TS5: Chapter 34 (Patreon)

Urmag’Tal’s words were like hammers that pounded at Thorn’s heart, causing cracks to appear in his understanding of the world. While he had never assumed that the Titans were perfect, to hear of their failings directly from the lips of one of them made him realize that he still had a long way to go in understanding them and their impact on the world. He knew bits and pieces of his father’s story, but now pieces started to fall into place that he had never put together before.

Thorn knew from his exploration of the layered world of Lestra that a civilization had once existed that possessed technology far beyond anything that currently existed in the Endless Worlds. That technology had been lost in the terrible crisis that faced the Endless Worlds, but Thorn would have never guessed that the crisis was actually caused by his father. According to what he had put together from his encounter with his father’s sliver of will before he ascended and Eve’s explanation of his parent’s history, his father had arrived on Earth with Julia and the Atlas Star after the destruction of the world that he oversaw.

Now, it seemed that there was much more to the story than he had realized. The endless source of elemental energy in his chest had been his father’s crowning achievement, a miracle of technology and magic that was light years beyond anything else in existence. It was so profound that even Eve couldn’t understand how it was put together. Yet its uniqueness had ultimately been as much of a curse as a blessing. From what Thorn was putting together, it was the Atlas Star that had caused Kamag'Tal’s empire to crumble. According to his father’s words, those who wanted the Atlas Star used their wisdom to create terrible weapons, attempting to wrestle it from his hands and killing entire worlds in the process.

Thorn couldn’t even imagine how hard it must have been for his father to witness everything he had created being destroyed by the application of the very technology he had first created. The destruction had been so complete that now, thousands of years later, no one even remembered the existence of those days. Any technology that still existed was considered ancient and arcane magic, and it was viewed with suspicion. Though even that seemed odd, as there were individuals who must have experienced that time of prosperity who were still alive. Groaning, Thorn rubbed his forehead. Frustratingly, every time he figured out the answer to a question, it just spawned half a dozen more.

Watching Thorn with an amused smile, Urmag’Tal scratched at his beard.

“Don’t get me wrong, each of us Titans has achieved tremendous things within our lifetime. But just because you create something tremendous, that doesn’t mean that everything will go perfectly. We are immortal, and born with supernatural strength and endless potential, but we are not deities. It is impossible for us to control all variables. There are no beings who wander the endless worlds who have the power to make everything perfect. Add to that the differences in training and desire that each Titan possesses and it would be nonsensical to imagine that any of us would follow some prescribed path. An endless number of worlds stand before you, Thorn, and it’s up to you where you place your feet.”

“Are you trying to tell me that I can do whatever I want?” Thorn asked, his forehead furrowing.

“Why would I tell you something so useless?” Urmag’Tal asked with a laugh. “Of course you can do what you want. Or at least, you can try. No one is stopping you, and even if they did, you’d eventually be able to do it. You have a Titan’s potential, kid. Limitless possibilities for growth and endless time. So long as you don’t kick the bucket, you’ll eventually stand at the top. I mean, you more than anyone else. After all, from the look of it, you picked a divinity that acts as a multiplier for your already absurd ability to learn. What is that? Growth? Fast learning?”

Feeling self conscious, Thorn rubbed the back of his head.

“Improvement.”

“Hah, are you for real? You really are your father’s son. Your divinity is improvement? And let me guess, you apply it universally, right? So it affects everything you do?”

“That was my thought,” Thorn admitted.

“You kids and your speed.”

Letting out a tired sigh, Urmag’Tal picked up the metal bar and poked at the forge for a moment.

“Listen, you didn’t pick poorly. In fact, that might be the most absurdly genius thing I’ve ever heard. I picked guidance as my divinity, allowing me to guide others with supernatural effectiveness. It was a choice that fit me, and I don’t regret it. Never have. It helps that by the time I picked my divinity I was already at the top of the Endless Worlds, of course. You know, somewhere in the Great Forge is a book that lists all of the divinities of previous Titans, and some of them are insane. There was a Titan who picked distance, and turned it into an ability to manipulate the distance between all things. You might think that’s fairly normal, until you realize that he could use it to manipulate the distance between people’s words, or even their emotional distance to others. Then there was the Titan who picked nothing. Not void, but nothing. Imagine what a nightmare that was. Or wasn’t. I don’t even know. All I know is that by choosing improvement, you will likely supercharge a process that should take eons.”

Shaking his head, Urmag’Tal tossed the glowing bar to the floor and stared at Thorn.

“If you use it to its full effect, and I’m sure you will, it means that every time you run into one of our fragments of will, you’re going to steal everything we have to teach you and more. But not only from us. You use magic and martial arts, right? I can sense the purity of your mana, and you move like someone who knows Titan’s Step. Do you know runic yet?”

Seeing Thorn’s nod, Urmag’Tal scoffed.

“Of course you do.”

Standing up, Urmag’Tal gestured for Thorn to remain sitting and walked over to a shelf, taking down an object wrapped in the skin of some sort of scaly creature. There was a faint sense of familiarity to it, and with a start Thorn suddenly realized that it was dragon skin. Bringing the object back over, Urmag’Tal unwrapped it, revealing a crystal figure. Looking down at the delicate sculpture, Urmag’Tal was silent for a moment before he began to speak.

“I mentioned before that not everything turns out like we want, right? No matter how powerful we are, our power cannot ever cover over the evil that lurks in people’s hearts. Nothing we do can stop people from desiring power for themselves. And every time we create something beautiful, it creates a new problem.”

Holding up the statue, Urmag’Tal watched as Thorn admired the statue. It appeared to be a lovely young woman carrying a bouquet of flowers, and in the light of the forge the crystal sparkled like a rainbow. When Thorn had gotten a good look at it, Urmag’Tal turned it around, revealing a rough scar carved across the statue’s back. Where there should have been beautiful craftsmanship was instead a gaping hole.

“What’s curious is that if you cover up the hole, the front is no longer as beautiful.”

Catching the statue that Urmag’Tal tossed to him, Thorn covered up the gap with his fingers and was surprised when the crystal statue dimmed, losing much of its sparkle.

“You mean that sometimes the only way we can achieve what we set out to achieve is by intentionally harming something?” Thorn asked, shooting a hard glance at Urmag’Tal.

“No, though that is actually true,” the Titan replied with the ghost of a smile. “I mean that sometimes, when you create something of beauty, it doesn’t look so good from a different angle.”

“I guess that’s true,” Thorn said, handing the statue back. “Everyone has a different perspective on how things should be, and it’s impossible to please everyone, no matter what you do. I learned that early on.”

“That doesn’t mean that objective truth doesn’t exist, of course,” Urmag’Tal said as he re-wrapped the statue, “but just that we need to be careful before claiming something is absolute. Now, it’s about time to answer that third question of yours.”

Waiting until Urmag’Tal had put the wrapped up statue back on the shelf and returned to his seat, Thorn asked his third question.

“What is the solution to Urmag’Tal’s Puzzle?”

The question caught Urmag’Tal off guard, and for a moment he just stared at Thorn, at a loss for words. After a dozen seconds of silence he burst into laughter, slapping his knee with enough force that the shock wave reached Thorn.

“Hah! What a great question. Well, the answer for you is different than for anyone else, so which do you want? Your answer, or everyone else’s?”

Thinking about the question, Thorn looked down at his hand and flexed his fingers, trying to weigh the pros and cons of each answer. He was tempted to ask for everyone else’s answer, as that would mean being able to help Velin and the others, increasing their strength in the process. Yet he also couldn’t help but want to hear his own answer. Finally, after a few minutes of silence, he tapped himself on the chest.

“I want to hear my answer.”

“Good choice, as yours is the harder puzzle to solve,” Urmag’Tal said, chuckling. “The answer for you, lies in the question: What path should you take?”

“Isn’t it bad form to answer a question with a question?”

Giving Thorn a sly smile, the Titan shrugged.

“I’ve never been told I possess anything resembling good form. Is it?”

Rolling his eyes, Thorn couldn’t help but chuckle.

“What paths are you talking about?” he asked. “Are there specific paths that I can choose from?”

“While that curious thing that Kamag'Tal created for you has a lot of benefits, it seems to have created a misunderstanding,” Urmag’Tal said, flicking a finger at Thorn.

*ding*

[System detected interference. Rebooting.]

Startled by the window that popped up in front of him, Thorn nearly jumped to his feet, only managing to stabilize his heart after a deep breath.

“What did you do?”

“Nothing important,” Urmag’Tal said, shrugging. “Listen, kid. I’ve talked a lot about us Titans, but there is something that you need to know. Every cause has an effect, which transforms into a new cause. This is one of the immutable laws. From the first cause, an unbroken chain of causality has extended to all things. Each of us is a link in our own chain, and we forge ourselves as a response to the internal and external influences that press in on us. Your father, Kamag'Tal was likely the smartest Titan to exist, because his father before him regretted not understanding the ramifications of the choices he made and overcompensated for his child. But even with all his smarts, Kamag'Tal failed to preserve what he built, not from lack of understanding, but from weakness of will. He could not make the hard choices that needed to be made in order to preserve his empire. Likewise, you are the result of his intelligence and his regret. He built your beginnings to help you overcome his greatest weakness, and in doing so, has helped you forge an unshakable will.”

“While inadvertently creating another weakness?” Thorn asked.

Pounding his fist into his palm, Urmag’Tal nodded, his gaze fierce.

“Absolutely. The answer to your puzzle lies in finding that weakness and determining what you will do in light of it. And maybe learning a few more things along the way."

Looking down at his hands, Thorn unconsciously clenched them, his mind filled with a storm of thoughts as he tried to work through everything he had just heard. There was a small part of him that wanted to reject all of it, to leave. He could go back to Verdant with Velin and the others and stay out of the way of all of the tumult of the Endless Worlds. After all, he had a great life there, even without climbing the tower and coming into conflict with these fated enemies that the Titan spoke of. Yet even as the thought filtered into his awareness, he knew he was going to reject it outright.

There was simply too much that he had not explored, too much that could be done. It was difficult to quantify the feelings driving him forward, but Thorn knew without a shred of doubt that sitting on Verdant and trying to ignore the world would drive him crazy. With a sigh, he stood up.

“Thank you for sharing your knowledge with me,”  he said, bowing his head toward Urmag’Tal. “Though I don’t have clarity yet, I feel like I’m beginning to have a glimmer of an idea of what I want to do.”

“That’s good. I’m sure you’ll have other questions for me over this next year, and so long as you have enough denari, I’d be happy to answer them.”

“You’re going to charge me to answer my questions?”

“Of course I am. All knowledge worth knowing has a cost, and besides, a man has to make a living.”

“First, you’re not a man, you’re a sliver of will left in a world shard for the express purpose of teaching future generations. Second, how much will you charge per question?”

Amused, Urmag’Tal held up a finger.

“One thousand denari per question. But it’s time for you to go. I have a lot of work to do before morning comes to establish this world and the people in it.”

“Alright, then I’ll leave you to it,” Thorn said, turning to leave.

“Don’t be a stranger, Thorn,” Urmag’Tal said, bending down to pick up the metal rod he had been using to tend the fire, “but know that after tonight, the others will not see me as you do. So do me a favor and don’t go around telling everyone who I really am. It would be annoying if everyone knew that the creator of the puzzle was tending the forge here.”

“My lips will stay sealed,” Thorn said, speaking over his shoulder as he stopped by the door.

As Thorn reached for the door handle, he suddenly froze, his eyes going wide. Slowly turning, he pointed at Urmag’Tal, his finger trembling.

“Wait, you’re Urmag’Tal. Aren’t you the one who created the Endless Battlefield to keep the god beasts and humans from carrying their fight to all corners of the Endless Worlds? Wouldn’t that make you the creator of the god beasts and avatars? But you said that my father’s father created the god beasts. Wouldn’t that make you my granddad?”

A happy grin spread slowly across Urmag’Tal’s lips as he watched Thorn’s face change with the realization. Sticking the metal bar into the forge, the Titan crossed his arms over his chest and let out a booming laugh that filled the room.

“Heh, took you long enough to realize it, kid.”