Destined

After getting off the boat, Sunny guided the group with Cassie's golden rope off the shore. 

Entering a tunnel, they relied on Sunny to guide their step. 

Their walk through the mist-filled tunnel was slow. With Sunny stopping a few times for unknown reasons.

'Is he collecting the shadows of the first cohort?'

Aldric remembered the fate of the lost souls. Dead with their shadows wandering the misty planes for eternity. He could not help but feel pity for their demise. Doubting that they were still cognisant of themselves. It was most likely similar to Sunny's shadow—completely independent while their masters perished years ago. 

This made Aldric think about the nature of shadows in this world. How exactly does a dead person with no body cast a sentient shadow that could function years after their death? It made no sense to him. The soul was a studied and proven entity, but shadows not at all. 

'Do they only exist to Sunny? Wouldn't we have millions of shadows wandering the waking world if they were left after death?Was Sunny able to damage the shadow of his enemies directly?'

He was beyond confused. There simply was not enough information to make an accurate hypothesis. It was interesting to think about. 

The alien feeling of the mist touching the core of his being slowly reached its peak. Like mud, it trudged through him and completely encased a part of him that he could not name. He could feel that part of his being begin to weaken. While his [Insight] attribute did not signal anything to him, the unknown made him play his card. 

In a small whisper, he spoke.

"First-Class Singularity."

He repeated his true name like a mantra. With his complete attention and energy, his true name was spoken.

A feeling of strength surrounded him and the sliver that the mist wanted to encompass so badly. Each repetition of his identity strengthened him enough to repel the mist. It was similar to him wearing a pair of gloves to fight off the cold.

They were now crossing over a bridge to exit the plane. Aldric continued this battle against the mist. It was not that he would die or be in danger, but his intuition told him that he would lose something valuable inside of him. Remembering what happened when Sunny braved the mist of the Hollow Mountains as a saint, he had to reaffirm his existence even when he covered his eyes. Knowing that Nephis and the cohort did not need to do that now, he wondered.

'What is the difference between the mist here and the mist that Sunny entered?'

Knowing this would give him more information to deal with this alien feeling right now. It was like the feeling of his flaw without any of the hallucinations or transformations. 

Luckily, his battle came to an end. Sunny had led the cohort outside misty planes. Coming to a full stop, 

"Are we through?"

A hoarse voice spoke out. 

"I think so."

Cassie responded.

Hearing the reply, Aldric removed his blindfold and wiped the wax sealing of his eyelids. His eyes adjusted to the whiteness that the boundary of mist emanated. 

Looking around him, the rest of the group were adjusting to the new location. Sunny and Nephis seemed to have spotted something in the distance and were nearing it.

Aldric focused on his body again. Weirdly enough, the lingering mist situated within his being was still present. Wanting answers, he entered his soul sea. 

The familiar view of the sea of clouds met him. He saw the two expansive black holes in the space that symbolised his soul cores. 

Something he didn't recognise made an appearance. 

In the far reaches above the clouds, beyond his soul cores, and along the lining of the boundary. A large dome of white mist was present. Rotating and shifting like a forming star. Aldric did not know if it was absorbing something or inhibiting it.

With no other insights, he left his soul core and caught up with the rest of the group.

Seeing Nephis grab something from the head of the skeleton that was sitting on the cold ground, he remembered who it was. The First Lord. 

Aldric studied the corpse of the man. Covered in rotten rags, he did not live up to what he had imagined. Though that was hardly the skeleton's fault. 

Looking at his state and thinking of the state of the man's cohort, Aldric felt sad. 

'What was the point of their existence?'

Was their role in all of this to set the backstory for the Forgotten Shore and the Bright Castle? Fate was a scary force, and it seemed Nephis and Sunny were at the nexus of it. As much as Sunny moaned about being [Fated], it was what separated him from ending up like the First Lord. 

The First Lord was the picture perfect awakened. Strong aspect to have come so far. A strong cohort. A will strong enough to be able to look into the mist and survive. A whole castle of sleepers at his command. Everything was on his side but fate. That was the difference between him and Nephis. Fate chose to place Cassie besides Nephis. Fate chose to bring the three of them together in the crimson labyrinth. Fate told Cassie about the locations of the memories needed to open the crimson spire. 

Aldric's thoughts were spiralling as he locked his gaze on the skeleton. 

'How much of the First Lord's choices were actually his own? Made with free agency outside the control of fate that wanted him to be a stepping stone for a future generation.

His thoughts continued.

'What is it that separates me from someone like him? Or even someone like Stephen of the Pandavar clan. What stopped me from ending up as an incubator for nightmare spiders?'

Aldric quickly inhaled and focused on his [Tranquil Core] attribute to calm his mind. 

The answer was there. It was always there. Since his first nightmare. He gazed at his runes. 

[Destined]

He always believed that this attribute was just a descriptor. Something to represent his odd origins. However, he now recognised it as his ace. A shield to protect himself from the machinations of fate. From clutches of the fabled [Fated] attribute. It would allow him to reach his goals with his own merit and to die at his own failure. Unlike the First Lord, he was not stuck between venturing the Hollow Mountains or conquering the Crimson Spire. His future was boundless. 

That was the difference between fate and destiny. One was written out in the tapestry without your knowledge, and the other was something that you forged with your life and soul.

With resolute eyes, he whispered to himself. 

"I am the architect of my own destiny. I am the exception."

Just a moment later, a click resounded through his soul. Like a gear changing. Followed by a warm feeling, he could now feel something at his core. Something that was not there before and something that he could not see. 

A familiar voice whispered.

[You have received an Aspect Legacy.]

**********

Thank you for reading once more. 

How was it? I hope my explanation of his destined attribute came across well.

Woah he received an aspect legacy. What is it? what triggered it? any theories?

See you in the next one.