Chapter 1518: The Grand Game (3) |
Circe hesitated, a feeling of great fear filling her heart and she did not know where it came from, whether from Rowan's words or what she was about to witness, it was as if she was about to step into the maw of a fiendish beast, and yet understanding that she was given the privilege to see the core of Rowan's plan, Circe steeled her heart and stepped forward.
As she got closer to the table, the powerful Aura it emitted twirled around her body, nearly brushing against her skin as goosebumps broke across her flesh, and although she could only sense a small part of the power that was contained inside this Aura, she knew that touching the edge of it would annihilate her in body and soul, and it would not matter if she was an Old One, this place was meant for beings much stronger than Old Ones,
'So he is already at this level. Why do I still feel as if it had only been a blink of an eye and I no longer know him, perhaps I never did.'
Before her mind could be fully settled she found herself standing before the map and Rowan pointed to certain glowing spots on it, but they seemed to be covered under a sort of fog, she tried to peer through the fog, but a growing headache that rose quite quickly threatened to crack her skull in two and so she eased off, as a part of her mind noted that the Aura from this table had grown closer to her skin, and even though she did not wish for it, the fear of death began to fill her heart and only Rowan's voice pulled her mind away from that fear,
"Forgive me for blurring your sight and not showing you the full essence of this map, they contain the purest form of a Primordial's essence that I can safely contain in this treasure but it is not yet completed and it cannot fully shield this Aura, I can only blur it to this extent or your mind would be corrupted by their hidden presence, and you would become a hollow shell, seeing beyond Reality to a land that would drive all to madness,"
Rowan smiled, his gaze was strong and filled with light and Circe nearly fell into the beauty of his eyes, and he continued speaking,
"So it is a good thing that what I want to show you does not require you to peer deep into their essence, it is just satisfactory that you should know that, this place Booze Palace is at the center of this map, and here…"
Rowan gestured to a side of the map that glowed red, "Is the Inheritance Ground of Primordial Chaos, and here…"
He pointed towards another spot on the map, "This is is Land of Miracle, here is the Celestial Domain, and…"
Rowan lingered as he looked at her, knowing that at the moment she had reached her limit, Circe was bleeding from every orifice in her face, her Aether and Essence had nearly been exhausted and if not for the arrangements he had made inside of her body and dulled the radiance of the map to a fraction of its capability, Circe was nearly dead as she began to understand the intricacies of its operation.
To most immortals in existence, even Old Ones, Reality was infinite, but for Rowan, it was not, and this map represented his vision, placing infinity in a bubble where it could be deciphered, and Circe had just been permitted to see infinity in the way that Rowan saw it, obviously, there must be a price to be paid.
He sighed and began to transfer tiny bursts of essence and Aether into her body, healing her wounds and nurturing her soul until her breathing became easier, and her injuries settled. Rowan knew the right amount of energy that would perfectly ease her of this burden, because he still had more to show her, and for that to happen, she still needed to endure.
It was funny that on the eve of his greatest battles, he was essentially alone and this was not by choice, simply necessity, even other Old Ones were not worthy to discuss the future with him, but for his children, he could be patient, and Rowan's heart was gladdened that for something so small as helping Circe to understand his thought process gave him satisfaction.
However, he nearly laughed when he noticed that Circe's cheeks were red as she was blushing with shame at her weakness, and Rowan rolled his eyes in exasperation and gently explained,
"Consider that you are still a third-dimensional immortal Circe, technically you are still just a mortal, and you are here before a map that would befuddle the minds of an eight-dimensional immortal, there is no shame in this weakness, because it is not a weakness, it is great strength, do no let comparison steal your joy, in your place, I would not be able to do any better."
Circe nodded, her heart becoming firm once more, it only took such simple words to get her perspective in check.
Being around Rowan was always confusing, he was both supremely powerful but also annoyingly approachable, and unless it was deserving of his attention he would never reveal his strengths openly, so it was hard to always gauge how strong he was when he kept his mortal frame constantly around him.
He created a treasure that she was sure that would shake all of Reality if it was to be exposed outside and yet he placed it inside a nondescript room and made it take the form of a wooden table, he assigned a tavern as the center of Reality and he talked about Primordials as if he was extremely familiar with them, it was all so bizarre, and it was easy to be lulled to a false sense of comfort around him.