The Eldrim Cards Legacy

Chapter 214: Virtuous Moonlight

The repulsive force which pushed Nero back was so strong that it nearly knocked him on the ground. Bael, who ran in right behind Nero was also pushed back, and looked forward in confusion and panic.

Beyond the door there seemed like another room, but the view of it was blocked by a wall. There were clearly paths going around the wall, which meant the sole purpose of the wall was to block the view.

There was no time to consider why the wall was there, or what the room was hiding. Nero could tell the only reason he was pushed back was because he was carrying Silas, so he put the teenager down.

A part of him recognised that depending on what he found in that room, this might be the last time he saw Silas and Bael, and that death might be around the corner. Somehow, despite that realisation, a lifetime of training himself to maintain mental clarity prevented him from letting fear and desperation take over.

"Whoever arranged this meeting was a real smart ass," Nero said to Bael as he looked through Silas' backpack and found what he was looking for - the book he was sent to retrieve.

"Pray that I find something useful in there."

"What are you doing?" Bael asked, not understanding the reason behind Nero's actions. He had been pushed back just like Bael himself. Yet a moment later he was stunned when he saw Nero successfully running through the door as he slipped the book into his backpack!

His heart felt like it dropped to his stomach as he finally understood. Since Nero was the one who opened the door, he was the only one who could go through it.

A loud, sudden crack attracted his attention, and when he looked back, he saw drops of blood starting to drop down from a crack in the ice wall. The blood pool had reached them. Bael could feel the cold embrace of death, ready to bring him into its embrace, and at that moment, Bael forgot everything.

He forgot his worship of his father, his grudge against his own ability, his defeat at the hands of Nero. He forgot the humiliation he felt when Nero beat him, even though he was told to expect it. He forgot his 'friends' who whispered things in his ears, inciting him towards bullying others, not understanding that everything he did and showed was a facade arranged by Unity.

He even forgot the expectations of his father.

The only thing Bael felt at that moment was regret. He was not strong enough, and if he hadn't been so stubborn, and truly taken every single opportunity to get stronger, maybe he wouldn't be in this situation.

Come to think of it, wasn't that how his father described Nero?

He sensed his aether, to see if there was something wrong, and then noticed the most bizarre thing he had come across yet.

Like a video sent directly into his mind, he saw the travelling motes of light surround his innate card within his chest, covering it like a projection. They converged, and the strange card he had seen in this very chamber reappeared. Except that it was covering his innate card, almost as if it had replaced it!

Nero was not one to panic, but in that moment he almost panicked. The threat of death was not enough to stir his heart, but the loss of his innate ability nearly sent his thoughts into a fray.

Yet, almost as if sentient, the card communicated with him, and Nero realised what was going on. His innate ability was not replaced. Instead... instead he had somehow...

Nero suddenly felt out of breath as his mind tried to wrap itself around the information he was learning. He almost wondered if he was going crazy!

He had not lost his previous innate ability, but rather he had gained another one! They both could not exist at the same time, yet he could switch between them as he wished.

He tried to change it, and he saw the projection of light around his Cryoflame innate card vanish, revealing the innate card he had grown to love! He tried using his flames, and they worked exactly as he expected.

Then he tried to summon forth his second innate ability. It was not instantaneous, taking up a few seconds, but the projection of light covered his innate card once more, and the flames in Nero's hands extinguished.

Nero gulped, and focused on the card, and was awestruck as he realised that he could read that strange, foreign language as if he had known it his entire life.

The name of the card was Virtuous Moonlight.

As soon as he read the name of the card, as if the chamber could sense his very thoughts, streaks of silver lights travelled down from the plinth, through the patterns on the ground, and into the three pillars, lighting up the room in holy light.

The fog did not vanish, yet its obstruction seemed to affect Nero no more. He felt like he was in the gaze of something... of someone vastly more powerful than he could ever imagine, and he, or she, was judging him.

Nero felt the light travel through his body, as if reading every experience the body had ever had, judging his worthiness. The aether around him swirled as if it was wind, and then began to enter into his body, directly travelling to the illusory Virtuous Moonlight in his chest, slowly making it more solid.

Outside, the silver moon slowly lost its lustre, returning to its mundane, former state.