Brother Valerius felt more than heard the sigh of relief echo across the chamber when a pale blue vortex of Lumina surrounded Elias's body. It meant that he had not just crossed the threshold of becoming a Siphon; his archetype fell under Lumina's Celestial light, and so he would wield the power of Miracles. This was a good thing; the Order was primarily focused on the power of miracles, and it would be hard to teach a new initiate who did not share this archetype.
He had watched this process unfold thousands of times by now, and there was no longer any surprising change he had not encountered, even when great geniuses and special bloodlines accessed the Lumina for the first time.
'But if there is anyone who could surprise me, surely it has to be this child.' Brother Valerius mused.
The light of the Ember Orb above flickered, and his single eye glanced at it, weird, a perfect Ember Orb was well, perfect, and flickering was impossible, unless...
He turned to the Commander and saw in her eyes the same realization he felt, but unlike the fear and horror gripping his heart, hers were filled with excitement.
There would have been a time when Valerius would have gotten excited at the thought of what was to come, but the years had a way of grounding even the hardest of metal to nubs, and not everyone could be like his Commander, untouched by age or decay, able to fight even as ages passed.
The Ember Orb was now flickering rapidly, and he could see the wave of concern beginning to ripple across all the members of the Order here. He stood up, speaking in a clear, calm voice that did not match how he felt inside.
"Everyone, leave the Ascension Chamber at once."
He saw questions in their hearts, but they followed his orders without a word, and in a second, there were only he and the Commander left.
Without prompting, Brother Valerius began to walk around the chamber, reinforcing their wards, but he knew it would do no good if the Commander could not contain what was coming. Their bet had paid off, but was this not supposed to be a far-fetched idea?
This thought had barely passed through his mind when he felt a ripple in the tide of Lumina surrounding Elias. It was faint, almost as if it was undulating like a snake, but Lumina was not supposed to move in that manner, and a feeling took over the mind that made him want to peel his skin in order for him not to endure this weird sensation.
Brother Valerius thought he heard a woman's whispers as the Ember Orb above flickered rapidly, and then it went out, plunging the space into darkness.
He trained with a Flame Aspect Manual, making his Fury Forged physique to bear the Mark of Fire, and a second after the lights went out, the entirety of Brother Valerius's body blazed with bright yellow flame.
The light from his flame felt weaker as, for one painful second, Brother Valerius only saw the metallic floor underneath his feet, and then the light from the flames blazing around his body began to expand, and his light found legs.
They were pale, jointed things like sticks, connected to a torso of sinews and what looked like living shadows over hunched, malformed shoulders covered with a light dusting of fur.
The light finally reached their faces, which were like bats exposed to an infection that mutated and consumed their flesh, leaving faces that were warped with disease and fangs that tore through their cheeks.
And they had no eyes.
These creatures resembled an abomination made by combining a spider, wolf, bat, and a human. Beings of madness and slaughter, there were the Children of Chaos.
They were packed around him, shoulder to shoulder, silent and twitching, and as if his light was a signal, their heads slowly turned towards him. At their center was Elias, and the vortex of Lumina that surrounded him was not just blue; it was now mixed with red. Miracle and Damnation in one body.
"Void Spawns," Brother Valerius whispered, the blood in his veins turning to ice.
They regarded him in silence, then moved closer. Claws of darkness and blood rose, and Valerius knew they would slice through his flesh with minimal hindrance, even as most blades would struggle to cut through his skin.
He was worried for Elias's safety, but he knew that before these abominations would get to the ascender, he and the Commander would be their focus, which was a good thing for Elias and a painful fact for him. Without their presence, the child would be consumed as soon as he finished his ascension.
The solution to this problem was simple, kill them before they could harm anyone here and Brother Valerius first instincts would have been for him to reach for the flame in his heart to cleanse everything around him for hundreds of feet, but he knew that Elias was here and that action would be hurting Elias even more than these creatures, and so he went for the weapon sheated by his waist.
But that minor delay during his decision-making process was a mistake, as these creatures fell upon him before his flaming sword was halfway out of his scabbard.
He was readying for pain when he heard the metallic sound of a blade unsheathing, and Brother Valerius smiled. The Commander had entered this battle, and there was nothing more to fear.
㉫
Elias slowly regained awareness; he could feel his body again, and he knew, without question, that he had changed.
Unlike most mortals, his awareness of his flesh was great due to the fact that his regeneration kept his body in a pristine condition, and so his senses were pure and were not constrained by sickness or any injury.
He had never had a cold in his life or caught a fever, and so he did not know what it would feel like to have his nostrils blocked by mucus or his mind fogged by fever.
This awareness meant that if he closed his eyes and focused his senses inside of him, he could feel his blood running through his body, and the pulsing of his heart would be like a drum.
Now, his body was… different.