Chapter 869 A Burning Memory, Part 2



"Immortality." 

What a word. What a concept. Even through a muffled mouthful of chewed chicken, Ria wasn't able to undermine the gravitas the word permeated through each one of its illustrious syllables.

"To those afflicted with a terminal case of chronic, debilitating lifespan-itis… it is quite possibly the end-all-be-all of all wishful thinking. I'm pretty sure there's not one single being across the cosmos who hasn't gazed above their heads before and pondered to themselves… just 'what if', right?

And as if a victim to the thought herself, Ria pretended to ponder away briefly into the nothingness of Irene's ceiling.

"Naturally, despite the utterly nonsensical aspect of it, Torem wasn't the first person in existence to try and defy the odds - other clever fools like him wanting what they can never have no matter the cost. He knew that of course, countless instances of past failures and death in the name of success that probably didn't exist - but obviously, a man like him, skills like his, what did he have to worry? Given enough time and soon… death would be but a distant memory.

"But, oh no, what's that there in the distance? Gasp! Egad! A pothole on his yellow brick road to success! And a rather big one too at that. See, while Torem was all for shedding the weaknesses of man's natural state, the Churches on the other hand, his best buddies, his closest advocates, didn't take too kindly to such… lavish ambitions. To them, as is with the general populace, immortality was a big no-no. A higher power such as that should only be reserved for the higher living. Men had no right reaching their hands down the primordial cookie jar, and if anyone should be caught doing just that… defying death… well, let the punishment fit the crime, as they say in ye olden days of yore."

Y'know, with risks like those, the nigh improbability of success doesn't seem to really offset the consequences of failure. I don't know why anybody would gladly accept a death sentence like that… but then again, I suppose I'm the last person on earth to be calling out stupid suicidal tendencies, aren't I?

Glass houses and all that…

"As is with every other form of illegalities, Torem kept his side hustle a closely-guarded secret. Behind the backs of his peers, his superiors, and even his Deities, day after day without fail, he would drown himself in blasphemy, experimenting, researching. In short, he was in all sense of the term - a very bad boy. Now, the first few days, it wasn't exactly smooth sailing, and neither were the first few weeks, the first few months, first few years… you get the idea. Eventually, he realized that for all his brilliance and talent, death would continue to only best him if he had no one else to provide perspective and clarity that wasn't solely his own. He knew that it was time for him to suck up his pride, risk his life, and ask someone, but not just anyone, for help in achieving the impossible, the forbidden. Enter - Silas. The appointed High Magus of the First Church of Frederika."

Once again, Irene did her little scoot, both eyes and ears focused in only a single direction forward.

"Now, Silas was also another brilliant man. Perhaps not as brilliant, not as talented - but he had the experience, the know-how and his high position in the Church showed for it. His skillset was diverse, bountiful… but if we're talking true expertise - then when it came to the process of creation, Silas's proficiency in the field was pretty much second to none." 

"Creation?" I asked.

"Actually, I think transformation is more like it," Ria said with a frown. "Not sure why they'd call that, but… anyway, I can't be bothered playing trivia, so, um - she flourished an arm at Irene, shedding embers. "Take it away, Sensei." 

"It's just another branch of magic," Irene explained curtly, her expression, her tone, with just an edge of impatience. "It's the process of altering the intrinsic properties of an entity into something else entirely. You know, silk into steel, fire into ice, water into wine - "

"Elves into Elf-Knights," Ria tacked on in with a grin.

"You get the idea," Irene finished with a sigh. "Obviously it goes without saying that not everybody can just snap their fingers and turn grass into cold. Creation is a long, exhausting, and if negligent - hazardous process to even try and attempt." 

Hazardous.

Of course, it is. 

Like at this point, what's even the point of having magic if you're always gonna be playing a game of Russian Roulette at every attempt?

Frankly, I'm surprised I even got this far myself somehow.

"So what happened next?" I asked, urging for another flip of a page.

"Well, what else do you expect when you got two unparalleled prodigies together in the same room? Birds of a feather, you know? When they first met, they instantly hit it off. Torem knew him as a peer first, a friend eventually, but soon enough, they became close enough to freely share their lives with one another… their hobbies, their interests, aspirations… maybe even a few secrets.

"It happened a good few years deep into their relationship. Torem trusted Silas enough, believed enough, to finally confide in his dear friend of his true prospect in life. He shared with him the progress he's made, the countless attempts he's failed, before finally finishing his powerpoint presentation with a plea, a single wish, to achieve the unachievable with someone he considered a brother… and if not, to at least help keep his cardinal sin a secret from those that would try to impede him." 

Irene was just creeping closer and closer to my field of view, and that's not because she actually was - in fact, she was barely moving a muscle. No, it's how she looked that's been tethering my gaze more and more to her.

Between the two of us, Irene undoubtedly was the one who knew Ria better, longer, and all things considered, the closest thing she had to a mother.

So just what does it mean really when this was apparently the first time she was hearing all this from her after all they've been through?

"Luckily, it seemed some God up there was smiling upon Torem that day," Ria continued. "Silas was more than happy, felt more than blessed, at the chance to commit blasphemy together. To willingly forsake his beliefs, his livelihood, and even his life… if things should go awry. Scary stuff. But he didn't care because just what are friends for, right? I mean, who knows really why he agreed, why he didn't immediately hand Torem over to the Church as soon as he spoke his first word - all we can do is guess, and I'm guessing… that to him, to Silas, Torem was more than just a dear friend." 

If not for the table, I'm almost positive Irene would have pulled her seat all the way towards Ria just to better engross herself more.

I remembered once in a memory out of a dozen, when Irene proposed to leave Kronocia for good, and demanded Ria to come along with. Not as a companion, not even as a friend. But as an accessory, a simple relic of sentimental value - practically declaring that that was all she was worth to her.

As of late, however, that statement of hers doesn't seem to be holding up too well here.

So much so, that I couldn't help but wonder the inverse…

To keep this all to herself all this time. To knowingly forsake her and slumber away in a time of great need. To insist on still sleeping and leaving even after all this…

What was Irene to Ria?

"And so the two began their long, prosperous partnership," She went on to say, mincing her words once again through chunks of chewed chicken. "To create a 

being insusceptible to Death."