Chapter 363: Legacy
Laz wasn’t trying to show off. Actually, when it came to runes, he really couldn’t care less. But since these things had been drilled into him thanks to Vivi, he felt a little annoyed with seeing the way these two were using runes in a manner that reduced their power without leading to any actual benefit.
"You..... how....?"
"What do you mean how?" Laz asked back, looking at the young woman as it was her who spoke first.
While she couldn’t get anything else out, the grandma on the other hand didn’t hesitate.
"I’m truly sorry for whatever transgressions we have made against you," the old woman apologized before stand up and kneeling on the ground. She even went so far as to bend over forward and put her head on the floor as though she were begging for his forgiveness.
This time, Laz didn’t speak as he was the one who was shocked beyond all recognition. While he didn’t sense any sort of murderous air from either of the two of them the entire time he was here, he also didn’t understand why the old woman would bring out his "wanted poster," so to speak. While surprised he had made the top spot, he also didn’t think much of it considering how many times he had run into troops and chosen. Still though, for this to be brought up in this way had made Laz curious as to what the old woman wanted.
Now though, seeing her kneeling in front of him, Laz was even more confused.
He wasn’t the only one either. While the old woman knelt, the younger looked at her grandmother like she didn’t understand what was happening, but only until she blew her top and lost it, probably due to the impact from the old woman’s actions.
"Grandmother! What the hell are you doing...?" The young head witch practically screamed.
"QUIET!" The old woman bellowed from her position without raising her head. Instead, she swept her hand out from beside her while caught her granddaughter on legs and knocked them from under her. Before she could scream, the old woman then held down her granddaughter’s head and started apologizing for her as well.
"Please excuse this wretch of mine. She wasn’t brought up to be this rude or stupid, holy one..."
’Holy one? Da fuq? Me?" Laz might have been frozen, but his mind wouldn’t stop working.
After a moment of nothingness, Laz finally unfroze and sat down. He then slammed his drink and finished it off quickly before reaching for the bottle that had been left next to the young ladies armchair, refilling the glass and drinking it down.
"Ok. OK. Stand up. And also, what are you talking about?" It wasn’t that Laz felt nervous or threatened or anything like that that he decided to drink. It was actually the feeling that he got from the old woman that made it hard for him to take it.
Laz felt the old woman meant every word she said and that meant that to her, he was this ’holy one.’
Now maybe you’re wondering about why Laz would take this seriously and why should it matter? Well, normally. he wouldn’t. The old woman could be crazy after all and that wasn’t something Laz wanted to deal with.
It had nothing to do with that. Instead, it had to do with the old ladies power and the way it affected Laz as she so willingly bowed to him.
It was like an infusion into his very being and while it felt good, it was also an alarming feeling. Looking closely inside of himself after calming down with the drink and following the power’s flow, Laz saw that as the power of this woman’s faith came into him, his golden purple palace started shining, all be it just a little.
Watching on as this happened, Laz felt like some lights had turned on in his head, but they were still hazy and fuzzy. As such, he no longer asked nicely and instead, using a stream of pure energy, picked the old woman up and set her back in her chair as her daughter looked on, clearly shocked by Laz’s display of power.
"But... are you not a rune master?" The young woman asked.
"Ok... you know what? Let’s start over again because I need to understand what’s going on and none of this is helping." Laz said, indicating for the young woman to go back to her seat. As for the grandmother, she had settled down and was taking another sip of her own drink, clearly rattled in some way.
"First.. names?" Laz asked.
"I am Celes and this is my grandmother, Gretchen," Celes replied quickly. She didn’t mean too, but she was finally getting a hint as to how formidable Laz was. After his outward display of power, moving something with his mind, writing runes in the air with that black flame and even his ability to break her own gaze, she started to finally understand that he had been hiding his true ability.
"Celes, Gretchen. Unique names for modern times, but nice none the less. Anyway, let me collect my thoughts before I answer any questions. In the meantime, can you tell me about this place that I’m assuming you made yourselves?" Laz turned to Celes and asked since she seemed to be the most composed.
"Uh... well. You’re half right and half wrong. We didn’t build this place, our family did over a long period of time. You see, within the mountains around here and even further when you reach the Grand Canyon, there are settlements from an ancient people who carved entire villages out of rock in the sides of mountains. Now, that seems pretty awesome huh? But it honestly doesn’t make any sense because it was discovered that they had previously been living in villages above ground before they decided to build these fort like places. So there is a conclusion that something or someone, like a strong enemy, forced them into building those fort like structures. As the rest of the story goes, they only lived within those fort villages for around a hundred years before they again fled and disappeared from history. There is no definitive explanation as to where they ended up or why they did it."
Laz listened to the story and although he could appreciate the uniqueness of it, it didn’t explain anything. On the other hand, Laz didn’t think she would be telling this story for nothing, so Laz didn’t bother interjecting and instead just kept listening.
"Now, that’s what’s known to the public... but there is far more too it then that. We, myself and my grandma, are decedents from these ancient people and the whole story, the true story, is far graver and far more bloody than could ever be imagined," Celes said with a certain glint in her black eyes.
It was only now that Laz truly took a look at her. Her eyes were truly voids, completely black as though she were wearing a very particular type of contact. Combined that with her black hair, pale white skin, ample ass, thin waist and modest but firm breast... Laz had a feeling that this girl was more of a warrior than a witch. And yet despite that, she still seemed to pursue the path of runes in which she so loved and obviously didn’t focus on her body. She had the body for it, but it was still rough and uncut. Her waist, while thin, wasn’t strong and instead held a layer of baby fat that wouldn’t be normal on a regular infected whose blood caused them to show more physical changes than anything else.
Looking over at the grandma who was still silently sipping her drink while mumbling to herself, Laz felt like Celes should have been more ripped like her grandma. It was stranger that she wasn’t.
"Fine. So... maybe you’ll tell me the story someday, maybe you won’t. But it seems like you now want something from me. So tell me what it is and tell me why I should help you? I’m not going to lie, while I’ve been here, the only thing I can say is that this place isn’t exactly on the up and up. Despite that, I don’t really care. But if I hadn’t had the ability to free myself, then things would have gone south in a serious way so I don’t exactly have any nice feelings towards you all. Anyway old woman. Stop muttering to yourself and talk to me," Laz said, a faintly commanding nature in his voice.
The old woman was shaken from her thoughts as Laz’s voice got through to her. The woman shook her head, as though trying to get the distracting thoughts to make way and turned to look at him with a ponderous look on her face.
"First... and I know this is asking a lot young man, but can you show me your battle form?" The old woman asked, as she stood up.
"My battle form?" Laz asked, not exactly sure what she meant. Like his stance as he fought or something?
"Please, allow this old one. Although I suppose this would have been much more impressive if I had done it in my youth, here goes." The old woman clamped down hard on her body and the energy around them suddenly stopped and began funneling to her. He aged body suddenly began to glow and a projection appeared behind her, before merging with her. The woman in the projection looked like a fierce and bloodthirsty Amazonian warrior with dark, tanned skin, tight, rippling muscles and a body covered in skin tight furs and leather armor while she held a spear in one hand and a strange curved blade in the other.
As Laz watched on, Gretchen transformed from her slightly older self into a younger and more fit self, majorly reflecting the projection. Despite that, it was clear that she was older than the projection when she finally settled down. While most of her hair was still black, there were several, very pronounced areas of silver and white that had intruded in. Plus, her body wasn’t as vigorous nor her breasts as big as the one from before.
While she could pass as a much younger woman, it still was a far cry from what Laz was sure she would have looked like thirty years ago.
"Ah. I see."
Laz understood now what she meant. While his battle form wasn’t a reflection of anything, it was a transformation due to his bloodline.
"So be it," Laz said, standing up and waving back the older, transformed Gretchen and her granddaughter.
Without another word, the energy in the room stopped as though time had froze and with a loud whoosh, all of it started rushing into Laz. The energy drain was so severe, Gretchen was unable to hold on to her own battle form and transformed back into her older self.
Had that been all, it would have been enough to astound the two, but that was only the beginning. Within the blink of an eye, all of the energy around the entire complex stopped in place before rushing towards Laz like a whirlwind. As Celes eyes were super sensitive to the change, she could actually see it while her grandmother could only feel it.
With his heart beat echoing out like a monstrous drum beat, Laz’s hair turned white with streaks of red, his blue eyes turned gold, his tanned skin took on a dark grey hue as the black tribal lines spread out from the tree branch tattoo located around his heart. Part armor, part living creature, the lines covered the whole of his upper body and seemed to move around slightly, as though constantly in motion or a trick of the light cast by an unseen source. Even whisps of black flame ignited around him in the air, as though threatening to cause the world to burn.
"Do you see it? My ancestors long past, you were right. All of you were right. You just couldn’t see it..." Gretchen cried out and laughed, as though she had lost her mind.
As least the old, now slightly crazy woman was better off than her granddaughter who hit the floor like a rock as her legs gave out. With the help of her void eyes, she could see things that would drive a normal person mad if they laid eyes on it for even a moment. Star clusters and nebulas, eldritch gods, star destroying beasts and even things so obscure, they couldn’t be defined. All of these things and more swirled around Laz as though he was the center they all hoped to devour.
Yet still, he stood alone as all of the horrors of the universe could not move him.
The course, unbleached material that made up his shirt burst apart as did his pants and shoes that the order had given him. The only thing that remained in tact was his underwear, having been something he had to make special.
Ever try to carve a rune into a pair of boxers? It’s not the easiest by a long shot.
Still, better that than having to fight a serious battle with his ass and junk hanging out. He didn’t have the time to do the same thing to his other clothes, otherwise he would have.
Hearing the mad woman’s screams and feeling the massive surge of energy was enough to cause all of the guards in the building to rush in, lead by Gia and Joan.
"What the fuck is this?" Joan swore as she took in the situation.
"OUR SALVATION," the old woman yelled again before trying to calm herself down.
"Come. Even if we die here today, we mustn’t let him harm the leaders," Gia said, raising her massive club and swinging it at Laz.
"STOP," The old woman said before they could reach him. Although Laz noticed this, his golden eyes just looked on with disinterest. In truth, Laz had never spent much time in this form except when he fought. And while so far he had gotten by on just instinct alone, it was only now that he wasn’t fighting that he understood just how much of the power he had was wasted when he fought. Power that could always be better utilized. Like driving a sports car without having first studied and practiced with any sports car.
"I’ve been negligent..." Laz sighed, something only Celes heard as the rest were getting yelled at by Gretchen.
"Now for the last fucking time, when I say leave me the fuck alone, LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE."
"We’re sorry mistress... we just thought you were in danger."
"Yes. And our job is protect you..."
Gia and Joan tried to explain themselves while Gretchen just sighed.
"Like talking to a brick wall. Anyway," Gretchen said, turning to face Laz.
Although she had to steel herself and swallow down her hesitation several times, she was finally able to speak to him as he was lost in his own thoughts about his form.
"Anyway?" Laz said, coming back to the present.
"I’m sure you’ve seen it. My granddaughter is weak and pursues the wrong path, something that I am completely to blame. But I would like for you to train her... and a few other’s with potential. For I believe that it is you who will lead us to weather this coming storm.
"Me?"
"Yes. Our Legacy has stalled for so many years.. all because... We have been waiting for you..."
