DIAGRAM: THE HEART

Birthed Concepts.

This was the unique Theology that allowed humans the chance to stand on par with the other races as well as the beasts. It was also known as a Diagram.

It was the Path of Creating your own Laws, from scratch. It was often regarded as the most accepted Path since it also had the most potential.

But more often than not people ended up with useless Concepts of their creation.

There was also the Path of Inheritance, in which one could give up all their insights to impart them to a student of their choosing. 

They would still have all the power but would have forever cut off any path of Progress. 

Also, this doesn't grant the student any advantage. But only the right to follow the same path their predecessor did.

Why, one might ask. Diagram had one rule, 'There can never be two who hold the exact same laws.

The Last Path was that of the Artisan. Or The Path of The 5 Grands.

Reaper shook his head. His thoughts were wandering again.

'Gloves huh...' He would be lying if he said he wasn't disappointed. After all, these gloves looked like they had been used and overused.

There were signs of wear and tear all over them. He looked at them, then back at his calloused hands.

'Put it on.'

He felt something whisper. Immediately he turned around, a dagger having already made its way into his hand. Reaper checked to see if anyone had entered, but he was met with an empty room causing him to frown.

'Was it the gloves?' He didn't understand... He looked back towards the gloves that he dropped.

"..."

"Okay." He put them on.

Instantly the gloves seemed to come alive as if sensing they had been worn. 

SNAP!

He formed a connection, countless synapses connecting in his brain. It felt euphoric.

His blood seemed to speak, the energy driving into his heart and deep inside his body, an ethereal place opened its charters. Within the place were five doors. 

The doors carried an air so ancient and overbearing, that his pleasure was soon turned to suffocation.

As if having sensed his presence, every passing second led to the pressure multiplying over itself, each door was unique and different, concealing its own secrets.

The auras around each were haughty and dominant!

Then just as the weight began to feel as if it would truly kill him, a connection was formed with one of the doors.

It glowed a moment, its hinges creaking with a screeching noise as it tried to open itself, but it failed, the lights dimming. The connection was immediately weakened but didn't cut.

Reaper on the other hand was freed from his suffocation, but the process was far from over.

His talent was none existent, of course, the corpses of his enemies would be hard-pressed to believe this, but it was true.

How could he possibly be talented? He forgot how many times he had asked himself this.

But he didn't have much time to dwell on this.

His soul shuddered, and his body quaked, he felt like he had truly come alive. Countless veins shot up, the blood beneath his skin crawled up his arms, connecting to his chest.

'No!' When he saw this he couldn't help but panic.

For the first time since the incident, he lost control...

BADUM.

It was a muted sound. A sound that a normal person might disregard as a heartbeat only slightly louder than normal.

The problem though, was this heartbeat was felt in every nook and cranny, every hill and valley, every river and mountain in Diagram.

The leaking energy from his chest manifested as veins that pierced into his eyes creating a feedback loop between the two.

BOOM!

Pain engulfed his being, his teeth were bleeding as he refused to shout, clenching them with all the strength he could muster.

Despite how painful it was, his mind was stuck on the heartbeat. His expression couldn't help but sour. 'This is not good...'

A painful migraine hit him like a train. Eventually, the pain subsided causing him to take deep breaths.

His teeth had cracked in multiple places, and he being a mortal had no way to fix this immediately. Fortunately, it wasn't very visible.

Once he had stabilized himself, he looked down at his chest, his expression worsening.

'I'm fucked.'

He looked at the heart which was still glowing, though its glow was fading by now.

He didn't know what this thing was, but he was sure that, whatever it was, it was a treasure. A treasure he had no right coming in contact with.

His mind went blank. He understood something. It wasn't the gloves that helped him achieve this title. But rather these gloves had been the trigger to remove or open some sort of limiter.

His eyes became heavy, and as fatigue washed in, he struggled to fight the drowsiness but failed in the end.

As his consciousness fell into a slumber he couldn't help but think, 'Those doors?'

...

Meanwhile in wider existence. Every powerful being snapped awake, peering through time and space trying to lock into the origin of the sound.

If they were unsure at first, when they saw that their effort was unfruitful, they became more so. But then they questioned, 'How?'

How could remains of that time still exist?

What they didn't realize was that this had set the plans of several hidden powers into motion.

"The Heart." At this point, 'they' opened their eyes. Its findings causing its smirk.

"It seems your little project has been set in motion... my friend?" they mused.

They seemed unsure which inflection to use, showing how long it had been since it opened its mouth to speak. But even at that, the ancient weight it carried was undeniable.

As for who they spoke to, maybe that was known only to themselves.

They had a hint of amusement in their eyes as they watched Tristan fall onto the bed. "I see."

With that, they closed their eyes once more.