Dance of the Gods

"...I think its time you learned about Relics."

Many questions popped up in Veronica's head. The most important out of all of them – 'Why am I keep finding out new things that Suze never talked about?... *sigh* I should really read that book shouldn't I...'

The book about mysticism Suze had given her was still located in the wardrobe. There was no reason for Veronica to try and read it, since her knowledge of ancient rener wasn't good enough.

"First, before we talk about them, lets define what an ethereal item is." As she said it, her hand motioned for Veronica to explain. This whole teacher student relationship was really starting to bore her, but she answered anyway.

"Well, as you told me before, ethereal items came to be when main ingredients react with their surroundings. They are made by their ethereal property, by wanting to become more stable." While she said it Suze nodded along.

"Yes, you are correct about that." Slowly a cunning smile appeared on her face. "But what happens if there are multiple main ingredients next to each other. Will they make one ethereal item, or will they repel each other, or maybe they don't do anything. So?"

Veronica stayed silent for a few seconds, then she gradually put the picture together.

'I didn't even think of that! Could ingredients of different paths make one item?... But wouldn't that be volatile or disorderly? They aren't similar to each other... Is there maybe some other force at play? What was the opposite of order again... Chaos...'

After a few minutes she finally looked at Suze who had an expectant expression.

"So these relics are in perfect balance between order and chaos. They connect with each other in specific ways and causes the ethereal items to change their nature... But how?"

Suze clapped a few times, at which Veronica just rolled her eyes with a small blush.

"Very good deduction Miss Navarro!..." *Chuckling* "The answer to your question is a bit more complicated, then you think. First things first, the items as you said want to be in order, but also want to be in chaos. This dynamic causes a flux state to appear within the item, which COULD lead to balance!"

She put a lot of emphasis on the word 'could', which meant only some of the relics become stable when they form.

"Yes, as you probably figured out, they not necessarily in balance when they form. Actually they aren't most of the time. About eighty percent of them just simply violently change states, causing large explosions. This means they are very dangerous and very rare."

'Yeah well, I wouldn't want to carry a bomb with me either... Or live above one... Dammit...' Only now did she realize how dangerous her home actually is. Suze seemed to notice her expression and quickly clarified a few things.

"The violent part only refers to their forming. If they are already in a balanced state, it is actually nearly impossible to take apart. But don't think they are safe just because of their stability. Every single one of them is an insanely powerful item!"

Suze quickly stood up and went up the basement staircase. After about a minute she came back with a gray stone in her hand. Gently she placed it on the table. The rock gave of a strange sensation, like it was calling out to Veronica.

Slowly she leaned in closer and saw tiny, nearly incomprehensible marking all over the stone. Before she could try and read any of them Suze started talking.

"This is Eternal Pocket, a Relic of the 3rd Order! There are five different orders for relics, each having more power than the previous. Just like with ascended the lower the number the more powerful the relic."

Veronica's hand gently touched and moved through the groves in the rock. She could feel its specialness just by touching it. It also gave her the sensation of vast power.

"What does it do?" She asked without looking up, but when Suze answered she stared at her with surprise.

"You already seen what it does. It creates a pocket dimension!"

She watched Suze's face for a few moments in case she misheard it, but that didn't seem to be the case. With a bit of tremble in her hand she reached for the whiskey and downed it. It took another minute or two, before she finally straightened her thoughts enough to continue.

"So, you are telling me that there is an item that can create a space outside of reality... And you use it for storing alcohol?!" As she said that Suze burst out laughing in front of her.

"The space is also outside of time..." She had a small mischievous smile while she said it. Eventually she sighed and continued.

"Yes. But its other main purpose is hiding the secret basement... Okay, you might think that we are misusing it, since it could achieve a lot more. But you also have to consider that we don't really need the secure storage which this relic could provide."

Veronica just stared at her for a few seconds, then sighed.

"No, I fully understand it, but you could still give it more use... Anyways, these items are dangerous you said. What makes it so horrible?"

"Oh, nothing special, just the possibility of destroying a whole street if treated badly." Veronica was in the process of drinking, but hearing that she immediately spat out the whiskey.

"WHAT?!" She nearly shouted while coughing. Suze on the other hand was just giggling.

"Oh, don't worry! It's easier to take care of it than you think. Its main requirement is to have a constant connection with the ethereal plain, which another item does for it. Another task is a ritual you have to perform every week. But lets not get into that just yet. First lets talk about relics in general some more."

"Why? What else is to know about them?" Asked Veronica curiously. The previous terror and disturbance passed by quickly, she was getting used to these life threatening new information.

"Well, a lot. For example, unlike ethereal items, relics can develop a consciousness which makes it automatically an order lower. Only relics with consciousness can have a rating of 1st order. Also they are very illegal, most orthodox churches will kill you on the spot to get them."

'So their rarity and danger level even makes the orthodox organizations jumpy... Hmm, wonder how powerful a 1st order relic is... Wait, what am I thinking?! I don't want to be anywhere near something so dangerous!'

They stayed silent for a few minutes, then eventually Suze continued.

"The ritual is a bit more complicated. As you know the relic is made up of multiple main ingredients. We don't know exactly what order, but we know the paths they are from. There is one from the Knowledge Pursuer, another from the Cultivator, and the last from the Lost."

She was about to continue, then noticed Veronica's thoughtful expression. She heard about Knowledge Pursuer since one of the Unbroken who came to ask her questions was part of said path. She also knew a person from the Lost path, Alex... But the Cultivator, she didn't know anything about that.

"Oh, you still haven't read the book! Well, of course you didn't read it yet, you still can't speak ancient rener... I won't going to explain them to you since we are running out of time. What you need to know is their symbolic colors. Knowledge Pursuer is dark blue, Lost is purple and Cultivator is green."

While Suze talked Veronica nodded along writing everything down mentally.

"For the ritual you need to be in these colors and you have to sacrifice a few ethereal materials. 10 grams of Night Lily Root, 20 grams of Star Powder, 5 droplets of Morning dew and finally, a handful of Celestial Dust. Then you have to chant a few words in a language that has ethereal power, for example ancient rener."

As Suze finished they stayed silent and eventually Sofie came downstairs since the customers had started to arrive. While working she tried to absorb every new information she had learnt in the past few days.

The work lasted for a good while this time, only after 5 pm did she have any time to take a break. Instead of sitting down and enjoying her few moments of calm, she went straight downstairs to learn everything about ancient rener.

At this point she was really curious what that book hid from her. So, instead of being a slacker she spent her time with good old education.

When a few nightly guests came that needed help with serving, she went and done it, then continued her quest for knowledge. At 7 pm she ate with the family, then learnt some more before eventually going to bed.

This whole learning in her free time became her new hobby, which Suze really approved of. She even held back her own teachings to give Veronica more time to catch up.

While being in this studying and working loop, she haven't even noticed that a week had already passed. Which meant it was time to attend another Ascended Gathering!