Crucible Aeternum: Ascending through Skill Trees

A tear of anger and frustration trickled down Vivi's cheek, disappearing into faint steam before it managed to reach her chin. She seemed so composed earlier that one would wonder if this was all an act, but Galeon could tell that it was genuine.

All this had been weighing down on her for a long time now. Vivi could not tell anyone about her thoughts, afraid that it would lead to some undesirable consequences. Most of all, she did not have solid proof to her claims and knew that whatever she had to say would be brushed off.

But Galeon was different. He was her brother. With their mother missing, he was all she had. She needed and wanted to confide in him. She raised her head, her heavy gaze now seemingly boring holes into his head as she measured her next words before speaking.

"Mom disappeared half a year ago. It was around the time that the emerald amber was about to reach Corrin. I heard there were some arguments among the higher ups in the organisation, including Mom. I don't know if it was related to this, but it must've been because she told me to make sure that I get the amber and not let anyone else touch it."

"That was last time I spoke to her. After that, I grew suspicious of what the organisation might do, but they did nothing. They didn't even try to take the operation from me. But I knew it would likely only be a matter of time, so I sent it to you instead. I knew you wouldn't die from whatever it was. You have a Prisma Core after all."

Galeon understood what she meant. He had been observing the changes to his body all this time since he first got the Vernal Bloom. And after hours of searching, he finally found a peculiarity in him. Despite not having properly rested, he was still full of energy. He felt like he would not even need to eat or sleep for days and he would still be perfectly fine.

This would have been an amazing thing on its own, but he knew that this came from the Prisma Core. After all, he had seen such a phenomenon being described in his skill.

[Prisma Core: You have grown with a Prisma Core merged to you. Your existences are tethered together. Your lifeforce feeds its growth and its energy fuels your life.]

This description made him out to be something he did not even dare think of. After all, he understood the power of Prisma Cores very well. He had to since he was living with one stuck to his chest. Although his Prisma Core had always been rather benign, he did not dare believe that it would forever remain to be the case.

The entire planet had changed drastically just because of a handful of these Prisma Cores during the first meteor rain. According to earliest reports he had studied, their sizes were not even all that different from the one on his chest. Most were around two to three times larger than his while the largest Prisma Core found being half the size of an adult human.

Compared to the size of the entirety of Corrin, those handful of Prisma Cores were nothing. And yet they contained power capable of not just terraforming the entire planet, but even causing the mutation of every living organism in the world..., most of them anyway.

Now think of all that power and energy stuck inside the body of a singular human being. It was already a grand miracle that Galeon had not yet exploded into a gory mess since his childhood. The thought alone sent shivers running up his spine.

However, it was also because of this seemingly bottomless pit of energy that he is able to tide off the detrimental effects of the Vernal Bloom. He could feel the steady drain of energy from him, feeding something ethereal. And yet, even with this steady and constant drain of energy, he was definitely not any weaker than before, much less keeling over and dying.

Feeling the steady pulsing of his Prisma Core, Galeon sighed in both wonder and exasperation. There were too many things happening to his body that he had no knowledge of, much less control over. It was definitely not a good feeling. He looked back to Vivi and decided to trust her words for the moment.

"You've been studying this thing for a long while before it even reached Corrin. What do you know about it?"

"Nothing much other than what I already told you. I mentioned that we referred to it as the emerald amber, but that was only because we didn't really know what else it could be. It was both organic and inorganic. We initially thought it was inanimate, but I later found out that it wasn't the case. There's not much else I can tell you."

Galeon nodded silently. He was not really expecting much of an answer as he understood how alien the Vernal Bloom was. Nonetheless, he had to try. Any small tidbit of information regarding it could potentially help him piece together what this strange thing bound to him was.

The information Vivi gave him was nothing worth noting. She literally did not know anything, not even the name of it. Even the way they called it was already inaccurate considering the fact that the 'emerald amber' was not quite emerald in colour anymore. Instead, it glowed with a similar multicoloured light as Prisma. Galeon hypothesised that this colour might be reflecting the nature of its environment or host, but this information was barely relevant to him.

Galeon had no intention of telling Vivi anything, however. He may choose to believe her regarding his mother's disappearance, but he could still not trust her completely. In the end, he chose to tackle a point he found strange in their discussion.

"You didn't trust your organisation which was why you sent this to me. So why do you now want me to join your organisation?"

Vivi quickly understood how suspicious her words were. Galeon's wariness was wholly warranted, especially since she herself had openly admitted to her distrust of her own organisation. She failed to explain it to him earlier due to the sudden rise in tension, but she quickly corrected it.

"To hide in plain sight. My original idea was to have you join the organisation so we can hide the fact that you have the item on you. You will be joining as the lowest rank, an Operator. It won't be much different from your work as a Contractor except that there are special missions that sometimes delve into things that Contractors do not dare dip their toes in."

"So by joining as an Operator, I would pass off as just another random employee and wouldn't be tied to this commission? But considering the resources you had, I doubt it would be difficult for your organisation to track me down. Sooner or later, they'll know that I have this emerald amber."

Vivi fell silent from his words. Galeon was correct. She failed to think that far ahead which was why she suggested him joining the organisation. But that was mainly because she had been in a hurry trying to keep everything as discreet as possible. Even she knew it would not last forever and someone would definitely be able to sniff out a trail. That was why she said it was her original idea.

But despite the fact that she knew it would not be a feasible long term plan, she could not think of any other options that were any different. Sooner or later, Galeon would still be found. And it was in no fault of him, but due to the extensive resources and reach of the organisation. Knowing this, Galeon asked her the crux of the issue.

"What is the name of your organisation?"

Vivi's eyes grew sharp. Such a question was not something she could easily answer. And it was not just her. Any member of that organisation would not speak of it so openly. It was a taboo of sorts, mainly because they had many enemies. The nature of their organisation was more or less underground.

She did not want to speak its name, not just for her safety but also for her brother's. If he learns of her organisation, then his life would be hounded by more misfortune than ever before. That was why she never really wanted to reach out to him. She did not want to drag him into this dark world.

She was fully content just watching him shine brightly both in the light and in the shadow. He was her beloved brother. Gale was only known to their small family. Galeon was known to a few close acquaintances. G413 was more well-known among the people. But he had another identity that he does not even bother acknowledging. This one was likely even more well-known than his Contractor designation because of a former commission he had completed.

She did not want to ruin his bright future. But then she thought of the item that was now in his possession. She recalled how she had basically pushed it to him without his opinion. It was far too late now. She had already embroiled him in all this mess. In the end, she relented with a sigh.

"The organisation is called... The Concord."