Back in the Waking World.

Veritas could not feel anything, no sense, no sight, no smell, no hearing, and no touch. After his head had entered inside the golden door, Veritas ceased to exist. He saw vivid memories, and visions, he questioned whether this was reality or not. 

Veritas could not think yet at the same time his mind worked, he could not see but visions appeared in front of him. 

He was in a black space that stretched infinitely, Veritas remembered the pure empty white room that he had entered prior to being transported elsewhere. 

It was empty but it felt more than that.

This black space that he was in felt the same, it was empty but empty could not be a word to describe it. It can be described more like.. oblivion or nonexistence. But Veritas could feel everything at the same time. 

It felt weird, his feeble human soul could not comprehend such complexity.

The best comparison that he could think of was an individual being trapped in a dark room and constantly seeing visions due to the sheer isolation.

Everything that he thought of suddenly appeared in front of him, yet he could not think at all. Veritas felt annoyed at the paradoxical scenario that he was experiencing, yet he could not feel anything at all.

He was trapped in an endless void of cycles. It was hard to comprehend for him, especially with his lack of ability to think. 

However, a few moments of cycles had repeated itself and a flaw had finally appeared in front of him. It was a set of runes engraved with ancient texts. Surprisingly, Veritas, who did not have the ability to read, was able to understand the text in front of him. 

It read:

[You are at a state of nothingness and infinity]

"What does that even mean?"

Veritas thought that he had spoken yet words did not come out of his mouth. He did not think of that either, because he was not able to think at all!

"So annoying!"

Mere words came out of his mouth, yet he had not even spoken, he felt annoyed yet he could not feel. 

[This is the essence of your Soul]

[The internal conflict between nothingness and infinity seemed to have caused your Soul some turmoil.]

[Thus, you have been transported to lands of unknown.]

[However, upon learning of your Path, your Soul has become more stabilized.]

Veritas could not comprehend at all what was written on the runes. At the same time, he felt as if it revealed an important piece of information. 

Then, beneath the runes were text that were glowing red. They were unsightly to the eyes, when Veritas stared at them he suddenly thought of looking away. However, the paradoxical nature of his Soul turned his thoughts inversely. Instead of looking away, he directly looked at the red text.

[Veritas Alpas Elrod.. You are a ██████]

The words at the end were redacted from view, he questioned if it was due to the nature of his Soul. Yet that question was immediately torn to oblivion. Veritas realized that he could not think at all.

Then, he stared at the glowing red text once more. This time it shook his entire being and Soul.

[WAKE █P!]

Immediately! Everything around Veritas converged into one single point inside him! The horizon of emptiness was suddenly inside of Veritas! But he could not comprehend this thought, thus he was perplexed at the sudden development.

Thus, everything around him had vanished, only the runes remained in front of him.

[WAK█ U█! W█KE UP! █A█E UP! ███E UP! WA██ ██!

His consciousness vanished and darkness was all that awaited him.

*

Then, there was light. 

Veritas opened his eyes to a familiar room of pure white, the room was empty and he was surrounded by isolation. He had sat in a meditating position in the middle of the room, his brain still fried due to his experience with the essence of his Soul. 

Veritas had not remembered much but the glowing red text seemed to be engraved in his mind. He still felt the state of nothingness and infinity at the same time, whenever Veritas tried to think there was a feeling of forgetting how to think. 

However, that feeling came to pass and Veritas had finally realized that he is back in reality. He tried to assess the glowing red text that the runes have shown back in his Soul. He tried to remember, but it was a bit hazy, and his mind was still bumfuzzled. 

Veritas remembered words along the lines of his Soul being in a state of turmoil due to the constant conflict between the two aspects of his Soul. To begin with, why did he have two aspects of the Soul?

'Ah- my head hurts.'

He felt that his thoughts were going to be heard across the room, but that moment never came. The essence of his Soul really dealt a big blow to his brain. 

He pondered once more about the previous events that transpired.

'After learning the complete truth of the Golden City, I tried to escape from the reaches of the Seraphim of Gold. Then I was turned into Gold?'

'No, that can't be right.. What happened?'

Veritas racked his brain and used all of his braincells to remember but his head started to hurt even more. He massaged his temples and concentrated his mind, breathing deeply every second or so..

'While being chased by the Seraphim... I- was killed? My head was cut off, I remember that all too well. I felt gold creeping up and hardening my body but before it had complete transmuted I-'

"I cut my own head off?!"

Veritas had not noticed that he screamed loudly, which caused the white door of the room to suddenly open. Entering it was a bearded man with white hair and deep golden eyes. 

For a second, he looked worried and concerned as if he had entered the room in a hurry. But the man looked taciturn and his stature showed honor.

"Father!"

Veritas had called out to the white-haired king of Elrod, the indifferent king gazed upon Veritas with relief. As if something deep inside had finally softened upon seeing his dear son. 

"Veritas.. What happened to your eye?"

The king seemed to stop when he saw the redness of Veritas' right eye. His body turned wary at the sudden realization.

"Ah- This.. Father, I have a lot to tell you! Sit down please!"

The king was also surprised by the sudden change in his son's tone. The son that he knew was more respectful and calm when addressing him. Thus, this caused an alert in his mind.

Meanwhile, Veritas criticized his own words.

'Have I been influenced by that damned honorable Prince?!'

Veritas could only sigh deeply and continue his words towards his Father. 

"I am still Veritas.. Father, your wariness is valid but you should know that I am still the same son that you know of."

With those words, the King immediately calmed down, he could discern truth and lies after all.. it was due to the guidance of the Winds. 

"I apologize, do continue your words."

Thus, Veritas told the story of how he had woken up in a field of emptiness only to be transported back to another empty forlorn forest. Darkness was all he could notice but the radiance in the horizon had charmed him.

Veritas told the story of his adventure inside the Golden City, he had not gotten much deeper into the stories of its history but he had mentioned a few memorable lines.

Lastly, Veritas' tone got more serious as he told the tale of the Seraphim of Gold. His skin still trembled when he merely uttered the name of the divine being. 

Julius listened attentively to his son's words, showing a clear sense of worry. His son had been in a meditative state for 24 hours, no father would not worry of encountering such situations.

Usually, the process of reaching upon one's soul could only take a few minutes and a maximum of an hour. But, Veritas had been gone for longer! He spent 24 long hours in the solitude of the white room. 

Julius initially wished to wait inside the room until his Son had woken up. But his wife, Aletheia, dragged him out of the room herself. 

Thus, Julius waited outside the white room instead.

'What a doting Father.' Aletheia had thought. 

Hearing Veritas' story about his journey to find his Soul had been heart-wrenching. He knew that his Son was capable of combat, even defeating the Gargoyle Knight of the South, a formidable enemy that governed the ruins of Orph.

But! Encountering a divine being, a Seraphim! Was out of his reach, even Julius doubted whether he could face off against a higher existence. 

"...and thus I have unlocked my Path."

Julius was taken back to reality with his son's words. 

"Your Path? Tell me what it is and its rank."

"Okay, wait for a moment.."

Veritas gazed upon his Soul, seeing the complete pure white illusory body enveloping his entire being. Then, Veritas summoned the runes and gazed upon them intently. 

[Veritas Alpas Elrod]

[Path: Visionshaper]

[Path Rank: Seraph]

[Soul Rank: Impure]

[Attunement: Whisperer of the Winds]

[Skill:

Windsong

- Shape the winds with your voice.

Will of the Winds

- Shape the winds with your will.

Galebreathe

- Your lungs are always filled with the winds, you never run out of breath and you never feel winded. Your energy is boosted and your blood circulates well.]

[Soul Storage:

(1) Eye of the Kraken-...]

'This!' 

Veritas was firstly satisfied by the complete descriptions that the runes had shown him. After seeing the descriptions blank, it was nice to finally see them in their full glory.

However! Veritas was surprised by the rank of his Path! It exceeded his expectations, he only aimed for Uber or Gazed, but Seraph?

This was of the same rank as the Seraphim of Gold, could Veritas now be considered as an Angel? He shook away that thought. 

"Father.. My Path is Visionshaper and its rank is.."

Julius anticipated the words that would come out of his son's mouth. He guessed if it was Uber like his, or even Gazed, he expected it to be nothing lower than Sacred.

"Seraph."

Julius' eyes widened in shock.