Ethera: Tale Of A Legend 11 Darkfall Conjecture Iv

"Welcome to the Underworld."

The shadows sealing off the upper area of the thrones vibrated mildly from the sound of the voice of the Arch-supreme himself before releasing a pulse of energy. As silence took over from the energy pulse, the older deities knew that the silence meant that lord Hades had departed as with the tradition, and that, other honoured rulers had followed suite. Those were the ones that could leave the conjecture directly from their thrones which also served as portal.

This was an indication of the coming to an end of the awakening rite. The judges gave the signal for the high savant to round up with the young partic.i.p.ants. The high savant turned towards the young deities before raising his voice.

"Now that you have all undergone your awakening, you have now become true deities. As such, I also welcome you to the Underworld. As Underworlders, we are all fortunate to be part of this amazing world of chaos. As young deities, you are the future pillar of this world, but only, if you live long enough. Why is that? This has nothing to do with you personally. It was imply because of the nature of our world. There is no other world that can match our extreme chaos. That is why only the strongest survives in this world.

"Remember this, as you leave this place, the only universal law protecting you and at the same time could harm you in this world, is the Darmora law. As long as you are not in any form of contest or contestable situations, you will not be challenged. And as of now, this law also protect you from the throes of higher level deities. For now only the deities of your level can challenge you if you are in a contestable situations. When you become a ranked deity, starting from the Premier stage, you can be challenged by any ranked deity for any ranked position and contest. You may invoke the Darmora law and give up the position or contest, thereby, living to fight another day.

"More importantly, before you challenge others, you must consider carefully. There are many higher level deities who go about the Underworld in a simple deceiving way of life. Once you issue a challenge to them, there would be no going back. If you are not strong enough, you will just die.

"That been said, if you believe you are strong enough in the future, you are free to challenge me at any time for my position as the high savant. But, for now, I welcome you to the world of deities."

With that, the informality of the rite was finally over. The school representatives started giving out their tokens to the young deities while other deities were making alliances and acquaintances. Notable deities would be securing their foothold in the Underworld through different agreements. In simpler words, today was a free day for the deities to achieve any of their peaceful objectives while they were still gathered on the conjecture premises.

Ethera looked around as the young partic.i.p.ants were receiving their invitation token from the schools a.s.sistants. Quite a number of them were even receiving tokens from more than one school. The young deities that manifested the most coveted paths and rings, were receiving their invitation tokens from all the present schools. The prestige of these young deities to choose the school of their making, was something Ethera couldn't relate with as she continued to look around anxiously.

As soon as the tokens were given out and collected, the school representatives as well as the young deities and their families, were immediately leaving through their portals. Gradually, the conjecture was becoming more and more empty as even more deities were leaving. With great apprehension, Ethera glanced at her parents who continued to pat her gently on the back in a soothing comfort. They continued to wait as the hours progressively wound down.

Just as they had given up all hope of securing any token, and were about to leave, they were approached by an old deity who was donning a yellow and white robe. The white part of the robe was a perfect match with his long beard and hair. His sharp and keen eyes, were a contrast to his old appearance. Although, aged appearance showed years of experience, it was simply deceptive when it came to physicality of a deity. Many deities just preferred to display the effect of the pa.s.sage of time on their physical bodies like the mortals of the Outerworld. Probably same with this old deity too, but, there was a hint of authority in him.

"Greetings to you, my notable lord and lady. And to you, my pivotal young lady."

"We greet you too, salient lord."

Ethera's parent replied in unison while Ethera could only bow her head in reply. Even from his words, they could feel his substantive nature. But who could he possibly be? He couldn't be seeking to form an alliance with them when they had nothing to offer in return, could he? Could he be a school representative? If not, this would be a wrong time to be entertaining any deity for any other reasons. Breaking free of his thoughts, lord Hargoven gently cleared his throat, strategically.

"Mm. Is there anything we can do for you, salient lord?"

"Adoghar, that's the name. And yes, there is. I was thinking if it will be possible for me to entice my pivotal young lady here, with an invitational token."

"What?"

Ethera asked with wide eyes that would send the sun into hiding. Could this be true? She would be going to a school? With eyes still wide in utter surprise, Ethera stared at her parents who couldn't stop themselves from throwing obviously warranted questions.

"A school invitation?"

"A school token?"

"Yes, to all your questions. A school invitational token. The Eternal-Sanctum. Though, it's a newly formed school, but as the school's patriarch, I believe we can work together to achieve greatness, if chosen."

"The patriarch himself?"

"If it helps."

"If I may ask, why go about giving the invitations yourself, lord Adoghar?"

"Well, as I said earlier, It's a newly formed school. Hence, for now, I need to do this by myself. I hope to create trust with my students earlier on."

"We are rightly honoured, lord Adoghar. Our daughter will really like to receive an invitation to your school."

"Very well, then. This is my school's token. She can come to check it a week from now, if she so decided. If she likes it, she will be starting immediately. Only, if that's alright with all of you. And, just so you know, my notable lord and lady, there will be a small fee of fifty Iradium gold coins."

"That can be taken care of, lord Adoghar. I'm Hargoven and this is my wife, Amarodia. Our young here, is Ethera."

"Good to met you all. I will be taking my leave now, lord Hargoven, lady Amarodia and young lady Ethera. Hope to see you all soon."

"Good to meet you too, lord Adoghar."

Lord Adoghar took out a token and swiftly made some hand seals. A faint line of aura left Ethera's body and entered the token. Lord Adoghar took a proper look at the token before giving it to lord Hargoven. Bidding his farewell, he subsequently left the conjecture. After his departure, they quickly examined the token for its authenticity. Ethera's ident.i.ty and the school's details were embedded into the token. Following the token's confirmation, they gave the token to Ethera who carefully put it inside her dimensional s.p.a.ce. By this time, they were one of the few remaining deities on the conjecture premises.

With joyful heart, Ethera followed her parents through the opened portal, taking them back to their small manor. She had received an invitational token to a school where she would be trained and her path would be guided. She had done it. Well, not yet totally. Nevertheless, she could now be within a chance of not becoming a loose deity with death in view. The following week, she would be visiting the school to get familiar with it. She had already chosen the school since it was her only invitation. Before then, she would have to visit the Valley of Thousand-Death for her soul-weapon. But for now, she would let the happiness washed over her.

As they sat around the table filled with celebratory delicacies, lord Hargoven stopped them, raising one finger.

"Hold on."

Reaching into his spatial dimension, he produced a small round jar of the rare Nine Nebula Nectar and placed it on the table. While smiling at the surprised look on his wife's and daughter' s eyes, he poured the nectar into their three jugs. This had required a lot to acquire, however, this day was truly worthy of it. A day of awakening that didn't start favourably to their daughter, yet, had somehow finished with a hopeful future. As long as their daughter was happy, it was more than worth it. With a wide smile now on his face, lord Hargoven raised his jug.

"To the twin essence."