The branches holding the glistening apples, gilded in a lavish complexion, swayed every so slightly as the primordial looked upon the young man, veiled by his ancient aura. It seemed the entirety of the garden was anchored to Adam's being, moving in tandem with his words; as such, it was silent as he was silent.
Only once he began speaking again did the abyssal ponds flow and drip, "I believe before I should continue, it would be beneficial if I made something clear."
"..." Emilio stayed quiet, listening attentively.
"I am not your friend; I experience no interest in your joy or happiness. However, your existence itself is intriguing to me–a curiosity that I wish to allow to blossom further. Your death does not allow that," Adam clarified, "I am aiding you only because my will happens to align with yours; that's all."
"I see…"
He already suspected as such; the Primordial hardly seemed "human" in any regard–like an existence beyond the concept of "good" and "evil, beyond humanity and monstrosity; above caring for mortal qualms.
"Everything thus far I have told you is my payment in return for you accepting to walk the path I paved for you here," Adam told him.
"But I didn't agree to any of that…" He responded.
"Nonetheless, you unknowingly accepted my conditions and earned the answers I have just given. However, from here on, a contract will need to be made if I am to continue bestowing you with my wisdom, child," Adam positioned.
The mention of a "contract" made the abyssal ponds fall still and the swaying trees to halt in silence; only the heartbeat thumping in the young man's chest resonated in his ears.
"Contract…?" He repeated.
Adam held a single index finger up, "I will answer any questions you may have while you occupy my garden; this includes the information pertaining to escaping the After and returning to Arcadius–alive. In addition, I will make you an aspect of myself, granting you a sliver of my power. However…"
However, he thought.
That brief pause felt like an eternity, awaiting what sort of payment would be required from the inhuman, boundless entity of enigma.
"...I will require your right arm; that which has been engraved with your swordsmanship," Adam laid the condition.
"My right arm?" He quietly asked.
Naturally, his left hand held onto the limb in question, gripping it as if he felt it might not simply fly right off of his shoulder.
"I must clarify for the sake of a fair contract: this is not an exchange you can circumvent through any art of healing or with that putrid blood that pumps through your veins," Adam informed him, "Once you have relinquished your arm to me, it will not be returned."
It was certainly a price. The young Dragonheart caressed his right arm, that which the fingertips at the end of had grown accustomed to wielding swords in. Over a decade of swordsmanship would be gone, and with it, a large portion of his versatility in combat.
Still, he thought logically; the wisdom of the Primordial who might as well be all-knowing was priceless, and as such–
"I accept your contract," he agreed swiftly and confidently.
Adam's expression didn't seem to ever change from a look of idle emotion, yet the slight pause seemed to conjure a semblance of surprise, "Then the contract will be forged."
All five arms of the Progenitor came together as two pairs met as if praying, though the fifth hand was left without its partner; a hum quietly emitted from the being, producing a slight ripple of darkness around itself.
In the presence of the almighty entity, sweat left the young man's pores as he looked towards it, finding the air too thin in its current state.
"Hold out your right arm, child," Adam ordered gently.
For a moment, he hesitated, looking at his right hand as his fingers trembled; he knew it would be the last he ever saw of his arm. Sucking a breath into his lungs with brief bravery, he held his relinquished limb forward.
"Accepted," Adam said.
–Just like that, he watched as his limb simply vanished from his shoulder. There was no pain or mutilation; no wound was opened. It was gone, leaving his crimson cloak to flutter briefly as he stared at the vacant spot his arm once inhabited.
It's gone…Huh. It doesn't hurt. Still…That's it? It's really gone? He thought.
As he looked up, he witnessed a sixth arm emerge from the side of the Progenitor's unnaturally long torso, possessing the exact same length and muscularity as the limb he had just exchanged. It now had the chalky-white skin of Adam, meeting the lonely fifth hand into a prayer.
That's how it is, huh?...He thought.
"The contract has been made. Now, we may freely talk, child," Adam told him, moving his hands away from the prayer formation, "but before that, I will now grant you the aspect of the Progenitor. Come closer, child."
He had almost forgotten about the promised power, finding himself desperate for answers, but he brought himself to his feet, stumbling briefly as the lack of a right arm threw off his natural balance. As he stepped closer, he found the air tighter than before and his lungs fearful, causing oxygen to slip away as he stayed there.
"Look at me, child," Adam spoke.
Lifting his head, he was met face-to-face with the Primordial, filled with a fog in his mind as he tried to decipher what he stared at, but failed, only finding his gaze sinking into those abyssal sockets.
"Look deeper into my eyes," Adam instructed, "Stare into the abyss; the foundation of the universe; her breaths of creation and whispers of truth. The construction of reality, the formula that weaves cause-and-effect, the endless void that swallowed all. Understand it all."
The words resonated within his mind as everything he saw was now consumed by the darkness past the Primordial's sockets; he found himself engulfed in the boundless depths of creation, neighbored by nebulae that stretched out and created.
Merely sinking into the gaze of the Primordial, he found himself afloat in the cosmos; the fundamental truths of creation were open, revealed like an equation to be solved. All of this was what was possessed by the Progenitor; an unequaled understanding of existence.
It was all condensed into the right eye of his, searing into it with a scorching sensation as he winced, yet was unable to move.
"This is your aspect: "Veracity". In your right eye, this power will awaken in the form of "Principle of The Cosmos"--with it, you may see the groundwork of the universe briefly, outlining the optimal path to take in any given moment and revealing the weaknesses of your enemy. However, this power is not without consequence; for each moment you peer into the Cosmos' truth, you will sacrifice an hour of your life."
The boundless knowledge condensed itself into his eye, branding his pupil like a mark of that which should be kept unknown; the right sclera of the Dragonheart was altered, leaving the white of his eye to turn to sable shade.
"Ghh…!"
He returned back from his gaze into the cosmos, falling to his knees as he held the right side of his face, gritting his teeth as it felt as though his eyeball bathed in molten lava. It was an agony that made him foam at the mouth, drooling like a rabid dog as his other hand clenched the dirt beneath him.
"It will subside, child. For the time being, it will remain unstable–I will grant you a circumvention to this," Adam said.
One of the many hands of the Progenitor raised as its index finger and thumb met before emitting an echoing "snap".
The agonized young man was surprised to find something materializing out of thin air; an ivory eyepatch conjured over his afflicted right eye. Somehow, it completely suppressed the scorching pain that had embedded itself into his eyeball.
"It's…gone?" He muttered, immensely relieved.
Adam spoke, "Control will be lacked in the beginning. If you wish to tap into your aspect of Veracity, simply lift that cloth seal from your eye for but a moment, lest you wish to eat away at your years."
Even if it was being restrained by the mystical eyepatch, he could still feel the oddity that inhabited his eye; a dormant "key" to the lock that could sweep away the veil over the universe.
"All of that…What was that?" He asked with uneven breaths, picking himself back up slowly.
"It's as I told you; what you witnessed when peering into my eyes was the essence of the universe itself. I was not gifted any supreme powers of my own like other Primordials, however, I had one gift of my own: knowledge," Adam told him, putting his six arms to use as he tended to his garden, "It was with the wisdom I gained that I deconstructed the formulae of the universe; the many equations that acted as the pillars of reality's foundation; through that understanding did I become one with it; eternal and infinite."
The words of the Progenitor were ever-unnerving, carrying such weight that they made all other problems seem only as trivialities in the face of the Primordial's scope.
It's a priceless power…but just what have I gotten myself into? One second…Just one second of using this ability, and it'll drain an hour from my lifespan? That's dangerous. Still…I won't have any lifespan if I don't escape the After, he thought.
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