Brent Stinebaker
patreon
II-2 A Glimpse of the City
🕑 Added 2024-10-26 18:02:31 +0000 UTC680 trillion is a large number, almost unfathomable to most people, but ultimately it is quite paltry for the Claimed Hells, considering it is a set of ringworlds collapsed over each other.
This, however, had its own reasons. Mepheleon’s naturalization process was sophisticated and cruel, ensuring that only a certain type of character made it in.
The higher layers were mostly dedicated to designing high-level demons, experimental planar realities, demonic assembly lines, new Black Towers, and more.
Preceptor’s Descent, meanwhile, is where the bulk of the population resides. Here, the city stretched well over 5.3 million kilometers in circumference. It was also stacked into three distinct layers: the highest, the Heights, where laws and stability reigned supreme, and tame sources of entertainment could be found; the Balance, known to some locals as the Cleft, a gray zone pulled between order and chaos; and finally, the Base, an eternal trench of warfare where the circles battled in skirmishes and positional struggles, a brutal zone with no laws beyond dominance and war…
-An Summary of Preceptor’s Descent
II-2
A Glimpse of the City
True to his word, Wei took a bite out of the chicken, and his father looked on with open disgust. “Well, you were never one to lie, son. Always honest about who you were, what you were going to do…”
Wei savored every droplet of blood he tasted, and his stare was unyielding. "One of us has to be."
Bishop chuckled as he looked between father and son. "All right, both of you, knock it the fuck off." He pointed at Wei. "No more hitting people. I let you have that one. Please don’t do it again. I’m asking." Wei’s pride felt challenged, but the Trespasser was ever so polite. He gave a nod—though his heart was uncertain about if he could fulfill the promise. Then, Bishop looked to William. “And you stop the sorry father routine. Bit too late for that shit.”
Waving his hand over the glazed chicken, Bishop used his psionics to clean away the blood. There were other meals on the table as well. Some kind of filleted fish. A round assortment of eyes. Strange slimy eel-like creatures. Bowls of what looked to be sweet-smelling bugs. And whine. Everyone had a cup of wine — its scent sour with a tang of spice.
Wei’s companions stared on tensely, their eyes locked to William Yu. Wei’s father exuded more power than ever before—however he regained his Class when he arrived here, his growth was still in progress. He was at level eighty-four. Far more powerful than almost anyone else other than Wei, Bishop, or Moonscar. But William Yu didn’t look threatened or scared. Just tired. Regretful.
Whatever he felt, it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough.
“Alright,” William said, throwing up his hands and looking away from his son. “Fuck me, I guess. I’ll keep quiet.”
“You should have done that from the start,” Agnesia muttered. Wei noted that the princess’s fists were clenched, and her aura simmered with hellish heat. She had been ready for a fight from the moment he hit his father. Across the car, Roggi and Agate were the same, with the former spawning swollen bugs from the sores that lined their body and the latter hefting their hammer. The only one who hadn’t acted was Rafael—of everyone present, he was torn between the Lodge and Wei.
William gave the others in Wei’s group a brief look each. His eyes finally settled on Agnesia, and she sneered at him in response. Finally, he looked between her and Wei several more times before he chuckled to himself, nodded, and went back to eating his food. “Figures.”
The tension lasted a moment longer as Moonscar frowned. “I told you it was a bad idea to bring him.”
“If we didn’t bring him, the kid would’ve started asking questions. William here’s the only reason we got in contact with the kid anyway, and frankly, I’m not doing this family feud bullshit. We’re gonna see it settled, and settled fast.”
“Family never gets settled fast,” Moonscar sighed. She offered Wei an apologetic stare. “Much as we try.” Her gaze suddenly jumped over to Rafael and the young master caught sight of a thin Essence tendril running between them. A chat was ongoing between the two. A chat Rafael hadn’t informed him about. Wei was slightly surprised at himself—he wasn’t even that upset. Rafael had mentioned Moonscar’s name to him before and so this was some time coming, but Wei needed to know what they were speaking after they were done.
Paranoia was a virtue in the Claimed Hells.
Moonscar herself presented a major problem as well. So far, she kept a low profile, seeming little more than a moral, if her remarkable size and strange attire were ignored. But her Essence was overwhelming. She was well beyond a Knight— a bit more than Bishop, even. But she made no spectacle of things. She reminded Wei of an anglerfish; her current form felt like a lure for the foolish.
After a few more seconds, Wei took his second bite and everyone began to eat. Agnesia impaled one of those sweet-bugs with her fork, frowning at it. Across the crawler car, Roggi and Agate began attacking a large cauldron of steaming noodles. The former’s attempt at eating was complicated by disgusting worm-like demons that fought for a taste as well. The other disciples tore into their food with abandon. Many among them didn’t even bother with utensils, choosing to use their hands. Some wept, others stared on, too exhausted to feel. Only Rafael didn’t eat—but that was for an obvious reason. Skeletons didn’t have the right bits for this.
Then, there was Wei himself. He could taste his food. The chicken was delicious—though his father’s blood mixed poorly with the sweet glaze. It was the aftermath that bothered him. There was no fullness when he finally swallowed. His food simply dissolved; didn’t nourish him. Wei felt surprisingly hollow.
He wasn’t a being of flesh anymore. His Sourceforged Ascension informed him as much, and the way he could just rebuild himself from the patterns of existence was beyond the powers of mortal ken as well. But then… what was he now? What did he amount to? The emptiness taunted him.
The crawler progressed. They exited the mouth of a tunnel as the demon’s legs blurred, accelerating fast enough to impress even Wei himself. In seconds, they climbed from the speed of a galloping horse to something that began to piece the threshold of sound. The station drew away behind them, and Wei saw that it rose like a mountain of obsidian above a long fall on all sides. The distance between the plaza and what he assumed was ground level for the Claimed Hells. Where “bottom” was, it existed beyond the reach of Wei’s Omniscience.
Looking out the window to his left, Wei saw a sheer fall what seemed like a dense layer of clouds. Though he couldn’t see through the foggy veil existing as a floor far below the crawler’s rails, he felt Essence signatures—and saw flashes of booming thunder. The distance between the cloud bed and the crawler was well over ten kilometers, but there was still something unnatural there—like there was an unseen power separating the world below into segmented layers…
A flash of what he assumed to be thunder flashed. And then a shape exploded out from one of the clouds at an alarming speed. Immediately, Wei felt a crushing presence approach his crawler—and a swarm of missiles followed thereafter. Thousands of gleaming gem-like projectiles chased the presence, and it crossed a distance of kilometers in the span of seconds.
The crawler rattled from the oncoming force, and Wei prepared himself for battle. However, the Trespassers just continued eating as if nothing was happening. The young master and Agnesia shared a brief look of confusion at that.
“Spillover fight,” Bishop said. “Nothing to worry about. The lawyers will handle it.”
“The lawy—”
The presence came to a halt just beside the crawler’s window. Wei blinked as he saw a badly wounded, gray skinned humanoid with enormous wings on a direct collision with their crawler car. If that wasn’t problematic enough, there was also the few thousand missiles passing into Wei’s Omniscience. He prepared to create a catalyst—he wasn’t fast enough as he was, his Relativity—
"Hold on, I got this," his lawyer called out. The golden-tongued demon bounced out into existence right next to Wei and flung its briefcase at the oncoming threats with a rumbling declaration. “I SUE YOU! I SUE YOU! LET THEE BE DAMNED TO THE COURT FOR [UNLAWFUL CONDUCT IN THE HEIGHTS].”
The small demon’s absurd action took effect immediately. A resonance pulsed out from them, and golden chains sheared down from someplace high above, piercing the gray skinned humanoid and the missiles hounding him. A cry of pain sounded through the crawler’s walls, and the chains lurched, and suddenly, the assault vanished.
Ongoing Lawsuits: [1] (Low Courts)
Charge: [UNLAWFUL CONDUCT IN THE HEIGHTS]
Accuser: Wei An Wei (Knight)
Defendant: Kasgada (Duke)
Release Bond Set At: [10,000 Sins]
Wei blinked as a sudden burst of information flooded his mind. His laywer jumped up and cheered. “Yea! Sued him! Oh, give me a sec, boss. Gonna see if I can get the bond cranked up.” And then the small entity vanished in a puff of Essence.
"What just happened?" Wei said to himself, more than anyone else.
"Your lawyer is demonstrating what it means to be living in the Heights compared to being in the Base," Bishop said.
Wei just stared at Bishop. “Elaborate. Especially on ‘Heights’ and ‘Base.’”
The Trespasser continued. "So, Preceptor’s Descent is separated into three layers. Right now, we’re in the Heights. What that means is the laws apply here. Laws rule. Laws are sovereign. You break them and that thing," he pointed to the lawyer, "will ensure that whoever attacks you, be they merely a worthless Thrall Sinner or a Prince of a Circle, will face the full might of the Mepheleon’s courts. The chains you just saw are the bindings of lawfare. It snatches people for the Unseen Courts.”
"I see," Wei said. "So there are segmentations where order reigns and chaos rules? Is the Base for the latter?”
"Yeah, something like that," Bishop replied.
A man leaned out and stared down below the window. Down at the layer of clouds—at what was hidden below it. "Hell is in a constant state of war. Think of it as permanent practice. Mepheleon needs a place to test his demons and the Circles, well, they don’t really need a reason to fight. Good place to train up their elites as well. War… it feeds sin. The Base is effectively a perpetual energy generator for the Claimed Hells. And lives are cheap.
"You know, with that contract the Circle of Pride offered you… most Knights have ‘tours’ they need to go on. Tours of service in the to feed the Claimed Hells. Closest thing anyone pays to tax around here… your recruitment didn’t have that stipulation. Which means they thought you were ‘management material.’”
William snorted. “You should be flattered."
Wei blinked. "So even if I were to accept their offer, they wouldn't have used me as a warrior?"
"Oh no, they're definitely going to use you as a warrior," Bishop said. "They're just not going to waste you as a grunt. Down there, attrition, brutality, chance—all that stuff is the way of things. Sure, if you're lucky and vicious and skilled enough, you might make a name for yourself, killing people and pushing your Aspects and Levels. If you’re worthwhile, they would give you a Resurrection Skill. Expensive but worthwhile. And die you will, because the war in the Base? It’s endless. Unrelenting.”
Bishop leaned back into his seat and a feral grin broke across his face. "It's also a pretty good time."
"Speak for yourself," Moonscar said, rolling her eyes. "Not all of us think upon war so fondly."
"I am speaking for myself," Bishop replied. "You feel free to stay quiet instead of getting offended."
The two scowled at each other for a moment. Wei caught that. Was there potentially a conflict among the Trespassers of the Lodge as well? No, this felt like a personal disagreement. There was a coldness between them, but a bitter, personal kind.
Meanwhile, Wei's father simply chuckled and shook his head. “Still aren’t over it, huh?”
"You shut the fuck up," Bishop said, pointing at William. "You don't get to laugh, all right? You're the reason why we're in this mess."
"I'm the reason?" William pointed to himself. "Listen, I just got contracted to do a..." He hesitated. He was about to say “a job” but he and Wei shared a look, and his expression soured. William went back to his wine and quiet thereafter.
Wei’s gaze lingered on his father’s face for a moment longer before he shook his head—and caught a set of numbers climbing at the front of the train car. "What is that?"
9,311 KM
"The speed we're going,” Moonscar said.
Wei blinked. "We're going at over a thousand kilometers a second?"
"Yeah, pretty normal. We're also displacing space and shortening the route we have to travel. It's like shortening the distance you have to travel while also going really fast," Bishop said. "It's pretty neat. It's useful. The only problem is if you have intersecting spatial routes, it usually causes distension."
"Distension?" Wei said.
"Yeah, it's when two things try to extend, shorten the route too much, and it causes a collapse. Which—well, you ever see what happens when two things try to exist in the same space at once?"
Wei blinked. "It sounds fatal."
"Often is," Bishop replied.
"Gods," Agnesia said, folding her arms and sulking with misery. "Is there nothing here that works properly? Does everything seek to deliver ho;rrific death?"
"Welcome to the Claimed Hells," William muttered. He eyed the girl and gave her a smile. She simply sneered and shuffled a bit closer to Wei.
Bail Posted
+10,000 Sins
Wei blinked at that. His lawyer rematerialized and cheered. “Lawsuit successful. Tally one.”
Successful Cases +1!
Lawyer Qualification - Beginner
Specialty - Pre-Defensive Suits
"You're a really, really, really, really lucky client. " his lawyer said, bouncing on Wei’s shoulder. "It's been real good working with you so far. Hopefully, we get to sue a lot more people."
Wei simply let out a breath. "Yes," he breathed. "It has been good having you."
"Now, don't you go relying on that thing too much," Bishop said. "Lawyers are useful, but only in the Heights. And the Balance—place between the Heights and the Base—they'll keep you from getting killed, but things get murky there. Interpretations of self-defense and ownership rights get real dubious."
"Dubious," Agnesia echoed.
"The laws are not universal across the Claimed Hells. The Heights are a representation of human damnation under the force of law. It is a tyranny upon all and is meant to benefit those who can navigate such tyrannies. Hence laws, hence bureaucracies, contracts, controls. It is an unavoidable part if one wants to create a hierarchy or a system of control."
Moonscar looked aside and took a sip from her tea. "Likewise, the Balance, that gray place between, where all can be done if they are not observed, is a representation of society, the separation of rule and laws. For there are things we shouldn't do but must, and there are things we shouldn't follow but do."
"And the Base is chaos and anarchy," Roggi said, adding with a grunt. "Just an endless war, an endless slaughter."
They fell to silence, and Wei found his interest renewed.
"So how does one access the Base?"
"I knew you were going to ask that," Bishop said. "You're a regular little killer, aren't you?"
William winced at his food.
The crawler’s speed grew even faster, and for a few moments, the conversation was filled with idle chatter and additional details described by Bishop. His thoughts, however, were ruminating about the three layers to the city. The Heights were likely the safest area. But perhaps not. In-Sect politics was brutal. Cutthroat. But it wasn’t a desperate battle of survival, like living in the wilderness. There was still much Wei had to learn.
Whatever the case, everything he thought was grand and powerful about his mountain home seemed insignificant. Embarrassing compared to the enormity of the Claimed Hells. And Wei meant that in all meanings of the word. Every act of sin fueled the powers of this world, and war itself nourished this realm more than it took.
There was never any hope of victory against demons. Nothing they could have done at all.
The coldness of dread filled Wei.
Power was to be his own refuge.
The foreboding inside him only grew as the first structures of the cityscape passed by outside his window. Suddenly, crawler went from rushing over a sheer fall to looking over a dense nest of bridges, railways, and surging demons. Demons. Demons were more than individual entities, they were part of the architecture: they were the traffic, the buildings, merged with the light in the sky to create symbols, patterns, and images, wielding the sound to carry messages, drown existence in a cacophony.
Agnesia, Rafael, Roggi, and Agate also gaped at their new reality. For all they imagined, this was beyond them. Their worlds were such small, feeble things.
And they were just so few among the masses, motes drifting into a hive.
“Yeah,” Bishop said. “Everyone looks like that the first time.”
Comments
Dar-Angol
I second that motion, Wei is the shitznaz homey Mammal.., ✌️
Cosmoros Subs
We need more wei
