Azimuth: The Elden Throne

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"Hm?"

'Something's wrong…'

Dale watched the 2 'newcomers' with interest and wariness… They felt familiar, yet he felt that something was wrong…

But most importantly...

'Why isn't David saying anything? It's in these moments his presence shines the most.'

Dale was very surprised at how David did not utter a single word ever since he came out of his Trance…

He had gotten used to his annoying voice and "useful" remarks, so he had been waiting to hear his opinion on the matter...

Even if it had been less than a day since they started communicating Telepathically, he was already used to it.

And although it wouldn't last long, he expected some sort of warning at the very least.

'Whatever, I'll just say hello to them… Besides, I need to ask some things to Testros…'

Dale shook his head, but he then realized something as his memory started to be refreshed…

The man in front of him… His clothes, hairstyle, and spear were oddly similar to the ones used by someone he knew…

He shook his head. No, it couldn't be…

"Dale? Are you okay?" Testros asked as he approached him with Yumi right on his side

Dale felt even more confused, did this uncle know him?

That's right, Dale wasn't hit with memory loss, instead, the root of his entire confusion was simply Testros' new appearance!

His white hair wasn't white anymore, but black, and his skin wasn't as old as before, but younger and with fewer wrinkles…

From a late 70-year-old man to a late 40-year-old Uncle! It was an extreme and drastic change!

It wasn't Dale's fault, Midway through Testros enlightenment, he started to fall into a Trance, so some of the final details ended up being missed by him due to his focus being elsewhere.

After all, he didn't even know that at some point in time, many people had gathered to observe him, and if it wasn't for the System Log, he wouldn't even know that over 3 hours had passed unless he looked directly at the sun...

"Uh?... I'm sorry… Have we met before?" He asked with a frown, making Testros freeze for a moment

While the uncle was stunned, Dale turned his head and looked at the girl in front of him, but her violet eyes immediately attracted his attention…

He then noticed the 2 floating hearts on top of her head… He knew what that was, that was the value of intimacy!

There was only one person with whom he had such high values…

"Ehhhh...?"

'Yumi?... But she looks… Damn...'

'Ahhh... I see it now... This is her real appearance...'

"You look gorgeous, almost didn't recognize you." He said honestly with a smile as he scratched the back of his head

'Well... I didn't at first.'

"?!"

Yumi became paralyzed, then felt extremely embarrassed by his remark…

However, Dale wasn't trying to hit on her, he was simply used to this, even in school, he would often compliment, or simply joke with his friends, be they his close friends, or the few female friends he had.

For him, this was nothing… It was a cultural difference...

But for a countryside girl like Yumi… It wasn't.

"Th-Th-Thank you…" She said as she stuttered…

Barely even being able to reply, this was a bit too much for her as she looked at the ground in shame...

"..."

Taking his attention away from her, he looked at the 'Uncle' once again…

If he knew the girl… Then this oddly familiar person…

"Don't tell me… Old man?" He asked with a frown

"Heh, took you a while to figure out, do I look that different?" Testros asked with a smile as he passed his hand through his hair

/Chuckle.../

Chuckling as he did so, he remarked as he felt his renewed hair:

"My hair does look more abundant than before, it also looks thicker than before, oh boy, I didn't realize I lost so much of it during the years."

"And my shoulder isn't as stiff as before… It feels less taxing to stretch too..."

He looked at his hands with some disappointment.

"Albeit some of the calluses seem to have vanished, together with some minor scars..."

Dale was stunned, he almost took a step back…

But he calmed down, perhaps due to the passive effects of his Skills or simply due to his strong mentality…

So he asked:

"Okay… What happened?"

Testros seemed to be in a bind, while Yumi simply had no place in this conversation…

"It's hard to explain… In short, I know what happened, but not how or the precise explanation for it… Although I believe this information is contained within the books we recovered."

"It may be better left explained once we're with one in hand..."

Dale had to rub his eyes a few times and blink to make sure he wasn't hallucinating...

But nothing changed.

"Anything will do, just shed some light into my thoughts right now…" Dale said with a frown

"Of course… If that's what you wish..."

"I don't want to brag… But I believe I achieved what's called, an Enlightenment… Something very similar to what happened to you."

"Though different nonetheless."

Testros scratched the back of his head and said:

"I can't… I can't really explain how and why my appearance changed though, nor can I properly explain what an Enlightenment is..."

"I just felt it and it happened, and for me, I felt as if the missing pieces of the long puzzle I had been stuck with for the past few decades had appeared, and after completing this puzzle, I'm now left like this…"

"No... I didn't even know I was amidst a puzzle... But this is what makes this fascinating."

"As if I suddenly saw this Puzzle, and started working towards it, without knowing, I've freed myself from something that was weighing me down."

"There isn't any other way I can explain it, I'm sorry Dale, this is something I never learned before, the little I know comes from what was passed down..."

"And even then, most of it I forgot."

'I would have to check my diary to remember some of those things... It's been a long time since I used it.'

'Where did I hide it?...'

"Enlightenment isn't something I'm completely unaware of though, but my knowledge is too little to properly explain it, you've just heard most of it."

"It comes when it comes, and when it does, one must be given space so they can thoroughly focus on understanding it, and this was what I did to you, that was why I did not intervene even when you started to get hurt…"

He then bowed slightly.

"For this I apologize, there wasn't much I could do apart from seeing you slowly destroy yourself… I'm thankful you're fine now."

Dale smiled.

"There is no need to apologize, instead, I should be thankful that you trusted me and allowed me to continue..."

'It would've been really bad had they interrupted my concentration...'

'But the same could be said if I didn't have those potions, I could've ended up with an affliction... Or worse, dead.'

"There is a lot I want to know as well, although I'm not totally okay yet, I'll be fine soon enough…"

'Just give me a few hours and my heart will heal on its own, although that'll be most of the day, unfortunately...'

'I'll have to leave physical training and practice for tomorrow.'

"Hey um…"

Yumi interjected, raising her potion bottle to Dale:

"If it isn't too much, please take it." She said with a smile

"?"

Dale saw the potion bottle, understanding what it was about, and he couldn't help but feel touched. <subtxt> . </subtxt>

Ironically enough, this was probably the first gift he ever received from a girl outside of his family and during his birthday parties…

He accepted the potion, reading its description.

It showed that it was a potion that took a lot of effort to be made and that it was very efficient with its material consumption as expected from Yumi.

It was a bit stronger than the normal counterpart of this type of potion, but not by much, it wouldn't affect Dale's condition at all since he had already taken one of his few Elixirs, but he accepted the potion and drank it…

/Gulp!/

It was very, very, very bitter, but for Dale, this wasn't something he could just spit out.

"It's bitter." He said with a smile after he finished drinking it

"Mnn..."

But Yumi felt embarrassed as she fidgeted with her fingers…

"It... It…"

But then Testros intervened.

"HOHOHOHO… Haaa… Dale, you're supposed to apply that on your skin, not drink it HOHOHOHO!!…" He said, laughing between words

"Eh?"

'I... Shit...'

Dale became a bit red, something very rare considering his mental conditioning…

Yumi also smiled, saying:

"It's okay to drink it as well, the effect won't change since it's going to be absorbed just the same..."

"T-Though, the potion was made to be absorbed through the skin exactly due to its bitterness..." She said after a slight stutter

'Did he hide his expression to make me feel better?...'

Yumi felt strange...

"Haa… Looks like I was too hasty…" Dale replied with an awkward smile

'Damn… The description says it's a consumable and I took it at face value…'

'There is no method of consumption though… I should've asked…'

'Next time, whenever I see an unknown potion like this, I'll have to ask how to use it first… Mental note to myself...'

/Thud…/

Testros approached Dale and said:

"How're you feeling boy?"

Dale looked at his body and said:

"Do I look younger?"

"No… You do look a bit shinier." Testros replied with a smile as he tapped his shoulder

"Do you feel different?"

"Hum... My chest is constantly hot…" Dale said slowly, unsure if this was a condition worth to be shared, but better done then not

Testros shook his head and said:

"I'm not asking about that, are you feeling pain anywhere?"

Dale nodded.

"My chest stings a bit... But I don't think it's serious, I should be fine in a few hours of good rest..."

"Aside from that... Everything hurts, standing is quite the pain..." He said as his smile twitched slightly

'Almost cursed there, ought to be careful.'

Testros' expression sharpened...

"How 'sharp', is this pain? Can you describe it to me?"

"Well... I would say my heart was fuckin... Stabbed... I was never stabbed before but it feels like that, more precisely, here." Dale said as he pointed at his heart's location

"... As I thought."

"You opened the Heart Gate… How... Unexpected."

"I don't know how you did it but... You're lucky to be even alive." He replied as he crossed his arms

From the side, Yumi nodded vigorously, despite not having space in this conversation.

"What is even the Heart Gate though? And why is it so dangerous as you say?" Dale asked as he scratched the back of his head

'I do remember receiving several notifications of my heart bearing immense pressure… Is that what he is talking about?'

'And also, I am aware of why I'm feeling pain, I just acted a little bit for the conversation to feel more natural...'

Testros seemed embarrassed as he scratched the back of his head, once again noticing how much hair he had recovered.

"... The heart gate is also something I don't know much about, most of everything I know about these things comes from when I was in the Corps."

"And there is a limit to how much a Low ranked Soldier could know, well... And to be honest, at the time, I was more of a muscle than brain guy..."

"Age sure did its wonders in me." He said with a wide smile as he looked around

"And even with the information that persisted through the years in the Village, it's not like there is an explanation for everything we come across."

"The reason why I remember so much is because I wrote most of it in a diary as the years passed… One that I had to re-read..."

Dale let out a sigh of disappointment...

"It's okay, anything is better than nothing for me…"

Testros continued his explanation.

"If I were to simplify what I know..."

"The Heart Gate is… A necessary path in the career of most Warriors… It's an ancient practice passed down through the generations, and a part of the Human Body."

"It's the central part of a long system inside us."

"Just like what the heart is to the Veins and Arteries… A system whose entire purpose is to pump Mana around like blood."

"However, Humans don't need Mana to survive, so it's only natural that most don't have it… And why the process of opening this system or unclogging it is so… Brutal and taxing on the physical body."

"Mana can be destructive when in high enough concentrations, as it's mildly toxic for Humans in nature, especially to such sensitive areas such as your inner organs."

"Albeit its hard to find Mana-Rich areas in the wild... Resko used to be one such area, but when compared to the other parts of the Continent, the density of Mana in the air was only about 20-30% more..."

"But that was enough to cause problems for the people that couldn't withstand it."

"Some are more sensitive than others, to both their resistance and ability to feel it, the combination of both can determine if one is talentless, but blessed, or talented, but cursed."

"With the latter being worse then the former, as being extremely sensitive to Mana, but not having the body to resist it is a recipe for an early death."

"We... Had children in Resko that died for that exact mixture of factors..." He said as he closed his eyes in grief

"... Rare are the people that can have the best of both words, a body that is resistant to its toxicity while also being sensitive to its existence, it is paradoxical even."

"But at the very least, both deficits can be trained into a usable state."

"It took me one decade of training after I reached adulthood to reach the minimum requirements to start the lengthy process of feeling and controlling mana, to then open the Heart Gate."

"And it took me 30 years to finish this process, years of practice and self-learning, it was a smooth and painless process, one that took a lot of time… But one that I ended up completing regardless."

"All the while, I continually trained my body to cope with the ever-increasing pressure caused by handling Mana."

"Of course, this process was all but completed on my own without any help after the Corps had fallen, I bet that, had everything remained the way it was, these 40 years of effort could've been shortened to less than 10."

'Well... All on my own is a bit of a lie. When Dudencell was still alive, he used to create potions to help me with it... Albeit they weren't that strong.'

'The potions that could cut down my time were all expensive to make, and even though I tried seeking such materials, I was never strong or lucky enough...'

'But this kid...'

"That's why I said you're lucky, you did what it took me years to do in a single day, without any prior knowledge of how to, and what to expect."

"Bursting through..."

"Your body is strong, and thankfully, it was strong enough to resist your own reckless actions..."

"You relied on instinct and chance to blast through the entire process in one go, it worked in the end but I fear for your heart's current condition…"

"Once again… Are you sure you are okay?" Testros asked worriedly

"That wasn't a small amount of Mana, your heart could be in a very bad shape, if not then something else... It's best that you stop for a few days and recover…"

"I will stop for a while, but I'm okay… Trust me." Dale replied with a smile as he touched his own chest

'Now I understand a bit more, this is a process that needs time, but I did it all at once, almost paying the price for my ignorance.'

'Not only due to that, as I never did this before, I almost ended my own life due to my lack of control...'

'It was a series of conditions that all should've led to my demise, but just as those were a thing, I also had my own Skills.'

'Those saved my ass...'

"If you say you're okay… Then I'll believe you for now…"

He then looked at Yumi, smiling slightly.

He pushed her forward, startling and freezing her, saying:

"Little Yumi here is our best healer, so let her take care of you until you are fine and dandy, how about that?"

"Eh?!" Yumi mumbled as her glasses seemed to fog up

"Ah… I won't refuse help…" Dale replied with a smile as he shook his head

'It won't take me anywhere if I refuse… Besides, if she helps me recover quicker perhaps I can do the routine training today.'

'Beyond that, I'm not satisfied with these answers, and since David is not talking for some reason, I'll have to ask him next time we're alone…'

"So it's resolved!" Testros said with a smile as he turned around

"There is a lot I need to do and ponder over, Dale, I'll visit you later to talk with you, but for now, you should rest and think over what happened with you."

Despite it all, Testros was also Human, and if Dale was feeling confused, so was he.

It was just that their positions were different, one was young, the other was too old...

So while Dale displayed his confusion, Testros assumed a more mature role, as it was his job to remain calm and guide him, even if he couldn't quite tell what was going on.

He needed time to think it through...

"Also, that book you asked me to translate, Jyter left it with Illia, so when you're back make sure to take it and read it."

"Oh, that was fast! Thank you." Dale replied with a smile

Nodding, Testros left, waving his hands as he said:

"Little Yumi, I'll leave his recovery in your hands…"

"..."

"..."

Once he left, Yumi and Dale were left alone…

/Silence.../

"I… I'll go pick up some medicine!..." She said in embarrassment as she turned around and left quickly

"Hm? Hey?... Meet me at the Inn!" Dale said out loud, but it was unknown if Yumi had heard him

He shook his head, going back to the Inn, he had a lot to discuss with a certain golden talking head.

He needed answers, and he needed them now!

[DING]

[Yumi's Intimacy has increased]

"What?..."

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Notes

What do you think?

I think the plot will slow down a little in the next few chapters.

Dale has started to learn more about the higher stages of 'power' for the lack of a better word, and the time to train and study has arrived.

As for things like power levels and the like, I think you've all already understood how things are being made.

All Villagers of Resko are strong, they are likely as strong as the area's Level requirement, 65.

I already gave an explanation as to why, a more in Lore explanation instead of just -> The game said so.

But, the ones that matter are the Elders, they are the strongest here, people from an era of glory, that trained and sharpened their crafts...

However, they are not all-powerful.

Misgurd is just an Old Mercenary, a pretty badass one, but that's about it, we don't know much about his feats.

Testros was a Low ranked soldier that trained for decades and has now achieved enlightenment, while Tina is... Unknown.

Things change now, with books that dictate a path, they may follow those and grasp what they could not.

Overall, just as Dale increases his power, all Villagers will slowly achieve their true potential and rise in power, this is the way I'm doing things.

Instead of setting them up as powerhouses of the Continent, I set a ceiling, one I thought was suitable.

Now we watch as both the Tree (Dale) and the ceiling (The people) rise as the story progresses.

Well, hopefully, we'll see how he advances through these stages of power until he eventually rises to the top.

Normally, I would be posting the second chapter immediately, but I'll eat some food first.

That was about it from me, see you all next chapter!

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