Have you ever looked to the sky and thought, ‘I want to go there?’ The concept of looking up, to see the star filled sky, from all the way down below. A concept not so foreign to Devi, a being known as a Tursonitan, which roughly translated to Bottom Dweller in English. Oh, being a Bottom Dweller wasn’t so bad. Sure, you had to deal with the snarky remarks of the Ascended. But most Tursonitans spent their entire life on the bottom, where they lived somewhat freely. Not many were willing to take the risk to travel to the Sky.

 If you really weren’t happy with being a Tursonitan, you could always Ascend. But the path would never be easy, and once you die, you’re not coming back. Devi had accepted those terms long ago. And even though they’d begun their journey long ago, they still had so much distance left to cover. Not a moment was wasted in the Ascend. Everything wants to kill you. The plants, the animals, the people, even the air. 

While the Ascend did have several Levels, there were three major ones, ruled by three major figures. The first level (or the lowest level) was ruled by Tirtan Valus. It was also known as the Scrapyard, although Tirtan has made inventions you would not dare to even think of as scrap. Tirtan’s level is considered the easiest, but by no means is it a piece of cake. Tirtan is one of the most unforgiving leaders there is, with a tendency to pursue those who wish to Ascend through other levels.

 The second was a bit more complicated, having gone under several rulers, but one reigns currently. The fearsome Nuranour Valus. No one knows their true name, nor how they became one of the leaders. All you know is that the second level is the hardest to Ascend through.

The final (or top) level is ruled by Qizanor Valus, the daughter of the First Tursonitan. She and Nuranour compete for the hardest level, and they even rumour that Nuranour wishes to kill Qizanor and take her place, rumours supported by the fact that Nuranour has begun to plague her level with their Blight. Qizanor was the fallen Queen of the Ascended, banished for reasons yet to be learnt.

All of these leaders are Tursonitans, not Ascended (in Qizanor’s case, former Ascended) ones. Perhaps they seek the thrill of the hunt, maybe they hope to Ascend at some point. 

But Devi knew for sure that Tirtan was there for the thrill of the hunt. 

Dodging the mechanical tendrils that flew from the walls of the tomb, Devi was careful when they glanced behind themselves, seeing as the darkness grew behind them, pursuing them to the exit of the tomb. The choice was theirs on how to Ascend to the next level, unfortunately their choice had led them to another beast. They had not seen its face yet, but they presumed the beast was just as uncanny as the last few. A mixture of biological and mechanical marvel, just like Tirtan himself. Devi hadn’t met Tirtan just yet, the level ruler typically stayed near mid to above levels however so Devi had a feeling that time would come soon.

There was no doubt that this creature was working with Tirtan, though.

A crash thundered behind him as rocks broke apart. Devi leapt from the tomb, off the cliff, and descended down to a rock close by. Not even five seconds later the entire mountain seemed to collapse in on itself, before the rocks burst forwards, floating off. From it came the beast, a being just as Devi thought. A being of mechanical and biological features, it was serpentine, and quite massive. A mighty roar erupted from its hydraulic jaws. Devi wasted no time in readying themselves for the coming battle. 

The beast had dark brown, maybe charcoal grey scales, and a pale grey underbelly. Golden swirls marked its sides, while it was covered in a golden armour, only some parts left exposed, the head being the most heavily covered.

Assign the weak points. The underbelly would be a key one, Devi realized, and maybe the end of the tail. But there weren’t really that many exposed points. The sides, perhaps? The beast spun around to meet Devi with a shriek. Sure, it was big, but Devi had fought big creatures like this before, and Devi knew there would be far bigger, especially given they were only in Tirtan’s level.

Opening its jaws, the beast dove forwards, and Devi pushed themselves off of the platform right before it was consumed by the beast. They could hear the rocks, crushed within milliseconds in the jaws of the beast. 

Big but slow to turn. Devi maneuvered themselves downwards, meeting the metal plating of its back. They thrust their sword into the space between two plates, holding on as the beast swam forwards, not taking long to realize that Devi had landed on its back. Without further ado it began to spin, thrashing against the rocky sidelines. Normally, animals avoid crashing into things, but Devi came to the conclusion that this beast must be protected by what it wears. Devi dodged until they couldn’t no more and flew from the back, swerving out of the way of the end of its tail. Leaving a little parting gift on its back.

The beast had started to turn back, but the bomb was ticking. Devi made distance just as the bomb between the plates blew, hearing the beast shriek and seeing it plunge into the depths below. 

It was silent for 15 seconds before it returned with a rumble, some of the plates separating from the back and revealing some more of its scales and fins. But instead it turned its face to Devi, and presented its open jaws. A green light began to glow from its dark maw. A brief, What is that… would’ve came to mind, and if Devi could speak, they would’ve said that. But in times like this, there was no time for stopping to watch the show.

Devi made the right choice in propelling themselves away from the beast. Not a moment later, where Devi once stood was obliterated in a beam of raw power. The energy itself glowed a green, something Devi had never observed from Tirtan’s warriors. Typically, their energy was more orange or yellow. Green..? What did that mean?

The beast shut its jaws turning to face the descending Devi, and puffed out some steam from its face. Even as the beast swam by Devi, Devi came to the conclusion that firing that green beam took a lot of power and stress onto the thing. Overheating, Devi realized. Feeling the head radiating from the giant.

It swirled around him like a slow moving tornado. And as it curved inwards, opening its jaws, Devi had no true escape. The only thought in their mind at the time was to throw their sword forwards, prying the beast’s jaws open and getting stuck between the bottom and top jaw.

The beast swerved out of the way, perhaps stunned that it couldn’t close its jaws. But even Devi knew that wouldn’t hold for long. Their only plan was to retreat into an area more suitable for battle. This one..too close. They flew forwards and began to move throughout the cave systems, glancing back just in time to see the sword shatter into white energy that flew back into Devi.

Gnat.

The beast didn’t bother moving as swiftly as Devi, simply crashing through the walls as Devi began to escape. They say Tursonitans are incapable of complex emotions..but Devi dare say they experienced fear at that very second. Coming through the walls, both Devi and the beast, out into the open air, the ‘sky’ a sunset yellow. It didn’t take a sharp sense to see that the beast was charging up another beam though, and Devi just nearly missed the dodge at that time, feeling the raw energy flash past them. Green sparks were left afterwards, most absorbing into the beast, but some into Devi. Not anything to worry about, given they were so small Devi didn’t notice a change. 

Keep on moving, keep on going!

But breaking through the clouds weren’t more rocks. It dawned on Devi that it was an airship. No, one big airship, followed by smaller others, through the clouds. The beast continued to pursue, not frightened by these ships. With Tirtan’s airships on one side and a beast on the other, Devi saw only one real choice. Continue to the airships, of course. That beast would happily devour Devi with one bite.

From the dock of the biggest airship emerged a cloaked but towering figure, holding out a ring. He watched Devi and the beast in their approach, unmoving. Hand on the railing, he stood for a while, watching them. Devi was doing a decent job at not getting eaten, while the beast was doing a decent one at staying in pursuit. Yet, it was visible by the lowering of his shoulders that he wasn’t exactly proud of the beast’s failure to take care of Devi in the heart of the tomb. 

Something he’d be able to do so, nevertheless. Lifting an arm, the figure presented the stony ring and from it a green light emerged. The same green light flew from the beast, surrounding it. The beast sped up and flew over Devi, who stopped, watching as the beast was absorbed into the ring.

The ring now appeared as though an emerald gem were in it. The figure inspected their ring for a moment, showing off their other hand - of which had a ruby ring upon it, presumably the same properties as the other. Only a few knew the beast inside the ruby ring, though. Letting his arm falls to his sides a much shorter figure, only standing up to below his hip came behind him. Like a pillbug of some sort, the servant offered a drink to the cloaked figure, to which he denied. As the servant hobbled away, the figure lifted the hood off, and Devi realized who this was.

The orange eyes of Tirtan looked at Devi, soon taking off the entire cloak. Tirtan was definitely a sight. Even for a Tursonitan- Devi was tall, but - Tirtan was extremely tall. Maybe not as muscular as someone of his height should be, but he made up for it in his mechanical body, previously hidden by the cloak. His scales were of a similar brown as the beast that formerly chased Devi, while his mechanics were also gold as well, a seeming favourite colour of Tirtan. Opening his arms - in the process, also unveiling the several mechanical, sharp ‘swords’ that extended from his body, Tirtan welcomed Devi. 

It was debatable if it was a friendly welcoming or not. “I see you’ve been having fun, aren’t you, Nameless One?” Tirtan clicked his non visible tongue. Most of his face was adorned by a mask which he wore, obscuring most of his facial features. A common trait in Tursonitan society, to hide one’s face away. It was considered taboo to reveal your face, even to yourself.

Behind Tirtan his warriors gathered, many of them built by Tirtan and his engineers. Others were simply inhabitants of the Level, coming by a Tirtan and pledging themselves to him. 

“Not one for words?” Tirtan asked, tilting his head. Devi did not respond. They could not. Speech was a complicated thing to Tursonitans. Only some had the ability, and most that had the power were limited in it. It was said you gained the ability to speak when you Ascended, one of the reasons why Devi wanted to go up.

“Shame,” Tirtan glanced to the side. On the other dock, a mechanical, avian like being perched at the edge, giving off a caw. “I was hoping we could speak some more. I’d really like to get to know you. It’s not often do I come across ones hoping to Ascend myself.”

He extends his real, non artificial arm. The one with the green ring on it. “I see you’ve met Neohata, given him some damage. His ring fell from the top levels,” Tirtan said with a sigh, looking up. “I was lucky we were able to retrieve him. A loyal worker, he’s been.” Devi spots another ring on the same hand, this time one with an orange gem. Unable to see his facial features, Devi can still hear the smile in his voice.

“I would use one of these on you,” Tirtan looked at his orange ring, “and as much as I’d like to use this one before Nuranour comes to pry it away from me,” he looks at the ruby ring, “but I think that would be overkill, so I’ll give you the mercy of not.” Tirtan clasped his hands together, looking at what could’ve been the sun in the sky, but it was not that. “You’ve already put on a show with Neohata, unfortunately I was not there to witness it, and neither were my people.” Behind him, his ‘people’ cheer and whir, and Tirtan waits until they quiet down before speaking up again.

“So I’d like for you to put on a show for me. Show me what you can do, Nameless One. Show me your skill. Show me your power.” He leans forwards. “Perhaps we will see a new one joining the ranks?” He asks his crowd.

Devi hears the booing from their spot. Tempted to leave, but kept there by the need to Ascend. And the fact they’d end up running into Tirtan either way. 

“Hmm,” he grunts. “Or maybe not?” There’s cheers. Devi readies themselves, gathering up their energy. Tirtan turns around just in time to see Devi reveal their sword, a long and powerful thing.

“Natural..” Tirtan whispers, observing it. This Nameless One is interesting indeed. “We shall see, here and now,” he fans his arms out, “what is superior, artificial or natural!” Loud cheers again, Devi feels like they’re in an arena. Arguably, they are. The mechanical avian opens its wings, casting a shadow over Devi.

“Presenting..” Tirtan announces, his voice low but loud. “Gentaro!” With a screech, the avian takes to the air, spinning around. Sending out flares - no, bombs, exploding midair. For a moment, Gentaro blocks the ‘sun’, hovering above Devi. Ready for battle.

Gentaro dives, talons presented, and Devi raises their sword, bracing for impact.