Waking drowsily, Noctis slowly sat up, his hand wandering to his eyes where two light streaks of tears had settled. The tear slowly ran down his hand, under his scrutiny.
Why? Why is this happening again?
Looking around, alert and on guard to be certain that everything was in its rightful place, Noctis continued his chaotic morning routine.
He had developed this habit after his gruesome awakening, not because he truly feared that such an incident would happen again, but because he would often have weird headaches after awakening, making him associate them with the incident.
Simply blaming this on his newly acquired Authority for now, he shifted his attention to the content of his dream. He didn't remember much, almost nothing really, but there was something.
A golden string—that was all he could recall.
What was it? What did it mean? He didn't know.
And answers to these questions seemed far off.
Hopefully, he could get some answers to his questions while studying the books he had gotten. Standing up to take a shower and brush his teeth, he took a deep breath and stretched his body a bit.
While doing so, he noticed that his body felt a bit lighter than usual, prompting him to wonder whether it was a side effect of the Authority fragment, now residing within him. It truly wasn't much, but there was definitely something—if he had to put it in numbers, he'd say his body felt about a tenth lighter.
With some desire to test out the true extent of the changes, he threw a few air punches in the hope of feeling some sort of difference. Sadly, that didn't work that well, as he didn't remember how his punches felt before.
Well, in all honesty, I did not really train my body much, and I am malnourished as well.
This was not entirely his fault, as Noctis had neither the time nor the money to spend on extra food to build up muscles. The memory lingered as he moved on through his day.
Right, it wasn't my fault, and I never lost too much while gambling—I even won more often than not, so it definitely wasn't my fault!
After taking a quick shower, he had a nice breakfast in the cafeteria. As he sat down, he found it always astonishing to see the assortment of food in this place.
Back when he was living alone, he didn't have the money to buy expensive food. He mostly ate synthetic paste, which one could get down one's throat, but it was no joy, not in the slightest, tasting like a mixture of dirt and water. This kind of nutritious diet was the standard in the city's outskirts. Of course, one couldn't live entirely on these packs, as cheap as they were.
So Noctis put his money to the side from time to time to eat something real, just to keep his body going, at the very least. Something many could not afford.
Back when he first started eating them after his parents' passing, Noctis barely managed to get these things down. Yet time was a cruel yet great teacher; as his hunger overpowered his disgust, he got used to these synth packs after years, learning to eat them without actually tasting them.
Of course, he couldn't be happier, having real and good food every day now, or at least for the next few months, making him wonder about simply staying as long as possible, if not for the learning opportunities then for the free food. It didn't seem that bad here. No, not even that; one could even describe the place as good.
After a lavish meal, built out of a random assortment of fruits and meat, he went back to his room, planning to start studying the books he had so generously been given. The morning routines now complete, his focus turned to what lay ahead.
Lying on his bed, Noctis was a bit lost, looking at 10 books that lay stacked on a desk beside.
These spanned quite a wide range; the first was titled "Code of Conduct for New Authority Holders," written by Vlarian rules, followed by books like "Ancient Languages", " Concept Beginner One-O-One", and "Ritual Basics."Not quite certain where to start, Noctis planned to take it from the top of the list.
However, he didn't really have the patience to read some random propaganda trash about how an Authority Wealder had the duty to sacrifice oneself for the greater good and how with great power comes great responsibility, yada yada...It wasn't that he had no self-sacrificial spirit; rather, having heard this over and over from different sources, he had grown tired of it all.
Didn't someone once say boredom was the biggest enemy of man? And boredom comes through repetition. So repetition is the biggest enemy of man, right?
Because of this impatience, Noctis decided to skip the "Code of Conduct for Authority Holders" for now. Uncertain if those overseeing him would track his reading—since he would some day have to give back the books they so generously gave him—Noctis quickly skimmed it, and made it look like it had been read extensively, opening it and laying it fae down somewhere in the middle.
Satisfied with this little trick, he moved on to the next one, still feeling curious about what the rest would hold.
This was called "History and spread of humanity." Fearing it would be like the first book, Noctis slowly opened it, skepticism ingrained in every thought, and started reading.
This time, it seemed to be a documentary, and to his surprise, it was written in an enjoyable, story-like style.
It began with an explanation of humanity's origins—or, more precisely, the realm from which humanity originated. This was the so-called heart realm, a very hospitable environment where humanity prospered, until visitors from a neighboring realm, the realm of change, arrived.
This promptly led to conflict between the two sides after the inhabitants of the Change realm repeatedly overstepped their boundaries.
They valiantly fought for centuries, and the war seemed to be in humanity's favor, but change was inevitable, and the beings adapted faster than they could be exterminated. As the forces of change slowly gained the upper hand, humanity lost ground quicker and quicker.
They had originally cut deeply into the realm of change, yet with slowly shifting dynamics, humanity quickly found itself in a dire situation, with extinction at stake. With no way of fighting, a new plan was hatched. Escaping to different realms.
With little time, humanity decided to divide into two camps, sending them to two different realms that bordered the heart realm. One went upward towards the destiny realm.
The other tried their luck in the so-called middle realm. Unlike the other realms surrounding it, it wasn't named after a concept. It was named after the position it took. As the name suggests, the other realms were centered around this one, which apparently granted additional privileges to the middle realm.
No one truly knew why this arrangement existed, but the middle realm was less affected by other realms than they were by each other. This relative isolation made the journey to the middle realm perilous, resulting in many losses among those attempting it. Yet if they succeeded, this would give humanity a new, safer home.
The other camp that entered the destiny realm found it inhospitable. The environment was unfavorable for settlement, and the relentless spread of beings from the realm of change forced them to migrate once again.
Accepting sacrifices, this group pushed onward into the fate realm. The fate realm was described as a giant golden web, but it offered neither water nor enough food. After a brief stay, the travelers continued to the next and final realm—Spacium, also called the space realm. Which then became one of humanity's main bastions.
As a whole, Noctis could almost smell the bulshit that was sneaked in between lines. Yet in every good lie, there would be a kernel of truth—he was just uncertain what could be trusted and what couldn't.
Distracted by curiosity about the fate realm, Noctis scanned the book for more information, but found none, or too much interest. On the last page, there was a depiction of eight symbols.
The background was brown and rough-looking, having a certain sandy texture. One could see seven distinct shapes surrounding a giant tree, its branches spreading throughout the entire image. At the center of the tree, there was a large sphere split into seven pieces.
On the left, a dark circle surrounded by another, forming a sort of belt around the original circle, represented the realm of space. This black hole, as it was called, was influenced by and influencing two different realms: above, a golden web representing the fate realm, and below, a river with the word Time written below. Below the Time realm was a question mark connected to time, and on the other side was the Change realm.
Each realm influenced its neighbors most strongly, while the middle realm was the least affected, protected by the roots of the giant black tree.
Hmm, what does that question mark represent?
Every single realm Noctis had heard about was listed here, yet there was one realm missing. Oh, right, the Death realm is missing, but why are they not calling it that in the book?
Sighing out loud, Noctis wondered.
"Are the strings in my dreams and those threads I saw reconnect my finger to the stump of my hand connected to the fate realm? Could it be the origin of my Authority?"
Intrigued by the idea, he started searching for a book that could help him decipher his symbolism. Going through the titles one by one, two books stood out as helpful.
"Basics of Concept Fragments" and "Symbolisms Index." Reading their descriptions, the first read.
"A beginner's guide to using and identifying how to best use your Authority. Symbolism, ability, soul sea, and how to access them."
It was very straightforward, even a bit on the nose, to be honest. Yet it did offer a good, courtly description. To Noctis's surprise, the second was even more curt and straightforward.
"An index that documents and charts all symbolism types and their uniqueness."
Wow, the guys who come up with these names and descriptions clearly should be sent to jail for showing so little imagination.
Going with the latter, as it seemed to best fit his needs for the moment.
Noctis started reading and was confused almost immediately as terms he had never heard before were flung around willy-nilly, without considering that he was completely new to the world of Authority Wealders and didn't have the best education, to say the least.
Primary Authority? Secondary Authority? Authority CLASS!?
Knowing the words as a singular, yet having no Idea what they meant together, Noctis went back to the other book. Sighing lightly and hoping such terms were explained in this one, as it seemed further up in the sequence of books.
Starting to read, Noctis was relieved to see that the book was much more beginner-friendly, as it began with a short explanation of the Authorities and the categories they had been grouped into.
Apparently, there were many, many different Authorities, ranging from fundamental ones like gravity or time to abstract ones like animals, rules, or even household objects. Depending on the type of Authority, symbolisms and abilities can vary widely.....