"You're correct."
Sia's voice drifted across the endless cloud-sea like frost on a winter lake. Her pale-blue hair swayed as though caught in a current only she could feel, and the living clouds in her eyes churned slowly, as she continued.
"First, everyone's existence must be recognized and recorded by the Records of Eternity," she continued, the words settling into the air with quiet weight.
"These records hold everything about a person's existence—usually you are recorded the moment you are born. However, you were inside of an artifact, so you couldn't undergo this."
"The Records of Eternity? Is this some sort of system?" Ash asked with an arching brow.
Fay shook her head, leaf-green eyes catching stray glimmers of light that shouldn't exist in this place.
"Well, we don't know. Maybe we will learn more, the stronger we get."
She shrugged, the motion graceful as falling petals.
"The Records is what governs existence… that's generally what everyone knows. Titles are also given, but they are rare… and if you meet someone with one, just run."
Ash nodded, letting the warning sink in.
"You will automatically be recorded once you leave my domain," Sia said, her voice softening. "You will be going to Astralis; it's currently the world the two of us have been… inhabiting for the last few centuries."
Ash noticed the pause but didn't point it out. Instead, he asked, "Are worlds ranked? Or is Astralis just any other world…"
"Astralis—and every other world—does not follow a ranking system," Sia answered, the cloud floor rippling faintly beneath her bare feet. "The value of the world is solely determined by the age and the number of powerhouses inhabiting the world. This world is a 4-era world, which makes it a bit of a hotspot for several reasons."
"One, the resources, secret realms, and other things on this world are still vastly undiscovered for the most part. Secondly, this world is still producing extraordinary talents which clans, sects, and other organizations use to recruit into their many branches."
Ash's expression turned thoughtful; only three words remained sharp in his mind.
"Races… 4-era world… and action," he muttered aloud.
The two women looked at him oddly.
Ash flashed a sly smile.
"Alright, I'm ready… won't you two fine ladies come and show me around?" They shook their heads in perfect unison.
"We… we can't for the time being," Sia said, cheeks tinting faint rose. By now the two's affection—or rather addiction—toward Ash had just hit the 50 % mark.
"We are being hunted by two people…" Fay said while pointing back at the orb.
"As you see… this artifact is very important. More important than even we knew at the time. We both came across it years ago when two powerhouses were fighting."
She continued to tell him the history of the orb; long story short, they took something belonging to two people, and one that had hundreds of worlds under their control—which forced them to hide on Astralis.
Ash listened, mind already turning.
'Hmm, not that I really care about their situations. However… it wouldn't hurt to use one of these factions as a starting point.'
"Hmm, and these two factions are present on Astralis?"
The two frowned a bit hearing that.
"Well… only one is truly a faction. It's an Eternal Ranked Clan, and on Astralis there's one branch. They are the Nocturne Clan, one of the many vampire clans. The next is a lone warrior, but just as devastating as entire clans or sects.
He is known as Vyrn the Hollow; not much is known aside from the tales surrounding him throughout the Galaxy…" Fay said.
"Don't worry about those things. You'll find yourself dead before you know it…" Sia said before floating a token to him.
"We won't leave, but you can come back anytime you want. Just use this token."
Ash caught the token while thinking.
'Eternal Ranked Clans, huh? I'll just find out on my own…' As he thought this he spoke.
"Fine… well, I guess it's time for me to finally step foot into the world of Astralis."
Hearing that, Sia nodded and waved her hand.
A portal ripped open with a low, crackling hum, silver lightning dancing along its edges. It sucked Ash through before he could blink; the rift closed behind him with a soft pop.
"Do you think he will survive?" Fay asked as her eyes shifted back toward the orb of Elaris.
"I'm not sure… but he's a bit special, isn't he?" Sia said with a smile, the image of Ash still burning bright behind her eyes.
Fay smiled hearing that.
"Indeed."
-----
Ash found himself standing inside of a forest, however he hadn't even gotten the opportunity to look around... before he fell unconscious... once again. The mana of the Forest quickly swirled around him as he instantly underwent his SSS evolution. While encased inside of the cocoon his he found himself in another set of memories.
"Oh, come on!" He grumbled as his vision cleared up. The last time he had to sit through memories he found himself looking at an eye... that later became a man who did nothing but walk for thousands of years.
"At least this time I'm not in the void." He said as he looked around and saw himself on a world that of an impossible scale—towering trees that eclipsed the clouds, mountains without visible peaks, vast lands stretching beyond sight.
"No, you're not in the void at all."
The sound of a male voice echoed behind him.
Ash was caught off guard and jumped.
"The hell?"
He spun around and froze.
A man who looked almost identical to him stood there... however he was human, with short grey hair, and pale skin. But he had the same exact face, same lazy smirk.
"You are?" Ash questioned as his eyes narrowed. This was something he hadn't experienced before. Never had anyone interacted with him through these memories.
The man chuckled and pointed back toward the memories already playing across the sky. In them, a younger version of the guy walked through a field aimlessly.
"That's me… and also you."
Ash's eyes narrowed even more with confusion.
"Me?" He paused, then looked back with a straight face.
"Don't tell me.... I'm secretly some ancient entity that has lived millions of lives." He said with a pure deadpan face.
The man's eyes widened before he burst into laughter.
"HAHA! Well, I won't tell you then!"
Ash's lip twitched.
"Fuck this...." He muttered as he could literally see the painting on the wall from all the novels he'd read.
"Let me guess, we're reincarnating to prepare for some big bad?"
"Pfft!" The other Ash laughed even harder.
"Didn't you receive the first memory when you stepped into S rank?" he asked, wiping tears from his eyes.
"Obviously, 500 thousand years of nothing." Ash responded, his face still as straight as ever.
The other Ash finally stopped laughing and shook his head.
"You're a fun one." He began explaining.
"Actually, I'm surprised you're partially correct. It usually takes eons before we piece the puzzle together—by then everything would be a waste of time."
"Yes, we are an endless cycle of reincarnations, and I am the second one." He gestured toward the memories that never stopped playing; every scene poured into Ash like rivers into an ocean.
"I was born during the first Great Cycle. During this time the entirety of existence was just beginning, and power had no scaling ladder. Haha, even infants could wield the power to create and destroy worlds," he said, shaking his head
They continued watching his life as the young man lived a life by the sword. Ash saw, sword forms carved across collapsing stars, footwork on dying galaxies, and all in all he felt the weight of a closing Cycle pressing down like a mountain. He didn't have lovers or anything, as everything he did was dedicated to the sword.
"Can you believe that I'm the reason every one of our reincarnations uses swords?" He said with a smirk as they continued watch for trillions of years.... all the way until the first Great Cycle came to a close.
Once the memories ended Ash closed his eyes for a moment before saying.
"So, what's the purpose?"
"Hmm, would you believe me if I said I can't say?" The man said while scratching his head. "It's a restriction placed onto us by the first one you see."
He continued by saying "Don't worry though, there's no big evil waiting out there for you. Nor will any past lives truly have any effect on you.... well aside from the knowledge, battle IQ, and things like that you'll be fine."
Ash felt a headache coming about. "Alright, so how often will these little interventions happen?"
"Hmm, not too often honestly. You know not every version of us lived that long. Some died tragic deaths in their childhood. You will only talk to those who had notable lives.... so uhhh I don't know 5 or 6?"
"Anyways, you won't receive these too often. The next time will be in the Void Emperor Realm."
"Alright..." Ash said as he didn't even know anything about the Void Emperor Realm, in this life cultivators had no realms or ranks. They were just born with power....
The vision shattered and when it did Ash didn't find himself back in the forest....
-----
He lay on silk sheets beneath a ceiling carved from star-jade and night wood, the air scented faintly with lotus.
"Okay, so I'm finally here." He said before he looked at the notifications showing on his screen.
[You have Ranked Up.]
[Rank SSS (Existence level - 4M)]
{Welcome to the Records of Eternity.}
'Hmm, Records of Eternity, huh?' This was something he now found interesting, during the first great cycle there was no such thing, so knowing that it was no here was intriguing.
'I wonder what Cycle we're in now?' He thought before facepalming.
'No, first where the hell am I?' He thought as he got up from the bed and walked to the window.
When he made it there his eyes widened in amazement.