15 Paths

Veronica opened the book for the first time after she had learnt the ancient rener language. The first page didn't contain anything interesting, just one message from the unknown author of the book.

'If you are reading this, that means you have lost your mind, but you shouldn't worry, since this world was built upon insanity! An advice before you continue... Don't!

Happy Reading!'

The ominous message only increased Veronica's curiosity, which was probably the reason the author wrote it. She moved onto the next page, which contained the table of contents.

Most of it either sounded boring or she already learnt about them from Suze, but two pages instantly caught her interest. One of them was about the religions and the most famous organizations. The other was titled 'The 15 Paths of Ascension'.

Veronica quickly read which page contained the later and she immediately turned the pages there. On the top of the page there was the same title, then a small exposition explaining what this chapter in the book entails.

In summary it will name each of the 15 paths and explain what their strong suits are. It will also name their symbolic colors and a few other defining features.

With her eyes Veronica quickly read each of the order's names, but ironically she didn't find any kind of order in their placement. It's like the author just wrote it down, like it came to his or her mind.

The first one was the Knowledge Pursuer. It gave the ascended a large upgrade to their soul body, whatever that was. It also increased cognitive function by a large amount, which increased their ability to learn and remember.

Another thing it gave the ascended, was a type of divination called Astromancy and it unlocked the Mind's Eye.

These last two terms were something Veronica never heard before, but she decided to only read more about them when she read through these 15 paths.

The next part talked about the Knowledge Pursuer's symbolic color which was dark blue. As she read further it explained why. The Knowledge Pursuer's further orders brought it closer to space and anything related to it.

With this new information a few new things became more obvious for Veronica. For example she remembered that woman in the Unbroken with those beautiful blue eyes, which was an indication of her path. She also understood now why were the observatories and libraries painted dark blue.

Her excitement grew with this new knowledge and she was very curious to learn more about each color and path!

The excitement didn't last long though. As she read the next path's name her mood became sad. The Oracle path reminded her of that old lady named Madam Stout, who got corrupted because of Veronica.

She read on, but the description didn't really hold anything too interesting. The Oracle was mostly related to mystery and using it to your advantage.

When they ascend they unlock multiple types of divination ranging from palm, car and dice, but technically they can divine with anything, these were only mediums to make it easier.

They also get to use that Mind's Eye and even unlock different types of ritualistic magics, which the book doesn't talk about in detail.

Their symbolic color is yellow, which was the color of most oracle or seer tents in a circus.

When she finished reading, Veronica took a few minutes to calm herself down. When she got rid of the useless depressing thoughts, she moved onto the next path.

It was named Outlaw, which immediately brought interest to Veronica. They got an upgrade to close quarter fighting, also their physical body gets stronger and faster by a large amount.

They also get Mind's Eye, which made Veronica furious.

"Why does every path seem to get this ability or whatever it is, except mine?"

After she got that out of her system she finally read its symbolic color which was metallic gray. This made her remember every prison's color and also that woman's eyes who nearly shot her an hour ago.

This also reminded Veronica of her previously bleeding wound, but strangely enough it didn't even hurt when she touched it this time. She was about to go to a mirror and check it out, but then decided to do it first thing tomorrow since she really wanted to read more.

She had to turn a page to continue reading. The next one was named Devout Follower and as Veronica read more about it, she was very surprised. This path seemed much more different than the rest.

They seemed to get power by following individuals of higher order's from their path, and this connection was vice versa which meant the higher order you were and the more followers you had, the more powerful you became.

Veronica found it strange that non of the orthodox churches were made up of this path. It would've made them possibly the strongest religion.

These people had an equal increase to their soul body and physical body. They also could pray for blessings from the strongest person in their path.

Their symbolic color was pure white, which made sense since their path later on was related to fire, light and cleansing. Strangely enough nothing was really colored plain white in the Free Cities.

There didn't seem to be a reason for this, it's just that people liked color more than plainness. After thinking for a bit, Veronica moved onto the next entry.

It was named Villain and just as its name suggested it specialized at hurting others. The person would gain a significant boost to their body and learn fighting moves. They would also learn how to steal, lie, kill, etc. If it was something evil they knew about it.

Their color was unsurprisingly black and their path is described with only one word by the author... Hellish. This description creeped Veronica out so much, that she instantly went onto the next one.

She was very familiar with this path, since Suze always spoke about them. The Mediator path specialized in keeping balance between good and bad. They could calm down most situation just by talking to the individual. They also got a large upgrade to their soul body.

Veronica already knew that their symbolic color was light gray, but only now did she realize an interesting fact. The Devout Follower seemed to be the good path and the Villain the bad, and if you mixed their colors you get light gray. She didn't know if this had any actual meaning or it was only a coincidence.

She turned the page again and read the name, this one was the path she originally decided against when she decided to become an ascended. The Soldier still sounded quite interesting. It would be nice to know more about firearms and melee weapons, also its increase in the physical strength was very tempting too.

But as she read more, she was thankful that she didn't choose this path. It was mostly related to war and conquest with its symbolic color being blood red. Learning this it made sense why the navy ships and airships were all painted red.

She sighed in relief and happiness, yeah she liked to learn about past wars, but that didn't mean she wanted to become a warmonger.

She continued reading, the next one was the exact opposite of the Soldier. It was named Monk, it gained something named Meditative Divination and it also had a passive anti-divination. As an ascended of this path you would also get an equal increase with your soul body and physical body.

The Monk's are related to peace and tranquility, and their symbolic color is light blue. There was no building painted in this color, but there was no need since the most peaceful place was under the bright blue sky.

The last name on this page was Sinner. At first Veronica thought they were similar to the Villain, but she quickly realized that wasn't the case. She read on with a large blush on her face.

This path was... strange... When they ascended they became extremely beautiful and gained stronger soul bodies, also their stamina greatly increased. They also learned Mirror Divination, but the most disturbing was what they became if they continued on this path.

The whole path was mostly related to desire and seducing. Their symbolic color was your own skin color, the book also specified that any advancement or ritual had to be made naked.

While Veronica's face was red as a tomato, she turned over to the next page.

The first one was another path she knew basically everything about. The Lost path. She ran her eyes through the lines, but nothing new was written there, so she immediately went to the next one.

The Cultivator was one of the paths Suze mentioned once, but Veronica knew nothing about them, just that this was the Dracon Empire's most used path.

They were really special too. It seemed that they gained knowledge about nature and could do something called Weather Divination. The most interesting thing was though, that they could increase their strength by absorbing ethereal property of items, materials, basically anything without consciousness.

Their symbolic color was green, which meant to symbolize nature. Also their path was related to creating things.

Veronica was very surprised to learn that they could actually make ethereal items at a later order of their path.

Finally she reached the last name on the page, but she instantly regretted it. Its name was Lunatic, and as the name suggested an ascended of this path would become literally insane. They would also acquire physical deformities. It is said that they know the future to some extant, but they are simply too mad to make coherent sentences.

They have a very strong anti-divination aura and their soul body is really strong. Their symbolic color is brown, which explains why sanatoriums are painted that color.

The author was really poetic when describing the future of this path's ascended.

'They are insane because of the future. Monstrosities of nature, the destroyers of everything. If you see someone with their eyes moving everywhere, you found a Lunatic, which means you should probably be as far away from them as possible!'

Veronica didn't fully understand why the author reacted like that to them, but she knew one person who fit that description perfectly. It seemed like Drunk McLean was a Lunatic.

She tried to recall the insane person's ramblings, but she didn't remember any of it. Eventually she let the situation drop for now and turned to the final page of this chapter.

As Veronica read the names on the page, a small smile appeared on her face. There were three names written on the two pages – Vocalist, Soundless, Dancer.