Crucible Aeternum: Ascending through Skill Trees

The heavens wailed as its tears streaked down, the incandescent trails lighting up the dark sky in a luminous show of grand force. They were a beauty never before seen as their prismatic lights evoked mystical auroras that painted the skies in a myriad of colours, welcoming them like divine curtains upon the world stage.

Their entrance was a memorable thing, never fading from the minds of those who witnessed it, both for the good and the bad that they brought. They crashed onto the surface of the world, but their impacts were not nearly as cataclysmic as their sizes would have suggested.

Through their descent, their masses seemingly fizzled out into ash being scattered in the atmosphere. What was left were the cores that landed with little impact, but introduced an entirely alien substance into the world. The cores acted like seeds that quickly spread their luminescent roots through the ground in the form of fissures and alien rock formations.

This was the beginning of the Prisma Era in a world called Corrin.

Over the course of a millennium, the people of the world were affected greatly by the emergence of the alien mineral called Prisma. The dark crystalline mineral emitting mystical light of many different colours had practically infected the entire world.

The lands were practically devoured or shifted out of place by new ones made of Prisma and other native rocks and minerals of the world. The waters of the world were not spared, gaining a luminescent glow to them especially at night. And worse yet, the air was practically mixed with tiny particles of Prisma.

Naturally, all these changes brought about even greater changes to the living beings of the world. An evolution on a global scale occurred at the same time as the latest mass extinction event that wiped out all those who could not adapt and evolve.

The humans, once divided by nationality and culture, were now even worse off as they started dividing themselves further based on their new characteristics

 Some looked the same as before with the addition of new supernatural abilities. Others had grown animal traits like fur, serpentine eyes, feathered wings or horns. Others yet looked completely alien, even having rocky protrusions and other strange things on their bodies.

But these discriminations did not last long as throughout the course of a thousand years, smaller waves of the same meteor rain came intermittently. The disasters they caused, albeit far smaller in scale than the first one, had still pushed humanity's progress backward again and again.

So in the end, the people tended to gather into independent city states and organisations. One such organisation was the Navalli Corporation whose businesses stretched out to many different fields, but most importantly, mining.

The Prisma is the only known mineral in the world that is easily sustainable as it is like a living organism, growing swiftly with time. Even if humanity managed to mine over half of the entire surface yield of Prisma, that amount would be replenished by another year or so. And that was not including the underground veins.

In a luxurious room hidden somewhere in Corrin, a secret meeting between the Board of Directors of the Navalli Corporation was being held. Despite the luxury of their surroundings, however, none of the six board members left their seats to roam about. In fact, they were not even there in person.

What could be seen gathered around a round table were holographic silhouettes of the board members, the details of their figures and faces completely obscured. This was to ensure strict confidentiality to the point that it would not be strange if even these board members themselves did not know the true identities of each other or the shareholders.

After a few hours of discussion on many things both important and miscellaneous, one of the board members suddenly spoke up. Although their voices were mildly distorted, there was an obvious femininity to its curious tone.

"Silver, it's been twenty years since the start of your little experiment. How's it been going?"

"Nothing significant to report yet. To begin with, it was a mere whim. The hypothesis that started it wasn't even something that would've passed peer reviews for at least another century… or three."

"So you're making excuses now? Since when were you so cowardly?"

"I'm not making any excuses, Ruby. I'm saying that it will take time to yield results."

"That is if it will even yield any result, Silver. Do not forget that it was a precious Prisma core that you used on that experiment. 'They' are expecting results… sooner rather than later. You know the consequences of squandering resources, don't you?"

The man named Silver fell silent, choosing not to engage Ruby in this battle that he knew he would not win. Ruby was correct this time, after all. Silver had sought permission to use a precious Prisma core, the very meteorite that spread Prisma to the world.

It was only from one of the latest waves from about fifty years ago, meaning it was small. But size did not truly matter when it came to Prisma as even a core the size of a fist could power an entire industrial complex for ten years and that was when it was being drained of all its energy constantly, leaving it no room to replenish and grow.

Considering that fact, Silver knew there was very little chance that he would get approval and thus used one of the rewards he got for a great achievement he had made. He asked for the Prisma core to be his reward and promised results.

It was obvious from this alone that this was more than just a whim for him. This was something he was fully invested in. His superiors agreed on the condition that he must give them tangible results or a progress report every five years, but he has so far been unable to meet it. 'Their' patience was wearing thin, and Silver could feel it hanging over his neck like a thirsty blade.

"Please give me time. We have observed that the subject is now approaching the threshold we have been expecting years ago. 'They' will have the results that we have all been waiting for soon, I swear."

Silver's tone became submissive as he realised how dangerous his current position was. He may be a member of the Board of Directors, but in the eyes of the true powers of this company, he was no more than a lizard's tail that can be easily cut off should he prove useless.

And in the case of Navalli, being cut off was basically a death sentence, especially considering his position made him privy to many company secrets that cannot be allowed to leak. Ruby stared at him silently for a while, the air around her seemingly that of amusement. Silver could not help but think that she might have known the truth about the lies he had just uttered.

"You have three months, Silver. Surely you can produce the results that you're expecting within this first quarter, no? Tick tock."

With those words, Ruby's holographic figure disappeared as she left the meeting without even waiting for it to officially end. The other board members who have been silent for a while now exchanged glances before leaving one by one.

Before long, Silver was alone in the luxurious conference room seemingly deep in thought. After a few minutes, however, he seemed to have come to a decision as his holographic figure raised its head and clapped once.

"Director Silver, do you have need of me?"

From the shadows of on one of the dark corners of the conference room, a man walked out into the light to stand beside Silver. He looked neat and tidy with a business suit and serious yet somehow cunning face. The glasses he wore further enhanced the air of a strict and disciplined man while the rocky protrusion on the right side of his forehead gave him a dangerous look.

"What's the latest report on the hunt?"

"The trail has mostly gone cold, but we might have found a clue, though its veracity is questionable at best."

"Anything is acceptable at this point. What is it?"

"We have heard whispers of the Concord, Sir. It must be them."

Silver turned to look at the man in the business suit after hearing the surety in his voice. The Concord was something of a legend in the lands of Corrin that came about as a result of the near extinction of the human race due to the first meteor rain.

It was said that it was the Concord that spearheaded the migration of the surviving humanity into independent city states and organisation to preserve what was left rather than tear each other down based on differences in appearance.

They were also rumoured to have caused many shifts in human society over the course of the millennium. They were supposedly a secret society that seemed to control the world in the palm of their hands, moulding it to their liking. Naturally, many believe these were just the ramblings of conspiracy theorists and warmongers, but only those with real power and authority knew the truth.

The Concord did exist. And their power was unknown. This was precisely why many people in the upper echelons of human society were afraid of them, the hidden tyrants slinking in the shadows.

"You said its veracity was questionable at best."

"Indeed, Sir. But again, this is the Concord we're talking about. The simple mention of them should already put us on high alert regardless of whether there is any truth to it or not."

"Damn it! Those meddling cowards could be anywhere by now! Kincaid, I want you to focus on this hunt, but try not to draw the attention of the other Directors. I'll try to prepare for the fallout. What's important is that you find it and bring it back whether dead or alive. As long as we have it, our heads will at least not fly."

The man in the business suit named Kincaid bowed in assent as Silver's holographic figure disappeared from the conference room. After a few seconds, Kincaid straightened his back, his eyes flashing with a sharp cold light as he looked toward Silver's seat in disdain.

He then walked over to the head of the round conference table and sat down as though he owned the place. He gazed at nothing at all as he sat silently in the empty room, his thoughts unknown.