As imprints of the glyphs we absorbed from the ravine temple's walls flash in my vision all over Maria's body, they flicker on mine as well.
The warmth of the glyphs fills my body, and I start to make out the shapes of many symbols I see. However, they're not in any language I know.
This reaction gives me some hope, that maybe Ulgar was wrong and this artifact is capable of activating our glyph imprints despite it not being from an older generation. I even feel the sword in my soul vibrate ever so slightly; it resonates at the same exact time as Maria's sword deep in her soul.
Another burst of images floods into my mind as golden-colored glyphs flash on the surface of my soul sword. They flood outward in my Primordial Aura pathways and coat the inside of my soul for a split second too before fading faster than I can make all of them out. It brings my mind all the way back to the human world, when I saw all of these glyphs for the first time inside the head of an enormous statue of a human... similar to the size I'm standing at right now.
My eyes widen, as my soul is bound to Maria's. My perception is hyper-focused after witnessing this, and I see her sword filled with an unfathomable amount of source resin. It sparkles and shines like billions of mirrors reflecting every bit of energy it's ever seen back outward.
The weight of this sword becomes so much heavier in my mind looking at it now. There are strange outlines of dots and lines deep within this resin. It is like even more intense ether commands are activating, and they're too complex or too far away for me to see.
I do get a definitive feeling though. There is not just a planet bound to that sword.
Memories straight from her mind flood into mine, as in the Lower Realm, she split Kelfar in two, and trapped its core into her blade.
However, seeing it now... that planet was far from normal.
It's been referenced as an origin world many times before, and after watching Seraphel and Abby's feat of killing Lucian, I now know that planet was the birthplace of the last wyvern who has now accepted their whole race's legacy; and it was storing a Dryad's legacy as well...
A Dark Elf and a Scarlet Clan Berserker were left on that planet too. The core of this planet was no normal Noble Grade World... It looks like it has a unique legacy stored away in it, yet I have no idea what race it could be from.
The warmth in this room continues flooding into our bodies, but after the initial shock, it doesn't grow any more extreme. I actually begin to feel the temperature of the room dropping. All of the glyphs that flow through us start coming out the other side of our bodies in a weakened state, with a weight of failure in their souls.
It's like the waves of high-quality ether commands have a consciousness of their own, and are realizing they're not strong enough to finish the awakening.
The more glyphs swirling around the room, the more depressed it starts to feel.
Maria and I float back down to touch the floor and smile, putting out waves of intent using Royal Vibrations, and allowing our Primordial Aura to flood outward about a hundred thousand kilometers, the size of this arena's stage.
The calming aura is infused with a thank you to whatever is powering this array, and the fact that we're not upset somehow lightens the mood.
Many of the desperate glyphs dissolve into our Primordial Aura, and flow back into our bodies. A lot of them fall back toward the floor.
The walls stop glowing bright white, and revert to pillars again, then fade away entirely.
The floor swirls with many circles and patterns for a few more seconds. They feel as though they're watching us with curiosity, and even mentally waving goodbye while falling back toward a single point in the center of the floor.
When I look around, the presence of many High Quality ether commands becomes very clear. The Domain's shielding high above us is the most dense pocket of commands I can see. They're no longer specks of random invisible energy. I'm able to see spinning arrays, and logical connections to the commands as they block outside forces and keep what is inside invisible and unsensible to outsiders. Without Ulgar inviting us in, we never would have been able to see this domain civilization.
At the same time, I can start to see how one could slip through these barriers, and Ember's Soul Tie becomes slightly stronger in my subconscious again.
Most potent of all, Maria and I turn our heads to Ulgar with wide open eyes.
He's covered head to toe in High Quality Commands of his own. They look much different than the ones on the barrier above us, and much different than the strange semi-conscious arrays that were just flowing around us too.
Maria and I let go of each other's hands next, and look down at our own palms. I can feel flickering High Quality Ether glyphs starting to form, and my Soul energy Core is being stimulated every time they do.
However, for some reason, my Celestial Energy is not pure enough to fully activate what I'm envisioning. I can perceive and understand this new power, but still do not have a strong enough soul to activate it myself.
No matter how many times I try to visualize the imprints on our skin, or on our swords, I can't tap into that same feeling again.
Ulgar's voice echoes through the empty stadium.
"Did it work...? I've never seen it use up so much power before... That was like a hundred awakening ceremonies activated at once..."
His grin is wide on his face, and his eyes filled with light.
Maria shakes her head.
"Yes and no. It looks like it helped our issue of not being able to safely comprehend High Quality commands, but there's no way I can wield them yet."
She stares into the Ogre's jet black armor, as each one is filled to the brim with extremely intricate arrays. They flow perfectly with its Royal Vibrations, tethered together to make each one stronger; and his unique Primordial Aura holds everything together like glue.
Seeing them all gel together like this instantly raises my Primordial Aura proficiency, as I understand how it's used on a deeper level just witnessing it naturally at work.
I mentally compare this to the horrific mental attacks I received when staring into the trees outside the barrier, and realize once again the Dryads that left them were on an entirely different level. I'm nowhere close to understanding their complexity yet.
"Are there any allied domains you know of that have older awakening artifacts? I think it's worked as well as it could, our legacy is just older than the elves..."
Ulgar almost falls down the stadium seats as he's physically taken aback by my words.
"What do you mean your legacy is older than the elves? Maybe there's something tucked away in the forgotten pockets of space in the Lower Realm... but you've spoken of the other zones... There is no feasible way one could be left in these higher planes of compressed space without one of the Royal Family Heads guarding it with their lives. You could not possibly have found one."
Looking into his soul now, I can see much deeper. Pretty much all of my suspicions of him possibly being an ally of the Demon's have finally gone away. This Ogre is truly on the side of the mana based lifeforms, and has nothing but kind intent toward us. I let out a sigh of relief and respond.
"There are no longer any Royal Family Heads in the zones below. We killed them all."
The fire and ice around our bodies flicker with intensity, and it flows into our Primordial Auras that have expanded quite a bit during the ceremony. Seeing how Ulgar's many energies blend with his aura allows us to start doing the same.
Despite the Black Ogre's overwhelming size, our gravity increases many times over, and it feels like we are looking at this True Cored Purple Monster as equals as he responds.
"Humans managed to kill Royal Demons...? Is that what you're telling me right now? Even if you have managed a royal transformation yourselves... the raw talent gap, it wouldn't be possible..."
He thinks to himself, scanning us up and down while comparing our auras to his. Yet, what he doesn't know is that we're not borrowing any stats from my links of loyalty right now. This is one of the weakest states we can show ourselves in.
I nod.
"Yes, and the legacy we managed to obtain... It's one the Imperials tried to hide away from any race to ever find it. To properly stimulate it, I have a feeling we're going to need something far older than what you have here..."
I look up, "Probably far older than even the Primordial Garden itself."
Ulgar's pupils shrink, and all of his curiosity and cheery attitude drain out of his face.
"So the Originator's Legacy is real...? I always believed that race before the Dryad's Era was nothing but a myth..."
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