Creator

Lilith led Aurelis to one of the stone tables, which had hieroglyphs carved into it. She put her hand on the stone, causing it to glow up.

“This is a commandment. One of the cornerstones of the world.”

Aurelis eyes widened. “May I?”

Lilith nodded.

The stone table had a flat, smooth surface. It had hieroglyphs engraved into it. Aurelis frowned. What was that feeling? It was overflowing with energy, pulsating, as if the stone was alive.

“That is an overwhelming amount of energy.”

“It is imbued with mana of the creator. The commandments hold her will. They are the laws of the world.”

“The world has a creator?”

Lilith nodded. “And she made all of that. This place might look like a dungeon, but it is not.”

Aurelis looked around. So, he wasn’t actually in a dungeon. “Is she…” Aurelis didn’t know whether he should ask that question.

“Gone? Yes. She left this world long ago. On her own accord.”

“What? “Why would she do that?!”

“Because she was lonely. While she gave a soul to the world, it took a long time for it to bloom life. And she didn’t know that the world would form laws of itself.”

“So not all of the stone tables were created by her?”

“The commandments were all created by her. But there is a reason why I brought you over to this one specifically.” Lilith traced the symbols on the stone table with her hand. “After the creator left, the world itself took over and added laws to the commandments. This one specifically brings curse and blessing.”

That must have been in relation to the curse on herself that Lilith mentioned. Aurelis looked at the stone table. “How did you know that you were cursed?”

“The world curses those who are driven by desire.” She imbued mana into the stone table, revealing her golden halo. But it also had the same black glow as Aurelis’ halo. “And those who are the epitome of a desire are primordial sins.”

That was where Aurelis’ halo came from! ‘Primordial Sin of Selfishness’. So, that was what he was now? Lilith said that they are the epitome of the desire though. That probably meant they represented it. But he has always been selfless. That’s why he gave up his dreams. Aurelis sacrificed everything to change the world just to get punished for it. And suddenly he was supposed to be the epitome selfishness? He clenched his fist.

“I told you, that if we fought, there would be consequences. Because every sin comes with a skill, unique to itself.”

A unique skill. Did it activate yet for him? That couldn’t have been the thing that takes him over in fight. Right? Even if it were, how was that considerable as a skill. It felt more like a… “Curse,” Aurelis said.

“Exactly,” Lilith said.

But that couldn’t be. Aurelis didn’t see any correlation between that curse and selfishness. And he saw even less of a connection to himself. He was always kind. If he was the epitome of selfishness, did that mean that it was his true self? No. That couldn’t be. Right?

Lilith mustered him and sighed. “There is something that I have to warn you about. Be warry about telling them about your sin. The humans will not be your friends.”

Aurelis eyes widened. “How did you …?”

“I can feel it,” she said. “I have been one myself for quite a long time, after all.”

Aurelis nodded. “As long as I don’t get into a fight I should be fine.”

“Whatever happens though, if there is a virtue wanting to fight you.” Lilith looked deeply into Aurelis eyes. “Flee.”

Virtues? Whether those were humans, too?

She put her hand on his shoulder, smiling again. “What is it, that you want to achieve though? You can tell a lot about a person by finding out what they want in their life.”

His goal? Aurelis thought about it. “I want to go a different route from before. I want to write an encyclopaedia about spirits.”

“About spirits? You are different from the other humans,” she said with a hearty smile. Take that one with you.” She threw a mirror over to Aurelis. It had a metallic handle and frame, ornamented all around. A feint purple glow covered it.

Aurelis smiled brightly. “Is that another spirit?!”

“It should prove you helpful.”

Aurelis held the mirror in his hand. But he turned it around. He didn’t want to look at his reflection and accidently trigger his skill again, as it did at the market. While the mirror glowed in a purple tone, the spirit seemed to not leave the object. “Why is the spirit not coming out? Lux sits on my shoulder almost permanently.”

Lux wiggled around.

“It is a different kind of spirit,” Lilith said. “It holds a terrestrial concept.”

“Terrestrial concept? What is that?”

Lilith laughed. “You will have to travel the world, if you want to find all kinds of spirits. Isn’t it more exciting to find out by yourself?”

Aurelis has never thought about it. That was so true. After having been a researcher for the last years, he got used to asking. But now, going on his adventure, he was able to just go out and find out by himself.

“Why are you helping me? I’m a sin, after all.”

“And I am one, too. Sins are deemed by the soul of the world. Having desires doesn’t mean that you are bad. Nobody can decide that for you, not even the world itself.”

Aurelis nodded. But Lilith hasn’t seen his skill yet. She would probably think differently if she saw it. Which was even more of a reason, why Aurelis didn’t want to show her. But it was not only her. It was probably in his best interest to not show or tell anybody.

“You should try using the new spirit.”

“But it is not coming out, so how do I know what it can do? Lux is doing everything by herself.”

“You haven’t built a connection to Lux yet? You two seemed so familiar with each other. Hold the mirror in your hand and try to communicate with its mana. You must feel the way to it.”

Aurelis closed his eyes. He focussed on the energy that the mirror exerted. Similar to the pulse that Amalia’s whip exerted, this mirror did as well. It was a little more assertive, yet more calm.

He didn’t notice it, but his own mana flowed over, connecting to the spirit’s. An image formed in his head. Different from Lux, it was not a slime. Instead, it was a little spirit flame. A soul without a body, glowing in a deep purple tone. Squeaks were echoing through his head.

‘Can you hear me?’ Aurelis asked.

The spirit squeaked.

‘Could you demonstrate me what you can do, little one?”

The spirit grew and deformed into a ring. But instead of a hole, there was a purple mass in the middle of it. Aurelis opened his eyes. Where the glass of the mirror was before, there was now a reflection of a wall. Was that the town’s border?!

“I doubt that it was the last time we saw each other,” Lilith said. She turned around, transforming back to her dragon form. “I await you.”

Before Aurelis could answer, he got sucked in by the mirror. That spirit was able to make portals?! When he had the time, he definitely needed to write that down in his notes for the encyclopaedia. But he needed a name for his new friend. “That’s it. Remotus!”

The portal spat him out, right in front of the gate, through which he first left the kingdom. Loud growls were followed by a horde of adventurers. They ran past Aurelis, who was startled by the sheer amounts of them. Why were there so many of them? And where were they going?