the walls also covered the workshop. The qi concentration increased further its source a small cottage sitting in a large chamber surrounded by concrete. It was within the workshop that the sounds of an engine could be heard, and a powerful green light could be seen.

A small rocking chair lay on the porch covered in dust. Beside the rocking chair was a table and on that table was a filled ashtray. An old pipe lay beside the tray made of cherry wood. I could smell tobacco, ink, and freshly made paper from the chair. On the porch near the entrance and covered in dirt was an old boot rack.

"You called this land holy." I said.

"This is the private workshop of an ancient mutant. An ancestor older and more powerful than you can possibly imagine." She opened the door to the workshop, and we went in. It was here that I felt the thickest of the qi. Laying on a coffee table was the machine. Seeing the device sent chills through my body and something clicked. "I was only able to clean the outside.

I knew how to reach the 3rd stage of qi refinery. This machine was the answer I had waited for. It was what I grasped at but couldn't quite reach. Around the machine were scribbles and graffiti. Tribal markings mixed with blood was splattered across the room. Scrolls were piled in the corners of the room marked and labeled in Dol's script.

As I looked around a picture began to form. After finding this place a group had mocked it. For some reason it felt sad. The machine was untouched. Blood spattered the table. A red tint covered parts of the machine but were incapable of tarnishing it. This wasn't something a few primitive goblings could damage.

"Did he abandon this place?" I asked.

"Yes, the owner of this workshop left a long time ago. He was one of the Great Ancestors the first offshoots of the Blessed Ancestors. I managed to step onto his path but am nowhere near his power or intellect. This machine is beyond my understanding." Doppel said.

I stared at the perpetual machine and knew I could replicate it in some fashion. The first step was within. It confirmed fundamental laws of qi that I'd only ever hypothesized may exist. The machine's existence did far more for me than the machine itself did. Its purpose made sense.

This Great Ancestor created a perpetual engine to gather the power of heaven and earth and convert it to qi. Then he erected three layers of glyphs to concentrate that power. It was possible those glyphs also purified the energy in some way. Down here in the workshop, it was far easier to use my breathing technique. It all made some sense.

I kicked over a pile of books. Something bugged me. "How did this machine help Gwen ascend to Plebe rank without losing levels?" I asked.

"There was a ritual left behind by the great ancestor. No matter what the goblings did they couldn't remove it. She used it to remove me." I nodded. What were its limits? Why was a sacrifice needed? How did Dol make a spell to replicate it?

"Take me to it." I ordered. Doppel gave me an odd look but complied we left the room of the perpetual qi engine and came upon a large mural. Piles of bodies were thrown across the room. Their heads had been emptied.

I reached down and picked up a page. Gwen had slipped in the ability to read with the spells. She was a sneaky one.

After scanning a few pages, I began to piece together the research. Some of it was Dol's by the cheerful disposition and the rest was the Great Ancestor's. Gwen must have used the original ritual. Dol wanted to create a universal ritual that maintained levels. Unfortunately, the research was years old. The original ritual had already been altered by Gwen. Something had to be lost for this ritual to succeed. Without a sacrifice of some sort it couldn't be fulfilled. No amount of aura was enough. Though it helped.

On a pedestal lay a glowing rock. Burnt flesh surrounded the stone in a ring a kind of halo. More qi than I'd ever felt was stored within the rock. It contained more qi than a thousand of me. This was it the source of the green light.

"That is one of the artefacts used to perform the ritual. I don't need it." Sam reached out through my aura and snatched up the rock. I felt it burn its way through my aura to Sam's domain.

"Where did it come from?" I asked.

"Not even the Elder Ancestor knew. Well he doesn't mention anything in the writings Gwen was able to decipher. A lot of this information was burned or eaten by the goblings before they civilized. I'll try to pick through it while I work out how to cultivate beyond the second stage. Are you sure you want to fight Dol? Tyrannus was dispatched by the overmind council to oversee her release." Doppel said.

I threw down a scroll drawing similarity between the ritual and a combination of spells. "How do you know that?" I said.

She tapped the side of her head. "We are a part of each other. Now that I'm no longer apart of that thing, I'm different. Does that make sense? I've changed so much in a short time. I'm going to change even more. You gave me a new goal something I've never thought about doing before. It will be difficult." Doppel said.

Another scroll held more relevant information than some parallels. Still I tossed it for being outdated. "It will help you to branch out away from Gwen." I said.

"Gwen hates the empire. This is something she would do. She wasn't entirely honest about the treatment of Darklings by our kind." Doppel said.

I snorted. "We aren't slaves then."

She laughed. "You are slaves in the same way dogs are slaves to humans. No, its worse than that. Many nobles keep your kind in devices called Lingballs. They have tournaments where you are pitted against each other. Gwen used to have her own team of darklings, she was good enough to go pro." Doppel said.

I rubbed my temples while I processed the revalation. That changed the dynamic of my relationship with Gwen quite a lot. It made a little more sense why she was worried about my mind. If the Mind Flayers were that good at capturing my kind for a lack of a better term, maybe some planning was in order. Doppel might have a bit more use than I thought. She might have to help me.

This whole mess was nothing but trouble from the beginning. Dol used me as a test subject to perfect his spell. How that worked was a mystery? He used a number of spells to replicate the effects of the ritual made by an Elder Ancestor and then changed it. By making it a temporary transformation Dol managed to negate the need for a sacrifice. The fact that he could use it on others from a distance made it incredibly valuable in battle.

Underestimating Dol would be a mistake. Odds were good I'd run into the diplomat Gwen's brother. Who would see me as little more than a wild dog? A rare breed of one.

I'd have to decide soon, take Doppel or go by myself. Having someone that I could rely on would be useful. At this rate, I was going into the dark again. Dol was apparently seeking knight or already at knight level. I'd already wasted a lot of time here. If Dol was at full power, then it wouldn't be a fight. Dol would crush me.

Going in guns blazing wouldn't work. I'd need to be sneaky as a darkling is said to be. Doppel was a resource I couldn't leave sidelined. If I could get Star I would. Star might have already reached pleb by now. If that's the case, she would be a powerful ally. If she's like me then unlike a mind flayer, she can choose her transformation. Her kind was built to deal with mind flayers.

"Doppel would Tyrannus be able to recognize you?" I asked.

She burst into laughter. "Not likely, I'm a rarer variant than most. Few manage to rank up and separate from the dead end of Blessed Ancestor path. I'm like a midpoint between the revered Elder Ancestors and the feared Blessed Ancestor." Doppel said.

"Why are the Elder Ancestors revered and the Blessed Ancestors feared?" I asked.

"The children of the Elder Ancestors eventually became the Mind Flayers of today. Blessed Ancestors are an ancient existence most would like to disappear. Most are slain before they can take root." Doppel said.

"So how will Mind Flayer society see you?" I asked.

"They won't its possible to become my variant though its ultra rare. The fruit of an Elder Spawn is needed for a modern Mind Flayer to reach this form. Such an item is reserved only for the most noble or wealthiest of families or the Ling Master." Doppel said.

"Could we pretend that I'm your darkling?" I asked.

Doppel's tentacles danced. "That's so sneaky. We'll pretend my lingball was broken and I'll get an invitation into Tyrannus's entourage. That'll get us into the tower and better yet, put your sword at Dol's throat. We'll have to play it just right."