The Ancient Truth
＂Please, may I have some delicious candies and chocolates for writing this? ^_^＂ Diacrofia said mischievously while putting on his innocent little smile.
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Account number 1.
Year 204, Fidhr.
Today is the day I will be going to the Windy Range.
Windy Range a known hell for most of the living things, a heaven of white, or you could say, a dang cold place sometimes 42 degree Celsius below zero and has the tendency to have blizzards lasting for a long, long time. The reason GSF and the Empire of Yang never touched this area of the world is because no one cared(or dared) to conquer such worthless, cold and untamed terrain that has almost no connection to the outside world. Seems like this Windy Range place is a no fun place eh? Well, I admit, it's true.
That being said, I'm all set, with the backpack loaded with necessary tools and food.
Oh, by the way if you are going to ask why I'm going to this so-called white place of torment, I'm just another crazy guy. [laughs]
No, not really, to be honest, I'm going to find out if the old legends and tales are true. Ya know, about the Ancient Truth, the mythical and legendary being that never dies, in short, an immortal.
I looked through the record of his(we don't even know if it's a she or a he, so we just say a he) places of appearance from the last few decades, even though people say it's unreliable resource from the mysterious information trader but after few months of checking through his tales, from books, from elders, I found that the mysterious information trader might be correct and the Ancient Truth could be living somewhere in the Windy Range.
＂Fidhr! I won't let you go! When are you going to stop this madness?! What about me? You really want to abandon me?＂ As usual, my partner, Simeria is trying to change my mind, but with no avail. We lived near the boundary line of the Draik territory, but we were never part of any forces. Right at the west direction of my house, there is a forest, it had been filled with white snow since the past two years, I doubt the plants are really alive.
Simeria runs out from the house and pulls my right arm. ＂Don't go!＂
＂Simeria, you know why I want to do this, you know why.＂
That is the last thing I say to her, and I start to walk into the thick forest enveloping the Windy Range. I can hear Simeria's sob behind, but harden my heart to go on without turning back.
I'm sorry.
The forest is not a problem, I knew the way, I never meet any beast. In fact, I never meet anything else there except all the tall deciduous trees and shrubs covered by the angelic touch of snow. If will be rather creepy if I decided to stay at night. I continue on for about two hours.
After the forest, the temperature drops tremendously, like I got into another world. I widen my eyes and take a good look at the one of the snow mountain in the Windy Range which is about a mile away. Intimidating it seems, but I am determined.
I go on and on, spending days and nights in the cold and dry weather. Sleeping in tent, sleeping in hidden caves, got frostbite which nearly took my right hand.
Most importantly, my food is running out. I should have brought some syrup and eat snow or something.
I keep walking. The Windy Range is really wide and harsh, at least harsher than I had expected. I don't know where to start, but I know he is here.
Finally, I guess around one week and five days later, I couldn't take it anymore and decided to just freeze myself to dead. I don't want to go back, not unless I found him, or her. If I couldn't, I might as well be dead.
With that thought in mind, I just lie down on the thick and icy snow, weak and loosing my consciousness......
＂？What's this? Sea rock?＂ A melodious voice gets nearer. It pokes Fidhr with a long and thin finger that is as fair as the snow, or as pale as the snow. ＂Hmmm....I guess not. Better be on my way.＂ And the blur figure left.
...When I regain consciousness, I find out that I'm not dead. A miracle, really. I get back up, feeling light headed. How long had I been unconscious? Looks like not too long, the sky is still quite bright. As my vision gets clearer, I saw a huge, overly huge mansion right in front of me. I am surprise that I didn't realized it exist before but maybe it is hard to see because it's painted with the same white color of its surrounding.
The mansion looks really lonely, in the middle of nowhere, covered with snow. Without second thought, I run towards it and press the bell.
This could be HIS living place!!
Yaha~Yaha~Yaha~
The weird sound of the bell rang throughout the whole mansion. Although not very clear because of the howling of the wind, I can hear a little. And doubt myself.
The tall and heavy door opens, revealing a youngster, half awake from his sleep.
He has long and messy yellowish hair. What catches my eyes is that he wears a long white pajama and bare footed. I wonder if he is immune to the coldness of this place.
He asks with a sleepy voice that has a hint of anger ＂A guest? How rare. You want to stay a night here?＂
I didn't answer him.
God, don't tell me this young man is the Ancient Truth!
Seeing that I didn't answer his question, the young man raises his eyebrow. ＂If you have nothing to say, I'll go back to sleep.＂
＂Wait!＂
＂Hmm?＂
＂Are you the Ancient Truth?＂
＂Ancient Truth?＂ He shows no interest to my question.
＂Yes, are you?＂
＂If you are not looking for a place to rest then please excuse me.＂
＂Answer me please!＂ I think I sound desperate, because he shoot me an annoyed look.
＂No, I am not.＂ He answers firmly.
At that moment, I feel like every strength in my body drains out of me.
My last hope is lost, I can't move on now with my current condition.
Without me realizing, that man suddenly appears behind the gate which is very near me. ＂Hmm? You look sick. Better let you in, don't want to have a dead body to clean up tomorrow.＂ He mumbles as he opens the gate, but I can see no key in the keyhole when he does it.
＂Follow behind me.＂ He says as he locks the gate when I step in.
And I can only do as he says.
I follow him into the mansion. Inside it, it is all white color, just like its outside.
We walk for a long time, and never talk to each other. Our footsteps sounds very loud in the big space.
Finally, we enter a room which is very cozy and well decorated with furniture. It feels like it does not belong here.
＂So-- You can call me Diacrofia.＂ he says to me and sits on the only sofa in the room. ＂Sit beside me.＂
As I do what he says I see him yawn again.
＂...What do you want to do when you find that Ancient Truth person?＂ He asks lazily.
I hesitate for a moment, should I tell this stranger? What if he's the real thing? I decided to say.
＂I want him to revive my comrades who were the soldiers of Draik. They were my only friends, but they died an unjust death...＂ Then I start to think about the past.
Diacrofia sneezes and I am shocked.
＂Oh I see, must be tough.＂ He says and stands up.
＂I'll lead you to a resting place. You should take a rest and leave tomorrow.＂
Diacrofia doesn't ask anything more, he doesn't look interested. Without a topic, I decide to just rest tonight and walk with him to a room next to this.
The bedroom is quite cozy and simple. But everywhere, there are white feathers.
＂Sorry, I didn't notice it's so messy here.＂Diacrofia apologizes and picks up all the feathers slowly, but gracefully.
＂It's alright. I'm not fussy.＂I am going to sleep right on the bed, but Diacrofia stands in my way.
＂But I'm fussy with how my room looks like.＂
Very quickly, he finishes the cleaning. ＂You may sleep now.＂
I do as he says and he leaves swiftly after that. No extra conversation.
The next day I wake up, I am in a strange unfamiliar room. Don't get me wrong, I know where I was yesterday. There is a window and I peer out.
That is when I realize, I am in a completely different world.
~~~~~~~~~~~
The Gear of the world keeps the world going.
The dimensions and worlds, so numerous, so vast
it slowly became an uncountable mass of confusion and chaos.
As time passed, the hierarchy of dimensions became clearer.
The time that controls the worlds in the dimensions blinded every being inside them.
Then, a Sorting needs to be done.
And as the dimensions agreed subconsciously,
came the one who arrange, record and categorize,
namely the Ancient Truth. -Zak the Third
~~~~~~~~~~~
Letwen and the dimensions
The hierarchy
Upper first
The one on the top has the shortest interval of time. Days and years pass by very quickly.
Dimension name: Ifiod
Worlds: Omial, Resticu
Time ratio: 1:17
Rarity: 7/10
Criteria: Grade C and above with minimum 3 decades of life.
Upper second
Second from the top has slightly longer interval of time. It is very hard to pinpoint the dimension's entrance because of the distraction by a powerful force.
Dimension name: Lognaid
Worlds: Hurranpol
Time ratio: 2:17
Rarity: 10/10
Criteria: Grade A and above with at least equal powerful force.
Middle first
Third from the top, the interval time is prolonged because of the gap in between the Upper and Middle dimension.
Dimension name: Dregom Pleos
Worlds: Ghatenn, Yushua, Klosic, Rector
Time ratio: 6:17
Rarity: 4/10
Criteria: Grade C and above with minimum 1 decade of life.
Middle second
Fourth from the top and has slightly longer interval of time. This is where a cluster of worlds belong to.
Dimension name: Seacile
Worlds: Fralc, Eliope, Wasmuvo, Thuhala, Prudom, Code 213a, Longsein and more to come.
Time ratio: 8:17
Rarity: 2/10
Criteria: Grade D and above with minimum 3 decades of life.
Bottom first
Fifth from the top, interval of time is longer. Some of the worlds are still in the first cycle of change.
Dimension name: Averochrome
Worlds: Castac, Thoyul-vindas, Polwekiq, Fex
Time ratio: 11:17
Rarity: 6/10
Criteria: Grade B and above with minimum 4 decades of life.
Lowest
Sixth from the top, very long interval of time. First cycle still on-going.
Dimension name: First
Worlds: Letwen
Time ratio: 17:17
Rarity: 8/10
Criteria: Grade B and above with minimum 1 and a half decade of life.
*This is the Gate world. There is a Door in Letwen that can lead to almost all worlds above. A mansion was built around the Door and is not bound by the time's control. The Ancient Truth resides here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I would not call this a glorious place to live.
It is like a storage house where all data and information were kept.
Losing control of this mansion would be beyond disastrous.
-Nydra the fourth
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ancient Truth
Many in Letwen believed there was only one Ancient Truth. The sightings of Ancient Truth dated back since the world was born. However, they were wrong, there were four of them before Diacrofia. Diacrofia, being the current Ancient Truth is the only one who achieved the unachievable, and thus he is the last Ancient Truth there will be.
The First
He who was born along with the world knew his purpose. He did not have a name, just The First. Letwen, unlike other worlds, has the longest time interval. It allowed The First to search for the Door in the tall mountain(currently named as Windy Range) and lived around it. At that time, the environment there was not harsh and filled with blizzard. It was a relatively peaceful place. The snow and coldness did not stop The First from living in the Windy Range, he is immune to them. What sheltered him was a small cottage he build by himself using whatever he could find in the cold mountain.
He was the first one to start writing histories and witnessing events happening in Letwen. As time passed, beings below slowly created their own country, tribe, language and signs. Watching them learning was one of the pleasures he had. The First have a book recording all the notable or significant beings. They could be a leader, a peasant, a slave or even a child.
He created a foundation of what Ancient Truth is now. There was a very thick book, named the Book of Flowing Time. It was fill with predictions, or one could say, Prophecies. With The First's mystical power, he was able to write down words which will sooner or later become true. It is a book about the future, a very distant future and he was still writing it as days passed. The Prophecies were not long, they were mainly only consist of two sentences or just one simple phrase.
As centuries passed by, eventually, he knew his time would end. Unlike what legend says, Ancient Truth is not immortal. He set out to find his successor. After months of searching, he found Theto.
Theto was an independent and stern soldier in his mid 20s protecting his country Lakos(an ancient country which is now long gone). The First came to him when he was practicing alone in the forest. Theto was shocked in disbelief but quickly lowered his head in respect. His behaviour surprised The First because he was expecting questions or fear from him.
＂Were you expecting me?＂
＂I have always seen a white and cold place in my dreams. And I could see my lord frequently, replacing my reflection in the water.＂
＂I am not your lord, Theto, but a fading existence. Would you let go of your life down here and come with me? ＂
The First put both of his hands on Theto's shoulder, beckoning him to look straight into his bright amethyst eyes. Theto considered for a brief moment, and with a determined look, nodded. ＂I will.＂
With his powerful wings, The First took Theto to his cottage very quickly. Once Theto is ready to learn, The First taught him everything he knew, including the existence of the different dimensions. While teaching, he also continued to write down details of the passing days and history of Letwen, and also recording down important events that had happened in other dimensions.
Four decades passed, but Theto did not age at all under the protection of the First. He helped to expand the cottage and building shelves, not forgetting to master his sword skill as well. The First taught him self-control, focus, concentration and various important skills needed to be an Ancient Truth. He also started writing an account of all that had happened in Letwen, focusing on different events.
There comes the day, when The First realized his energy depleting rapidly. The dimension draws his life force away, indicating his death, and also to extract all the knowledge from him. He resisted, knowing if the knowledge is spread amongst the worlds, it would create a swirl of confusion and greed from the beings in them. He knew well a large number of worlds contained dangerous beings who could easily overpowered the other worlds. It would mean chaos again.
He stood calmly in the large space of the library and called Theto to his side.
＂I know this will be a gruesome experience. But it is necessarily. Do not forget yourself.＂
The First said and put both his hands on Theto's shoulder, just like the first day they met.
＂What is it? What are you going to do?＂ Theto had fear in his voice, he had no idea what was going to happen for The First never told him about his approaching death.
＂I am going to give you all my knowledge, as well as my memories and experience. It is easy to be lost in the vortex of memories, but I had trained you and I am confident.＂The First smiled kindly. ＂I hope you will not forget me, as a person...I leave this all to you.＂
＂Where are you going? First!＂ Theto hold onto The First's arms, the first time he had ever touched him after all these years. ＂What is happening!＂
Right at that moment, The First poured all his life into Theto's until there was none. Before his last bit of himself was gone, he put the sleeping, or perhaps struggling Theto gently on the ground.
＂Take the history with you, and protect the knowledge.＂
That was his last words and he slowly crystallized.
The First was gone.
Theto the Second
Theto woke up the next day, and lied back on the floor again to endure the dizziness and headache. He barely made it. After one night of struggling to put himself together he now awake with two lives in him. It was an excruciating journey. Both he and The First's identity were roaring and tugging at his mind to take control. At the edge of madness, he caught hold of his own thoughts and centered himself amongst all the different memories. Now, every single experience The First had is his. The First is him. He is The First. Whatever he learned from The First was enhanced and he inherited all of The First's power. He also found out two large wings just like that of The First grown on his back.
What Theto did next was not special or extraordinary, he continued to do what he was meant to do; writing, recording and categorizing. At the same time, he started to expand the cottage, and slowly it became a two story house with an ever amassing library.
Theto realized The First's mistake. He hid the truth of what will happen if the time had come, and it is important. Theto had decided to let his successor know that.
He also found out The First had secretly constructed different time dimension around the house's area, and he knew how to increase its efficiency. With that, the first two rules were created.
Rule 1. The time dimension cannot be deactivated or destroyed.
Rule 2. The room with crystallized elders are to be protected from any other beings with the life of the current resident of the house.
Theto wrote it down in the black covered book, knowing well he did not have to do it. He respected The First's conviction to write everything down and he will follow it.
He was the one who named himself Ancient Truth. It was not an attempt to create a title for himself out of pride, it was just his own way of expressing the being he was.
The beings below began counting the years. They were 5460 years late, and Theto noted it down. Thus the difference of years in Ancient Truth's calendar. One is TY, meaning True Year, another is CT, Created Year. From then on, the books written by Ancient Truth contains two different years.
Theto continued The First's name collection of significant people. He noted down possible successor, and kept a good eye on them.
There was a time around TY 10000 when a large scale poverty and drought rapidly spread out. The sky was bright for a year without rain and the sun shone fiercely. Water in the ponds and lakes eventually dried up and rivers became only a small trail of water, which beings below fight to gain control of.
Theto frowned at the dying mountains around him. The ice and snow slowly melted into water. Beings below found out the mountain range he lived in and a large group of them began to shift at the bottom of the mountain, cultivating the melting ice and survive on the water. As much as he was willing to provide them, he could not risk showing himself to them. So he did what he could, creating snowstorm with most of his power for the mountain to provide snow and also to prevent unknowing people to stumble upon his sanctuary.
However, the act caused him too much and he lost his strength. He became extremely feeble, and was unable to carry heavy objects like he used to. The snowstorm rages on and on, and soon he realized the snowstorm he caused was a severe blizzard and it caused whiteout. Calling upon such unnatural phenomena was the greatest mistake he had done, and also the greatest protection he had created.
Beings below ventured into the mountain range and eventually returned, not being able to advance further because of the strong wind and cold temperature, named it the Windy Range. And that was how the name came about. They survived with the water, and many thought there was a great existence up there who helped them. Minstrels and travelers began creating rumors that were manifested into legends and old tales.
After the crisis, people started to leave the small settling to somewhere with a better terrain and communications for trades. Hence, the settling was abandoned, and it was once named as the Savior's Cradle.
Theto found a warlord around the age of 28 as his successor. It was not an easy task to convince him for he had too many things to hold onto and a war to commit to. Theto gave him 5 years to prepare himself and he won the war in exact 5 years. He did not have a family then and that was one of the reasons Theto chose him. Zaknight was his name, and he preferred Zak.
Different from Theto as a soldier, Zak possessed incredible strength, vitality and knowledge about war strategy. He learned quickly from Theto and was very keen about the worlds and the time. Theto knew he did not have ambition to conquer the worlds because he fought for a land for his people to live in, not for blood or his own selfish desire. Additionally, a strong Ancient Truth was needed in the approaching future.
Zak had been a very active and willing student. He helped Theto with a lot of chores without any qualms which interests Theto. Zak was surprisingly a very good mannered and easy going character. He laughed very loud and really enjoyed the time they spend together. He had very beautiful writing as well.
A week before his death, Theto sat down beside the fireplace and called Zak in.
＂It is time I tell you about my impending death.＂
＂Your death? You die? But you never changed!＂ Zak's eyes widened with confusion and shock.
＂Yes I do, and I am going to give you all my knowledge and experience.＂
＂But how? Why?＂
＂We Ancient Truths are not immortal even though time had kept our body healthy and our face smooth. We do not die because of old age, we die because it's the cycle of the dimensions and they call to us once in a while. They will attempt to extract all knowledge and life from us and we cannot defend or resist it too long. The best way to protect our identity is to give everything to the successor.＂
＂But won't they try to assault the successor as well?＂
Theto thought for a moment, ＂That is a good question. The First never thought about that and neither do I. I suppose you will find it out yourself.＂Theto laughed.
＂Stop being so optimistic Theto, you're dying!＂
＂Ah, but I'm really not. I will be a part of your memories and experience. And trust me, you will find it hard to maintain your identity while you struggle to be yourself. But, I believe in you. ＂
And that was that. Theto refused to say anymore because it will not change anything and Zak gave up.
Theto lived the last week writing about the blizzard he created and how he was not able to call it off. He wrote about all the creatures that are now extinct and how they used to live. It was a great contribution to the library.
Zak assumed Theto's role and continued where he had left off. Theto checked on his writing and approved. On the last day, Theto did the same thing The First did to him.
＂Take the history with you, and protect the knowledge.＂
Zak lost conscious as predicted and Theto crystallized with a content smile.
Theto the Second was gone.
Zak the Third
It took Zak a few hours longer than Theto to recover from the struggle because he had to handle two lives in him. The First's uncanny presence was what shaken him. He never knew he was that powerful. Theto's presence was reserved and calm, much like how he was when Zak knew him. He looked at the crystallized Theto and The First in a room he had never been before as Zak. ＂You gotta be joking. Now you're just gone? Leaving everything to me?＂ Zak said to them, and he never expected a reply.
Zak left the house frequently and personally did not liked the idea of sitting in a room just to write. So he made various appearance in different places. Most possibly the sightings of Ancient Truth that had been passed down by mouth and now a legend was Zak's doing.
It was around this time that the dimensions started to create
Trespassers. Beings from the distant and different worlds were bestowed a strange power to be able to enter other worlds if they meet certain requirements. This was foreseen by The First long time ago, but it did not happen until Zak was the Ancient Truth. The
Trespassers were normally aggressive or dangerous beings. Since there are so many worlds, it is no surprise that any kind of character with any shape or look will appear.
While Zak left the house, one of the strongest
Trespasser, Bioroid barged pass the Door. It was a sentient machine created from the world Fex. It was equipped with ammo, steel armor harder than diamond, missiles, flame thrower and various kinds of knifes. It was a machine shaped in the looks of a human. It went berserk and smashed the wall around the room. Zak immediately sensed it. When he got back, Bioroid nearly destroyed the library. Zak protected the library with all he could do. It was a tough battle because Zak needed to prevent bullets and fire from reaching the library and also to dodge and attack Bioroid at the same time. With great effort doing many taxing tasks at the same time, Bioroid was cornered back in the room where the Door were.
＂Y-yeaaar-ning-of-t-t-the-07122351-bea-aast-d--des-pe--raaatee-t-to-kiiil--Creator.....＂
It was sent to a Dead World by Zak right before it blew itself up, attempting to kill both Zak and it.
Zak looked at the Door with a pale face.
Rule 3. The current resident is forbidden to leave the mansion except for the time needed to search for a successor.
It was a sensible rule, Zak thought. Ever since Trespassers appeared, the Door must be guarded even stricter. If it was not for Zak's prowess in battle, Letwen would be destroyed by now. Hence, The Candidate, a log keeping names of Trespassers and future Trespassers and their details was created. There were not many, only four at that time. Namely, Bioroid, SanityDebris, ????? and ????? (to be unlocked). All of them have their unique abilities and strength, and not all of them are dangerous though Zak kept in mind to be wary of them. He spent time enhancing the structure around the house, and expanded it.
-To be continued.
Nydra the Fourth
Coming soon.
Diacrofia the Last
Coming soon.
