Led by Cardinal Weiss and closely followed by Kieran, the followers of War and Flame… abandoned their home. As they marched across the razed land, they seemed like nothing but vagrants without a place to call home.
But the Flame had cultivated them to act as such.
They could abandon the Temple of War and Flame without blinking because they lacked attachment. All they knew was the purpose that the Flame embedded inside their mind, drilled until it became their prevalent dogma.
Their march was silent but impactful, each of their steps falling and causing a subtle tremor in the earth. The might and vigor inside their movements could not be disregarded.
All the while, Kieran clutched the covered Heartsbane, deep in thought but also engaging in active conversation.
The Sacred Inheritor was currently speaking to him, complaining, really.
"This place is so strange and yucky. How could you tell us to come to this dismal place? It's making me want to hurl, and I have yet to reach the mountain."
The miasma surrounding the Land of Ruin stretched as far as the land's borders, and though the noxious smog did not move beyond the fringes of the land, kept at bay by some invisible restraint, remnants of its presence bled through.
Anyone who walked close enough to the land's periphery was bound to feel the woes the Sacred Inheritor complained about.
Unmoved by her complaints, Kieran gave an opinion.
"I've resisted its influences for years, and you complain when you've yet to walk into the thick of it?"
The Sacred Inheritor scoffed, feeling accosted by Kieran's inhospitable tone.
"Listen up, I'm a lady, okay? I'm pretty delicate, so excuse me for being unable to endure what you can. And what the hell is going on with you? Are you going all emo on me? Why do you sound… hollow?"
Kieran gazed listlessly toward the Lifeless Pass deep in the distance. Then, he let go of a mental sigh. The effects of the Testament still weighed on him and influenced his mood despite breaking contact with it. It had a lingering impact that diminished slowly with time.
"Endure my experiences and tell me if you remain cheerful. Have you watched the life in countless children's eyes be extinguished by your hand? Have you felt the burden that brings? Do hundreds of voices speak to you at once?"
The Sacred Inheritor stammered and eventually blurted everything that came to mind.
"...Whoa. Dude, a hundred voices? Do you need meds? Are you like… a schizo or something? I've run into my fair share of them. Pretty fun to be around until shit hits the fan and you wind up in a ballistic situation."
Gloom overtook Kieran's expression, his lips curving down into a slight frown.
He sent an echo of his psyche inside his Realm of Self, enough of his mental presence to stimulate the Anchor and reveal the Oath's Chains. Perhaps what he was about to do was a bit mean… but he disliked how much of a joke the Sacred Inheritor saw him as.
So, he placed one hand on the Testament, enduring the maddening influx of dissonant voices screaming of their desires and how much they yearned for salvation, and the other, he grabbed the Sacred Chain.
Strange noises came from the other side of the connection, sounding like muffled gurgles, stifled gasps, and pained yelps. The Sacred Inheritor was not strong enough to feel every element of Kieran's bearing, but she had felt enough to frighten her.
"Oh… oh my god! You need to abandon that Class right now! What even is that?"
Kieran removed his hand from the Testament and maintained his same apathetic tone.
"My burden."
"Um… I'm… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to like, you know, belittle your experiences. This attitude is just how I cope with things, okay?"
Kieran didn't reply for quite some time, leading to an awkward tension that made the Sacred Inheritor squirm on the other side of the connection. After feeling she had endured enough of this unsettling anguish, he responded.
"I'm no stranger to coping. But all of this doesn't matter anymore. We have much more pressing conditions to worry about."
Before she could reply, Kieran grasped all the Chains and requested feedback on the Inheritors' current position. They were all en route to the Wailing Sierra.
"Actually… there's something I needed to tell you about. Apparently, that mountain we're headed toward is the source of a lot of strange activity."
Kieran listened to the Sacred Inheritor's account and nodded slowly. The timing of this was no coincidence. It was likely — no, undoubtedly — the Flame's handiwork.
'Is that why you got so worked up, Flame? You set some nefarious plan in motion?'
The Flame's concerns had been unfounded.
Kieran did not have the ocular prowess or ability to displace his perception to look to places beyond. He could not have known about the change surrounding the Wailing Sierra.
Considering the foe he fought upon the Wailing Sierra, Kieran thought it was prudent to at least alert the Sacred Inheritor of that threat.
"Be on the lookout for strange creatures known as Bloodwights. And… avoid their bite."
"Bloodwight? What a strange name, but I'll keep that in mind."
The Sacred Inheritor's tone was lighthearted per usual, leading Kieran to repeat himself in a harsher tone.
"I'm serious. Avoid them. Unless you can actualize the power of a Master… do not approach. I almost died to them, and I can unleash the power of a Master."
"…A Master? As in the step after an Adept? How does that work?! Aren't we supposed to be Advancing?! How the hell can you wield the power of a Master?"
The Sacred Inheritor was in utter disbelief, and if what Kieran said was true, she felt abject horror at that idea. Wouldn't that be the same as being able to jump stages? But they all bore a Mythical Class… the disparity shouldn't be that vast.
"It was the challenge I was given. It's all incredibly bizarre. I wouldn't suggest you try to understand it, because I don't."
The Sacred Inheritor didn't very much like that answer as it provided no explanation, but she thought back to her situation and realized she had seldom presented any clarification to the questions Kieran posed.
Why would he entertain what she had ignored? He was not obligated to answer the question she asked in the same way she wasn't required to answer his.
Other than complaining, however, Kieran did learn bits and pieces about her growing power. And according to her retelling of events that transpired, she was becoming receptive to Significance.
Which was understandable.
Kieran reckoned that while only a Master could employ Significance, an Adept could begin sensing and accumulating bits of it. It tracked, otherwise, an Awakening would be somewhat strange.
There had to be fuel in the tank for an engine to run.
Meaning an Awakening couldn't occur unless some form of Significance had been amassed.
'Then, the Advancing isn't some one-off experience. Until we Awaken… we'll likely continue Advancing.'
Talking with the Sacred Inheritor was an excellent pastime because she kept his mind busy, drawing most of his attention away from the idle resentments lingering in his mind.
But he could only continue talking to the scandalous lady for so long. The Lifeless Pass was soon upon them, and the Wailing Sierra was just beyond that.
How would those bizarre places receive him after having become a Child of Resentment?
