Balance

Axel scratching the back of his head, "That a little harder to explain. First, you need to understand that without darkness there is no need for light. This world will always have light, and I turn there will always be darkness. Humans and creatures of this world are born with some small amount of darkness. An example of this is fear, it spawns from different places if left unchecked can be catastrophic and lead to extreme darkness, but having no fear can be just as catastrophic. A skydiver jumps by letting go of his or her fear of height and embracing it, that doesn't mean they lack fear, if they did they wouldn't wear a parachute. The fear of death or going (brings hand together to make a loud splat sound) is what makes them put the parachute on and check it".

Cipher fully committed to the conversation couldn't help but wonder what his role was in all this then, "so how do fit into all this, as a Knight of Light if I see a Shimmer (aka Beaker) should I just let it roam? What happened if it attacks someone?"

Laughing in a way reminiscent of how an uncle would laugh at the expense of a nephew, Axel responded back, "I guess you had your first experience fighting a nightmare and a 'Shimmer' no less. Well congratulations the last Knight had to get his arm reattached after fighting one of those. To answer your question the answer is yes and no, if you see nightmare heading towards a town kill it but if it is in the wild where it isn't necessarily going to cause trouble it's better to leave it be. Even if you do go on a rampage and destroy an entire species of nightmares, another one will pop up to take its place and there is a fair chance the new type of nightmare will be worse then the previous one".

Cipher taking everything in understood what Axel was saying, but was completely taken back by the nonchalant tone used by Axel when mentioning reattaching a limb. Ciphed decided to ask, "Is that commonplace around here and is it easy to just reattach it?" Giving yet another laugh at Ciphers expense remarked, "No and no, it just so happened that particular Knight didn't like to listen very well (off in a part of the land filled with darkness a young man with a two-handed battle ax could be seen sneezing). It also isn't necessarily easy to attach a limb, first, you need to have the whole thing and.....well it doesn't really matter about the method, you won't have to worry about that will you?"

Cipher thinking back to the conversation he had with the Goddes Chaos he recalled that he was given a form of immortality. Axel nodding his head responded to Cipher, "That is correct you have been, but that doesn't mean you can't die, or experience things worse than death. If you are ever captured you could be tortured endlessly with no hope of reprieve. To my understanding, you can be decapitated, poisoned, suffocated, and even completely burned to a crisp, and given enough time you can still regenerate. This may seem great but it is not all-powerful, if your existence is erased, or you lack a single cell to regenerate from you will not come back, simple as that. I give you this warning like I have all the Knight's before you, these tools and abilities if obtained by the darkness could destroy this world. Any questions so far?"

At this point Cipher was starting to tired they had been talking for some time and his arm had fallen asleep. He didn't understand why he had his arm on the end table, how Axel kept answering him without him verbalizing the question, and the last question running through his head pertained to the world and its name.

Axel lifted his hand up as if to stop Cipher's continuous train of thought and then responded, "In a previous life I was continuously lied to, so when I came to this world I was given the ability to read the minds of others making it harder for them to lie to me. That end table your hand is resting on is providing your partner a constant stream of information, this is done by sending electrical pulses through the nerves in your hand. That is why it feels as though your hand is 'asleep', the feeling will go away after it is removed. Lastly, your question pertaining to this world's name".

Axel gesturing with his hands made a screen appear in front of Cipher showing images while explaining, "This world is loosely tied to that of Earth every time someone dreams a version of themselves experiences a small portion of this world. They don't physically manifest here, it is more like they are seeing everything through a camera lens. That is how legends, folktales, fairytales, and other stories are created on earth. People recall the experiences they witnessed during their time in this world, and then end up changing details based on their preferences and what they can remember. You will find many if not all the stories and magical creatures you heard of here in this world, but it is important to do research as the reality of this world can be very different then what is told on earth. Now I think we have covered enough it is getting close to lunch now and I think it would be best if we complete the 'Assigning Ceremony' before then. Please follow me".

Standing up Axel fixed his glasses and offered a hand to help Cipher up. It didn't take long for Cipher to realize that he could feel his hand again and that the numbness was gone. Following Axel out of the library and down another hallway to a much smaller and very circular room. Cipher could see a large round futuristic table, with indents carved out where he could only assume he was supposed to place his hands.

Axel hitting a button on the table making it like up then spoke to Cipher, "This machine is built to materialize the weapon or weapons that will be bonded to you, the weapon or weapons that materialize will grow stronger alongside you. Our Goddess Chaos has already selected the weapon or weapons that will accompany you, the only thing left to do is place one hand on each of the indentations in front of you".

Cipher walking towards the table placed each of his hands in one of the indents, excited and nervous not knowing what to expect.

Surprise I was able to write a chapter on my phone while in the car today so I got another chapter out within drive.....no I was the passenger, not the driver. ;) NEVER WRITE AND DRIVE!! But if there are random spelling errors or weird sentence structures that is why.

I might be able to get another chapter out tonight, depeneds on how tired I am. Hope you enjoy (I swear the action is coming just got to build up to it)