Galaxy's First Ruler

Chapter 44: Law

What are Laws? Is there one Law superior to another? If there is, how does one decide it?

One could go on like this and stumble upon either a hundred answers or none. But questions were the root of understanding and sometimes they were more important than the answers. If one wanted to speak of Laws in the simplest term, then it would have gone like this; Laws are the means to predict the future.

Aldrich wasn't concerned with the Law of Space or the Law of Time. No, not even one remarkable person on earth would have been able to say that they had entirely understood Space-Time. But the Skills were closing this gap little by little. Banish wasn't a Skill to amplify these understandings, it provided means to act upon the knowledge of Laws itself.

Being of Common Rank, Aldrich found out that he couldn't Banish Laws around him. Even if he could, it wouldn't have lasted more than a fraction of a second. The only workable method that presented itself to him was to Banish Laws within a target. The human body, one of the complex structures of the Universe, was an amalgam of Laws. And one of these Laws was the Law of Electricity.

"BANISH."

Aldrich put his left against the Crawler's chest and banished the Law of Electricity. Billions of neurons in Cu Chulainn's body stopped functioning. Neurons needed electric signals to pass on the information. But now, the same electricity seemed to not exist within the Crawler's body. Without the excess of these electric signals, how would its muscles respond to its commands? The Boss looked like someone had rooted it in the place it had been standing upon.

Aldrich took out the extended thorn of the spear from his chest. The weapon Gae Bulg, even when it could function independently, couldn't do anything. The grip Cu Chulainn had on it was strong enough to not let it move by itself. Aldrich took out a Cigarette and his lung injury healed in a matter of seconds. Two black Daggers materialized in front of him. One could surmise their sharpness by the way the shadowy vapor around them was getting cut by their own blade's edge.

Holding them loosely in his hands, Aldrich walked in a circle around the Crawler's body. One could have seen dark flashes of Daggers occasionally coming into existence and vanishing. By the time the Banish Skill lost its effect, Aldrich had already severed Cu Chulainn tendons and veins. Yes, it was a wonderful chance to kill it and gain Experience Points. And Aldrich would have done so too if he was a 13-year-old child living in a fantasy.

As the Boss's body slumped down on the ground, Aldrich got time to check on the notification.

[

Hidden Quest has been completed

Rewards:

1. Skill - Flaw Detection

...]

Who wouldn't have smiled in a situation like this? Aldrich was just a touch away from laughing out loud. A black shiny globe materialized and hovered between him and the Crawler. Aldrich flicked away the used Cigarette and touched the reward.

[...

Skill: Flaw Detection (Rare)

Nature: Active

Cooldown: 00:03:00 hrs

Minimum Usage Condition: Perception 40, Agility 50

Consumption: 500 MP

Description:

1. Dreamer can detect the Flaws on the target

2. Any hit on the detected Flaw would be a Critical Hit

Warning: The numbers of Flaws detected would depend upon the difference of Levels and Ranks

Do you want to equip the Skill?

]

"Yes."

The hovering ball crumbled, and another Skill got added to Aldrich's arsenal. He looked down and saw the helpless Boss on the deserted earth. Cu Chulainn was looking at the Dungeon's sky, as it lost its red hue and regained its natural color. Aldrich saw the Gae Bulg moving around the Portal's entrance, daring him to think of leaving. It didn't attack Aldrich and only one being could have ordered the Spear to do so. A defeated voice came out of the Crawler's mouth as Aldrich moved his eyes away from the Spear.

"Don't... mind it. Gae Bulg is too proud... proud enough to not accept defeat."

Aldrich inspected the Boss's body. Blood was perfusing out from it, making pools of blood around it. But the process seemed slow, as Aldrich intended it to be. Cu Chulainn had little time left, which meant that Aldrich had little time either. With the Daggers still in his hands, he crouched near its body. Using his fingers, he slowly traced the runic markings. The Boss's body felt cold to Aldrich, and the cold's intensity was increasing by seconds.

"I am sorry, I don't have the proper instruments."

Aldrich said the words offhandedly. It didn't matter if it was the Crawler he had hated or an animal. Once on the table, it was just another experiment. But Aldrich wasn't prepared for the answer he got from Cu Chulainn. A shiver ran down his spine and for a moment his head throbbed with ethereal pain.

"Don't... worry about it. We both serve the same Lord."

No words could come out from Aldrich's gaped mouth. Saying nothing, Aldrich used the Daggers to remove the skin, which had markings over it. In the silent atmosphere, the occasional grunt from the Crawler and the humming of the spear resonated with each other. Aldrich eyed the blue marking and remembered the first impression it had given him. The marking was almost similar to the symbols one could see in the eyes of Newbie Dreamers while using the RECORD. The true value of any runic symbols was apparent to any Philologist, like Aldrich. And he wanted nothing but to study these symbols and make something meaningful out of them.

Aldrich had originally decided to leave after the procedure. But the casual words from the Boss had clicked something within him. He just couldn't take his mind off the underlined meaning of that statement. He looked at Cu Chulainn and their eyes met. Aldrich saw him looking at him with a slight smile. And he couldn't help but remember Sonu. He did not know what hallucinations the dying Crawler was going through. But the strange turn of events gave him an idea. An idea, more bizarre than anything he had come up with so far.

He sat down in a meditation posture and waited. He waited for the cooldown of Banish Skill to be over. And focused his entire concentration on the feeling of the state after the death. The vision of that place came back to him. The place where he had spent many millennia traveling towards the origin of that Call. And in that emptiness and seemingly timeless place, he had spent most of his time learning. Learning about his surroundings, realizing its meaning, and understanding its purpose. And if he could summarize this understanding, then it would become a word; Law.

This was the terror of the Class-Generalist.

Aldrich saw Cu Chulainn going into a state of Coma and the cooldown had reached its limit. Death wasn't far from claiming the Crawler, but the limited time was enough for Aldrich. He put his hand on the Boss's forehead where the hole was ever a place of unimaginable depth.

"Law of Darkness... BANISH."

An archaic sound resounded around Aldrich, and the space seemed to fluctuate on the brink of collapse. When Aldrich removed his hand from Cu Chulainn's face, he recalled his first encounter with that enormous being. There was no deep hole like a depthless well anymore on the Boss's forehead. Aldrich could only see a seed. The tiny black seed looked like a diamond, but Aldrich knew it wasn't of the same substance. Many black tentacles were coming out of the seed and had spread over the Crawler's forehead like veins. And the tentacles seemed to pulsate with life. Aldrich's hand involuntarily went and touched his forehead.

Aldrich used the Dagger and tried to pluck out the seed. But no matter from which side he tried, he couldn't move it out of its place. Seeing that he was almost out of time, a beam of resolution gleamed in his eyes. Raising his strength to the Max using the Skill Change, he used both the Daggers to deal a powerful slash around the seed.

BANG!!!

Both the Daggers broke down in millions of black vapory globules and merged into Aldrich's shadow. But they had done their intended work. The black seed came popping out, and Aldrich saw the Crawler crumbling down at the same time. Even the spear crumbled following its master. Aldrich reached out and picked up the fallen seed. Its tentacles were flailing about maddeningly. As soon as Aldrich's hand touched his, the seed and his forehead seemed to attract each other like two opposite ends of magnets. The pull was so strong that even with his strength, Aldrich was struggling to keep the seed away. Ignoring the drops from the Crawler, Aldrich eyed the mysterious notification that had popped up.

[...

You are eligible to obtain a new Title

Generating Title Quest...

Title Quest (optional): Description Not Available

Title Reward: Will of Darkness

Do you want to initiate the Quest for this Title?

...]

Aldrich couldn't take his eyes off the Title Reward. His heart thumped with an unfamiliar rhythm. For a moment, there was disharmony in his breathing. Aldrich took control of his emotions and, with a grave look in his eyes, let go of the seed. Like a prisoner longing for freedom, the seed lunged at his forehead. Aldrich's hair turned white and the white of his eyes turned black. His iris glowed with a color of pearly white and a dark hole opened up on his forehead. But just as the seed vanished inside that hole, he regained his original appearance. None could witness this strange phenomenon except the world itself.

Aldrich took a deep breath and, with unwavering resolve, looked at the notification.

"Yes... "

"... I don't serve any fucking Lord."