Legacy of the Deceased - Part 1

'Truly, this must be a joke… how I leave you alone for a couple of minutes and already you get yourself in a pickle. But then again maybe this is not so bad as you at least get to try your luck at a legacy trial.' Pharaoh said after taking a scroll through Rin's Soul Palace and returning to the command center. 

Only to see that Rin had been fooled by Alister and became a legacy contender for a deceased Divine Lord's legacy at the minimum. 

"Haha, no need to panic my friend, it's but a procedure you must go through before you will be eligible to earn my master's legacy. Which in your hands you might just be able to usher in a new era and rewrite the wrongs of his past!" Alister said mysteriously with a laugh unaware of the changes his actions made to the future.

"Usher in a new era? Are you fucking crazy, Alister? Do I look like some sort of God to you?" Rin shouted with disbelief as he truly could not comprehend how he could be the pioneer of a new era. 

Just as the stone orb attached to his hand began to crack, revealing bits of the object hidden underneath it that began to release faint greenish light with a hint of blue. 

"No, but you are something better, kid." Alister replied calmly, 'Hmm, so he is a variant, a mix between human and the otherworldly, huh?'

'God t… t-this must be some sick joke; how could I have fallen for such a newbie trick?' Rin pondered internally as he could only let out a sigh and accept his fate.

"Well, for one, you lowered your guard and listened to the orders of a dead person, so you have only yourself to blame for your naivety." Alister chuckled as he read Rin like a book and took joy in finding a good seedling for his deceased master's legacy.

"…" Rin, 'Truly, I can't be this easy to read?'

'In certain situations, yes, but that is beside the point as this might be the key to solving your situation. Considering legacy trials have always been a fantastic way to gain strength quickly, without fear if your foundation would be unstable afterward.' 

'You better hope it does, Pharoah so what is a legacy trial?'

'A legacy trial for dummies is a set of tasks that must be completed in a set period to see if you are worthy by the Legacy Spirit to earn the legacy of a deceased expert.'

'Hmm, well then hopefully, this legacy from the deceased turns out to be a great boon.'

'Hopefully, it does because kid,' Pharoah smiled.

Crumble. Crumble. Crumble. 

"But any who while you are not fully human, I guess for the first trial you passed so congratulations!" Alister commented as he glanced at the stone orb that was getting brighter and brighter by the second as more cracks appeared on its surface.

Revealing the object hidden underneath it, which resembled amethyst just without the rugged exterior. Which was molded into a rhombus with a hollow center, which held an egg in the center of it and had abstract runes and serpent-like chains revolving around it.

"Wow, it's beautiful… just what is it and why the apathetic attitude?" Rin exclaimed as he realized he could now move his hand.

"It's Moon Amethyst, a rare ore, usually found in the Caverns of Lapis on Ether," Alister replied softly.

"Hmm, so it didn't collapse after all… maybe they managed to... forget it," Pharaoh whispered to himself aloud, 'Now just what is~'

He said as he stopped before a torn painting of a man standing in the void as he stood on a broken piece of an asteroid. With his back facing the world as broken planets and...

'Did you say something, Pharaoh?' Rin asked.

'Sorry about that... I was just thinking about a kid, I met in the distant past.'

'Oh, now that is unexpected… as I did not think you were the type to like kids, I guess we learn something new every day.'

'Shut up and worry about yourself and how you are going to complete this legacy trial!' 

'You know what I'm not going to argue with you, Pharoah,' Rin said as he rolled his eyes before asking Alister a question, "So, what other trials must I pass before I am eligible to leave… I mean inherit your Master's legacy?"

"Well, since you have asked so kindly you have about three more trials to complete before you will be qualified to inherit my Master's legacy. However, do be warned if you do not pass at least the first two mini-trials, your Soul Palace will be destroyed, and your life will be forfeited so may God be on your side."

"Well, then what are we waiting for, let's get this show on the road!"

"If you say so," Alister laughed as he shrugged his shoulders and snapped his fingers, teleporting them to a plain white room.

***

"Hmm, so that old fool found another challenger, I wonder who it is this time?" Venus muttered as she opened her eyes and sat up after sensing a familiar energy signature.

***

In a village located on the outskirts of the Frozen Wasteland…

Knock. Knock.

"Come in," A tired yet firm voice said from behind the door.

Creak. Click.

"Father, it happened again," An adolescent said as they rubbed their eyes and walked into his father's study. 

"What happened, Rue? Did you sense God's presence again?" Rue's father asked as he stopped what he was doing and gazed at his youngest son, who had been acting strange ever since they left the Sho village.

"I think so father, however, it feels gentler and more majestic than last time like a mother's touch or the moon shedding light upon the darkness of the night," Rue replied as he tried to articulate himself so that his father understood what he had been feeling lately. 

"Hmm, then I guess we better start planning… but for now, just forget it and go to sleep as we have a big ceremony to attend tomorrow so good night, Rue," His father told him as he dismissed the matter and sent him on his way.

"I'll try and good night, Dad," Rue replied meekly as he left his father's study and returned to his room. Yet, no matter how he tried he just could not forget the sensation he felt a while ago as this was the second time, he felt such warmth from God.

***

Meanwhile in the Volcanic Range of Iku… 

"Just what was that? Is that the thing I am supposed to be looking for, but just where did it come from?" Pondered Shelly as she stopped to get a sense of its location using a new technique, called Cry of a Thousand Birds to trace its energy residue.

Swoosh. Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!

Manifesting the phantoms of a thousand birds into existence which used their cries to pierce the night sky, as she manipulated their translucent energy to send sound waves throughout the world. 

Yet, even with all that she still could not pinpoint its location.

"Ah, this is just too much! How am I supposed to find this catalyst? When even the world's consciousness forbids me from acquiring it; why does Grandma always have to be so difficult, wouldn't it have been easier to just steal the Solar Rose Flame of a Supernova?" Shelly complained with a pout as she stomped her feet. 

"Relax, my child you'll find it, in due time… just have patience and your path shall become clear." Shelly's grandma said as she appeared behind her and glanced in the direction of the Desert of Peril.

"If you say so Grandma," muttered Shelly as she closed her eyes and canceled the skill, before entering a meditative pose to regain her lost energy and allow nature to take its course.