Universe's End

“We welcome everyone to the final day of the Origin Verse’s Final tournament of the thousandth Generation of the Grand Ascension Tournament! This tournament is a once-every-thousand-year event for those of you just watching now. With a thousand tournaments per generation, it has a history older than nearly every existing Cosmos! Even with a thousand years between tournaments, you do not often get over a hundred participants in the immortal tier of the tournament, much less three hundred and eighty-four who participated this year! Alas, even with three hundred and eighty-four Ascenders who have fought, trained, and tested themselves for untold years to reach the point they have, only two could make it to this final precipice, the final day!”

Enthralled by the announcer's words, a colossal crowd, numbering in the tens of trillions, erupted in a thunderous cheer. The sheer magnitude of their excitement was such that, were it not for the magically artificed nature of the arena, this gathering of people would have extended far beyond the horizon. Encircling the arena, several majestic thrones were strategically placed, some vacant but many occupied by figures of all shapes and sizes, each one a testament to the diversity of the realms represented.

“If you turn your attention to the arena floor, you will find our two final contestants entering!”

The crowd's cheer reached a crescendo as the first finalist emerged, a woman who materialized in a dazzling display of blue sparks. She bore the appearance of someone in her early twenties, yet an undeniable aura of agelessness set her apart from any true twenty-year-old.

“First to appear, Alice Eternamane of the Flaircon Dominion!”

At the mention, a figure in one of the large thrones raised their hand, what looked to be a cross between a dragon and a man.

“A top ten finisher of the last tournament, Alice was ranked a high favorite to come out on top this tournament after her endorsement and adoption into the Flaircon Dominion last tournament! Never disappointing, she has looked to crush her opposition, cruising through those who would be recognized as her peers.”

Once more, a cheer erupted as the woman flicked her coils of curling red hair over her shoulder, a devastating smile swooning the hearts and minds of many a young boy who’d never seen an Immortal Tier Ascender before.

“And now, for her opponent! A dark horse challenger, few knew his name coming into this tournament, if in part due to his young age, only a few hundred years old!”

A young man appeared in the same flurry of blue sparks that had marked his opponent's entrance. He was of fairly average height, with black and grey speckled hair and a nose that, for whatever reason, appeared as if it had been punched one too many times, a strange blemish for someone standing amongst the Immortal Tier.

At his appearance, a murmur escaped the crowd. To those who understood what it meant to be an Immortal Tier Ascender, the man reminded them of their shortcomings and a statement of impossibility. Thousands, tens of thousands of years were required to reach the pinnacle of the mortal tiers. With each ascension achieved, an Ascender could expect a longer and longer life span, with the looming threat of conventional death rebuked upon the fifteenth ascension, the oft-dreamt of Immortal Ascension, otherwise known simply as the immortal tier. Few reached it; the raw commitment and challenges required to crest that mountain claimed most who ever tried. For a young man, only a few hundred years old, reaching that point was as confounding as the many Cosmoses themselves flipping on their heads.

“Perhaps such an achievement should have been expected from a member of the Spear’s Familia, a hidden genius!”

A raucous explosion of noise erupted from those watching. Few had known of the connection between the young Ascender and the Spear’s familia; only those who had done the due diligence and, more importantly, expended quite a few resources had uncovered the truth before the reveal.

“Now, I’m sure you’re all wondering, for a member of the Spear Familia, the question remains: Where has the spear been?”

It was a question that had floated through many a mind now that the revelation had been made. The young ascender had never been seen using a spear throughout the tournament. As if waiting for that moment, the man slammed his hand downward as a simple-looking spear manifested, the butt of the shaft slamming on the ground.

“And there it is!” The announcer roared. “Give it up for L’yante Dosor of the Spear Familia!”

If the cheers had been loud before, the combined noise was now of a new scale; loud enough, it could have shaken a low-tier planet to pieces through the sheer force of the vibrational acoustics.

Waiting until the noise had died down, the announcer spoke once more.

“And now, unlike prior rounds, the round to declare our champion is rather straightforward. Approach each other, shake hands, and prepare for battle. The battle shall ensue until surrender, or in the absence of a surrender, until death! Now, combatants, ready yourselves!”

The young man strode forward, shaking his opponent's hand, her face a mask of impossible-to-read thoughts. After formalities were finished, the two separated, striding far enough apart as they prepared. Watching his opponent, the young man took a deep breath, though breathing hadn’t been strictly necessary for a long time now, as his grip on his spear tightened.

“And…. begin!”

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A single figure remained standing as the dust cleared from the final exchange. Shattered spear still held in his hand, he pressed the jagged edge to the woman’s throat.

“Do you yield?”

For a moment, the fiery-maned woman appeared as if she would say no, but her face softened, and she shrugged.

“Fine.”

The moment the surrender was uttered, the two combatants were whisked away, now standing upon a shining white obsidian crystal column. Several others were standing on other pillars, for a total of ten.

“And with the final round concluded, we have the top ten finishes of the final tournament of the thousandth generation!”

Of the ten, only a few appeared human. Second place, Alice Eternamane had appeared purely human until she had revealed scale-like armor as she’d gotten serious, revealing her true nature as a Dragonoid, a surprise race change since the last tournament she’d participated in. Another appeared human until one glanced toward their ears, sharp and elongated, the clear signs of an elf genotype. Three of the ten finalists were all of the same race: short, four-armed, and stout, obvious features of Deep Dwarves. Another two finalists had skin the color of gold, likely due to the fact that it was gold, as well as having appendages that appeared to be composed of solid light, Raiden’s, a rare but powerful race. Finally, between the last two, they were split between a very short figure whose skin was as white as snow with piercing green eyes and, finally, what looked like nothing more than just an ordinary turtle.

“Now, with their place amongst the top ten, each will be gifted personal boons from the gathered Prominence, with varying degrees of uniqueness based on their finishes. So, give it up with one final cheer for our top ten finishers!”

The crowd roared, but the champion already had his mind elsewhere, thinking of what he was after. For a minute longer, the cheering continued until the scene changed before his very eyes. No longer was he standing on a pillar in front of untold cheering fans. Now, he was in what appeared like nothing he’d seen before. Or, well, he had seen rooms made for gathering, but something about the room seemed strange, an aesthetic taste that seemed odd to him.

“Congratulations on your victory. Total domination can only be expected from those I’ve personally accepted into my familia.” A voice purred from nearby, a woman seated on one end of a round table surrounded by chairs that had wheels on the bottom of each leg for whatever reason.

His eyes widened for a moment. The woman was unmistakable. Her hair was a deep shade of purple, nearly black, falling to her waist in a bound ponytail that appeared like it could be utilized as a natural whip if she were ever desperate enough.

This was unlikely, given that she was widely accepted as the most powerful straight-up combatant in every Cosmos and Verse and one of the oldest. Not only was she a member of the Prominence, the most well-connected and influential throughout their respective Verses, but she was also a True Immortal, the uppermost of the four Ascension tier groupings.

There were four groupings of Ascension Tiers; the first was the mortal realm, tiers one through fourteen. They were named for the fact that the claws of time would claim any who remained within those tiers. Following that was the Immortal Tier, which he had just stepped into not long ago, the realm in which death from the passage of time no longer laid claim to all living beings, tiers fifteen through twenty-four.

Ascension tiers Twenty-five through fourty-nine, the ‘largest’ grouping, was known as the Immortal Totality, or simply Totality; it was the realm in which death became all but impossible, and destruction of mind, body, soul, and essence was often required to put someone of the Totality realm down for good.

It was the final grouping of Ascension tiers that was perhaps the most mysterious, but also unsurprisingly the most powerful, the True Immortals, tiers fifty and above, though how far above was unknown, those who had reached such heights were only limited by resources to continue their advancement. While the death of someone in Totality was difficult, sometimes neigh impossible, True Immortals were quite literally impossible to kill. Upon reaching such a level, it was as if their existence became Law, immutable and eternal. It had been recorded that in the past, there had been attempts to assassinate a True Immortal with tools born through costly usage of Major Laws, para-causality tools that should have been capable of erasing, at the minimum, things as abstract as concepts from existence, and that was at their weakest.

And yet, the True Immortal who had been ‘assassinated’ eventually returned only a mere millennia later. The proof was that she was seated nearby in her chair, clearly having fun rolling around at the end of the long table.

“Would you quit scooting around so much?” Another voice spoke up from the opposite end of the table, dismissing the legendary warrior and figure of mythical strength as if she were an annoying child. Turning to look at the second voice, the young Immortal felt his throat clench. The second figure was a man who appeared in his mid to early forties, though any high-level being could easily control their appearance. For a moment, the young immortal felt a scan examine him; the man had just analyzed him. Typically, such an act would be considered rude, but for a True Immortal to do as much could only be viewed as an honor; not only could a True Immortal have hidden their analyze if they so pleased, but the fact that he was worthy of the analysis was a reward beyond praise.

“I greet the Honored Architect.” The young immortal bowed before the True Immortal, who sighed.

“Yes, yes, honor and all that.” The man rolled his eyes. “Allison, what sort of practices do you let your familia teach one another?”

Allison? The young immortal paused, realizing that what he had just heard was something most scholars and historians would gladly die or sacrifice entire planets to learn: the name of one of the eldest True Immortals.

“Honor, something you wouldn’t understand.”

“Whatever you say.” The man, known only as the Architect, sighed again. “Well, on to business. At the request of your familia head, or more specifically at the request of an old acquittance-”

“Friend.” The Spear, True Immortal and progenitor of the Spear Familia, Allison, as the Architect had called her, corrected.

“- I have taken the time out of my busy schedule to have an audience with you, a member of her familia.”

“Busy schedule my ass.” The Spear scoffed. “You were probably in some remote workshop tinkering on some little project.”

The Architect narrowed his eyes. “It wasn’t a little project I’ll have you know. But that’s beside the point. I was informed that you wished an audience with me of all people for your reward. I can see why you felt confident asking for that specifically if you won; you’ve got a rather rare Vocation, after all.”

Without intending to, L’yante’s interface flickered open, information on skills, vocation, and other such usually private details began to scroll past for everyone to see.

“Spear of the Precursor’s. For more then the billion years I’ve been alive, only a handful of individuals have managed that, the first being your Family Head there.”

Finding his voice, the young immortal finally spoke up; the pressure of two True Immortals, even without exuding any of their normal force, felt like it was suffocating him from the thought of who they were alone.

“I requested to converse with you for my reward specifically because of my Vocation.” He said.

“Oh? Just a conversation, not a petition for some mythical class weapon or such? How your spear exploded tells me you could use an upgrade after all.”

The young immortal shook his head.

“No. A weapon can always be found or crafted or bought, but what I want is something that few, if any, know about.”

“And that is?” The Architect leaned forward.

“History.” The young immortal said. “Because of my rare Vocation, I’ve learned things that most never learn, even some of the greatest historians. It made me curious. Everyone knows how powerful the True Immortals are. Less know just how old some of you are, just that between you, the Spear, and several others, you’ve seemingly been around since… Well, ever. But that’s what I want to know. Of the True Immortals who haven’t gone into self-enforced exile of more than ten million years, you’re the most likely to have any records of your long history.”

“So, to sum it up.” The True Immortal chuckled. “You want our story?”

The young immortal’s eyes shimmered as he nodded confidently. “Yes.”

“And you aren’t trying to find our weaknesses somehow? Because I could tell you her weaknesses easily enough, half of them consist of tricking her into a trap by saying you found a strong monster and-”

“You don’t need to recount that story.” The Spear snapped.

“No, I’m not looking for any specific weaknesses. Simply put, my path forward is a long and winding road; I have no need or desire for specific gifts; in fact, some of my bonuses specifically prohibit obtaining too much help from others. So, all I want is to learn.”

The True Immortal leaned back in his office chair, an item from a history long lost.

“Well then, buckle up because this story is as old as time. Or perhaps I should say it’s older than time. And it all starts in a universe that no longer exists…”