《Amari's Ascension A Cultivation Litrpg Apocalypse Adventure》 Chapter 1: Welcome to the Multiverse I scanned the room around me as I pushed my panic into the pit of my stomach. The world has somehow stopped and I needed to figure out what was going on. Panic would not help me with that. I caught the eye of my professor a surge of relief spread through me. From what I could tell he was frozen which meant that I wasn''t experiencing some kind of delusion or health scare. At least I hoped that was what it meant. I tried to open my mouth but it was like the thoughts couldn''t reach my lips. I wasn''t even sure I was straining against anything. I was just about to give up when a voice ended the silence. Greetings Citizens of Planet Earth. Earth has met the minimum requirements for introduction into the multiverse. Assimilation has begun. Please Standby. I locked eyes with my professor and found confirmation that he had heard the voice. I tried in vain to move my arms again. There was nothing I could do. I took a deep breath and focused on what I knew to be true. The entire room was locked down. A quick glance told me that my laptop hadn''t gone into sleep mode so I hadn''t been stuck long. I took a glance at my phone and had to resist another surge of panic. There was no way that it was still 3:59. It was hard to tell time like this but had to have been at least a minute. I was about to search the room for another clock when something dawned on me. It was silent. I strained my ears not sure if it would help or not but there was nothing. At first, I assumed the AC unit had died but there was no noise from traffic, there was no noise from the hallway or the campus. This meant that either everything had completely stopped because of the voice or that all the sound was leeched out of this room. My gut said that it was likely the first option. The fact that nothing moved not even clothes told me that we were likely in some deep shit. My first instinct was that the rapture had come but since no one had disappeared I quickly discarded that idea. I was about to consider that this was also a super elaborate dream when the voice returned. Analysis of Earth complete. Mass Ungraded, Energy Ungraded. Earth has been deemed insufficient for normal assimilation. That didn''t sound good. I had no idea what the fuck "ungraded" meant but it certainly wasn''t good. A part of me wondered if the environmentalists were right and that we had failed to take care of the world. I braced myself for some divine punishment but no pillar of fire or lightning came. A quick check told me that I still couldn''t move. I reached out with my thoughts mostly out of curiosity. A second later I opened my eyes in horror as the voice returned. A small bit of panic rose inside me as I looked for my professor''s gaze. Had I just fucked up? Due to insufficiency, Earth will be melded with other nearby planets. Improved values. Mass: Low 3rd Realm, Energies Low 3rd Realm. The topography of planet Earth has been randomized. Spawn points have been generated. Local wildlife will be improved to provide suitable challenges. Link to the Multiverse has been initiated. Tutorial Protocol Initiated. Welcome People of Earth. When the voice finished I let out a breath I hadn''t realized I was holding. I would probably be the worse human in all of history if I managed to piss off some sort of god by thinking of it. Of course, it would also be a bit ironic since that was kind of what prayer did to begin with. What did it mean by melded with other planets? Was Pluto going to be in the Pacific in a few minutes? Also what in the world were spawn points and the tutorial protocol? No sooner did I think the question did a blinding white light engulf the room. I squeezed my eyes shut as sound exploded all around me. It was like someone had unmuted the TV. My feet found solid ground a second later and the clamor of voices grew even louder. I opened my eyes and what I saw made me gasp. I, we were all standing in between three massive skyscrapers. My shock only grew when a woman with pale white skin and light blue hair began to descend from the sky. She took each step with certainty as if she wasn''t stepping into the open air. The voices around me grew silent as she got closer. The smile on her face told me that her arrival had the impact she wanted. "Greetings humans of earth. Allow me to welcome you to the Tutorial. There are millions of groups just like this introducing the rest of your kind to the glories of the multiverse. I am sure you all have many questions some of which might be answered." A group near me muttered something in a language I didn''t recognize. It sounded a bit like Chinese which sent my mind whirling. Had the voice teleported people from all over the world? I remembered what it said about randomizing the planet and my blood ran cold. What the hell was happening? I couldn''t fathom the level of power someone would need to teleport people around let alone how they would make sure everything arrived correctly¡ªa voice with a heavy southern drawl called out from somewhere behind me. I turned in that direction but before anyone could do anything a gunshot rang out. My head snapped in the direction of the woman expecting to see her fall from her perch. Instead, she summoned a sphere of wind around the bullet and held it up before her. She examined the thing as if she had just found an interesting bug. The crowd around the shooter parted as everyone desperately moved to get away from him. I caught sight of him, a dark-skinned man in blue jeans and a dirty white shirt. I assumed he was a farmer or laborer of some kind based on the callouses on his hands. Suddenly an intense pressure descended on the crowd. I fought against it with every muscle in my body but it was like an angry god was pressing me into the ground. I was forced to one knee as a dark storm cloud appeared above us. I found the skywalker who had abandoned the bullet and stared down at the man with pity in her eyes. Every instinct I had told me that something bad was about to happen but there was nothing I could do. The shooter was in worse shape. He had been forced to lay on his stomach. I opened my mouth to apologize, to convince the woman to let the man up when a crack of thunder louder than any I had ever experienced exploded around us. A second later a bolt of lightning the size of a person shot down from the clouds. The bolt hit the man before anyone could react. I covered my eyes against the light. When I could see again my eyes went wide with panic. He was gone. My mind struggled to comprehend what just happened. How could a bolt of lightning leave nothing? I turned my attention to the sky as the clouds slowly dissipated. The pressure had faded soon after the bolt so he could stand. Although a look around him told him that no one else had. I gritted my teeth and stood. I locked my eyes on the woman who was now on the ground. She stared back at me and cocked her head to the side. "You didn''t have to kill him. He couldn''t... you knew he couldn''t...." I stammered while I fought to organize my thoughts. My fear was rapidly replaced with anger. A voice in the back of my mind screamed at me to stop. That if this woman could summon that lightning then she could just as easily kill me. None of it mattered to me though. That man didn''t have to die. She stared at me for another beat and then laughed. The sound only served to inflame my anger. I stepped toward her not sure what I was about to do. "Listen you have a misunderstanding. I am not the one that killed that man. Although he attempted to do so to me while using a forbidden weapon. The audacity was amusing. No, it was the System that killed him. If he hadn''t been so hasty I would have explained things to all of you." She then turned and hopped into the air. I half expected her to fall but instead, it was almost like the air was solid for her. What the hell is "The System"? Was it the voice? Did that mean she wasn''t the person in charge of it? I took a deep breath and calmed down. I needed to know what was going on. I looked back at the spot where the man stood and shook my head. The others had gotten to their feet while I was distracted but I didn''t care. I watched the woman jump up until she was more than a hundred feet above us. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. "Now as our unfortunate volunteer just showed me, my fellow tutorial workers are protected by the System. Not that we couldn''t protect ourselves from people at your level. Now I imagine you all have a lot of questions so allow me to begin. You all are in a moment of opportunity. As we speak the System has randomized the topography of your world. On top of that, several of the planets in your system have been combined with yours. The increase in both mass and energy will lead to an abundance of natural treasures. These treasures will be the first step in the next era of your lives." She held up her hand another sphere of wind appeared. The sphere slowly lifted off her palm before it expanded to the size of a beach ball. The sphere floated and danced through the air like a small star. I watched her and realized what she was doing. She had baited her hook with the promise of power and based on the reactions all around me It had worked. "You and all those like you. Your fellow tutorial participants are worthy of your species. A mere ten percent of you had the potential to become cultivators. The potential to strive for greatness and carve a spot for yourself in the greater multiverse. Regardless of who you were in the past, you have been given a new life as the chosen of humanity." "What''s a cultivator?" A voice called out from somewhere in the crowd. The question was set up so perfectly that part of me wondered if it was one of the other workers who sat within the crowd. That thought was quickly abandoned though. I was pretty sure that they wouldn''t need to trick them like that. I mean she could command the wind. "To cultivate, to become a cultivator is to steal from the very heavens. It is a path forged in conflict where every step is to take opportunities for yourself. At its core cultivation is an improvement, to be better than you were yesterday, last year, and the century before that." The more she talked the more interested I became. I wasn''t sure what steal from the heavens meant but it was clear that it would give him the power to do the things the woman did. It might even give him the power to resist the System or whatever it was that told it what to do. "Now I can see that all of you are excited to begin but there are a few things that you need to know first. For now, you all must learn how to access your System screen status screen or heaven''s screen. You of course may call it whatever you like. The screen is accessed through concentration and will." I closed my eyes at that point not particularly interested in the rest of her explanation. I took a deep breath and then thought "Status". I waited a second but nothing happened. I tried to each of the options she gave but none of them worked. I opened my eyes and a glance around told me that some people had managed the feat but most hadn''t. Including a woman a few feet away who glared at the man next to her. He had a faraway look in his eyes. I initially thought he had just dozed off but I could see his eyes move as if he saw something I couldn''t. Come on Amari. Concentration and will. I thought to myself as I turned my attention back to myself. I tried the commands again but nothing had changed. What was I missing? Concentration and will. I muttered the words to myself before I got an idea. I changed tactics. I took a breath to calm myself and ignored the words and what I thought should happen. When I felt I was ready I opened my eyes and pulled the screen into being. It appeared so suddenly that I needed a second to process what happened. I can''t believe that worked. I chuckled to myself as I reviewed my stats.
Name Amari Jackson
Level 1
Species [1]Human
Titles
Limited Titles
Agility 6
Constitution 6
Intelligence 10
Luck 7
Perception 4
Strength 6
Wisdom 8
Free Points 0
System Credits 00
It was startling to see my attributes listed like that. It was both proof of the things I had done and admonishment of the things I hadn''t. Four points in Perception felt painful, especially if ten was considered the basic number. Of course, if it did then I was in a bit of trouble. I wasn''t sure what Luck was good for but I figured it was better to have it than not have it. "It looks like a good number of you have figured out how to access your screens. Congratulations. That screen will form the basis for your future development. Your attributes are mostly self-explanatory. Agility reflects your speed, flexibility, hand-eye coordination, and other such things. Constitution is your physical endurance and vitality. Intelligence is your mental acuity and processing speed, it also impacts how long it takes for you to absorb Information stones. For the more mage-based classes, it will act as your Strength stat. Perception is your ability to see things around you. Pretty straightforward and very important. Strength is your physical brawn. Any who wants to fight with a weapon will need a fair amount in this. Lastly, you have Wisdom and Luck. Wisdom reflects your mental defenses and your effectiveness with certain kinds of mental impact abilities. Luck is harder to explain and you will likely discover its use as you explore the multiverse. For now, let''s say that it will help improve your odds of survival and the discovery of things. It is also the only attribute that you can''t increase with your levels." I couldn''t help but grin as the woman explained everything. Based on my attributes a mage class with maybe a secondary focus on Wisdom would be ideal which sounded pretty good if I say so myself. I always ran mage when I could run raids in MMOs and well I had no interest in hand-to-hand combat. Especially not if genuine monsters were in the world. I wasn''t about to fight a monster with a sword or spear either. I bet acid burns or fire was pretty damn painful. "Now though it is time your status screen reflects your status." I turned my attention to my screen just as a surge of energy filled me. It felt like I had just drunk an espresso shot but the changes to my screen were even more interesting. I had gained a title called "Chosen" that gave me a flat boast of five attribute points. This included luck. I wasn''t sure how many points I could expect to learn but 35 points were more than enough to have me feel good about my progress. "You all have received the "Chosen" title. Titles are your chief concern while in the 1st realm. You need to spend your time collecting as many as you can alongside a series of other challenges before you can attempt your evolution. I am sure you are curious as to what evolution is and why you should go after it. I won''t explain everything to you but I will tell you that each improvement will provide you with an increase in your longevity. If you reach high enough your life span would be measured in the millions of years instead of the few short decades you could expect before. It was like a bomb had gone off with that revelation. I caught more than a few people eying the woman with greed and curiosity. I could admit that the idea of eternal life had a certain appeal to it. Of course, it wasn''t truly eternal but who could even comprehend a million years? I looked up at the woman who smiled like the Cheshire cat. It was clear that she had intended to ignite a fire under everyone. She waved her hand and a simple brown rug appeared on the ground in front of me. I looked around and saw similar mats appearing in front of everyone. I quickly turned my attention back to mine. The mat looked like it was woven from bamboo. It was smooth but slightly textured and was covered in strange symbols. The mat itself was a simple rectangular and was about six feet long and maybe three wide. "Now it''s time for you all to learn how to cultivate." Chapter 2 Ready Player Amari "Everyone take a seat on the mat you have been provided. It is yours and you will have to earn another one. Your goal is to form a connection between yourself in the spiritual energy in the environment around you. Do not be disappointed if you can not do so immediately. It takes some people a bit longer than others." I raised an eyebrow at that not sure if the woman was serious or not but when she made no attempt to clarify or change anything. I gave in and took a seat. I took one last look around and saw more than a few people with their eyes closed as if deep in meditation. I turned my attention back to myself. I still wasn''t sure what connect to the spiritual energy meant but I figured I would get it as I go. After a few moments where nothing happened, I started my mind started to wander. Images of the orphanage and my former teachers floated in and out of my thoughts to the point where I wanted to stand and rush back to them. I let out a deep breath and pushed those thoughts down. There was nothing I could do to help them right now. I doubted the woman would let me leave because I asked nicely. Even if she did, I could do nothing about the System itself. Would it just smite me with lightning again? I shook my head and mentally admonished myself for the distraction. I took another deep breath and brought my mind back to the task at hand. I decided to turn my thoughts to my senses. I focused on the sounds around me, the slight breeze on my skin. The scent of ozone still lingered in the air around me. I tried to connect with it, to let it enter my body or pass through me. It only took a second for something to change. A barely visible strand of energy passed into my body and toward my navel. I wasn''t sure if it was real or just something I had imagined. I was about to open my eyes to call the woman over when the one strand turned into two, two became four and then four became eight. The strands multiplied rapidly, each connecting at the same point about half an inch behind my belly button. "How fascinating." The cheery voice startled me awake. My eyes flew open only to find the woman who started all of this half an inch from my face. "What the fuck." I started as I pulled away from her. "Why are you so close." "I can''t remember the last time I saw someone so beloved by the heavens. I can''t wait to see what your affinities are." With that, she turned and ran up through the air. She didn''t stop until she was a hundred feet up. "Well, I can''t wait to see what the rest of you come up with. You can find an information stone at your feet with a proper cultivation technique inside. For those of you who have managed to pull energy inside them, you will want to push a small portion of it into the stone. Once you do, the information inside fills your mind. After that, it will be time for you to use the technique and become proper cultivators. The method you all have is a very basic technique that will help form your channels in preparation for your future class. All of that is a concern for later, for now, you all need to select a skill that will defend you for most if not all of the tutorial." I raised an eyebrow when I noticed the palm-sized translucent stone in front of me. The stone was some kind of uncut gemstone although I had never heard of one that looked quite like this one. It reminded me a bit of uncut glass only much foggier and covered in strange rune-like lines. I picked it up and focused on the mental image of that first strand of energy. At first, I tried to send the energy directly from my stomach and into the stone but that failed. It was like the energy wanted to pierce straight through my stomach and I did not want to test what would happen if I forced it unless I had tried everything else first. It was her comment about channels that gave me my next idea. It took me a few tries but I turned the tip of the energy stream into a thin needle and pressed it along my right arm. I imagined the path that my blood would take when it left my heart. It burned like a son of a bitch but nowhere as painful or uncomfortable as when I tried to just push it from my stomach. Once the energy reached the tip of my finger the pain intensified as before it left my body and entered the stone. A small drop of blood fell onto the stone just before my mind exploded with information. I let out a groan of pain as the cultivation technique poured into me. It was like the information had been downloaded into my brain. Although I still couldn''t understand it all I quickly realized I had made a mistake. Based on the method what I had just done was the equivalent of carefully breaking a window to enter a room instead of a proper door. I was on the right track though. I needed to create my channels which were for lack of a better term a secondary circulatory system that would let me move the energy from my dantian which was the spot in my stomach to every other part of my body. It also mentions skill slots that would be filled up over time. I would need to push my spiritual energy into those skills and then abilities would activate. I assumed that one such ability was that sphere of wind the woman used. The actual technique was much less interesting. It amounted to what I had done before only the energy would enter from my extremities and slowly head to the dantian. The energy would create basic flexible channels for me while it did so. Those channels would then be changed whenever I got my class. I pushed the information to the back of my mind as a screen appeared in front of me. The screen was similar to what my status screen looked like only it was divided into two categories and had a scroll wheel. "Now it is time for you all to select your skill. You will have the opportunity to pick between a martial skill or a magical spell. This will be your main way to protect yourself during the tutorial so think long and hard about what you pick." I turned my attention back to the list. I skimmed the martial list for a second mostly out of curiosity. It had basic skills that you could find in any RPG. Things like "Slash", "Chop" and "Smash" It was slightly confusing since none of them said that we would get a weapon if we picked them but a glance around told me you did. There was a man in his late thirties or early forties who held a large two-handed hammer in his hands and I doubted he had managed to sneak it in. Either way, it didn''t matter to me. I turned my attention to the spells tab and couldn''t help but grin. The spells were also pretty basic but there were a lot. I could take something from all of the elements including things like light and lightning. There was even a psychic attack though it used Wisdom instead of Intelligence. The woman''s message about the significance of my pick made me hesitate. Based on what I already knew I could guess what she meant. The spell I picked now would influence what classes I could pick later. If I picked fireball I was going to always be some sort of pyromancer from now on. Which asked the question What did I want to be? It was easy to imagine myself cloaked in raging flames or covered in lightning but was that ideal? Based on the description all of these were basic spells so I wasn''t going to be conjuring a sun or anything but it wasn''t easy. This was like being asked "What did you want to do with yourself" or "Where do you see yourself in ten years" only it involved magic and was probably much more dangerous. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. I was pulled out of my thoughts when a burst of heat washed over me from behind. I turned my attention from my choices to find a woman conjuring a ball of orange flames above her palm. It took me a second to realize why I had felt the heat. The man behind her had become a bit too loose with his hands and she attacked him. Instead of the man being burned though an invisible barrier stopped her attack. Everyone waited for the storm clouds to return but nothing happened. "Ah right, right I forgot to mention you all aren''t allowed to hurt, maim, or enslave each other during the tutorial. Now that you all have been warned you won''t get a second warning. Also, I would not recommend you test what the ruthless heavens consider "harm". That is a very dangerous game to play. I turned my attention away from the group and back to my screen. It was pretty clear that the lady had left something key out just then. She made no mention of what would happen after the tutorial was over which meant the System''s protection would end. History wasn''t my greatest subject by any means but politics and the pursuit of power was something I knew well. If the world was in shambles then the social contract was worthless. That meant the monsters of humanity would start to play. There was no way in hell I was going to be anyone''s victim. I focused on my choices but there was little new information here. I gave it a few seconds of thought before I made my choice. The moment I did a stream of energy entered my body just like the information stone. A small sigil formed on my right hand. Rather in the empty slot in my channels. It was a bit strange since I could only see the symbol in my mind''s eyes. I couldn''t be sure that it was real although based on the information provided if I ever lost the sigil I would lose the spell. Not that I planned to lose my hand or anything. I also learned the basics of how to use the spell although I could tell that I would need practice. I sent just enough energy into the sigil to activate the spell and held my hand out. I grinned as indigo energy crackled in the palm of my hand. The spell I had chosen was called **Psychic Blast**. I couldn''t be completely sure but mental defenses were usually rarer than physical ones. That should give me a nice advantage at least in the beginning which might make all the difference when fighting for my life. Of course that assumed the enemies wouldn''t be curated to be a threat to us individually or something. I quickly determined that I could use the spell in either hand which was a slight worry of mine. It would have sucked if someone could just hold my arm down and I was powerless. I tried to summon it again only to gasp and stumble forward a step. A sharp pain shot through my stomach. I mentally focused on my dantian and sighed in relief. I was just out of energy. I decided that was enough for now and turned my attention back to the woman. "Alright, it looks like you all have gained your skills so it''s time for the next steps. Gather up your mat and your crystal. You will head into the main dormitory. Each of you has been given a private residence for as long as you are here. Inside you will find everything you will need while you are here." I gathered my things and joined the single-file line into the designated building. I immediately felt uncomfortable. The walls were all too identical and metallic. Everything was so sterile that I wondered if the System somehow purified everything. As soon as we entered people started to branch off. I wasn''t sure how everyone knew where to go but I continued with the flow of traffic. I quickly realized something was off. The inside of the building was much bigger than the outside. There had to be at least a thousand rooms on each floor. The building held a central staircase case that seemed to go up and up endlessly. It wasn''t until we reached the fifth floor that I found myself being drawn to a room. I stepped out of line and made my way down the right hallway until I reached my room. The whole process felt a bit like going through a prison. When I saw what was inside I did a double take. It was nearly impossible to reconcile the inside which was a comfortable and cozy living room with the almost surgical hallway way. It was almost as if I had entered a completely separate space. I closed the door behind me and could no longer hear the people who continued. I absentmindedly wondered if they could make a recording booth like that. The room was spacious with both a chair and a couch. There was a fireplace but no wood to get it started. There was a sigil carved into the middle of it and I guessed that if I wanted to get some heat I would need to send some energy through it. I decided to leave it alone for now and checked out the rest of the room. There were three other rooms each one hidden behind a door. The first one was a simple bathroom and a shower. Both of these were activated with spiritual energy which made me curious. Was this energy how everything worked? Did you have to be a cultivator to activate it? If you did how did non-cultivators survive? The woman made it seem like the System wasn''t interested in them but surely that didn''t mean they would just be ignored right? I mean even they would need to eat. I pushed the thought to the back of my mind and went through the rest of the rooms. The others were pretty simple. One was a bedroom with a king-sized bed which was nice. Another was empty except for a square spot the exact size of the cultivation mat. The information stone mentioned cultivating inside of a "cultivation chamber" was best so I assumed that was what that room was for. I left the mat inside and continued. There was no sign of a kitchen or anything related to food. I wasn''t sure if that meant we would get food later at predetermined times or if it meant that we were on our own. I hoped I wasn''t expected to hunt for my meals. Regardless there was nothing I could do about it now. I considered going to bed early but there were two reasons I decided against it. First I had no idea what time it was. Everything had happened so quickly that it was impossible to tell just how long it had taken. The second reason was what the woman said before we left. Something was supposed to happen tomorrow. I was pretty confident that she wasn''t just messing with us. Which meant I needed to do whatever I could to improve my chances. Which meant I needed to build up my channels. With my mind made up I made my way into my cultivation chamber. It took me a few moments to calm down and get into the right frame of mind. The actual method wasn''t that difficult. Within a few seconds, the energy passed through my body and toward my dantian. A burning sensation spread throughout my body which made the situation worse. The method explained that forming channels regardless of the method would be uncomfortable but doing so on your own would not only be painful but you risked ruining your future cultivation. It was something that either someone very desperate or very skilled would do. Despite the efforts, the weakness of the method quickly made itself known. The method was very slow. According to the crystal, the energy would fill my dantian which was an internal reservoir of energy. Each time the river filled it would expand slightly. At that point, I would gain a level. Each level would bring me benefits including attribute points. Unfortunately, this method was designed more for the creation and flexibility of your channels and not for speed. Still, it would only take me a couple of hours until I got my first level which should give me a slight edge tomorrow. Chapter 3 The First Quest I wasn''t sure how long I sat in cultivation before a deep anticipation built in my chest. It didn''t take a lot of effort to figure out where it came from. The small pond that was my dantian had steadily deepened and I could feel something about to change. Suddenly there was a pop that reverberated through my entire body. My dantian swelled as the "water" level decreased. Or to be more accurate the pool expanded. I smiled and pulled up my status screen. It looked like I would gain three attribute points per level which wasn''t a lot but it would do. There wasn''t much debate on where to put the points though. My only spell relied on Wisdom so all three points went into it. With that finished I turned my attention to the rest of my screen. There wasn''t much to see. I focused on each section hoping to get some more information but there was nothing. "Information log? Wiki? Explanations?" I spoke out loud partially hoping the System had some kind of guide for this but nothing happened. I was starting to assume that knowledge was a form of currency and if I wanted to know the full extent of what I saw I would have to work for it. I couldn''t help the dry chuckle that escaped my lips. The world had effectively ended and I was treating it like a game. A game I could min-max my way out of. The dozens of questions I had were pretty pointless at the moment. I would have to survive the tutorial before I could start theorizing or chasing ancient secrets. I sighed and closed my screen. Survival had to be my focus for now. A part of me wanted to return to my cultivation chamber but I held back. It wouldn''t be wise for me to push myself too hard before whatever we had to do tomorrow. So I decided to do the only other thing I could, I headed to bed. I awoke to a low hum that filled the entire room. It took me a second to realize that it was a weird alarm. I quickly put my jeans and shirt on. I checked myself in the mirror and straightened my locs. The beads on the end slightly shining in the light. The hum intensified in a way that I assumed meant I was out of time. A moment later the front door swung open. I quickly darted out not wanting to see what the unpleasant version of a wake-up call would be like. I quickly fell into line behind my fellow participants and we slowly entered the main square. The woman from last time was gone, replaced with a man with dark black skin. His skin was crisscrossed in multiple places with a dark red light shining through. It took me a second to realize that he was some kind of volcano elemental. "Good Morning." He turned to face us, his voice deep and gravelly. Unlike the woman, he gave off the feeling of someone who had done this exact thing way too many times before. Today is the first of your quests. For the next twenty-nine days, this will be your schedule. You will be given one day of quest, one day of cultivation, and one day of instruction. Your first day of instruction was yesterday if you hadn''t figured that out yet. Today you all will be randomly sent one of two scenarios. You will either be tasked with the defense of an area or the exploration of an area. You will not be brought back until the quest has been completed. The better you perform the better your rewards." "Are we allowed to group up before the quest starts?" I turned my head in search of the person who asked that question but couldn''t find them. The elemental somehow managed to look even more bored as he shook his head. "Now, the first three quests are assessments of your abilities. You will be sent randomly in groups ranging from one to several hundred. After that period you may do as you wish." He hesitated for a moment as if considering what he should do next. Then he let out a sigh and waved his hand. For a moment everything froze, I searched around but it only took a moment for a familiar voice to fill my mind. Commencing teleportation to tutorial quest zone. I blinked as the world around me disappeared into a void of darkness. A brief sensation as if someone pulled me away before my feet found solid ground. I surveyed the world around unsure of what to expect. I was in some kind of large cave. The ceiling had to be at least fifty feet high. "That wasn''t very pleasant." I turned in the direction of the voice and found two other people. One was an Asian woman who looked like she was in her late 30s or early forties. The other was an Indian man who might have been in his late twenties or early thirties. It was he who had spoken up, he used a spear like a cane to keep himself upright while rubbing his head. "Uh do either of you speak English?" I blinked in confusion before I slowly nodded. "Uh yeah, my name is Amari. I take it you picked a spear skill?" The man nodded and then we turned to the woman who drew a rapier-like sword from her belt loop. "I um I took a sword skill. My name is Kim, Kim Jeong. I uh would either of you know anything about what happened to people who were doing things when they were transported? I was on a plane back to Korea with my husband and I didn''t see him." I shook my head. I hadn''t even considered that but what would happen to traffic If half of the drivers just disappeared? Did the System care about that or was it just chaos? "I hope you don''t mind my asking but you don''t seem to have a weapon." I came back from my thoughts and nodded my head. "I picked a spell. It''s a mental attack that will hopefully get past their defenses easier." "You didn''t mention your name," Kim said while looking between the two of us. "Ram. I don''t presume that either of you were near India when this whole thing happened?" He said and looked at me. "No, I was in law school in the States. Do either of you know what we¡ª" Before I could finish the question, the voice of the System filled my mind. Explore the Cave and defeat the monster located in its heart. Reward: A Skill. Quality is Based on Performance "I guess that answers that. We should probably get a move on. I don''t want to spend all day and night here if we can avoid it." I said and gestured to the path deeper into the cave. When the others hesitated I shrugged and started walking. A moment later they had fallen in behind me. "So it sounds like Ram you are the resident warrior. Do you have any experience using a spear? Before this I mean?" "Not exactly. I only had five choices available and between them, I didn''t want to get too close to anything." Ram replied with a shrug of his shoulders. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. "Same for me though I had ten available. I had learned knife fighting as a girl so I figured a dagger shouldn''t be too different from that." "What do you mean you only had five and ten choices?" "Well on the status screen where we could make our skill selection. I had five choices. There were other options like slash, thrust, bludgeon, and jab. Jab was more for hand-to-hand combat so that was out. I didn''t think a really big sword or hammer would work for me too well since I am not exactly the strongest person." I nodded along and turned to Kim when he was finished. "Same for me though I didn''t have jab, I had cut and slash on top of a skill related to archery and one for thrown weapons." "I see, Very uh interesting." A low bestial growl interrupted the conversation as a wolf stepped into view thirty feet away. It had dark black fur with amber eyes that made the beast seem much more frightening. I only hesitated for a second before I raised my hand and channeled my energy into the sigil for my new spell. The wolf launched itself forward, a snarl on its face as it leaped for me. The indigo blast shot from my hand just before the wolf closed the distance. The light faded a second later and the wolf crumpled to the floor. I stared at it in shock. I wasn''t sure if the wolf was dead or not until a second later. A surge of energy-filled and pleasure-filled slammed into me like a truck. I stumbled backward and fell on my ass while I tried to figure out what just happened. My dantian surged with energy and a light blinked in the upper corner of my vision. "Are you okay?" It took me a second to process that someone had asked me a question. When I did I took a deep breath and stood up. "Yeah, Uh thanks, Kim. I¨CDid you all feel anything just then?" "Like what? The wolf attacked I saw you use what I assume is your spell and then it just crumpled lifelessly to the ground. It''s a bit creepy, to be honest." Ram added as he stood with his spear at the ready. "Uh right well I think we can expect there to be more wolves further inside. Are you two ready to go?" I asked as my heart pounded in my chest. I wanted whatever that was to happen again. Especially if would help me level, that had to be several hours worth of spiritual energy. Of course, regular cultivation didn''t include the risk of wolf attacks. "You sure you don''t want a break?" Ram asked. I shook my head. "We don''t know how many wolves are here. For all we know the System might endlessly spawn wolves until we complete this thing." I considered what that would mean as we started walking. Would I be able to grind my level if that happened? Or at least raise it a few times? We walked for another ten or fifteen minutes when a pair of wolves came at us. I grinned when they charged. "Ram, Kim you take the one on the right. I will deal with this one." I barked out my command before an indigo beam shot for my target. The first one missed the wolf''s head and instead hit a stalactite behind it. "Fuck me," I said mostly to myself as the wolf closed the distance. It leapt for my throat which forced me to step back and into spin. I felt the heat from the wolf''s mouth against my chest as I narrowly avoided the attack. The wolf attempted to dig its claws into the stone to stop its momentum. Thankfully it wasn''t strong enough. By the time it recovered enough to attack I had already unleashed another Psychic Blast. The wolf collapsed and a familiar surge of energy filled me. I closed my eyes and let the wonderful feeling wash over me. Just as the feeling faded a scream brought me back to the battle. Ram and Kim did not have the same success. Ram had somehow ended up on his back with his spear braced against the wolf''s mouth. I searched around for Kim only to find her hidden in the corner. I unleashed my spell and the wolf collapsed. There was a familiar pop and I gained another level. I ignored the pleasure and rushed over to Ram. I quickly pulled Ram out from underneath the beast. When he was free the man let out a torrent of words and phrases in a language I had never heard before. It wasn''t hard to guess what he meant though. There was also the side-eye he gave Kim, it was pretty good that he hadn''t gained some kind vision based magic or else we would be down a member. "I¨CI am sorry. I froze I couldn''t I had to survive for my daughter. I¡ªI am sorry." Ram''s anger seemed to deflate a bit at that and I took the chance to step in between them. "Alright, we had our first run-in with the enemy. Now that we have taken our first hits we should be able to handle the rest. Just stick together. I am gonna go out on a limb here and assume that both of you are still level 1?" They both nodded their heads. "Alright, so this is what we are going to do. I will deal with the largest number of wolves. I am pretty sure I can handle one or two now without much issue. They either have no mental resistance or they just die easily. You two should work together. You should be able to kill a wolf or two and then we can get out of here." Ram nodded while Kim looked much less confident. I wasn''t sure what I could do for her though. Ultimately there was no way out without teleportation. I wasn''t going to search for another exit either, I had no idea if the System created this area for us or if there were dangerous things we weren''t meant to deal with. Either way, I decided to turn my attention to other things. I pulled up my status screen and let out a low chuckle. I had gained a new title. I placed the free points into Wisdom to continue with the pattern. Next, I pulled up my new title. **Leader of the Pack: First to Kill a Monster in the World. Reward: All Attributes +10%** We could get percentage boosts to our attributes? I needed to figure out how to get more of those kinds of titles. I wondered if there was a maximum to that or if I worked hard enough could I get like +1000% percent to all attributes. Not to mention that the benefits extended to luck. I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing but there was no noticeable difference. I didn''t feel any wiser nor did I feel luckier. Though I did feel a bit more agile, it was like I had a slightly better awareness of my body in space. I wondered if this was how professional athletes felt. I closed the screen and considered cultivating but decided against it. I was desperate to boost my power but cultivation took your attention away from the environment and I had no confidence that Ram and Kim would be able to keep me safe. "We will leave soon so do what you can to calm down. We aren''t safe." I called out. Neither was thrilled when it was time to head out. Although Kim was especially against it. Part of me sympathized with her especially since it turned out the System teleported her son with her to the tutorial. He was allowed to stay in her room with her but didn''t have to go on the quests. The System itself took responsibility for them which meant that Kim would be fine as long as she survived. Despite that I knew it wasn''t completely true, there was no way to know what would happen after this. So we needed to gain the strength to take care of ourselves. We ran into another pair of wolves a few minutes after and this time things went much better. I dealt with mine in one shot while Ram managed to stab the second wolf in its leg. While he kept it busy Kim moved forward and stabbed her blade through its eye. It wasn''t the most effective way to do it but it got the job done. "What was that." I raised an eyebrow at Ram as the afterglow of the kill energy left him. The man looked like the cat that got the cream. "The energy from the kill. I think it''s meant to cause a Pavlovian response in us." When they both stared at me with blank confusion I sighed. "I mean that it''s meant to make us want to fight. My guess is that the energy will feel good to make us want to kill to feel good again." "So you mean it''s like a drug?" Kim asked with a slight tremble in her voice. I considered it for a moment before shaking my head. "I don''t think it''s meant to get that extreme. I think it''s to motivate us to go forward. Either way, there isn''t anything for us to do about it. We have to keep fighting and I feel fine. Anyway, you two should prepare yourselves. I think we are close to the end of the road which means we will have to fight whatever counts as a boss in this place. They both nodded in agreement. Chapter 4 A New Kind of Education We pushed forward slowly and quietly but found no more wolves. The whole situation had started to feel like a video game. As if we were in the rooms before the final boss chamber where we were supposed to do our final healing. After we had walked for another thirty minutes we entered a massive chamber. I mentally prepared myself as a deep guttural growl banished the uncomfortable silence. Across from us a wolf that would give the legendary Fenrir a run for its money appeared. It was the size of a car with jet-black fur and teeth the size of daggers. The wolf gave off an almost palpable sense of danger that made my teeth itch. For a moment no one moved, both sides just stared at each other. I circulated my spiritual energy in tune with the cultivation method. Ram let out a roar and the wolf charged I wasn''t sure which happened first and it didn''t matter. The stillness was replaced with the chaos of battle. Ram charged the wolf with his spear raised while Kim attempted to circle behind it. I waited until I saw the whites of its eyes to unleash a blast of psychic energy. The blast caught the beast in the forehead only the expected sight of it collapsing to the ground didn''t come. The wolf pushed through the attack as if it weren''t there and then slammed into Ram like a runaway truck. The man flew back but managed to keep hold of his spear. The wolf then turned its attention to me. It let out a howl and pointed its maw toward the ceiling. Every instinct in my body told me to move, to not let whatever it was about to do hit me. Before I could make my decision Kim dashed forward her dagger aimed at the wolf''s throat. Her blade slammed into the beast''s fur and shattered like it was made of glass. My eyes widened in surprise as Kim retreated. The wolf''s howl ended as a sphere of utter darkness formed in its maw. The wolf unleashed its attack and a scream of danger shot through my entire body. I turned and tackled Kim to the ground just as the sphere passed over us. When the attack ended the back wall had a hole blasted straight through. I scanned the area in search of Ram but couldn''t find him. "Fuck." I got back to my feet a second later and focused on the wolf. "I don''t think it can unleash another attack like that for a few minutes at least. We should attack now." I turned only to find myself alone. "What the?" It didn''t take long for me to find both Kim and Ram had disappeared down the path we took to get here. They left me. The wolf only gave me a second to process the betrayal before it resumed its attack. I pushed the pair out of my mind and pushed energy into my sigil. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the wolf rushed me. All my fear faded and was replaced with a strange sensation. One I didn''t understand, not really. I unleashed **Psychic Blast** as soon as the wolf had crossed half the distance to me. This time the wolf staggered slightly. I continued another attack as rapidly as I could but was forced to dodge as the wolf closed in. I narrowly avoided its jaws only for its claw to rise and slash me across the stomach. I retreated a few feet and unleashed another Psychic Blast. This time the wolf dodged which gave me a second to catch my breath. The injury in my stomach wasn''t deep enough to be life-threatening at least not right now. I unleashed another blast of psychic energy as the wolf resumed its charge. The wolf howled its jaw snapped shut nearly decapitating me as I dived beneath it. My heart pounded as we sized each other up. I was low on spiritual energy and based on how the wolf moved it wasn''t doing much better. The wolf charged and I smiled. Adrenaline flowed through my veins like electricity. I pushed the last of my energy into the sigil, indigo energy formed in my palm. The wolf crossed half the distance and only seemed to get faster. Still, I refused to release the attack. I would only get one shot and there was no way that I would survive a melee with it. I felt a pop in my mind and the last of my energy streamed into the sigil as if a dam had burst. I threw my hand forward with a defiant shout. A beam of mental energy surged forward like some kind of comic book beam. I locked eyes with the wolf just as the attack connected. The wolf''s eyes turned vacant and it collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut. I released the attack a second later. Exhaustion unlike anything I had ever felt washed over me and I collapsed to my knees. I fought to stay awake as a torrent of energy exploded inside me. I gained two levels immediately as my body shook with energy. "Fuck!" The surge of energy slowly faded and a part of me wished to have it again. Another part of me was worried that it might be addictive. Either way, there was nothing I could do about it. I slowly got back to my feet, my dantian mostly filled but the exhaustion I felt was something else entirely. "So now what? System? I did it." A part of me still felt like it was crazy to talk to the air. A bit like prayer only I expected a literal response. When nothing happened I sighed and pulled my Status Screen. My six points went into Wisdom and I started to wonder when that should change. I mean the wolf was much stronger than me and its claws could tear through me like butter. My Wisdom was around twice as high as the other attributes. Should I avoid the glass cannon play style? Or should I embrace it? It wasn''t important yet especially after I already spent the points. Maybe the elementals would be able to give me some tips? I turned my attention to my title page and I smiled. I had grabbed a few more. **Prime Hunter: First to kill a boss-ranked entity solo in the world. All Attributes +5, All Attributes +10%.** **Big Game: Solo kill enemy 10 levels or more above you. All Attributes +2.** **Monstersbane: Solo kill enemy 5 levels or more above you. All Attributes +1.** Huh? The System must have considered it a solo battle because the others abandoned me. I am not sure either of them had even landed a serious hit. I filed that information away for later. I gave my status screen a final review before closing it.
Name Amari Jackson
Level 5
Species [1]Human
Affiliation Earth
Titles Big Game, Chosen, Leader of the Pack, Monstersbane, Prime Hunter
Limited Titles
Agility 23
Constitution 23
Intelligence 28
Luck 24
Perception 20
Strength 23
Wisdom 40
Free Points 0
System Credits 00
I was about to go and search for Kim and Ram when a familiar voice filled my mind. Quest 1 Complete. Calculating Personal Contribution. Contribution 99%. Time Taken: Three Hours. Quest Grade: A+. Reward Distribution has begun. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. I smiled at that and rubbed my hands together. It appeared that the System liked people who helped themselves. I raised an eyebrow when I found a small brown box at my feet. I was 99% sure that wasn''t there before which was creepy. Not only could the System teleport people and things but it could do so without my notice. I picked up and opened the box and found a small crystal. It wasn''t quite the same as the information crystal but it was made with the same likeness. When I sent a bit of energy inside it I received a burst of information that made my grin widen. Psychic Aegis - Create a Barrier of Mental Energy that surrounds you. The durability of the shield is based on your Wisdom Attribute. Well, it looks like when the System says it will reward you. It rewards you, not only was a shield spell exactly what I needed but this scaled based on Wisdom. It would solve the glass cannon issue of course it didn''t mean I could just dump everything into the attribute. I would need to pick a secondary one but for now, for the tutorial, this would be beyond clutch. I sent another stream of energy this time the spell''s sigil passed into my body and settled in the spot on my left arm. [1]Psychic Aegis ¨C Proficiency: Novice The Greatest Shield Is the Mind. Upgradable. The second message was a surprise. The upgradable part was new as well. I quickly checked my other spell and confirmed that one didn''t include that. So did that mean I would have to get rid of it at some point? Or was there something else I could do with it? I was pulled from that inevitable spiral when the System''s voice returned. Teleportation Commencing The teleportation ended and I once again found myself in the large city. It only took a moment for more people to arrive, it seemed that all the quests ended around the same time. Which was pretty nice. I searched around for Ram or Kim but couldn''t find them. I wasn''t sure what I would do if I had found them. On one hand, I understood why they would leave, the wolf was dangerous and survival was paramount for everyone. On the other hand, they left me to die which pissed me off. Of course, there was no way I would run in that situation and there was no way we would have escaped and I got the titles for it. I considered it for a few more moments before I gave up. As long as they don''t do anything more then I won''t go after them. I was about to head for my apartment when a familiar woman appeared in the sky above us. The happiness on her face clashed with the overall somber mood. It was a bit like a ray of light pressed against a dower-heavy darkness. "Hello, you all have officially completed your first quest. Those of you who have survived have grown more powerful. You should be proud. Now you all should have noticed a new title under your limited titles area. The title will not provide any benefits for now but as you progress in the tutorial you will gain more benefits. So you should strive to reach the top and carve your name in the stars." Ok even I had to admit she had laid it on thick just then but she was right about the new title. It was just called "Tutorial-" and based on the description it would evolve after each quest. Its evolution was based on performance so I just needed to push myself harder to get better rewards. Morbidly, the tutorial was a true meritocracy. There were no families, no way to buy advantages it was up to you and what you managed to grab. I stretched my neck as the woman started again. "Now you all may return to your apartments for rest. Tomorrow you will return here for a lesson in cultivation and the multiverse. Please enjoy the rest of your night." With that, the woman turned and disappeared into the sky. After a few seconds, I lost sight of her and I wasn''t sure if that was because she moved out of view or if she had turned invisible. Everyone stood still for a moment before someone started to cry. The sound immediately reminded me of what the woman had said. _For those of you who survived._ Just how many of us died during the first quest? I didn''t notice a change in the size of the crowd but there were so many of us here that it would have been impossible. The last embers of anger I had with Ram and Kim faded. If it were my child and I had to choose between fighting a giant wolf and running away to guarantee I made it back which would I choose? I shook my head and followed the line of people into the building. I originally planned to get some more cultivation done but I quickly gave up on that. Now that the adrenaline was gone I was tired. I chuckled to myself "Bone tired" as Ms. Sandra would say. I got undressed and was asleep within a few moments. I woke up with a familiar but subdued hum. I got out of bed and reached for my clothes. I was half-dressed when I caught sight of myself in the mirror. The nasty cut across my stomach had become a rather nasty scar. I wondered if that was the System''s work or if it was based on my Constitution attribute. It was one of many things I would have to look into or ask someone about. Once I was dressed I made my way out of the building. The crowd out here was much smaller than the previous one though it was still quite large. Probably somewhere around a sports arena on championship night. Today it was neither the lava man nor the wind woman. It was a blue-skinned androgynous person with no hair and gills on the side of their neck. I had just settled into a spot on the ground when they began to speak. Their voice sounded like they were underwater and very distant. "Good Morning humans of earth. My name is Aina. It is good to see so many people invested in the pursuit of knowledge. Your first official lesson will be on the nature of spiritual energy. By now you all should be aware of attuned energy. That is energy with a particular resonance to it. You would recognize it as wind fire or lightning. Most of you should have a skill or a spell that takes care of the conversion for you. When you push your energy into the sigil or sigils on your body that spiritual energy is taken from its unattuned state and into a new attuned state. That energy is then manifested based on the nature of that skill or spell." I wished I had a notebook or my phone with me. This was valuable information. I couldn''t be completely sure but it sounded like it would be possible to manipulate the energy without relying on the sigil. I wasn''t sure if I was allowed to do this but I figured what''s the worse that could happen and raised my hand. A second later Aina''s voice sounded like it was all around me. Like the weirdest surround sound in history. "Is there something you would like to ask?" Their eyes flashed a dull blue color for a second. "Amari." I filed that away for another time and nodded. "I wanted to know where the sigils come from. It sounds a bit like they are just training wheels for our abilities." Aina stared at me for a second before slowly blinking. The entire thing was a bit frightening but I decided to ignore that. "Your question is good. The sigils are codified applications of the Great Tao. Though that is beyond the parameters of today''s lesson." And just like that I was back in school. I hated that, why couldn''t you just tell me what I wanted to know instead of forcing me to go through a different class or speak to a new teacher? I just wanted to know the thing when I asked about it. Of course, there was no way in whatever hells existed that I was about to complain to the fish person. Especially when I still wasn''t sure how the whole sky lightning thing worked. "You may have noticed that you have other sources of energy. Spiritual energy is the core of your cultivation and is thus the most important but your physical stamina is just as important as your psychic or mental energy. All of these are some of the various energies that you may encounter in the multiverse." I perked up at the mention of mental energy but it was clear that they had just wrapped up the lesson. I resisted the urge to ask them about it. I still had my hands full with my normal cultivation so experimenting with mental energy would have to take a back seat. "Ah, one more thing. You all should have received a quest at the start of today''s lesson. Be sure to do your best." Aina''s voice interrupted my thoughts and before I had thought about it I had pulled my quest menu. I couldn''t help but grin when I read it. 1. Reach your Potential: Reach level 20. Reward: Unlock Class System(5/20) So level twenty was the target? Which means that I needed to split my time between completing my quests and cultivation. Of course, fighting was the best option but it also meant I could get eaten or sliced up. Once I was sure Aina had nothing more to say I stood up and headed home. I needed to get as much cultivation done as possible. Between today and tomorrow, I was pretty sure I could get to level 6. A dull beat of excitement started in my chest as I considered what I could do. My imagination ran wild with what I could do with a class. I stepped into my cultivation chamber and started to pull energy into my dantian. Chapter 5 The Second Quest A full day of cultivation gained me another level and I was pretty sure that I would get the next one soon. Unfortunately, it was clear that the energy I needed increased with each level. I wasn''t sure what I should do with the attribute points though. Every spell I had relied on Wisdom but I was concerned that I would turn into a one-trick pony if I relied on it. Plus the physical attributes were important, I needed to move faster and if I needed to fight without my spell I would be screwed. I went back and forth about it for a few more minutes before I made my choice. I put all three into Wisdom. The new shield spell made the difference. It was both my sword and shield and I couldn''t afford to experiment with things without more knowledge. The latest titles also made a big difference. Honestly what I needed was something to compare myself to. I had doubled most of my attributes which was great but I couldn''t tell where that placed me in regards to the wolf let alone a proper cultivator. I was sure I was toward the top among all the humans in the great tutorial. I was pulled from my thoughts when the dull hum spread through my room. A mix of anticipation and excitement built in the pit of my stomach, it was time for the next quest. After a short walk, I stood amongst a sea of faces, as we all waited to hear what we would need to do. The mood was somber as if we waited to hear the verdict from a jury. Only that was a lot more hands-on. The volcano person sighed and shook his head. "Hello, it is time for your second assignment. As before you will be sent to a new location to either explore an area or defend an area. Perform your best and reap the rewards." The man almost seemed less interested than last time but there was nothing else to be said. The familiar sensation of teleportation took over and I closed my eyes. When I next opened them I stood in the grounds of a medieval castle. The ground was churned dirt and the walls had seen better days. I didn''t need the quest prompt to tell me that were in a castle under siege. Which meant that we had to defend this place. I tried to do a quick count of all the people around but there were too many people. A moment later the System''s voice filled my mind. Defend the Castle from all invaders until the time limit expires. Remaining Time: 11:59:59 Time till Attack: 2:00:00 Reward: Species Pill, Attribute Fruit. I raised an eyebrow at the reward as the excitement in the pit of my stomach ignited like an inferno. I wasn''t sure what the species pill would do but the attribute fruit sounded similar to items that existed in video games. It should improve some of my attributes. Despite my excitement, I had no idea what to do about the situation. I had no experience defending a castle nor did I know the first thing about warfare. I wasn''t even sure what part of the castle had to be defended. If the gates were breached did that count as a failure or did we have to prevent entry into the throne room? Before I could decide on what I should do next a shrill whistle filled the air. I turned ready to blast whatever monster had found its way inside only to find a group of men. The trio wore regular street clothes that had seen better days. Two of them had two-handed swords while the third had a thin long sword. Once they had everyone''s attention the one with the long sword spoke up. "I am Lieutenant James of the U.S. military. I don''t know many of you and I imagine you are reluctant to fight but if you do what I say we will live another day." He gestured to the men on either side of him. These are Privates William and Adam. We need each of you to line up in front of us and reveal what skill or spells you have. Once you do so we will give you an assignment and break you up into groups. Now form up and be ready to receive further instructions." I raised an eyebrow at the trio as people tripped over themselves to form lines. I guessed it made sense. These three sounded official and represented order in a chaotic situation but I wasn''t convinced. There was no way they knew more about the situation than anyone else. We didn''t have the System on earth and I didn''t think they had somehow figured out the secrets to the tutorial. There were no extra lessons as far as I knew. Thankfully someone else had already gone down this line of thought. "Why should we listen to you anyway?" I couldn''t see the speaker but the voice sounded male. It was like his question had disrupted the ingrained obedience in the crowd. The people closest to the voice stopped moving while the people further away moved with less urgency. I turned my attention to the trio curious about how they would reply. Lieutenant James stepped forward."For starters, the three of us are level four already. We also performed well enough to receive a second skill after the last quest. Finally, we knew how to fight and kill before everything went to hell." A glance told me that the man''s words had hit the desired effect. The rest of the crowd started to gather but I decided against it. One thing that I had gathered from the System was you needed to make a name for yourself. The people who favored safety would struggle to perform well. I stepped away from the crowd and made my way toward the outer wall. It didn''t take me long to find a staircase that led to the top. What I saw at the top made me shake my head. A massive forest stretched into the horizon. Even the smallest of the trees was the size of a skyscraper back home. "Are we fighting humans?" I asked no one. The System''s message only said invaders. I assumed that it would be human or at least human-shaped beings but what if it was something that could use the forest better? "We should clear out the trees," I remembered something from a show on the History Channel a few years ago. You were supposed to clear out the trees to allow archers to take aim and stop people from using the trees as covers. Did we even have archers? Before I could return to the group I heard footsteps behind me. I turned and found a dark-skinned man looking at me. He was bald and had a bow slung across his back. A quiver of arrows on his right side. It was a bit hard to tell but he looked like he was in his late thirties or early forties. "I noticed you didn''t gather up like everyone else." I wasn''t sure if he was asking me a question or if he was just stating a fact. I nodded to him before gesturing to the forest. "I wanted to get a look at what we were dealing with. See it for myself you know." "Do you know anything about defending a place like this?" I shook my head. "Not really. I vaguely remember a show on the History Channel about sieges. I am guessing we don''t have to worry about food so most of that is gone. We should clear out these trees if possible." He looked out over the wall for a moment before he nodded. "You think that trees would be cover for our enemies?" "Yeah, well not just that. I am worried that ranged combatants will struggle to hit the trees in the way. I doubt we will have the energy required for a protracted battle." "That is what I thought as well. Yet you don''t seem worried. Twelve hours is a long time to survive in the thick of battle." This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. I nodded my agreement. "I would say it''s more like the calm before the storm." I chuckled dryly. "I am terrified about it honestly. I had assumed we would fight people or at least people-shaped things but what if that''s wrong? We could fight an assortment of who''s who from mythology and ancient history for all I know. Tangled up with that fear is something else though." He raised an eyebrow in an unasked question. I hesitated for a moment. It wasn''t that I didn''t want to share. Honestly, it was more that I didn''t understand what I felt. It was like a part of me craved it. The fight itself would be terrifying but the results would be amazing. Two or more levels, maybe a new title? The attribute fruit at the end. Whatever a specified pill was. I wanted it all. "A hunger. A hunger for more attributes, for more levels for more power. In two hours I could have it all if I am strong enough to take it." We stood in silence after that. I wondered if he thought that I had lost my mind and honestly maybe he would be right. It hadn''t even been a full week but it felt like things had changed. Well, they had in a sense the old order was gone. At least in the tutorial, there was no government, no authority besides the System and the workers. Out here there was only survival not only survival we were told what to do. "I will stick with you." I blinked several times as I came back from my thoughts. I had completely forgotten he was there. He must have seen something in my expression because he continued almost immediately. "I don''t mean to assume but you are the only person here who doesn''t look terrified at what''s to come. There is a calmness to you and I would rather work with you than the others." "What level are you?" I looked him up and down and he looked pretty strong though it was hard to know if he had always looked like that or not. "What''s your name." "Tyrone, Tyrone Ingram, and level 3. I have a skill that lets me shoot energy arrows from my bow. I can either create an arrow out of energy or imbue an arrow with energy." I nodded. "Amari, Amari Jackson. I am at level 6." His eyes widened at that which made me chuckle. "Let''s just say the experience from my first quest was mostly given to me. I don''t have the best experience with teams. I can''t guarantee anything but you are welcome to fight with me." He nodded. "Do you think we have the time to cut down those trees?" I shrugged. "Honestly I have no idea. Let''s go and see if anyone has an axe to do it with or if they have the strength to do it. Those trees are massive." He nodded and fell into step behind me. I returned to the main ground and found the three lines were making progress but it was clear that it would be a while until they were done. The issue wasn''t even the amount of people, it was the groups that had formed. Each time one of the three tried to send a person somewhere they would request that another person come with them. They would then need to convince them to either move on or change up the groups. This was made worse by the fact that not everyone had compatible skills and spells. It was a bit like watching someone herd cats only there was a literal timer on all of us. I took a chance to approach the trio after a particularly tough situation when a mother and son were brought up. The boy looked to be in his late teens and had a great sword while the mother looked like she was in her forties and held a martial arts staff. The pair refused to do anything that meant they wouldn''t be with one another. As the timer ticked down the trio of soldiers were forced to give up. It didn''t help the duo were both level three and could throw their weight around. "Stand in line like everyone else we will get to you soon." The Private Williams said with a grumble. When I didn''t move he looked up at me and shook his head. "We should have some people attempt to cut down the trees outside the walls. I am worried that whatever we fight would be able to use the trees as cover against our range combatants and they could climb them to get over. They might have skills or spells related to tree manipulation as well." I decided to get straight to the point to avoid the whole fight of authority and control but it wasn''t meant to be. "I appreciate your concern now return to the line and we will get with you in a moment." He placed a hand on his sword hilt in a not-so-veiled threat. When I didn''t move he held out a hand to the next person in line. The poor woman looked like a deer caught in headlights as he moved toward me. He glared at me but before it could come to blows the Lieutenant got between us. "Now just what''s happening over here?" "I was in the middle of explaining why we should have some people attempt to cut down the trees outside the wall. At least the ones in front of¡ª" "And I was explaining to this civilian that we would address his concern after we finish with the accounting. We need a proper understanding of the weapons at our disposal before the fight begins." I couldn''t stop myself from rolling my eyes at that. "I doubt most of the people here have had a chance to understand how their skills and spells work nor do I think they have any ideas on how long their spiritual energy will hold out in a fight. We need to start taking action." "Listen we appreciate the effort but for now we need to gather information. Your idea with the trees is good but if those trees are anything like the ones from my previous quest then it would take hours to get through them. Unless you have a skill or spell that would help?" I shook my head. "In that case could you let us continue? What level are you?" I considered lying about it but quickly decided against it. I worked hard for what I have and risked my life for my levels so why shouldn''t I be proud of it? "Level 6 though I imagine at the end of this quest I would reach seven or eight." The duo stared at me for a moment as if they weren''t sure how to respond. Part of me wanted to push my luck with it but I decided against it. Ultimately we had a job to do and this wasn''t helping. "Right well, I will see what else I can learn while you do that." I turned and stepped away from the group not wanting to get dragged into another argument. I looked around until I spotted Tyrone and then invited him over. I decided to go and do a quick search of the grounds. There might be weapons or an armory or anything that would help the defense of things. It took us nearly thirty minutes to search the castle and we made a few discoveries. The first was that there was a fully stocked armory though the weapons weren''t as strong as the things the others had gotten. The Bows and Arrows were nothing compared to the ones that Tyrone used. Still, I found a dagger that I could use if things got really bad. The more important discovery was that there was a throne room and as soon as I entered it a prompt from the System told me that it was the designated zone. We had to keep any enemies from reaching the throne to succeed. When I informed the military trio they immediately insisted on moving their command inside. Despite our minor conflict I had to admit that their goal made sense. They had arranged everyone into three groups of front liners, long-range and in-betweeners. The arrangement reminded me a bit of ancient Roman Legionnaires but without all the big shields. I had no way to know how many of them would hold in the actual fight but it was pretty good. I did make a note that I wasn''t on their lists at all which was interesting. Not because they didn''t include me, but because they didn''t insist on it. They more or less let me do what I want. Tyrone settled in as my official bodyguard which was a bit funny. The rest of the people stared at me with a wide range of emotions. Some of them looked like they hated me for not joining the teamwork drills while others were curious as to why none of the three military guys seemed to care. Despite our best efforts, the air was solemn. A bit like someone held a sword over all of our heads. A sword that slowly approached and that would eventually kill some of us. I sat down on the wall alongside a group of archers as the timer counted down. Part of me felt like an army would appear out of the sky like some kind of Sci-Fi movie. Of course that didn''t happen. Instead, the timer hit zero and the voice of the System filled my mind. A glance told me that everyone else heard it too. Countdown has Ended. Commencing Attack now. Chapter 6: Base Defense The world seemed to tremble for a moment before a pillar of steel-colored light appeared in the distance. Specks of light flew out from the pillar. It was a handful at first but slowly grew into dozens, it wasn''t until the largest group arced in the air and shot toward us that I realized it. "Birds." I rotated my spiritual energy as indigo energy crackled silently in my hand. "Flyers! Everyone with ranged attacks take aim." I felt the others move along the wall as Tyrone took a knee at my side. When I was able to make out their forms I couldn''t help but chuckle. They were metallic raptors, a cross between a hawk and a falcon with talons the size of daggers. Each one looked big enough to lift a grown man. "Fire on my Mark." Lieutenant James'' voice rang out like a crack of thunder. The sound of over a dozen bows being pulled taught filled the air. I couldn''t help the excitement that welled in the pit of my stomach. If I closed my eyes it was as if I was at the battle of helms deep or at the forefront of an elven army defending against a horde of orcs. For the first time, I let the fantasy wash over me. I let it banish away the fear. When I opened my eyes the birds had closed the distance. I couldn''t tell if they were alive or if the System had created these just for them to fight. Nor did it matter. I felt a scream of danger as the lead bird''s talon glowed with a white light. My eyes widened and before I thought about I stepped in front of Tyrone and pushed energy into Psychic Aegis. The indigo barrier sprung into view a second before the air was split apart. My spiritual energy drained rapidly as the monster unleashed a slash that carved into the wall at our feet. My shield held I stepped to the right as Tyrone released his arrow. The arrow shot from his bow like a bullet. His arrow was lost amongst the horde of monsters. The attack and response signaled the beginning of the battle. The Lieutenant waved his hand and the small storm of arrows met the raptors in flight. They fell out of the sky like stones but it made no difference. I unleashed Psychic Blast, a beam of psychic energy blasting forward like a rail gun. The beam caught through them with an eerie silence. The attack passed through them and for a second there was nothing. I heard a snicker from one of the privates but I ignored it as a surge of energy slammed into my dantian. Three birds fell from the sky a second later. I only had a moment to relish my small victory when the raptors crashed into us and all hell broke loose. I caught the mother and son duo go flying from the top of the wall as one of the raptors dug its talons into the mother. Her son swung his sword around ready to cut it down which left him open for a second raptor. Its beak tore straight through him. Her scream was lost in the chaos of battle. I turned as a pair of talons dug into my barrier. I wasn''t sure if the bird wanted to break through or lift it and me into the sky. I refused to allow it either. Another Psychic Blast caused the bird to drop like a stone, I turned to pick out my next target. "Fuck!" The orderly lines that the Lieutenant formed were gone in their place was chaos. Our forces had split between fighting and fleeing. Tyrone had fallen back at some point and unleashed a volley of arrows at every bird he could but it wasn''t going well. Blood dripped down his right hand and he had switched from physical arrows to energy-based ones. I unleashed another blast and knocked a bird that had snuck behind him out of the sky. I gave him a nod before I turned my attention to the grey pillar. An idea rapidly formed in my mind one that I knew was stupid but another part of me. The part that imagined me as some sort of hero urged me forward. The System said that we had to defend this place for twelve hours but it didn''t say we couldn''t attack. It didn''t say that we would face an endless amount of enemies, I stared at the steel grey pillar as I made up my mind. I searched the battlefield for the Lieutenant but couldn''t find him nor could I find the privates. "Fuck me." I unleashed another blast of psychic energy and then sprinted for Tyrone. Three more raptors fell to the ground before I reached him. "I am going to try and cut the attack off at its head. Will you come with?" I conjured my barrier just as another raptor dived for us. It slammed into the shield causing a spider web of cracks to spread through it, the bird''s beak passing half through before it stopped moving. A surge of energy confirmed the kill but I was forced to dismiss the barrier to get rid of the body. "The silver pillar then? They won''t survive long if our best fighters leave. Morale is already fraying at the edges." "None of us will survive if we have to hold the line here. There are too many birds and we have descended into chaos." He hesitated a moment a complex storm of emotions passed across his face in an instant. I was about to ask him again when a scream of pain forced him to act. He unleashed two more arrows these aimed at the talons of a bird that had started to pull a woman off the ground. "Do you need me?" I opened my mouth to reply but the seriousness on his face made me reconsider. I was much higher in level than him and I could tell that I would level up at least once on the way there. I wanted him to join but his power would be more useful here. "Fuck. No stay here if things continue like this you all will need to retreat. I will try and draw more of them to me as I go. Don''t die." He nodded and I broke out into a run. I reached the doors in less than a minute thankfully they were unguarded since the attack came from the sky. I removed the latch and pulled one open just enough so I could slip through. Once I was out and into the forest, I looked up and picked a few targets. The amount of energy per kill was just a bit more than the price of each blast so I decided to unleash as many attacks as I could. Five birds from the sky before they realized what I had done. Several of them changed course and arced toward me. I grinned and pushed my improved body to its limits. The trees blurred as I tore through the forest. Blurs of light cut down tree after tree while Psychic Aegis guarded me against the onslaught. The situation was insane but the part of me that enjoyed the thrill howled in laughter. I ducked behind a large tree just long enough to unleash two blasts, two more birds crashed into the ground before another blast of light shot for me. I dived behind another tree as the previous one was sliced into three pieces. "I guess I had better keep moving." I turned and pushed forward. The trees hid me from aerial pursuit as I got closer to the steely pillar. I ran for what felt like half an hour before I was forced to stop. The trees within a hundred feet of the pillar had been flattened. A ten-foot-tall metallic man sat in front of it. One hand held a sword the size of a person with a slightly blunt edge. I moved back into the forest not wanting to start a battle just yet. I had a few minutes before I could use Psychic Aegis again and there was no way I was going to fight that thing without proper defenses. The man didn''t move but a slight tingle in the back of my mind told me he knew I was there. It was like a passive sense of danger, the feeling you get when you''re being watched by a predator. When my spell was ready I summoned the shield and started circulating my energy. I drew my dagger and took a breath. I was pretty sure this guy was stronger than the wolf which sent a thrill of excitement along my spine. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I scanned the forest and the sky but there were no other monsters near here which made me feel better about my chances. There was no sense in putting this off anymore. I pushed energy into the sigil for Psychic Blast and waited for the soundless energy to answer my call. As soon as it was ready I unleashed the beam. The metal man opened his eyes just as the beam hit its chest. My eyes widened as it stood as if nothing happened. It lifted its massive sword and charged at me. I barely had enough time to step back into the forest before it was upon me. The metallic humanoid swung its sword with enough force to cleave three trees before it embedded itself into the fourth. I unleashed another blast and continued my retreat. The pattern repeated itself as my confidence grew. The metal man was strong and durable but very slow. Not to mention it telegraphed its attacks. Despite that, every near miss was enough to send a thrill of fear down my spine. I unleashed another psychic blast when something changed. The metal man stumbled back, his sword dropped from its hand. I darted forward dagger in hand ready to end this when a scream of danger shot through me. I planted both feet on the ground along with a surge of energy into my feet. I shot back a second later as the metal man unleashed a straight jab that caused the ground to explode. Another scream of danger was all the warning I had as the metal man blurred and slammed his fist into my barrier. My spiritual energy drained like I had sprung a leak but the barrier held long enough to drain the momentum of the attack. When the barrier shattered I was moving through the forest. I tried to piece together what the hell was happening. "Oh come on. Is a stage boss?" Another scream of danger sent me diving behind a tree and into the dirt just in time for a metallic fist to pass through the space my head had been in a moment ago. I spun and unleashed Psychic Blast only this time the attack forced the metal man to stumble back several steps. So it was weaker now? Which meant I would lose if I kept running. I gritted my teeth and gripped my dagger. The metal man blurred and my instincts screamed at me to run but I didn''t. Instead, I ducked in like a professional boxer, I felt the wind pass my forehead the metal man reappeared his fist narrowly missing me. I tried to slam the dagger into his chest right where a heart would be only for the blade to shatter. "Fuck me." My eyes widened as the metal man''s knee blurred and slammed into my ribs. My scream died in my throat as I desperately fought for breath. Another scream of danger before something slammed into my side with the force of a Mack truck. I shot through the air and slammed through two trees. "Ahhh!" Sound exploded from me as pain radiated through every part of my body. Every instinct told me to stay down, that the pain would fade if I just stopped moving. A pang of danger told me that I had to move but it was so soft. Nothing like the screams from earlier. Still, I pushed my spiritual energy into the sigil for Psychic Aegis. My vision blurred as I tried to focus on the metal man. He wasn''t moving quickly anymore, he looked like a got damn terminator. "Ha, ha" I groaned as I got to my feet. At least two of my ribs were broken and I was pretty sure I had some internal bleeding but I didn''t care. There was no way in hell I was going to let some damn machine kill me in the got damn tutorial. I pushed energy into Psychic Blast. My Dantian was running on E but I had enough for this and if I didn''t I doubted I would live long enough to complain. The machine must have felt something change because it blurred and slammed its fist into the barrier. Psychic Aegis held just long enough to bleed most of the strike''s momentum. Just enough of the force that I felt I would survive the hit. The fist slammed into my chest and it took every last ounce of willpower to keep control of my spiritual energy. Thankfully the tree behind me held. I reached forward with the last of my strength and placed my hand on the machine''s face. I then unleashed the last of my spiritual energy into the great Psychic Blast I could muster. I felt a familiar pop in my mind and then the attack changed. Instead of a single blast, it transformed into a continuous attack. Indigo energy exploded out as if we had turned into a sun. I held on for as long as I could, as soon as my dantian was empty the flow stopped and I crumbled. My hands raised in a feeble attempt to continue the battle. It felt like the world froze in anticipation of what would happen next as if the whole world was holding its breath. Finally, the metal man fell, and a deluge of spiritual energy slammed into my dantian. The sudden influx of spiritual energy was like giving a man dying of thirst an entire ocean to drink. My channels flooded with energy as I rolled over onto my back. The steel-colored pillar winked out a second later and I let out a pained cough. I wasn''t sure what came over me in the second as I let out a scream. A release of all the emotions that had gone into that fight, the near-death experience, the thrill of victory, the pain of my injuries, all of it came together. I wasn''t sure how long it took me to get control over my emotions before the pain was all that remained. It took me several more minutes to get back to my feet and I was just about to leave when I caught sight of a box where the pillar had been earlier. I raised an eyebrow before making my way over to it. When I opened it I found a full set of robes and shoes. I groaned when I checked the current state of my gear. I was naked at this point and the few pieces of fabric that remained were bloody and disgusting. The robes were in a mix of indigo and white I slowly pulled it out and realized that there were two different parts to the outfit. An inner part that was a long sleeve shirt and pants set only the shirt didn''t have buttons. I figured I was supposed to wrap them up to hold the whole thing together. Either way, it was a welcome change. The second part of the outfit was the outer robe. It was thicker and was mostly indigo in color. Unlike the inner part, the outer robe had a fabric tie to keep it together. The final things inside the box were a pair of shoes and an information stone. They were pure white which almost made me not want to wear them. A second look at what remained of my shoes told me I didn''t have that luxury. I carefully placed the box back on the ground and then stripped out of the tattered remains. Every move sent a wave of pain through me which forced me to move slower. When I finally got the whole thing on I let out a low whistle. The outfit fit perfectly as if it had been tailored specifically for me. I knelt and removed a small information crystal from the box, I sent a small bit of the energy I had recovered into it and winced as information filled my mind. This was a set of 2nd realm robes and had a few passive abilities. Mainly the robes would auto-clean, mend, size themselves, and generate a passive bit of protection. It wasn''t to the same extent as my aegis but it would help in two ways mainly, first, it would disperse the impact through my entire body instead of the point where I was hit. Second, it had a sigil that when activated formed a bubble barrier. Between it and my Aegis, I felt pretty confident in my defenses. I decided to just leave the remains of my old clothes behind. There weren''t any trash cans out here and I didn''t think the System was worried about litter. I had just started walking back when the voice of the System filled my mind. Quest 2 Complete. Calculating Personal Contribution. Contribution 99%. Time Taken: Three Hours. Quest Grade: A+. Reward Distribution has begun. Tutorial Title has been improved. Tutorial-Quest 2: Complete the Second Assignment of the Tutorial. Reward: +5 to Wisdom, +5 to Agility, +5 Intelligence Another box appeared on the ground in front of me as soon as I finished reading the prompts. I let out a low groan as I knelt to pick it up. When I saw what was inside the pain was the last thing on my mind. There were two items inside, one was a small pill bottle and the other was an odd fruit. The fruit looked a bit like an apple only much smaller, bright yellow, and covered in black and green swirls. I was pretty sure it was the attribute fruit so I bit into it. The fruit was so sweet that it made my jaw hurt and lock up slightly. I let out a groan as I let the taste wash over me. When I got control over myself again I finished the fruit and was about to turn my attention to the pill bottle when the System''s voice returned. Commencing teleportation now. Chapter 7: Gains When the teleportation faded, I was once again in the meeting square. I looked around for anyone I recognized but all the faces were different, foreign. After a few minutes, I was forced to give up. I said a silent prayer for Tyrone although I wasn''t sure anyone was listening. I idly wondered how religious people were doing with all of this craziness. I was about to leave and check out my rewards when a familiar voice ended the silence. I turned around and found the volcano man standing with his arms folded. "You all should have received your species pills." That answered a question I was curious about. We all received the same rewards or at least similar rewards. Which meant that the quality had to be different or else everything would be a waste. I was pulled out of my thoughts when he continued. "We will discuss the significance of the pills tomorrow." He hesitated for a moment as if deep in consideration. "I would recommend you take it in your bathroom." Several people called out a variety of questions, but the man refused to answer any more questions. I raised an eyebrow but between the exhaustion from the conflict and the near-death experience I didn''t care enough to ask. Once I was sure there was nothing else to say I made my way back to my apartment. I was about to take a seat when I found another pill bottle and a slip of paper waiting. I picked it up and raised an eyebrow. The rewards were pushed to the back of my mind as I opened the new bottle and swallowed the pill. It settled into my stomach and then a wave of pain spread through me. I groaned as muscles and bones began to repair themselves. I stumbled a step as I tried to deal with the changes. It was like someone had run their nails along a chalkboard only the chalkboard was my bones. I let out another groan as my ribs popped back into place. I closed my eyes and pulled my focus to my dantian trying to distract my mind from the sensation. I wasn''t sure how long it took but when it finished, I felt better than ever. I stood up and slowly rocked on my feet. Once I felt brave enough, I started bouncing on my heels. I then threw a storm of punches; my imagination came alive as I saw the metallic man again. I shadow-boxed with him for several minutes and I knew that my memory of him was nothing compared to his actual power. After a few more minutes I ended my fun and took a seat. I would get a healing pill after every quest which meant that injuries weren''t going to be a problem. The note implied that as long as I wasn''t dead on arrival, I would get healed, but I had no interest in testing what that meant exactly. It was a relief to have some kind of safety net though which was about as much as I could expect. With that taken care of I turned my attention to my status screen. The changes were pretty impressive including the benefit from the fruit. Unlike what I had assumed, it boosted neither my Intelligence nor my Wisdom. Instead, it was a seven-point boost to my Luck attribute. It was a bit annoying since Wisdom was the key to my power at the moment, but Luck was rarer. It also felt pretty good to get, as if it was a special reward for my hard work. I gained three more levels and nine more points. Which I was pretty sure was enough to maintain my lead on the rest of the group. I spent my points a bit reluctantly. I still wasn''t sure if the single-focus route was ideal, but it should keep me alive during the tutorial. I reviewed the next part of my sheet and let out another laugh. I got a brand new title! Overpowered: Solo kills enemy 15 levels or more above you. All stats +3. It wasn''t a percentage boost which made it less exciting but it was the equivalent of seven levels worth of points. Arguably a bit more than that since Luck couldn''t be upgraded by regular levels regardless of that the title was a huge bonus on top of everything else. Part of me wanted to rush out and get some more fighting done but that was quickly snuffed out. I pulled up my status screen for a final review.
Name: Amari Jackson
Level 9
Species [1]Human
Affiliation Earth
Titles Big Game, Chosen, Leader of the Pack, Monstersbane, Overpowered, Prime Hunter
Limited Titles Tutorial-Quest 2
Agility 32
Constitution 26
Intelligence 37
Luck 36
Perception 24
Strength 26
Wisdom 56
Free Points 0
System Credits 00
With that finished I turned my attention to the last reward. It was called "Species Pill" which was mildly amusing. Based on the strong medicinal smell it was strong which only made me worry. That worker was hardly the most social of the trio which only made me wonder why he would bother warning us. After a second, I shrugged and made my way into the bathroom. If a man of few words takes the time and effort to give you advice then you had better listen. I removed the new robes not wanting to risk damaging them. I popped the pill into my mouth and swallowed it. The pill sat in my stomach for a second before it began to dissolve. Unlike the healing pill, the energy from this one spread throughout my entire body. The expected pain didn''t come, in its place was a stinging sensation. It felt a bit like being pricked by dozens of needles at once. I closed my eyes and let the sensation wash over me. I wasn''t sure if this feeling or the pain was worse. After it had gone on for what felt like half an hour a new sensation began to spread. Weakness and muscle aches replaced the pain, and I knelt over my sink. My eyes widened as a black film began to drip out of my pores. Panic fought with exhaustion as I tried to process what the hall was happening. I didn''t feel any worse outside of the shakes my body felt great. Which helped me calm down. A stomach spasm made the moment worse and less than a second later black film erupted from my mouth. I groaned and said I silent prayer for the horrible sensation to end. Mercy was not one of the gifts from the System. The torture went on for what felt like an eternity before I was able to clean myself off. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I returned to the main room and was about to head to bed when I noticed something odd. My channels were thicker and wider. I pushed some energy through and let out a laugh. Not only could I push a bit more energy through them, but I could do it faster. I figured it was an increase of around ten percent which was amazing. I checked the section in my status screen but there was no change. "So is the upgrade not related to my actual species or is it not complete?" I wondered out loud. I explored the changes for a few more minutes when I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. It was a bit difficult to say for sure, but my appearance had improved a bit. My facial features seemed smoother and softer almost like I had professional makeup done which considering what had just dripped out of my pores made me feel even better. The questions I had only mounted but there was nothing more for me to do. I considered doing some cultivation, but I decided against it. I was exhausted, so I decided to get some sleep instead. The next day I was up before the morning hum. The injuries and pain of yesterday long since faded. I made my way out of the building and got a spot to sit as close to the stage as possible. I still couldn''t get to the very front but it didn''t matter and wasn''t worth trying to force my way forward. "Good Morning everyone. I am glad to see that you all are doing well. You should be proud to have made it so far. Today we will be discussing one of the pillars of your cultivation. Your species upgrade is one of the few requirements for you to reach the next realm. Your time in the tutorial will give you opportunities for you to earn more pills or medicinal baths. It would be in your best interests to complete your upgrade during your time here." Aina''s words settled onto the crowd like a weight. I was just about to ask a question when someone called out. "Why should we care about our species or the next realm?" Once again I looked around for the speaker but couldn''t find them. Based on the voice I thought it was a young man. I looked to Aina for their response. "I suppose the largest benefit would be the power of a cultivator but if that isn''t enough to motivate you. I would say the increase in your lifespan would be the big one. You will likely live less than a century if you depend only on attributes and exercise. Once you enter the second realm that will increase to approximately five hundred years depending on other factors." If people were paying attention before, now they were utterly devoted to Aina. It didn''t require a genius to figure out what they were thinking. The idea of living for five hundred years sounded too good to be true but it was a whole new story when the person telling you could show off magic. Hell, we could already do magic that was in the realm of godhood before. The idea of living for hundreds of years was much more realistic. "That is but one of the many benefits. Upon reaching the third realm you will gain the ability to fly and then your life span will be measured in millennia. Far longer than your species would have survived previously. More importantly, you will be able to leave a mark in the multiverse and create a legacy for your descendants. The benefits of cultivation are vast but you all must know what to expect. You have all taken the first steps to the advancement of your species but the process is not complete. The exact number of improvements you will need to make will be a bit different for each of you based on a variety of factors including the quality of the pills you have taken so far." I chuckled to myself at the explanation. I couldn''t be completely sure but I doubted the System couldn''t make pills that would complete the process all at once. Which meant there had to be a secondary reason for all of this. I could mostly put it together. The first pill would cause people to freak and then Aina would come in with the explanation. People would get excited at living for centuries and throw themselves into the next quest with reckless abandon. The only thing I didn''t get was the point of it all. Why did the System want a meat grinder like this? "Aina, I have a question," I called out before they could move to the next topic. "Yes? Ah, Amari right? You may ask." "What does the System want? Surely there has to be a reason for it to go through all this trouble?" "Ah yes well there are many origin stories for the System of which I am authorized to tell you none. I will share with you the most commonly accepted beliefs about the System''s motivations. It wants to create the strongest cultivator possible." I raised an eyebrow at that but didn''t question it further. I didn''t get the restrictions placed on what we could but I wasn''t interested in upsetting the System over something like that. A few more questions went out but none of them were interesting. It turned out that a few people got a slightly more unique quest. They had to go hunt some kind of fox creature. They didn''t do too well. Based on the crying and complaints nearly all of their group died and the people who survived refused to do anything else. Thankfully the System didn''t arrive to blast them though I wasn''t sure why. Either way, Aina went over a few more things before we were left to our own devices. I was about to head back to my apartment when I heard a familiar voice. "Amari?" I turned around just as Tyrone and another man stepped in between two people. When I saw him I laughed. He wore grey leather armor and had a new bow slung over one shoulder. The other man was a bit taller than him and had locs only slightly shorter than my own. He didn''t have any weapons but based on the scars on his arms he had to be a hand-to-hand fighter. Either that or he used something I couldn''t see. "Glad to see you survived," I said with a grin. "When the battle ended I tried to gather some people to come and find you but the System started its teleportation before I could." "No worries I wasn''t exactly in the best shape at the end of the quest. The boss did a number on me but I got healed up thanks to the healing pill." "So this one is the man you told me about?" The second man took an opportunity to speak up. He had a thick Jamaican accent that made it hard for me to follow what he said but I got most of it. "Ah right, Amari this is Ajani. He wasn''t in our quest but he is pretty strong and my older brother." I smiled at Ajani before nodding my head. "Nice to meet you Ajani. I hope your quest went well." "It wasn''t too difficult though fighting a saber-tooth tiger barehanded wasn''t a walk in the park." I raised an eyebrow at that. "What level are you?" "Seven though I think I will reach level eight sometime tomorrow. What''s yours? I am told you were around level six before the quest." "Level nine though I think it will be a while before I hit ten. I am not in a hurry to fight something as strong as that metal man again." Ajani nodded and folded his arms. "If we all survive this I want you to find me back on earth. I think it''s going to be important to have a few friends in this world." He turned to Tyrone and gestured for him to follow. They both gave a nod of their heads and then walked away. Once they were out of earshot I let out a sigh. My level lead wasn''t as big as I thought it was but having some help would be nice. I looked around one last time before heading back to my room. A few minutes later I was seated in my room. I sat down and reviewed my spells. Psychic Blast had reached the Advanced stage while Psychic Aegis reached the Intermediate. I wasn''t sure how I felt about the spells only improving in combat situations so I decided to examine the sigils. I studied them for what felt like an hour but I didn''t make any progress. I could tell there was something in the symbols but I couldn''t understand what it was. I felt like the way they were designed held some sort of meaning to it but I couldn''t figure it out. I figured that either Aina would explain or that I would find an information crystal on it. It did make me wonder if I could make my sigils at some point. The idea of personalized spells sounded amazing although I doubted anything truly unique could exist. After my attempt, I decided to turn in for the night. Tomorrow was a cultivation day which would be mostly stress-free. Chapter 8: Hunt A Roc The next day was easy but uneventful. Cultivating here felt like using a cup to try and fill a bathtub. It would work but I would need a lot of time to get anywhere. Which didn''t bode well for the future, I made a mental note to try and get an upgraded manual in the future. I sat in my chamber until it was time for bed. I wasn''t sure if it was my attributes or the cultivation itself but I only needed a few hours of sleep. Honestly, it was a bit weird my mind felt like I should be asleep but my body just refused. The next day I was up and in the main plaza well before the hum started. I watched people pour into the plaza and less than ten minutes later the worker spoke up. "Today is the last of the three beginner assignments. Once you have completed your quest you all will gain access to difficulty selection. Naturally the higher the level of difficulty the better the rewards. Be aware that the danger ratings will be serious do not bite off more than you can chew or you will likely die. For today''s quest, you will be sent to a location and tasked with hunting a single creature. The creature will be different for each group so it is recommended that you cooperate." Just like the last time as soon as he finished the teleportation began. I took a deep breath just before I was pulled away. When I could see again I was in the middle of a tropical forest. I let out a low groan when the humidity hit me. I looked around and made note of the nine other people who joined me. I didn''t recognize any of them which wasn''t great but was expected. I only had to wait a moment for the System''s voice to fill my head. Hunt and kill the Roc. Reward: Spatial Treasure What the hell is a spatial treasure? I wondered to myself before I scanned the sky. I wasn''t sure if it was the same but the Earth version of the Roc was a big bird from Middle Eastern mythology. After a moment or two, I relaxed a bit and turned my attention to others only to find them huddling together. The sight was a bit disturbing if I was honest. It was clear that the group had little interest in fighting the beast. "Um, what are you doing? We can''t go back until we complete the quest." I asked them after a minute or two of them trying to look smaller. "I¡ªI am not doing it. I refuse to play the games of whatever the hell is going on." A man who looked to be in his early thirties spoke up. A slight tremble in his voice. I considered arguing with him but quickly shook my head. I didn''t think he had a high level nor did I think any of the others did so it wasn''t worth it. I shrugged picked a direction with fewer trees and started to walk. It took me another ten minutes before I found something of interest. A large python shot toward me from one of the overhanging branches. The python barely had enough time to reach me before I unleashed Psychic Blast. It collapsed to the ground a second later, the energy I got from the kill was disappointing, to say the least. For a second I thought the System had decided to take it easy on us but I didn''t think that was likely. I did a bit of mental calculation and realized the problem. My official level was nine but if you went by attributes alone I was around level 66. It wasn''t that the enemies were weak I was just strong as fuck. I chuckled to myself at the absurdity of the situation. I had essentially out-leveled the quest. I was pretty sure that would change when I could pick my difficulty but that didn''t help me right now. After what felt like an hour I let out a groan of irritation. I had no way to find the got damn bird. I was about to turn around when something dawned on me. Could the bird hide from me? I mean if my assumption is correct and I have out-leveled this spot why would the bird come near me at all? Wouldn''t it be better for it to attack the weaker prey? That assumed the creatures were living beings and not machines but it was the best idea I had at the moment. I turned and began to head back to the starter clearing. The sound of battle reached me as soon as I approached. I broke out into a dead sprint as I mentally chastised myself for leaving them behind. I was forced to kill a panther-like creature when it leaped at me from a tree before I was able to see what the hell was going on. The nine people had been attacked by a group of feline creatures. They looked a bit like cougars with three eyes and vines instead of their tails. One of the nine had already died, her throat ripped out while another of the cougars dragged her body into the forest. The other eight had formed a loose circle with a pair of swordsmen holding the front while the back-liners unleashed a variety of attacks. I didn''t understand what the issue was until one of the mages hit a cougar with a wind blade. The cougar was forced back a step but the spell did barely any damage. I gritted my teeth and stepped into the clearing. The closest cougar let out a sound that was a cross between a howl and a screech. The sound made my vision swim for a second. The effect on the other nine was much worse. One of the swordsmen completely froze for a second which opened him to one of the cougar''s vines. By the time I could process what had happened the cougar''s teeth were already around his neck. I unleashed Psychic Blast in a beam that passed through the cougar that targeted me and then through the ones closest to my fellow tutorial participants. "Get under the canopy of the trees. Make sure there are no snakes." A calmness passed over me as the remaining cougars turned toward me. Only one of them had survived my initial attack which left two for me to deal with. The cougars hesitated for a moment before launching themselves at me. I was going to blast them but I decided against it. I stepped forward and then shifted to the right. The first cougar sailed over my head while the second narrowly missed my ankle. They both turned and let out another howl before continuing the attack. I grinned as I ducked and dodged them, I was pretty sure my agility was equal to or higher than theirs but they were both stupid. They couldn''t coordinate their attacks at all and got in each other''s way as often as they attacked me. I drew my dagger and spun to the right. The first cougar sailed by me which opened its ally up to my blade. I tried to slam it through the cougar''s head but I either wasn''t strong enough or the blade was too dull. Despite that, the cougar was slammed into the ground and I finished it off with Psychic Blast. I turned to face the last one when a scream broke me out of my rhythm. I turned around just in time to see a massive bird descend from the sky. The bird had to be as big as a plane and was beyond fast. I was about to unleash Psychic Blast when the final cougar sank its jaws into my arm. The vines wrapped around my shoulder and my neck. My eyes went wide as I tried to rip the cougar off of me just as the roc grabbed two people in its talons. The pair were an older man and a young woman. Both of them were spell casters and tried to attack the bird. A fireball and spear of ice shot out of their hands before crashing harmlessly against the bird''s feathers. "Fuck" I blasted the cougar and took off at a dead sprint for the bird. I knew I couldn''t blast it as long as it was in the air. I wasn''t sure I would survive a fall from that height let alone those two. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. I tried to come up with a plan to both deal with the bird and save the pair but there was nothing I could do. Neither of my spells were able to catch them nor could I make the bird land. I was about to give up and hope that the System would teleport them away as soon as the quest was completed when a scream of danger forced me to dive to the side. I narrowly avoided a blade of wind the size of a tree as it slammed into the ground. The blade left a foot-long slash in the earth that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I pushed energy into Psychic Aegis. Just in case before I chased after the bird. The roc started to pick up speed and I was forced to act. I pushed off from the ground and flew through the air and into the branches of the tree. A leap that would have made Michael Jordan proud. As soon as I landed I unleashed a beam of concentrated mental energy at the massive bird. The bird faltered in the air for a moment. Its two prisoners unleashed their spells at the bird''s face which finally caused the bird to start to fall. The roc beat its wings in a desperate attempt to control its descent but there was no way in hell I was about to let that happen. I unleashed another Psychic Blast this tone hit the roc in its right eye. It let out a shriek of pain before it resumed its free fall. I unleashed another attack just as the other two spell casters did. All three spells slammed into the roc and a surge of spiritual energy filled me. The bird seemed to fall in slow motion as I leaped from tree to tree. I knew I wouldn''t get there in time to help them with the fall but I could protect them from any other monsters. The bird''s corpse crashed into the ground less than a minute later. I pushed myself harder as I made a silent wish for their safety. I arrived at the crash sight a few minutes later and found the forest demolished. Trees were either completely crushed or broken in every direction. I leaped down and circulated my spiritual energy. I didn''t think any beasts would come here so soon after the impact but it was better safe than sorry. It took me less than a minute to find the pair. One of them had either pulled free of the talon or the bird released him in its death throes. Either way, he didn''t survive. His body crashed into a tree and his body was broken. The woman was still alive but just barely. Her legs were broken and she was knocked out. "What do I do about this?" I spoke aloud to no one in particular. A twig snapped behind me and I spun around ready to blast anything that made its way toward me. Instead of a hungry animal, I found two of the other survivors. They were both men and looked to be in their forties. "If you don''t mind I would like to check on her. I am uh was a doctor." The Asian man stammered out as he approached. I gave him a nod and turned my attention to the other one. He slowly raised his hands in surrender. "I just agreed to help get him here." I raised an eyebrow as the man visibly shook like a leaf in a storm. "It is alright you can come over here as well. I will keep watch for anything in the forest." The man then inched around the edges of the clearing until he got around behind me. He never took his eyes off me, it was odd almost as if he was afraid. Realization hit me a second later. I turned around and both of them bolted up like children who had just been caught with their hands in the cookie jar. They both looked terrified. I wasn''t sure what to do about this. It was clear they were more afraid of me than they were of a hypothetical monster. I sighed and just ignored them. The familiar voice of the System interrupted the rest of my thoughts. Quest 3 Complete. Calculating Personal Contribution. Contribution 100%. Quest Grade: S. Reward Distribution has begun. Tutorial Title has been improved. Tutorial- Quest 3: Survive The Tutorial Reward: All Attributes +5 My excitement dimmed a bit as I checked my new attributes. The title upgrade wasn''t as good as it seemed. It was more accurate to say that I got a plus 5 for the other attributes, not a new plus five. I chuckled when I realized just how greedy I had become. I found the second part of my reward in a box at my feet. "How is it doing that? I don''t see, hear or feel anything. It just appears near me." I chalked it up to one of the many unanswered questions I had. I opened the box and paused. There were two items inside, one was an information stone while the other was an over-the-shoulder bag. The bag was made out of white leather that was covered in beautiful sigils. The bag was about the size of a laptop bag and was beautiful to look at. Part of me wanted to pull it out of the box but I decided against it. I didn''t think the System was giving me a cursed item but the information stone was right there. I sent a bit of energy through it and waited for the information stream to end. It turned out the bag was the spatial item and it was a DnD Bag of Holding. Bags like this came in a variety of designs but largely ranged between Low and Peak quality. To use the bag I had to bind it to me which required blood for some reason. I wouldn''t know the quality of my bag until I bound it to myself but based on its appearance it had to be pretty good. I reached into my robe for what remained of my dagger and pricked my thumb. I smeared a bit of blood on the flap and chuckled. My mind filled with a twenty by twenty grid. The bag was empty now which was a bit disappointing. I pulled my focus out of the bag and then tried to put the broken dagger inside. Once it went in I tried to pull it out and was pleased to see it worked without issue. I slung the bag over my shoulder and laughed. I could hold my entire life in a single bag. I played with it for a few more minutes before the System''s voice returned. Tutorial Quest has concluded. Commencing teleportation. I looked back at the trio as I felt the familiar pull of teleportation. I hoped that the woman would be fine once she got a healing pill but once the world turned black I pushed her out of my mind. I needed to focus on myself. I arrived back in the plaza after a second and waited to see if anyone had anything to say. Sure enough, after a few moments, the woman descended from the sky like a goddess. "Hello tutorial takers. I am happy to inform you that you have succeeded in the initial challenges. Now that you have a better understanding of your skills, abilities, and willpower you are free to pursue progress at your leisure. Starting three days from now you will be free to make your own choices about how you develop. Be sure to remember your goals and that the fate of humanity is in your hands. You can of course choose to do nothing with the rest of your time here as well. I wish you all the best of luck." Once she finished speaking she disappeared in a gust of wind. I stared at the spot where she had been for several more seconds. I couldn''t believe it. Could people just sit it out from now on? It wasn''t hard to realize that it was a trick though. In a way the tutorial was a safe space, the threats were real but it was designed to make us stronger. Once we went back that would no longer be the case. We would need to do everything possible to survive. That didn''t even include the human factor. Would there be a central authority on earth after this? I looked around and what I saw made me shake my head. Everyone looked like they had just received a stay of execution. I couldn''t tell if this declaration was designed to get people killed or if it was just in difference. Either way, there was nothing I could do about it now. I took another glance around before I decided to leave. I made my way back to my room. This time I decided to devote a few extra hours to my cultivation chamber. Chapter 9: The Path of Cultivation The next day''s lesson was as I expected. Less than half of the usual crowd was here which meant most people had no interest in going any further. I was happy to see that both Tyrone and Ajani were still here but I decided to not sit with them. The fewer people made it a lot easier to get closer to Ajani. The meeting resembled a very large town hall as opposed to the usual football stadium vibe. Aina was not pleased by the change but they didn''t bring it up. "Good day. It is time for us to discuss what cultivation is. The exact nature of cultivation has been debated for millennia but the most common definition is as follows. To cultivate is to be better, it is to grow in a myriad of ways. It is to be the metal under the hammer of your own will. The world of cultivation is one of equal parts glory and pain. Fame and irrelevancy. Entire civilizations burned so that new ones can stand up to their ashes." "Why would anyone want that? It doesn''t sound like everyone has to be a cultivator right?" A black woman with thick curly hair asked with a horrified look on her face. Aina''s gaze passed over each of us as if he wanted to be sure we were all listening. "I imagine that some of you already know the answer to that but I will give you a simple and profound answer. It is because they want to." The simple answer dispelled the heaviness that had blanketed us. I looked around and most people were confused but a few looked excited. Ajani looked like the answer was obvious while Tyrone looked bored. I turned my attention back to Aina but my mind was elsewhere. How did I feel about it? The memory of the metal man nearly killing me flashed through my mind. The memory was so vivid that my body ached. The sense of terror at being so close to death. The pain that made me want to give up. All of it formed a knot in the pit of my stomach but there was more. A hunger, a hunger to win the next fight and the fight after that. "Either way it isn''t important for you to understand now. What is important is that you process the four fundamental needs of cultivation. The first of which is wealth or resources. To be a cultivator is to push yourself to your limits. You will need money which is part of the reason powerful organizations like sects, clans, tribes, or empires exist. The people at the top need to gain resources so they fight. They war and grab what they need from the bodies of their enemies." "So the powerful are just abusing the weak? Even the rest of the multiverse is no different than Earth." This time the speaker was a white man who looked exhausted. I couldn''t tell if he was really that old or if the look of hopelessness on his face made him seem old. "I suppose you can look at it like that. Some unorthodox cultivators do horrid things to people under their control but it is not always a bad deal. As you have seen on a small scale here, not everyone is a combatant. Not everyone wants to risk their lives in battle. Those people contribute to an organization in their ways. They farm the lands, manage the estates, and do the thousands of other jobs that need doing. Is it not more accurate to say that they are buying protection? That is not to say that everyone in the multiverse is altruistic, they certainly are not. It is simply to help you understand that things are more complex. It will be you who determines what the situation looks like when you experience it." "So the rich are still the powerhouses?" The older man let out a dry chuckle. "I take it that they use System Credits then?" "They do and spirit stones. Your planet will be abundant with new resources so it is not as bad as you may believe. Still, the powerful organizations will be able to drown you in wealth. Wealth is only but one of the pillars of cultivation though. The second is companionship. Despite the individual nature of cultivation, you can not do it alone. Whether you need crafters to create the items you need, managers to run your territories, or warriors to guard your back. Not to mention proper educators to help you solve the myriad of questions you will face. No matter how strong you are, you will need companions on your journey." This time there were no questions and Aina looked pleased and gave us a nod before he continued. "Next you have technique. In a more literal sense it refers to things like your cultivation manuals but in this case, I mean it more largely. You need to know what to do, how to do it, and why you do it. For the more martially inclined you must learn how to move with your weapon, when to attack, and when to retreat. For the spell casters, energy manipulation is key with it you can construct walls and reshape the environment. At its core you do not need to reinvent every single thing, you must be able to learn from the people who came before you. In some ways, this will be more difficult for you all. Your planet is new. You all will make the future elders of your world''s clans or noble houses. All is not lost for you though. It is not unusual for the System to take dimensional pockets and connect them to newly formed worlds. These can hold anything from the tombs of long gone cultivators lost to history to the remains of long-dead civilizations." I raised an eyebrow at that. "How would we find those? Assuming that they exist on our planet?" Several heads looked between me and Aina as we waited for their answer. "I am unable to tell you that. It is not within the purview of this lesson. The fourth and final pillar of cultivation is the environment. I am sure you all remember the notification from the System. Your planet should be around the third realm. For now, that will be enough for you to survive and grow but that won''t always be the case. As a general rule, a planet can only sustain a handful of people at an equal level as the planet. Even that would require all the resources of said planet to be devoted to their development. That is not the only problem. A powerful warrior can not be formed in the safety of his garden. This means that to grow you will need to explore the multiverse. You will need to leave in search of strong cultivation grounds, natural treasures, and a myriad of other benefits." I nodded at that having already figured that part out. There was no way that we could just sit on Earth forever. Our history showed that empires would expand in search of new territory so why wouldn''t the rest of the multiverse be the same? Of course, it was different knowing it intellectually and being told it. I had no idea how to even leave the planet so it was a problem for the future. "That isn''t a problem for you now. Your main focus needs to be on accruing accomplishments for your class. I am sure all are curious about how you obtain your classes. The first step has already been explained. You must reach level 20. Upon doing so you will need to get access to a System Hub. From there you will be presented with the classes the System has decided would be best for you. There are things that you can and should do to improve your results. The first and easiest of course is gaining accomplishments. The enemies you defeat, and the titles you earn are amongst many of the things that will influence your class choices. The method you use will be just as important. A swordsman will want to complete the majority of their tasks with the sword for example." The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. I nodded along and figured that based on my attributes I was on a one-way trip to some kind of mage or psychic class which was expected. "Does our attribute configuration matter?" I raised a hand this time although it wasn''t necessary for Aina to see me. "Yes and no. The amount of points you earn before your class is relatively insignificant in the long term. It will affect the classes you have access to. You must focus your points in that intended direction, if you wish to have a martial class you should focus on the attribute directly related to the style of warrior you want to be. Same as a mage class or a mental one." That was what I expected so no surprise there. Based on what I was doing my classes would be psychic-themed which was pretty cool. A few more questions were asked to Aina''s clear delight but none of them were especially relevant. If we were to reach level 20 while in the tutorial they would supply us with a convenient System hub it would suck if we had to wait to find one. Aina refused to elaborate on how we did that. They said that it was something for a future lesson. I was just about to head back to my apartment when someone asked a question that I hadn''t thought about. "Um excuse me Aina what exactly is a class?" The voice belonged to a young man. Based on his appearance he might not be eighteen yet. I turned around when I heard the question and mentally chided myself for not asking that earlier. Based on the reactions of the people closest to me I wasn''t the only one. "A class is a systematized collection of skills or spells based around a central theme or concept. They are designed to make it easier for you to comprehend the Great Tao. You gain access to the class system at level 20 but you do not have to take one at that time. It is not uncommon for people to hold off on class selection in the hope of better options. That method is a bit of a dual-edged blade since the attributes you gain from your class are much higher than what you get before that. Classes are widely arranged by rarity, for you all Common through Epic are possible with common being the most likely starting point." I didn''t consider it for more than a moment. I had to get an Epic class. "Is it possible for us to earn an Epic class as the first one? By doing things in the tutorial I mean?" My question interrupted another person''s and I was slightly sorry about that but I pushed the thought to the back of my mind. "Theoretically yes. You would need to push yourself and earn the higher-tier rewards. It would also require you to gain insight into at least one Tao strand." Just as I was about to ask my follow-up question Aina shook their head. "The Tao is a complicated subject and is beyond what the System has allowed. If you wish to pursue it then I will say that it requires meditation and understanding. Now I believe today''s session has concluded I wish you all the best of luck in your next assignment." I considered trying to get more information from them but quickly decided against it. A slight pressure had descended on the area and I wasn''t about to risk lightning for it. Instead, I made my back to my room. It was good to know that I would get new spells as soon as I reached level 20. It did lead me to an interesting question. I pulled my spells list just to confirm. Each one had the number one in a bracket in front of them at first I hadn''t thought anything about it but what if the one wasn''t random? What if it meant that the spell was limited to the first stage or realm? It would explain what the upgradable part meant. I doubted I could upgrade one of the spells now. One of them had reached Advanced so I knew I had to upgrade the other to that at least. Though I was pretty sure there was a higher level than "Advanced" " if I assumed this System worked like a game then either Expert or Master would be the highest unless there was a grandmaster tier or something. I couldn''t help but grin at the idea of what my upgraded spells could do. I relished in the excitement for a few minutes before I turned my attention back to what had to be done. I still wasn''t even halfway to level twenty and the tutorial was in its second week. I stepped into my cultivation chamber and sent a bit of energy into my rug. It took me a minute to calm my mind enough to start drawing in energy. Unfortunately, the energy that flowed into me was barely a trickle. It was hard to tell how long I had been in cultivation but I decided to stop after what felt like four hours. It was hard for me to determine just how close I was to level ten but I could tell that I would need to get into a fight with a powerful monster to make it. The thought still felt a bit foreign. Monsters like that metal man could kill me but I was just as thrilled at the idea of fighting them as I was afraid of dying. I wondered if that was how adrenaline junkies felt when they did their stunts. Either way, there was nothing more for me to do tonight. I headed for bed a few minutes later. The next day was devoted entirely to cultivation. I could feel my channels were mostly formed. There were the smaller ones that spread through my head that were a bit blurry to look at but since I didn''t have any spells in that area, so I didn''t think it was a big deal. I also attempted to touch on whatever the "Grand Tao" was but didn''t make much progress. There was a brief moment where I thought I felt something. A bit like an itch in the back of my mind but when I tried to focus on the sensation I lost it. It was a bit like I had tried to hold water in my hands. The more I tried the more it just slipped away. I also spent a bit of time focused on my spell sigils but didn''t make any progress there either. I could spot some similarities in two of them but I wasn''t sure if that was due to their shared theme or if it was a part of some kind of sigil language. Altogether I considered the the day a mixed bag. No major progress was made but it felt like I was building the foundations for a future build. I woke up early the next day and made my way to the meeting area. This time there was virtually no one here. There was a handful of other early risers and the flying woman although she was seated this time. When she saw me she let out a playful laugh before she blurred and appeared in front of me. It happened so fast I couldn''t react. "Ah, there''s the interesting human. Are you excited to be able to control your quests?" "Ah, you could say that yeah. I want to get stronger and this seems to be the best way to do it. Can you tell me anything more about it?" "Hmm? No not really. You will get to pick based on how likely you are to die. Your rewards will be better based on how well you do. Oh right, you can pick a group to go with you but everyone has to agree on the difficulty and you will get rewarded based on contribution. So now hiding and letting the strong people deal with the monsters." I stared at her blankly for a moment before I shook my head. "Right, is it based on average ability or are the difficulties curated to the individual?" "It''s based on the average tutorial taker from a world rated similarly to Earth. It wouldn''t do to give you a quest rated for people who always had access to spiritual energy of course." "So the System didn''t bring Spiritual energy with it? So where does it come from?" "Oh? Now that is a question a bit beyond what you are qualified to know. I can say that it comes from all over the place." "Is there a reason you can''t just tell me everything I want to know? You always stop before the System descends." "Ah well we have a specific set of information we can give technically we are allowed to go beyond it on occasion but there is no point. Knowledge gained for free is rarely used well and rarely valued. If you want those answers then I suggest you go and search for them yourself. Now it''s time for you to make your choice. I hope you survive." As soon as she finished her entire body blurred and then she was gone. I looked around but there was no sign of her. I only had to wait a few more minutes before a notification box appeared in front of me. I reviewed the information quickly and debated what I wanted to do. I could choose between a 5% chance of death and 99% so no surprises there. I eliminated every option below a 30% chance of death and above 70. Thirty would be way too easy and above seventy was flirting with death to a point that I wasn''t about to risk. I was confident but not that confident. Once people started to disappear I realized I had to make a choice. I looked it over again and selected the middle option. A fifty-fifty shot sounded like a strong start. Immediately after I made my choice I felt the teleportation start up. Chapter 10: A Pyramid When the teleportation ended I was at the foot of a massive stone pyramid. The building had seen better days. Overgrown vines spread through the entrance like a chaotic jumble of roots. A faded symbol sat above the doorway, but I had no idea what it was supposed to show. It looked a bit like a freaky three-eyed bird though I couldn''t tell if it had wings or if it was supposed to light behind it. I was just about to head inside when the System''s voice filled my head. Reach the top of the Pyramid and destroy the being within. Reward: Cultivation Manual. Quality based on Performance. Well damn, The reward had made the quest more than worth it. I turned around to make sure there wasn''t anything else I needed to see. Seeing nothing, I decided it was time to move on. Psychic Aegis surrounded me. As soon as I entered a chill went down my spine. It wasn''t the same as the danger warnings, instead, it was more like a dull discomfort. I pushed the feeling to the back of my mind and continued forward. The walls slowly began to change. The dull blank stone started to show images. Ancient sacrifices, blood magic and other things pictured on the wall further made me uncomfortable. It was made worse by the fact that I still couldn''t tell if it was real or not. I was pulled out of my thoughts a few minutes later as I entered a large chamber. The chamber was about the size of a college atrium. The center of the room had a skylight that bathed an altar in bright sunlight. As soon as I entered I heard a low demented growl. A scream of danger was my only warning as I threw myself to the side. By the time I completed my roll, the shadows had coalesced into the shape of a dog with three eyes. Darkness dripped from it like oil as it snarled at me. The dog dug its claws into the stone. They sunk nearly an inch into the rock before the dog shot forward like it had been fired from a cannon. I snapped out of my shock just in time for the dog to slam into my shield. Spider web cracks spread through it but the shield held. The dog was flung back a few feet and I unleashed Psychic Blast. A beam of mental energy hit the dog in the forehead. It let out a guttural howl before the eye on its forehead glowed a deep azure blue. My spell was shut off and mental agony slammed into my mind. The dog had mental defenses. I shook away the pain and considered my next move. The dog was hurt by my attack but I couldn''t tell who would go down first if we went at each other like that. There was also the barrier I had to worry about. The dog was faster than me, much faster. I was about to unleash another blast when an idea came to me. I briefly shifted my gaze to the altar. What were the chances that a shadow dog was weak to sunlight? I only had the time to consider it for a second before the dog lunged for me again. This time I was ready. I spun to the side just in time to avoid the dog''s snarling jaws. I immediately sprinted for the altar. Every step felt like a hand was just behind me as if I would feel the dog''s jaws snap around my neck. I reached the altar just as the dog slammed into my barrier. The barrier held just long enough for me to get into the light. I spun around prepared to defend myself if my hunch turned out to be wrong. Instead of a snarling dog, I found a desiccated one. The darkness was peeled away as soon as it entered the light. In its place was a mummified dog, its skin was dry and cracked like leather while its teeth were rotted and barely held together. As soon as the darkness was gone the dog froze, I unleashed Psychic Blast as soon as I was able. The beam washed over it same as last time and I braced myself for a fresh wave of pain. Only it didn''t come. Instead, the familiar surge of kill energy filled me. I smiled as I gained half a day''s worth of cultivation in a few moments. My focus returned to the dog and I let out a shiver. If I had let that thing bite me would I have gotten sick? Can I get sick? My immune system was probably stronger than any human in history at this point. Of course what if there were diseases that got stronger? Oh god what would a super polio be like or HIV or anything? I made a mental note to be far more careful with bites and other wounds. It would just be tragic to get superpowers and then die of sickness. I waited until I could trigger Psychic Aegis again before I continued my journey into the Pyramid. I walked through the halls and began to piece together a few things. This temple had a story which only made me more confused. Did the System create a temple for me to explore and then generate a "plot" for it? Or had the system sent me somewhere? I wasn''t sure which of the two scared me more. The temple itself was a sort of Egyptian and Central American mix. It had the blood sacrifice of those pantheons with the heavy human-animal hybrid people theme. Only for some reason dogs were the special animal, not cats. I wasn''t sure if the darkness I encountered was supposed to be here though. It seems like the darkness was a corruption that the priests were trying to push back through devotion and sacrifice but if that was right how did it get into the temple? The pictures on the wall provided no hints toward that so the only way I would get my answers was by finishing the quest. I pushed on ready to face whatever came next. I ran across three more of the dogs and two more pillars of light. The third dog was only partially obscured by the darkness. It behaved oddly when compared to the other two, it was almost as if the dog had partially resisted whatever the darkness had done to it. Of course, it still attacked me without mercy so I couldn''t be sure how much of a difference it made. The energy I gained was wonderful. My dantian was at the threshold of a new level and I was already thinking about how I would spend the points. The next chamber was a bit smaller than the last one and had a large cracked bell floating in the middle. The bill was made out of a dark grey medal that I had never seen before. It reminded me a bit of a gel, the outer section of the bell was hard while the middle floated like a liquid. Part of me wanted to touch it to see if it was cold but my experience here told me that was a bad idea. The last thing I needed was to get some mummy disease because I touched the weird metal. I walked around the room in search of a way out or a puzzle to solve but there was nothing. After a few minutes, I sighed and made my way over to the bell. I found another sigil at the base of the bell and could put together what I was supposed to do. The sigil would take my spiritual energy and then a trap would activate or a monster would come out. I was about to touch it when I had an idea. I held out my finger and tried to push the spiritual energy out of my body. It only took a second for me to get the hang of it and a small thread of energy passed from my finger and toward the bell. I could only push it about an inch away from my body but it stopped me from needing to touch it. As soon as the energy entered the bell it rang. My world shrunk down to a pinprick and time seemed to slow to a crawl. The bell rang again and it felt like my soul was set ablaze. White hot pain shot through my entire body as I tried to process what happened. It felt like my mind was submerged in a pool of ice-cold water while my soul was set on fire. I wanted to scream and crawl up in a ball. Whatever was happening gave me no other option but to endure. When I next came to I was on the cold hard ground. Cold tears were still on my face as I got to my feet. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. My body felt fine, normal really but it was my mind that had been attacked. Was that what it felt like when I hit someone with my mental attack? A shiver went down my spine as I promised to increase my defenses. I looked around and realized that I was in a different chamber. The bell was gone and there was a different hallway that led off in the same direction I had come from. Which meant that either I had teleported somewhere else after surviving the attack or I was in some opposite world. Or I was still asleep. I pinched myself not sure if that would work but the pain I felt was real which did help me relax slightly. My newfound calm was disrupted a few minutes later when a literal mummy came shambling toward me. The undead was nearly as tall as I was and wrapped in dirty brown bandages. The bandages were covered in dense and ornate sigils. The monster was soon joined by a second and third. Each one moved in an eerie unison that made it seem like they were controlled by a single force. I summoned Psychic Aegis and the mental barrier sprang up to protect me. I was just about to begin my attack when something unexpected happened. The lead mummy placed a decayed hand on the barrier and an inky black spread from it. The barrier began to crumble. It was as if the barrier was being decayed at a speed visible. My connection to the spell broke almost immediately and I unleashed twin beams of psychic energy. The attacks washed over the lead mummy who stumbled forward. For a second it felt like my heart had stopped as I began to plan on how to deal with an enemy immune to mental attacks. Thankfully the lead mummy collapsed to the ground just as it reached out for me. A surge of kill energy told me I had killed it. I fought a moving retreat as the last two mummies advanced. The fight was over within a few moments but my energy was starting to dip. The amount I had to spend to kill one of them was more than twice what I got from the kills. "I guess being a pure spell caster sucks at low levels just like in a game." The thought made me wonder who was in charge of "balance". So far the Title system seemed easy to exploit so¡ª I shook my head. Now wasn''t the time to get so distracted. I pushed forward into the temple until I came across what was a boss room. It was a large burial chamber with a single ornate sarcophagus in the middle of the room. A symbol that was vaguely similar to the Eye of Wedjat sat on the wall above the sarcophagus. Various weapons decorated the floor of the chamber, there was everything from curved swords to axes and spears. Before I could consider what the hell was going on the sarcophagus opened and a decayed hand gripped the sides. Not wanting to deal with whatever that was I unleashed twin beams of Psychic Blast. Instead of what should have happened, both beams were drawn away from their target and into the eye. It took my mind a moment to catch up to what had just happened. The damn final chamber was a counter to mental attacks. I wondered if the System had fucked me over but I pushed the thought away. The undead had climbed out of its tomb and looked terrifying. It now held twin curved swords in each hand, each blade glowed with corrupt black energy. The super mummy had the physique that would put most professional bodybuilders to shame. He had a strange-looking headdress on that I assumed would further protect him from mental energy. On top of all that the bastard was draining energy from the eye. I attempted to summon Psychic Aegis only for the energy to immediately drain away. I gritted my teeth just before a dull sense of danger entered my mind. I threw myself to the side just as the king''s mummy blurred. A second later he appeared, both blades slicing through where I had been standing. I grabbed for the closest weapon, a long spear, and braced myself for battle. Once again I felt a dull sense of danger just as the mummy blurred. I ducked low and narrowly avoided the blades. This time I focused on the attack and jammed the spear into the mummy''s chest. The spear sank into the flesh with an ease that startled me. The point passed right through where its heart should be. It took me a second to process why nothing happened, a second that the mummy took slash its right blade across my left arm. I preemptively screamed as I braced to lose my arm only it didn''t happen. A sharp pain shot through my mind but that was it. A dawning realization slammed into me like a truck. The blades dealt mental damage. I murmured the words as I created some distance between us. My mental defenses were pretty good which meant I wasn''t in immediate danger which must have been why the danger sense felt so muted. As long as I don''t let him hit me too many times I should be fine. That didn''t help my situation since he seemed to be immune to direct physical attacks I wasn''t sure I could dismember him. I shifted my gaze to the still-glowing eye on the wall. What if I attacked something else? I only had enough time to consider when my instincts warned me of an attack. Instead of a dive to the side, I rushed forward. The mummy reappeared a moment later his blade narrowly missing the top of my head. I reached the sarcophagus and leaped on top of it and leaped for the eye. I slammed the butt of my spear into it with all the power my strength would allow. The eye didn''t break but the stream of energy was disrupted and the mummy stumbled. It staggered a step and I slammed the spear home again and again. On the fifth impact, the eye exploded and the world slowed to a crawl. I opened my eyes in a mixture of triumph, fear, and reluctance as my mental energy exploded. It felt like a flash-bang had gone off in my head. I screamed in pain and dropped to the ground. My thoughts were a nonsensical jumble of confusing impressions and emotions. It wasn''t until I felt a scream of mortal peril that I was able to concentrate. I desperately rolled to the side and pushed spiritual energy into Psychic Aegis. The barrier sprang up just in time to block another attack. I felt the barrier starting to crack and I pushed more and more energy into it. I still couldn''t see. It was like my mind couldn''t comprehend the world around me. I gritted my teeth and focused on what I could sense. My danger sense warned me of another attack. Instead of trying to avoid it I trusted in my barrier and unleashed a Psychic Blast above me. My and my attacker went back and forth where it tried to shatter my barrier while I tried to kill it. Thankfully whatever the explosion began to fade before I ran out of spiritual energy. I unleashed a final blast of psychic energy and mummy collapsed. It took me a moment to understand what happened after the explosion. The mummy had undergone a startling transformation. Its headpiece was gone, replaced with a dark replica of the eye on the wall. Its two swords had become one long blade with a deep curve and its skin was now covered in dense sigils. My guess was that the moment it lost all the mental energy it transformed into a second stage that lacked mental defenses but had physical attack power. Now that the battle was over I couldn''t help but laugh. That fight was amazing. Now that I knew what it was it would have been easier to throw weapons at the eye instead of trying to hit it. Of course, the best option would have either a proper mage or an archer just attack at range. I still wasn''t sure if I was sent here for that reason. If I had been an archer the fight would have been easy. I was pulled out of my thoughts when the voice of the System returned. Quest 4 Complete. Quest Grade: B. Reward Distribution has begun. Tutorial Title has been improved. Tutorial- Quest 4: Survive The Tutorial Reward: All Attributes +10 I turned around and found a box on top of the sarcophagus. I quickly opened it and smiled when I saw the information crystal inside. My cultivation just skyrocketed. I closed the box when the familiar sensation of being teleported spread through me. I took one last look at the chamber around me and smiled. Chapter 11: Auras and Cultivation I opened my eyes when I was standing on solid ground again. I was mostly used to the feeling of teleporting but the momentary nothingness was still creepy. It was hard to put into words but it was a bit like I was nowhere or I guess in between everything for a split second. I pushed the sensation to the back of my mind and made a beeline for my apartment. I had a new cultivation method to study. I was seated inside my cultivation chamber a few minutes later. A minute after that the information was downloaded into my mind. "That is still unpleasant." I groaned and rubbed my temples. The new method was incredible for lack of a better word. It was an upgrade in just about every way. It would let me cultivate faster, and recover my energy faster it also improved the potency of my attributes. The last one was a whole can of worms that I wanted to explore. Unfortunately, the method didn''t go into detail. Potency was a modifier on top of the percentage boost. I made a mental note to ask someone about it but for now, there was nothing I could do about it. The new technique was called the **Ethereal Codex**. Unlike the basic method, the codex had a percentage to go with it. According to the information provided, I could expect roughly ten percent per realm for an above-average manual. Which meant I should be dealing with around ten percent. Mine provided a massive twenty-two percent instead. It wasn''t all great though, the manual was still unattuned which meant it wouldn''t improve any of my attacks nor would it help me with the "Tao" whatever that was. It was worth the effort to get it though and it was probably too much for me to get upset over benefits that I didn''t understand. The only issue with this manual was that it wasn''t a basic one, meaning that once I started cultivating with it I couldn''t switch easily. I don''t have my class yet so it wouldn''t change my channels yet but once I locked in that choice changing to a new manual would be hard. The information included a small section on upgrading the manual but it didn''t say much. Despite this, it wasn''t a hard choice for me to make. I was going to use the method. The System felt it would work for me and if it didn''t I would just improve or change it. The information stone didn''t say it was impossible which meant I should be able to figure it out. I closed my eyes and focused on the vivid information in my mind. I waited until I connected with the latent energy in my cultivation chamber and visual the vast emptiness of space. I spoke the first verse of the codex, channeling my spiritual energy to form a vortex in the core of my dantian. I braced myself for the initial resistance, for my energy to be turbid and sluggish but it didn''t happen. Instead, my spiritual energy almost leaped to be changed as if I had been practicing the method my entire life. I bit back a gasp as spiritual energy surged through my channels with a newfound vigor. The sensation was equal parts exhilarating and daunting. It was a bit like holding onto a live wire. I took another deep breath as I encouraged the energy to reach the vortex. I allowed the codex to guide my hands through the intricate hand seals, each one representing a different heavenly concept. I reached the halfway point when something changed. I stopped forming the hand signs and fought a rising anxiety in my chest. I felt something on the outer edges of my perception. I resisted the urge to open my eyes. Something told me that what I felt was inside of me not outside. I brought my perception to my dantian but everything felt fine. The energy flowed faster than ever. I checked the rest of my channels and felt fine. Better than fine my body felt amazing. I pushed the worry to the back of my and restarted the hand signs. As I finished a full cycle I felt the sensation again, this time instead of running from I reached out with my senses. It felt like I had just dipped my finger into a vast ocean of power. I reached for it hoping the take just a small portion of it for myself but it faded. I reached for it with a renewed vigor, my cultivation session forgotten but it was as if I had tried to grab water my fingers. The more I reached for it the harder it was for me to get to it until the sensation faded. I opened my eyes once I was sure that I had lost the sensation. Part of me wanted to start cultivating or meditating again but I could tell that the more I forced it the harder it would be to get it. It reminded me a bit of trying to force yourself to go to sleep. I opened my status screen in hopes that it would have something that explained it. "Just another thing I needed to ask someone about." I resisted the urge to scream into the void. Why the hell was there no information here? What I needed was a library not this spoon-fed bullshit. I allowed myself to mentally complain about it for a few more minutes before I left my chamber. My exhaustion had made itself known and I needed to get some sleep. I placed the cultivation methods into my new bag and then settled in for some well-deserved rest. I awoke early the next day and quickly got myself dressed. I wanted to try and steal some of Aina''s time for a few extra questions but when I tried to open the door it wouldn''t budge. I tried to push and pull in hopes that I had somehow forgotten how the door worked but nothing happened. "Hello? I can''t get out of my room." I called out hoping that either the System or one of the educators could hear me. I was just about to try attacking the door when it slid open and the volcanic man entered. I stumbled back a step in surprise. "Good Morning Amari. I am sure you are curious as to why you are not permitted to leave your room." The man somehow managed to sound less enthused about this conversation than when he taught. "Your progress in your quests up until now has been impressive. Notably, you are leading your compatriots in the level and number of creatures killed. I am here to tell you that your aura has rapidly approached a level where you would be harmful to the weaker members of the tutorial. As a result, you are being confined here until the end of the tutorial or until you can suppress your aura." I stared at him blankly as I tried to process what he just said. I couldn''t resist puffing out my chest a bit at being number one in the tutorial. The part about killing the most things made me feel conflicted. It was one thing when I thought about them like faceless mobs in a video game but he had implied they were real, living things. Or well mostly living the undead felt like a weird grey zone. I pushed those feelings down into the pit of my stomach. Ultimately I couldn''t afford to be conflicted about it. Either they would kill me or I would kill them and I had no interest in dying. The part about the aura was only confusing though. "I don''t understand what you mean by my presence would hurt them. I am not going to go around and kill random people." He let out a long-suffering sigh before taking a small red stone out of his robes. He placed the stone in his mouth and chewed. His jaws crunched on it with enough force that I was convinced he would break his jaw but he seemed completely unaffected. "We are aware that you would not hurt them as it violates the rules set out by the cosmic teacher. That is why you are being restricted. Many of your compatriots are still around levels one and three. They lack a murderous aura to defend themselves nor the willpower to brace against yours. As you lack the proper power to control it you would inadvertently hurt them. The System would likely consider you in violation of its rules and destroy you. Since you are the brightest star in your generation at the moment we would like to avoid a senseless death for you." "Ok, but that doesn''t explain what an aura even is. I don''t feel any different and you don''t seem affected." I decided to ignore the annoyance on his face in favor of not getting smitten by lightning or whatever else might happen to me. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "You may consider your aura to be your presence or your signature on the world around you. Most things have some kind of aura outside of the base materials you are used to. This presence will grow in potency along with your power. When the power discrepancy becomes too great, your aura becomes a danger. I am much stronger than you are so your aura has little effect on me. Most children begin the practice to control their aura early on in their lives to avoid this issue." "So it shouldn''t be too hard then? What happens if I can''t do it before the tutorial ends?" "You will be confined here until that time. After which you will be returned to your planet, and the System would no longer protect you all so you would be in no danger of being killed. You would be free to do as you will though it is considered rude to let your aura flow freely in polite society." "Alright, so how do I do it? Do you have an information stone or are you here to teach me?" "It has fallen on me to teach you what it is you need to know. To begin with please enter your cultivation chamber. We will begin with visualization." He stepped into the room and walked straight for my chamber. I resisted the urge to call him back and have him wait for me to lead him. Since it was my house I decided against it. I had no idea how strong any of these people are and the slight disrespect wasn''t worth the potential pain. I followed behind him and took a seat in the middle of my chamber. "Now it helps for some to visualize their auras as an energy field that billows out with themselves at the center. A bit like a torch or candle." "You mean kind of like a super saiyan?" I said with a grin. "I have no idea what a saiyan or a super saiyan is but if it helps you then yes like a super saiyan." I decided not to attempt to explain anime to an alien elemental person. Instead, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I immediately encountered a problem. Try as I might, I couldn''t connect to anything. I imagined an energy field around me. I imagined the field filled with vibrant color, colorless, hell even tried imagining golden energy while screaming. Nothing helped. I was about to give up when I had a slightly different idea. Instead of imagining the aura itself, I focused on what I wanted to happen. I imagined myself as the focal point and then I took a deep breath. I pulled the energy around me into my body. It wasn''t the same feeling as when I cultivated but something did happen. I focused on the sensation as I released my breath. I lost control over some of the energy but repeating the process fixed that issue. I focused on my breathing for several minutes before I felt I had a hold on the technique. I could tell it wasn''t perfect, It was a bit like using a muscle you didn''t know you had but it was pretty good progress. When I was pretty sure I had it under control I opened my eyes expecting to see some sort of response in the man''s eyes. Instead, he looked just as disinterested as when we first began. "Ah good you succeeded. You have excellent energy control. You should consider becoming an assassin." I stared blankly at him. "I can''t tell if you are trolling me or not," I said mostly to myself but he either hadn''t realized that or didn''t care. "I am not sure what "trolling" is but I assure you that nothing you have done involves trolls. You will need to continue your practice so you can maintain it without conscious thought but you will be able to travel about as you see fit now." "Uh before you leave can you answer some more questions, please? I have several, especially about auras." The man took such a deep sigh that I was sure his lungs would explode but he answered after several seconds. "You may ask your questions." "When we are transported from here for our quests are we going to real places or does the System simulate them?" "The areas are real but the System is altering the creatures. You will not encounter any of the things you fight in the tutorial out of the tutorial. You also gain much more spiritual energy and System credits from the kills." "Wait, wait what? I haven''t gotten any credits from my kills." I pulled up my status screen to be sure and nodded when I saw the familiar zero. "That is because they will be awarded at the end. There is nothing for you to purchase here so the credits would be worthless." "Huh?" I nodded slowly as I processed the information. I wasn''t sure how I felt about that. He wasn''t wrong there wasn''t a mall in here but the idea of someone else holding onto my money for me kind of sucked. "What happens to the people who died? I mean there money?" "Nothing, they simply don''t get it." "Wait so how does the currency work? Like is there a central ba¡ª" Before I could finish my question the man held up a hand. "No, no I am not here to discuss the inner workings of the multiverse and the heavens if you have questions related to your cultivation ask them." I bit back the growing irritation in my gut as I asked my next question. "How does my aura work? You said it could hurt someone would I just release it? Or can it be used like a weapon?" "The answer to your questions is yes. For now, your presence can hurt people who are weaker than you. Some people cultivate slaughter paths and rely on killing to get better. Those people learn to sharpen their auras into proper weapons. That isn''t a path open to you yet so there is no need to worry about it but people in your situation tend to fall into such a path." "What do you mean?" "You all will return to your planet at the end of the month and you will find it changed. Most of the unworthy will have been culled. The few that have managed to hold onto a modicum of strength will have set up new towns and cities. Your return will upset that new order. Once that happens you all will begin a slaughter of each other. Before you ask, yes you will. The true test of the System will require your planet to have a single leader, not small warring fiefdoms." "So the System will force us to fight until there is only one leader?" A complex jumble of emotions formed in the pit of my stomach as I contemplated what that meant. The System was treating us like prized fighting animals. "No. The System''s quest will only tell you that there must be one ruler of the planet within the year. How you get to that point is entirely up to you all." I stared at him for a moment as a small ember of hope formed and then died in my chest. There was no way we would do that peacefully. We couldn''t get along when there was a somewhat clear hierarchy of power. Now there wasn''t. The public order was gone. Which meant there would be anarchy as everyone fought to fill that void. New countries would form but even that wouldn''t bring peace. The earth never had a single entity strong enough to rule the whole thing. "What happens if we fail? If no ruler emerges after a year?" "The System will have considered your task a failure. All humans of Earth will forfeit the chance to rule your planet and the planet will be opened up by the System. Invasion points will be spawned and the other forces will have a chance to battle for the world''s resources. Before you ask I have no idea what would happen if after that there was still no leader." We fell into an uncomfortable silence as I processed what he just said. We were fucked. Either we fought with one another gladiator style or we let ourselves be invaded by foreigners. If they were anything like us we would all be killed or enslaved or who knows what terrible thing. Even if we somehow defeated that force there was no way to guarantee we would be left alone. We might start an endless stream of invasions until we were all dead. "How do we go about building cities? Do we just do what we did on earth or do we need to get permission from the System?" For the first time today, he looked unsure of himself. I raised an eyebrow expectantly but he took his time as if he was consulting with someone else before he finally spoke. "That is beyond the scope of what I can tell you now. You all will be told the answer soon enough though. It will be important for you once you leave the tutorial." I asked a few more questions after that but none of them had interesting answers. He explained more about how cultivation worked to the point that creating my cultivation chamber was a high priority when I got back to earth. After that, he decided that enough was enough and left me to my own devices. I had neither will nor a reason to stop him from leaving. After letting myself calm down from the chaos this "lesson" left me in I decided to get back to cultivation. I needed whatever advantages I could get. Chapter 12: War Camp The next day''s cultivation session went by smoothly. I gained I was only able to cross the threshold to level ten which earned me another pair of titles. First to Ten: First in the World to Reach Level 10 Reward: All Attributes +10% Voyager: Reach level 10 Reward: Agility +1, Constitution +1, Strength +1 Both titles were incredible and confirmed that I was still firmly in the lead. None of the instructors would confirm how much of a gap I had so I assumed it was around two levels between me and the next person. Which meant as long as I kept up my plan I should open up some breathing room. It didn''t take very long to decide how to spend my attribute points this time. They went into Agility. As much as I wanted to focus on Offensive power I needed to be able to survive. My shield spell was powerful but it wasn''t perfect and if I was going to survive I needed to avoid some attacks. Plus if I could keep finding more titles it would be a moot point anyway. The new method was more than sufficient though. I was already around twenty percent of the way to the next level. I was pretty sure that I would level at least once between the upcoming mission and the next. Either way, it was time for bed. The next morning I was up and out of my room before the hum. It was a bit more difficult to suppress my aura while walking. It was kind of trying to walk and chew gum at the same time only messing up would kill people. When I entered the main plaza something unexpected happened. First, a cold chill ran down my spine. It wasn''t painful, it was a bit more like being stalked. I looked around but couldn''t find anyone or anything that explained the sensation. "You will get used to it." A gruff voice called from behind me just as I decided to get a move on. I turned and found a tall man with dirty blonde hair. He had a long sword on his hip and thick half-plate armor made out of white metal. "According to the teacher, that sensation is an aura. The higher levels are choosing their assignments while the rest are asleep." I nodded and turned back to the plaza. There were a dozen or so groups of people. Each of them wore fearsome weapons and armor. I wasn''t sure what the big deal was though. The sensation was unpleasant but it wasn''t a problem. Part of me wanted to unleash my aura but I had no reason to believe the workers would lie to me. Nor did I feel the need to tempt fate. Not when a massive bolt of lightning would obliterate me for being wrong. "I take it you''re on the lower end of the scale? I don''t sense anything from you. A bit of advice, stay back in the morning. It could fuck with your head if you stay in this for too long." "So it''s kind of like a mental attack?" I asked as the man stepped past me. "Uh yes and no. Honestly, I didn''t get the explanation but it''s more like your will? According to the teacher, it could affect your "Tao Heart" whatever that means." I wanted to ask him some more questions but it was pretty clear he had no interest in answering. He jogged over to a group of three that had been waiting for him. I couldn''t help but chuckle at their group dynamic. They had formed the traditional Rogue, Wizard, Warrior, and Cleric from the look of it. Of course that assumed that the white-robed person did healing magic and not something like light or fire. I quickly realized a slight problem. If my aura felt weak or nonexistent to other people they would assume I was weak. If they assumed I was weak they wouldn''t want to group up with me. I might also have to deal with assholes but if I unleashed my aura I might kill someone and then I might have to deal with a bunch of people wanting to join me. I made a mental note to practice releasing some of it at a time if that was possible but for now. I found a corner to myself and went through my quest options. Everything from normal to very easy was eliminated immediately. I thought about it for a few minutes before I decided that slow and steady would be best. I selected the next tier up and closed my eyes as the teleportation washed over me. When I next opened them I was in the middle of a military camp. It looked like something out of a text book only the animals were all wrong. Instead of horses, they had these weird gecko-like animals. They had green skin, four legs with three "fingers". Before I could decide what to do the voice of the System filled my head. Assist the Military Camp In their Retreat. Reward: Elixir of Awakening I wasn''t sure what that meant but from the panic going through the camp, I was in the right place. I looked around for a command center and found a dirty black tent from the shouting match going on. I stepped up to it expecting a guard or something to step forward. When no one did I shrugged and entered. "As I have told you time and time again. We do not have the manpower to mount an attack. Our losses in the retreat will be catastrophic enough." A tired older man spoke as his hands rubbed his temples. From his body language, I could tell that this was an argument he had many times before. "Oi, and I am telling you that we won''t have a reason to fight if we tuck tail and run at every opportunity!" The second man looked a bit like a fantasy dwarf. Only he was bald and the pointy ears of an elf. When I entered both men stopped talking. "Hello, I have been sent to buy you time for your retreat. How long do you think you will need to get everyone out of here?" I decided to slide into the role presented by the System. Now that I know it was effectively just a role play and not real people it was kind of fun. "Great at the rate we are moving we need three hours. Is it just you?" The leader asked with a raised eyebrow. I considered lying to him but I had no answer for where my others would be. I also didn''t want the other man to get some delusion about being able to fight them all off. "Yes, since I am only buying time one should be more than enough. Is three hours the fastest you can or is it the speed you want to move?" The dwarf man opened his mouth as if ready to continue their argument but I raised my hand to ward it off. I had to work to hide the surprise when he stopped immediately. I wasn''t sure what kind of cover the System generated for this quest to make sense but it was nice. "Ah, yes of course. Three hours is the fastest we could move without abandoning people and equipment in the forest. Even if we dropped everything and ran the amount we would lose in lives would make the retreat pointless." I was about to reply when the System updated the quest. I now had a three-hour timer which meant there was no point in arguing the point. "Which directions have you seen the enemy? Including any scouts." "They have been to the north for the last week. They have stopped sending scouting parties and our traps have kept them at bay until now. I believe they are gearing up to rush in and wipe us out all at once." If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. I nodded and asked a few more questions but it was clear there was limited information. It felt a bit like being in a video game. I had reached the end of the prepared dialogue tree and any further pushing would either break the scenario or cause them to repeat themselves. I chuckled at the idea of a broken quest before remembering that this was real life and I had no idea what the consequences of that would be. I was able to borrow a simple steel sword and dagger just in case I encountered something that couldn''t be hurt by mental attacks. Once I was ready I sat off through the woods. I had no idea how to move stealthily through a forest so I went slow and steady. It took me nearly an hour before I found the other camp. To say the other side was outmatched would have been the biggest understatement of the year. This camp had to have at least twice as many people. It wasn''t easy to tell but it seemed like on average the people here were weaker especially if I compared the feeling I got from the two leaders. Of course, I had to assume that they had a leader that would be comparable. Which left me in a bind. Did I try to challenge their leader straight up? Or cause as much damage as possible. I was pretty sure that psychic aegis would let me get away regardless of the strength of the opponent. Even if I had to fight something as powerful as the Metal Man. I thought about it for a few more minutes when I made my choice. Ultimately there wasn''t enough knowledge to make a decision either way. Since that was the case I decided to go with old reliable. I was pretty sure the System would give me a better reward if I beat the leader in a one-on-one. I slowly approached the camp until I heard the voices. At first, they just called for back up but once a pair of archers arrived and pointed their bows at me I decided to stop. I couldn''t help the smirk that spread across my face as I let my aura loose. At first, nothing happened I was worried that the teacher had been fucking with me. That thought was quickly pushed down when people began to step away. It was hard to explain what happened to them it was a bit like their resolve was eroded. The people closest to me kept looking at one another as if unsure the other was still there. Then the other began to step back, it was like each one was a domino that once tipped over began a chain reaction. I was sure that they were about to split in a run when a man passed between them. He looked to be middle-aged with dirty blonde hair and dark grey armor. He was missing his left arm at the shoulder and had a rapier on his hip. As soon as he saw me he unleashed his aura and I had to fight to keep my feet. It felt like I was standing in a river of blood. Every part of me wanted to run, to get as far away from his as possible. I resisted the urge and straightened my back. I locked eyes with him and tried to aim my aura toward him, to answer his fire with my own. "Who are you? Our scouts have no record of someone with your description in the enemy camp. If you are a mercenary we are prepared to pay you to stay out of this conflict." I considered it for a moment but since the quest didn''t mention anything about this option. I decided against it. "I am willing to let the matter rest if you will delay your attack by three hours. I have been asked to buy time for the army to retreat." The man shook his head. "I am afraid I can not allow that. We must complete the campaign and this army is the last thing defending the imperial city." The leader spoke calmly as if we were discussing the weather and not the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of people. "Is there nothing that we can do to avoid this bloodshed?" I was pretty sure that we had reached the end of the dialogue tree but there was no harm in asking. "I am afraid so. I will offer you an alternative to death at the hands of my army. I will fight you myself. If you defeat me my army will retreat for one week." "What would be the rules for this duel?" "A single participant each and we fight until surrender or death. Though I have no intention of surrendering." I raised an eyebrow at that. Had the System just¡ªbefore I could finish the thought the quest updated and I couldn''t help but smile. Defeat the General. Reward: Elixir of Awakening The timer was gone but everything else was the same. Before I could come up with any other questions the general drew his rapier. A scream of danger caused me to dive to the side. I tucked into a roll and pushed energy into Psychic Aegis. The protective barrier came into existence just as the general''s second attack would have caught me. The point of his sword slammed into the aegis and I felt a drain on my spiritual and mental energy. I unleashed Psychic Blast intending to end the battle as quickly as possible. Instead of the expected sight of the general collapsing to the ground or even stumbling. A ring on his finger glowed dark red before it cracked. I stumbled back a second and rapidly drew my sword. Only to find the general hadn''t continued his attack. He looked down at the ring with an inscrutable expression on his face. I pushed spiritual energy into the sigil for my defensive spell. The cracks that had started to form quickly repaired themselves. "A mentalist class? I wasn''t aware that someone like that was in the backwater. We would pay you handsomely to join us." The general''s voice was calm almost emotionless but I was pretty sure he was being honest. At least it wasn''t some kind of trick to get me to lower my guard. Unfortunately, I had no choice. "I am unable to accept. It would damage my organization. I am thankful for your offer though." I wasn''t sure if I should bow like in a martial arts movie but the decision was taken out of my hands as the general tightened the grip on his blade. He turned into a blur before his blade slammed into the shield. This time with enough force to shake the earth beneath our feet. I gritted my teeth and unleashed another blast of psychic energy. Instead of taking the attack head-on, he pushed off my shield and backflipped. The movement was so fluid that I was sure it would have been impossible for someone from Earth to do. At least Earth from before everything went crazy. I was pulled from my thoughts when the general landed. Energy surged into his sword as electricity crackled along its tip. A scream of danger told me in no uncertain terms that I could not let that hit me. He turned into a blur and I immediately abandoned Psychic Aegis. The barrier shattered like glass as I narrowly avoided the general''s thrust. I pushed energy into Psychic Blast a second later only for a bolt of lightning to arc out from his blade and slam into the remaining pieces of my shield. My eyes widened as I threw my hand forward the lightning tore through my palm. The energy got halfway up my arm before it met the energy from Psychic Blast. The two powers fought for dominance inside my body. The pain was so incredible that my mind with blank. I gasped and focused on the small voice in the back of my mind. It urged me forward with primordial desperation. I screamed as I pushed more and more energy into the sigil. My blood felt like it was on fire but the lightning began to falter. I grinned and seized on the weakness like an animal that had been given a reprieve. My spell shot out from me in an explosion of mental lightning. The indigo bolt spread out like the fingers of a storm god. They enveloped the general before assaulting him from every direction. He screamed in agony but his voice sounded like it came from far away, as if the distance between us had turned into a mile-long valley. I didn''t relent. The lightning faded only to be replaced with Psychic Blast. I felt the attack fade as my energy was drained but I refused to let it. Spiritual energy was replaced by mental energy as I continued my assault. I wasn''t sure how long the moment lasted before something changed. A torrent of kill energy surged into my body. The pleasure from the kill was euphoric. Better than anything I had ever imagined. I let out a laugh of pure exaltation, at the victory, at proving myself better than the general. It took me nearly a minute to remember that I was still in an enemy camp. I raised both hands ready to fight the entire army if I needed to. A small voice in the back of my head warned me that it was impossible but I refused to listen to it. I was a warrior! I was¡ª before I could finish the thought the euphoria from the kill faded and the pain rushed back in. It felt like I was assaulted from every direction with pure unadulterated agony. The pain lasted only a second before darkness claimed me. Chapter 13: The Half-Way Point I wasn''t sure how long I had been asleep when I awoke but I was no longer in the forest. I was back in my bed. I got up and checked the room just to be sure. I didn''t think the general or his army could do illusions but better safe than sorry. I quickly realized a problem though. I had no idea how to stop an illusion. It wasn''t like I had completely memorized the room the System provided. I even tried pinching myself. The sharp pain told me that I could still feel things but it wasn''t enough to reassure me. After several minutes of remembering things that only I would know I gave up. Part of me felt ridiculous but something worked in my favor. The energy from the kill still sat in my dantian. It was enough for me to hit level 11. I pulled up the quest menu and grinned when I saw it was complete. I confirmed the quest and a small box appeared in front of me. The box was identical to all the other ones. I opened it and found an ornate vial covered in small sigils that glowed softly. The liquid inside was a beautiful purple with golden specks that reminded me a bit of Kool-Aid. A quick search showed me the information stone for the potion. I sent a bit of my energy inside and flinched. The information filled my mind and I couldn''t help but laugh. The elixir was one hundred percent worth it. It would act as a major boost to my species and improve my class choices once the time came. I only hesitated for a moment before I uncorked the vial and drank it down. A small part of me felt it was stupid to drink a random liquid because a magic stone told me to, but I was okay with it. Before I could think any further about it my stomach began to rumble. A wave of heat surged through me as I rushed to the bathroom. I mentally swore at the System and whoever created the elixir. Why the hell did this process have to be so horrible? I groaned as I crawled out of the bathroom. The process felt like an eternity but it was worth it. I felt different than before. It wasn''t so much as being stronger than before but an upgrade over the last pill. It felt like I had suddenly gained control of all the muscles in my body. It was a bit freaky, moving felt like I was playing a video game with the sensitivity put up to an eleven. I had to take some time to get used to everything but once I did it felt good. I rolled my shoulders before turning to the rest of my gains. Both of my spells hit the "mastered" rank. Their sigils had become more complicated, looking like model cities. Part of me wanted to review them for any insights into the Tao but I decided against it. Instead, I spent my new attribute points. Once again three points went into Agility. I wasn''t sure if I could feel the change or not but I thought my movements were slightly quicker. As if my hand-eye coordination had improved. I tested it for a little bit but decided not to think about it too hard. Ultimately it didn''t matter the points were spent. I couldn''t help but chuckle at Luck being my third-highest attribute at 52 though. I had a few close calls already so it felt pretty good. Next, I pulled up my title menu and let out a low whistle at my new reward. Tutorial- Quest 5: Survive The Tutorial Reward: All Attributes +10 +5% to Wisdom, +5% to Agility, +5% Intelligence If the pattern held then the next one would double the percentage boost. A quick bit of mental math told me that it would bring everything just that much closer to Wisdom. Assuming I wasn''t killed, I should sidestep the glass cannon stage and be more of an all-rounder. Now that my species had been improved I didn''t have to worry about the attribute limit for quite a while. Which meant I needed to piece together a strategy. I made a mental note to start thinking about it but for now, I was doing just fine. Now that I had finished everything and the adrenaline from my victory was well and truly spent I turned my attention to my bed. Part of me wanted to go straight back to cultivating but I decided against it. I needed to rest. Even with the changes to my body, I was exhausted. I crawled into bed and was asleep within a few minutes. I woke up the next day just as the hum began. The soft melodic sound was beautiful music. I practically leaped out of bed. I was seated for the next lesson less than five minutes later. "Good Day. It looks like there are fewer of you today. We have reached a watershed in your tutorial experience. You have reached the halfway point. Contrary to what some of your fellow participants believe this is not the time to relax. It is the time to push yourself forward faster and harder. The tutorial is a unique opportunity that many in the multiverse would kill to have. For now, though it is time for us to discuss fate and destiny." I raised an eyebrow at that before scanning the crowd. A surprising amount of people leaned forward to hear what Aina had to say. Most people had either shaken their heads or looked back at the door to the apartments. As if wishing they could go back. Aina continued regardless. "I am sure by now you all have noticed the Luck attribute. It is the only one that you can''t directly improve that is because its value is in some ways predetermined. The arguments over how it works are debated throughout the cosmos and I will not give you an overview of all of them." I leaned forward a bit more curious about where Luck played into this. "Luck is an elusive attribute and it is believed that your luck is more or less static. That it represents the will of the heavens. Now you all gained a bit of luck when you got your "chosen" titles. It is argued that you were always fated to receive that title therefore your final luck attribute is already recorded in the great Tao." A pair of hands shot up and for the first time, Aina ignored them. "As I said there are debates over how that functions. Many have already died in the tutorial did that mean that they were fated for that? If so what about people who simply give up? Before you get any more questions in mind. I can not give you any answers. It is one of the Tao''s greatest secrets and no one at my level holds the answers let alone yours. What I can tell you though is that you should continue to aim it higher. Luck permeates everything from your chances to survive encounters to being in the right place at the right time." "What should our Luck attributes be at this stage?" A male voice called out from somewhere I couldn''t see. I turned my attention to Aina more than curious about the answer. They let out a sigh and shook their head. "The average I have seen is around 20 or so." I wasn''t sure but I could have sworn Aina looked at me for a fraction of a second before continuing. "Anyway, it is of no importance. You shouldn''t be consumed with what others are doing. Cultivation is about finding your path. For now, it is time to get to the main focus of today''s lesson. Support manuals. You have undoubtedly become aware of the cultivation manual. Some of you have even earned new manuals through your hard work." I looked around and found several people nodding in agreement. Which meant that my advantage wasn''t quite as impressive. Of course, I doubted that all of them had a manual of equal quality to mine. "There are a myriad of other manuals out there. Body Forging techniques, Beast Mastery, Heart, Arrays, Psyche, and many more. Each one would improve a different aspect of yourself. Ultimately it is up to you to peruse those many paths and it is doubtful that you will encounter those manuals during the tutorial." This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "What is Heart Refinement?" I asked before Aina could change the topic. "It is a type of cultivation that involves improving your heart or your will. It is a rare method in this universe but not unheard of. It has slow gains but it is very valuable when used in the right way. It also helps you to resist illusions and other such effects." I was about to ask what the hell "Psyche Refinement" was but Aina held up a hand to stop further questions. "Today''s lesson has concluded. Return to your quarters and cultivate your energy." Before any of us could react there was a flash of light and Aina was gone. I looked around half expecting someone else to appear and do something. When nothing had happened for over two minutes I shrugged and decided to leave. I spent the rest of the day in cultivation but it wasn''t enough to get me another level. I was pretty close though which meant my next assignment would be a good one. I briefly considered trying to limit my energy use but that idea was abandoned. Risking my life was one thing but it was a bit too early to start upping the difficulty while fighting with one hand behind my back. The next morning I made it to the plaza just before the hum started. I wasn''t in the mood for a conversation so I stood off to the side. I increased the difficulty by another stage and waited for the timer to tick down. I did a quick for Ajani and his group but couldn''t find them. I stretched and rolled my joints until I felt the familiar pull through space. This time I kept my eyes open, hoping to see just what teleportation was like. Only there was nothing. One moment I was in the plaza and the next I was standing on a white sand beach. The heat bore down on me to the point that I immediately wanted to go back. Thankfully the robes helped alleviate. It still wasn''t comfortable. I searched around but there was no clear quest point. No army, no monster, not even a building. The only landmark was a forest to the north so that''s where I started to walk. I made it about halfway when the System''s voice filled my mind. Explore the Isle. Reward: System Hub The lack of details was irritating but I decided to let it go. Ultimately the System wasn''t going to give me any more information than it already had. It would also defeat the whole point of exploring if it just told me what to do. I summoned my psychic barrier and discovered an additional use for the spell. It kept out bugs. I wasn''t sure if that was because the shield could stop them physically or if they just refused to fly through it. Either way, I considered it a win. I walked for around thirty minutes before a dark blue panther leaped out at me from the trees. My danger sense didn''t react to it so I just stared. The panther slammed into the barrier and was knocked away with a yelp. The panther reacted and pivoted while sailing through the air. The panther then formed a ball of darkness in its maw. The ball started at the size of a baseball but quickly grew into a volleyball. Still, there was no warning so I decided to let the shield take the hit. If the panther represented a common beast here then it would let me know how strong I was. The panther released the attack and it shot forward like a cannon. I raised an eyebrow at the speed but otherwise didn''t move. Just before the ball slammed into the barrier it disappeared. I stared at the spot it had been in confusion when I suddenly had the urge to move. Without thinking about it further, I leaped to my left only to find the black sphere rising out of my shadow. An icy chill went down my spine as the attack followed along my shadow. I ducked back and behind a tree only for the sphere to disappear again. I turned around just as it shot from my shadow. This time it was twice as fast. There was no time to manipulate my energy let alone dodge so I braced with my left arm forward. I braced myself for the pain of my arm being burned or crushed or whatever darkness did. Only the sphere passed through my arm harmlessly. Horror and comprehension hit me a second before the attack passed into my chest. It was a mental attack. It felt like the panther had somehow turned my very soul into a scratching post. My knees buckled as I tried to push through the pain. Tears dripped down my face and my fingers dug into the dirt. When the agony subsidy it felt like the heavens had granted me a reprieve. I was pulled back to the current moment when I felt the panther''s gaze on me. I looked up just in time to see it preparing another ball. I gritted my teeth, blinked back my tears, and unleashed Psychic Blast. The mental attacks met in a cascade of indigo and black that only lasted a moment. My attack utterly crushed the Panthers something that gave me more pleasure than I would admit. It was the panther''s turn to whimper in pain. The small revenge was enough to help me get to my feet. I didn''t give my enemy time to recover, I pressed my attack. The panther took two more blasts before it finally collapsed. I scanned the tree line while its kill energy surged inside me. Despite the bliss of the kill, my soul felt raw. I collapsed against the trunk of a tree when I was sure I wouldn''t be ambushed. I gave myself a moment to calm down before I started cultivating. I didn''t let myself sink too deeply into the method so the energy gain was slower but it helped calm my racing heart. Once I was ready I reviewed the short battle and a shiver went down my spine. The panther''s attack was enough to hurt but it wouldn''t have killed me. Not unless I took several of them back to back. No, it almost seemed like the animal''s goal was the pain. It wasn''t hard to see that if a person had to endure it too many times they would just crawl up into a ball. The thought of being tortured by a big cat sent a current of fury through me. Now that I knew what to expect it wouldn''t be hard to fight more of them. Going on the defensive was the wrong move. I needed to force my way through and take them out. I got to my feet and set off through the forest. I ran into another five of the panthers and it was a bit of a letdown. Outside of a near miss when two of them attacked at once. The battles were over once I saw them. I was pretty sure that they were agility and wisdom creatures which made them good opponents. It also showed the weakness of my build, if I encountered an enemy with strong enough mental defenses to just power through my attacks I would be fucked. Especially if they were fast enough to hit me. There were advantages to the battle though. Was I got the hand of the battle I was able to conserve some energy which allowed me to push just past the threshold for level 12. I put the points into Perception to help me deal with the fast enemies. That and it was my weakest attribute. I continued until I came across a split in the forest. It wasn''t a literal divide but it felt like one. It was almost like the trees in front of me had their killing intent. It made my skin crawl to the point that I decided to let release the hold I had on my aura. I felt the two energies clash with each other and got an idea. Instead of just letting it flow away from me, I decided to wrap my killing aura around my body. A bit like a bubble. I had the mental image of what I wanted to do but doing it was much harder. I spent around thirty minutes practicing and managed to make more of a blob around myself. Which was useful though. It kept the ominous feeling away and I was pretty sure it would affect people who entered the area. I hoped that would protect me from ambushes. I gave up on improving it further and scanned the trees both in front of me and behind me. No matter where I looked I didn''t see any threats so I pushed forward. I half expected to feel something akin to a video game''s loading screen when I did. Something that let me know that I had passed from one area and into the next but nothing happened. I just stepped forward. I chuckled to myself and continued forward ready to deal with whatever came next. Chapter 14: The Sixth Assignment The walk was surprisingly calm. A fact that would have made me feel except for the constant sensation of eyes on me. It wasn''t the same as the killing intent though I was sure that got worse the further I moved. This was different like a low-level version of my danger sense. It was enough to grate on my nerves but no matter what I did I couldn''t find where it came from nor could I make them attack. I considered blasting everything around me for a moment, but my gut told me not to do that. There was also the fact that my spell wasn''t set up for widespread destruction. The status quo continued for what felt like an eternity when I heard a branch snap. I spun just in time for my danger sense to go into overdrive. The dull hum turned into a scream as an orange blur shot toward me. I leaped to the side but was too slow. Pain exploded in my left shoulder before I could process what just happened. I turned after the blur ready to blast whatever it was. What I saw nearly made me piss myself. A tiger the size of a car had somehow managed to leap past me and dig its claws into the dirt. Claws that dripped with blood. My blood. The realization allowed my brain to catch up with the rest of my body. My left arm was clawed so deep I could see the bone. The upgrade to my species had to make my bones stronger because there was no way I should have an arm left. Based on the look on the tiger''s face it agreed. It seemed like the world had frozen as we stared at each other. The stillness was destroyed as we went into a flurry of movement. The tiger shot for my throat, no doubt intending to rip it out. I pushed as much energy as I could into Psychic Aegis. The brief window before the barrier emerged was an eternity as the tiger crossed the distance. I threw myself to the ground. The tiger was so close that I could feel its warm breath as it passed over me. Thankfully my shield formed just as I hit the ground. I pushed energy into my mental attack and threw my hand forward. The tiger was bathed in indigo light before it could launch at me again. It stumbled and I retreated. I had to put some distance between us. I only made it ten feet before the tiger was after me. "Fuck!" I exclaimed as it slammed into my shield. A spider web of cracks spread out from the impact sight but it held. I wasn''t sure who was more surprised between me and the tiger. I flashed the overgrown cat a smile and blasted it again. It was the tiger''s turn to retreat. It was stuck in between a proverbial rock and a hard place. It was forced to decide between taking and receiving an attack or fleeing. After a few more exchanges it decided to run. I pushed my body to its limit and was just barely able to keep the damn thing in range of my spell. Our battle quickly turned into a one-sided slaughter now that it gave up on attacking. A burst of spiritual energy confirmed its death and I couldn''t help but cry out. Adrenaline shot through me like the greatest of caffeine. "Am I losing my mind?" I laughed as I turned away from the tiger''s corpse. I wasn''t sure how long I sat at the base of a tree and laughed before I got control over myself. I took a moment to address my injury and was a bit concerned. The injury was healing, which was good but I had no way to protect against any kind of infection. As far as I knew these robes didn''t have that kind of protection. It was a bit freaky to see the robes clean up the blood stains almost as fast as they were made. It kind of looked like the robes were drinking the blood which was kind of fucked up. I came back to the current moment and let out a sigh. The killing intent was mostly gone now. Which meant the major threat to this section of the forest was gone. The only exception came from the West. Even with my makeshift bubble, it felt like I stared into the maw of a monster. Part of me wanted to get out of here but that wouldn''t work. Mostly because the System wouldn''t teleport me out of here until after I had dealt with the monster. There was also the fact that whatever the fuck it was would make me stronger. Another part of me was worried about my growing desire to push myself into danger but that part was quickly pushed down. I wasn''t a mental health expert but I didn''t need to hesitate right now. I stood up and resummoned my shield. There was no way I would survive if something stronger and faster than the tiger got the drop on me. I considered cultivating to regain more energy but the kill energy was more than enough. I also didn''t feel comfortable just sitting here. I didn''t want to run the risk of more monsters stumbling across me. I gave myself another ten minutes to rest before I set out. The walk through the rest of the forest was no less nerve-wracking. After then minutes I wished that the beast would just step out from behind a tree and we could get the battle over with. It was made worse by its consistent nature. This didn''t feel like I was being watched, it felt like I was being led to a ring. A place where I would either be the victor or torn apart. Just another fool who got too big a head. I gritted my teeth and gave up my bubble of defense. Instead, I pushed my aura outward in every direction. It felt like I was yelling into the void around me. Declaring myself as more than prey, more than victim. I wasn''t sure what I expected to happen but it certainly wasn''t what did happen. The forest around me shattered as if it were made out of stained glass. My attention was pulled to the monster sitting less than thirty feet away. It was a lion the size of an elephant only it was all wrong. It had a pair of demonic wings that were tucked down and around him. Its head looked monstrous and misshapen as if someone only had a bare idea of what a lion was supposed to look like. The monstrosity''s tail was the striking part. As if someone saw the king of the jungle and thought it needed more weapons. It had thick bone spines that covered the tail like a mace. It took me longer than I wanted to admit to make the connection. This wasn''t a lion at all. It was a massive manticore. The part of my brain still reasonable enough to process fear wanted to run as far away as possible but another part couldn''t help but smile. I scanned the area as much as I could but it was clear there was nowhere for me to run. Instead, I focused on the part of me that wasn''t afraid. The part of me that wanted to fight this monster. I concentrated all of my killing intent, my desire, and my will on it. As if I could kill just by wanting it bad enough. The manticore finally moved. A cruel gleam in its eyes as it got to its four feet. The beast didn''t need to speak for me to understand what it felt. Two predators had entered the same domain. Only one of us would get out. The manticore opened its mouth and let out a roar. A roar so dark and demented that it felt like it came from the deepest pits of hell. A primordial fear swelled up inside me to the point that nothing mattered except for getting away. I took a step back but the manticore followed. There was nowhere to go. I was going to die. I was¡ª Suddenly something inside me snapped and the fear was forced back. It was still there but now it was more manageable. I didn''t feel like I was going to drown in it and the manticore looked more normal now. As normal as a ten-foot-tall lion monster could look anyway. It only took me a moment to figure out what happened. The bastard had used a mental attack, one that made me afraid. Fury swelled inside me as I stared at it. This overgrown cat had made me terrified. I grabbed hold of that ember of fury and stoked it until it was a mighty flame. I began pushing spiritual energy toward my spells and the manticore lunged. The manticore turned into a blur of motion but it was still slower than me. I abandoned defense and unleashed Psychic Blast. The manticore was forced back a step as the light washed over it. Instead of being cowed, the manticore raised its tail and unleashed three barbs at me. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. I dodged all three before I broke out into a sprint. I wouldn''t be able to beat the manticore in a straight-up brawl but its mind couldn''t be as strong as its body. I shifted my focus to summoning Psychic Aegis just as the manticore leaped after me. "I should have put more points into Agility." I scolded myself as the manticore swiped for me. Its claws caused the aegis to shatter. My eyes widened as I was forced to make a choice. I sacrificed my left arm to narrowly avoid the beast''s jaws. I bit back a scream of pain before pressing my free hand against its head. I unleashed another Psychic Blast. The attack was more of a flashbang of light. I couldn''t tell if touching my target made it stronger. It succeeded in giving me the chance to get away. I bit back a scream of pain as I tried to my left arm. It was likely broken and I wanted nothing more than to leave it alone but I couldn''t. I bit back another cry of pain as I used my other hand to place it inside my robes. I couldn''t make a cast for it but this would stop it from flailing about. The manticore must have sensed my weakness because it shot toward me with renewed vigor. I summoned Psychic Aegis once again this time focusing a continuous stream of spiritual energy into the spell. The manticore slammed into the barrier like it had hit a steel wall. The small victory was enough to drive me forward. Another blast of psychic energy met the wolf as I pressed forward. I tried to hold the barrier in place while attacking but it was impossible in my current state. I would get either a worthless attack or a worthless defense. A scream of danger warned me just in time to avoid a storm of barbs. Even with the warning Two of them cut through my right leg. I screamed and collapsed to one knee. I blasted the manticore just as it moved to capitalize on the moment. The beast leaped back and narrowly avoided the attack. My knee buckled as I forced myself to stand back up. I took a second to look over the wound and my blood ran cold. There was a green liquid dripping out of the wound. "Poison? Why why would something like this need poison." I mentally cursed whatever fucked up person created this thing and turned my attention back to the fight. The manticore snarled and rushed me. I unleashed another blast only for the manticore to turn into a blur. I was in motion before I felt the scream of danger. The manticore''s claws narrowly missed my right eye. The dodge cost me as I landed on my left arm. I screamed as agony shot through me. "Fuck fuck fuck." My knees buckled as I forced myself to stand up. Plans ran through my mind as I tried to figure out what I should do next. A plan formed in the back of my mind. One that made me want to curse everyone. I gritted my teeth as the manticore began another charge. I gritted my teeth and stood my ground. The manticore leapt for me and it was like time crawled. I watched its wicked maw opening like the executioner''s axe. Every instinct I had including my danger sense told me to move, to run, to avoid that mouth. Still, I stood. When the manticore was close enough I let out a roar of defiance and rushed forward. I lowered my shoulder and slammed into the manticore''s body with everything I had. My Strength was no match to the beast but I never needed it to be. Its maw met empty air before we crashed to the ground. I suppressed another cry of pain before reaching up with my right hand. I unleashed a continuous burst of Psychic Blast. The manticore recoiled from the mental attack but it wasn''t able to get its body under control. Something slammed into my side but I refused to be moved. I reached for that part of me that enjoyed battle. The part of me that would give me the power to keep going. I wasn''t sure where the idea came from, it was like someone else had reached down and taken control of my body. I reached my mental tendrils out for my aura and narrowed it on top of my spell. It was like they refused to be mixed, as if they had water and oil but how would that stop me? I forced the two together and indigo turned into a deep azure blue. The manticore let out a cry of pain. A cry that sounded like the sweetest music I had ever heard. Another blow, this one took me from behind and nearly caused me to fall. The manticore once again unleashed its roar and the fear crept in. I snarled in defiance my ruined hand coming forward as I unleashed another blast of mental energy. Finally, the manticore went still. I let out a scream of triumph as my vision began to fill with darkness. I fought it off as long as I could. I wouldn''t run the risk of it being a trick. If the manticore was just¡ª the thought was washed away as a tsunami of kill energy slammed into me. It felt like I had fallen into an ocean of power and pleasure. A bottomless ocean. When the darkness finally claimed me it was a sweet sweet release. I bolted up in a panic. Spiritual energy churned in my dantian as I scanned everything. I wasn''t in the forest anymore. I was in my bed? The end of the battle rushed back to me and I chuckled. One chuckle turned into a bellyaching laugh as I reflected on how close I was to death. I wasn''t sure if I laughed out of relief or if it was out of fear or some other emotions. No matter what I did I couldn''t stop. I wasn''t sure if I had gone crazy or not but part of me enjoyed it. In a situation where a reasonable person would have run or shat themselves, I laughed. I proved myself better than the manticore. Better than the metal man, better than the wolf. Every battle since the start of this death game rushed through my mind. Each one made another round of laughter pass through me. "I did it," I spoke out loud when I finally got control over myself. "This is wonderful. I won." I scanned my body for any injuries but there were none. No one had explained why were healed after the quests especially when I wasn''t even awake for it. Not that I was complaining. Now that the quest was over it was time to go over my spoils. The first of which was the massive amount of kill energy. It was just enough to push me to level 14. Which brought me within six levels of my class. Those twenty levels felt like a far-off goal at first but now. Now they were inevitable. It was a given that I was going to get a mental class. I killed everything with mental attacks. I left spending my attribute points after I reviewed the new titles. Of which there were two. Tutorial- Quest 6: Survive The Tutorial Reward: All Attributes +10 All Attributes +10% Overlord Slayer: Solo kill enemy 30 levels or more above you. All Attributes +5, All Attributes +10%. Both titles added to my monstrous power in a way that made the near-death experience worth it. I still had nothing to compare it to but I felt confident that this was enough. I was a bit curious as to what the next stage of the tutorial title would be but that was something to worry about tomorrow. I still had six points to spend and the last battle made me want to go toward Agility. The only thing stopping me was the sudden boost I just got. Putting the points into Wisdom would bring the attribute across the one-hundred-point line. Of course, once I got my class I imagined Wisdom would just shoot up even further. Which would make my other attributes an even bigger weakness. There was a third option though. It was clear that surviving wounds was a big deal. Despite the barrier each of my fights required me to take several brutal hits which meant Constitution was a serious contender. I went back and forth on it for a few more minutes but the more I thought about it the more Constitution seemed like the winner. Once I spent my points I turned my attention to my quest log and my new reward. Chapter 15: System Hubs Unable to claim the reward in this location. I sucked on my teeth as I read the prompt window twice. I had opened the quest log but it wouldn''t give me whatever a System Hub was. Thankfully the quest sat there instead of disappearing. It wasn''t a large leap to assume that the hub would let me connect with the System somehow, but there was no stone. Nothing told me what the hell it did. I was about to give up when a hum spread throughout the room. I stared at the wall in confusion when it dawned on me. It was education day. I slept all the way through. I quickly got up and made my way out of the room. A few minutes later I was seated and ready for Aina to begin. "No doubt some of you have obtained a quest reward called a "System Hub" by now. I am sure that some if not all of you have attempted to claim the reward. You have also learned that you can not." I glanced around the crowd and found only a few people nodding along. Maybe a third of the crowd looked either completely confused or vacant as if they were only physically here. I had assumed that anyone who came to these came because they wanted to be here. Now though it seemed like that wasn''t the case. It was sobering but I pushed the thought to the back of my mind. Ultimately it was the people who adapted the best that would thrive in the new world. "In short the System Hub is how you create System sanctioned settlements. Of course, you do not need a hub to create a settlement. Even the smallest of settlements just needs people to come to agree that it''s a settlement. No, what the hub will do is allow you to access the System''s features. When it comes to quest the System will recognize it as being a location. That alone is worth the effort to get a hub. On top of that, you have access to the interface and the ability to purchase things from buildings to defenses and teleportation services." A murmur passed through the crowd at that. A murmur that quickly turned into a roar of conversation. My attention was firmly on Aina. It was clear that the System could teleport us around but the idea that we could have control over it. That we could have real-life teleporters was insane. "Calm down." Aina raised a hand as if we were all schoolchildren. A fact that was made worse since we all obeyed. I had to suppress a chuckle at the thought. "Even though many of you have earned System Hubs. They are not equal. The lesser life forms on your Earth have probably earned some of them by now as well. I imagine that out of the billions of people on your planet some of them are competent enough to kill some beasts with blunt objects. Those hubs are the lowest of the low and barely include any useful features. It will allow people to select classes assuming they can reach the required level." They paused for a moment as if they wanted to the words sink in. "The ones earned here will be able to buy most basic services though you will find them limited by location. The multiverse will not give you anything. Some businesses will covet a baby world like this one. Especially as it gets stronger and a planetary leader emerges. For a few of you, the hubs you earn will come with a quest. A quest that will start you on the path to becoming a lord and if you work hard enough the planetary leader. All of that is for later though much later. For now, you must understand the types of settlements you can create." They raised a finger. "First you have the lowest type. The ''Camp''. It is extremely limited and is more or less intended to be a temporary arrangement. It will allow people to choose a class and it allows the purchase of a handful of basic spells and skills." They raised a second finger. "Next you have the ''Village''. It is the most basic of the permanent settlement types and most of you will start here. All of the hubs earned through the tutorial will have access to a higher-quality set of skills and spells. You will be able to purchase a handful of basic structures that will form the foundations of a new force." They raised a third finger. "The select few of you will skip these initial stages and will be able to form a City. Upon establishing a city you will receive a quest that will let you become a Ruler in the eyes of the System. This will grant you the most starting options and should be attained as quickly as possible. The System will also award a limited structure to the select few that reach this level. The vast majority of you will stop at the village level." I opened my quest log but it didn''t tell me what my hub would create I could assume it would be the highest tier or at least a high-tiered village. Which meant that I should prioritize a good location and that quest''s completion. I wasn''t sure if there was going to be a reward for the first person to establish a city but I couldn''t tell if I should go for it. Making a shitty choice would well fuck me over. "Can we lose our cities?" A male voice called out from somewhere I couldn''t see. "Of course, a person can either kill the governor or capture the hub. Hub capture takes a certain amount of time that can vary depending on the size of the settlement and other factors. This is why it is pivotal to have your leader be someone strong enough to take care of themselves and the hub defended. On the off chance your governor is killed while outside of the settlement a new leader will be able to take the reins. There is a fourth and fifth stage to settlements. They are Capitals and World Capital. I am sure that you can piece together how they work without my explanation but I will explain anyway. Capitals are the headquarters of powerful factions such as empires, clans, kingdoms, and conglomerates. They have even more abilities than a normal city; however, they are limited. There can never be more than ten such cities in a world. No matter how large that world may be." A hush passed over the crowd at that and for a moment I thought I saw a grin threaten their lips. Aina wiped it away a second later before they continued. "Next you have the World Capital. The World Capital is the best your earth can hold on to in its current realm. Naturally, you can only have one world capital. Like the other stages, someone can take the world capital by killing or capturing the appropriate hub." I sighed at the explanation. It was pretty clear what the System intended. The System had effectively set up a death game where there was no central authority besides it. The System then gave hundreds of millions of people superpowers, and will then dump those people on earth. We were entering a battle royal to be king of the entire planet. It would turn into a blood bath. A blood bath where the majority cowered while they¡ª while _we_ fought. The thought was sobering. With my level of power, I was most likely still in the number one spot. Even if some daredevil had passed me I would at least be in the top three or top five. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. "What if you decide not to complete the quest? Or if you fail?" This time the speaker was a dark-skinned woman with black curly hair. She wore a weird set of brown leather armor with the head of a lion in its center. "If you refuse, abandon, or otherwise fail your quest the System will consider you a failure. You will most likely never receive another opportunity. The System does not bother itself with those who are incapable or are unable to keep moving forward." "Can you explain more about the things we will be able to buy?" Another person asked. This one was a man who looked to be in his early thirties and wore robes similar to mine. "In short you will be able to purchase a select few buildings. These buildings will allow you to access certain mercantile opportunities. Opportunities that will be important to your future survival. You may also be able to buy arrays and formations that can be used to protect yourselves from monsters." Aina raised a hand to stop the inevitable next question. "Arrays and formations are closed systems of spiritual energy created to do a task or multiple tasks. They can fulfill a variety of tasks from defense to cleaning and storage. You all will eventually need to learn how to build them for yourself. That is something unimportant right now." "Will you explain how class selection works?" "That is an individual topic that will be covered if you reach the required level during the tutorial. Outside of that only you need to know that you need a System hub." I filed that information away for later. A few more questions came up but none of them were as interesting. Aina did mention that each city could only be so close to another before their people would be forced to fight. A fact that was made worse by a settlement''s growth. Eventually, cities would spread out to capture nearby ones. The whole situation would become more and more chaotic. It was equal parts fascinating and painful to hear how the System trivialized everything. Supply chains were still difficult on modern or I guess old earth. Now the System made it so that as long as your leader was strong enough you could set up a network of teleportation zones. All the supplies you needed could be sent in from anywhere else. There had to be some kind of price to it but assuming it wasn''t the blood of unborn children or virgins or some other nonsense it would be more than worth it. A handful of groups formed after Aina left. Most of which were trying to plan how they would use their hubs. A few had a dark look in their eyes. A look that reminded me a bit of the manticore. I sighed and shook my head. The System still prevented us from hurting each other but it was clear that peace would end as soon as we were done. Thankfully my suppressed aura meant most people paid my little mind. I still hadn''t decided how I would set mine up. Or how I would go about getting people. Hell, Aina still refused to answer any questions about how the teleportation back home would work. As far as anyone knew we would be dropped on random points on the Earth. I made my way to my apartment and into my cultivation chamber. My level was pretty high so that wasn''t my concern. I wanted to meditate on the Tao again. Aina had refused to discuss it further whenever I stole a moment to ask them. I had figured out it would influence my class though. I just wasn''t sure how. I sat on the ground in the lotus position and began to go through my cultivation manual. It only took a few minutes for me to enter a calm and relaxed state of mind. I went through each of my battles in vivid detail. I wasn''t sure if it was because of my intelligence attribute or just because of the intensity of the moment but my memory felt more like a movie. It was all so vivid. I took another breath as I relived several of the more painful injuries. I could vaguely feel something. It was like there was something at the edge of my consciousness. No rather that there were multiple things. The harder I reached for them the further they seemed to get. I resisted the urge to yell instead I turned my attention to the sigils for my spells. Once again I could feel there was something there. Once again I couldn''t grasp them. It was like someone was whispering the information to me and I just needed to listen. I sat there doing my best to pick out any piece of it but it was hopeless. I could tell I had made progress but it was slow going. Part of me wanted to rush it but my gut said that was a bad idea. I still wasn''t sure what the Tao was so I figured caution was the best way forward. The last thing I needed was to accidentally blow my head up or lose control of my power. Especially if the System considered that attacking people. I continued my mediation session for another hour before I decided to focus on actual cultivation. Thankfully this was much faster or rather it felt much faster. My dantian had transformed from the small pond I had at level one into a strong river of pure energy. The "water" was beautiful to look at. I decided to cultivate for another four hours before I headed to bed. I split the next day between proper cultivation and meditation. It wasn''t enough to reach level 15 but I was making clear progress. My dantian looked like a flowing rapid of energy with a small typhoon. The meditation was more of a mixed bag. I could tell that I was making progress toward something big but without focusing on one of the feelings it was a bit like spreading myself in every direction. That being said I didn''t know what the correct way was so I was stuck. Altogether the day was fruitful I even spent a bit of time wandering around the building. There was a heaviness in the air that wasn''t there normally. It wasn''t a bad thing persay more like a tense anticipation. We had less than two weeks until we returned home and most of the people who had given up on fighting were either dead or hiding. I attempted to find Ajani and Tyrone but had no luck. I made my way back to my apartment and settled in for the night. There was one final thing I wanted to take care of. I pulled up my spell list and let out a sigh of annoyance. 1. [1]Psychic Blast ¨C Proficiency: Master: Unleash the mind, shape the unseen. 2. [1]Psychic Aegis ¨C Proficiency: Master: The Greatest Shield Is the Mind. Upgradable I still hadn''t come up with a way to upgrade either spell. I had hoped that I would be able to improve Aegis at least. It wasn''t strong enough to hold up against some of the most dangerous enemies unless I concentrated on it. I had attempted to alter the sigils themselves but they immediately began to tremble and I had to stop. I wasn''t sure if it was possible to straight up break them. Since they were the only form of offense and defense I had there was no way I could afford to risk them. None of the instructors were willing to help me either. They all said that it was my responsibility and it was beyond the scope of the tutorial. I had learned that Psychic Blast was basically at the end of its road. I would have to either get rid of it entirely or transform the spell into something else. With the last of my business concluded it was time to get some rest. I planned to up the difficulty once again which meant I was probably going to fight some fantastic monster from an adventure game. I climbed into bed and was out within a few minutes. The next day I was up and ready to go before the hum began. I bounced on the balls of my feet as I waited for the next round of quests to begin. A surge of busy energy filled me as I replayed the fight with the manticore. Part of me dreaded another one but a different part savored it. That was part I relied on. When the timer hit zero I took a deep breath and let the System pull me away. Chapter 16: The Seventh Assignment Once again I found myself standing in a dank dark cave. I wasn''t sure why it wasn''t pitch black in here since I couldn''t find any light source, but I filed that away for later. I did a quick scan and let out a sigh of relief. I was alone. The chamber I was in was around twenty feet tall if you didn''t count the stalactites. I conjured Psychic Aegis just in case. I only had to wait a few more minutes before a prompt from the System arrived. Reach the core of the cave system and defeat the beast inside. Reward: 10 2nd-Realm Spirit Crystals What the fuck is a Spirit Crystal? I spoke out loud though I was sure the System wouldn''t answer. Once again my irritation at this tutorial sparked inside me. Why the fuck did I have to know something and ask about it before I would be taught about it? I let out a deep breath and calmed down. Ultimately it didn''t matter if I knew what the reward was. It wasn''t like I could choose not to complete the quest. If I were to hazard a guess they would have something to do with spiritual energy. They could be stored energy. I was assuming that it could be stored in a physical form. I tightened my grip on my bag before I turned to the cave. There were two paths, one on either side of me. I shrugged and decided to head right. I had walked for a few minutes when the ground began to tremble. I raised both hands ready for battle but nothing happened. The tremor stopped and I once again stood in a still cave. I raised an eyebrow but pushed forward. "So either the cave is dealing with seismic issues or the creatures here can dig? Or is it some timer?" I mumbled to myself. The tremors continued off and on for another ten minutes before my danger sense went off. I leapt back a step expecting something to leap out of the ground for me. Instead, the sense of danger only grew. My eyes widened as I backed off. I was forced to break into a sprint as everything inside screamed to run. That if I stayed here I would die. I was less than ten feet from a pair of stalactites when something told me to jump. I put every last bit of power I could into jumping for the ceiling. No sooner did I reach the closest pillar of stone did a trio of monsters ripped through the earth. One came from below while the two others came from either side. They looked like demonic sharks with four limbs. Their jaws were filled with dozens of sharp glistening teeth. Each of their limbs had four claws and fingers that looked like they belonged to some kind of bug. Their skin was the grey of the rocks around us. To top it off they were covered in dense-looking muscle. They had no eyes nor any other features on their heads. It only took a second for me to put together what I was dealing with. Subterranean hunters would be able to sense through the ground. If the three of them came at me together then that meant they could coordinate. Based on their appearance they were more than likely physical fighters so it should give me an advantage. I also had to assume they weren''t alone. The trio didn''t give me any more time to process what had happened. They all dived back into the ground and a second later my danger sense went off. I let go of the stalactite just as one of the three leaped for me. I unleashed Psychic Blast. The mental attack slammed into the beast in less than a second. I prepared myself for a follow up but the beast let out a cry of pain and plummeted to the ground. I landed a second and started to run. The two impacts confused the other two as one emerged just below its brethren. It wasted no time in ripping the corpse apart. A second warning filled my mind a second before the ground collapsed. I leapt as high as I could narrowly avoiding the new sinkhole. I unleashed another blast of psychic energy beneath as the third monster came into view. The attack connected and another surge of energy filled me. My surprise nearly made me release the stalactite holding me in the air. Why were they so easy to kill? It was like their minds were barely even there as if they were barely alive to begin with. My eyes opened in horror as my danger sense went off again. My sudden realization was just enough to cause me to miss timing. I let go of the stalactite and began my fall. The monster leaped from the ceiling just fast enough to slam into my barrier. Its jaws tore a hole through it effortlessly. I brought my legs and placed them on either of its shoulders and pushed off. Its jaws came way too close to removing my lower half but it worked. I crashed into the ground with a thud before rolling and sprinting away. These things had some kind of hive mind. I wasn''t dealing with multiple monsters, not really. I was fighting a single queen that had potentially thousands of drones. I couldn''t help but grin at the challenge. Another warning caused me to stop and reverse course. The wall in front of me turned into a maw as my third target leaped for me. Instead of retreating I attacked. Indigo light washed over it just as its jaws began to close around my arm. The kill energy surged as I yanked it back. "That was a bit too close for my blood." I looked around adrenaline still flooding my body. When nothing happened after several seconds I let out a sigh of relief. I was just about to leave when I had an idea. I slapped myself on the forehead and shook my head. Why the fuck hadn''t I been collecting the bodies? Nearly every adventure game had a system where you collect the body parts and sell or cook them. Of course that assumed the bodies could be collected. I bent down and immediately learned the limits of my strength. I couldn''t even move them let alone pick them up and put them in the bag. I stared at the bag for a moment and tried to will the body inside. I felt like an idiot for the first several tries but eventually, the body turned into a streak of light and flew into the bag. "Fuck me," I called out before collecting the remains of the other two monsters. One had a large chunk bit in it. "If it''s a hive beast why was it tricked by the corpse?" I knelt at the impact sight but didn''t see anything that explained what happened. Maybe they were just all stupid? Kind of like locusts? That didn''t explain the coordination though. I gave up trying to piece it together and pushed on. The only way I was going to get my answers was by killing the thing in the center of this place. I ran into a pair of them and dealt with them in much the same way. Their bodies joined the rest and I continued. This time they hadn''t managed to break my shield. I was starting to worry that the spell was at its limit on usefulness. I walked for what felt like another thirty minutes before I entered a large square chamber. It was the beast in the middle of the chamber that drew my attention. It was a misshapen beast that looked a bit like a cross between the land sharks and some sort of mantis. Instead of the clawed arms, it had scythe-like ones which made me wonder how it would dig. That thought was pushed to the back of my mind as it raised its head. It looked at me, with beady little eyes before raising its scythes and rushing me. The surprise left me stunned for a moment. Why the hell did this one have eyes? Once it crossed half the distance I raised a hand and Psychic Aegis appeared in its wall form. The beast stopped moving just before crashing into it. It swung one of its scythes into the barrier and instead of shattering the point went straight through. I cocked my head to the side as it withdrew its arm. It brought it down again and again with a strange determination. By the third hit I decided that I had seen enough, I unleashed Psychic Blast in its concentrated form while slowly backing away from the monster. Unlike the rest of its brethren, this one survived the initial onslaught. A strange sigil appeared on its chest before pulsing with a deep orange light. I felt a pressure in my mind. It wasn''t enough to make me concerned nor was it dangerous enough to trigger my danger sense. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. I chuckled at it when I realized what it was doing. It was trying to use some kind of mental attack. If this had been well anyone but me probably would have died. The monster must have realized that something had gone wrong because it raised both of its scythes and rushed me. It only made it halfway before it collapsed. I raised an eyebrow at it half expecting it to transform into something else. Or more of them to appear but nothing happened. "I can''t tell if the quests are easier or if I am just stronger. Of course, the whole quest difficulty system stops making sense if it was easier." I stepped forward and collected the body before heading back toward the entrance. The "map" if he called it seemed to be two paths with mini-bosses that would unlock the real boss chamber. Which meant that the next boss was probably going to lack the mental attack. I entered the next pathway and quickly ran across another group of the basic monsters. They were quickly eliminated and I found myself standing in another chamber. What I found this time was a humanoid best. It was still vaguely shark-like though it looked more like a were-shark with four arms. It had relatively human eyes though they were located on two opposite points on its head. In one of its arms, it held a glaive with a slightly curved tip. It locked eyes with me and spun its weapon. A scream of danger filled my mind as it blurred. I dived to the side and unleashed Psychic Blast before I finished my roll. The indigo light hit it just as it reappeared. The glaive thrusting through the space my heart had been just a moment before. The space the glaive passed through tremored somehow as if the air was buckling under the attack. I summoned my defensive barrier a second later. There was no way I would win in a physical battle but the same couldn''t be said for mental damage. The humanoid monster stumbled before it got its weapons up. We circled each other for a moment before it blurred again. It slammed straight through the barrier only to charge straight into the psychic blast. I spun away and retreated. It was strong and fast but not very smart. It was almost like its attack patterns were predetermined. The only question was if it was because the monster lacked intelligence or if its speed was limited to straight lines. I got my answer a second later when it pulled back its arm and launched the glaive. The glaive didn''t so much as shoot toward as teleport. If it hadn''t been for the warning the glaive would have gone straight through my body. I turned toward the glaive only to watch it melt into the stone. My eyes widened when I looked back at the monster and the glaive now back in its hands. I couldn''t help but laugh at that. I unleashed another blast of mental energy only for it to block with the glaive. I grinned and circulated my energy faster. It blurred and I dived to the side only to feel a sharp pain in my right leg. A quick check told me that the son of a bitch was getting faster. It had managed to slice through my thigh. Not quite deep enough to get the bone but enough to stop me from moving as fast. "I have no idea if you can understand me. As much fun as fighting you is I can''t afford to let you hurt me too much." I grinned and unleashed my killing intent. I narrowed it until it was overlapping my attack. When they slammed into the monster it was forced to one knee. I grinned as I forced more energy at it. The creature wasn''t content to just die and in its last moments, it launched its glaive at me with everything it had. Even with my danger sense, there wasn''t enough time for me to avoid it. I abandoned the attack and brought both hands across my chest in a desperate attempt to catch the glaive. My hands got there just as the glaive did. I managed to stop the stone blade from cutting through my sternum but could do nothing about the force. I was thrown backward and slammed into the wall with a sickening thud. The pain was the only thing keeping my conscious as a surge of kill energy filled me. Just enough to push me to level 15. I collapsed to the ground and lay there. My sternum was bruised maybe even cracked but I could still breathe. I could still move. "I could do without the near deaths." I chuckled to myself before slowly getting back to my feet. I pulled up my status screen and dumped the new points into the constitution. I gave myself a few minutes to cultivate and to recover before I stood up and made my way back to the main path. Once I arrived at the spot I teleported into I found a staircase. I was surprised to find that I wasn''t attacked during the descent. So either I had killed all the monsters or the System decided not to spawn them anymore. That most likely meant that I would face the boss one-on-one. I reached the bottom of the stairs and found myself in an arena. It was still a cave but it looked like someone had carved it into an actual battle arena. On the other side of the room was another humanoid creature. This one only had two arms but they were thick and covered in a hard exoskeleton. It was much more like a bug with two mandibles on its face. It still had the shark-like mouth. It also looked vaguely feminine though I wasn''t sure if that was because I expected it to be or if it did look like it. Either way that was the least important part. As I entered the chamber properly it got to its feet. It did not attempt to grab a weapon which made me a bit concerned. I began circulating my energy but the monster didn''t move. I gave it another minute before I unleashed my killing intent. It filled the room to the point that the stones around me began to tremble. The creature finally reacted. It clenched its hands and leaped toward me. It swung its fist through the air and every part of me screamed that I couldn''t let it hit me. I leaped to the side just in time to avoid the punch. Before I could complete the roll the monster was on me. Pain exploded in my stomach as it kicked me through the air. I screamed as I slammed into the wall. I launched a wave of mental energy. This time the attack hit. The monster stumbled slightly before continuing its attack. I abandoned my offense and summoned a psychic barrier. The monster arrived just as it finished forming. Its fist punched a hole through the barrier trapping it for just a second. A second that allowed me to unleash both my killing intent and Psychic Blast into its face. The amplified attack forced the beast back and I followed. I dropped my shield and shot forward with every bit of speed my body could give me. I brought both hands up and around the beast''s head before unleashing another Psychic Blast. The beast unleashed a cry of pain that made my soul feel like it was being crushed. I gritted my teeth through the pain until a scream of danger filled my mind. I planned on enduring the attack to ensure this son of a bitch died. That idea died as the scream of danger turned up to an eleven. I couldn''t even call it out a warning anymore. My body practically moved on as the beast brought its fists up as if trying to bear hug me. My eyes widened in fear and shock when I saw its hands. They gave up a sense of heaviness as if they bore the weight of a mountain. The beast turned its attention to me. Its eyes darkened as if it was furious it hadn''t killed me just then. It rushed me. I summoned another barrier only to watch as it shattered under the blow. The barrier didn''t even slow the thing down. I roared in desperation and fury as it closed in. I met its fist with my own. While unleashing Psychic Blast with everything I had in my other hand. As soon as our fists met I knew I had lost. It felt like I had just punched a steel plate. I screamed as I felt bones break. I held it until my wrist snapped. I spat a scream of pain and abandoned my defense. As if it knew what I would do as soon as my hand dropped it abandoned the punch and launched a kick into my ribs. Pain exploded as I felt my ribs break. I was shot across the room like a cannonball until I slammed into the wall. Throughout it all I focused on maintaining my attack. The indigo light was the only thing that mattered. I fought against the darkness crawling in at the edges of my vision until I felt the sweet sweet surge of kill energy. I waited another few seconds just in case there was something else. Once I was sure I was safe I let the darkness claim me again. Chapter 17: What I Want I woke up with a start. My eyes started scanning the room before I remembered I was safe. "I am getting tired of being knocked unconscious," I said with a sigh. I pulled the sheets off of me and got to my feet. I bounced on the balls of my feet for a moment before I laughed. It was starting to feel more and more like a video game, only with one hundred percent more pain. I settled down and searched for my quest reward. I found a black box on the table and a set of ten crystals. The crystals were freaky for lack of a better word. They were evenly cut and about the size of a smartphone. They were translucent and slightly foggy on the inside. I picked one up and found it was chilled as if someone had kept it in a refrigerator. "So what do I do with it?" I briefly considered chewing it but I wasn''t sure my teeth had been strengthened with the rest of my body. Nor did I want to test how strong a spirit stone was. I placed it back into the box and closed it. I figured they would explain them and if they didn''t I would figure it out. Next, I turned my attention to my status screen. I was now level 16 which was a major plus and my title was upgraded. I spent the free points, this time they went into Wisdom. It was time for me to start focusing again. I wasn''t able to compete with the stronger monsters in their attributes. I pulled up the new title and cocked my head. Tutorial- Quest 7: Survive The Tutorial Reward: All Attributes +10 All Attributes +10%, Potency of Attributes +5% As soon as I finished reading the improved title my status screen changed. There was now a second number next to each attribute.
Name Amari Jackson
Level 16
Species [2] Human
Affiliation Earth
Manual [1]Ethereal Codex(22%)
Titles Big Game, Chosen, First to Ten, Leader of the Pack, Monstersbane, Overlord Slayer, Overpowered, Prime Hunter, Voyager,
Limited TItles Tutorial-Seventh Assignment
Agility 66 (Increase:50%. Potency:105%)
Constitution 71 (Increase:50%. Potency:105%)
Intelligence 62 (Increase:50%. Potency:105%)
Luck 68 (Increase:50%. Potency:105%)
Perception 57 (Increase:50%. Potency:105%)
Strength 57 (Increase:50%. Potency:105%)
Wisdom 99 (Increase:50%. Potency:105%)
Free Points 0
System Credits 00
It wasn''t hard to figure that potency was another modifier but a quick bit of mental math told me the numbers in front of me weren''t changed. They only accounted for the 50% increase. I grinned as it dawned on me. The System had hidden values! Since it was both rarer and harder for me to get the "Potency" improvement I had to assume that it was better than a percentage increase. The only question was how much better. I looked around hoping to find a sheet of paper or anything that would let me write. "Ugh alright fine. Potency is above 100%. My title only gave me 5% which means that the base is¡ª" I started laughing when it hit me. Potency referred to how much my points were worth. So I didn''t get a 5% boot to my Wisdom. My points in Wisdom were now 5% higher than the number indicated. It made my status screen a liar. I knew it of course but if some spells and skills showed people my screen they would only get a half-truth. Before I could finish processing the morning hum spread through the room. I shook my head and waved the screen away. I made my way down while debating whether or not I should ask about it. If I did more people would know. More people knowing meant I would lose an advantage. Of course, my real advantage was that I had the boost and they didn''t. I decided to spill the beans just as Aina began to speak. "There are only two more quests. On the thirtieth day, you will be returned to your home world to seek glory and opportunity. It is because of this that the information I have to share with you is more limited. Today we will discuss a reward that many of you have recently received. Spirit Stones. I am pleased to see that none of you brought them with you. They are a key cultivation resource and thus are very valuable. They can be broadly divided into the cultivation realms. Naturally in this corner of space 1st-realm stones are the most common followed by 2nd-realm. As you all are 1st-realm cultivators those are the stones you should be using. They have crystallized energy that naturally forms near areas of spiritual energy concentration." Aina paused for a moment and let their gaze pass over us. "They are used to quickly restore energy as well as to speed up cultivation. On the off chance that you all find 2nd-realm stones on your planet, I would strongly suggest not using them. Their concentration will be much higher and could blight your channels." They shook their head. "To blight is to burn them with energy. It will make it harder to drain energy and if you blight them bad enough you may never be able to cultivate again. Now if you choose to do so anyway consume the energy slowly. If your body tells you to stop then you stop." For just a moment they locked eyes with me. I gave a subtle nod before they turned away. "Now the process itself is simple. You use your cultivation method to draw the energy inside you. After that, you cultivate like normal. When the crystal is used up it will fade into nothing and you will be done. Each of you will have a different speed based on your affinities but the process is the same." I blinked in confusion as I processed what they had just said. Someone else beat me to the question. "Uh, what the hell are affinities?" A young boy called out from right in front of Aina. The question was timed so well that you would have thought he was placed in the crowd. "Affinity with the Tao. It is unimportant right now but you all will have your affinities tested before you return to your planet. You may consider it a graduation gift. For now, it is more important that you all prepare yourselves for the last two assignments. It will be your last chance to gain benefits before you return to your home." "Can you discuss what attribute potency is?" I called out. Aina turned and for the first time looked genuinely surprised by the question. "Now where did you hear that?" They shook their head. "It isn''t important. Potency is an additional modifier on top of your attributes. It''s the rarest of the modifiers and effectively makes your points worth more than the number would indicate. Potency can be obtained from titles and the Tao at a high enough tier." I ignored the murmurs from the crowd and asked my next question. "If we were to fight someone with a ''Tao'' how would we know?" Aina stared at me blankly for a moment before speaking. "It would be as if you were being attacked by the truth of something. If hypothetically you were attacked by the Tao of waves it would feel like the very might of ocean waves was assaulting you. The same would be true for any number of tao. Have you fought such a creature?" If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The crowd had gone silent as a small pressure fell on our shoulders. It wasn''t the same as when the System was here. This felt somewhat similar to killing intent only it wasn''t bloody. It was just a pressure. "Yes, I fought something whose punches felt like they held the weight of a mountain." "I see, I take it you have not entered closed-door cultivation. No matter it is impressive for anyone to encounter the tao so early. Ordinarily, your sect, tribe, government, or clan would have ordered you to meditate on the experience. I hope you will gain some insight into that tao. Once we are done here I would suggest you do so but it will have limited effect. It does explain your state when you returned." "What in the blazes are you two talking about?" I blinked as the man''s voice dispelled the heaviness in the air. Of course, it was Aina who had ended whatever they were doing. I turned toward the man who looked to be in his early twenties with dirty blonde hair. He was in a black two-piece suit that had seen better days. I considered answering him but there wasn''t much to say. "The enemies become much more deadly as the difficulty increases," Aina said with a dismissive wave of their hand. "You all will have access to several rare natural treasures once you return home. I would suggest you all do your best to gain as many as possible. It is not unheard for one or two powerhouses to emerge and hoard the resources to themselves." I raised an eyebrow at the instructor and then chuckled. I wasn''t exactly mister popular before that but this conversation was painting a red "X" on me. Not that I minded. "If there are no more questions our session has come to an end. I shall see you all after your next round of quests." With that, Aina disappeared and I decided to leave. There was no way I wasn''t going to use my spirit stones. Thankfully confused looks were the only thing people gave me as I left. I wasn''t sure how threatening to hurt people would work here. Once I was back in my apartment I grabbed my box of stones and dumped them into the bag. I then made my way into my chamber. Once the door was shut and I took a steadying breath I pulled out one of the stones. A part of me wanted to try and absorb two at the same time but I wasn''t that big a gambler. I gripped one in my right hand and began to draw the energy into me. I braced myself for a torrent of blazing energy. A fresh hell of pain but it didn''t come. The energy that entered me was certainly a torrent. It was closer to a fire hose than the water hose that I had before but it didn''t hurt. I sped up the energy draw but there was still no pain. I couldn''t even claim discomfort. I opened my eyes and looked at the stone again. It seemed fine and I knew the quest said 2nd-realm stones. The System had never lied to me before so I didn''t think that they were defective. I also couldn''t come up with a reason that Aina would lie. So I didn''t think that was the situation either. There were only two other options. Either my channels were strong enough since my species was now 2nd-stage or it had something to do with the Elixir itself. My gut told me it was the latter and not the former. I felt my channels get stronger, especially after the elixir. I grinned and pulled out a second stone. If my body was 2nd-realm enough then let''s see just what I could do. A groan escaped my lips as soon as the second stream of energy flooded into me. The water hose had just turned up to an eleven and it felt like I was constantly at risk of losing control. Sweat formed on my forehead as my channels strained to handle the energy. It was hard to say for sure but it seemed like a fourth of the energy escaped into the air. The more I tried to prevent it the more escaped. I bit back cursed and made a decision. I slowed down the flow to the maximum I could handle while minimizing the loss. My dantian was flooded with energy to the point that It was being drowned. The vortex in the middle grew in response as if it were a spiritual storm drain. I wasn''t sure how long the process had been going for when I was forced to stop. The ache in my channels had slowly shifted into a burning sensation. I wasn''t willing to take the risk of serious damage not right now anyway. I opened my eyes and slowly got to my feet. The two stones were about half depleted and I put them both into my bag. I should be able to use them tomorrow. It felt like every muscle in my body had been wrung out. Despite that, I couldn''t be happier. I made it back to my bed and flopped down on it. Once I was somewhat comfortable I pulled up my status screen. When I saw my full gains I chuckled. I was now level 18. I only had two levels to go before I could get my class. All six points went into Wisdom as I reviewed my new total. It wasn''t a stretch to see that the stones might be the best reward I got so far. Not counting Psychic Aegis. It looked like an individual stone would earn around two levels. Of course that assumed that I was able to contain all the energy. All in all, it was better than I expected. With everything taken care of, I closed my eyes and faded into a dreamless slumber. The next day I awoke feeling a million bucks. I practically bounced out of bed and looked around. It wasn''t the same as when my species evolved. It was more like I had the best sleep of my life. "Damn, it''s a shame that I don''t have a quest today. I feel like I could fight a mountain right now." I laughed and headed into my cultivation chamber. I pulled out both stones and started to draw the energy in. The process was a bit easier this time though the improvements were much slower. If I had to guess my dantian required between 5 and 10% more energy than it did last time. Of course, for the stones, it made little difference. By the time they were both used up, I was covered in a sheen of sweat and my channels ached. I pulled up my status screen to confirm the changes and grinned. I had just barely reached level 20. The points went into Wisdom and I decided to stop cultivating. I made my way into the bathroom to wash and clean the sweat away. Once I was finished I realized I had no idea what to do now."Hey, I am level 20 now!" I called out not sure if the System was listening or not. I waited a beat for something to happen but there was only silence. I then decided to let my aura free hoping that the increased attributes would signal something. That also didn''t work. I was just about to give up and return to regular cultivation when a hum spread throughout the room. I raised an eyebrow as the door opened. All three instructors entered with different expressions on their faces. The volcanic elemental looked only slightly interested in what was happening. Aina stared at me as if they had just found a fascinating new research project. Lastly, the air sylph one looked at me like I was her favorite toy. I retracted my aura not wanting to risk anything that might be considered an attack. "You made it!" The woman turned into a blur of air and was suddenly upside down in front of me. I managed to stop from falling backward at her sudden appearance. It was startling how much faster than me she was. "We were taking bets on if anyone in this round of participants would be worth anything and you did it. You earned me quite a few credits." "You are welcome? Wait you all can bet on us? What''s to stop you from interfering?" I figured out the answer to my question as soon as I finished it. They were more afraid of the System than what they would get from the bet. "Anyway, it is impressive that you have continued pushing yourself. The battles with the Terran Behemoth and Behemoth Queen were especially entertaining. Rarely, does someone following a spell caster''s path survive here. You are impressive." My eyes widened in surprise at that. Not at the statement itself but at the speaker. The volcanic instructor almost seemed happy. The surprise prevented me from asking the first question that came to me and allowed Aina to continue from there. "We have come to allow you access to the system hub. You do not have to come with us. You can choose to delay the acquisition until you have gained suitable achievements. Like with all things it is your choice." I stared at each of them while processing what they said. I didn''t think there were any hidden truths in the words. If anything Aina had gone out of their way to sound neutral. Which left the question of what I wanted. I had been treating level 20 like a goal. Like the end of the race when in reality it wasn''t. It was just a pit stop. Of course, it didn''t matter there were only two options. I could do it now or wait until the tutorial ended. If I waited I would get the benefits of whatever finishing the tutorial provided on top of what I already had. Of course, I had to be alive for that to happen. If I was going to deal with the next set of quests, the highest difficulties then I would need whatever advantages I could get. I already had the elixir plus all the titles I had already earned. On top of that I should get a new reward. Both options had really good reasons for and against them which left the choice up to me. What did I want to do? Chapter 18: Momma I have a Class I stepped out of my apartment after the trio. It ultimately wasn''t a hard choice. There was always a chance for something better tomorrow. If I let myself get consumed by those thoughts I would never advance. Instead, I would keep moving forward and do what I can with what I got. "Is there anything that you can tell me? Now that I have made my choice." I stepped into a rhythm between the trio. Which honestly felt like I was some kind of VIP being escorted to an event. The thought was almost enough to make me chuckle if it wasn''t for the seriousness of the situation. "Well let''s see the System will present you with your choices. There are typically between one and five options. There is also a random option though very few pick it. I wouldn''t recommend it unless you have placed a lot of faith in your fate." The woman said while lazily floating down the hall. Part of me wondered if there was a way I could learn to float instead of walking but that also felt lazy. "The hub here has several improvements that you would not have access to on your planet. Not for quite a while anyway. It will tell you the attributes the class will rely on and it should offer you a slight nudge toward which choice you should pick." The volcanic elemental added. "Should I aim for the highest rarity?" "That is an impossible question for us to answer. There are two main schools of thought though. A higher rarity class will have superior skills available from the get-go. This will increase your strength immensely to begin with but the requirements to unlock those skills will be higher. Not to mention evolving those classes will be harder. There are a myriad of stories in the multiverse of people picking a powerful class only to be unable to evolve it. On the other hand, a lower rarity class will include worse skills but they will be easier to unlock. There are also many documented paths from them. It is a question of which you value more. Stability and safety or Trailblazing and potential." Aina once again fell into their role as the instructor. I nodded along as they spoke. In truth, a low rarity class didn''t appeal to me. I understand why you would want it. Playing it safe when it came to your life was appealing but everything I did here wasn''t playing it safe. I completed the toughest quests I could. I did them all alone. Hell, I took the elixir to get a higher tier class it would be stupid if I wasted that. "I received a reward¡ª" Before I could finish Aina raised a hand. "We do not need to know about the rewards you received. They are yours and yours alone. If they impact your class choices you should use them at the time of selection. If you have already used them then their benefits will automatically apply. I would strongly recommend you refrain from sharing your unique encounters once you are in the multiverse. It is a sin to be wealthy without the power to protect it." I stumbled a step at the seriousness in their voice. I checked the others and they agreed with Aina. I bit back a reply about not being worried but decided against it. They were all probably older and more knowledgeable than I was. "Alright, so when we arrive I just go in and speak to the System?" The woman laughed before wiping away a fake tear and shook her head. "Oh, he is so young. No, you go in and you will find the System hub. Place your hand on it and think about selecting your class. The System will take care of everything from there." I nodded as the trio stopped in front of a blank wall. I raised an eyebrow but before I could voice my question the wall slid open. I nodded and stepped inside. My attention was drawn to the center of the room. I wasn''t sure what I expected a System Hub to look like but this wasn''t it. There was a squarish base with a pillar of white light in the middle. The light looked almost solid and had an odd symbol in the middle. It was a sigil and based on the context it represented the System. It was a shape that made no sense, it was almost like it was being forced into a three-dimensional space when it should be something more. Just staring at it hurt my head. My heart suddenly felt like it was going to rip its way out of my chest. I stepped up to the hub while a grin spread across my face. I placed a hand against the hub and took a deep breath. Once I was calmer I sent my intentions into the hub. A second later a prompt appeared that made me grin like the Cheshire cat. Psionic Paragon-1st Realm, Epic: Awaken Your Latent Power, Transcend Greatness. Wisdom, Intelligence. Upgradable Oneiric Hunter-1st Realm, Epic: Nothing is Safe, Not even their Dreams, Wisdom, and Perception. Upgradable Soul Seer-1st Realm, Epic: Their Secrets Laid Bare, All Yours. Wisdom, Perception. Upgradable Storm Psion-1st Realm, Epic: Embrace the Tempest of Your Soul. Wisdom, Agility. Upgradable Astralmancer-1st Realm, Epic: Awaken the Potential of your Mind, Achieve Perfection. Intelligence, Wisdom. Upgradable Random 1st-Ream Class. 0% Common. 10.0% Uncommon. 40.0 % Rare. 50.0% Epic. Roll the dice. Talk about an abundance of riches. I didn''t even have lower rarity class options so that idea was put to bed. I could even roll the dice and get another epic class. Of course, I saw no reason to do that since the five options I had were great. Oneiric Hunter was the least interesting one followed by Soul Seer. I think I understood the hunter came from all the monster murders but it sounded like a class that specialized in summoning. Whether it was dream creatures or illusions I couldn''t be sure. Either way, it didn''t sound like me. Also the whole not being safe thing made me seem like a murderer or rather a hunter. Soul Seer sounded better especially the bit about the secrets. Still, Perception was one of the lowest attributes I had. I wasn''t sure how big a role my early attributes would play so it was best to assume that it would be significant. Storm Psion sounded great and Agility had become the second-highest of my attributes. There was a clear argument for that choice. Next, we had Psionic Paragon and Astralmancer. Both of them were good and based on Wisdom and Intelligence. Also, Astralmancer was either star-related or related to the "Astral Plane" which was always cool. Unfortunately, Intelligence wasn''t high enough for me to prioritize it now. Which brought me back to either the Seer or the Psionic Paragon. I went back and forth for a few more minutes before I settled on my choice. It was hard to explain why I picked it. Just a gut feeling, one that went away as soon as I made my choice. A powerful surge of spiritual energy flooded into me from every direction. It felt like someone injected lightning into my veins as the energy purged my channels. The lingering damage was washed away along with small traces of black gunk. My channels were pulled into a complex sigil that spanned my entire body. No sooner did my channels shift did I felt the surge pass through every part of my being. I grunted and fell to one knee as my body improved. It felt like I had just spent a colossal amount of attribute points. The sensation was intoxicating! I felt like I could take on an army. The momentary invincibility faded a few seconds later. "What the fuck was that?" I passed my inner eye over my body and found that my channels were more solid now. They now formed what I assumed was the sigil for my class. It was honestly a bit weird but I wasn''t going to complain. The last bits of exhaustion and aches were gone. It was a bit like when my species was upgraded only not as powerful. Either way, I pushed it to the back of my mind and rubbed my hands together. It was time to review my gains.
Name Amari Jackson
Level 20
Class [1]Psionic Paragon
Species [2]Human
Affiliation Earth
Manual [1]Ethereal Codex(22%)
Titles Big Game, Centennial, Chosen, Classed, First to Ten, High Class, Leader of the Pack, Monstersbane, Overlord Slayer, Overpowered, Prime Hunter, Voyager, True Elite
Limited Titles Tutorial-Seventh Assignment
Agility 78 (Increase:50%. Potency:110%)
Constitution 83 (Increase:50%. Potency:110%)
Intelligence 76 (Increase:50%. Potency:110%)
Luck 80 (Increase:50%. Potency:110%)
Perception 69 (Increase:50%. Potency:110%)
Strength 69 (Increase:50%. Potency:110%)
Wisdom 138(Increase:60%. Potency:110%)
Free Points 0
System Credits 00
Well Damn. The new titles were a welcome sight and I decided to review them first. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Centennial: Gain 500 total Attributes while in the First Realm.Reward: All Attributes +2 Classed: Reach level 20 and Gain a Class Reward: All Attributes +1 High Class: First In the World to Gain A Class Reward: All Attributes +5 True Elite: Gain the Highest Rarity Class of Your Realm. Reward: Potency of Attributes +5% Even more of the "First of" titles which felt pretty damn good. I couldn''t help but feel pleased at just how many of them I had gained. I wasn''t sure which firsts were left. Maybe there would be one for building a town? Probably one for becoming a governor. After that, I wasn''t sure. I did know that I had to keep it up. Once we got back to earth all hell would break loose and then it would be everyone from themselves. The new titles didn''t explain the largest of the changes. So I continued searching. I pulled up my new Class screen and raised an eyebrow. Class: Psionic Paragon 1st-Realm, Epic Wisdom +10, +10% Intelligence? +5, +5% Level: Wisdom +5, Intelligence +3, -1 Free point per level Spells: Psychic Mastery(Locked) Psionic Rain(Locked) Intellect Fortress(Locked) Well damn. My class was pretty busted. It was a bit ironic that even with the boost to my Intelligence my Constitution was still a bit higher. That and Luck though I didn''t think a class would exist that would boos that attribute. Wouldn''t that just break the rules? Assuming there were rules to break I guess. The loss of one of my free points sucked but there had to be some kind of balance I guess. Unfortunately, the level improvement wasn''t retroactive but that was fine. It was clear why we needed to get our classes as soon as possible. If I had reached max level first I would have lost out on so many points. The next thing I needed to worry about was the new spells. I switched to the quest log and found my answer. I had a new "Class Quests" category that listed what I had to do for each one. 1. Psychic Mastery(Class): Mastery is born through experience. Kill 1,000 Enemies Reward: Psychic Mastery (0/1,000) 2. Psionic Rain (Class): The Mind is the Only Weapon you will ever need. Defeat thirty opponents with a single attack. Reward: Psionic Rain Spell. (0/30) 3. Intellect Fortress(Class): Endure 10 Psychic Attacks. Reward: Intellect Fortress (0/10) I guess the quests weren''t retroactive. Either that or all the people I have been fighting didn''t count toward these quests. I hoped it was the former and not the latter. If I couldn''t complete the quests in the tutorial I would be fucked until later. Either way, it was a pretty big haul. Part of me hoped the next quest was a hoard of enemies so that I could get at least one of these done. I gave myself a final review before closing the status screen and making my way back to the door. I still had a day of cultivation ahead of me. I stepped into the hallway and found the trio waiting for me. I raised an eyebrow but no one said anything. After several seconds I decided to speak up. "Epic class. I believe it''s based around psychic effects." Aina and the woman nodded as if it was a matter of course while the volcano elemental shrugged as if he didn''t care in the least. "Impressive. I take it you gained a title for that rarity as well. Very impressive you have taken what many consider to be the first step in cultivation." Aina stated before turning around and heading down the hall. We all stepped up behind him. "So now that I have my class what do I do now? I mean besides finish the tutorial?" "You will return to your world and start rebuilding," Aina replied. "No, I get that but is there a point to this? I mean like are cultivators doing something? Is there some item to save or a monster to kill?" The woman laughed and shook her head. "You have just gained your class and now you contemplate on Heaven''s secrets? How audacious." I stared at her in confusion as I tried to process what the fuck she just said. "What the fuck does that even mean." The volcanic man shook his head and let out an annoyed sigh. "It means that we are too low in the hierarchy to answer such questions. I have no idea if cultivation has a greater point to it nor do I care. If you want to know you will have to reach the peak. Long before that, you will have to come up with your answer. Why do you want to cultivate? Is the only answer that matters." "So it''s one of those things where I have to find meaning for it myself?" I couldn''t help but shake my head. Ultimately it wasn''t a big deal. Despite the very real pain I had gone through this was more than worth it. There was no uncertainty. I knew what to do in my life. I wanted to reach the next threshold and whatever the peak of cultivation was. Hell, this was more direction than anyone got on old Earth. I wasn''t under the illusion that everything would be fair. The instructors already explained that there were still the haves and the have-nots in the multiverse. Based on the way they spoke about it the earth wasn''t anything special in the grand scheme of things but did any of that matter? Why couldn''t I force a seat at the proverbial table? I had access to the System the same way everyone else did. My attributes have to be high even compared to other elites. I clenched my fist and grinned. No way staying on earth was going to be enough for me. "Oh? It looks like someone is excited." I was pulled back to the present as the air instructor''s voice reached me. "I wonder if you will survive? I hope so. You are very interesting. Don''t underestimate what you are about to go through. Most ''elites'' of newly merged worlds fall during the initial year. The battles are vicious as your place in the world is thrown into chaos. Beasts and cultivators attempt to carve up the world for their desires. There will only be the supreme law to rely on." I stared at her as a grin spread across her face. It was clear she was enjoying herself. She wanted me to be a good little student and ask "What''s the supreme law" but I wasn''t going to. In truth, it wasn''t hard to figure out. If we were honest without ourselves it was the rules we played by before the System. The reason is that some were branded criminals while others were heroes for committing the same act. "Those with the most power make the rules." The woman''s grin fell from her face and she rolled her eyes. "Good enough. Now you should get back to work. You don''t want to risk losing your spot just after getting your class." I nodded as we came to a stop in front of my door. I gave the trio a nod before stepping inside. Once the door closed and I was alone again I started rotating my energy. Watching it pass through my new channels was a bit odd but that wasn''t why I did this. There were slots spread throughout my body where spells or skills could go. Two of which were already taken by the spells I got earlier. I did a quick count and found that I would be able to hold a maximum of 21 spells. Of course, that assumed no weird situations came up like one spell taking two slots or that I couldn''t somehow increase that number. I still wanted to create my spells at some point but I was no longer confident I could do it. The two I already had were a bit like works of art. Each one had layers of complicated parts that made me think they were closer to some sort of language than anything else. What I needed was a library or a school. I chuckled dryly at the thought of how much a cultivation school''s tuition would be. I might have to give them an arm and a leg. I brought myself back to the moment and considered my options. Despite what they said I was pretty sure the top tutorial spot was mine. Unless someone started seriously gambling their lives no one should catch up. Which meant I needed to start thinking about how to build a settlement. I was sure that our old cities would still be standing at least some of them. I made a few plans on where I should attempt to go but at the end of the day, I had no idea where I would appear once the tutorial was over. For all I knew I would get dropped off in an ocean. I decided to move away from that train of thought and turned my attention to my cultivation chamber. It was time to resume the grind. Chapter 19: The Eighth Assignment It turns out that getting an epic class had a pretty major flaw that no one told me about. The energy requirements were crazy. It was hard to estimate properly but it took more than the combined energy from the first ten levels for me to go from level 20 to 21. If that trend continued my leveling speed would come to a halt. Even if the next two quests provided me with even more dangerous enemies. There were only two more left. The remaining crystals I had made a big difference which only made me unsure of how I should use them. I could keep some for energy recovery or I could use them to push me forward. Even with the increase in energy, they should be able to push me to level 25 or so. I also had to worry about the potential damage to my channels. The last two quests would have a 90% or higher death rate. I couldn''t afford to enter at anything less than 100%. I went back and forth on it for another ten minutes before settling on a decision. I would save the crystal until the end of the tutorial. That last day or two should be safe enough. I was confident that Earth wouldn''t be flooded with terrifying enemies. Or at least that we wouldn''t be teleported in front of them. That way if I was forced into a position where I had to use a crystal to recover I could. Getting my class and new title had caused another change. It was hard to explain in words but I had become heavier. Not physically heavy but it was like I had more of an impact on the world around me. At first, I thought I had lost control over my aura and killing intent but that wasn''t the case. The changes had made my aura stronger for sure but it was like I had a low gravity effect. If people were ignoring me before now it was like they had no choice but to notice. Which was much more my speed. I leaned against one of the walls as a group of heavily armored people tried their best to not make it obvious they were looking at me. They were really bad at it. Still, there wasn''t much more to it. Everyone had already formed their groups and I had no interest in joining anyone else. Besides I doubted anyone wanted to join me on my mission. I checked the countdown timer and smiled. Only a few more seconds. I bounced on the balls of my feet in excitement. When the timer hit zero I closed my eyes until the familiar sensation of being pulled away ended. I landed on something soft and wet in the next moment. The sensation made me want to puke. I took a glance at the swamp around me and let out a groan. Why the fuck had I been sent to a literal swamp. It smelled like death and humidity. For a moment I thought the System had teleported me to the Everglades but the trees here were wrong. They were alive but it was like they were also filled with death. It was a bit like I wasn''t in a real swamp but a horror movie one. To top it all off there was a faint sense of danger coming from everything. It wasn''t enough to make me panic but it did make me uncomfortable. I scanned the trees and the murky water for any signs of a threat but there was nothing. I was just about to pick a direction to go when the system''s prompt appeared. A prompt that made me groan. Survive until time runs out. Timer: 5:59:59. Choice of Reward: High-Grade Wisdom Fruit, High-Grade Agility Fruit, High-Grade Intelligence Fruit Before I could finish complaining the dull hum of danger intensified. I leaped into the air on instinct just as a pair of leathery hands reached up. My eyes went wide as the scene was repeated as far as the eye could see. I slammed down on the pair of hands before turning and sprinting deeper into the forest. Zombies were pulling themselves out of the ground as if I had been teleported into the Night of the Living Dead. My heart pounded in my chest as the paths in front of and behind me filled with corpses. There beings of all shapes in sizes including an undead cyclops. I unleashed Psychic Blast in its beam form. Seven of them dropped to the ground as soon as the light passed over them. I waited to see if they would get back up but none did. I stopped running and realized that this wasn''t as bad a situation as I originally thought. After all didn''t I need to kill a horde of enemies? I grinned as the zombies stopped being monsters and became something else entirely. I summoned Psychic Aegis and rolled my shoulders. First I needed to eliminate thirty of them in a single attack. That meant I needed to line them up. I pushed energy into Psychic Blast and waited for the horde to surround me. Once they began to claw at my shield I took a step forward and unleashed my spell. The indigo light washed over the zombies in front of me I swiped the bean across the front ready to cleave a new path for myself. Only for something strange to happen. The ogre zombie slammed into arm into the blast. My spell collapsed a second later as energy back lashed into me. It felt like I had been punched in the face by Joe Frazier. I gritted my teeth as I wiped away a trickle of blood. I unleashed another attack this time avoiding the ogre. I carved a path through the sea of corpses and retreated. I should have figured that the zombies would have some special tricks. Why would the System make anything easy on me? The process repeated itself several more times. I was able to get 29 zombies in one beam before either an ogre or another special corpse would step in. To make the situation worse the corpses barely gave any spiritual energy after being defeated. I bit back a curse and turned my attention to the nearest ogre zombie. A dull voice in the back of my mind told me that this wasn''t the best idea. That I didn''t have to complete this quest right now but something else, something deeper told me that I couldn''t back down. I cleared a path toward the ogre and sprinted for him with everything I had. I drew a rusted dagger from my bag and prepared myself. As soon as I closed within thirty feet the ogre swung its massive bony arm. I leaped into the air as I brought the dagger to meet the attack. It felt like I had tried to stop a runaway train with my arm. My strength was no match for the undead''s but I was just able to shift and avoid being sent flying back into the sea of corpses. Instead, I was knocked up and into the air. I landed on the zombie''s shoulders and slammed my dagger through the top of its head. A second later a beam of indigo washed over its head. The ogre collapsed to one knee but I didn''t let up. I removed the dagger from its head with a heave before spinning it and slamming it through its temple. Another blast of psychic energy and a surge of energy filled me. As soon as the ogre died all nearby zombies collapsed. I raised an eyebrow in silent question before pulling up my class quest. There it was thirty of thirty. I wasn''t about to redeem the quest right now though. I wasn''t sure if the process would distract me and the last thing I needed was to be eaten alive because I was impatient. Instead, I looked around for the next special zombies. This one was a humanoid but was bulbous as if it had been filled with sloshing liquids. It even had a black ichor dripping from its mouth. The sight made me want to puke but I knew that it would be the next target. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. I unleashed another beam wanting to test the thing''s defenses. I wasn''t sure what I expected to happen but it wasn''t the zombies forming a literal corpse wall. As soon as the fat zombie sensed the attack it spit out a bit of black bile and then all the nearby corpses threw themselves on top like it was catnip. My attack was exhausted long before it reached its target. I wasn''t sure how I was supposed to deal with that. I could just unleash attacks until it was drained but who knew how long that would take. I was going to have to waste one of my crystals just to keep this up. I also couldn''t afford to get close. If it threw up on me or exploded when it died I would get covered in the worst shower imaginable. It would also attract the zombies to me which would technically help with the other quest. At the pace I am going a thousand kills would take me a few more hours. Once again running away was an option. I only needed to survive until the timer went out. This quest didn''t even include a sentence about performance. Still, that idea didn''t sit right with me. I would run and hide if I felt I couldn''t handle it but these things didn''t seem too strong. I reviewed my options a few more times before I settled on long-range bombardment. Despite the potential benefits, there was just no way I was going to let myself get covered in filth. The battle took almost thirty minutes and half a 2nd realm crystal but the fat zombie was killed. It also completely exploded thankfully I was far enough away but it did draw in every zombie nearby. It was literally like shooting fish in a barrel. By the time I was done, I was around four hundred out of a thousand on my Psychic Mastery quest. Which wasn''t enough. I cracked my neck as the world around me descended into chaos. Killing two of the controllers caused the zombies to erupt into a fury. It was like their minds were gone and they were just a mindless horde. Or rather a horde that only wanted to rip me apart. A rational part of me wanted to run from the horde but I found myself laughing as the horde grew closer. I gave up on fighting the battle mania that filled me. If I was being honest with myself I had long since started to enjoy it. I unleashed the hold on my aura and my killing intent. It felt like I had been holding my breath for years. As if a part of me had been trapped and in a very real way it was true. I didn''t have to concentrate on it this time since there were zombies in every direction. I didn''t think the aura would affect the zombies since they seemed more like irrational beasts but I was wrong. Very wrong. It was like they had entered a quagmire where every step threatened to rip the flesh off their bones. As if they had entered a tunnel filled with gale-force winds. That thought resonated with something deep inside me. As if the truth of that statement ran deeper than I realized. I had to force my mind back to the current moment. I was pretty sure I knew what that was but I had no time to deal with it. So I turned my attention back to the zombies. I summoned Psychic Aegis, unleashed a roar of defiance, and ran forward to meet the undead. The slaughter was mostly one-sided. Without the two special zombies, they were mindless which wasn''t good per-say but it made avoiding them much easier. I took a seat against the gnarled bark of the decayed tree as I looked over my quest progress. 1. Psychic Mastery(Class): Mastery is born through experience. Kill 1,000 Enemies Reward: Psychic Mastery (700/1,000) 2. Psionic Rain (Class): The Mind is the Only Weapon you will ever need. Defeat thirty opponents with a single attack. Reward: Psionic Rain Spell. (30/30) 3. Intellect Fortress(Class): Endure 10 Psychic Attacks. Reward: Intellect Fortress(0/10) Now that I had a quiet moment part of me wanted to claim the new spell. I considered it for a few moments and there was a strong part of me that wanted to save it. I would have preferred to redeem the spell in the safety of my apartment but that wasn''t being real. I was still in a dangerous scenario for the next few hours which meant I needed every weapon at my disposal. If I was willing to fight a rusty dagger or grab a rock in a cave then I would be an idiot not to use a weapon made for me. With my mind made up I confirmed the quest''s completion and felt a familiar surge of energy. I moved my mind''s eye over my body just in time to catch the new sigil form. It formed on my right arm a bit above where Psychic Blast had settled. Part of me wondered if there was a rhyme or reason to spell placement but I ignored it. This sigil was more complex than both blast and aegis. I wasn''t sure what shape it was supposed to be but it was beautiful to look at. I opened my eyes to the real world just as a new prompt window appeared. [1]Psionic Rain ¨C Proficiency: Novice. The Mind is the Only Weapon you will ever need. Upgradeable A storm of information filled my mind a second later. It only took me a second to process it all but when I was done I couldn''t help but laugh. It was an area-of-effect damage spell that would cause mental weapons to fall from the sky. In other words, it was exactly what I needed. The spell was also ranked. It was a "Peak" quality which if I assumed it followed the set of four that proficiency did there should be a "Low", "Middle", "High" and then a peak. Of course, peak might have been the high equivalent but the small burst didn''t explain any further. I just added it to the list of questions I had. A roar pulled me back to the task at hand. I got to my feet in time to see another special zombie charging me. This one wasn''t humanoid and was closer to a thirty-foot-long undead crocodile. Its scales were curved in a dark black mist that made my skin crawl. Trailing behind the overgrown lizard was another horde of zombies. I summoned my aegis again and started to push energy into my newest spell. I grimaced at the total expenditure. It was around one and a half times the cost of Psychic Blast. As soon as the spell had drunk its fill a ball of deep indigo light shot up into the air. The ball looked like a miniature sun as it floated ominously. A mental thread connected me to it a second later and I realized how the spell worked. I grinned as I let the horde get closer and closer. The open-rotted mouth of the crocodile is my main target. As soon as they were close enough I ordered the ball to shatter. The ball of energy turned into an uncountable number of blades. All of them were a different size and shot toward the incoming horde like heat-seeking missiles. The attack slammed into the crocodile with enough force that it was reduced to zombie chunks. The spell wasn''t exhausted after killing its first target and it quickly decimated the first layer of the horde. Kill energy flooded into me a second after confirming that the spell was better than advertised. What made it even better was that it had a short cool down. I unleashed it again before the horde had crossed half the distance to me. I decided to aim at a spot in the middle of the group instead of at a specific zombie. The resulting blast killed most of the horde though a few survivors had managed to get through. It appeared that the full AOE was around twenty feet or so. Of course, I could narrow it for a stronger but more narrowed effect. After that, it only took me a couple of minutes to finish off the stranglers. There weren''t enough zombies to complete my quest but I still had a bit under three hours to go before I would be teleported away. The only thing that would make this place a better grinding spot would be if they had zombies that unleashed mental attacks. To put the icing on the proverbial cake I was slowly but surely creeping up on level 21. Assuming I didn''t have to wait too much more energy on attacks I figured I would reach the level after a normal day of cultivation. I caught sight of the next horde of zombies and smiled. This one was being led by another ogre only it was about twice as big as the last one. Making me wonder if giants or titans were real. I reigned in my excitement and curiosity to focus on the task at hand. This quest had quickly turned into a gold mine for me and I intended to extract every last benefit possible. Chapter 20: Psychic Mastery My most recent kill fell apart before it was within ten feet of me. It was a weird creature resembling a cross between a bipedal lizard and a peacock. Only its feathers were broken bones. It was also about ten feet tall and released a weird mental attack. I wasn''t sure if it being a zombie changed how the attack was supposed to work since it flared out its tail and released a darkness that felt like it would absorb everything. Either way, it also died and it advanced that quest. The timer for the quest was below half an hour and I had run out of zombies to kill. The mindless ones would eventually as long as they had some of their body left but the special ones were one and done. I gave the area around me another glance before settling into the trunk of a tree. Once the Psychic Mastery quest was finished a dim glow highlighted it which further made me think something was off with it. I settled into my whole and confirmed the quest''s completion. The familiar surge of energy filled me as the new spell sigil was formed. I closed my eyes intending to review it when I felt my mind being swept away. For a moment my mind was floating freely in endless darkness. When the light returned I was seated at the base of a massive tree. From my vantage, the tree might as well have been a bridge from the heavens to the earth. It took me another moment to realize that it wasn''t me who sat under the tree. I was inside the body of a four-armed monk in dark brown robes. I wasn''t sure how long we sat underneath the shade of this tree. The world around us was covered in deep shadows as if the entire world was obscured. The fact didn''t seem to bother my host. Instead, he acted as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Every so often we would release a pulse of white light that pressed against the obscuring darkness. Every pulse revealed a little more about the world. A tree here, a pond there, strange beast but no matter how many pulses we did the world around us stayed obscured. Peaceful content turned into irritation and frustration. The white pulses turned dark red as we forced our will on the world. The darkness seemed to feed on our anger growing even worse until one day a radiant beam of light pierced the center of our head. The light burned away everything. The pain was immense and every instinct we had told us to hide. That the light would only hurt us. That the only way to be safe would be to retreat into the safety of the darkness. It was that last thought that triggered something primordial inside us. Neither of us was sure if it was anger or hatred that became our catalyst. Perhaps it was a desire more powerful than either. Regardless we would rather die than turn to darkness. Which left only the light. We reached for it light a man dying of thirst. Our pain grew and grew until reached a point where there was only pain. Still, we didn''t flinch away, we didn''t hide from it. Neither of us was sure when the light left us. Perhaps it was never truly there. When the pain faded we slowly got to our feet. Our bones creaked and ached as we did. A serenity passed over us as we opened our eyes. Suddenly a golden pulse of light washed out from us and spread in every direction. The light wiped away the darkness and for the first time, the world was finally available. We could see everything from the smallest of bugs to the largest of cities. From the humblest of shopkeepers to the proudest of lords. I could see them all. Just as I was coming to terms with the new bright world I felt myself being pulled away. I railed against whatever it was, every part of me felt that there was an opportunity here if I could just hold on to it. My protest fell on deaf ears my mind was yanked back from its home and into the darkness. I railed against the unjust fate. I had just defeated the darkness. I had won. I had¡ª the thought was lost when I found myself in my body once again. I crawled out from the base of three and scanned the world around me. I was in the swamp again. I checked myself over and I was in my body. The man from the vision was nowhere to be seen. Even the world around me felt dreary. It wasn''t the same darkness from the vision, it was more like I had just been shown what a 4k TV looked like and now I was stuck watching 720p. I pulled up my status screen and found a new option waiting for me. I had just gotten my first Tao! Tao Strand of Lucidity ¡ª Comprehension: Low. Perception +10, Wisdom +10 Tao Strand of Adamance ¡ª Comprehension: Low. Wisdom +15, Constitution +5 Just like that, the good times continue to roll. I wasn''t sure how useful those two Tao would be but that didn''t matter. What mattered was that I had gotten two of them. The System agreed with me since I also got two new titles. Beloved by Tao: First in the World to gain understanding and form a Tao Strand. All stats +15, All stats +15%. Perfect 100: Get 100 points in all attributes while in the 1st Realm. Reward: Potency of Attributes +5% My attributes were getting pretty scary. I still had nothing to compare them to but I had to be head and shoulders above the average by now. It was a bit amusing how little balance the System seemed to provide. There had to be some kind of upper limit on the power I could have in the first realm. Either way, it wasn''t my problem. I would keep getting stronger no matter what. I rolled my shoulders and pulled up the new Tao menu but it didn''t explain what it was that they did. I placed it on the back burner while I reviewed my newest spell. [1] Psychic Mastery - Proficiency: Low. Mastery is born through experience. Upgradeable. The sigil for it was strange. I couldn''t put my finger on what it was supposed to be. In truth, it reminded me a bit of an MC Escher painting where the more I looked at it the more the meaning changed. I could tell that it was connected to my new strands but I wasn''t sure what that meant. Would I need to advance the spell to advance the strands? I sent a bit of spiritual energy into the sigil and the entire world became grey. I flinched away from the sigil like I had touched a hot stove. I scanned the world around me expecting a new zombie to rush me but there was nothing. The swamp was eerily silent. My danger sense hadn''t even gone off. I bit back my hesitation and the nagging voice in my head that said I should wait until I was somewhere safe and sat down. I took a breath and pushed energy back into the sigil. When the world turned grey again I realized that it wasn''t grey. It was just muted when a pair of glowing hand marks appeared in front of me. I stared at them before gently poking at them. My fingers went right through. They weren''t real. Honestly, they reminded me a bit of¡ª that thought faded as a grin spread across my face. They reminded me of training markers. Like from a video game. I placed both hands into the spots and waited. A 3-D image of a sphere slowly formed in front of me as if someone was pulling the thread out of a spindle I couldn''t see. The outline of the "thread" led away from the slowly forming ball and to my right temple. I stared at the image for a second not understanding what it wanted me to do. At first, I thought it wanted me to manipulate spiritual energy into a ball but spiritual energy didn''t come from my head. Just to be sure I pushed spiritual energy through my channels and into my head. After that, there was nothing I could do but forcibly push against my temple. A sensation that burned like a bitch. I stopped and tried to figure something else out. I took a deep breath and tried to pull psychic energy through my temple the same way. It was a bit weird and if both of my offensive spells didn''t require a small amount of this energy I wouldn''t have known it existed. Trying to manipulate it on my own felt like trying to control an involuntary muscle. I wasn''t sure how long it took before I managed it. Dull indigo energy flowed out of my temple and down toward the space between my hands. I wished I could say that it worked like the training image but that would be a lie. Trying to control required control over my mind to a degree that I had never considered before. The further it got from my head the harder it was for me to control. I lost it several times and had to restart the process. I had only managed to form a knot barely bigger than my fingernail when I was forced to give up. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Mental exhaustion filled me to the point it felt like I was drunk. I stumbled to my feet as the quest timer hit five minutes. I hadn''t been attacked by any more zombies which was good. Even the thought of unleashing a new attack made my head hurt. I still had several more questions but it wasn''t hard to piece together what my new spell or I guess skill was. It was designed to teach me how to manipulate psychic energy. Which made me wonder if I would be able to form psychic weapons like my other spells and if so why would I need the original spell? Ultimately all of those were questions for another time. Right now I needed to make sure I was ready to go. The quest was effectively over and I was around 70% of the way to my next level. Cultivation was a big no in this environment. I wasn''t sure how or why but the death in the swamp almost felt alive. I couldn''t be sure but it seemed like there was a Tao of death here and that it would enter my channels if I pulled energy inside. Now that I had a Tao I understood a bit more about the feeling. Either way, it wasn''t important now. I suppressed my aura and killing intent again and waited for the countdown. Tutorial Quest has concluded. Commencing teleportation. As soon as I heard the System''s voice I smiled and let the teleportation take me away. When I could see again I was standing in the plaza. I couldn''t remember the last time I was pulled back here conscious which was pretty nice. Based on the other people teleporting the amount of deaths had decreased. A lot of people were sporting wounds of all kinds but that was better than the alternative. Still, there were more than a few who had a blank look of loss on their faces. It was another reminder of why I didn''t want to partner up with other people. Would I have been able to keep pushing forward into harder and harder quests if I had to walk over the bodies of people I knew? I was pulled out of my self-reflection by another message from the System. The tutorial title was upgraded. Tutorial- Quest 8: Survive The Tutorial. Reward: All Attributes +10, All Attributes +10%, Potency of Attributes +10% Choose Reward: High-Grade Wisdom Fruit, High-Grade Agility Fruit, High-Grade Intelligence Fruit I rubbed my hands together as I reviewed my options. All three options had strong arguments for them. Wisdom and Intelligence were the pillars of my class so more points in either of them would be helpful. Of course that was also a solid argument against either one of those. Every level would give me a boost to those which meant any boosts to any other attribute would need to come from outside sources. I went back and forth on each one for another few minutes before making my selection. A white box appeared at my feet a second later and I quickly collected it. There was no reason to reveal the fruit in front of all these other people so I placed it in my bag and headed toward my apartment. When I stepped into my apartment I took a deep breath. The odd rustic smell was like ambrosia when compared to the horrid swamp. I was more than happy to just breathe it in. I absentmindedly wondered if there was a magical air freshener available. After a few more minutes I made my way over to a chair and sat down. I pulled out the attribute fruit and bit into it. My jaw tightened as the sweetness flooded my mouth. I grimaced and forced myself to keep chewing. The sustenance pills they provided were enough to keep us alive but it was not the same as actually eating. Once the fruit was finished off I pulled up my status screen to review my new attribute total.
Name Amari Jackson
Level 20
Class [1-Epic]Psionic Paragon
Species [2]Human
Affiliation Earth
Manual [1]Ethereal Codex(22%)
Titles Beloved by Tao, Big Game, Chosen, First to Ten, Leader of the Pack, Monstersbane, Overlord Slayer, Overpowered, Perfect 100, Prime Hunter, Voyager,
Limited Titles Tutorial-Eighth Assignment
Tao Strand of Adamance ¡ª Comprehension: Low, Strand of Lucidity ¡ª Comprehension: Low
Agility 111 (Increase:65%. Potency:115%)
Constitution 124 (Increase:65%. Potency:115%)
Intelligence 117 (Increase:70%. Potency:115%)
Luck 112 (Increase:65%. Potency:115%)
Perception 117 (Increase:65%. Potency:115%)
Strength 101 (Increase:65%. Potency:115%)
Wisdom 221 (Increase:75%. Potency:115%)
Free Points 0
System Credits 00
The Intelligence fruit was finally enough to bring Intelligence ahead of Agility. Of course, it was still second to Constitution which was amusing. My Attention was drawn to the tutorial title. Eight assignments were done which meant this gauntlet was almost over. For some reason, that idea tied my stomach up in a knot. It didn''t take a psychology degree to know what I was feeling. A part of me didn''t want the current situation to end. This was so so simple. Despite the dangers, the consistency was oddly comforting. Either way, there was nothing I could do about it. There was also a weird feeling that had been brewing inside me. It was like I knew that the tutorial didn''t have much more to give me. It was a bit like my danger sense but not as powerful. I got to my feet and rolled my shoulders. I needed to figure out how my new Tao worked but before that, I needed to recover more of my mental energy. I made my way into my cultivation chamber and sealed the door. I made a mental note to learn how to make one of these rooms as soon as possible. I took a deep breath and began circulating the Ethereal Codex. The rest of the day was a practice in patience for me. I was close to getting my next level but I was also close to getting how the tao worked. It was odd it wasn''t quite the same as manipulating energy nor was it a spell. I could control it at the cost of my mental energy. The problem was that it didn''t seem to do anything. I could assume that Adamance was going to be more about protecting my mind and maybe making my effects more powerful. I had figured out how to pass it through my body though so that was pretty cool. It wasn''t the same as what the other monster did nor did it make my punches harder but it felt nice. As for lucidity I either had no way to test it or it didn''t do anything. The fact that it boosted Perception made me think it was meant for observation or seeing through other effects. So that was filed away for later. Adamance had also proven a theory I had. I could push the tao into a spell sigil. The process was a bit tricky. It was like splitting your focus in two where half focused on the spiritual energy and half did the mental. The result was more than worth it. Psychic Aegis grew more durable. I didn''t have any method to test how much stronger it got but it was beautiful. The improved barrier didn''t even consume more spiritual energy which upgraded my defenses to a whole new tier. Lastly, I had experimented with combining the two as well and it had mixed results. The actual combining was fairly straightforward but the two were a bit like oil and water. I could manipulate them separately but forcing them together was a pain. What made it worse was that I didn''t have any mental energy to keep up the training. Which was why I was stuck in my cultivation chamber trying to focus on my technique. It was a bit like being told to eat my broccoli while a nice cake was just sitting in the fridge. There was nothing I could do though even cultivating while low on mental energy was hard. Once I couldn''t take the strain any longer I headed to bed. Tomorrow should be a very interesting day. Chapter 21: Affinity I woke up early the next day and stepped into my bathroom. I was about to take a quick shower when I caught sight of myself in the mirror. My face had changed. It was hard to place my finger on what had changed it was like my features were clearer. Improving my species had made me more attractive but this was like getting work done. Except my features weren''t any different. It was hard to explain but I wasn''t complaining. I could have become a model before things changed. Or even an actor. I gave myself a few more minutes to admire my new beauty before I returned to my morning ritual. Once I was ready I headed out. I stepped into the hallway just as the hum began. I headed down to the plaza and found something strange. Aina and the other two instructors stood in the middle of an arena. It was an old-style Roman amphitheater with white stone seating. In the middle of the arena was a grey orb the size of a car. It somehow floated a few feet of the ground and I couldn''t tell if it was a solid or liquid. It looked a bit like it was somehow both and neither at the same time. I slowly made my way to the front row as other people started to file in. Most of the seats were full this time which was a surprise. I wasn''t sure if everyone was told to show up or if everyone just decided to. Either way, it was a bit startling to see all of us seated together. It was kind of like going to a football game only the mood was much more somber. Expressions ranged from vacant stares to irritation. The instructors either didn''t care or hadn''t noticed. "Greetings everyone." Aina''s voice somehow filled the entire amphitheater as if they were speaking through a megaphone. "Today will be our last session today as a result we will be discussing a topic that will be key to your future development. Your affinity with the Great Tao." Aina raised a hand to quiet everyone before they continued. "Affinity is the thing that separates you from the lesser beings of your home planet. In some circles, it can be referred to as spirituality heaven''s blessing, or any number of alternatives. It refers to the power of your connection with the truths of the universe or the Tao of the universe. It is a range where on one end people can lack all spirituality and are not cultivators. These people are sometimes called mortals or the unfortunates or any number of terms. They all refer to the same thing. On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have people with extraordinary affinities. The heaven''s chosen of the multiverse. It is believed that the Great Tao is myriad and therefore there are as many different Tao as there are grains of sand or stars." Aina stepped toward the sphere and placed their palm on it. The sphere rippled as if they had skipped a rock across a pond. "Your spirituality represents your connection to the heavens as a result nothing can take it from you and improving it is incredibly difficult. You should be able to comprehend the difference between even the weakest of cultivators and those who were left behind." I scanned the crowd as a bad feeling built in my chest. I had been assuming that the clear propaganda wasn''t going to work on anyone. Now though I wasn''t sure. How many of the people here had lost someone during the tutorial? How easy would it be to convince themselves that they were special? That they were chosen to lead? People had convinced themselves of that easily before we had magic and literal elementals telling us it was true. I grimaced as more and more people hung on to Aina''s words. "This is a relatively common item throughout the multiverse and has many names. Heaven''s Providence Array, Fate Array, Celestial Harmony Array, Affinity Array etc. At its core, it will show us your affinities." Aina released a small bit of energy into the sphere. At first, nothing happened and murmurs began to eat up the silence. Before anyone could work up the nerve to interrupt the middle of the sphere turned a beautiful azure blue. It then shifted to roiling waves that looked like they could drown entire cities. The image slowly faded after a few seconds but the effect it had on the crowd on all of us was immense. "Each of you will come and place your hand on the array. The array will pull some of your spiritual energy into the center. It will then display your highest affinities. This will give you some idea of what tao to focus on. For those of you who aim for higher rarity, your classes will provide a glimpse of the Tao for the rest of you. Proper meditation is the only way to move forward." I gave the crowd another glance but it seemed like no one knew anything about what they were talking about which meant my lead was still comfortable. The more I thought about it the more that thought started to make me uncomfortable. Surely someone else had to be close enough to know class rarities right? Other tutorial groups might have had more people better suited for this. After all, there had to be some soldiers that could do something. If not then there wasn''t going to be a battle royale for the planet. Everyone would just lose to me. I was pulled out of that train of thought as people started to stand up. I decided to hang back and watch the other tests. I already had two tao strands so it didn''t seem as important. The tests continued uneventfully. The first hundred or so had small elemental showings. Small flames, small waves, and stone on occasion. Only one person had a display that was close to Aina''s. A young woman with brown skin and waist-length hair. She was one of the few people still wearing old-world clothes. Though they weren''t damaged so I wasn''t sure how she managed it. When she touched the orb a cloud of dark purple gas roiled inside. It took me a second to realize that it was poison. The cloud stayed there for a few seconds longer before she moved back to her seat. I made a mental note to speak with her if we ran into each other again. After her, it got boring again. A few people had weird affinities like gravity and stars but even they didn''t have very large ones. It wasn''t hard to figure that without some serious work, most people on Earth were going to be unremarkable. It took nearly two hours before the line decreased enough for me to join. I decided to take the last spot so I could try and steal some time with any of the instructors. Before I could get my turn someone caused a twin image to appear. Wind and Fire coiled around each other into a massive tornado. The image was every bit equal to Aina''s waves if not better. When I saw who summoned it I couldn''t help but laugh. Ajani was at the front holding his hands in the air like he had just won the NBA Finals. Tyrone was right after him and his image was only slightly smaller but it was much more interesting. A bow made out of sticks with arrows made of bone. It took me a second to understand what it was supposed to be. His affinities were for archery and plants. Or maybe nature? I wasn''t sure if there was a difference between the two or not but it didn''t matter. They both had pretty badass affinities. Not to mention that they had to be pretty high up in whatever ranking they were using. When it was finally my turn I stepped up to the sphere and pushed the strand of lucidity into my eyes. When I did I caught the sigils inside the sphere. It was a bit like they had formed a string of connected sigils. It was beautiful and complicated. I ended the effect before placing my palm against it. The sphere drained energy rapidly. After the first three seconds, I lost almost ten percent of the energy in my dantian. I tried to pull my hand away but it was like I had become magnetized to it. I tried to summon Psychic Aegis only for my danger sense to warn me against it. I turned to Aina who did nothing. Once the sphere had drained nearly twenty percent of my spiritual energy it stopped and I collapsed to one knee. Before I could catch my breath the sphere began to change. The image turned into a roaring inferno that looked like it could incinerate the world. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. From there it shifted into the deepest depths of the ocean and then into a mountain that dwarfed even the largest of earth. From there it turned into a blur as it moved from one impossible image to the next. Black flames, golden light, a tree that towered to the heavens, Prismatic colors that defied words. The sphere had come alive with images so real that I thought they would rip themselves free and destroy us all. I wasn''t sure how long the display continued before it died down. It felt like my heart had stopped as my eyes scanned the orb and then the sky. I wasn''t sure if I had done something wrong or if the System would descend. Thankfully the instructors saw fit to dispel the silence. "How interesting. You are from this planet aren''t you?" I tore my attention from the sphere and toward Aina. "Uh yeah? I am pretty sure. Why?" "Your affinities are excellent people like you are usually born to important clans or sects. It''s a shame you would have likely become a real son of heaven had you been born in proper soil. Still, the merger is a unique enough situation. People who rise from newly merged planets tend to have great potential if they make it. You should work hard." I stared at each of them for a long moment but it was clear that whatever had just happened was no longer interesting to them. I stepped away from the sphere still expecting lightning or something to slam into me. "What do you mean by excellent?" "I mean that your affinities are high enough that you can grow in any direction you see fit. The tapestry of the Grand Tao is yours to take in." "Could I take all of them?" A snicker brought my attention to the woman. "Audacious youngster, what would your path even be if you tried? The tribulations alone would be enough to wipe your planet from the river of time." "Tribulation? What do you mean? Why would I be punished for doing everything?" I looked toward Aina who let out a sigh. "To cultivate is to steal from Heaven. Some consequences and prices must be paid to progress on your path regardless of your affinity. If you were to try and take all the tao under the Heavens as your own the tribulations you would face would be tragic. Furthermore, you have to consider time. You would have to spend centuries at every step expanding your understanding of every part of the tapestry. Even with your affinities. It would be wiser to focus on some that mean something to you and progress there. If you were to reach the peak you may spend your later years experimenting with whatever you like." Aina said before turning away from me. "As for the rest of you, I would strongly recommend you begin your meditation. Now that you know where your affinities lie it would be best for you to try and form a connection to it. Over time that connection will blossom into understanding. An understanding that will greatly improve your class selection." I wanted to ask some more questions but quickly realized they weren''t going to help me. Once people started to file out the trio disappeared. I stared at the spot where they had been standing but as far as I could tell they had just disappeared. I even tried my tao and nothing worked. I considered touching the sphere again but if it broke I didn''t want to risk getting smitten by an angry god. I decided to follow the others out. When I reached my apartment I took a moment to review the visions and truth be told they were all pretty impressive. There were even a few beats inside but what they said about stretching myself too thin did make sense. It was possible to spend your entire life in university to study every subject but what would be the point? By the time you finish, you won''t have the time. The problem would get worse if it was connected to my lifespan. If it took me four hundred years to gather one Strand of everything then I would have to rush forward to advance. Of course, I would then be weaker than my peers. Assuming that strands eventually evolved into something else. How many would I have to master to be able to equal just one of those things? Of course, the counterpoint was just as important. It would be a waste of my affinities to just master two of them. Wouldn''t it? Once again my problem was I had too little information. If the standard was one or two then my class had set me up pretty well already but if the standard was three or four then I needed to get to work. I took a deep breath and moved into my cultivation chamber. This whole thing was supposed to be my journey so the question becomes what do I want? I took a deep breath and started to circulate my cultivation method. I welcomed the energy into my dantian while I wandered to everything I saw today. The base elements were the most common not counting wind. Metal was up there as well. I wondered if we would have to deal with some Magneto copycats. Of course that would also be pretty cool. Once I had fully calmed down I pulled out two spirit stones and let the fresh energy flood into my channels. It was a bit easier to deal with the full torrent now. If anything it was starting to feel good, like the burn of drinking a soda. I decided to cultivate until I got back what I lost. I then placed the stones away and meditated on the tao. I focused on the sensation when the system pulled us away. I wasn''t sure if the Tao of Space meant outer space or like 3-D space but whichever one would let me teleport was the one I wanted. According to Aina, it was one of the "More profound Tao" but having it would make me even more valuable. I also wanted to teleport. I could feel that I was making progress but it felt a bit like building a snowball where each step built on the one before it. Altogether I couldn''t complain about the progress I couldn''t help but feel antsy about it. The kitty gloves were going to come off when we went back and I still had no way of knowing what my numbers meant. Could I survive a gunshot now? What about a tank? Or a missile? Was I fast enough to dodge a bullet? I chuckled dryly to myself as I imagined standing on a rooftop while bullets pinged off my chest. "Sounds like I am going to have it get a cape and an S on my chest." I snorted at the mental image. "Tights and spandex are not for me." I decided that I had enough training today and made my way back to my bed. Tomorrow I was going to take the hardest difficulty quest. I sat in the plaza waiting for the timer to hit zero. Today was an odd mix of somber acceptance and jittery energy. Everyone was here at the same time today. As if they felt it would be wrong not to do the last quest together. There were a few groups that were high-fiving as they made their plans. In truth I couldn''t blame them they were all probably taking the easiest quest available to make sure they got home safely. Which was certainly a logical choice. Which only made what I was about to do wilder. I pulled up the quest menu and scrolled over to the hardest choice. 99% chance of death. The rewards for this one would have to be epic. I took a calming breath as the timer hit zero and the System pulled me away. When I arrived at my quest location I was struck dumb. I was inside of a Roman-style coliseum that was as big as a football stadium. The sky above me was filled with the biggest and most beautiful stars I had ever seen. Despite that the across from me made my blood run arctic cold. A five-headed hydra. Its heads were five different colors, one for each of the eastern elements. The overgrown lizard was at least thirty feet tall and emitted a killing intent that felt like someone had reached into my chest and was crushing my heart. I unleashed my aura hoping that it would give me the space to breathe, to think but it was like trying to hold back the ocean with my bare hands. For the first time since the tutorial began, I was truly terrified. Chapter 22: The Ninth Assignment The System''s voice filled my mind but it might as well have been a whisper. The monstrosity completely consumed my attention. How the hell was I supposed to fight something like this? A scream of danger that made every hair on my body stand at attention told me I had no more time. I dived to the ground just as a torrent of flames shot from the first mouth. The heat passed so close to me that the hair in my nose was scorched. On instinct, I leaped to my feet and turned into a spin. I sprinted for the wall as a torrent of water destroyed the ground where I stood. I pushed spiritual energy into the sigil and a ball of mental energy lit up the arena. I unleashed Psionic Rain the hand-sized blades looked like toothpicks as they fell on the hydra. I knew that the attack was mental, that the size of the blades didn''t matter but that did nothing for the growing dread in my heart. Another scream of danger forced me to activate Psychic Aegis in its wall form. The barrier appeared just before twin breaths of liquid metal and earth slammed into it. My mind blanked out as I was inundated with two Tao strands. Psychic Aegis began to crack as I fought desperately to hold on. The wooden head prepared to unleash a breath attack that would end this battle before it had begun. I desperately reached for my tao and pushed it into the rapidly crumbling barrier. Psychic Aegis quivered as the shard of adamance entered it but how could one strand defend against two? The third breath attack slammed into my barrier, and a concentrated beam of acid tore through the aegis as if it were made out of paper. I rolled and narrowly avoided two of the three breaths. The liquid metal caught my arm before the shield in my robes sprang up. I screamed as my skin was cut and burned. The pain was enough to make me want to cut off the limb and I had to resist blasting myself with my spells. I turned my pain into rage and hatred aimed solely at the hydra. I snarled in defiance as the metal began to cool around my right arm. I pushed spiritual energy into Psychic Blast and Psionic Rain their sigils quivered as the strands of adamance and lucidity flooded them. It felt like my mind was being split as I tried to control them. I let out a roar of defiance as both spells activated. My attacks slammed into the hydra with a force that was almost physical. The hydra staggered for a second before unleashing a roar that shook me to my bones. A primordial fear flooded my body. The hydra turned into a demonic beast the size of a mountain. My heart pounded in my chest as every instinct in my body told me to run. That I had no chance, that I would be food if I dared stay here. I squeezed my eyes shut and flooded my mind with the strand of adamance. The tao was like a calming rain as the mental attack was forced back. I could still feel the fear, it was like a tsunami threatening to overwhelm the island of my mind. A scream of danger shot through me and I was moving before I had the chance to process what had happened. When my mind caught up cold dread shot down my spine. The hydra had combined the fire and earth breath weapons into molten lava. A twenty-foot-wide circle had been burned and melted in an instant. I conjured Psychic Aegis in a bubble around me though I wasn''t sure if it would be strong enough to defend against another attack like that. I unleashed another pair of attacks while running as far away as I could. The entire arena was turning into a sauna and there was nothing I could do about it. My mind raced for a solution for the battle but there was nothing more I could do. There was no way I could physically break its scales which meant mental attacks were all I had. Another scream of danger forced me into a dive and a roll. This time the acidic breath carved a light through the back wall. I gritted my teeth as fury warred with my fear. I wasn''t prey. I turned to face the hydra amplifying the flames of my anger. I needed anything but the fear. I burned the image of the lava in my mind and pushed energy into the sigil for Psionic Rain. This time I reached for both strands and tried to force them together. The sigil began to tremble as if it was on the brink of collapse. I took another breath and closed my eyes. I envisioned the two strands as literal strands of string. I turned my mental energy into thin needles that attached themselves to their front. I threaded the two strands of tao into a braid and then guided the braid into the sigil. There was a brief period of resistance before my new braid collapsed together. For a moment I thought I failed, that I had somehow fucked up then my mental energy drained like a sieve. My eyes flew open as Psionic Rain fully formed above me. The blub of mental energy had transformed into a sphere that thrummed with energy. It emitted pressure that made it feel both real and fake as if it was constantly oscillating between the two states. I only hesitated a moment before giving the order. The sphere exploded into a shower of amorphous shards. The rain sliced through the hydra with enough power that all five of its heads let out a roar of agony. Then the fire and water heads collapsed. The light had gone from their eyes. Before I could relish the victory a head-splitting pain blossomed in the center of my head. I fell to one knee as a scream tore itself from my lips. I didn''t have the time to process what had just happened as another scream of danger forced me to dive to the side. A blast of molten metal destroyed the space I had just been in. I reached for my tao prepared to unleash another attack when the head-splitting pain returned and I had to stop. It felt like someone had taken a pick axe to my head. I forced my panic down and tried to rotate my spiritual energy. When my dantian responded I let out a sigh of relief. I hadn''t damaged myself so why couldn''t I use my tao? I quickly scanned my body for any signs of a problem but couldn''t find anything. It wasn''t until I found Psychic Mastery that I realized my mistake. I hadn''t been managing my psychic energy. I swore and turned my attention back to the hydra. I summoned a spirit stone from my bag and welcomed the torrent of energy. It felt like I held a live power line as the full energy of the stone flooded my channels. Pain mixed with anger and became the fuel that sparked a storm. Instead of guiding it into my dantian, I pushed it toward my sigils. Psionic Rain and Psychic Blast reached their limits in less than a second. I refused to let them go as my danger sense screamed at me. I didn''t think I would survive if they both backlashed. A torrent of Acid and Dirt shot for me just as the sigils felt like they would collapse. I exhaled and unleashed both of my spells. A beam of pure mental energy rushed to meet the twin attack as if it alone would be enough to rend the hydra to pieces. Less than a second later Psionic Rain shattered and blades fell from the sky like the judgment from an angry god. Psychic Blast passed through the liquid earth as if it wasn''t there before blasting into the metallic head. Right on its heels the dozens of blades fell. I could almost see the hydra''s soul being eviscerated. My focus was pulled away from my enemy as the acid slammed into my barrier it held just long enough to exhaust the attack. Once it shattered I brought both arms forward to shield as much of my body as I could. Liquid earth slammed into me with the force of a freight train in the next second. I was thrown back and into the wall like a rag doll. I closed my mouth and fought to keep my head up as my bones began to break. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I forced down a scream and fought against the urge to blackout until the torrent finally ended. I sent a thread of spiritual energy into Psychic Aegis. The sudden appearance of the shield sent a wave of fresh agony through me as the dirt shifted. I couldn''t tell how many of my bones were broken but I could still move. I waited a second for the kill energy but when it didn''t come I swore to and at every god I could think of. What more did this world want from me? I let out a grunt of pain and worked up my courage. I yelled and ripped my arms free of the wall behind me. A few moments later I had pulled myself free of the wall. When I caught sight of the hydra I couldn''t help but laugh. All the heads were down except for the metal one. I could tell that it was on its last legs. I summoned another of my spirit stones and began absorbing the energy. My channels ached as if they were furious with me. I bit back a cry of pain and forced the energy into Psionic Rain. The second it took for the spell to activate felt like an eternity. The rain fell on the hydra a second later and a torrent of kill energy exploded through me. It felt like I had tried to absorb every one of my spirit stones at the same time. I didn''t have a chance to resist before the darkness claimed me. When I came to I was back in my room and fully healed. The System had even repaired my channels on top of that the energy from the kill was enough to push me to level 21. None of that was the important part though, my undivided attention was on the rewards for completing the quest. Choice of Reward: Offensive Spell, Support Spell, or Movement Spell. NOTE: All skills will have 80% compatibility or higher I was confident in not taking the Offensive spell for now. Between Psychic Blast and Psionic Rain, I felt pretty good on that end. There was also what I could make happen with Psychic Mastery. If there had been a defensive option that would have been my go to but alas the System didn''t provide it. The System promised that the compatibility would be high so it wouldn''t be a problem no matter what I picked. If I assumed that compatibility also equated to how useful it would be then the situation was even better. It would guarantee that it would be an amazing spell. Even if the two weren''t related the fact that it came as a reward vouched for effectiveness. The only question was what did I want? I considered it for a few more minutes but ultimately this wasn''t a complex choice. I knew nothing besides the basic description so I went with what sounded like the most fun. As soon as I made my choice a blinding pain shot through my spine. It felt like someone had just branded me with a hot iron from the center of the earth. The pain hit me so suddenly that I couldn''t do anything but take it. When it subsided sweat poured down my face and my vision swam. I tenderly pressed against the base of my spine expecting for there to be a wound or burn mark but there was nothing. "Is there a reason it has to hurt?" I called out to the System and to anyone who just happened to be listening. I laid back on the bed and took a deep breath. I passed my senses over the area and found my new spell sigil. As soon as I did the spell''s prompt appeared and it was 100% worth it. [1]Apportation ¨C Proficiency: Novice: Move with the swiftness of thought.". Upgradeable I read the message twice just in case it was some cosmic joke but when the words stayed the same I couldn''t stop myself. I laughed. I laughed until my stomach hurt as I mentally replayed the battle. "If I had known that winning would give me a spell like this I 100% would do it all over again." When I finally stopped laughing I got to my feet and activated the spell. Or tried to because the spell was gluttonous it consumed more than three times the energy of Psionic Rain. When it finally drank its fill space in front of me rippled and distorted as if it were the surface of a pond. It then began to glow a deep indigo and azure color as it was slowly pulled apart. The distortion turned into a ten-foot-long horizontal line that slowly pulled itself apart. The edge pulsing in rhythm first indigo and then azure. It took me a second to realize that the portal was pulsing in rhythm with my heartbeat. On the other side of the distortion was completely opaque like an indigo pond. I wasn''t sure how I knew when the spell was finished but as soon as it did I stepped forward. As soon as I stepped into the portal it felt like I had passed through warm water. I reached down half expecting to be covered in water but there was nothing. A strange serenity passed over me in the next moment. The stress from the battle and the end of the tutorial practically dissolved as the portal closed behind me. I stood there for what felt like an instant and an eternity before I realized the problem. I hadn''t decided on where I wanted to go. I resisted the urge to hit myself in the head and focused on my cultivation chamber. A second later another portal opened. This one was fully azure blue and when I passed through, it was like surfacing from the depths of a vast ocean. I took a moment to look around and sure enough, I was in my chamber. I turned around just as the portal collapsed into a simple horizontal line. A second later the line disappeared. "Greatest spell so far," I said with a massive grin. I opened the door slowly just in case I had somehow stepped into some alternate reality but nothing happened. I made my way back to the bed and sat down. I decided to do a full review of the spell including its sigil and learned two things. The spell perfectly fits my channels. It was the same as the ones from my class. The second thing was it was a "Supreme" spell which was the highest quality you could get. Altogether the spell alone made the battle worth it and that wasn''t everything I got. The change to my title screen was just as good. I had gained something called "Title Permanence" that moved my limited tutorial title over to my permanent title list. Which freed up my limited slot. Unfortunately, the title itself didn''t change except for the name. I pulled up my status screen and quickly reviewed my options. My attributes were pretty set, especially with the points that automatically went into Wisdom and Intelligence. Which left me choosing between Constitution and Agility. I thought about it for a few moments before putting both into Agility. If it came down to it I would prefer to not be where an attack will land than to endure the attack. With that done I wasn''t sure what I should do next. I had used up two more of my spirit stones so I couldn''t push myself to level 25 immediately and using them as energy batteries were effective. Unfortunately, there wasn''t much else to do. I could either cultivate, meditate, or sleep. My head still ached so meditating or practicing with the tao was out. I also couldn''t practice with Psychic Mastery for the same reason. I considered trying to sleep again but I wasn''t tired at all which left me one choice. I sighed and made my way into my cultivation chamber. It was time to start the road to level 22. Chapter 23 Home Sweet Home The next two days passed quietly. There was no education session nor did we get a hum to wake us in the morning. The change in my routine put me on edge but there was nothing to do. I even went to the plaza just in case there was some sort of secret meeting that we weren''t told about. There was nothing. I returned to my apartment and went straight back to cultivating. The two days of near-nonstop progress were just enough to push me to level 22. After I factored in one of my spirit stones. The points went into Perception this time. After leveling up it became harder to motivate myself to keep going. The lack of fire under my ass was draining especially since I should be in first place. I devoted some time to meditating on both of my tao and thought I was making progress. Thankfully day thirty brought about something interesting. I woke up to the morning hum and got myself dressed. I managed to store the chairs, bed, and the cultivation mat. When the System didn''t blow me up I assumed that it was okay. It was a bit amusing to watch the massive items dissolve into light and go into the bag. Despite all the magical spells the bag somehow felt the most magical. I gave the room another scan to make sure there was nothing important getting left behind. After that, I stepped out into the hall. As soon as the door closed it melted into the wall. The liquid metal reminded me a bit of the Terminator and sure enough, when I tried I couldn''t open it. "Guess that means I officially got to get the fuck out." I chuckled to myself before making my way down to the plaza. I watched more and more people file in and a pretty big problem revealed itself. There was a clear delineation between the two groups. Some people looked either scared, skittish, or vacant. These people still wore old earth clothes. Most of which were in tatters to the point that they looked a bit like video game NPCs. They had given up after the first three quests and then must have hidden somewhere or let others deal with the rest. The bigger problem was the other group. They looked like a weird collection of Larpers. They all wore robes and armor of various types including full plate, chain mail, leather, and a few I didn''t recognize. These people all gave off an oppressive weight. At first, I thought that they were letting their killing intent flow off of them but it wasn''t quite right. It was more like they had closed a door but didn''t seal up the edges. Which let some passively leak out. I didn''t like the idea of a strict hierarchy like that especially now that there was likely no more rule of law but there wasn''t much for me to do. My aura had increased by an order of magnitude now that I had gained two tao. If I unleashed it here I wasn''t sure what would happen. I also wasn''t sure if that''s what I wanted. It didn''t feel right to just go around intimidating everyone or in some cases threatening to kill them. Of course, I would have to cross that bridge eventually. Especially if I wanted to use my hub. I also noticed a few interesting weapons. There were the usual fantasy weapons, bows, swords, shields e.t.c as well as more unique ones like Glaives. One person had a strange weapon that had a circular blade with a handle. It was small enough so I assumed it was held in one hand but I couldn''t tell how you would fight with it. It kind of looked like it was supposed to be a punching weapon. I was pulled out of my thoughts when the voice of the System filled my head. Congratulations on Completing The Tutorial Trial. Final Grade is being calculated. Grade Earned: S: Final Tutorial Ranking: 1 Final Tutorial Reward Improved. Reward Distribution has begun. Final Reward: Pinnacle Title, System Hub upgraded. System Credit Totals have now been provided. So that''s how it works. I couldn''t help but grin at my ranking. It was one thing to know it intellectually and another to see it officially. I was the best person on the entire planet who took part in the tutorial. I looked around and was pretty sure that everyone had received a similar message. Some people were thrilled while others looked completely uninterested. I pulled up my title screen to review my newest. Pinnacle. Reward: Be the Highest Performer in The Tutorial of your World. Reward: Luck +5, Luck +20% Potency of all Attributes +5% Well, that will do it. I chuckled to myself as I reviewed the title. That was a massive boost to my luck. To the point where it was now my second-best Attribute. I still wasn''t sure how effective it was but since I got the points for free who was I to complain? Next, I turned my attention to the rest of my status screen, and what I saw almost made me shed a tear.
Name Amari Jackson
Level 22
Class [1-Epic]Psionic Paragon
Species [2]Human
Affiliation Earth
Manual [1]Ethereal Codex(22%)
Titles Beloved by Tao, Big Game, Chosen, First to Ten, Leader of the Pack, Monstersbane, Overlord Slayer, Overpowered, Perfect 100, Prime Hunter, Tutorial, Voyager,
Limited Titles Pinnacle
Tao Strand of Adamance ¡ª Comprehension: Low, Strand of Lucidity ¡ª Comprehension: Low
Agility 114 (Increase:65%. Potency:120%)
Constitution 124 (Increase:65%. Potency:120%)
Intelligence 122 (Increase:70%. Potency:120%)
Luck 135 (Increase:85%. Potency:120%)
Perception 120 (Increase:65%. Potency:120%)
Strength 101 (Increase:65%. Potency:120%)
Wisdom 229 (Increase:75%. Potency:120%)
Free Points
System Credits [1] 3,000,000
| I had three million credits. I assumed that money was somewhat similar to earths which should mean that I was quite wealthy. Still had nothing to spend it on but as far as I was concerned that''s a problem for the future. I might be able to buy more healing pills. I reviewed everything one more time before closing the screen. We still hadn''t been told what to expect for today besides that we were going home so I wasn''t sure¡ªBefore I could finish the thought the voice of the System returned. The Tutorial Protocol has ended. Return to Planet Earth Initiated The countdown has been initiated This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I took one last look around as the timer hit zero. I wasn''t sure how I felt about this place. It was technically a prison and we were technically forced to fight monsters. It had also been a place where I had changed. Whether it was emotionally, mentally, or physically I went through a metamorphosis. I wasn''t sure if the changes were good. My thoughts were interrupted as darkness consumed the world around me. I felt the System pull me away and took a deep breath. I had no idea why I could breathe here nor did I know where here was. It was a fundamentally different feeling to my portal spell and I had a feeling the System was much better at it than I was. When the darkness faded I found myself standing in a city. At first, I thought the System had lied to us and that we were sent to a new quest location. It wasn''t until I realized the city went on as far as I could see in every direction that it hit me. This was Earth. There were corpses in every direction most of them were human but there were monstrous-looking dogs and bugs as well. The city''s skyline was dominated by a skyscraper that stood like a finger reaching for the heavens. The more I saw the less it made sense. I couldn''t tell where in the world we were. Some of the buildings had signs in English while others were in Arabic or Spanish. It was like the System had shuffled the planet. A cold chill ran down my spine at the thought. The System had seemed powerful but to transform an entire planet in a way that didn''t make any sense? "Where the hell are we?" A middle-aged man holding a spear in one hand and a bronze shield in the other said as he looked around. "Does anyone see anything they recognize?" A young man clutching a strange-looking tome called out while looking around with a mixture of confusion and fear. It was then that I realized I wasn''t alone. It looked like our tutorial group arrived in the same place. I tried to find anything that seemed familiar but there was nothing. Even the buildings were wrong. One looked like an apartment building had been cut in half and then a motel had been attached to it. Leaving more than half the building exposed to the air. The strangest part was that it all worked. The buildings seemed stable as if they had always been like that. The whole scene had a weird surrealism to it. I tore my eyes away from it and focused on what was going on around me. The group had already started to split off which was fine as far as I was concerned. I still hadn''t decided how I felt about forming a group. I did want to try and find Ajani and Tyrone. I had moved through the crowd in search of the brothers for several minutes before I noticed a strange problem. The sensation was hard for me to put my finger on. It was a bit like I had been breathing fresh air before but now it was filled with pollution. It wasn''t until I started rotating my cultivation technique that I realized what was going on. The energy here sucked. It was like I had been fine dining before and now I was eating fast food. The more I pulled in the worse it got. The worse the impurities got. Thankfully it didn''t seem to hurt me so I pushed it to the back of my mind. It took me another five minutes before I finally found them. Now that I could see them up close they had both transformed since the start of the tutorial. Ajani had a pair of short swords connected to a chain that was tied to his wrists. Each blade was dark black with a wavy pattern. It almost made them look like heat mirages. Tyrone was no less impressive. He had a bow that reminded me of a snake hung over its shoulder. Staring at it made me think of Medusa or a basilisk as if it would lung out and bite me. "Hey. Glad to see the tutorial treated you both well." Ajani was the first to reply. "Ahh big man. We were wondering if you would survive the final quest. So what level did you end up at?" I smiled and willed my screen to the duo. My smile turned into a shit-eating grin when their eyes bugged out. "Pretty good right? I hoped to make it to level 25 but had some problems with the last battle." "I knew you would do something impressive but that''s a bit ridiculous. I thought we were doing pretty well for ourselves. I am level 15 and Ajani is at 17." I nodded and figured they were probably in the upper portion of humanity. So there shouldn''t be anyone within two to five levels of me. Which meant that no one on earth could close in on my attribute gap. Not unless they had gained a similar amount of titles. "Good, good I am going to search for a place to form my settlement. Do you want to join me?" The duo looked at each other and a slight awkwardness fell on our shoulders. I could tell there was something they wanted to say. "If you aren''t interested it''s alright." "It''s not that. We need to go and look for our family. We aren''t sure if any of them were cultivators and well if this" He gestured to the carnage around us. "Is there any evidence that the world is a dangerous place right now? If the offer still stands after we find them then we wouldn''t mind joining." Ajani spoke and Tyrone nodded along. "Right, that''s fine with me. The offer still stands. I am planning on going to that tower in the distance." I waved a hand in that direction. "Assuming that it''s a spot that works you can find me there. If not I will try to leave some kind of message there. Either way, you are always welcome to join me. I am going to need some strong people to follow me." Both brothers let out a sigh of relief before nodding. "Let''s see if we can catch up to your level by then." We sat and talked for a little while before most of the tutorial participants left. It was hard to know exactly what time it was but it was starting to get dark so we decided to leave it at. I waited for them to disappear down a side street before I left. Now that I was alone the ruined city felt much more ominous. The shadows seemed deeper and the buildings almost seemed to be looking at me. There was something I wanted to test now that I wasn''t inside the tutorial though and this was as good a time as any. I pushed energy into the sigil for Apportation. Once the portal fully formed I stepped through. I stepped out again about one hundred feet down the street. I did a couple more tests and discovered that was the limit. I could go in any direction I chose including straight up though if I did nothing would keep me from falling straight down. Which was important to know. Infusing my tao into the spell didn''t make much of a difference. The tao of lucidity made the portal seem more "real" but as far as I could tell that didn''t do anything. Adamance wouldn''t even enter the sigil. The mental restoration effect wasn''t as useful as it seemed. It wouldn''t recover enough of my mental energy to pay for the spell but it did make me feel better. I figured it would be more useful if I were teleporting other people. I was just about to set off again for real when a black blur shot toward me. The lack of a danger warning caused me to freeze. The blur slammed into me a second later. Once the initial shock passed I unleashed Psychic Blast. The indigo light illuminated the street and a small trickle of energy entered me. I stared at the animal that attacked me. It was some kind of mutated rat with thick black fur and dark grey claws. The whole thing was the size of a Doberman with beady red eyes. "What the fuck is that?" I knelt next to it partly expecting it to jump up at me. When nothing happened I kicked it. The beast was dead which didn''t explain the unease I felt. The whole attack felt off to me. My eyes widened as it finally dawned on me. Not only was the creature pathetically weak but I got barely any energy from the kill. If I had to guess I would put the beast around level three or so but the energy it gave was half that. Had the tutorial given us more energy? Or were these monsters worth less energy? I pulled up my status screen and sighed. I barely got any credits for the kill which made me think that Earth monsters were worse than the tutorial. I would have to kill millions of these things to get the kind of money I have now. I hoped that meant the prices of things would be similarly low. I looked around for a few more rats to kill and confirmed that it wasn''t a one-off. The monsters were weak when compared to the first three quests and were nothing compared to the things I fought toward the end. It would take me a massive amount of slaughter to gain even one level if the average monster was as strong as these rats. On the bright side that meant my level lead was guaranteed. If someone could kill that many rats in a short amount of time they would already be stronger than me. I made a mental note to find a place with stronger monsters as I decided to conserve my energy. I broke out into a sprint. I grinned as I pushed past the speed of an Olympic-level sprinter without breaking a sweat. It was hard to know if my speed could be compared to a car but I was faster than any human could have hoped to reach. Several rats tried to attack me but none of them were fast enough. I ran for another few hours before I started to find familiar landmarks. I turned and sprinted down a side street and leaped over a burned-out car. The further I went the more American the streets became. My heart beat in excitement as I moved closer and closer. Just as I began to worry about finding somewhere to sleep I stepped into the quad. My university had seen better days but it was still here. A complex storm of emotions formed in the pit of my stomach. The lawn where I spent seven long years was in ruins. Patches were either torn up or covered in blood. Trees were broken and destroyed. Corpses were everywhere. Both students and professors had fallen. My home was gone. Chapter 24: Hospitals and Lizards I walked through the remains of my campus in a fog. It was like I was in a bizarro land where everything only kind of resembled the real world. Creatures that resembled wolves with six legs and three eyes stalked the skeleton of the university. They stopped attacking after the fifth or sixth had its mind crushed. The minuscule amount of energy did nothing for my mood. I walked for nearly twenty minutes not sure where I was going until I ended up in front of room 207. It felt like a lifetime ago that I was seated here going over case precedent. The door had been turned to splinters and the desks were scattered. Several of my classmates were dead, discarded like trash on the ground. Some of them were so maimed I couldn''t tell who they were. I wasn''t sure if I was happy or sad about not seeing my professor among the bodies. Professor Terrel was a hard man and worked out regularly so even if he wasn''t a cultivator he might have survived. I ignored the voice in my head that said he wouldn''t have abandoned his students. My logic and reason became a specter that whispered and fought with the hope I was desperate to hold. I wanted to give the people here a burial but there was nowhere to do it and far too many corpses. None of my spells would let me dig up the earth and doing it with my fingers wasn''t practical. I made a mental note to come back and deal with it later. Once things weren''t so chaotic. I was just about to leave when I heard a voice call out to me. "We know you''re in there. Come out nice and easy. No one needs to get hurt." I stared at the wall between me and the voice as if it would open up and reveal them to me. The shock of there being another person here was enough to stop me from speaking. It wasn''t until the second voice started that my brain began working again. "Last chance. We don''t want to hurt you but we will if we have to. We just want your supplies." Both speakers were men and they sounded around my age. The second speaker''s tone didn''t convince me about them not wanting to hurt me but for some reason, I felt nothing. My danger sense didn''t go off and I wasn''t sure if it would in this situation or if it would only help me with direct attacks. Either way, I didn''t care. I stepped out of the classroom and back outside where a group of five people waited for me. There were three men and two women. They had created armor for themselves out of old football equipment. Three of them had long rifles and the other two handguns. They all looked haggard as if they hadn''t slept properly in days. Before I could decide what to do the taller of the two women pointed her gun at me. "Take off the bag real slow like and we will all get to go home." I raised an eyebrow at her. Her hands trembled but she managed to keep the weapon aimed at me. "Look I don''t know who you are but I am not in the mood for this. How about you all leave and I will act like I never met you." The calmness in my voice had a different effect on each of the quintets. The two women looked even more uncomfortable. The closest man leveled his rifle with my chest while the biggest of the group stepped forward with a machete in his hand. His rifle was slung over his shoulder. The last man rolled his eyes as if he was already bored of the situation. I considered blasting them all with either of my attack spells but quickly decided against it. There was no reason to kill any of them and I didn''t want to. Instead, I pushed energy into Psychic Aegis. The indigo shield surrounded me before the machete wielder crossed half the distance. The surprise that passed over their faces made the situation more than worth it. When they opened fire it was suddenly much less fun. The bullets slammed into the shield before I had a chance to infuse it with my tao. My heart pounded in my chest as I imagined myself being filled with bullet holes. Thankfully my panic was very much misplaced. They would have been better off throwing stones at me at least those wouldn''t eventually run out. The group realized that the guns wouldn''t work and splintered. Everyone except for the leader split off and sprinted back down the street. The leader looked like he wanted to try me with his machete. I raised an eyebrow as if waiting for him to make a move. He slowly turned and sprinted off after his friends. "That was a bit disappointing." I waited a few minutes to be sure that they weren''t going to come back before I left. Their arrival had ended the melancholy and it was time that I pushed forward. I was just about to leave the campus when I caught sight of a familiar building. I turned and sprinted across the grass until I reached the stone stairs of the library. The two statues that usually stood sentry next to the doorway were broken. One had smashed with the other looked like it was burned with some kind of acid. I still remember my first day here. The statues were like giant guardians over the truth. Now they were defeated. It was as if the System determined it was all worthless. I shook it off and pushed my way into the library. The rows and rows of books were in disarray. Entire bookcases were broken and there was blood. The entire room looked like a war zone no it looked like a slaughter zone. The people here stood no chance against whatever it was that attacked. Bodies were torn apart, the stench was enough to make me gag. I circulated the tao of lucidity through my body hoping it would help with the stench. I walked through the rows of books for a few minutes when a pang of danger passed through me. I turned just in time for a blur to slam into my shield. Psychic Aegis held but I was knocked backward and into the wall. I rolled to the side just as it stinger the size of my arm slammed into the ground where I had been. The beast looked like a misshapen scorpion with one massive eye. Its claws looked big enough to snap the stone columns of the building. Its stinger dripped a green liquid that made the floor crackle and burn. I stared at the creature for a second before a fury built inside me like a tempest. This creature defiled my library. It had killed people who were just trying to live. It had killed people who couldn''t defend themselves. I brought both hands together and Psionic Rain fell from the sky. I didn''t even remember activating the skill. The scorpion barreled through a bookcase to avoid the attack and then rushed straight for me. I watched the massive ugly thing come at me and grinned. The stinger shot for me like a javelin aimed at my heart. In a fury-blind fervor, I stepped forward instead of letting the aegis take the attack. My danger sense was a whisper as my hand shot forward. When the rational part of my mind caught up with what I just did I laughed. I wasn''t sure who was more confused between me and the scorpion. I stood there with its stinger clutched in one hand laughing like a madman. I wasn''t sure where the thought had come from and I didn''t care. I gripped the stinger with my other hand and spun into an over-the-shoulder throw. The scorpion resisted for a second before it was in the air. My triumphant throw only sent it a few feet and hadn''t made a dent in its exoskeleton but it did make me feel better. I unleashed Psychic Blast. The indigo light washed over the ugly thing and I said a mental prayer that it wouldn''t die. That I would get to extract a little more retribution for what it had done. The surge of kill energy only made me angrier. I roared in frustration and let my killing intent explode. The building around me trembled and the wooden bookcases groaned as if they found themselves trapped in a storm. The mental images of my classmate''s bodies torn a part passed in front of me one by one. My fury built as I stared at the scorpion and I thought about the rats and every other forsaken beast on the planet. None of them were the real target of my fury. I bit back the curses out of fear. A fear that only reminded me of how weak I was. I wasn''t sure how long I stood in the ruins before I stopped myself. I sealed my aura inside me and went through the rows of books. I grabbed anything I thought would be useful. Books on how to survive, build medicine, books on how to govern a country. Military strategy and every other thing I could think of. When I was done my bag had rows and rows of books. I looked down at the corpse of the scorpion and made a promise to come back and burn it. Once I was ready I opened a portal and stepped through. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. I stepped into one of the old dorm buildings a short while later. My spiritual energy was low and now that my adrenaline had faded I was tired. My soul felt tired. I had imagined some kind of badass warrior return but instead, it was sad. I shook my head and kicked open a door on the first floor. The wood and metal practically exploded. I tried the light but wasn''t surprised when it didn''t work. So far none of the technology I found worked. I wasn''t sure if the System had just turned everything off or if it was something with the planet but it didn''t matter much. I placed the door back into place and then pushed a dresser in front of it. It probably wouldn''t keep anyone or anything out of the room but it should give me a warning. I sat on the bed in the lotus position. I summoned a spirit crystal and started to cultivate it. The pure energy was like a glass of fresh water when compared to the energy in the air. It made me want to drain all of my remaining crystals but I resisted the urge. I would need to build a proper cultivation chamber so I could reliably regain my power. Until then I had to ration it. After four hours had passed I decided to get some actual sleep. The next day I sat out at sunrise. I had spent enough time in the university and I still wanted to check out the skyscraper. I took off at a full sprint as soon as I was outside. The air tore past me and once again I had to marvel at my body. I wasn''t exactly a health nut but the tutorial had reforged me. I had an actual six-pack now which was just beautiful. I felt amazing. I decided to stop at a parking garage when an idea hit me. Was the size of what I could store in the bag determined by what could fit in the mouth of the bag or was it based on what I could put in the mouth of the bag? Turns out the answer was based on what could fit not whether or not I could physically put it inside. Even after emptying the entire bag, I couldn''t fit any of the cars or motorcycles inside. I was able to put a few seats inside though without the cat that wasn''t too helpful. It was a bit of a bummer that I couldn''t carry around a car and just pop it out whenever but it wouldn''t have been that useful anyway. The roads were covered in debris. After my detour, I set off down the street. I ran for another hour before something made me stop. I stared at the road in front of me not sure why I had the overwhelming urge to not continue. It wasn''t quite the same as my danger sense but no matter what I did I couldn''t make it go away. I activated Psychic Aegis just in case it was someone trying to ambush me but nothing happened. I moved forward slowly and finally saw something. There was a thin wire that connected two cars that went straight through the middle of the road. Now that I knew what to look for I found three more sets one for each road out of the intersection. I wasn''t sure if I could survive a car bomb let alone four of them so I decided to step back. I was just about to open a portal out of here when I heard a gun cock. I raised an eyebrow and looked up. Where I found a man holding a rifle on top of a building. "Hey there I am guessing that you live around here?" "Yes now turn around and head back where you came from." The man looked to be in his early twenties with dirty blonde hair and bandages around his arms. He wore a leather jacket with a store logo on it. A logo I recognized from the mall. "Would you be willing to have a conversation? I am not looking to cause any trouble but I would like to head to that building in the distance and would appreciate any information you have on it." The man grabbed a walkie-talkie and spoke into it. I raised an eyebrow but decided to leave him be. He had a short conversation before hanging it up and turning back to me. "Do you have any medicine in that bag?" I shook my head. "No do you all need medicine? Do you have a System Hub nearby?" "No, the closest one is to the West of here? Listen if you go and get some antibiotics we can let you in for a bit of food in trade." I opened my mouth to reply before shaking my head. Part of me seriously wanted to open a portal and just teleport to the guy but I decided against it. The last thing I wanted was to either have him shoot me and a bunch of people or kill him and piss off his friends. He was a mortal which meant he didn''t know too much about how things worked. He was willing to trade and he could help me with everything that has happened since the start of the tutorial. Plus it made earn me some brownie points with the group. "Which way is the closest pharmacy? Do you know what kind of medicine you need?" "There is a hospital to the west of here. There are a lot of monsters in that direction though including one of the big sons of bitches." "Do you have any more information? Maybe the level of the beast? Approximately how strong it is?" "We think the main lizards are around level five as for the big one somewhere between five and ten." He said with a slight grimace as if he had made this same request many times before. A level-ten monster might make for a good hunt though. It might provide decent kill energy and it would clear out a section of the city which would be a win-win as far as I was concerned. I asked a few more questions to get a better lay of the land but when his facial expressions went from confused to irritated. I decided it was time to move on. I looked around and plotted a path around the car bombs and moved away. I waited until I was out of his line of sight before I broke out into a full sprint. I reached the hospital in less than half an hour and two killed monsters later. These were large lizards that looked a bit like iguanas except for them being as big as cars. They weren''t much of a threat and they avoided me once I let my killing intent leak out a bit. It was better to describe the hospital as a morgue. Everyone that had been on any kind of electronic for survival was gone. I wasn''t sure if they had been left behind or not but it didn''t matter. The lizards also hadn''t gone beyond the first two floors so they were allowed to rest in some kind of peace. I grabbed a few things that might be useful later. Mostly bandages and other non-disposable options. I had to physically break into the room with the actual medicine and everything that needed refrigeration was useless. I threw everything I could into the bag until I wasn''t able to anymore. Once my looting was done I gave the hospital another pass just in case I missed something. I hadn''t. I made my way back outside and started my search for the big lizard. After heading deeper into the city it started to change. The English signs were slowly replaced with Chinese ones until I came across a half-destroyed apartment building. The cluster of eggs and lizards nestled inside told me I had found my target. I summoned Psychic Aegis just in case the man was wrong. I double-checked the area just to be safe before I rolled my shoulders. I pushed energy and tao into what was quickly becoming my favorite sigil and less than a second later a rain of psionic energy fell on my targets. The first lizards fell and I gained a new appreciation for mentalist classes. The eggs and buildings were unaffected by my attacks. I could cut loose without worry. Once the door greeters were gone a lizard the size of a bus crawled out from the hole. Its eyes were massive and glowed a soft green color. I then felt a light burn in my chest and my vision blurred. It took me a second to realize what just happened since the attack was so weak. This lizard used mental attacks. I grinned as I approached. This next part was going to be fun. Chapter 25: The Mall I wiped sweat off my face and sat down on the shattered remains of a car. The battle took nearly an hour with most of it due to the lizard''s mental attacks. My soul felt raw and tender like it had been stuck in a sandstorm for hours. Thankfully the beast wasn''t strong enough to do any actual damage. More importantly, the torture had borne fruit. I pulled up my quests screen and smiled. 1. Intellect Fortress(Class): Endure 10 Psychic Attacks. Reward: Intellect Fortress (10/10) I released my killing intent and aura while infusing it with the Tao of Adamance. The sudden release was like a shock wave. It spread through the ruined city nearly fifty feet before I corralled it in. It should keep anything below level five from bothering me. I claimed the quest and felt another sigil form. This time it was on the center of my forehead. Thankfully it wasn''t excruciating, it was closer to an intense warmth that radiated outward. Once the sigil was fully implanted I was hit with a wave of information about the spell. [1]Intellect Fortress ¨C Proficiency: Novice. The Mind is impenetrable, the One True Fortress. Upgradeable It was a peak quality mental and soul defense spell which based on what I had to do to get it made sense. It would passively boost my defenses and protect me from most scouting abilities. The best part about though was that it didn''t require any effort from me to use. It would automatically take more spiritual and mental energy from me to power itself. It did reveal a bit more about my class and I was a little concerned. Of my first three spells, only one of them was useful in a fight. The first was a bit neutral until I understood how to control energy better and the final was defensive. In truth I needed more utility spells, making a portal was great but I needed and wanted more. I decided to stay put and practice my mental energy control for another hour before packing up. The good thing here was the lizard mama''s power. She provided enough spiritual energy to make fighting her worth it. Which made me want to hunt around the city but if what that guy said was right I needed to get back. I would be an ass if someone died because I wanted to explore. It took me three portal jumps to make it back to the intersection. This time I found a trio waiting for me. They were all men and looked to be around forty years old. Two of them had rivals while the third wore makeshift armor and had a metal baseball bat. I cocked my head to the side when I saw that the man''s armor was a football uniform with a bit of chain to protect his stomach. It looked strange but it seemed like it would work. "I have your medicine. I am hoping that we can get along a bit better than before. Maybe we start with lowering our weapons?" I kept my hands up and in plain view not that I needed them to activate my spells. "Good evening young man." The man in the armor spoke up first. He stepped forward and kept his bat at his side which I supposed was progress. "My name is Christopher, Christopher Williams. I am told that you had a pleasant encounter with one of our defenders." When I nodded he continued. "I must say that you are dressed a bit oddly to be from around here. Are you an expat? Or are you one of the people from that tutorial?" I raised an eyebrow at his question before looking down at myself. I chuckled since I did look like I had spent a year in China. I was even wearing sandals. "From the tutorial. I take it you all got the System''s arrival message? Would you be able to tell me what''s been going on since our departure?" "I can do that assuming you are willing to share information as well. We can give you a place to lay your head and a warm meal to fill your belly in exchange for the medicine." He said and looked at my bag expectantly. I nodded and pretended to reach into the bag. The moment my hand passed into that dark void a chill passed through my body. I quickly transferred three bottles from one hand to the other before closing it. "Wasn''t sure which ones you needed so I just grabbed a lot. I stepped forward and placed the bottles down on a car between us. Once I saw that he wasn''t going to move forward until I backed off I sighed. I stepped away and then he moved forward. My gaze drifted to the two gunmen who hadn''t lowered their weapons. I didn''t detect even the slightest aura from them which only confused me. They had survived here for a month so there was no way they managed to do that without fighting. "Why don''t I sense any killing intent from your friends," I asked while turning my attention back to Christopher. His aura was weak but still obviously there. The trio froze at the question and the two gunmen tightened their grips on their weapons. "I am not sure what you mean." "You have had to kill things since the world went crazy right? You know monsters and the like. You should have gained an aura and killing intent. The killing intent would come from killing things and your aura would have come from your power. That and your attributes I think. You have one but your friends there don''t." When they all looked at each other even more confused than before I shook my head. I was about to ask another question when my stomach growled. I decided to leave it alone until after I had something good to eat. We exchanged a few more words and I ended up providing all of the antibiotics I gathered before they led me to their base. Like something out of a zombie movie, they had taken the mall. The five-story building had been turned into a fortress. They had lined up cars on all the sides to form a sort of wall. They had even managed to turn the parking lot into a kind of garden. Though the plants they were growing were little better than buds. It was still pretty impressive. "How many people do you all have?" I asked absentmindedly as they led me inside." "We can''t exactly give out that information but we have enough to maintain this place," Christopher said as we arrived in the food court. He gestured to the five restaurants. "Feel free to stop by any of them. I think they all have someone working there if not you can just call someone over. You can also make something for yourself if you wish. Now if you will excuse me." Before I could respond Christopher had turned and half jogged away. I assumed that the sick person was important to him. I pushed it to the back of my mind and rubbed my hands together. It was time for me to finally get a good meal. After I finished eating I was escorted up an escalator and into a small guest room. I was pretty sure it was a storage before things went crazy but it was pretty comfortable. They had set up an air mattress inside which helped the atmosphere a bit. I shut the door and put the air mattress into my bag and then pulled out my bed and laid down. There was no way I was going to sleep on an air mattress. I would almost rather not sleep at all. I also managed to get a watch from them so I could properly tell time. I slept for four hours and then started cultivating. It would be a few days before my next level at this rate so I gave up just as the son started to rise. I packed up my bed and replaced the air mattress before I left the room. My escort was gone so I wasn''t sure if that meant they trusted me or if they just weren''t awake. Either way, I didn''t care. I made my way into the mall proper. I couldn''t help but be impressed. It wasn''t exactly high living but they had managed to make something decent out of the chaos. Unfortunately, I doubted it would last. None of the guards had a spec of aura about them. It was like I was looking at a person from before things went to shit. I made my way over to a duo who was patrolling the second floor when my curiosity got the best of me. "Can you tell me what happened after the System arrived?" Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. The pair looked at each other when the taller of the two spoke up. He was around six feet or so with dark brown skin and cornrows in his head. He had a rifle over one shoulder and a handgun in a holster on his side. "Uh, Christopher said he would go over things with you later. I don''t know much of the official details myself but things got pretty crazy. Animals started to change. Even the squirrels turned into overgrown monstrosities." I nodded and tried to picture a giant monster squirrel without laughing. Based on the looks on their face I had only partially succeeded. "Do you know where he is now? Christopher I mean." He gestured to the main escalator. "Go up to the third floor and head to the Security office. If he is in there right now someone should let you in. If not you should be able to wait there for him." "Perfect thanks." I gave them a nod and left. When I got to the security office I was surprised to see that it was much bigger than I expected. They had taken down two walls and it took up about half the floor. I resisted the urge to explore the whole thing not wanting to ruin a new relationship when I didn''t need to. I found a woman with long blonde hair and a scar across her jaw seated at a check-in desk. "Hello, is Christopher here? I have a few things to discuss with him." She held up a hand. "Wait here a moment and I will let him know you are available." She then stood up and disappeared behind a door. I leaned against the wall and folded my arms. It was a bit annoying that even during the end of the world I still had to wait. I was the strongest person on earth. After five minutes I was considering opening a portal or kicking the door down but thankfully she returned before I did it. "You may enter." She said and held the door for me. I did my best to flash a pleasant smile as I stepped past her. I walked into the hall behind her and heard Christopher''s voice call me to the furthest room. He was seated at a desk that reminded me of a gym coach''s office. It was the smallest room by far and had a single window and a dull wooden desk. A desk that was covered in paper including a floor plan of the building. "Hello, Allow me to thank you for the medicine, it helped quite a bit. If you get your hands on any more then I would gladly pay you for it. I have weapons and ammo though we are working on armor. There isn''t a lot of useful stuff in the immediate area." I shook my head. "Do you all not have a System hub here?" He raised an eyebrow. "You mean one of those things that appears once you get enough people? No, no we stayed out of that blood bath. The closest one is about ten miles from here. Last I heard some gang got a hold of it after the last owner was killed fighting some beasts. Why do you ask?" "I see you all fighting with old weaponry. You should have been able to get spells or skills. I imagine they aren''t cheap but together you should have been able to buy a couple at least." Christopher slowly nodded while looking me up and down. "David, the man you met with first mentioned you had a weird bubble around you. I assume that''s one of these skills you mentioned?" When I didn''t confirm he slowly nodded. "If you have any of those for sale we will buy them from you." "No, the System provided some for us at the beginning of the tutorial after that we had to earn them. Once you reach level 20 you will get the ability to select a class. Of course, you will need a basic System hub at minimum to make a choice." Christopher paled a shade at that. "I see so those of us that have them already will be able to recruit people easier." He mostly mumbled his reply. "Not quite. The System placed restrictions on us for the tutorial. Restrictions that included we weren''t able to hurt, enslave, or kill each other during the tutorial." He looked at me as if expecting me to continue. When I didn''t he raised an eyebrow and I got to watch as the realization dawned on him. "They just unleashed a plague on the earth." He got to his feet and ran his hand over his head. "Yes, I don''t how long it will take but the group I arrived with split up when we got here. Even if only a small percentage of them are strong enough to avoid being killed by the monsters it will be a problem. Some of us have hubs as well. The tutorial workers filled us with propaganda about being the ''chosen'' of humanity. I am not sure how many people believed that but it won''t take many to start the chaos." I was on the fence about telling him my status. Not that I didn''t want to help them but there was nothing I could do at the moment. The mall was good but it wouldn''t survive an outright attack. Hell, it wouldn''t be able to keep me out for more than a second or two. I still needed to go and check out the building. Not to mention I needed to grind my levels. "I see, you don''t seem distressed by this. Have you found a group to travel with?" Christopher''s question pulled me back to the moment. I shook my head. "No, I am traveling alone. I am on my way to that large building in the distance. Do you know anything about it?" Christopher let out a long sigh as he took his seat. He reached into his desk and pulled out a sheet of paper. "Ah yes and no. We had a group go and check it out but they couldn''t get within five hundred feet of the building. They said they were attacked by metallic birds." He passed me the sheet and I quickly scanned it. I let out a low whistle as my heart began to beat faster. I couldn''t tell the levels of the enemy from here but they sounded like creatures I would deal with in the fourth or fifth quest. They were birds about the size of small airplanes. Their wings were either metallic or just strong enough to cut through metal. The person who wrote this wasn''t confident in either option. "It doesn''t say how many of them there were. Do you have an approximate number?" He shook his head. "Unfortunately no. They do report seeing eggs so it''s possible that they are reproducing which would be a disaster. If you still intend to go there could you bring back some information? If you can kill them that would be even better of course." I nodded. "I will do what I can. Are you and your people going to stay here? It wasn''t hard for me to get here so I imagine others are going to find it eventually. I am not sure how effective guns will be." I paused at that as something occurred to me. "Have your people all been fighting with guns?" "Yeah, most aren''t healthy enough to use a bat, and truth be told the bat isn''t great against the monsters with harder bodies." I nodded as I put together my hypothesis. "How many of your people have been able to gain a level? How did they do it? In the tutorial, we were all given spells, skills, and weapons. None of us had technological ones though. There were no guns or advanced explosives that I saw." "You think that how we kill monsters determines how we gain energy?" He rubbed his chin as if considering the statement. "If that''s the case we would have to use old school weapons to fight the monsters but the ones in the city have become stronger. It would become a blood bath." "I think you should create two groups and rotate them in and out. One group would use guns to protect the weapons users. Over time the traditional weapons should lead them to level up. Once that happens you should be able to phase out the guns." "It won''t be easy to convince people especially Americans to give up the guns to fight with blades. Especially when they are fighting a rat the size of a car." "They won''t have a choice. The monsters will probably get stronger to give us cultivators something worthwhile to fight. If they don''t move to keep up they will be drowned beneath a tide. That''s not to mention what will happen when they realize that there isn''t a government around to stop us." "You seem to have realized that already. What do you plan on doing." I stared at him not entirely sure what I should say. I hadn''t decided what I was doing at the moment. I wanted to form a faction of my own of course but what did I want to do with it? I could make it a safe place for people who can''t or don''t want to fight but that would mean I would have to do all the fighting. I would have to be both the army and the nuclear deterrent. The blood that would be on my hands would be terrible. If I only recruited cultivators would that look like? I ultimately didn''t have the answers and I wasn''t going to find them sitting here. I went over a few more things with Christopher before I got up. I said my goodbyes and stepped back into the city. It was time to find my new home. Chapter 26: Threats of the Avian Variety I decided to sprint instead of relying on Apportation. The spell still required a large amount of spiritual energy and I wanted to try and push for the next level as soon as I could. I was forced to attack several more creatures before I entered the next section of the shuffled city. These had to have been house cats before the System came. They were the size of Great Danes with tawny fur. They were pretty quick. I placed their agility somewhere in the thirties but they weren''t very durable. I was able to blast them without any difficulty. I even had time to cultivate while moving. The process was a bit like walking and chewing gum and only recovered a fifth of the energy than if I had just sat down to do it. It took me half a day of running before I came across my first problem. Once I was close enough to see the building in its full glory I realized it had to be the tallest building I had ever seen. It also wasn''t accurate to call it a single building. It was a bit like the System had taken several skyscrapers and kind of twisted them together to make one spire. It was both majestic and terrifying to look at, there was no way that building was up to any code. Of course, it also looked incredibly stable as if it had always been there. That wasn''t the problem. The problem was the bird or rather the birds. The smallest of them was around the size of a sedan including its wingspan while the biggest was as big as a plane. They cast large shadows over everything as they flew. Thankfully weren''t very fast. When they swooped down to hunt they had to trail behind their prey for quite a distance before they could go for the kill. Their main danger was their talons and their wings. Both were so sharp they could ignore the buildings around them. One bird smashed through a car to get to the large rodent beast that hid beneath it. Unfortunately for them, neither their souls nor their minds were as strong as their bodies. I flexed my fingers and quickly came up with a plan. I wanted to push myself against an enemy that could fight in three dimensions. I leaped on top of a car and then on top of the building. Once I had cleared an arena for myself I picked out my targets. Two Psychic Blast found their marks causing both birds to stagger in the air. They were able to correct their flight within seconds but the attacks did their jobs. A cacophony of wing beats filled the air as five birds shot toward me. I bounced on the balls of my feet as I prepared myself. The first bird brought its wings together and unleashed a storm of feathers. I cocked my head to the side and stepped toward them. I dropped down into a squat avoiding the first volley. Next, I spun to the right and unleashed Psionic Rain. I took two feathers in my shoulders due to a distraction at the moment the spell formed but I blocked out the pain. I didn''t have time to watch my attack land as two more feather storms shot at me. I summoned Psychic Aegis to protect me. Just as the barrier appeared I began my next attack. Psychic Blast shot forward. The indigo beam passed through my next target like an illusory blade. I had just enough time to catch the bird fall from the sky. Its kill energy poured into my dantian. I stepped back into the center of my ring and waited for the next attack. The remaining two birds shot toward me like bullets. Razor-sharp talons reached for me. I ducked beneath the first one and slammed my fist into the head of the second. There was a loud crack as my fist shattered the thing''s skull. It slammed through the roof a second later as the rest of its momentum was expended. The roof buckled before collapsing. I gritted my teeth as I resisted the urge to open a portal. I slammed into a wooden table in the next second. I spun to the right just as the last bird unleashed a storm of feathers. I crashed through the store window and searched the sky for my target. It took me a second to find it flying against the sun. I grinned and unleashed another Psychic Blast. The bird attempted to avoid but it wasn''t able to overcome its momentum. A surge of kill energy confirmed its death and the end of my workout. It wasn''t enough to get me to the next level but it confirmed that this would be a great place to grind. I sat on the hood of a half-broken Mustang and reviewed the battle. Fighting without relying on my danger sense was a new feeling. I hadn''t realized just how much I had been leaning on it. I reached down and plucked the two feathers out of my shoulders. The feathers weren''t metal. Instead, they were actual feathers infused with spiritual energy to become hard. I placed the feathers into my bag. I wasn''t sure if they could be turned into arrows but they might. They might also make good bed materials. Either way, the feathers should be useful. I take thirty minutes to go around and collect some of the feathers. Once I got bored and broke most of the others I decided to continue on my journey. I was forced to deal with another set of birds. This time I decided not to play around and relied on Aegis to keep me safe while blasting them with Psychic Blast. When I reached the actual building I had to spend an hour fighting more birds. At this point, they were more annoying than they were a challenge but I was getting close to level 23. I was just about to enter the building when my danger sense made my blood run cold. I threw myself back just as a blade of wind slammed into the ground. My eyes nearly popped out of my skull when I saw how deep the cut went. It had carved through the street and the sewer below. It had reached into the earth below and I wasn''t sure just how far down it went. I rolled to my feet and looked up. The largest bird I had ever seen was soaring around the building. It was easily 100ft from wing to wing. Its feathers were almost reflective in the sunlight and just staring at it made me think of a blade. A blade that would cut me in half if I weren''t careful. It wasn''t hard for me to figure out that this thing had a tao. A tao related to sharpness or cutting. I grinned as the bird began a second attack. It brought both wings together and a storm that bloated out of the sun shot down at me. There had to be hundreds if not thousands of feathers. I couldn''t help but laugh. I summoned Psychic Aegis in its wall form and infused it with the strand of adamance. The wall hardened just as the storm slammed into it. Every feather felt like a bullet as they rained down on but my shield held. When the attack finished the street around me looked like it survived the apocalypse. Rather a second apocalypse. Cars and buildings barely survived while the area protected by me looked like it had received a pardon from heaven. I turned my attention to my opponent and unleashed Psionic Rain empowered by the tao of lucidity. The shower of blades shot forward like heat-seeking missiles. They passed through the bird''s feathers as if they weren''t there. I waited for a surge of kill energy. A confirmation that either our fight was over or that I would get to have more fun. When the bird dived for me instead of falling out of the air I had my answer. I unleashed Psychic Blast just as it unleashed another blade of wind. The blade carved into my aegis but the barrier held. Seeing its attack fail the bird turned into a dive and shot for me. My danger sense told me my barrier would not be enough to stop it. Excitement and adrenaline flooded me as I waited for the bird to arrive. Its talons slammed through my barrier and I pushed a large amount of spiritual energy into my fist. I narrowly avoided its beak as I slammed my fist into its skull. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. It was like I had slammed my fist into a steel wall. My wrist screamed in protest as I fought the bird''s momentum. I unleashed Psychic Blast at point-blank range when I realized there was no chance of me winning a contest of strength. The indigo light flashed across the bird''s head as I spun to the side. It dropped to the ground just in time for me to unleash Psionic Rain. As soon as the psychic blades hit their target a surge of kill energy flooded into my dantian. It put me on a threshold of a new level, a threshold I would cross as soon as I got the chance. I left the corpse on the ground and took refuge inside one of the nearby buildings. I wasn''t sure if this was the only big bird in the area. After all, if there was a mamma bird there should probably be a daddy bird. I also had no interest in starting up a new fight. Not now that I was so close. I ducked into one building and stepped through a hole in its back wall to enter the next. I repeated this process until I had gotten a few blocks away. I then ducked into a storage closet and shut the door. Once again I was reminded of why I needed to get a proper cultivation chamber. I pulled out my rug and my last spirit stone. I had to take a few minutes to calm down before I was ready to start cultivating. It took me less than an hour to reach level 23, unfortunately, I was forced to stop cultivating as soon as I reached the threshold. The problem was that I was wasting the majority of the stone''s energy. I hadn''t realized it in the tutorial but the cultivation chambers they provided kept the energy inside the room which helped me contain it. Here the energy was able to just float off into space kind of like heat. The free points went into Agility. I checked my quest screen hoping that I would get a new quest or a spell but there was nothing there. I closed the menu and collected my mat. Once I was ready to go I decided to use Apportation to skip the jog. I stepped out of my portal and onto a rooftop across from my new home. I chuckled at the image of a massive tower surrounded by the corpses of giant birds. It had a certain evil lord vibe about it but that was fine. I jumped off the building and made my way inside. The inside of the building was not what I expected. I assumed I would find a bird''s nest filled with discarded feathers and broken beaks or something. Instead, it looked like a confused patchwork of buildings. It was as if the System combined a hotel, apartment, and office building. I walked through a hall that was partially carpeted and partially hardwood. Where parts of the wall were rustic while other parts were modern. It was beautiful in a strange way as if someone had tried to make an artistic representation of society by combining all types of influences. Everything wasn''t great though. The building had no power. Not only did it have no power there was no place for power to go. There were no outlets, no breakers that I could find and there were no power lines connected to the building. I couldn''t cut out the chance of subterranean power lines but my gut told me there was nothing. Which made me curious as to why the System would do that. It wasn''t like I hated technology since the computers were still around I just couldn''t power them. It wasn''t until I reached an elevator that this became a major problem. The elevator was one of the circular glass types that would let you see the main floor as you went up. Unfortunately, no power meant the elevator didn''t work. I considered teleporting but the stairs were close by so I got to walking. I passed through each of the floors and was pleasantly surprised. The building was ideal for what I wanted it for. It was big enough to hold a small city. I could divide the building into roughly three tiers. The lowest tier was the widest section of the building and had a lot of office-style rooms. I could move all that equipment out and convert the rooms into living spaces or even stores or any other kind of building. The next tier was where the building became more hotel-like. Each of the rooms required keys to access of course they were all electronic locks so they were mostly for show. If I could figure out how to get that part fixed though... The final third was my favorite. It was like the System had taken a high-end hotel, penthouse suite, and boardroom and moved them all to the upper third. I wasn''t sure how the System did it but the entire upper floor was bigger yet smaller than the rest of the building. It had broken the laws of physics to create an upper-class living space. At the top of which was the penthouse and boardroom. The whole thing made me concerned. I had assumed that the changes had been random up until now. There was no way the System created this place accidentally. It was almost as if the System wanted someone to take this building. Had the System created places of power? Highly desirable locations that we would have no choice but to fight over? If so what other places like this exist? I couldn''t help but look up at the ceiling as if it would reveal some grand design for the planet. Could there be a flying city? A lunar city? An underwater one? Hell, a volcanic one? I shook my head and turned my attention to what I had to do. I made my way into the penthouse and started to set up. The room was beautiful with glass walls covering three sides and an empty pool outside the main one. The living room was furnished with a black and white set that included a couch two chairs and a love seat. There was a TV hanging off the wall but it also did not work. There were three side rooms. One was the bedroom which housed a beautiful king-sized bed that I was torn on replacing. I wasn''t sure if it was as durable as the one I got from the tutorial but I also didn''t think I needed an especially durable bed. I wasn''t planning on fighting someone while lying in bed. There was also no guarantee that the bed was that strong to begin with. After thinking about it for a few minutes I decided to leave the bed in place. I turned my attention to the next room. This one had been a closet originally. It was a walk-in and had space for me to hang things up if I wanted. I quickly got a new idea. The room had no lights or windows. It only had one entrance, a solid door that could probably be improved later. Altogether it would make a brilliant cultivation chamber. I grinned as I placed the mat on the ground. I placed it in the center of the room and then went through and removed everything else. Once the room was empty I shut the door and returned to my new house. The third room was the boardroom. It had a single onyx stone table that could seat 12 and a set of chairs to match. The whole thing looked like something out of a TV show which only made me want to keep the table more. I took a seat at the head of the table and folded my hands behind my head. "You have failed me for the last time." I declared doing my best to imitate a supervillain. I then pressed my imaginary kill everyone button. Once the scenario played out I chuckled to myself and took a breath. The decisions I would make in this room would likely result in the deaths of an untold amount of people. Despite the gravity of the thought, I wasn''t afraid. No, it was more accurate to say that I was eager for it. I already made up my mind that I would start up a faction or rather a city. I had pushed myself to be the best in the tutorial when I could have taken the easy way out. This was the road I chose to walk which meant the only thing to do was to see how far I could go. I needed to gather people. Both strong allies and actual citizens. This realization presented the first problem. Did I want to try and recruit the people in the mall? They were all mortals but they would certainly die if I didn''t. Especially if they couldn''t recruit any cultivators. They also might have what I needed, people who could build a city or a government. I was pretty confident in dealing with most if not all monsters on Earth. It was the logistics that I didn''t know. A partially finished Law degree wasn''t worth much when you were trying to build a government. All of those were future considerations. There was something that I could do right now though. Chapter 27: New World Same Old Debt I opened up my menu and shifted to the only quest reward I couldn''t redeem. The System hub. I was just about to confirm it when I had a realization. If other people needed to access the hub they would have to come up here. I wasn''t sure if that was good or not. The instructors treated the whole thing like a relief to be protected. If that was the case keeping it as far away from the ground as possible was best. I went back and forth on it for a few minutes before I gave up. I didn''t have any details so I confirmed the reward. There was a bright flash and then a smaller version of the system hub sat in the middle of the table. It was a hexagram that melted into the stone of the table. A dull pillar of black light reached the ceiling and the familiar symbol of the System floated in the middle. Requirements have been met would you like to create a city? Found a City now? I couldn''t help but laugh at the RPG prompt. It didn''t make sense that I had to choose to redeem the reward and then confirm I wanted to use it. Of course, it would kind of piss me off if I had somehow accidentally claimed it. So I couldn''t complain about it too much. I confirmed and felt a light pulse of energy pass through the room and then spread further through the building. I raised an eyebrow and waited for something else to happen. Some kind of global announcement or a pillar of light to shoot into the air. At this point, I would have settled for some Super Mario music but there was nothing. "Hello there." A cheery and chipper voice called out from beside me. My eyes widened and I activated Psychic Aegis. The protective shield formed around me before I had a chance to take in my surroundings. When I did what I saw left me speechless. There was a black and purple sphere covered in what looked like a cloud of stardust floating right there. The entire thing looked a bit like looking at the universe through an obsidian ball. "I believe I said hello. I assume you can understand what I am saying." Somehow the lack of mouth to match the words snapped me back to reality. "Who are you? How did you get here without me noticing?" "I am your administrator. It is my responsibility to manage your territories hence the name. How long ago did the tutorial end?" "Um, a couple of days. I was under the impression that I was supposed to be the leader of a city since I founded the damn thing." I wasn''t sure how I knew it or how a floating ball of gaseous clouds could look annoyed but it did. "Yes of course you are the leader. My job is to administer it. As the faction leader you will be better off growing your strength than reading reports over how many spiritual plants you have and how many you need for certain recipes." I blinked and then slowly nodded. That had been one of the things I was afraid of. It would suck if I became tied down to this place and couldn''t explore the world. If that was the case I wasn''t sure if I wanted to be the ruler but it sounded like I had sidestepped that. "Does everyone get someone like you? Or is it specific to me?" "Everyone will get an administrator though I must admit it is rare for one to get one like you did." "What do you mean?" "Ordinarily the first time you summon an administrator I would only be confirming the creation of a camp. You would then need to improve it to a village and then to a city. Once you did that I would be able to appear permanently. We ordinarily would have had two conversations before you completed that third step. You have skipped it entirely. It is truly impressive. Are there others who have done that?" "I was hoping you would know. As far as I understand it I am the highest level person on earth. Though based on the titles I have I should also be the strongest person. I am not sure about the monsters but I think I am stronger than all of them too." "Glorious. Are you planning on conquering this planet then? It is your right." I blinked several times at the intense fervor in the thing''s voice. It was almost like it would summon an army out of thin air if I said yes. "Right now my goal is to build my faction. I imagine that I will be involved in the fight for the direction of the planet. I need to make myself stronger before I think about conquering anything though." "Very well for now there are a few details that we have to iron out. I have integrated myself with the building. In addition, you must decide the name of your city." I nodded and decided to focus on the name first. I smiled as the name decided itself. Was it vain to name a city after yourself? Absolutely. Was I going to do it anyway? Absolutely. "Amara, the everlasting city." "Of course. The city of Amara has been founded. It appears you have access to some purchases that would ordinarily not be available. Of them, I would recommend you purchase the 1st Realm Energy Conversion Array. It is a very popular array of newly integrated worlds. It would allow you to get this building up and running with spiritual energy. You have access to a higher quality variant that can drain the spiritual energy from the environment to power itself." I grinned and nodded my head. Wasn''t that exactly what I needed? "I want it how much is it?" "One Million System Credits." I swear I could hear a record scratch at that. That was right around one-third of my wealth. The battle with the birds had earned me around five hundred thousand so I wasn''t exactly struggling. Still, did I want to spend that much all at once? I sighed and nodded. "Go ahead and spend it." The next moment a wave of power spread throughout the room. The walls began to glow with golden splendor as strange symbols began to appear. It was as if I watched a painter create the most complicated sigil I had ever seen. I wasn''t sure where it began and ended as the symbols spread along the walls and through the floor. The process had an ethereal beauty to it that left me in awe. It only lasted a few minutes but it felt like an eternity. When it finally ended I couldn''t speak for a few moments. "What in the world was that." "It was the System engraving an array on the building. Ordinarily, an array like this would use flags but the improved model you have was better suited like this." I nodded and reluctantly brought my gaze back to my administrator. "Can I learn how to do that?" "Of course, you would need to learn how to create arrays and formations first. A process that usually requires high energy control. If you are capable then you could learn it like any other discipline." "I see and I assume you can''t teach me?" Stolen novel; please report. "That is correct. My cultivation is focused on management and dealing with large amounts of information. You want an array master." "An array master? I see. Sorry, do you have a name? I have just been thinking of you as ''Administrator'' this whole time and that feels rude." "My name is difficult to say with a mouth but you may call me Saanite" I nodded and turned toward the System Hub. "Am I able to access the shop list you mentioned or do you have to do it for me?" There was a brief pause and then a large scrollable screen appeared in front of me. It was very similar to the menu that we got for skills and spells. Only it was divided into a types of businesses. Most of which were greyed out. They all required a variety of things before I could select them. Some had population requirements, others required me to have the world capital. Some required me to have a large enough military or just a massive amount of land. There were a couple that I could buy though. The first of which was an academy. The original requirements had a red line through them but it should have required me to have half a million people. I would have then had to pay them fifty thousand 2nd realm credits. The only requirement I met was that the planet was within five years of the merger. Which didn''t feel like much of an accomplishment. "What''s the conversion rate between first-realm and second-realm credits?" "You require one thousand of the lower realm credits to equal one of the higher." My eyes nearly popped out of my head as I did some mental math. Well, that would require me to spend days just slaughtering things. If it were anyone but me it would probably be impossible for a person to earn that much. Of course, it was more likely that you were supposed to collect the money from elsewhere. The greatest fundraiser of all time. I chuckled to myself at the thought as I turned back to the situation at hand. I made the choice only to get an error message. I blinked and read it twice. "Are you able to follow me or do you have to stay in this room?" "I am free to go anywhere though I am only able to do my job inside your city. I am also not a combat cultivator so my ability to defend myself is nearly nonexistent." I raised an eyebrow at that. "Why would you agree to go to other worlds if you couldn''t keep yourself safe?" "Ah yes, the System takes care of that and very few groups in the multiverse would risk its ire to hurt one of us. As long as we do not harm anyone that will stay the case." I see. I have to go to a different part of the building. Will you follow?" I asked and stood up. Once Saanite agreed we stepped out of the office and into the wall. We were able to take the elevator this time which made the trip much more interesting. Spiritual energy made the lights seem more alive than normal. It was kind of like all the light bulbs had been supercharged only the light felt relaxing instead of painful. I led us to the ground floor and down the main hallway until we reached a large atrium. I assumed it was meant for events for one of the hotels. Or perhaps both of them. Either way, it was large enough for what I needed. I confirmed the purchase and this time it went through. There was a pulse of energy and then the room around us began to change. It wasn''t like the teleportation from my spell or the tutorial this was more like the room around us had another room placed on top of it. The differences between the two slowly changed as the new room became more real. It was a bit like looking at a video game where you had to place the improvements down in the spot you wanted them. The room was much bigger than I expected even taking up the floors above us. Despite this, the whole process was seamless. If I hadn''t known that it wasn''t originally here I would have guessed it had always been here. The new room was a bit like a modern mall or university. There was a large desk that took up half of the room we stood in with a staircase behind it. There was a display counter with dozens of stones spread out. Each stone had a name tag with words written in a language I had never seen. "I take it you must be the leader of this city." A posh voice called from the top of the stairs. A moment later a woman in long flowing blue and black robes appeared. She had vaguely elvish features except for her eyes which were a deep amber and lacked a pupil. She was tall and lithe almost supernaturally so. Her skin was a flawless bronze color that made her seem more like a model than an educator. "I am. I assume you are the leader of this academy." "I am." She stepped down the stairs with a supernatural grace. It was as if she floated just above the ground with each step. "I take it you have never encountered an elf?" She gave a playful smile and snapped her fingers. As soon as she did it was like I had woken from a dream. The woman was still beautiful but now she looked more normal. Her skin wasn''t as perfect, her steps were mundane. My eyes widened as I realized what had just happened. "Did you glamour me?" I wasn''t sure if I was more scared that someone could mess with my mind so easily or impressed. "I did though it wasn''t on purpose. It is a racial trait most people in the multiverse can defend themselves against which is what makes coming to these planets so much more fun. My name is Desbera and I welcome you to my academy. Or rather my branch." She offered me her hand alongside a curtsy. I raised an eyebrow before deciding to go with it. I took her hand and brought it to my lips. I placed a gentle kiss and then raised my eyes to look into hers. I then put on my best young lord voice. "The pleasure is all mine. I am honored to be at your academy. You mentioned it''s a branch location. Can you tell me more about it?" She blushed which only made my smile deepen. After a moment she pulled her hand away and nodded. "Of course, Starfall Academy is a subsidiary of the Eternal Archive. There is little I can say about them, unfortunately. The academy began as an attempt to share knowledge throughout the multiverse. Due to constraints formed by the System, the academy entered into a formal agreement. We can offer our services to freshly merged planets that earn them in exchange we are permitted to share any information we can." "Interesting. What are the limits on what you can share?" "By large limitations are based on the leader of the city. In this case, it would be your cultivation. As you are in the first realm we can only share that knowledge with you. From there the things we can share are further limited by quests you perform. We can share the basic information with you and anyone you designate now." "Young lord I would remind you that what the Starfall Academy considers ''basic'' knowledge and what you would consider basic on this planet are not the same," Saanite added just as my disinterest began to grow. I raised an eyebrow at the administrator before looking at Desbera. "What exactly are you able to provide." She got a faraway look in her eyes as if staring at something I couldn''t see. It was a bit creepy and I had to resist the urge to not look behind me. "Huh? It appears we have been given a greater clearance than I expected. You can grant anyone access to the first realm tutors. They can share knowledge on gaining the most common and uncommon classes. For a select few with real potential, they may gain a rare class. We can also offer basic array training including intensified gravity and illusions." "Are you able to teach array creation?" My excitement shot up at the idea of learning how to create my magical enchantments. "Of course, there is an array instructor but that wasn''t what I was referring to. You may not be aware of this but it is common in the multiverse to spend time training under the effect of arrays. It can help squeeze out the full potential of your body. It will become a much bigger opportunity for the second generation and for those who struggle to gather titles. That untapped potential can make a massive difference when it comes to a battle between equals. We also have a skill formation array to help guide individuals in improving or creating their skills and spells. We also have the basic information on the various refinements. Lastly, we can assist you in setting up any arrays or confirming any information you happen to come across." I stared at Desbera as if she were Santa Claus. She just said they have everything I could need. At least in this stage of my cultivation. It would be child''s play to invite people to follow me if I just gave them access. My smile slowly died on my face as I realized something. This was way too good to be true. There had to be a drawback. As if sensing my emotions Desbera smiled before continuing. "There are a limited number of seats until a person graduates from the academy. We are also not allowed to just give away materials. The basic things are covered but if you want your potential students to have practice materials you will need to pay for it. I glared at her and then up at the ceiling. How did I manage to get saddled with student debt in the apocalypse? Still despite what was starting to feel like a debt-creation scheme I had to admit the services were worth it. Even with the limit and the cost I should be able to recruit a literal army. Hell if I could get five hundred people there classes they should be strong enough to deal with just about anything nearby. I nodded to myself, pushed the pain of the money down, and turned to Desbera. It was time for me to explore my new school. Chapter 28: Blade Edge Diplomacy Unfortunately, most of the arrays turned out to be useless. Specifically, the ones that would improve my attributes. Training in the arrays was a less effective way to do the same thing the titles did. There was only so much your body could be improved that way. It turned out the guides they had on refinement were much more fascinating. If I wanted to improve my body more then I needed to get a body tempering manual. The way the information stone explained it, I would kind of torture myself to get an advantage. For example, if I wanted to get a fire-attuned physique I would have to burn myself while using arrays or special body pastes. If I didn''t count myself then the academy was a cheat code. Even without being a cultivator, this place could improve you. The tutorial instructors were a bit more intense about the mortals. They weren''t helpless in the multiverse and in some ways, they were better than cultivators. They were the "Get it from the mud" types. Where cultivators could spend days or even years safely gathering their energy mortals had to go out and fight. They had to put their lives on the line for every drop of energy. Either through fighting or through a fuck ton of stones. Which meant that raising one would cost a lot and those who didn''t have a fortune would likely die. Of course, those that didn''t die became much more powerful. They were used to fighting for their lives. Furthermore, the problem wouldn''t start to show itself until level 50. When we reached the end of the first realm. Up until that point mortals and cultivators were pretty close in speed. Especially on a planet like Earth. That information renewed my desire to recruit people. I made a plan to go and invite Christopher and his people later. Interestingly enough the academy offered information on all kinds of subjects. There was knowledge of the System, for running a settlement, there was even an entire group of stones based on how to run merit exchanges. There were multiple competing theories though they could be boiled down to a handful of ideas. Young factions should award progress to create the foundations of the organization while older factions would award tangible gains. I could set up my merit system but the entire idea made my eyes glaze over. There were factions did only did that. I could purchase their services like any other business which led me to my current plan. I stepped out of the elevator and down the opposite hall. I reviewed my poor finances and wanted to cry. The three million I started with made me feel like a wealthy man. Now it felt like I was a beggar. I had around 1.5 million credits. A million of them disappeared when I made my next purchase. The room that formed in the next few minutes was simple. It was unadorned except for the symbol of the System on the front. There was a single door and the whole thing was the same color and design as the rest of Amara. Honestly, if I hadn''t just paid for I would have assumed the room had always been there. The building was just called System Shop and it was run by the System. I stepped inside and looked around. Honestly, the whole thing was about as big as a coffee shop. There were no employees, instead, you only had to think about the store and you would get access to its wares. The reason I bought this one was too fold. The last of my tutorial upgrades was a fifty percent discount for it. The discount would apply only to me so it would still bleed my people dry which sucked. Secondly, it was the only store I could buy. The System had a weird economic model. Where it offered the worst prices to encourage other people to open businesses. It was like competitive capitalism while guaranteeing that the basic things were available to everyone. The System seemed to operate like a flame. It would create situations where people had to fight and then burn up the majority to transform the ones who survived. I reviewed what the shop had for sale and made another purchase. A black box appeared at my feet in the next moment and I left the room. I made my way back to my quarters before I opened it. The 1st Realm Basic Gathering Array was for lack of a better word basic. It wasn''t that great at containing energy nor was it useful to improve your cultivation speed. It was the beater that you drove until you got something better. Fortunately or unfortunately it was better than nothing. The box had a set of ten flags and an information stone. I sent some energy inside and grimaced as my mind was filled with new information. It only took a moment but it felt like I had just binged an entire novel. "I still haven''t gotten used to that." I made a mental note to ask about converting Earth''s books into stones but that was for later. The actual process for using the array was pretty straightforward. I placed the flags around my cultivation chamber. Mine was a bit too small for all ten flags though so I didn''t need them. I would then send a bit of spiritual energy into the main flag. It would then push the energy toward the middle where my mat waited. It would take a couple of hours before it was helpful but it would make my cultivation better. Once the setup was finished I left the room and made my way back to the main entrance of my building. My biggest issue was the lack of citizens. I needed people here to do actual work. Neither of my purchases could do something without actual people so it was with that in mind that I stepped back into the ruined city. It was time to get some citizens. The run through the city was almost relaxing. The few monsters close enough to attack me ran off as soon as I released my aura so it was almost relaxing. The journey itself took a bit longer than half a day. I was even able to circulate some of my spiritual energy to recover a small amount while I went. When I arrived I found something unexpected but not surprising. There was a group of ten people standing in front of the mall. All ten wore either robes or armor which told me they were cultivators. Most of them had their aura''s going as well which was having a visible effect on the defenders. Surprisingly enough none of Christopher''s people ran. I ducked down a side street and activated Apportation. I stepped out of my portal on the roof of a building directly behind the group. Three of them were elemental mages wielding fire, ice, and lightning, and four of them were warriors with weapons ranging from swords to a bow and arrows. The last three were brawlers. A lanky white man with dirty blonde hair bounced on the balls of his feet like a martial artist. Based on how easily he was moving I placed his agility around sixty or seventy. Though estimating wasn''t a science by any means. "Now listen here all you have to do is pack on up and head out. There is no reason to get your people killed." A warrior holding a large bastard sword stepped forward. He wore a set of chain mail armor and his sword dripped with blood. I looked around and found what I assumed were the guards who were on duty. One had his head crushed while the other was completely cut in two. "And I already told you that this is our home. We aren''t giving it up for you. Now get out of here. We aren''t interested in joining up with you either." Christopher raised his bat and pointed at the group. I had to admit that I was a bit impressed by his willingness to fight. These people had little chance of winning but they weren''t willing to roll over. The martial artist had a similar thought. He activated some kind of movement ability and turned into a blur. Before anyone had the chance to react he was in front of Christopher and slamming a fist into his stomach. Christopher crumbled to the ground and gasped for air. The hit looked painful. It wasn''t until the man placed his foot on Christopher''s head and pressed him into the ground that I had enough. I wasn''t sure what the next thing he said was but the moment after that a blast of indigo light consumed him. In the next instant, he had collapsed like a doll with its strings cut. I sighed in annoyance when I received his kill energy though I wasn''t sure if it was because the energy was so low or if I was upset that he died. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. All eyes were on me as I leaped from the roof of the building. I placed both hands into my robe and wished I had jeans or a jacket. By the time I landed, the cultivators had recovered from their shock. "What in the sam hell are you doing boy?" The bastard swordsman asked while raising his blade. "Are you talking like that on purpose? Never mind don''t answer that. I killed that guy for being an ass. Who are you people?" "We come from the new commonwealth. These people were being offered the wonderful opportunity to rebuild the country and refused." I stared at him in confusion before shaking my head. "None of you are strong enough for that. I am going to give you one chance to get the hell out of here. You killed two people and I killed one. I would prefer not to add more human deaths to my hands today." I had just finished when both fire and ice shot at me. I raised an eyebrow at the spells before dodging the fireball and deflecting the ice shard. Neither spell felt dangerous enough to demand my full attention but I figured it was better to be safe. I walked by the group until I reached Christopher. None of the other warriors decided to attack which was smart of them. "You doing alright?" I asked while pulling the man to his feet. He was pale and based on how he was clutching his right side he was in a lot of pain. I shook my head in irritation. I should have purchased a set of healing pills before coming. "Can you get inside?" "I am not leaving. Not until these bastards are gone." The man practically hissed the words but I had to give it to him. My desire to recruit him went up a bit. "Don''t worry about it. I will take care of things here." I turned around just as the archer unleashed an arrow. The projectile shimmered before splitting into five more arrows. My eyes widened as I forced energy into Psychic Aegis. The barrier formed just in time to protect Christopher. Once the arrows hit my shield they shattered until only the real arrow was left. I willed my status screen to appear and focused on the "Pinnacle" title. I then concentrated on each of the cultivators until I got the prompt to share the screen. "As you can see I am stronger than you. Get out of here before I kill the rest of you." They looked at each other for a moment as if not sure what they wanted. The confusion lasted just long enough that I thought they might listen. That was shattered when their leader spoke again. "There is still only one of him. Just imagine the energy we gonna get from killing his sorry ass." I stared in utter disbelief at him before shaking my head. The nine moved forward but they didn''t make it half the distance before a rain of psychic blades fell on their mages. Both the fire and ice mage died immediately while the lightning used some movement spell that let narrowly avoid the attack. I converted Psychic Aegis into its bubble form as the warriors arrived. My danger sense didn''t so much as whisper at their attacks so I decided to ignore them. I unleashed Psychic Blast at the archer who attempted to block the attack with another storm of arrows but they made no difference. After all, how could a physical attack stop a mental one? The arrows did hit his allies though. One of the brawlers was forced to one knee as an arrow dug into his Achilles tendon. There was something ironic about taking an arrow from an ally in that spot but I ignored it. I raised an eyebrow as the bastard sword wielders activated a skill. His blade gained a translucent edge that grew to five feet. A look of triumph flashed across his face and hefted the massive blade. I cocked my head at him as he slammed it against my shield. When my shield effortlessly blocked the attack his triumph turned into genuine fear. The others quickly got the message that they couldn''t win and turned to run away. I sighed and ended my shield. In the next moment, I shot forward like a rocket and slammed a fist into the back of the bastard sword warrior. I felt something snap and he crumbled to the ground. I turned to the rest of them and shook my head. This wasn''t a fight. This was a slaughter. A voice in the back of my head told me that I had done enough. That I didn''t need to keep killing but another more pragmatic part of me said I had to. That they would come back later, that they would hurt someone else if I didn''t stop them. The two voices warred inside me until they disappeared down the street. I sighed and looked at the leader''s body. I pushed the guilt that had begun to gnaw at me down and grabbed his sword. I placed it on my back and then did the same for the rest of the weapons. They would make the start of my future armory. "You killed them," A blonde woman said in disbelief. As if saying the words were the only way she had to rationalize what had just happened. Her words only caused the storm of emotion inside me to intensify. That had to be self-defense right? Hell did it matter? It wasn''t like there was a court or a police for that could stop me. Weirdly I was technically the law of my territory. We weren''t in my territory though so I wasn''t sure how that worked. "Yeah, I did. Is Christopher alright?" She either didn''t hear me or ignored me and to be honest I didn''t care. I wasn''t sure if she was looking at the corpses of the people I killed or her people that had been killed. I shrugged and walked into the mall. The reactions from the rest of the people were much more mixed than I expected. The "civilians" were a mix of terrified and thankful for what I did while the guards were almost all thankful. Some of them looked a bit worried about what I would do next. As if they weren''t sure I was a guardian or a bigger threat. Either way, they didn''t try to stop me. I found Christopher back in his office. His ribs had been bandaged and he had an open bottle of painkillers on the table. "So did you plan on breaking some kneecaps with your slugger?" I said with a humorless chuckle. "I think I would need one from Louisville for that joke to work." He paused for a moment before we took our seats. "Thank you for what you did. Are all the people who went to the tutorial that strong?" I shrugged. "Doubtful. Most people were terrified at first but it didn''t take for a divide to form. I imagine that every group went through something similar. There are probably ''civilians'' who simply didn''t push themselves but those who did are probably stronger than you all. Even the weakest of them would have reached level five at least." He nodded and reached into his desk. He removed a flask, unscrewed its top, and put it to his lips. I waited for him to finish his drink not sure what I should do next. He decided to break the silence first. "Is it too much to ask you to stay here and protect everyone? I am not sure what we can pay you for it that you can''t just take but we will do what we can." I shook my head. "No I plan on moving about and exploring but I do have an alternative. I reached that building and without going into the details I formed a city there. Or rather start of one." "I see what are you offering exactly?" Christopher said with a sigh. The man looked exhausted and stressed out. "I am offering to take you all in. I need people and you all need safety or at least what passes for safety right now." "Don''t take this the wrong way but that sounds awfully like what the other people were offering." I shrugged. "I know but you don''t have a lot of options. I also have resources that they don''t. I have a place where you can improve yourselves. Where you can learn more about the rules of the world." I held up a hand to stop his next question. "I won''t go into details about it. You only need to know that I received a reward during the tutorial. I am not able to offer you anything for free though. It is up to you and your people to provide something. Whether it''s working as guards or crafters or whatever. I plan on paying everyone for the work of course so what do you say? Chapter 29: Psychic Manipulation I left Christopher''s office an hour later after we had agreed. He didn''t feel comfortable committing to anything without speaking to the others and I couldn''t blame him. It made him seem like a better person since he wasn''t willing to take the easy way out. It didn''t change anything though they weren''t strong enough to deal with threats independently. He did offer me something else though, he agreed to spread the word with some of the other communities in the area. I wasn''t sure how many there were but apparently, there was a trading commune that they all agreed to meet at. It sounded kind of like a farmer''s market so that was interesting. I decided to let them take a day to think about it which left me with nothing to do. If I pushed myself I could get back to Amara but was there a point? Outside of learning more about arrays, there wasn''t too much for me to do. I could go out and slaughter a few monsters or I could go and find this other settlement. I went back and forth on my trio of options and landed on the monsters option. I wasn''t sure if I wanted to just kill the leader of a new settlement yet. I also didn''t want to go too far away from the mall. The last thing I needed was for another group to show up and kill them all while I was gone. Killing the attackers did have one additional benefit that made me feel conflicted. They provided around twice as many credits as a monster. Either killing a human was just worth more or I got the money they had at the time of their death. I wasn''t sure which of the two was more concerning. Either way, I benefited and as long as I didn''t die it wouldn''t matter too much and if I did die it wouldn''t matter to me at all. Once I had traveled two hours away I pulled my aura and killing intent inside my body and began a slaughter. None of the monsters were a threat to me and the entire scene was eerie. I was the one killing them so I knew what had happened but if anyone else saw it. The creatures just dropped to the ground. I wasn''t even sure they were "dead". The kill energy confirmed that they weren''t alive anymore but their bodies looked alive. They looked like they had all fallen asleep. The beasts in this area were a weird kind of metallic dog. They had silver eyes and hard skin instead of fur. Outside of that, they were pretty weak. They had no mental defenses to speak of and they weren''t very smart. They didn''t even give a lot of credit. After a few hours, I got tired of the senseless death and decided to explore something else. I made my way into an abandoned store and sealed the entrance behind me. I made myself as comfortable as I could and activated Psychic Mastery. The guidance system appeared and I began to follow its teachings. It took me an hour to complete the initial sphere design but when I did I couldn''t help but notice that was real. Or rather that it wasn''t just a sphere of energy. I smacked myself in the head when I realized what the fuck I had been doing. Spells were just premade abilities so why did I need to wait to activate one? Why couldn''t I just shape my psychic energy into a blade and throw it at someone? Now that I had the idea I couldn''t let it go. The guidance system wanted me to focus on spheres but that was impossible. It was like being told to practice the fundamentals when you just learned you could dunk. I attempted to conjure a dagger of energy similar to something I saw in a comic book at the orphanage. After an hour I couldn''t call what I had made a dagger but it was a shaped piece of energy. It was close in design to a lumpy parallelogram but it was a start. I could even aim and fire it. It also required almost no spiritual energy, the attack was powered just by psychic power. I laughed and leaped to my feet. I removed my makeshift barricade and stepped back into the city. I needed to find something to test this out. It turned out my new abilities were positive but not what I had expected. The attacks were much weaker than when I used my actual spells. Even taking into account that I could only create one at a time the damage wasn''t enough. The weaker wolves took around two or three hits to take out while the stronger ones required five. I couldn''t find anything as strong as the mama bird around here but I could guess it would be around ten to fifteen assuming that all of them hit. Of course, the cheapness of the attacks and the lack of cool-down made it worth it. I was also sure I could imbue it with my tao to improve the attack. I looked in the direction of the mall debating what I should do next. I hadn''t told them when I would come back but it would be a problem if they were attacked while I was gone. Of course, I hadn''t promised to protect them nor did they even agree to be my people. Even if that group wanted to attack them again they should take at least a day or two before they would return. I shook my head. I was just looking for excuses to do the thing I wanted to do anyway. I wanted to stay here and practice. I turned toward the city and pushed forward. The next enemy I came across was another kind of dog. Where the last ones were metallic and tried to tank things these were more like cheetahs. They were ugly things with no fur and were heavily muscled. They were fast enough to make good target practice though. They revealed another problem with manipulating the energy directly. It was time and focus-consuming. Trying to split my focus between attacking them, avoiding their attacks, and creating the mental image of the attack I wanted was difficult. It was like trying to pat my stomach, rub my head, and do mental math at the same time. Furthermore, each failed dodge caused me to lose focus as pain shot through me. I was forced to rely on Psychic Aegis which only gave me another thing to worry about. Thankfully my net energy gain was enough to allow me to progress to the next level. I decided to give myself three days to train before I made my way back to the mall. I was tempted to open a portal and just enter the mall but decided against it. I still couldn''t hold the portal open long enough for other people to go through and I didn''t want to deal with people expecting me to. It was better that they started walking anyway. Despite our agreement, I was shocked to find what had to be around two hundred people in the mall''s parking lot. Of the two hundred around fifty held weapons while the rest kind of huddled together near the entrance. I chuckled and shook my head as I made my way through the crowd. People looked more relieved to see me than I expected which made me feel much better. It only took me a few minutes to find Christopher and a trio of guards. Christopher had his trustee baseball bat slung over one shoulder. "We were starting to worry that you weren''t serious about your offer," Christopher spoke up first. "I wasn''t expecting so many people to be interested. Were all of these people in the mall?" He shook his head. "No, we had around one hundred people. The other hundred and ten came from other enclaves nearby. The few that hadn''t been approached by cultivators already were interested in the safety you offered. The others just didn''t want to get dragged into the other town. Things aren''t going well over there." Stolen story; please report. "What do you mean?" I turned and did a quick scan of the people nearby and they looked well. There was a large mix of ages and races so it didn''t seem like it was anything too horrid. "The leaders of the commonwealth have set themselves up as some kind of kingdom. An unofficial hierarchy is in place where you are expected to pay the leadership." I stared at him blankly before shaking my head. "They will have to work or pay with me too. I can''t afford to protect people who won''t do anything." He held up a hand to stop me from continuing. "They don''t always accept financial compensation and they don''t offer any of the knowledge they got from the tutorial. Meaning that you either paid the way they wanted or you took your chances with the monsters." My eyes widened when it hit me. A small portion of my killing intent leaked out and before I noticed I had taken a step in the direction the other group had fled in. "Easy kid." I turned on him and was just about to lay into him when I caught sight of the people around us. Who now looked like they wanted to piss themselves. I took a breath and pulled my killing intent back inside. "I get it but there isn''t much you can do about it. I don''t know how many people your new city can hold but are you prepared to take everyone in? Are you able to protect them all while moving through the city? If you bring them with you what will you do with the people who don''t want to join you?" I sighed and shook my head. I mentally promised that I would go and check on it myself but for now, I had other things to worry about. I turned to the others and gave them a slight smile. "Are your people ready to leave now? Did you take everything you needed?" "Yes and no we were able to grab most of the food stuff but the heaviest things had to stay behind. I don''t assume you have any more space in that bag?" He gestured to it as if it were some kind of secret. I raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Lead the way and I will gather as much as I can. Let''s start with the biggest things." I was quite impressed with the things they had and more so with the organization that Christopher had put in place. Without really discussing it he had set up their stuff in order of what they could afford to lose. I wasn''t sure if he intended to sacrifice the people holding the worst things or if he expected to distract whatever they came across with the goods while everyone ran away. I decided not to ask. I managed to arrange around forty percent of it in my bag which guaranteed everyone would have food no matter what. When I agreed to return later for furniture and other creature comforts a chorus of cheers passed through the crowd. Despite the fresh excitement, there was a clear anxiousness in the air. Everyone was delicately dancing around the truth but moving through the city in such a large group was going to be a problem. I wouldn''t be able to use my aura to keep beasts away and I wouldn''t be able to defend all sides with Aegis. "Christopher, how do you want to handle the defenses? I am going to deal with the majority of any threat that approaches but I can''t deal with everything. Unless your people want to wait for me to fight." "I know was thinking that we would circle the wagons and keep our gunmen in whatever fortifications we can find. We should be able to deal with any small fry before they get too close. Our melee fighters would hold the line if we come across anything too intense but ideally, you would deal with whatever is out there by then." I considered the idea and had to admit it wasn''t a bad one. It wasn''t exactly what I would call a plan though but it was better than nothing. If I set up aegis in its wall form it should hold for at least ten minutes which should be enough for me to handle the threats as long as we didn''t fight something crazy. We both agreed that the children and the elderly would sit in the middle of the group both in transit and when set up for safety. Lastly it was decided that I wouldn''t travel with the group but on the rooftops above the streets. This was officially so I could see any threats before they arrived. I also really wanted to pretend to be an action hero running along rooftops. It made me feel like Batman. We sat around and went over a few more details about what they could expect. We formed the start of the laws of Amara including that children wouldn''t be required to work until they could cultivate but would still receive an education. The elderly and the sick would remain cared for but they would still need to find a way to contribute. Most likely as advisors or caretakers for the children. When I revealed that I had power there was a mixture of disbelief and a clamor for more equipment. Everything from coffee makers to alarm clocks. We had to remind everyone that they would be responsible for carrying whatever it was that they had to stop people from running back into the mall. Once everyone had settled down again we finalized our plans and I opened a portal. I gave one final nod to Christopher whose shocked face only made me laugh. "Let''s head out." Without waiting for a response I stepped through and reappeared on top of a gas station across the road. "The best spell I have." I smiled to myself as I scanned the road in front of us for any sign of monsters. We had only traveled for an hour before the problems started. Unfortunately, most of the people here were levels one and two which meant they were dealing with base attributes. They were the same as they were before everything changed. Most of them were unhealthy. Even the ones that were in good shape weren''t able to move through the debris the torn-up roads and cars forced the group to split up and take extra time. Since they weren''t used to dealing with this they became easy targets for faster monsters. One elder man was nearly drug into a half-destroyed building by a metallic dog before I could take it down. It was incredible that we made it to nightfall without anyone dying. I ordered everyone to stop outside of a warehouse when another failed attack nearly had a group of children disappear. I opened a portal and arrived in front of Christopher. "I am thinking that we set up inside. Arrange a few cots and blankets in a circle. I will keep watch but your people should stay alert." "I think that would be best. Do you want to stay out here and watch the entrance or come inside?" I hesitated before weighing my options. "I will stay out here. It will be a bit easier for me to fight if you all are safely squared away. Keep your people close to a wall. I am not sure we have the stuff to treat a gunshot wound. Also if you hear a battle break out stay inside. I don''t think there is anything dangerous to me here but the last thing I want is to accidentally kill someone." We continued for a few more minutes and clarified some last-minute details. It was decided that I would take up refuge in the building across from the warehouse. Christopher would have half his guards sleep while the other formed a makeshift firing line. I couldn''t come up with a reason that it wouldn''t work so I left them to it. I decided not to open another portal this time. With any luck, I would be able to get some mediation and cultivation in tonight. I settled into a spot where I could watch both the street and the warehouse. I sat there for an hour before the boredom sunk in. I decided to take a breath and meditate on the Tao. Based on the information I managed to skim with my affinities it wasn''t a matter of I could gain another strand. I was guaranteed to get as many as I wanted. As long as I put the time in my biggest problem would be gaining so many or gaining a set that didn''t mesh well. Adamance and Lucidity came from the same class so those could either be developed separately or with the intent to combine later. Which meant I needed to focus. I closed my eyes and focused on my cultivation technique. Once I was ready I mentally reached out to the world around me. I focused on the sensation of being teleported. On the sigils that made up my spells on how the wind felt when it brushed past my skin and a million other things. Each sensation represented another potential avenue but none of them spoke to me. After what felt like two hours I decided to give up. I felt stupid waiting for something to "speak to me" but there wasn''t much else to do. The Tao "couldn''t be forced or rushed" whatever that meant. I would need to¡ªmy thoughts were interrupted as a man stepped or rather shambled down the far end of the street. Chapter 30: Fungus I cocked my head as the man shambled down the street. At first, I thought he was drunk but I somehow doubted people were getting fucked up at the end of the world. Or maybe that was what a reasonable person did. The problem was that he was still alive. I had killed a lot of the monsters nearby but there was no way I had killed them all. I was just about to step out when he passed in front of the moonlight. He was not ok. The right side of his face had vines growing out of it that connected to his right arm like some sort of fungal plant soldier. His shambling was due to his bones and limbs being twisted and broken. I resisted the urge to throw up as the thing shambled closer. I was just about to unleash Psionic Blast when I thought better of it. Wasn''t this a perfect time for me to continue my practice? My psychic energy drained as I slowly formed it into a ball. When I was ready I let the attack fly. I circulated my spiritual energy just in case the thing turned out to be stronger than I expected. The mental attack hit its mark and the thing just dropped. There was barely a trickle of energy into my dantian so I wasn''t sure if I had killed it or not. I raised an eyebrow and slowly made my way toward it. Before I had crossed half the distance my blood ran cold as I caught a pair of humans nearly identical to the one I just killed. I took a step back only to find two more coming from a different side street. My thoughts raced as I tried to piece together what happened. Was it some sort of scout? Like a dummy that was supposed to die to tell where the others were? If so did that mean the more I killed the more would come? How the fuck was I supposed to deal with it then? I took a breath as my heart raced. I just needed to break the situation down into steps. First I had to lead them away from the innocents. After that, I would have to deal with the group near here. Finally, I would need to kill whatever was guiding them. I took another breath and then an idea came to me. I unleashed the tao of adamance. My mental energy began to drain but it worked. All of the corpses turned toward me like hounds that had gotten the scent of prey. Guess that''s my cue to move. I backpedaled and directed my tao field toward them. The whole situation felt like something out of a freaky zombie movie. I found another four corpses before I was far enough that I felt comfortable fighting back. Thankfully I had managed to corral them into a single group so killing them was almost easy. Psionic Rain put an end to them and gave me a chance to plan. I took a short detour to let Christopher know that I was gone and they needed to be ready. After that, I began my search. The corpses were evenly spread out and in enough numbers that it didn''t make any sense. I should have seen them earlier. I hunted them for nearly an hour before finding where they came from¡ªa half-buried sewer entrance which in retrospect probably should have been obvious. I activated Psychic Aegis and let the bubble shield wrap around me. Despite my new power I couldn''t help but feel anxious. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end and I slumped forward as if expecting someone or something to reach out and grab me. Nothing like that happened. I walked for what felt like an eternity before I came into what looked like a water treatment plant. My attention was immediately drawn to the massive fungal growth on the opposite side of the room. It looked a bit like an alien tree had dug itself into the wall. I wasn''t sure where the thing had come from. Nor why the hell the System would create something like it. Before I could decide what to I felt a sharp pain at the base of my skull. I spun around confused as to how something had gotten through my aegis. When I found nothing behind me my heart started to race. I pushed spiritual energy into the sigil for Psionic Rain but collapsed to one knee before the spell could activate. My vision swam as the most powerful mental attack I had ever faced slammed into me. The entire world inverted and I lost track of where I was. I couldn''t feel my energy as panic spread through my body. I fought against myself to regain control as something entered my mind. It felt like a slimy tentacle was coiling itself around my consciousness. I screamed in fury and primal terror. I reached for my tao. First Lucidity, then adamance the combination forced the feeling back. I alternated both Taos as I slowly returned to my body. When I opened my eyes I lay on the ground in the fetal position. Three fungal corpses pounded on my barrier, a barrier that had already begun to crack. Panic rapidly became fury as I activated Psychic Blast. The mental attack washed over the first monster I saw. My eyes widened as the mental attack was siphoned away toward the large fungal thing. In a panic, I activated Apportation beneath me. I fell into the portal just as Aegis fell apart. The sense of calm washed over me like a refreshing rain as I processed what was happening. The portal reopened and I stepped out a second later. My mind raced to figure out a way to deal with my current situation. I formed my psychic energy into a small blade and sent it toward one of the trio. The attack barely made it halfway across the room before it was drained away by the mushroom. "Fuck me." Before I could come up with a new plan the trio rushed for me. I backpedaled and pushed the strand of lucidity in my palm. I attempted to form a sphere out of it like I did with my mental energy but nothing happened. I ducked a spear made out of a hardened vine just as a pulse of mental energy blasted out of the mushroom. My vision swam as my danger sense finally woke up. I pushed spiritual energy into my right arm and left leg. I then used both to block two attacks. White hot pain shot through my body forcing me to bite down a scream. I pushed away from the trio and pushed spiritual energy into my arms the same way the bug queen had. I then added the tao of adamance. The three monsters rushed me and this time I met their charge. My danger sense warned me just as the largest of the trio aimed an overhead strike that would have shattered my spine. Acting completely on instinct I stepped back and into a spinning back fist that snapped the jaw off the closest monster. Before I could celebrate the small victory I was forced to avoid another spear thrust. I ducked inside the guard of the largest one and aimed to jab into the center of its body. I then reached up and grabbed its head with both hands. As soon as I reached I unleashed Psychic Blast. The attack engulfed it before the mushroom had the chance to drain the energy. A surge of kill energy told me I had succeeded. I backed off as both of the remaining corpses writhed and transformed. They ripped their fallen brethren apart like alien scavengers. I didn''t need my danger sense to tell me that letting this process finish was a bad idea. I rushed forward both hands raised and leaped onto the shoulders of the largest one. I wrapped both hands around it and unleashed a Psychic Blast from both hands. The twin attacks used the monster''s head as a battleground. I held it for less than a minute before it collapsed and a fresh surge of energy filled me. Before I could reorient myself the mushroom in the corner unleashed another mental attack. This one was much weaker than the first and Intellect Fortress kicked in. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. I leaped away from the monster and turned to face the third corpse. Who had transformed its arms into both a spear and an axe blade. The two weapons were connected to whip-like arms that flailed wildly. I pushed energy into Psionic Rain and then infused it with the strand of Adamance. The blades fell from the sky like heavenly judgment. The attack left no opportunity for the mushroom to steal its energy before it slammed into its target. As soon as the attack finished I rushed forward and slammed both fists into the center of its chest. A scream of danger forced me to retreat before I could unleash the 2nd stage of my attack. I narrowly avoided the axe blade as it tore through the air. I took a minute to catch my breath as the corpse monster rushed me. My lungs pumped like bellows as I ducked beneath the creature''s first attack and placed my palm against its chest. In the next second, I unleashed Psychic Blast in its beam form. The indigo light washed over it for a second before a pulse of mental agony flooded my body. My vision blurred as I backpedaled. Intellect Fortress drained a massive amount of spiritual energy. Before I could finish processing that attack I was forced to dodge the fungal spear tip. I wiped a bit of blood from my nose and pushed spiritual energy into Psionic Rain. The spell was once again empowered with the Strand of Adamance. The blades fell as fresh pain exploded in my temples. It took me a second to realize that I hadn''t been attacked. Instead, the pain came from overusing my tao. I grimaced as I mentally prepared myself to finish. It was then that the final surge of kill energy flooded my dantian. The pure bliss mixed with relief and was nearly enough to make me collapse to my knees. I fought against the darkness that crept in at the edges of my vision. I still had to deal with the actual fungus. I conjured a blade of psychic energy and shot it toward the thing but it didn''t work. The attack was absorbed long before it got close enough. I searched my mind for an answer and groaned when one came to me. I pushed spiritual energy into my hands and moved forward. I began ripping the fungus apart in a disgusting display of physical carnage. I wasn''t sure if the spores would be able to infect me or if there was some other requirement. Either way, I activated Psychic Aegis and kept my mouth and nose covered. When I finally got the kill confirmation the adrenaline from the battle had long faded and I was just tired. I half walked and half limped out of the tunnel. I walked until I found an empty gas station and finally let the darkness claim me. I woke up sometime later to a throbbing headache. My muscles throbbed angrily and I was incredibly thirsty. I pat my body down to make sure there were no vines or mushrooms or other unholy abominations growing out of me. I took a deep breath and calmed myself down before taking stock of my situation. The sun wasn''t up yet so I shouldn''t have been out for too long. I passed a mental eye over my channels and dantian and smiled. I had gained a level from the battle. I put my free points into agility and shut the menu. I hadn''t gotten any new titles for the victory so the monster wasn''t special which kind of sucked but it was good practice. I wasn''t the only person that could use mental attacks so I needed to make sure I had ways to deal with monsters that were either immune or had high defenses. Or find a way to overpower any defense. I made a mental note to keep my eye out for another one of those creatures. The neighborhood around me was peaceful so I figured it was time to return to my new citizens. My head was pounding which meant I wasn''t in the mood to use any of my energy. It took me around an hour to run back to the warehouse, none of the fungal corpses were around which only made my anxiety rise. I found Christopher and a group of ten guards standing out front. "We were a bit worried when you hadn''t returned. Did you deal with whatever it was?" He asked as I slowed to a stop. "Yeah, though we should get out of here as soon as we can. I don''t know if there are any more in the area and it''s a bit worrisome. Do you all need anything before we set out?" He shook his head. "We should be ready to set out in an hour or so once everyone is awake. I think we should leave around sunrise?" I checked the horizon and slowly nodded. It was hard to know for sure but I figured that should be within the next hour or two. "Yeah, I am going to get some cultivating in. Let me know if you need anything." I left the group to finish their problems and found a quiet corner. I took a deep breath and began cycling my energy. Once again I was reminded how much the energy on earth sucked. Which only made me want to get back to Amara as soon as possible. I went through and meditated on each of my spell sigils until I felt someone approach. I slowly opened my eyes and let the calm fall away. "Uh, Christopher wanted me to let you know that we are ready to go." The man who spoke looked to be in his early twenties with dark brown skin and black hair that hung to his shoulders. He was wearing a collection of clothing that made him look like a child who had snuck into his father''s closet. "Alright let him know that we will leave in ten minutes." Once he left I got to my feet and stretched. It was a bit surprising how quickly my body recovered all of my scrapes and scratches were gone. They hadn''t even left any scars. When I was ready I opened a portal and stepped onto the roof. I overlooked our caravan and gave Christopher a thumbs up. After that, we once again began our run through the streets. This time things went much smoother. The few monsters that attacked were handled by the guards outside of a particularly large metal dog. The thing looked big enough to eat a horse but still lacked any mental defenses. I was especially surprised when Christopher and three of his guards worked together to kill one of the faster dogs. They weren''t anything to write home about yet but they were getting a lot better. I couldn''t be sure but based on their looks of triumph one of them had leveled at least once. The mood in the group had become much lighter by the time we arrived at Amara. The massive skyscraper stood like a beacon of hope, illuminated as if it stood in defiance of the world around it. I couldn''t help but smile as everyone stared at it as if they were expecting it to turn into a mirage. I opened another portal and appeared at the front of the group. "Alright, you all can take rooms for yourself starting on the third floor. Families and similar units should try to stay together for comfort. Feel free to arrange yourselves how you see fit. For today leave the academy alone I will arrange some time with Christopher to determine who would like to learn what. For the next week focus on getting acclimated after that everyone will be expected to pitch in." Once they were squared away I made my up to the System shop. My recent battles told me that it was time to get serious. I stepped into the storefront and scrolled over to the pills. "Fuck me." I shook my head at the prices of everything. My credits had kind of recovered through my slaughter but this was once again going to clean me out. I purchased two sets of all the basic healing pills. I placed the two pill bottles into my pockets made my way down and dropped off everything I carried from the mall. I handed Christopher four pills to treat any of the sick and injured before heading back to my quarters. I went through and emptied my back of the furniture and placed it all in one corner. I wasn''t sure what I would do with it but I didn''t want to have a full bag anymore. I placed the pills inside and then checked on my cultivation chamber. The energy inside felt like entering a refreshing shower. It felt like my entire body was greedily sucking it in. I reluctantly left the room a few minutes later and made my way into my boardroom. It was time for me to figure out my next steps. Chapter 31: New Civilization Just like that two weeks came and went without much fanfare. The two weeks were oddly boring. The monsters in our area were too weak to provide me with any worthwhile energy so I decided to devote them to the academy. I had to cull the area and make a hunting zone for them. After that, I spent most of my time in meditation. It turned out that the array I purchased didn''t make a massive difference. It helped my cultivation speed but the ambient energy here was too low. According to the academy''s stones, I needed to collect items to improve it. These natural treasures worked a bit like the stones and pills. Which meant I had to divide my treasure hunting in two. I needed treasures that could help me today and then long-term treasures that would boost my environment. Honestly, it all sounded a bit like a scam. If I understood it right I would always be collecting new resources that could be found in the wild. A wilderness that the System could modify at its leisure which meant that the System was just pushing us into fights. The academy had a brief mention of cultivators that could resist the System but that was all. Either way, it didn''t matter I had more immediate problems. The Two weeks had allowed me to get better acclimated to Earth. I opened a portal and stepped onto the roof of an old gas station to watch this week''s training drills. Of course, calling them that was very very kind. Of the fifty guards five of them could fight and that included Christopher. The others were either obsessed with their guns and refused to learn any other weapon or they refused to try to fight. Part of that was my fault, the battle between me and the commonwealth convinced them that I would keep them safe. Then we have the return of technology and the creature comforts and most people were content with waiting until the government came back. Which left us in a shit position. I couldn''t just abandon them since I brought them here but I also couldn''t let them be lazy. It wasn''t all bad though, it turned out quite a few people here had crafting knowledge. Several had started studying alchemy, arrays and a small garden was forming. It would be a while before it could be considered a farm but it was progress. On a more personal level, I managed to improve a few things. [1] Psychic Mastery - Proficiency: Intermediate. Mastery is born through experience. Upgradeable. [1] Psionic Rain ¨C Proficiency: Intermediate. The Mind is the Only Weapon you will ever need. Upgradeable I still couldn''t progress Apportation but these two were more than worth it. Psychic Mastery''s improvement allowed me to get more detailed with my mental energy control. It wasn''t just about controlling the shape of it but now I could manipulate minds. It wasn''t as strong as literal mind control but I could make people ignore me. As long as I didn''t do anything that drew attention I could walk around wherever I wanted. As for Psionic Rain, I still hadn''t found the time to test it out. I could tell based on how it changed it was stronger but that was about it. I looked up when I saw Christopher leave the area. I leaped down and jogged up to him. "I need a minute." "Alright." He waved the others to continue without him and took a minute to catch his breath before we stepped into the gas station. "I am going to check out the other settlement nearby. Saanite should be able to handle the big details but I would appreciate you looking after the people. I am not sure if Saanite is capable of dealing with emotions." "Sure do you know which settlements you are going to check out?" I nodded. "I am going to head Northeast. I still need to check out that section of the city and I want to know if there is anyone near there. After that, I think I will look into the commonwealth." He nodded. "So how long do you think you will be gone?" "I think a week maybe a week and a half." He gazed up at the tower for a moment as if deep in thought. "I...we can take care of it." I decided against asking about the hesitation. If he wanted me to know he would have told me and truth be told I wasn''t sure if it was my role to be involved in his personal life. "If you come across any issues retreat into the building Saanite should be able to shut down the elevator at least for a while. I don''t think many humans are bulletproof." We went over a few more things before I decided to leave him to it. I decided to put my new Psychic Mastery to use. My psychic energy drained as I projected a bubble around me. The nearly invisible energy felt like walking through a dream. It wasn''t accurate to say that I had turned invisible because I could still clearly see myself in mirrors, puddles of water all of it. People also reacted to me, unconsciously sliding out of the way and going about their business. It was a bit surreal to go from the most recognizable face to being ignored completely but it was real. The people didn''t even realize they had moved out of my way. It was like their bodies reacted to my presence while their minds ignored any inconsistencies that were created. I kept up the effect until I was a block away. It felt a bit like I had held my breath the entire time as soon as I ended it I returned to the world. I made a mental note to explore the effect a bit more later but now that I was free I broke out into a sprint. I couldn''t help but laugh as the wind flowed through my locs. With my current attributes, I was faster than most cars on regular roads and I had much more control. I barely had to slow my stride when I came across a pair of cars blocking the road. I stepped on the hood of the first one only to then leap into a backflip. I did my best superhero landing and took off again. I raced through the city for two days before I found anything interesting. I sat on top of a doughnut shop and looked at a scene out of a zombie movie. There was a ring of school and public buses that blocked off a neighborhood. They effectively made their own city which was impressive. They had men and women with guns on top of the buses standing guard which was impressive. Unfortunately, everything wasn''t perfect for them. Several of the guards were hurt including one woman who had her right eye bandaged. The buses had seen better days and had been repaired with scrap metals. I watched them for a few hours before I stepped off the building. A quick sprint brought me to the makeshift gates of the city where I found two guns pointed at me. I smiled at them as politely as I could and held up my hands. "Greetings I hoped that I could come inside and have a drink or two. I would like to get some information as well. Perhaps a safe place to lay my head?" The one-eyed woman looked me up and down for a second. She glanced at the other guard and nodded. "It costs five spirit stones to enter." I stared at her blankly before my mind caught up with what was happening. There was no way in the world that these people had enough 2nd-realm stones that they could use them as currency. I hadn''t found any new ones since then nor had I gotten any first realm ones. "I have none of those but I can give you some healing pills I got as a reward." I pretended to reach into the bag and summoned one of my smaller pill bottles. I knocked two pills into my hand before holding them out. "They were good enough to heal some pretty bad injuries and got me back into fighting shape." Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. The two of them looked at each other more than me and I could almost see the gears churning in their minds. They had heard of healing pills before so I didn''t need to deal with that. They were more worried about what the other one would say. We stood there in an uncomfortable silence before they both swiped one pill. I resisted the urge to chuckle before they pulled the gate open and I was allowed in. I looked around and sighed. Up close the city was a bit like a shanty town. People moved through the streets like zombies. Most of them still wore normal clothes that had visible signs of wear and tear. It reminded me of a great depression book. The worst part though was the overall mood. The people here had given up. There were a few people who wanted to fight like the guards but the majority were waiting to die. A cold chill went down my spine when I found an alley filled with half-naked men and women. It didn''t take a lot of effort to see how they had adjusted to things. Especially with the needles and empty glass bottles. Part of me wanted to blast everyone and everything. That I could shock them awake and lead them or make them stronger but there was nothing I could do. Even if there was would it help? I didn''t think any of these people were cultivators. Or if they were they had not tried in the tutorial. If that wasn''t enough to help them what would I do? I shook my head and left. There were other things I wanted to take care of so I made my into a corner bar. Strangely enough, it was one of the few buildings that had gone untouched. It was as if even the heavens refused to destroy a bar. Of course, the more likely answer was a combination of luck and people working together. I stepped into the bar and looked around. Only the bartender was here, an older dark-skinned man with a salt and pepper beard and a bald head. "We don''t usually get people comin'' in here at this time of day. I am going to assume you are new to the town." I nodded and took a seat at the bar. "I am going to offer a bit of advice free of charge. You should dirty up those robes. It''s a crime to own too many good things and those clothes look pretty good." I raised an eyebrow at him and shrugged. "I can take care of myself though I appreciate the warning. Can you tell me a bit more about this town? Who is in charge? Anything interesting going on." The man picked up a glass, and rag and started to clean. "Them government folks were by here a few days ago and word on the street is that Anthony is considering their offer. Anthony is the unofficial mayor of the town." "What''s the offer?" He raised an eyebrow and then placed the glass down on the counter. "The United World Government is trying to get the various leaders to join up with them. Word is a couple of weeks ago people who had gone missing returned and are now trying to restart civilization." "You mean like the commonwealth?" I asked and leaned forward slightly. "Yes and no. I can''t say if those people have joined up or not but the UWG is real and they have recruited some of the smaller communities to join them at their capital." "Where is the capital?" "I don''t know. It''s all a bit hush hush I can add that they are particularly interested in strong people. The benefits are supposedly pretty good but you have to pass some sort of test." "Test?" He shrugged and wiped down the bar. "I don''t know. They take you to a private spot and when you come back you either passed or failed." I nodded and got to my feet. "Do you know where this Anthony guy is? I would like to ask him about it." "He and his friend stay in the apartments toward the middle of town. Though you need permission to enter that section of town." I nodded and got to my feet. I was about to leave when I thought better of it. I reached into my bag and got another healing pill. "As a thank you for the information." I tossed it to him. "It should heal most if not all injuries though I can''t promise it will heal poisons or restore a lost limb." I stepped out of the bar and stretched my neck. It wasn''t hard to figure out that they were looking cultivators but what test were they doing? It could be a search for the "Chosen" title but it seemed like more than that. No one could see your screen unless you showed it to them. Unless you had some sort of spell or skill but there shouldn''t be that many people with something like that. Ultimately there was only one way to find out what I wanted to know so I made my way toward the center of town. It was almost too easy to find the leader''s apartment building. It was the second tallest building in the town, second only to the church. Even that was only true if you counted the bell tower as a part of the building. They moved a group of cars to act as a barricade and then removed the tire, rim, and axle. There was also another set of guards seated on the hood. I was just about to make my way up to the trio when I felt something. A warm sensation at the base of my skull. It felt like someone had taken some of those hand warmers and just pressed them against my neck. I turned around and didn''t see anything. The sensation faded only to return even more intensely. I turned around and my gaze was pulled to the third floor of a building. I locked eyes with a man in a dark set of robes. He ducked back into the building and I activated Apportation. I stepped through the portal and appeared in a dark hallway. As soon as I appeared a blade flashed and my hand shot forward. The sword snapped in two before I processed the attack. I stared at the would-be assassin and then at the blade. It wasn''t something from the tutorial or a quest''s reward. This thing didn''t even look like a high-quality blade by old Earth standards. I tossed the broken blade on the ground. "Who are you and what did you do?" The man threw out a knife before turning and sprinting down the hall. I caught the blade and was about to follow when I decided it was a waste of time. The anonymity I had was gone by now and I didn''t want to chase this guy. Instead, I turned and leaped out of the window. I landed on the ground a second later and leaned against the door. Less than a minute later the door flew open and my would-be assassin stumbled out. Before he could get away I reached out and grabbed his arm. I slammed him into the stone and felt something in his arm break. I winced at the sound before I could stop myself. "Let''s try this again. Who are you and what did you do? The skill didn''t hurt me so I am assuming it was some sort of investigative ability?" "Oww man let me go! I think you broke my arm." The man whimpered in pain but didn''t stop trying to get away. I pressed my fingers into his arm and was just about to ask my question again when I felt other people approach. I looked over my shoulder and sighed. Five guards had arrived each one with a different gun. There were two rifles, a handgun, and some kind of shotgun. My danger sense didn''t even make the slightest noise so I wasn''t worried but I didn''t want to start slaughtering people either. "Unhand him and kneel on the ground with your hands behind your head." The man with the handgun barked orders at me like a drill sergeant which only made me more irritated. I turned around still holding the man by his right arm. "I take it that his job is to scan people? I want to know what skill or spell he used and then he is free to go." "Do you lack common sense boy? Or do you think of yourself as some sort of action hero? Last chance let him go and get on your knees." I stared at the man for a second before sighing. It was clear that there was no other way to avoid this. Surrounding would only make this process more annoying and I would probably have to break out anyway. I activated Psychic Aegis and as soon as the barrier appeared they opened fire. The bullets were crushed against my shield but they kept firing. I raised an eyebrow in disbelief as they fully unloaded their guns. "I thought that was a movie thing. Why the fuck would you keep firing after the first few didn''t work?" I turned my attention to the man who started this whole situation. "I got it from the tutorial! It''s called ''Clear Eye'' Now let me go." The pain in his voice made me release him. I was about to offer him a healing pill when he turned and ran away. I shrugged before turning my attention back to the others. "I would like to speak to Anthony." Chapter 32: I am a Conqueror The situation had changed from annoying to stupid as they fired another gun at me. I wasn''t sure what kind of gun it was outside of "Large Sniper Rifle" but the bullet once again shattered. This was the fifth attempt after the man ran away and I was tired of it. I wasn''t sure where they had even gotten many different kinds of guns. I sprinted toward the apartment building and activated Apportation. A storm of bullets ripped through that spot just as the portal closed. I stood in the apartment''s main lobby with a surprised receptionist who was half-dressed. As if she had gone to a Halloween store and got an outfit meant to look like a slutty receptionist. I cocked my head at her. We just stood there staring at each other for a moment before her wits returned. She screamed and ducked behind the desk. I chuckled and looked straight up. "It''s not a huge leap to assume that the big boss would live at the top," I spoke out loud as Apportation activated again. I stepped through the portal just as the guards threw the doors open. I gave the man who shot at me before I winked as the portal sealed itself. I stepped out of the portal in the middle of a hallway. The carpet made the entire building seem older. A dark brown and white made me think of a grandmother''s house. Did they an old folks home and convert it into a base of operations? I added the thought to the many things that I would ask about. A pair of voices from down the hall told me which direction so I made my way forward. I found two dark-skinned guys standing in front of room 306. They had long swords and a chain mail-style breastplate which made me curious. As soon as they saw me they both drew their blades. I held up my hands in a mock surrender. "Hey, I am looking for Anthony. I am going to go ahead and assume he is in there. I am going to head inside." The pair hesitated for a second. A fact I took advantage of as I slammed a fist into the larger one''s chest. The man was forced back a step. White hot pain shot along my wrist. "Son of a bitch that''s hard. I guess that confirms that it''s from the System." The second guard''s attack bounced harmlessly off of Psychic Aegis. This time I decided to leave it alone. I opened the door and my danger sense woke up. I threw myself back into the hallway just as an arrow slammed into the wall. The wall exploded like it had been hit with a bomb. Psychic Aegis protected me from the splinter but the two guards didn''t fare as well. I grinned as a tall and wiry man stepped through the destroyed doorway. He wore a black pinstripe suit with two ornate rings on his right hand. His hair was cut into a fade and he had a bow in his hands. "Now look at what we have here. I am told that you have some words for me?" He pulled back the string of his bow as if he had knocked an arrow only there was nothing there. The hair on the back of my neck stood up as he released the string. In the instant before the string snapped forward an arrow of pure spiritual energy formed. The arrow crossed the distance between us in an instant. It slammed into Psychic Aegis and a spider web of cracks spread out from the impact spot. The man''s smile faltered a moment before he wiped it away and pulled the bow back again. I cocked my head to the side as he fired again. Once gained the arrow slammed into my barrier. I felt the defensive spell shutter and knew it would break with the next shot. Still, neither of these shots had the same destructive power as the first one. I couldn''t tell if he held something back or if he had a skill he couldn''t activate. Either way, I wasn''t going to let him loose another arrow. I lunged for him with the force that my new body could manage. The distance between us almost blurred but before my fist could slam into his stomach one of his rings glowed. A golden barrier sprung up around him. It felt like I had hit a brick wall. My hand went numb from the impact. Anthony grinned and raised his bow. The entire bow glowed a beautiful sky-blue color before an arrow made out of condensed air formed. I pushed more spiritual energy into Psychic Aegis as a scream of danger told me what I already knew. I launched myself away and slammed through the opposite wall just as he released the arrow. The arrow practically teleported as it slammed into my barrier. Psychic Aegis slowed down the air for less than a second. Just enough time for me to bring my arm up. Pain exploded through my body as the arrow buried itself in my right hand. I gasped as pain radiated through me. I bit back a scream as the arrow burst into a torrent of slicing wind. I took a second to catch my breath and process what the hell had just happened. That was a skill and a powerful one. It probably wouldn''t have killed me unless it had gone through my heart but that fact did little to calm me down. I popped a pill in my mouth and grimaced as the skin, muscle, and bone began to stitch themselves back together. The sight made me want to puke but I pushed that down as well. The voice in the back of my mind that wanted to not kill these people had gone silent. I pushed spiritual energy into Psionic Rain. The spell quickly turned into a starving vortex that drained more than twice as much energy as usual before it was satisfied. For good measure, I pushed the strand of adamance into it as well. Psionic Rain appeared in the air like an indigo sun. The sphere now had a dense set of sigils that spread across it like hieroglyphics. I felt like I could learn something if I could just stare at it longer but there was no time. I got to my feet just as Anthony and his people rushed forward. Before they made it halfway I unleashed my attack. The sphere shattered into innumerable needles that rained down on the trio. The needles shot through their bodies and for a second it looked like nothing happened. They stood stark still as if someone had pressed pause on the world. Once the dull glow of the attack faded they collapsed. A surge of spiritual energy flooded me but when compared to the energy I had spent since I entered this town I was still at a loss. Once the attack was finished and I was sure they were dead I shook my head. I knelt and collected their weapons but decided to leave the armor. This wasn''t a game and I didn''t want to strip a corpse. I made my way into Anthony''s office and blinked in surprise. These people had a System Hub? How the fuck did he well I guess if he was in the tutorial he would have gained one. The heaviness that had fallen on my shoulders started to fade. I placed my hand on the hub and the voice of the System filled my mind. You have found a claimed System Hub. As the previous claimant has died you are free to claim this hub. Would you like to Claim? I accepted the prompt and a pulse of energy spread out from the hub. A second message notified me that everyone in the area had been notified and that I needed to defend the area for ten minutes. I sat in what used to be Anthony''s chair and waited. Within three minutes a group of guards flooded including the man from earlier. He raised his gun at me and I considered picking up where we left off but I was tired. I was tired and I wasn''t in the mood to waste more of my energy. I conjured a thin blade of mental energy and shot it into his chest. I held back as much as I could but based on the way his face twisted it hurt like a mother fucker. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Listen I am not in the mood for this. If you insist on fighting me I will unleash serious attacks until the timer ends. I will kill you." As soon as I finished my sentence I realized that this whole situation probably could have been avoided if I had just used my killing intent. I was still operating under the whole dangerous paradigm that I hadn''t even considered it. Thankfully the three corpses outside and their new leader panting on his knees took the fight out of the others. They placed their guns on the ground and bolted. I raised an eyebrow at the military guy and waited. He glared at me and stood up. I was sure that he wanted to test me again but knew that he would die. He turned and promptly left the room. I leaned back and waited for the timer to hit zero. As soon as it did I was given full access to the System Hub and realized that he hadn''t unlocked anything. He had access to the skill and spell shop but that was it. Even the things available were pretty useless. They were all worse versions of the ones I had access to and those were worse versions of the ones we got in the tutorial. I scrolled down to my normal options and found a new category. I rubbed my hands together as I made what should be the greatest purchase in my life. A half million credits disappeared and a grey disc appeared on the ground. The disc was as big as a manhole cover and emitted a slight hum. I stared in disbelief for a second before letting out a howling laugh. "I got a teleporter. I got a fucking teleporter." I placed a hand over the disc and a list of names appeared or rather one name in a list format. I selected Amara and stepped on the disc. A familiar pulling sensation came over me and I shut my eyes. When I opened them I was back in my boardroom. I took a second to relish having my teleporter before I realized a problem. The room right next to where I lived was a horrible place to put the teleporter. I was just about to open the menu again when Saanite floated in. "Hey, do you know if I can select a separate teleporter location? And if so is it possible to move one once I already purchased it?" Saanite paused and its gaseous form pulsed slightly. I wasn''t sure how I knew that it irritated me but I did and I wasn''t sure why. "Yes, I can deactivate the teleporter and have it moved elsewhere. Is there a reason that you have chosen to conquer a new territory without notifying me? Managing different areas requires considerable effort if you don''t have the appropriate support staff. I can make up for it since you selected a relatively empty place. For future references, you will need to select a person or ideally a group of people to settle your domains. You will also need a proper force to govern and protect your territory. Despite your strength distance is a difficult thing to deal with." I nodded and rubbed the back of my neck. "Right, I hadn''t planned on conquering anything but people kept attacking and I didn''t explain things. One thing led to another and I started killing. Now that I say that out loud I realize I kind of sound insane but if you were there it would make more sense." "Do not misunderstand it is well within your abilities and rights to do so. I am pointing out that you lack the critical infrastructure to properly integrate those areas. If you wish you may leave them as lawless lands. I would not recommend having too many of those in place but they can be useful." "Alright well, I don''t plan on conquering anything else for a while. Is there anything that needs my attention? I should probably let people know that I just took over that other place. I also want to check out the commonwealth." "No, the other humans are getting acclimated. There were a handful of injuries when they encountered a larger group of enemies than they expected but they were able to deal with it." "Perfect, alright I am going to make a few purchases and then I am heading back out. Speak with Christopher or the headmistress of the academy about where a good spot for the teleporter would be." I left the room and after a quick sprint down to the System shop and a ridiculous portion of my wealth, I got a new bottle of pills. I was back through the portal within thirty minutes. I made my way down to the reception area and found the receptionist standing in the corner as if she was trying her best to go unnoticed. "Uh, you don''t have to stay here anymore. You also don''t have to dress like that either." She nodded and stared at me like I was a cross between her savior and a wild animal that would rip her apart. "Right of course Sir I um¡ª" I held up a hand to stop her from whatever she was about to say. "I don''t care. Also, you don''t need to call me Sir. Listen what did you do before everything went changed?" I looked her up and down. Despite the ridiculous outfit, it was clear she had an easy or easy life before this which meant she might be useful." "I was interning at a law office." She said with a slight tremble in her voice. I sighed when I realized that this was getting me nowhere. "Alright go find some clothes in the apartments or wherever and come back. I think I have a job for you. It won''t be law related or I guess more real sense it will be. Either way, if you aren''t interested just don''t come back." I watched her leave before stepping into the main square where I found a crowd waiting for me. When I appeared they got so quiet you could have heard a pen drop. Every eye stared at me as if my next few words would determine their lives which was true. I had to cough to keep my voice from trembling. It was one thing to be in the tutorial and fight alone. It was one thing to let people live in the same building that I controlled but this was different. I walked through here like a natural disaster and completely upended their lives. I pushed down the guilt I felt and reminded myself that I had tried to speak. I tried peace but they wouldn''t listen. "Greetings let''s start things off with my name. I am Amari, Amari Jackson and I killed Anthony and two guards with him. I have started building a nation under my control. I want to be clear none of you have to stay here. I have no interest in holding you captive or forcing you to do anything you don''t want." I paused and let my gaze travel across the crowd. A part of me found it ironic that between my law school education and public speaking classes, it was the latter that was going to help me the most. "I will be implementing law and order throughout my territories. For now, those of you who wish to leave gather whatever it is that you need. I will begin an accounting after which taking anything will be considered stealing. Formal laws will be posted soon but for now, assume that if it was illegal before the world went to shit it''s illegal now." The irony of that last statement wasn''t lost on me but then again this wasn''t that different than the old world. People and governments who had power could get away with doing just about anything they wanted. I took another breath. If any of you wish to get stronger you may sign up for what will be my military. More information about that will be available soon. If you have any management experience please make your way into the reception area. I am looking for people who will be able to help me manage this town as well as any others. Compensation will be provided as soon as I work out how the System operates." I paused for questions but everyone just stared at me like a deer caught in headlights. After two minutes of silence, I waved a hand and left the middle of the square. I stepped back into the reception area and took a seat on the desk. Honestly, the whole situation was insane but I couldn''t say that I disliked how things had gone. I would have rather not killed those three but the System encouraged violence and we were rather close to each other. How long would the System have given us before we were forced to go at it? There was also the fact that the System preferred people who put the extra effort in and conquering a rival city so soon was an effort. I opened my title screen but found nothing new. I would have expected to find a title for doing that. Which either the System didn''t think this was an achievement or someone else had beaten me to it. I looked up just as the receptionist returned and close behind her were ten people. None of them were cultivator clothes so I assumed they weren''t in the tutorial. I waved them to come closer and leaped off of the desk. It was time to get things going. Chapter 33: Cold World It took us the better part of three hours to hammer out the details. The receptionist, Jennie proved herself to be very talented at organizing people. We decided to hollow out a building near the wall for the teleportation zone which Saanite was able to take care of. Of the eleven people seven stayed in the town to take care of the transition while four went back to Amara to be trained properly. After three months they rotate so that everyone would have a chance to learn the System. After that the conversation turned to the mundane, Anthony hadn''t done the greatest job of managing the town but he had dealt with the monsters. They were all between levels 5 and 7 which meant that non-cultivators had to come together in groups to stand a chance. There was a bigger problem, according to the reports the monsters were growing rapidly. At this rate, they should approach level ten by the end of the month. Assuming that was true every town not run by or protected by cultivators was going to turn into a graveyard. It would also mean that people would start catching up to me if I didn''t join the fight. Regardless it was a problem for tomorrow. Once everything in Brownwood was settled I left the town. I still needed to check out the commonwealth and my presence in the town was probably more detrimental than beneficial. I ran through the ruins of the city while circulating my cultivation method. The journey took me a bit more than eight hours without Apportation. I arrived in the city a bit after midnight. I stood on the rooftop of a building and tried to process what I was seeing. Someone had managed to take an entire football stadium! I couldn''t tell which team it was since the field was covered in large military tents but this was some shit. I wasn''t sure if a giant skyscraper was better or worse than a football stadium but I was confident the optics were much better. It was painfully clear that these people were military or at least ex-military. They even had humvees and guards stationed everywhere. Thankfully they didn''t have any heavy weapons or rather none that I could see. Still, I wasn''t sure I wanted to just break in. They had to have some cultivators with a setup like this which meant that entering the normal way was best. Still showing up in the middle of the night was a shitty idea. I looked around and picked out a building about two blocks away. It was a convenient store that had been picked clean of anything even remotely useful. I made my way into its back and pushed a drink case in front of the door. The makeshift barricade probably wasn''t going to do enough to keep anyone dangerous out but it made me feel better. I made myself comfortable and began to cultivate. I awoke the next day a bit after sunrise and made my way to the city. The stadium looked much less impressive in the day but the military gear more than made up for it. Despite the U, S military'' weapons though aesthetic of the place reminded me of a Civil War reenactment. They had a large flag hanging across the entrance that looked like a cross between the Confederate and the original. I pushed it to the back of my mind and joined the line entering the city. Despite what I expected the people in line looked like they had been granted a reprieve. Most of them were tattered rags though a few did wear cultivator gear. None of them gave an aura let alone proper killing intent. It took me nearly ten minutes to reach the front of the line. I was led to the metal gate that was only high enough to reach my hips. It was also made out of regular metal so I didn''t think it would be able to survive an attack, which only made my situation weirder. My gut told me that I couldn''t just force my way through. It wasn''t enough to consider a danger just a weird premonition. When it was my time the guard stepped up and placed the butt of his rifle in front of me. I raised an eyebrow in silent question. "Cultivators need to report to the right atrium." The man barked before gesturing to the right door. "Right. Sure." I was about to take a step when he stopped me again. This time he brought a walkie-talkie to his ear. "Lower the array." I squinted in search of an array or array flags but couldn''t find anything. Just as I was about to ask about it the air shimmered and an invisible barrier appeared. It was like something out of a Sci-fi movie, the barrier was in hexagons and slowly parted. I stared at the whole for several seconds before I felt the man''s gun nudge me forward. I ducked through the hole and made my way into the right doorway. As soon as I opened the door a man in combat boots, jeans, and a tank top gestured for me to follow him. He led me through a series of hallways and up a set of stairs before we stopped in what I assumed was a press conference room. There were five other people here three women and two men. All of which were dressed similarly to me. They held no weapons but the two men looked like martial artists. "Please take a seat. A representative will be here shortly to discuss the situation with you." The man who brought me here said and then left us alone. I looked the quintet up and down for a moment before taking a seat at the front of the room. They all gave off a bit of killing intent that made the room feel oppressive. Kind of like the ceiling was going to drop on me. I decided not to release my own mostly because it was funny to watch them size me up. "What level are you?" One of the women asked. I looked at her and saw that her time in the tutorial hadn''t been fun at all. She was Asian and looked to be in her early thirties. She had a nasty scar across her right eye and her left arm had severe burns. Despite the injuries, she didn''t feel dangerous. I considered how to answer that question. I went back and forth on lying but quickly decided against it. There wasn''t much to gain from hiding my actual power. "Level 24." "Bullshit." The taller of two men pipped up. He was darker skinned with a nasty scar on his cheek. His hair was uneven and his scalp was burned in several places. "We fought together for nearly the entire tutorial and couldn''t get past level 12. Even if you fought nonstop since then you shouldn''t be able to get enough energy to reach higher than level 15." I nodded and figured that he was probably right. Of course, the mushroom monsters were pretty strong but even if I accepted level 15 as the best humanity had things were going to be dull. Thankfully a pinstripe suit entered and spared me a response. She pushed her glasses further up her face and tapped on the tablet in her hands. "Hello, we are here to offer you a formal space within the Commonwealth. The commonwealth is in search of people who will help usher in a new age for humanity. One that will wash away the mistakes of the past." I squinted at her as she said that last part but otherwise kept quiet. She handed the tablet to the man closest to her. "If you wouldn''t mind entering your information including your level into our records. We are prepared to offer you access to a cordoned-off area for leveling. The monsters are a bit weaker than the average while providing a competitive amount of spiritual energy." You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. She continued explaining as the tablet was passed to me. I filled it out and passed it to the women at my left once each of us finished the speaker continued. "Now that is finished please allow me to introduce myself. My name Is Cynthia, Cynthia Santiago. I am the leader of cultivator recruitment for the Commonwealth. I am sure that you have heard some of the rumors surrounding our organization and it is time that I dispel them. We are a government run by cultivators designed for cultivators. As you all no doubt remember the tutorial was a proving ground for us that revealed the way forward. No longer would humanity be led by the weak. No more would people be able to take advantage of unjust rules designed to entrench the unworthy." My eyes widened as I listened to her speech. I had no idea who was in charge here but whoever it was had bought into the whole "Chosen" thing. Despite that, I couldn''t completely argue with the message. "We are formally offering you all a seat at the table. Upon acceptance of the offer, we will require that you reveal your status screens to us to ensure that the information you have provided is correct. After that, we will arrange your living quarters suited to your strength. The upper levels of the stadium are reserved for people at level 10 or higher. Once we reclaim the rest of the city and increase levels, this standard will change. The stadium will become reserved for the top twenty percent of the faction while the outer areas will be for everyone else." I raised an eyebrow at that and slowly nodded. The benefits were pretty nice but there was no way I was going to join. One I was the leader of a two-city kingdom and two there was no way the leader was going to let me stay here. Despite what they said the person in charge had to consider themselves powerful and there was no way they would let me just sit under them and there was no way I was going to be under someone else. "Before you decide, I have been authorized to take you on a tour of our cultivation chambers and workout arrays. If you would please follow me." Cynthia gave us all a nod before moving to the door. She gestured for us to follow and then stepped out into the hall. I watched her and the others leave. I considered it for a moment before I shrugged and followed after the others. Cynthia guided us through the building and I had to admit their setup was pretty good. Their cultivation chambers had a gathering array as well as an array that suppressed noise. Which soundproofed them and had the hum same as the tutorial. I had to admit I was jealous and I made a mental note to check the academy for more information on that. She then took us into what was the workout room for the football players only it had been completely renovated. The room still had the weights you would expect, but several walls had been removed. There was a podium in the middle of the room with a nob that intensified gravity. Cynthia showed it at three times Earth''s gravity which might as well not have been a change. I stepped up and increased it ten times before I started to feel it and the array was pushed to its maximum. The other five and Cynthia was forced face down on the ground. Which was funny but after that the tour was much less interesting. We all reconvened outside an hour later. "With that, the tour had concluded if there are any questions feel free to ask them. If you wish to join I can review your status screen now. After that, we can set you up with a room and board." I was about to excuse myself when the scarred man from before placed a hand on my shoulder. I felt him press against me but it felt like he was a child. His irritation at not being able to stop me only made my grin wider. "You wouldn''t happen to be leaving before we can get a good look at your level are you?" "I hadn''t intended to show it off but if you insist." I mentally revealed the level portion of my status screen with the quintet and Cynthia. The look of genuine surprise and then fear made me laugh. I took a breath and unleashed a small portion of my aura. Just enough to put the fear of god into them. It was like a bomb went off the lower level people around us dropped like puppets who had their strings cut while everyone outside of the quintet was forced to one knee. The man holding me pissed himself. My excitement drained when I realized that at least some of the people on the ground were likely dead. If not all of them. I activated my movement spell and stepped through before anyone could stop me. I completed two more jumps and then stopped on top of a building. I looked out of over the city and waited. I waited for the guilt. The anger, the emotions that should have come from killing who knew how many innocent people but there was nothing. The lack of guilt and disappointment at the minuscule amount of spiritual energy was more frightening than what I did. I sat on that rooftop until the sun came up before I decided to leave. I leaped down from the building and sprinted back toward Brownwood. The journey took me a few hours during which I slaughtered a group of large rat monsters that could phase through solid material. They weren''t worth the time it took to kill but they did make me feel better. I didn''t pay the town a second glance as I stepped through the teleporter. In the next moment, I was back in Amara. I sat at my boardroom table and shook my head. I once again fully sealed my aura and took stock of the situation. I still needed to recruit people so that was the biggest priority but I didn''t want to just murder everyone. Despite that, I knew that there was no way I could just refuse to kill. That wasn''t a realistic option for serious battles but I could limit myself. I sighed and put my head in my hands. I was going to kill a lot more people. There was no way that the Commonwealth would let that go. Even if they were afraid. They would have no proof that my level was 24 so that would likely be ignored. The question was what should I do about it? I couldn''t just go back and fight everyone until they gave up. That would be like playing whack-a-mole unless I slaughtered everyone and even then they would no doubt have family or someone who would care. I sighed and shook my head. There was nothing I could do about it. If the Commonwealth wanted to fight I would fight. If there was something I could do to deal with the problem I would. I got up and made my way down to the academy. Christopher stood with two of his guards and Desbera. They stopped their conversation when I arrived. "We might have a bit of a problem," Christopher said while shaking his head. "A representative from the United World Government. Stopped by yesterday wanting to speak with you. We sealed up the building just in case it was a trap." I raised an eyebrow. "Did they say why?" "Yes and No their representative said they wanted to have us join them but they wouldn''t explain further than that. Not until we either went out to meet with them or let them in." "How many people did they have?" "There were three that I could see but there were probably more than that. Most of them weren''t cultivators or rather they dressed like normal people. They had body armor and one of them used a riot shield." That was interesting. I nodded and shrugged. "Alright well if they come back today then I will take care of it. Other than that how has the training gone?" "Ahh unfortunately most people aren''t interested in fighting anymore. We have a guard force of about thirty people who are between levels 3 and 5. They all use a variety of melee weapons though we could use some proper items if you can find them." "Oh right." I pulled the weapons out of my bag and placed them on the ground. "Don''t have a lot of these but I figure you should be able to find some people who can use them. I can''t vouch for their quality but they should be quest rewards." Christopher gave a half-hearted chuckle and Desbera smiled ruefully. "Well, I can look over them at answer those questions. They look like 2nd realm equipment but of middling quality. They should suffice for you and your people for now." Desbera picked up Anthony''s bow and nodded. "This one is a bit better than the others." "Alright, I will leave the appraisal up to you two. I trust that you can decide who should get first pickings. Ah, one more thing. I ended up killing several people in the Commonwealth so if they come seal up the tower and notify me immediately." They both looked at me as if they wanted to ask more questions but shook their heads instead. Christopher was the first to get over his surprise and speak. "We will take care of it." I gave them all a nod and went over a few smaller details before I decided to make my exit. There were still a few things I wanted to take care of. Chapter 34: Missing Scouts I made my way back to my cultivation chamber and settled in for some meditation. Meditation was never my thing but ever since the tutorial I found oddly calming. The energy in my chamber was much more dense now as well. It wasn''t quite at the level of the tutorial''s chambers but it felt like I could breathe normally. My cultivation session was disrupted around two hours later when someone knocked on the door. I took a second to wake up and made my way outside. When I opened the door I found a plainclothes guard with a rifle slung over his shoulder. The man looked to be in his late twenties with dirty blonde hair and tanned skin. "Um, Amar¡ªI mean Mr. Jackson the representative from the United World Government has returned. We have not granted them access to the building as Christopher felt you would rather be notified first." I had to hold back a chuckle at the "Mr.Jackson". The man was nervous. "Perfect. I will go down and meet them. You can let them into one of the side rooms on the first floor. If we have any refreshments please provide something for them." He nodded and left the room. I waited a few minutes to give him a head start and then made my way down. The transition from the upper floors to the lower levels was like entering a new world. I am not sure who did it but someone had started redesigning. Several new paintings were hanging through the halls I could see from the elevator some of which I was sure came from a museum. They had that old look to them. Seeing them there was a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, they weren''t mine and were probably one of a kind on the other hand they didn''t technically belong to anyone anymore. I pushed the thought out of my mind as the elevator stopped on the bottom floor. A guard led me to the room where I found a long table with Christopher and Saanite on one side with an empty seat. The other side of the table had four people. Three were dressed like members of a SWAT Team while the fourth wore a very nice business suit. This person was older probably in their late forties and was the picture of a silver fox. He was lightly tanned with just a bit of white in his dark hair. He looked like his last few weeks were a vacation instead of the apocalypse. I sensed no energy from him at all. As far as I could tell he had no weapons on him either yet he looked like he was in complete control. I looked over at Christopher who seemed relaxed at first glance but was nervous. Saanite was unreadable which was reassuring. I took the open seat and smiled at the quartet. "Ah, I take it that you are the leader of Amara? It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance" The man smiled and looked me up and down. The way his eyes traveled along my body nearly made me shiver. It was like he was appraising me and I couldn''t tell if he was doing so as a potential threat or something else. "I am. My name is Amari, Amari Jackson. I am told that you wanted to speak with me." I steepled my fingers as I finished. "I did indeed. We wanted to accomplish two things today. First, we wanted to formally invite you to an upcoming event. The UWG is putting on an auction and gala where we will discuss key information about the future of our planet. The invitation is for both you and a small group of individuals. It will take place two weeks from now at the former United Nations Headquarters." I nodded. "I see that''s fine with me. I will attend I assume that the building is a short journey from here?" "Yes, it should take you a day or two to travel by foot so I would recommend you make arrangements well in advance. As for the second thing we wanted to verify some information with you. We are of course prepared to offer you information in exchange." I nodded and he continued. "We have it on a reliable authority that there has been an event that a significant portion of humanity from throughout the world was invited to. This event is commonly referred to as the tutorial. Can you confirm that you were a participant?" I nodded. "The tutorial lasted a month during which we were sent to different locations to complete various assignments. The majority that I had were fighting-related. Which I am sure you can imagine why." I gestured to the back wall and the world outside. "That lines up with what other sources have said. You are capable of cultivating as well. Do you have a cultivation manual separate from the basic one?" "I do. I earned it as one of my rewards." "Have you completed any of the quests required to become a System-recognized Governor?" I stared at him for a moment as I considered how to answer that question. "I don''t have any quests like that due to my performance in the tutorial." For a moment genuine surprise passed across his face. He wiped it away less than a second later. "I see, That is fascinating. Can you show proof in the form of your tutorial titles?" I nodded and quickly revealed the "Chosen" and "Tutorial" titles. I couldn''t hide the latter''s details but it wasn''t that big a deal. The "pinnacle" title was more important anyway. He got the far-away look and then visibly grimaced. "Your performance had to have been rather impressive to earn something like this." I steepled my fingers and leaned forward. "You mentioned that you would provide information for us as well. What can you tell us about how the world shifted after we left?" "Of course, the System''s arrival caused near-global collapse. Most of Earth''s satellites were either lost or destroyed most technological objects more advanced than the average car stopped working overnight. The world''s major weapons were lost and I am sure you are aware that killing something with guns or explosives from the old world does not earn you spiritual energy. You may not be aware that we have begun recreating the internet or an interconnected repository of knowledge to be accurate." "Am I to assume that you won''t be sharing that information with everyone to begin with?" He chuckled. "At the moment we will keep the information within our circle of interest but we will share it as soon as we are able. We have a working theory that our new planet is divided into three larger continents. Unfortunately without satellites, we are unable to confirm this." I nodded. "Alright is there anything else that we can do for you?" "There is one more thing. There will be an announcement at the end of the gala. One that we would like for all of the exceptional cultivators to be there for. We would appreciate it if you and yours pay special attention to it. Of course, we would ask that you show proper restraint." This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. I squinted at the unsaid statement. "I see. Well, I will be sure to attend. If there is nothing else I would recommend you make your way back now. I wouldn''t want you to get caught by a roaming group of monsters." "Of course, Of course. Once again I thank you for giving us your time and hospitality. We will leave you now." The man stood up and soon after the three SWAT members followed. I watched them leave the room and then through the front door before I relaxed. "I feel like that auction is going to be a trap of some kind. Of course, they might have some fun things for sale." "It would also be an opportunity to meet with other important people. Especially if we believe they have some way to communicate with people who are further away." Christopher added. "Do you think I should go alone? If word gets out about what happened with the commonwealth I probably won''t be able to travel freely." "I don''t think you should since you will be representing Amara but you are the boss and stronger than the rest of us. It might hurt you more to be forced to travel with people weaker than you." I sighed and stood up. "Prepare a potential group of three to five. If they are willing I will let them join but make sure they are aware of what they will be walking into." "And if no one is interested?" I shrugged and made to leave. "Then I will go alone. I am going to start searching for people who might be a good fit to join me in the future. I have read more than enough books and played more than a few video games about solo adventurers. No way I am going to get stuck on that lonesome road." Before I could decide what to do next a trio of guards ran up to me. They looked utterly exhausted, their clothes were torn in several places, and one of them had their right arm hanging loosely at their side. "Excuse me but we have a major problem. One of the scouting parties decided to go a bit further than the usual hunting ground and came across a forested region. They went in but didn''t come out. When we went in after them we were attacked by massive hornet-like creatures. We barely managed to escape." I pulled out a pill bottle from my bag and handed one to each of them. "Alright, how far away were you exactly? Did you see how many of the hornets there were? Or what levels they were?" The next one to speak was an Asian woman whose name I hadn''t managed to remember. "No, no they were much stronger and faster than us so maybe around levels seven through ten but I can''t be sure. I think their stingers used poison of some kind. I was able to take a cure pill to deal with it when I was stung." I nodded and turned to Christopher. "Bring all the other groups in until I take care of this. If I am not back within three or four days keep everyone below level three inside." I gave a few more orders before I broke out into a dead sprint. I tore through the training area and into the northern portions of my territory. The city rapidly turned into a forest before I slowed down. It only took me a few minutes to find where the battle took place. The blood was disconcerting but the lack of hornet bodies only made me feel worse. I wasn''t in the mood to play it safe so I activated Psychic Aegis. The bubble shield formed and I rushed forward. I ran for less than ten minutes when the sound of wings filled the air. The noise made my skin crawl. When I saw the "hornet" I realized that was a load of bullshit. The bugs were the size of a dog with four wings and a wicked black stinger that was as long as a sword. The creature had three beady red eyes that made my skin crawl. As soon as I saw the ugly things I unleashed my aura in its entirety. It was like a damn burst and an ocean of power flooded out from me. The world around us seemed to shake and the bugs moved as if trapped in an invisible wind. I closed my eyes for a second to take in the sensation of being free. The fresh air of not worrying about someone else being trapped. Once the moment had passed I opened my eyes and began my attack. The hornets were fast but had no mental defenses to speak of. I unleashed a barrage of mental attacks on the hornets before they could properly adjust to my killing intent. The first two hornets fell almost immediately but the third narrowly dodged and shot toward me like a bullet. I took a step back and unleashed Psychic Blast. The indigo beam washed over the hornet and it dropped like a stone. Its kill energy filled me less than a second later. I took a deep breath and prepared to draw my aura inside again but quickly thought against it. As far as I understood it I was alone in the forest. Even if I wasn''t anyone should have a luck stat high enough to warn them from getting too close to me. The dangerous part was suddenly unleashing it. I considered it for another second before leaving it alone. I laughed and pushed forward. I ran across another five of the hornets but the battle more or less went the same. The hornets weren''t intelligent so their attack patterns were rather easy to predict. On top of that, they weren''t strong enough to get through my barrier. I was slowly reaching the next level which increased my excitement for the battle. Despite that, I couldn''t get over the sense of foreboding in my heart. I hadn''t seen any signs of the other group. There weren''t any signs of a battle either so they had either managed to escape or the hornets had carried them away for some reason. The fact that none of them had even tried to capture me made me think the former was more likely. Or rather made me hope it was the truth. I pushed further into the forest until I came across a hive the size of a mountain. It looked like someone had designed an ant farm underground and then pulled it up and flipped it over. The whole thing made my skin crawl and every part of me wanted to just blow it up. Of course, I had no way of doing that so I made my way to the closest entrance. I entered the cave system and sighed. It was like I had been returned to the first days of the tutorial only this time I was alone. I was also a lot stronger than back then. My killing intent also behaved differently. It bounced off the walls and rebounded upon itself over and over again. I was forced to pull it in when the loop became so intense that it made my chest ache. A few minutes later the ground began to tremble and a hornet stepped into my path. Unlike a proper hornet, this one had no wings and four scythe-like arms. It had four eyes on its head and its entire body looked to be covered in stone instead of an exoskeleton. "Can you understand me?" I asked though part of me was pretty sure that the thing wasn''t aware and that it definitely couldn''t speak. Sure enough, the bug rushed me with all four of its scythe arms raised. I unleashed Psionic Rain. The mental attack shot through the bug''s outer armor as if it weren''t there. Kill energy surged and the bug collapsed. I stared at it in confusion. It wasn''t that it had weak mental defenses, instead, it was like it had none at all. There was no resistance to the attack almost as if it wanted to die or that it wasn''t sentient to begin with. I tentatively walked around the corpse just in case it was only playing dead but nothing happened. The rest of the tunnel was empty but that did nothing for my mood. A pervasive sense of unease filled the tunnel and I was about to start circulating my tao when I felt Intellect Fortress activate. The drain it placed on both my energy wasn''t bad but it was enough to make me pick up the pace. I sped through the tunnels for what felt like an hour before I came across a room filled with a grey murky liquid. The liquid was in a vertical that stunk of death and decay. I knelt and summoned a rock from my bag. As soon as I dropped it into the vat it began to dissolve. The process took less than three seconds and made my skin crawl. A creeping thought formed in the back of my mind one that I had to work to force down. There was no use in getting distracted. I couldn''t and shouldn''t assume anything. I left the acid pit behind and picked another tunnel. I traveled for ten minutes before I came across another room. This one was as big as a high school gymnasium with oblong pods hanging off the ceiling. The pods were made out of a dark purple material that dripped with liquid. The whole thing made me want to puke. I couldn''t even count how many pods there were. I was just about to leave when I heard a tearing sound. I ducked behind a pillar and watched as a hornet the size of a puppy fell out and onto the ground. It took me a second to process what I had just seen. This was a birthing chamber. A chill went along my spine and I unleashed Psionic Rain and Psychic Blast. The chamber was washed with indigo light as I blasted each pod. Kill energy flowed into me so regularly that it was impossible to track which pods had a creature that could die and which didn''t. Not that I cared. My mind had gone blank except for the desire to kill all of the bugs. Chapter 35: I Hate Bugs I slumped against a back wall while a dull ache spread through my mind. My rampage took around thirty minutes and drained me of mental energy. I even went through and cut open the pods to be doubly sure that there were no more of these things here. I was forced to use basic psychic attacks to save on spiritual energy at the end which wasn''t too bad. It allowed me to advance Psychic Mastery again. My break ended when a swarm of the bipedal bugs entered the chamber. I unleashed Psionic Rain as soon as they appeared. The tiny blades almost danced through their formation. The group was dead within seconds of their arrival but it did nothing to make me feel better. If anything it just put a further damper on my mood. Not only was I trapped in a bug hive but they weren''t particularly tough. Their levels were higher sure but they weren''t anywhere near me in attributes. Not only that the ones with legs were stupid. I got to my feet and made my way down the tunnel they came from. The deeper I went the more annoyed with it I became. After an hour the bugs stopped appearing. I was forced to reactivate Psychic Aegis while the drain on Intellect Fortress grew. Which meant that I was dealing with something capable of tough mental attacks. Sure enough, I arrived in a massive inner chamber an hour later. The chamber was as large as a football field. The first thing that drew my attention was the engorged bug in the center. It was like a bloated tick the size of a blimp I wasn''t even sure the thing could move if it wanted. Its head was nearly a third of its body and its eyes were the size of dinner plates. No sooner did I take in the scene did I feel a scream of danger in the back of my mind. Before I could react a tendril of psychic energy slammed into my mind. My vision went white as pain beyond belief shot along my spine. "Thrall". The voice was alien and utterly inhuman. Intellect Fortress drew energy rapidly as it fought against the mental assault. I pushed the Tao of Adamance into the sigil as fast as I could. My mind turned into a battlefield as the insect queen tried to crush my will with her own. I let out a roar and pressed against her will with everything I had. It was like the world had slowed to a crawl and then the damn exploded. The world came screaming back as color, sound, and smell overwhelmed me as I worked to catch my breath. Movement to my right brought me back to the situation and what I saw knocked the wind out of me. Humans, dozens of humans shambled toward me. Their eyes were vacant and they all sported nasty wounds. Wounds that refused to bleed. Fury shot through me as I realized what happened. The bug queen had dominated their minds. The damn thing was creating an army. I got to my feet and was about to unleash an attack when a new voice filled my mind. A voice that made me groan. MonsterHunt: Perfect Victory: Defeat the enemy while preserving the lives of all thralls(0/30)Reward:[1]Automap I had to admit I was thankful for this quest. It confirmed that these people were still alive which meant that they might recover. The only question was how did I save them. The most obvious solution was to attack the insect queen so I unleashed Psionic Rain. This time I poured both the Tao of Ludicidity and as much energy as the spell could take. The ball of mental energy emerged like an indigo sun before shattering. The blades fell like rain only to be met with a grey pulse of energy from the queen. The pulse passed through the room like a soundless wave before clashing with my attack. Nearly half of the falling blades were shattered while the rest lost their splendor. Despite her attempt, there was little the queen could do to stop the rest of the attack. As soon as the blades made contact the human let out cries of agony. Nearly half of them fell to their knees and clutched their heads while the other half rushed me. I formed thin blades of psychic energy with as little energy as I could manage. The process felt like fighting with an arm trapped behind my back, but I could do nothing. The first humans arrived and assaulted my barrier. Punches and kicks rained down but my barrier held strong. Until the queen unleashed another pulse of energy. The grey wave washed across my barrier and glommed onto it. The indigo light began to flicker and each impact caused new cracks. I gritted my teeth and resisted the urge to unleash my killing intent. Instead, I brought both hands together and pushed energy into Psychic Blast. Twin beams of light shot straight for the queen only for a grey barrier to appear and block the attack. "Son of a Bitch!" Psychic Aegis shattered in the next second and I was forced on the back foot. I unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks, each aimed at nonlethal areas in an attempt not to kill anyone. Despite that, I could feel several bones break but they kept coming. I broke one woman''s shin in an attempt to stop her only for her to drag her leg behind her like some zombie. The look on her face was one of agony and terror. I gritted my teeth and gave up on defense. I activated Apportation. I stepped through the portal and stepped out just above the overgrown insect. As soon as I stepped through I unleashed Psionic Rain empowered by the Tao of Adamance. The world seemed to slow down as I fell toward the ugly thing. As soon as I released the rain of blades I pushed spiritual energy into Psychic Blast and unleashed a beam of pure mental energy. This time imbued with the tao of Lucidity. The beam seemed to waver in and out of reality as it washed over the queen. I landed on top of the queen and leaped back to the ground. I was just about to unleash another volley of attacks when I realized that her control wavered. Several humans had just stopped moving as if they were stuck in an idling position. Did the Tao of Lucidity fuck with mind control? I formed a pair of mental energy blades and imbued them only this time I aimed that at the closest human. A young man who looked to be in his early twenties. The blade slammed into his chest and he froze. I grimaced and waited to see what would happen. A dark part of me expected to feel kill energy. When nothing happened I smiled. Twin swords appeared above my head in the second each one drifting in and out of focus. I flexed my will and sent them flying toward the insect queen. A wave of ugly grey energy met the blades in flight and one was destroyed. The other turned completely immaterial just as they were about to meet. It then shot straight into the queen''s head. More of her thralls collapsed and a piercing scream filled my mind. It wasn''t so much as words as intent and pain. The sensation forced me to my knees and filled my mind with fog. I pushed the tao of Adamance into my head replacing pain and confusion with Will. I forced myself up and unleashed an imbued Psionic Rain. The spell shattered and the queen released another psychic scream as a torrent of kill energy flooded my dantian. I dropped to both knees as I gained just enough energy to reach level 25. When I got my bearings I looked around and grimaced. All of the former thralls were lying on the floor. I slowly got to my feet and dragged them as far from the bug corpse as I could. My head throbbed like I had just gone ten rounds with Ali and he only aimed for the head. I was just about to slump against the wall when something drew my attention. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. A spot on the insect queen''s head had a slight glow to it. I considered ignoring it and cultivating but every time I tried to close my eyes the feeling intensified. After three minutes I got up and sighed. "Please don''t let this be some sort of chest burster situation." I made my way along its body while ignoring the sickening squishes and terrible smell. When I was close enough to see its head I let out a groan. The object was a poorly shaped gemstone that was the same ugly grey color as its attacks. Now that I was close enough I felt hunger for it. It was like my soul wanted me to hoard it like a dragon. I remembered an information stone about this kind of thing. It meant I was looking at a genuine natural treasure. Not just any treasure but one that would help with my soul which meant it would make me that much stronger. The only problem was that I had to dig through the skull of an ugly insect queen to get it. Part of me wanted to leave and make someone else do it but that wasn''t realistic. One it would mean I had to go back to Amara bring a group back and then make them work on this instead of the injured. Second arguably more important, I didn''t want people to know too much about what I did and didn''t have. I couldn''t be sure that my people wouldn''t one day decide to take me out. Unfortunately for me, none of my spells had a physical component which meant I had to get to digging. I dug through the insect queen''s head for nearly ten minutes before I was able to pull the stone free. It was about as big as a basketball but much heavier. I sent it into the bag so I could deal with it later. With that finished I decided to turn my attention to my quest screen. The quest that started this mess waited for me to claim it so I did. In the next moment, a small black box appeared at my feet. I opened it and found a translucent stone covered in sigils. I considered infusing it now but I wasn''t in the mood to deal with the information headache on top of the actual headache. Instead, I placed it inside my bag and checked on the injured again. Their vitals were fine but there was nothing I could do to wake them up. I attempted to use my mental energy to jolt them awake but I had to give up. It felt like trying to defuse a bomb while blind and with tools that I had never used before. I placed all the bodies against an empty wall and made my way back to Amara. I passed through the closest passages searching for any remnants of the hornet-like creatures but there were none. Even at my maximum speed, the journey took several hours but there was nothing I could do about it. I wouldn''t be able to open Apportation often enough to rely on it for this job. When I finally reached the city I pushed the doors open and spat out several orders. A combination group of guards and anyone with medical knowledge formed as quickly as they could. It was still far too slow. I made a mental note to get everyone working harder. Once the group was ready I led them back to the monster hive. I was forced to eliminate several of the dog monsters before we could get the injured back. Altogether the process took half a day and we avoided any more injuries. "Clear out one of the middle floors and try to convert it into a medical ward. I don''t know if we can properly sterilize anything but I don''t think that will be a problem for this group. Tomorrow I am going to go and see if I can get some proper medical equipment." I took my seat at the head of the boardroom table as I finished. "Alright, do you want us to keep them asleep or work on waking them up? I have to admit my people have limited medical knowledge. I doubt the first aid of some hunters and hikers is going to help with brain control." Christopher took a seat and shook his head. "I am still having a hard time convincing myself that I wasn''t insane just by saying that." "Yeah for now just have them maintain their current condition. I am going to check in with the academy in the morning to find out if there are any healing skills or if I could learn to heal with my mental energy." "What do you want us to do with the body of the queen? If this were some kind of video game we could probably turn its body into weapons right? That''s where we got leather armor." I sighed, placed my elbows on the table, and rubbed my temples. "Yeah, but I don''t know how and I doubt anyone here knows bug armor crafting. I am going to back there tomorrow and collect as much of it as I can. I imagine it''s going to draw other monsters as it decays so I don''t want to delay too long. We are going to need to speed-level other people. There is no guarantee that I am going to be here every time something happens. Not to mention that constantly fighting on my own is starting to bother me." I held up a hand when I saw him start to reply. "I am not expecting any of you to catch up to me anytime soon. The energy we got from kills in the tutorial was much more than we got from these enemies. I am saying that we will have to start phasing out the guns. Either we need more powerful guns or we need proper weapons." "I-I have to agree with that. I hate to ask but are you able to search the city for melee weapons? It''s going to be hard to convince people to give up their guns but it will be even harder if we have to give them kitchen knives or homemade gear." "Yeah, I can do that. I am not sure if there is a Medieval Express near here but we should be able to find machetes right? I mean those are popular for nature types. Hell if we get lucky I will find a warehouse filled with gear." "We will also need to find more food as well. I spoke with Desbera and apparently the stronger we get the higher quality food we will need. The civilians should be able to manage with normal stuff for longer but we will need to start eating the monsters soon." I nodded. "Do we have any chefs?" I groaned as I realized just how many types of people we would need. Chefs, engineers, architects, farmers, doctors, and who knew what else. Not to mention I would need to educate them. The academy was a life savior but unless I could increase the amount of people it could train it wouldn''t be enough. "No, not that I know of. We have a few people who can cook but I would seriously recommend letting them practice before we start eating." I let out a dry chuckle at that and nodded. "I am going to cordon off a floor for guest cultivation chambers. We are going to need to recruit some other cultivators soon. Especially as you all start to reach level fifteen or so. It''s going to be harder for you to level without going out and gambling your lives. It''s difficult enough for me and I can cultivate." Christopher tentatively nodded and tapped his fingers on the stone table. "Are you going to order us to do that? Go out and fight I mean." I sighed. The nervousness on his face was understandable and part of me seriously considered it but I knew better. Forced military conscription was seldom the right choice. I couldn''t say that was true in the greater multiverse especially since the System rewarded people who struggled but I knew I didn''t want to start with that. "No, for now, the only thing I want is for people to work hard and grow stronger. If battle comes to Amara then I will expect anyone that can do something to do something. I hope to form a defense force and exploration force. People who will keep the homefront safe while I lead the others out to do things. People should be aware by now that the System rewards those who push themselves." "I understand. As for the cultivators, some people are a bit worried that uh things won''t be¡ª" I held up a hand to stop him once I realized where he was going. "Everyone will be equal in Amara. Cultivator or not everyone will have the same rights and laws. Everyone will be expected to contribute and everyone will be appreciated." We sat there and went over a few more ideas including plans for a reclamation force that would spread out into the rest of the city. After four hours of conversation though I had to admit I was exhausted. I let Christopher get back to his people and his room. Once I was alone I placed the stone inside my cultivation chamber. I made a mental note to speak with Desbera about proper placement. That was a problem for tomorrow. For now, I needed to sleep. Chapter 36: Area Quest The next day was full of travel. I went back and forth carrying almost everything I could from the hive. Each of the bug creature''s corpses became a potential resource. Even the more disgusting bits. It also turned out that Desbera had spoken to a large contingent about aiming for proper non-combat classes. Chef was an option, so I looked forward to that. The process took the better part of the day, leaving me plenty of time to spend on my attribute points. After a conversation with Desbera, I put the free points into Wisdom. The multiverse wasn''t the place for balanced builds. Not to say that you couldn''t do it but it was more that you would struggle to deal with people of equal level. My physical Strength would slowly get outmatched by other people''s defense. Thanks to my titles and ridiculous attributes I wouldn''t have that problem while on Earth. Or at least not for quite a while but when I left I wouldn''t win any serious physical fights. My mental abilities would be the opposite. Of course the problem there was the lack of mental defenses. Apparently, mentalists, or psychics as I prefer to call us don''t live very long. I was an exception to the rule thanks to the titles and the ease of the initial tutorial monsters. Being a spell caster of any type was making yourself a glass cannon and eventually, the cannon would shatter. Either they ran out of gas or their lack of defenses got them killed. Because of this very few people ever improved their psyche to the point that it would survive a direct battle. They relied on treasures and other defensive items. Either way, I should have a solid advantage as long as I stay at range. Once my travels were done I decided to take the time to process my newest reward. I emptied my bag of everything except the pills. The furniture went to Saanite and Christopher to store while the automap stayed with me. I infused it with energy. The information download filled my mind the next second. The sensation was still uncomfortable but it lasted less than a second. The map itself was a square window that popped up in front of me. It wasn''t the most detailed thing in the world but reminded me a bit of the map in the Fallout series. Only it wasn''t wrist-mounted and it wasn''t all green. The map was a spiritual map which made it even more fascinating. It already had Amara labeled along with a symbol, the symbol represented it as having a System Hub run by a governor. Which meant I couldn''t hide. "Was this the reason the government agent was so confident?" I chuckled out loud as I made a mental note to go and learn more things as soon as possible. The map wasn''t too big, it showed everything within 10 square miles of me which with my new top speed wasn''t far. I turned my attention back to the city. TV made sitting on rooftops seem so much fun and they were right. Even the thought of falling off the side only made me excited. A small part of me was worried about how I was changing but that was a problem for later. This was who I needed to be to survive. I looked toward Amara but quickly decided against returning. They didn''t need me at the moment and I had an urge. It was hard to explain but a small but persistent voice kept urging me to go west. I grinned as I stepped off the rooftop. The wind tore through my dreads as I fell five stories. I reached up and grabbed hold of a ledge just as I got within ten feet of the ground. The force that should have shattered my arm and ripped it out of its socket was barely noticeable as I dropped the rest of the way. I sprinted to the west as the feeling grew. I had only traveled for ten minutes when the sensation grew. It felt like there was a gentle but firm hand on my back. One that pushed me forward until the voice of the System filled my head. Area Quest Triggered: Prove your Dominance and Seize the Opportunity. I barely had the time to react before my mind was pulled away from my body. I was yanked through the ruins of the city and into a skyscraper that rivaled Amara in size and grandeur. My new perspective didn''t slow as I was pulled through the walls of the building and up a massive elevator shaft. I reached the top within seconds only to travel through the roof. There seated in the exact center was a pillar of blinding white light. It looked like the heavens above had descended to that exact spot. I was standing in front of it in less time than it would have taken me to blink. I could just barely see what looked like a lotus made out of its golden light. It somehow made the pillar around it look lackluster. Every cell in my body seemed to scream in unison. Whatever that was I needed it. The vision ended in the next moment and I was brought back to my body. I stood still for a moment as I processed what had just happened. I pulled up my quest screen and found the Area quest. I took off in the direction the vision took me at my fastest speed. Based on the chorus of howls that rose to the sky around me I wasn''t not the only thing that was notified. I pushed myself harder and harder as the city turned into a blur. I stepped onto a freeway overpass just in time to catch a literal stampede of wolves and a gorilla-like monster. The gorillas had four arms with metallic skin that glimmered in the light. The largest of which was nearly fifteen feet tall and looked like its hands were curved in sharp blades. I locked eyes with the beast and laughed. Adrenaline shot through me as I unleashed my killing intent in its full glory. The herd tripped over itself to avoid me but I paid them no attention as I opened a portal. I crossed the freeway and continued sprinting. A warning from my danger sense forced me to leap off a building and into the streets below. I looked back just as a pillar of steel split the building in half. My eyes widened as fear and excitement warred in my mind. Two wolves the size of Dobermans pounced at me in the next second. I didn''t bother using a spell, instead, I dropped into a boxing stance and delivered a haymaker into the jaw of the first one. I felt its jaw crack and used the momentum from our class to spin out of the path of the second wolf. I was about to finish the fight when that same feeling from before overtook me. I swore and opened another portal. It sealed itself just as the wolves turned to attack again. I stepped out onto another rooftop just in time to see the large gorilla tear a squad of wolves apart. I unleashed Psionic Rain as retribution for the earlier attack before I resumed my mad dash. The mental attack was just about to rain down on the beast when it did something that surprised me. It grabbed two of its nearby companions and placed them in the way. The beasts weren''t big enough to completely shield it but it was enough to stop the majority of psychic blades from tearing it apart. I gained the kill energy and a second later the gorilla unleashed a screech of rage and threw the two corpses at me. The corpses shot toward me like a pair of cannonballs. I leaped to another building just in time to avoid being crushed by a metallic gorilla. The impact was like a bomb had gone off. The building collapsed in on itself in less than a second. I chased after the stampede as the building rapidly came into view. The pillar of light at the top acted like a lighthouse for what had to be every monster in the city. I decided to stop holding back and unleashed a storm of mental attacks at every enemy I could reach. Kill energy poured into me at a rate faster than what I could use which made me feel exhilarated. Before I realized it I was two buildings behind the gorilla and within a few miles of of our target. I unleashed Psychic Blast at the overgrown gorilla. This time the attack took it in the back just as it began a leap. The attack caused it to lose control and plummet to the ground. I didn''t hold my breath that the attack would kill the damn thing but it opened up the front of the pack. I unleashed another series of mental attacks as two wolves attempted to converge on me and then activated Apportation. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. The portal opened and I stepped at a full sprint. I passed through the skyscraper''s doorways seconds before the stampede. I took a second to take in the scene and my heart dropped. The building had been completely hollowed out. It was less a building and more a large elevator shaft. I opened Apportation again aiming for a slight landing about thirty feet off the ground. I barely had enough time to step through before the full force of the stampede destroyed the door. Wolves slammed into the walls and they attempted to pivot. Gorillas launched themselves into the air. I reappeared just as the great ape arrived. We locked eyes for a moment and I unleashed Psionic Rain. I imbued the strike with the tao of Adamance and widened its area of effect as much as I could. The blades rained down like a celestial punishment. The great ape was forced to retreat outside of the building as apes and wolves were reduced to fuel for my ascent. I leapt up grabbing hold of the closest ledge. I then spun around it so my feet were pressed against the cold metal. I pushed off and into the air. A brief moment of weightlessness before I grabbed hold of the next ledge. I was about to leap again when a scream of danger stopped me. The next second a pillar of metal shot out from the wall aimed at my heart. The world seemed to slow to a crawl as I pivoted. Even with over one hundred points of Agility, I was too slow. The metal cut into my shoulder and nearly threw me off of the platform. My blood dripped down to the monster horde below who fought like crabs in a barrel. The sight of my blood only kicked them into a greater fervor. The gorillas leaped for me while the wolves unleashed blasts of sharp white energy. I summoned the wall form of Psychic Aegis to block the onslaught but it was like trying to stop a flood with a band-aid. I screamed and ripped myself off of the pillar of metal. I popped a pill and returned to my run. The great ape smashed a handful of its brethren before launching itself up the tower at me. It crossed half the distance to me in an instant. I gritted my teeth and unleashed Psychic Blast. The great ape brought all four of its hands together and formed a wall of metal. The metal emitted a visible pressure on the world around it as if it were a mountain that would crush anything that approached. I blanched when I realized that the damn thing had a Tao strand. I conjured twin blades of psychic energy, imbued each one with a different strand. The twin blades were stopped nearly a foot from the metal wall as the force of two tao strands warred with one. I gritted my teeth and pushed with every part of my will. The blades resumed their fall like twin executioners axes. The great ape stumbled back and nearly fell off its platform. Blood dripped down its face as death closed in on it. My moment of triumph was shattered as two smaller apes leaped in the path of my mental attack. I stared in disbelief as it dawned on me. These things were working together? The realization made me laugh. I pushed spiritual energy into my legs and leaped onto the metal pillar. It was like playing the world''s greatest platformer, where falling meant actual death. The dimly glowing light of the pillar was an ever-present reminder of what I was doing this for. A scream of danger and a look behind me revealed that the great ape hadn''t abandoned the pursuit. The ape had grabbed a wolf and launched it at me with the force of a cannon. I barely had the time to react before an angry monkey slammed into me. Psychic Aegis held just long enough for me to push spiritual energy into my fist. My barrier shattered like glass and I slammed a fist into the monkey''s head. It was like I punching a steel wall. The monkey screamed into my face and tried to throw me off of the platform. My eyes widened in panic. I grabbed its hand and wrapped my legs around its wrist. I felt like David trying to fight Goliath as it peeled me off. I conjured a psychic blade and shot it into the monkey''s head just as it released me. Time slowed to a crawl and the world went utterly silent as I fell I reached for the pillar above as if the heavens would take mercy on me. Sound returned in the next second as utter terror shot through me. My fear mixed with my danger sense as I desperately activated Apportation. There was a brief moment of resistance as I was trying to push through the surface of the ocean before it snapped. The portal opened up behind me just as the great ape arrived. Two of its massive hands swung down at me like titanic hammers. Each one was imbued with a tao that made my skin crawl. I fell through the portal and thanked whoever was listening as it sealed behind me. The teleportation took slightly longer than usual. In this case, I thanked the heavens above for the breather. I got to my feet and circulated the Ethereal Codex to deal with the energy coursing through my body. When the portal opened I stepped out ready to sprint only to find myself on the top floor. The shock and confusion were enough to stop me in my tracks. Had Apportation just evolved? A roar of fury brought me back to the moment. I turned and ran toward the closest window. I launched myself through the window while holding onto the side in a move that would make an Olympic gymnast jealous. I swung to the right and slammed into the metal with enough force to knock the wind out of my lungs. I groaned and searched for a pathway to the top. The sound of screeching monkeys reminded me that I didn''t have a lot of time. I pushed spiritual energy into my fingers and pressed them into the metal. My new footholds gave me just enough leverage to launch myself up the side of the building. Howling monkeys and the air rush let me know I wasn''t alone anymore. I activated Psychic Aegis in its bubble form to buy me a few more seconds. Attacks of metal and wind rained down on my barrier like hail but I didn''t stop. Each crack felt like the countdown to my death. That primal part of me took over. I activated Psionic Rain and aimed it above the side of the building. Before I could stop myself I commanded it to explode. The storm of psionic blades ripped through what remained of my shield and tore through my psyche. I suppressed a scream and pulled myself up and over the edge of the building. Despite my pain, the monkeys that had followed were much worse. My dantian surged with energy as my attack killed most of them. The ones who didn''t die lost their grips on the building and fell what had to be hundreds of feet. I turned and faced my prize. The pillar of light was even more splendid in person. My soul came alive with hunger as I stared at the lotus. I had no idea what it was or what it did but that hardly mattered. I would have it no matter the cost. I shook the thought from my mind and focused. The fight wasn''t over. I hadn''t seen the biggest ape yet and I doubted that it would just give up now. I popped two healing pills in my mouth and grimaced as the healing energy spread through my body. The pill didn''t do anything for the pain my soul was under but that was fine. When I was ready I turned and sprinted for the pillar. The ground beneath my feet trembled and I reached deep inside myself. Beyond the fear and exhaustion the arrogance and hunger. The great ape tore a hole through the floor and unleashed a roar that chilled the blood in my veins. It locked eyes with me as an explosion of killing intent turned the rooftop into a primordial battlefield. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as the world slowed to a crawl. Nothing mattered but the two of us. My killing intent rose in response, a mutual declaration that only one of us would leave this place alive. I couldn''t be more excited. Chapter 37: Battle For Dominion A golden barrier surrounded the lotus and in the next moment, we charged each other. Two psychic blades appeared in the air before me as I thundered toward the ape. The giant ape''s arm glowed and seemed to double in size. A scream of danger forced me into a baseball slide. The slide took me underneath a blow that looked like it would shatter mountains. I launched both blades just before diving away. A pillar of metal shot out of the ground where I had stood. I unleashed Psionic Rain imbued with the tao of lucidity only to have the attack blocked by a shimmering metal wall. My eyes widened as the ape ran forward and slammed an oversized fist into the sheet of metal. I shifted Psychic Aegis from its bubble form and into its wall form just as the metal sheet shot at me like a cannonball. My wall shattered after exhausting the metal''s momentum. I turned and prepared myself for the next attack only to find the ape staring at me. We circled each other for a moment and I half expected more of the lesser monkeys to appear but none did. The ape then surprised me again by bringing all four of its hands together and bowing. I cocked my head to the side and copied the move. The ape then took a step back and I laughed. This was like something out of a martial arts movie. A scream of danger ended the joviality. The ape blurred and I threw myself to the side. The ape reappeared in front of where I had stood and slammed a fist forward. An explosion of tao that felt like a mountain had just slammed into the building spread out from its fist. I unleashed Psychic Blast in its beam forward and indigo light bathed the massive monkey. It staggered a step and I conjured another pair of blades. I imbued both of them with my Taos before unleashing them. The ape let out a roar and ripped a chunk of metal out of the roof. It turned its makeshift shield around and it emitted a familiar heaviness. I shook my head ruefully as the ape once again blocked my attack. I unleashed another Psychic Blast that the ape narrowly avoided before launching its makeshift shield at me like a frisbee. Time slowed to crawl as I spun out of the way only to find a fifteen-foot-tall gorilla launching itself at me. My head felt like it was being split open as I imbued another mental blade with the tao of adamance. The blade shot for the gorilla''s chest just as it brought two of its large hands down into an overhead slam. The blade hit home and I rolled to the side. The giant ape slammed into the rooftop with a deafening roar. The ground cracked beneath his weight. I conjured another blade and imbued it with the tao of lucidity. As soon as it slammed into the ape''s back it wavered on its feet. I took a step back and circulated spiritual energy throughout my entire body. Before I could think about what I was doing I launched myself into the air. I leaped over twenty feet into the air and shifted all the spiritual energy I could into my fist. I then slammed down onto the ape like a meteor. The floor held up for a second before shattering beneath the force. An explosion of spiritual energy flooded my dantian as we went into free fall. I fought against the darkness creeping at the edge of my vision and pushed off from the ape''s corpse. I directed some of the rampaging energy into the sigil for Apportation. The portal opened up underneath me as my dantian overflowed. I reached level 26 and reappeared on the rooftop. Pain shot through every part of me and I wanted nothing more than to curl up in a ball. I fought the urge. The golden barrier that protected the lotus from our attack disappeared and my soul screamed for it. I half stumbled my way toward it to place it in my bag. Despite what my body told me there was no way I would consume a random rooftop item. Each step made my feet feel like they were encased in lead until I collapsed. I laughed as my victory sunk in before I could claim my prize the darkness claimed me. When I woke up the sun had already set and my headache was gone. I got to my feet and was surprised to see that no monkeys had climbed up. I was probably at my weakest in that moment but I wasn''t complaining. My attention was brought back to the lotus that floated inside of a dimly lit golden pillar. It was hard to reconcile the original golden radiance with the light in front of me, this was closer to someone holding up a flashlight beneath it. The treasure''s effect on my soul hadn''t changed. I made my way over and placed my palm underneath it. I slowly and gently lifted it out of the light. The pillar winked out immediately but my focus was devoted to the beautiful lotus. It was a mix of golden and white that reminded me of the sun. It was so light that I was worried an errant breeze would send it flying through the city. Competing desires warred in my mind as my very core wanted me to devour the flower while a dull ache in the back of my mind warned against it. I decided to stick with the original plan and placed the lotus in my bag. I grimaced as I felt the bag leak some of Flower''s spirituality. I made a mental note to ask Desbera about a refrigerator that I could carry with me. I pulled up my status screen and placed the two points into Agility. That last fight and climb made it very clear that I needed to be faster. Next, I checked my spells and sure enough, Apportation had leapt to Intermediate proficiency. It looked like the new maximum range was around half a mile which was amazing. It also revealed a small problem, this movement spell was meant for long-range teleportation. I either needed to get one for short range and combat movement or I would need to keep improving agility. On top of that, I also needed to get more offensive options. Psychic Mastery let me create basic attacks but I still lacked anything that could end the fight. Hopefully, my level 25 spell would deal with that. Fortunately for me the quest already read as complete. I decided not to claim it now though. On the off chance that it provided a vision, I wanted to be somewhere relatively safe. I gave the rooftop one more glance and then made my way to the hole we created. I let out a low whistle when I saw just how far up I was. The corpse of the giant ape had to be more than two miles beneath me. Its body looked broken, the muscles that looked like they could punch holes in mountains were twisted and dim. "We really could use the meat. Especially if stronger creatures could provide tangible buffs. I sighed and fell forward. The wind ripped by me as I plummeted toward the ground. Terror and excitement filled the pit of my stomach as the world rushed up at me. I waited until I was sure Apportation would keep me safe and opened the portal. I fell through the entrance and got to my feet. I still didn''t understand how the portal exhausted my momentum without hurting me but that was a mystery for another time. The portal reopened and I stepped out next to the ape. "It was a good fight." I wasn''t sure why I felt the need to speak over its corpse. It was very dead and from the looks of it, the ape took more than a few lesser apes with it. Still, I felt like it deserved respect. I placed a hand on the corpse and it turned into light before streaming into my bag. My solemn mood was ruined when I saw how many slots the big thing took up. "I need a better bag." I quickly collected a few more corpses before I stepped out into the night. I pulled up my map and made a note of a new town to the South. Part of me wanted to head there immediately but that wasn''t realistic. I needed to deal with corpses and the lotus. I sprinted in the direction of Amara. The run through the city was uneventful. Either the monsters had all fled this area once the quest ended or they were giving me a wide berth. Either way, I was fine with it. I wasn''t in the mood to get into another fight. I stopped to collect a couple of wolf corpses that were in good shape. I wasn''t sure if our crafters could make pelts yet but they would be better than nothing. When I reached the city the sun was just starting to peek over the horizon. I found a trio of guards, two of which were wielding metal pipes instead of guns which was progress. The sole gun user was an older woman in her forties with greying hair. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. I confirmed that they hadn''t seen anything worrisome before leaving them to their watch. I arrived at the doors to the city within thirty minutes. Saanite drifted up to me just as I stepped inside. "Hello, Governor. I hope your trip has gone well." Saanite''s core pulsed a dark blue color as it spoke. Something that reminded me a bit of a black hole. "Yeah, I received an area quest for a natural treasure. How are things?" "Fascinating. Your holdings are fine. The second settlement has been running into minor issues with roaming monsters. I have sent some of the forces here to help deal with it. We have not seen any more of the government officials that stopped by previously. Lastly, the attempts at cooking some of the more energy-rich foods have not borne fruit. The cooks are struggling to find a temperature at which they can prepare it without burning it. I have authorized the purchase of an array that will keep food from spoiling." I nodded. "I have some more meat. Some of it came from a giant ape and its smaller brethren. The beast was strong enough to push me pretty hard so its meet should be good. Do you think they could make it into jerky?" Saanite just pulsed in the air for a moment and I wasn''t sure if it was thinking about my question or if it was ignoring it. I was just about to ask again when it started speaking. "I am not sure. I have seen some of the humans with hunting experience turn the mundane animals into jerky but doing so to a powerful creature could be harder. I will have them begin work on the process." I nodded. "Can you lead me to the storage room?" I fell into pace behind the assistant. "Have you heard anything about any other cultivators? I find it hard to believe that none of them have come here." "I have not. Though I imagine that the other places are doing a better job of recruitment. If you wish to improve that I would suggest you display your power more prominently. Between your strength and the academy you have the beginnings of a force." "Yeah, but I don''t want to get stuck with people who want to rely on me to save them. I can''t be the only fighter or else I will get stuck here forever." "I wouldn''t recommend that either. It is your role to keep growing in power to protect your territory. My role as your assistant is to manage the day-to-day. You also have the group of humans you are raising to further assist. Cultivation is not a road to embark on alone." I sighed and nodded my agreement. Saanite led me to a room on the bottom floor that had been emptied all furniture and had the carpet removed. Complex sigils traveled along all four surfaces of the room. The room was divided into four sections where different kinds of meat were left. Some of which belonged to the disgusting bugs. I had to resist the urge to puke at the thought. "How come it isn''t cold?" "The array doesn''t rely on the Tao of Ice to work. Instead, it uses a combination of taos to purify the surroundings and slow decay. It keeps the food safer for longer than refrigerator devices. If you would prefer we could have some of those brought in as well." I shook my head. "Not yet. Despite the size of this place we will have to expand sooner or later. Once we do that we should set up proper warehouses." "I do not intend to question your judgment but why would you not simply purchase spatial arrays? Similar to the one that controls your bag? You would be able to store goods inside rooms that would be larger than most buildings on this planet." I raised an eyebrow at that. "Are we able to get those arrays?" "The simplest of them should be available in the System shop but the more advanced versions will require a proper store." "Alright for now we will continue as we have been. Can you have someone come and take care of the meat?" I started pulling everything out and stacked in the furthest corner with the rest of the unprocessed animals. The giant ape took up nearly half of the room by itself and I was thankful that I didn''t have to deal with it. Once I finished I left the room and headed to the academy. When I arrived I found Christopher and Desbera seated at a table drinking. "Ahh Greetings Governor Amari," Desbera said with a pleasant smile. "Hey glad to see you are back safe and sound," Christopher added. "Hey, I could use your help identifying something you are able?" I asked and made my way over. Desbera gestured to the table and nodded. I summoned the lotus from my ring and gently placed it on the table. No sooner had I released it did Desbera stood up and ran behind the desk. She tore through things until she found a small black box. Which she tossed to me. "Quickly place that in there. If you are going to collect natural treasures you need a proper way to store them." I nodded, placed the lotus inside, and sent a bit of energy to activate the box''s array. "Alright, can you provide me with more of those?" "I could but I couldn''t do it for free." She smiled ruefully at me but before I could protest she continued. "The System has its rules. It wouldn''t want people like us to arrive on baby worlds and crush the local economy. It would make us little more than sovereign makers. That is not our mission anyway. We are educators." I sighed and nodded. "Have some prepared for me as soon as you can. For now, though can you identify the lotus?" She nodded and grabbed an item that looked a bit like a monocle covered in dozens of tiny golden sigils. Even the glass was covered in them. She gently opened the box and the monocle doubled in size. She stood stark still as the monocle twisted and glowed. She stayed like that for nearly twenty minutes before it stopped. She then closed up the box and removed the monocle. "It is a peak 1st realm treasure though some of its spirituality has been lost during transport. It''s called the ''Gilded Lotus'' and it''s a soul-nurturing treasure that you no doubt have noticed. It can be turned into an elixir that would provide its benefits immediately but I do not know how to do so. You can instead place it in your cultivation chamber and have it gradually refine your soul." "Interesting. Speaking of cultivation chambers do you know anything about setting one up? Mine is more or less a closet with an energy array and a natural treasure." She gave me a pitying smile that made me squint my eyes before nodding. "That I can help you with. It will be difficult to deal with before you have proper materials but I can arrange it to take advantage of natural energy flows and your treasures. Am I to assume that you will place the lotus inside as well?" I nodded. "In that case, I will get to it soon. Do I have permission to access the upper floors?" "Yes, Saanite should be able to guide you there if I am not around. You can also make any purchases you need from the shop. I will leave a sizable amount of credits with Saanite to manage things while I am gone. If you need to make any serious changes to my quarters run them by either myself or Saanite first. Right now things up there are pretty malleable but I want to have a good place to rest." "Of course, I will see to it as soon as possible. If you do not mind my asking, do you intend to take up array or alchemy classes? They aren''t easy roads to walk but your energy control is rather impressive. On top of that rudimentary knowledge of arrays could save your life once you leave this planet." I nodded. "I plan on doing at least one of them but it probably won''t be for a while. My primary concern is in leveling up and getting a hold on what''s happened to the world. After that, I will start to expand my focus. I still need to get some additional spells. I wouldn''t mind access to some arrays to help me make my own though." "I wouldn''t recommend you do that just yet. It is typical to wait until you have fully exhausted your class before getting some from outside sources. There are some auxiliary spells and skills that should work for you. Language skills are especially recommended." Chapter 38: Retribution I left Desbera and Christopher to their devices and made a plan to return in the morning for the boxes. I made it into my apartment and flopped onto the bed. The soft mattress felt like heaven and a part of me wanted to go straight to sleep. I had a few things to do first though. I pulled up my status screen and reviewed my improvements.
Name Amari Jackson
Level 26
Class [1-Epic]Psionic Paragon
Species [2]Human
Affiliation Earth
Manual [1]Ethereal Codex(22%)
Titles Beloved by Tao, Big Game, Chosen, First to Ten, Leader of the Pack, Monstersbane, Overlord Slayer, Overpowered, Perfect 100, Prime Hunter, Tutorial, Voyager,
Limited Titles Pinnacle
Tao Strand of Adamance ¡ª Comprehension: Low, Strand of Lucidity ¡ª Comprehension: Low
Agility 124 (Increase:65%. Potency:120%)
Constitution 124 (Increase:65%. Potency:120%)
Intelligence 148 (Increase:70%. Potency:120%)
Luck 135 (Increase:85%. Potency:120%)
Perception 120 (Increase:65%. Potency:120%)
Strength 101 (Increase:65%. Potency:120%)
Wisdom 273 (Increase:75%. Potency:120%)
Free Points 0
System Credits [1] 16,000,000
The grinding and the battle with the giant ape was lucrative. I now sat on a massive nest egg but I had no idea what to buy with it. Assuming the boxes didn''t cost something ridiculous I would need to decide what to buy. More medicine was of course important but there was another option. The system shop allowed you to convert credits into stones at a massive loss according to Desbera. Unfortunately, I couldn''t get second realm stones. With my level and titles making it harder for me to level 1st realm stones might as well be a currency in of themselves. I could grab a handful of the auxiliary skills Desbera mentioned but even that seemed reckless. The problem was that nothing I purchased would immediately make me more powerful. I sighed separated ten million credits and apportioned them to Saanite to spend as the need arrived. The last six million I decided to save until tomorrow. I would likely buy a spell or two with it but for now, it wasn''t needed. I reviewed a few more things before closing my eyes. I was asleep within moments. The next day I pulled up my quest log and confirmed the completion of the level 25 spell quest. I braced myself to be drawn into another vision but nothing happened. The familiar burn of a new sigil planting itself into my channels passed through me but that was it. I closed my eyes and focused on the brand-new spell. I was not disappointed, not at all. The sigil was a beautiful design that almost floated in place. It was hard to put into words which somewhat felt the spell. The spell was called Realm of Consciousness and it would create a domain that would weaken my enemies while making it easier for me to keep going. It was a peak quality spell which should mean that it would be more than worth it. My palms itched to try it out but I knew better. There was no way for me to know what it would do nor could I tell just how big the domain would be. I would be an asshole if I opened it and nearly killed the people who lived here with me. I pulled up the spell''s window hoping it would give me some more details. [1] Realm of Consciousness - Proficiency: Novice. The Domain of Thought, Enlightening and Enrapturing. Upgradeable. The spell window wasn''t much better than the sigil but that was fine. I would get the chance to try out the spell soon enough anyway. I gave my stats a review I went down and took care of a few last-minute concerns including the treasure boxes. Once everything was dealt with I stepped outside and checked my map. It was time for me to head toward that new city and hopefully meet some more cultivators. The run through the city was much less interesting this time. There were only a handful of monsters that avoided me which was a shame when compared to the literal stampede from last time. That being said it was much more conducive to what I needed to do. I continued for around four hours before I was finally attacked. This time it was a bipedal lizard that looked like a cross between a crocodile and a komodo dragon. The entire thing was about ten feet tall and as wide as a car. The whole thing kind of looked stupid. It was perfect for the test I wanted to perform. I pushed energy into my newest sigil. The lizard let out a snarl and rushed me. I hadn''t managed to cross half the distance when a cloud of grey mist exploded outward from me. The mist spread out in every direction like a sea but it did nothing to mess with my vision. Instead, I became even more aware of everything. It was as if the mist itself had become my eyes and ears. The lizard wasn''t as fortunate. I hadn''t moved yet somehow it had gone off course and ran into a wall. The mist had grown to a radius of 150 feet in seconds. A trickle of mental energy flowed into my mind a second later. I hadn''t lost much from the spell''s activation so it didn''t make much of a difference but what would it do when I was in battle? If I were fighting multiple enemies? This domain would amazing its only weakness was that it relied on me being alone. As far as I could tell the mist would obscure the senses of everyone but me. It also hurt the lizard. Or rather it reduced the lizard''s abilities by about ten percent. I couldn''t tell if it was applied to its mind or its attributes and it didn''t matter. Most things on the planet weren''t strong enough to fight me at their full power. Losing ten percent of their abilities and then fighting me was out of the question. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I didn''t think the Giant Ape would be able to do much if it had to fight me like this. The lizard started attacking at random. It tore through cars, mailboxes, and glass windows in its pursuit of me. After a few minutes, it began to sway on its feet almost like it was drunk. I didn''t think the mental energy drain would be lethal to it even if I left it alone forever but it would certainly make avoiding attacks nearly impossible. Next, I tried to infuse the spell with either of my tao and failed. The sigil refused to let them inside and I wasn''t sure if it was because of something I did wrong or if there was some sort of additional requirement. Either way, I didn''t care. I rubbed my hands together, grinned, and formed two blades of psychic energy. As soon as I unleashed them the fog parted and the lizard caught sight of me. It was too late and far too slow to avoid either blade. As soon as they hit I stepped back into the fog and waited for the lizard to lose me. The process repeated itself for a few minutes before the lizard collapsed and I received its kill energy. Just as I expected the mental energy stream ended with its death. I made a mental note to test it out on enemies with proper mental defenses. I needed to know if something Intellect Fortress would reduce or even stop the drain. Or if it would protect them against the actual effects. All in all my new spell was pretty damn good. It wasn''t hard to see that my main method of attack was meant to be Psychic Mastery and then Psionic Rain would be the kind of big attack. If I were a bit more normal I would probably travel with a guard or squad of guards who would make sure I didn''t get hit while I destroyed my enemy. If I were to focus on fighting smaller enemies like a reasonable person I should be able to deal with them in one to three hits. Psionic Rain should be a one-shot for most things. Of course, I also had Psychic Aegis and Psychic Blast. My offensive skill set was pretty well rounded even without a single ultimate blast. It still wasn''t good enough for me to relax. The ape was a threat and I doubted it was the only powerhouse in the world. Then I would have to deal with other humans. Bullets weren''t a problem yet but what about bombs? Missiles? Chemicals? What about enemy arrays? There was also the System itself. There was no way it would just let me relax and take it easy. Lastly, I had to turn my attention to the stars. Was I strong to other species? Other humans? What about the rich kids who could afford treasure, elixirs, and whatever else existed? I balled my fingers into a fist and shook my head. The moment I started to think I was enough was the moment I died. I chuckled and pulled up my map. There was no good in getting too distracted by the future. For now, I needed to reach that next city and start growing my force. It only took me an hour to reach the city and what I saw made me regret coming. The city was a large neighborhood surrounded by a large metal fence. To be more accurate someone had taken large pieces of sheet metal and embedded them in the ground next to one another. Most of the walls had holes in them that varied in size. Which told me that bullets and then spells were used against them at some point. The tops of the wall were wrapped in razor wire and from the looks of it, at least some people had tried to climb it. Scattered remains of fabric hung like macabre flags. None of that was what made my stomach turn though. Someone had decapitated people and left their heads on stakes in front of the gate. As if someone was living their twisted medieval fantasy. The whole thing made me want to wipe the city off the face of the earth but I didn''t. The people walking in front of the gate made me stop. They weren''t soldiers. Some of them had weapons that were little more than wooden poles. I sensed nothing from them. No pressure, no killing intent, not even a dull sense of danger. These people were likely still level fucking one. I wasn''t sure how I should proceed. I could open a portal and just step through but then what? Did I want to conquer another town? Even if I did could I hold it? I shook my head. None of that mattered. I needed to first find out why the city was like this. After that, I would kill whoever I had to and then deal with whatever came next. I activated Apportation, aiming for another large building in the distance. The portal opened, I stepped off of my tree branch and was inside the city in less than a moment. Being inside the city was so much worse. The city had gone back to the dark ages. A river of filth passed through the sides of the street. A testament to the death of sanitation now that literally, no one seemed to to care. Children and the elderly scurried about as if terrified of being in the sun for too long. My thoughts were interrupted when I caught sight of a metal color with a dense sigil around the necks of the man and woman pair. The sigil was a dark red color that made me think of a burning brand. My breath caught as it felt like someone had set my skin on fire. Slave collars. Someone had started enslaving people. The very thought felt anathema to me. As if I had become the heavens and its very presence was an affront to me. Before I could stop it my killing intent exploded out of me. The shoddy buildings seemed to scream in response as if even they were afraid of the fury and judgment that I would bring. I didn''t even remember stepping off of the building before I was in front of the pair. My killing intent surrounded us in a howling bubble of tempestuous fury. I wasn''t sure how I was keeping myself from killing them and everyone around me but I was. The pair flinched and dropped to their knees when I appeared. Their bodies were so malnourished I could see their bones. It hadn''t even been two months. It didn''t even take two months before we were doing this to each other. "Who did this to you?" I tried to make my voice calm but based on their reactions I failed. They recoiled as if my words were physical. "I¡ªI am sorry. Whatever we did. We apologize please don''t." The man moved in front of the woman and started begging. Every one of his words felt like I knife to my hard. I reached for them intending to undo the collar only for the man to fall to his knees. The disgusting ground stained his face and his words were lost. I turned toward the large houses in the distance. Spiritual energy surged into my feet and didn''t so much as step as rocket in their direction. The terror in their faces engraved itself into my mind and ignited a flame in my soul. I slammed into the ground like a rocket. The neighborhood was some sort of suburban cul-de-sac with its gate. A trio of guards stepped in front of me. All three were cultivators and wore some kind of leather armor. The one in the lead said something but I didn''t hear it. I didn''t care either. A pulse of mental energy shot toward him in the next second and he dropped dead. For the first time, I didn''t feel regret or excitement at a kill. The man''s death felt like an affront. The other two screamed. They should have attacked. In a near copy of what the Giant Ape had tried to do to me. I blurred and slammed a fist into the next man''s chest. I felt his ribs shatter. I grabbed him around the neck and launched him into the third man. The two of them were sent flying into the gate. The gate was forced open and the two skipped across the ground like stones. I looked down at my fist confused. I didn''t even remember infusing them with energy. I activated Apportation and stepped through the portal before anyone else could arrive. I stepped into the living room of one of the three houses. The idyllic scene made it seem like the world outside was a lie. As if I had stepped out of a dream. The scene was like pouring gas on a raging flame. Two people came down the large marble staircase with guns raised. Literal guns. Psionic Rain brought their deaths before they had a chance to raise them let alone shoot me. Watching them die so peacefully grated on my soul. I made my way up the stairs chasing the sound of voices. Every time my rage began to falter I reached for the face of that couple. The collars around their necks. Their emaciated bodies. The staked heads. I kicked a pair of double doors open only to be greeted by a storm of attacks. Lightning, Fire, and wind. My robes redistributed the impacts the best they could but I felt them tearing. I considered using Psychic Aegis to defend me but I decided against it. I wanted them to fear me. The attacks finished and I placed two healing pills in my mouth. I stepped into the ruined room only to find a trio of cultivators in various states of undress. At the foot of a large circular bed were another four people, two men and two chained to the bed by their ankles. "Who are you." My head snapped toward a tall woman with half her head shaved. Lightning danced in the palm of her hands as she tried to push her fear down. I stared at her for what felt like an eternity as I searched for the words. It was as if my anger had stolen my ability to speak. "She said who in the hell are you¡ª" I shot a blade of mental energy into the man who spoke''s chest. He dropped dead in the next second prompting a scream from everyone else. "I am Amari. The strongest person on this planet. Imagine my surprise at how far things have fallen." "You were at the tutorial same as the rest of us. We have every right to do what we want." The woman spoke up again her resolve growing with each word. "This is a world where the strong make the rules." I nodded although I had already dismissed the woman from my thoughts. I stepped over to the bed and snapped the chains holding the others. They looked at me with a mixture of relief, fear, and apprehension. As if they couldn''t determine if they had been saved or if they had just switched one tormentor for another. "Go and find every other slave, captive, or whatever else they are called. Free them." The group ran from the room as fast as they could. I wasn''t sure if they would actually do what I told them and honestly, I didn''t care. I didn''t need them to listen it wasn''t like anyone in this forsaken place could stop me. That realization felt like lightning through my veins. I turned back to the trio who had managed to get their clothes on. "I believe you said that this was a world where the strong make the rules." Chapter 39: New Recruits Psychic Aegis formed around me just before they unleashed another volley of attacks. Each one might as well have tried to break the barrier by looking at it. I gave them a few seconds to exhaust themselves before I made my move. I pushed spiritual energy into the soles of my feet and stepped in between the two remaining cultivators. My fist slammed into the woman''s stomach and then a kick sent the other man to his knees. The woman let out a wheeze of pain and clutched her stomach in a desperate attempt to get air. I grabbed her by her throat and launched her out of the room and down the stairs. Next, I grabbed the man by his ankle and dragged him behind me. I wasn''t sure what levels they were but I was pretty sure their bodies could handle this level of punishment for a little longer. It felt like my anger would turn into an uncontrollable storm of violence if I didn''t vent it. Another group of guards stepped up to stop me but I barely gave them my attention as Psionic Rain ended their lives. My dantian slowly filled with each kill but it wasn''t enough. It wasn''t anywhere near enough to pay for the loss of energy. I considered triggering my domain spell but that might hurt any nearby captives. There was also something visceral about beating them with my fists. We reached the bottom of the stairs only to find the woman hiding behind a group of ten guards. Each one with long rifles and body armor. "Halt, In the name of the Commonwealth." The lead figure shouted as if he genuinely believed I would stop. "I am only here for these people. Either move or I will kill you too. If the Commonwealth or any other group is okay with what''s happened here then I will kill you all." My voice came out so cold and cruel that even I could barely understand it. When the group didn''t move I unleashed my aura. I kept it contained to this room the best I could but it was like trying to coral a vicious hound. One that only wanted to rip and tear at the enemy in front of me. Five of the guards lowered their weapons but the leader didn''t hesitate. I unleashed Psychic Blast aimed at the leader. A barrier of flame sprung up to block it but it was useless. The fire was physical while my attack wasn''t. He dropped to the ground. I looked at each of the others giving them one last chance to give up. When they pulled out buttons that sparked with electricity I rolled my eyes. The small part of me that was impressed by their fearlessness was drowned by anger. Psionic Rain fell and nine bodies joined my ledger. I stepped past them and slammed my fist into the woman. "Don''t tell me this is all you have." I tossed the man out the window and into the main street. I smiled wickedly and Spartan kicked her outside. Both of them had long given up on fighting and their anger. Their pathetic whimpers filled the culdesac. I was just about to continue when a boy sprinted across the yard. The boy passed through my killing intent without slowing a step. He threw himself on top of the woman and slammed a blade into her stomach. By the time my brain kicked into gear the woman''s screams had died. I stepped forward and lifted the boy into the air. He fought me like a beast. "She killed her! Let me go. Let me go!" He turned the knife around and tried to stab through the aegis only for the knife to snap. The pain in his voice cowed my fury. "I am sorry." The words felt so small so insignificant but what else could I do? What else could I say? The child''s snarls of anger turned into tears and sobs. I placed him on the ground and expanded Psychic Aegis to protect him. I looked at the last of the trio but my desire for blood had been met. Unfortunately for him the former captives still had plenty. They stood at the edge of my aura like a pack of hyenas. Only a few of them seemed aware in the eyes. The majority looked like they had gone mad. I shook my head and knelt next to him. "I am sure that whatever they do to you will be much worse than I would have." I activated Apportation and stepped through the portal with the boy. The portal hadn''t even fully closed when they rushed him. The portal opened up on a rooftop at the end of my maximum range. The man''s screams went on for almost an hour but no one attempted to stop the captives. I wasn''t sure what I should do next though. My original plan was to try and find people to follow me, but I failed. I managed to kill more people and if the Commonwealth wasn''t my enemy before they are now. The only way I could think to salvage the situation would be by recruiting the captives but that would just be another group that needed my protection. The idea had benefits to it on a more long-term basis after all who would be more loyal to me than the people whose lives I just saved? "So kid what''s your name?" I turned to the boy who had stopped crying and was looking at the street below us. "Trey. I um thanks for what you did." He was about to wipe his face with his disgusting clothes. I swatted his arm and removed a fresh set. The basketball shorts and T-shirt weren''t going to protect him from anything but it would be better than the stuff he had. "Here put these on. I assume that you aren''t a cultivator?" I turned and gave him a small bit of privacy so he could get dressed. "No, the tutorial workers said I wasn''t old enough to cultivate. My mother and Sister were though. Thank you for the clothes." I nodded. "I take it that your family died here?" "No, my Sister survived the tutorial but was attacked here because she didn''t like what they were doing. My mom died on one of the quests." I let out a sigh and gave the kid a once-over. His hair was a tangled mess, he was covered in dirt and he looked almost dead in the eyes. "Do you have any other family? Family that you know is still alive I mean." He shook his head. "Alright well I am willing to take you with me¡ª" "Can you make me as strong as you?" Trey got a brief glimmer in his eye. One of pain and hope interlocked. I was about to say no when I thought about it. There was probably no way he could get the first of titles but he could get a few of the basic ones with my help. Of course, he would need to wait till he was older but it should be possible. "Don''t know but you shouldn''t aim to be as strong as me. There are probably people who are stronger than me in the multiverse. I am still in the first realm and I have no idea how many realms exist. If you want to become stronger you should aim to be better than me. It won''t be easy. I had the benefit of the tutorial. It will probably hurt a lot and you may die. I could let you in Amara with me and the rest of my people. It would be safer than traveling with me." You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. "I don''t care. I want to be better like you, like my sister and my mom. I want to be able to stop people from doing the shit that they" He gestured toward the culdesac. "Were doing." I chuckled to myself and nodded. "Did the tutorial workers say that if you were or weren''t a cultivator?" "The one that spoke to us said we wouldn''t know until our sixteenth birthdays." Trey got to his feet. I nodded. "How old are you now?" "15. My birthday is in six months." I rubbed my chin and mentally mapped out a path forward. The academy could probably help him out and if I could find him a few natural treasures... I flashed him a smile that dimmed as I looked down at the city. "Alright, I have to check on the other captives but after that, we are going to get out of here. I have an academy that can teach you the basics. You will have to put the effort in." I activated Apportation. Once the portal opened I offered Trey a hand and we stepped inside. The mental refresh had a visible effect on him. It was almost like he had a whole night''s sleep in an instant. In the next moment, the portal closed and reopened in the middle of the culdesac. My arrival caused people to scatter in every direction. A dark-skinned woman with thick curls and dark brown eyes stared defiantly at me. I raised an eyebrow at her. The dark ring around her neck caused a fresh wave of anger to rise in me but I beat it down. There was no one else for me to kill and even if there were how would that help? "What''s your name?" "Aaliyah. I would ask what yours is but from what I hear you were pretty open with it. Mr. ''Strongest man in the world''" I chuckled and ruefully shook my head. "I believe I said I was the strongest person on the planet. Strongest man would imply that there was a woman stronger than me." That made her laugh a sound that felt so foreign in this environment. Her smile faded when she saw Trey behind me. It was slight but her muscles tensed as if she was debating whether or not she would be able to attack me. Part of me wanted to see if she would try it but if I was going to succeed at recruiting anyone besides the child that couldn''t cultivate I couldn''t do it through force. They saw my strength now I needed to be a leader. "I am looking to recruit for my faction. A city? I am not sure at what point it would be considered a kingdom but¡ª" "Not interested. If you wouldn''t mind handing the boy over we will be on our way." Aaliyah said while gripping a metal rod. "I am going to go with Amari. He said he has an academy that can help me get stronger. You should come to." When I looked at him he smiled. "She was kind of like a big sister to most of us. She got caught after trying to break a few of us out and didn''t run away." I nodded. "The offers open to you." I turned to the rest of the onlookers. "The offer''s open to everyone. Amara is recruiting capable cultivators and mortals. I am not offering anything for free but I have an academy that can provide several benefits. I don''t know how you all got here but this is a chance to grow. A chance to stop being a victim of circumstance. I can''t promise that I will be there to protect you the next time you encounter a dangerous enemy. Nor can I promise that you will survive in this new world. I can promise that with me you will have a chance." I let my eyes pass over every person. It was so silent you could have heard a pen drop but nothing happened. I looked over at Aaliyah who at least seemed amused. I was about to say something else when something dawned on me. I pulled out my map and infused it with a bit of energy. According to it, this city had a hub but I didn''t get ownership when I killed everyone. Nor did a quest start so that someone else could get it. I looked around at the hovels and quickly decided against it. I didn''t want this place. It was covered in shit and who knew what else. "I am leaving in thirty minutes. If there is anything you want to take with you gather it by then. Anyone not standing here will be left behind." That declaration got everyone moving. Some people sprinted for the various stores while others headed for the houses behind me. I decided to leave them to it and turned my attention to Aaliyah. "What level are you?" She got that far-away look in her eyes for a moment. "11, I assume you don''t have any free spells or skills available?" I shook my head. "Not on me. I might be able to spot you some credits but I have to warn you the things available for sale in the hub aren''t very good. Some of the auxiliary skills could be useful though." "And what about this academy?" "Good question I haven''t looked at them yet but I am told there are some that are decent. Care to give me that metal pipe? I have better weapons. If you head inside you could get your hands on one of the shock batons. Assuming someone hasn''t taken them all already." "I prefer daggers. Do you have any of those?" She said with a slight grin. "Nope, we might be able to find some if we go searching for an appropriate store. Did the tutorial not give you one?" "It was broken when I tried to separate Abigail''s head from her shoulders. That''s the woman that well you know." "I see, Well for now you are going to have to make do with this." I tossed her a simple shortsword. "I want you all to get some levels when we move out. Ideally, you all will get at least one level before we get back." She looked like she wanted to protest but quickly thought better of it. "Alright, that makes sense. Do you have any of those stones?" I shook my head. "I might be able to get some when we get there but for now I can''t. If you can cultivate I would suggest doing so unless you have something else you want to do." I waited for Aaliyah to take a seat before I turned my attention to Trey. "Now for you. Have you considered what you want to do?" He shook his head. "I don''t know what you mean." "How do you want to fight? You could be more melee in which case I could get you one of these swords. If your goal is to be a mage type that will be harder. I also don''t have any mentalist abilities to share so that could also be a bit harder." "Mage. I want to be a mage. Me and my friends used to play Tabletop games and I would get stuck being a tank so I don''t want to do that." I nodded. "In that case, you will probably want to focus on Intelligence when the time comes. I will speak with Desbera about getting you situated along with Aaliyah. For now though just sit and meditate. I am not sure if you can touch on the tao right now but it wouldn''t hurt. It will also help clear your mind." He stared at me with irritation and suspicion before taking a seat in front of Aaliyah. "This better not be an excuse to waste my time." I chuckled and left him to it. With the two of them dealt with for the time being I took a seat and focused on the tao. I could feel the tao of lucidity was making some progress. I didn''t think it was time for my comprehension to increase but every little bit counted. It only took me a few moments to fully relax. Just as I felt like I made some significant progress I felt people approach. I looked up and found a group of people reentering the Culdesac. The number of people who arrived was a bit surprising though not overly so. The majority of the town had decided to travel with me. From the looks of it, they ran through the town and collected everything that could be considered armor or decent clothes and threw them on. It made them look like a random assortment of larpers instead of actual fighters but that wasn''t too bad. After all, they weren''t warriors either. "Alright, we are going to be moving through the city so everyone is to stick together. Keep an eye out for one another I don''t want anyone getting left behind. We will be fighting while we move so if you have a weapon partner with someone who doesn''t. The goal is to get everyone to level up at least once." They looked all looked at me and I could see the apprehension in their faces. These people likely stayed in this place because they wanted to be protected from the monsters and now they were going out and facing them. Still, none of them tried to leave. I arranged everyone into rows so they could keep an eye on each other while hopefully reducing the chance that they were ambushed or dragged away. Once everyone was ready to go I gave them a final nod and we set off. Chapter 40: This Could Be Fun The journey back took two days. It wasn''t just that the group I led was weak but they were afraid of everything. We spent nearly an hour after one of the older men thought he saw a monster. He refused to walk on the outside of the rows because the monster was going to get him. He also refused to go and hunt the monster. He and a group of people argued with each other until Aaliyah stepped out of line and went into the building in question. She came out ten minutes later with no monster in sight. I tried to let them solve their problems but after the third person refused to fight. I was forced to step in. I unleashed a portion of my aura and threatened to throw the next person who refused off a building which in the grand scheme probably didn''t help but it made me feel better. Fortunately, my goal was met. Nearly everyone got at least one level with Aaliyah gaining two and Trey managed to kill something. Unfortunately for him, it didn''t count. There was no kill energy and since he couldn''t access a status screen there was no way to confirm any titles. He also couldn''t see his dantian no matter how long he meditated. Altogether I was glad when Christopher and Desbera met me outside. "Listen, I need you to get all of these people squared away. Let''s take care of them like your group. Give them a day off to rest, recover and cultivate. If possible let''s try and get them so good clothes but clean will do. Get them set up on the lower floors except for Trey and Aaliyah. They are going to be staying on the upper floors. Aaliyah is our second highest level and Trey is." I paused for a moment as I thought about my answer. "I guess he is my apprentice? I am trying to train him but he isn''t old enough to cultivate." Christopher''s eyes were as big as saucers by the time I finished. He looked between me and the group several times before nodding. "Uh alright. Do you want me to guide them upstairs or can you handle that?" "No, I am heading up anyway. I also need to go over a system of laws with Saanite." "Yeah, while you were gone we got a couple more people to level up. They and I were wondering if you were going to control how people spent their points?" Christopher shrugged when to my unasked question. "Absolutely Not. I trust that everyone here is capable of taking care of that themselves. Have parents work with children or older people to plan it out. Although kids won''t be able to spend them anytime soon. For now, just take care of these people. The academy is open to them." "Do you want me to test the child''s affinities? Or would you like him to focus on general education?" "If you can test his affinities please do so after that start with the education and move on from there. I am not sure what all you can do for him but do it." "Alright, I can manage that. I can have things arranged for tomorrow if that suits you?" I nodded and she continued. "I have finished preparations for your cultivation chamber. I was forced to renovate the entire room to get the energy flows correct but you should experience a sizable improvement in cultivation speed. I was even able to set up additional areas for natural treasures. I do not which tao you cultivate but you should be able to add any treasures to the area. Lastly, I added a noise-dampening array that should prevent people from disturbing you while in a session. If anyone needs you there is a light bell that will gradually bring you out of a session." "That sounds perfect. I will leave you to the academy then. I have been traveling nonstop for several days now and I am going to rest." I gestured for Aaliyah and Trey to follow as I walked over to the elevator. "How do you have power here?" Trey was the first to speak up. I chuckled and gestured to the walls. "A special kind of array. More people should be able to get it soon." "Where do you get these ''Arrays'' from? I remember the educators mentioning them as well but I don''t know anyone that got one as a reward." Aaliyah asked as the elevator started to move. "Hmm well you can make them much like anything else but I got mine as a reward. The System shop can also provide some but those are very expensive." I added as we passed through the middle ring of floors and into my private section. "So what did you mean by we could live with you?" Aaliyah asked with a tinge of something that sounded like fear in her voice. I looked at the pair of them and sighed. "Simple. Amara is the entire building we are in and before you ask I have no idea how many floors or rooms there are. The System combined several buildings for this behemoth but you can roughly divide it into three tiers. The bottom tier is where most people live, the second tier is mostly for commercial and other projects. Lastly, you have the third tier which at the moment is just me. I plan to hold council meetings up here once I have a council but for now, it''s me and my assistant. Other people aren''t allowed up here though that''s more of an agreed-upon thing and not an official rule." "You didn''t answer my question." She folded her arms in front of her. "Just so you are aware I am not into men." I stared at her blankly for a moment before shaking my head. "Trey is allowed up here because I plan on training him. If things go well he will raise his level and join me. I have only been doing this for a couple of months and it''s already lonely. You are being given the privilege because you have the second highest level. Make no mistake though my goal is to form a team to explore the wide multiverse. For now, I would appreciate you working with me to protect these people and to get stronger." "I can do that assuming some of that training is going to be for me as well? I don''t know about traveling the stars or whatever but someone''s got to do right in this world. Preferably while not slaughtering everything around them." She gave me a playfully judgemental glare that made me chuckle. "I don''t enjoy killing people but what else was I supposed to do? I don''t have a prison. Technically the only law is don''t make me angry which isn''t a law." I ran my hand down my face and sighed again. "Why do the movies never show this part." "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown," Trey mumbled as we reached the top floor. "What does that mean?" "Oh, It''s Shakespeare. It just means that being the ruler is a difficult task. It''s heavy on the shoulders." I chuckled. "Right well, you both are free to take a room on any floor below this one. I would suggest the one right below since it will be faster to get up here if I need you but it''s your call." "So that''s it? We are free to do what we want now?" Aaliyah asked while leaning against the glass. I shrugged and nodded. "As long as you don''t break the law." Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. "Laws that you can create on a whim?" She laughed as the doors shut. I rolled my eyes and watched the elevator disappear. "Well, that was much more fun than I thought it would be." I made my way into my boardroom where I found Saanite waiting for me. "I have a few things I want to go over with you." "It is good that you have returned. You have recruited more people as well." I nodded and took my seat. "Yeah, now that the population has increased by quite a bit I think it''s time for a system of laws. My instinct is to use a system based on the laws of our old world but is there anything similar in the multiverse?" "There are other human kingdoms that tend to follow similar laws. If you would like I could try to gain an information stone on them. I would have to go through the System shop since you have no other mercantile businesses." I flinched at that before reluctantly nodding my head. "I know. Do what you can. Please tell me it''s common for a faction like mine to be using the store at this juncture." "It is not uncommon. Typically the first few years of the assimilation rely heaviest on the System. As soon as you are able I would suggest you upgrade beyond it." I nodded. "Alright, is there anything that I need to know about?" "Educator Desbera has completed the renovations to your cultivation chamber. I have managed to make additional purchases including a basic detection array. It isn''t of high quality but for a planet like this it should prevent people from sneaking inside the building." I raised an eyebrow at that. "Explain." "I used the credits you provided to improve the defenses of the city. The detection array is based on the aura signature. As people come and go I and anyone else you designate will be aware. It isn''t capable of distinguishing identity so it is not as useful as the higher quality ones. It will prevent people from sneaking in during the night or some other scenario." "I didn''t notice anything when I arrived?" "It is of lower quality and the System didn''t place the array so it was done through array flags. They have been spread throughout the building at the behest of Christopher. I would suggest that you take note of who placed them. If the flags are destroyed or otherwise moved it would make the whole thing stop working." "Is that true for all arrays or just the lower-quality ones?" I asked and took a look at the walls. I didn''t think that destroying the walls could destroy that array and even if it could did it matter? I mean if all the walls were gone the whole thing would fall. "Most arrays. Experienced array masters can engrave smaller and more complex items. For example, engraving the arrays in the very building you are creating. Different Taos could allow for more unique methods as well." "So I would need to buy a set of these array flags as well as array engraving tools to start practicing?" "I would say so though it is more common for people to start with the study of theory. Theory and the language of sigils." I nodded absentmindedly. "Alright, are we able to have additional cultivation chambers made? Now that we have more cultivators around I would like for them to have proper space but I don''t think we can afford custom rooms for every single person." "You are likely correct. It is a common practice to have general cultivation rooms set up where people can bring their treasures. It can even be a source of income if you decide to rent the rooms out." "Does the System run that aspect of the economy?" I asked as I pulled up my status screen. "Would that funds go to me or the city?" "Yes and no. It is common for different factions to employ faction merit systems. This way people are encouraged to take actions that would benefit the faction as a whole." I stared at the floating assistant for several seconds before I found the words. "Why haven''t you brought this up before?" "You are currently ineligible for purchase of any of the available merit exchanges. Once your civilization''s population surpasses a certain benchmark you would have been informed." I was about to ask why he decided to tell me now in that case but decided against it. Talking to Saanite often felt like talking to a computer and I wasn''t in the mood. "Alright, well for now I doubt we can provide anything amazing but we will transform some rooms in the middle section into cultivation chambers. People will also be free to do whatever they want with their apartments. Within reason of course I don''t want people destroying walls or anything. As for the laws regardless of what else we settle on things like rape, enslavement, and trafficking will be illegal regardless of what the rest of the multiverse does." "Very well. I will have things arranged as soon as I can." "Also do you have any information on what happens next? I haven''t received a lot of quests since the tutorial ended. Not counting my class quests and the area quest." I checked my quest log to be sure and nodded. "That is because the world trial has not begun yet," Saanite responded matter of factually. I stared at him intending for him to get the hint and explain but he did not. "Alright, I will bite. What is a world trial?" "The educators likely mentioned it but you all will have to battle for control over the planet. Once a single leader arises or the beast gains domain over the world it will end." "The beasts could take over the planet?" I bolted up at that. The memory of the ape and fungal creature is vivid in my mind. "Are the beasts getting stronger alongside us?" "Of course, it wouldn''t be much of a trial if that wasn''t the case." "Um, so how long until the beasts become too strong for us to deal with?" "It is hard to say but if a strong enough beast were to survive long enough to purify its bloodline and or evolve to the 2nd realm it would be nearly impossible for you all to handle. If it gets into the later stages then your chances of survival would become virtually zero." I sighed. "Can I assume that the other assistants will tell their governors about this threat?" I rubbed my temples and only partially listened for Saanite''s answer. We were going to kill each other long before the monsters got to us. "If they are asked they would reveal it. The System will do a world announcement alongside the launch of the world rankings." I perked up at that. "Rankings? You mean like a tier list?" "I believe so. It will list the strongest people in your world in three different aspects. Level, economics, and comprehension. On top of that, there is an aggregate list." I grinned. "So everyone in the world would know I have the highest level? That I am the strongest?" "Everyone of age would be able to access the list. They would not just know who you are though. You would be little more than a name on a list." I waved a hand to quiet him down and thought about what that would mean. It should make recruiting easier after all no one wanted to be on the losing side of anything. It might even protect Amara against small attacks. It would also mean I was going to be involved in the big battle. Whatever remained of the World''s governments weren''t going to let me do whatever I wanted forever. Of course, I was already on a crash course with them so this would be a net positive. If I was being honest about it, I liked it. "What is the world trial exactly? Is it just a free for all or would the System change it?" "According to the information I have available the System only alters the trial if there is already someone in charge of the planet. It is highly unusual in any other case." I nodded and rubbed my hands together. If I assumed the System''s goal was really to create the strongest cultivators possible then it would make sense that Earth''s trial could change. What better way to motivate a world than a hunt to kill the man that''s been going on a tear? What better way to motivate that man than to have him hunted? I couldn''t help but laugh at the idea. "We are going to shift priorities slightly. The Kingdom of Amara is going to need to be self-sufficient. Which means we are going to have to spread out into the surrounding city." "Very well. You will need to eliminate the monsters and anyone else that would contest your ownership over the space. Once that''s done the System will consider your borders to have expanded." "Tomorrow I am going to map out where I want us to expand to. How long do you think it would take assuming that the monsters are only as strong as what we''ve seen so far." "It would be hard to say and would depend largely on whether or not you lead the charge." I nodded at the unsaid implications of that statement. If I did it myself the battles would go faster assuming I didn''t have another Giant Ape and I would get much stronger. It would also leave my new followers weaker. They wouldn''t gain anywhere near enough levels to survive the shit storm this might cause and I doubted I would be there to save them every time. "What would other leaders do?" "It is uncommon for factions to worry too much about their underlings. The academy you have provided would be considered a unique and prized opportunity in this section of space." I nodded and that cemented my choice. "I am going to give everyone a chance to follow me. Those that come will get stronger and those who don''t won''t. It won''t be my job to defend them like a parent. I will open the door and they will have to choose if they go through." Chapter 41: Training The next day I took Aaliyah and we set out to map the rest of Amara''s borders. I wasn''t quite sure how big I wanted the city to be but it would be a capital. Which meant it would need to be pretty impressive. I sat on the roof of a building while Aaliyah faced off against a pair of silver wolves. She wasn''t doing poorly but the wolves gave as good as they got. Something pretty funny. "Tell me again why I have to fight while you get to sit there?" Aaliyah asked for the tenth time in the last two hours. "Well because you need the levels. If I just kill everything you won''t get much energy and I would just get further away from you. Since the whole point of getting more people was to avoid that I would prefer not doing that. Duck." I winced as the second wolf launched it from her blind spot and gouged her right shoulder. The wound was deep but it wasn''t too dangerous. "You know if you keep taking injuries like that you are going to owe me all of your credits in healing pills." She let out a scream of frustration and irritation as she slammed one of her daggers into the wolf''s neck. The second one dug into the wolf''s eye. A quick twist of her wrist and the wolf stopped moving. I was just about to step in when the first wolf went for her back. It wasn''t necessary as she withdrew the dagger in the dead wolf''s eye spun around and ran it down the wolf''s stomach as it jumped over her. The resulting rain of blood wasn''t pretty but the kill was effective. I leaped off of the building, tossed her healing pill, and put the wolf corpses in my bag. "I don''t think the butchers are going to be happy with the way you cut the pelt on this one." I chuckled a dodged a right hook as she finished swallowing the pill. "They are welcome to come out here and kill these things themselves. If it''s so important to them. Now have you mapped out this area?" "Yeah, I don''t think there is anything else in the area. I am thinking that whatever wolf leads the pack is going to be a bit more to the north." "Does that mean you want to head out there?" The slight tremble in her voice nearly made her laugh. I shook my head and turned toward the west. "No, that would bring me a bit too close to the commonwealth and I am not in the mood to kill people if it came down to it. Also, they should be able to deal with it. Assuming their leader is strong enough." Aaliyah smiled and placed her daggers into their sheathes. "So this is as far North you want it to go? How far are we from Amara." "About 17 miles. It''s a bit hard to calculate the actual size of the city since the main building is big enough to house a city but this should be pretty far. We don''t have enough people to make a New York or Chicago so this will do." "So now you just want to exterminate the monsters between here and there in every direction? Are you sure that won''t cause some kind of Eco disaster?" I shrugged. "Not really. We can''t get rid of all the monsters because we will need zones where you all can train. We need to thin and corral them to the point the System views it all as mine." "Seems like a tall order for two people. Even if you can kill them at an insane rate. It might get tricky if we have to go building to building." I nodded. "For now we do what we can. I don''t plan on dealing with it all in one day. Besides you should be getting close to another level right?" She tentatively nodded. "Yeah, the kill energy has been pretty decent, and cultivating through the night helped." "Good, if we get lucky we might be able to find you some natural treasures." I held out my hand as the portal for Apportation formed in front of us. "For now you got so many more things to fight." I flashed her grin as we stepped through the portal. We had to make two more jumps before we arrived at a natural park. I wasn''t sure which of the great parks it was supposed to be but it reminded me a bit of central park. Or at least the parts you see in movies. "I will keep an eye out for you but assume I won''t step in to save you." She rolled her eyes and drew her daggers. "Yeah, yeah" I waited for her to disappear from view and then leaped into the trees. I followed behind her for about twenty minutes before she was attacked by two of the monkeys. These were maybe a fourth the size of the giant ape so I decided to leave it to her. The trio began their battle and Aaliyah was forced onto the back foot. The monkeys had much better reach than she did. Thankfully these monkeys didn''t have the metal manipulation abilities. They didn''t appear to have any skills or spells. I grimaced when a particularly hard hit sent her flying into a tree. I was about to reduce the pressure on her when she got back up. Spiritual energy flowed into her dagger and she launched into the chest of the biggest ape. The blade dug into the monster''s chest. She immediately followed it up with the second dagger. The ape let out a howl of pain but she was forced to back off before she could twist the blade. She retrieved both blades and separated herself from the duo. She charged her skill again and began to throw her blade. Only this time she stopped mid-throw. The ape reacted on instinct and stepped back. Aaliyah then threw the other blade at the second ape. The entire exchange took less than a second but was quite impressive. I still didn''t fully get her skill. It let her imbue her blade with spiritual energy to improve its penetrative abilities. Only the energy didn''t fade once she let go of it. The skill was pretty cool. Despite that, she was at a disadvantage. The apes attempted to circle her next but she was able to keep at least one tree between her and one of them. It was the smaller ape that ran out of patience first. It rushed her just as she stepped behind a tree. The ape barrelled into the tree with the force of a freight train only to find its target gone. A second later Aaliyah had leaped on its back and buried her dagger into its throat. She flicked her wrist and the ape was dead. Her victory threw her timing off as the second ape picked up where its brethren left off. She narrowly avoided a punch that might have crushed her spine. Watching her fight revealed how important the luck stat was. Hers was around 20 which meant that she might get a vague sense of something before it happened. A far cry from the spider sense-like screams of danger I usually got. Aaliyah let out a cry of pain after taking a nasty punch to her right arm. That arm hung limply at her side but she managed to slam the second dagger into the ape''s throat. A fatal wound for a broken arm was a solid trade though it would not be pleasant. I leaped over to the closest tree to her and passed her a healing pill. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! "You could have helped out at any time." She let out a whimper of pain and swallowed. "You could have asked for help. Besides you wouldn''t have gotten the energy if I stepped in to save you." I grimaced at the sound of her should popping back into place. "Sure. I think I am going to need a break for a bit. That last one was tough and I am at the threshold of a level. Do you mind watching my back while I cultivate?" I shook my head and she sat down in the lotus position. I looked around and considered blasting my aura to keep the monsters away but decided against it. I didn''t want to bother her and I didn''t want anything too strong to show up while we were sitting here. Unfortunately, I would only partially get my wish. Less than ten minutes later a trio of people in mismatched armor stepped toward us. They were covered in dirt and looked like they had gone through a lot. There were two men and a woman. Each one held a metal bat and they all had shaved their heads. However, the woman had a nasty scar on the right side of her head. I raised an eyebrow as they stared at us. "Listen, listen my friend here is cultivating so how about you all just get out of here and you don''t have to die." I started circulating my energy just in case I needed to activate Psychic Aegis. "That isn''t our problem. Place your weapons and your bag on the ground. We don''t need to hurt you but we will if we have to." The woman pointed her bat at me as she spoke. I shook my head. "Can''t even do it." Before I could say anything else the dark-skinned man next to her drew a knife from his belt and launched it at me. The blade almost seemed to move in slow motion when compared to most of the attacks I had to deal with nowadays. I reached out, caught the blade, and sent it flying back all in one motion. The blade slammed into the man''s thigh before he had time to process what happened. He crumbled like a sack of bricks. "Ah, you fucking asshole." He reached for the blade and tried to pull it out of his thigh only to scream out. "Yeah, that''s going to be a bit too deep for you to pull out on your own. If you agree to leave I will take it out for you and give you some healing medicine." "Fuck you asshole." The woman who I assumed was the leader of their group growled. She looked down at her companion before nodding. She looked like she had chewed a lemon but I decided to keep my word. I conjured Psychic Aegis in its wall form in front of Aaliyah just in case. I walked up and pressed on the man''s upper thigh earning me a hiss of pain. "Alright, on the count of three. One, two," I ripped it out and pushed a pill into his mouth to silence his cry of pain. "Oh, you fucker!" He cried out and tried to punch me. The attack if it could even be called that was more of wild flailing than anything remotely dangerous so I decided to let it go. The whistle of air behind me told me that the next attack wasn''t so simple. I dropped to one knee to avoid the sneak attack. I followed it up with a straight jab to the last man''s sternum. I held back just enough to not crack any bones. He still fell back a step. "So are you sure this what you want to do? I am guessing that you all are around what? level 4 or 5? You can''t beat me. I am at level 26." "Bullshit. Even the highest leveled members of the UWG don''t have classes yet." The woman called out though the tremble in her bat arm told me she wasn''t as convinced as she wanted me to believe. I stepped back as the man got to his feet and swung wildly at me. It was almost like his attacks were in slow motion. Or to be more accurate it was like he was telegraphing everything he wanted to do. I stepped in on his next swing and then spun around him so my back was against his. "Last chance big guy. Your friend here just gave me so useful information so I am willing to let this whole thing slide." The man let out a roar of anger and annoyance before activating a skill. The bat doubled in size in an instant. I chuckled as he swung it for the fences. The bat somehow kept the original speed at its increased size. Instead of dodging it I reached out and grabbed it my hand. Over one hundred points of strength clashed with whatever that guy had and he lost. I snapped the bat into two pieces. Before he could react I stepped forward and punched in the stomach. This time I added just enough strength to knock the air out of him. I let him slump forward and then I guided him to the ground. "Shh just go to sleep. Just go sleep." Once I was sure he would be fine I got up and turned toward the other two. "Got to admit I am a bit tired of the holding back thing. If either of you decide to continue this I am probably going to kill you." They held up their hands though the formally injured one still hadn''t gotten off the ground. "We are done. Just don''t kill us alright." The woman slowly approached me as if I was a wild animal. Which I guess I kind of was. "I don''t get it what is someone like you doing out here? Why aren''t you with the other elites?" "I am not sure what you are talking about. I am not with the government and before you ask I am not with the Commonwealth either. I got my own thing going on." They had to work together to get their friend on his feet. I considered giving him a healing pill as well but I had already wasted one on this situation and they were the ones who attacked me so they would be alright. I was about to leave when Aaliyah strode up to us. She looked at each of the trio with her hand on her dagger. "I left you alone for a few minutes how did you make new friends? Who are these people?" She asked. "They tried to rob us. I beat two of them up for a bit before they decided it wasn''t worth it to keep trying me. Did you level up?" She nodded. "Yep, I am ready to head back now unless you want to go around and kill more monsters. As much fun as hunting things is with you we should head back. You should recover and I am going to need to get some actual cultivation done. Tomorrow I am planning on going further so you should prepare yourself. I need to get a lot more spiritual energy." "We can go now right?" The scarred woman asked. I nodded and waved a hand at them. "Yeah, I am not going to kill you all. Get stronger though and let your leaders know that the monsters will only get stronger. We have to kill them all before things get really bad." I turned to Aaliyah and activated Apportation. The portal opened up between us and the other group. Their shocked gasps made me laugh as we stepped inside. "See ya around." The portal opened on a rooftop overlooking the park. I took a second to watch the group leave before I turned to Aaliyah. "Gonna tell me why you didn''t kill them?" She asked. "I don''t know. They did give me some useful information. The strongest people in the UWG still don''t have classes, so you should be pretty strong. By their standards at least." She laughed. "I wonder if they provide better benefits than you do. I haven''t had a job that could give me dental before." I rolled my eyes. "You are more than welcome to try it though I have a feeling your insurance premiums are going to see a pretty hefty increase. You are going to need to get better blades at some point." She shrugged. "If you find a blades emporium let me know. Are you going to open another portal or are we running back?" "The exercise could benefit you since you don''t have as many titles but no. We have already been gone for quite a while. I promised Trey that I would go over things with him." "Do you plan on sponsoring his levels? According to the teacher level cultivation is expensive enough for one person." I nodded. "I am not leaving a kid on his own. I doubt I will be able to have everyone who has lost parents but try is right here. My level isn''t that much higher than his. With any luck I am going to be able to build up a nice cultivation nest egg for him long before he is ready. After that, he will be free to do as he pleases." She folded her arms and stared at me for a long moment as if searching for something. She stopped after a few minutes. "Alright but if I ever feel like you are just using him to raise a soldier¡ª" I held up a hand to stop her. "I have no intention of ever letting either of you be stronger than me. Nor do I have any desire to make anyone follow behind me. I want you all strong enough to take care of things here. At least some of you to keep the peace once I decide to go exploring. If you both decide that''s as far as you go then I will wish you the best. Lastly, do I look like the type to let someone else fight for me?" I opened up another portal and waited for her to join me. Chapter 42: Normalcy The energy in my cultivation chamber slowly dissipated as I opened my eyes. Desbera had gone far further than I expected when it came to reorganizing this place. She broke down the walls and built new ones that effectively cut the penthouse''s total space by a fourth which wasn''t that bad. The bedroom portion felt much less fancy but the improved cultivation chamber made up for it in droves. It now felt like the room back in the tutorial, like I breathed fresh air when I pulled the energy inside. The old array I used was still lacking but it was the best I could get right now. The lotus was amazing. I still wasn''t sure what strengthening my soul meant but after using it for a few days it made me feel better. My mind was clearer, it was hard to be sure but it seemed like my random thoughts decreased. My mind had become more tuned to what I needed to do. Unfortunately strengthening your soul was an agonizingly slow process. Which made it not super popular for non-psychic cultivators. Not that I minded. I already had a commanding lead so I should have the time to spend to develop my foundations. I got to my feet and stretched my muscles. Something I do mostly out of habit nowadays. My body didn''t get stiff anymore at least it hasn''t. I opened the door and stopped to look at the massive window. The moon was high in the sky. It was easy to see just how beautiful the night sky was especially now that the streetlights, signs, planes, and everything else that polluted the sky were gone. I only wished I could soar through the sky but that wasn''t possible. At least not yet. I took a seat on my bed and pulled up the settlement interface for the hundredth time. A familiar and annoying sea of red was the only thing to see. I paged through shops of all kinds from black smithies and armories to other general stores. I was just about to close the shop when I saw something new. There was a shop available for purchase. Its requirements were much lower than the others and only slightly higher than the system shop. It asked for space which I had in abundance and a formal governor. I was about to purchase it but decided to check in with Saanite first. I called Saanite to the boardroom and then did the same for Christopher and Desbera. Once the group was together I showed them the screen and waited to see what they would say. "It is a fortunate opportunity. I do not know anything about this Dawn Emporium but it might be an opportunity." Saanite was the first to speak. "What if it''s a trick? What if they are just waiting for someone to make the purchase and then they pour out to attack? We could bring an enemy to our doorstep." Christopher added and I had to admit he made a good point. I was confident in dealing with any enemy that was at my level but there was no guarantee that it would be someone like that. "There is no need to fear that. The commercial system is severely limited by the System. As long as the purchase is done through it they will have several restrictions placed on them. From everything to level limits and material restrictions to karmic punishments. Anyone with the power to ignore those things wouldn''t need to rely on the System to take the planet. Not to mention that outside of the young Governor, nothing on this planet is important enough to take." Desbera added. I decided to ignore the comment about some incredibly dangerous person wanting to take me away for now. "Alright so if we proceed with the assumption that the offer is legitimate I am probably the only person here that could buy it right? Is there any reason not to wait for more information on them?" Saanite pulsed slightly before speaking. "You are thinking too shallowly. Your planet is not the only one going through the assimilation. There may be another world that will purchase before you can if you wait too long." I sucked on my teeth and nodded. I hadn''t considered that. "Alright, unless someone argues about why I shouldn''t I am going to make the purchase." I let my gaze pass over each of them and when no one made a move to speak I stood up. Before I could confirm my purchase I received a message letting me know that I would lose access to the System''s store. I confirmed that I understood and purchased the Emporium. I stepped off the elevator a few minutes later and made my way down the hall until I came to my new purchase. It was bare bones. The front of it had a large "Dawn Emporium" sign over the top of two glass sliding doors. The inside was good looking but it had that new car feel. It was made out of dark black and blue stone that I hadn''t seen before with a foggy glass counter. The display beneath the counter was empty as was everything I could see behind it. Two doorways led further into the store which I guessed led to storage places. "Excuse me would you be the Governor?" A quiet and cheery voice called out as a woman stepped into the room. I stared at her in confusion and curiosity. She had dark bronze skin and what I originally thought was sapphire hair was dragon scales. Her eyes were deep sapphire and she had a thick tail that trailed nearly a foot behind her. "Um excuse me? I believe my translation skills should be working." I shook my head and smiled. "Ah sorry about that. I am the Governor. Though you can just call me Amari." "Hello, Governor Amari. My name is Azariah and as you have no doubt realized this is my shop. I look forward to working with you." "If you don''t mind my asking why did you select a baby planet for your store?" Azariah gave an awkward smile. "I was looking for an opportunity to prove myself and newly assimilated planets are incredibly unique. They tend to have treasures that are hard to get elsewhere which means more money for me." I couldn''t help but smile at her enthusiasm. I decided not to push the issue anymore. From the look of it, this place was brand new so there was likely no threat from her. I was just about to ask her something else when another person stepped up behind her. This person was around six and a half feet tall with no hair, dark blue and black metallic skin, and a sword on one hip. It took me a second to realize that the person was a golem. The golem caused my danger sense to bother me but it was muted. Like it was trying to notify me at a great distance. "Greetings young Governor. Ms. Vanaan I have finished arranging the storerooms. We will be able to store goods as soon as we procure them." I nodded to the golem and then turned back to the merchant. "So is there anything you need for me to do? Currently, we are in the city of Amara which is the building we are in though I intend to expand as soon as possible." "Of course, It will take me a bit of time to start reaching out and building up trade connections. If you would be willing to invest a bit of credits I would be able to speed it up." She flashed me a flash and suddenly her enthusiasm felt much more predatory. I stared back at her and pulled my status screen. I wasn''t exactly struggling for money, especially with so little to buy. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. "How much do you need?" "Hmm, ten million would be plenty." I squinted at her and wondered if this was some scheme to bankrupt a planet so they would be able to run the new world through economic influences. "I will invest it in your business as long as you agree to offer a substantial discount and you agree to offer your services in any economic issues I may need. Before you decide you should be aware that I am this world''s first Governor and probably will be the only one for quite a bit. I am also the world''s strongest." "I can do that as long as your requests don''t demand too much of my time and that I can end our agreement by paying you back what you paid me." She replied. I shook my head. "You buy out the agreement plus 20% and the deal ends." She looked at her companion for a moment and then back at me. "15% and you have a deal." I nodded and transferred the credits to her. My finances taking a pretty massive hit as the change wiped out the money I set aside for Saanite but I should be able to get most of it back through slaughtering monsters. "Alright now are you able to transfer credits into spirit stones?" She blinked in what seemed to be genuine confusion and nodded. "Uh if you mean can I buy some for you. I can''t turn them into the other though. It would be better if you were to find a natural source of the stones. There should be a few quarries on this planet by now." "How would I find them?" "Well, you would find them like just about every other natural treasure. Areas of high spiritual energy concentrations. Especially in undisturbed places." I nodded slowly as I started piecing things together. Assuming that the treasure I got earlier wasn''t some weird one off I should feel it. My body should just react to a quarry which was a bit weird to think about. "Is there a reason some people wouldn''t react to a treasure? Like for example I found one earlier that made my soul feel like it was desperate for me to have it." She nodded. "Ah yes. The treasure would need to have some relation to you. Either it would need to provide a bonus to your specific tao or it would need to provide a general bonus to you such as a body refinement treasure or one for the soul." I nodded. "Alright, well for now if possible any arrays you can get your hands on that would help a growing settlement, I would appreciate it. Same thing for attribute fruits or mental tao." "You should be aware that getting anything related to mental tao isn''t easy. Any treasures related to the Tao are difficult as everyone wants them. Those specific tao are very rare though." "That''s fine. Armor and weapons are the biggest priority though. My people need things that are stronger than what we have. You can discuss that with Christopher when I am not around. I don''t plan on micromanaging you so I trust that you can take care of your business?" She nodded and we went over a few more things. Mainly details about how taxes would work. Thankfully the System automated that part. I only had to tell it how much to take. Unfortunately, I was at a disadvantage for that. Since she was the only source of imports it wasn''t like I could raise taxes too high. We would all sit here with nothing if she just stopped. Now that I had invested in her I would just cost myself even more money. Once we finished I left her to take care of her arrangements. I made my way back to the apartment and prepared to get some rest. There wasn''t much for me to do tonight and I wasn''t in the mood for any late-night hunting. I took an extra hour to meditate on my tao and turned in for the evening. We fell into a rhythm over the next few days. One day was devoted to personal hunting where I went out and cleared out a group of monsters on my own and earned some credits. One day was devoted to guarding Aaliyah. She was making progress but it was clear that this method wouldn''t be good enough. Monsters started to avoid us when I was with her which led to her dealing with the stragglers. Which led us to our current situation. I sat in the academy as Aaliyah and Trey pushed themselves in a gravity array. The whole thing reminded me of something you would see in a video game. There were two rooms with independent settings. Where your goal was to run through an obstacle course quickly. It was honestly a bit like the army test where you had to crawl and climb up walls and things like that. The array worked wonders on everyone but me. Trey got the most benefits but also the least understood. He didn''t have access to the status screen so we could only see the changes it made to his body and his performance. Aaliyah had already gained fifteen attribute points. Unfortunately for her, there was nothing that could be done for the percentage and potency boosts. Which meant she was still nowhere near as strong and fast as I was. I let them continue for two hours before I called them over along with Desbera. "I am going to head out tomorrow. It''s up to you if you decide to join me but my goal will be to find some stronger enemies. I need to get back to pushing myself which means it will be dangerous. If you don''t want to go then you can stick it out here. I need someone to lead some teams in the surrounding areas. Trey I want you to keep up what you are doing. Your primary concern needs to be energy manipulation though." I looked to Desbera. "If you can get him squared away with what works for him I would appreciate it." "Of course, if you would like I can help arrange your forces into hunter groups. I have some small knowledge on troop formations." Desbera asked. I nodded. "I am going to go back into the city and try to find some old-world books. Do you think you could transform information from them into something useful under the System?" She looked slightly apprehensive before slowly nodding. "That could be much more difficult but I will look into it. Your world didn''t have spiritual energy before this but from what I have heard you made advancements in technology?" "Yes, though some of it was taken by the System." "That is to be expected. Technology drifts into the taboo paths though not all of it. I will do what I can." I raised an eyebrow at "Taboo paths" but decided to leave it for later. "Great work with Azariah to get any additional materials. I plan on taking two people with me when the auction begins. Can you make me a list of people? Officially they would be my bodyguards so bring people with some combat ability." "I do not think anyone will be strong enough by then. Not to protect you from a genuine threat. I can compile a list of people who have taken some of the scout skills." "For now let''s stick with martial warriors. I have the spellcaster role down. If you have anyone that''s more defensively minded that could be good as well. Could you also send a message to Azariah? If she is interested in the auction I will bring her as well." "I am going to join you," Aaliyah stated. "I am not going to sit here while you keep climbing. I want you to help me get my class as soon as you can." I raised an eyebrow and nodded. "That won''t be fast even if you follow me. From now on if you are serious then you are at my side." I gave her a chance to think about it and then turned to Desbera. "She will be the first guard. I will have Christopher use the same system as last time. If anything happens you all are to close up the building and hide inside." We went over a few more things before I let everyone else turn in for the night. I made my way back into my cultivation chamber. I wasn''t anywhere close to a new level but every little bit helped. The arrays came to life in a few minutes and I focused on the Ethereal Codex. Energy surged through my channels and into my dantian. I took a deep breath and relaxed. I turned my attention to my tao and tried to improve my connection to the strand of lucidity. I still hadn''t figured out just what I was supposed to do. I was so close to the next stage that I could practically taste it. Yet that last step felt like it was a mile long. I focused on my meditation for an hour before I moved on. I devoted a bit of time to each of my sigils and trying to understand how my spells worked a bit more but there wasn''t much there. Psychic Aegis and Psychic Blast were at the max proficiency and I couldn''t upgrade them. I wasn''t sure how I was going to improve Intellect Fortress. I wasn''t sure where I would find an opponent that could use mental attacks. Especially one strong enough to push the spell to the next level. I gave it another few hours before I ended my session. The arrays ended and I headed to bed. Chapter 43: Nature of Monsters We set out the next day north from Amara until we hit a mountainous region. When you could see the diverse environments that the System created it was hard not to think of it as some God. A forest in one direction, mountains in another, was like visiting that park in Pokemon. The weirdest part about the whole thing was the monsters though. At first, we had all assumed that the System took animals and mutated them but that wasn''t the case at least not for all of them. Instead, it was like it had gone through our mythology and created monsters. I hadn''t seen any dragons yet but plenty of animals shouldn''t be here, including the one that Aaliyah was desperately trying to kill. It was some kind of raptor only it had feathers instead of leathery skin. There had been three of them but a sneak attack from Aaliyah took out the largest of their pack instantly. The second one was harder and she took a nasty wound to her thigh before she was able to stab it in the head. "Muere perra est¨²pida!" Aaliyah yelled as the raptor''s talons tore a nasty wound in her right arm. I couldn''t help but chuckle. She only started to scream in Spanish when the wounds hurt. She ducked another slash from the dino and then placed her daggers on opposite sides of its throat. A stab and rip in opposite directions and the raptor''s head was on the ground with the rest of the corpses. She let out a scream of triumph and pulled a pill bottle out of her pocket. Her hands trembled like a leaf in a storm hurricane but she stayed upright. This was another reason why I was a spell caster. No way in hell was I going to let some monster rip flesh out of my body. I had to admit she was getting better. It wasn''t just her level that had improved, her killing intent and aura were noticeable. Something we both realized when Trey nearly shot her. She was roughly where I was during the fourth or fifth assignment. "Feeling better?" I asked and stepped off my tree branch. I landed about ten feet away from her. The color had returned to her face and her wounds had mostly recovered. She glared at me and if looks could kill I would probably have died. I chuckled and held up my hands in a mock surrender. "Those three should have given a decent amount of spiritual energy." "They did. I am halfway to the next level." She smiled and placed her daggers into their sheathes. "When do I get to watch you fight? I am looking forward to learning from your skills." The tightness in her jaw when she said that part only made me laugh harder. "You need to level up a few more times first but I wouldn''t mind stretching for a bit. I will take the next group if you''re okay with that." She brightened like it was Christmas morning and nodded. "Of course!" I rolled my eyes and turned toward the forest. I had a good idea where the biggest of the raptors dwelled so I figured why not take care of it. "Stay in the trees. I would hate for you to get hurt." When she was ready I broke out into a jog. I unleashed my aura and felt the forest come alive. It welcomed me as an apex hunter and predator. Birds took the sky and weaker monsters scurried to get out of the way but none of those drew my attention. It took less than five minutes for a new aura to fill the forest. A response to my call. I smiled as I arrived at a large clearing. I wasn''t sure if the clearing was a natural formation or if monsters had cleared and it didn''t matter. I stopped in the middle and waited. I wasn''t left waiting for very long. Ten raptors came into view including one that was nearly ten feet tall. Its talons were the size of daggers and its teeth looked like they could tear through steel. It wasn''t as intimidating as the giant ape but it was no slouch either. We stared at each other for a long moment, It was as if the world had gone completely silent as we each waited for the other to make a move. Then the Raptor king let out a roar and silvery grey mist filled the clearing. The raptor-packed charge mad just as I activated Realm of Consciousness. If the first time I activated it the spell provided a trickle of mental energy this was like a river. My mind felt clearer than ever before it was like up until now I had been in a mental fog. A fog that funnily enough was gone thanks to the literal fog around me. The Raptors dealt with the exact opposite problem. As soon as the fog passed over them they began to stumble around. A few of them snapped at each other including one that swiped with its talons and nearly removed its brethren''s eye. Not only that but they were much slower. The king dinosaur hadn''t made a move yet so I decided to begin the slaughter. I activated **Psionic Rain** and was hit with a new surprise. Instead of the spell draining my mental energy, it took power from the domain. Not only that but it stole a small portion of the monster''s spiritual energy. I barely had to wait for the sphere to reach its maximum. It exploded into a rain of blades that tore through the dinosaurs with no mercy. Three of them fell under the onslaught before the king lizard made a move. It unleashed a roar that I felt in my bones. My fog was pushed away from them as they were all covered in a dark sanguine glow. The raptors seemed to devolve into chaotic savages. I activated Psychic Aegis just as the remains of the pack launched themselves into the fog. I felt the drain begin again but it was like the raptors had abandoned whatever reason they had. A pang of danger shot through me as the first raptor found me. It slammed its head into the barrier like a sledgehammer. A spider web of cracks spread through it and a part of the fog was drained to repair it. The first attack somehow acted as a homing beacon for the rest. Talons, heads, and teeth slammed into the fall in quick succession. The spell shattered and I was forced on the defensive. No matter how hard I tried I couldn''t hide myself in the fog. It was like they gained some other sense...My eyes widened when I realized what happened. I looked at the king lizard whose eyes were locked on me. What it had done earlier protected it from the fog''s confusing properties. It was then able to direct that information to the rest of its pack. I narrowly avoided my right arm being ripped off my lizard and launched a right hook at another. I felt the lizard''s skull crack but it kept coming. I pushed off from them to create space only for another lizard to emerge behind me and rip its talon across the middle of my back. I suppressed a scream and unleashed Psychic Blast. The raptor had already lost most of its mind so there was little to defend against me. The body collapsed and I turned to the rest of them. I formed two psychic blades and imbued them with tao lucidity. The dinosaur pack rushed me and I let my attack fly only my target was the leader in the distance. I watched the blades sail for a moment before I was forced to dodge. I ducked the first dinosaur and felt another rip into my robes. The robe''s array activated and distributed the force throughout the rest of my body. I pushed off and spun away from the pincer attack. I was just about to unleash a new attack when the raptors stumbled. A glance told me my plan worked. One of the two psychic blades found their mark and without their leader''s focus, the pack had no way to defend against the fog. I activated **Psionic Rain** again. The spell was at its maximum in less than a second. Innumerable blades fell from the sky while I activated **Psychic Blast**. The raptors barely had time to react to the rain before I beam of psychic destruction washed over them. I received the energy from five kills all at once. My dantian surged with energy and I felt like I had taken a shot of caffeine directly in my veins. I laughed and turned my attention to the remaining raptor. The king had regained enough focus to power its defenses but it was too little too late. Its rage was almost tangible as we looked at each other. The raptor activated a skill that turned its feathers and skin the color of blood. Its killing intent increased and it felt like I was staring down a blood-soaked army. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. The world around me seemed like it was covered in the blood and corpses of a thousand hunts. The hair on the back of my neck stood up and I couldn''t stop myself from laughing. Intellect Fortress triggered and I gained a bulwark against the blood lust that permeated the forest. The raptor tore through the dirt and the fog. My laughter turned into a grin as I summoned two psychic blades. Each one is imbued with a different tao. I didn''t have the chance to unleash either of them before the raptor king was on me. A scream of danger warned me just before one of its talons tore through the air and aimed for my neck. I backflipped just in time to avoid decapitation. In the moment I was suspended in the air I unleashed both blades. Where its attacks were missed, mine found their marks. The blades dissolved a moment later but the damage was done. The raptor stumbled forward as if it couldn''t quite tell where it was. I landed on both feet and pushed forward. A ball of psychic energy formed above my right palm. I pressed it against the raptor''s chest. The raptor let out a roar and I was forced to back away before its talons could rip me apart. "It''s a shame you gave up any kind of reason for that ability." I smiled as the raptor recoiled from my attack. It was only slightly surprising that it was still standing. I wanted to see if it could use any tao strands but so far it wasn''t that good. I ended Realm of Consciousness as most of its fog had dissipated by now. Both of my attack spells were still on cool down which meant I had to rely on simple psychic energy. I bounced on the balls of my feet as the raptor recovered. Once it was ready it opened its mouth as if to roar only for a ball of blue lightning to form. The smell of ozone filled the air. I raised an eyebrow in surprise as the attack built. My danger sense urged me to avoid but something else told me not to. I couldn''t explain it but I knew I had no choice but to listen. Not if I wanted to advance. The ball of lightning in the raptor''s mouth was the size of a beach ball and the warning from my danger sense turned into a scream. I ignored it and braced myself. No words were needed for me to understand that this was the raptor''s final attack. How could I do anything else but receive it? Not for the last time part of me wondered if I had lost my mind at some point. The part of me that thrived on competition and pushing myself had transformed. That the thought was banished as the raptor unleashed its attack. The ball of lightning shot toward me. For a second my mind went completely blank as I stared death in the face. My body moved on its own and I brought both hands up as if to catch the sphere. The ball of lightning hit me like a Mack trunk. I screamed in pain as every muscle in my body spammed. I felt like I had been strapped into an electric chair controlled by the god of lightning. The stubborn part of my brain refused to give in. I pressed with both hands on opposite sides of the ball. It felt like I was trying to squeeze a diamond with my bare hands. Every time I made the slightest bit of progress the ball responded with fury. I wracked my mind for a solution. I couldn''t command my psychic energy enough to activate any spells nor could I activate the array on my robes. The pain reached a crescendo when I felt something brush against the back of my mind. It was like the warm embrace of a mother and I latched into it like a man lost at sea. The Strand of Adamance surged through my body. My hands turned into steel as pure tao coated them. My mental energy became the fuel for my resurgence. It still wasn''t enough. The raptor''s final attack refused to be cowed by the strand of adamance and we entered into a battle. A battle that would exhaust my mind if something didn''t change. The realization provided me with something else. I had been given a lifeline and I refused to lose it now. My screams of pain turned into one of defiance. I ignited my psychic energy to push the strand of adamance to its limit. For a moment the world seemed to stop as something inside me snapped. My mind was filled with dozens of impressions as the tao of adamance exploded with newfound vigor. I pressed forward and the sphere of lightning began to shrink. I took another step and forced the sphere down to its original size. I stared into the crackling lighting and it felt like with enough time I could gain something from it. As if it were a book that I just needed to take the time to read. The pain that shot through the rest of my body told me what I already knew. Whatever had changed had only brought me a few minutes. I turned toward the raptor and what I saw made me shake my head. It had pushed everything it had into this attack. It had shrunken to an emaciated version of its original size. I wasn''t sure if it was possible to put your cultivation into an attack but it seemed like it. The thing in front of me could barely be considered stronger than an old-world animal. It hurt my heart to see it but there was nothing I could do. I gripped the sphere in my hands and launched it back at the raptor. I expected to see anger or fear in its eyes but there was nothing. I didn''t have the chance to reflect on that anymore as a torrent of spiritual energy surged through my channels. The battle with the pack had been just enough to push me to level 27. I smiled to myself and turned my attention to the raptor or rather to the crater that used to be the raptor. The impact sight was nearly ten feet across and maybe twice that in depth. I shuddered at the thought of getting hit by that but pushed it out of my mind. I summoned a pill bottle from my bag and tossed back two healing pills. I grimaced as my injuries started to knit themselves back together. "You are insane. I am not sure if you or the monster was scarier." Aaliyah''s voice pulled me back to the moment. I smiled at her and took a seat on the grass. "Aren''t you just my bestest friend," I said only slightly mockingly. "I mean it. I thought you might need my help at first but once that creepy ass fog appeared I felt sorry for them. It was like they ran into a humanoid monster. Especially once you started laughing and that killing intent permeated everything. I wanted to leave but I also didn''t want to draw either of your attention. Is that what the tutorial did to you?" I was about to reply when I saw the genuine fear in her eyes. The words died on my lips as I tried to process what happened. She was a cultivator so she had to have been there. Hadn''t everyone pushed themselves? The memory of the people who had given up and those who had partnered up came to the forefront of my mind. "I fought on my own for most of the tutorial so I guess so. I am what I am." I looked back at the nine other lizard corpses and didn''t feel anything. Even when I forced myself to remember all the monsters and people I had killed there was nothing. "I am going to gather up the corpses and then we will keep moving forward." She gave me a head nod and we fell into an uncomfortable silence. I wasn''t sure if I was expected to apologize or explain myself but I also didn''t feel like I needed to. It was strange sure but I enjoyed the fight. Furthermore, this was the person that I needed to be. I was the strongest person on earth and my level was only rising. When I had collected all of the corpses I turned to Aaliyah and activated Apportation. "I am not going to tell you that you have to fight like me or even enjoy it but you will have to find your way forward. Even if it''s just surviving until some new normal arrives. For now, you have to decide if you will come with me or head back." I held out a hand toward her. I wished I could hear the thoughts that ran through her head as she stared at me and the now-open portal behind me. It felt like it took her an eternity before she took my hand and we stepped through. Chapter 44: Tao Fields We did two portal jumps before I decided to let Aaliyah have another turn. We found another group of raptors and I climbed into a tree to wait. Once I was sure she could take care of it I turned my attention to my status screen. First I spent my free points, and both of them went into Wisdom. Which brought it up to 303 but if you took into account the potency bonus I was at 342 which was just crazy. The additional points weren''t from just my level though. The plus five to Wisdom was nowhere near enough and I had an idea of where the extra points had come from. I could one-tap anything that wasn''t at least a few levels higher than me. Even that relied on monsters being more durable than humans. It was kind of like I had become Superman and the world around me was made out of paper. Only the majority of my powers were based around the mind. I turned my attention to my Tao screen and smiled when I saw that I had indeed improved. Tao Strand of Adamance ¡ª Comprehension: Middle. Wisdom +25, Constitution +10, Strength +5 I grinned to myself and reached for my tao. The connection was much stronger than before. An idea formed in my mind like a small seed of possibility. Once it was there I couldn''t ignore it. I pushed the strand of adamance out of my body as if I wanted to release my aura. It took me a couple of minutes to get it right but when I did it exploded out of me. It was like the air had transformed into steel. The tree I was on splintered as an area about thirty feet across became impassible. The makeshift shield wasn''t as strong as **Psychic Aegis** but it didn''t use spiritual energy at all. My psychic energy drained but even that could barely be considered a trickle. If I had Realm of Consciousness going it would be a net gain in mental energy. I was just about to start testing it out when I caught sight of Aaliyah. She glared at me and it took me another minute to figure out why. When the tree exploded a branch shot out and slammed into her leg. The wound wasn''t bad but it looked painful. I smiled placatingly and tossed her one of my healing pills. "Hey, do you mind helping me test this? I don''t want to go out and find a monster for something this simple." I asked hoping to take her mind off of what just happened. "What do you want me to do?" She asked while staring at the shimmering bubble around me. "Just try to hit me. I don''t know what the field around me will do so try not to slip inside it. I have no way of knowing just how strong it is." She stared at me as if I had grown two heads. She drew her dagger and gently tapped against it. The field sounded like she had hit solid steel. She raised an eyebrow, drew her hand back, and slammed the dagger into the field. The blade sunk maybe a quarter of an inch before it stopped and was flung out of her hand. A resounding crack filled the air and for a moment I thought the dagger was broken but instead, it was her wrist. My eyes widened in shock and I pulled out another healing pill. "Uh on the bright side, you are going to get used to being in pain." She glared at me and for a moment I thought she was going to try and punch me. She seemed to remember that there was a wall of steel between us now and gave up. "?Qu¨¦ carajo?" She glared at me and rubbed her wrist. "Just because we can heal from just about anything now doesn''t mean I want to be hurt. How the hell are you doing that anyway?" I chuckled and shook my head. It''s the Strand of Adamance I guess when my comprehension reaches "Middle" I can project outward. I am not sure what it''s defensive though. I am not sure if it''s because the tao itself is meant to be defensive or if it''s because I caused it somehow. I rubbed my chin and reflected on the evolution. "Adamantine comes from Adamance and adamant so there may be some connection there. Though I don''t why the System would use things from our myths unless it''s not. It''s customizing things for us. I murmured the last part to myself and shook my head. The more I learned about the System the more questions I had. Why do this? It would be easier to create a single standard and force everyone else to adapt to it. I shook my head and ended my musing. I wasn''t going to find the answers to my questions here and I didn''t have the strength to go searching for them. Not yet anyway. "I am going to test my new ability for a bit. Do you mind waiting for me?" She nodded. "Sure, why not but you have to explain what the fuck the ''Strand of Adamance'' is." I nodded and gave her an explanation of the Tao based on everything I had seen so far. After that, we got to work. I spent an hour putting my new ability through just about every test I could come up and I learned several important things. First of which my normal aura was different now. Previously my aura was more or less the same as my killing intent. Bloody and intimidating, but now it was infused with my tao. The strand of Adamance was the most pronounced of the two but lucidity was present. It made my aura feel unyielding and unbreakable as if I had become the embodiment of progress. It sounded pretty epic to me but according to Aaliyah, it was more like being in front of the unstoppable force that would sooner run you down than stop. Unfortunately, I had no control over the sensation. No matter how much of my aura was released it still felt the same. From that, I was able to make an assumption. What the tutorial educators mentioned was more true than I realized back then. My aura would become customized to me so it would be a spiritual fingerprint. I could still seal my entire aura inside of me but that just made me seem empty. Like I hadn''t started cultivating at all. That was fine for now but it would become pointless as time went on. I was no doubt famous amongst the people in the region already. When I explored the rest of the world that wouldn''t be the case. I would need to either suppress my aura and risk people thinking I am weak or constantly release a small portion of my aura. I was never much of a stealth player in games and I had no interest in doing so now. Still, I had to admit being able to hide was useful. Either way, it wasn''t a problem for today. The rest of my revelations were less impactful but no less useful. My tao aura wasn''t limited to its base size. I could expand at the cost of more mental energy. At current I could hit about 100 yards though the defensive impact was much weaker at the maximum range. Although calling it "Weaker" was relative, at its weakest point it was still as strong as oak. A pre-assimilation human would have to work hard like a lumberjack to get through. All while I tried to kill them. The last thing we tested was the most useful right now. My aura could protect anyone I wanted it. As long as they were within the range. Something that Aaliyah found amusing. I wasn''t sure if I could use that to help with everyone''s training since they had to already be within the aura. The one time I tried to activate it to "defend" Aaliyah when she wasn''t near me nearly crushed her. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. "Alright, let''s head deeper into the mountains. I need to give my mental energy some time to recover and I have a monster of a headache." Aaliyah nodded and we continued. "So since all of your spells are mental attacks does that mean you are stuck dealing with more headaches?" I shrugged. "Probably, I am not sure if it''s the System or if it''s cultivation itself but it doesn''t seem possible to avoid pain outright. It''s kind of fucked up when you think about it." "Yet you seem to relish in it. Are you sure you haven''t gone crazy? The lightning could have fried your brain. I can tell you are stronger than most if not all of us now. You could probably get away with relaxing." I shook my head. "The monsters will continue to get stronger and they are stronger than us if you compare straight levels. If we stop going forward now we will be wiped out by nature. We aren''t at the top of the food chain anymore. Or rather there isn''t a food chain anymore. Even the plants could kill us if we aren''t careful. As for that other part, I have been thinking about that. Am I crazy for enjoying the world are is everyone else crazy for not enjoying it? The world we knew is gone. I have no idea if going back is possible let alone what it would cost for us to do so." She sighed. "So what do you think? That we should all turn into wandering battle maniacs?" I shrugged. "Can''t say what you or anyone else should do. I know merchants exist Azariah is proof of that. Crafters are always good and then you have Alchemy and Arrays. There are paths forward for people who don''t like fighting. I doubt any of them will be peaceful like back then. Not until someone emerges as the unquestioned leader." "So just no more democracy? I thought you were a red-blooded American." She said with a dry chuckle. I stared at the ground and shook my head. "I don''t know. Democracy wasn''t that much better. Just a different set of problems. How would you even run a democracy in this world? The System gave me the rights of governorship and as far as I can tell there isn''t an option to transition to democracy. Nor is there a way to remove power. If I were to give it up the System would just force everyone to fight over it." "And you like the power." I tentatively nodded. "It''s nice to be able to change things. Try to make a place good for everyone without being chained down by a system. Outside of the new literal System. Are you going to tell me that I shouldn''t do that? Or that it''s evil." She shook her head. "I think you passed what we would have considered evil a long time ago. You killed at least three people when you saved us but if you hadn''t then where would we be? Besides it wasn''t like governments of the old world were angels. Hell, monarchy still existed. Cults, secret societies, and war were still around. I just hope you know that you won''t be able to solve everything. Everyone thinks that they will make a new better world." I chuckled and flexed the muscles in my hand. "The System is going to force us to fight and I should gain more and more control over the world." "Do you plan on just killing everyone that disagrees with you? Our world would be bathed in blood and terror. What happens when you leave? Or do you see yourself coming back to put down the next person who thinks like you?" I sighed and raised my hands in surrender. "I know, I know but for now we have to focus on surviving the dangers of today before we start to worry about governance structures." She nodded as we arrived in front of a cave. "So this is the place?" I nodded. "Yeah, not sure what kind of monsters are down here but I felt something react to my killing intent. I will let you lead. If you need to back off let me know." She nodded and stepped into the cave. I waited for her to disappear from the entrance and began a ten-count. When I reached ten and didn''t hear any signs of battle or cries of pain I followed. As soon as I exited the mouth of the cave I entered into a dimly lit tunnel. A tunnel that narrowed to the point I was forced to bend over. Fortunately, there were no monsters in the initial portion. I walked for another five minutes before I caught up to Aaliyah. She was crouched overlooking a natural bridge formation. One that reached over a waterfall and river. It took my brain a moment to process that I didn''t hear any sound. I looked at Aaliyah who shook her head. I punched a wall and no sound. The hair on the back of my neck stood up as I imagined some silent horror movie. I peeked over the edge of the bridge and saw what had Aaliyah stuck here though. There were five black puddles of what looked like oil. For a moment I thought we had discovered some kind of natural resource. Of course, that was until the puddles moved. They were some kind of liquid or sludge-like monster. Once again I wished that I had some sort of identification spell. One that would tell me the names or at least if I was looking at a monster. I scanned the cavern around us but didn''t find any more of the puddles or anything else that looked out of sorts. I looked down at Aaliyah and wished I had taught myself sign language. I gestured to them and then to her knife. She then shook her head and pointed to her wrist. Upon looking closer I saw that she had acid burns going down her arm. I raised an eyebrow and she rolled her eyes. She then opened up her bottle of pills and took one. The burns healed. I slowly nodded and pieced things together. She got down here and tried to attack the monsters only to discover that they were made out of acid. The only thing that didn''t make sense was why she didn''t go back. That question was answered as soon as I tried to turn around. Reach the lowest levels of the cavern before time runs out. Time Remaining: 23:59:59 The voice of the System was like a light that banished my ignorance. The quest didn''t mention what would happen if we failed to move forward which couldn''t be good. There was also no way to leave the area without forfeiting the quest. Aaliyah gave me a head nod and I unleashed a blast of psychic energy at the closest of the slimy creatures. The attack hit the slime. It throbbed and pulsed in a way that made me feel sick. It was like watching pudding lung into the air it then moved in our direction. We waited for a moment to see if it would find us but it couldn''t. It was kind of like watching a blind toddler move around. If that toddler was acidic and melted stone. I let out a silent chuckle and started blasting. It took me roughly two weak shots to take each one down which made them less of a problem and more of a nuisance. They gave much more spiritual energy for some reason. They gave around one and a half times more which made this spot an amazing grinding spot. I took the chance to use my new Tao field to keep us safe. Something that was both fun and put a strain on my nerves. The slimes couldn''t get through my barrier but the barrier was invisible so I had to train myself to ignore attacks. I could feel the field but Aaliyah couldn''t. A fact that led to more than a few soundless screams. We traveled like this for about ten minutes before we reached a new chamber. My danger sense picked up but I couldn''t find why. I searched the entrance but there was nothing. I even released a pulse of compressed spiritual and psychic energy hoping to hit anything. I placed a hand on Aaliyah''s shoulder and pushed her behind me. We stepped into the chamber only to find a graveyard. It was like we had stepped into a black tar pit. Half dissolved bodies a variety of creatures including several humans were half submerged. The few bodies that still had faces were twisted in panic and fear. My danger sense prickled the edges of my mind and I unleashed a blast into the black liquid. What I saw made my stomach turn. It was like a dozen maggots were pulsing around the corpse of what looked like some kind of big dinosaur. Most of it was already dissolved but that hadn''t stopped the ugly creatures. My attack had overturned the beehive and the slimes surged toward us like a wave. My danger sense nearly deafened me as I pushed my tao field to its limit. I pushed Aaliyah in the opposite direction and we didn''t need any words to agree that it was time to get the fuck out of here. Chapter 45: Choices I was forced to split my focus between maintaining the field and running as we ducked through the tight passageways. A scream of danger told me that something was wrong. Without thinking I grabbed Aaliyah and expanded my field to its limits. Five impacts from above cost me nearly as much mental energy as everything until this point. "Fuck me!" I glanced up and saw five red slimy blobs burning their way to us. The lack of sound further irritated me. I pushed Aaliyah ahead of me and tried to figure out a new strategy. The slimes didn''t give me much time. The black wave started to melt through my shield. I had to force myself to ignore how impossible that seemed. I activated Psychic Aegis and imbued it with the Strand of Adamance. The barrier wall shone like a beacon in the depths of the mountain. Nearly as soon as it formed the barrier began to crack. I activated Realm of Consciousness and grabbed Aaliyah to stop her from getting lost in the fog. I directed the drained psychic energy to fuel the shield and grimaced as Aaliyah leaned against me. Please let the next evolution for this spell protect other people. My awareness spread along with the fog as I desperately searched for any more enemies. I swore when I realized what was going on. Aaliyah tapped on my shoulder but I ignored it. The slimes had dug beneath us and were trying to entrap us. I picked her up and pushed my body to its limit. Within minutes we were outside of my fog. My senses snapped back to normal, and the sudden loss of perception caused me to stumble a step. In the next moment, Psychic Aegis shattered. Son of a Bitch! Apportation''s portal opened in front of me only to slam shut. The sight was so foreign that I stopped running. Had I never used it in the tunnel? Was it whatever took the sound? Why wouldn''t it open? Genuine panic shot through me as I started running. It felt like it to us an eternity to reach the bridge. We practically flew across the bridge as we raced toward the entrance. A scream of danger forced me back a step as the ground in front of us collapsed. A yawning pit filled with ruby acid crawled up the hole. The cavern was too low for me to make the jump. I cursed and launched Aaliyah like a baseball. Somehow the lack of sound only made her slam into the opposite wall seem worse. I was about to rush after her when I remembered the quest. Before I had time to think about what I was doing created twin blades of psychic energy and launched them into the crimson pool. The liquid parted briefly before reforming and pushing further up the pit. Danger and opportunity were often linked. My fear was quickly devoured by anticipation. Would the System give us an impossible quest? I looked up at Aaliyah who had gotten to her feet. What she saw in my eyes made her flinch back a step. The moment seemed to stretch on forever as I waited for her to make her choice. She turned and ran from the tunnel. I let out a silent sigh and turned my attention to the slime beneath me. The wave behind me should be closing in which meant I had to make a choice. It felt like two paths opened up in front of me. One where I tested my barrier at its full strength against the pool in hopes of finding something. and one where I hoped that the slime wave couldn''t cross the water. The moment of hesitation lasted only a moment. I turned and sprinted back toward the wave my spiritual energy circulated through my channels. Excitement warred with fear and it was desire that came out on top. I arrived at the bridge in minutes and found the slime launching itself across the stream. The sight was surreal enough to stop me in my tracks. I couldn''t believe just how smart a puddle of acid was. When the portion that was on the same side as me surged toward me I forgot about my fascination. My tao field formed to protect me as I ran forward. I hoped that my barriers could stop me from drowning. I launched myself into the stream and deep within the cold liquid. I hadn''t been in the water for more than a few seconds before panic sat in. The water crashed against my tao and my tao was losing. I tried to shrink it as close to my body as possible only to realize I couldn''t control any of my energy. In the next moment my mind and were inundated with spiritual energy. I thrashed and kicked in the water as the fear of drowning consumed everything. The water forced its way through my field and into my body. My dantian fought to absorb the energy as fast as possible, but for the first time, it was like a monsoon blasting the desert that made it up. My eyes scanned the raging river for any sign of relief and found a small ray of light. I thrashed and kicked my way toward it as liquid fire spread through my entire body. It would have been an insult to describe what I was feeling as "pain". It was like the river was liquefied spiritual energy that desperately sought out a home. When I finally reached the light I surfaced from the river and sucked in air. Darkness clawed in at the edges of my vision as I pushed the strand of adamance through my entire body. My mind felt like an overused sponge and every muscle in my body felt torn. I crawled onto shore and rolled over onto my back. A small voice in the back of my head warned me that I wasn''t safe here. That I needed to keep moving but I had no strength left. Even the thought of activating another spell made me want to pass out. When my will gave out and the darkness finally claimed I couldn''t feel anything besides relief. When I woke up I tenderly checked my body. The wounds I expected to find were gone. I felt fine, better than fine actually. I felt like I had slept for a week. I passed my inner eye over my channels and found them for lack of a better word raw. Based on the pain I had felt even this was a welcome surprise. I would have thought I had burned my channels. I flexed my fingers and got to my feet. Once I was sure that I didn''t have any serious injuries I checked my bag. Thankfully whatever array that let the bag store so much was still active. The bag wasn''t even wet now that I thought about it. Neither were my clothes. I scanned the cavern where I landed and found it mostly empty. It was only slightly taller than me and barely illuminated by the lake of whatever I had found. The water itself was oddly clear. Whatever it was, it wasn''t water. The liquid was almost perfectly transparent. It was so see-through that without the ripples and the aura it gave off I wouldn''t have known it was liquid at all. Once again my inability to identify things kicked my ass. I couldn''t tell if the liquid in front of me was some grand treasure that I needed to bottle or some kind of poison that really should have killed me. I also had no bottles¡ª That thought died as I realized I did have some bottles. I pulled out my pill bottles and redistributed the pills. I only needed two bottles to fit them all which left me two to use on the liquid. Of course, these bottles weren''t large enough to store much but Azariah or Desbera should be able to do something with them. I filled the bottles and waited to see if I would get any new effects but there was nothing. It was like the liquid was now avoiding me which was just added to the tally of weird shit. Now that my exploration was done I needed a way out of here. I scanned the chamber again but there were only rock walls and the underground lake. I didn''t feel like trying to swim again so I made my way over to the walls. I rapped my knuckles against each one and hoped that one of them would turn out to be hollow. I found what I was looking for at the tenth knock. It took me another minute to map out how large the hollow area was and to build up the nerve to attempt what had to be a stupid idea in any version of the world. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. I smiled and slammed my fist into the cold stone. My fingers trembled as pain shot up my arm. I bit back a cry of pain and slammed my fist into it again. I rained down blow after blow until the stone started to give in and the skin on my knuckles cracked. I pushed the strand of adamance into my hand to reinforce it and kept going. The stone turned dark red with blood but still, I pushed forward. I couldn''t be sure how long it took before I reached the other side. As soon as I did I dropped to my knees as sweat poured down my face. "I am not a fighter," I grumbled and got back to my feet. I sent a bit of spiritual energy into my robes and cringed. The array that powered its damage mitigation was gone. Either the liquid did it or I had overdrawn it when I swam here. I checked the self-repair function and found it too was broken. "Well, I guess they served me long enough. I would have had to get a new set eventually" I spoke aloud and smoothed out the garments. Let''s just hope I can make it out of here fully clothed. I activated Psychic Aegis in its bubble form and started down my new path. I quickly realized I had a new problem. I couldn''t see in the dark. The further I got away from the lake the worse my situation became. I conjured two psychic energy blades to act like torches. They barely helped. They gave the whole situation a horror movie vibe where I could only see slightly ahead of me. I tried a few more things including my tao field but none of that made a difference. Note to self, buy torches the next time I decide to go spelunking. I froze at the thought. "Buy torches?" I chuckled and that chuckle turned into a laugh. "I can hear myself!" It had never felt this good to hear my voice before right now. I scanned the tunnel but there was nothing that explained why sound had come back. Which meant it was either the slime creatures or something about that specific section of the cave. I checked the quest as well, outside of losing five hours there were no changes. I chalked that up to another mystery and pushed forward. I walked for half an hour before I came across something that made me nearly piss myself. A set of eight eyes in the darkness. My heart threatened to rip itself out of my chest. My fingers turned clammy and my mind blanked as my danger sense screamed at me to move. A thorny leg slammed into Psychic Aegis twice before my brain started working again. I let out a blood-curdling scream and unleashed Psionic Rain at its most powerful. Spiritual energy surged into spell after spell. Once my spells were all on cooldown I launched psychic energy into the darkness. The attacks didn''t get the chance to have proper shapes and more resembled misshapen blobs. I wasn''t sure how long I screamed into the darkness before I came back to reality. The eyes were long gone and so was my barrier. I smacked at my arms as phantom legs crawled over me. The strands of adamance and lucidity flowed through me like a calming balm. When I had relaxed enough to take in the area around me I grimaced. I did my best to ignore what that monster most likely was and focused on the moment. Whatever it was is very dead now. The burst of spiritual energy had confirmed it a while ago. I only wished my attacks did physical damage. Part of me wanted to stay in the darkness to ignore the corpse but that wouldn''t work. Who knew how long it would take for some other thing to find me? The tao of adamance acted as liquid courage as I got to my feet. I condensed my tao field to a few feet around me and summoned a small ball of psychic light. "You can do this," I repeated to myself until I worked up the nerve to go forward. I immediately wished I hadn''t. The creature was nearly as big as an alligator and still looked alive. My skin crawled and I resisted the urge to unleash another volley of spells at it. I didn''t even consider collecting the corpse. When I saw the path forward I ran like a bat out of hell. I didn''t stop running for another twenty minutes. Thankfully there were no more monsters. I decided to stop and take stock of my situation. Most of my spells were ready or would be ready again soon so I wasn''t in any danger there. I pulled up my status screen for the first time since my impromptu bath and laughed at what I saw. My level had increased by two. It wasn''t just the monster killing either the strange liquid had to have been like..."Liquefied Spirit Stones." I stood up and began pacing. If I was right then I had just come across a literal gold mine. It would explain why my channels burned and ached. I had absorbed too much energy too quickly. It would even explain why I survived the swim. My body and channels were reinforced by the Elixir. If that were the case I am probably the only human on earth that would have. Which means if...If Aaliyah had stayed with me she would have died. I pulled up attributes and focused on Luck. Was that why? There was no way that any of this could be considered "Luck" though. I chose to stay here, we happened across this place but why? I scoured my mind for any reason to connect my choice to come here with Reason but there was nothing. I just picked it. Was it fate? If there was some predetermined nature to this then did Aaliyah have a choice or was it already determined? Did I have a choice? The thought was somber but it ultimately didn''t matter. I had no way of knowing either way. Ultimately I made my choice, Aaliyah made hers and now I was trapped in a nightmarish underground cave system. It was yet to be seen if I had made the right choice. I pushed the thought from my mind and focused on more pressing issues. I needed to find a way out of here and find where the quest wanted me to go. I pulled up the quest log hoping that there would be some kind of marker or path but there was nothing. I spent my free points, dividing them between Agility and Intelligence before I set off again. I walked for another hour before I started to hear a sizzling sound. It was a bit like someone had dropped food in a skillet filled with oil. Since there was likely no one cooking down here I mentally prepared myself for a battle. I circulated my spiritual energy and stepped into the chamber. I was promptly greeted by a scene straight out of a horror movie. A pool of dark crimson liquid surrounded a small island with a macabre collection of skeletons that had been dissolved together. It was like a psychopath had decided to forge a stand out of various animal, monster, and even human corpses. The liquid was gelatinous and nearly opaque. It did nothing to deal with the horrible scent that came off of it. I had to fight the urge to puke as sulfur filled the air. Part of me wondered if I had somehow fallen through the earth and straight to hell. Every instinct I had wanted me to turn around and run as far away from whatever this was. My danger sense slammed into my mind just as Intellect Fortress triggered. I was assaulted with a torrent of mental impressions and emotions in an instant. It felt like I was being drowned in confusion, panic, pain, and fear. I tried to push the tao of adamance into the sigil but my soul wouldn''t obey. It was like something had stolen control of my psyche from me. "Consume?" An eldritch voice slipped in my mind like a serpent that had found prey. That one word felt absolute as if it was heavenly law and disobeying wasn''t conceivable. It felt like my psyche was being ripped apart. I was vaguely aware of my body moving toward the slime but there was nothing I could do about it. I could barely flex my fingers let alone control my body. My psychic energy was frozen but my dantian still surged. "Mine" The voice filled my mind again and blood dripped down my face. It took me a second to realize that it dripped from both my eyes and nose. I couldn''t even feel the pain. My right foot hit something wet and let out a mental scream of frustration. I directed my rage at the voice hoping that it would hurt or force it off me but nothing helped. I desperately searched my mind for anything that would save me. Chapter 46: The Will to Live It felt like my energy moved at a trickle as I pushed it forward. Forward toward the only ray of light, I could see in this situation. My second foot stepped into the liquid and I could hear my robes burning the acid. The voice had gone silent for some reason which was the only reason I could form this plan. My spiritual energy poured into the one spell I hadn''t used since entering this place. I said in silent prayer that whatever was holding the sound away was what stopped me from opening portals. The sigil filled and I could almost cry with relief. The portal began to open directly in front of me. My relief was drowned as an explosion of anger filled my mind. For a moment it felt like the world was furious with me. I fought to stay on my feet as the slime surged around me. It was like the hands of the angry dead were reaching up to drag me down. Something snapped inside me and I wasn''t sure if my scream was mental or real nor did it matter. For just a moment I ripped myself free from whatever creature this was and fell through the portal. Apportation wiped away the lingering rage and mental agony just in time for physical pain to replace it. I glanced down at my legs and found them burned. My shoes and robes were gone below the knee. My legs throbbed angrily as if my heart had moved from my chest and into my legs. I bit back the fear and panic as I realized I wasn''t bleeding. Mental images of crimson slime spreading through my veins and my body forced their way into my mind. It happened so suddenly that I thought the monster had somehow found me. A pulse of mental energy emanated from Apportation''s sigil as the portal reopened. Panic shot through me as I was thrown into a lake. I thrashed, screamed, and fought as panic overrode the rational part of my mind. I refused. I would not die like this. The water wouldn''t¡ªwater? I fought the panic just enough to see where I was. It was the spirit water. It took my mind another moment to process what happened. The water was the first place on my mind. The spell took me there and forced me out? Was there a time limit to how long I stayed in that space? I crawled my way to the bank of the lake and tried to calm down. I had less than a second before the cave began to tremble. Panic surged inside me only to be slowly devoured by another feeling. I got to my feet and circulated the strand of adamance. I reached the small flame inside me that fought against the fear and panic. The flame that had gotten me through the tutorial. The flame that reforged me into a weapon that would survive whatever hell this world would throw at me. The sound of burning stones filled the air. My heartbeat sounded like the drums of war in my ears. I activated Psychic Aegis and Realm of Consciousness. Grey-white fog spread out from me and claimed the cavern. "My name is Amari Jackson and I will not die today." The crimson slime surged into the cavern like a tidal wave. A second later an army of voices slammed into my mind. "Consume! Join us!" This time I was ready. My will bolstered by Intellect Fortress met the army and I roared defiantly. The spirit water poured in through the burns in my feet and legs. I welcomed the pain and turned the torrent of energy into my weapons. Psionic Rain and Psychic Blast activated with so much force that it felt like my psyche was being ripped apart. In the next second Psychic Aegis joined its brothers. Psychic blades formed and launched themselves faster than they ever had before. Acid burns formed across every part of my body as the slime continued forward. The world seemed to slow to a crawl as I viewed the fight. I couldn''t feel the pain anymore nor could I hear the voices. There was a pop and then Intellect Fortress drained even more energy. It turned into a vortex and more than half of the water was stolen to pay it. I felt a gentle caress at the back of my mind. Same as the one that guided me before. The strand of lucidity flowed into the sigil. Once the sigil drained its fill the world came crashing back. The voices. The pain. All of it slammed into me with the force of a freight truck. I screamed and cried but kept attacking. The slime suddenly lost its cohesion and like a tiger, I pounced. I summoned my tao field as close to my body as possible and rushed forward. A black amalgamation of a skull sat like a beacon. The crimson liquid attempted to stop me but it was like I had become a charging rhino. Spiritual energy surged into my right hand as I delivered a straight jab with everything I had. As soon as my fist hit the skull the voices reached a deafening pitch. "Get. Out. Of. My. Head!" I slammed my fist into the skull again and again. The slime surged around and on instinct, I pushed the strand of lucidity into my fist and continued. The voice let out one final scream. A scream that made my psyche feel like it was on fire before an explosion of spiritual energy surged inside me. The skull crumbled into dust and the slime collapsed into inert puddles. Adrenaline coursed through my body as I tossed my head back and roared. "I am still standing!" The adrenaline rapidly faded and the pain rushed to replace it. My psyche felt like it had been a tiger''s chew toy for the last while my legs, arms, and parts of my chest burned. I summoned a pill bottle from my bag and gingerly shook two into my fingers. Fingers that trembled from the pain. It took me nearly ten seconds to swallow them. I almost wished I hadn''t. The pills rapidly destroyed the damaged skin and replaced it with fresh healthy skin. The whole process felt like thousands of thin needles poking into every part of me. "More shields. Many, many more shield abilities." I limped away from the puddles of slime and into a safe section of the cave and collapsed. The darkness claimed me before I hit the ground. I groaned as I returned to the world. My physical pain was gone but whatever that thing did to my psyche was much harder to deal with. I made a mental note to ask about psyche-healing treasures. I wasn''t sure if pills could fix that kind of injury but there should be something. I pulled up my quest log and found the quest gone. I checked for any kind of reward and found a small box waiting on the opposite side of the room. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Once again I stood at death''s door and clawed my way back. I could almost feel the lightning-like adrenaline flowing through me. The pain rapidly became an echo by comparison. I wanted it. I wanted this. Putting myself against my opponent in a dance of supremacy made me feel more alive than after years of study, school, or sports. I didn''t want the old world back. I shook my head and pushed my introspection to the back of my mind. Next, I pulled up my spell menu and let out a low whistle. Intellect Fortress had leaped two stages to the Advanced stage. Even Realm of Consciousness had gone up a stage. From what I could tell neither of the spells had changed outside of potency and distance. The domain spell should have a radius of about 200 yards and my defensive spell should be more than four times as effective now. Neither were the most exciting upgrades but very much wanted. That was the end of the improvements from the battle so I got to my feet and made my way over to the box. When I opened it I stared in confusion. There was a new set of robes as well as a second box smaller box inside. The new robes looked like they were of much greater quality than the last ones. I could vaguely tell that they were still made of 2nd-realm materials though. I still wasn''t sure how that translated to durability. The robes themselves were beautiful. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. They were primarily black with white accents and were made out of a silk-like material. The collar and cuffs were white with black embroidery with the image of a raptor-like bird in flight. The design was so life-like that it felt like the birds would rip themselves free and rip apart whatever they wanted. The belt was mostly black with white geometric designs that made it seem impossible to look away. Unlike the last set, this belt had a clasp that was in the shape of a dragon''s head. The pants were long, unadorned, and the purest white. They were baggy but tapered around the ankles somewhat like sweatpants. Instead of taking away, the simple pants somehow made the ornate robe part look better. Same with the undershirt though it was black. A complex sigil was spread throughout the back of the robe that reminded me of an upgraded version of the last robe''s shield. I sent a small amount of spiritual energy through the garment. It took me a second to fully parse through the information but once I did I couldn''t help but laugh. It had the auto cleaning and resizing feature as well as the damage redistribution. On top of those benefits, the robes had a bubble shield. I wouldn''t be able to activate it as often as my aegis spell but it would do wonders in an emergency. Part of me wondered if the System determined my reward after seeing what I lost or if the System knew what I would need. Either way, I got what I wanted. I turned my attention to the second box and was pleased to find a new set of twenty 2nd-realm spirit stones. I tried one but found that the energy was sluggish as it entered my channels. At first, I panicked, assuming that the battle had done something but after some experimentation, I learned the truth. My body had become acclimatized to the energy. The spirit water was like purified stones. This also answered a question that had been bothering me. Why couldn''t I just use stone to rush to level 20? It seemed that eventually, I would reach a point where the stones wouldn''t work. Of course that made me wonder about alchemy. If they could turn this stuff into a pill or potion wouldn''t that make it easier to process? If I had an amazing pill could I jump straight to level 50? At the end of the day, I had no way of finding out the answer to these questions until I got out of here. I put the boxes into my bag and got dressed. The sight of my old robes completely ruined filled me with annoyance. It was probably time to replace the older ones anyway but having some slime beast thing steal them sucked. I spread my tao field out around me and made my way through the tunnels. I arrived back at the slime''s home and found the graveyard. I bit back my disgust and searched for a path to the surface. I found a tunnel that led upward but it was just big enough for me to squeeze through which was a hell no from me. I would rather have been eaten by the slime monster than get stuck crawling through a tunnel. Instead, I activated Apportation and tried to aim the opening just above the top of the tunnel. It took a couple of tries to get it to open just right but when I did the rest was easy. I repeated this process several more times before I was in a tunnel that was filled with fresh air. I ran up the tunnel and was outside in less than twenty minutes. A full moon was high in the sky and the breeze felt wonderful. The lack of death and sulfur in the air made me want to drop to my knees and kiss the ground. I let myself relish in the unrestricted world for several minutes. Once I was satisfied I looked around and had no clue where the fuck I was. The forest here looked a bit more like the Amazon but with the reshuffle, I couldn''t tell if that was close by Amara or far away. I pulled up my map but it was no use. There were no cities near here nor were there any landmarks I recognized. After a few minutes, I shrugged and picked a direction. I made it around thirty minutes before I felt a light burn at the base of my skull. It wasn''t painful but it was impossible to miss. I raised an eyebrow and waited to see if anyone was going to appear. When no one did I decided to play dumb. I shrunk my tao field to less than three feet across and kept it moving. A few minutes later a man in dark green cultivator robes stepped out from behind a tree. The man looked to be in his early twenties and was likely Southeast Asian. He had a nasty scar over his right eye and a burn mark going down his right arm. Despite that his aura was decent. Probably a bit weaker than Aaliyah''s before we started training. I raised an eyebrow at him as three more people stepped out. One was behind me and two were on my sides. The one behind me had a long bow while the other two had swords. I assumed the leader was a pugilist or hand-to-hand fighter. "Drop the bag, put your hands behind your head, and interlace your fingers. Then kneel in the dirt." The man behind me spoke first. I shook my head. "I just got out of a real shitty place fam. I got no problems with any of you but I am not in the mood for kindness. Go about your business and we won''t have any problems." The quartet was quiet for a moment before the one behind me spoke again. "Drop the bag, put your hands behind your head, and interlace your fingers. Then kneel in the dirt." I could practically feel his grip on the bow tighten as the other three looked at each other. When I didn''t move the two at my sides came forward. They reached for me only to find my field. I chuckled as the pair looked a bit like mimes as they tried to figure out what was going on. "Last chance fellas. I doubt any of you can make this a good fight. So go on home no need for anyone to die." The man behind me let an arrow loose. I heard it whistle through the air before slamming into my field. It was like the arrow had met solid steel. The force behind the arrow caused it to collapse inward. I was slightly impressed when the quartet moved into action. I could tell that they had some kind of military training. They had almost moved in perfect sync. Which only made their attacks easier to see. Two swords went for my neck while the third attempted to cave my chest in. All three attacks were blocked by my Tao field. I chuckled and raised a hand toward the leader. "Remember you could have stopped this at any time." I formed two psychic blades and was just about to kill two of them when a fifth person appeared. He was an older man maybe in his late fifties with salt and pepper hair on his head and face. He wore a black suit and walked with a cane. "I hope you wouldn''t mind showing them a small bit of mercy. We haven''t had the best go of it over the last few days and that has put a few of us on edge. If I am correct in my assumption you are that gentleman from the skycrapper?" I cut my connection to my attacks and nodded. "How would you know about that? Are we close to Amara?" The man smiled and shook his head. "I suppose that depends on what you consider close. For us, it would take four days to get there assuming we didn''t come across any monsters and only took cultivators. If you are the person I think you are you should get there much sooner." "And just who do you think I am?" I stared at the old man hoping he would betray something in his body language but he didn''t even seem afraid. It wasn''t like he didn''t understand how strong I was either. He seemed to know that I would come out on the winning end of a battle right now and yet he was here. "I have heard rumors about a man going on a tear. Wiping out a city and killing a portion of the Commonwealth''s citizens. There aren''t many willing to travel at night around here. You will have to forgive me for assuming that you are that person." I cocked my head and nodded. "I am. Though the details of both those events are¡ª" He held up a hand to stop me. "I assure you that I am in no position to judge you. My hands are more than bloody enough for multiple lifetimes. I was hoping that you would allow us to share some of our hospitality with you. There is something I would like to discuss with you before the auction." I considered it for a moment and nodded. Ultimately the other should be able to handle Amara for a day and then I would head back. My gut told me that whatever he wanted was important. Chapter 47: Risks and Opportunities I agreed to follow the quintet back to their home. Naturally, I kept my tao field going just in case this turned out to be some elaborate trick but the four warriors were more interested in protecting the old man than in fighting with me. I pulled up my map intending to get some idea about where I was going but there were no hubs. "Do you all have a System hub?" The older man shook his head. "Unfortunately no, very few of our people went to the tutorial, and of those that had very few returned here. The few cultivators we do have didn''t manage to earn one." I raised an eyebrow as the brawler from before tensed at that. It wasn''t hard to assume that there was a bit more to that story but it wasn''t important at least not at the moment. "Are you all going to introduce yourselves? Or are we playing up the mystery angle?" The older man chuckled and pointed to himself. "You will have to forgive me. It has been quite a while since people who didn''t know who I was spoke to me. My name is Keshaun, Keshaun Reid." That name seemed familiar. I cocked my head and looked up at the stars as if they held the information I sought. "Keshaun? Keshaun? I have heard that somewhere. Famous?" My eyes widened as hit me. "You are that black panther. The one that dies..." My words trailed off as what I knew to be true clashed with what I could see. "You aren''t dead." He chuckled and shook his head. "I am not. Though as far as most of America knew I was. Bombs are pretty effective at that. Place one at the right spot and make sure the cameras are rolling. No one ever asks if there was a person in the car." I blinked in confusion as I tried to decide what to do. Officially Keshaun was a terrorist of course the government decided that was probably dead so did that matter? I was sure that I could kill him and everyone else here with little effort so it wasn''t like he was a threat to me. I glanced around and saw that my silence affected everyone in the group. Or rather everyone except Keshaun. The four cultivators had tensed like springs ready to launch themselves at me. Their eyes had even hardened as if they were ready to throw their lives away. That conviction made me falter. It was one thing to strive for yourself but they for him? "Well, now I am very curious." We started walking again and the atmosphere slowly calmed. It was too much to say everyone relaxed but we weren''t ready to start fighting again. "So outside of being a dead man is there anything else you can tell me?" He chuckled as we stepped into a clearing. My attention was stolen by a four-story tall building surrounded by thick trees. The building only had a handful of windows. I chuckled as I connected a few remaining dots. "Black site?" "Indeed, It turns out the conspiracy theorists were a bit more right than people gave them credit for. Will you join us inside?" I nodded. "If it turns out to be some sort of trap I won''t hesitate to kill you all," I stated plainly and watched their reactions. Just like before the cultivators tensed but Keshaun didn''t. He remained just as confident and calm as when we started. I considered opening a portal and just stepping inside. If only to throw the old man off his game but quickly decided against it. There would be no benefit and that would put the spell on cool down. Instead, I walked alongside the group. There were very few defenses. No wall, no barbed wire I didn''t see a single security camera. I wasn''t sure if that was because they were hidden or if black sites didn''t have them. A trio of guards in mismatched body armor stepped out of a blacked-out glass door. They had long rifles in their hands as well as a handgun on their hips. "You guys are going to have to get rid of those. You won''t gain any levels." I spoke up first and the trio completely ignored me. "Please, this is our guest Amari. I would appreciate it if you would show him in and help him get comfortable. I would like to arrange dinner and a place for him to rest." Keshaun said and sure enough, the trio nodded and stepped to the side. I found it hard to believe that the trio was here to stop me. Which made it more likely that this was a show. Of course, the only issue with that theory is they shouldn''t have known I would be here. Keshaun stepped forward and entered the building. Instead of letting me follow after we entered the building, I was led down a side hallway and up a set of stairs. My "escorts" had no interest in conversation no matter what I said so I paid more attention to the rest of the building. There were clear signs of battle. Numerous bullet holes, and broken tiles on both the floor and ceiling. From what I could the battle didn''t have skills or spells which only made me more curious. I condensed my tao field to a few inches above my skin as I was led into a "bedroom". A room that had been a cell at one point. The doors and walls were made out of dull stone and the bed was a simple twin-sized mattress with basic linen. Even the bed frame looked like something out of a prison film. I raised an eyebrow at the guards who said nothing. I sighed and took a seat on the bed. "We will be back when it''s time for dinner. If you need anything please let us know." The first of the trio spoke up and despite the helpfulness of the words. I found myself struggling to believe them. Still, I gave them a nod and waited for them to close the door. When they did I turned my attention to my status screen. My stats had undergone a drastic transformation over the last few weeks.
Name Amari Jackson
Level 29
Class [1-Epic]Psionic Paragon
Species [2]Human
Affiliation Earth
Manual [1]Ethereal Codex(22%)
Titles Beloved by Tao, Big Game, Chosen, First to Ten, Leader of the Pack, Monstersbane, Overlord Slayer, Overpowered, Perfect 100, Prime Hunter, Tutorial, Voyager,
Limited Titles Pinnacle
Tao Strand of Adamance ¡ª Comprehension: Middle, Strand of Lucidity ¡ª Comprehension: Low
Agility 127 (Increase:65%. Potency:120%)
Constitution 132 (Increase:65%. Potency:120%)
Intelligence 167 (Increase:70%. Potency:120%)
Luck 135 (Increase:85%. Potency:120%)
Perception 120 (Increase:65%. Potency:120%)
Strength 109 (Increase:65%. Potency:120%)
Wisdom 320 (Increase:75%. Potency:120%)
Free Points 0
System Credits [1] 39,700,000
I knew my stats were amazing by any standard but the fact that Luck hadn''t increased much if at all since the tutorial ended was a bit annoying. Of course, it made sense luck wasn''t supposed to be an attribute that increased by leaps and bounds. Mine had to be considered high by any metric by now. Assuming that there weren''t a bunch of fruits that boosted luck sitting around. Speaking of which I should ask about getting some of those. With my newfound fortune, I should be able to do something special with that. The only question was how should I spend it. Of course, I could search for treasures and arrays that made me stronger but was that worth it? The battle with the slime monster had revealed that I still wasn''t at the top of the food chain. But it wasn''t like I would fight that thing every day. Of course, the moment you let your foot off the gas someone would overtake you. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. I filed it away as a problem for another time. I had many more pressing issues to deal with. The first of which was what do I do about this situation? It sounded like they either wanted me to fight something for them or they wanted to join my kingdom. If it''s the former then no problem killing a powerful monster is a win-win for me if it''s the latter then it was tricky. I had no ill will for the new black panthers and in truth, I agreed with a lot of what they had to say but what did that mean now? There was probably no "America" left and discrimination seemed to be gone. Or rather it was about cultivators and non-cultivators. If I invited even more of the latter would that make the situation worse? Of course, there was Keshaun. Would he be happy not to be in charge? He didn''t have the power to stop me as far as I knew but he could poison the well so to speak. Having them under my banner did have benefits though. It would further increase my population which would help me get new buildings. Also having people with more experience than me especially in leading would be a big plus. Lastly, I needed people who could keep a calm head and manage things without me being around. What just happened further enforced that point. The more I thought about it the more I felt like I was in the unwinnable position. I decided to stop my musing and focus on cultivation. One benefit of being in the middle of some forest was the energy purity. It was slightly better. I was pulled out of my cultivation session an hour later. The abrupt interruption was irritating but I let it go. I was led on a short walk before we arrived in what was some sort of atrium. One of the few windows was here and the long wooden table felt out of place amongst the drab decorations. They had placed a dinner table in the middle of an office room. The food on the other hand smelled wonderful. It was steak and potatoes and the food even had a slight spirituality to it. Not enough to be considered cultivating but enough to be noticed. "I take it you find this acceptable," Keshaun asked from the head of the table. I blinked, looked up, and finally saw the man. I slowly nodded and took my seat. "Is no one else joining us?" He shook his head and raised his glass to his lips. "No, it was decided that too many people might not have the best influence on our conversation. That and we didn''t want to risk you feeling surrounded." He took a drink and slowly licked his lips. He placed the glass down on the table as if it were a motion he had done thousands of times before this. This dinner felt more like a dinner with some noble than a man in need. "So what is it you need?" "A man of action. I can appreciate that. In an attempt to respect your time, I will be blunt. We want your help. The people who are trapped here are similar to me. According to one government or another, we don''t exist or are long dead." "Why would that matter? Those countries are gone." I added as I sliced into my steak. "In a way that''s true in others, it isn''t. The United World Government refuses to offer us its protection because we are "International criminals" or rather enemies of the world now." I chuckled and began to follow the mental path he was laying for me. "That is a unique turn of phrase." He smiled and took another sip from his glass. "I am glad you think so. It has a certain arrogance we Americans can appreciate. We attempted to join the Commonwealth next of course but they weren''t interested. Most of us aren''t cultivators. This means to them we aren''t worth the time and effort it would take to strengthen those of us who can fight. Nor do they want to waste spirit stones on boosting our levels." "Which means you all are in a difficult spot. You can either go alone or search for a third option." He nodded. "Indeed, we have heard rumors of course. Other continents with their factions but we have no way of finding them. That is until we found you." "And I am supposed to assume that you stumbling across me just as I emerged from underground was a coincidence?" He chuckled at that and shook his head. "I would love it if you did but no. We felt the rumbles as something did battle beneath us. We weren''t sure if it was some horrible monster or a natural disaster so we stationed people at the few subterranean entrances near us. When my people sent word that a man had come walking out without a scratch on him." "You had to see it for yourself." He smiled. "I must say I am not unimpressed. I had heard about your strength and ruthlessness but not about your beauty. Is that something you got from the tutorial?" My eyes widened at that and my mind went blank. "Uh n¡ªno I didn''t I mean not really. My appearance is due to several things." When I saw the look of amusement in his eyes my own narrowed. This son of bitch had me stuttering like a teenager. "Yet another thing that was stolen from us old men. Nonetheless, I am sure you understand what I am asking you for." I nodded. "I do but what can you provide me? You have to understand that non-cultivators especially those who are still using mundane weapons aren''t exactly the most useful. The monsters are getting stronger while the guns will stay the same." He smiled like I had maneuvered right into his trap. "Loyalty. We have nowhere else to go which means unlike your other allies we are with you no matter what. On top of that, most of us have been in this hellhole for years. We don''t blanch at the bloodshed nor your reasons for doing so. That isn''t to say we are all monsters but days of "Enhanced Interrogation" can color your viewpoint." I slowly nodded and had to admit it wasn''t a bad reason. A sort of secret police or loyal army would be convenient but it didn''t deal with the power issue. "You all aren''t strong enough. Not to fight real cultivators. Especially as the level disparity increased. Unless I could fund their levels. The academy was powerful but it wouldn''t be enough unless I could boost the amount of people it could support. "That is true but we are willing to bet on your strength being enough of a deterrent. Things won''t remain as chaotic as they are now. In time the world will calm and this disparity between cultivators and non will fade." "You think the System will just go away?" He shook his head. "No, I think that we will find a way to work together. Especially if someone who can show kindness to both sides is in charge." "So it sounds like you all are betting on me for everything." "Loyalty and knowledge for protection. I mean no offense but you do not look like someone with a lot of leadership experience. Especially not in a cutthroat reality." I chuckled. "And I take it you intend to be the person to teach me all about it? Angling to be my advisor or some such role?" He laughed. "It seems like we know each other so well already." "I will consider your offer. First I need to return to Amara and check how such a thing would work. Were you wanting your people to move or extend my protection to this place?" "You need to let us leave." The abruptness of his reply and grip on his glass were the first signs of whatever slept beneath. The calm mask had finally slipped. "We refuse to stay here any longer than we need to." "Very well. First, though you have to answer a question." I waited for him to nod before continuing. "What happened to your System hub? The tutorial workers aid wherever enough people gathered there would be one and a quest. Yet you don''t have one and none of the people who visited the tutorial earned one?" He shook his head and let out a suffering sigh. "The tutorial goers didn''t appear here outside of the small handful. Who happened across this place? Those people did not perform very well so they simply didn''t get one. Your second question is more interesting. We did receive one once but none of us had the power to use it. We fought with each other rather than the younger ones did but we got tired of it. The hub disappeared soon after we agreed to stop fighting. According to one of the cultivators we had lost our chances to be governors?" That was an interesting revelation. It did guarantee that they wouldn''t be able to steal Amara from me. If I assumed that was how the hubs work of course. As much as it bothered me I had to admit the offer was pretty good. There was a lot to gain as well as lose. The rest of the meal passed in silence as I considered what my next steps should be. When we were done I headed back to my room and mentally prepared myself for tomorrow. I would need to head back to Amara, speak with Saanite, and then come back here if need be. I would also need to orchestrate the transportation of all these people. Chapter 48: Prologue The next day was much less eventful. Keshaun saw me off at sunrise. I promised that I would return within two days to let them know my decision. I didn''t think I would need the time. I was already leaning toward allowing them to join but there was no harm in letting them sweat it out for a bit. The dash through the forest and into the empty city was much less interesting. As soon as I was far enough away I let my aura flow free. I smiled as I claimed a part of the world itself. If there were any monsters nearby they weren''t showing themselves. The journey back to Amara took me less than five hours without using my movement spell. I passed through the checkpoints long before any of the guards had a chance to intercept. I was pleased to see that they tried. I leaped up onto a gas station when I saw Christopher and a group of seven guards rush to meet me. I nearly shed a tear when I saw them all holding proper weapons. "Hey there." I grinned down at them as they began to make their battle plans. When they heard me Christopher turned and was just about to launch a dagger at me. "Oh, it''s you," Christopher stated blandly. I blinked in confusion and then cocked my head. "Wow, that wasn''t the greeting I expected. Not even a little bit worried." He shrugged. "Well, Aaliyah said you went to fight some monster and complete a quest. I just assumed you would come back whenever." "I don''t know if I should be pleased by your confidence or upset at the lack of worry." I leaped off the gas station and made my way over to the group. "Oh? You all have a bit of an aura now. What levels?" Christopher smiled and patted the man next to him on the shoulder. "Our lowest level is 5 while our highest not counting you and Aaliyah is eleven." I raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Not bad. Not bad at all. Where is she anyway?" He flinched as if struck by an invisible hand. "She had gone back to look for you but wasn''t able to get back into the cave. She has been with the kid since then." "Is she alright?" He nodded. "Yeah, I think she is just upset. You should speak with her yourself." "Right well, I have a few things I want to go over as well. I have a nice sum of credits so if there is anything that you all need purchased make a list. Or run it by Azariah for a final total." Christopher''s eyes beamed. "There was something. Most of our people are relying on mismatched gear they scavenged. Or stuff they earned from quests. If possible we would like to get some crafting gear. We need to start making armor at least." "Yeah, that makes sense though I am not sure about the details like design and whatnot. Alright, let me get back and get cleaned up. Can you organize Aaliyah, Desbera, Azariah, yourself, and Saanite to meet in the boardroom? I imagine Saanite will already be there but just in case he isn''t." He nodded and we went over a few more things. Most people were starting to turn the corner. People hadn''t quite adjusted to the almost dying part. The fighting though had changed. More people were switching to melee weapons as their primary though most kept at least a handgun for just-in-case scenarios. Which was fair. Most people still used apocalypse survivor gear which wasn''t exactly reliable. When we arrived at the city''s gates I left them to get things dealt with and a few minutes later I was in my bathroom. The warm water felt like ambrosia on my skin. I hated that I didn''t have the time to enjoy it but I scheduled the meeting. I got dried off, dressed, and was in the boardroom just as everyone started to arrive. Aaliyah stared daggers at me but didn''t say anything. Once everyone was seated I started. "Hello so let''s get to my news and then we can switch over to the other issues. I met with some people after I dealt with the slime monster. They are or rather were prisoners at a government black site. Most of them are mortals and they asked me to let them join Amara." The table was silent for a minute after that before Desbera spoke up. "Forgive me but I am not sure what these ''Black sites'' are but it sounds like something from before your world was assimilated?" I nodded. "Black sites are unofficial prisons. Certain prisoners are sent there before trials or if a specific government wants to get rid of those people. It''s usually very hidden and they don''t typically exist on paper." "I see, in that case, I suppose the question you should be asking is if sins of the old world carry over into the new?" "Do we know what they did to get placed there? Or from which countries?" Christopher asked. I nodded. "It looked like most if not all were American. I am not going to go into specifics about who they were. If we are going to make this choice it has to be all or nothing." They all hesitated and then looked at me. "It sounds like it''s your choice. You are the governor." Desbera spoke up again. "I know but I wanted to hear your council. Specifically Aaliyah and Christopher. I don''t want to risk splitting Amara in two just as it started to come together." "I hear you but we can''t be afraid to do what we have to as well. We need more bodies. If they were all or even a majority cultivators I would tell you we needed them. Since they aren''t I think it''s worth a serious look. Even if they get outpaced in levels soon they would help us survive till that point." Aaliyah added and leaned back in her chair. "I more or less agree with her. I am a bit worried about an imbalance between cultivators and non-cultivators so the more the better. We will have to deal with the difference sooner or later. We can''t have half our population superpowered while the other struggles to survive." Christopher said. I nodded. "It sounds like we agree. I will have to go back in a day or two to bring the group here. I would appreciate it if we could get a guard contingent together same as when we brought the last group. I don''t think I will need the help but it would look good." I looked at everyone again and then shifted topics. "Next I am told that our people are struggling with weapons and armor is there anything that can be done?" I looked toward Azariah. She blushed and nodded. "Ah, absolutely the credits you infused have allowed me to start making more connections. If you are okay with 1st Realm gear I could buy some in sets of five hundred." "For how much?" Christopher asked as he sat up in his seat. "That would depend on the detail and quality. Peak quality gear would run us 20,000 credits per five hundred set while low quality would run us 5,000. We would also need to decide if we wanted to have any kind of symbols." The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Christopher at me with so much hope that I was convinced he would drop to a knee if I asked him. I chuckled and pulled up my status screen. I transferred two hundred thousand credits to Azariah. "Buy as much of the high-quality stuff as you can." I paused and sent another two hundred thousand. "Do the same for a variety of weapons. We don''t need anything better than Peak 1st realm right now. I don''t expect everyone to start punching above their pay grade at this moment. If the System operates like a video game then the best stuff for us will come from quest rewards. If not then people should be able to buy their things at that point." Azariah''s tail wagged behind her in a way that made her look ten times cuter than before. Based on the look in her eyes she had received every credit. "I will buy them as soon as I can. I will need some people to help me with distribution." "I''ll get a few people there as soon as you need them." Christopher practically leaped up to offer his assistance. A fact that made the half-dragon woman blush slightly. I raised an accusatory eyebrow at the pair but decided not to question it. "Alright, Desbera what can we do about getting everyone educated? I imagine the number of citizens is about to go through the roof. Especially if I can recruit people at the auction." "Well, your grace. If you want to increase the limit I would suggest you complete the first realm trial. Though I would strongly suggest you wait until you are at the peak of the realm and ideally when you are ready to break through." "Explain. I am not sure what the trial is." "Well, you see the System didn''t let us bring the proper academy with us to a baby world or rather we don''t have access to the whole thing. As I mentioned before the System limits what we can tell you it also limits what resources you use." "And completing this trial will let me expand the amount of people who can study at the academy?" She nodded. "The limit is only there until you complete the challenge but you will only get one chance. If you fail it will be locked to you forever." "Is there anything you can tell me about the challenge itself? A minimum amount of attributes needed? How much time is required?" She shook her head. "The System runs the trial so I have no way of knowing. Outside of the recommendation that you be at the peak of the realm." I rubbed my chin and took a moment to process that information. It sounded like knowing when to take the test was part of the test. If I did it now I would probably be at a large disadvantage and I didn''t need it. Even with the new population, I wouldn''t be at the limit. Assuming I didn''t go crazy at the auction and slowed down recruitment afterwards I might be able to squeeze by. "Of the people currently taking classes are there any that either perform too lowly or aren''t interested in being there?" "No one like that stands out in my mind but I could look into it," Desbera replied. "Alright, I am going to hold off on the trial for now. I haven''t even reached level 30. My current strengths give me a leg up but if I can avoid it I would prefer to. Especially if I don''t have to." I looked around the table but saw that everyone agreed there. "Next up, as you have no doubt noticed I have quite a bit of coin now. I am looking for ideas on what to buy. Naturally, I plan on saving for the auction but if we can find something that would improve the city I am open." "I would suggest some high-quality arrays. Your thinning of the monsters in the region has allowed us to avoid a monster hoard for the time being but I assure you one will eventually come. I would recommend a 1st or 2nd realm settlement defense array if you can afford it." "How much is it?" Azariah visibly shrunk at the question which made me narrow my eyes at her. "The 2nd-realm version would be between 15 and 25 million depending on what features you purchase." I stared at her blankly for a moment before sighing. The "mountain" of wealth I had gathered suddenly seemed much less impressive. I transferred the funds to her and my heart broke as the number decreased. It wasn''t as big a deal since what I still had left was more than good. That didn''t make it feel any less than the moment after your check was deposited and your bills auto-paid. "Now that is done. I need things for my benefit. Just in case the auction is lacking I would like you to look around for attribute fruits, soul-related items, body tempering or refinement items, really anything that could help me get stronger." She nodded. "I can send some requests though the most useful things for you will likely be found on the planet. Baby worlds are unique in that respect. The fresh surge of energy often creates treasures that are quite rare. They would likely be worth quite a bit if you sold them. As for the body tempering, that wouldn''t be too hard. It would be best for you to have an understanding of what you want it to do though." "I don''t understand." Desbera coughed and inserted herself into the conversation at that point. "Body tempering involves breaking the body down and improving it in some way. The difficult part is finding a proper manual that works with your affinities and path. As you and this planet are still very new I wouldn''t rush into it. The process can be difficult if not impossible to undo." I slowly nodded as understanding formed in the back of my mind. "To make sure I understand what you mean. If I were to do some kind of fire-based refinement but then decide I want to be a water-based cultivator?" "You would have a hard time and might even kill yourself on accident. Even if you survived the process the mismatch would make your spells, skills, or other abilities harder to activate." I grimaced and nodded. "Alright, just look for items. Would it be easier if you knew what I used?" "Yes and no. If you are confident that you won''t add any more to your path then I would be able to find your treasures for them but if you were to add new ones." "So I have to focus on the comprehensive path thing early? I still don''t know what I want. Are you able to get information on common paths? Especially for Psychics or Mentalist style classes?" She nodded. "Of course, basic information is relatively easy to get though if you want more specialized stuff I would suggest the academy trials." I chuckled at the sort of catch-22 I was in. The information I needed would be found in the academy, but it would be best not to attempt it until I was at the peak. Either way, it was a problem for tomorrow. I still needed to get to level 50. For now, we will proceed as we have been. The auction is our primary concern. I assume that I am going to recruit warriors if possible. I imagine that the cultivators who weren''t strong enough to form their factions will be looking for safety. Is there anything else I should be aware of?" "I am sure that the Commonwealth will be in attendance. Do you have a plan on how you want to deal with that? Rumors of you killing a bunch of innocent people likely won''t go down well." Azariah added as I shot a glare at her. She held up her hands in a mock surrender before continuing. "I am just telling you the likely spin. They aren''t going to care about why you did it. Especially when you did kill them. It wouldn''t even be propaganda to demand justice. You are going to be the villain in that scenario." I wanted to be angry with her analysis but he was right. I turned to the others who didn''t meet my gaze. "I am not sure. I didn''t want to kill or hurt anyone. Just scaring the shit out of a few idiots but I don''t think they will care. Which leaves me with two options. I could stand on business and tell them to get over it or I could be contrite. If I am contrite they will likely demand something from me. There is no way I will let myself be locked up." "If you ''Stand on Business'' as you say they will likely take it as an act of aggression but there is nothing they could do about it," Azariah added. "You are still stronger than them. If you weren''t or if they didn''t think you were they would have just sent someone to deal with you." I nodded and steepled my hands in front of me. I was turning into a tyrant at this rate but that was kind of what the System wanted. It hasn''t incentivized peace in any way, of course, it didn''t make me kill those people nor is it making me kill them now. I mulled it over for a few moments before I shook my head. "I will attempt to make things right but if they won''t accept it or be reasonable then I will do what must be done. I don''t want to make a river of blood but I wouldn''t surrender either. I have worked too hard for something like that. Do we know who will accompany me?" We spent another hour hashing out the final details. The group I would bring would be a proper delegation comprised of five warriors, myself, Azariah, and Christopher. It was a bit much so we decided to break it down further on the off chance the eight of them weren''t allowed in the actual event. When I called the meeting our loose plans had transformed into something serious. It was still a bit surreal to think about. Chapter 49: Progress "Do you mind if I talk to you separately?" Azariah asked. I gestured for the others to leave without me and closed the door behind them. Once we were alone I gave her a head nod. "What can I do for you?" "I" She began. "I am sorry for you leaving you back there. I shouldn''t have¡ª" I raised a hand to stop her. "You likely wouldn''t have survived. I don''t expect you to throw your life away to follow me. Let''s just say the things I had to do after we separated weren''t fun. Still, you should get used to the idea of gambling your life. We haven''t been at this half a year yet but it feels like we aren''t in a marathon." She folded her arms. "What does that mean?" "I can''t explain it. It feels like this is less a slow and steady and more of a grab everything you can while you can. At first, I thought it was just the tutorial titles but that isn''t the case. It''s like there is a little voice in the back of my head encouraging me to go forward. It''s less like a voice in more a hand or a caress." Azariah went quiet after that and I would have loved to have been able to read her thoughts. I couldn''t tell if she believed me or if she thought I had lost my whole mind. Truthfully I wasn''t sure myself but the feeling was real. "I don''t know what to do with that information?" I searched her face for any hunt to her feelings on the matter but there was nothing. "I can''t answer that for you. I can tell you that I enjoy it so for me it''s natural. Regardless you have to get strong enough to survive." She slowly nodded. "Are your new clothes the reward for the quest?" I laughed and did a quick spin. "Yeah, the last ones got fucked up but I like these a bit more. Black and white have always been my favorite color pairing." She laughed and shook her head. "I would have assumed the defensive abilities would be the most important part but I guess that''s something for us mere mortals to worry about it." I rolled my eyes and nodded. "I mean those of us at the top have serious problems. We have to somehow stay beautiful and fashionable. I don''t even have a person to do my locs." "Uhuh, I will get right on finding someone for you. Are you sure we can trust that Keshaun guy?" I sighed and nodded. "I think we can trust him for now. I am pretty sure everything he said was real but I doubt he plans to just hope things work out. The question is does he intend to try and play politics or if he has some kind of quest that will help him." She shrugged. "I don''t know but I can keep an eye on him when you aren''t around." "I would appreciate that. Have you gotten any new quests?" "No, not since the one I gave up. I also didn''t get a fail message it just disappeared from the list." I nodded. "Yeah, I didn''t get a quest complete screen either. Either way, it doesn''t matter. You should get some rest. I am setting out early tomorrow to bring them over." I opened the door and gave her a final nod before leaving. I made my way down the hall and into the elevator. I had to ask a few times before I found Trey seated outside the academy. "What''s up big man." I held out my hand, he dapped me up and I pulled him into a shoulder hug. "Amari, I guess this means you''re back from wherever you got stuck?" I nodded. "Yeah, It wasn''t that big a deal. I got some new clothes out of it. How are things going for you?" "I went out with some of the teams and killed one of those wolves. I had to do it with a spear though so I don''t know if that will mess with my ability to get a mage class." I shook my head. "I doubt it but if you want we can get you one of the spells from the hub. They aren''t good when compared to the one I got but it should be better than nothing." His eyes went so wide they nearly popped out of his head. "Those are stupid expensive though. Even after training for a while now I can''t afford the cheapest." I shrugged. "Consider it an investment." "Bet, bet I appreciate it." I nodded and gestured for him to follow. "So how has your energy training gone?" He sighed and shook his head. "It''s a bit weird. In some ways, it reminds me of electricity. Energy goes through t the channels and is altered to be what you need it to be but the whole ''cultivating'' part doesn''t make a lot of sense to me." "It''s a bit weird. I imagine that it will make more sense to you when you can do it. It''s a bit like breathing for me now so I can''t relate." "The different kinds of energy are pretty interesting though. Light, Fire, water, etc all has its flavor to it. Then there are the three base energies. Which I am guessing you use Psychic or mental mainly?" I nodded. "I am not too thrilled with that one. It sounds creepy." I chuckled at that. "Worried I am reading your mind?" He nodded. "Not exactly but yeah. I just don''t like things that mess with my head nor do I want to mess with someone else''s. No hate but it can''t compare to just blasting something with lightning like Static." I laughed as the elevator doors opened and we stepped into the hallway. "Fair enough. Are you going for lightning then?" He stumbled a step at that question before coming to a stop. "No...I am sticking with fire and ice." I nodded and led into the boardroom. I pulled up my sheet and stopped. "Wait you don''t have access to a status screen so how can you spend credits?" "You can still transfer them to me. It just won''t show up like it does for you all. To me, it looks a bit like a video game bar that only shows up when I can buy something. Like in the academy." I shrugged and sent him five hundred thousand credits. Part of me wondered if this part would be considered nepotism but did it matter? I had to put my life on the line for this money and if I wanted to give it away I would. I closed the screen and watched Trey. His eyes had a far-away look while his face was a smile that would make the Kool-Aid man jealous. It only took him a second to buy the spell he wanted and then another for him to launch a fireball at me. My tao field extended just before the baseball-sized flame could hit me. I went through a roller coaster of emotions in the span of a second. Everything from fear to pride before I stopped on confusion. "Yo, what was that?" I resisted the urge to smack him upside the head and got to my feet instead. "It''s something you can learn to do later. Come on let''s see if we can get you some practice with that thing." Less than ten minutes later we were running through the ruined city. To be more accurate Trey was running and I was briskly walking but I had to admit the limited training he helped him. His stamina was above average. Unfortunately, the new norm now was superhuman so it made no real difference. After twenty minutes we stopped for a break at the remains of a diner. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. "Why can''t you just carry me." He asked while his lungs pumped like bellows. I had to work to not laugh at him. "I didn''t feel like it. Besides what will you do when I am not around? You got to be able to take care of yourself." "Don''t you have a portal spell? You could have just taken us here." I chuckled. "You''re right. Now take five and then we will see if we can find you a monster to fight." It took us nearly ten minutes to find a monster but when we did I couldn''t help but be impressed. It was another of the bipedal lizard things though it was maybe three-fourths as big as the one I dealt with. I was about to leap down and take it out when Trey stopped me. "Can you open a portal to the top of that building? Desbera said there would be a title if I defeated a high-level enemy on my own." I nodded and activated Apportation. The portal opened in less than a second. We both stepped through and I waited to see what would come next. What came next was the worst "Fight" I had ever seen. Intellectually what Trey did was wise and brilliant. He effectively forced the lizard into a battle where it couldn''t do anything. It couldn''t climb the metal on the building while getting hit. Which created a scene out of the Itsy Bitsy Spider only it wasn''t the rain wiping the thing out. None of that was the worst part. It took him nearly an hour of constant attacks to kill the thing and that wasn''t counting the passive energy restoration. Since he couldn''t draw the energy in himself. Lastly, he didn''t get any kill energy so we couldn''t even be sure it worked. Despite all of that the hunt was a success. The brilliant laugh on his face as the monster died was enough to make it worth it. "Is that what it''s like when you fight?" I laughed and shook my head. "Not exactly. Typically a lot more screaming and more enemies. Though if I focused on fighting enemies around here I could probably hunt the majority of them." He nodded, stood up, and peered over the edge. "Are you going to collect the body for the meat?" "Nah, I think whatever meat it had you probably scorched. I am going to have to see if any domesticated animals still live though. Proper cows and chickens would be nice. " He laughed. "Let''s make sure you don''t find any watermelon or we are going to restart stereotypes." We both stared at each other for a beat after that and then broke out into laughter. A few minutes later when we got control over ourselves I got to my feet. "I think ''racism'' is pretty much over. If anything we''ve gone back to the city-states era." "Until you conquer everything." I shrugged and did my best to ignore the weight that suddenly blanketed us. "Do you think I should do that?" I avoided looking at him while I waited for his answer. I wasn''t sure what I wanted him to say but it felt like I was on trial waiting to hear the jury''s judgment. Only I couldn''t decide if the judgment was important or not. "Don''t know. Someone has to right? I don''t see why you shouldn''t. You seem coo to me." I chuckled at that and looked toward Amara in the distance. "Keep training hard and once you can officially start cultivating I will take you out. We will make your first official kill something impressive." He laughed. "No problem. I am going to be stronger than you by then." I laughed and activated Apportation. The portal opened in front of us and I grabbed his hand. "You got a long way to go to catch up to me little homie." It took us two portals to make it back to Amara, a fact that was especially irritating to Trey but I was fine with it. He got some more practice in with his fireball spell but either couldn''t advance it or the ability required more practice. Either way, I considered the evening pretty successful. Before I could head up to my room Azariah came and found me. "There you are, Young Master. I purchased the array and it''s ready to activate at any time. I was able to purchase an upgrade that removed the requirement for the individual array flags." I smiled and then narrowed my eyes as I processed what she said. "How much." She smiled nervously. "Well, you can''t put a price on both the speed of service as well as the improvement. It required quite a few experts to work together you see." "How much." "Ah right well with the modifications." She passed me an information stone and I sent a stream of energy inside. The data flowed into my mind and I once again narrowed my eyes. If I was being honest the upgrade was worth it but it had added on nearly half the total price. The improvements were much more than she mentioned as well. According to this, the array would be ten percent stronger at the cost of ten percent more energy. "It''s fine. Do you need me to transfer more credits?" When she nodded I transferred the difference. "Anything else?" "No, would you like the array activated immediately?" I was about to say yes when I thought about it. If I activated it now I would be spending energy to power it but there was no danger. Of course, if a threat happened I would be in trouble if I activated it late. I opened my bag and grabbed two of my new spirit stones and handed them to her. "Don''t activate it yet. Get these to Christopher and tell him to trigger the ward if anything threatening happens when I am not here." She confirmed and I jogged to the elevator wanting to avoid another distraction. A few moments later I was in my cultivation chamber. The energy density felt better than an actual bath but now wasn''t the time for that. Instead, I turned my attention inward and focused on each of my sigils. I could tell that I was nowhere near advancing the tao of adamance again. If meditation could be compared to making a snowball then not only did I have to start all over but I now needed to make three times as big. Lucidity was different. I still didn''t fully understand what it did. At first, I thought it was making my attacks less real but that wasn''t quite it. My spells were still real and could still be blocked it just made them weird. It also had a mental defensive aspect to it though it wasn''t as strong as adamance. Lastly, there was the effect it had on other people. The mental destabilization effect was useful against everyone but especially against other psychic enemies. I had only devoted four hours to meditation when I was woken up. I gave myself an extra five minutes before I left. "The group is ready to go whenever you are. We decided to go with a small fast-moving group. We figured you would be the main defender and attacker." Christopher asked as soon as he saw me. "That''s fine. Have them gather up and I will be down in a few." Once Christopher was gone I took a minute to wash my face and mentally prepare myself. Looking after such a large and slow-moving group was always a pain in the ass. Still, it was better to get it done quickly. When I made my way out I found a group of eight including Aaliyah. They all had handguns as secondary weapons and a variety of new weapons. The majority used swords though one added a bow and arrow. The weapons lacked any sign of spirituality so I figured they weren''t quest rewards. That did nothing to ruin my mood. I wiped a fake tear from my eyes as I jogged up to them. The confused look on the faces of everyone except Christopher and Aaliyah only made me laugh. "I am just so proud to see everyone using good weapons." When I received nothing but blank looks in response I couldn''t stop myself and broke out into a raucous laugh. "Our noble leader," Aaliyah said with a roll of her eyes. "I would like to get a move on so if you are done?" I grinned and shook my head. "There was something I have been dying to try." Before anyone could question me further I activated Apportation. The portal slowly opened in front of me to the shock and awe of the people who hadn''t seen it before. It cost me a bit more energy but I forced the opening open to a full ten feet across. "Now this takes quite a bit of effort so I would appreciate it if everyone entered quickly." My words fell on deaf ears as everyone just stared at either me or the portal. The strain of forcing the portal open this long was slowly turning into the monster of all migraines. Thankfully Aaliyah took mercy on me and stepped through. Once she did Christopher woke up from his stupor and started ordering everyone through. "Alright, get through stay close together" He barked like a high school football coach. The other six people stepped through followed by Christopher and then myself. Once we were all inside the portal closed and a new one opened. We all stepped out over half a mile away and in the middle of the street. The mental refresh from the spell more than made up for the splitting headache but I made a mental note to not carry that many people in the future. Each person who stepped through cost me more psychic energy. It was hard to know for sure but ten or so was probably my limit. "Could you have always done that?" Christopher asked. I nodded. "Not quite always. I wasn''t able to bring this many people before." He stared at me like he wanted to say something but decided against it. "Right, everyone line up we will be moving out in a straight line from here." Christopher barked. I was slightly impressed at how quickly they got into position. It was a bit early to call them an army but they were better. Once they were ready I started to jog. Even with their attributes they couldn''t keep up with my speed. Which wasn''t the major problem. The big issue was the differences with each other. The gap between the slowest and the fastest among them was too great. It was hard to calculate based on eye alone but I figured the average agility was around forty. Fortunately, we were able to find a speed that wouldn''t tire anyone out and would let us move quickly. The group''s levels and new combat experience allowed me to unleash a small portion of my aura without hurting them. It wasn''t to scare anything too lethal but it did keep the low level away. In total, the journey took a day and a half not counting the time we spent resting. Instead of heading straight there, I made the call to rest for the night and arrive in the morning. I didn''t think an extra day would make a difference and I didn''t want to risk appearing in the middle of the night. We found a former high school to spend the night in before we made the final leg of the journey. Chapter 50: Unique Caravan We arrived at the former black site early the following morning. Unlike last time we weren''t met by any guards, on its own it wasn''t enough to raise my hackles. When we stepped out of the brush and trees to a wall of guns aimed at us...I raised an eyebrow and stepped forward. "I had hoped we would be met with a more positive reception. Though if it''s a fight you want I will give it to you." The group tightened their grips on their weapons as if they wanted to continue and I began circulating my energy. I planned out my method of attack. Psychic Aegis wall form should be enough to deal with the bullets. After that, Psionic Rain would wipe them out. I had to assume they had some array or weapon that could hurt me so keeping my distance was wisest. Before I could put my plan into action the group parted and Keshaun walked out. "Now everyone please lower your weapons. This young man and his friends are on our side." I raised an eyebrow but sure enough, they lowered their weapons and the tense moment passed. I still wasn''t ready to trust him but the situation felt more like a show than a serious threat. I waited for him to cross half the distance to us before I gestured to Aaliyah and Christopher to follow. "Greeting your new leader with weapons drawn is certainly an interesting choice," Aaliyah said as we all faced each other. Keshaun flashed her smile and ruefully shook his head. "We were a bit surprised when a rather large group appeared out of nowhere. We weren''t expecting your return to be so interesting. For that, you have our sincerest apologies." I nodded and looked at the group of guards behind him. They seemed relaxed for people who thought they were about to be attacked but whatever. "Right, are your people ready to go? I would prefer to get moving as soon as possible. A group like this will draw a few eyes." He shook his head. "We need a bit longer to finish gathering the food and resources. We can leave in an hour if it suits you. We still have water available if you and your people would like a drink?" We went over a few more things before I let him get back to preparations. It turned out they had thirty people in total of which ten were capable fighters. If you counted everyone with knowledge of how to use a firearm that number increased to fifteen. Part of me wished we had brought a few extra weapons with us but there was little to do about it now. Thankfully nothing else of note happened. Our groups were able to mix and mingle without issue. We settled on a kind of military-like formation. Or at least what I thought was one anyway. My people would stay on the outside while Keshaun''s would form an inner barrier. Inside that last line of defense sat the goods and people who couldn''t fight. It should let people with guns act as backup damage while keeping the most vulnerable safe. Of course, the plan was that I would deal with any threats long before the rest of the group encountered them. The plan was pretty good but it was only reinforcing a problem I had noticed earlier. The gap between me and the others would only grow like this. I kept silent about my misgivings and we were ready to head out thirty minutes after they finished packing. I considered opening a portal for everyone but based on the mental strain from transporting our group I didn''t think I would be able to do it. Or if I could I wouldn''t be able to fight afterwards. I opened a portal onto a nearby roof and waited for the others to start walking. The first day of the journey was uneventful. A small group of monsters that reminded me of mutated gerbils attacked the caravan but my services weren''t needed. Aaliyah stopped them from grouping up too much and then my people eliminated them. Watching them work together was almost enough to bring a tear to my eye. They picked out an abandoned warehouse to settle down for the night. I gave them an hour to settle in before I opened a portal and stepped inside. "There he is, our honorable and courageous leader." Keshaun raised a cup with one hand and flashed me a smile. "I must admit you are a brave man to travel outside on your own so often." I smiled right back and took a seat in the makeshift caravan. "I suppose you could say that. Being the strongest has its benefits." I laughed and grabbed a bottle of water." "Some of our people are getting close to a new level up. It''s mostly those on the lower end though." Christopher added as he sat down. "It''s a bit freaky when people look at you like some kind of superhuman. The gerbils were probably around level 2 or 3 but the way people acted..." Aaliyah added as she leaned against the wall. I couldn''t help but laugh at her. "You get used to it after a while. After that, it gets to be fun. You feel like some kind of badass." I added. Keshaun chuckled at that. "I am curious if you don''t mind my asking. What does this ''cultivation'' for you? I spoke with the few cultivators we have but the knowledge they could provide was limited." "What do you want to know?" "Is it true that your attributes increase faster than the rest of us? That you have more power per point?" I slowly nodded. "Though it''s not quite as simple. I don''t know much about the cultivation technique the people you know have but mine doesn''t make me stronger. It has other benefits ultimately in cultivation speed but not direct power. My strength comes from my levels and the various titles I have." "How do you have so many? We were all in the same tutorial so either you have a whole bunch of em or you got stronger ones than the rest of us." Aaliyah asked and her question drew the eyes of several other nearby people. I considered if I wanted to keep my strength hidden from them or not but truthfully I wasn''t too worried. I didn''t think just knowing about the titles would let them hurt me especially since more than a few of them were first of titles. I pulled my status screen and shared it with just about everyone. The room went silent for several long seconds. I leaned back and took a swig of water as I waited for someone anyone to say something. "I must admit your boast might be true. If your attributes are even half as impressive as these imply they should be then you could be the strongest man in the world." Keshaun finally broke the silence. The usually calm man now looked flustered. He looked at me as if I were a pack of dynamite that could blow at any moment. A glance told me he wasn''t the only one. I flashed all of them a playful smile and leaned back. "Indeed, though it still isn''t enough. The monsters are growing and on top of that, we have a whole new frontier to explore. For all I know I might be one of the weakest in the multiverse." I was about to continue when Aaliyah shivered. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "That thought is terrifying. Let''s not worry about the stars until after we''ve dealt with the ground." She added and folded her arms. "I am not at all interested in meeting aliens." "I think we would be the aliens unless they come here. Of course, there might not be any ''aliens'' since we have the status screen. We would just know what to call each other." I replied. "So if I wanted to get any of these first titles I would have to go to another planet?" Keshaun asked. I shrugged. "I am not sure. It may be based on planet or it might be based on other kinds of locations but I doubt it''s easy. It seems like the first of titles are meant for planets like ours." "So it could be impossible for us to close the gap on you?" Keshaun asked with a solemnity in his words that made him seem much older. I slowly nodded not sure how to deal with the helplessness in his voice. "I imagine that there are other things on the planet that could help though. Natural treasures and other opportunities." He gave a slightly bitter smile at that and nodded. "Those are most likely protected by something rather powerful which means you would have an advantage at getting them. The benefits spiral over time." I nodded. "We will have to make our choices. Do we push forward and risk our lives or rest in safety? I made my choice." "Right well all of that sounds good and all but we need to focus on tomorrow. At the speed we are moving it will take us three days to get back to Amara." Christopher added. "We have to assume things won''t be as easy going forward. I doubt there aren''t more monsters that want to take a chunk out of us." I nodded. "If things get too dangerous you and Aaliyah will lead everyone forward while I deal with the threat." He nodded. "Yes, I am aware, and despite your ability to deal with the threat it isn''t our chief concern. The worst case scenario would be an attack that divides us." He looked at Keshaun. "Not only do your people not know the safest way to Amara they aren''t the strongest outside of the cultivators." Keshaun nodded. "So we have to decide whether or not people should bunker down for safety or head for the skyscraper anyway?" I pulled my map from my bag and handed it to Christopher. "You should be able to read this and plot a path. Create paths based on the average levels of the monsters you all encounter during training. After that pass it to the strongest people in both groups. If the worst happens I will attempt to find any stragglers but if help hasn''t come in a day or two they will have to make their way forward." "When did you get a map?" Christopher and Aaliyah asked in unison. "It was the reward for a quest a while back. If you infuse it with energy it should appear in your mind." Christopher did so and closed his eyes. "Whoa, it tells you the locations of landmarks too. However, it seems it only counts landmarks that the System thinks are important. I could take the time to mark the old-world stuff." He opened his eyes. "Give me a few minutes. Do you need it back?" "I will, it''s bonded to me but I could lend it out until we get back to Amara." He nodded and turned to Keshaun. "While I do this can you get your people together? Just the ones that we can trust with the information." He nodded. "Of course, I will get the cultivators, and then the highest-level soldiers it will be around six or seven people." "Oh, one more thing. Make sure that no one goes exploring while we are stopped. Some of the monsters I have fought have weird mental abilities and one was a fungus thing that made people zombies. I have no idea if there are other creatures like that near here but I can''t heal." Everyone nodded and we went over a few more things. Mainly what the protocol would be for people who either couldn''t or wouldn''t walk anymore. It was decided that no one would get left behind. Once we finished I left everyone to their assignments and opened a portal. I stepped through and then out onto a rooftop. I looked up at the beautiful night sky and took a deep breath. Sitting alone like this was oddly calming. I spent an hour just watching the stars before I turned my attention to the world around me. It was strange how easy the adjustment to this has been, outside of the near-death situations this world has been pretty good. I wasn''t sure if it was the Tao reinforcing my mind or if I was just getting used to it. Either way, it didn''t matter. I stood up and opened another portal. This time I stepped out two blocks away and looked around. The sensation grew slightly, it wasn''t strong enough to call it a pull. More like an urge to go this way. I leaped from building to building until I arrived at a large park. I expanded my tao field and leaped down. The park itself was oddly quiet and was mostly overgrown by now. The further I walked the stronger the sensation got. It wasn''t until I reached the middle of the park that I realized what I was being pulled toward. There was an oak tree about twice as thick as normal. Seated towards the very top was something. It looked a bit bit like a forest green acorn the size of a watermelon. I stared at it for several seconds but nothing happened. My body didn''t crave this treasure like the lotus. Instead, it was the same part of me that warned me of danger. I wasn''t sure what I should do about it. If I left it here it would probably let someone who needed it more find it. Of course, it could also be found by a monster. I thought about it for a few more seconds before shrugging and cutting it loose. I waited another moment half expecting an Indiana-Jonesian attack but nothing happened. I shrugged and placed the acorn into my bag. After giving the tree another glance for any other treasure I turned and left. Hopefully, Trey or someone else would be able to use it and if not I could probably sell it at the auction. Instead of heading back to my building, I decided to check the area. It would be better to know about a potential threat in advance and I wasn''t exactly tired. Fortunately, I had come across a den of large ferret monsters that could spit stone but they weren''t worth much. I considered bringing my people here to fight them off but decided against it. The logistics of that would be a pain in the ass. The resulting battle was a slaughter. The small creatures couldn''t deal with my killing intent let alone my tao field. It took me less than ten minutes to take them out. Another five let me collect all the corpses and feed them into the bag. Part of me was a bit disgusted at the bag of bodies I was carrying around but I ignored it. Mental attacks left the corpse in perfect condition for crafters and anyone really to get resources. I finished my search about half an hour later and returned to my post. I closed my eyes and began circulating my cultivation technique. The energy flowed into me like a trickle of rain on a parched desert. My dantian had evolved from the small barely there pond into a proper lake but that had also increased the amount of energy I needed. Unless I killed something powerful soon I would have to cultivate for weeks to get to level 30. I wasn''t sure if I got new spells at level 3o but a proper finisher would be nice. Maybe some kind of explosion or mass psychic wave to round out my offense. A healing ability would be a nice touch. Maybe a nice mass heals kind of thing that worked on soul damage or even another domain ability. Realm of Consciousness was pretty impressive. I still wasn''t ready to create one myself. The academy provided a nice basis for the knowledge of sigils but it was a bit like learning first-grade English and then trying to write a term paper. It wasn''t enough. There was a title for fucking up a spell sigil so badly that it was worse than when you got it. I asked Desbera why a person shouldn''t just fuck up a skill or spell they didn''t want anymore and apparently, it wasn''t that simple. It was very difficult to remove a sigil from your channels once it was placed. It was kind of like removing a tattoo so I would be fucked to get a shitty version of a title. I took a calming breath and pulled my focus back to the energy flowing into my dantian. I spent another four hours cultivating before I decided it was enough. Instead of heading back inside I decided to get a few hours of sleep underneath the night sky. It was a bit ironic that as I child I despised the idea of camping and now here I was. Laid out under the sky and relishing the few moments of peaceful night. I wondered what it would be like to do this with a mother or father. Doing the whole smores thing while laughing and telling stories. The sitcoms always made it seem unreal. Any problem could be solved just by telling dad or mom would have the solutions to whatever problem you had. Life was just a bunch of lessons you were supposed to learn. It wasn''t like that in real life of course. Everyone was just doing what they could to survive. I took a deep breath and pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind. I needed to get some rest. Chapter 51: I Am Him We set out at first light the next day. The group was a bit slower to form up but when I reminded them that they weren''t safe they got it together. I decided not to go down to talk this time. Between the trio, my presence was probably more of a distraction than anything else. We settled into a rhythm as I passed overhead. The journey itself was rather dull. Not only did no monsters attack, I didn''t even sense any in the area. I wasn''t sure if that was due to the amount of monsters I had been killing or if they had somehow sensed me. I was sure my aura was under control, so that shouldn''t have been a problem. We traveled like that for a few hours before we stopped to rest. We settled into an old strip mall that had either been destroyed when the System arrived or was looted and destroyed in the process. I leaped down and joined the others just as four people were directed into one of the stores. "We decided to see if there is any food or other useful items inside," Christopher said when he saw the look on my face. "Mainly we need the technology. The cooks are struggling to get by with fire and sticks." "Fine with me. Have you finished with the map?" "I map out three paths, but I want to keep it a bit longer. The cultivators that came with Keshaun knew of a few more areas that might be useful for us." I nodded. "So, what do you think? Can we pick up the pace in the latter half of the day, or should I search for a safe place for us to stop?" He sighed and rubbed his temples. "I would start searching sooner rather than later. Most of these people are still level one. Even the fighters are sub-level 5. They don''t have the stamina to keep going." I stared at him for a beat and then chuckled. "It wasn''t that long ago that you all were the slow movers besides, you''re all pretty slow to me. I could try to open a portal, but if I was honest, everyone would have to move quickly. I doubt I could hold it for long." "I don''t know. Do you think you could fight properly afterward? I am not ashamed to admit that without you, we might all end up in the belly of some monster. It''s not worth it to just speed up the trip." "That''s what I was thinking, but staying out here longer will make it worse." He sighed and made the sign of the cross over his body. He ended it by shooting a glare at me. "Don''t speak that into existence. If it''s anywhere near as bad as what you described, we might as well roll over now." I chuckled and shook my head. I am a bit stronger than back then, so it should be fine. If that happened, I would open a portal and at least try to get as many of you as I could on top of a building." I looked around until I found Keshaun talking with his squad of cultivators. When I was sure he wouldn''t just walk up on me, I leaned in a bit closer to Christopher. "So, what do you think of him?" "Overall, I think we can trust him. He doesn''t seem to want you dead. If anything, he is more interested in getting close to you. I think he just isn''t super trusting." "From what I remember, the Panthers weren''t exactly getting along too well at the end. Though I can''t say for sure how much of that was real." "Don''t know, but his people seem to like him. I am not sure how much of that has to do with his charm and how much of it has to do with you now, though." I nodded and then shrugged. "I am thinking of forming a proper council when we get back. Do you have any reason he shouldn''t be on it?" He shook his head. "Not really. Are we moving into the time where you consider yourself king of the world?" I rubbed my chin as if deep in thought and grinned. "Well, it does have a nice ring to it." I stood up straight and went into a faux salute. "All hail King Amari. All hail King Amari." A second later, I burst out into a laugh. I gave it a minute before I got control over myself. "I do think I should take it seriously, though. Amara is one of the world''s cities or city-states now so people are relying on me." "It''s good to see that you are taking it at least somewhat seriously." "I was thinking of heading back to the university library and searching for books on government and history. You know, learn the things that will keep the pitchforks away from my door. At least for the first year." He nodded. "For now, just avoid the ides of march and long-winded speeches, and I think you will be fine. I am going to make sure everyone is ready to head out in an hour. Can you double-check that no one has snuck off? I would hate for you to have to run back here." "Yeah, no problem." I watched him leave before making a quick round through the camp. The majority of people were in good spirits and the few that weren''t were more upset at the walk itself. More than a few people were complaining about being tired or their feet hurting, which weirdly was reassuring. It meant that none of them were worried. None of them thought they would die or lose someone on the march. I wasn''t sure if I could attribute that solely to me, but I played a large role. Despite the few remaining protestors Christopher had everyone ready to move out exactly one hour later. I was more than a little impressed by how well he was able to get everyone in line. I wasn''t sure how having a genuine army would work, but he might make a good leader. I took up my position and we set off once again. The next day passed by in an uneventful blur. There was one monster attack composed of a single bipedal lizard. Only this one was weaker than the one Trey dealt with. I didn''t even need to get down from the top of my building to take it out. Despite that, we weren''t able to reach Amara before nightfall. I couldn''t help the sense of annoyance that was building in my chest. It felt like I was wasting days that could have been spent getting stronger. Intellectually, I knew it wasn''t their fault and if I wanted to be a solo cultivator, I could have just left. I could have refused to found a city, I could have followed Tyrone and Ajani off into the sunset. I wondered if they had found their family and if so would they come back this way to find me or not. "Think fast," Christopher called out as I walked up. I raised my head just as my map flew toward me. I deactivated my tao field and caught the stone in a single fluid move. I couldn''t help but feel like some kind of action star. I managed to stop myself from saying a goofy one-liner. Just barely. "I take it you''re done with the map?" I asked. "Yeah, I would love to get one of those for myself, though. I created five paths and then shared them. When we get back, I think we should place some guards at all of them. Just in case someone gets lost or someone tries to sneak in." "Of course. Do we have enough people?" He sighed and nodded. "Yes, and no. We don''t have enough cultivators, which might become an issue if you keep pissing people off. Most of our non-cultivators lose a straight-up fight with any cultivator all else being equal." "Can we get some spars in? I don''t think it will make a large difference, but it might do them some good to practice fighting cultivators." "Possibly, but I don''t think you would be good for that. The weird invisible shield thing you do would make most fights useless. Even without it, I don''t think it would help too much unless you just focused on movement. That could help group dynamics against a faster opponent." You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. "Maybe we should get them fighting with each other first, though. I don''t plan on just hanging out after the auction. I want to get to level 50 as fast as I can." I was just about to say something else when a new screen popped up in front of me. A glance told me that I wasn''t the only one who received it. World Leader System initiated. Enter an alias or use your real name. The choice was a no-brainer for me. There was no way I was going to waste time with the bullshit of a fake name. I could come up with dozens of reasons for why I should or shouldn''t do it but none of that mattered. I had no interest in hiding, nor did I want to risk some asshole taking credit for what I do. I selected "real name". For a second, nothing happened. The prompt box disappeared, and then nothing. I was about to check with the others when a larger box appeared. This one reminded me a bit of the one from the tutorial. When I read it, I smiled, and then that smile turned into a raucous laugh. I was with him.
World Standings
Position Name Level
1st Amari Jackson 29
2nd Amahle Umzawi 23
3rd The System''s Herald 22
4th Masquerade 19
5th Romulus 18
6th Ebony Rose 18
7th Phantom 17
8th Dark Knight 17
9th The Monkey King 17
10th Enkidu 16
...100 James Jones 14
I was number one, and it wasn''t close. Amahle and whoever the System''s Herald was were kind of close, but the gap between us would require fights with very dangerous monsters. Even if they did that, there was no promise that they would be anywhere near me in actual attributes. That wasn''t the only one either. There were two more leaderboards. One was for the Tao and once again I was at the top. The third was for overall wealth and I took the 8th spot. That part was enough to irritate me but it didn''t ruin the truth. I was the motherfucking best. "You are the strongest," Christopher spoke up and reminded me that he was still here. "I can''t believe it. Well, I''ve seen all the crazy shit you can do so I guess I believe it but still." I chuckled at him and closed the standings. I would go through and memorize all three hundred positions later. Assuming that they weren''t all spoken for they could make valuable recruits. "You don''t recognize any of the top ten, right?" He shook his head. "I guess that number 5 was named after the founder of Rome, so they might be a member of the tutorial. No one in my group was named that, though. I think the 9th spot is based on that one story. As for the others, I have no idea. How the fuck do you have a six-level gap on 2nd place?" He mumbled the last part, which only made me grin larger. "Because I am just that great. On a more serious note, I am betting that these people are going to be at the auction." He nodded. "If the government''s goal is to get all of you in one place, then I bet they will." I pulled up the list and quickly found Aaliyah. She was holding it down at the 25th spot. Which wasn''t bad at all. I wasn''t sure if she could fight anyone at the top ten, though. "How many people in the top ten do you think I could fight at once?" Christopher stared at me and then narrowed his eyes. "And why the fuck would you need to know that?" I chuckled and held up my hands in a mock surrender. "The top ten are the first-round draft picks only instead of trying to form the best basketball we are drafting for the ruler of the world. I have no interest in joining anyone else, but what about the other nine? Taking up a cushy spot while doing what the old governments told them might not be a bad gig. If that happens, I doubt they will just leave me be. I don''t think it''s too crazy to call myself a walking nuclear weapon, but even if that is too much. I am an army. I can appear damn near anywhere, especially if I can expand a teleporter network." Christopher visibly went pale and then rubbed at his temples. "So, what are you planning on fighting everyone?" I laughed and shrugged. "I mean, people used to say it''s me against the world all the time. Now it could be real." "There is something wrong with you. Still, your reason isn''t wrong. Unless we get some more people at Aaliyah''s level, you might be in trouble. Even if you could defeat the entire list, there is no way you could do it while protecting the city. It''s possible to know just how bad it would be until we meet them. Their attribute totals could be half yours or more." "Yeah, for now, though my goal hasn''t changed. We still need to get back to Amara and get everyone settled in." "I guess I should be offering you my congratulations," Keshaun said as he stepped up next to us. "Did you know this would happen? The standings list I mean." I nodded as Christopher went to check on our people. Once he was gone, I gave the new arrival my attention. "Not exactly. I expected there to be a quest, though this is much more fun. Did any of your people make the top 100?" He shook his head no. "Our best cultivators were two levels short of the hundredth spot. Our non-cultivators aren''t close enough as well. I have been told that level 20 is the threshold to get a class. Do you think the few people who have crossed that threshold are a threat?" "Can''t say. You do get a class at level 20 and the class provides around four times as many attributes, so it makes a massive difference in power. They shouldn''t have gotten their fourth-class skill or spell yet either. I don''t think they could fight me or anything. They could deal substantial damage to Amara, though." He nodded and got a far-away look in his eyes. "So, should we avoid them or embrace them? They could upset any kind of power balance, especially if you aren''t around." "That''s a good question. I plan on arranging a council and discussing it when we are safe in the city." He stared at me as if expecting something. When I didn''t give it to him, he spoke up. "Am I invited to this council?" I chuckled and nodded. "I intended to invite you, but that will be for when we are back. I want to leave at first light and I want us to move this time. I intend to get back to the city by sundown." "I see. I will let them know to rest plenty tonight. Are you able to see any more details about the list? Things like criteria to be on it? The level list is pretty obvious, but the Tao and wealth ones aren''t. I doubt it just killing monsters." I shook my head. "No, the lists seem to give the same amount of information to everyone. I think the Tao list is based on numbers and comprehension. Without seeing what the number two and three spots have, I can''t say for sure." "Alright, in that case, I will see what I can learn. If there is nothing I can do for you I will leave you now." I gave him a nod. "I hope you find the spotlight as exciting as you had hoped." Once he left, I checked the room, but there was nothing more for me to do. I thought about finding Aaliyah, but I decided against it. I would discuss things with her later. I activated Apportation and in the next second; I was outside under the stars. I took ten minutes to calm down. My thoughts flitted between the standings, future monsters, and the upcoming auction. Despite the chaos of the future, I couldn''t help but be thrilled about it. There was something more than just excitement, though. It''s hard to explain, but it was kind of like the sensation of waking up on Christmas morning. When you just knew that the future would bring something amazing. When I had calmed down, I turned my attention to cultivation. It felt like a fresh wind had started to blow at my back. A wind that made me want to run out and fight. A wind that drove me forward to explore every inch of earth. I spent four hours drawing in energy before I decided it was enough. I lay down and was asleep a few minutes later. Chapter 52: Preparations The journey to Amara was uneventful. The next day we awoke and set out. Now that we were in the main city we could take advantage of the roads. In my impatience, I released some of my aura in short controlled bursts. It wasn''t enough to threaten my people nor was it very comfortable but it worked. The few monsters in our way practically tripped over themselves in their haste to get out of my way. I couldn''t help but feel like even more of a badass. It was around midday when we started encountering Amaran guards. With their new armor, they looked much more like a serious army. To the point that my heart swelled with pride. With reinforcements including having some of the guards carry the people who couldn''t walk anymore we arrived at Amara before the sun had fully gone down. "Alright, let''s start getting people settled in. Same rules as last time." I started giving out instructions nearly as soon as we stopped moving. The glares I received in response made me chuckle silently. "Rest up first but the sooner everyone has a room the sooner everyone can get some sleep." It took nearly two more hours to get everyone settled in including time spent arranging rooms for Keshaun. While they were doing that I gathered everyone for the new council. Which brought me, Keshaun, Desbera, Azariah, Aaliyah, Christopher, and Saanite into the boardroom. "So now that there are world standings do we want to change up who you bring to the auction?" Azariah asked. "My rank is high enough but we don''t have anyone else in the one hundred." I shook my head. "No, As far as power goes I am enough what we need are you all. People who are better at organizational skills. If we are going to recruit anyone then we need to be able to leverage what we have. The academy and the emporium are two of our biggest benefits." "If I may young Master as the strongest man in the world what image do you want to project?" Desbera asked and when I didn''t answer she shook her head. "If I may speak freely you do not strike me as the bloodthirsty type. Do you want the people here to fear you? Love you? Hate you? All emotions can be useful tools but you have to create the appropriate image." I slowly nodded. "Honestly I hadn''t thought about that. I intend to stand proud at the forefront but I would prefer if people were happy to see me." "Hope?" Azariah added. "The world is in chaos and you have probably killed more monsters than anyone else. You could represent hope and safety." "His recent stunt with the Commonwealth will make that more difficult," Christopher grumbled. "You don''t need the approval or permission. Forgive me for being blunt but it sounds like your old world was relatively soft. With no real powerhouses, your countries relied on democracy and consent. The multiverse does not follow such notions." "So what? Do you think I should start killing whenever and wherever?" I asked. "Young Master that is up to you. I can not nor would I tell you what you should do. As an instructor, it is my role to ensure you have the knowledge you need." "I got to admit I don''t like the idea of murdering people for just not liking you but I can see her point," Azariah spoke up. "I think we should start with the honey so to speak. Most people will join up if you can show them safety which you can. Others who want power will want to join if you can show them the academy." "As much as I appreciate your naivety." Keshaun began. "The choice won''t be up to you. It sounds like you shook the hornet nest when you hurt the Commonwealth. The powers that used to be might be able to ignore. Spin it as unruly people fighting. Now that the rankings are out you have become something much more dangerous." "What is that exactly?" "A threat. You have the power along with the other top ten and perhaps the entire top one hundred. You all represent potential. I guess they will start infiltrating the other groups. Assuming they haven''t already. I wouldn''t be surprised if people start to die after or during the auction." "So you agree that the auction is likely a trap?" Christopher asked. "Yes and no. I assume they will offer you all a spot as soldiers. Probably talk about how unity is important or some other nonsense. If you accept you will probably be safe for the time being. If you don''t that''s where the problems will start. They might make their moves in the middle of the night or during the auction. They might look for leverage. Family members and other hostages would be excellent for that." I nodded. "So what don''t drink or eat anything? Or should I be expecting guns?" He paused as if thinking about something before shaking his head. "Without more information, it''s hard to know for sure but your strength should be unknown to them. Do you know at which point you become immune to guns?" When no one responded he continued. "Alright, they should assume that guns will work or at least high caliber rounds. The people you should be more worried about are the other members of the group." "There is no need to worry about either me or Desbera. The System will protect us just know that we can''t help you with anything. We are only able to perform our jobs or the System will take away that protection." Azariah added and Desbera confirmed. "So the first thing we should do is try to get rooms in the same area. It wouldn''t do us any good if you all were too far away from me." "Should we reduce the number of guards? If they will just be a burden they could hurt you more than help." Christopher asked. I shook my head. "No, if we did that they might assume we know something. On top of that, I can''t be everywhere and do everything." "So if shit gets real we all just run to you?" Azariah asked. Her irritation at the idea practically dripped from her words. "I wouldn''t be too worried. The government should want to maintain plausible deniability. Poison or an attack while you sleep is most likely." "So at night we should either leave early or I find you all. They shouldn''t be able to stop me from opening a portal." "That sounds like our best bet though I admit I don''t like relying on you," Azariah added begrudgingly. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. "We agree there but it certainly beats death. Are there any items we can buy that could help us?" Christopher asked and turned his gaze to the half-dragon. "On short notice no. I could put my interest out there but it would take longer. It would also cost more if I appeared desperate to attain the items." I steepled my fingers and leaned back in my seat. "Well, it doesn''t sound like we can do anything more about this. We will just have to roll with the punches. Azariah, Desbera would either of you be able to identify this?" I pulled out the box containing the odd acorn. I placed it on the table and gently opened it. Both women opened their eyes wide in surprise. "It is called Forest''s Gift. They are upper first realm tao treasures that help with nature-based tao. They are quite rare." Desbera said while gently lifting both it and the box. "Its spirituality is a bit lacking and it appears to have been picked a bit too early." "Even in its present state I should be able to get a heft price for it. If you would allow me to sell it?" Azariah added with clear avarice in her eyes. "Would it help someone gain a tao seed in fire, water, or ice?" I asked my mind immediately going toward Trey. "Uh, the categories of the tao are a bit fluid so it might. It is certainly not as good as one designed for one of those elements." Desbera replied. "If you would prefer I could inquire about treasures for those elements. They are fairly simple to get and are on the more common side." Azariah added. "Do that. I would like to set Trey up to take a huge leap forward the moment he can cultivate." "Young Master, if you do not mind but what is the boy to you? Are they your disciple? I would like to make sure he is receiving the appropriate amount of attention." I cocked my head and considered that question. I wasn''t sure. "He is my disciple?" I wasn''t even sure that was true when I heard it. I shook my head and stared again. "Yeah, consider him my first disciple. Or apprentice or whatever word would be best. He is a person that''s important to me." "Alright, if I find items that would benefit him do I have your permission to purchase them?" Azariah asked. "Yes, I will start putting aside a fund for him just until he can cultivate and earn things himself." "Of course, I will put this away. It might be possible to restore some of its spirituality as well." Desbera said as she closed the box. I nodded. "Also Azariah if possible can you look into more of these dimensional bags? They are pretty useful even if we can only get cheap variants." "Oh, I can do that easily enough. The simple bag versions are quite common in the multiverse." "Great, now that''s done there is something else I would like done. There is a cave that has a weird pool of liquid inside. The liquid reminds me of spirit stones just in concentrated transparent liquid form. Does anyone know anything about that?" "It sounds a bit like you are describing spirit water. It is a potent alchemical and array formation ingredient. In rare situations, a person could ingest the stuff whole but it is not recommended. It would increase your resistance to spirit stones and could blight your channels." Azariah replied. I perked up at that. "Blight them?" "Yes, uh blighting is a process where you effectively burn your channels completely. If the blighting is bad enough you would lose the ability to channel spiritual energy. If that happened you would slowly die of energy starvation." "Wait why would that kill me?" "Uh, surely you have realized that your body needs spiritual energy now? If you were to go for prolonged periods without it you would die. As you are still at a low enough realm you can survive in energy-barren areas but eventually, that won''t be the case. Even your food will need a certain amount of it to sustain you." Desbera said almost as if she were speaking to a child. "Oh oh oh that''s not great so is that why the planet has an energy ranking? I would die if I was on old world''s earth now?" "I don''t know the energy rating of your old planet but if it was sub-first realm then yes. You would slowly die of energy starvation." "Well, that isn''t fun. Well, let''s leave that particular line of thought to another time. I would like to get the cave under our control. I should have dealt with the monsters there already though I wouldn''t be surprised if something new has moved in." "Would you be able to lead us back there? I am not sure if we have enough buckets for that kind of thing." "It''s not so much that I want you to grab the whole thing and bring it here. It''s more that I want the System to consider it ''Mine'' so I don''t know if I need to put up a fence or a teleporter or something there?" I gazed at the educator and then the merchant as I spoke. "In that case, a teleporter placed would work. As long as there are no competing controllers in the area it would be yours. The System would likely create a quest to force you and the other person into conflict. I would also suggest a simple illusion array to hide the entrance." "Perfect," I replied. "I will purchase a teleporter, the array, and take it over there myself tomorrow." I took a moment and let my "If there is nothing else anyone wants to bring up? We can consider this meeting at its end." I waited until everyone had left before I made my way into my cultivation chamber. I took a seat and removed a pair of my 2nd realm spirit stones. The energy flowed into me like a calming river. I decided to spend a little more time and circulate the energy through my entire body before letting it flow into my dantian. I let my mind wander to everything that had happened over the last few days. There were so many people living in Amara that it was almost worrisome. The weight of responsibility fell onto my shoulders like a weighted blanket. I took another deep breath and imagined the weight fading. There was only one choice for me. I had to keep moving forward. One foot in front of the other. After that, the cards would fall wherever. After all, I was officially the highest-level person on earth. I was the strongest. I smiled to myself as I focused my full attention on cultivation. I lost myself in the flow of energy, the surges of power, and the calm reassurance that came with it. When the hum passed through the room and woke me up it was like I was in a trance. It me nearly a minute to process where I was and what happened. I passed my mind over the contents of my bag and grimaced. I used four stones instead of the intended two. The grimace turned into a dry chuckle once I opened my status screen and saw I had gained two levels. The hum passed through the room again before I could decide how to spend my free points. I slung the bag back over my shoulder and exited the room. "There you are. Azariah has the illusion array and wants to know if she should have delivered it here or will you go to her and get it?" Christopher asked. "Right, I will take care of it and head out in a little bit." "Also mind explaining how you gained two levels while the rest of us were sleeping?" I grinned and shook my head. "What can I say? Being this great is a twenty-four job."Christopher stared at me blankly for several seconds, then he turned around and left. "You just got to accept it." I called after him. Once he was gone I took a quick bath and gathered the array from Azariah. Unfortunately, this one was of a much lower quality it had literal flags that I had to bury into the dirt and stone. It would only fool weaker people and monsters which should be good enough. No one stronger should be there and if they were then I had bigger problems. Since I was alone and already knew where to go the journey only took a few hours. I left the flags in the right spot and then collected a bit more of the water. We didn''t have a lot of use for it right now but I could try to sell it at the auction. Once I collected a few bottles I made my way back to Amara. The few days before the auction passed in a blur of training and hunting. I managed to top my credits off at a bit over 15 and a half million. Between the hunting and the System counting the spirit water, I had moved into the fifth spot of the financial leader board. Despite that nothing I did could move me higher. I even had a few people transfer their wealth to me just to see but I gave up on that. I didn''t like asking people for money and even reaching 20 million didn''t move the needle. With everything decided the day of the auction arrived and our party was formed. The auction was scheduled for an hour after sunset which meant that we had to set off three hours before that. I was pleasantly surprised to see that both Azariah and Desbera had little difficulty keeping up with me. I still couldn''t go all out but we were able to keep a strong pace for the entire journey. Chapter 53: Old World Sensibilities We stood on top of an old department store as we gazed at the city in front of us. None of us could believe what were seeing. It was New York or rather a small piece of it but this piece might as well have been Eden. It was like the devastation and monster attacks were a fever dream. If I couldn''t feel my spiritual energy I would have thought I had been asleep this whole time. Of course, there were small signs of the truth. The buildings that would normally be lit up with advertisements were dead. The streets that should be filled with cars were filled with people. The central piece in all of it though was the former United Nations building. The building I saw and the building in my memory were incorrigible. The usual American Flag had been replaced with a new one that held a globe in the center of black. The other flags and flag poles were gone. The metal fence that used to feel formidable now just seemed pathetic. I doubt it could stop anyone above level three or four. Of course, the building was defended. Several army soldiers stood around the main entrance, sandbags and machine guns were set up throughout. At this distance, I couldn''t tell who was and wasn''t a cultivator. "It''s almost surreal isn''t it?" I asked no one in particular. "Yeah, it''s a good reminder that this world and the one we knew are different." I scoffed. "Guess the conspiracy theories were right. A new world government was coming just not the way anyone thought." "We should get down there. It would make us look bad if we were late." Azariah added with only a little bit of snark. "Azariah and Desbera stay close. We weren''t exactly good at getting along with our kind so I don''t know how you will do." I activated Apportation. The swirling portal opened up a second later. When it next opened we were in the middle of the street just outside the main city. Two groups of four guards drew and leveled rifles at us. They all wore black uniforms with body armor and helmets that hid their faces. I cocked my head at the group before taking the most forward position. I was ready to expand my tao field but I didn''t think it would needed. We were only kept waiting a few seconds before the guards parted and a tall man in a black two-piece suit stepped forward. He was around my height with a shaved head and no facial hair. Dark skinned and looked every bit the distinguished henchman from a movie. I sensed an aura from him but it was controlled surprisingly well. It was hard to say for sure but I placed him around level seven or eight. "Hello, I apologize for the introduction but we hadn''t expected anyone to arrive from this side. You must be from one of the nearby settlements. Commonwealth?" The man had an impressively deep voice that was almost melodic to listen to. When I processed the question he asked I shook my head. "No, I am Amari Jackson. We come from Amara." My announcement earned me more than a few shocked murmurs but the soldiers didn''t lower their weapons. They would fight me if they needed to. "I see, Greetings Mr. Jackson. Amara is that settlement in the large building? I do recall being told about that but we hadn''t thought you would come. Nor did we know who you were at the time. If we had we would have sent a person to guide you. Although it doesn''t seem like you needed that." I smiled politely and played the role of visiting dignitary. "Of course, we wouldn''t want to be imposed on you and your hospitality." He nodded and gestured for me to follow him. I didn''t move until the guards lowered their weapons of course. I felt the others fall in behind me. "I must admit I am impressed by how well you all have performed here. It''s almost like being in the old world." The man stiffened slightly before calming himself. "We will bring this to the rest of the world soon enough. We are quite impressed to see that you all have worked hard to bring order to your settlements." "If you don''t mind my asking but what is your name?" Keshaun added. "Derrick, Derrick James." The man replied and I had to resist the urge to pull up the standings right in front of him. It was unlikely his name was on level one but the wealth or tao could be a different story altogether. "So Derrick is the auction starting promptly or should we expect a bit of a wait? Also, do you have a list of items up for sale?" He shook his head as we made our way up to the doorway of the UN building. "I do not someone will come and meet you here. They will be able to explain things further and provide you with anything you need." No sooner did Derrick walk away did a woman exit the building. She wore a beige suit and held a walking cane in one hand. Her dirty blonde hair hung down to her shoulders. Her left arm was missing below the elbow and based on the aura she emitted it was likely an injury she received recently. Unlike a lot of the people we''ve seen so far she had She moved with a clear limp and smiled when she saw us. "Hello there you must be cultivators. Can you please present your name? My associate¡ª" She gestured to a man who stepped out behind her. "Will look up your rank. The highest members will be afforded¡ª" Her words trailed off when she saw Azariah and Desbera. The momentary look of shock was worth the entire journey here. The woman was a professional and the smile returned to her face a moment later. "Amari, Amari Jackson. The rest¡ª" "I am sorry are you saying you are the man in the first place? Uh, would you be willing to show your status screen to verify? We have had a few who would seek to tarnish the name of one of humanity''s guardians." I couldn''t help but chuckle at the recovery. I pulled up my status screen and shared the name and level with the pair. The woman''s pleasant smile became visibly strained as she nodded. "Of course, of course, please follow me." She turned and led us into the building. What we found inside was much more interesting. We weren''t the first people to arrive. The majority of the people were soldiers or other government officials based on the old world clothes but there were five groups of cultivators. The largest of the groups wore brightly colored African clothing. About half of their group wore a traditional garment in all colors ranging from greens, reds, and blues. In contrast, the other half were robes and armor that came from the System. Of this group two people held prominence. One was a dark-skinned older man with a shaved head and white beard. Seated on a bench next to him was a dark-skinned woman with long micro braids that cascaded down to her hips. She had piercing blue eyes and wore a blue dress that reminded me of the ocean. There was an ornate sigil on the front just below the bust that looked like some kind of mermaid. The quality of the design almost made it seem alive. Unlike the old man, the woman looked bored. That is until she saw me. She stared back at me and then I felt something. It felt like someone poured chilled water over my head. Only the sensation didn''t go away, if anything it got stronger and stronger until I figured out what was going on. She was trying to use some kind of skill or spell on me. I flashed her a playful smile as we were led into the main hall. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. The room took my breath away. I remember coming here with the Model UN team. Imagine what it would be like to make serious agreements. Agreements that would affect millions of people. The room felt so massive back then now, now it wasn''t. The wooden tables seemed dull, the blinding lights felt distant and fake as if the light bulbs needed to be replaced ages ago. "Your seat will be first row to the right. You can take all the seats at your table. If your party is too big then some people would need to wait out in the hall or may visit one of the smaller side rooms. The main exhibition will have the best items but there might be things of value." "Right, are we required to stay here until the start or can we spend time with the others?" I asked. "You are free to do as you please until the auction begins. Make sure that you and your party are here at the start or you will have to wait until the intermission." The woman added. "Last question, I am afraid I didn''t get your name?" "Ah yes, Jennifer, Jennifer Page. I will be your attendant from now until the end of the gala. If there is anything you need please let me know." "Of course." I waited for her to leave before I turned my attention back to the room. My attention was focused on the raised platform in the middle. "It''s a bit ironic, isn''t it? This was supposed to be the meeting place for the world. Where problems could be solved with peace and equality." I said after a few moments of silence. "It never was equal though. Nothing ever is." Keshaun added and stepped up next to me. "Going to tell us what was going on between you and that woman?" Aaliyah asked. "It looked a bit like you two were about to start making out right there." I rolled my eyes. "I think she was trying to either see my status screen with a skill or affect my mind somehow. Didn''t work so it doesn''t matter. I think she is the second strongest person here." "How the hell could you possibly know that," Christopher asked as he leaned against the railing. "One, she and her group were getting similar treatment to us. Two not many people are going to go around throwing out spells and skills. She would either be stupid or confident in her abilities. Lastly, her group''s fashion was old world but older. The last name of the person in second place sounded African maybe Kenyan. Putting that all together makes me think it''s her." "So what should we do about it? I would prefer it if you didn''t get into a fight with her now. That would probably make us all look bad. The last thing we need is another incident." Aaliyah replied. "I know that. I don''t think she wants a fight anyway. At least not until after the auction. They might have fun things for sale and getting kicked out would suck." "So should we split up? Going to the smaller auction rooms does seem like a good idea. Especially if we can get some items cheaply." Christopher added and looked at the guards we brought with us. I nodded. "Hmm Christopher do you mean going with them? I would ask Aaliyah but she is in the top 25 so it might cause problems. Especially since they seem to be using the World Standing like a literal hierarchy." "If it''s alright with you young master I would like to go with them," Desbera added. "My job doesn''t require me to make money, but to help people learn and I believe that would be easier with lower leveled individuals." Alright, in that case, Azariah you can stick with me along with Aaliyah. The rest of you can check in with the other auction rooms." We made our plans and returned to the main atrium and found that several more groups had arrived. Not only that but things had become a bit more intense. A trio of Asian men were staring down a quartet of white men. Based on what I could see it looked like they were about to come to blows. Which only made the lack of guards more interesting." "What exactly are you going to do about it huh? Your settlement was weak and we weren''t. That''s all." The tallest of the Asian men said as he ran a hand over the curved blade at his hip. "You fuckers came out of the darkness like cowards." A linebacker of a man stepped up to meet the Asian man. He had on a suit of half-plate armor that reminded me of something a European knight would wear. The battle axe on his back ruined any semblance of the honorable warrior though. "Should we do something?" Christopher whispered to me. "It looks messy." I shook my head and watched the scene play out. The group continued arguing but it felt hollow. No, it felt like they were performing. I scanned the room and found the woman from before. This time she was standing next to the old man. She had no interest in stopping this. A crack resounded through the room as one of the Asian men slammed a fist into one of the white guy''s stomachs. The man''s armor was likely the only reason the punch didn''t break a bone. The man stumbled back a step and a ball of molten rock formed in front of him. The ball quickly grew from the size of a palm to the size of a basketball. He launched with the speed and force of a bullet only for the leader to draw swords and split it in two. The whole thing looked like something out of an action movie. Unfortunately, it was clear the building wasn''t built for literal lava. The atmosphere in the room shifted as both groups began to activate real skills. Genuine killing intent spilled into the room like a wave. The building''s guards attempted to enter the room only to lose their will. Keshaun was pale and trembled like a leaf. Once again I checked in with the other woman and when she made no move to stop I decided it was time for a little bit of fun. I stepped forward and with each step, I unleashed a portion of my aura. There was a brief moment where their killing intent clashed with my own before it was completely subjugated. I felt that caress at the edge of my mind and without thinking I took control over my aura. Instead of letting it rampage, I directed it. I surrounded myself and the combatants and corralled their auras. It took me a few seconds to fully get it down but when I was done the middle of the room had become an arena. I wished I could say that it was the domain of the elite or some other nonsense but the others were forced to their knees almost immediately. All seven of them clutched at their throats as their eyes bulged. The power was almost intoxicating but I was pushing the threshold of what the government could allow. The guards had finally entered the room so I sealed my aura. The room took a collective gasp as sound rushed back in. "It''s rude to start a fight when our hosts have been kind enough to provide a safe place. Would you mind keeping things cordial?" Despite how hard I tried I couldn''t keep the smile off of my face. The room had gone silent with all the attackers either kneeling or laying on the ground. "I would remind all participants that the rule of law has returned. Since no one has been too hurt we will consider the incident dealt with. The auction will begin soon so please take your seats." Derrick stepped into the room and leveled his expressionless gaze on me. I nodded and turned to my group who split off. The ones with me stayed near the back wall while the others headed down the hall. I stepped over to my group and waited to see what would happen next. "What exactly did you do?" Aaliyah asked. "It felt like you took the air out of the room for a moment and then there was nothing." I flexed my fingers and tried to figure that out. "Not sure, I used my aura to suppress theirs and then kept it contained somehow." "That''s freaky," Azariah added. "Not too many people on the frontier have that kind of control over their aura or killing intent. Especially without a teacher." Before I could ask for clarification the dark-skinned woman and the old man made their way over. "Hello, I must admit that was an impressive display. Am I to assume you are Amari Jackson? It is rather bold to use your true name. Especially when you lack a powerful infrastructure to support you." Her accent was incredibly thick and was Kenyan. "Am I to assume that you are Amahle? I am pleased to make your acquaintance." I flashed her and the old man a smile. "I am, and this is my grandfather, Feye." She gestured to the old man. "Would you happen to be Kenyan? Amara is a popular name and I can''t help but notice the similarities." He placed a hand on his granddaughter''s shoulder as he looked me up and down. I shook my head. "I don''t know who my parents were. I am or was I suppose an orphan. The name was with me when I was found so I kept it." He nodded and rubbed his chin as if I had just said some universal secret. "Interesting do you know what it means?" "I was told that it meant eternal, goddess, loved, and strength in Hebrew. Is that similar in Swahili? He chuckled and nodded. "In Swahili it means gracious. I hope you will allow us to continue this conversation once the auction has concluded." He didn''t give me the chance to respond as he said something in Swahili. The group then nodded to me and stepped into the main hall. Once they were gone I couldn''t help but chuckle. This was already fun and the auction hadn''t started. Chapter 54: The Auction Begins Everyone had taken their seats when the main lights went down. The darkness lasted a moment before the main platform''s lights went up. A man older man, probably in his late forties dressed like a military soldier stepped up. He cleared his throat and then tapped the microphone. "Good evening. For those who do not know I am James Maximilian, the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I stand before you today to give you bad news. As of two months ago, the white house has gone dark. The disappearance of the President, nearly all of Congress, and most of the leadership throughout the world coincided with the arrival of the being called the System. As you no doubt know most of the world was turned on its head that day. The crisis has forced the world to come together. The old world died in a sudden conflagration. From its ashes, the United World Government was born." The news of the president''s likely death passed through the crowd like a wave. Those of us in the front were the least affected. I couldn''t speak to the others but I had assumed this was likely the case. If old America was around and capable of doing something they would have already. They also wouldn''t have needed to form anything new. The fact that the chairman was still alive was more of a surprise. "You all no doubt have many questions and that is to be expected. Throughout tonight''s auction, we will be providing all of you with important information. Information is needed to reclaim our planet. You all are humanity''s swords and it is time for you all to unite. For the good of the world." I raised an eyebrow and glanced at Keshaun who nodded. It wasn''t hard to figure out the government''s angle here. They wanted everyone to unite but it was clear they wanted us to unite under them. I glanced around and found the crowd''s reaction mixed. Amahle and her grandfather looked impassive about the news as if they couldn''t be bothered to care. The person next to her was a loner in an old Masquerade mask. The final person in our row stared at James like he was the most important person in the world. He was dressed like an ancient Roman cosplayer so it wasn''t hard to figure out who he was. Where was the System''s Herald? If we were assigned based on our level Romulus should have been behind me at the fifth spot. "Now that the introductions are complete we shall begin with the auction." James gestured to his right where an Asian woman in a black and white suit joined him on stage. She shook his hand and then he departed. "My name is Mei Zhao and I will be the auctioneer for the first half of the auction. I will now take the time to explain the rules. You may express your intent to bid by raising your hand and stating the bid. For the first half, all bids must increase in increments of five thousand or more. Each item has a buy-now price that will be stated before the bidding begins. If you wish to buy it then you must express your intent to do so before the bidding starts. There will be no violence during the process nor will tolerate theft. You may discuss things amongst yourselves but if you are disturbed you will be warned. After two warnings you will be asked to depart." I leaned back in my seat and waited for the rules to be finished. Part of me wanted to see if they would really kick anyone in the front row out but I knew better. I wasn''t going to be an asshole for no reason. Once Mei went over the proper etiquette for bidding though my patience had run out. My smile had faded into a slightly pained grimace. "With the rules finished it is time for the auction to formally begin." Mei smiled as a man and woman carried a set of robes. They each held their open like they were on an awards show. The robes weren''t anything too special. They reminded me of the ones I got during the tutorial. They weren''t bad by any stretch and could make a decent backup pair. "We will start the bidding on these at 10,000 credits. The buy it now price will be 50,000 credits." The woman had barely finished when someone in the back raised a hand. I couldn''t see the person who bid nor did I really care. They were so far back that they weren''t anywhere near the top ten. I wasn''t even sure if they were top 25. "Very good. We will have the robes delivered to you once the first half has concluded." Mei called out. "Next we have a set of middle quality healing pills. The set comes with ten pills in total and is capable of restoring most wounds in moments." As she was speaking the woman returned and held a medicinal pill bottle. The System''s handiwork was clear which made me think that they had either forced people to give up quest rewards. Or they bought them for this purpose. I checked in with Azariah but we could get something similar at a slightly worse price so it wasn''t worth bidding on. From there the auction things didn''t get better. There were a handful of basic items that were somewhat useful. Most of those were scooped up by other people though Azariah did get a few rings that would generate shields. The biggest surprise was the resources that were sold. There were metals, herbs, woods, and beast carcasses. Most of these items were gobbled up by Azariah though a few were collected by Amahle''s group. It wasn''t hard to figure out that they were good for crafting but I had no way of knowing what they were or what they were worth. I made a mental note to have Azariah provide a list of potential items to look out for. The auction shifted into a section of old-world things that prompted my interest. One was a car that had to have come from a mall''s showcase as it was practically brand new. I decided to purchase it purely out of amusement. On top of that, there were various alcohols that we ignored. As our Constitution attributes increased alcohol would become useless unless it was made with stronger stuff. Since mine was already well past a hundred most of the sweet-tasting stuff was useless for me and even the strongest would require me to toss back crates to get more than a buzz. Azariah purchased a couple of bottles to see if they would be popular as a novelty but that was it. This trend continued and my interest began to fade. The last few items were various all-terrain vehicles that only needed gas to run. They weren''t bad ideas but they weren''t great either. I was faster than nearly all of them and I could just open a portal. I picked up a couple to help our guards move around better. I was about to suggest we step out for some air when a man stepped up with a metallic briefcase. "These are a set of ten 2nd-Realm Spirit stones. They are a valuable trading resource for cultivators and non-cultivators but their most significant use comes from cultivation. Our scientists believe that they are spiritual energy in physical form. We will start bidding at two hundred thousand with a buy now price of 350¡ª" My hand was up before she could finish the price. The money was still insignificant to me but the stones were. They were a different matter altogether. I could use them for myself or save a couple for Trey. Hell, I could even give some to Aaliyah to boost her level. "Ah right we will bring them to you later." A murmur passed through the crowd behind me but I hardly cared. I had already outed myself as the strongest person here so flashing some wealth was obvious. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. "With that finished we will have a short intermission. After which we will begin with the special items." Mei smiled at us all and then left the stage. The lights came up and people started to get up. I let out a groan and stretched. I couldn''t say I was tired per se but the auction had been dragging. "I am going to get some air. You coming?" "Yeah, If I have to listen to another person tell me why wine is important at the end of the world I am going to stab someone," Aaliyah added. "I am going to see if I can make some sales. Do you know if they will provide the items here or once we leave?" "I guess that they will keep them until the very end. As long as they have your purchases you can''t leave." Keshaun added as he got to his feet. "In a way, it''s like having hostages only they are willing." I shrugged and made my way back out into the main atrium. Amahle and her group had taken a corner and were discussing things amongst themselves. The wealth standings hadn''t changed so none of the big spenders had made major moves. "Stick close together. I want to see what the mood is in the rest of the world and if there are any powerful monsters." Before I could leave a squad of waiters and waitresses dressed to the nines entered the atrium with serving trays held in their hands. They moved with such fluidity that it was like watching a dance. It was like they had predetermined where they would walk so that they flowed around each person while bringing attention to what was on their trays. What they held on those trays was just about every fancy food possible. Various sea creatures, finger sandwiches, and glasses of wine. All of it smelled delicious. My mouth practically watered at every single thing to the point that I considered ignoring the warning about poison. The feeling deadened a bit when I was handed a glass of wine. The wine itself looked fine but it gave off a smell I could only describe as being hollow. It wasn''t so much that it smelled bad or wrong, it was more like the ingredients weren''t quite fresh. I handed it to the other people in my group and only Aaliyah understood what I meant. My first thought was that it was a poison for cultivators but that didn''t make a lot of sense. One how would they have that? Even if they had ordered a shop that sold poisons and got them to give them a poison that would only affect cultivators why poison us now? They could try to hold us hostage now but they hadn''t even offered us anything. The second thought was the more likely. My body should require a good amount of spiritual energy to keep going and so should Aaliyah''s. The alcohol was likely just weak for us. The fact that none of the top ten members I could see were eating or drinking further supported that idea. "We got to get proper wine and other beverages. A man can only drink water for so long." I went around and introduced myself to everyone until I found an older man surrounded by a trio of cultivators. The trio were probably around level 10 or so. They lacked the aura to make the top 100 but they weren''t bad. That wasn''t what drew them to me. "I am telling you we need to aggressively recruit before people start leaving. We have less than a month before the next wave hits." The first cultivator said. "I know but I can''t just stand up in front of everyone and say ''Excuse me we need cultivators willing to risk their lives and save our asses.'' Now can I?" The second cultivator replied. I listened to the trio go back and forth with each other for a few minutes before I stepped up to them. "I couldn''t help but overhear that you all have a problem?" The older man turned and smiled at me while his companions looked me up and down. "I didn''t intend to disturb you. I assure you that we have our situation¡ª" "The name''s Tony and this here is our father Antonio. We have started our Governor quest and need cultivators willing to help us fight." The rest of his group stared daggers at the tall Italian man but he didn''t back down. "Right, would you mind starting at the beginning?" The older man sighed and took over. "Some of our youth gained a System Hub from the tutorial and founded a city. This triggered the Governorship quest. Our quest is a wide-scale battle with hordes of monsters. I think the Hub releases a sound that causes them to rush us and go berserk. We dealt with it the first few times but it''s become too large a problem. We are searching for people willing to help us fight." I stared at the trio for several minutes before I grinned. This was exactly what I needed. I could grab some levels, my people could get some levels and if there were monsters we couldn''t deal with it wouldn''t technically be our problem. "There is a merit system that provides rewards as well," Antonio added like a salesman who sensed a deal. "It requires you to kill a lot if you want to make any of the major purchases but everything is at least of the same quality as what the auction has shown so far." "Can other governors go?" I asked doing my best to temper my excitement. "Yes, as long as you have the permission of our candidate though if you or your leader were to attack it would mark you as an enemy of both us and the monsters." "I assume you don''t have your merit rewards here with you?" He shook his head and I continued. "How many people are you looking for? Do we need a teleporter to get to your city or is it within running distance?" "Uh no you would need to have access to a teleporter to get there. The settlement is called Brent Wood after our old neighborhood. We would appreciate any help you can provide us. We will grant you access to our teleporter the day after the auction. You won''t be able to teleport in without permission." I nodded. "Sounds good do you need me to do anything before then? I will gather a group and head over around midday." The man''s eyes went wide and you would have thought I had personally saved his life with the way he looked at me. "No, no I just need your name. Once you have access you will be able to bring over as many people as you can." "Amari Jackson." I couldn''t help the grin that spread across my face as their excitement shifted into concern and confusion. I pulled up my status screen and shared the name with them just to remove any lingering doubt. "You are really him? Don''t get me wrong I want the help in all but why do you care? Most of us aren''t in the Standings at all. Let alone the first spot." Tony stated. I could practically see the daggers his friends were staring into his back but they didn''t say anything. I considered how I should answer that question but I decided that the simple route was the best. "I am looking for monsters to fight to get my level as high as I can. I want to be the first to fifty." "You mean you want to go to the next realm? Right? That''s what the tutorial fairy said." I nodded. "I am aiming for the top. I could bring a group with me to your settlement but if you need more resources that would take a bit more effort. We can discuss that later." "Of course, we would be honored to have you help us out. If there is anything else you need please just let us know" Antonio stepped up, took my hand, and shook it like I had just given him the key to the city. The relief in his eyes was a bit disconcerting but I ignored that. Before I could do anything else another man in a suit stepped into the atrium. "The auction is set to begin again. Please take your seats." The man spoke calmly with a certain authority in his voice. "We can discuss it during the gala if you are staying for that. I hope you all find something that can help you." I gave them a final smile before making my way over to the door. It only took a moment for the others to gather up. I noted that Amahle''s group had already made the way back to their seat. "We have something to discuss once this is finished. I think I just found an opportunity to increase all our levels." We quickly took our seats as the lights went down and Mei returned to the stage. "Greetings for the second half of our auction we will proceed with higher-quality items. As a result, the rules will be slightly modified. The minimum bid has been increased to fifty thousand credits or comparable resources. We have people with appraisal skills ready to look over anything you have for trade. Lastly please be sure to stay for the post-auction update and the gala later tonight. Both will be opportunities to get to know your fellow cultivators and the representatives of the United World Government. Please sit back and enjoy." Chapter 55: New Era With that, the next stage of the auction got underway. The man and woman pair from before came out with a strange-looking piece of wood on a silver tray. The piece of food was about the same size as a two-by-four and was ashen grey as if it had been fossilized. The strangest part of it was the passive aura it gave off. The man and the woman had to wear thick fire-resistant clothing and the metal beneath it was being burned at a visible rate. "Here we have a strange plank of food. Our scientists have no idea exactly what it is, but their best guesses are that it comes from an area infused with fire spirit energy or volcanic. The object was found underground near a volcanic area before things changed. We will be starting the bidding at 150,000 credits. "Mei declared. Mei''s declaration was met with a wave of murmurs. It wasn''t hard to figure out why. The item was probably a strong crafting material for fire or a nature-based object, but did anyone know how to work it? I wished Desbera were if the academy could make use of it I would buy it without a second thought. Hell if Trey could use it would do the same. Everyone wasn''t willing to hesitate. "200,000" Romulus called out. His spear moved in a small arc above his head. "We have 200,000. What about 250,000?" Mei smiled as Romulus put his spear down. She called out the total two more times before someone in the back responded. "350,000." I spun around but couldn''t see anything besides the person''s hand. Despite whoever it was not being in the top ten no one questioned his ability to pay for it. I wasn''t sure if that was due to faith in the System or if the government had some way of verifying. All eyes went back to Romulus and stayed there until Mei closed out the item. No sooner did the plank of wood leave did a new and even stranger item appear. This one looked like a bundle of bamboo tied together by a white string. Only the bamboo looked like it was fading in and out of focus. I even blinked a few times to make sure that it wasn''t my eyes playing a trick on me. "Elysia Stalks," Azariah said under her breath. "This is a stalk of bamboo that our explorers discovered in a forest. The stalks have no known purpose but our researchers believe that they will make a key ingredient in a pill. Which of you is willing to be a pioneer of the future." Mei''s smile didn''t do much to lift the mood surrounding the item. "We will start the bidding at 100,000 credits." This time there wasn''t a rush to bid. The only person who seemed remotely interested in the item was Azariah. Still, she waited until Mei called out the price for the third time before she acted. "100,000" All eyes in the room focused on her which only made the half-draconic woman''s back stiffen. "100,000 going once? Going twice?" Mei''s eyes searched the room for any signs that someone would be big against her but when no one did she ended the contest. "What was that?" I whispered. "Elysia Stalks are amongst the more popular species evolving ingredients. You use them in a bath though not a pill. They are popular due to the lack of pain when using them. It is said that they feel like they have taken a bath in the Elysian fields. Hence the name." I blinked in surprise before smiling at her. "How many do you need to make a bath that would take someone from 1st Realm to second in one shot?" She flashed me a smile that felt like staring down a savage serpent. "Only one stalk if it is prepared well." I chuckled and realized I was going to lose quite a bit of money but it wasn''t too big a deal. It would ultimately help me and my people. I turned my attention back to Mei just as a new person entered the room. The thing the man was carrying stole my breath away. It was an orb about the size of a bowling ball and looked like it was made out of amber with a shadowy object inside. The moment I laid my eyes on it my heart felt like it was going to explode. I became aware of every one of my heartbeats beats and I could have sworn the orb beat in response. I didn''t hear whatever description Mei gave the object nor did I hear the price. "One Million Credits." I felt the eyes of everyone in the room fall on me but they felt distant. As if only I and the orb existed. It took every ounce of willpower I had to stop from launching myself from my seat and claiming the orb. It wasn''t until they took the orb away that the rest of the world returned. The murmurs of the crowd sounded like screams when compared to the previous silence. I took a deep breath to calm my beating heart. "Young Master, Please sit down. You are drawing attention to us." Azariah said as she tugged on my robes. "Right, right." I sat down and removed a towel from my bag to wipe away the sweat on my face. "You want to explain what that was about?" Keshaun asked as he looked back and forth between me and the spot where the orb had been. "I" I started but I had no idea what to say. I had no idea what the hell had happened. That feeling was so much more intense than the lotus that it couldn''t be compared. "I am not sure. I needed whatever that was." "You mean you don''t even know what you paid damn near five times more for?" Aaliyah said exasperatedly. I smiled ruefully and nodded my head. "Wait it was 250,000?" I grimaced and shook my head. "Well, all we know is that it started with a two. You declared a million before the woman could explain and she saw no reason to stop you. Not that you would have noticed." Azariah added placatingly. "Do you know what that was?" Aaliyah asked her. She stammered for a moment and then shook her head. "No, I have never seen it before. I could ask around if you like?" "I would appreciate that. Did they say where they found it or what it was made out of or anything useful?" "They said it was found on a beach and that they thought it was some sort of pearl though none of their tests could discover anything else. They also couldn''t crack or break it." I nodded and made a mental note to find out where that beach was. I needed to know what it was and why I cared so much about it. I was forced to push the orb out of my mind when the next object came out. It was a pair of obsidian daggers with an ivory handle. The blades were beautiful and well made at least by the standards of everything else the System had given out. The daggers were placed next to twin white and black sheathes that were opposites of the blades. The whole set looked amazing. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "Here we have **Sable''s Kiss** a pair of relic daggers that were awarded during the tutorial. The blades have been offered to the auction and are in search of a new home. Both blades are a single item despite being two blades. Both blades are incredibly sharp and resistant to damage. We will be starting the bidding at one million credits." The bidding this time was furious. The price hit one point five million in less than five minutes and didn''t start to slow until it was at two million. I glanced over at Aaliyah who had given up and folded her arms in silent protest. I couldn''t a dry chuckle at her. I raised my hand. "Two point five million credits." I flashed the crowd a grin and did my best to be the rich socialite and no one else decided to go for the blades. They joined the rest of the items coming to my group and I couldn''t help but feel pretty satisfied. "If you want them you just have to ask." I prodded at her cheekily. She rolled her eyes and refused to look in my direction. "I will buy them from you later." I chucked and nodded my agreement. Unfortunately, that was the last of my wins for nearly two hours. The following items were a Strength and Agility attribute fruit that went to Romulus and a spell crystal for Lightning Bolt. The price of the last one went to nearly ten million before I gave up. I could probably buy a slightly worse version of the same spell through the hub so it wasn''t a big loss. The item after that was much less interesting. They sold a bottle of healing pills that were the same quality as the stuff I had been using. I was just about ready to go when they brought a familiar item. The man and woman pair walked back onto the stage with a brown shoulder bag covered in sigils. The bag was about the same size as the one I was currently wearing but it was of a lesser quality. The bag''s simple appearance caused a series of hushed murmurs to pass through the crowd. "This is a magic spatial bag that we received as a quest reward in the earlier days of the cataclysm. The bag is capable of holding far more on the inside than what it shows." Mei placed a hand on the bag. In the next moment, she opened it and placed a wood plank inside. She then smiled and pulled the plank back out. She repeated this process three more times as if trying to prove the validity of her statement. "We will start the bidding at ten million credits." The bidding shot above twelve million in an instant as just about everyone tripped over themselves to bid higher. I stared at the bag and considered going after it but it would take everything I had and it might not be enough. Instead, I turned my attention to Azariah who hadn''t bid at all. "Do you think you can get any of those?" I asked. "Most likely. The bags are amongst the lowest kind of storage items. They tend to be very popular on planets like this but over time only the poor use them." "So I should swap out mine?" She shook her head. "It''s perfectly fine for now but they tend to erode quickly. I would recommend you search for a replacement once you leave this planet." I nodded and relaxed back into my seat. If it was a problem for tomorrow then it was a problem for tomorrow. No point in worrying about it now. The auction ended at 16 million and I couldn''t resist checking the wealth standings. The fourth and fifth places had switched which didn''t help me but it was nice to see. My spot was secure and I got all the items I needed. All in all, it was a damn good day for me. "That concludes our auction. Please standby for the former Chief to say a few words." Mei gave a polite bow and exited the stage. She was gone less than a minute when Maximillian returned to the stage. A large screen slowly slid down from the ceiling as he walked. "Good Evening. I hope you enjoyed the auction and that you all have found something that will be of use. Now we turn to a matter of grave importance." The screen clicked to live and an image of a map appeared. It took me a second to realize it was the earth or rather it was what the earth had been turned into. The seven familiar continents were gone, replaced with three massive land masses. It was like the world was split into three, where the Northern and Southern Hemispheres were two large continents and the space between them was the last. There was an ocean that separated each of the continents from one another and then one massive continuous body of water that surrounded the whole thing. The image wasn''t realistic so it was hard to determine what the land masses looked like. Instead, they were color-coded and labeled Continents 1,2 and 3." "As you all can see our new world has undergone a radical transformation. We have painstakingly put together this image with the help of the few drones we still have access to. The image before you does not do enough to clarify what the event now known as the Cataclysm has done to us. The world''s three continents are much larger than expected. Excess mass and creatures came from surrounding planets as you have no doubt heard. The System failed to explain to us that we lost most of our advanced technology." That declaration stunned the crowd. Those of us who had been waiting for the government to step in and solve were hit the hardest. A group toward the back of the room got to their feet. "Are you trying to tell us that whatever this here System is has sent us back to the stone age?" "Not quite. Simpler electronics still work if you can shift their power sources to run on spiritual energy. Things like computers, TV screens, lights, and likely other things. Cars are functional under those same parameters. Cars that are old enough to run on fossil fuels are mostly unaffected. Our weaponry has not been so fortunate. Anything more advanced than guns has disappeared. Nuclear weapons have not only disappeared but all knowledge related to their construction is gone. Furthermore, the last two attempts we have made at constructing one have simply disappeared." Now that was interesting. I wasn''t sure if nukes would be good at getting rid of the monsters but to not have them as an option was a blow. Especially if the System could so thoroughly eliminate them. Could it remove any information it didn''t want us to have? What about our history? "We have also lost access to all airplanes, helicopters, and other flying vehicles. Furthermore, the world''s naval fleets have completely disappeared. We aren''t sure if the System has removed them or if they have been sunk. We have attempted to make contact with people on the other two continents but have only succeeded with the third. As a result, we have both a declaration and a request. The people in this room represent the greatest weapons humanity has as of this moment." He paused at that and let his gaze pass over all of this. He spent a second longer when he got to those of us in the first row. "It is time for you all to unite and become humanity''s shields and swords. We once dominated this planet. We took it from the beasts of old with sword and spear. Now we must take it again. Our scientists believe that the monsters are stronger than us on an individual basis but they lack the human spirit. They lack the will to conquer and restore what is ours. With that in mind, we have designated the middlemost continent as the "Lost Continent" We want all of you to work towards reaching it and saving whomever is there. We are formally offering each of you the chance to join the United World Government. Humanity has spent two months as prey now it is time for us to become the predator." His declaration was met with a raucous applause. The moment was so picturesque that I couldn''t help but wonder if it was planned. I scanned the crowd, both Amahle and Romulus were quiet. The third-highest member still hadn''t arrived which made me think they hadn''t found him. The rest of the crowd was a mix of people enthusiastically applauding and those awkwardly nodding. The government had intended to pressure and divide us which wasn''t a bad tactic. I couldn''t help but chuckle at it though. They were still operating through democracy which wasn''t bad but it didn''t matter. Not if the government lacked the power to back it up. Which meant that they needed at least one member of the top five. A new era of world history was about to begin. "The game of politics has begun," Keshaun added under his breath. "Are you ready to play?" A giddy happiness swelled inside me as I locked eyes with Amahle and then Romulus. Both of them kept my gaze, a silent agreement and declaration. None of us would back down. This had all the potential to be a lot of fun. Chapter 56: Interesting Developments I picked a corner of the atrium and waited for the others to gather up. While I waited a miniature hierarchy formed. Me, Amahle, Romulus, and Masquerade took up corners of the room. The rest of the top ten stood in the neighboring room and everyone else walked quickly through. The whole thing felt a bit like being in the VIP room of the club only there were no bouncers. I decided to spend my free points while I waited. All four went into Agility and I felt my muscles loosen. It was hard to piece together just how impactful four points were but every little bit helped. "So Amari are you planning on staying for this gala?" Keshaun asked. "It is most certainly an attempt to impress you and get you on their side." "Of course it is. I am a bit curious to see what they do. Are they going to try and threaten me? I don''t have family to capture or control so I don''t think so. Are they going to offer me something? It should be fun." "More than a few rulers have been taken out due to lust. Whether desire of women, men, money, everyone wants something." I chuckled and shrugged. "Never been super interested in either. I can notice a pretty face but I doubt that''s what gets me. My guess is it will be ole reliable." "Why are you so flippant about it?" Romulus asked. The man who had somehow found Roman-themed armor for himself asked as he looked me up and down. "Why should I be worried? I am not going to just eat whatever they give me and I have little interest in joining anyone at the moment. On top of all that the System likes the bold." He chuckled and shook his head. "On that last part, we can agree. I still don''t see why you wish to attend the gala. It seems like a pointless attempt at peacocking around." "Says that man who stylized himself after the Roman empire," I said with a chuckle before leaning against the wall. "The question I am really curious about though¡ª" "Where ''The System''s Herald'' is?" Amahle interrupted with a smile. "I doubt that they would have invited the rest of us and not them. So why would they choose to miss this event." I smiled and nodded. "If they aren''t here they either are on the lost continent or they are hiding." "If they can''t be bothered to show up why should we bother to care?" Romulus asked while tapping the butt of his spear on the ground. "I am much more interested in how your level is so much higher than ours. In just the last few days you have gone up to level 31." I smiled playfully. "Well if you eat your vegetables and drink your milk you will grow up big and strong just like me." Amahle laughed. "Is there a skill at level 30?" "No, or at least I didn''t get one. If you don''t mind telling me I would love to know the rarity of your classes. Since everyone is in a sharing mood." Amahle rolled her eyes. "Rare" Romulus snorted. "Rare as well." "Mine is also rare," Masquerade added. "Oh? The masked one speaks? Welcome to the party. My class is Epic by the way." The trio stared at me as if they would find the answer on my forehead. Their eyes felt like lasers against my skin which only made me smile. "Epic''s also the highest rarity you can get." "How could you possibly know that?" Romulus asked while leaning forward as if the slight change in distance would allow him to hear the answer better. "I got a title for gaining the highest tier of class possible. I am sure the tutorial workers mentioned rarities so I think there are rarities above Epic. Just those aren''t possible at this realm." "Fascinating. You are a font of information. What is your plan exactly? You won''t join the government are you interested in allying with us?" Amahle asked. The intensity of her gaze made it clear that this was the important question. "I want to rule the planet. No, to be more accurate I want to see the top, be the GOAT, whatever else that means." I flashed her another smile. Surprisingly enough she blushed before looking away. "And I thought that I had a god complex. No one else in history has conquered a planet and you think that you will do it? Are the rest of us supposed to sit back and watch?" Romulus added while gripping his spear. I shrugged. "We have to deal with monsters first after that who knows." We fell into an uncomfortable silence after that. We all retreated into our parties and stayed like that until a man stepped down a flight of stairs. He wore an all-black suit with tails that made him seem like a relic from olden days. His grey hair and leathery skin didn''t help him in that respect. "We will now begin distribution of your purchases. Please follow me. As leaders of humanity you have been given room to go through your items." I nodded and moved toward the stairs. I noted the older man''s aura which was not blood stained. His reminded me more of a pillar of stone. It wasn''t strong enough to compare with the rest of ours but it was still interesting. Part of me wanted to ask how he had changed his but now wasn''t the time. We were all led down a hallway and then guided into a side room. I decided to enter first just in case there was something amiss. The room itself was rather large. It had a table in the middle and a TV screen hanging from the ceiling. There was another entrance on the other side and a couch to the right. The room''s moldings were covered in sigils that crawled along. The complexity of the design told me the room was something the System provided. Either that or the government had more than what it let on. We had just made ourselves comfortable when James and Mei entered the room. The former still looked like the consummate military man. His gaze lingered on Keshaun for a moment longer than everyone else before he gave me his full focus. "Greetings Mr. Jackson. I had hoped you would allow me a bit of your time." I smiled and nodded. "Of course, I wouldn''t be much of an American if I couldn''t be bothered to speak to the former joint chief right?" He stared at me as if trying to figure out how serious I was before he took a seat. "We have done a bit of background research on you¡ª" "How?" I paused for a moment as connections formed in my mind. "No way you just happened to have my or any of our information around here. That would be a colossal coincidence but the internet doesn''t exist. Phones haven''t worked since we got back from the tutorial. Not even for those people who stayed behind. "You have some kind of private network? Got the LAN Cables set up." Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. He stared back at me. "We have researched you and aren''t entirely sure why you are so strong. We show you as being raised in the Jackson Memorial Orphanage until you turned eighteen. After which you attended the University of Chicago including its Law School. Of which you were a student until the cataclysm began. Would that be correct?" My smile faltered for a second before I schooled my facial expression. I leaned back and nodded my head. "That''s me alright. Now do you mind telling me why you care about all of that." "Well, we were hoping you could explain that to us. We have no records of you before you arrived at the orphanage. Of course, it''s possible that those were lost in whatever the System has done to us. When combined with your meteoric rise we couldn''t help but take note." My joviality faded as I followed the line of questioning to its conclusion. The first part was easy to ignore, the second was interesting but if the third was what I thought then I fucked up. My reaction to the pearl on its own would be nothing but would it be hard to assume there was something odd about me if you took it together with the other two data points? We were told that there were other worlds. I shook my head and did my best to calm my beating heart. It was all just a theory at this point. "My power came from the tutorial." "That it did and the few people we have spoken to from your group had an interesting story to tell. They say you refused to cooperate with others after the initial trio of quests. That was a very risky choice. Surely it would have been better to work with others?" "I think it would be best if you were to explain what it is that you need. Unless the new government is attempting to go back on the sale of our leader''s items?" Keshaun placed a hand on my shoulders and bought me a second to relax. "I was just wondering that myself. I would hate to discover that you all have put on this auction as a way to deceive us." James stared at the two of us and shook his head. "Of course not." He nodded to Mei who stepped out of the room. Less than a minute later she reentered pushing a cart covered in everything we had got. The daggers were in the place of honor but it was the pearlescent orb that had my attention. Despite trying my best to ignore it I couldn''t stop from following it with my gaze. It was like the orb was an impossibly powerful magnet. "The strange pearl seems to have drawn your eye, Mr. Jackson. Would you like to know more about it?" James said. I had to resist the urge to punch the man in the face. I closed my eyes and took a steadying breath before giving the man my attention. "If you have something more to share I would love to hear it." I had to work to put a jovial tone in my words. When all I wanted to do was claim my prize. "The person who found it was a snorkeler who was underwater when the System arrived. Of course, he wasn''t a cultivator so he wasn''t saved from the ravages of the ocean. He told us how the ocean had changed and a deep abyss appeared beneath him. He could just barely make out monsters of legend in that deep darkness. He had started to return to the surface when he saw an object. It was floating in the water in defiance of the abyssal darkness around him. The pearl called to him and before he realized what he was doing he was fighting through the murky waters for the object." James continued describing what the man saw with such detail that I was convinced he was trolling me. I didn''t think that there were that many ways to describe being in dark water. By the time he finished his story, my will was running low and I was seconds from leaping across the table. If I could just take the pearl I should be able to figure out what the fuck it did. Even if I couldn''t I would still have the thing. "Would you like to know where the beach is Mr. Jackson?" James'' voice broke through my thoughts and from the awkward weight in the air he had asked the question at least once before. "You know that I do. So why don''t we stop the bullshit and get to what it is you want?" I lost control over my aura for less than a second. That second was enough to force everyone in the room back a step. My killing intent was almost tangible and the room turned into a battlefield that could rival any war in Earth''s history. Even the former Chief paled. I took a breath and sealed it inside me but I could tell that my control was fraying. It didn''t help that a familiar mental caress had returned. It was working along with my irritation to drive me forward. To his credit, James returned to his seat and continued talking. "As I was saying we are prepared to offer you an escort to the beach in exchange for your assistance." "No, I won''t join you," I said plainly and circulated my energy. I didn''t want to kill anyone here but if they weren''t going to give¡ª" "We aren''t asking you to. Not yet anyway. No, we want you to investigate something. We are preparing an expedition to the lost continent and we want you to join it. We have already sent two ships to its shores and neither has returned. We are presenting similar offers to the rest of the 100 we can reach." I froze for a moment before chuckling. "You should have just led with that. I have no problem going but I am sure you all have noticed the monsters are growing in power. I won''t guarantee your people''s safety." "We don''t expect promises. We expect you to put a serious effort into securing a path to the continent." "And what about after that? Natural treasures are sure to be plentiful." I tried to focus on our conversation but the initial surprise had worn off and the siren call of the pearl began again. "Anything you find is yours. You are also free to establish a foot on the continent if you like as long as you don''t destroy or kill our people to do so." "Fine, fine anything else?" James shook his head and got to his feet. "I look forward to speaking with you at the Gala Mr. Jackson. Please enjoy your new treasures." With that, he turned and left the room along with Mei. I waited another minute after they were gone before I got to my feet and grabbed my prize. As soon as I touched the pearl my soul throbbed with desire. I had to resist the urge to just try and swallow the damn thing. I sent a thread of energy into it and instead of it disappearing inside, the pearl pushed back. The purest energy I had ever experienced flowed into my hand. It felt like liquid fire was passing through my body and into the core of my being. I endured for less than thirty seconds before I gasped and dropped to one knee. I fought like a man drowning to break the connection before it completely consumed me. The pearl fought back even harder and for a moment that felt like an eternity, we were trapped. The stalemate shattered along with the link as the pearl fell to the floor. "Are you alright?" Keshaun''s voice was the first thing to break through my delirious haze. I got to my feet and braced against the wall. "Y-yeah it''s not a pearl." My words were slurred like I had been drinking all day. I cast my inner eye over my body but there was nothing wrong. Instead, it was my soul that nearly invisible part of myself that throbbed. Part of me wanted more but the dull sense of danger brushing at the edge of my mind told me I couldn''t take it. My soul would shatter if I forced it. "It''s soul energy." Keshaun knelt and picked the orb up. I watched him for a moment and part of me wanted to rip it from his hands. Thankfully that part was more like a satiated beast who wanted nothing more than it wanted sleep. "I don''t feel anything, it''s just a pretty pearl." He said while placing it back onto the cart. "Let me see," Aaliyah said before picking it up. Her face shifted from a grimace to irritation as she returned it to the cart. "It wouldn''t take my spiritual energy so I guess it''s something specific to you?" I shrugged and slowly picked it up. Instead of trying to take more of its energy, I placed it into my bag. It was another mystery I would need to look into. "You can take the daggers." I put the rest of the items away, everything except for the stalks. Those were already collected by Azariah. "I will buy some of those from you when we get back. I would like you to box them up and give them to Desbera. The rest you can sell as you want though don''t pressure my people too much." She gave me a smile that did nothing to reassure me. "Of course, I will do what I can to help your people grow." "Are you going to tell us anything about what just happened?" Aaliyah said with crossed arms. "Especially about where that pearl came from?" I shrugged. "There isn''t much to say. Right now everything he mentioned is a coincidence. I really am an orphan and I really did go at it alone. The titles I got in the tutorial and right after it ended are responsible for the majority of my power. I don''t know anything about the ocean though and it sounds like there might be monsters down there. As much fun as exploring the depths of our planet sounds I am not super confident at fighting a kraken underwater." She stared at me for several seconds but whatever she wanted to say or do was lost with a knock on the door. A second later the door opened and Desbera, Christopher, and the rest of our guards entered. They took one look around the room and stared at us. "What the fuck happened in here?" Chapter 57: The Gala "Nothing too important. We met with the chief, got our purchases, and were just about to find you all. Did you find anything important?" I asked as I gave up the search of my soul. I would need to do it again when I had more free time. "Not exactly, Young Master. I explained the differences in a few healing pills and your followers gained a few low-tier medicinal herbs." Desbera added with a smile. "We also noticed an explosion of killing intent earlier," Christopher stated plainly. I shrugged. "Damn really? That''s crazy. We should go." Christopher groaned. "Please don''t tell me you accidentally killed people here, too." I raised an eyebrow at him and shook my head. "Ok, first of all, that is just rude, and second, no. No one is dead, or at least no one here is, anyway. We just got everything we needed. If we are going to stay for the gala, we should look for a place to rest. We can either stay in town or head outside and take a building." "I am voting in the town. I don''t know about you all, but I didn''t pack a sleeping bag, and I would prefer not to get attacked by a monster." Aaliyah replied. "I doubt that we would be in any danger if the Young Master is with us," Desbera added. "The last thing I want is for him to start fighting. You haven''t heard the laughter when he starts up. It''s more frightening than anything we''ve fought so far." I stared at the pair as they went back and forth with each other. I wasn''t sure if I was offended at the insinuation or impressed. After five minutes, the novelty of the situation faded, and I waved for everyone to follow me. We didn''t stop until we were out of the auction hall and into the town proper. The UWG didn''t have as much space as Amara or its surrounding territories, but what they did have was nice. Where we had embraced the new they had held onto the old. Cars went up and down the streets. The lights in bars and other places were lively. Of course, there were indications things weren''t the same. Busses formed walls to the outside in a way that looked like an apocalypse movie. Some buildings had bullet holes, while others were cracked and even burned in places. "Anyone see anything that looks like a hotel? Hell, I''d take a motel at this point." I asked, while gesturing Desbera forward. "I purchased an item I would like you to take a look at. It''s odd, but I think it only works for me and I have no idea what it is." She nodded. "Of course, items with unique requirements are known to appear every once in a while. I can take a look at it once we have secured a place to rest." I was just about to pick a random direction and start walking when a man sprinted up to us. He was dressed in the all-black outfits of the UWG security. He even had the combat steel-toed boots thing going on. "Excuse me, sir. I couldn''t help but notice you and your group are looking for a place to stay?" I nodded, and he pointed to a row of buildings to his left. "If you go down there, you may take any of the unoccupied apartments. We do ask that you keep yourself to one or two rooms. We want to ensure that everyone who wants and needs a place has one." "Perfect. Do you know if Amahle is staying in the town or if she went somewhere else? Same for Romulus as well." The man looked me up and down for a moment. The look on his face made it clear what was going through his mind. He was debating if I was important or not. I felt Aaliyah move at my side, but I waved her off. I wanted to see what he would do. "Uh my apologies sir but I am not at liberty to discuss the living arrangements of other visitors. We prefer to keep everyone''s privacy in mind. Now, if there isn''t anything else I can do for you, I must head back on patrol." I nodded, and the man jogged off. I couldn''t help the small chuckle that escaped my lips. I was so looking forward to making a big deal out of that. "Alright, let''s get out of the street. I am tired." We ended up claiming two apartments on the third floor of the apartment complex. The building wasn''t the Ritz by any means, nor was it as comfortable as my room in Amara, but it was still okay. We decided to split up and put the men in one room and the women in the other. Which broke down to an even split. Most of us didn''t need to sleep anywhere near as much as we used to. "I am afraid I don''t know, Young Master," Desbera said and placed the pearl on the table. I let out a sigh and turned around. She had started looking it over nearly as soon as we got settled and it perplexed the educator. She could confirm that it was a soul-affecting treasure, but it wasn''t the same as the lotus. My soul didn''t feel stronger it felt like it was swallowing it. No matter how hard I looked, I couldn''t find where the energy was going. The pearl was also too pure an energy source. "You said it is likely a 2nd or even third-realm treasure?" She nodded. "Not quite 2nd based on your description. It''s meant to be consumed over time, though I can''t see why. You absorb energy much faster than a normal person, so this should be much less likely. It''s almost as if..." "As if someone left it here for me or someone like me?" I sighed and pulled my status screen. "I assume that you don''t know of any stories of other people in my position? Or anything else that could help me?" She shook her head. "It''s possible that the next level of the academy possesses that knowledge. The exact information we get access to is random based on location. We won''t find out what we get until we have it." "Which keeps people like me pushing forward?" I sighed and placed the pearl back into my bag. The only options I had were to absorb it and see what happens or head to the ocean. There was no guarantee that I could even fight in the ocean, let alone beat monsters that lived there. My ability to hold my breath had improved, but not diving to the bottom of the damn ocean. That assumed that water pressure hadn''t changed along with the world. "It might be possible to find answers off-world. The resources available to be a baby planet are limited." "Perhaps, but for now, we do what we can with what we can. Do you want to attend the gala?" I asked, wanting to change the subject. "I can attend, of course. I was not sure if that would be acceptable. I wouldn''t want to distract from you all. I have heard some locals can be peculiar to people from off-world." "Eh, you are welcome to join us. If anyone has an issue, I will just beat them up." I chuckled and stepped out of the room. "Thank you for helping me, but don''t mention the primordial part to anyone else." With that, dealt with, the rest of the day passed by uneventfully. Aaliyah took an hour or so to get used to her new daggers. They were twin "relics" which meant that they were both high-quality weapons and that they could be awakened. What that meant exactly wasn''t clear but it sounded like they would be sentient. Which was pretty badass. I made a mental note to look into getting something like that for me but I wasn''t doing the weapons thing. The rest of the items we bought weren''t all that interesting. Christopher decided to buy practical things which was smart but dull. We got a few more sets of healing pills and a bunch of herbs that could be used for medicinal baths. None of us was especially rare but they would save us from paying additional credits on the import. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. I managed to absorb a bit more energy from the pearl, but I was rapidly nearing my limit. We had a bit of working theory that my limit would increase a bit with each level, but I would need a proper soul or psyche refining manual. Which sounded both epic and terrifying. The process was a bit like a blacksmith pounding the impurities out of metal. Only it was my soul that was the metal. I also instructed Azariah to look into body refinement for the same reason. There was no reason to be lacking in any area after all. After that, we devolved into small conversations about the new world. When the time came for the gala, we decided to play it safe and wear our usual outfits. My robes were pretty fancy looking already and well my guards were guards. The only person who was a bit underdressed was Aaliyah. Who made it clear that she wasn''t going to put on any dresses for any reason. Especially during the end of the world. "Alright, well stick close together. On the off chance, this turns into some sort of murder assassination thing. I will get to you all as fast as I can. Try to have fun and get along with everyone, though." My words were met with even stares before people started to leave the small apartment. "You do know that you are still responsible for a large chunk of our problems?" Christopher added. The walk to the gala site was much more interesting. It felt a bit like we were walking through Gotham City. The few lights that were working only served to highlight the shadows. I didn''t think we would get robbed, but I couldn''t help but check the corners and alleyways as we passed by. When we were half a block away, the awkward silence was ended by the gentle music. It was soft jazz, which made me think we had been transported back to the 20s or 30s. I offered my arm to each of the ladies but only Desbera accepted. Instead, Azariah partnered up with Aaliyah. "Why don''t we split up the guards? Technically, you don''t need to stick me with Aaliyah. You are high enough." She shrugged and our guards split up with five going to her and three with me along with Christopher. We stayed like that until we reached the red carpet that led into the building. I had to admit they were doing a pretty good job of making us feel important. There were four guards at the door. Two of them held automatic rifles while two wielded swords. Neither of the gunmen had an aura which made me think that they were there for show. "Excuse me, Mr. Jackson, we were instructed to escort you to the VIP room. If you and your party would join us?" One of the gunmen spoke up as we approached. I raised an eyebrow to Aaliyah who shook her head. "Alright, fellas, lead the way." They led us into the building, down a back hall, and up a flight of stairs before we entered a beautiful room. The ceiling had a golden chandelier that bathed the room in light. The light somehow made it the shadows seem more alluring. There was a literal harpsichord in one corner of the room where a woman was doing her best to make us feel like we had been transported into ancient Rome. Waitresses and waiters were walking throughout with glasses filled with what I assumed was Champagne and various sandwiches. I caught sight of Amahle and Romulus sitting on a large black sofa with glasses in their hands. Masquerade was standing at the bar, still in his mask. Six other groups I didn''t recognize were here, but I assumed they were the other members of the top ten. Well, except for The System''s Herald. "I was not aware that you all were capable of such pomp and circumstance. Especially during the assimilation." Desbera said as she took in the room. "I was just wondering the same thing. I suppose they are working hard to make a good impression on you all." Keshaun added as we made our way into the room. He stepped away and grabbed a glass of wine before taking up a conversation with an older black woman near the harp. "I am going to explore a bit while you discuss things with other Young Masters," Desbera said while pulling Christopher along with her. I gave the guards a nod who then went after the duo. Once they were gone I put on my best smile and made my way over to the fancy kid''s couch. "Hello there. I hope I am not interrupting a dramatic love proposal." Amahle rolled her eyes, and Romulus completely ignored me. "I assume you received the invitation to explore the lost continent with the government as well?" She asked. "I did indeed. Are you two planning ongoing?" "I don''t think we have much of a choice. We can''t afford to be left behind." Romulus stated. "No, but it''s likely that they will use the chance to betray us. They might leave us on the continent. Unless either of you can fly?" Amahle asked before taking a sip from her glass. I chuckled dryly. "Nope, but you aren''t very trusting, are you? I do think it''s something to be worried about. I also think that the continent will offer us a chance to get stronger. You both should be aware by now that the monsters are growing in power. Despite that, the ones we have to share won''t grow fast enough. That continent, if it is empty or the monsters have only been able to prey on each other, then that represents a golden opportunity for us." "It also represents the only real threat to our current strength. Most skills can deal with firearms and the monsters, as you say, aren''t strong enough. We could focus our attention on this continent and just conquer it." Amahle replied. "We would be the biggest fish in the pond. Constantly afraid of a bigger monster attacking us. We also have to consider what we would do if one of the monsters broke through. The tutorial fairy made it clear there was a gap of power between realms. For beast, it would be even worse." Romulus said. I nodded. "At the end of the day, it comes down to taking a chance. Risk and Opportunity dance together in this new world. I for one, intend to stay at the forefront. Also, being able to say I am the strongest human on the planet doesn''t feel as good as the strongest being on the planet." I flashed them a smile just as Masquerade moved to join us. "You really enjoy saying that. I don''t recall you beating any of us." He asked as he took his seat. "Would you like to test yourself? I am always open to a friendly match. We could give the government a bit of a show." "Now, now, no need for all of that. We are here to enjoy ourselves." Amahle interrupted. "What do you all think about the whole missing nukes thing?" "It''s possible, but I have no way of verifying. It isn''t like there are how-to manuals scattered about the world." Romulus said. "Why would they lie about something like that? What would it gain them? It would explain why they haven''t nuked any of the monsters." Masquerade replied with a silent hint of irritation in his voice. "We haven''t had to deal with anything that needed a nuke. None of the monsters I''ve fought need it, anyway. They might be keeping them under wraps, or they might plan on using them against us." Amahle''s laughter filled the momentary silence as she waved down a waiter. She gently picked up a new glass while placing her old one down. The movements had a feline grace that reminded them that she was no slouch. Her agility might even be higher than mine. "Now who is being all paranoid and distrusting? Do you think they would nuke us? Well, I imagine that wouldn''t be too big a problem for you. I have heard that you have a portal skill?" I chuckled and nodded. "I do indeed. Still doesn''t mean I want to deal with a nuke. I have put quite a bit of work into building up my settlement. Also, stopping a nuke had a certain vibe to it. Very superman like." I could practically feel Masquerade''s eyes roll in the back of their head. "You can''t be serious? Do you think you could stop a nuke? I''ve heard of people''s arrogance before, but you seem to take the cake." "It is arguable that his attitude is the right one. The System rewards those of us willing to push ourselves harder than the rest. Those of us willing to fight." Romulus replied, and I noticed a glimmer in his eyes. It was so brief that I initially thought it was a trick of the light but my gut told me that wasn''t the case. I waited to see if I would feel anything if he had used a skill or spell on me, but nothing happened. After a second, I turned my attention back to the conversation. "It ultimately doesn''t matter what anyone thinks. The monsters are still here and whatever else is out there won''t wait for us. We should do whatever we can to be ready or don''t. We have been given an opportunity here. An opportunity to remake the world. Romulus here gets it. Revive Rome and conquer the sun." "Sol Invictus." Romulus quietly chanted. "Sol Invictus indeed," I replied. "Right well, while you two conquer the stars, the rest of us are going to deal with the things right in front of us. Regardless of how you feel about the government, they are right about one thing. We have to unite. The world is massive and there is no way we have enough people to deal with all the threats alone. We would run ourselves ragged if we tried to protect every inch of the planet." Amahle said, putting down her drink for the first time in this conversation. "So, what do you think we should do?" I asked. "We should form an alliance." Chapter 58: Alliances "Don''t we feel special?" I said with a playful smile. "Are you offering that to us or all the members of the top ten?" "I intend to gather as many people as I can. Divided, we are too weak. Even you have to be able to accept that. We need manpower, logistics, and supply chains. The UWG might not be perfect, but they can put together a lot in a short amount of time." "I leaning toward taking the government''s offer," Masquerade added. Something that drew a confused look from each of us. "Well, I most certainly am not." A chipper voice added as a dark-skinned, curvy woman with a thick southern drawl stepped up to join us. "Am I to assume that you all are the top ten on the standings?" I smiled and took her outstretched hand. I then placed a kiss on the back of it before gesturing for her to join us. "We are. I am Amari. This here is Amahle, our Roman friend here is Romulus and the masked, mysterious one is Masquerade. Am I right in my assumption that you are Ebony Rose?" "Right as rain, dear. Number six in the Standings. I hadn''t known that there would be someone so attractive at the top. I assume you aren''t looking for a wife?" She smiled and sat next to me. I blushed and laughed at her question. "You are fun. Unfortunately, nope, I don''t really do relationships." "Just my luck. All the eligible bachelors aren''t available well..." She glanced at Romulus. "Don''t start." He turned back to Masquerade. "And why are you thinking about the government? Did they offer you something else?" Masquerade shook their head. "Honestly, I am not interested in leading a town or being a government or any of that shit. I want to be left alone mostly if that means being a weapon for hire." They shrugged. "Well, it''s good to have goals, I suppose, but why the government? You could just join any one of us." I asked. "No offense, but you seem like an arrogant dick. I don''t know anything about the rest of you. Nor have you all made me any offers." I feigned an arrow to the heart before leaning back into the couch. "I am an acquired taste. What will you do if the government makes you fight with the rest of us? Are you prepared to kill us?" That caused a silence to fall over us, and the jovial mood was dispelled. I let the silence linger for a bit before I chuckled. "Does the wine work for you all? I mean, like the alcohol part?" "Not at all. I would have to make a tub full of my uncle''s moonshine with double the alcohol to feel any damn thing." Ebony Rose added. "If you lot don''t mind me asking, but where are you all located?" I raised an eyebrow and pointed in the direction of Amara. "A few hours run in that direction. Amara is inside a massive skyscraper, though we are expanding into the surrounding area." "So free with that information?" Amahle replied. I grinned. "If anyone wants a fight, they know where to find me. I have no interest in hiding." "I like you," Ebony Rose said with a smile. "My family and I are living on a niece piece of land south of here. Not sure how long it would take you to run since we teleported over." "Any strong monsters over by you?" I asked. She shook her head. "Nothing too interesting, though there are spiders the size¡ª" "Nope, absolutely not." I interrupted, which drew confused gazes from everyone in the room. "Don''t tell me you are afraid of spiders?" Romulus asked. "I" I started while searching my mind for any excuses or jokes, but gave up. "I am, I am very afraid of spiders." "The strongest man in the world is terrified of bugs," Masquerade repeated. "Not all bugs. Just the ones with too many eyes and too many legs." "So I guess I won''t be inviting you to our weekly hunts," Ebony said. "Last time we found a boar the size of a minivan and had the most amazing barbeque." I stared at her and the mental image of southern barbeque warred with the one of a giant eight-legged freak. "I could be convinced, but if I happened to fight one of those things, I would obliterate its soul." "How do you even fight?" Romulus asked. "I haven''t seen you carry a weapon, and you don''t feel like the mages." "Psychic, and I keep my aura tightly controlled, so I shouldn''t feel like much of anything." "No way? So you can do telekinesis and read minds?" Masquerade asked. "Funny enough, no to both of those. I mostly create weapons out of psychic energy and stab people." "So it''s a martial class? No offense, but I would have taken you for a mage. With the whole pretty boy thing you got going on," Romulus added. "I am a mage. My class creates constructs and I shoot them at you. It''s a bit more complex than that, but if you distilled it down." "You mind telling us what that Tao stuff is? I haven''t gotten anything from my class." Ebony asked. "It''s a fun power that you get through understanding something. I don''t fully get it myself, but it seems like it''s your comprehension of an aspect of reality. My class gave me a vision. If it''s the same as mine, you should get one eventually." "And what does yours allow you to do?" Romulus added. "Cool shield," I replied and waved down a waiter. I took a finger sandwich from him and turned to the others. I raised an eyebrow at their blank stares and laughed. "It''s a shield, though to be more exact, it''s a field around me that hardens like steel. It isn''t quite as strong as a proper spell, but it''s strong enough to deal with just about anything from our old world." "Mind showing us?" Amahle asked. I smiled playfully and considered not doing so. The more things they knew about, the more danger they could pose, but I also didn''t care. I would fight them if they came, and well, I would be stronger when they did. I activated my Tao field and shrunk it to a foot away from my body. "Go ahead, try to hit me." Romulus blurred for a moment and aimed a fist at my chest. His hand slammed into the field. A miniature boom followed by a crack echoed through the room drawing all eyes to us. I wasn''t sure which of us was more surprised. His Strength was rather close to mine. Probably within twenty or so points. It still wasn''t enough to break the field. He grimaced in pain and pulled his hand back. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. "That really was like hitting a steel wall. How are you doing that?" Romulus asked, as he popped a healing pill into his mouth. "It''s my tao. I assume it is a defensive one since I haven''t found another direct use for it." "Mind telling us what it''s called?" Ebony asked. I smiled and waved my finger like Dikembe. "No can do. I can''t give away every secret now, can I? Besides, how could it be fun if I just told you everything?" "We aren''t playing a game!" Masquerade exclaimed before getting to their feet. "We are risking our lives and you think this shit is fun?" "Careful there friend," I said with a smile that was only slightly more malicious than before. "The world is what it is regardless of how you or I feel about it. Now I do enjoy it. Truth be told, it''s simpler than the old world. We got a great reset and right now I am at the top. Please don''t misunderstand though. I fought through multiple life-and-death encounters during the tutorial for my power. I then did it again and again once it ended." "Alright, people let''s relax." Amahle stepped in again. "We all agreed to play nicely for the event I would hate for us to stay on the wrong foot." Masquerade sat back down and I decided to keep my tao field going. Just in case. From there, the conversation became much less interesting. We spent the rest of the night talking about small things. Interesting monsters, places, and treasures we had found. None of us mentioned anything important, and it was clear we were all walking on eggshells. After two hours, I decided it was time to head out. I gathered my people together and had a waiter let Aaliyah and her group know. "Alright everyone, I hope you enjoy the rest of the night but I am going to head out. I will see those of you during the Lost Continent trip later. The rest I will see you next time." It took us just under half an hour to collect everyone and get back to our apartment. We decided to leave at first light the next day. There wasn''t anything to keep us in the city and I didn''t want to get involved with the other top ten members. I was doing a good job of not overreacting and I didn''t want to fuck that up by getting mad at anyone. The sprint back to Amara was faster than the journey there. A few people had managed to gain a level through cultivation and some pills they purchased. Despite the minor improvements, it was still a brisk jog for me. We arrived at the city by the late afternoon and I let everyone separate to rest up while I "summoned my" council. "Hey everybody. Glad to see you could make it." I said playfully. "We literally walked up here together," Aaliyah replied while tapping her nails on the table. "Why couldn''t this wait until tomorrow?" "Because I am leaving tomorrow. I met some people who needed help to deal with a horde of monsters. Apparently, they have a governor''s quest that makes them fight." "I was wondering why you hadn''t had to do such a thing," Desbera asked. "It is common that the System will turn a nearby settlement into a monster magnet to test the would-be ruler." "Interesting. I bypassed any trial by being first in the tutorial. Either way, they asked me for help. It should be a good opportunity for our soldiers to get battle experience and boost their levels. I don''t want to make anyone go though. Christopher, would you be willing to let people know? I am also unsure what the maximum number of people we could spare." "I could do that. Do you want me to join you or Aaliyah?" He said and gestured to her. "Doesn''t matter to me. I want the array ready to activate the moment I leave. I don''t think we will get attacked, but why not be safe? Whoever stays behind should activate it as soon as anything suspicious happens. I don''t want to waste the energy if I don''t have to but if it comes down to money or lives, we pick lives." "In that case, I will assume there are no limits to the amount of money you want to spend?" When I shook my head, Christopher continued. "I think I should stay behind. Despite my lack of levels, I work a bit better with our soldiers." "If you don''t mind, I am going to stay here as well. You may enjoy the constant fighting, but I need a break. Especially since I don''t know how low we will have peace." Aaliyah added. "Suit yourself. No one has to come, but I am hoping to use this as a chance to reach level 35, so anyone who does join me should be prepared for a fight." "Do you want me to procure some items in advance? I don''t know what I can get on such short notice." Azariah replied. "No, I should be in good enough shape with healing items. If you find anything interesting, go for it but right now we focus on building." "How long do you expect to be gone? Are we looking at a few days or weeks?" Aaliyah asked. I shrugged. "Can''t say for sure, but keep your eye on the level list. Side note, it seems like the other top ten members, at least some of them are planning on allying. I am not sure if we should or not, but it''s something to keep an eye on." "Why don''t you want to do it?" Keshaun asked. Speaking up for the first time in the meeting. "I don''t know if I get along with some of them. Masquerade and I do not fuck with one another. Amahle, Romulus, and Ebony Rose seem interesting enough. I can''t say I trust them, though." Keshaun chuckled dryly at that. "I doubt you can trust anyone, but you don''t have to trust each other for an alliance. You have to trust that you each will do what''s in their own best interest." I shrugged. "For now, we will leave it as an option. We will probably discuss it more when we visit the Lost Continent. Speaking of which, I will be going on an expedition with the UWG and some of the others. Not sure how long I will be gone, but you should prepare for the worst." Keshaun nodded. "You think they might take advantage of so many powerful people not being home? Could happen but they would need to be sure you couldn''t just teleport back." "We don''t know what it takes to build a teleporter. If he just has to kill something, it would be pretty short, but if he needs a minimum amount of people," Aaliyah said while glancing at Desbera. "I don''t know for sure. Officially, the area has to be considered yours by the System. That could mean ending any threat to you, or it could mean holding the area for a certain amount of time." Desbera said. "Regardless, we have to assume I will be gone for several weeks and maybe a month. Unless we can get some vehicles or flying items?" I raised an eyebrow and looked at Desbera and Azariah. "Flying treasures do exist but you won''t find any on the planet. You might if you go off-world or find a Demi-plane here." Azariah replied. "Uh, Azariah, what''s a Demi-plane?" I asked while squinting suspiciously at her. "Ah Young Master, you can think of Demi-planes as miniature dimensions. They come into existence for a variety of reasons. Anything from a person constructing it to a piece of a crucial dimension breaking off. They tend to get attached to worlds or spots in space. Especially new worlds like this one. I believe you said this world was combined with others. You all should see some of them soon." "What? I see how would I find these places?" I asked, hoping that I hadn''t already missed an opportunity. She shrugged. "They could be anything, though the most common entrance would be a hole or thinning in the space between here and that place. After that, there are arrays, spells, or the tao itself that can be used to stabilize an entrance." "They are also precious. Some house materials not seen in millennia, while others could be palaces and treasure vaults." Azariah added. "Right, right okay so new thing. Let''s, let''s keep an eye out for any of these things. Let people know about the potential dangers and that they don''t have to explore them. I am willing to pay for the information as well." I replied. "I will have the people who will join you ready to go tomorrow morning. I assume you will teleport this time? Not just sprint there." I grinned. "Yes, they are a bit further away, so we will have to. Other than that, we can end our meeting here. Unless there is something anyone else wants to bring up?" When no one said anything, I ended the meeting. Once I was alone, I let out a long sigh. I took an hour to get undressed and showered, and then I went into my cultivation chamber. I cultivated for around half a day before I turned my attention to the pearl. I decided to experiment with it for a bit and discovered that I had to physically touch it if I wanted the energy. Which meant leaving it in the cultivation chamber was a bit of a no-go. The lotus didn''t help the situation either. It was clear that the two treasures were interacting with different things. The lotus healed and strengthened my soul while the pearl was being absorbed somewhere else. I was forced to abandon the search after two hours as I was starting to question every inch of my channels. The whole thing was driving me crazy. Instead, I focused on drawing in energy and calming myself down. I reached my limit on the pearl''s energy in less than an hour, but the distance between levels 31 and 32 would take me several days. After another eight hours, I decided to stop and get some sleep. The next day, I was getting myself ready when someone knocked on the door. "We got fifty people who wanted to go," Christopher said as he entered the room. "We could increase it to 75 if you got the people who would go if asked." I shook my head. "Only the people who want to go. Have them rested up and I will be down in twenty minutes." Chapter 59: The Joy of Battle We stepped through the teleporter and found ourselves in a shanty town. The teleporter wasn''t even in a building. Instead, it was on a metal construction platform. The surrounding town wasn''t really a town, it was more of a shipyard from the old world where the shipping containers had been turned into houses. The scene was unnerving since we were in a hilly forest and nowhere near an ocean. "Who in the fuck are you?" A man shouting at us from the ground pulled me out of my thoughts. He aimed a revolver at me and for a moment, my brain stopped. Was he trying to threaten me with a gun? I shook myself out of it. "Amari, I was told that you all needed help. Antonio and his group from the auction here?" "Antonio!, Antonio, get your ass over here." The man bellowed. Now that I had a chance to see him I wasn''t too impressed. He looked stereotypically sailorish. Large arms covered in tattoo dirty blonde hair with a physique that would make Popeye jealous. The problem was that he didn''t have the aura. It felt like I was looking at a paper tiger. It took nearly five minutes before a trio came running toward us¡ªfive minutes where multiple people threatened to shoot us, which was just annoying. Thankfully, Antonio led the group. "Ah! Mr. Jackson! Mr.Jackson, we were just discussing your arrival. My apologies for not being here to greet you properly. Ah, this is the town''s head of security." He gestured to the large man, who finally lowered his gun. "Samuel Edwards." He interrupted. "We don''t have room for any more refugees, Antonio." The man glared at Antonio, who visibly wilted. Samuel then turned his attention back to us. "Go on back to where you came from. We aren''t accepting anyone new unless they are willing to fight and work." He looked me up and down and grunted. I practically felt the blood vessels in my head throb at the man''s attitude. It was only the fear of catching innocent people in my aura that stopped me from fully unleashing it. I decided to ignore the asshole and surveyed their situation. They had constructed a set of walls out of extra shipping containers. Unfortunately for them, the containers weren''t strong enough. One of them looked like a rhino had rammed into it. "Your guy here asked me to come through and help you out. I told him I would do it so that''s what I am going to do." Samuel turned a bright shade of red and looked like he was going to explode like an old cartoon. Unfortunately for him, I had no more patience for this conversation. I leaped off of the platform and landed several feet behind him. "If your people need a break, keep them away from the battlefield." I was just about to jog to the wall when a faint pang of danger filled my mind. I took a step back just as a dark grey arrow slammed into the ground where I had been standing. I cocked my head and looked at where it came from and paused. I recognized that bow. Before I could do anything more, another pang of danger and I ducked. In the next moment, a dark-skinned man appeared swinging a pair of claw-like weapons. They slashed through the air above me as I aimed a punch into the man''s chest. My fist slammed into the metal armor, and instead of it crumpling like I expected. It took the hit. It wasn''t enough to stop the full force, but instead of breaking some ribs or caving the man''s chest in. The man was only sent stumbling back several steps. I unleashed my tao field just as another arrow shot toward my back. The arrow slammed into my field and forced its way through. The arrow made it nearly a foot through my field before it shattered. The shock of it made me stop just long enough to get a clear sight of who was shooting at me. As soon as I did, I couldn''t help but laugh. "Tyrone?! What the hell are you doing here?" I had to duck and spin to the right as Ajani swung for my neck. The nasty-looking claws also sliced through my tao field. Neither attack was close enough to kill me, but neither had been imbued with any kind of skill either. "Amari?" Tyrone asked, as if unclear of what he was seeing. He lowered his bow and leaped down from the storage container he was firing from. He jogged up to his brother, who had started laughing. "I knew it was you in the Standings. Still doing crazy shit." Ajani removed the claws from his hand and embraced me. "I guess you could say that. I hadn''t heard from you all in forever. I didn''t see your names on the Standings before either." "Oh, I suggest you check again." His grin was filled with so much life that I couldn''t help but laugh and pull up the screen. The top twenty-five was unchanged, but that wasn''t the same for the whole list. Multiple names that had been there before were gone. I scanned the list and, sure enough, found both brothers occupying the 34th and 35th spots. "You sons of bitches. Nice, very nice. I am not sure I get it, though. If you are here, what''s the deal with the quest?" Both brothers grimaced and looked toward the main wall. Before either of them could answer me, the teleportation platform flared a deep crimson. I raised an eyebrow toward it but didn''t move. "This quest is more like an endless tide of monsters. No matter how many we kill, there''s just too many." Tyrone answered. "So why don''t you buy an array? Or build better walls?" "Our Hub isn''t good enough for any purchases. I don''t even know if we get the class selection features," Tyrone added. "Are you here to fight?" Before I could offer an answer, roars and snarls filled the air, followed by thunderous hoof beats. It sounded like a mountain was rushing at it from the north. My heartbeat picked up in response like someone had just started the drums of war. I grinned at the pair. "Stay here. Keep your people away from the fields. I haven''t had the chance to let loose in ages." Without waiting for anything else, I activated Apportation. Shocked exclamations followed as I stepped into the portal. "Stay behind with them until I come back. Do what you can." I called out as the portal closed. In the next moment, I was five miles away. I grinned as the sounds grew louder. I closed my eyes and took it in for a moment. I could practically feel them through the ground. I took a deep breath and unleashed my aura in its full glory. The forest transformed into a blood-soaked arena with me at its center. My killing intent and tao flooded the world around me to the point that it looked like I stood in the middle of a heat mirage. I laughed, as it felt like I had taken a breath of fresh air for who knew how long. I didn''t bother to activate my Tao field as the first monsters appeared. They were a group of lions with silver manes and metallic claws. Part of me wanted to take more time to experiment with them, to see if they were more metal or beast, but there was no time. Four blades of psychic energy appeared and shot into their heads before they cleared the trees. They were dead before the momentum of their charge was expended. I cocked my head at it not sure why the attack was so much stronger. Stolen novel; please report. Another set of roars as creatures that looked like giant geckos rushed toward me. I smiled and unleashed my tao field, using it to form a solid immovable wall. In the next moment, five of them crashed into it. The field buckled but held, which gave me more than enough time to unleash another round of blades. Ten creatures were dead, and I hadn''t even activated a spell. Another set of roars filled the air. This time I was done waiting. I let loose a roar of my own, conjured four more blades, and tore off into the forest. The mists of Realm of Consciousness filled the forests as I engaged in a one-man war with nature. Beasts of all shapes and sizes launched themselves at me. I unleashed attack after attack as the unrelenting battle continued. My tao field was shattered after the first five hours. The array on my robes lasted another two. Psychic Aegis lasted seven more after that. I lost track of time as claws, talons, and bones reached for me from all directions. I swore and unleashed **Psionic Rain** at its strongest before I was forced to retreat. Apportation opened and I stumbled through. The moment the portal reopened, I leaped onto the cold metal of the walls. My dantian had been wrung dry as it was filled and drained rapidly. Still, the fighting was worth it. "Amari!" a pair of voices called out from somewhere out of sight. The panic in their voice only made my headache worse. I seriously considered opening another portal to rest somewhere else. "I am fine. Get ready to repel the rest of the attack." I groaned and got to my feet as a pair of my guards rushed up to me. They were the highest level of this group. It took me a second to call their names from the back of my exhausted mind. "James, go and warn the others that the rest of the wave will be coming soon. I need a break, so they will have to deal with the rest for now." I waited for James to run off and Michael to take his position behind me before I started cultivating. The energy here was lacking, but that was more than made up for by all the death. I fought until I was exhausted and there were still so many. I wasn''t sure why the fuck the System would design a quest like this. Well, that wasn''t true. It was clear the quest was meant for an entire settlement. Despite all of that, I couldn''t help the grin that spread across my face. The primary goal of my slaughter was to reach level 35, which I was rapidly approaching. The secondary goal was the mother fucking merit points. Apparently, the System registered me for the quest as soon as the portal closed, which was fortunate. My slaughter shot me straight to the fifth spot in the quest. Still wasn''t enough to catch up to Ajani and Tyrone but that was to be expected. The waves had come consistently for two weeks before this. With the pair acting as the main vanguard, they would naturally have gained an incredible amount. My numbers were starting to rival my credits pre-auction. All of that was to say it was good to be king. I felt a barrage of spells, arrows, and bullets slam into the approaching wave of enemies. The cries of pain came after and I had to resist the urge to rejoin the battle. My people, as well as everyone else here, needed the chance to get stronger. I couldn''t be everywhere, and they needed the chance to get their points. I also wasn''t sure how much longer I could go. Despite knowing the truth in my heart, every cry of pain was like nails against my heart. After five hours, I wasn''t cultivating anymore, just seething. I got to my feet and unleashed a rain of psychic blades into the closest monsters as I considered what I should do. I wasn''t one hundred percent, but I could alleviate the pressure. Ajani and Tyrone were still in the fields, but they were flagging. I reached down and grabbed a few loose pieces of metal and started launching them like frisbees. It wasn''t enough to make a difference, but it did make me feel better. I gave everyone another hour before I leaped back down and resumed my slaughter. The pattern continued for another two days. I fought nearly the entire time and for the first time; the battle lost its luster. I wasn''t tired of fighting per se, but it was like attacking an ocean. No matter how many I killed, there was more for me to fight. Despite all of that, I accomplished my major goals. Not only that, I even earned myself a new title. Horde Breaker: Fight against more than 100,000 enemies in solo battles and win. Reward: Agility, Wisdom, and Constitution +3 I took a seat on top of the wall and mentally reviewed the battle. 100,000 lives didn''t even seem real. It was the kind of thing you read about in a book or on a TV show, but here it was. I had killed 100,000 enemies. Sure, it wasn''t much when compared to the worst wars in history, but in a solo battle? If you didn''t count things like bombs or WMDs, I was probably the most prolific killer of things in history. I wasn''t sure how I felt about that. It wasn''t guilt. Everything that I fought wanted to kill me, but it was still stifling. The fact that there was no blood from most of the kills made it worse somehow. It was like the spirit of death had passed through the battlefield and just claimed lives. Despite my best efforts, our side lost plenty. Of the 25 people, Christopher trusted me with five wouldn''t come back. Five defenders, five parents, sisters, brothers, five loved ones. I knew I couldn''t save everyone, but the death count being so low bothered me. It made me feel like if I had been a bit faster, and had just a bit more energy, I would have saved them. It was the difference between losing a basketball game by one point or one hundred points. Next, I pulled up my status screen. I placed all eight of my free points into Intelligence. The sudden increase caused a fresh migraine to start, but that wasn''t too big a problem. In truth, I was at the point where my attributes felt a bit pointless. I wasn''t sure if I even needed more. It was a bit like an embarrassment of riches, but that thought was strangled before it could sprout any further. There were stronger enemies than me. People who have been doing this for hundreds of years. I needed to catch up. I shook those thoughts away and took in the night sky above. For now, we have won. Tomorrow there would be another round and we would have to deal with a wave boss-type creature. Which should be as strong as the ooze creature and the big ape. I got to my feet and opened a portal. Our living arrangements weren''t anything special, but I didn''t need to sleep much anymore, so I wasn''t complaining. I devoted a few hours to cultivation before getting some sleep. The next day, everyone was up just before sunrise. The town went into emergency repair mode, with everyone who either couldn''t or wouldn''t do any fighting focused on repairing the walls. There wasn''t much they could do about the serious damage, but every little bit helped. Unfortunately, nothing in my tool kit helped with this problem, so I focused on cultivation. Specifically on absorbing energy from the pearl. The pearl still hadn''t revealed any new secrets. Despite the overwhelming out of energy inside it, I couldn''t use any of it to fight. Whoever created it decided it would only work for whatever task it had. It also didn''t help me with the tao, it neither made it stronger nor did it make either of them easier to use. It did have the added benefit of making me feel calmer. However, I couldn''t tell if that was the pearl or a side effect of slowly taking the energy in. When we were less than ten minutes away from the start of the next wave, I moved into action. I leaped over the wall and started walking. Once I heard the howls, I unleashed my aura. The slaughter was further refining it but it was also making it more savage. It felt like I was a walking den of slaughter and death, and I wasn''t the biggest fan. Once again, I made a mental note to figure out a way to change its flavor. I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind when the first monsters appeared. These were four-legged furry things that reminded me of foxes only three times as big and with massive teeth. I activated Realm of Consciousness and waited for the mist to obscure me before I started my attack. The foxes weren''t much of a threat, but they were fast. I put them down as fast as I could, but it wasn''t fast enough. Before I killed them, a group of gopher-like monsters leaped up from the ground. The horde was growing just as fast as I could take them out. I was forced to activate my tao field as the last of the foxes died. The mental energy from the gophers is more than making up for what I lost. The ground trembled as more and more monsters rushed to join the fight. I took a deep breath and surrendered to the joy of battle. It was time to begin the slaughter in earnest. Today was going to be another good day. Chapter 60: Rewards We battled the final wave for nearly half a day. Between the beasts and the defenders, the forest had become a no-man''s-land. A domain where I could use my strength to its fullest. I wasn''t sure when it happened, but the battlefield had become a second home. We continued like that until the System announced a new wave. The beast''s tide slowed to a complete stop as the ground began to tremble. I opened a portal and returned to the wall as a new timer began. We had thirty minutes before the final battle would begin. "Do you know what we will fight? Is it a numbers game or just a big beast?" I asked as I stepped out of my portal. "It doesn''t say. Just that the final wave would start and we would get our governor." Tyrone replied. "It still hasn''t said anything about me being here? I don''t want to take your city." Murmurs about that had started during my initial onslaught. The System hadn''t clarified how contribution worked, nor did it reveal who would be the leader once the quest had finished. They had assumed that the highest contributor would win, which only made people nervous. Tyrone and Ajani had the advantage over me in points, but that was because of time. I had slaughtered the vast majority of the monsters now that I was here. The worst-case scenario would be that I just straight up stole the opportunity from them. Honestly, I didn''t think that would happen since this place was far from Amara and I didn''t have the personnel to claim it. Especially not if the people here didn''t want me. I was hoping that something else would happen. That one of the town''s unofficial leaders would take the title and I could bring either Ajani or Tyrone back with me. They were getting close to level 20. "No, are you going to participate in the last battle?" "Yeah, there are a few items in your points store that I have my eyes on. If it''s just a single beast, I might stay back. It should leave your people feeling a bit better about the situation. Did you find your family?" He sighed and shook his head. "Our mother and father were gone by the time we arrived. We still haven''t found our baby sister. In truth, we were hoping that she would be at that auction." "I will check with the government when I get back. They might be more willing to get shit done if I ask them. If not, I will keep an eye and ear out when I go out exploring." "We appreciate that." He took a deep breath and then smiled. "So tell me a bit more about the city of yours. I have heard a few stories about you." We settled into a small conversation. I went over some of the more interesting aspects of my adventure, but neither of our hearts was into it. It was a bit like waiting for the teacher to return your test. We would find out if we were ready once the timer hit zero. The other fighters were fidgety and more than a few were sneaking glances at me, as if trying to decide if I was real or not. At first, the side glances were fun, but over time, they became annoying. They treated me like a cross between a celebrity and a wild animal. They wanted to be near me because I would protect them but also be far away from me whenever the fighting started. Despite my aimless mind, the countdown hit zero and the ground began to rumble. I cocked my head as a dense killing intent spread throughout the forest. I looked over at Ajani and Tyrone, who readied their weapons. I decided to stay seated. The last few trees that had managed to stay upright were crushed as a massive grey-skinned beast came into few. The thing looked like a cross between a rhino and an elephant. It had a trunk covered in bone barbs that made it more like a mace. It borrowed the elephant''s size with a black horn that was more like a javelin. As soon as the thing saw the wall it tossed his head back, revealing a maw filled with dozens of sharp teeth. A pang of danger forced me to activate Psychic Aegis and imbue it with the strand of adamance. The indigo wall appeared just as the monster unleashed a torrent of emerald acid. The attack hit the wall with the power of a pressure washer. The shield was enough to defend against the attack, but the misshapen monster wasn''t satisfied with that. It lowered its head and the black horn began to glow with palpable force. I grimaced and braced myself to block its charge. Tyrone started firing arrows, which woke up the rest of the defenders. Everyone with a ranged weapon joined the battle. Unfortunately, very few were able to pierce the damn thing''s skin. It was like the System had supercharged the elephant and rhino''s natural defenses. Despite that, there was nothing I could do. The monster slammed into my shield with such force that I felt it in my head. It felt like I had just been shot in the head with a shotgun. I dropped to one knee as cracks spread across the shield. The monster started backing up and let out a trumpet of fury at being rebuffed. I funneled more spiritual energy into the shield in a desperate attempt to repair the damage. Even with that, I couldn''t be sure it would survive another big hit. The others leaped off of the wall and braced themselves behind the shield. I couldn''t spare them any more thoughts as the elephant began its charge again. I gritted my teeth and poured more mental energy into the barrier. Time seemed to slow as the monstrous animal charged into the wall. My barrier stole the beast''s momentum at the cost of its integrity. At the moment after the shield was destroyed, the melee attackers threw themselves into the battle. Ajani was like a lion as he slashed at every soft piece of flesh he could bear his claws at. Despite that, the elephant''s skin was just too hard. Regular weapons were barely able to leave a mark, let alone pierce it. There was only one choice. I got to my feet and leaped down. I activated Psionic Rain, overcharged and imbued with the tao of lucidity. The blades and shards turned into barely coherent shapes as they rained down on the beast. Thankfully, the System only supercharged its skin. Its psyche was practically defenseless. The elephant turned toward me and unleashed a torrent of acid. I leaped to the side, narrowly avoiding it, and conjured a pair of psychic blades. I acted as a distraction for Ajani and the other warriors to up their attacks. I took advantage of the elephant''s attention and drew it further away from the wall. After a few minutes, the elephant had given up on the others and focused exclusively on me. Its horn turned a deep emerald green and a scream of danger forced me to activate Apportation. The portal opened, and I dived inside just as ten spears of emerald acid formed in the air and rained down on where I had just been. I stepped out of the portal a second later to find the spot a blighted wasteland. Everything that had been alive was gone. It looked like those movies that described acid rain said the whole world would look like. I gritted my teeth and unleashed Psychic Blast. A beam of pure psychic energy washed over the elephant and forced it back a step. It still wasn''t enough to kill the damn thing. I sighed as I realized that I couldn''t hold myself back if we were going to win this. I would eventually run out of energy and who knew how many people would die if I let this grind continue? "Call your people back. Keep them out of the mist." I barely had enough time to get the words out when the elephant began another charge. I couldn''t spare Ajani, Tyrone, and the others another thought as the fog of Realm of Consciousness billowed out of me. I leaped to the side as the elephant practically became a runaway train. Despite its speed and power, the beast could do nothing about the drain of my domain spell. The world around us turned into something out of a horror movie. The mist turned everything into an uncomfortable grey. My awareness warned me that some people had been caught at the edges of my domain. I did what I could to angle our battle away from them. The elephant rhino''s mental energy filled my reserves, and I unleashed blast after blast of energy. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Our battle continued for another hour before the beast finally gave up the ghost. The elephant rhino thing lacked any tao strands or anything similar, so it wasn''t a match for me. It was a massive tank that just absorbed the damage. Despite that, the energy from the kill was worth it. It took me straight to level 36. Unfortunately, my dantian had grown again and I could tell that the last fourteen levels were going to be a pain in the ass to get. I wasn''t sure if all the monsters before the rhino would be enough if I fought them all again. Hell, it might take two or three rhinos and that would require me to use the minimum amount of energy. I collapsed into the destroyed forest and relished my victory for several minutes before I felt someone approach. "You are truly a freak of nature." Tyrone''s voice interrupted the brief after-battle peace. "What can I say? I am just that good." I smiled and slowly got to my feet. "I assume that your quest is over." "Not quite. The quest will end in two days, along with the end of the point shop. You should get a move on if you want to buy anything. After that, we will find out who gets the reward." I nodded. "Did we lose anyone in the battle?" "No, a couple of people were hurt trying to get away from whatever you did at the end, but nothing to be worried about. A few people were wondering when you..." He let his words linger in the air for a moment. Which made me laugh. "They are wondering when I will leave. Just in case the System wants to award me the title?" I sighed and looked up at the sky. "Do you and your brother want to join Amara? We could use some more people, and I have a few things that would benefit you." Tyrone shook his head. "No, this is what remains of our home, at least what I know of it. We are thankful for the offer of course and we wouldn''t mind helping you out for what you did but it wouldn''t be right. Our father worked on these docks, building naval vessels. I don''t think he would want to see it abandoned. Even if it was now in a desert." I got to my feet and nodded. "Yeah, I figured that would be the case, but it was fun to ask. My people and I will head back in two hours. That should give everyone plenty of time to do what we needed." We slowly walked back into town and talked about whatever came to mind. We agreed that I could take the corpse of the elephant thing and whatever other monsters I could carry. Every other corpse would stay here for them to do with whatever it is they wanted. The meat would probably make good food. The skin, bones, and other parts would become weapons if they could figure out the blacksmithing. Once we reached the middle of the town, we said our goodbyes and he left to join the others in surveying the damage. I made my way over to the system shop my excitement building with every step. The shop was located inside a small room. It was hard to be sure, but it looked like a small store that was completely renovated. Honestly, it was a bit disappointing to look at but it wasn''t the point. When I arrived, the group that was looking through the wares stepped out and away. I decided to not notice the looks of awe and fear on their faces as I stepped up to the floating interface. I slowly paged through the items and found that despite my sizeable 40 million points, there weren''t too many impressive things to buy. The first thing that I had my eyes on was called 1st-Realm Spirit Beast Egg. The problem was, that the System didn''t tell me anything about the beast. It could be something weak and useless, or it could be the greatest beast of all time. I was confident that it would be somewhere in the middle, but it cost a whopping 30 million points, which made it one of the most expensive items. I had sent someone back to ask Desbera about it in-between waves and what could share wasn''t that useful. Spirit beast was the common term for all the beasts that existed. Everything from a monstrous lion to hydra and other creatures. They were somewhat like cultivators. They needed to grow in power, reach the thresholds, and breakthrough. If you got one early enough in your cultivation, it was possible to bond it with you. There were classes devoted to this kind of thing but I didn''t have one. Nor did I want one. I considered it for another minute before I said fuck it. I made the purchase. Either the beast would be useful or it wouldn''t. Ideally, I would be able to help it get stronger no matter what it was. Less than a second later, a glass box appeared at my feet. The box was cuboidal with foggy white glass that seemed incredibly durable. I picked it up and placed it in my bag so I could review it later. I turned my attention back to the available items. There were two options and both of them had strong reasons why I should pick them. The first was a generic cultivation manual. Its description was similar to the one we got at the tutorial, which made it perfect for Trey once he got going. He would have to find a better one, but it was "baby''s starting manual." I chuckled at my joke before I turned to the second choice. It was a skill called Aura Sight. It would let me see a target''s aura, which would be amazing. I would know the approximate strength, level, and possibly even the name of a creature. The skill was useful, so that wasn''t the problem. I might be able to find a better skill or spell later on. My class might even provide one like it. Of course, playing the long game was fine and dandy, but I had to survive that long. The situation could be simplified into whether I wanted to improve my strength or look out for Trey. When put like that, the option was pretty clear. With any luck, the spirit beast would become an improvement to my power, so it was best to look out for the next generation. I made the purchase and slipped the box containing the manual into my bag. With that, my business in this town was wrapped up. I made my way back to the teleportation array. The five makeshift coffins dashed the joy in my heart. I had grown by leaps and bounds since I came here, but it wasn''t free. I took a breath and calmed myself down. There was nothing I could do about it. As far as I knew, death was the end and everyone who came knew what they were getting themselves into. I made a mental note to figure out how to handle deaths. Some sort of safety net or payment to families, but even that was far off. We didn''t even have a graveyard picked out. The more I thought about it the more small things I had to do. After twenty minutes, I gave up and waited for my warriors to line up. "If you need to use the bathroom, you better do it now, or so help me," I called out as they arrived. The joke earned me a few glares and half-smiles, so I considered it a win. Once everyone was ready I activated the array and stepped through. When I saw the walls of Amara I couldn''t help but feel relieved. I sent a few guards to bring Christopher as the first of our warriors returned. I decided to leave the bodies in an empty room until I could have Saanite find an area that would make a good graveyard. The last thing I wanted was a Night of the Living Dead scenario. Especially if the System decided I needed a new challenge. I went over the quest with Christopher, including the massive gains the group had. They were all nearing the threshold of the top 100 though I had a feeling that they wouldn''t reach it anytime soon. Everyone''s levels had seen a slight increase since the Standings were revealed and now they had to be at least level 12 to have a shot. Without a steady source of monsters and someone to watch their backs while they grew, there was little chance of them sprinting that last distance. Once that was done Christopher took a moment to go over the changes that I missed. The cave was taken care of and my position in the wealth standings improved slightly. Between the money I had spent and the worth of the water, I was firmly in the top five. Once we were finished, I headed to my apartment to get some rest. It was time to review gains and plot my next moves. I even had a new spell to claim. Chapter 61: Powerful I was showered and comfortable in my apartment within half an hour. Part of me wanted to sleep and deal with all my problems in the morning, but that wasn''t a good idea. I had plenty of things to do and needed to consolidate for now. First, I pulled up my status screen and reviewed my new attributes.
Name Amari Jackson
Level 36
Class [1-Epic]Psionic Paragon
Species [2]Human
Affiliation Earth
Manual [1]Ethereal Codex(22%)
Titles Beloved by Tao, Big Game, Chosen, First to Ten, Horde Breaker, Leader of the Pack, Monstersbane, Overlord Slayer, Overpowered, Perfect 100, Prime Hunter, Tutorial, Voyager,
Limited Titles Pinnacle
Tao Strand of Adamance ¡ª Comprehension: Middle, Strand of Lucidity ¡ª Comprehension: Low
Agility 139 (Increase:65%. Potency:120%)
Constitution 137 (Increase:65%. Potency:120%)
Intelligence 219 (Increase:70%. Potency:120%)
Luck 135 (Increase:85%. Potency:120%)
Perception 120 (Increase:65%. Potency:120%)
Strength 109 (Increase:65%. Potency:120%)
Wisdom 387 (Increase:75%. Potency:120%)
Free Points 0
System Credits [1] 22,000,000
| I could almost imagine how the others would react if they could see my stats. I was damn near at four hundred points in one attribute. I was a monster. I could probably eliminate most of the people on Earth by myself. Assuming I didn''t run out of energy first. My tao still hadn''t made another improvement which was bothering me. Part of me wanted to run forward as fast as possible. The feeling was made worse by not having anything to compare myself to. I was the standard. I closed down the status screen and turned my attention to the real prize. Spells 1. Ethereal Convocation(Class): Connected minds transcend, and Understanding is achieved. Reward: Ethereal Convocation I wasn''t sure what the original quest was, and I didn''t give a shit. I confirmed the quest and felt a new sigil get engraved onto my channels. This one formed on my throat, which was a strange feeling. I''ve never had a throat tattoo before, but this was what I imagined it felt like. I passed my inner eye over the sigil and slowly nodded my head. The spell wasn''t bad, but it wasn''t immediately good. The spell was a strange one that was multipurpose. The spell was based on translation and communication. [1] Ethereal Convocation- Proficiency: Novice. Connected minds transcend, and Understanding is achieved. Upgradeable. The spell would let me select three people to form a kind of mental communication web. It was a bit like I could turn myself into a three-way call which was kind of funny. It also wasn''t a permanent selection. I could pick different people each time. The more I thought about it the more I realized it was a great spell. It was peak-quality, just like all the others, which helped my mood. The best part was that there wasn''t a range on the ability. As long as nothing interfered with the connection, I could be on the opposite side of the planet. Or just a certain continent. I grinned to myself. I wasn''t sure if the heavens were providing me with what I needed or if the heavens knew what I needed in advance. The idea of fate and predestination was thorny for me. Either way, the spell was mine and I wanted to test it out. I conjured a mental image of the person I wanted to talk to and gave them the node. There was a brief lack of sensation that was hard to describe. The closest I could come to was that moment after you started a call, but before the ringing began. In the next moment, the spell activated and my eyes flew open. I had completely underestimated the spell. It wasn''t a voice call, it was more like our minds were connected. I could vaguely feel literal emotions through the new bridge. "Uh Hello?" Trey''s mental voice passed through the connection. "Whassup!!!" My mental chuckle died when I realized that it wasn''t my voice that went through the bond. It was my memory of the scream movie''s voice. The implication of that was interesting, but I pushed that to the back of my mind. "Amari? Is that you or have I lost it?" "Your refusal to give the appropriate response hurts me. Yes, it''s me." "What was I supposed to say?" I smacked my forehead and sighed before I gave up. The kids these days. "It doesn''t matter. Can you tell me what happened right before you heard my voice?" "I received a warning in my mind that you were trying to form a convocation with me. I accepted and then I felt a connection form." "Anything else?" "Uh, I could tell you were excited, but that''s about it. Why?" "Just got a new spell, and it''s pretty nice. Hold on a moment. I want to test it further." I focused on the next person I wanted to speak with and repeated the process. The connection formed slightly faster this time. "What the hell is this?" Tyrone asked. His shock and surprise were almost tangible through the connection. "Quickly. It''s Amari and Trey. Trey, you should be able to hear us both." "Yeah, it''s weird as hell to have actual voices in my head. I am still not sure I haven''t gone crazy." I kept them both on the "line" so to speak for nearly an hour as I experimented with the ability. From what I could tell, the spell worked based on intent and not language. So I would understand them no matter what. They didn''t even need to be able to think clearly. Once the connection was agreed to, they just needed to want to tell me something. Thankfully, it was possible to isolate your thoughts from the connection. The idea of random thought butt dials was terrifying. Half an hour after that, I discovered the spell had a second effect just for me. I used it to call Azariah and Desbera up to my apartment and they helped me with the second test. The spell was an omni-translator. As long as I could perceive the communication, it would be translated. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. It worked with the Draconic language that Azariah knew, Desbera''s native language, and a general form of sign language that was much more complicated than Earth''s version. The translation was good enough that it could interpret complex emotions as well. Lastly, it worked on written languages, though that was where some problems were found. It didn''t work on a common piece of ancient language. According to Desbera, it was a snippet of a story about the creation of the System that everyone in the multiverse had read. I asked her to find a full version of it for later. The one flaw in my spell would probably be solved as my proficiency increased, so I wasn''t too worried. From there, I had Azariah purchase me a primer on beast rearing. It was relatively cheap at five thousand credits, but also didn''t say anything special. Beast companions were relatively common and were divided into two categories. Combat and domestic. Since I had no interest in becoming a farmer, the latter was pretty useless for me. Combat beasts could be further broken into many categories, from strong and slow tank-like monsters to scouts or assassins. There were more types of beasts and roles than I had imagined. Despite that, the serious question was what role I wanted to play. Only a proper beast master could bring out the full power of their pets. My class had nothing in common with that right now and I wouldn''t be able to make a serious change until I evolved. Which, in this case, wasn''t bad. When I read about those classes, they honestly seemed pretty interesting. They were a bit of a glass cannon. They lived or died with the power of the animals, which bothered me. Outside of these attributes, I would struggle to kill things without my companions, but I would be able to get something else to fight for me. My current situation, though, was arguably better. My connection to my new egg companion wouldn''t be as good as an actual beast master but I wouldn''t be as weak either. I would keep my full power and then have the beast. Depending on what hatched, it might even be better. There were some beasts out there just as intelligent as humans, if not more. All those were future concerns though, for today I needed to nurture the beasts in my tao. I opened the cuboid box and found two things waiting for me. One was a second information crystal that provided a beast mastery manual. The manual was uninteresting and generic but would let me form the initial connection. It didn''t even give me a hint of what would hatch. Unlike normal eggs, it wasn''t a heat thing. I didn''t have to sit on the egg to get it ready or anything like that. I just needed to bathe it in energy and tao. Once it consumed enough energy, the egg would hatch and a new spirit beast would be born. It would be influenced by my power, which could transform, say, a phoenix into an ice phoenix or a wolf cub into an electric wolf cub. I had no idea what my energy would do. The egg itself was much more fun. It was about a foot and a half inches tall and was rather heavy. It was black with golden rings spread throughout. Each ring was about the size of the palm of my hand. I checked with Desbera and Azariah if the Eggs design was related to the creature it would become or something like that, but they had no idea. Either way, it didn''t matter. I placed the egg and its container into my cultivation chamber. The container the System provided was pretty good, but I doubted it would survive a direct attack from some of the nastier monsters. I also didn''t want it to be hit with too many taos. I left the cultivation manual as well as a handful of 2nd realm stones with Azariah to be added to the slowly growing cultivation gift basket for Trey. I wasn''t sure if what I was providing could be compared to the tutorial, but it wasn''t bad. With any luck, he would make the first or second member of an elite team that would join me in the stars. I checked the rest of my spells, but none had advanced and I was starting to worry that I didn''t have anyone that could push me hard enough to grow. I decided to divide the rest of the night into three phases. The first would be devoted to mediation and cultivation and would last about three hours. After that, I would give myself two hours of energy training with **Psychic Mastery**. I would wrap it all up with three hours of sleep to recharge. I summoned two 2nd realm crystals from my bag and settled into work. The next day I awoke just as the sun was coming up. I stepped out onto the balcony and looked out over the city. The world was so lifeless and peaceful that it almost hurt. On one hand, I hated that all humanity had accomplished over thousands of years was just gone. The billboards, the cars, the planes, the helicopters, monuments to our greatness are all gone. It was a bit ironic that the planet was now "greener" than ever before. All it took was the literal apocalypse. I let my ruminate on the state of the world for a few more minutes before I headed inside and got ready to start the day. Now that I could stay in contact with my people, it was time for me to range a bit further. The only question was whether I wanted to go underground in search of opportunities or deeper inland. Both had clear benefits and detriments. If I was going to expand my territory, it was best for me to know what I already had. If Amara was going to be the seat of a world-spanning kingdom, then it needed more resources. Of course, going wide would accomplish the same shit. The more land I had the more crops I could plant, resources available, and the more places for houses. I went back and forth on it for a few minutes before taking out a coin. I tossed it into the air and waited to see what fate decreed. I caught it, flipped it over, and slammed it on my palm. "Heads? Guess we are going spelunking." I activated **Ethereal Convocation** and connected with Aaliyah and Christopher. Neither wanted to join me so I told them to let me know if they needed me. Less than an hour later, I was walking through the cave system just below where I found the water. My first stop was where the ooze monster was, and I wished I hadn''t. The graveyard of its victims was ugly to look at despite its cleanliness. The acid had gotten rid of most of the nastier bits and the few that remained were easy to separate into a pile. I made a mental note to have people come down here and clean it all out and try to bury everyone. It wasn''t the same as a proper funeral, but it would do for now. From there, I continued deeper. The cave continued deeper and deeper until I had to summon two psychic orbs to illuminate the space. It was barely enough and did nothing for the discomfort being here caused. I walked through the caves for an hour before something happened. It started as a dull ache in the back of my mind, like a palpable hunger that drove me forward. Whatever it was, drew me in like a moth to a flame. After following it for ten minutes, the dull ache was enough to make my mouth water. I searched my mind for any influences, but that wasn''t it. The same part of my brain that warned me of danger was now warning me of opportunity. The cavern twisted and turned as if I was going down in a spiral, but I didn''t even consider slowing down. I continued like this for another hour before I came to a long tunnel. The tunnel was narrow to the point I would have to proceed sideways. That wasn''t what stopped me, though. My danger sense warned me that something was off. Danger and opportunity warred in my head as I slowly walked forward. I kept one hand raised in front of me like a boxer, just in case. I got halfway through the tunnel before my hand disappeared. I could still feel it so I wasn''t worried and when I pulled it back I was fine. I sent my orb of mental energy forward as well. It immediately disappeared. I called back and sent it forward several more times before I was satisfied. An idea began to form in my mind, one that caused a rapidly growing excitement in my chest. If this was what I thought it was then I might have just hit the jackpot. There was only one way to find out. I took a deep breath and stepped forward. I passed through an invisible film, as if the pathway was covered in webbing, and found myself staring at the impossible. Half of my vision was just the rest of the tunnel. A rocky passage that continued forward. The other half was a whole new world. An ancient stone doorway that was at least fifteen feet tall stood in front of me. The old, worn stone gave off a palpable power that made me want to both go forward and run away. It was like I had found the entrance to Mount Olympus. I stepped fully into the room my mind was blasted with killing intent. The world around me collapsed, and I found myself standing on an ancient battlefield. Millions of warriors screamed as they clashed on a world that had to be ten times Earth''s size, at least. My bones ached as the two lines slammed into each other. The armies were human, from what I could tell, but they all seemed stronger than me. Just looking at their weapons felt like my psyche would be erased from existence. Every instinct I had told me to run, that I wasn''t strong enough to step on this battlefield. Before I could do anything two warriors, one man and one woman, took to the air. They were from opposite sides in the conflict and when they unleashed their killing intent; it felt like everything ended. I collapsed to my knees as the world became drowned in blood and the screams of the dead. I attempted to marshal my killing intent and tao to protect me. As soon as I reached for both the man and the woman turned their gaze on me. My danger sense erupted in protest. I gave up the attempt and said a silent prayer that two gods would leave me alone. After a second they did, the pair turned their focus back to each other, and I sucked in a breath. I slowly looked around for the entrance or any way out but there was nothing. My panic rose as I desperately tried to free myself. Before I made any progress, the battle transformed. The male summoned a spear made of black metal that seemed to absorb light. He spun it around as a 30-yard-tall spear appeared in the air. The woman, not to be undone, summoned an avatar of equal grandeur. The spectral woman had hair made out of starlight and smiled at the other warrior. The avatar brought both of her hands together as if in prayer. My danger sense screamed another warning, but there was nothing I could do but watch. The two gods unleashed their attacks, and the world ended. Chapter 62: Ancient Battlefield The world came screeching back to me as I opened my eyes. My danger sense was a dull constant ache, which only made me more nervous. I scanned the area around me and started piecing things together. First, I was definitely in the demiplane. The lush Amazonian forest made that super clear. Second, the vision from earlier was a vision and wasn''t real. I couldn''t sense either of the two god-like beings'' power. I said a silent prayer for that. I couldn''t be sure, but my gut told me they were a lot higher than level 50, let alone my level. None of that helped me right now, though. I turned and tried to find the way out of there, but either it had sealed itself or I had fallen further than I expected. I was just about to pick a direction and start walking when a familiar prompt appeared. I should have known that you would handle this problem for me. Primal Battlefield: Reach the Center of the Primal Battlefield Reward: Based on Performance I waited for any marker that told me where the fuck the center of this place was, but of course; the System didn''t provide that. I sighed and tested my spiritual energy. I spread it through my body for a few moments before I released my tao field. It wasn''t a shield, not exactly, but it did make me feel better. I scanned the sky above in hopes of finding the north star or any star for that matter, but there was nothing. It was like the bright blue sky was just empty. I filed that away as another thing to worry about later. I picked a direction and started walking. While I did, I passed my inner eye over the rest of my body. Whatever the vision showed me didn''t hurt me. "So, was it a vision of the past? Or a hallucination because of the energy?" Part of me wanted to take a seat and enjoy the energy purity. If Earth was like breathing fresh air, then this was like breathing ambrosia. The trees and grass almost felt like batteries. I stopped walking after an hour and decided to do a test. I sent a surge of spiritual energy into my fist and slammed into the trunk of the nearest tree. Instead of it exploding or my fist going straight through it, it was like I had hit a solid stone wall. My pain shot through my wrist. I groaned and shook my wrist. When I confirmed it wasn''t broken, I stared at the three in disbelief. "There isn''t even a mark on you. What the fuck kind of wood is this?" I tested a few more trees, this time limiting my forces, but the result was the same. I couldn''t harm the trees, no matter how hard I tried. Before I could decide what to do next, my danger sense came alive. I leaped backward while condensing my tao field to within a few inches of my body. Before I could do anything more, a man in black robes appeared, a curved sword already going for my throat. I pushed spiritual energy into the sigil for Psychic Aegis as the swords carved straight through my tao field. The tip of the blade felt like the end of everything. I pushed myself back and let my legs collapse underneath me. The blade narrowly missed my chin as I contorted myself. I was immediately forced to roll as the warrior pivoted and slammed a foot into the dirt. His foot slammed straight through the dirt and stone beneath us. He spun and brought his blade down just as the barrier of Psychic Aegis appeared. The blade slammed into it like a gong. Cracks spread across its surface and my blood ran cold as I tried to process what the hell was going on. Why was there someone so strong here? How did it find me? "Who are you?" I asked, but either the warrior couldn''t understand or they didn''t care about my words. It drew its sword back and its edge glowed white. The blade took on an ethereal sharpness, a sharpness that felt like it would split the world in half. Every instinct told me that not even my soul would survive if that hit me. The warrior disappeared in the next moment and my danger sense screamed at me to move. My body dived to the right before my mind had caught up to the moment. The warrior had reappeared and had slashed right where my head had been. Only the devastation was completely different from his earlier attack. His attack had cleanly split the trees behind me. Every tree within about 30 yards, the trees that had seemed indestructible a moment ago, were like tinder to this thing. Panic began to rise inside me as I debated if I should run. The chances of getting out were near zero and I couldn''t be sure there weren''t reinforcements coming. I searched the warrior''s helmet for its eyes. Anything that would tell me there was even a shred of mercy. There was nothing. I gritted my teeth as the warrior''s blade began to glow again. I took a deep breath and reached inside myself for that part that enjoyed the battle. The sensation practically jumped me when the warrior moved. Instead of dodging, I pushed forward and into a duck. The blade passed so close to my head that I could see myself in the metal. I slammed a right hook into the helmet with every last ounce of strength my one hundred and nine points could do. The impact echoed as if I had hit a drum and it meant nothing. The warrior didn''t even hesitate as it slammed a knee into my stomach. Before I could react to the first hit, it spun and slammed its gauntleted fist into the side of my head. I was thrown ten feet away and into a tree with so much force, that I thought my spine would snap. I got back to my feet as spiritual energy surged out of my dantian. I spit out blood and a tooth as the warrior prepared another attack. Fear and worry were pushed to the back of my mind as I found a serene peace at putting my life on the line against another monster. The warrior disappeared, my danger sense warned, and I laughed. I gave up on matching the warrior with power, instead I worked to create time. The warrior narrowly missed a slash that would have removed my right arm just as an indigo sun was born. I shattered Psionic Rain and unleashed a torrent of mental attacks in the next second I retreated. The warrior seemingly ignored the attack and rushed straight for me. On instinct, I leaped into the tree canopy above as he swung for my knees. Psychic blades of all sizes were summoned and destroyed as I unleashed everything I could at the warrior. The mists of Realm of Consciousness poured out of me as the tree I stood in was split in two. It felt like lightning had been injected into my veins with every move. Every near-death moment pushed me forward. Words were abandoned as I conjured and discarded attack after attack. I wasn''t sure how long the back and forth went before something finally gave. The warrior disappeared once again, and I moved to dodge, only this time I felt that gentle caress in the back of my mind. For a split second, time seemed to stop as I was presented with two options. Run or attack. I barely had the time to process what I was doing when I channeled Psychic Blast and imbued it with the strand of adamance. The warrior reappeared just as the indigo beam tore free from my hands. The world seemed to stop as the warrior dropped the blade in its hands. I waited another moment to see if it would start moving again or if I would get a surge of kill energy. When neither happened, I slowly backed away. My danger sense had returned to a dull low ache, and the forest was deathly silent. I waited ten more seconds before I decided to do something. I slowly walked toward the warrior until I stood before its blade. I knelt, half expecting the thing to continue the battle, but nothing happened. "Is there no kill energy in this world?" I asked out loud, half hoping the System would see fit to provide an answer. Of course, it did not. I collected the sword and then pushed the warrior. When it slammed into the ground instead of attacking me, I figured that was all the proof I was gonna get. I removed its helmet and blinked in confusion. It wasn''t a person. Or rather, it was a corpse? The body inside was cold, but still filled with spiritual energy. The eyes were glassy and the whole thing made me think it was a doll. I stabbed it with its blade and found there was blood. I stared at it for another moment before shrugging. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. I wasn''t sure if stealing from a dead person was evil or not, but it probably wouldn''t be any more even than all the other things I had done until now. I undressed the body and placed its robe, armor, and helmet into the bag. When I saw a ring on its finger, I froze. Not because of the ring itself, but because I recognized the sigil on it. The sigil was much smaller and felt older somehow, as if the one I knew was a modern interpretation of this one. I pulled the bag off my shoulder just to be sure. The ring was a storage item. I grinned as I gently removed it. I used the sword to draw a bit of blood and dripped it onto the ring. Once it belonged to me, its inner world exploded into focus. I couldn''t help but laugh when I saw what was in it. A cultivation manual, at least a hundred spirit stones, and some pills. I recognized some of them as healing but the majority were completely foreign. I slipped the ring on and was just about to transfer everything from the bag when I felt something spread across the entire forest. It was like someone had spread their inner eye over the entire world. I wasn''t sure how I knew it but the sense locked in on my soul and utter dread filled me. Killing intent that was only second to the two gods from the vision bathed the forest. I was running before my brain had processed what was happening. There was no way for me to fight, whatever that was. I had to get away. I had to run. Panic shot through me and it felt the spectral hand of death reached for my neck when I triggered Apportation. The portal felt like a stay of execution. I stumbled through just as the killing intent intensified. I caught sight of another puppet warrior flying above the forest a second later. This one''s armor was dark blue and green and it wielded glaive with a wicked-looking curved blade. It stared at me as the portal closed. I took a deep breath and drew my aura and killing intent as deep into myself as I could manage. I wasn''t sure if it still had a lock on my soul or if it would have to search for me again. Part of me wished the portal wouldn''t open again or that I could find myself stepping back into the cave system. I knew that wasn''t going to happen. The portal reopened, and I stepped through. I felt the strange sensation pass over the battlefield, only this time nothing locked on me. I stood completely still as if the eye in the sky worked based on motion. After what felt like an eternity, the sensation passed and I could breathe again. I dropped to my knees and wiped the sweat off my brow. "What the fuck was that?" I waited a moment for my heart to stop trying to force its way out of my chest before I considered what the fuck I should do now. I had no way of knowing if that thing was searching the middle of this realm or if there would be more of them. I also had no way to find the entrance. Even if I opened a portal to the spot I left, it wouldn''t guarantee I would find the spot I used to get here. Hell, for all I knew, the thin spot was a one-and-done thing. The only chance at survival I had was to reach the center. I couldn''t help but let out a dry chuckle at the absurdity of the situation. I somehow managed to stumble into some insane Demi-plane housed with multiple monsters that could kill me. On top of that, I didn''t get any spiritual energy for killing them. If it wasn''t so insane, I could laugh about it. Still, none of that would help me now. If I wanted to survive, I needed to reach the center and complete the quest. My energy reserves were limited and most of my spells were on cool down so I decided to take a break. I sat under a tree that was slightly larger than the rest and started cultivating. I held two spirit stones in my hands to speed up the process. The extra help wasn''t necessary. The energy in this place was already as pure as what the crystal held. A new idea sprouted in the back of my mind as I cultivated. Wasn''t this place just what I needed? A literal cultivation holy land? If I stayed here for a few days, I could gain a level. Even if I didn''t fight anything. Of course, the murderous zombies would make the whole thing incredibly dangerous. But what if I could claim it? What if I could make it so the puppets worked for me? Or at least wouldn''t just kill everyone that entered? I tried to ignore the idea and remind myself that I was just barely surviving in here, but it didn''t work. By the time I was back in fighting shape, the greed had won out. I got to my feet and rolled both shoulders. I wasn''t sure how long it would take, how long I would be the prey in this world, but it wouldn''t last. I would claim it all. I activated Apportation and stepped through the portal. I stepped out of the portal and found myself in the middle of a crater. The corpse of the warrior I fought was gone. I wasn''t sure if the stronger puppet had destroyed it or if it had taken the body away. Nor did I care. I couldn''t sense anything and my danger sense didn''t warn me so I figured I was safe. I pulled out the armor and put my makeshift plan into motion. I pulled the corpse''s robes on over my own along with the rest of the armor. Strangely enough, the robes refit to match my body with the robes, so it fit fine, although it felt weird. The helmet wasn''t as good. The last owner was close enough to my size but my hair didn''t fit properly. It forced me to tie my locs and then slip them into the robe. It added to the pressure on my neck, but it was better than being killed. I wasn''t sure if the puppets needed to see me or if they could all touch my soul but on the off chance, they couldn''t. Maybe they would take me as one of them. Once I was ready, I placed its sword and scabbard on my hip. I then started walking in the direction the other puppet came from. I only walked for half an hour when I encountered a trio of warriors. They were around one hundred yards away but that did nothing for the passive sense of danger they exuded. I felt one of them look in my direction and I released some of my aura. I did what I could to match their output and then reduced it just enough. My breath caught in my throat as I waited to see if my trick would work. When the puppet continued with the others, I let out a sigh of relief. I had three more near misses from squads like that before I came across another solo warrior. Part of me wanted to ignore it but it had another ring on. The potential loot was a siren''s song. The disguise helped me in other ways. It allowed me to get close enough to attack before it realized something was wrong. I activated Psionic Rain and Psychic Blast before it had drawn its sword. Unfortunately, both mental attacks weren''t enough to kill the thing. It drew its sword and rushed toward me. It wasn''t as fast as the one I fought earlier. I was able to draw my blade and counter. We exchanged sword slashes for several seconds before I was forced to disengage. I had no idea how to use a sword and my opponent did. I summoned four blades of psychic energy and shot them like bullets. The puppet''s blade emitted a hardness that made me think of an unbreakable mountain before slashing through the first two of my blades. The third caught in its chest. The fourth clipped its shoulder. I resisted the urge to activate my domain spell, since I couldn''t be sure other puppets wouldn''t notice. Instead, I imbued my blade with the strand of adamance and condensed my tao field as much as I could. I held my blade at the ready as four more mental attacks appeared above me. The world slowed to a crawl as the puppet warrior rushed me. The gentle caress filled the back of my mind and I knew what to do. My eyes widened as I imbued all four psychic blades with the strand of lucidity. My mental energy drained like a damn had burst but the four blades became less concentrated. I still wasn''t done. The warrior raised its blade, and I raised mine to meet it. All four of my mental blades moved to surround him, one for each of the four directions. The puppet''s sword fell like a meteor as I released all four blades. Chapter 63: Providence My blade met the puppets and it felt like my arms would snap under the pressure. I was forced to one knee and just barely held on the sword. The next second all four mental blades met their target. Each blade embedded itself into the puppet and then released a burst of mental energy. My vision blurred as the world around me faded in and out. For a moment I forgot where or who I was. The next effect faded and I was returned to the battle. Once again I didn''t get any kill energy so I brought my blade to the puppet''s neck and decapitated it one motion. I didn''t relax until its head hit the ground. I rapidly collected the armor, robes, weapon, and ring before I took off through the woods. There was no way someone hadn''t heard or felt that battle which meant I couldn''t be here. I pushed spiritual energy into my feet to slightly boost my speed. The forest tore by me until I came across a river. I changed directions, hoping that the summer with the Boy Scouts would help me and that the center of a battlefield would be close to water. I ran for another hour before something changed I ran across three separate groups of guards. Two of them were from the same side as the monstrously powerful one while the third was "on my side". I was forced into a four-on-six battle as the two sides clashed. To make the situation worse the more of my mental attacks I used the more my disguise started to fail. I wasn''t sure if the puppets were conscious enough to realize something was wrong or if they just knew that they all were supposed to be warriors. I was forced to activate **Apportation** as soon as the spell came off cool down to avoid being attacked by all nine of them. I stepped out of the portal and swallowed two of my healing pills. The pills got to work healing two slash wounds in my right and left legs but there was something wrong. The wounds had tao in them and the pills couldn''t heal them. It was like the injury resisted the medicine. I crawled toward a stone wall and placed my back against it. I pulled energy into my body as fast as I could while also helping the pills to do their jobs. I was forced to swallow two more pills before they succeeded in patching me up. By the time I was finished, I was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to crawl into a deep dark hole. I groaned as I diverted energy into my dantian. I passed my mind through the new ring and found it wasn''t as impressive. Nearly half of the ring was missing. It was just a void of empty nothingness. The rest of it was spirit stones and a strange-looking plant. I transferred all of them into my new ring and then left the bad one. The darkness in the ring reminded me of something that Desbera mentioned. That the space was collapsing and that it would eventually be destroyed. I wasn''t sure if that ring had a week left or another decade but I had other problems. A quick check told me that my new ring was doing just fine so I turned and started walking. There was so much to explore in this plane and I was starting to look forward to it. Two days passed as I pushed toward the heart of the plane. I was forced into four more battles, two of which I was forced to flee from. I managed to collect another set of robes but no more rings. It was becoming clear that these soldiers weren''t equally equipped. I wasn''t sure if that was because of personal wealth or some sort of forced hierarchy and it didn''t matter. The robes were at least as good as my first set which made them perfect for people who didn''t go to the tutorial or who didn''t do well. During my time trapped here, I realized that I couldn''t contact the outside world. Not only were my previous connections broken, I couldn''t form new ones. I assumed that meant the spell didn''t work across dimensions, either that or the puppets were stopping me. I guess it could also be the System but I couldn''t come up with a reason why it would do that. Regardless I pushed forward until I stood at the rim of a massive crater. The crater had to be at least a square mile but it was probably closer to three. The sheer scale of the destruction was breathtaking. There was also a passive killing intent flowing out of a hole in the middle. From this distance, I couldn''t tell if it went straight down or if it was more like a burrow. Either way, I had to keep going. I slid down the side of the crater and was forced into a strange slide run until I was level. As soon as I got within a mile of the hole the killing intent exploded toward me. My mind blanked as a murderous rage consumed everything. The world was bathed in red and I felt myself being pulled away from my body. The anger was like an ocean of bodies, each one dragging me down. I circulated the taos of adamance and lucidity through my mind until everything snapped back into place. I could feel the intent battering at the edges of my consciousness like an army breaking through the gates. I activated Apportation and climbed through the portal as fast as I could. The mental refresh was like being doused in ice-cold water. It was enough to bring me back from the brink but it was nowhere near enough to make me confident at dealing with whatever was in the hole. The portal opened and I was forced to step out into mid-air. I grabbed hold of a stalactite as I took in the situation. I was suspended more than a hundred feet in the air. Below me was a running river of dark blue water and solid stone. There were enough stalactites to get me around half the way to the ground before I would have to jump and I had already used Apportation. I couldn''t help but chuckle at the ridiculousness of the situation. This was the kind of shit that happened in movies and with actors hooked up to lines. I mentally mapped out a path forward that would bring me as close to the ground as possible. I then double and triple-checked it before I took my first leap. I felt like Spider-man as I leaped from stalactite to stalactite. After the first few leaps, the fear was replaced with elation. I was doing something that by all rights was insane. Not only was I doing it, it was easy. It only took me a few seconds to reach the midway point. I gripped the stone with one hand while bracing my feet against it. The next part was going to be the most insane. I had tested my Tao field and was pretty sure that it wasn''t hard for me. I wasn''t sure why that was the case but I secretly hoped it was always true. I looked at the water and stone beneath me and fought back the wave of panic. The fear of jumping and replaced with a comforting hunger. The desire to test myself and reach my limits. Once my heart had calmed I took a deep breath and pushed off. I rose into the air for a second before I was in complete free fall. The wind rushed by me as the ground rapidly came into focus. My eyes watered and I counted down the seconds. My laughter sounded psychotic as my fear and anxiety melted. When I felt it was time I expanded my tao field to its maximum. The sudden presence of the tao caused the air to tremble and the stone to break. I felt pure elation as my plan worked! My descent slowed. It wasn''t quite flying nor was it levitation it was like the air itself or rather the tao was pushing me up. Like I had grown new limbs and could use them to slow my descent. I calculated the speed of my fall and changed the angle slightly. I braced myself for impact just before I crashed into the water below. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. The water hit me like a truck. The air was forced out of my lungs and for a moment I forgot everything. The fear, the joy, the need to survive all of it faded as my mind blanked. My wits returned in the next moment and I was forced to fight against primal panic. I twisted in the water trying to remind myself which direction was up or down. I pushed the strand of adamance into my exhausted mind and forced myself to calm down. The water was clear and I could see the bottom. I just needed to swim. I just need to be calm. It took me another ten seconds to get the hang of moving while underwater but once I did I braced against the closest wall and pushed off. Kick, push, kick, push, kick push, I finally broke the surface of the water and took in a breath of air. I reached its bank a few seconds later and looked up at the stone above me. The gap felt both massive and small. I couldn''t believe that I had just jumped from up there but now that I did a part of me couldn''t wait to find the next challenge. I wasn''t sure how long I lay there until I decided to get up. A quick check told me my quest wasn''t finished and I would be fucked if the killing intent returned. I rolled my shoulders and shook myself as dry as I could. I then started following the river. It didn''t take me long to piece together what must have happened. If this was the site of a massive battle then the two powerful beings must have been their nuclear weapons. When they attacked each other it either destroyed the rest of the world or somehow separated this area from the rest of it. After that either all the soldiers died and then were somehow reanimated as the puppets or they were somehow possessed by the killing intent? That was the only part that didn''t make sense. It was more than possible that there was more to killing intent than I understood but reanimation seemed like a stretch. It could also be an ability of one of the two warriors. The fact that I hadn''t encountered either of those warriors as corpse puppets further convinced me that they were at the center of this thing. Which only made me more concerned about what the System wanted. There was no way it thought I could kill either of them. If I unleashed my entire load out I doubt I could scratch them unless their souls were already half dead. My thoughts stopped as I stepped through a half-destroyed wall. What I saw made my blood run cold and every rational part of me told me to turn around. The chamber was massive and in the middle of it were two corpses, both impaled one with a spear and the other with a sword. The bodies were mostly skeletal at this point and their gear lacked any spirituality. It was like they were wearing old clothes from before the System arrived. Those were all secondary concerns. As a person was floating in the air above both bodies. The person was clearly dead or at least some sort of ghost and they looked like someone had cut them in two vertically. My brain worked at a mile a minute as I tried to process what happened. The only logical explanation denied all logic. The two warriors had somehow been split in half and then combined. The being in front of me had a feminine right half and a masculine left. The person wore an outfit that was a combination of both robes. I tried to find a seam in either the clothing or the spirit but there was nothing. Before I could do anything more the spirit opened its eyes. My mind blanked as we stared at each other. I felt the spirit scan my soul and then something lifted me into the sky. It felt like a monster had reached into my chest and grabbed hold of my very being. I released my tao and my killing intent hoping that either of them would be enough to free me from this monster. Neither helped. In the next moment, I was ripped through the air until I floated in front of the spirit. Its eyes were cold and curious as if I was a specimen to be poked and prodded. "What are you? There shouldn''t be any primordials left." The being''s voice was wrong. It sounded like two voices were placed on top of each other. One male and one female. Just hearing it made my soul feel like it was going to be split in two. "I should kill you but I should also protect you. I don''t know what to do with you." The spirit said those words like they were nothing to it. Like it was discussing the weather or whether or not it liked ice cream and not my fate. "Ah, your soul is so feeble." There was a pause and then it was like someone had turned the volume up on the TV. I became aware of everything. I could hear the water in the other room, I could hear my heartbeat. I could have sworn I could hear my hair moving in the air. "You should be able to converse now." I blinked and tried to open my mouth. When that didn''t work I activated **Ethereal Convocation**. Instead of my words going through the soul, it came out with words. I grimaced as I tried to process what was going on. "Who are you?" I asked. My voice bounced around the cave like I had just spoken into a megaphone. "I don''t know. My previous lives have ended and I no longer know who they were. Nor do I know if I am them." I stared at it not sure how to proceed from that. "You have not answered my question. What are you? I am confident that the primordial humans were dead." "I am not sure," I said slowly. "I was born on earth. It''s a planet that didn''t have spiritual energy. The System arrived and this place got added to the planet." "The System?" A new pressure wrapped around my soul in the next moment. My eyes widened as it felt like thousands of tiny hands reached out and pressed against me from every side. I tried to push against them, to scream to do anything but it was like a child fighting a tidal wave. The sensation only lasted a few seconds but it felt like my very essence had been laid bare. "The celestial will? It still exists." For the first time since our conversation began, there was emotion genuine emotion in the thing''s eyes. I couldn''t tell if it was elation or hatred. I wasn''t even sure if the spirit knew what it felt. "Perhaps it is providence that you are here. Perhaps you are a gift from the heavens but there is so little I can do. Your cultivation so too low for a proper impartment." I blinked in confusion as a storm of questions ran through my mind. What the fuck was the celestial will? No, no it sounded like this thing was trying to reward me. "Can you be a spirit for an object? I read something about weapons having spirits. Could you do that?" The spirit stared at me for a moment and shook its head. "No, you don''t have any objects strong enough to endure my soul¡ª" "The demi-plane!" I blurted out. I blinked in confusion at the thought. I wasn''t sure where it came from but now that I had it. It seemed obvious. A spirit like this should be able to possess an entire planet if it wanted. It could even control the puppets. This place could be a training ground. "I can sense that you do not control the plane nor do you have the strength to conquer its spirits. It would be pointless for me to do so." "What if I can? I''ve had spiritual energy for less than six months. That isn''t even two hundred days and look at me. I am at the top of the Standings. I am the strongest human on the planet. Probably the strongest living thing." I blinked in confusion as genuine panic shot through me. I tried to circulate the strand of adamance to calm down but it didn''t help. Why did I want this? "Very well. If you can dominate this planet in the limited time I have left. I will become the planar spirit of this world. I will not help you." Chapter 64: Ambition and Goals "How long do I have?" My thoughts rushed by at a mile a minute. Mental calculations on how long it should take me to reach the peak of the 1st Realm. Even if I¡ª "Less than a hundred years. You will need to reach the peak of Foundation Establishment before you can deal with the strongest puppets on this battlefield." The spirit''s words were like a smack in the face. I had been expecting it to die next week or something insane. I wasn''t sure how much effort it would take to reach whatever the ''Peak of Foundation Establishment" was but it didn''t seem too hard. I should reach level 50 within the year so if I assumed it took twice that long for each one? I grinned and nodded. "Deal" The spirit continued to stare at me and then its eyes flashed. I felt my soul heat up as if I was being cooked but not enough to hurt. The sensation lasted less than five minutes. "Interesting, you would have been a potential talent for our sects. You lack a proper home. You should join something." Before I could respond, whatever kept me suspended ended and I dropped like a sack of potatoes. Thankfully I wasn''t that far off the ground so it wasn''t exactly dangerous. "Um, do you mind if I give you a name? It''s hard to refer to you as ''Spirit'' in my mind?" "You may refer to me however you wish. Would you be able to tell me the current year?" The spirit asked. I shrugged and stared at it for a moment before a name came to me. "I could call you ''Binary''" I decided not to explain my choice to the spirit just in case it turned out not to like it. I also didn''t want to be obliterated or something. "Do you mind telling me what your cultivation realm was?" "We were Peak Exarchs when we did battle. I am not quite as strong as that now. That would be the fourth realm under the Celestial Will." I slowly nodded. "You''ve said that twice now. What is the ''Celestial Will''?" "The Celestial Will is what we call the ''System'' It is believed that a cultivator reached the peak and turned their consciousness into a second heaven. Or rather a will." I nodded and part of me felt like I should be writing all this down. As if I had just been handed one of the universe''s secrets. Unfortunately, I had nothing. "So the System is a person?" "Not quite, or it might have been at one point. These events happened long before either of my lives. The story might not be true at all." "What is the peak of cultivation?" My hunger for more knowledge rapidly eclipsed my fear of the dangerous spirit. "How should I know? There were people stronger than me or us at our best. For all we knew, we were inconsequential in the grand scheme of things." "Are those people out there alive or dead? The puppets?" "Neither they are broken wills. The remnants of real people who are effectively possessing bodies made out of ambient energy." "Wait if their bodies are made of energy why don''t I get anything for killing them?" "You mean from their deaths? It is the Celestial Will that manages the flow of energy. Since those things aren''t alive it doesn''t consider them as opponents. Or perhaps they all died so long ago and thus it does not count." "Are there any valuable treasures here?" My greed overcoming the better part of my reason. Another attribute fruit would be pretty damn nice. The spirit stopped talking and stared off into space. I wasn''t sure if it was thinking or if it was buffering like an old video. Regardless I decided to let the silence linger. "There are several things that would be valuable to a person at your level but you will have to claim them yourself." I shrugged at that. "Are there better or worse tao? I have the taos of adamance and lucidity now. Are they good? Should I focus on them both of them or should I add more?" "That is your path. I can not nor would I tell you what path you should be walking but I can tell you that all tao converge at the top. The grand Tao. Some tao are more rare than others. The mental ones are amongst the rarer." "So can you offer me any guidance? The tutorial workers didn''t have much to say about what I should do next." "Interesting, your primary goal should be your maximum level. I or we would recommend that after you see what your class provides you take the time to shore up your foundations. Many youths rush to evolve and end up hurting themselves. You shouldn''t take the next step until you are ready. Many things can help you before you evolve. This realm could be key for you." "To help me train?" I asked as the thought of doing battle with the literal army passed through my mind. In truth, it wasn''t as terrifying as I thought. There was no way I could beat more than one or two right now but that wouldn''t be the case forever. "Yes, but also the environment could nurture treasures if you can secure a portion of it. You would need to get stronger for that of course." "Will they stay dead? After I beat them I mean or would I need to keep coming back to deal with them?" Binary closed their eyes. "They are not truly immortal and thus will stay down. They won''t be able to reform unless something similar to their initial creation happens here. I do not believe you will or can do that." I nodded. Once I got rid of the enemies I would be able to turn this place into a primal jungle. If I threw strong enough monsters in here I should be able to create a grinding zone. Of course, my people wouldn''t be able to do it. Not for a while but they should be fine with the zones we were already making. "Can I come back here and ask you some more questions?" I asked hoping that I could turn this entire situation into an even greater positive. "Perhaps. You would have to make it back here. I do not believe it will be as easy as this attempt." "Can you tell me if it would be a good idea to split my focus? Right now I am a combat cultivator but I was thinking about Alchemy or Arrays or anything else. Is that normal?" Binary nodded without looking at me. "Very few reach the top only able to do one thing. There will be years, decades, even centuries where your combat skills make little progress. It is during those years that you will need a second or even a tertiary skill set." A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "Which should I do? Alchemy seems super useful and important. Especially for healing items but Arrays sound amazing." "I would recommend you give both an attempt. You may find that you have more talent for one or the other. You might even discover that one is not as glamorous as you think." I nodded my understanding and made a mental note to take a serious look at the academy. I would be a fool to not use it while I had it. "What about weapons? I use mental attacks so I am more of a spell caster. Should I buy a strong weapon?" "That is a choice only you can make. You are still at the beginning of your journey. You will add and remove things as you go forward. I assume that you have no connection to other factions?" Binary continued when I nodded. "I would suggest you find a proper teacher. Someone that can take the time to press you into a diamond." I considered that idea for a few moments and had to admit I didn''t hate it. The point was moot for now though. I asked the spirit a few more questions before I decided to broach the real issue. "How do I leave this place?" Binary opened their eyes and waved their feminine hand. In the next moment, a hole in space made out of fire appeared. It looked like Binary had ripped a whole in reality made out of flame. On the other side, I could see the stone walls of a cave that looked like the pathway that I used to get here. "You will need to open a proper entrance next time. I will have to stabilize the planar membrane unless you want to risk the warriors escaping." "Is that possible? Should I be worried about an army rampaging through my lands?" It suddenly felt like I had the Sword of Damocles above my head. "Unlikely, the puppets are motivated to continue our battle. As far as I know, none of them have sentience or sapience." I stepped up to the portal and reached a hand through it just to be safe. Part of me expected to get burned by the raging flames but nothing happened. It was even slightly warmer in the tunnel than this cave. I glanced at the two corpses and the pair of weapons sticking out of them but before I could ask. "You can not have them. They are both too strong for you and I can tell you do not do battle with either weapon type." I considered arguing the point but decided against it. I already had plenty of weapons no need to be greedy. Especially not greedy for someone else. I stepped through the portal and groaned. The air no the spiritual energy in here was so much worse. It felt like someone had put a wet rag on my face and I was breathing through it. The portal closed behind me and I let out a sigh of relief. I ran my hand back through the space but found nothing. Which meant there was little chance of me accidentally falling back in. Or anyone else for that matter. Before I could decide what to do a prompt appeared in front of me. A prompt that made me rub my hands together in anticipation. **Reach the Center of the Demiplane Reward: Based on Performance** **Primal Battlefield: Reach the Core of the Primal Battlefield: Reward: Strength, Constitution, Perception +5% ** The title wasn''t all that impressive. On top of that, it was a limited title which meant it took up one of my slots. It sucked but the spot was empty so it was better to have something there instead of nothing. Before I could decide what to do next a second reward appeared. It was a circular token that was about the size of a half dollar, on one hand, it held the symbol of the System, and on the other a city. I sent a small bit of spiritual energy into when two things happened. First, it only accepted a minuscule amount of my energy before it just stopped. Second, a small amount of information filled my mind. It was just enough to tell me that I couldn''t use the token yet. It was some sort of time-related opportunity only the date was in a format I didn''t understand. I placed it in the bag and made a mental note to ask the others about it. "So now what do I do?" I chuckled at the insanity of my life. I activated **Ethereal Convocation** and mentally connected to both Christopher and Aaliyah**.** "Amari? Where in the world have you been?" Christopher''s mental voice somehow sounded exhausted. "I was dealing with an issue. I will tell you about it when I get back." "You picked a fine time to disappear. We have a problem." Aaliyah responded. I sighed and started to run down the tunnel. As ideas and worries ran through my mind. Had someone realized I was gone this whole time? It was only what? Two or three days. "Is anyone hurt? Were we attacked?" They would have had to wait and watch. It would be one hell of a gamble. "No, none of our people are hurt. It''s the government. Several of their cultivators were murdered and it was..." I had to resist the urge to hit myself in the head when her words tapered off. _"It was what?"_ "It was gruesome, to say the least. They placed a bounty for capture but that so far hasn''t gone too well. Just can you get back to the city as soon as possible?" "I will be there in less than twenty." I considered activating Apportation to speed up the progress but I had no idea if I would need the spell so I decided against it. Instead, I pushed spiritual energy into my limbs and practically rocketed out of the cave system. Once I was out and could move freely the run to the city took less than ten minutes. _"Gather everyone in the boardroom. I am on my way up now."_ The city was more or less in the same state as when I left. People were removing the useful items in the surrounding buildings so I decided to leave them to it. When I entered the boardroom I found my council seated and in Saanite''s case floating. They all looked in different stages of sleeplessness. From Christopher who looked like the grumpy father of a newborn to Aaliyah who looked like she wanted to kill me. "Sup? The city isn''t on fire so I am assuming that we aren''t in an existential danger." "Well our leader disappeared for two days which left us a bit short-handed for a hoard of low-level beasts but we dealt with it. More of our people are approaching the level 10 mark." Aaliyah began. "That isn''t the most pressing concern though." "The biggest issue is that a new Jack the Ripper is terrorizing people," Christopher added and then passed me an information stone. I nearly puked when I saw what was inside. It was an information packet on five different murders that happened just after the auction ended. Each of the bodies was positioned with their hearts in their mouths while nailed to either a wall or the ceiling. Each one was posed with a message. "The System demands conflict. The System rewards the willing." I placed the stone on the table and took my seat. "Can we confirm that these happened? Not that I don''t believe the bodies but makeup and fake blood can go a long way." It didn''t make much sense and I knew that but I hoped that no one had gone this far off the deep end so soon. "It''s real. The first murder was covered up and I guess that the UWG wanted to deal with it themselves. So they didn''t appear weak." Keshaun added. "The 2nd and 3rd were impossible to hide. They were left hanging off the side of a building until one fell." I grimaced as the man turned slightly paler and looked like he was going to be sick. I looked at the crystal again and nodded. "So they are asking for my help?" "Not exactly. They placed a bounty for the person''s capture but that hasn''t gone well. The System has given people superpowers but not knowledge. Very few of the people at the top were investigators and very few investigators are strong enough to question people." "So you want me to be their muscle? I can do that but I am not sure how helpful it would be. I can''t just threaten everyone well not if we want to have friends. Not to mention I don''t want to be the police officer of the new world." "The problem is that other people have started turtling up. No one has heard from Amahle and Romulus since the auction ended. Masquerade is doing their best to deal with the situation but they can''t be everywhere." Aaliyah replied. "So they want me to work with them on some buddy cop enforce shit? Or is it my level?" "Your rapid increases have led to some unfortunate rumors," Christopher added. I chuckled. "As if I would need to kill a bunch of people for that. Speaking of it though. I found a Demiplane but we will need to open a new entrance the enemies inside are strong. I can''t walk freely in there so I don''t want our people trying to go in. There is also a spirit at its core that calls itself an "Exarch" or the fourth¡ª" "There is a genuine Exarch on this planet? The energy density shouldn''t be anywhere near enough." Desbera added while making a sign that reminded me of the cross. She touched both shoulders then her stomach, ears, and then forehead. I was about to ask about it before I pushed it to the back of my mind to deal with later. "Yes, the energy in the ''Primal Battlefield'' is much better than here. That being said it won''t stay forever. It will agree to become the planar spirit if I can dominate the entire realm within a century." "How do you even hope to do that? Your growth has been rather quick but some factions could raise their Young Masters to level 20 with a single pill or elixir. They could reach level 50 within a day or so. Even for them level 150 is a tough mark in less than 100 years." Chapter 65: Insanity "I should be able to find my own pills and I have the plane to feed me energy so it isn''t like I want for that. It''s the Tao that would be the major stumbling block right? With my affinities that shouldn''t be a problem." I said not worried too much about the challenge. As long as I didn''t have to fear Binary I didn''t have any reason to be worried. "It''s more than that. You will need instruction. You will need cultivation manuals, skill arrays, weapons, and who knows what else. Cultivation is as much a story of the haves and have-nots as it is about the gifted." I shrugged. "I didn''t have much of a choice. I am going to leave this planet eventually so I will just pick up some useful things then. That reminds me." I summoned the token from the bag and placed it on the table. "I got this upon completing the quest of the plane." Azariah picked it up and smiled. "It''s a teleportation token. It will let you get to wherever this trial is. Although it won''t work for quite some time yet. Close to one of your months." My eyes widened at the idea of another trial. "Would that get me a title?" She shrugged. "No idea. Most trials do but this one is a System-sanctioned event so it could provide a title or it could provide any number of good things." "Alright, so we need to plan for me to go. We already got the array set up so that shouldn''t be too big a deal. How are things going with the cleanup?" "We have the buildings directly around us ready to clear out. If you are serious about this we can start demoing them later today. We would then need to start construction." "How long do you think it would take to get it done? I would like to expand outward and reclaim everything." Christopher looked at Desbera who started speaking."Unfortunately those of your people who have an affinity with either the tao of metal or earth are relatively low. We have managed to get two crews ready to build with the materials we have. Despite that, I think we are looking at over a year before we can meet that goal." "And if we keep the buildings but renovate them?" "Less than half that but the buildings wouldn''t be very strong. The System augmented this one for us but the rest weren''t as fortunate." "Alright, let''s start slowly destroying and rebuilding. We should start with the people who are in the army first. I want them to have proper houses. We can set it up as a benefit of joining. Everyone else will continue as they have been." "If you don''t mind my asking but did you get that ring from the demiplane?" Azariah asked while gesturing to my finger. I chuckled and slipped it off before handing it over. "I found it on the body of a corpse puppet thing." Azariah stared at the ring for several seconds before placing it back on the table. "Its quality has fallen over long years but it is still better than what anyone on this planet should have. Fortunately, you found it." I grinned at her and playfully shook my head. "I have another as well as a few other things that I think you would like to see. I can bring them to your shop later. I also need you to get the arrays or whatever that we would need to create a proper demiplane entrance. We don''t need to rush it for now but I would like the ability to re-enter soon. The monsters inside don''t give any spiritual energy upon death or at least the corpses didn''t." "So we can''t use it to train our non-cultivators?" Christopher asked. "No, it should be a great place to raise proper monsters with energy purity but that would be more long-term. The puppets would kill anything we sent in. Some puppets are either second or third realm in there as well." "How did such a terrifying demi-plane land here?" Desbera murmured. I shrugged. "Because I am just that good?" My laughter only earned me glares from Keshaun, Aaliyah, and Christopher. "Either we have to deal with all of it. I am going to head over to see what I can do about the murders. I have a hunch about who''s doing them." "The System''s Herald?" Aaliyah asked. "If we assume that person''s gone all psycho-cultist about it then it would make sense." I nodded. "I take it the government has the same idea." "Officially no, officially they have no idea who it is but rumors abound," Keshaun stated. "Your name and theirs are the most commonly floated with the prevalent opinion being the herald. Your tendency to show off and what you did to Commonwealth both hurt and helped you." "Oh?" "Yeah, they seem to think that if you were the killer it would look more like an explosion of power. Something impossible to ignore." I chuckled and nodded my agreement. "So that''s why you think I should go? You want me to win some hearts and minds?" I looked at Aaliyah and flashed her a smile. "You gonna be my press secretary" Her death glare only made me laugh until I looked at the information stone. "I am going to go. I am leaning toward going alone. I think this person will either target me to send a message or ignore me. The message makes me think the latter more than the former." "Because you are doing what the System wants?" Keshaun asked. "Yeah, as fucked up as it is. I don''t think the sentiment is wrong. The System hasn''t forced us to kill each other but it wants us to push ourselves. The nature of this situation makes it clear we are supposed to compete. A competition that will kill some of us." "So you think that this person is doing what they should?" Christopher asked. "That the rest of us are insane?" I shrugged. "I don''t know. I am not going around murdering and staging my kills. Well, I don''t accidentally those people so the first point is iffy but the second isn''t. I think they lost their mind. I worry if they are closer to being right than the rest of us." "There are societies in the multiverse. You aren''t allowed to just go around killing anyone and everyone you want or the entire multiverse would be chaos. It is more apt to say the strongest people make the rules." Desbera added. "I don''t know anyone outside of Vile cultivators who would do something like that." "Either way we have to stop them. I don''t think they could catch up to me like this but I don''t want to test it." This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "So shouldn''t we try to draw them out? Like, challenge them directly?" Aaliyah asked. "Yep, which is why I want to go alone. If the government has a detective then that person will be under threat especially if they are too weak to do the hunting themselves. Also if I could make myself a target we would save so much time." "Which is why it''s unlikely to happen. Crazy or not they aren''t stupid. They won''t fight you fairly." Christopher said. I grinned. "I know. It might be fun to see what they can come up with. It would also let me get some practice in with assassination. Ideally, their class would be devoted to it." Both he and Aaliyah stared at me like I had grown a new head for several seconds before he started talking again. "Are we sure you haven''t gone off the deep end?" I shrugged. "I am not normal but I think I am alright. Either way, it doesn''t matter. We have to keep pushing ourselves and the near-death experiences start to pile up. How were things with the beast tide?" "It went well enough. I had to step in and deal with some of the strongest beasts but either you dealt with most of the strongest ones already or you scared the others off." "Nice" I pulled up Standings and found her and grinned. She was sitting pretty at the 19th spot. "Have you decided what you want to do? I probably can''t get you a care basket like Trey but you could start coming with me. Get that level up." She slowly shook her head. "Honestly I don''t want to risk my life so much. I am going to help deal with the situation here but I want to get back to some stability. This isn''t fun even with the magic healing pills." I shrugged. "Suit yourself." We went over a few more minor things before we separated and I got to take a shower. The warm water felt like heaven after what I had to deal with. All in all the last few days were worth it. I decided to spend a few hours in cultivation mostly so I could absorb more energy from the pearl. I also devoted an hour to meditating on the tao, reviewing my spell sigils, and checking on the egg. When I was done I made my way down the elevator and into Azariah''s shop. I found the half-dragon going over a pair of odd-looking spears. They looked like someone had melted random pieces of steel down and just molded them into a spear. No guard or cloth wrapping or anything that marks it as coming from the System. "Buying some lower-end goods?" "Uh no, some of your blacksmiths had forged this and it isn''t bad. It won''t be good enough beyond the first realm and that''s assumes it could reach the peak. Ah, but it''s a good first attempt I wasn''t trying to insult." I waved a hand to stop her. "Don''t do that. You didn''t say anything out of pocket and so speak freely." I watched her reaction to see if anything changed. When nothing did I raised an eyebrow in silent question. I hadn''t noticed it at first but everyone seemed to understand the random things I said. Or rather things that shouldn''t have made sense to Desbera or Azariah or Saanite for that matter. "Did that make sense to you?" "Yes?" When she saw the confused look on my face her eyes widened. "I have a translation skill." "Huh, I guess mine isn''t as rare as I thought. Anyway, you able to take a look at the cool things I found?" She smiled and eagerly nodded. It took me a few minutes to pour everything out. The second storage ring was the cr¨¨me de Le cr¨¨me of the bunch but the weapons and armor were pretty nice. The herbs and other plants were the real prizes. "Young Master, do you know what these are? They are called **Zanium Grass** and they are key for several medicinal baths but especially for awakening physiques. Most sources out here are gone. If you can provide a steady supply we would be able to make quite the profit." "Interesting, would it be better to save it and use it to grow more of it?" "Yes, of course, this here can''t be replanted if it weren''t for the storage ring it would have already lost all of its spirituality. If you can find more of it that is either fresher or not planted." I nodded. "I will keep an eye out for it when I get back in there." "As for the weapons and armor, I believe they are all peak of the 1st realm and very close to awakening proper relic spirits. It might be better to leave the weapons in that environment longer." "How long? Actually, how does a relic or spirit work?" "Oh, the exact details are a bit cloudy for me as well. What I can say is that a blacksmith with the appropriate skill will work on the item. The materials involved play a major part as well. If you have materials with proper spirituality it would make the resulting spirit stronger. I believe that the spirit itself develops with time though I have heard rumors of souls being trapped inside objects. I can''t confirm if that''s true or not." "So basically the materials are good enough but the weapon doesn''t have a spirit in it? If I leave it in a good spot the tao in the air or is it the spiritual energy? One of those will make it develop a spirit?" "Ah yes? I apologize but blacksmithing and relic creation isn''t an expertise or passion of mine." Azariah said nervously. I shrugged. "Alright well, I can''t get back in there for now let''s keep the weapon out here. I am going to transfer my bag to Trey and keep the rings. Assuming he wants to continue down the path it should help him get started. If not then I imagine the bag would still be helpful." "If you are keeping both rings might I suggest wearing one in your hand and the other in your clothes? It is not uncommon to find pickpockets and although it''s hard to steal a person''s ring it''s not impossible." I nodded and slid the bag off my shoulder. It took me a minute to transfer everything I wanted to keep into the ring and then everything for Trey into it but once it was done I handed it off. "Alright before I head out is there anything you need?" "Just more resources if you can provide them. I have been able to sell a few key things but more the merrier." "Of course, we can discuss it further when I get back." I stood up and made my down to the teleporter. The familiar sensation of being moved through space consumed my being. Once again I felt it call to me. A part of me wanted to reach for it, to meditate on it but I still hadn''t decided what I wanted. Before I could get pulled down that line of thought the teleportation ended and I was once again in the UWG Headquarters. Only this time five armed guards stood there. Four of them had sabers in hand while the fifth had a shotgun. The fifth was a large, broad-shouldered guy who looked like a professional bodybuilder. He carried a massive hammer on his back. The big man took one look at me and I felt a burning sensation at the base of my skull. I chuckled when Intellect Fortress activated. I turned to my left and toward the person who was sitting on a park bench reading a book. Or rather pretending to read the book. "If you are going to try and scan me you should buy me a drink first. I promise you anything you may want to know could be told at the price of a single strawberry daiquiri" "You have our sincere apology for that. We have made it protocol that everyone is scanned and identified when they enter." The hammer-wielding man said. "Do you mind sharing your screen with us?" "I will share the name line with you but the rest of it is private. Can''t have everyone know my secrets." I said with a smile before sharing the limited screen. The look on the guard''s faces made my day. "Uh right uh the cultivator outreach team will receive word of your arrival if you can just wait here for a little while longer." The man practically tripped over himself in his haste to get out. I decided to take a seat next to the woman who scanned me. She was older probably in her forties or fifties in a business suit. The type that you would expect to see on the board of some business. From her lack of aura, I figured she hadn''t even reached level 10 yet. "So am I to assume you aren''t going to get me that drink?" The woman looked at me and shook her head. "Not at all, now if you would excuse me I have things to do." "There can''t be that many people coming through the teleporter in a day. So are you reading for leisure or business? Are you in the new cultivator outreach group?" "Not exactly. My job is data collection on average levels and the rate of increase. The Standings are only able to tell us so much." "Oh? You want to mark how quickly people are growing. Are you comparing it to the growth rate of the monsters?" Her eyes widened for a moment as if she couldn''t believe that she heard me correctly. "Well, not me. I don''t go into the field. I focus on settlement cultivators." I chuckled. "You should try it. You might enjoy yourself. I find there is a certain thrill to putting your life on the line. Of course, I might just be an adrenaline junky. I wouldn''t mind taking you out. I am pretty sure you wouldn''t be in any danger with me." It was my turn to be surprised when visibly blushed. Her cheeks turned near-beat red before she shook her head. "I no, no thanks. My name is Sandra though. If you wouldn''t mind letting me pick your mind about things out there. I might even be convinced to buy that drink." I chuckled and caught a group of weirdly mismatched people walking into the room. "Sandra? Alright If I can get some free time I will be sure to look you up. For now, though I think my escort just arrived." Chapter 66 Bloody Herald The cultivator outreach team was a group of five. They were all dressed in different colors ranging from reds to azure blues and forest greens. I wasn''t sure if their robes related to their skills or if they had wanted to look odd on purpose. It reminded me a bit of the NBA All-star games where they all wore their team''s jerseys. The group was a pretty even mix between men and women of varying ages. When they saw me they stopped walking. "Are you Amari?" The man in azure blue robes said as he stepped forward. He looked younger than me. In his early twenties or even younger. "I am. I guess you all are on the welcoming committee?" I smiled at each of them as I felt their auras. They weren''t anything to call home about but they should be strong enough to take care of themselves. "We are. My name is Chang Yi and I am the official cultivator liaison for the UWG. If you don''t mind my asking. Did you know Chinese before this or did you learn it after?" I cocked my head to the side as I tried to understand why he''d asked that. It only took me a minute to realize that he hadn''t been speaking English just then. I chuckled and shook my head. "I never learned." Chang Yi''s eyes widened as if he had just found the golden goose. "So a skill? Where did you get it? Could we buy it from you?" I shook my head. "Sorry, it isn''t for sale. Or rather it came from my class." "Uh huh, I was under the impression you were mostly a combat type. I didn''t realize you had such a diverse range of abilities." I grinned wide at that. "What can I say? I am a man of many mysteries. Some might say a Maverick." "Right well Mr. Jackson we would like to welcome you to New York formally. Last time you were here things were a bit busier than we would have liked but it served its purpose. If you would" He gestured for me to follow him. "We would like to continue this discussion somewhere more private." I shrugged and stepped up to follow. The other four fell into step next to and behind me. I couldn''t tell if they were trying to intimidate me by surrounding me or if they were trying to make sure no one ran up but I didn''t care. It made me feel pretty badass. Like I was some sort of VIP client surrounded by bodyguards. "So Mr.Jackson we couldn''t help but notice your level suddenly skyrocketed a few days ago. Would you be willing to share how that came about?" "I helped some people with a monster hoard. I had to deal with a rather huge amount of them so my level leaped up. I assume that you all haven''t had that here?" "No, no we haven''t. I would appreciate an update on such things. If humanity is dealing with threats it would be foolish for us to face them as individuals. Wouldn''t you agree?" I smiled. "Of course, what was that the former Chief said? It''s time for us to unite." "Indeed," We settled into a comfortable silence as they led be into the UN building. This time we went up an escalator and down several hallways before we entered a room. This one lacked the arrays for silence and was slightly larger. Chang Yi and I entered along with two of the others while the last two. The red and green robes stayed outside. The inside of the room was all black with black leather couches and a TV screen that had already extended down from the ceiling. I took a seat on one couch while Chang Yi took the other. His two silent guards stood sentry at the door. "Am I too assuming that I am going to get some bad news? You are going through quite a lot to secure the entrance and exit." I asked playfully. "You will have to forgive the rudeness. You have a bit of a reputation." Chang Yi replied though there was a slight hunger in his eyes. As if he was hoping that I did do something. "Is that right? I wouldn''t want anyone to be uncomfortable. I suppose I should be a better role model in the new age." He stared at me like there were a hundred things he wanted to say. Which I found amusing. After several seconds he finally found something he was willing to say. "We are thankful that you have come to assist us with this problem. I assume you have been brought up to speed on the basics of the situation?" My smile disappeared as we turned to the point of my visit. "Yeah, several murders very cult and horror movie-like." "Yes, what you might not know is that there was another murder this morning." He grabbed the remote for the TV and flicked it on. When the image came up I had to grit my teeth to stop from blasting the room apart. The victim was a man probably in his late fifties. The body had been posed to almost look like a person in supplication before the heavens. His heart was cut out and he was offering it to the sky. The whole thing made me want to throw up. At the body''s feet were the words. "Still at level 1" in what I had to assume was his blood. "As you can see the person is targeting lower-level people. The attacks have been causing a rift between cultivators and non-cultivators in the city. It doesn''t help that even the weakest cultivator can slowly increase their level." "Is the murderer targeting non-cultivators or anyone with a low level?" I asked. "We believe it''s anyone with a too low a level. As that is often people who don''t cultivate we can''t say for sure that they''re separate." "Alright, who do you think is doing this?" "Based on the victims and the posing we believe it''s the System''s Herald. We also believe that the System is awarding quests for this behavior." Now that came as a start. I leaned forward in my seat. "Why do you say that." "After we found the fourth body we received a faction-wide quest. It told us to find the murderer. We would be rewarded based on our contribution to the goal." I nodded. "So you think the System likely gave the murderer the opposite quest? "We do, the System wants conflict whether it''s us against the wildlife or us against each other." "On that, we agree. You still haven''t mentioned what you wanted me to do exactly. I doubt this person is going to come for me. Are you asking me to stay here and just watch over the city?" If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. "More or less that is correct. We have people that are looking into the murders. We want you to act as reassurance for our people." "You want me to convince people that you are protecting them? Which would also make them think that I am on your side?" Chang Yi''s expression remained neutral as he stared back at me. It didn''t matter though it was pretty clear what the government was thinking. The question was what could I do about it? If I refused I would look like an asshole and there was no way I could just let people die. Not like this. So how could I participate while extracting benefits? "Why didn''t I get a quest when I arrived?" "We believe that the quest is only for people who are a part of our faction. If you would like to join?" He continued when I showed no interest in responding. "Ideally you won''t have to involve yourself in the pursuit of the subject. If you join in we want you to avoid killing them if possible. People must understand that the rule of law is back." I couldn''t help but chuckle and lean back in my seat. "Is it? What will you do if you can''t stop them? If they got a class designed for assassination? Last I checked they were tied with Amahle. If they have all four of their class skills or spells they could be a problem. I am not sure the kind of damage we would cause if we were to start a fight in the city." "Do you think this person could beat you?" Chang Yi asked and for the first time, he sounded a bit worried. "Nope and if I am right that their class is based around stealthy killing the concern is going to be about a cat-and-mouse game. If I have to chase them through the city it will limit the kind of attacks I can use. I also can''t let my aura loose which would make it more difficult." "We believe that Masquerade will do with the battle itself but if needed we would like to call on you to assist. Do you think this person could beat the pair of you?" "I doubt it. Do you mind telling me what Masquerade''s class is?" "I am not allowed to discuss that. In exchange for your assistance, we are willing to offer you some of the items we didn''t sell during the auction. You would be permitted to take any two items or up to five hundred thousand credits but not both." I nodded my head. The offer wasn''t the greatest thing in the world by any means but not bad. Not bad at all. "Where is Masquerade? Am I coordinating with them or am I just sitting back until things fall apart?" "Masquerade is currently in a different meeting. They will visit you once they are done. We will also request that you try to keep any collateral damage to a minimum. There is a strange lack of information about your method of battle. Unleashing your aura as you said would be prohibited. You will be liable for any excess deaths you cause." "I assure you that won''t be a problem. Though I am not going to die for you all. Is there anything I need to know?" We went over a few smaller things including how long they wanted me to stay. With us ultimately settling on one week. If after one week we hadn''t caught the person we would assume they ran off when I arrived. It wasn''t the best case but I couldn''t put off my cultivation for too long especially if this person found a similar quest and started raising their level. I didn''t think they would be stronger than me even if they somehow matched levels with me but they would just slaughter everyone else. "So do I need an escort to my living space? Or do you trust me to find my spot?" "I will take you to the hotel. Since we have brought you here we will take care of the price for the week. We do ask that you be respectful to the workers." "Never bother service workers," I said with a laugh. "I imagine customer service is even tougher now." He nodded and we left the building. The streets were much busier now and once again I was impressed. People in business suits and casual jeans flowed together. "Is there a reason you all are doing this? It''s like you are trying to hold onto what used to be?" "Despite what the apocalypse has done it is time for to restore order. In some ways, we will seek what we had and in others, we will seek more." "How will you deal with superpowers? It''s a bit hard to wear a business suit when a casual punch or a monster could dissolve the outfit?" "We would have a dedicated branch of the army for that. We don''t intend for the civilians to have to fight day in and day out." "You think the System will allow that? It might be using these murders as a way to push you all to change." Chang Yi glared at me. "What would happen to those of us who can''t fight? Those of us not interested in risking their lives?" His volume steadily rose as if finding new anger until I held up a hand to stop him. "You don''t need to convince me of anything. If you feel that strongly you are going to need to get stronger. Strong enough to protect everyone. Either way, we will all have to make our own choices." "I" He took a calming breath. "On that, we agree. Can I assume that you will be joining us for the expedition?" "Indeed, I want to try and reach level forty by then though," I replied just before we entered a tall office building. "You are oddly ambitious. It makes me wonder if we are all missing something. Give me a moment to make sure your room is ready." Chang Yi stepped away and so did two of the guards. I watched them for a few minutes before I decided to step away. Unfortunately for me, the last two guards followed so I ended up sitting in the lobby. I passed my inner eye over the sigil for **Psionic Rain**. **Ethereal Convocation** had another benefit that wasn''t explained when I got it. The spell helped me better understand my sigils. It wasn''t enough for me to understand the language but it was a good start. The sigils were symbols that accepted the energy and then transformed neutral spiritual energy into what I needed. The same thing was true for my psychic energy. When I cultivated the energy was for lack of a better word flavorless. Which brought me to a new question. Why did I need the sigils in the first place? **Psychic Mastery** taught me the basics of manipulating that energy but I didn''t think there was anything special in it. So why couldn''t I just shape my energy into what **Psionic Rain** would do and then let it do it? Did I need the sigils? The answer to that was yes and no. It was a bit like the difference between doing all your math on pen and paper versus letting an A.I. do it for you. The A.I. was faster and probably more accurate which in a fight made all the difference. If I need five seconds to form the attack when my opponent needed three I would be fucked. The final aspect was the biggest of my issues. The Tao was involved somehow. It didn''t make much sense but I should be able to directly manipulate the tao. What I have been doing so far was fine but it was more like using the tao like a hammer. Just hitting a person over the head. Instead, I should be able to manipulate the strand of lucidity into a blade and then stab with it. Unfortunately, I couldn''t. Before I could start practicing though Chang Yi returned and I was led through the halls and up several flights of stairs. When we finally arrived at my room I wasn''t impressed. The room was an old office with no windows and had a basic mattress on a wooden frame. The whole thing gave "We just put this together an hour ago" vibes but I decided not to be a diva about it. In truth, I wasn''t going to spend much time here anyway. "We will have Masquerade come here to visit you. In the meantime please get comfortable and let the receptionist know if you need anything. They will send someone to get me if you have more specific requirements." "Am I allowed to leave? Or will my two shadows here be sticking around?" Chang Yi shook his head. "They will be going back with me. You are free to explore the city at your leisure we ask that you refrain from causing problems. If you find yourself in a conflict please do not kill anyone." I chuckled and stepped into the room. "I will be on my best behavior. You have my word." I closed the door behind me and turned on the light. It sounded like I had a few hours to myself so I figured it would be best to get some energy practice in. I sat cross-legged on the bed and activated **Psychic Mastery**. The rest of the word drifted into monochrome while I watched the instruction. I could tell that this spell was ready to advance to the next stage and what better time than the present? It took me less than an hour to get a hang of the new lesson. Just like that **Psychic Mastery** reached the next stage. The "Advanced" stage was a lot of the same. It focused on more refined shapes but it wasn''t anything immediately useful. I still couldn''t make anything more complicated than simple weapons. The dream of unleashing psychic bullets or a psychic helicopter was still far off. I considered cultivating here but the energy was all off. The air felt for lack of a better word polluted. I could almost taste it in the air. I seriously considered using the teleporter and just coming back in an hour. That wouldn''t do. I wouldn''t run the risk of someone dying while I was cultivating. I was just about to meditate on the tao when someone knocked at the door. I grinned to myself and leaped up. Things might get a bit more interesting. Chapter 67: The Hunt I opened the door and was greeted by the masked face of Masquerade. I couldn''t help but smile when I took in their body language. They looked exhausted. "Having fun buddy?" They glowered at me for several moments before stepping past me and into the room. "Is it just you?" "Yep," I replied and shut the door behind them. "You know I have been wondering. Do you always wear that mask? Is it a part of your class?" "I don''t have a class." They said coldly. "Can we focus on what we need to get done? We don''t have much time and I don''t want to waste it." "Wait, wait you are at level 21. Why would you gain a new level if you didn''t get a class first? That would cost you more than a few attribute points." I leaned back against the door as Masquerade paced. "They won''t give me access to the hub until after we have dealt with this problem. I also don''t want to get until I have more titles." "Oh, you want to try and get a better class? Not a bad idea I suppose. So what do you have to tell me? Are we going to buddy cop this?" "No, I am going to check on a few potential targets. I want you to stay on the rooftops. I assume your body is strong enough to survive a fall from just about anywhere in the city. If you encounter something worrisome I want you to handle it. Make enough noise to let me know and we will bring the herald in." I nodded my understanding. "And if they go after you first? Want me to prioritize your life or the innocent people?" "I''d fucking appreciate if you helped capture the son of a bitch. I have no interest in dying." I laughed as I started circulating my spiritual energy. "Sounds like a plan. Is there anything your new friends told you I don''t know? Anything about this person''s class?" They shook their head. "No idea. If they have a class then they must have access to a System hub which is why the government has restricted all access." "They are hoping the murderer has to return to the hub for a quest? A bit cold-blooded. I assume that most of the cultivators are in the UWG headquarters? Just in case the murderer tries to take them all out?" "I can neither confirm nor deny." Masquerade started before I held up a hand. "Yeah, yeah can''t tell me. It doesn''t matter much anyway. So are we going out now or do we need to wait till nightfall?" "Night, I think we should get a hang on each other''s abilities so I wanted to use the next few hours for a sparring match." That took me by surprise. It only took me a second to piece together the truth of that statement. I smiled and raised a knowing eyebrow at the Masked cultivator. "You all want to know how strong I am don''t you Squidward." Masquerade stared at me for several seconds before shaking their head. "I want to know what you are capable of and really? Squidward? That show is what twenty years old?" I laughed and shrugged. "You don''t even have a class so it wouldn''t be much of a fight. Let''s just say I am a spell caster and leave it at that." "Are you just going to be a pain this whole time?" "Well, I wouldn''t say the whole time. I am being serious though the difference in our attributes would be too much. We could do a quick exchange here if you want?" "No, I am not interested in breaking the room or disturbing the other guests. Come with me to just outside the city." I considered refusing again but I gave in. It might be fun to show off for a bit and I might get to learn a little bit more about the government''s cultivators. "Alright, boss lead the way." After a short walk, we ended up about a mile away and in the middle of the forest. I couldn''t help but laugh at the group of five guards who "needed to escort us for our safety". The fact that they all had cell phones and information crystals was not explained. "So what are the rules boss man?" I asked as we stared at each other. "Just a friendly spar. I brought enough healing pills to take care of most injuries so let''s keep it at that level. No need to go for permanent damage." I nodded. I considered using any of my spells but I couldn''t tell if their psyche was strong enough. Since I wasn''t in the mood to kill anyone I decided against it. That also meant I couldn''t use the Tao either. It did mean I could create my tao field. "Ready when you are." Masquerade drew two daggers from the sheathes on their legs and spun them. The position of the daggers reminded me of something I saw in a movie only they were far more relaxed. I raised an eyebrow as killing intent roiled out from them like a cloud. It was around what I had at the end of the tutorial only it felt different. Masquerade''s was calmer, it wasn''t control but comfort with it. Before I could put anything more together they rushed for me. I aimed a testing right hook at their jaw only for them to contort around the punch. The move was fluid as if they lacked bones in their spine. Their dodge brought their dagger up and within inches of my throat. When the dagger hit my tao field and stopped they froze. Their hesitation was less than a second but it was more than enough time for me to expand the field and force them back over ten feet. My instincts stirred as that part of me bucked at its leash. I chuckled and bounced on the balls of my feet. "Not bad. Not bad at all." I ran forward and aimed another combo of punches at the center of his chest. Just like the first time Masquerade flowed like water around me. I gritted my teeth in irritation. It would have felt better if they were faster than me but no, they were a better fighter. We went back and forth for several more minutes and several more times where their blade should have cut me. Should have killed me if it weren''t my advantage in Tao. "How are you doing that? Is it a spell? Or is it your robes?" Masquerade asked as they circled me. "Neither none of my spells would work very well in this situation." I sighed. "I can''t tell if they would kill you or not. You were a soldier before this?" Masquerade slowly nodded. "Yeah, I am going to start using my skills now." In the next moment, something strange happened. It was like all sound in the world had ended. In the next moment, Masquerade disappeared. A slash cut nearly into my tao field before I realized I was under attack. The attacks kept coming faster and faster. I still couldn''t see anything. I couldn''t tell if Masquerade had increased their speed or was hiding somehow nor could I understand why there was no sound. It wasn''t until I felt a sting on my right arm that I got a little worried. The cut was barely enough to break the skin but it meant they had gotten through. I suffered two more cuts before I decided that things needed to change. I expanded my tao field to its maximum distance of 30 yards. Masquerade was forced back as their daggers glowed a dull white color. This time when they tried to cut through it wasn''t enough. Next, I unleashed a small amount of my killing intent. Not enough to kill anyone nearby but enough to cause Masquerade to flinch. When they did I burst forward and aimed a knee into their stomach. A follow-up punch sent them flying through the air. "Maybe we should call it here? I got to admit fighting like this is fun." I said. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. "You still haven''t used any spells," Masquerade replied before placing his daggers back into their sheathes. "I was hoping to know how to best use you." I shrugged. "Just let me do me I guess. I can assure you that there is very little chance that I am going to hurt anything I don''t want to hurt." "Fair enough. It should be dark in about two hours. I would say take that time to recover your spiritual energy but I am not sure you used much." I chuckled. "I could use the break. I am going to assume you won''t tell me what skill you used to disappear. Was it stealth-related or some sort of domain? Also the sound thing." Masquerade paused for a moment before shaking his head. "I''ll tell you if you let me see your abilities." I cocked my head to the side and considered it. If I didn''t have to hit them then it didn''t matter to me. I grinned and nodded my agreement. "Bet, should we find a monster or do you want me to show off right here?" "There is a pack of wolves about a mile north of here." One of the guards spoke and called out before Masquerade could respond. We all agreed to move and after a short sprint, I found myself seated in a tree about fifteen away from a strange group of animals. To call them wolves was to stretch the definition of the word but apparently, the system gave them names. These were called Skin-Walker Wolves. They looked like they had been skinned and then hit the gym for a hundred years. Their muscles were dense enough that I was pretty sure they could kill gorillas from before. Despite that, they weren''t very impressive. I wasn''t sure what spell I should use. I could leap down and deal with them using my basic attacks but that wouldn''t be what I agreed to. I gave it a few more minutes before deciding on shock and awe. A miniature indigo sun slowly rose into the air above me as I slowly fed it energy. I could have filled it to the maximum in half the time but the dumbstruck look on everyone''s faces made the extra few seconds more than worth it. I also didn''t want them to have a clear understanding of my limits. Once **Psionic Rain** was ready the sun shattered and innumerable sharp blades of psychic energy rained down like the apocalypse on the wolves. They attempted to fight back but none of them had strong enough souls to endure the attacks let alone get to me in time. Despite the sheer number of them the amount of spiritual energy I got in return couldn''t even pay for the spell''s activation. "How the" Masquerade started. "They don''t even have wounds." "The weapons target the psyche. Which makes it very convenient for bodies and resource gathering." "The attack didn''t damage the trees either." "Nope." Masquerade turned and walked away. "We will begin at nightfall make sure you are ready. The skill was a domain. One that messes with perception." I raised an eyebrow at that and nodded. It was certainly an interesting one. I considered making a version of it for myself but decided against it. That skill sounded like something designed for an assassin type and not me. Once they all were gone I couldn''t help but chuckle. "Guess that means I can walk back alone." I quickly gathered the corpses and placed them into my ring before I sat off for the town. I was still a bit worried about the plan especially if the Herald had a class. It wouldn''t surprise me if they could use poisons or something like that. Not to mention they seemed like a cultist type and those people were always scary in the movies. When I got back to my room I decided to focus on meditation. I had lost quite a bit of my psychic energy and it was better than trying to sleep in the cramped space. When night finally fell I couldn''t help but feel excited. It felt like I was in the middle of a Sherlock Holmes novel. Instead of walking out of the building I activated Apportation and stepped through the portal. I stepped out onto the roof of the building a second later and looked around. The city lights made everything feel so much smaller. A jewel in a sea of darkness as far as the eye could go. I activated **Ethereal Convocation**. "What''s the proper address for another person over police radio? Should we have code names?" I felt the spell activate but Masquerade refused to reply for several seconds. "Is this one of your spells? Why didn''t you mention it earlier?" "What would be the fun in telling you all my secrets at the beginning? This should allow us to talk for the whole night. Where are you starting?" "I am starting north of headquarters and then I am going to make my way around clockwise. If we don''t find anything I will do it two more times." "Care to tell me who these people are? The ones you think will be attacked." "They all have low levels but have talents that are good at rebuilding society." "Ahh, you think the murderer is going to target them to stop you all from pretending the world is normal? That could work." "Are you in position? Can other people pick up on this conversation?" "Yes I am and no they can''t at least I don''t think they can. My spell should be pretty good and I don''t think there is anyone else with a class like mine." "That would have been great to know a few hours ago." I could practically feel Masquerade glowering at me but I decided to leave it alone. I glanced over the city again and marveled at just how much I could see. My eyesight wasn''t bad before this but now it felt like my eyes were telescopes. I could see the individual people on the ground. Spiritual energy practically made me feel like a superhuman then again I wasn''t human. I took a deep breath to distract myself from that though and then I focused on what was going on beneath me. I leaped to a different rooftop every hour but nothing happened. The closest we got to some action was a drunk woman stumbling into the wrong apartment. An action that led to an exchange of gunfire that left both of them hurt and me down two pills. We repeated this process every night for three nights before something interesting happened. I was in my spot above the city when the power went over an entire block. "Yo, you see that?" "I do, I am on my way over there." I was just about to open a portal when a dull sense of anxiety washed over me. The effect was strong enough to stop me from moving. Instead, I pulled up the Standing and grimaced. "We might have a problem."
World Standings(Tao) Names
1st Amari Jackson
2nd The System''s Herald
3rd Amalhe Umzawi
4th Romulus
5th The Master
6th One Blade
7th Mwalimu Tatiani
8th Taoist Mei Lin
9th The Monkey King
10th
"How the fuck did The System''s Herald leap over both Romulus and Amahle in the tao" I spoke out loud for the first time tonight as I rushed from rooftop to rooftop. I quickly explained the situation to Masquerade as I entered the darkened neighborhood. My danger sense picking up. It felt like there was a hand reaching for the back of my neck. "Don''t engage if you can avoid it. We don''t know what they are capable of. They should have at least one Tao strand if not two." "Do we have any way of knowing what it will let them do?" "No, not without fighting them. We can assume it will be something for an assassin or a killer so maybe fear-based?" Just as I finished a pervasive sense of dread filled the night. I searched around half expecting for masked murderer to be standing behind me. I wasn''t sure if this was a skill or some sort of Tao field. Nor could I tell where it was coming from. I circulated the tao of adamance and felt the sensation abate. "Careful the fear effect might be a spell or it might be their tao. Keep your head and don''t attack unless you are sure you are in danger." I looked over the roof and down at the street hoping to find any signs of life. Or where this spell was coming from but there was nothing. "Start searching each building. I am starting on the ground floors you start on the top." Masquerade''s mental voice brought my distracted thoughts back to the current moment. I thought about it and couldn''t come up with a better plan. I leaped from the roof while grabbing hold of the ledge. My momentum swung me through the glass window like a superhero. I glanced around the room thankful that it was empty. I activated Psychic Aegis in its bubble form just in case. I ran throughout the building but found nothing but families. Every room filled me with a mounting fear that only amplified the atmosphere outside. "Please tell me you found something." I was just about to reply when a blood-curdling scream shattered the silence. "Damn it" I activated Apportation and appeared on the roof seconds later before breaking out into a full sprint. I caught sight of Masquerade on the streets below me. The scream came from a parking garage turned shelter less than a block away. As soon as I was close enough I pushed spiritual energy into my feet and shot forward like a bullet. I leaped into the garage like Spider-Man as my eyes scanned for any signs of the murderer. Chapter 68: Devastating Battle The smell of blood mixed with the pervasive dread in the air as I surveyed the area. The parking garage was empty and dark. A handful of cars spread throughout none of which looked like they had been turned on in the new world. I closed my eyes and strained my ears to pick up any signs of battle or screams of pain. Neither of those was what I heard¡ªa demented laugh from somewhere below me. I ran into the closest stairway and leaped straight down the middle. Floors passed by in a blur until my instincts told me to stop. My hand shot forward like a viper, I grabbed the stone and used my momentum to land on the next level. It took me a second to process what I was seeing. When I did a calm fury spread through my entire body. A man in sanguine cultivator robes stood in front of a man. The man had been gagged and was bleeding from a wound on his head. He was still conscious but wasn''t moving. I couldn''t tell if that was due to fear or some ability. The murderer turned me and flashed the most psychotic smile I had ever seen. It was like something out of a movie, his eyes were filled with a madness that made me take a half step back. When he spoke he half laughed. "You must be our venerable leader. The Lord has blessed you with much." "I take it you are The System''s Herald?" I asked while my mind rushed to come up with a plan. A plan that would let me capture one and save another. "I am." The Herald drew a wicked blade that looked like it had been stained with the blood of hundreds of people. The blade was split in two with one half slightly shorter than the other. "Have you come to join me? We can punish the unfaithful together. You show them the light while I teach them the darkness." Before I could answer Masquerade rushed up the stairs. I half expected them to hesitate when they saw the scene but Masquerade didn''t. Instead, they drew their won dagger. "By the authority of the United World Government, I have come to bring you in." "Another disappointment. A new world has been presented to us and you hide beneath the lie of the old one. Heaven has brought illumination and you cringe from it like the shadows before the dawn. You should do better." "Is that what you are doing? God''s work?" I spat the words at him as my killing intent fought against the locks I placed on it. This man no this monster was willing to hurt and kill people for some demented madness? A cackling laughter filled the air as the monster stepped toward us. His blade danced in the air in front of him in a silent promise of violence. "Of course, Someone has to educate them. What else do you do with a wayward child but punish them?" "You are killing innocent people," Masquerade replied. "There is no greater crime than to lose the favor of Heaven. In this world, we have been given the chance to be greater. What worse crime can there be than to choose to be weak?" I gritted my teeth and looked between the madman and his potential victim. I wasn''t sure if the Herald had paralyzed him but he didn''t move not even to ask for help. Despite that, there was something inside me that agreed with the herald. We had been given a literal reset or at least the closest we would ever come. This world wasn''t fair by a long shot but it was closer. Hundreds of millions of us became cultivators overnight, even those who couldn''t cultivate could gain levels. I shook the thought from my head and focused. Regardless this bastard was murdering people. Murdering them for not risking their lives to fight monsters. I wouldn''t stand for that. "Ah, but it looks like the time for conversation has ended. Perhaps you both will be the wake-up call this world needs. A call to follow the glories of the System." In the next moment, The Herald disappeared and reappeared in front of me. His blade slammed into my tao field less than an inch from my throat. My eyes widened as I processed what just happened. There had been no warning, not even my danger sense it was as if he had always been standing in front of me. I lashed out on instinct with a right hook. My fist slammed into his jaw like a falling meteor. The blow launched him nearly ten feet away. I could tell it wouldn''t be enough to kill him or even stop him for long. "Help the civilian," I spoke out loud while keeping my eyes trained on the System''s Herald. He was slow to get back to his feet and I couldn''t tell if that was because I had hurt him or if it was a part of his sick game. "Get him to safety and then join me." I took a step and then another and another before I broke out into a sprint. The herald raised his blade and rushed toward me. His dagger moved like a snake on the hunt for every exposed part of my body. His dagger slammed into my field twice for every hit I landed. We continued like for less than a minute before he backed off and leaped out of the building. I leaped out after him, spiritual energy flowing into the sigil for **Psychic Blast** until I saw what was below us. A group of people were gawking up at us like we were a spectacle. As soon as they saw us falling toward them they attempted to move but it was too late. I abandoned the spell to avoid hitting them as the Herald landed on top of a woman. The sickening crunch of her neck was enough to tell me I couldn''t save her. "You hesitated." He cackled before sprinting down a side street. "You aren''t going to catch me if you have to worry about the unclean." "I am on my way," Masquerade said through our link as I crashed into the ground. "Spread out. The longer we let this go on the more danger they will be in. Avoid the dagger I think it''s coated in something." I dashed through the side street after side street as the panic screams filled the air. My mind raced as I tried to figure out what his next move would be. He wasn''t fast enough to escape and he couldn''t leave the city without opening himself up to an attack. I chased after him for another five minutes when Masquerade joined the battle. Their daggers flashed in deadly arc. I half expected the madman to lose his head but it was like he had eyes in the back of his head. He flipped backward narrowly avoiding the attack while positioning Masquerade between us. My anger flared at the indignity of being led around like a dog. I felt the familiar gentle caress in the back of my mind as a new idea formed. Now that I had it I didn''t understand why I hadn''t tried it before. It seemed so easy, so obvious. I leaped into the air above Masquerade only to find the Herald waiting for me. This time his dagger glowed a dark emerald color that made me think of the depths of bog or swamp. The dagger sliced through my tao field as an indigo ball formed above my pointer finger. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as we sought each other''s life. The defenses on my robe activated just as my tao field collapsed. His dagger was stopped less than an inch from my heart and unleashed Psychic Blast. The spell was compressed to a size barely bigger than my finger but that wasn''t the truly magnificent part. Indigo light engulfed us both as a new sun was birthed in the middle of New York. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. I closed my eyes mostly to protect them from the glow and waited for the kill confirmation but nothing came. When I accepted that he had somehow lived I couldn''t help myself. I began to laugh. My vision returned just as the Herald retreated only this time he hadn''t run away. We stared at each other in the middle of the street. His laughter joined my own and I wasn''t sure which of us was mad anymore. Two psychic blades formed above me while I activated Psychic Aegis. "Yes, yes so good. Show them. Show them what we should all strive to be. Show them what justice is in this new world." I took a deep breath and calmed down. Part of me enjoyed the battle but the rational part of me knew this was bad. People were at risk and I couldn''t let them think I was just as insane as him. Before I could decide how to proceed Masquerade joined us. They had a nasty wound on his right arm that looked wrong. It refused to stop bleeding despite the torn shirt that had been turned into a makeshift tourniquet. Furthermore, the blood was filled with black as if it were sick. "Are you alright? Do you have something for the wound?" "My healing pills aren''t working. The right arm is a bit tender but nothing major." I shrugged and summoned one of the pills from the Primal Battlefield. "Try that one. It should be able to heal a tao-based injury. Though it might have a kick to it." "That soft heart is going to get you in trouble." The Herald cackled before appearing in front of me. This time I was ready. Psychic Aegis blocked the dagger while both of my blades went for the kill. He avoided the first one and the second hit him square in the chest. The light in his eyes dimmed as realization hit him. My fist shot for his head, all pretense of capture gone as I went for the kill. I could practically feel his kill energy when a ring on his right hand shattered. The world seemed to pause as a scream of danger shot through me. I had leaped nearly ten feet away before I had processed what was going on. In the next moment, a sphere of utter darkness surrounded the Herald. I stared at it in utter confusion. The sphere lasted less than a minute before it a chunk of the street simply disappeared. "Did you do that?" Masquerade asked. "No, that wasn''t an ability of mine." I pulled up the World Standing hoping that I wouldn''t see his name but it was still there. Which meant whatever it was didn''t kill him. "I think it was a protective item. He was about to die and the ring somehow defended him. It then teleported him somewhere else." "Do you think something like that exists?" I nodded. "My robes have a powerful shield. I don''t see why someone couldn''t create a teleportation shield kind of thing." "So what do we do now? I doubt he is going to attack anyone again tonight." "No, I don''t think he could even if he wanted. His psyche shouldn''t be strong enough to just shrug off my attack so he will have to recover. The question is where he went. If he is nearby we might be able to find him." "I am going to assume you don''t have a method to search for him." When I shook my head they sighed. "Keep overwatch from the roofs for a few more hours. I need to go and let my bosses know what happened. If we need to search for someone it''s going to take all night and a lot of manpower." "Let them know that either you or I have to face him. The others will just throw their lives away." We went over a few more things before they left. I considered calling some people from Amara but decided against it. I didn''t want to put my people at risk nor did I think it would help. My gut told me that the ring would have sent him as far from me as it could. I wouldn''t be surprised if he was days or even weeks away. On top of that the sphere had the same feeling as the System''s teleporters. I wasn''t sure if that meant the System created it or if all teleportation felt like that. I also didn''t want to know. I made my way onto the parking garage and did two rotations around the city. After that, I sat in silent meditation for two hours and then returned to my room. Not only had Masquerade not sought me out but no one was on the streets anymore. Which made sense and I couldn''t blame them but it ruined the atmosphere. We once again returned to the apocalypse. The next day the city was somber. Everyone had either seen the battle or had heard about it by now. Eyes followed me as I walked down the street and I wasn''t sure if they were afraid of me or thankful. It was probably a mix of the two which was understandable. The battle had caused something in the city to break. People no longer lingered in the streets nor did they seem happy. Many of them carried various weapons from baseball bats to two by fours which only made my mood worse. I still hadn''t decided how I felt about the UWG but they had tried to bring peace to people. It wasn''t enough and it was doomed to fail but the System''s Herald had fucked things up. I stepped into the government''s teleportation state and let out a sigh. "You don''t look happy to see us." Chang Yi said with a forced smile. "Well, last time we spoke it got me involved in all this so..." I flashed him a smile and then nodded to three guards with him. "Is the government sure they don''t want me around?" "Yeah, you would be helpful but you are also a bit dangerous. You are a walking weapon and we would prefer to not have you around." That made me chuckle. "Of course, so what will you do next? I don''t think he will come back here again at least not in the short term." "We agree it''s likely that he will go and hunt somewhere else." He hesitated and I watched the inner war play out on his face. After a minute he sighed. "You will keep leveling up right?" The unspoken words hung in the air between us and I didn''t answer him. I was going to keep leveling but there was no guarantee that I would be here to defend them. That I could defend everyone. I wasn''t even sure I wanted to do that. I sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I can''t let that guy be the first one to level 50." I offered a dry chuckle before walking up to the teleporter. "If you ever need anything Amara is open to you. Amara is open to everyone that needs a home." The teleportation took over a second later. The darkness that greeted me was oddly calming. There was nothing else but me and my thoughts which was oddly calming. There was a lot I needed to get done. I hardened my heart and mentally prepared myself. The next time the Herald and I met would be the day one of us died. When the world came back into focus I felt a hundred times better. I gave the guard on duty a nod before activating Apportation. I didn''t have the time to get distracted. The battle had brought something to the surface. Something that I had been waiting on forever. I stepped out of the portal and into my private cultivation chamber. The density of the spiritual energy hit me like a drug. I froze there for a moment and just let it flow over me. When I was ready I took a seat and placed a 2nd realm stone into my rug and started to cultivate. The energy poured into me, slowly revitalizing my channels and draining dantian. It would be a while before I could hit the next level but that was fine. I just needed the calming effect. I wasn''t sure how long I sat there before I turned my focus to my tao. The strand of adamance sat like unyielding steel in my mind. The strand of lucidity was closer to an ethereal wind. It had taken days before I understood what coherence meant and what lucidity was. My previous understanding had been well shallow for lack of a better word. That changed during the battle. Interestingly enough it wasn''t the strand of lucidity that revealed but adamance. I took a deep breath and let the last few weeks of battles flow over me. The puppets on the battlefield, the monster horde, even my sparing sessions. All of them held a bit of the truth that I wanted, that I needed. It wasn''t a massive change, nor was it even noticeable at first. It was like a barely there whisper, a gentle caress that couldn''t be bound or suppressed. It was the perfect opposite of the strand of adamance. I opened my eyes and pulled up the waiting notification. What I saw was enough to make me laugh. Tao Strand of Lucidity ¡ª Comprehension: Middle. Perception +20, Wisdom +20 I pulled up the World Standing for the Tao and let out a disappointed sigh. This and the wealth list didn''t have any signs of progress. It didn''t tell me how many Tao I had or their levels which sucked but I should have just widened my lead. I could feel that I could create another tao strand but I wasn''t sure which one it should be. Chapter 69: Development The elements seemed like the obvious choice. The four classical ones were easy to understand. I have seen more than a few TV shows, movies, games, and other things describing them but is that what I wanted? The image of myself wielding fire, water, lightning, earth, and wind flickered through my mind. Even more esoteric concepts like light and darkness would be amazing. Yet I couldn''t help but feel like I was moving too fast. I hadn''t even been a cultivator for a year, so I didn''t need more strands. I couldn''t even be sure that my class wouldn''t provide me with another vision. I thought about it for another thirty minutes before I left it alone. I still had a few more things I wanted to take care of. I picked up the pearl and let its energy flow into me. I made it nearly fifteen minutes this time before I was forced to stop. For lack of a better descriptor, the pearl''s energy was like sugar. It tasted great and made me want more but I couldn''t. It would eventually become painful and I would have to stop. Once I reached my limit I placed the pearl down and checked my status screen. There was still no hint of whatever the pearl was doing. I wasn''t completely clueless though. I could feel my soul or psyche getting stronger. Unfortunately, I had no idea what that meant. I placed the pearl back in its spot and turned my attention to the egg. I unleashed my tao fields one after the other. My tao caused the room to shimmer as if I were stuck in a heat haze. It took me another five minutes of practice before I got the hang of using the strand of lucidity. It was a bit like a cross between offensive and defensive. It made me confused the more I looked at it, kind of like staring at an MC Escher painting. Of course that was taking into effect that my Wisdom attribute was sky-high at this point and my psyche was even better. Part of me wanted to run out and test my new toy but that would be irresponsible. I was technically the ruler of this place so I needed to do ruler things. I took another half an hour to cultivate and meditate before I left. I was about to leave my apartment when I caught sight of myself in the mirror. My appearance had once again improved. My eyes were for lack of a better weird clearer. Not in the sense that they were easier to see but they seemed more aware. I didn''t feel any differently so it was cosmetic but I liked it. The effect reminded me of those people with piercing blue eyes in movies. Like they or rather I could see straight through you. Second, my features were sharper. It was like before my features were in 4k and now they were in 8k. This confirmed or further supported my decision not to grab another strand. If I picked darkness would my appearance become darker? Would I look evil? If I picked light would I look lighter? The image of myself with bleached skin and golden locs passed through my mind. The hair I could deal with but skin? Not. Of course, I might have been overthinking things. One thing that I did know was that I looked damn good. I was somewhere around supermodel levels of beauty. There were so many things I didn''t know and each of them seemed important. I pulled my focus from the mirror and back to the tasks at hand. "I knew you were vain but checking yourself out in the mirror as soon as you get back seems low." Aaliyah''s said from behind me. I turned around and smiled at her. "I am pretty sure you aren''t supposed to enter without permission. I feel like that''s a standard rule." "You have very few rules. I am just the only person willing to drag your ass out of here. Well me and Christopher but he is busy." "Is everything alright?" I checked her face for any signs of worry but she seemed just as I remembered. "No, just a hundred small issues. People are debating who should move into which houses and what kind of contribution should count to the whole thing. Between Christopher and Keshaun they have the situation under control. How did things go with your hunt." I sighed and gestured for her to follow me. I waited until we were headed down the hallway before I explained what had happened. When I finished my story she let out a low whistle and shook her head. "Damn so not even you can win everything? Do you think he will come here?" "I doubt it. Just in case activate the arrays whenever I leave. I doubt that he will be up to a straight fight with me again. If I assume that his madness wasn''t for show I don''t think he has a problem with me. Nor do I think he has a problem with the top 100. He hates people who aren''t trying that being said Masquerade might have some trouble. Since he is working for the UWG." "I am shocked someone managed to survive a direct hit from you." I shrugged. "I hadn''t hit him with everything and nothing is absolute. I want to know more about that treasure. I could use something like that." "Do you think it was a reward from a quest or something from the tutorial?" "That''s a good question. No way to know not for sure anyway. Do you all need help cleaning out the area?" "We could use more people to do the work but we don''t need you." I nodded. "Either way I will see what I can do. I will stop by once I finish checking in with everyone. Let me know if you all need anything then." We stepped off the elevator and then went our separate ways. I made my way to the academy where I found the usual suspect only this time Trey sported a black eye. "Damn. Who fuck you up?" I asked. When he glared at me I decided to bite back my laugh. Desbera handed him a healing pill before turning to me. "One of the guards with some hand-to-hand combat training decided to show him a few things. Your world had a few pugilist heritages before the System?" I paused at that before slowly nodding. I guess the fighting styles of the world''s militaries would count as a heritage. I would need to see if any of it could be used now that everyone had super strength and speed. "If I brought you some books do you think you could update fighting styles from¡ª" She held up a hand and shook her head. "No, I am not allowed to help like that but you should be able to. You aren''t focused on the art but if you had a follower that was they could spend time training and revising it. With any luck one or two of them would gain an epiphany." I stared at her for several seconds in expectation before she continued. "Epiphanies are hard to describe but the best I could say is a momentary enlightenment. They are notoriously difficult to force but they are known to cause miracles in some cases. Blacksmiths finally understand how to make the sword that had been stumping them for generations, musicians finish their perfect song, and warriors grow in power as they master techniques they couldn''t before." "Are there treasures that could force one?" She nodded. "Yes, in short, there are many treasures that can though relying on a treasure is not as good as if it happened on its own. It would be cultivating diluted energy." Stolen novel; please report. "Interesting. Very interesting. What does it feel like? When it happens I mean?" "I well I don''t know personally. Everyone describes it differently as far as I understand. I have never felt it myself. Some people describe it as the Heavens showering them with knowledge others it''s like a light had been shined on an obvious answer. Others declare it like the great Tao pushes them to the correct answer." "Uh huh, fascinating very fascinating. So you want to learn how to fight with your hands?" I shifted my focus back to Trey. "I thought you were pretty sold on the fire and Ice mage." "I am but I was reading some of the stones and it can''t hurt to be able to fight with your hands. I won''t be as good as someone who is devoted to it but I should be able to surprise someone with it." I couldn''t help but chuckle at that. "I have enjoyed giving someone a good punch in the face. Regardless you have plenty of time to decide what you want to do. I still want to gather a few more things for you." "No offense big dog but why? I mean I am thankful but you don''t have to keep giving me things." I took a moment to process the question. Searching my mind for any explanation that wouldn''t make me seem crazy and I couldn''t come up with one. "I guess we are both orphans. I do want you to spend some time thinking about what you want to do. I am going to leave this place and I would like to have some people follow but it''s up to you." "Is that what Aaliyah said no to?" I nodded. "In that case, I''ll think about it." I grinned and patted him on the back. "No need to get too serious about it. You have time and who knows I might get too strong. I might have to leave before you are ready." "Desbera what do you know about escape treasures?" I quickly went over the details of my battle with the Herald. When I was done she didn''t look anywhere near as interested as I was. "Well yes, there are plenty of treasures that can do that. Most fights between cultivators are just forcing your opponent to use all their hidden aces. The tutorial would be the most likely place to get such things. Trial grounds would be another." "So I should go back into the battlefield?" "Well if what you described is even half accurate I would say yes. I can''t say how many of the items would be usable after this long but it would be a good place." I nodded."What about flight?" "Yes, there are flying treasures as well. They can be hard to purchase especially ones that would work in an area like this. An area with subpar energy I mean." I rubbed my beard and nodded. "Do you like a submersible treasure would that be possible? Something that would let me explore the deep sea?" "Of course, there are countless water worlds in the multiverse. Azariah should be able to find something. I would imagine it would depend on when you needed it." "Great. I am going to let you both get back to it then. I have a few more stops before the day is over." I left them and made a quick trip to the Emporium where I found Azariah seated at her desk. Dozens of paper scattered around her while the rest of her workers brought items in and out of the back rooms. "You don''t look like you''re having fun." She looked up at me and the look on her face made me wonder if she could spit fire. Thankfully she took a breath and visibly relaxed. "Hello Young Master. Is there something I can help you with?" "Well I wanted to know if you could find me a certain kind of treasure but I feel like I should be asking if you need anything. Is the business world not treating you well?" "It''s not that or well it is. I am just barely keeping us even and I am not sure what to do about it." I raised an eyebrow at the mountain of papers and shook my head. "Math isn''t my thing but if I can make a suggestion. You should try to branch out to other places. We shouldn''t have enough people to fund a business on our own. Even if I buy the vast majority." Her eyes beamed as she turned back to me. "I had thought or assumed that you wouldn''t want that. I can arrange an expedition if you can provide a group of guards. Our ability to interfere in domestic matters on a new planet is limited." I nodded. "Get with Christopher and have him build a group for you. You can take five people. Be careful not to let anyone take advantage of you. We had some tough negotiators before everything happened. Oh, feel free to use my name if you have to." She smiled as her tail wagged and knocked over a table filled with glass cases. Strangely enough, the cases bounced off the ground instead of shattering. None of them had sigils which only made them more interesting. "I think I can handle some..." She looked at me and whatever word she was about to say died on her lips. "Uh huh, well regardless I would like to know if you can find me a submersible ship. Also, any defensive treasures would be nice." I pulled up my status screen and sent her just about all the credits I had. "Spend those to do it. The ship takes priority though you don''t need to rush it. I don''t plan on using it until I am level 50." "Alright, do you need it to have any specific features?" I stared at her for several seconds before I got the feeling that this conversation was going to be much longer than I originally thought. I grabbed a seat and asked her to explain. The conversation took nearly half an hour before I got a bit annoyed at all the options. The weapons alone could be based around any tao which didn''t make sense initially since the tao of fire being used underwater seemed pointless. It was then that she explained that there were worlds that would submerge you in all kinds of shit. Oceans of fire, darkness, light, and just about anything else. Eventually, I just told her to find the best she could that would let me go underwater and store the thing. Which was a whole new can of worms. When we finally finished I felt like I had escaped a battlefield. I practically sprinted for the door. With my pockets mostly empty I decided it was time to go and see my workers. A quick sprint brought me to an area North of the main entrance that was in the middle of being demolished. Several blocks had already been destroyed and flags representing where new housing would go stood tall. It was enough to take my breath away, it wasn''t anything impressive by old-world standards but this was because of me. I told them to do it and the world was being shaped. While I admired the scene and myself I felt a presence walking up behind me. I smiled when I heard the familiar voice. "I was wondering if you were going to stop by," Christopher asked. I turned around and raised an eyebrow at the man. He had gone through a mini-transformation in the last few days. The old football gear that was his armor was gone. In its place was a decent set of robes in dark earthy colors. I didn''t sense any spirituality from them so I figured they were just sturdy clothes which should be pretty good for now. "Well, I couldn''t just leave you all to do all the work. The last thing I need is a worker''s revolution. I don''t want to find out if Guillotine could remove my head." I half laughed at the thought. "So Aaliyah says that you guys didn''t catch the killer?" I nodded. "Yeah, he was a crazy son of a bitch." I recounted everything that happened including the cultivator liaison program. Something that I was considering putting together. "Hmm, do you think you would beat him if you fight again? If you fought for real I mean?" I nodded. "He was pretty fast and my guess is he will focus on that attribute. If he got some powerful titles things might get dicey but I think I stole most of the good ones already. I am pretty sure I would win." He laughed and stepped up next to me. "Well, I fear the day we have to deal with something that will make you humble." I scoffed and he ignored me. "Still it''s nice. The people are starting to look up to you. There is still fear but they like you to King Arthur than a Tyrant." "Hmmm, so what you''re saying is I need to get a dragon or two? Oh, and I nice round table. Should I start recruiting some knights? Of course, Lancelot wasn''t the best choice if I remember right." I flashed the man a cheeky grin before I turned back to the workers. "So where would you like me? I ate my spinach and I am ready to work." My arrival sent a wave of murmurs and hushed conversation through the workers. I wasn''t sure if they were happy that I was there until I started lifting walls into the air like Superman. The feats of strength earned me their thanks but it was my utter lack of handyman skills that made them start warming up to me. After an hour Christopher demoted me to heavy thing mover and I slowly became one of the guys. I didn''t think it would solve all of our problems and there were still a few nervous glances as if they expected me to stop playing the game. I devoted five hours to construction crew duties before I left. Chapter 70: The Expedition Begins I left the workers behind and took an hour to get myself cleaned up. After that, I went and found Saanite. They were floating in the middle of the boardroom and I wasn''t sure if they were asleep or even if they had to sleep. "Uh, you available to talk?" The slowly rotating ball of space dust brightened and I could feel it looking at me. I still wasn''t sure how that worked nor did I want to ask. "There you are I have just been given a minor reward for you. Please check your updated Status Screen at your leisure." I raised an eyebrow and did as I was instructed. I didn''t see anything different and was just about to point that out when I found it. The line about my affiliation had changed. It now said my affiliation was to Earth but specifically Amara. It also had the word ruler next to it. "So this means the System officially considers me a ruler?" As if to answer my question I received a new title. One that wasn''t anything to look down at. Prime Fore bearer: Become the First Recognized Ruler in a New World. Reward: All Attributes +10. This was the first improvement to my luck attribute in a while which only served to put the bow on an otherwise wonderful day. I reviewed my attributes for a minute before I closed the screen and got back to what I came for. "Perfect. I am going to be leaving for the expedition in a week or so. I am providing ten 2nd realm stones to power the arrays while I am gone." I had to resist the urge to flinch when I summoned the smile pile of cultivation batteries. A small voice in the back of my mind encouraged me not to do it. That it would be better for me to keep the stones. I ignored it. I had no way of knowing what would happen while I was gone and couldn''t guarantee I would get back fast enough to help them if they got attacked. "Very well, do you want us to run the array as soon as you leave or ration for the most time?" "Start as soon as I am gone. I don''t want to risk anyone getting inside so make sure that the guard patrols are picked up as well. If something happens bring everyone into the building and defend. I will try to return as quickly as possible. Would the System notify me if this place came under attack?" "No, not unless the attackers were a threat to your hub. You would then be warned that you were in danger of losing control of the city." I nodded. It was a bit better than I expected which made me feel better. If I assumed that the continent wasn''t too far away I might be able to get back my opening portals. It would require the timing to be just right which made it less than ideal but possible. "Is there anything you can do? Are you able to defend yourself? Will the System protect you?" "No, I do not have any combat abilities. It is generally frowned upon to attempt to harm any System-sanctioned person. It is a part of our agreement to work for the System. I will be unable to provide any additional help. Should I try I would lose said protection." "I guess that works. Do whatever you can for as long as you can." We went over a few more things related to the day-to-day running of the city. Between my council and Saanite, there wasn''t much for me to do. My role was more nuke than administrator which wasn''t bad necessarily. I didn''t like the idea of being a figurehead but it would help me leave whenever I wanted. I could also come back and undo any decisions I didn''t like so that was a benefit. "What do you want us to do about refugees?" Saanite''s question brought me back to the current moment. "Oh ah if people come here in need of help you are free to let them in at the agreement of the council. If you have reason to believe they are dangerous then provide them what you can but leave them outside. I don''t want to risk our people." "What about refugees from other worlds?" I stared back at my administrator in complete confusion. "What? Wait people can join worlds like ours?" "Yes, the refugee system is a sub-routine of the mercantile system. There are restrictions such as no one can be stronger than the person granting them safe passage nor can they hurt said factions. They would form a contract with you while the System acts as an enforcer." "Do we have any offers right now?" "No, you have just gained the right as a recognized ruler so it will likely be some time before anyone considers your world. On top of that, your world is relatively weak so it likely won''t draw much interest." "It also won''t make me popular here." I couldn''t help but smile at the thought of how people would react to dwarves and elves coming out of Amara. "Either way if something comes up save it for when I get back. If for some reason you can''t let the council know. I want us to be welcoming to everyone but I am not naive enough to believe that everyone else will agree." After that, we spent another hour going over the final details. Mainly things about the day-to-day activities and how the system generated quests for other people. It turned out I couldn''t give out quests yet but I could aim the way my people developed. I could buy a merit system that would let me arrange rewards for development. Ultimately I couldn''t do it right now, most of my money was tied up with Azariah so hiring people to take care of that would be difficult. When I left Saanite I decided to call it a day. I wanted to speak with Keshaun to see how they were doing but it was pretty late and I was a bit tired. I decided to spend the rest of the night divided between sleep, cultivation, and meditation until the sun rose. I got dressed and made my way down to the floor where Keshaun and his group of former prisoners lived. I wasn''t sure how I felt about his group isolating themselves into a mini neighborhood but it was their choice. I knocked on the door and waited for it to open. When it did Keshaun''s smiling face stared at me. He gestured for me to enter and then closed the door behind me once I did. "Hello, I hope you are here on good news." "Well, it depends have you done something I should get mad at you for? No, I am here to go over things with you before I leave. Is there anything your people need?" "No, we are doing rather well though I do have some questions if you don''t mind?" I nodded for him to continue. "Some of our non-combatants are starting to worry. They are worried that their growth will stagnate." I raised an eyebrow at that but let him continue explaining. "There are no complaints about your academy, the problem is the lack of resources. There is limited material outside of the stuff from the old world. Unfortunately working with that provides minimal spirit energy which increases the need for cultivation time. Since many of the people who came with me aren''t cultivators..." "They would have to go out and fight to gain the levels. Either that or spend all their money on spirit stones." I ran my hand across my face and sighed. "So the non-cultivators are going to struggle to keep up even if they are building things I will see what I can do. I should be able to get more materials easily enough. I don''t think that would be too hard. I am not sure what I can do about the energy." "Of course, the System has made it very obvious that we aren''t all equal in its eyes. Our fear is more focused on the city itself. How long until people start to feel that the non-cultivators aren''t working as hard or providing as much?" "All will be treated the same under the law anyway. I can''t make people like you nor can I make people appreciate them." "Of course, many of us have joined the army which has also raised questions related to benefits?" This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "You like if they get hurt or something. I don''t have endless money but I can look into it. I imagine that there has to be something like that in the multiverse. Especially if the primal battlefield can provide an income. I want to do better than what the United States had before. Something like a stipend paid out over some time. Perhaps a set of cultivation resources?" "With your permission, I could set something up with a few of the veterans. We would bring it before the council for approval of course." I decided to ignore the gleam in his eyes as I gave my approval for the idea. I didn''t think he would hurt me with this but it felt like giving him power wasn''t the best idea. Either way, I didn''t have the time to do it myself and I didn''t know much about it. "See to it that it gets done. Don''t implement it until I come back. Anyone injured during that time is to be treated as if nothing happened minus their duties while they recover." "Of course, as for the battlefield if we can stabilize the entrance before you get back do you want us to do so or wait to activate the array for your return?" That was a good question. If they activate and then lose control over it the corpses inside might kill everyone. If one of the strong ones got out then it might be over for everyone on the planet. "No, wait to activate it until I get back. We can''t afford those things getting out." We spent an hour going over a few other things though most of it was idle conversation. I learned a bit more about the Panthers and how they ended. The story was fascinating but was also bittersweet. How a group of people tried to do good but slowly transformed. I couldn''t help but wonder if I was going down that same path. What would people write about me in future history books? I left his apartment and wandered around for a bit. The next two weeks went by in a bit of a blur. I divided my time between developing Amara and personal cultivation. Together we made startling progress. More than a fourth of the citizens had been moved out of the main building which caused the System to acknowledge me as the controller of everything within 82 square miles of the building. It was staggering to look at just how much land belonged to me. Despite that, there were some issues. In short, not everyone wanted to leave. It was mostly those who were around level 10 who set off into the neighborhoods while people lower than that stayed put. For now, it wasn''t an issue but I was a bit worried that we would get a servant class inside the building. Desbera and Azariah tried to convince me that it wasn''t a bad thing. Just like in Earth''s feudal history rulers needed servants to do things. To take care of the cleaning and other menial tasks. Intellectually I agreed but there was something about it that made me hesitant. Either way, I made sure that they received pay equivalent to the other workers. Despite my hours and hours of cultivation I still hadn''t reached level 37. I considered heading deep within the earth to fight but since the expedition was rapidly approaching I figured it wasn''t important. I would have all the battles I could want. The day of the expedition was oddly dull. I gathered the last of my things including the various healing pills and tonics Azariah got together for me. I wasn''t sure why but there was a pervasive sense of anxiety in the air. A feeling that just wouldn''t go away. It caused me to stock up on a variety pack of wandering cultivator essentials. Pills that fought poisons, pills that would protect against disease as well as just about everything else. There was even one that would help defend against mental attacks. It wasn''t so much a healing pill as it was a poison that forced you to hallucinate. Those hallucinations would overpower lesser mental attacks. The effect wasn''t great but it would let you fight a bit longer. Or activate an escape treasure. I stepped into the teleportation room only to find my council waiting for me. I flashed each of them a smile. "Aww, you all are going to see me off? You all love me." Aaliyah rolled her eyes and Christopher shook his head. "We are here to make sure there are no issues and to have the array up as soon as you''re gone." He replied. "You sure you don''t want to come?" I asked. When no one replied I shrugged and stepped up to the teleporter. "I will keep Ethereal Convocation going for as long as possible. If anything happens let me know immediately and we will come back. If I have a good chance I will claim an area for us to act as a base. Make sure to have people ready to administer it on standby." "Of course, I will send a group of guards through as well. We can take care of it just try not to piss anyone else off." Aaliyah''s reply earned a half smile from me. I pretended to think about it as I focused on the teleporter. "That doesn''t seem like fun." No sooner did I finish my sentence was I pulled into the darkness. I pulled up my status screen to review it one last time.
Name Amari Jackson
Level 36
Class [1-Epic]Psionic Paragon
Species [2]Human
Affiliation Earth:Amara: Ruler
Manual [1]Ethereal Codex(22%)
Titles Beloved by Tao, Big Game, Chosen, First to Ten, Horde Breaker, Leader of the Pack, Monstersbane, Overlord Slayer, Overpowered, Perfect 100, Prime Forebearer, Prime Hunter, Tutorial, Voyager,
Limited Titles Pinnacle, Primal Battlefield
Tao Strand of Adamance ¡ª Comprehension: Middle, Strand of Lucidity ¡ª Comprehension: Middle
Agility 155 (Increase:65%. Potency:120%)
Constitution 158 (Increase:65%. Potency:120%)
Intelligence 236 (Increase:70%. Potency:120%)
Luck 154 (Increase:85%. Potency:120%)
Perception 175 (Increase:65%. Potency:120%)
Strength 129 (Increase:65%. Potency:120%)
Wisdom 439 (Increase:75%. Potency:120%)
Free Points 0
System Credits [1]10,000
My power had shot through the roof since the tutorial ended. I was faster, stronger, smarter and I suppose luckier than I had ever dreamed of. Despite all the power I had gained I couldn''t help but feel like the sky was the limit in how much I could grow. I could increase my power. The sky was the limit. When the world came back into focus I found a familiar group of people waiting for me. "Hey, how''s it going? Do I get another escort?" Chang Yi''s smile became slightly more forced as he gestured for me to follow him. "The expedition has already started to gather. Is there anything you need to purchase? We have a few cultivators offering things for trade." I settled into position behind him and his three guards. "No thanks. I gathered everything I needed. Are we running to the coast?" "N-no? We have several cars ready to drive to where the boats are located. From there the ships will take you to the continent and leave you all to take care of things. For now, though we are getting ready to start the information brief." I raised an eyebrow in silent question. "I wasn''t expecting to need more information. Have things changed?" "No, nothing like that we are dividing up our people to each of you. We want to put you all into decentralized squads." I considered going against the idea but it didn''t matter much. "How are the squads being assigned? What''s their makeup?" Chang Yi chuckled as we arrived at the UN building. "They will explain inside. I am not sure if the groups will function differently or not." I nodded and was led into the same room as the auction. Only this time the tables were gone and everyone was standing in small groups. The room was divided down the middle where people dressed as cultivators stood on one side and researchers on the other. The whole thing was kind of funny. I searched the sea of faces for anyone I knew. When I found Romulus and Amahle I couldn''t help but smile. Before I could make my way over to them I noticed the far away look in several eyes. It wasn''t hard to assume that they were checking the Standings which meant they either had my description somewhere or someone had provided information on all the cultivators that would be here. I settled in just as a world government official stepped into the room. He looked at us all as a TV screen descended from the ceiling. "It''s good to see you all. We will leave in four hours. We will now begin assigning you to your groups where you will receive your instructions." Chapter 1: Maritime Adventures I groaned and braced myself against the wall as waves buffeted the ship. I was tempted to pull out another healing pill to fight the nausea but at the rate I was going, I would be out before we reached the continent. The government planned to board us onto a military boat. The extra armor would keep us safe against the waves. That idea failed almost immediately. As soon as we were away from shore it was like Poseidon had grown furious with us. "Sea travel isn''t your thing huh?" A way too chipper voice brought my attention back to the four members of my group. I turned and nodded at the young researcher. She was an Asian woman in her twenties who was studying botany before the System arrived. "No, I am a city boy at heart." I chuckled and took a seat. "So to make sure I got everyone''s names." I pointed to the botanist. "Lin Mei" I gestured to the bald man light-skinned man who reminded me a bit of Mr. Clean. "James Andrews." When he nodded I turned to the soldier who joined us. He still had the military buzz cut and stood at attention whenever anyone in military fatigues came anywhere near us. "Peter Thompson and" I turned my attention to the older African American woman with an Afro puff in her hair. "Elizabeth Williams" "I must admit I am a bit surprised. I would have assumed that the highest-ranked person would have been a soldier or some kind of killer" Elizabeth said with a curt smile. "Not that I am complaining" I laughed and nodded. "What can I say? I am more than meets the eye." She took her time, looked me up and down then smiled. "Indeed, you are." "I think we should go over our orders again," Peter said while he passed me the manila folder. Our orders were pretty straightforward but not simple. Officially we were tasked with exploring the continent, making contact with people, and rescuing who we could. The truth of it was more complicated. We were able to collect whatever we wanted and the government would keep thirty percent. Which was a bit pricy considering we cultivators were expected to defend the researchers the whole time but they had key skills. Most of the researchers had at least one identification ability. I wasn''t exactly in need of resources so I wasn''t too worried about that. The part I was worried about was the people. "Outside of Peter how many of you have seen combat or rather how many of you have fought or killed?" When none of the others raised their hands I slowly nodded. I didn''t think their safety would be too big a problem but I couldn''t help the anxiety in the back of my mind. I still wasn''t sure if it was my danger sense or just normal worries. "Alright, so what is it you all want out of this?" I held up a hand to stop any questions. "I am not asking about a job or anything like that. I am sure you all realize that the old world is gone. So what is it you want? If you want levels I can get you a simple weapon or two and defend you as long as the monsters aren''t too tough. If you are only in it for resources or research that''s a different matter altogether." "I am here to do what I can for my country," Peter replied and I gave him a sympathetic nod. He genuinely believed that America would return and the idea wasn''t terrible. I mean the old country was gone and democracy was also shot for the time being but the strongest military in history might make a return. Especially if I helped... "I am alright. I am not much of a fighter. I will do my part to help you warriors out but I am going to stay in my zone." Lin replied. "Same for me. I am too old to go running through the forest. If you have any way to help me learn some more about the beasts I would appreciate that. Not sure if they count as animals anymore but that was something I was curious about." Elizabeth added. "I might be able to give you some bodies to look at. Not sure about living samples though." "Same for me," James said. "I am not against fighting and can defend myself but I wouldn''t call myself a warrior." I nodded and leaned back. "Alright, so this is what we are going to do. If and when we encounter enemies Peter and James I want you to sit back. Your job is to protect the noncombat folks. Prioritize survival. I should be able to handle anything that comes at us but on the off chance I have to go all out. You all are to escape. I will use my communication spell to get in contact with you later." "You want us to leave you? No sir. I won-" I held up a hand to stop him. I turned to look Peter in the eye. "I get it but this is a different situation fam. Your levels are too low to make much of a difference and it will be harder for me to fight if I have to protect you. Furthermore, if something did happen to me it would be your job to keep the others safe." Based on the tightness in his jaw I could tell he still didn''t agree. Thankfully he decided to let it go. I opened my mouth to begin again when my unease increased. I got to my feet and looked around. I held up a finger and stepped out into the hallway. "Am I going crazy?" I muttered out loud while I strained my ears for any sound. I gave it a few minutes before I gave up and went back inside. "Sorry about that. I think the ocean is getting to me. Where were we? Oh right. We need to discuss how to handle the resources we find." "I assumed the contract would be enough?" Peter asked with only a little bit of irritation in his voice. I held up a hand as if it could ward off the misunderstanding. "No, no I mean what do you all want to do? Some natural treasures have to be used immediately or they start to lose effectiveness. I don''t have enough boxes to store everything we could find. On top of that, we need to decide when breaks will happen. If I find a strong enough treasure I might want to consume it right away." "I don''t think that will be a problem. As long as we are safe the time you can do what you want with your free time. If we need to stop we won''t do so until you''re ready." I nodded and shifted my attention to the others. When no one objected I decided to let the matter rest. "How did you get to be so strong?" Elizabeth asked unprompted. I couldn''t help but grin at the question. "Would you believe it was because of my dashing good looks?" My grin smiled as she blushed and looked away from me. The improvements to my appearance were my favorite of the new world''s improvements. "The actual answer is through the Tutorial same as everyone else I would imagine. I completed my missions alone and they just snowballed into better opportunities. Once the tutorial ended I hunted down any strong monster I could find." "And people from what I''ve heard," James added. His statement drained the levity out of the room and the grin from my face. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. I sighed as the words became an almost tangible weight on my shoulders. I didn''t regret any of them outside of the Commonwealth''s innocents. I wasn''t even sure I wished the other deaths had gone differently. They were an opportunity to improve my strength and to get used to fighting people. "Yeah, I have killed more than a few people which you have undoubtedly heard about. If you had seen the state of those towns you would have agreed with them. As for the Commonwealth. I apologized the best I could." "So what can you tell us about the monsters you have fought already? Any of them have a clear weakness?" Elizabeth asked in what I assumed was an attempt to shift to a lighter topic. I decided to go along with it. "Most of them have weak minds which is another reason why I am particularly effective. Most of the monsters have exoskeletons or thick skin. Very few have the proper defenses to fight me. I would be careful of the plants too. I fought a fungal monster that could take over bodies like in that one video game." "So we have to be scared of the beasts, the plants, and other cultivators. On top of that geography isn''t exactly in our favor anymore." James stated. "Do you think the System does this kind of thing on purpose? Like to fuck with worlds of people?" I shrugged. "No idea fam. What I do know is that we have to get stronger if we are going to rebuild" "Now that''s something we can agree on," Peter added. "I think we should go over a few hand signs. There isn''t enough time to get all of them but we can get a few." I decided to go along with it. We spent the next two hours going over nearly a dozen military call signs and hand signs. The whole thing made me feel like I was in an action movie. In truth, it wasn''t the most useful thing in the world since I could communicate mentally with people but it made Paul feel better. "Now that''s done I am going to go and grab a bite to eat," Elizabeth said as she got to her feet. "I am told that we managed to hunt some weird-looking crabs and I have been dying to have some." I grinned at the thought and stood up. "Let''s meet back here in two hours. It would be good to spend some time getting to know the other groups. We never know who we will come across once we split up." Once I had everyone''s agreement I followed after Elizabeth. "So is Amari your real name? Or did you pick a new one once all this started?" "Real as far as I know." "Such a mysterious young man." She flashed me a smile as we rounded a corner and headed down a flight of stairs. "I wouldn''t go that far. I am or rather was an orphan. Jefferson, my last name came from the orphanage but Amari was on a small bracelet on my wrist. Or so they tell me." "Oh? I suppose that makes this part a bit easier. I have met some people who are still looking for family." Her voice had a somberness to it that made me think there was a bit more to it than that. "I don''t know if it''s easier. Indeed, I don''t have to scramble to find people but it also means that no one is looking for me. Regardless I have managed to turn it into something special." "Have you tried to find other family members? Grandparents, Aunts, uncles-" I held up a hand and had to force a smile as I considered what I wanted to say. "I hadn''t found anyone before the world changed so I think that ship has sailed. So what can you tell me about these crabs? Are they completely new or are they like those really big ones you find on islands?" She faltered a step before nodding. "If you mean spider crabs then I think so. From what I heard they were around twice as big and much more aggressive." I licked my lips and rubbed my hands together at the thought. "Sounds like I am going to eat good today." Unfortunately, the meal wasn''t anywhere near as good as I had hoped. The craps were massive but the meat was tough and was slightly bitter. It wasn''t to the point that I thought it was spoiled but it also wasn''t the best taste. After the early lunch, I decided to head to the front of the ship. The deck was much less pleasant. The boat was choppy when I was inside its belly but now it felt like I was on a seesaw. I alternated between the strands of lucidity and adamance to make me feel better but it didn''t help much. "It''s a bit ironic that you have a hard time with the sea. I suppose it''s good that our new world isn''t aquatic." Romulus'' voice interrupted my thoughts. I grimaced and turned to face him. The man had gone through a mini-evolution since the auction. He now wore a beautiful white breastplate with the image of a radiant sun in the middle. More importantly than that his aura had been reforged. I couldn''t be completely sure but it felt like he had a strand related to fire and one for light. Either that or he had one strand that represented both concepts. "Remind me to stick to solid land after this." "Are you able to swim?" I shook my head. "Nope, never bothered to learn. I intended to live my entire life away from all this but here I am." He shook his head and leaned against the railing. "There is something I have been wanting to discuss with you. If you have a free moment." I raised an eyebrow and nodded. "What are your plans? I don''t mean for now but rather for the future?" "Haven''t decided yet. I am going to leave to explore the stars but other than that I don''t know." "And once you leave who is going to govern the planet?" I rubbed my chin and considered the question for a moment. I wasn''t sure how I should reply to that. "I don''t know. Assuming I take over my council would make most choices for me. I would likely have to come back to deal with the major issues." "I would like for our people to cooperate and form a proper alliance." I slowly nodded. The question wasn''t a surprise though I had expected Amahle to be the first person to suggest it. The idea wasn''t bad at least not right now. "What kind of alliance were you thinking about?" "For now just a formal agreement. You will help defend the people of New Rome and I will do the same for yours. We could sit down to discuss details like trade at a later date." I couldn''t help but laugh at that. "No offense but I didn''t take you for a politician." "A king should be capable of ruling. A king must rule in all ways not just the violent ones." I offered a handshake to seal our agreement. "Tell you what. I can''t make anything permanent until I get back but I am okay with it." He shook my hand but before either of us could do anything else a scream of danger shot through me. My eyes widened as I circulated my cultivation manual. I scanned the ship and the waves expecting a kraken to reach up and start tearing the thing apart. "What is it?" Romulus asked. His spear appeared in his hands in the next moment. "I don''t know. Danger-" My words were lost as an explosion went off below me. In the next moment, the ship groaned like a monster had just awoken. I glanced at Romulus before activating Apportation. The swirling portal appeared a second later. I felt the ship tremble beneath me as I stepped through. The time before the portal reopened felt like an eternity. I mentally cursed myself for not activating Ethereal Convocation first. When the portal opened I stepped into the meeting room. Elizabeth, Paul, and James were already waiting. "Do any of you know where Elizabeth is?" I barked as the ship groaned beneath me. The image of the Titanic sinking refused to leave my mind. "No, I saw her heading down to the bathrooms just before I came back here," Paul answered. "I assume there are lifeboats on this thing? I need you to guide everyone to them. Get yourself ready to drop into the water. I will find Elizabeth and bring her. If the ship goes down before I can get there you leave." The trio spoke up and over one another but we didn''t have time. "Those are your orders! Now get going" I released my aura just a bit. Just enough to get them moving. Once they were gone I broke out into a sprint. I activated Ethereal Convocation connecting to both Paul and Elizabeth. "Where are you?" I shouted through the bond. The fraction of a second it took for her to respond felt like an eternity. I rounded a corner and bolted down a flight of stairs as another explosion ripped through the air. "Down by the engine room. I am stuck" I shifted direction and rushed forward. The lower levels were starting to flood and I had to work to fight back the fear growing in my heart. I ignored the unmoving bodies around me as I approached the engine room. The halls had transformed into a tunnel of twisted burning metal and water that was up to my knees. I scanned the debris for any sign of Elizabeth. "I am here. Make some noise." The sound of something hard hitting against metal filled my ears a second later and I could almost swear it was the sweetest thing I had ever heard. I rounded a corner and what I found knocked the air out of my lungs. She was pinned against a wall by what looked like a twisted metal locker. Chapter 2: Rocky Start I took a moment and surveyed the scene. Elizabeth was pinned to the wall across from what I assumed was the engine. Parts of the room were on fire while water rapidly poured in. To put the cherry on top I could feel the ship breaking apart. "It''s alright. I am going to get you out. Can you tell me if you are pinned or impaled?" "Pinned. My-my robes protected me from the metal." The pain in her voice made me grimace before I could control my facial expressions. "Ok, I am going to move it. When I do I want you to drop down into the water. After that, I am going to carry you out of here. I am going to lift on three. One." I grabbed the piece of metal. I pushed spiritual energy into my hands and fingers. Metal groaned. "Two." Elizabeth whimpered. I took another breath as the water reached my knees and pulled the metal. "Three!" Instead of the metal barely moving, it was like I had shot it out of cannon. The shrapnel shot through the wall and disappeared into the ocean. I stared at the new whole in disbelief. Spiritual Energy was amazing. A groan of pain brought me back to the moment. I summoned a healing pill from my ring and pressed it to her lips. "Take this. It will heal any injuries. I apologize in advance but I am not going to be gentle." I lifted her into a bridal carry before sprinting through the new exit. When we stepped out onto the deck of the ship it was like stepping into a different world. The ship had nearly split in two and both halves were dropping beneath the waves. The lifeboats had already left which left us with little in terms of options. I stared at the azure sea below us and an idea sprouted like a seed. Another explosion went off from somewhere behind me. "Fuck it. Hold on." Before I could convince myself the idea was insane I sprinted for the railing. I leaped into the air a second later. Spiritual energy flooded into my feet while I said a silent prayer to anyone who might be listening. It was hard to explain what happened next as crashing but that''s what happened. My feet hit the water and instead of falling through it was like the water became solid. "How how did you do that?" Elizabeth asked. Her gaze fixated on the water as if she couldn''t believe what she was seeing. "See, nothing to worry about." I smiled as my mind processed what had happened. I wasn''t on the water at all. I was on spiritual energy. I was somehow using it to walk just above the surface of the water. I started to take a step only for the foot that was still on the water to start sinking. "We-we are still good right?" Elizabeth asked this time not bothering to hide the fear in her voice. "Ye-yeah this is just the first time. I think I am getting the hang of it." Another five minutes of trial and error revealed the problem. The issue was the distribution of spiritual energy. I needed to spread it out a bit like snowshoes. The difficult part was maintaining the distribution as I moved. It was a bit like trying to pat your head and rub your stomach at the same time. I need to maintain both the amount of spiritual energy and its distribution. At first, I was only able to take a step every second or so but it wasn''t long until I was able to run. "You are walking on water. I can''t believe it. You are walking on water." I wasn''t sure if Elizabeth was speaking to me or herself at this point and in truth it didn''t matter. I was running on fucking water! My joy was short-lived as a scream of danger forced me to stop. A second later a tentacle the size of a tree shot out of the water. I unleashed my aura at full blast. It felt like the world was instantly awash in blood. The water roiled and boiled but it worked. The tentacle retreated. My danger sense made it clear that the threat wasn''t gone only waiting. My heart felt like it was going to rip its way out of my chest as I doubled my speed. I was less than ten feet away from the nearest lifeboat when a scream of mortal perils filled my mind. On instinct, I tossed Elizabeth with all the strength I could muster. I watched her sail through the air and into the arms of a soldier before something grabbed me around the waist. I took in a deep breath and shut my eyes as I slammed into the water. I maintained just enough of my awareness to not open my mouth as I was dragged into the depths. Primordial fear gripped my heart like a vice as I fought against the waves. I wouldn''t die. Not like this. Not drowning. I blasted my aura and my tao in every direction. Anything to get free. Anything to get back to the surface but nothing worked. Every failed attempt at swimming forced its way into my mind. Half-remembered lessons blurred together into an indescribable mess. Darkness began to creep in at the edge of my vision when I felt a familiar caress on the back of my mind. The gentleness of it was a stark contrast to the fear and brought me back to the moment. I scanned the dark waters until I caught sight of the behemoth beneath me. It was a genuine kraken. I wasn''t sure if the System had brought the beast from myth to our world or just mutated a squid and I didn''t really care. I unleashed every one of my spells in rapid succession. Realm of Consciousness was barely large enough to block my view of the beast. It did nothing to get me free. The series of mental attacks had better success. The tentacle around my waist relaxed just enough for me to rip my way free. Another scream of danger forced me to activate Psychic Aegis. The next second another tentacle slammed into my shield. I tried to turn to face the beast but moving in all three directions was dizzying. I formed two blades of psychic energy and imbued them both with my tao before launching them forward. The blades crossed half the distance before a wave of water surged up to meet it. Both attacks crashed into each other and I mentally swore. The damn thing could use a tao. It was even a Tao related to the water. I tried to push my way to the surface in a poor rendition of a doggy paddle. I only managed to move a few inches when a tentacle slammed into my shield. Realization dawned on me as I came to terms with the truth. I couldn''t swim on a good day let alone when being chased by a kraken. There was no way I could get out. An icy chill spread through my veins as I looked up at the surface. A part of me woke up at that realization. The part of me that had kept me alive until now. A tentacle slammed into my aegis. This time causing a spider web of cracks to spread outward. A flame of fury woke up in my chest and I reached for it. I refuse. I refuse to die like this. I refuse to lose to an overgrown squid. I looked in the direction of the squid and conjured mental blade after blade. Each one is imbued with my tao. I didn''t bother to shape them into proper weapons. My anger gave birth to a storm of unrelenting violence. The Kraken surged the ocean to resist but how could that compare to me? Waves crashed into the shield but I ignored it. Psionic Rain and Psychic Blast joined the onslaught just as my shield collapsed. The ocean water consumed but I ignored it. I didn''t need my body to fight. I just needed energy, energy, and my mind. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Darkness clawed in at the edge of my vision. Just a little longer. Just a little bit more. It felt like I was pouring my spiritual energy down a literal drain. My vision had gone almost completely black when something slammed into my chest with the force of a Mack truck. The air was forced out of my lungs only to be replaced with ocean water. I pushed as much spiritual energy as I could into Psychic Blast. I felt a beam of utter mental destruction shoot forward. A tsunami of kill energy slammed into my dantian. The darkness claimed me before I could relish in my victory. When I came to I was on my back and staring up at the blue sky. I passed my mental gaze over my body and was thrilled to see that I was mostly fine. I had two broken ribs and my right wrist was either sprained or broken. I wasn''t sure what the difference between those was. Either way, all of those problems could be handled by a healing pill. "He woke up" I groaned and tried to sit up. The pain in my ribs made it clear that I was better off staying still. I willed a healing pill out of my ring and mentally prepared myself for the pain. When I was ready I placed the pill into my mouth and swallowed. I whimpered as the bones started to repair themselves. "Hey, you alright?" The voice from earlier called out and then a bottle was placed against my lips. I greedily sucked the water down before slowly sitting up. I looked around and found the boat had most of my group along with four known people. Two men and two women, all middle-aged. "Yeah. Thanks for the save. I am assuming that you four got separated from your group?" "Uh actually no. We were supposed to stay on the ship while you all went exploring. My name is Alfred. Alfred Williams" The man who had done all the speaking up till now introduced himself and offered me his hand. "I am Amari but I am guessing that you all had a decent idea of my identity already?" I raised an eyebrow toward the unconscious Elizabeth, Paul, and James. "Did you kill it? The monster I mean." Paul asked. "We saw you get pulled down and most of us thought you were a goner. We saw you get launched out of the water and made a detour." I flashed him a cocky grin and nodded my head. "No problem. Even the mythical Kraken pales when compared to me." I gave my best impression of a movie voice which earned me a mix of stares and eye rolls. "Can you give me a status update? Do we have any information on what caused the ship to go down?" "No, outside of the explosion and resulting panic we haven''t learned much of anything. I was hoping you might know more." "Alright, in that case, are we able to get to shore in this thing? I am not exactly a strong swimmer nor do I want to run a second match with Cthulhu''s nephews." "Uh, I think we will be fine. Especially if you can keep the smaller beasts off us." Alfred offered as he steered the boast toward a sandy section of the coast. "Not sure if any of them have a way to damage the boat but it would be best to not take any risks." I nodded my agreement and let some of my aura go. I watched the faces of everyone go pale, but there wasn''t much I could do about it. Scaring the monsters was much better than fighting them all. "How are you doing that? And what are you doing?" "It''s an aura or rather my aura. It''s mostly my killing intent though my tao contributes." "How do you get one? It''s pretty convenient. Especially for crowd control." "I got it for killing a lot of things and through my class. I am not sure if it''s based on killing done after the System or not though." The others visibly blanched at that but Paul managed to hold my gaze. "It works for monsters, right? Not just people?" He asked though there was a solemnity in his voice that wasn''t there before. I nodded. "Yeah. I have mostly fought monsters until now. I don''t know if there is a difference in power or impact if you do one or the other though." Before he could ask any more questions the boat shook so violently that Alfred was nearly thrown overboard. A warning flashed through my mind and I reactivated Psychic Aegis. The wall of mental energy formed just as a blade of water shot out of the water. The blade was the size of a bastard sword and moved with the speed of a bullet. The blade slammed into my shield before the others had processed the attack. "Stay down," I called while I got to my feet. I pushed spiritual energy into my feet and stepped back onto the waves. "Wait take this" I turned as one of the unknown women tossed me a rope. "Tie it around your waist. You know just in case." I flashed her grateful smile before tying it. When I was ready I turned to face the water just as another water blade shot for me. This time I dodged it and unleashed a blade of mental energy. The attack tore through the water like a specter before finding its mark. The beast looked a bit like a shark only skinnier and its mouth was nearly half again as big with twice as many teeth. The whole thing looked like something a psycho horror writer would come up with. Despite its appearance, it wasn''t much of a threat to me. It lacked any attack that could get to me outside of the water blade and it couldn''t launch those whenever it wanted. If I had to guess it was some sort of aquatic ambush hunter. Now that it had blown its load there wasn''t much more it could do. The battle took less than two minutes. "Do you have to shape that energy like swords?" Paul asked as I climbed back into the boat. "Not really. I just started doing so and haven''t stopped." "Does the shape matter? Like do you need to use a bigger shape to unleash more energy or is it aesthetic only?" "It''s a bit of both. There is a way to make the attacks more dense for lack of a better word but I haven''t mastered it." "You should get on that. Avoiding a sword is relatively easy but if you could condense the energy to the size of a bullet or even smaller..." I nodded and peered over the edge of the boat. Once I confirmed that there were no more nasty surprises I turned back to everyone. "I am going to cultivate for a bit. Wake me up if something happens or when we reach the shore." I took a breath and took a seat with my hands steepled in front of me. Once I had calmed down enough to practice the Ethereal Codex I let energy pour into me. Even with the Kraken''s death, I would need to cultivate for several days before I would reach the next level. That assumed I kept my energy usage to a minimum. Something I seriously doubted based on how things were already going. I wasn''t sure how long it had been when I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I slowly came out of my cultivation session to find that not only had we arrived but they had already pulled the boat out of the water. I quickly climbed out and looked around. I wasn''t a botanist by any means but this forest made me think of the Amazon and maybe the massive forests of Africa. "Do you all think that this continent is Africa or...?" "No, the current dominant theory is that the world has been divided horizontally in thirds," Alfred replied. "So our continent is North America, Europe, and Russia?" I asked before shrugging. "I need to explore it more." "That is correct though we aren''t sure if the North and South poles still exist." "So I don''t assume that any of you have the equipment we would need to set up a camp do you?" When no one bothered to reply I sighed. I moved over to Elizabeth and placed her on my back with Paul''s help. "Alright from this point forward we assume that the rest of the expedition has fallen. Paul, you bring up the rear along with Alfred. Keep your eyes open for any threats. The rest of you hold tight in the middle. If you come across a monster your goal is survival. I will deal with anything that comes." "And what if you can''t?" Alfred asked. "Then and only then would I suggest you haul ass out of there. Not sure if the boat will get you back across the ocean or not but you might as well try." I had everyone double-check their healing pills before passing out a few of mine. The government hadn''t held back but it was clear it didn''t have access to a proper shop and everything was pricy for them. I once again said I silent thank you to whoever was responsible for my rewards. Once we were all ready I flashed them all a reassuring smile and stepped toward the forest. It was time for the expedition to officially get a move on. Chapter 3 Excitement We marched on for an hour before I made the call to rest. I still felt full of energy but the makeshift formation we had formed was starting to lag. People were clearly exhausted and the stress of the narrow escape had made itself known. I picked out an outcropping that surrounded a large central tree and placed Elizabeth at its base. "Alright, who here knows anything about surviving in the wilderness?" When no one responded I shook my head. "Really? No Girl Scouts? or Boy Scouts?" "I have a bit of training but I don''t know how useful it will be in this new jungle. Especially with how the planets changed." Paul added after several long seconds. I nodded and took a moment to consider the situation. I had enough food and water to get us a few days. Nowhere near how long I had intended it to last but I should be able to hunt food for myself with no problem. I was pretty confident in dealing with any poisonous plants. On top of that, my danger sense should warn me well in advance of eating something. Of course, I could go and hunt but that would mean leaving the group behind. One look at their faces told me that was a no-go. I pulled the food and water from my ring and placed it in front of the group. "Alright, don''t drink or eat too much. We might need to get moving at a moment''s notice. If you have any injuries then now would be the time to take care of them. I have a few healing pills but we should consider saving them. I am not sure when we will get back to civilization." While they ate I scanned the forest. I wasn''t sure what I should do. I could project my aura as a kind of warning system. Hopefully, it would intimidate any monsters but if there was something stronger than me it might attract them. The last thing any of us needed was another beast wanting to test its strength. Even if the idea had an appeal to it. Before I could make up my mind Elizabeth started coughing. I knelt next to her and gently placed a bottle of water on her lips. "You are alright. Take a sip and gather yourself." It took nearly ten more seconds before she was able to speak clearly. "What happened?" "Honestly we are all wondering that. The ship exploded and I am a bit worried it was on purpose." "It was." She took a long sip from her water bottle and I turned to surveil the forest again. "I was heading back to the room when I saw a trio head down toward the engine room." She took a breath and stood up. "I followed them. I don''t know all the engineers but I was sure I hadn''t seen them before. When they got to the bottom I caught them placing something inside the engine. I called out to them but one of them threw a fireball at me. I ducked behind a wall to avoid it and by the time I looked back they were leaving. I tried to chase them but it exploded." I sighed and shook my head. "So we have to assume one of two things. Either this was planned by the government to get us away from the mainland." I held up a hand to stop the protest I knew was coming. "Or someone wants to make sure we don''t get back. If we assume the latter then I think it''s likely the Commonwealth. Do we know if any of their people were on the ship? Any of their cultivators." "Not that I know. Most of them hadn''t shown any interest in the expedition." Paul replied. "I don''t think I''ve seen many of them in the city" "Alright so we have two possibilities but they don''t make much of a difference. We still need to survive and either find a way back or wait for a new ship." "Are you able to connect with anyone using your ability?" I shook my head. "The continent is too far away. I can connect with..." I quickly pushed energy into Ethereal Convocation and tried to open a connection with both Romulus and Amahle. When their mental voices passed through the bond I had to resist the urge to jump for joy. "Amari? That you." Romulus was the first to speak followed by Amahle. "Looks like an exploding boat and an unexpected swim aren''t enough to take you out." I grinned and gestured for the others to sit. "Yeah, I am alright. I am not sure where on the continent we landed though. Are you both alright?" "Me and mine are fine though I am told I got one of yours with me. Not too happy to be with number three." "Same here. A few of us are wet and we are taking refuge in a cave. We are running low on healing pills and medical supplies though. We encounter monsters in the deep." "Alright, I think we should try to meet up. Do either of you see any landmarks?" I did a quick scan of the skyline half hoping that there would be a massive billboard with "Meet Here" written on it. Unfortunately, there was no such thing. "No, just large trees," Amahle responded. "No, I could launch a few attacks into the air." Romulus offered and the mental image of a disappointed Smokey the bear told me all I needed to know about that idea. "No, no I should be the one to do that. None of my spells hurt the surrounding environment. Keep your eyes open for indigo lights. I am going to start once my group has a bit longer to rest." With that decision made I turned my attention to my group, flashed them a smile, and rubbed my hands together. "Alright, so I got some good news and some bad news." It took me nearly fifteen minutes to get everyone to calm down after I explained my plan. I couldn''t believe how upset they were at basically being alerting the entire forest to our presence. I sat down in the middle of the group and started drawing in new energy. If this went as poorly as I thought it would. These next few hours were going to be a lot of fun. I gave my group an hour of rest before I had them huddle against the tree. I gave each of them a melee weapon. Once they were ready I conjured a pair of psychic blades in the air me. "Eyes to the sky ladies and gentlemen. Let''s get this started." I didn''t bother to wait for them to respond. Instead, I launched both blades into the air. Before they had left the canopy of the trees I unleashed another set. Next, I unleashed my aura. I carefully watched the reaction of the others and slowly amped up. I was forced to stop at the forty percent mark as Elizbeth looked ready to pass out. Even Paul had grimace on his face and Alfred looked like he was half a second from bolting. I had to hold back a groan of irritation. It felt like I had just started to get a breath of fresh air and I had to stop. Thankfully the forest hadn''t let me down. Howls, hisses and all kinds of other sounds filled the air. My danger sense let out a dull ache. Not enough for me to worry but just enough to make me excited. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I reached for the hunger inside of me just as the first monster came into view. It was some sort of predatory cat only it was twice as a big as a lion and a steely grey color. A blade of psychic energy was embedded in its skull before it had crossed the half distance. I pushed the thing from my mind when I felt its energy surge. I did my best to focus on the goal. On the reason that I was doing this but as more and more monsters came I fell into the thrill of the fight. Claws and talons came at me from all over none touched me. I was the king of this area. Everything that entered my space with my permission would be slaughtered. Eventually, the tempo was disrupted. I unleashed a blast into a space where a monster should have been but there was no energy. The interruption was enough to bring me back to the moment. I blinked, cracked my neck, and surveyed the area. I couldn''t help but flinch at the various bodies. "You might be insane." Romulus'' voice broke the silence and caused me to whip around. "Oh, You made it." "I got here nearly an hour ago. We tried to stop whatever it was you were doing but it was like you were gone. I tried to get your people out of the way but as soon as I got near that circle my instincts went crazy." I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly and smiled. "You were probably fine. Anyway did you find Amahle?" When he shook his head I decided to reach out to her again. "Amahle are you on your way?" "Not right now. I think we saw you earlier but you are too far from us. We aren''t in a position to move that far right now." "Alright, well do you know how far and in which direction? Romulus arrived a bit ago so we can start heading in your direction." "North, northwest. Distance is hard to estimate but at least a few hours." "Be there as soon as we can." I turned my attention back to the others and grimaced at the various corpses. It would take several minutes to gather them all let alone checking if any of them are safe to eat. "I don''t suppose any of you can tell if these are safe to take with us?" "I can tell you that their levels were all in the forties." One of the unknown women said while kicking at the corpse of a black and green serpent. "I would assume based on this thing''s size it was a constrictor and not a venomous one. Not sure if that makes it safe or not." I nodded and went around collecting everything. Even if we couldn''t eat it the stuff might make good leather armor or weapons or something. Once I had stuffed my ring I sat down around the fire. "Amahle is Northwest of us. She doesn''t know how far so we will need to set out later" "Alright, I got two fighters in my group. One is around level 10 while the other is around level 7" Romulus stated. "We could go with a four-man formation assuming that Paul here could cover a side." I nodded. "I think it could work though I want to keep everyone close together. My gut tells me that the plants are going to be as big a problem as the monsters. We should also be on the lookout for ambush predators. What kind of abilities do your people have? Are they close or long-range?" "Me and Legate Alexander." He gestured to a black man who looked like he could have been an NFL linebacker. "Are close-range specialists. He focuses on Pugilism while I the spear." I couldn''t help but chuckle and shake my head. "You are going all in on the Roman history thing aren''t you?" "We were a part of a LARP group before things went crazy and it was just easier to slip into character. It was" He paused and glanced over at Alexander who nodded. "An opportunity for us to start over. To rectify some past regrets." I raised an eyebrow and looked between the two and could have sworn there was more to the story than that but I decided not to press for more information. "You don''t need to worry about me. I may not be in the top ten just yet but I can take care of myself. I got a skill from a quest a little while ago that has helped me make progress. I had planned on the expedition giving me the boost I need to go further." Alexander added with a voice that was so deep it made me think of a late-night radio host. I held up a hand and grinned. "No need to worry about it. I trust you both to take care of things. If we go with this idea the way I see it we have two choices. We can have one person on each side and keep the weaker members in the middle. Or we could split into two groups one covering the back and one the front. The latter option gives us a better defense overall and makes it harder for anyone to get picked off. The former covers all sides and reduces the chance of ambush." I quickly sketched both options in the dirt with my fingers before glancing at the others. "What I do know about military formations makes me think the four separate points option is the best but..." Paul trailed off as he stared at the ground. "But what?" I asked. "I think your options would make sense if we assume that we can all do the same amount of lifting. If those monsters were all really in the forties then I don''t think that''s true." He leveled his eyes on Romulus. "I mean no offense but I need an honest answer. Do you think you could have killed all those monsters on your own? While protecting everyone." Romulus sat there in silence for several long seconds before he finally replied. "I think I could probably kill that many if I went all out but not while protecting the people around me. Furthermore, my abilities are fire and light-focused." "In that case, I suggest we change the formation a bit." He knelt and drew what looked like a V with a diamond in its middle and then another diamond a bit in front of it. "I am suggesting that three of us focus on protecting the civilians. While Amari deals with the enemies in front of and around us. That way we can prevent an attack to begin with. Further, if he is attacked he would be able to fight freely while we hunker down. On the off chance that we are attacked, he would be able to get to us the fastest." Part of me wanted to resist the idea but I couldn''t come up with a good reason. It was true that I was stronger than them and that I should be able to handle most of the beasts in the area. It was also true that I could likely guarantee an escape route. Hell, the ideas was kind enough to not just stick me with the responsibility of protecting the civilians. So why did I still dislike it? "I think your strategy is good," Romulus replied. "I think that we should divide ourselves in three. I will take the backmost position to deal with any direct attacks. You two take the left and the right." He looked up at me. "If we can rely on your communication ability we can coordinate even further." I thought about it for a little while longer before nodding my agreement. "Alright, when will the others be ready to leave?" "After your display, everyone is well rested. I would say we can set out in fifteen minutes." Paul looked up at the sky and grimaced. "Though it will get dark soon and we have no idea how that will impact things. I assume that no one here can see in the dark?" When one answered I got to my feet. "Alright we will leave in fifteen and walk until it either gets too dark to continue or until we find a safe place to stop. I am going to get a bit of cultivation in." With that, I stepped away from the group and found a quiet place to sit. There wasn''t enough time to go deeply into a cultivation session and I doubted there was much energy for me to get right now. Not with all these people around. It was a good time to meditate on my Tao though. The fifteen minutes passed in the blink of an eye. Romulus ran his group with much more precision than I did. I wouldn''t call him a drill instructor but more like a pain in the ass boss. However, in the current situation, it wasn''t a bad thing. He did three passes through the makeshift camp to make sure no one had forgotten anything and that everyone was ready to move. The plan was to keep moving once we started. It was nice having someone to take care of the personnel management issues. Once everything had been checked twice we broke up into our groups and I activated Ethereal Convocation. "Everyone ready to go? Let me know if anyone sees anything unusual no matter how insignificant it might seem." "We will just be sure to clear us a path," Romulus replied. "I am excited to see just what the strongest man in the world can do."I couldn''t help but laugh at that as excitement swelled in my chest. I stepped further into the forest and released a small portion of my aura. It felt like the trees around me came alive with each step. As if they were accepting a new apex predator. I knew that there would be monsters closer to the level level 50 threshold. This expedition would be my chance to push myself another step. A chance to become more than I ever could have dreamed. and I couldn''t wait. Chapter 4: Time to Brawl Our trek through the forest went by surprisingly well. We managed to travel for three hours before we decided to stop. There was a cave that led into a subterranean cavern that we decided to use as a base. Once everyone was inside I stepped out of my hiding place in a tree and followed. "I am thinking that we should set up camp here for now. There is no guarantee that we will find anything better." I called out as Romulus and Paul walked over to me. "It''s also pretty easy to defend even if one or all of us aren''t here." "I think you have a point but that leaves a rather important question. How do we handle leaving?" Romulus asked. His spear gently tapped against the ground. "I want to go in search of Amahle early in the morning. After that, I am not sure it matters. As long as at least some of us stay close enough to defend the cave. As far as the treasures I think we can keep the original agreement. Paul, you are welcome to travel with me but you should be aware I plan on heading deeper into the continent." He nodded his head and then looked back at the civilians for a moment. It wasn''t hard to guess what he was doing. The risks and rewards were pretty obvious. "Same thing for you and Alexander." I turned to Romulus and then nodded to the large man. "Either of both of you are welcome to follow." "We appreciate the offer but no thanks. We prefer to take care of ourselves and when wealth gets involved friendships tend to fade." I nodded. "Alright. I don''t exactly need to rest or at least nowhere near as much so I will take the first watch. I will try to wake you up in roughly eight hours." "I am going to spend it cultivating," Romulus added. "If you need me feel free to wake me." We went over a few more things before we all split up. I made my way outside and set up a spot about fifteen feet away from the entrance. I gave it an hour before I turned my focus to Psychic Mastery spell. The world turned monotone as the familiar guide took over. Energy condensation was difficult. Not in understanding but in practice. I started by forming a small ball in the space above my palm but then I tried to tighten it. I turned my energy into a string and tried to wrap it tighter and tighter around but it wasn''t perfect. The energy wasn''t solid or liquid. The way it worked felt more like a putty than anything else. I thought the situation would be easier if I tried a different shape but that was very wrong. A square and a cube felt like trying to paint the Mona Lisa blindfolded. I even tried to wrap the energy around my hand. Using it like a toilet paper roll but that also didn''t work. The moment the energy touched something not highlighted the training ended. It wasn''t all problems though. I managed to increase the amount of things I could create from two to three. Which would be huge in an actual fight. I hadn''t managed to advance my mastery over the disappointing spell but I couldn''t get everything rapidly. I conjured three blades in the air me and slowly rotated each of them. My control had barely improved, it was still a bit like flexing a limb I hadn''t known I had. Outside of the minimal practice, the night passed by without much of an issue. I woke up Romulus and the others at the agreed-upon time and laid down to get some rest. The next day I left a large portion of my food and water as well as the beast carcasses with the others. I didn''t feel like carrying it all just in case I came across some important treasures. Nor did I need that much food or water. On the off chance I didn''t make it back, it would be best used by them anyway. Once everything was taken care of I broke out into a dead sprint. The further I got away from the others the more my heart began to beat. It was time for me to focus on what I do best. I activated Ethereal Convocation and formed a connection with both Amahle and Romulus. "I am headed in your direction now. If it''s safe to do so have someone in your group unleash an attack into the sky every thirty minutes." "Will do but be careful. I think something is stalking us." Her reply sent a chill down my spine but I didn''t let it distract me. Ultimately it didn''t matter, not until I was close enough to do something about it. Once I was far enough away from the cave I let my aura flood out of me. Proof of all the deaths I''ve caused flooded the forest around me like a tidal wave. It felt wonderful but a part of me recoiled. My journey had just begun and it was already this bad. How much worse would it get? My arrival didn''t go unnoticed as two monkey beasts leaped out of the trees. They were skinnier and longer than the apes from the city. It was almost like someone had taken their arms, put them on a stretcher, and then added two more elbows. They were also incredibly fast. I managed to avoid the first one only for the second to slam two fists into my chest. Despite its size, it hit me with the force of the Hulk. I shot backward and slammed through a tree. I rolled just in time to avoid the second monkey''s attack. This one split the ground where I had been. I unleashed three blades of psychic energy intending to take out the first monkey in one move. Instead, it nimbly flipped through the air. Before it landed its arms turned a deep forest green. Thick vines shot toward me faster than bullets. Psychic Aegis barely had enough time to form before they slammed into me. In near-perfect coordination, the second monkey appeared from behind and slammed both fists into my barrier. The bubble shuddered but held. I took a moment to catch my breath as excitement built inside me. I wasn''t sure how they avoided triggering my danger sense nor did I really care. Grey mist billowed out from me in all directions as I activated Realm of Consciousness. The influx of mental energy told me both my targets were within range. I grinned as I activated both Psionic Rain and Psychic Blast. Both attacks rained down on their targets like a judgment from heaven. Before either monkey had the chance to react I appeared. Spiritual energy surged into my fist just before I slammed it into the closest one''s chest. The expected sight of the monkey''s rib cage caving in or being launched through the air didn''t happen. Instead, it used the momentary contact to grab hold of my shield and screeched. It didn''t take a genius to figure out what was coming next. Three blades of mental energy formed above the monkey in front of me. All three slammed into its head just as the second monkey slammed into me like a cannonball. Psychic Aegis cracked just as I received my kill energy. I tossed the corpse of the first monkey aside and unleashed **Psychic Blast** in its beam form into the chest of the second monkey. It was nowhere near fast enough to avoid it that time. It tried to retreat into the mist but how could I allow it to be that easy? I ended Psychic Aegis and whipped my hand forward. I held its wrist with one hand and conjured three new psychic blades. All three embedded themselves into its head and the battle was over. I ended my domain and surveyed the forest around me. My thirst for another fight urging me forward. Unfortunately, there was nothing else. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. "That was fun." I placed the pair into my ring and started off again. Those monkeys weren''t much of a threat in a group but if enough gathered Amahle and the others might be in trouble. Despite that, I couldn''t be more excited. How long would it take me to get to level forty? How long to get to level fifty? The possibilities were limitless and I couldn''t wait. I was attacked four more times before the first signal skill went up. Fortunately, none of these other beasts could ignore my danger sense. Dealing with them only took me a few minutes. "We have a problem." Amahle''s mental voice came across as strained which only put me on alert. "What''s happening." I pushed energy into Apportation as I waited for her response. "We are being attacked by something." I could almost physically feel the irritation in her voice. I stepped through the portal and then exited to the sounds of battle. Screams of pain as well as attacks of fire and earth rang out in the distance. I pushed spiritual energy into the soles of my feet and shot forward through the trees. My aura exploded in response to my desire for battle. I crashed through a tree and arrived in the middle of the storm. I couldn''t tell if they were being attacked by a single monster or an army of smaller ones. There was a massive pitcher plant that dripped a viscous black and blue liquid. It smelled of corpses which only made the scene more chaotic. People and monsters fought each other to get closer to it only to be grabbed by vines as soon as they got within a few feet. Before I could decide what to do Intellect Fortress activated. The spell caused me to freeze just long enough for one of the researchers to pull out a gun and shoot me. Fear shot through me but the metal hit my robes before I started moving again. I barely felt it. I laughed. "I am Luke Cage motherfuckers." I wasn''t sure what was going on but I was starting to piece it together. The plant was hypnotizing people and I needed to deal with it. First I activated Realm of Consciousness. I hoped that it would be enough to deal with the weaklings if not break the spell on them. Next, I leaped into the fray. I unleashed psychic blades on every monster in the area while punching each of the humans in the gut. I did my best to control the strength I put into it but it was like trying to punch ceramic. The closer I got to the plant the fiercer the fighting became. To make the situation worse Amahle stopped responding. It wasn''t until I was within ten feet of the plant that I figured out why. The young woman stood over the plant, her fingers and face covered in whatever it was. "Amahle?" I called out but the pervasive sense of danger made it clear that she was gone. Instead of responding she turned and raised a curved sword. In the next moment, she disappeared. I leapt back just as she reappeared her sword shooting for my throat. My Tao field expanded to meet her attack. Sparks flew as her weapon met an indomitable wall. That attack was just the first in what was rapidly becoming an onslaught. She lacked the force to cut through it but the sheer number of attacks was weakening the field. Like a thousand soldiers slowly grinding down a city gate. I activated Psychic Aegis and pushed away desperately trying to create space. I wasn''t sure what the fuck I was supposed to do here. I didn''t have any nonlethal ways of taking her out. Just as I was piecing together a plan of attack another blade slammed into the aegis from behind. "Fuck me. They shouldn''t be able to see or even think straight." Horror dawned on me as I figured out what they were doing. Or rather what the plant was doing. It was using Amahle like a beacon to guide the puppets. I drew my aura in not wanting to risk killing anyone with it. Next, I let Psychic Aegis collapse. If I was going to win this fight I would need to do it barehanded. Amahle reappeared nearly as soon as the barrier was gone. It was as if she knew when it would go down. Instead of retreating I imbued my first with the Tao of Adamance and intercepted her sword. Her blade barely nicked me but as soon as it did the pressure on my mind doubled. Intellect Fortress began draining spiritual energy at a rate comparable to half of what Psionic Rain cost. I gritted my teeth and was about to push forward when a familiar sensation filled my mind. A gentle caress passed over me and a new idea formed. I leaped back to avoid her next attack. Before I landed I put my new plan to work. Instead of imbuing mental energy with the Tao, I conjured a blade of Tao. It took me several seconds to get the hang of it. Seconds that the shield on my robes paid for but when it worked. A new blade floated above my shoulder. In truth, it wasn''t that different from the Psychic energy one. This one was clearer, white, and looked less solid. I was forced to bring my attention back to the battle when Amahle appeared in front of me. I re-expanded my Tao field and unleashed my blade. It passed right through her sword and into her forehead. She collapsed like a doll with its strings cut and I grimaced. I half expected a surge of kill energy but none came. I was only allowed to wait a few seconds before more attacks came out of the mist. Thankfully without Amahle, they weren''t as well-aimed. I didn''t bother to reactivate Psychic Aegis nor did I use my Tao. The rest of the fight devolved into a series of punches and kicks which was much less fun. Once I was sure I had dealt with all of them I ended Realm of Consciousness. I slowly approached the plant expecting one final act of defiance. A blast or plant zombie body but there was nothing. I wasn''t even sure if the thing was still alive. I still decided not to approach and just unleashed Psionic Rain on it. Once it was dead I turned my attention the Amahle and her group. "I found Amahle but she''s injured. Pretty badly as well. Furthermore, the rest of her group is down. They were attacked by some kind of plant." "Do you want us to come and help you?" Romulus asked and I had to consider it for a moment. The extra hands would be amazing but they would have to risk getting here. A process that would likely take several hours. "No, no stay where you are. I am going to give them a few hours to wake up. If they don''t I will just slowly carry as many as I can back and forth. I am going to see if I can find a safe place near here." "Let us know if you need anything. I am going to take a few people out to try and hunt in the surrounding area. A couple of researchers wanted to grab a level or two." I shrugged at that and decided not to question why I wanted to do it while I was there. It wasn''t my business and it was possible the last day of walking convinced them of the need. Either way, there wasn''t much I could do about it. The question was what should I do now? I did a quick scan of the forest but there was nothing that could work as a safe place so that was out. I squatted down and slowly collected the corpses. Which turned out to have a hidden benefit. Living things couldn''t be placed into the bag. I quickly went around and tried to add every person to my bag and none entered. I decided not to think about the implications of carrying around a literal ring filled with corpses. Though it did mean beast necromancer was a potential path. A morbid one but it was an option. Once I was finished with my experiments I gathered everyone together and gently released the Tao of Adamance over everyone. I didn''t think it would heal them but it just might help them wake up faster. I considered doing the same thing for Lucidity or my killing intent but decided against it. One I wasn''t confident in not killing the lower-level people. Two I wasn''t sure if Lucidity would make the problem worse. I still didn''t understand what it did but the last thing I needed was to give everyone brain damage. Thankfully I wasn''t kept waiting for too long. After an hour most of the low-level people were awake and by the second-hour mark, everyone except Amahle had returned to the waking world. "I am not sure how much you all remember but we can''t stay here for too long." "Um, you are that Amari guy right?" A young man with dirty blonde hair and a white lab coat asked. "I am. We will need to leave in about fifteen minutes. Please help each other walk. Don''t worry about any monster attacks. I will deal with them." "No offense dude but that''s what that woman said and well here we are." This time it was a tanned-skinned older woman with short blonde hair. I wasn''t sure if she was a researcher or just a wandering muscle and I didn''t care. "Yeah but that was then this is now. You are welcome to try leaving by yourself but I have my group a few hours away. Romulus is taking care of them so I want to get you all in one place so I can go searching for more people. No one has to come with me. Make your choice." Chapter 5: Defense is a pain The entire group decided to follow me which was expected. If you weren''t at least level 15 you would probably not survive the forest. We all quickly discovered an unforeseen problem less than an hour after we set out. It was like the presence of so many low-level people encouraged the beasts to hunt despite my aura. Of course, I couldn''t release mine to its full extent. I was forced into battle after battle against monsters of all shapes and sizes. The real challenge wasn''t the fighting. It was like these researchers lacked any kind of survival instinct. Two of them were nearly bitten in half by a panther the size of a small car while a third was nearly grabbed by a massive hawk. I was just about to order our fifth break when I caught something moving in the corner of my vision. **Psychic Aegis** expanded into its wall form less than a second before a python the size of a city bus shot out. Its movements were a blur even to my sight. The research didn''t even react until after it slammed into the wall and was already retreating. "What the hell!" "Monster!" I released more of my aura to scare the researchers and keep them from running off into the forest. Unfortunately by the time I looked for the serpent again, it was gone. "How the hell does something that size just disappear?" I muttered to myself. I considered putting Amahle down but there was no way she could defend herself. Nor could I rely on any of the others to stand their ground. Another flash of movement only this time I was a second too slow. The serpent grabbed hold of a man and yanked him back into the forest. Thankfully the man only screamed for a few seconds. The sudden death of one of their own sent the group into a chaotic scramble. "Fuck me." I expanded my Tao field to its maximum. I formed both a barrier and a cage but it wouldn''t be enough. At this size, the barrier was nothing compared to the aegis. Another blur and the serpent slammed into the field to the right of me. The snake managed to get nearly two feet through the field before it was stopped. Psionic Rain fell on the massive reptile a second later. Only instead of the blades passing through it, the serpent''s eyes flashed and a shield of translucent energy formed around it. My eyes widened as it defended against my psychic attack. Not only did it manage to block it but it didn''t look like the shield used up much energy at all. I couldn''t help grinning as I planned out my next move. I conjured three blades of psychic energy and shot them forward. The weaker blades faired no better but they did manage to keep the serpent still. "Get behind me!" I empowered my voice with a bit of spiritual energy as I shouted. The effect was better than I expected. The researchers recoiled as if they had been struck they then sprinted toward me. I imbued another three blades with my Tao and shot them forward just as the serpent started to move. The one unattuned blade shattered against the shield but the two attuned ones fared much better. They slashed through the shield like a hot knife through butter. The snake let out a hiss of pain before turning toward me. A scream of danger was the only warning I had before its eyes seemed to double in size. My body went limp as its eyes consumed the world around me. The next moment the world shattered as Intellect Fortress activated. The mental defense spell drained nearly a fourth of my remaining spiritual energy which left no doubt as to what I was dealing with. This snake was a mental attacker just like me. I laughed and circulated the Tao of Adamance through my head. The serpent recovered and launched itself at me. Cries of panic filled the air but I pushed them to the back of my mind. Psychic Aegis sprang up to meet the charge. The indigo barrier cracked immediately as the serpent attempted to bite through it. Fangs the size of short swords glinted in front of Maw that felt like staring into an abyss. I unleashed Psychic Blast as the serpent bit down. The attack flashed across the beast''s scales and this time it was forced back. I bit back the urge to chase after the beast. Instead, I formed another trio of imbued blades. The serpent avoided two of the three by rushing deeper into the forest. The third sunk into its tail and I had no way of knowing if it was effective. I gritted my teeth and strained my eyes and ears for any signs of where the snake would reappear. Seconds turned into minutes before I was confident that the battle was over. "Holy shit. You got rid of it." One of the researchers called out as I slowly relaxed. "Yeah, but I am sure we will see it again." I took a deep breath and shook my head. "We will leave in ten minutes." I pulled out a spirit crystal and started draining energy. It was stupid of me to be upset that I couldn''t kill the snake and the fact that it ran meant I won. Despite those facts, I couldn''t help the bitter taste in my mouth. It still felt like a failure. "Are we safe?" A woman called out this time and I reluctantly opened my eyes. "Likely no, the serpent will probably come back but for now it won''t attack. I don''t think anything else will attack in the short term." Despite my reassurances, the group stayed hunched over and as close to me as possible. It was very distracting but I couldn''t blame them, not really. If I was in their position I likely would have done the same thing. When the fifteen minutes were up the group gathered together and I opened a portal. I made another mental note to look into ways to improve Apportation. It was far too good a spell to be limited to brief uses. Once everyone was inside I closed the portal. I stepped out just in case another beast was waiting for us. Fortunately for us, there was nothing. We alternated between jogging and portal hopping until we arrived at the cave. Romulus and his partner were waiting outside for us. A ball of golden light floated above both of them. "Got to admit I am glad to see you two." I grinned and gently removed Amahle from my back and shifted her into a bridal carry. "When I caught up to them they were in a fight with a weird pitcher plant kind of thing. I am not sure why she hasn''t woken up but it''s at least partially because I hit her with my Tao." I quickly explained the battle when I saw their concerned and judgmental looks. By the time I finished, Amahle had been carried into the cave along with the other researchers. Which left Romulus and I to finish things up. "So what do you intend to do now?" He asked while staring into the forest. "Haven''t decided yet. There might be more people out there in need of help but whether or not we need to find them is up in the air. Furthermore, the longer we wait their chances of surviving plummet." Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. "Everything you said is true but that doesn''t answer my question." I took a breath and nodded. "I am going to leave. The continent still has many secrets which likely include natural treasures and who knows what else from the System. On top of that, I want to get to fifty as fast as I can." A thick silence passed over us when I finished speaking. I wasn''t sure if Romulus was judging me, cursing me, or preparing to attack me. I wasn''t sure I cared either. Ultimately our agreement was an unofficial one and it only meant we would be political allies. Furthermore, the expedition was effectively over nor did it seem wise to drag them all along as I went off into the wilderness. It would be better for me to bring things back here or at least wait until I could clear out a safe zone. "I don''t think I can follow you. Our levels aren''t that different but it feels like I am sitting next to a monster. Or a dragon. I am not sure what the difference between us is anymore. I have gained two Tao strands and I can''t sense anymore from you." I raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "I think it''s the titles. I have a lot of those from the tutorial. Each one provides different boosts to my attributes. Some are a few points, some are different types of percentage boosts." Romulus had turned his fulll attention to me by the time I finished speaking. I already knew what he wanted to know. "I won''t tell you how to get the same titles I have. You should have gained the one for getting your class and the rarity of that class. As for the others, the System seems to prefer people who are at the front. Not sure if this is true but each planet likely has a set of titles. I somehow doubt that in the whole universe, I am the first at anything but on earth... My suggestion would be to find a way to push yourself forward." We talked for a little longer while I absorbed another pair of spirit stones. The conversation centered on cultivation but it was clear that neither of us was interested in sharing any important information. I wasn''t sure if that was smart or not. The information age had brought about many improvements to everyone''s lives before but now it was coveted. There was also a lack of known information. I couldn''t guarantee anything that I knew was true outside of what the tutorial said. I also took the time to review the Tao ladder and didn''t like what I saw. Romulus had caught up to the second spot. I was pretty sure that his two strands weren''t equal to mine but it still felt uncomfortably close. Like he was a hound nipping at my heels. When I was ready to go I stood up and stretched. "I will come back every three days if I don''t find something important. I left a few of the beast corpses inside so you all should be able to make some food." "We can take care of that. If you find somewhere more secure to hold up let us know. A cave doesn''t feel strong enough when we are fighting monsters the size of cars." I laughed at that and nodded my agreement. "I will do what I can. As long as I am within range I will send back messages as well. I hope to see your level start to climb." With that said I opened a portal and stepped through. The mental calming effect washed away the apprehension I had at my choice. At the end of the day, it was my call and my life. I already left Amara behind to go on this trip. When the portal reopened I was overlooking the forest from the canopy of a large set of trees. Each one was nearly the size of a building. My breath caught in my throat when I saw a massive tree in the middle of the forest. It reminded me of the stories of the world trees from mythology. It had to be at least as tall as the Empire State Building and that was lowballing it. I couldn''t even tell how far away it was. "Well, that''s the biggest quest marker in the history of quest markers." I couldn''t help but chuckle as I looked down. The forest floor was around ten to twenty feet below me. I took a deep breath vertigo swelled inside me before leaping for the next tree. The brief period of weightlessness filled me with equal parts terror and excitement. The combination was intoxicating and I couldn''t resist leaping from tree to tree like a ninja. My platforming adventure ended a few minutes later when I leaped into the open air and a hawk the size of a sedan shot out from behind the clouds. I couldn''t help but think that the warning from my danger sense came too late to be of any use. I pushed spiritual energy into a full-power Psionic Rain as the hawk''s razor-sharp peak grew in size. The hawk arrived just as my attack began. Its talons tore a chunk out of my arm before it was forced to retreat. I barely had enough time to scream before I slammed into the next tree. The branch I hit collapsed almost immediately and I started my descent to the ground. I had fallen nearly half the distance before Apportation activated and a portal formed beneath me. I squeezed my eyes shut just as the portal shut. My heart felt like it was about to rip its way through my chest. I got to my feet and mentally prepared myself for the battle. I activated Psychic Aegis and stepped back into the forest. This time I was on the ground proper which I figured would give me cover against the massive bird. I scanned the tree line above me until I spotted my prey. I formed three blades of mental energy and imbued two of them with my Tao. All three blades shot forward like homing missiles. The unimbued blade found its target first. The overgrown bird nearly slammed into a tree as it dealt with the metal attack. Next came the blade imbued with Adamance. It slammed into the bird''s neck and part of me wondered if they could the blade. Not just the mental attack. Before I had a chance to reflect on that the third blade embedded itself into the bird''s chest and kill energy flooded into me. I then watched the bird''s body crash through nearly every branch on its way to the ground. I still wasn''t sure if my mental attacks immediately killed or if you felt whatever happened next. I seriously hoped it was more the former than the latter. The broken body of the hawk almost made me feel bad. Of course, it had been trying to kill me so I didn''t feel that bad. I collected the body and decided to travel the rest of the way on foot. It made me feel like I was an eighteenth-century explorer traveling through dangers and untamed wilderness. Only there were actual monsters. I continued for another three hours and another three fights before I decided to settle in for the evening. My spiritual energy was starting to run low and I wasn''t sure if nighttime monsters were stronger than daytime ones. Regardless it wasn''t wise for me to push my luck. I settled into a tree hollow the size of a bedroom. The whole thing made me feel like I was in some sort of Disney fairy tale. Regardless the spot was warm and empty. I gave it another twenty minutes just in case this domain belonged to a different animal but when nothing came I shrugged my shoulders. I wasn''t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. I pulled out two spirit stones and let the energy flow into my dantian. The rush felt better than all the sugar I''ve had throughout my life. It took me nearly an hour to consume all but one of my first realm spirit stones. Something that had only barely made up for the loss of energy throughout the day. I would need to kill a lot more powerful creatures if I wanted to reach level 40 before we returned. Once my cultivation session finished I pulled out some of my water and the food I prepared for the trip. I gave it a quick sniff and shook my head. It had no smell which was both reassuring and disquieting. I wasn''t sure if jerky was just odorless or if whatever animal this came from didn''t smell. I tried not to think about either option and just ate my meal. I did make a mental note to offer some credits for good food. We needed to get some chefs as soon as possible. I finished up my meal and spent another two hours meditating on each of my Tao. Neither felt anywhere near ready to advance and a voice kept nagging in the back of my mind. I would need to get a third and a fourth one soon. I just couldn''t decide what to go after. Time and Space seemed like powerful options but so did lightning fire or wind. They were all equally tempting. It was a bit like going to an ice cream shop with unlimited money but not being able to buy everything. I pushed down the annoyance at the situation and finished my meditation. Ideally, that would be another problem I would solve while here. I made myself a bed out of leaves and tree bark before settling down for the night. A mix of excitement and anxiety filled my stomach as I let my mind wander. Tomorrow I will start exploring the continent in full. Chapter 6: Divine Tree I woke up just before sunrise the next day and was filled with anticipation. It was somewhat muted and I wasn''t sure why I felt it. Furthermore, I wasn''t nervous about it. The only thing I had to go on was a direction. Northwest. Which was also the direction to the big ass tree. I flexed my fingers and rolled my shoulders. It didn''t take a genius to figure out that I was being drawn there. The question was whether or not it was a trap. Of course, even that didn''t matter. I was going to go regardless. I checked my hidey hole again to make sure nothing had changed while I was asleep. Once that was done I broke out into a sprint. The forest turned into a blur as I ran. My locs trailed behind me as the wind tore through them. I had only been running for a few minutes when I began to laugh. I remembered how people talked about riding motorcycles and what it was like to feel the wind on your face. I was probably running out of a speed comparable to the fastest motorcycles now. I felt like there was a kind of irony in that. I leaped over a splintered tree and was greeted by a large dog-like creature. It looked a bit like a cross between a husky and one of those lion statues you would see in Asia. Only this one was very real and very alive. The beast let out a howl and my danger sense went off. I threw myself to the side as a burst of air slammed into that spot. It looked like a grenade had gone off. I summoned three blades of mental energy and shot them at the beast. The massive dog leaped clear over the attack and unleashed another blast of air. I threw myself into a roll before jumping back to my feet. By the time I reoriented myself the dog was already firing another blast. I pushed spiritual energy into my arms and brought them up to defend me less than a second before the blast slammed into me. I was forced back nearly ten feet and into the trunk of a tree. "Fuck me" I groaned as I slid to the floor. I had just enough time to confirm that I hadn''t broken any bones or suffered any serious injuries when I activated Psychic Aegis. The shield formed just as the dog unleashed another blast of wind. This time the wind dissipated harmlessly against the bubble. "I''ve got to start leading with this." I groaned to myself. I activated Psionic Rain just as the overgrown puppy leaped for me. Dozens of mental blades rained down just as it slammed its head into my shield. Its strength was nowhere near enough to break through aegis and a surge of kill energy told me that the battle was over. I walked around Clifford''s little cousin for a minute before I decided to place the corpse in my ring. I wasn''t sure if I wanted to eat big dog meat but beggars couldn''t be choosers. There was also the chance that this thing could help my future spirit beast. Worst case scenario I would just sell it to someone. The energy from the battle was much higher than I expected as well. "I wonder if you were supposed to be here?" I didn''t know much about animal habitats but big lion dog didn''t feel like a massive forest animal. Was it possible that it was also being drawn toward the tree? I scanned the forest for any signs of that being true but there was nothing. No other animals, no plant creatures I was completely alone. I shrugged and pushed the thought from my mind. I would find out one way or the other soon enough so there was little reason to stress about it. I took a steadying breath and unleashed both my Tao field and my killing intent. It felt like a Tsunami of power flooded through the world. It felt like I had been forced to whisper and now I was free to scream as loud as I wanted. My aura claimed a radius of thirty yards as my own. As my domain, it felt wonderful. I let myself relish in the sensation for a few seconds before I took off deeper into the forest. I ran for around thirty minutes before I encountered more monsters. Only this time they had no interest in fighting with me. The beasts were a group of large emerald-green monkeys that made me think of poison. There were seven of them and I wasn''t sure if they were currently running because of me or if I was just another threat to them. Nor did I care. It was a major ego booster to be the thing that people or in this case monsters were afraid of. To not be stuck trying to protect someone or defend something else, but just free in my power. I decided not to torture the poor things and continue on my journey. This process repeated itself another three times before I was able to confirm. We were all going in the same direction. This meant that the tree would likely be the battleground for some kind of treasure. I considered sending a message to Romulus and the others but could they get here? There was little chance of me going back for them. Were they even strong enough to join the battle? I went back and forth as I joined the run toward the tree. I knew deep down that I was lying to myself. The real reason I wasn''t going to tell them was because I wanted whatever it was. I wasn''t sure if that made me selfish or not. After all, everyone was scrambling for ways to adjust to the System. Everyone wanted to be the top dog despite how much we talked about uniting and all that. I also knew that I liked the title of "Strongest". I went back and forth with myself for a few minutes before I was forced back to the present. A beast that reminded me of a rhino, only twice as big charged at me. Its horn nearly the size of a short sword was aimed straight at my heart. The beast ran into my Tao field a second later and began pushing through it. The beast was moving very slowly as if it was pushing sand but it was rather impressive. That didn''t stop me from unleashing a trio of empowered psychic blades directly into its forehead nor did it save the thing from having its soul destroyed. I was going to start running again when I had an idea. I looked at the rhino''s horn for any hint that it was something special. My instincts didn''t say anything but that didn''t mean I was right. The horn might have been something useless to me but great for someone else. Now that I had the idea I just couldn''t let it go. I summoned a sword from my ring and knelt. I had no idea how to remove the horn from the head without just destroying the whole thing. So I decided to decapitate the thing and put both it and the corpse in the ring. I was somewhat curious as to what Rhino meat would taste like. I let out a dry chuckle at suddenly becoming a foodie now that the world had ended. I rolled my neck and took off in the direction of the tree. That feeling had been slowly growing and I had a feeling that the tree would be doing its thing soon. The scenery slowly started to change. The forest became a bit less dense and the trees grew taller. This felt like the Amazon and more like a forest, you would find in the United States. Along with the change in scenery came a change in vantage. A change that filled me with awe, excitement, and terror. We were still a mile or so away from the tree but the forest had turned into a slaughter ground. Beasts were tearing each other apart as far as the eye could see. Entire packs roamed in search of enemies that they could kill. At first, I thought that it was a monster like the plant but that idea was thrown out when a prompt appeared in front of me. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Unique Opportunity Presented: To the Victor go the Spoils Battle for the Divine Fruit. Seize your opportunity It wasn''t hard to figure out that it was the System causing this mad scramble. I scanned the branches of the tree but didn''t see anything that looked like a fruit. That combined with the fact no creature was trying to climb it made me think the Treasure wasn''t ready yet. Either that or the System was hiding it until enough blood had been spilled. Two large reptilian creatures that were likely an evolution of Komodo dragons tried to attack me but they weren''t much. A pair of mental blades killed them before they could start attacking my Tao field. I took another few minutes to surveil the battlefield and gained a key piece of information. What I thought was a chaotic jumble was a carefully divided battlefield. There were three tiers for lack of a better word. The areas furthest from the tree were filled with relatively weak creatures. It was hard to tell but since they weren''t triggering my danger sense they weren''t anything special. The middle tier was stronger than that and was probably closer to Romulus and Amahle in power. This one had around half the amount of monsters. Lastly, there was the group in the shadow of the tree itself. They were around my strength and better. There were only three creatures there, one was another lion-dog creature, one was a massive version of the monkeys, and the last bigger version of the reptiles. The ones that had just attacked me. It was clear that this group was the ones fighting for the fruit. While everyone else searched for benefits among the scraps. "I guess that means I have to head toward the big boy stage." I chuckled to myself and thought about how I should approach it. My first impulse was to open Apportation and just skip the journey but if I do that I might not be able to open it during the battle. I thought it about for another second before I shrugged and started jogging. Going straight through the battlefield would give me a bit of extra energy so why not do it? Even with my killing intent, it was hard to influence the overall course of the battle. I couldn''t even tell if the beasts were intelligent enough to recognize the danger I posed. Unfortunately, my progress through the battlefield was slow. It was like the closer I got to the next tier the more beasts wanted to stop me. I was forced to pull out a sword and just start cutting them down as to save my energy. It took me nearly an hour to reach the second tier. Only for the second tier to go much the same way. Only this time I was forced to activate Psychic Aegis and imbue it with the Strand of Adamance. On top of that, I was forced to activate Psychic Blast on near repeat. Monkeys, lizards, lions, and a variety of other creatures died by the boatload. Just to slow me down. My mental energy started to run low before I was halfway across the tier. I debated whether or not I should activate Realm of Consciousness or go at it with my hands and blade. The decision was taken out of my hands when a scream of danger forced me to push Psychic Aegis to its limit. A blast of compressed air slammed into me with the force of a freight train. I was forced nearly a foot into the ground and Psychic Aegis practically exploded. I spit out a broken tooth and glared at the massive lion dog that had attacked me. It didn''t take a genius to tell that the beast had some insight into the wind or the gale or something similar. The beast turned his attention back to the rest of the third-tier warriors. An act that sparked a fury inside me. It was dismissing me. As if I wasn''t worth the effort or the time it would take to finish me. I gritted my teeth and activated Apportation. The time for playing games was over. I stepped through the portal. When it opened I was hit with a scream of danger. I barely had enough time for the portal to close before my hairy fist shot toward my skull. I blocked with my hands only for it to feel like I had just tried to stop Superman with my palms. I felt at least one bone crack and I was forced to send a surge of spiritual energy into my feet to stop from flying away. Once I could feel my arms again I pushed energy into the sigil for Realm of Consciousness. I imbued the spell with the Tao of Lucidity just in case these things were mentally stronger than the others. Grey mists billowed out from me in all directions. The mental energy infusion felt like someone had thrown a glass of cold water into my mind. I leaped back from the monkey leader and took stock of the situation. All four of us were within my domain which that they would slowly get weaker. There was no need for me to push myself to end this quickly. I conjured three blades of psychic energy and shot one at each target. The monkey must have had some kind of danger sense because it jumped out of the way before the attack had fully reached him. The other two didn''t fair anywhere near as well. The massive lizard took the blade just below the chin. While the lion dog took it in the leg. Both beasts took the attacks better than I wanted but there was no need to worry. This time I activated Psychic Blast in its beam form and fired it. My target was the Lion dog who tossed its head back and unleashed a deafening roar. The air around us whipped up into a frenzy before forming a barrier around it. A barrier that was just strong enough to stop my attack. I considered holding onto see which of us would run out of energy first but the other participants weren''t okay with just standing on the sidelines. The monkey slammed both fists into the ground. After which a scream of mortal peril forced me to retreat. Less than a second later the ground exploded and a burst of noxious green air flowed out of the fresh crater. \ I had to circulate the Tao of Adamance to fight the rising wave of panic that started to spread through me. The monkey had somehow summoned or conjured a cloud of poison. Everywhere the poison the pass things started to die. From the grass to the trees and everything in between. I was just about to open Apportation again when an idea came to me. Instead of leaving I pushed more energy into Realm of Consciousness and activated Psionic Rain. The second spell was imbued with the Strand of Lucidity. My target was the massive lizard. It was by far the slowest of the trio and if I could keep it confused long enough just maybe the poison would kill it or at least weaken it enough for me to do the rest. The sphere of psychic energy shattered and a rain of blades fell on the beast as the cloud of poison moved forward. I laughed when the lizard attempted to move forward only to stumble. I had no way of knowing how long the confusion effect would last but I didn''t need it to do too much. Just enough for me to focus- My thoughts were interrupted by a scream of danger and less than a second later another blast of wind. I spun around a tree just as the attack destroyed where I just stood. "How the fuck does that bastard know where I am?" I scanned the area around me and swore. Our battle had destroyed the fucking mist. I could barely sense the lion dog''s location, the monkey was MIA which left the lizard. I flinched when I caught sight of the lizard. It had been consumed by the poison and was clearly on death''s door. I summoned another blade and put the poor thing out of its misery. I turned my attention to the line and gathered the spiritual energy to unleash another Psychic Blast. Just as I was about to unleash my attack the ground began to rumble. I scanned the area for any signs of the monkey as An icy chill went down my spine. I turned and prepared to run. Before I could take a step the voice of the System filled my head while a prompt appeared in front of me. Both of them say the same thing. Time until the Divine Fruit has ripened. 00:00:10 There was an eerie calm as the tree split open revealing a small hollow with two fruits. Each one was about the size of an apple and was a dark golden color. Just staring at it made every part of my body scream out with desire. Every other thought faded, nothing mattered more than getting those fruits. The timer hit zero and all hell broke loose. Chapter 7: Fruit of the Divine Tree All thoughts of finishing our battle ended as the world erupted into violence. All of our killing intents roiled together. The forest felt like the site of a million battles. Every hair on my body stood on end and my danger sense became a constant alarm. None of that mattered. My body started moving before I had a chance to process what was happening. The monkey dropped down from above and was rapidly approaching the fruits. My fruits. I let out a scream of true fury. Spiritual energy surged as I activated every spell that was off cool down. Psychic Blast, Psionic Rain, and Psychic Aegis exploded into existence. Psychic Aegis became a wall that prevented the Monkey from taking another step. Psionic Rain assaulted everyone else. Several of the spell''s blades ended up cutting me which caused Intellect Fortress to trigger. I barely even felt it. My focus narrowed to the fruits and the rest of the world ceased to exist. When the fruits were less than ten feet away I launched myself at them. The world slowed to a crawl and I begged for just a few more inches. As if just wanting it more would let my fingers reach. I wrapped my hands around the closest fruit when the tree hollow was obliterated by a burst of air. Wind and wood tore at my body and the second fruit was launched into the air. My dive became a roll. A mental command sent my prize into my storage ring. The second fruit was airborne. I snarled as the lion creature closed in on it. Once again I felt a caress on the back of my mind. Just enough to calm me down and illuminate the path forward. I grinned and raised a hand. I pushed spiritual energy into Psychic Blast. I let the energy form in the space just above my fingertips. The caress then urged me forward. Like a mother encouraging a child, I took both my Tao strands and wrapped them around one another. The two Tao pushed against each other. Like two brothers warring with one another. It barely took a flexion of will for me to force them to stop. For me to force them into unity. Psychic Blast changed from an indigo-colored attack into a grey-silver one. The light it emitted made my mind haze over. Almost like staring at a dream. My focus was pulled back to the fruit. The lion dog and monkey were rapidly catching up to it but I didn''t panic. I felt the lion dog getting closer to the fruit but I didn''t rush. It felt like someone was guiding my hand. All I needed to do was trust in them and everything would be fine. An invisible wind picked up around me. One that didn''t affect the physical world. It felt like my psyche had become the idea of a maelstrom. Distant howls filled the air but they were like ants. I felt the caress pull away and I released the attack. Time crawled to a stop as it shot forward. The attack wasn''t so much a projectile as it was a flashbang. My entire world narrowed to the grey light. My mind began to haze over when Intellect Fortress activated. On instinct, I closed my eyes not wanting to find out what would happen if the spell failed. The rest of the forest had gone by the time I opened my eyes. I scanned the battlefield but no one was moving. I held my breath expecting to feel a torrent of kill energy flood into me but there was nothing. "What the hell did I do?" I shook my head and took off for the fruit. I had no way of knowing how long this would last so I couldn''t waste it. It only took me a few seconds to grab the fruit but a scream of danger told me my time was up. I did a backflip that would have made Spider-Man jealous and unleashed a trio of psychic blades. My attacker was the large dog which wasn''t a surprise. Whatever my last attack did seemed to have some long-lasting effect because the beast didn''t even attempt to dodge the blades. All three embedded themselves in its side before fading away. "How are you still alive," I grumbled as the rest of the battlefield came to life. The monkey launched itself at me and I was forced to block its hammock-sized hands with my own. By the third exchange, my hands had gone numb and the bones in my arms felt like jelly. I conjured two more blades but when I tried to imbue I found that I couldn''t use either of my Tao. "Fuck me," I exclaimed and launched both blades. The monkey managed to dodge the first but the second slammed into its raised arm. Before I could savor the small victory something slammed into me from behind. It was as if I had been tackled by an NFL player. The pain shot up my spine and caused my head to snap back. I unleashed another round of mental attacks as I moved into a barrel roll. I scanned the battlefield and saw nothing but enemies. Most of which still struggled to stand. I wasn''t sure how long that would last. I considered running away for a moment. There were too many enemies. Most of my spells were unavailable. The more I thought about the more the idea filled me with anger. As if running away would be some kind of betrayal of who I was. Despite my anger, it was clear that there were just too many of them. I unleashed another group of blades this time at a group of lizard monsters that had decided numbers would help them. The second fruit went into my bag and I sprinted toward the only open patch of land. The beast tide most of have taken that as an admission of weakness. The entire group made so much noise that the ground shook. I gritted my teeth and swore to hunt them all down as soon as I was strong enough. A blast of wind slammed into my back with so much force that it felt like I had been run over. I forced spiritual energy into my feet so fast that it strained the channels in my legs. I didn''t slow. I picked up speed hoping to use the trees as cover. Hoping that the beasts would lose their cohesion and descend into violence. Hoping that anything would happen. I summoned two healing pills from my rings and swallowed them as fast as I could. My muscles stitched themselves together while I ran. A sensation that was beyond uncomfortable. As soon as Psychic Aegis came off cool down I activated it. The wall formed behind me in an instant. My heart sank a second later as the barrier began to crack. I tried to will myself to run faster as I waited for Apportation to come off and cool down. I only needed a few more seconds. I felt Aegis shatter a second later and then the sounds of the horde picked up. Attacks fell from the sky like rain. Acidic bubbles, earth spikes, vines, and every other thing under the sun tried to claim my life. The trees managed to block a lot of the attacks. Some crashed into each other due to the sheer number of them but more than a few slammed into me. The shield on my robes shattered. Even the auto repair feature began to fail. At this rate, I would be naked by the time I got through the forest. A roar of rage shattered my thoughts as my old rival returned. The leonine dog broke free from the rest of the horde and unleashed a blast of wind. I didn''t need my danger sense to tell me that surviving this hit would be a feat let alone being able to run away. I did my best to recreate psychic aegis through energy manipulation. What came out was closer to an amorphous blob than a proper shield. Regardless it was just enough. My makeshift shield was just strong enough to weaken the attack so my body could take it. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The forest around me exploded as if a bomb had gone off. I screamed in pain as multiple bones snapped. I pushed myself to my feet and tried to run. My legs were like jelly and a scream of danger told me that I was out of time. I forced spiritual energy toward the sigil for Apportation. The spell had finally come off cool down and had become the light at the end of my proverbial tunnel. I forced myself forward as the swirling portal opened. Two more attacks slammed into my back. In a twist of fate, they pushed further into the portal and away from the army. I bit back another scream as I landed face-first in the safe zone. I felt the portal close behind me but I didn''t relax. It would reopen soon and I had to be ready. I swallowed another two pills and grimaced as they got to work. The siren call of my new prizes filled my mind but now wasn''t the time. I had no idea what they would do to me. The last thing I needed was for them to put me in a vision and leave me a sitting duck. I grabbed my last Spirit Stone and drained it as fast as I could. The amount of energy inside wouldn''t be enough. Not for a real fight but it would be enough for me to defend myself. When the portal opened I stumbled out and looked around. The lack of enemies felt like a reprieve from heaven. I pulled my aura inside myself as deep as I could. I waited a second half expecting a massive monster horde to come barreling out of the tree line but there was nothing. A strange sound filled the air and my heartbeat picked up as if it was trying to flee my chest. It took me another second to realize the sound was laughter, it was my laughter. I survived. A wave of relief slammed into me like a tidal wave. I didn''t just survive. I won! I got both fruits. I killed a fuck ton of them and I got away. I collapsed to my knees as my laughter grew. I wasn''t sure if I had finally lost my mind but I couldn''t stop laughing. It was like the floodgates had been opened and I no longer controlled my body. I was in the middle of a new forest at the end of the world. I was still standing. I wasn''t sure how long I sat there before the laughter stopped. Nor did I know how long it took before I was able to move. When I gained control over myself I took stock of the situation. I damaged my channels but I was pretty sure they would heal with time. My dantian was almost empty. I was in no shape for the drawn-out battle which meant I needed to find a place to rest. My robes were in tatters and the sigils on them were destroyed. Which meant that there was no chance they would heal. "Guess it was a good thing I packed a couple of spares of clothes." I let out a dry chuckle as I picked a direction and started walking. I pulled out both fruits and put them into proper storage boxes. I wasn''t sure if I should consume them both now or wait. There was no way to know if the researchers would be able to tell me anything more but it would be real stupid if they were poisonous. If they needed to be refined into a potion or a pill I killed myself due to impatience. Ultimately it didn''t matter. I wasn''t going to eat it until I had a safe place and once I found a safe place it would be better for me to rest. I couldn''t afford to get pulled into another fight before I was ready. I tracked through the forest for nearly an hour before I came across something unexpected. "Is that an Aztec temple?" I asked no one while I stared at the massive stone building. It was made out of aged white stone that must have been beautiful when it was first built. It was a massive stone pyramid type with stairs on all four sides. "If I go in here and get attacked by an army of zombies and or ancient robots I am going to be furious." I couldn''t stop myself from chuckling as I sprinted forward. The short jog up the stairs tempted me to put on my best Rocky impression but I resisted. I stepped into the chamber at the top and shrugged. It was an empty ancient entranceway. I don''t know what I was expecting but this was normal. I stepped into the temple and scanned the walls. It took me a second to realize what was going on. I could understand the images. My spell must work on pictograph languages which was convenient. The temple was boring, to say the least. It was just a temple to either a god of war or a god of death. Even with the spell, it wasn''t clear. There was a spot deeper into the temple where sacrifices would go but that felt like the kind of place the System would create an evil monster. We still had no hint of an explanation for that. Some of the lizards looked awfully similar to dinosaurs. I found a small empty chamber with a skylight that I decided to use as my cultivation chamber. It lacked any kind of array or anything that would help gather the energy for me. I didn''t even have my mat beggars couldn''t be choosers. I sat cross-legged and started to practice the Ethereal Codex. It took me nearly three hours to get to the point I was comfortable with my spiritual energy. I was nowhere near ready to level up but it was plenty to get into a fight. I was pretty confident I could fight the remaining boss monsters if I needed to. Most of my combat abilities were back as well. Which meant it was time to go over my notifications. [1]Psionic Rain ¨C Proficiency: Advanced. [1]Intellect Fortress ¨C Proficiency: Intermediate. [1]Realm of Consciousness ¨C Proficiency: Intermediate. One Man Army: Stand against one hundred enemies of the same Realm as you and survive Reward: Constitution +10 I smiled as I read through the highlights of my recent battle. All three spells were improved which was beyond convenient. I was starting to worry that I wouldn''t be able to max out our fortress but it seemed like I could just fuck myself up. Still wasn''t sure I wanted to beat myself but you do what you got to do. The other two were just as good. My domain got stronger and so did rain. I scanned their sigils but I couldn''t tell what the change was. All three sigils were much more detailed now but they didn''t give any hint as to how they improved. I had to assume that they were just strength upgrades. Which was good enough for me. Especially since I didn''t see anything that indicated an increase in energy cost. The new titles were interesting as well. I wasn''t sure how many beasts were in the clearing but a hundred sounded right. All together I had made out like a bandit today. My power had taken a noticeable leap even if the level standings didn''t show it. That wasn''t even counting the real prize. I raised my ring to the light as if I could see the fruits inside if the light hit it just right. I couldn''t resist summoning one of the boxes from the ring. The sigils guaranteed it wouldn''t lose any more energy. I stared at it for a few more minutes before I shrugged my shoulders. "Fuck it, My danger sense didn''t tell me not to do it." I opened the box and was met with another wave of energy. It made my body ache almost like eating something incredibly sweet. Now that I could get a clear look at it. The fruit was a deep emerald green and looked kind of like an onion. It didn''t have the peel-away layers but it had a single point toward the top where it connected to the tree. There was a spiraling design that crossed the surface of it that got smaller toward the top. As it was leading the eye to the stem. I gave it another second before taking a bite. The fruit tasted horrible. It was surprisingly bitter like biting into a lemon that had been made even more lemony. Despite that, I couldn''t stop eating. By the time I had consumed the whole thing a storm of spiritual energy erupted in my stomach. It felt like my stomach had become the eye of a maelstrom that threatened to rip me apart. I closed my eyes and started going through the Ethereal Codex. It felt like I was trying to hold back a flood with my bare hands. Energy surged out of my stomach and rushed into my channels. I gritted my teeth as pain erupted through my entire body. I tried to take hold of the energy to force it into my dantian but it was clear I wasn''t in control. The energy surged forward undaunted scouring every part of me. I opened my mouth in a silent scream as the energy broke me down. The panic and fear were so intense that Intellect Fortress activated. Tears rolled down my face as I desperately searched for a way to take control before the energy killed me. Chapter 8: Round 2 A wave of spiritual energy erupted from me and slammed into the room. Stone cracked as I levitated off of the ground. The energy left my channels and spread into the rest of my body. It felt like I was simultaneously being burned, frozen, and electrocuted. Darkness crept in at the edges of my vision as the energy reached my eyes. I bit back another cry of pain and focused on my cultivation method. I couldn''t control the rampaging but it could help me with the pain. I forced myself into a meditative trance. Just as I thought I had solved the immediate problem my entire body lurched and another pulse of energy shot out. Suddenly whatever was keeping me in the air ended and I crashed to the ground. Before I could process what was happening I was hit with a wave of exhaustion. I tried to stand only to collapse to my knees. The world around me suddenly felt like it was millions of miles away. My eyelids felt like they weighed a million pounds each. Even breathing felt like trying to remove an elephant from my chest. I closed my eyes and was relieved when the darkness finally claimed me. I bolted awake sometime later. I grimaced as I scanned the room around me. It was ruined. All the artwork was gone and the floor had collapsed. From the distance between me and the skylight, I had to have fallen at least twenty feet. I got to my feet only to stumble as my vision swam. Panic started to build in my chest as a million scenarios went through my mind. Was the fruit dangerous? No, my danger sense should have warned me. Was it too strong? That was a thought but if so why did I survive? The pain was insane but that was it. I otherwise felt amazing. I shrugged and pulled my status screen hoping that it would give me some explanation and boy did it.
Name Amari Jackson
Level 36
Class [1-Epic]Psionic Paragon
Species [2]Human
Affiliation Earth:Amara: Ruler
Trait ???
Manual [1]Ethereal Codex(22%)
Titles Beloved by Tao, Big Game, Chosen, First to Ten, Horde Breaker, Leader of the Pack, Monstersbane, One Man Army, Overlord Slayer, Overpowered, Perfect 100, Prime Forebearer, Prime Hunter, Tutorial, Voyager,
Limited Titles Pinnacle, Primal Battlefield
Tao Strand of Adamance ¡ª Comprehension: Middle, Strand of Lucidity ¡ª Comprehension: Middle
Agility 155 (Increase:65%. Potency:120%)
Constitution 175 (Increase:70%. Potency:120%)
Intelligence 236 (Increase:70%. Potency:120%)
Luck 154 (Increase:85%. Potency:120%)
Perception 175 (Increase:70%. Potency:120%)
Strength 129 (Increase:70%. Potency:120%)
Wisdom 439 (Increase:75%. Potency:120%)
Free Points 0
System Credits [1]30,000,000
The major change was a whole new line. I wasn''t sure if the question mark part was because the System didn''t know what it was or if it was up in the air. I passed a mental eye over my entire body. Hoping to find any hint of what was going on. What I found only raised more questions. There was a lump on my forehead. When I raised a hand to it there was nothing there which meant that it was a more energy-based thing. I sent a bit of spiritual and psychic energy up to it but nothing happened. Which made me think one of two things was true. Either I needed more energy to unlock whatever the question mark was or I needed to eat the other fruit. I looked at my ring and considered whether or not I should consume it. I went back and forth on it before siding with caution. If it was possible to finish the process without the fruit I would try if not I could always eat it later. Before I could decide my next move I noticed something else. My dantian was being drained by the lump. The drain was barely noticeable which made me put it to the back of my mind. Whatever it was, it would likely be very useful. Or at least I hoped it would. I tried to squeeze some more information out of the status screen but nothing worked. Once again I found myself asking for some kind of wiki. I turned my attention to the credits section and let out a low whistle. I was rolling in it. I hadn''t even killed the majority of the monsters and I was at 30 million. I should be able to double and maybe even triple it before leaving. The slight attribute was also pretty nice but my improvement rate had stagnated. Not that I minded. If everyone hit a similar wall at this point then I would have nothing to worry about it. I waved away the screen and considered my next step. I didn''t feel like going back to the cave and the recent stampede should have brought most monsters away from there. Or at least most of the strong ones. There was also the problem of the other people from the boat. If there was a chance that they were still alive I should probably try to find them. Of course, there was also the potential wealth to find deeper inside. I hadn''t even traveled too far to find the fruit. Who knew what else I could get? I went back and forth in my head but it was pretty clear what I would do. I was just about to leave when an idea came to me. "Establish city?" I said the words out only half expecting a response from the system. When none came I sighed. I couldn''t see a reason I wouldn''t be able to claim this place so the problem must be a lack of hub. When I tried to access the shop I had partial success. I couldn''t access the whole thing but I could buy a teleporter. I laughed and rubbed my hands together. The price for one that would work from here to Amara was steep. At 15 Million but would likely pay for itself soon enough. I confirmed the purchase and placed the teleporter down. As soon as I was able I pulled up the destination list and raised an eyebrow in confusion. I wasn''t the greatest with directions but Amara and the UWG headquarters should be in the same direction. Their base should be closer to us so why was I only able to go to Amara? I closed the menu and opened again hoping that the tried and true method of tech support would work. It did not. The situation did cause a moral conundrum. Would I be an asshole if I didn''t go back and let people know? The researchers would be a lot safer if I gathered them first. Hell, I could get some guards to come through and make this a headquarters. I activated the teleporter and stepped through. When the teleportation process was finished I was standing in a different room than usual. This was much bigger and had a desk on one side and a statue on the other. When I took the time to process the statue I laughed. When did someone make a statue of me? And why wasn''t I told about it? "Uh excuse me, sir. If you come over here I can get you processed with a visitor''s visa." A chirping voice brought my attention to the table. The person who spoke was a woman probably in her late thirties maybe early forties. She was Asian and was missing her right arm. I wasn''t sure if it was a recent loss or not but it did make me think about injury compensation. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. "Right, Um what''s your name? I don''t think I''ve ever seen you before." I stepped up to the desk out of curiosity more than anything else. "My name is Sarah and I am one of the greeters. I take it this is your first time in the Kingdom of Amara?" I stared at her in utter confusion. I did technically conquer a city and then absorb another one. I was also technically the sole ruler of said territory. Which would make me a monarch but hearing someone say it openly and so happily was weird. "Uh, you could say that." "Wonderful." She pulled up a stone slip and passed it to me. "If you send a bit of spiritual energy inside you will get a brief overview of the Kingdom. This one has all the information on the merit system and a map of the capital. You should stay away from the forbidden areas." "I know that was quite a bit of information quickly. If you would like I could have a guide sent over to help you find somewhere to get some warm food." I laughed and shook my head. "No need to worry about that. I like to explore." I stepped out of the teleportation building and into a city. An actual city. It was no New York of course but it wasn''t just a building surrounded by rubble. Now the construction project had mostly been finished. I still wouldn''t say that they had cleaned everything out but it was nice. The city looked more like a poorly maintained city than one that went through the end of the world. Which was a massive improvement. As much as I wanted to explore I didn''t have time. I activated Ethereal Convocation. When I felt the mental connection snap into place I was slammed with a barrage of thoughts. It took them several seconds to calm down enough for me to answer any questions. "I take it that you all were made aware of the ship," I replied. "We were told that it exploded and that the government was working on reestablishing contact," Aaliyah replied. "Can you explain what''s going on?" "We were just about to arrange a group to try and find you. Assuming we were able to get a boat." Christopher added. I quickly went over everything that they needed to know before making my big ask. "I just purchased a teleporter and I would appreciate you all getting some people together. We need to build a camp and eventually a town on the new continent. I have control over an old Aztec temple that has seen better days." "How did you- Never mind. Give me two hours and I can have a group of fifty people sent over. We even have a few cultivators that have been itching for ways to earn contribution points." Christopher replied "Speaking of which what are these contribution points? Did you all set something important up while I was gone?" "The short story is that the council has a quest to develop things. Which led to us upping our development timeline. The reward for that was a merit shop. It came pre-stocked with some goods but we will need to fill it with more things once that runs out." "Right okay well I mean I will go and look for stuff but it isn''t like there''s a store in the wilderness. Anyone, do you know if Desbera or Azariah is free? I recently found an interesting treasure and I would like to run it by them." "Last I heard Azariah was in New York trying to open another branch of her store. Desbera I think is still in the academy." I tapped my foot in the dirt for a moment. I could wait for them but I really should go and check on the others. If they all died because I was here I would feel like a pretty shitty person. "Let them both know as soon as you can. Have them come over with the guards. I have to check on a few people." We went over a few more important details including the establishment of the "Department of Refugees" which was a group of survivors who looked after people who either couldn''t or wouldn''t fight. It was kind of like the V.A. from what I understood. I made a mental note to get more involved with the government when I got back before I stepped back through the teleporter. I took off through the forest at a dead sprint. I still wasn''t sure how long I had been out. I hadn''t even run for thirty minutes when an uncomfortable feeling settled onto me like a blanket. I didn''t think I was in danger. It wasn''t my danger sense either it was more like the beginnings of an anxiety attack. I circulated the Tao of Adamance to keep myself in control. Spiritual energy surged into my legs as I pushed on. An hour later I heard the first screams of pain. I gritted my teeth and activated Apportation not wanting to waste any more time. I stepped through the portal and prepared myself for battle. I circulated my spiritual energy and formed three psychic blades. The portal released me into pandemonium. Monster and human corpses lay scattered about the cave''s entrance. The smell of blood filled the air and a golden sun appeared in the sky. The sun unleashed rays of light every few seconds. Which was the only reason the group hadn''t been overrun yet. A second later a woman blurred in and decapitated a pair of monkeys before stumbling a step. Amahle had woken up but wasn''t at her full strength. Lastly, Alexander was in a one-on-one fight with an overgrown monkey. His hands glowed with a transparent light. None of that was my main concern. In the back of the monster horde were two familiar beasts. I grinned and unleashed all three blades at the Leonine dog. I sprinted forward before the three blades crossed half the distance. Psychic Aegis activated next carving a divide in the front lines. A divide that allowed the exhausted researchers to fall back. Next came Psionic Rain. I let it absorb the maximum amount of energy before it exploded in a deluge of mental attacks. As soon as the attack was over I crashed into the beast''s front lines. Every dead human filled sparked a fury inside me. A fury that I fanned. A fury that I used to motivate me. I didn''t remember grabbing a sword off the ground until after I stabbed it through the eye of a monkey. Two fists slammed into my right side. I used the momentum to slam into one of the smaller dog beasts. A trio of psychic blades were buried in its head less than a second later. Before I could move to my next target my danger sense lit up. Without thinking I flipped backwards. The corpse of the monster I had just been on exploded as it was hit with a bomb of air. I turned my attention the my nemesis. We locked eyes and I could swear that it understood as well as I did. Only one of us was going to leave the battlefield this time. That was more than fine with me. I activated Realm of Consciousness. The grey mist spread out from me and formed a curtain. Not an arena. I sprinted forward. Psychic Blast forming in both hands. Twin blasts of psychic energy shot forward. Each one sought the life of the beast. The monster unleashed another blast while two of its smaller companions leaped into the path of my attack. They sacrificed themselves to save the big one. Before I could digest that the boss dog unleashed another blast of wind. I brought up my arms just as the blast tore into me. I bit back a scream and dug my feet into the grass to stop from flying away. I reached for my Tao and attempted the same trick from last time. Only the threads of energy refused to combine. It was like trying to wrap loose string around a spindle. It just fell together into a blob. "Fuck me." I groaned and dodged another blast of wind. This one comes from one of the smaller dogs. I ducked back into the mist and let it obscure me. Once I was sure I was hidden I began a new phase of my attack. I unleashed Psionic Rain. This time imbued with the Tao of Lucidity. The blades fell and the boss dog let out a howl of pain. I followed it up with another trio of imbued blades. I resisted the urge to close the distance and instead surveilled the battlefield. Psychic Aegis had been shattered but not before allowing my side to regroup. Romulus'' Golden sun was gone but the area around him had turned into a barren wasteland. His spear spun through the air but it was clear he was running out of gas. Every attack he gave earned him two right back. Alexander had won his battle but had been dragged into another. His right hand held limply at his side. He still fought on though which was impressive. Amahle had fallen back to defend the cave entrance. With several new wounds decorating her body. Still, her sword was raised which was good. The question was whether or not I should kill the big one or thin out the smaller ones first. Instead of making a choice, I decided to go with something different. I took a deep breath and unleashed my aura at full blast. The moment it surged beyond the domain of my spell. I pulled it back in. Limiting it to my domain. It felt like trying to control a fire hose on full blast but it worked. My killing intent slammed into the fresh barrier and rebounded on itself. Within a second it felt like I was trapped in the Primal Battleground. I gritted my teeth and circulated the Tao of Adamance. I grinned when I saw how the others were doing. Most of the lesser monsters had fallen and even the big guy was struggling. I forced myself to my feet and stopped circulating my Tao. A bloody rage surged inside me. My vision darkened to a sanguine red and I wanted nothing more to rip that thing apart with my bare hands. By the time Intellect Fortress kicked in, I had already taken five steps toward the thing. I conjured another trio of blades, imbued them with my Tao, and shot them into the beast''s throat. I watched the light leave its eyes and tossed my head back in victory. Only for a scream of danger to pierce the bloody hazy. Chapter 9: The New Glades I raised my arms just in time to block the fist that shot for me. I took the hit and rolled its momentum to create distance between me and the boss monkey. I had to release my killing domain to stop losing my mind but without the dog, I wasn''t worried. The monkey had several scars going across its body. Scars that included a nasty cut across the center of its chest. I smiled at it and cracked my neck. The monkey let out a scream of rage before slamming both fists into the ground. Before it could activate whatever ability created the poison it was attacked on all sides. Three psychic blades slammed into its head. A golden spear punctured its chest while a thin rapier stabbed through its throat. On top of all that over a dozen attacks of various elements fell on it like rain. "Well, that was a bit anticlimactic." I chuckled to myself and turned toward the others. Amahle was in the worst shape with two new burns on the right side of her face. A portion of her hair had been bitten off. Romulus wasn''t much better. His resplendent armor was dented in several places but they both stood. "Where were you." Amahle was the first to speak. "We could have used the help at the beginning." "I was busy. I found something interesting further in and claimed it. I also found an Aztec temple. I was able to buy a teleporter so we can get back to the other continent-" I was interrupted before I could finish my Romulus. "Wait. You have contact with the government?" "Not quite, I have set up a way for us to go to Amara though I don''t know if you all would be able to teleport to your cities." "So what do we need to do? It would be good to let the researchers get somewhere safe. Even if they don''t leave the continent." I nodded and gestured to the cave. "Come on. The journey shouldn''t be too difficult. I think between this battle and the last one every monster near here should be dead." I paused and thought about that for a moment and then shook my head. "Outside of the snake." "What snake?" Amahle asked. Her eyes darting the trees around us. "Don''t worry about it. I am sure it''s fine. Nothing at all to worry about" I laughed as we stepped back into the cave. The researchers had gathered together against the furthest wall. They looked like half of them were ready to make a last stand with stones and sticks as weapons. While the other half looked like they would die if a shadow moved too quickly. I clapped my hands together and smiled. "Alright so here''s what we are about to do." It took nearly an hour for us to get everyone ready to go. Most of that time had nothing to do with travel. It was spent convincing everyone that it was safe to go outside and that the cave was not the safest place. The whole process was so irritating that I was tempted to just knock everyone out and drag them along. That probably wouldn''t have made me any friends though. "Romulus can you and Alexander? I am thinking of using the same formation as last time with Paul. Amahle can take up a position within the civilians." "I can speak for and take care of myself thank you," Amahle said as she approached us. Her voice only had a hint of venom in it which was a slight improvement over what we had been dealing with. "I don''t need-" I held up a hand to stop her. "You are hurt. You didn''t use any Tao during the last battle which makes me think you can''t right now. Your movement speed is the slowest of all of us. If you don''t count Paul, he is several levels lower than you." Based on the look on her face she didn''t agree nor did she like my assessment but there was no time. "Take a healing pill as well. Once we set out I want to get there all at once. After that, you are free to do as you please." We went over several smaller details before we set off. I took a position about thirty feet ahead of the group. Which was closer than I would have liked but it was a compromise. It guaranteed that solo fights would be unlikely but that was fine. It gave me the chance to examine my dantian. It turned out my hunch was correct, the nub''s energy drain was based around the amount of energy I had. As soon as the kill energy started to flow it drained even more. It wasn''t bad enough to stop me from leveling but it would slow the process a lot. Unless I could find another source of energy. The second fruit felt like it was burning a hole in my proverbial pocket as we walked. When we arrived at the temple we found Christopher and a small army of my people standing guard. There was a little over fifty of them. All carrying old-world weapons. They didn''t quite look like a trained military, more like an apocalyptic raider gang but it made me swell with pride. "So how are we doing?" I asked Christopher as a pair of warriors led the noncombatants into the temple. "Fine so far. We are looking to purchase a defensive array to bolster our position. After that, we are going to have Bravo and Charlie teams set up a perimeter guard." Silence stretched between us as I stared at the man. The unspoken question was clear but it took several seconds before I got my answer. "I got some military books from the library and figured it would be a good idea to start reading." I chuckled and shook my head. "Well if it helps I don''t mind you having some fun. I am not sure if military techniques will be as useful against monsters but if I come across an army base I will get you what I can. Have Desbera or Azariah arrived yet?" He nodded. "They are inside. Azariah has been coming and going though. She said something about trying to close a deal. We received a messenger from the UWG. They want access." I nodded. "That''s fine. I figured they would ask about it eventually. Let them in. I don''t want to be in charge of the expedition and it''s their people that are still missing." "Speaking of that are you going to search for those people?" I nodded. "Yeah, someone should and I want to explore more of the continent anyway. Plus I want to see if I can find the people who blew up the boat. Any evidence that points to the Commonwealth would make it easier for me to go and deal with it." "And by deal with it, you mean..." I sighed and shrugged my shoulders. "Don''t know yet. All of this started with me killing their people. I don''t think killing more of them would solve the issue." The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. We went back and forth on a few more things before I decided to get back to work. I left Christopher to organize the defense while I went in search of my two information people. Thankfully they were both standing next to the teleporter. "Greetings young Master. We were told that you had something we could help you with?" Desbera asked with a smile. I nodded to both of them and gestured for them to follow. I led them down a side path and into a dark room. I pulled out a flashlight from my ring. "Alright, so I need to know about a treasure I found. I got two of them and I''ve already eaten one." I summoned the box from my ring and opened it. As soon as I did the fruits energy spilled out like a tidal wave. I cocked my head to the side when I felt it wash over me. It wasn''t as strong. For a moment I had done something wrong but based on the greed in both of their faces. The problem was with me. "Ah, Young Master please cover that. The Divine Fruit is a powerful treasure." Desbera and Azariah said together. I sealed the box up and placed it within the ring. "So you know what it is?" "I do. Its a rare treasure that is said to only grow on new worlds like this. No one is sure what it takes to grow one and it is incredibly rare." Azariah replied. "They are sometimes called the fruits of providence. The exact benefits of the fruit are unknown. Or to be more accurate they are different for each person. Very few are willing to explain what they received." I nodded along and explained what happened after I ate my fruit. I wasn''t sure if I was going to explain what the actual benefits were when the time came but this was fine. When I finished I asked the question that bothered me. "Should I eat the second one?" "I would not do so. There aren''t enough documented cases of people who have consumed the fruits to know for sure. That being said many treasures are toxic to consume in large amounts. I would assume that this fruit would count amongst their number." I sighed and nodded. "I was starting to think that was true. My body didn''t seem as interested when I opened the box just then. So I will need to let it passively gain energy?" "I can keep an eye out for any other treasure that could help hasten whatever changes are being made. There are usually a few treasures like that in circulation. It might be a bit harder since we don''t know what Tao the benefits are based around." "Would it be better for me to wait until I find that out or just go with unattuned items?" "I wouldn''t wait. There is no guarantee that you will find something that works before then. You might spend decades waiting for the energy to grow." Desbera added. "Alright, in that case, I am leaning toward adding it to Trey''s gift bag. Any reason I shouldn''t do that?" "Not exactly though I would caution you. Most people do not appreciate things given freely. It might be better to have some requirements that he has to reach before giving them over." I was going to refute that but I didn''t. She had a point and I still wasn''t sure what I wanted to do with him. I couldn''t just hand him every single spare resource I had. What if I needed to trade it? Or what if I needed it for any variety of things? "Fair enough. For now, store it for me. I need to empty my ring before I go back out. I want to give him enough to get started with cultivation. After that, he will have to make his own choices." I pulled out the box and handed it to Desbera. Next, I started removing the various beast corpses. Azariah went through all of them and picked out the ones that could be worth selling. Which was around a third. Thanks to my spells the corpses were in surprisingly good shape. The ones left behind would either not sell due to being common or be better used as food so I called Christopher over. Once that was done I caught up with Amahle, Romulus, and Alexander who hadn''t gone through the portal. "So what''s next for you three? Are you staying here or heading out?" "We are going to try and grab some levels and hunt for treasures." Romulus was the first to speak up. I was going to suggest we go as a group but when I saw the pained expression on Alexander''s face it wasn''t hard to make an assumption. "Would it be fair for me to assume that you all don''t want me to come with you?" Alexander nodded. "It isn''t that we don''t want to group with you but you are kind of like a star. It''s nearly impossible to not get drawn into your circle when you fight. We would just end up watching you. On top of that, the loot sharing would be difficult." I chuckled at that and nodded my agreement. "What about you Amahle?" "I am going to take a few days to fully recover. After that, I am going to hunt around her. I plan to travel outward in a slow circle." I nodded and couldn''t find fault with the ideas. It also meant I was free to push as deep as I wanted. "I''ve instructed my guards to let you all travel freely. The UWG will start to filter in as well. If you need anything feel free to ask." We discussed a few more things including a formal alliance between the three of us. It was a bit too early for it to be concrete but the basics were there. Which was more than enough for what I needed. I purchased another bottle of healing pills before settling into my cultivation chamber. I spent an hour with both the egg and pearl which gave me a new data point. The nub in my head didn''t absorb the pearl''s energy. I still had no way to use that energy. The discovery didn''t amount to much but it was something. The improved environment helped me gain much more spiritual energy and I was pretty sure I would start leveling again. Assuming I didn''t get into another mass battle. It wasn''t until the moon was high in the sky that I stepped through the portal and returned to the continent. The guard rotations were set and it was strangely peaceful. It was closer to a camping trip than a base on a hostile world. Not that it mattered to me in any way. I left the temple and headed north as fast as I could. The forest felt different in the middle of the night. Not quite more dangerous but less welcoming. If the forest felt like a welcoming battlefield this felt like a forbidden garden. I considered letting my aura go free but my gut said not to. Instead, I stopped running and took a seat underneath a large oak tree. I circulated my cultivation manual for a few minutes to calm myself. It took me nearly twenty minutes to feel what I was looking for. It was so faint it could barely be considered a tug. I opened my eyes and looked toward the North East. The feeling wasn''t as strong as the one that led me to the Divine Fruit but it was there. I smiled and expanded my Tao field into a 3ft bubble. I didn''t think it would protect me from any powerful beasts but it would slow down an ambush. It took two more hours of running before something fun happened. A blur of black in the corner of my vision caused me to leap backward. Narrowly avoiding a head the size of a sedan as it crashed into the ground. It was a jet-black constrictor snake. I was pretty sure it wasn''t the same one from before but it didn''t matter. The serpent turned to face me and I unleashed my killing intent in a single bomb-like burst. The serpent''s eyes widened but before it could run three psychic blades slammed into its head. I summoned a real sword from my ring and sliced the beast''s head off before it hit the ground. The fight, if you could call it that lasted a second. "Now that was fun." I flexed my fist but I wasn''t sure if I had somehow become stronger or if the snake was just weak. Either way, I didn''t bother to collect the body. Mostly because I wasn''t interested in cooking burned big ass snake over a campfire. I also grabbed a few meals before leaving. I resumed my run through the forest until I came across a section of forest that was wrong. This reminded me a bit of the Everglades or at least the pictures I had seen of them. The ground was wet and it was raining. To be more exact it was raining in that specific area. I held my hand across the divided half expecting the water to be some sort of illusion. It wasn''t, it was very real and very cold. "How the fuck did the System change the climate like this?" I was no meteorologist but this should be impossible. The storm clouds above just refused to move over to this part of the forest. I released a bit of mental and spiritual energy. Just to test if there was some invisible barrier but I couldn''t feel anything. I conducted a couple more tests but as far as I can tell the water was fine just cold. I used my Tao field as a makeshift umbrella and stepped into the swampy terrain. It was much harder to move on the wet ground, which slowed me down. Despite the weather, the area had a certain beauty to it. It was more mysterious and it made me want to search under every rock. Explore every dark corner. I continued following the sensation until I received a prompt from the System. One that made me laugh. Fate Breaker(Area Quest): Prevent the Chitonalis from evolving into a Ferrilid Reward: Tao Treasure Chapter 10: Upgrades The System''s instructions once again gave me a target. Based on the countdown I had a few days before I would fail the quest. Which was good because I had no idea where this thing was. Since it was an area quest I assumed it was near me but that was all I had to go on. Since all directions were equal I headed straight ahead. I made it less than a hundred feet before I was attacked. This time it was a large millipede beast. It was the size of a car with dark black scales and it spit acid. Unfortunately for the beast, its soul was pathetic. I only had to use one blade to take it out. It also gave a large amount of spiritual energy so it was more than worth it. I was attacked several more times. I was starting to worry that this was another birth of a natural treasure-like event but it wasn''t. The monsters were predominantly coming from one direction. As if they were trying to keep me from a place. A place that was starting to feel like the place I needed to be. The monsters only grew more vicious as I traveled until I had to start taking them seriously. The largest millipede by far appeared to stop me just as I found the entrance to the cave. This millipede was a dark muddy red color. I activated Psychic Aegis as the beast launched itself at me. I leaped into the air just in time to avoid its attempt at crushing me. Only for a stinger to erupt from its mouth. The stinger shot forward like a spear aimed at my throat. Psychic Aegis lasted just long enough to knock the stinger off course. I gritted my teeth and created three psychic blades. I unleashed my attack before I hit the ground. The millipede wasn''t to be outdone. It contorted its body and dodged all three before launching itself at me again. My aura exploded out of me like a bomb. The world was bathed in my killing intent and the monster hesitated for a moment. Just long enough for me to activate Psionic Rain. Not even the millipede was fast enough to avoid those blades. Before it had a chance to recover I created another trio of blades and imbued them with the Tao of Lucidity. All three slammed through the beast''s exoskeleton. I mentally prepared myself for a follow-up attack when I received a surge of spiritual energy. I gasped as a wave of bliss passed through me. The nub drained around twenty percent of the energy but that left plenty for me. I knelt and examined the corpse. It was disgusting but its exoskeleton was amazing. I couldn''t damage it with my bare hands which made me think it would make strong armor. I would let the craftspeople look into it when I got back. I collected the corpse into the ring and entered the cave. As soon as I did I regretted my choice. The entire cave smelled horrible. The further I walked the more corpses I came across. Most of them were various monster parts but a few were human. What was left of their bodies made it impossible to identify them. "I hope you all didn''t suffer," I muttered. I condensed my aura inside and brought my Tao field to a radius of three feet. I didn''t think the field would make much of a difference but better safe than sorry. The deeper into the cave I went the worse my mood got. It was like walking through a graveyard. A graveyard filled with bug materials. I walked for nearly thirty minutes before I entered an underground chamber. The chamber was massive, about the size of a basketball court, and had mining equipment against a side wall. That only took my attention for a second. The real point of interest was the creature currently coiled around a softly pulsing gemstone. It was a millipede or at least it was at one point. Now that thing was the size of a house. It wasn''t hard to put together what the beast was doing. Or why it was named that. It was absorbing metals from here and whatever the Gemstone was sped up the process. The question was whether or not it would be beneficial to me to take it or if I should just destroy it along with the beast. I activated Psychic Aegis as the beast uncoiled itself. Once it was at its full twenty feet of height I let out a low whistle. I wasn''t sure if evolution meant becoming a new beast or reaching the next realm. Its size and aura made me lean toward the latter. I imbued the aegis with Tao of adamance as the massive creature rushed me. I leaped out of the way just as it massive head slammed into the ground. Instead of stopping, the beast burrowed into the ground. I unleashed three psychic blades and fired them before they could disappear. I wasn''t sure if the blades had any effect. I looked around for any sign of where it would reappear but the cavern had become eerily silent. A scream of danger made me dive to the right just before the monster ripped a sinkhole into the ground. Even with the warning I was barely fast enough to avoid being this thing''s next meal. I activated Psionic Rain and imbued it with the Tao of lucidity before I hit the ground. The indigo emerged in the center of the cavern. Before I could give it the order to break the ground began to shake. Metal spikes erupted from the ground. Each one was the side of a sword. Their edges glimmered with a power that felt like it could cut my very soul. I was forced to dodge to avoid being impaled. I nearly lost my ear when a spike emerged just as I was dodging. I activated Psionic Rain and let the attack fall onto the battle. Several of which cut into me. Which caused **Intellect Fortress** to activate. The beast made a sound that I felt in my bones. It was as if it had taken metal claws and dragged them across a chalkboard at high speed. The sound crashed into me a like wave and it felt like every part of me was being scoured. I screamed in pain and forced the Tao of Adamance through my mind. It was barely enough to stop me from being drowned in agony. Another scream of danger gave me enough time to dodge another metal spike. I threw myself to the side and reoriented on the beast. I unleashed a Psionic Blast in its beam form. The attack bathed the chamber in Indigo light. The monster recoiled from it before turning and burying itself into the earth. I wasn''t sure if it had taken damage from the attack or not. Nor did I have the time to think about it. I activated Psychic Aegis and rushed the gem. The ground erupted and the beast reappeared. I triggered Realm of Consciousness. Grey mist flowed out of me just as the monster unleashed another round of spikes. The spike broke against my barrier just before I hid myself in the fog. I unleashed psychic blade after psychic blade but either the confusing property of the spell didn''t work. Or this monster had some other way of knowing where I was? It dodged the beginnings of my onslaught before going straight for me. Just before it crashed into me I expanded Psychic Aegis into its wall form. The massive millepede slammed into like a freight train. The wall held but just barely. I immediately formed another three blades, imbued with each of my Tao, and launched them. Before the attacks could reach their target the monster''s stinger shot forward and shattered the wall like glass. I was too slow to dodge and it shot through my left shoulder. The pain made my vision blur and I dropped to one knee. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. I bit back a scream as it ripped the stinger back. I summoned an antidote pill and swallowed it. I had no idea if it would work on whatever this thing had but it was the best I could do. I conjured another trio of blades this time I aimed for its eyes. The red pinpoints were ominous to look at but from what I could tell weren''t protected. I had no idea if that would matter for a mental attack but why not? No sooner did I unleash the three blades did the beast unleash another screech. This time I was better prepared. I kept my feet while the Tao of Lucidity worked to keep my mind clear. I drew on the mental energy from the domain to rapidly conjure more blades. The beast dove back beneath the Earth to avoid the onslaught and an idea began to sprout. An idea that felt more and more insane the more I considered it. I summoned my sword from the ring and gripped it with both hands. I imbued it with the Tao of Lucidity and waited. The few seconds felt like an eternity. Finally, a scream of danger in the back of my mind told me it was time to move. Instead of moving out of the way, I leaped straight up. The ground beneath me erupted in a shower of dirt and stone. The maw of the beast felt like an abyss as it shot up and after me. I angled myself straight down blade gripped so tight my knuckles turned white. The next few seconds felt like they stretched into forever. I fell into the beast''s maw blade tearing into its throat. The beast''s pain was both physical and mental. Acidic blood burned at my skin as I roared. A surge of kill energy flooded my dantian just as I landed in the beast''s stomach. I went to pull my blade out of whatever part of the body this was only to find it gone. Specifically, only the hilt had survived. As fast as I could I climbed out of its body and swallowed a healing pill. If I thought the sensation of bones healing was unpleasant this was something else entirely. It felt like the burned skin was being removed with a cheese grater while also growing back. The entire process took around ten minutes and by the end of it, I wasn''t sure if it would have been better to just suffer. When I came back to the moment I had two things waiting for me. The first was a white box that I assumed held my Tao treasure. I placed it in my ring and moved on to the gemstone. Now that I wasn''t concerned for my life I could appreciate its beauty. The gemstone looked like a diamond, the kind you would see in movies or cartoons. Only it was green like an emerald. It passively gave off a lot of spiritual energy. It reminded me a bit of the Lotus I found earlier. Of a resource that would make a cultivation chamber better. Which was more than fine with me. I sent it into the ring before the System''s voice returned. Supreme Predator: Solo Kill an enemy one whole realm above you: Reward: Potency of Attributes +10% Road of Kings unlocked I tried to get more information on whatever the Road of Kings was but nothing came up. It wasn''t hard to make a few assumptions, it would either make me a king in the eyes of the System instead of a Governor or it would make me king of earth. Or it would do both. I suppose it was possible that it would give me a Kingdom somehow but that seemed very unlikely. The System didn''t give stuff away for free and a "Road" that would give me things to do to complete seemed much more likely. Regardless that was a question for tomorrow. Today was about collecting the rest of my loot. I rubbed my hands together and turned my attention to the big beast''s body. Everything about it seemed valuable from its mandibles and exoskeleton to its stinger. Everything went into the ring to be dealt with by the craftspeople. I considered using the cave as a temp base but that went out the window. The corpses around here made it feel drab and unpleasant. It would be like sleeping in a graveyard. I went through everything a second time but there was nothing of interest. I stepped out of the cave and back into the storm. Even the damp air and dirt smelled better than the cave. "The next monster I fight will be in a flower bed." The next question was what should I do now? There was no pull in any direction nor did I get another quest. Which meant I could either advance or return. It wasn''t much of a question. Despite all the battling, I wasn''t making a lot of progress on the energy front. I was close to level 36 after the last fight but I needed to focus on psychic energy manipulation instead of spiritual. Either that or my net energy gain would be zero. I decided to head west in search of a dry spot to rest for the evening. I was attacked four more times before I succeeded. The beasts this time were winged scorpions which were equal part frightening and fucked up. I had no idea why nature or the System rather would let something like that be able to fly. I had just killed the fourth one when I came across a literal shack in the woods. The thing looked like a textbook serial killer''s and my gut said to pass it by. The need for shelter and rest said to give it a try. The latter won. I pushed the door open and found it surprisingly pleasant. It was rustic with that "I live off the grid kind of vibe". The house had seen better days though. The roof leaked in several places and the rug was covered in mold. I figured that the owner hadn''t been here in a while. "Home sweet home?" I said to no one as I looked around. The energy was a bit denser here than in the last zone which made it good enough. I picked an empty corner and sat down. It took me a few seconds to relax enough to start the codex. When I settled into a pattern I let my mind drift deeper inside me. I spent the next three days hunting the various monsters. The process was nowhere near as interesting as the big bug but it did what I needed it to do. Psychic Master reached the Advanced stage which led to another set of teaching instructions. I didn''t need the spell for basic mental attacks. The upgrade did provide new knowledge. I could more directly interact with the minds of monsters. For example, I could make them ignore me. It wasn''t quite the same as being invisible but it was pretty close. It was closer to misdirection, unfortunately, it failed if hit anyone or unleashed my aura. It would likely be amazing for an Assassin build but I had no interest in that. If anything I wanted more attention on me not less. That wasn''t the only thing that improved. **Apportation** also reached the next tier. It was the better upgrade by far. Not only had the range of the portal almost doubled but it had a second function. I no longer had to step through it. I could open the portal and pull things through. Which would save me a few seconds not to mention it would let me save people who couldn''t move. The final benefit was less flashy but still pretty good. I finally reached level 37. Altogether the short training session was amazing but it was starting to mess with my head. I was starting to have a conversation with myself and either there was someone invisible here. Or I was in desperate need of actual conversation. On top of that, I needed to use the Tao treasure. Which meant I needed to speak with Desbera about how to maximize it. With my affinities, it should guarantee me a new strand. That didn''t mean I wouldn''t try to squeeze out every last drop. I gave the cabin one last look before I headed out. I wouldn''t call the cabin a "home" but it had become comfortable. I decided to leave the furniture inside. It wasn''t worth much and if someone else found their way here this place could be a haven for them. Pay it forward and all that. I activated Apportation and reappeared ten miles away. Which brought me to the entrance of the rainy zone. From there I broke out into a sprint. My aura exploded out of me as I tore through the forest. I wasn''t in the mood to fight anything right now. With any luck it would stop any attacks before they happened. My luck held out for about two hours before the sounds of battle filled the air. I glanced around to make sure it wasn''t some sort of ambush. Instead what I found was arguably more shocking. There was a group of people from the expedition locked in battle with one of the monkeys. There were five of them in total, none of which were researchers. Furthermore, they all looked to be around level 10. I debated whether or not I should help them but when a second monkey arrived my mind was made up. There was no rest for the wicked. I activated Psychic Aegis in its wall form to protect the group. The barrier''s sudden appearance cut both parties off guard just in time for three psychic blades to embed themselves in the monkey''s heads. The amount of energy I got from the kills was minuscule. None of that was the interesting part, however. As soon as I stepped into the clearing, the researchers looked at me and then launched attacks. Chapter 11: Home Sweet Home Their attacks were destroyed by my Tao barrier which only made me more confused. If they knew who I was why would they even try that? Maybe they were under mental effects? I stepped toward the leader, a slender Hispanic man with a rapier. Before I crossed half the distance he rushed me. "What are you doing?" I asked just as he reached the limit of my Tao. I released it more out of curiosity than anything else. Once he was close enough to attack me. He unleashed a volley of slow thrusts that were kind of pathetic. It wasn''t just that they were slow, it was that they were telegraphed. It was a bit like watching a basketball player that was bad at fakes. He unleashed five of them before I aimed a punch into his sternum. The blow must have been harder than I thought because I felt at least two ribs break. The man stumbled back nearly a dozen steps before dropping to his knees. "Uh you definitely can''t win, not even if you work together-" "You fucking bastard!" The man spat out along with a mouthful of blood. He tried to force himself up but his body wasn''t listening. I glanced over as an Asian drew a gun and leveled it at me. "I am guessing that you aren''t being mind-controlled here? The only people that would hate me would be the Commonwealth unless you somehow blame me for the ship blowing up?" "You killed our daughter!" The woman screamed and unloaded her gun. She fired until the gun was empty but it didn''t matter. The few bullets that hit me were more like unpleasant bee stings than any real threat. I sighed and stared at the group. Everyone wasn''t as mad as the two parents but they were angry. I couldn''t blame them for it either. "I doubt it will matter but I am sorry. I hadn''t intended to kill anyone that day." "You haven''t stopped killing since this started. Don''t think we don''t understand how your level got to be so high. You''ve been hunting us like pigs for slaughter. Just so you can get a little bit stronger." The man spat onto the ground as if to curse me. I sighed and shook my head. I wasn''t sure if the lies were something from the Commonwealth or something they convinced themselves of. It also didn''t matter. I had killed a lot of people already and I would no doubt keep doing it. "I haven''t-" I glanced at the hatred in the mother and father''s eyes and shook my head. "I don''t want to fight you. Your companions are tired and you just barely survived your last fight. You can head to the temple and teleport away. You won''t survive if you stay here. If after all that you still wanted to fight. I will be here." I could tell that the pair still wanted to fight so I unleashed a small portion of my killing intent. It felt like trying to drain a single drop of water out of an ocean but it worked. The effect lasted less than a second but one member of their group collapsed while both parents turned as pale as a sheet. Still, they didn''t back down, I could respect that. They came for revenge and they wanted it. I didn''t want to give them any more reasons to attack so I sprinted in the direction of the temple. It felt like there was a stone in my stomach as I ran. It was almost worse to be alone with my thoughts than it was to face them. It would have been different if the people had been attacking me but their child. The other innocents were just caught up in my desire to show off. They didn''t deserve to die but who did? Everyone had a story of someone who didn''t deserve to die. Someone caught by a monster, someone caught in a trap during the tutorial. I sighed and shook my head. I was lying to myself. Those people were trying to fight or at least had a chance the innocent people were just slaughtered. I still hadn''t come up with any kind of answer by the time I reached the temple. I was impressed by how things changed over the last few days. The temple was more or less the same but a camp had formed up around it. It reminded me a bit of how war camps looked in movies. The biggest change was the defensive array. Part of me wanted to test the array and see if I could force my way through but I didn''t. Mostly because I didn''t want to deal with fixing it or buying a new one. I sent a quick message with my spell and the array was opened. I went over things with Christopher first but there was nothing that needed my attention. Next, I entered Amara and left about fifteen percent of the material I gathered. Which included the two big millepede monsters and the lion dog corpse. The rest I set up for the UWG. The last thing I wanted was to create new problems with them due to not honoring the agreement. They didn''t need to know about the fruits or the gemstone though. Once that was ready I made my way to my cultivation chamber and placed the stone inside. I wasn''t sure if this was more like feng shui where placement mattered but for now, it was more important that I got the energy. Next, I pulled out the pearl and started draining. I wanted to get it done as soon as possible. Just to see what it was doing to me. It was now the size of a pomegranate and the energy had only grown denser. Unfortunately, Azariah was having a hard time getting the information I needed. It wasn''t that it didn''t exist, rather it was too expensive. The Heaven''s Pearl were rare objects that typically only grew in a special galaxy toward the heart of the multiverse. I still didn''t understand what that meant but the way it was described made it sound like circles. Like there were inner rings and outer rings, we were on the outermost ring where the System was pulling in new worlds. The innermost ring was the heart which I guess was where the bigshots lived. Naturally getting information on that area was impossible. Even with my massive wealth total. I would have to sell myself into debt several times first. Either way, it wasn''t important. Once I was done in my chamber and set about doing the dozen or so smaller things. I checked on Aaliyah who had taken charge of the training area and Trey who was making progress. He was getting close to unlocking a proper Tao Strand even without the System. I wasn''t sure where he would rank when compared to other people but it had to be high. I made plans to give him a sparing match when I had more free time. I finished the day with a meeting with Desbera in the Academy. We met in a small meeting room that reminded me of the principal''s office. It somehow felt rustic and futuristic. Like someone wanted to appear rustic but wanted all the comforts of a futuristic place. "I am pleased that you have decided to visit me, Young Master. Though I am not entirely sure what I can do for you." I smiled and took a sip from the glass of tea she provided. A small trickle of energy flowed into my dantian. Something that made me sigh in delight. "First I want more of this tea. I assume it''s meant to have energy in it for higher-level people? If possible I will buy it from you." She smiled and nodded. "It would be better to buy it from the merchant but I have no problem sharing a glass from time to time. It helps both energy gathering and has a calming effect. The ingredients to make it aren''t too rare either."This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. I nodded and took another sip before turning to the point of the meeting. "I would like you to let me know what you think about this?" I summoned the box with the Tao treasure and handed it over. She opened it and pulled out a bundle of small black and grey incense sticks. "Well I am not sure if you realize this or not but you can''t divide the sticks up for multiple uses. Despite the number of sticks, it is a single item. It is a Tao treasure as you say though a low-quality one." "Is there anything I can do to improve its potency? Perhaps combine it with other treasures or use it at a specific time?" "That is an interesting question. If you know what Tao you want to help you with being in an environment attuned to it would be best. If not then use items that keep you calm and relaxed. Minimizing distraction would be for the best. If possible I would ask the merchant for anything that could help open your mind to the universe. Treasures like that are relatively uncommon but do appear from time to time. They are usually used to improve energy circulation when cultivating." I nodded my understanding and took the treasure back. I placed it into the ring and grabbed my glass. "If you were in my position what Tao would you go after?" Desbera flinched at the question and shook her head. "Ahh do not take this as an insult but Young Master appears very indecisive. It is a trait that could get you killed. I can not tell you what to do or what you should do. I am an educator first and foremost so I would aim for something related to knowledge, creation, or information dissemination. Have you considered getting a master?" I raised an eyebrow at that. "Are you asking me if I have considered getting an owner? Or do you mean like a teacher?" "A teacher. I assure you the word Master does not necessarily relate to slavery. In the multiverse, it is rather common for people to have multiple teachers throughout their lives." "To answer the question, yes but I have no idea where to get one. I don''t think they just grow on trees." She laughed and nodded in agreement. "You will have your choice soon enough I imagine. For now, you should focus on building a foundation. It will be impossible for a teacher to develop what doesn''t exist. The last thing you would want would be to become what someone else wants you to be." "Of course, have you learned anything more about finishing what the fruit started?" She sighed and shook her head. "No, and I don''t think I will. The only suggestion I have for you is to keep an eye out for unique treasures and any that impact the eyes. Based on the location of the gathered energy it seems like it will be ocular." We went over a few more things including the training program for Trey. After that, the conversation became more casual until I stood up. "As much as I enjoy spending time with you I am afraid I have to go. There are still a few things I need to do before I enter seclusion." "Of course, Young Master. If there is anything that I can do for you please do not hesitate to ask." "Of course." I left her behind and made my way to the council room. Where I found Saanite waiting for me along with Keshaun. I took my seat. "So is there anything that I should be aware of?" "The expansion is going well so far. We have started moving more of the soldiers into houses now that most of the families were taken care of. After that, we will have this building only for high-ranking officials. Azariah has selected a new building she would like to move to once we are ready." Keshaun replied. "Is she able to do so? I thought her room came from the System?" "Yes and No. The System provides the building but we can move it wherever we want within our territory." "That''s convenient. Alright well if she is up for it I see no reason to to do it. What do you know about the Academy? Desbera didn''t mention moving when I spoke with her" "From what I understand she is going to move to the first floor. Where people will be allowed to go and study." "Alright, that works for me." I turned my attention to Saanite. "There are no assignments that need your attention right now." The guide said plainly. "Alright, there are a few things I want to go over." I went over everything I encountered on the continent including what I believe to be the cause of the ship explosion. "Have you all encountered problems with the Commonwealth while I''ve been gone?" "Nothing of significance. Aaliyah mentioned a minor skirmish at the border of the west training region. She managed to deal with it before it became a major problem." "Alright, in that case, keep everyone on alert but there is no need to have the main array going every day. I assume there have been no encounters with ''The System''s Herald''?" "Not directly. We have heard some rumors of people being murdered and displayed. Those cities are on the opposite side of the UWG so it''s hard to get accurate information." Keshaun added and slid me an information stone. "That''s all the information we have on the subject." I nodded and slipped the stone into my ring. "I will review it later. I have brought back some resources that I want people to look into. It''s mostly monsters parts its all monster parts. I am not sure how much could become weapons and armor but I figure want not to waste not right?" "Uh about that. Our craftspeople are more than willing to help in any way that they can but we have received some minor complaints. From those that aren''t cultivators. Some of the material is a bit too hard. If possible could you bring fewer full pieces?" I sighed and ran my hand down my face. "Is there any way we can have the cultivators break it into pieces for them? I will do what I can but that''s the opposite of how my abilities work. I''ve already lost every sword I''ve ever owned. Usually to stomach acid." "Understood. We can get through some of the tougher things with chainsaws but there aren''t many of those and the saws aren''t delicate instruments by a long shot." "Alright, for now, I will do what I can but people will need to increase their efforts to level up. Has our average level gotten past ten yet?" "Sort of. If we take your level into account yes. If not then just barely. The average level sits around 10.1 without you and 13 with you. That isn''t considering how many people end up dying or permanently injured." I let out a groan. "I am going to assume we still don''t have workers'' compensation or anything like that? Can we set something up?" Keshaun nodded and handed me another information stone. "We have started selling the spiritual water you found and we have made a significant amount of money. We have some economists working to deal with the situation but it''s difficult. Right now the only way we can sell is through Azariah. Which she is doing a phenomenal job but we have no way of controlling the profits." "Are you suggesting that she is taking advantage of us?" I raised my brow before sending a bit of energy into the stone. Dozens of economic charts flooded into my mind. It wasn''t hard to parse through it quickly but the numbers quickly got confusing when I tried to dive into the details. The short of it was that the country was nearly five times as wealthy as I was. After the last few days, I sat about 50 million credits. I had been worried I would have to subsidize the country with my income but that wasn''t necessary at all. It was slightly more profitable to sell the beast carcasses in bulk to Azariah than to let people work on them. Of course that didn''t take into account the improvement in their skills. "No" I was pulled back to the conversation with Keshaun''s reply. "I think she is being honest it just I don''t know how you would feel about that. Many rulers don''t like that lack of control" I waved a hand through the air to stop him. "I don''t know much about economics truth be told. I want to set up a governmental department for it but right now we are struggling. I think that this council will be arranged with one member for each area of expertise. We have to focus on survival for right now though. Which means that we can leave the finances to her. Our people should keep filing their reports and if things look confusing let me know." "As you say." With that settled, I turned to my last order of business. "I am about to enter a brief seclusion. I don''t think it will be longer than a few hours with a day being the maximum. Before I do I would like you to send word to Azariah. If she has any treasures, arrays, or anything that would help me develop a new Tao I am willing to buy it." With everything settled I had everyone leave so that I could do something I''ve been wanting to do forever. I could take a bath and get a quick nap. It was good to be home. Chapter 12: Compression I ended up taking three hours between the bath and a nap but man were they worth it? When I finished I found several interesting items waiting for me. Multiple attribute fruits and a glass of what I assumed was tea. It wasn''t the same color as what I had with Desbera which made me think it was more for relaxation than energy. Which was exactly what I ordered. I sat down and took care of the fruits first. The benefits they provided were meager but worth it. Every little bit helped after all. Between all the attributes fruits I have eaten, my Tao and all the other attribute boosting benefits my total attributes were over 1500 hundred. That was with the percentage boosts added in. Regardless it was hard to imagine that even the other members of the top ten could fight me. The System''s Herald was the only one that had a chance and he was probably insane. I grabbed the glass of tea and made my way into my cultivation chamber. I took a seat, stretched, and rolled my shoulders. The first step was to go through my usual ritual. Both the pearl and the egg needed my attention. From what little information I had on it, the egg should be ready to hatch in the next few months. Which would also mean another mouth to feed. Once I was done with both of those I pulled out the box with incense sticks and placed them around my mat. The sticks were long, and thin and reminded me of the kind you would make shish kabobs with. They didn''t emit a scent when ignited. Instead cloudy white vapors drifted up and the sound in the room faded. I immediately sat cross-legged and relaxed my mind. My excitement threatened to overcome me as I focused on the Tao. I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to focus on. The sensation when the system was pulling me from one place to the next. My thoughts drifted backward in time, starting with the most recent teleportations and slowly going back to the first. Those days felt like an eternity ago. As the incense filled the air around me my mind began to expand. It was slow at first almost like waking up from a dream. Before long it felt like I had dipped a toe into a vast ocean. An ocean filled with boundless possibility. I surrendered myself to the current, to the great Tao, and let it bring me to where I wanted to go. Suddenly my perspective changed, the ocean was still boundless but it was somehow shrinking. As if the entirety of creation was being condensed into a space the size of a world. That world then shrunk to a continent and then the city. On and on it went until the majesty of creation had become a speck no larger than a fingernail. I reached out a mental hand toward the speck. Hoping to understand just a little more, to grasp the limitless expanse in front of me. Before I could the world around me began to fade. I was being pulled from my place amongst the ocean. I fought against it but it was like resisting a tidal wave with my bare hands. I felt the Tao treasure''s effect waning so I focused on what I had learned. I sat there for what felt like a second and an hour before I opened my eyes. My chamber was a pale mockery of what it was. Nearly all the energy was gone, it was so bad that for a moment I thought I was back on pre-assimilation earth. That everything I had been through had been a dream. That fear was banished a second later when I felt the power in my body. The incense sticks were gone, burned to nothing which meant I had been here for longer than I thought. Despite that, I found I didn''t care. No to be more accurate what I stood to gain was worth much more. When my heart was calm I pulled up my status screen and then my Tao menu. When I saw my reward I couldn''t help but laugh. The treasure may have been of low quality but it turned out to be enough. **Strand of Compression**: **Constitution +10 Strength +10** The attribute gains were the same as the others which was a nice data point. I wasn''t sure what the Tao would do so I decided to take it slow. I held out my hand and tried to shape it into a ball. A ball of shimmering silver energy came into existence. It happened so fast that I nearly dropped it. I was expecting at least a little resistance but this was more like the energy wanted to obey. Like it was always mine to command. "Is that the benefit of my affinities?" I asked no one in particular. It took me another second to realize what I held in my hand. Space. I was holding compressed space. I let the implications of that wash over me for a second. Did this mean I could control time like this too? What would that mean? I turned and launched the sphere through the back of the room. I wasn''t sure what I expected to happen but it wasn''t what did. The sphere just went through it. It wasn''t so much that it forced its way through. It was more like the ball deleted the metal of the wall. My heart rate picked up as I formed another sphere and shot it through the wall. It went right through. I could feel that I wasn''t using the Tao to its full strength either. The amount of psychic energy I was using right now was minuscule. I calmed down and continued my testing. I pulled a pen out of my pocket and imbued it with the Tao. The pen shrunk to the size of a crayon in an instant. I chuckled and was about to drop it when I noticed something odd. The pen wasn''t broken. Not only that but it worked fine which meant I could change thing''s sizes while keeping them functional. I held back my excitement and conducted the most important test. If I could return the pen to its original size then this would be a game changer. I pushed the Tao toward the pen and tried to reverse the process. The results were mixed. I could do it but it wasn''t easy. It also consumed twice as much psychic energy. This meant it wouldn''t be a great way of dealing with item storage but if my hunch was correct I should get better as my comprehension increased. Next, I tried to channel it through my mental energy and found it worked as expected. I could make the constructed items more condensed. The same amount of energy but smaller. It would make attacking easier but that was about it. The first problem came when I tried to use it on my spells. No matter how hard I tried I couldn''t imbue them. It was like the Tao refused to cooperate with them. It wasn''t as big a problem as I initially thought though. Most of my spells didn''t interact well with compression. Psychic blast probably would have just made the beam narrower and stronger which would have been nice but the others. I couldn''t be sure. Would it make the convocation''s range shorter? Would it make Aegis smaller? Or more dense? I had no idea and wasn''t able to test it, not yet anyway. Instead, I made a mental note to explore it more later and got to my feet. There wasn''t anything more for me to do here. I needed to get out there and get shit done. I stepped into my room and went in search of the others. Since nothing was on fire I was pretty sure they managed without me. The first person I found was Aaliyah and what I saw only made me more confused. She had an aura. Not just any aura but one that was comparable to mine toward the end of the tutorial. "What happened to you?" I asked while jogging up to her and the group of guards she was with. "We dealt with a couple of small monster waves while you were gone." I let out a low whistle as my eyes fell on the daggers at her hips. They came from the System. They were stronger than any weapon I had seen so far except maybe Romulus'' spear. They also reminded me of staring at a night sky for some reason. "You dealt with two waves in a few hours? They must not have been too tough."This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Few hours? You were out for three days. We encountered the first wave just before you locked yourself away. After that, we got a call from a few friends of yours. They were having a problem with giant crabs." I only half listened to what she was saying. I had no clock or calendar so I couldn''t confirm the date but since no one said anything I figured she wasn''t lying. "Oh, right well good job? Which friend was it? Ajani and them?" She nodded. "We also have received a few requests from the UWG. They want permission to bring more people into the city. Specifically, they want to ''Add to the defenses of the camp'' We didn''t want to agree while you were gone. Your council figured it would be best if very few people knew you weren''t available." "Makes sense though with your strength you should be enough of a deterrent by now. What level are you? Have you gotten your class?" She flashed a smile and nodded. "Shadowblade, It''s exactly what you would think. Kind of an assassin-style class." "Interesting." I rubbed my chin as a dozen thoughts flowed through my mind. "When you get the rest of your skills let me know. I might want your help in dealing with a problem." She nodded and gestured for me to follow. "While you were dealing with your issue the expansion has mostly finished. I am sure you noticed that the building has been emptied?" When I nodded she continued. "Do you have any ideas on who you want to live there with you?" "Trey and you are welcome. The council members would also be welcome. If we have any important guests I would suggest letting them live on one of the floors while they are here. If I have a family they would naturally live there as well." "I appreciate the offer but I have already taken one of the spare houses. Same thing for Trey. He said and I quote ''No way in Hell was he passing up the chance to have his own house''" I laughed. "Fully understandable. In that case, if Azariah has already moved out that would leave the academy?" "The academy has moved into the new downtown district. So that any students can use it whenever they need." I rubbed my chin and stared up at the blue sky above us. "So it''s just me? It''s rather large for it to just be me. We should shift some of the lower rooms to be for emergency food and other supply storage. On the off chance this place gets attacked, people should be able to retreat inside." "Now that is something we hadn''t considered. It might be difficult to arrange but we should be able to do some drills." Aaliyah replied with a slightly surprised look on her face. "We have to assume that I might not be here at all times. If an attack happens then you all will need to handle it. Worse come to worse you can settle in and buy random arrays until you win or die." "Despite the last part of that, I appreciate the care. It looks like this whole king thing hasn''t gone to your head." I chuckled. "Well not yet but if I ever decide to appoint a horse to the council it might be time to pull a Brutus." She stared at me blankly for a second before a barely noticeable smile tugged at the edge of her face. "Nothing will bring me greater pleasure." We went over a few more things I missed but nothing really important before I decided it was time to go. I wanted to check in with a few more people before I went back out into the wilds. My next stop was Azariah and it was the shortest. She had no new information nor did she have anything worth buying. I replaced my healing pills and then left her to her own devices. The next stop was the academy where I found Trey lying on his back. He was stuck inside what looked like a gravity array. "You hanging in their bud?" I asked before deactivating the array. Trey let out a groan before slowly standing up. "Oww. The array is supposed to help me improve my Strength and Constitution attributes." "Yeah, I kind of figured that. You weren''t doing much moving so Agility was out. Are you sure it''s working?" "Well, not really. I do feel stronger but not supernaturally so. It''s hard to know but I would guess I am around the level of a professional athlete now." "Good and what about energy control and meditation? I''ve heard there are some titles out there for you. If you manage to gain something before getting the System." He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck for several seconds before letting out an exaggerated sigh. "When you meditate what is it like?" "Hmm? It''s sort of like building a pyramid with a bunch of blocks. Each step is small on its own but slowly it turns into something special. Unless you can get a treasure. That feels more like being dropped into one of those air machines with the money. You just grab for what feels right and hold on to it." "For real? I would describe it more like a snowball but whatever. I feel like I am making progress. Would you be able to show me what it looks like? I''ve been imagining a video game power up but Desbera has no idea what that means." "Sure, also is she the only teacher here? She can''t possibly be teaching everyone." "Uh kind of. Each of the classes is controlled by a machine that sort of just teaches you through instruction. It''s kind of like learning from an A. I or watching a video." I nodded and held my palm up between us. I slowly formed the Strand of Compression. The ball of silver energy looked a bit like gossamer silk as it appeared. Strangely enough, I couldn''t form a perfect sphere no matter how hard I tried. "So it is kind of like a superpower." He asked. His gaze never left the ball. "Yeah though it''s more likely that you will notice the change in your aura first. It will feel like whatever Strand or Strands you get. Before you ask no I can''t share that with you. It might kill you." "Yeah, yeah whatever. When are you going to let me go out with you? I know the monsters you fight have to be a lot stronger than the stuff around here." His eyes were filled with childish excitement that reminded me that he was just a teenager. A knot formed in my stomach as I considered whether this was moral or not. I was going to train him to start fighting monsters and then pump him with superpowers. Powers that were steroids when you thought about it. Of course, the new world was very dangerous so it wasn''t an obvious situation. I-"Hello?" I was pulled out of my thoughts and found him staring at me. I shook my head and gestured to the gravity array. "You aren''t strong enough and likely won''t be for a while. Once you get the System and get some combats under your belt I will take you out for a few hunts. After that how fast you level will be up to you." He grinned. "Do you have anything that could help me? I read about pills that could increase you to level 20 all at once." The eagerness in his eyes made it clear that it wasn''t something that he had just read about. "No, you need to work for it yourself. I am arranging some things for you but you still need to prove that you deserve them. If you manage to earn the credits for those pills then you are free to get them. You are not to use my name, reputation, or anything like that to make it easier." Just like that, the excitement faded from his eyes. It was a bit amusing how quickly his mood switched but there wasn''t much to be done. I wanted to help but if he didn''t do any of it himself would it be worth it? Would he be strong enough to accomplish anything? He was already getting more than just about anyone on Earth got for free. I decided to leave him to his training as Desbera entered and gestured for me to approach. "I don''t mean to interrupt Young Master but I had heard you had returned and I wanted to speak with you. Please allow me to say congratulations. From the feel of your display there, I assume you found success." "I did. I formed another strand. I was just about to head out and test it out." "Great, great I have a small request to make if you are open?" She waited a moment but when I made no move to stop her she continued. "If you or your people can bring us some alchemical ingredients we would greatly appreciate it. Outside of the most basic things I could bring our stock is virtually zero. I have reached out to the merchant but saving money would be very helpful." I chuckled before nodding my head. "I will see what I can do. I have managed to bring in a few carcasses that you are welcome to look at. If there is a dispute between the Academy and Azariah please let either me or the council know. I imagine you two will be able to share but it''s better to be safe than sorry." She beamed at me before nodding her agreement. We went over a few more things before I decided it was time for me to go. As much as I enjoyed being home there was something about exploring the great unknown that called to me. After a slightly rushed goodbye, I stepped through the portal and back onto the second continent. Chapter 13: Hornets Nest I was back in the Everglades portion of the continent less than an hour later. The rain was practically deluge but it did nothing to dampen my mood. The monsters were either in hiding or they were avoiding me. It took me nearly another ten minutes before I found something to fight. It was a creature that looked a lot like a crocodile. Only it was twice as big and its scales looked stronger than steel. It was perfect for target practice. I unleashed my aura in its full glory. There was an immediate difference. The new strand didn''t just make it stronger it was like I was weightier. The forest around me still felt like a battlefield from my killing intent but now it felt like a proper war zone. I wasn''t sure if that meant each Strand would be a multiplier or if it was something specific to this one. Either way, it didn''t matter. The beast oriented on me and charged. It sounded like an elephant was rushing toward me but there was little it could do. I laughed and focused on my newest Tao. A bolt of compressed spatial energy shot forward. The attack pierced straight through the reptile''s shell as if it wasn''t there and came out the other side. The attack happened so quickly that for a moment I wasn''t sure it was real. It was like a scene from a movie or cartoon where me and the monster stared at each other. As if we were waiting for something to happen. Then the beast collapsed and energy flowed into my dantian. The process was so anticlimactic that it felt like a trick. I slowly made my way over to the body and sent it into my ring. I wasn''t sure what alligator meat would taste like but I had to admit I was pretty curious. The energy from the kill was disappointing but not surprising. I took a deep breath and tried to rely on my luck to tell me where to go but the feeling was gone. I wasn''t sure if that meant there was nothing special near here or if I just couldn''t find it. After ten minutes I decided to pick a direction and just start running. Over the next three hours, I found several interesting things. Most of which were weird plants in a variety of colors. None of which caused that hunger to spread through my body. I figured that Desbera would appreciate them or Azariah would sell them. I was just about to look for a place to rest when I heard the sound of battle. It took me a few minutes to figure out where it was coming from but when I found them. I was worried. It was a group of five, four researchers and their defender fighting a hornet. Only the hornet was as big as a dog with a stinger that was closer to a small sword than anything reasonable. The defender had already been poked full of holes and was dying. The biggest problem was the monster''s speed. It twisted and turned in the air with all the grace of a normal-sized wasp. The thing''s speed made the warrior seem like he was standing still. That didn''t stop the man from giving it his all. He was barely able to stand but he kept trying. Just as the wasp was about to end the man''s life I decided to act. Psychic Aegis appeared in its wall form between the two. The stinger slammed into it but it might as well have been a child punching a chunk of steel. I unleashed a trio of psychic blades two of which were imbued with Tao. They found their mark before the overgrown bug had a chance to realize it was in danger. Surprisingly enough it wasn''t killed. The ugly thing struggled to turn toward me so it wasn''t much of a threat but it was impressive nonetheless. I unleashed another trio of blades and this time I received the confirmation. I stepped out from behind my tree and jogged over. An anti-poison pill is already in my hand. I placed it into the warrior''s mouth before laying him on the ground. "It''s alright I got you." Once he finished swallowing the first pill I added another. This one is a proper healing pill. I wasn''t sure if the wasp was poisonous but it felt like a good precaution. It took him nearly a minute to regain the color on his face. Now that I could see him he was surprisingly young. Probably no older than 21 or 22. He had dirty blonde hair and severe sun burns going across most of his body. "Uh thank you for the help." A man''s voice pulled my attention away from the warrior. The man who spoke was rather rotund, bald, and wore a white lab coat. I wasn''t sure if he was an actual researcher before or if he was just trying hard to look like one. "Right, I think this guy will be fine but the bug did a number on him. What the hell are you guys doing out here?" "Ah well, we were attempting to get a sample from a hive but were caught." It took me several seconds to process what he just said. When I did I practically jumped to my feet. "You mean there is an entire hive of these things? And you all thought it would be a good idea to approach it?" I scanned the sky half expecting to see a swarm of wasps. When I confirmed that we were fine. I knelt and put the warrior on my back. "Stay close. We are going to get you out of here." I activated Apportation and quickly guided everyone through. We did two more teleports before we were forced to jog. A process that was infinitely more annoying thanks to the constant complaints. By the time we made it back to the temple, I was ready to kill the group myself. "Get the group settled and have someone inform the UWG. We got more of their people. Also, have someone take a look at this guy." I gestured to the man on my back before handing him off to the lead guard. "He should be fine but he hasn''t woken up yet. I am going to head back out. Have everyone keep an eye on the skies. There might be some hornet monsters." I didn''t give anyone a chance to ask any more questions. I turned and broke out into a sprint. A den of big-ass hornets sounded horrible but it also sounded like a great chance to improve my level. I still needed to reach level fifty as soon as I could. Furthermore, the idea of fighting a strong boss monster sounded amazing. It took me nearly three hours to find the hive. Mostly because it wasn''t a "Hive" it was a building in a random city block. Which for some reason was in the middle of the rainy part of the continent. I assumed it was a part of some Floridian city but that was as far as I could guess. I activated Psychic Aegis in its bubble form just to be safe. One hornet wasn''t enough to kill me but a dozen might be a bit much. Next, I let my aura fly free. The sudden declaration was like tripping the alarm system. The sound of dozens of hornets filled the block as they swarmed out from every building. "This would be a lot more fun if you weren''t all bugs." I grinned to myself and I imagined myself as an action hero. There had to be at least fifty of the things in front of me. A sight that would have had me ready to piss myself before. Now, it just made me more excited.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The hornets were the first to move. I wasn''t sure how they coordinated with each other but all fifty managed to rush me at once. I activated Psionic Rain and Psychic Blast. Twin mental attacks rained down on the small army but it wasn''t enough. I narrowly avoided the first hornet while another two slammed into my shield. Their stingers snapped against my defenses. I laughed and spun unleashing a trio of mental blades into the closest hornet. The next closest monster shot for my heart. Its stinger shimmered with energy. I ran forward to meet the attack, Psychic Aegis wouldn''t be enough to stop it. I sacrificed the front of the bubble to reinforce the rest of it. It felt like time slowed to crawl as the large hornet approached. As soon as it was close enough I shot forward with both hands. I grabbed hold of its stinger and with every ounce of strength that my body could manage, I spun it around and slammed it into the ground. It felt like a bomb had gone off. The ground around us cratered and for a second I worried that we would fall. I tightened my grip and ripped the stinger off the bug. Before I could deliver a killing blow five hornets slammed into my barrier. Three of the stingers were stopped while the final pierced it. Not enough to threaten me but it was clear that I couldn''t rely on my spells. Not against this many. I couldn''t be more excited. Grey mist bellowed out from me as I activated Realm of Consciousness. Psychic energy flowed into me like a river as more and more of the hornets sought me out. Unfortunately for them, they lacked any way to get through the domain. I moved through my domain like a specter. Even unleashing attacks as fast as I could I was dealing with a surplus of psychic energy. The sheer number of them made it impossible to deal with them without taking a few cuts. Thankfully they either weren''t poisonous or the poison wasn''t enough to hurt me. By the time I killed the group, my domain had faded and several of my combat spells had come online again. I took a seat in what was left of a sedan and closed my eyes. The enemies put me at the threshold for level 38 which meant I needed to find whatever counted as a queen. I decided to wait a few more minutes just in case there were hornets away from the hive. The last thing I needed was to get attacked on all sides. When I was ready I entered the closest building. My excitement began to wilt immediately. There were remains inside. I wasn''t sure how many bodies there were but they were more than enough to make me sick to my stomach. I expanded my Tao field mostly to keep the viscera from me. The hornets hadn''t finished changing the building into a proper nest which was likely the only reason we weren''t facing an army. I found a hollowed-out elevator shaft toward the back of the building. I wasn''t sure how falling would impact my new body but I was pretty sure I would be fine. I leaped into the darkness and formed three balls of psychic energy. The indigo light barely illuminated a few feet in front of me. Which gave the whole situation a horror movie vibe. Like I was recording for some future-found footage thing. As I fell the floors told a devastating story. Multiple floors showed signs of a battle. Blood, stains, corpses, makeshift weapons. It was clear that humans didn''t fare well. We had been forced to the bottom of the food chain and even now we weren''t doing much better. I turned my attention to the task at hand as I slammed into the ground. The stone floor cracked and I felt a dull ache in my knees but that was it. I had landed in the sewer or what remained of it. Why would a hornet build its nest underground? I wished the apocalypse had made it smell better down here but that wasn''t to be. I circulated my energy just in case and sent my three spheres in front. I walked for another five minutes when I came across something disturbing. It was a hornet, only it lacked wings and could walk on two legs. The thing was almost as tall as I was and was ugly. The bug man held out a hand, a scream of danger in the back of my mind was my only warning. I ducked to the side just as the point of its stinger shot at me like an arrow. It was nearly as fast as a bullet and hit the wall behind me before I unleashed my attack. Three blades of psychic energy shot back at it. The bug narrowly avoided all three by taking advantage of all four walls. I barely had enough time to unleash another trio of blades before he closed the distance. I stepped backward to avoid a thrust only to find a second one already aimed at my chest. The Tao field of Adamance exploded out of me just as it met my skin. The bug finally forced me to retreat and I took the second to breathe. The bug didn''t waste any movements nor did it react to anything I did. Outside of avoiding my Tao field. I activated Psychic Blast and the tunnel was bathed in indigo light. The bug leaped to the side narrowly avoiding the attack only to find a spear of condensed space shooting through its stomach. I didn''t bother waiting for the kill confirmation and unleashed another trio of imbued blades. For the first time, all three were imbued with a different Tao. They shot forward like javelins, each one aimed for a different third of the body. Each one hit their mark and I received a surge of spiritual energy. My dantian felt like a lake on the cusp of flooding. I stepped up to the body and flinched. Most of the body was fine except for a triangular cut in its abdomen. It looked like he had been stabbed with a triangle. I collected my body and started my walk. It took me less than fifteen minutes to find the core of the hive. The hornet queen was an ugly beast. It was around three or four times the size of the other hornets. Its wings were far too small to support its size. It sat on a throne of eggs that made me wish I had fire powers. The eggs made my skin crawl and I wanted nothing more than to burn it all to ash. The queen shifted and released a pulse of psychic energy. The pulse passed over me and the world narrowed to a pinprick. It felt like I was being dragged into an ocean of water. A second later a second pulse, this one spreading out from the core of my being. The world popped back into focus. Intellect Fortress rapidly drained energy and it was barely enough. The hornet queen shifted and eggs began cracking. By the time I had gotten to my feet, I faced down five of the warriors. Each one pointed a stinger at me. Psychic Aegis formed in front of me just in time to intercept. It sounded like a cannon had gone off but the shield held. "Alright, now this is a party." I cracked my neck and activated almost all of my remaining spells. The mists of Realm of Consciousness filled the room. The indigo sun of Psionic Rain appeared next. This time imbued with the Strand of Compression. It was nearly half as big as it used to be. When it exploded it became a downpour of psychic energy. Innumerable needle-like blades shot into the mist. I felt three of the warriors die almost immediately. I decided to ignore them for now. The portal from Apportation opened next. I stepped through and a second later stepped out in front of the queen. Another mental attack tried to stop me but I was ready for it this time. I gritted my teeth through the pain and conjured spears of spatial energy. The additional mental energy from my domain became the fuel for a barrage of attacks. A trio of imbued psychic blades found their mark a second later. I was about to unleash Psychic Blast when my danger sense went off. I leaped to the side just as one of the remaining warriors appeared. Its stinger slashed toward me like a long sword. I imbued my hand with as much spiritual energy as I could and intercepted the stinger. Pain shot through my arm but I refused to let go. I shifted my weight and lifted the warrior into the air. Before I could slam it into the ground the final warrior joined the fight. I used its brethren as a shield half expecting it to stop attacking. It didn''t. Chapter 14: Ultimatum The stinger shot through the fourth warrior''s head like a rapier and forced me to retreat into the mist. Four warriors were down which left two enemies. Before I could decide my next move another mental pulse spread through the chamber. I circulated the Tao of Adamance as a fresh wave of psychic agony washed over me. I conjured three more imbued blades and shot them more than the last warrior. In a display of athleticism that defied imagination, the bug leaped over the first blade and spun in between the other two. It was like the monster had eyes on the back of its head. Or... My gave shifted toward the queen and I chuckled. The queen was able to control them. The warrior rushed toward me the moment I stepped out of my domain. This time I didn''t try to escape. I lunged right in time to avoid a thrust. I attempted to grab the stinger the same way I did before only for the bug to launch itself backwards. I cocked my head to the side and smiled. The beast was learning. Part of me wondered if the Queen could become stronger than me. Or at least able to beat me if I fought it long enough. Despite my curiosity, I resolved myself to kill it. It was too big a risk especially if the other eggs could hatch into warriors anytime soon. I brought both hands up in a barely remembered boxing pose before running at the bug. The hornet raised its stinger and met my charge. I ducked down and to the right barely dodging the attack. Instead of going for the stinger I imbued my right hand with spiritual energy and slammed it into the bug''s abdomen with all the strength I could manage. An explosion of sound reverberated through the room. The hornet was launched like it had been shot out of cannon. My follow-up attack was on the way before it hit the wall. Three blades claimed their lives as I turned my attention back to the queen. I searched its eyes for any sign of awareness but it was impossible to tell. I activated Psionic Rain and the familiar indigo sun appeared in the sky. I willed it to shatter and the Queen''s life was extinguished. Her energy was just barely enough to push me to level 38. My elation at the level-up died when I remembered what came next. I needed to kill all of the eggs. I tested the closest egg with a psychic blade and was relieved when I got kill energy. If I didn''t have to break each egg individually then this was doable. I spent the next thirty minutes attacking every single egg. The process was oddly morbid and felt way too much like killing babies for my liking. When I was finished I collected the eggs. I wasn''t sure if they could be sold or maybe used for Alchemy. Either way, they might be useful. Once that was done I used Apportation to return to the surface. I took a long deep breath to wash the sewer smell out of my nose. I then spent my points. I didn''t plan on fighting with my hands too much but it was kind of fun so both free points went into the attribute. I was just about to leap down from the building when my danger sense went off. Psychic Aegis formed just as a metal object shot toward me. My eyes widened and I threw myself off the building just as the grenade exploded. I spun in the air and managed to land on my feet as a storm of bullets slammed into my shield. None of them were strong enough to break through the shield but the panic didn''t fade. The shooters were two blocks away and inside the remains of a bus. Which left the grenade thrower. A scream of utter panic shot through me as a man stepped out in front of me. He was about forty feet away and held a glowing blue cube in his hands. It took me another moment to realize that the man was the guy from the Commonwealth. The same one I had fought earlier. He twisted the cube and blood began to drip from his eyes, nose, and mouth. I reactivated Apportation just as a blue wave surged toward me. My mind went completely blank as I was yanked backward through the portal. Intellect Fortress triggered as my soul erupted in the worst pain I had ever felt. The second before the portal closed felt like an eternity. The blue light was more like napalm as I tried to remove it. Only my fingers couldn''t touch the stuff. When the portal reopened I was five miles away and it still felt too close. I sprinted like a bat out of hell. I desperately swallowed pill after pill but nothing was working. I was half a second away from a full-blown panic when the blue light began to fade. The forest flew by in a blur as I sought out a place to hide. A place to recover. I wasn''t even sure I was running toward the temple. Nor was I sure I wanted to. I spread each of my Tao throughout my body but none of them made much of a difference. Each one only resisted the blue light for a second before the heat returned. The only relief came when I circulated the Ethereal Codex. I rounded a tree and found a dip in the ground that led into a cave. I dropped into position and passed my inner eye over my body. What I saw nearly made me scream. My channels were being burned! I circulated energy as fast as I could but the latent energy here paled in comparison to what I needed. It was like sprinkling water onto a fire. I bit back a whimper of pain and sunk deep into meditation. I withdrew my senses inside myself as spiritual energy warred with the blue light. I wasn''t sure how much time had passed when I opened my eyes. The sun had gone down and the cave was nearly pitch black. I conjured three balls of light to make sure nothing was waiting in the dark. Next, I took a deep breath and passed a mental eye over my body. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw my channels. The burns hadn''t been anywhere near as bad as I thought. I was pretty sure whatever weapon they used would have destroyed me if it weren''t for the reinforcement. Which only made me more grateful. The look of madness and fury in the man''s eyes was enough to haunt my dreams but I had survived. Next, I tested energy circulation. There was a little bit of pain and soreness. Kind of like moving the day after a hard workout. Once the fear had faded anger began to flood to replace it. I tried to be understanding. I tried to let it go but that wasn''t working. I got to my feet and took a deep breath. I needed to assess the situation. The men who attacked me had to be dead. Even I barely survived that weapon and I teleported away. They were holding it. The only question was if the item survived. If it was a one-time use thing it wasn''t a threat but if it wasn''t. If it could be used against me. I shook my head. There was no reason to worry about what-ifs. I needed to go back and find it. I left my hiding place and conjured another trio of lights. I then condensed them into tiny bulbs. I still wasn''t good enough to change their shapes into anything more detailed but this was good enough. I sent one trio in front of me and one behind me. I then created six more and sent each new set to either side. The effect made it look like I had swarms of fireflies around me. There was virtually no chance that I wouldn''t be noticed like this but who cared? I have never been interested in stealth or covert things. I raced through the forest following the path of broken branches and overturned rocks. I unleashed my aura every time a monster got within a hundred feet of me. The fact that they all ran only reinforced the growing fear in my mind. Not of the bomb but that the continent wasn''t strong enough to hold me anymore. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. When the trail ran cold I activated Apportation. Five miles were passed over in the blink of an eye. When the portal reopened I was standing on top of the hornet''s hive. I half expected everything to be reduced to ashes but that wasn''t the case. Strangely enough, everything looked fine. Outside of the pair of corpses. I leaped off the building and made my way over to the man. The cube in his hand had lost its glow and looked like an inert block. I knelt prepared to put the thing in my ring when the corpse moved. "How are you still alive." The man''s voice came out hoarse Like he had been screaming for hours. "I guess I am just harder to kill than that." I tried to summon my anger at the attempt but this person was barely alive. I wasn''t a medical expert by any means but I could tell there was no chance he would survive. Even if I shoved every healing pill on earth into him. "There is truly no justice." He made the worst sound I had ever heard after that. Like the worst kind of smoker''s cough and for a moment I thought he might cough up a lung. "Was there Justice in the old world?" I grabbed the cube and examined it. The thing was alien for lack of a better word. It reminded me of the thing in The Avengers only much smaller. "My only regret is that I couldn''t drag you into whatever hell comes after this." I shrugged not sure how I was supposed to respond to that. I was pretty sure I would do the same in his position so I couldn''t blame him. I sighed and looked up at the night sky as if I would find the right words among the stars. "If it makes you feel better. I respect the attempt. You knew I was stronger than you and you came anyway. Not sure where you got the weapon from but you endured it." When I looked down at the man again I found his eyes vacant. I wasn''t sure if he even heard what I said. I also wasn''t sure if the words were for him or me. I placed the cube in my ring and decided to leave the body where it lay. It felt wrong for me to take it. The man had chosen his final resting place and I could give him that. I made my way over to the second corpse and they were dead. I collected the gun as well as the remaining ammo but left his body. I left the small neighborhood a few minutes later. Part of me still felt bad but the truth was I couldn''t let this continue. Eliminating the Commonwealth wouldn''t be hard. Just killing them all wouldn''t help though, would it? Not unless I was willing to exterminate all of them and I wasn''t. I couldn''t kill a bunch of children. My thoughts roiled as I raced through the rainforest. When I arrived at the temple the journey felt way too short. I stepped through the teleporter a few minutes later. I activated Ethereal Convocation as soon as I was in Amara. "I am going to the Commonwealth." Keshaun and Christopher''s voices filled my mind a second later. Both of them were shouting for different reasons. "What do you plan on doing?" Keshaun asked. "We don''t need to cause a problem. Not right now" Christopher replied. "The parents I spared last time tried to kill me or rather the father did. He along with another mortal attacked after I finished a battle." "If you kill them your reputation will plummet. The people who think you are a tyrant will be vindicated. Are you prepared for that?" Keshaun asked. The thought lacked any hint of judgment. "It will make it difficult to deal with other factions. Not to mention travel for the rest of us." "I am not going to kill them. Not this time. I am going to put the fear of God into them. If that doesn''t work I will end them all." Just thought that the last part removed the weight from my shoulders. It was like admitting it made it both more real and more acceptable. "Christopher prepare our people just in case. I don''t want to make things more difficult but everyone needs to be prepared." I ended the spell just as I passed through the city''s defensive array. The jog through the outskirts of my territory was much faster than anywhere else. The monsters here were either all dead or below level fifteen which made them more likely to run than to fight me. The lack of hostility did nothing to help me relax. If anything it puts nerves more on edge. It gave me more time to think about what I was going to do. More time to reflect on the possible ways that my actions might get someone killed. That I might kill a whole lot of people. I didn''t stop running until I was two miles outside of the massive arena. From what I could see they had a town defense array but it didn''t seem powerful. I activated Apportation and infused it with the Tao of Adamance. The portal shuttered for a moment while the array surged. A translucent wall of force glowed for a second as if in battle against my spell. I wasn''t sure if the Tao of Adamance had any effect but it didn''t matter. The array lasted for less than a second before the portal opened. I stepped through and when it reopened I stepped out on top of a military-style tent. The center of the football field looked like something out of a military movie which was a bit odd. They hadn''t taken the time to adjust to the new world at all. If anything it looked more like something you would have seen during the Iraq war. There was no way anything in here was tough enough to defend against monsters. I took a seat on the tallest tint and took a breath. The guards in the distance were scrambling which meant they had noticed the array fail. Part of me was curious how long it would take for them to realize I was already in there. I didn''t have the time for it. I unleashed my aura only this time I let it gradually build. Instead of an explosion, it was closer to a flood. One that started at ankle deep and increased. People began to panic almost immediately. The civilians ran in all directions which only made it more difficult for the guards to react. The few cultivators that had movement abilities weren''t as affected. I sat down, one leg up with my face in one hand. Doing my best to project a bored tyrant. A person who couldn''t be bothered to kill the ants beneath him. I figured if that was how people viewed me then why not lean into it? I was a bit surprised that none of the cultivators attacked. I assumed it was because of my representation but when one jumped down to save a man who was nearly trampled to death I realized the truth. I had effectively taken the settlement hostage. "To what do we owe the arrival of the Earth''s strongest man." A man dressed head to toe in military gear called out. His voice had a powerful southern twang to it that almost made me chuckle. What was more impressive was his aura. It wasn''t strong, probably around Aaliyah''s in power but it felt different. It felt like he was a resolute pillar of stability. Where the rest of the world may fall he would stand. He would endure. Was it a Tao? Or did he get his aura some other way? "I had just had a run-in with some folks from your camp. They had attempted to kill me and it obviously didn''t work." I scanned the crowd in search of a familiar face. It took me nearly five minutes to find her. The look in her eyes made it clear that she wasn''t afraid and that she knew what her husband had done. "I see. I assure you that we had nothing to do with the actions of wayward allies. If you would be willing to talk-" I upped my aura just a little bit. A hush passed over the crowd as everyone froze. It was as if I held a gun to the backs of their heads. "I didn''t come here for prolonged discussion or diplomacy. It''s too early for that. I am here to tell you that on account of my actions last time I was here I have elected to forgive the attempt on my life. If it happens again or if I have reason to believe that it will happen." I paused and let my gaze travel across every face. Letting the full weight of my threat settle onto their shoulders. "My next visit won''t be as pleasant." No one moved which was a testament to them. I could tell that the cultivators were divided though. Around a third took the threat to heart while the rest looked ready for a battle. It was a bit too hopeful that the threat would be enough to cow them. I had hoped to avoid a battle since Earth could use every fighter but there was nothing to be done. I sighed and withdrew my aura. Chapter 15: NWO (General Zacharia Lawson) As soon as the proverbial knife was removed I gave the order. Thirty cultivators, all between the levels of 15 and 20 descended on him like locusts. Despite the overwhelming firepower I couldn''t help but feel anxious. I release my killing intent to keep the panic crowd moving. The first cultivators arrived at the command tent in less than a second. Joshua and Taylor were former marines and were trained killers. Yet this son of a bitch treated them like playthings. He wasn''t even fighting back. He ducked, dodged, and avoided each of their attacks like this was some damn martial arts movie. I gave the order and the rest moved in. Swords, spears, and axes flew through the air our best fighters engaged. A force that would have been enough to wipe out a country and it meant nothing. Amari barely moved from the tent and still hadn''t seen fit to strike back. It was more like he was playing with children. I gritted my teeth as the panic crowd stopped running. They stood like idiots gawking at the display. "No one man should have this kind of power," I growled and drew my sword. I activated Slash and a thin edge of spiritual energy surrounded my blade. I pushed the skill to its maximum and then unleashed my swing. I gritted my teeth as the slash shot toward the battle like the executioner''s axe. The attack moved in slow motion as he dodged around. I caught his gaze seconds before the attack hit. I waited to see what crazy skill he got from the tutorial or what weapon or anything would hint at the source of his strength. Instead, he held his bare hand up. I practically begged God to let his hand be split in two. That he would be split in two. When he saw him grin those hopes died. My attack met his hand and it was like he was made of solid steel. The spiritual energy I infused dissipated harmlessly. "As much fun as I am having, I think it''s about time I fought back." The way he said that sent a chill down my spine. Before I could order a retreat he blurred and Joshua was hit square in the chest. The impact made it seem like he had been hit with a baseball bat. Joshua crumbled bonelessly to the ground. "Re-retreat" My words came out choked as the monster continued. The rest of the battle was a nightmare. The elites of the Commonwealth were dispatched like playthings until he once again sat on the top of the tent. He looked like a fat cat as he stared at me. I wanted nothing more than to kill him, to remove that stupid grin. "As I said before you won''t get any more chances." He leaped off of the tent and strutted toward me like a god of war. "I hope we can get along with one another in the future." I glared at him until he left the city. No one moved for another ten minutes, not until everyone was sure that he was gone. "Gather up everyone," I said and stepped into the tent. I grabbed a bottle of water and downed it. It was another ten minutes before people started to appear. The cultivators who didn''t join the fight were first. "Is there a reason that you all saw fit to sit back while your brethren were fighting that lunatic?" I barked. "Hey, hey we agreed to fight for the Commonwealth not die for it. Besides if we started unleashing skills then he likely would have as well. Then where would we be?" Augustus replied looking nonplussed about the situation. "Of course if that little weapon wasn''t enough to kill him then what could we do exactly?" Emily asked. "I don''t think the System will give us another quest reward like that. We should have saved it for a dangerous monster." The rest meandered in over the next hour. Everyone tried to pretend like nothing had changed, that everything was fine but that wasn''t true. The "World''s Strongest Man" hung over us like a shadow. It wasn''t me who decided to approach the topic. "So now that we''ve seen it. Seen him and with his current level what are we going to do?" August asked. The rotund man with a bastard sword big enough to split a man in two asked. "Nothing. From what I''ve heard he and the United World Government aren''t on the best of terms. We should continue with the Archangel plan" Emily responded. I listened as they went back and forth. Each one had their opinion but they all could be boiled down to one truth. We weren''t at the top of the food chain and we had to do something to deal with that. "We will continue researching just what the System did. If our research bares fruit we will deploy. I want the rest of you to travel to that continent. We need to focus on growing our power."
(Romulus) My spear shot through the bicep of one gorilla just as Solar Ball destroyed a massive snake. Despite the twin kills it was clear this wasn''t going in our favor. I dodged to the side as a gorilla launched a tree trunk at me. "Alexander, you need to leave. Use your skill and get back to the temple. Ask Amari to help us." The words tasted like ashes but there was nothing to do. Even together we couldn''t beat this group. I glanced over at Amahle. She danced through the wave like a specter but she was slowing. Her movements were more desperate than before and she traded injuries more often than not. I dodged a fist the size of a dinner plate and pushed spiritual energy into my newest skill. "I won''t-" Alexander began. "Go!" I shouted as Glorious Crusade activated. The berserk skill made it feel like lightning was injected into my veins. My spear traced the arc in the air as Alexander disappeared. I smiled at the closest monster. "This should be a lot of fun." I rushed forward to meet the closest monkey. My spear punched a hole through its shoulder before it could properly mount a defense. My fist slammed into the next monkey with enough to crush bone. Kill energy surged into my Dantian. Another sun was born a second later. I launched at the closest beast. A massive lizard with scales harder than steel. I retreated a second after the sun made contact. Its heat was barely enough to burn the beast''s scales. White-hot anger surged inside me as I was forced to retreat. Another pair of fists shot for me. I blocked one with the spear while taking the second in my shoulder. Glorious Crusade stole more of my energy to heal the now broken bones. My spear glowed as I activated Pierce. A translucent blade of energy formed around the tip of my spear before splitting into five identical blades. I narrowly avoided a sharpened tree branch before I released my attack. A storm of spear points brought me enough space to disengage. I moved into position behind Amahle just as a roar filled the air from deeper into the forest. "Would it be unreasonable for me to ask if you have an item that could get us both out of here?" "If I had something like that I wouldn''t still be here with you now would I?" Amahle replied as the wind coalesced around her. "Do you think he would be enough to make a difference in this situation?" I straightened my helm and raised my spear as the additional strength from Glorious Crusade faded. "No idea but he''s been in this forest alone right?" The wind surrounding her began to pick up speed to the point that it was difficult to look at her. "I am going to kill them all before he gets here." She raised her rapier and the condensed until it was wrapped around the blade. She then thrust forward, it was like the wind became a cannon as it tore through the monkeys and lizards in front of us. I grabbed her and activated Vanguard Dash. The movement skill was just barely enough to break the encirclement. As soon as it ended I conjured another golden sun this one imbued with the Strand of Radiance. The light was so bright it felt like dawn had come early. Before I could launch it two of the larger monkeys stepped forward. Their hands reach up to the sky as if to tear it out of the sky. I roared and brought my hand down and the sun fell. The monkeys screamed as pillars of earth shot up to join their allies. Earth and Heaven met and for a moment the world stood still. The pause lasted for less than a second but it felt like an eternity. The monkey''s let out another howl and the largest of the group leaped into the air. Fist raised to the sky. My hope that the thing would burn before it reached my attack died a second later.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. It slammed its fist straight through my sun. I felt my connection to the skill end. I turned to Amahle, the truth of the situation bearing down on the both of us. I pushed as much energy into my legs as I could and sprinted. Amahle somehow commanded the wind to swirl up around her to propel her forward.
(Amari) I opened my eyes just as the last of the energy dissipated. If I couldn''t see my dantian slowly fill I would think that I had been given a Sisyphean task. According to Desbera, my problem was that the Earth sucked. Since we were on the frontier of space we were in a poor area which meant cultivation alone wouldn''t cut it. Not unless I wanted to become and meditate for a hundred years. I got to my feet and stretched. The Ethereal Codex made the situation better but there was only so much it could do. Thankfully my world lead wasn''t in any danger. If anything the top Standings had shaken up considerably. The top five held the same names but my lead had only grown.
Rankings Name Level
1st Amari Jackson 36
2nd The System''s Herald 29
3rd Romulus 25
4th Amahle Umzawi 22
5th Masquerade 21
6th Ebony Rose 21
7th Liyah 20
8th Hammer 19
9th The Monkey King 17
10th Christopher 16
...100th James Jones 14
I still wasn''t sure how "The System''s Herald" kept up especially since no one knew where he was. Amara had multiple people in the top one hundred now which was rather impressive. Especially since I hadn''t given Aaliyah that many resources. The Tao Standing was a bit more stable but even it had changed.
Rankings Name
1st Amari Jackson
2nd The System''s Herald
3rd Romulus
4th Amahle Umzawi
5th Taoist Lin
6th Father Gabriel
7th Mwalimu Tatiani
8th Buddhist Chin
9th The Monkey King
10th Wei Fang
...100th James Jones
From the rumors I had heard people who were naturally more meditative and spiritual had a clear advantage in the Tao. Which was interesting, it turned out that meditating was worth it. I closed the status menu just as a low hum passed through the room. "Guess it had gotten a bit too quiet." I left my chamber and Saanite floated less than a foot away. "Young Master, one of the humans has just arrived. He requests an audience with you." "Alright, which one is it? Keshaun? Christopher?" "He said his name was Alexander. Based on his exhaustion and overall demeanor he appears to have run here. The words from the guards stationed at the temple further support this point." "Where is he?" I shook my head. "I will meet him at the entrance." I sprinted out of the room and into the elevator. I briefly considered using **Apportation** but it would be best to save it. Just in case we needed to move faster. When the elevator opened I tore through the halls until I found an exhausted Alexander standing in front of two guards. "I don''t have time to wait. Let me through!" Alexander bellowed while his muscles grew. He had a physique that would make Arnold jealous. I activated **Psychic Aegis** and forced the group apart. Not wanting to ruin the fragile alliance before it began. "What''s going on?" I stepped in front of him and for a moment it looked like he would attack me. "Romulus and Amahle need help. We were fighting in the forest when we came across a monster den. A large monkey was there and-" I held up a to stop him. "Got it. Lead the way." Alexander ran over the rest of the details just before we teleported onto the continent. The situation was a bit worse than I thought. The monkey they encountered was an Orangutan instead of an ape and it behaved weirdly. According to him, it could have killed them earlier but didn''t. I activated **Apportation** and we skipped five miles in an instant. We had to make another jump before we found the early battlefields. The forest was torn apart with several trees burned husks. "How much further?" "Short run, uh maybe ten minutes?" Alexander replied. I nodded lifted the man onto my shoulders and pushed energy into my legs. I couldn''t help but laugh when he screamed. The forest turned into a blur as I reached speeds that most cars would struggle to deal with. The run filled me with equal parts excitement and fear. Excitement at the idea of fighting something worth it but fear about Romulus and Amahle''s survival. We broke through the underbrush and I got my answer. Amahle and Romulus stood encircled, back to back. A small sun slammed into a reptile creature while Amahle launched a condensed blade of air at a small monkey. Both of them looked haggard as if they had been fighting for hours. Romulus struggled to stay on his feet, his spear more of a walking stick than a proper weapon. My gaze was pulled to the monster that sat beneath a massive oak tree. It was an Orangutan, one the size of a car. Its fur was dark brown and its arms were elongated. They were almost as long as the rest of its body. The beast had dark brown eyes, eyes that had a certain awareness to them. It surveyed the battlefield like a king on its thrown. I wasn''t sure how it controlled the other monsters to this degree. They toyed with two of the strongest people on Earth. "Alexander, get both of them out of here." I placed the man on the ground and before he could protest I started walking. With each step, I unleashed more of my aura. The hoots and howls ceased immediately. Everyone here was strong enough to tolerate my full power so I held nothing back. Several beasts bowed their head and tucked their tails between their legs. I could practically feel their fear and it felt wonderful. All too soon I stood in front of the pair who looked like they received pardon from heaven. "You are a freak of nature," Amahle stated. "I guess you could say that." I flashed her grin as Alexander hugged Romulus. The pair held each other for a long moment. "All three of you need to go. My spells aren''t very good at distinguishing friend from foe." "Just give me a healing pill or two and I can fight," Romulus said. "I placed two pills in each of their hands¡ª" Before I could continue a monkey howled and launched a tree branch like a javelin. I activated Psychic Aegis, by the time the spear shattered against the wall a mental blade had already slammed into the attacker''s skull. It was dead before the others had time to process the attack. "I don''t like when people interrupt me when I am talking." I turned my attention to the others. "I recommend you focus on getting back but I won''t stop you." I pushed energy and the Strand of Compression into Psionic Rain. Compared to the indigo sun, Romulus'' was a pale imitation. "What the fuck is that?" Alexander asked his form bulging as he activated whatever skill he used earlier. "One of my favorite abilities." I smiled as Psionic Rain reached its maximum and exploded. An uncountable number of thin psychic blades rained onto the battlefield. Where the blades landed monsters died. The lack of sound made it seem like the Grim Reaper had passed through their number. I lost count of the sheer number of deaths immediately. I felt three sets of eyes land on me and wondered what they thought. Outside of my citizens, they were the closest thing to allies that I had. It was good to remind them just how much of a gap there was between us. "Damn," I wasn''t sure which one of them spoke up and I didn''t care. A trio of psychic blades formed above me. Each one is imbued with a different Tao. Each sought out a different target. Each one claimed a life. Before I could follow up my danger sense went off. It wasn''t a scream but it was impossible to ignore. I turned just in time to see another tree javelin shoot straight for me. This one was an actual tree trunk and was launched by the head monkey. I ducked to the side which caused one of the lizards to get impaled. The makeshift javelin practically crushed the beast just before it was slammed through another tree. "You guys deal with the small fry. I got the big guy." I grinned, pushed spiritual energy into my legs, and jumped forward. It was time to have some fun. Chapter 16: Town Upgrade I landed in front of the overgrown monkey just as it shot a fist the size of a manhole cover at me. I brought both arms up in a block only for it to feel like I had gotten hit by a train. It felt like the bones in my arms were about to snap like twigs. I used the force of the blow to escape outside of the monkey''s reach. The Orangutan must have felt its advantage because it chased after me. I barely had enough time to conjure a blade before the beast was on me. Barely formed psychic blades shot forward like arrows as I did my best to dodge. Each near miss caused my heart to pump faster and faster. Adrenaline mixed with excitement until nothing mattered. I activated Realm of Consciousness. Grey mist flooded the battlefield and transformed it to meet my needs. It felt like the entire world was mine. I stopped retreating and lowered my shoulder. The Orangutan missed a punch and the Tao of compression flooded the space just in front of my right hand. I launched a punch with every ounce of strength my new body could manage. All of it focused on a point no bigger than a nail. I felt the burn turn to dust as the monkey was launched into and through the massive oak tree. "That was wrong," I muttered out loud. I held up my hand as if it would explain my failure. I was trying to make something akin to a knife. Where the force of the punch would pierce through the chest. Before I came up with an answer the monster unleashed a howl and dark brown energy formed between its hands. I cocked my head to the side and pushed energy into Psychic Aegis. The wall appeared a full second before the attack was ready. It slammed into my shield with the force of a meteor. My barrier held for less than a second, just enough time for me to avoid it. The ball of stone slammed into the earth less than a foot away from Romulus. Who was doing battle with a pair of dog creatures? Once I verified he was alive he turned toward my enemy. "Not sure if you can understand me or not. My spell is a bit unclear on what counts as language in that regard. Either way, if you have something more interesting than that to show me then I suggest you do." I flexed my fingers and pushed energy into the sigil for Psychic Blast. Twin beams of psychic energy shot forward like lasers. The first one barely missed while the second caught the beast in the center of its chest. I grinned as the monkey''s body turned a deep shade of brown and the familiar spiritual fluctuations filled the area. The beast had a Tao. Despite its newfound resilience, I could tell it wouldn''t last for long. Not unless it could avoid the attack. The beast slammed both of its fists into the ground and in the next moment a pillar of stone rose from beneath it. The stone lifted just fast enough to leave the area of my spell. As soon as it was free it grabbed the stone from beneath its feet and launched it at me. I was forced to abandon my attack and dodge. The stone slammed into the ground with the force of a bomb. A portion of the forest floor was destroyed. Three blades of psychic energy shot at the orangutan just as it crashed into the ground. Two were avoided while the third caught it in the leg. The Orangutan''s movements started to slow. By the time it had recovered, I had prepared and unleashed a spear of compressed space. The silvery attack crossed the distance between us in an instant. It pierced straight through its head. A surge of spiritual energy flooded into my dantian a second later. The energy was around five percent of what I needed at this point which wasn''t bad. It just wasn''t enough, especially when a portion of it was being drained away. I turned my attention to the rest of the battlefield but there was no need. The other had eliminated most of them and the few that were still standing decided to leave once their boss was dead. "What was that? The thing you did at the end. It felt like a Tao but none that I''ve even heard of." Romulus asked as he cleaned the tip of his spear. "Compression. Specifically, I compressed space and launched it at the beast." I said with a bit of disinterest. I still itched for a proper fight. Something that would let me go all out. "How is that even possible?" Amahle asked but held up her hand before I could offer an answer. "Never mind don''t tell me. Thank you for the help." She then reached into the bag on her hip, removed a smaller sack, and tossed it to me. My eyes widened when I saw what was in it. "Spirit Stones? 2nd Realm spirit stones?" "The handful on the top are. The majority on the first realm. I am not sure about you but we have been using them as currency. Something outside the direct control of the System." "How do you¡ª" The question died on my lips when I saw the look on her face. There was zero chance she was going to answer that question. I made a mental note to get a move on with the water we had before I stowed away the bag. "Just to be clear you don''t have to pay for the help. I came here of my own accord." "It''s better to not have any debts whether real or imagined. It makes me feel better as well." "Your help was greatly appreciated," Romulus added. "Are the monsters here all that strong?" "No, I''ve dealt with a lot of the heaviest hitters especially north of the temple. There should be a large snake running around so I would be careful of that. Why did you guys try to battle with such a strong group?" They looked at each other for a moment and I could almost see the invisible conversation between them. I had already made a few assumptions but it was better to let them decide how they would respond. It was Romulus who decided to speak up. "We got a quest. The System offered different rewards for clearing out the den. Based on performance." I chuckled and nodded. "I hope I didn''t ruin your reward. Don''t worry whatever it is belongs to you. The fight was pretty good and I got to try out a few different things. I am going to head back in an hour or so. You are welcome to stay with me and head back when I do or you can head back without me." We went over a few more details from the fight. It was quickly decided that they would get the majority of the corpses while I got to keep the three strongest beasts including the big boss. I was a bit tired of carrying all these corpses in my ring to begin with so it wasn''t a big deal to me. I also had little interest in cooking the meat. I spent the hour cultivating but made little progress. Especially once the others sat down to join me. It was a bit like sharing the water from a single hose. Once I had enough I activated Apportation. It took us three jumps before we were back at the temple. A process that would have taken us nearly an hour and that would have required us to sprint the whole way.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Are you able to share that teleportation ability with other people?" Amahle asked. "Specifically a crystal?" I shook my head. "Got it from the System and I don''t know how to make those. If I get the chance I might be willing to part with it. For the right price." I laughed at the annoyance on her face. "Feel free to use the teleporter to get back or join me in Amara. There are a few things that I need to take care of." We spent a few more moments saying goodbye before everyone went their own way. I decided to head back to Amara and dump the beast carcasses. With my ring empty and my credits full, I decided to make a couple of stops. The first of which was the market. Azariah had taken up an old department store. She had used arrays to make the inside bigger than what the outside would indicate which was rather impressive. I still wasn''t sure how that was supposed to work. I walked through the aisle for a moment just exploring the new items. It was almost night and day when compared to when she first arrived. It is the only store we had outside of the System''s exorbitant prices only helped more. Unfortunately for me, the display items were useless for me. I could get basic gear like armor and weapons but none of them fit me. Or rather I didn''t want to wear armor. The robes I had were defensive and Psychic Aegis was enough to protect me. Of course, that might not always be true. I was saved from my indecisiveness when Azariah and her attendant arrived. "Hello Young Master. If I had known you were on your way I would have prepared better." I grinned. "I will do better with advance notice in the future. Have you found anything special for me?" She nodded and gestured for me to follow. "I''ve managed to form a tentative trade agreement with a few forces in this galaxy. One of which deals with battle beasts. I managed to purchase one of their blood purity crystals." "Oh? I assume that''s something that will make a beast companion stronger?" She nodded. "It will help purify their bloodline. I am not sure if you are aware but beasts have slightly different requirements than cultivators. First and foremost they do not need to form a core. They are born with those. They also do not receive classes. As a result or I suppose as a cosmic balancing act they get more attributes per level. These attributes make them on average stronger than a cultivator of the same level." "So their bloodlines must work as an additional requirement? On top of an energy for each level." "Exactly. The purer the bloodline the more powerful they are. This power can range from a variety of things including new talents, and more attributes. Effectively their bloodlines were their talent and potential." My smile slowly faded as I reached the inevitable conclusion of this conversation. "Let me guess. The crystals along with other resources will cost me an arm and a leg." She blinked in confusion before glancing at me, then her attendant, and then back at me. "Uh, I do not believe they would take your limbs as payment." "No, it''s a saying. It means that it will cost a very high amount. I think it comes from a time when the black market would buy body parts though. Anyway please continue." "Ah right well it''s as you say. The cost of raising creatures can be immense. Either way, I was able to get this crystal for you." We entered a back office. There was a large desk in the middle and two windows behind the chair. There was even a skylight above that made the room seem much fancier. Azariah knelt beneath the desk and pulled out a small treasure box. Once it opened the medicinal smell was enough to make my stomach hurt. It wasn''t that my body wanted it, the feeling was a bit more like tasting something too sweet. It made my jaws ache. The stone itself reminded of me something you would see in Pokemon. It was jagged to the point I wondered if it was poorly cut. There was a slight red hue in the middle like someone had dripped blood into it. "This one is on the smaller side and doesn''t offer as much benefit. Since your companion will be a fresh hatchling it should serve as a good start." I nodded and summoned a box from my ring. "How much do I owe?" She flashed me a smile that made the hair on my neck stand up. "Well, I have a few more items that a distinguished Young Master like you would appreciate." I chuckled and took a seat. "Alright, bring it on." The following hour was filled with a variety of "Extremely necessary items" items that no enterprising young person would want to be without. The highlights were two rings that were defensive treasures. One was mental and one was physical and once you took a certain amount of damage it would shatter and create a bubble around you. I wasn''t sure how it worked since it would trigger just before you got hit. So it somehow detected the level of danger you were in. Either way, they were both pretty vital. There was a handful of attribute fruits as well. One of every type except for All attributes and Luck. Both of those were incredibly rare. There was enough here to give each attribute three fruits. Last but not least I bought a set of 2nd Realm Spirit Stones and another set of robes. These were a gunmetal grey but were similar to the ones I got from the System earlier. The defensive array was slightly stronger. "What can you tell me about making Arrays? Specifically, if I wanted to get involved in that line of work? I know the academy could teach me of course but what would I spend say a beginners kit?" "Hmm, it would depend on what you wanted to purchase. Array flags and discs could be very expensive. If you wanted to invest in a relic then the price would go even higher. If you are looking to learn and practice the Academy would be the safer best. Would you like me to try and get some information slips on the subject?" "Hold off on it for now. I am not sure if I want to purchase anything before I attend a lesson." "As you wish. I did as you asked and attempted to learn more about the Divine Fruit. It is as I suspected. A basic information slip costs nearly five 2nd realm Credits." I grimaced and slowly nodded. "What is the conversion rate on those? The Status screen recently converted my first realm to second but I didn''t see what the last number was." "It''s roughly one thousand of the tier realm before." "Great great" I pulled up my screen and confirmed the payment. "I think I should have asked that question after confirming the payment." I slipped my rings on. One on each hand. I placed the robe into my rings along with everything else. "For the crystal, should I wait until it hatches or use place it with the egg in my cultivation chamber?" "After the hatching. From what I understand the only way to use it now would be to crush it and rub the dust over the egg and you would lose a lot of energy that way." "Alright, thank you." I left the shop after that and made my way to the System hub. It was time for a second round of purchases. The Town shop was much more kind in terms of cost. Not that it was cheap. The first thing I did was upgrade the Town defense array. I didn''t think we would get attacked anytime soon but it was better safe than sorry. Next came a 1st-realm Crystallization Array. Despite its price, the benefit was a little lackluster. It would provide us with molds that when powered would let us turn the liquid into Spirit Stones. It wasn''t a permanent fix to the situation but it was pretty good. The last of my purchases was the most interesting. It was a 1st-Realm Basic Wall. According to the description, it would make a wall around the target area out of whatever the most common material was. The wall was an array that would slowly repair itself over time. Unfortunately, it only worked on what the System considered "basic" materials. Which made me curious. Would it be terrible things like scrap metal or would it be things like steel? Earth''s Steel was nothing in the grand scheme of things. It lacked energy or spirituality but on Earth, it was very nice. Outside of the people in the top half of the Standings, the majority of people couldn''t punch through steel yet. I made the purchase only to be greeted by a video game-like screen. Specifically, the entire world became monochrome except for a squarish red area. It didn''t take long for me to get it. I needed to mark the area for the wall. "Son of a Bitch." It turned out the wall wouldn''t be big enough to protect the entire city. I could do an area maybe five yards wider than the main building. Which would be just enough to get to the barracks area and some houses. "Guess that''s just going to be something else I need to work toward." I quickly walked the perimeter of the wall and confirmed the purchase. The world shook for a moment and then a wall made out of solid steel slowly rose. It was a bit freaky to watch and reminded me of those liquid metal robots. A few yelps of surprise reminded me that I hadn''t warned anyone of what I was about to do. I apologized to everyone I could and watched the wall finish up. Once it was done I made my way into the building. I had some fruit to eat. Chapter 17: Plans for the Future I was back in my quarters less than ten minutes later. I didn''t head into the cultivation chamber this time. Instead, I lounged on my couch and tossed back each fruit. Each one tasted slightly different and only some were tasty. By the time I got through the bunch, I wasn''t sure it was worth it. I grabbed a glass of water and washed my mouth out. When I pulled up my status screen all my worries were washed away. If I thought I was a monster before then I had evolved.
Name Amari Jackson
Level 38
Class [1-Epic]Psionic Paragon
Species [2]Human
Affiliation Earth:Amara: Ruler
Traits [1]Eye of Heaven
Titles Beloved by Tao, Big Game, Chosen, First to Ten, Horde Breaker, Leader of the Pack, Monstersbane, One Man Army, Overlord Slayer, Overpowered, Perfect 100, Prime Forebearer, Prime Hunter, Tutorial, Voyager,
Limited Titles Pinnacle, Primal Battlefield
Tao Strand of Adamance ¡ª Comprehension: Middle, Strand of Lucidity ¡ª Comprehension: Middle, Strand of Compression ¡ª Comprehension: Low
Agility 203 (Increase:65%. Potency:130%)
Constitution 213 (Increase:70%. Potency:130%)
Intelligence 289 (Increase:70%. Potency:130%))
Luck 161 (Increase:85%. Potency:130%)
Perception 216 (Increase:70%. Potency:130%)
Strength 192 (Increase:70%. Potency:130%)
Wisdom 501 (Increase:75%. Potency:130%)
Free Points 0
System Credits [1]10,000
It was hard to imagine anything on Earth being much of a challenge now. Not counting Demiplanes of course. I still wasn''t sure I could handle the Primal Battlefield. I took a moment to get used to my new attributes before I thought about my options. It was time for me to shift focus. If I continued at my current pace to gain a level I would need to hunt down every animal on the continent. There was still the third but from the limited information, its cultivators were doing alright. There was already a chain of teleporters leading there. However, there was a third option. I stood up and paced through the room. If I assumed the System operated on a similar logic as video games then the strongest monsters should be beneath the surface. Of course, I would be more likely to find bugs there as well. Which nobody wants. It would also give me a chance to build an underground city. Hell if I took into account the chances of outer space attacks then maybe it would be worth it. Of course, the idea of being buried alive made that much less appealing. I went back and forth on the idea for a few minutes before I decided this was a situation best solved by my council. I activated Ethereal Convocation and asked everyone to assemble. I entered the boardroom and put my legs up like some sort of movie tycoon. It took nearly thirty minutes for everyone to arrive. "Greetings Ladies and Gentleman." I started. "I have an that I would like your input on. I would like to explore what''s beneath us. Now I can do that part on my own. If there is hospitable land beneath us what do you think about making a city down there?" Their reactions ranged from disinterest to irritation and I think excitement from Saanite. It was still hard to know. "Well, subterranean cities are relatively common in the multiverse. They aren''t popular for humanity though they make great penal colonies and on the off chance you find a mineral vein it could be profitable." Azariah was the first to speak. Her words immediately doused my flame of excitement. It wasn''t that I hated the idea but it sounded a bit evil dictatory. Of course, we did need a prison. Execution couldn''t be the punishment for everything. "Would you be able to reinforce the rock with arrays? We couldn''t afford to get a sinkhole situation." Christopher asked. Desbera offered a nod and he leaned back in his seat. "It''s not a bad idea. Not too thrilled about the penal colony thing but a bunker city could be great. On the off chance, the monsters on the surface become too much for us to deal with." "We would need to move more of our warriors down there to fight off monsters," Aaliyah added. "Even you can''t be everywhere and that assumes that the monsters are still well under your power. I am not against the idea but it''s risky." The conversation continued like that for an hour before I chimed again. "Alright despite the risk it sounds like everyone here is up for it. I am going to head down and spend a couple of days exploring. If I come across something too dangerous or otherwise think its a bad idea we will hold off on the expansion. For now, though get your people ready. I want a preliminary list of fifty to a hundred guards. Keshaun I want you to see if any of the mortal crafters are interested. Assuming we go through with this I will provide additional merit to people willing to take the plunge." From there the conversation shifted from what about to how can we do this. Something I appreciated. We went back and forth for another hour before I called the meeting. The final decision would be to prepare a settler''s caravan that would be ready to leave when I gave the word. It was also decided that I wait until after things on the second continent were settled. My recent trips had dealt with the majority of strong things but there were murmurs that something would come in search of revenge. With the decision made, I decided to take a short nap. I wasn''t sure how much sleep I would get over the next few days so it was best to get done now. I also sent word to have food sent up. Both for now and that I could pack. We still hadn''t figured out how to make food that gave benefits which sucked but we couldn''t win at everything. A few hours later I was up and making my way through the temple city. I made a mental note to come up with a proper name for it later. The small city was dull. It reminded me a bit of camping. We didn''t even have enough credits for the water-gathering array which wasn''t necessary but it would have made things more comfortable. The city was mostly filled with fighters and then a small handful of doctors who were struggling to figure out how to cope in the new world. From what I understood the medical textbooks had to be thrown out. Healing pills alone invalidated most of what we knew before. It was just another wing of knowledge that Earth was lacking. There was another benefit of taking the next few days off. "Hey, Big bro." Trey''s laughed as I stepped out of Apportation. "You got to show me how to do that." I laughed and shook my head. "Not yet, though if you work hard you should be able to get your skills or spells. Now I am told you have something to show me?"Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Trey nodded and held his palm out. At first, nothing happened and I was just about to question it when a small flame appeared. The flame was about as big as his palm but lacked the cohesion of my psychic energy. It was much more dynamic. Before I could react he pulled his hand back and launched it at me like a baseball. My danger sense didn''t so much as try to warn me so I wasn''t afraid. I held out my hand and infused it with spiritual energy. The flame hit and dispersed harmlessly. Well almost harmlessly, it was hot enough to singe my hands which when you considered that he wasn''t using a skill was impressive. "Big dog what is this? You got a Tao?" I couldn''t help the grin that spread across my face. "Yes indeed. I got the Strand of Flames. It''s mostly offensive though if I work at it I can cook things. Though not very well." "Okay okay and how much longer till your birthday?" "Two, so what do you think? Can I go and fight some monsters with you?" "Hmm not yet but we can do some sparring. The monsters on the island would be a bit too much for you but it would be best for you to wait for me when you get the System. Several of my titles were based on a level disparity between me and the thing I killed." "Alright bet." He practically shouted before summoning another fireball. I raised an eyebrow at him as he unleashed his attack. Thirty minutes later he lay on his back with sweat pouring down on his face. "Bro, how are you so fast?" I chuckled and shook my head. "Attributes mostly that and combat experience. I am impressed you were able to keep going like that. Are you able to imbue that Tao into any weapons?" He shook his head. "No, I haven''t found any fire-attuned items so I can''t be completely sure but it only lets me make the flames and control flames that already exist." "Hmm very interesting. It''s a bit more solid than most of mine. The majority of mine affect the mind." "I had heard about that. Is that why all the beast bodies you bring back look like they are still alive?" I nodded. "For the most part yeah on occasion I use a sword. What kind of system does Desbera have you on?" "Mostly meditating on the elements. Fire and water specifically she has the kind Rubik''s cube-like sphere that helps you with energy control as well." "For real? I might have to borrow that." "Say less I will bring it over next time. So what''s next?" "Hmm, have you confirmed what style of class you want? From what I understand and a few assumptions you have the four rpg options. Warrior, Mage, Rogue/assassin, and support." He stood up and placed both hands behind his head. "Yeah, I am leaning toward either Warrior or Mage. The energy training has been great but I got to practice with a spear and that was also pretty cool." I nodded. "Well, how do you see yourself fighting? When it gets serious and you are on your own? Do you want to keep your distance or stay up close?" "I just don''t know. Both seem like a lot of fun." I nodded. "Well, you have plenty of options. Has Desbera mentioned anything about titles you could try to get?" "Just two. The Tao related one and one for improving my species before I got the System. I just don''t have a lot of money to dip into what you prepared for me. I have to spend it all on baths." "Oh? Do you have enough materials?" "Uh it''s getting harder to get since some of the soldiers need them too but since they are helping me I don''t have any complaints." "From now on go straight to Azariah to purchase it. I had arranged for some to be made available to you at the moment you got the System but I think this is better. You still need to get the credits. I will make sure she knows not to give you any additional discounts. At least not based on my reputation. Now come on. I want to get another rep in." We went at it for another hour before he was too exhausted to move. It was hard to determine just how strong he was. I wanted to place him around level five or so but his control over the flames was impressive. He managed to get rather close to hitting me. Despite that, he wouldn''t survive in the forest. The rest of the day was spent watching over the baby town. The closest we got to a problem was when another of the alligator-like beasts appeared. Its level was low enough that guards could deal with it without me. Especially after I released a bit of my aura to frighten it. The next week passed by uneventfully. Romulus, Alexander, and Amahle only made two more appearances and both were to restock before going out again. Despite the lack of action, the week was much better than I thought. It gave me a chance to relax and think. Something that I needed. The highlight of the break was the sessions with Trey. After a conversation with Desbera, we decided to get him used to killing intent. A process that was just me unleashing more and more of mine. The first time went as well as I''d expected. He nearly pissed himself. Over time he got used to it not enough that he could ignore but enough that it wouldn''t stop him from fighting. His danger sense wasn''t all that useful and I wasn''t sure if that was because he didn''t have a Luck attribute or if he just wasn''t gifted in that way. Either way, it didn''t matter. His progress was more than good enough for now. That wasn''t the only thing of note though. About halfway through the week a weird I started to get a weird feeling. It was a kind of anticipation and I couldn''t tell if it was impending danger or some sort of treasure. The feeling got strong enough that I postponed my trip. It was too big a risk if my people were attacked while I was gone. "Any news?" I called out as I entered the command room. The two guards raised their hands in a military salute before Christopher started. "No, everything seems fine from what our scouts have said. The forests have been quiet. Neither Amahle, Romulus, or Alexander report encountering anything strange either." "Maybe I should leave?" I took a seat and rubbed my chin. "Either it''s something I am supposed to do or whatever the danger is won''t happen while I am here?" "What if you teleport away and then teleport back? As long as you stay within range of your spell it shouldn''t make much of a difference." "Yeah, that could work. Alright, get everyone ready just in case. I am going to head back to Amara for a bit first." I left him to get everything arranged but as soon as I entered my capital something was off. The sensation immediately grew more intense. It wasn''t a full-blown panic, it was more like a whisper changed to a tap on the shoulder. A short jog brought me into the main building where I found a handful of guards wandering about. I wasn''t sure if they were supposed to be on a proper rotation but I didn''t care. Chances are if someone was willing to sneak in here then they were here to steal from or kill me. If that was the case what could they do about it? I gave the guards a smile and a wave as I stepped into the elevator. A few moments later I was inside my cultivation chamber. I took a breath and went through my daily ritual. The Heaven''s Pearl was mostly absorbed and there was still no indication of what it did. I couldn''t tell if the energy was being absorbed by my body or my soul. Either way, it should be done soon. I then spent an hour in meditation. Lucidity and Adamance were progressing but neither would be ready to advance in the short term. The same was true for Compression. Lastly, I sat on my mat and placed a 2nd-Realm stone into the slot. I cycled through the Ethereal Codex until the stone was used up. Instead of the energy going into my Dantian, I decided to gamble a bit. I sent about half the energy into the nod on my head. It was hard to know how long until whatever it was doing would be done but I felt like there was progress. Once I was all finished I spent some time with the egg. It was mostly meditating with the egg in my lap. Which made me think of that thing that happened in High School TV shows. The one where people were supposed to take care of eggs. Only this was real and this egg would turn into a monster. When I was finished I hopped up and left the building. It was time to put on my explorer hat. I left Amara and headed to the underground entrance I used all those weeks ago. The journey was half as long as last time. I activated Apportation as soon as I was underground. I passed over the entrance to the battlefield. When I stepped out I was officially in unchartered territory. "Can you hear me?" I spoke through Ethereal Convocation to both Christopher and Keshaun. "Loud and Clear" They responded one after another. "Perfect if anything happens let me know. I should be back in about a week." Everything was set up, so it was time for me to do it. I pulled up my map and started walking. I released my Tao field as well just in case there was something down here that could ambush me before I reacted. The map was completely useless. Which was expected for the most part. There were no cities or hubs for it to tell me about. It was a bit like staring at the fog of war effect. Despite that, I couldn''t help but feel excited. I was once again alone and out in the world. A world where I would get to put my strength against someone or something else. When the sounds of scurrying filled the air, a passive sense of danger passed through my mind. I grinned. The new world was amazing. Chapter 18: Battle Mania The monster that rounded the corner was a massive centipede. It is black with dark red streaks going across its shell. The thing was massive about the size of a Doberman and crawled across the ceiling. I could swear my skin crawled when I saw the ugly thing. I didn''t give it a chance to react to my presence before three imbued psychic blades slammed into its head. The creepy thing took the attack straight on and kept coming. "Fuck no, fuck no" I unleashed blade after blade until I received the wonderous kill energy. I wasn''t even interested in the actual power but there was no way in this world or any other that I was going to sit here and fight that ugly thing. I collected the corpse and kept it moving. The subterranean world was fascinating in its own dark and creepy way. The lack of light made it feel like there could be danger around every corner. The different colored stones made me think of an art piece. It wasn''t all good though. I was forced into several more fights with creepy crawly things. Fortunately for me, the monsters here were better than the surface. They provided more energy and the danger wasn''t much higher. Of course, that was because I was freakish. I pushed further until the tunnel opened up. I stepped into a chamber that was the size of a gymnasium and reminded me of somewhere you would do a boss battle in a video game. When nothing came crawling out of a tunnel or erupted out of the ground. I let out a sigh of relief. "This spot could probably act as a slight base of operations." Before I got comfortable I unleashed my aura at full blast. Once again the world around me transformed into a blood-drenched battlefield. I could swear everything gained a heat mirage-like effect. If my hunch was right this should act like kicking a hornet''s nest. When the chamber started to tremble I laughed. The beasts didn''t keep me waiting for very long. The wall opposite me erupted and an unholy abomination of a creature appeared. It was the size of a large dog and made it sound that was a cross between a hiss and clicking. It had four sharp pointy limbs and a face that was just a mouth. Its body was covered in thick grey chitinous plates. I had no idea what creature it had been nor did I care. Before I could begin my attack another two creatures clawed their way out of the hole. They all paused as if sniffing the air before orienting on me. "You are some ugly mother fuckers." Almost as if they could hear me, the trio rushed forward. I grinned and rushed forward to meet them. I ducked a pair of blade-like limbs aimed to take my head off. I slammed an empowered fist into the lead creature''s chest. A wave of fresh agony shot up my arm and into my shoulder. It felt like I just punched a mountain. A scream of danger forced me to retreat nearly ten feet. My eyes widened when I passed my inner eye over my arm. I broke my wrist. I conjured three psychic blades and shot them at the beasts. One each. I summoned a healing pill from my ring and swallowed just as the blades arrived. Once again I was stunned. The shells somehow defended them from the psychic attack. They weren''t enough to destroy it, more like changed into a shallow wound. I chuckled to myself and activated Realm of Consciousness. My first real battle and I was already forced to activate a spell. The grey mist bellowed out from me as my laughter filled the chamber. The ugly creatures searched for me but I might as well have been invisible. Another round of blades found their targets this time they were imbued with Tao. The compressed blade faired the best in terms of outright damage. It still wasn''t enough to kill it outright. My sword fared even worse than my hand. The blade shattered as soon as I swung it. I abandoned physical combat in favor of an all-out psychic offensive. I wasn''t sure if I would be attacked after this so I held back the rest of my spells. Instead, I conjured one sword the size of a small car. I then compressed it down until it was the size of a bastard sword. My soul strained as I launched it as the largest beast. It felt like I was trying to lift a car with my mind. This time the creature felt it. The blade shot straight through it and into the wall behind it. The monster froze for a second before falling into two pieces. There was something about the cut that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. "It cut its soul in half along with its body." I chuckled and turned my attention to the other two. The beast must have sensed that they were in danger because they tried to flee. Only with my domain spell up it was impossible. They were more likely to hurt themselves. Once I knew what to do dealing with both of them was child''s play. I let Realm of Consciousness fade away as soon as the battle was done. If it weren''t for the mental energy supplied by my domain I might have been in trouble. I stretched my shoulders and took a seat in the middle of the room. My mind went back to that first spatial cut. I couldn''t help but feel like there was something there. I was pretty sure I could go after a Strand for that. Maybe Sharpness or rifts or something but now wasn''t the best time. The next one should be related to Time assuming I could even do that. Either way, it would be something for me to worry about in the future. I rested for ten minutes before I headed back the way I came. Once I was back within range of my spell I reached out to everyone. Once they confirmed it was all good I returned to my cave. I pulled out a bit of the cooked beast meat and began eating. I did my best to not think about whatever creature it came from. It was tough but reminded me a bit of chicken. When I finished my meal I stepped through the whole and followed the path. I was forced to crawl at several points before I entered a tunnel filled with body parts. Most of them were bugs and other monsters but a few were human. I had assumed the System sent everyone to the surface but was that the case? Was there any reason that cultivators couldn''t have been sent down here? If they were then they would likely be dead. Especially since I had met most of the top ten already. I did my best to not step on any of the human bodies but after all the parts became mush. I ignored the horrid smell of everything around me until the cave ended. The chamber that I found myself in was massive. It was probably the same size as a city before the System. Only it was mostly vertical. My eyes widened when I realized what I was looking at. "A hive. A big ass hive." Pathways crisscrossed the large shaft like some kind of highway. The whole thing was a work of art. Art that was filled with horrible bugs. Before I could decide what to do I received a notification from the System. Evolutionary Predator(Unique, Limited): Stop the Stone Crawler Queen from Ascending to the 2nd Realm. Reward: Prismroot Vine, Space Attuned Spell(4:10:10:30) I chuckled as I read the prompt. The System was a son of a bitch. I was willing to bet just about anything that whatever the "Prismroot Vine" was would finish what the Divine Fruit started. If that wasn''t enough to convince me the spell would. I wasn''t sure how it would be determined but I didn''t care. A spatial ability would be clutch. Hell if it was just another teleport it would be worth it. Lastly, I had four days to get it done.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. "You know just how to talk to me System." I shook my head and started to plot how I would get down. Apportation should be able to take me down but I had no idea what would be there. As strong as I was I didn''t think I could fight this queen and an army of monsters. It would be better for me to travel through the hive and exterminate everything. That way I would maximize the energy in the nub. The closest bridge was about ten feet beneath me and from what I could tell there were no creatures near here. I shrugged and leaped on down. As soon as I hit the ground I heard a whooshing sound. I spun around expecting a flame or something but what I found was worse. The entrance was sealed. I sighed. I didn''t plan on retreating so this felt more petty than anything else. Either way, I didn''t care. No sooner had I picked a direction did more of the ugly things come after me. I conjured another blade and compressed it in front of me. Only this time I didn''t release it. It took me a couple of tries to get it right, tries where I was forced to dodge several slashes before I saw success. Instead of creating a projectile, I created a hovering weapon. It felt a bit like controlling a high-pressure water hose with my bare hands but it was effective. Bugs died by the pair. Not only that but it made me impossible to ignore. At that point, I unleashed my aura in its entirety. Unfortunately, my new sword wasn''t enough. Rather by the third bridge, they came at such a rate that I had to activate Psychic Blast. It felt a bit like I was playing a video game as indigo flashes illuminated the area and monsters hissed seemingly from all directions. I couldn''t help but laugh. I was literally in horde mode. I pushed myself as hard as I could but after five hours I was forced to retreat. Their numbers made it nearly impossible for me to keep going. Fortunately, the area in front of the System''s barrier was a kind of safe zone. No matter what happened the beast wouldn''t go there. It wasn''t very comfortable but I was able to recover. I tossed back a healing pill and let it work. My head felt like someone had taken a jackhammer to it. I gave myself two hours of rest before I got back to it. It had taken me nearly two days to reach the midpoint of the hive. Even going all out didn''t make much of a difference. If these things were a hive mind then the queen had chosen to go with wave tactics. Despite that, I was making amazing progress. Even that spot in my head had reached its limit. My dantian started to fill with a speed comparable to the tutorial. I wiped out the middle floor of its bugs and took a seat against the wall. My gut wanted to just jump straight down and fight the boss but my mind said that was too risky. There was another reason not to rush forward. In two days I had gone from level 38 to level 39. I was pretty sure if I kept going like this level 40 or 41 was within reach. I pulled out two spirit stones and started to drain them. Once I had topped myself off and my spells were off cool down I leaped down to the next bridge. Psychic blades met the horde head on and the battle was renewed. The mists of Realm of Consciousness flooded the tunnels. Despite my domain, it was nearly impossible to avoid all of the attacks as they came. I was forced to infuse my body with spiritual energy and the Tao of Adamance to avoid being split in two. Despite all of that I had never felt more alive. It was like I had gone back to the version of me in the tutorial. There was nothing for me to worry about. No greater consequences, no people relying on me just my power and the need to prove myself. I slipped into a trance where my mind went blank. Where nothing mattered except for the battle. The bug in front of me and the energy needed for my attack. It was pure bliss. I didn''t stop until my energy rained dry and I was forced to retreat. I didn''t go back to my safe place, instead choosing to go up a bridge. So far none of the beasts would go up a level. I wasn''t sure if that was because they feared me or if the queen only wanted them to buy her time Either way, it worked to my benefit. I closed my eyes and focused on recovery. My spiritual energy was fine the problem was the mental. My mind felt like a sponge that had been wrung out over and over again. That did nothing to ruin my mood. My rampage had taken a bit more than a day and a half. During that time I finally reached level 40. The four free points went into Strength bringing it to 199. Which meant almost all my attributes were at 200 or more. Not counting luck. It was the new spell quest that drew my attention. When I read it I couldn''t help but laugh which one I was going to pick was a foregone conclusion. Psionic Supremacy(Class) Kill 1,000 Peak 1st-realm beings without taking a single attack OR Kill 10 Peak 1st-realm beings with a single attack. Reward: Manifestation of Perfection OR Scorn of Perfection Both of them sounded amazing but Manifestation of Perfection sounded like the better choice. One it sounded like it would either summon something or transform me into something which would be cool. Scorn sounded like it would be an attack. Perhaps a wide area of effect one but the real kicker was the quest. The first option simply sounded more fun to me. There were several other improvements including both Realm of Consciousness and Psychic Mastery reaching their next stages. I wanted to spend some time exploring the Mastery spell but there was no time. If I wanted to complete the first quest I needed to get to the bottom ASAP. I got to my feet and jumped down to the previous bridge. "Alright, ready or not here I come." I noticed the difference when I conjured my blades. Six blades each more dense than my previous maximum formed all around me. I flooded all of them with the Tao of compression until they shrunk. They were also slightly more malleable. I could "sharpen" the points. Still wasn''t sure if that would actually make a difference but it made me feel better. I pulled my focus back to the hive just as more bugs appeared. This time I refused to slow. Each blade found a different target, each one aimed at one of the few soft spots on the creature. Of the first six two died instantly while two more froze. I leaped into the air to avoid the scythe blade of the next closest and activated Psychic Aegis to block the next. Six more psychic blades formed as adrenaline surged. I resisted the urge to slam a fist into the closest monster not sure if that would count as receiving an attack. If I hurt myself. Instead, I activated Psychic Blast. The cave was bathed in indigo light and another monster fell. I lost count of how many I attacked and how many were still alive. Not that it mattered. Cracks spread across Psychic Aegis by the dozen and its collapse was imminent. I brought both hands together and formed a sphere of psychic energy. I watched as my shield began to break. As bladed limbs forced their way in. A familiar caress filled my mind as my worries faded. It was as if my success was guaranteed. As if these creatures were already dead, they just didn''t know it. The shield shattered just as I raised my hands. The sphere I had been forming exploded in a wave of psychic power. For a moment it felt like the world was consumed by indigo light. In the next, my dantian surged with energy. I laughed as I resumed my rush. I blurred past bridges as the hive exploded into activity. I had less than five hours to deal with the queen. I could almost feel her will as more and more of her beasts rushed me. I was forced to activate Apportation when a wall fell away and I was nearly drowned in enemies. The portal spit me out just in time for the horde to let out a hiss that shook my bones. I activated a condensed Psychic Rain as the monsters rained down on me. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as an innumerable amount of blades met an innumerable enemy. I felt like a general at the head of an unbreakable army. There was something in that moment something powerful. Something that if I could grab it would make me a god. The two sides slammed into each other and the world shattered. The sensation left and the world felt muted by comparison. I watched beasts fall out of the sky. Some were still alive as I conjured blade after blade. When the bodies finally stopped moving I dropped to my knees. I was low on psychic energy but chalked full of spiritual. A new sigil had settled into my channels. A new weapon just in time to face down the queen. Chapter 19: Manifestation of Perfection Thirty minutes. I had thirty minutes to defeat the queen and complete the quest. I cracked my fingers and rolled my shoulders. My psychic energy was low but it should be enough for one more battle. I stepped forward and out of the final tunnel. The room I arrived in was massive, to say the least. It was more than large enough to hold a city like New York twice over. There were dozens of discarded beast corpses in the area. From the looks of it, the queen ate everyone equally. The majority of the corpses were more scythe bugs. I turned my attention to the opposite wall where a strangely humanoid creature sat with its eyes closed. The queen had two arms, each one ending in three clawed fingers. Scythe-like blades descended from around three inches behind its wrist area. She had a bulb descending from behind that glowed an emerald green. The light inside made me think it was either some sort of egg sack or some sort of poison sack. Either way, it didn''t make me happy to see. It had mandibles on either side of its mouth and a single antenna on top of its head. Further, the queen was taller than me probably around 6 and a half feet. Its body was covered in the same chitinous armor as its lesser kin. Lastly, the beast had a proper aura one that was filled with at least one Tao. It was hard to tell but it seemed like sharpness or something along that line. I took a deep breath as the queen opened her eyes. The most intense killing intent I had ever felt exploded out from her. For a moment it felt like I was standing in front of an Apex predator. A beast that would devour the world and there was nothing I could do about it. I took a half step backwards ready to trigger Apportation when Intellect Fortress activated. The effect shattered and I gained control over myself again. "Human." The queen''s voice was strong but unsure. As if this was the first time it had tried to speak. "You are different from the other prey." "I wasn''t aware you all could talk." "My children can not. It is something that I gained recently and have had no reason to use it. You have come for my treasure." I circulated my energy not sure if the beast wanted diplomacy or if this was some way to distract me. The queen stood up slowly her gaze never leaving mine. "Yes, I also can''t let you evolve." A long tense silence fell on us as I considered what to do. The timer was still ticking which meant that I couldn''t afford to waste time. Still, this whole situation felt odd. The queen took a step forward and I activated an imbued Psychic Aegis. My shield formed just in time. The queen rushed me. Her scythe blade slammed into Aegis almost before I realized I was under attack. The force of the hit caused cracks to stretch out from the impact sight but it wasn''t enough to break it. Six blades formed like an iron maiden around her. In a feat of athleticism that bordered on impossible the queen launched herself backwards. Three blades missed the initial attack while the rest chased after her like heat-seeking missiles. The initial exchange made one thing crystal clear. She danced through the cave with the grace of a ballerina. As if my blades were nuisances instead of lethal weapons. I gritted my teeth at humiliation and activated Psychic Blast. A blast of pure psychic energy shot at the insect queen just as she leaped into the air to avoid my swords. Instead of avoiding she imbued her arms with a Tao and launched a slash back at me. A scream of danger told me what I already knew, I jumped to the side as a foot-deep gash was dug into the ground. I couldn''t help but laugh. "Fuck the quest." I released my killing intent in its full splendor. Excitement bubbled up inside like a volcano ready to blow. "Just make this fun for me." I activated Psionic Rain and imbued with the Strand of Lucidity. Dozens of blades shot toward the queen. Dense sigils spread across her body as her armor grew thicker and more dense. Indigo light filled the chamber and for a moment disappointment mixed triumph. My danger sense didn''t get the chance to warn me before the queen arrived. Her fist slammed through my shield. I brought my arm over just in time to stop her from crushing my ribs. It still felt like I had been hit by a runaway train. I was launched through the air and into the far wall with enough force to leave a major indent. That one attack made it clear I wasn''t the queen''s equal in a physical contest. Her body practically radiated power. Each step felt like a giant was on its way. Despite that, I couldn''t be more excited. I activated Realm of Consciousness and imbued it with the Strand of Lucidity. The grey mist became more ethereal as it flooded the chamber. The upgraded spell now had a radius of 250 yards. For the first time, the queen looked uncertain. I wasn''t sure how she was able to resist the mental drain but the small amount of energy I got came out like sludge. I formed six compressed psychic blades from six different directions and shot them at her. In a testament to her speed, she nearly dodged the first two but the other four found their targets. The queen barely reacted to the attack. I prepared another set only to be forced to retreat. The queen started to glow a dull white light. The light made me feel like I would cut into a thousand pieces if it touched me. I leaped out of my domain just before it was torn to shreds. Before I could process what just happened the queen appeared in front of me. Primal fear filled me and I could swear the Grim Reaper appeared behind her. Just before her fist slammed into me the ring on my left hand shattered. A black wall of force exploded between us. The queen''s fist slammed into it but the barrier barely reacted. I sent a mental thank you to Azariah and jumped back. The queen''s fists pounded into the barrier but it was no use. The wall might as well have been indestructible. Unfortunately, I could tell it was fading at the edges. I had maybe ten seconds before she would continue her attack. "I guess I was being a bit arrogant to assume I could win without this" My spiritual energy surged into the sigil just above my heart. It consumed more than fifty percent of my remaining energy. It was by far the most complicated of all my sigils but it was also the greatest. The queen must have sensed something wrong because launched herself backwards. It didn''t matter. As soon as the sigil had drained its fill a diamond appeared in the sky. The diamond was massive about 40ft across and shone with a beautiful splendor. It was for lack of a better word perfect. I felt the connection between it and me form. The spell was amazing for lack of a better word. I turned my attention to the queen but there was no sign of anything on her face. What the spell did was still hard to explain but to put it simply. It attacked you with the idea of perfection or to be more specific it attacked your Tao Heart by revealing every flaw. It was kind of like having a person that constantly pointed out your imperfections. Only it wasn''t a literal person. It was the diamond. I wasn''t sure if the diamond was a part of the spell or it was what I conceptualized perfection as. Either way, it didn''t matter. I turned my attention to the insect queen who despite not moving hadn''t died yet. I cocked my head to the side and sent a bit more energy into the diamond. I felt the pressure it emitted intensify. There was a brief moment of confusion and then I saw the light go out in her eyes and couldn''t help but wonder what she saw. I had already taken three steps toward her before something stopped me. "Why didn''t I get any kill energy?" I jumped back ten feet half expecting the queen to launch herself at me but she didn''t. Just to be safe I conjured six blades. The combined attack was enough to wipe her out. The resulting surge of kill energy nearly knocked me off my feet. It was the most blissful thing I had ever experienced. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The energy was enough to bring me about half the way to level 41. Which when you factored in how much energy I lost in the fight was amazing. "That was fucking amazing." I tossed my head back and laughed. That was the closest to death I had ever come. Hell, I was dead. If it hadn''t been for that ring. I made a mental note to send Azariah a gift basket or something when I got back. I glanced over at the quest timer and saw the battle had taken less than five minutes. I still wasn''t used to how fast the fight happened. It felt like those five minutes were an eternity. I was about to collect the corpse when a box appeared at my feet. I placed it in my ring so it didn''t tempt me. Between the treasure and spell, I would likely use it. Which didn''t feel like a good idea beneath the earth like this. There was no guarantee that the insect queen was the only big dog down here. The last thing I needed was to get ambushed right after. I knelt over the queen''s body and I wasn''t sure how I felt. I had no hate for the insect despite its appearance but it was super dangerous. If the hive had gotten stronger it could have surged up and wiped everyone out. Hell if the queen had fully evolved she probably would have killed me. Ring or not. On the other hand, she gave me a good fight. More than a good fight actually. I wasn''t sure I wanted to rip her body apart and use it for weapons and food. Of course, she likely would have eaten me. That fact put a bit of a damper on the philosophical aspect of this. I put the body in the ring and pushed the conflict to the back of my mind. Next, I searched the room for anything useful. Outside of a handful of broken guns, there wasn''t much. I tried to access the town shop from here but it didn''t work. I wasn''t sure if that was because this place had nothing in it or if it was too far away from Amara. I leaned toward the former since it worked on the second continent. I started my walk back to the hive and considered what to do next. There was no doubt more beasts down here I could kill but I had other options. Specifically, there was the teleportation token. Now that I was level forty a part of me wanted to see just how I compared to others in the universe. Of course, the wisest option would be to wait until I was level fifty at which point I would need the better resources. I would need to prepare for the second realm. There was also an issue with resources. The stronger I got the more I needed. The more I took the less others would have. Romulus, Amahle, and the others wouldn''t be able to reach the same heights as me. If I let that happen who would defend Earth when I left? Of course, there was no guarantee anyone would stay behind. I presented arguments both for and against leaving until I was in my base of operations. I flexed my aura again to force any nearby beasties out of hiding. When ten minutes had passed and nothing happened I figured I was alone. I took a seat in the middle of the room and pulled out my box. Inside was a crystal and a segment of vine that looked like it was made of crystal. It looked like it had been from a larger piece and was a little foggy through the middle. The vine made my body ache with hunger. I wanted nothing more than to bite into it like a piece of hard candy but I held off. I summoned another treasure box from my ring and placed the vine inside. The System''s box disappeared once it was empty. I turned my attention to my new spell. My excitement built as I sent a bit of energy into the crystal. [1]Inverted Dimension ¨C Proficiency: "In the Inverted, nothing is as it seems." Upgradeable The spell''s details flooded my mind like a tidal wave and the more I understood the happier I became. First, the spell had a perfect with my channels. It was located in the slot on my right bicep was cool though I still had no idea if spell location was important. I had started to put together a hypothesis about rarity and location but there was nothing solid. The spell had two main effects. First, it would create a different dimension that myself and anyone I wanted would be pulled into. Assuming they were within range. Once inside the dimension space would be inverted. Forward would become back and left would be right. The effect wouldn''t bother me so I wouldn''t need to worry about attacking the wrong target. The effect could be considered lethal since few should be able to adapt to the changes. To further improve the spell it locked space so it was hard to break into or out of. The size of the dimension could be slightly altered. It it was shrunk it would be harder to break out of but less effective. After all, if you just hit everything then the confusing aspect wouldn''t matter. As far as rewards went it was hard to be upset with this. Especially since I could add my domain spell on top of it. A combination that should make it even harder to face off with me. Part of me wished the Queen was still alive so I could test it out. I held back though it would be better to save it just in case I got into another fight. I got into the lotus position and sunk into meditation. My psychic energy was really low and I needed the break. I opened my eyes an hour later and made my way out of the tunnels. Once I was within range I activated my communication spell. I confirmed that everything was uneventful and less than thirty minutes later I had called Desbera and Azariah together for a meeting. I waited for them in one of the private rooms of the academy. The box with my new treasure on the table. When the pair entered and flashed them both a smile. "Hello, ladies. I hoped that either of you would be able to help me with something." I gestured to the box. "I recently got a treasure as a quest reward and I want to make sure there isn''t anything I should do with it. I assume that I should eat it." Each of them picked up the box, opened and looked at it. "From what I can tell refining it into a pill would be the best option. I don''t have a lot of experience with this item specifically. That does tend to be the case though." Desbera was the first to speak. "I second the instructor''s opinion. I don''t think eating it will cause you any danger though. If you would like I could check some sources. I am not sure you have access to a proper alchemist though." I considered it for a moment. I didn''t think I needed the item''s full potency. Honestly, it felt like the nub of energy was ready to explode it just needed the final catalyst. The question was whether or not it would make the final product better. It would be terrible if I settled now when I could just wait and get something greater. "How long would that take? If I wanted to commission an alchemist through you to make the pill?" Azariah sighed and shook her head. "I can''t say for sure. It would depend on the alchemist, their guild as well as whatever payment they requested." "Worst case scenario?" "It could take months. This seems to be a rare treasure. They might demand more of the treasure as payment." I ran my hand down my face and sighed. "Alright, thank you. I am going to seclude myself to consume the treasure." The women nodded and they both left the room. I waited a few more minutes before I placed it into my ring and got up. There was no reason to waste any more time. A short jog later I was in my cultivation chamber. I sat on my mat and took several steadying breaths. I wanted to be in peak mental condition before doing this. I crushed a 1st-realm stone to improve the ambient energy a bit. I summoned the box from my ring and grinned. It was time to get this show on the road. Chapter 20: Eye of Heaven The prismroot vine was oddly cold to the touch. Almost as if it had been in a refrigerator before this. As soon as its aura washed over me my body came alive. I placed the vine in my mouth and bit into it. Gently at first just in case it turned out heavier than I thought. The outer shell broke and a liquid center. The fluid was a thick sweet gel that reminded me of maple syrup. When I started chewing a jolt of power shot through me. It was like I just bit into a power line. The energy didn''t stop in my mouth or go toward the nub in my head. Instead, it surged through my entire body. Using my nervous system as a kind of super highway. I lost control over my body as I pushed the rest of the vine into my mouth. A second wave of energy more powerful than the first surged as I swallowed. It felt like a star made its way down my throat and into my stomach. I traced the path with my inner eye. I circulated the Ethereal Codex and took control of the vine''s energy. I was barely able to direct the energy where I wanted it let alone actually control it. That was better than nothing. The energy rushed back up my body and toward the spot in the center of my head. When the energy reached its destination utter agony erupted. For a moment nothing existed but the pain. I had no idea where it ended and I began. Intellect Fortress activated in the next moment but it was like putting a bandage on a shotgun wound. It took me a second to realize that I was screaming. Just as the pain began to abate something else replaced it. It felt like the skin and bones pulsed. As if something was moving underneath the surface. It was so much worse than the pain. I tried to reach up and claw at the spot but my body was frozen. The sensation grew worse as blood dripped down my face. Suddenly the pain ended. The absence of pain was almost as painful as the actual agony. It took me another moment to realize that I could move. I inched my hand up to my forehead half expecting for the pain to begin a new. That didn''t happen but what did was almost as shocking. There was something there. My fingers traced around it as my brain desperately tried to process what it was. The realization hit me like a brick. "I had an eye. A literal third eye." The realization settled on me like a blanket. A thousand thoughts raced through my mind as I wrestled with the change. It took me another minute before I realized I hadn''t opened it. I tried will it open and it felt weird. Like trying to use a muscle you never knew you had. When I got it open the world shifted. It was as if my entire life I had been blind and now I could see. I could see. Every color was vibrant, the shadows became sharper, and thin strands of light danced in the air. The strands were what drew my eye. They were all different colors or rather different shades of indigo. Before I could process what was happening another change began. This one is from deep within me. It felt like my psyche was on fire. Only this time there was no pain. I closed my eyes and searched my channels only to find something else. My vision was pulled deeper inside me. I was pulled into an empty white void. Or rather mostly empty. In the middle of this space was a ball of rough grey stone. It reminded me of granite and was about the size of my head. Just as I was reeling from whatever this was the stone was consumed by multicolor flames. A primal fear rose from somewhere inside me and I had no idea why. A dozen tendrils of psychic energy formed and reached from the stone but were burned to nothing before they could get within five feet. I stared at the stone in a mix of fear, curiosity, anticipation, and a dozen other emotions. I braced myself for another wave of pain only it didn''t come. Instead, the stone began to change. Black globs fell from it only to be consumed by the flames. A thought sprouted in the back of my mind. One that seemed more and more likely. "This is my soul? This is what a soul looks like?" I took a moment to reflect on just what that meant as the fire burned. I wasn''t sure how long the process took but when the rainbow flames faded away the stone was different. It was still rough and looked like granite but now it looked like high-quality stone. Like the kind of stuff you would build countertops out of. I tried to form a psychic tendril the same way I did with my blades only this time it was different. The tendril practically came into existence before I finished the thought. It was made of translucent energy as well not the usual indigo. I wasn''t sure if that was because of the change or if it was due to this being my soul. I pulled my attention away from it and back to the world around me only to be met with another shock. My cultivation chamber was ruined. The treasures that I was using were just gone. The looked as if a bull had run through it and then ran through it again. Even the cultivation mat was damaged. The most striking change though was me. Specifically, the fact that I was floated about ten feet off of the ground. I fought off the slight panic and tried to will myself back to the ground. It took me several seconds to figure out it. "Alright, I guess the Divine Fruit lived up to its name." I laughed and stood up only to fall. I closed my third eye and gave myself a second to adjust to everything. It felt a bit like I hadn''t eaten in weeks. When I was confident I stood up. This time I was steady. I stepped out of the room and into quarters. Thankfully this area was as I left it. I made a mental note to get the pool filled at some point. That thought was pushed down as I stepped into the bathroom and opened my new eye. What I saw made the breath catch in my throat. The eye was vertical instead of the normal horizontal. It was equal parts startling and beautiful to look at. The iris was incredibly intricate and was made up of interlocking mandalas. Patterns where each layer glowed and shifted through various shades of gold, white, and silver. The pupil was a radiant point of light that pulsed with barely controlled power. It was the most visually striking thing I had ever seen. As if I didn''t have enough things to draw people''s attention. I closed the eye again and made my way back into the main room. I sat on the couch and pulled my status screen. I tried to find something about my soul in the list. I figured that was because the System didn''t count what happened as a serious change. Or it didn''t track the changes to the soul. The Traits tab had changed and now had something called "The Eye of Heaven". The strangest part was that it didn''t use any energy. Based on how voracious it had been I would have thought it would be expensive. I focused on the Traits tab and nothing happened. I tried three times and then gave up. I guess the more things changed the more they stayed the same. I guessed the more things changed the more¡ª"The Egg!" I leaped up and dashed into my cultivation chamber. It took me a second to find the egg. When I did I couldn''t help but stare. It had changed. It had become denser for lack of a better word. Not in mass but in energy. My third eye opened and it was like the egg had become a sun. Multiple colors danced within its shell most of which I had never seen before. The egg let out rhythmic pulses every few moments which made me think of a heartbeat.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. I wasn''t sure how I knew it but the egg would hatch soon. Which meant I needed to get ready. I stowed the egg in my ring and left the room. It was time to explore what my new eye did. I spent the next three hours in the city exploring what my new eye could do. The results were a bit of a mixed bag. The eye''s abilities were sight-based though I couldn''t tell if the Perception attribute had anything to do with it. I could see the spiritual energy in the environment. Rather it was within people or monsters I could see it all. It wasn''t just the energy though. I could see their channels. It was a bit freaky to watch the energy spread through someone''s body but it made it easy to know when I was going to be attacked. That was just one of the eye''s abilities. The second was range. It was hard to measure but if I focused I could see around five miles in any direction. It was a bit like having a HD infrared camera as I could see well beyond the normal range of colors. I could also analyze spells and skills when I saw them. I could see the parts that would show me where the weak points were and what they did. The effect wasn''t absolute though and I needed to understand what I saw. If someone was using a higher-tier ability I probably couldn''t comprehend it. In addition to all that I could see through shape-changing abilities. Whether they were illusion-based or actual changes the eye would be able to tell. Desbera warned that it probably wouldn''t be as effective against higher-tier enemies but against people of my rank it was amazing. I wasn''t able to practice with it long enough to explore it but skills and spells were wasteful. The amount of energy that went into using an ability often faded into the air. The amount of waste was based on a variety of factors. Factors that included Quality, the affinity of the user, and proficiency. The "Eye of Heaven" helped change that. Or rather I could see the energy I was wasting and reduce it. So far my actual practice with it was mixed. I had to focus on the energy to stop and reduce the waste which was not the most effective way to fight. I was essentially distracting myself. Furthermore awakening the eye had also awakened my soul. I had access to two new abilities. The first was something Desbera called "Soul Sense". It was similar to what my eye did but not the same. I had to choose what to look at for my eye. My soul sense was more like a field or bubble around me. I could expand it and "see" everything within a certain range. Unfortunately, the range is about half as far as I could see with the "Eye of Heaven". This flaw was made up for due to ease of use. I could just expand the field and monitor everything inside. Doing so hurt like a bitch though. I would quickly become overwhelmed if I did that too much. I would need to learn how to filter information out. The second was my favorite. I had fucking psychokinesis. Unfortunately, I couldn''t lift myself anymore. I wasn''t sure if that was a one-time thing or if it was just added strength from the treasure. Either way that was a no-go. At the moment fifty pounds give or take was the max I could lift. Which as far as I was concerned was worth it. The training session had been intense and I was forced to close the eye toward the end. The eye caused mental exhaustion. It didn''t drain psychic energy or anything like that. This was more like using your muscles for too long. All in all, today was a massive success. I lay down in my bed and closed my eyes. I still had a lot to do but this would make the whole process much easier. The next day I called everyone together to discuss the next steps. When everyone gathered around the table I smiled and opened my third eye. Their shocked and confused faces made me smile but it wasn''t until I was sure everyone here was fine that I relaxed. "This what the Divine Fruit gave me." I started. "I won''t go into too many details since I don''t fully understand it myself. It lets me see energy flows as well as far away." "Young Master have you decided what to do with the¡ª" I shot a glare at Azariah. An action that was much more impressive now that I had three eyes. "It''s not important right now. I''ve called you all together to discuss what I should do next." "The subterranean world is still a major option. Including the founding of a subterranean city. The insect queen I faced was strong enough to kill me. That being said I doubt the rest of the denizens are that strong. The queen was at the threshold of her breakthrough and was consuming anything she could get her hands on. It would make a good area for our warriors to train. The ones who want to be elite." "That would be more lethal than most expected," Keshaun added. "I don''t think the mortal amongst our number would survive. Their death rate is already three times higher." "I know but there is little that can be done. If I protect everyone with my power the world will be screwed once I leave. Hell even if I were to go and conquer everything the beasts would be the next problem. I just don''t know what to do for the mortals." "It sounds like your goal is to create a second military. One that is filled with the people who want more than just survival." Christopher replied. I nodded. "That''s correct. I think that we need a civilian force. Something akin to the police and then something akin to an army. People who are willing to take on the strongest monsters." "It isn''t a bad idea. Honestly, I had considered suggesting the same thing." Aaliyah began. "There are people who feel that they are too old to go out and wander the wilderness for opportunities. They want a job where they could retire." "They would still be expected to work. I don''t want lawlessness to spread through everything nor do I want to have to show up and kill everyone. The former insect hive could make for a prison. With a bit of work. Unfortunately, I couldn''t buy anything down there. I have a theory that if we build something manually first the System will consider the area mine. After that, we can make proper purchases." "None of those options would require you though. So what is it that you plan to do?" Christopher asked and brought the conversation back to what I intended. I pulled out the teleportation token and placed it on the table. "This is a reward I got a while back. The way I see it I have two options. I could stay here and fight exclusively underground. I would be taking food out of our people''s mouths but they would be safer. The second option would be using the token. From what I understand it will send me to a random 1st-Realm trial. It would likely give me the best challenge in the short term." "Ah, young Master if I may make a suggestion. You do have a third option." Desbera began. "The academy is still an option. With your talents, I would suggest you take the introductory lesson Arrays and Formations." I mulled over the information and had to admit it made sense. It was more of a short-term goal but still useful. I looked around at each member of the council and when no one protested I agreed. "Alright, then my next target will be the academy. Is there anything I need to know before I begin?" She shook her head. "I will reserve a spot in the Introduction to arrays course. We are slowly filling up the available slots. You can come by anytime you want." "In that case, I will stop by in an hour. Aaliyah I want you to start gaging interest in the division. Over the next couple of weeks, I want to begin the separation. Make it clear that both sides will receive merit but the army will offer more." I turned to Keshaun and Christopher. "I am not sure how we are doing payment to people but at a minimum I want minimum merit to be awarded like a salary. Once our economic situation stabilizes we will transition to credits." "That is another reason for my suggestion Young Master. Arrays and Formations can lead to a rather lucrative. There are always people who want to buy arrays or array breakers." "What about Alchemy?" "Alchemy is more or less the same. It has fewer requirements for energy control although only slightly. Fire cultivators tend to make the best alchemists. You are welcome to take both courses." I nodded and went over a few last-minute details. An hour later I ended the meeting and followed Desbera to the academy. Chapter 21: Array Master I was led down a set of stair and into a hallway. "So are you the instructor for this?" She laughed and shook her head. "I am flattered by your faith in me but no. Each course has its own instructor." I raised an eyebrow and waved to the walls around us. "I may not be great with my new eye but I am sure that there are no other people here." "You are correct. I apologize. I forget that your society is in its infancy. Each class has a crystal that will take you into an illusion. An illusion where an instructor will give you the lesson." We stopped in front of a door that was identical to all the others and gestured for me to enter. "The lesson''s time will depend on your ability to process information. With your unique attributes I imagine it won''t be too long." I shrugged and stepped into the room. It was nothing like what I expected. It was closer to the System Hub room in the tutorial. Just a small closet with a large crystal in the middle. The whole thing felt very Sci-fi if you were trapped in a broom closet for some reason. The door slid shut behind me and I stepped up to the crystal. I placed my palm on the crystal and pushed a strand of energy inside. The world blurred and I was pulled away from the class room and onto a mountain. The illusion was wrong for lack of a better world. It looked as if someone had tried to overlay the mountain scene over the closet room. "Well whole see through illusions thing definitely works." I turned around just as an elderly man stepped out from behind a tree. He bent over with age and had a beard that almost reached his knees. Those were his only human characteristics. He had dark blue skin and four eyes. Two on either side of his face. Instead of two hands, he had four. He gripped a wooden staff in the hands on the right side of his body. The staff looked simple but there was something off about it. It had a certain power to it. The same kind that I felt from Relics only this time it was distorted. I assumed the distortion was because of the illusion. Even the "Eye of Heaven" had a hard time seeing it properly. The man wore unadorned dark grey robes. "Ah another pupil very well. I am Aino Tona. I am the sects Array Master. I suppose we should start with the most basic building block of both formations and arrays. The Great Tao." Aino waved his hand a stream of transparent energy passed between us. "This is a representation of Spiritual energy?" I asked. "In a sense. The Tao is everything. It is the fire that warms the alchemist''s cauldron. It is the lightning that banishes uncertainty. It even makes up the core of your sigils. All descend from the same origin. The Great Tao" I nodded along as the man spoke. Half wishing that I had a recorder or even notebook. This seemed like it was pretty key information. "Where as our brothers and Sister gives form to the Tao through pill or devastating attacks we do it through energy." Aino waved his hand and the stream of energy divided in two. The two streams then formed an infinite symbol. "Arrays and Formations are not restricted in the same ways as other professions. We are not limited to a cauldron or even our own bodies. The air is as suitable a location for our art as a stone disk." Suddenly we were no longer standing on the mountain but floating in the sky above it. The mountain dwarfed everything that had been on earth prior to the System. It was so big that even Everest would have barely been a slope on one of its many points. The infinity symbol descended into the mountain and five pillars of energy shot up out of the ground. "Ours is an exact discipline. The position of an array flag matters just as much as its materials. Just as you have learned your body is consists of junction points. Just like this mountain. Energy travels through areas like the Soul Space and through the Cultivator''s core. The same as it does through the junction points in the mountain. These points are where array flags go. The flags help to regulate energy as it passes." He waved his hand and one of the five pillars winked out of existence. Almost immediately the mountain began to tremble. Energy began to build like a volcano in desperate search for an outlet. The glow of the other pillars intensified but it wasn''t enough. I flinched back just as Aino waved his hand. "Formations are like puzzles. Remove one piece and the whole thing may fall. It is not enough to place them you must know why you placed it there and what placing it there will do." Once again he waved his hand and the fifth pillar returned. Time resumed and the mountain calmed down. "Just like the alchemist must know his or her materials like she knows herself. We must know the energy. A fire attuned environment would destroy a water formation just as it would empower a fire one. As a beginner it will be difficult for you to regulate the energy but do not use that as an excuse to chase powerful tools. An Array Master that relies on superior instruments is no Array master. Like all change it begins with you." We returned to the ground a moment later and I found myself longing to see the world from above again. Despite that I gave the man my full attention. "The first step on the road of the Array Master is energy. You must understand how it flows, why it flows and what that energy flow feels like. You are to practice the basic energy gathering array until our next lesson. Do not seek the mountaintop until you have learned to see the grass." I stared at the man in mute incomprehension. Part of me wondering if **Ethereal Convocation** had broken before it clicked. That was one of those deep statements that you weren''t supposed to understand until later. I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes at the man. I didn''t think the image could interpret anything I did. It felt more like watching a recording but who knew what was true in the multiverse. I felt the illusion end and closed my eyes. When I opened them again I was back in the closet. Before I could move more information entered my mind. It was the gathering array. As I filtered the information I couldn''t help but laugh. This array was stronger than the one I bought from the System. It was hard to compare them exactly since the System didn''t provide specs but this one should be ten to fifteen percent more efficient. Which meant my new cultivation chamber would be that much better. I parsed through the new information for a few more minutes before leaving the room. I was mostly ready to commit Arrays and Formations after that lesson but that would be reckless. Especially since I just needed to walk down a hall to take the Alchemist class. I stepped out of the room but found that I was alone. I made another mental note to invest in a magic watch. Or whatever time telling devices existed. I made my way down the hall until I came to the alchemy class. I stepped inside and up to the crystal. This time I closed the my Eye. The illusion was much more real this time. It felt like I had been pulled into a movie. This time I was pulled into a stone chamber that was something you would see in a wizard school. There was a massive cauldron made out of obsidian. With red veins spread throughout.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. A short woman stepped out from behind the cauldron. The woman was just barely over five feet tall. She wore a black dress that stopped just above her ankles. She wore gloves on both hands and had short dirty blonde hair. She looked a bit like a gnome. "Ah yet another student is sent to me. No doubt believing that they are worthy of alchemy." She looked me up and down and for a moment I wondered if she could actually see me. "Do you know what Alchemy is child? No don''t answer that. Alchemy is change made manifest. It is the power to refine base materials until they become something divine. Its is to take the Earthly and make it Heavenly. No doubt you have consumed pills up until this point." The woman reached into the cauldron and removed a pill the size of her pinky nail. The pill was bone white with dozens of black spots spread across it. Almost on instinct I took a step forward and the medicinal aroma hit me. I felt like my body had been starved and that pill was the greatest meal. I barely resisted the urge to reach for it. Something that earned a snort from the woman. "The potency of a pill like this is based on a myriad of factors. The skill of the Alchemist chief among them. Materials and cauldron quality are second and third of course." She placed the pill back into the cauldron and then beckoned for me to join her. As soon as I was close enough the image in the cauldron changed. This time it was a roiling emerald liquid. One that felt like death and destruction. As if the cauldron contained the power to end the world. "Alchemy contains both life and death. We are not just healers or resource generators. An Alchemist can be the deadliest foe on a battlefield. Capable of reaping lives at a rate impossible for most warriors." The roiling liquid was almost hypnotic. The colors shifted through all the shades of green and then into the rest of the rainbow. It was a mosaic of colors and each one felt different. Some felt like death others like boundless life while others still felt like possibility. "Before you start to have dreams you must begin at the beginning. Each ingredient deserves and demands our devotion. Each ingredient has its own properties. Properties that will react with both the other ingredients as well as your Tao. It is a discipline, a discipline where failure means to cause the deaths of many. The road of the Alchemist is one of potential, of power but it is not one to take lightly." She snapped her fingers and the liquid disappeared. The gnomish woman stepped away from both me and the cauldron. She looked off into the distance as if she saw something. Something I couldn''t see even after opening all my eyes. "I have prepared a simple healing pill recipe. Do not return until you have completed the pill ten times. For an attempt to count it must have a potency of 80% or better." The sensation took over me again and the illusion faded away. Just like with the array master the pill recipe was downloaded into my head. The ingredients were even catalogued by rarity. I had no idea what the ingredients were. I figured Azariah could do it for me so it shouldn''t be a problem. I didn''t immediately head up stairs. I wasn''t sure which option was better. Both Alchemist and Array Master sounded amazing. I had no interest in abandoning my combat class but a secondary profession would be perfect. After all I would live for what another five hundred years? That assumed I stopped advancing at the next realm. That would be a lot of time to study. Either one would help so the question was suitability. I thought about that until I got to the top of the stairs. Ultimately I had the beginnings of both and no reason not to practice. I found Desbera in her office where went over everything. She provided me with a cauldron and a array stylus. Both were only slightly better than the most basic items. The cauldron was more in the Chinese style than the western one. Which was interesting. "So are these mine or do I need to return them to academy?" "They are yours. We are in a bit of pinch for resources so if you decide that you do not want to use them. I would appreciate it if you returned them. Either that or we gain a steady supply of materials. These are meant to be a training set." I ran my hand over the top of the cauldron. It felt so weird. This was the first time I had held one of these but it felt like I had been practicing with it for a while. The memories weren''t mine but they were still there. "I will bring them back when I replace them. How often do people do both of these?" "That isn''t a uncommon idea. Some of the best crafters in the multiverse reach across the disciplines. Doing so while also being a full combat class will be harder. You only have so many slots and so much time. You would likely end up mediocre in all three." "Understood. I also have other things to focus on as well. Beast companion, Soul, body and Heart tempering. I am going to get some practice in. Do you have any rooms that I could get to work in?" About ten minutes later I was in a room with both the stylus and the cauldron on a table. The room''s privacy array was running which added another point to the Array Master column. As cool as pills were they appeared to be limited in what they could do. That limit was arguably the most important thing though. I pulled out the ingredients she provided and placed them down. Next a 1st-Realm crystal went into a slot under the cauldron. It kind of reminded of those oven toys. The ones with a light bulb that you only saw on TV. I pushed the distraction out of mind and focused. The recipe wasn''t hard to follow but the potency would be reduced with each mistake. The first ingredient was a set of black and blue berries called **Godo Berries**. They reminded me of a mix between blue and black berries but half as big. I placed them into the cauldron. I smashed them into a paste and let the heat get to work. A minute later I added the next ingredient. A different kind of fruit that reminded me of raisins. Only thicker and harder. Once they were added a bitter smell started to flow out of the cauldron and I had to resist the urge to gag. I grabbed the final ingredient. An item called **Firegrass**. It was a bundle of green and red grass that gave off heat. Once all three things were added to the cauldron the real work began. The cauldron was a weird item. I could control the heat with a nob on the front but it was ineffective. You had to stretch mental tendrils to it. Those tendrils would let me manipulate the flame and mixture. Based on the information packet most people couldn''t do this. They had to rely on their eyes and hands. Furthermore the "Eye of Heaven" made itself known. The ingredients gave off a medicinal smell and feel that you were supposed to rely on. My eye could watch the energy spread through. It was a bit like watching a ball comprised of three energies. The three colors roiled and fought with one another. While I fought to make sure they were balanced. The process was exhausting. I wasn''t sure how long it took me to refine the pill but when it was done and the medicinal smell washed over me it felt like Christmas. I held the pill up like it was some heavenly treasure. I then swallowed it. The pill''s potency was around 60% which placed it well below the minimum. Intellectually I knew that it was my first time and that even with the Eye it wasn''t reasonable to expect perfection. That if it were that easy Alchemists would be flooding out of every world by the millions. That barely made me feel better. The idea of failing at anything was almost anathema to me. I took a seat on the cold stone and entered a meditative trance. My psychic energy was exhausted and I still needed it to do array training next. I gave my self a thirty minute break. After which I placed the cauldron into my ring and summoned the array disk and stylus. The stylus looked a bit like a stick of bamboo though much tougher. While the disk was closer to mud or clay. From the data packet Arrays were both easier and harder than alchemy. Easier in the sense that there was no heat to deal with and you weren''t rushed. At least not in these low level things. It was more about precision and accuracy. I placed the disk onto the table and sent a stream of psychic energy into the stylus. It took me a few seconds to get the hang of it. The stylus felt more like using a blow torch than an pen. I had to release my energy steadily and calmly. It was very calming. I placed the stylus to the disk and began carving. The process was gentler than alchemy. I was basically drawing a picture using a predesigned mold. The closer to the exact mold I was the stronger the array would be. It was a process that forced you to slow down. It demanded your exact focus. In that sense it was superior to Alchemy. Furthermore the Eye of Heaven was key. My ability to see the energy with this clarity made it almost child''s play to adapt the power in the stylus. The disk might as well have pre-carved the image into itself with how I saw its weak points. Despite all of that it still wasn''t easy. I had to fight against myself in a lot of ways. The more my energy waned the more I wanted to speed up. Only moving faster made me make more mistakes. Mistakes that made me go back to fix. Each time I did I made different problems. It was kind of like using white out. Even if you repaired the mistakes you made it wouldn''t be the same as an undamaged attempt. Chapter 22: Anticipation I finished transcribing the array disc and slunk to the ground. I was beyond exhausted. It felt like my mind had been wrung for every drop of energy it had. Even then I only made three discs. Which was the bare minimum for the energy gathering array to work. Still I couldn''t help feeling proud of the accomplishment. I had just started so I wasn''t ready to make a decision but I leaned toward Arrays. Even after this little taste I could imagine myself making grand arrays. Works of art that spanned entire cities or even worlds. I let myself live in the delusion for a few minutes before I stuffed everything into my ring. Despite the progress I had made today it would be better for me to buy an array. Even the worst one in the System shop would be better than this. Not mention Azariah might able to help me get something nicer. I left the room and made my way out of the academy. The sunlight felt brighter as if I had been hiding in the dark for hours. Which in a way I had. I checked in with the others through Ethereal Convocation but there were no changes. After the following two weeks I fell into a bit of a routine. My day was split between cultivation, meditation, alchemy and array formation. It was so relaxing that it was easy to forget the world had ended. My progress was nothing to scoff at but it wasn''t crazy. My level had effectively stalled. Even consuming crystals like a mad man didn''t help. It was like filling a lake with a bucket. My meditation sessions were a bit better though. My comprehension of the Tao of Compression was advancing. Slowly but steadily. Today I was outside the city limits with Trey. It was time for me to explore more of my new abilities. I waited until a pack of wolf like creatures made their way out of a ruined department store. Their fur was gunmetal grey and as sharp as steel. I wasn''t sure if they were a new monster or just a stronger or better version of the older wolves. Either way it didn''t matter. The goal today wasn''t just killing them though that was important. I focused on a nearby street light and tried to lift it into the air. It wasn''t easy. I had always that the way psychic''s were shown in movies was goofy but now that I actually had the power. It was real. I couldn''t explain what "muscle" strained as I lifted the thing out of the ground but something did. What made it worse, was that lifting it was the easy part. I tried to throw it like a javelin. Instead of it shooting through the air, it moved less than ten feet and then dropped. "Man you suck." Trey added unhelpfully from his spot next to me. I bit back my initial reply and took several calming breaths. It took me over ten seconds to calm down enough to not punch him off the building. "This isn''t fucking easy." "I believe you once said that ''Nothing worth having was easy'' or was that just what you said when it came to attacking me?" I ground my teeth together and pushed him to the back of my mind. He wasn''t wrong but it wasn''t helpful. Once again I trained my focus on the lamp post. It took me over five seconds to lift the damn thing. "At this rate you might able to kill an elderly creature. If you can convince it to run into the lamp. And if you can manage to keep it up that long." "Shut up" I ground my teeth as I aimed at the wolves in the distance. I visualized the light flying forward as if fired from a gun or cannon. What actually happened was closer to a failed football throw. When Trey started laughing I unleashed six invisible blades of psychic energy. The wolves barely had time to realize they were in danger before they were dead. The silence that fell over us was much better than I thought. "Why can you make them invisible now? That''s so wild." "Its something I learned with the new level of my Mastery spell. I think the color is wasted energy but I still don''t get. The Taos still have colors." "Right so are you really leaving?" I nodded. "Yeah I want to explore things on the outside a bit. I can''t tell if I am weak or strong in the grand scheme. I think its the not knowing that bothers me the most." "What if you don''t come back?" I sighed and a uncomfortable silence fell onto our shoulders. It was harder to have this conversation than with the others. They were mostly concerned with me not protecting Amara which I got but it wasn''t the same. "I will but if I don''t your cultivation resources will be made available to you as soon as you turn of age. You will have to follow the plan. Find something powerful to kill. If you can somehow get to something at the peak of the realm that would be best." "Just don''t get yourself killed. I don''t think Aaliyah will let me mess with her as often." I laughed and nodded. I could feel that the situation hadn''t been resolved with that but that was really possible. Not until I actually came back. "You have to make sure you are strong enough to leave with me next time. Otherwise I am going to have to use you to carry my stuff. "Ain''t no way. I am going to be stronger than anyway so it doesn''t matter. What you need." I rolled my eyes and stood up. "Come on. Let''s head back. You need to get some more combat training and I want to get back to the Arrays." "You sure you don''t want to throw a few more things? At this rate you might hit something in the next decade." I rolled my eyes and activated Apportation. "Come on before I leave you here." I stepped through the portal. "Hold up I am coming." Trey dashed in behind me and I let it close. When it next opened we went our separate ways. He went to join the other warriors while I returned to the academy for another round of Array and Alchemy practice. I was going to get my pill to 80% potency today and a full set of eight array discs. The next day was much the same only that sense of anticipation returned. At first I thought it was related to my practice but it wasn''t. Or nothing made itself known. I even spent two hours on the second continent but there was no signs as to what it was. There was a slight difference in the sensation compared to last time. It felt positive which was the only reason I could focus on pill formation. Whatever it was would be worth it. Especially if it was another opportunity. I returned my focus to the cauldron in front of me. Excitement threatened to overwhelm the fragile balance in my mind. All the ingredients were finally distributed perfectly. The pill resembled a tricolored ball and the vast majority of its energy was still inside. My cells ached as the medicinal aroma filled the room. I gingerly rotated the pill with my several psychic tendrils. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Everyone movement filled me with dread and hope. Finally there was nothing to do but let it cool. I turned off the flow of energy and stared as the pill hardened. It was the both the size of a grape and looked bit like Neapolitan ice cream. It felt like an eternity before it was ready although it was less than a minute. As soon as it was safe to hold with my fingers I laughed. 90% potency was the best I could do with this cauldron. If I had a Tao related to purification or fire I might have been able to try it without the cauldron. That would be an entirely different can of worms. I gently placed the pill into a bottle and sealed it. The healing pill was only a bit better than the cheaper ones I could get from Azariah. Despite that I gave its own bottle. This was something I made with my own hand. Which as far as I was considered made it a priceless treasure. I placed the bottle into my ring and leaned against the wall. I wasn''t as exhausted as the first time but I was pretty tired. It also gave me a chance to think about things. Despite how much I enjoyed making the pill I leaned toward abandoning Alchemy. I wasn''t all that interested in Fire related powers which would hurt me a bit though Time might make up for it. No, the real reason was the lack of desire. When it came to Arrays and Formations I couldn''t help but imagine what would happen. What could happen. Entire worlds used to feed some grand thing. I am sure Alchemy had more things beyond poison and pills but the same could be said for Arrays. Who knew what crazy shit I could learn to make. The more I thought about it the more I agreed. Arrays were the path forward for me. Which meant I needed to send the cauldron back. After I cleaned it. I made a mental note to find a proper alchemist. Someone that could be the leader of all the Alchemists in the country. I washed the cauldron and placed a couple of spirit stones inside before leaving them with Desbera. It wasn''t a major gift but the thought was what counted. After that I got back to work on the gathering array. It took me another three hours to finish up the eight and final disc. As soon as they were ready I laid them out in front of me and sent a bit of spiritual energy through. It was a bit like when someone lit a Christmas tree. Spiritual energy flowed through each point until it formed a single circuit. The flow of energy in the room shifted almost immediately. It felt a mini vortex was born as spiritual energy was drawn to the middle. There was nothing there at the moment so the energy just kind of swirled but that was minor. A quick round with Ethereal Codex and we were good. Unfortunately the Arrays actual effectiveness was around 65%. Which was passable according to the information packet. If I were apart of whatever sect that old man was I would be well on my way. I relished my victory for a bit longer before I deactivated the plates. I tried to erase the array but that wasn''t really possible. Not without physically destroy them so I decided to give them to the Academy. They might work as examples and in the worst case scenario. Motivational tools. Either way it wasn''t really my problem. I left them and left the academy. I made my way to the outskirts of Amara and started practicing with **Psychic Mastery**. The lessons were a bit more esoteric for lack of a better word. I wasn''t sure if the change was because my soul awakened or if it was just the natural part of what I was supposed to do. I had noticed that there were slots on the sigil. A little area where I could impose my Tao. Desbera wasn''t able to tell me whether or not I should do it now or wait until I had all of mine. I also wasn''t sure there was a reason to do it now. The spell already provided everything I needed. I wasn''t in a rush to learn new things since I wasn''t done with this. There was also the nature of the new lessons to consider. They were more about interacting with another person''s mind directly. I could kind of force people to ignore me. It didn''t work on most monsters and I assumed that was because they weren''t aware. Or I guess they weren''t smart enough to be tricked. It worked wonderfully on everyone weaker than me. The mortals had no chance to detect me unless I walked right up on them. Even then I had to make it nearly impossible for them to not see me. It was both funny and scary. I was pretty sure no one on Earth was strong enough to do that to me but when I left? The Eye Of Heaven helped of course But nothing was perfect. Today''s session was for something different though. I wanted to try and reverse the effect. Effectively making myself impossible to ignore. The effect I wanted wasn''t the same as just unleashing my aura at full blast. I wanted to avoid hurting anyone. Effectively I wanted to give myself a kind of superstar effect. Despite that there was no guide in the spell on how to do it. I was trying to do the opposite of what the diagram indicated. Even after three hours I hadn''t made much progress. I decided to give it up for now. Making myself a focus wasn''t needed right now. Especially since I fought alone most of the time and the few situations were I didn''t my killing intent and aura were more than enough. I imagined that would still be true when I fought other people. With that I ended my training for the day. The sun had just started to set and I was a bit worn out. The peace was starting to get to me and I felt antsy. A feeling that made worse by the anticipation I felt. I decided to walk back to the main building just to exercise a bit. I decided to stop by the training zone to check on the soldiers only to find them in battle with another of the ape monsters. The ape was probably around level 15 or so which wasn''t much of a threat to me. The soldiers who were closer to level 10 weren''t faring as well. One had nearly been crushed by a double fist slam while another had nearly been bisected when the ape threw a car door at her. Despite that the group moved like a team. Each one filling in when the others needed help. As far as I could tell they weren''t communicating with each other. Watching the energy flow through their bodies as they moved was oddly beautiful. A bit like watching a well oiled machine move. Despite that they were evenly matched with the ape. To the point where I considered jumping in but before I could the strongest of their group moved. Energy coalesced on the edge of the axe in his hand. Just before a five foot edge grew out. He leaped into the air and roared. He slammed the axe down with every bit of strength he head. The ape wasn''t to be out down. It grabbed a stone pillar and met the attack head on. If it had only been them to the ape might have been the winner. Its strength was likely much higher than the man''s but he wasn''t alone. As soon as the pair crashed the rest of his team unleashed attacks. Arrows, blades and lightning shot toward the ape. The poor monster was forced into an impossible situation. It had to either endure the attacks coming at it and focus on the big threat. Or ignore the big threat and tried to avoid all the attacks. Unfortunately for it the team made the choice for it. The axe wielder pulled a grenade out of his back and tossed it at the ape. As soon as I realized what it was, I shut all three of my eyes. I still felt the flash bang go off. The next second a howl of pain filled the air and the battle was over. "If I had known you were going to come by I would have warned them." I opened my eyes just as Aaliyah stepped out from inside a nearby building. Her attention was still on the group of warriors. Who were now celebrating their victory. "They were seals before things went to shit. I think they were all apart of the same squad and managed to find each other." "Are they interested in the army position?" I asked though I was pretty sure I knew the answer already. "They are. Though only if they can keep their squad together." I nodded but before I could confirm a pulse of energy spread out from the top of my sky scrapper. I cocked my head to the side before turning to Aaliyah. "You didn''t see or feel anything just then did you?" When she shook her head I stood up and activated Apportation. "Uh they can stay in their squad. I see no reason to change that. If you can get them closer to level 20. We could let them go down and start hunting stronger things. Either the continent or underground." I stepped through the portal and by the time it reopened my heart was racing. I broke out in a sprint toward the building. The passive anticipation had turned into an alarm. It wasn''t until I returned to my room that I finally figured out why. The energy inside the egg had picked up almost as if it contained a storm. A grin spread across my face as I picked up the egg and dashed out of the building. I activated Apportation and stepped out into my makeshift base camp. It was finally time to see my new beast companion. Chapter 23: Hatching I sat in the center of the Celestial Incubation Array. The five pointed Array covered the entire underground chamber and cost a large portion of the credits I had. The array was designed to accomplish two things. First it made the hatching process easier and even provided a nice boost to the beast''s bloodline. The second feature was the more important. It would help sync our spiritual energy and our souls. The egg released another pulse of energy and I was forced to focus. I sent a stream of energy into the array. I lost count of how many times I had gone through the information in the crystal. I nearly had the whole the memorized. That didn''t stop the storm of anxiety in the pit of my stomach. If anything went wrong I could fry either my channels or the beast''s. I was confident I would survive but the young creature was a different story. I tried to come up with ways to divert more of the danger to myself but it was impossible. Not unless I wanted to create an imbalanced bond. I summoned a 2nd-Realm Spirit Stone and crushed it. The energy in the cave became almost twice as dense. As if in response the egg let out another pulse of energy. I released my aura at full power in response. For a moment I both felt and saw our energies mix. A kaleidoscope of colors filled the chamber. I took a deep breath and held the egg in my hands. I sent a thread of spiritual and psychic energy inside. I felt something grab hold the drain quadrupled. "Alright, I guess you are hungry one huh?" I chuckled as the hair on the back of my neck stood up. It felt like I had become the eye of a storm. The ground began to tremble and for a moment I worried that an earthquake would bring the whole thing down on us. Seconds felt like hours as the pulses picked up. It was nearly impossible to tell when one ended and the next began. The drain on both my energies increased to the point that my head swam. I grimaced as I summoned the next item from my ring. I hadn''t wanted to use this but it was better to be safe. I placed the small vial to my lips and tossed it back. The spirit water surged into my throat and then into my channels. The energy barely had the time to warm my channels before it was being pulled away. "Greedy little thing aren''t you?" I chuckled and wiped the sweat off my face. I felt the next stage of the process begin. A strand of energy formed connecting me and the egg. The energy burrowed its way into my channels until it settled into the slot just behind my navel. A burning sensation began as another sigil was engraved. I bit back a cry of pain and circulated the Ethereal Codex.. This method was arguably the most painful way to form the companion''s connection but it should be a lot stronger. It would also guarantee that the spell would be upgradable. Which should mean the benefits would grow as we did. Right now that did nothing to help me with the pain. It felt like a tattoo artist had decided my navel was the spot for their latest masterpiece. I had to focus on the energy going into and out of the egg so there was no hiding from the pain. I wanted nothing more than to hide or to pass out but I fought it. I lost track of time as I waited for the process to finish. When the engraving finished a powerful silence fell onto the cave. It was as if someone had pushed mute on the whole world. The silence lasted for a moment. The alien sensations were replaced with a warmth. A calming, soothing warmth that spread through my body and over my soul. I resisted the urge to leap up as I realized what it meant. The bond had been accepted by both of us. In the next moment a crack resounded through the chamber. My focus fell on the egg as thin lines spread out from the tip of the egg. Dark emerald light leaked out the cracks before consuming the entire egg. The egg shone like brightest jewel in all of history. It floated out of my hand into the center of the chamber. All five sections of the array lit up and energy surged to the egg. I grinned as the final step began. A second crack this one louder than the last. A scream of danger was the only warning I had as the egg shattered. Dozens of blade like egg shells slammed into every surface in the cave. I felt several carve through piece of my own body but the pain felt distant. Almost as if it happened to someone else. As if it was insignificant compared to the creature now floating in front of me. My new companion was beautiful. It was slightly smaller than I expected, barely reaching my waist. It eyes were large and filled with both wisdom and curiosity. It had soft pliable iridescent scales and patches of fur spread throughout its body in a way that made you think of a child or teenager. It had a tiny nub that should eventually grow into a horn. Its tail was long, bushy and ended in a tuff of fur that made you think of a lion. A delicate mane ran along its neck and back. It had four long, slender, gangly legs that ended in white cloven hooves. It gracefully landed on the ground a moment later. No sooner had I finished taking it in did I lock eyes with it. I felt our connection solidify. The complex storm of emotions calmed as two overpowered the rest. The first was curiosity and the second was hunger. "Food" A slightly masculine voice called in my mind. The suddenness of the situation caused me to hesitate which apparently was the wrong thing to do. The voice repeated itself only this time it was more of a command. I chuckled and summoned a mountain of beast meat. Only of some of which was cooked. Almost as soon as the meat appeared the beast divided in. I took a step back although I was sure it wouldn''t bite me. I was about to pull up my status screen when I saw something odd. Energy flowed from the meat to the my companion. "Are you draining spiritual energy through eating?" A sensation that felt like a confirmation passed through our bond before it went dark. It took me a second to realize that I was now being ignored before I rolled my eyes. I turned my attention to my status screen. Only when I tried to open a different prompt appear. Please designate a name for new companion. I tried to ignore the prompt but it didn''t work. It was a bit like dealing with a computer. The more I tried to ignore the more it popped up. "Do you have a problem with me naming you?" When it didn''t answer I shrugged and turned my attention to the prompt. I thought about it for a few minutes when it came to me. "Xerxes" I confirmed my choice and received a second prompt this one a bit more interesting. Beastmaster: Form a Connection with a Spirit Beast Reward: Agility +5% Strength +5% The title was great but the real reward came from the changes to the rest of status screen.
Name Amari Jackson
Level 40
Class [1-Epic]Psionic Paragon
Species [2]Human
Affiliation Earth:Amara: Ruler
Trait [1]Eye of Heaven
Titles Beloved by Tao, Big Game, Beastbound, Chosen,First to Ten, Horde Breaker, Leader of the Pack, Monstersbane, One Man Army, Overlord Slayer, Overpowered, Perfect 100, Prime Forebearer, Prime Hunter, Tutorial, Voyager,
Limited Titles Pinnacle, Primal Battlefield
Companion Xerxes(Celestial Qilin)
Tao Strand of Adamance ¡ª Comprehension: Middle, Strand of Lucidity ¡ª Comprehension: Middle, Strand of Compression ¡ª Comprehension: Low
Agility 209 (Increase:70%. Potency:130%)
Constitution 213 (Increase:70%. Potency:130%)
Intelligence 299 (Increase:70%. Potency:130%))
Luck 161 (Increase:85%. Potency:130%)
Perception 216 (Increase:70%. Potency:130%)
Strength 205 (Increase:75%. Potency:130%)
Wisdom 518 (Increase:75%. Potency:130%)
Free Points 0
System Credits [1]50,000
Stolen story; please report. | The attribute improvement was nice but I didn''t exactly need it. I closed that screen and turned my attention inward. Where I found my newest sigil. No surprise it was located just behind my navel. [1]Harmonic Resonance - Proficiency: Novice. In Perfect Harmony, Forge an unbreakable Bond. Upgradeable. The sigil was incredibly beautiful and divided in two. I assumed each half represented one of us. The strength of the bond was incredible. At the moment Xerxes received the majority of the benefits. It was hard to say for sure but he received around 10% of my attributes. That included luck. When you consider that he should be roughly level 1 right now he should be able to slaughter anything at the same level. I wish I could tell how potent its bloodline was but the System either didn''t know or see fit to tell me. Either way, I didn''t care. I was worried that I would have to defend him until he gained a few levels but at this rate, I could probably let him hunt alone. Although I would help him at first. The bond did offer me some interesting benefits. Namely recovery and energy. I returned my attention to the world around me and flexed. It felt a bit like I caffeine had been injected into my veins. Either that or someone gave me adrenaline. It was hard to test the recovery aspect but I guessed I would heal between 5 and 10 percent faster. The spell also harmonized our Tao. Exactly what that meant I had no idea. As far as I could tell Xerxes couldn''t use any of my Taos but if I was wrong. I grinned at thought. We would become monsters. It appeared the spell was passive trying to feed energy into it did nothing nor did sending my Tao. Which worked for me. One less thing to worry about. I reviewed everything one more time before I turned my attention the Qilin. It had eaten all the raw meat and the majority of the cooked stuff. It had even eaten the shells of the insect creatures which was both scary and impressive. "Are you male or female?" "Male" He raised his head and leveled his eyes on me. I wasn''t sure how a creature could look both cute and intimidating but he managed it. "So what level are you? What are your attributes? Can you share them with me?" "Um I could but I won''t. I am level five thanks to the delicious energy you provided. Do you have any treasures?" I rolled my eyes at his greed and was about to say no when I remembered I did. I summoned the bloodline crystal. As soon as it was in my hand Xerxes leaped for it. "Mine!" I ducked to the right and then expanded my Tao field. The Qilin attempted to chase after me only to slam straight into a wall of Tao. I watched him try to force his way through for almost five minutes before he gave up and slumped to the ground. "I want the crystal. Give it to me human." I raised an eyebrow at him before sending the crystal back into the ring. "Like I just asked you what level are you? Approximate strength? Anything that will help us train?" He stared at me for another thirty seconds before making a sound that was a cross between a hiss and a sigh. He then lay down on the ground. "Level 5. I don''t understand what attribute points are." I shared my status screen with him and he stared at it and then snorted. "Stupid Numbers." He then shared what I assumed was his screen. Only it wasn''t a screen it was more like an instinctual understanding. It was so weird kind of like explaining what taste or sight was like to someone who never experienced either. I think I understood though. He was roughly as strong as I was at level 10 or 11. Which was amazing. He didn''t have anything comparable to titles though. "Alright, alright come on let''s see what you can do in a fight." At that his eyes widened and he hopped up. His tail wagged behind me like an excited dog. The scene would have made him look cute if his mouth wasn''t covered in dead beast blood. "Battle!" I considered taking him to the surface to fight against weaker beasts but that was a bit risky. I wasn''t ready to bring him around other people. The last thing I needed was for him to kill someone because he thought they were food or they pissed him off. It took only few minutes for us to find something to face off against. It was a massive acidic slug covered in a black shell. The slug was slow moving and ugly as shit both of which made it a great first target. "Alright so here''s¡ª" Before I could finish Xerxes leaped from around the corner and launched itself at the slug. He slammed into the creature with the force of a linebacker and managed to slam the slug into the wall. That was the end of his good luck though. Xerxes'' claws weren''t strong enough to break through its shell. Nor was his own scales strong enough to protect him from the snails acid. I launched a trio of invisible psychic blades to kill the thing before Xerxes got too hurt. The showing was kind of pathetic but considering where we were I couldn''t be too upset. "Next time wait for me." "Owe" The Qilin moaned through our bond. It was distinctly unpleasant feeling. I couldn''t feel his pain per say but I could feel the emotional effect of it. Which was a doozy to deal with. I placed a healing pill into his mouth and stored the beast''s body. "Next time wait and do what I say. Your offensive power isn''t enough to take these things down yet. Be faster." We got into another five battles like that and I was impressed. He still wasn''t strong enough to actually hurt anything but he was better. I wasn''t sure if it was my attributes that made the difference or not. He was mentally faster than most of the other creatures. He reacted to what I wanted. It was honestly like he knew where he needed to be without me saying it. He also had amazing control over his energy. Very little of it was wasted. He didn''t have skills to use it on so he just forced it into different areas of his body. After the fifth battle, I decided it was time to call it a night. "Alright let''s head back," I called out and gestured for him to follow. "Are we going to the shiny place?" He asked while bounding past me and up the tunnel. "Shiny place?" I asked just before an image of Amara appeared in my mind. "You have seen it before?" "No but I can see it in your memories. It is very shiny and filled with other humans." I made a mental note of the how deep the memory thing could go. I definitely didn''t want to share too much with him. I wasn''t sure what problems that could cause. "Uh yeah I guess we are on our way there. I will have to get a room set up for you. You can also absorb the crystal there." "Yes! Shinies" I chuckled as his excitement passed across the bond to me. By the time we got into fresh air I wasn''t sure which of us was more happy. I activated **Apportation** and opened a portal that brought us right outside the city. "Remember don''t attack anyone. They might be surprised by your uh majesty and get scared." "I know, humans are stupid. It is pointless to attack someone stronger than you. Especially with the weak fire weapons." It took me a minute to process what that meant but it made sense. Guns were kind of stupid now. At least from his perspective. Not that the people of Amara were using them anymore. Everything except for the biggest of sniper rifles stopped working by now. I wasn''t even sure how useful tanks were now although I really didn''t want to find out. We walked for about ten minutes before a trio of guards stepped into the light. The way their faces went from panicked to happy and finally to confused made the whole situation worth it. "Hey everyone this here is my new partner. His name is Xerxes. He probably won''t eat you." "I made no promises" I didn''t bother to hide my grin at his mental message. I decided not to share that he said with the guards. Panic wouldn''t help anyone. At least not yet. I decided to take Xerxes around and introduce him to most of the council. I figured rumors would start about him soon so it was best to deal with it now. By the time we were in my room the moon was high in the sky. "Hmm for now you can use my chamber. Its mostly just a gathering array so it should be fine. I will get someone started on clearing out a room below this for your personal use." I gestured to my cultivation chamber and then summoned the bloodline item from my ring. I handed it over and left Xerxes to his business. Part of me was curious to see how cultivation worked for a beast but it felt wrong. Like an invasion property. I also had something else I really wanted to do. I rubbed my hands together and stepped out onto the patio. It was time for me to enjoy my hot tub. Chapter 24: Start the Trial The day of relaxation came and went by far too quickly. The hot tub was beyond comfortable especially with the simple array. It allowed for fine heat control that was like heaven. I was pretty sure that this kind of area would helpful for cultivation as well. If I replaced the water with something more helpful. The spiritual water for example. All that was a problem for another day though. Xerxes and I waited in the boardroom to go over the final preparations. The token I earned so long ago was on the table. We hadn''t learned more about the token or rather where it would send me which was by design. The System would send me to any random Inheritance trial for my realm. I considered not going briefly since I had no way of knowing how strong people would be. If they were at my level there were no worries if they were people who were at the peak of the realm for years though? Either way I decided to do it. I wasn''t a bitch and there was no way I would run from something because it might be scary. There were some things that made me feel better about it. Outside of my own ego. The System was unlikely to waste the energy to pull people from all the universes and dimensions. It was more likely that the trial would include people on the frontier. Meaning it was unlikely I would have to fight the descendant of some ancient monster. The biggest question on my mind was what would happen with Xerxes. The status screen was clear that he was my companion. Which should mean he would come with me. Both Desbera and Azariah were confident that would be the case. The only hesitation was if the System would count him since I didn''t have him before I got the token. We had discussed the issue at length before we decided that there was nothing to do. Nothing to do but break the token. I looked up as the various members of my council poured in. Each member took their seat and each with a slightly different look on their faces. Some like Christopher and Keshaun felt it was too risky for me to go. As I had effectively become the city''s nuclear deterrent. Azariah, Desbera and Xerxes took the opposite position though for different reasons. Azariah and Desbera knew that the multiverse was anything but safe and kind. Which meant I needed to keep going. If the System provided a path forward I had to take it or else the System would leave me behind. If that happened than we might as well be dead. "My objection to this plan has been noted but I must insist. We still haven''t come up with a proper plan for the non-cultivators." Keshaun began but the look on his face made it clear. He knew his words weren''t going to change anything. "The Young Master must prove himself to the System. He should be fine. From what I have seen he is more than capable." Azariah said with only a slight smile on her face. She chose to not mention the potential wealth to gain. Wealth from either other trial takers or whatever the reward would be. I held up a hand to prevent the group from arguing over it again. We had gone over it already and I had made my choice. "I am not sure how long I will be gone. Aaliyah I am leaving the trips out of the city to you. Use your judgement on what threats to face. Retreat back to the city and activate the arrays if danger comes." I turned and locked eyes with Christopher. "Use whatever modern or I guess old world weapons you need if it gets really bad. Levels aren''t as important as survival." He nodded his agreement and I looked at the merchant. "Use any of the money I have with you to buy whatever they need. Don''t go crazy but my people''s lives come first." She nodded and I passed my gaze over everyone again. "I look forward to seeing you all when I get back so don''t do get yourself in trouble." I laughed which earned me a few eye rolls and a couple of smiles. With that everything was decided. I looked over at Xerxes who raised his head. The movement causing both Keshaun and Christopher to flinch. "Ready to go?" "Finally, humans speak too much." The irritation in his mental voice made me chuckle. I picked up the token flashed everyone a smile and cracked it. The room around me was replaced with darkness. The absence of light lasted less than a breath before it was gone. I found myself in a forest. Trees that reminded me of skyscrapers reached toward the sky. Only for the canopies to blot out the light. I couldn''t tell if this was a world without a sun or if it was just hidden. The only illumination came from flying bugs. Each one glowed a soft white light. I couldn''t tell just how many of them there were. Even after I opened the *Eye of Heaven*. With my eyes open the world was bathed in light. Or rather it was based in Spiritual energy. Most of it was natural earthy color though green was second. The density of the energy felt heavenly. It was like the energy on the second continent only multiplied by ten. My gut told me to sit down and draw it all in only my danger sense told me not to. It was like the entire forest was a passive threat. I took in the environment for a bit before I turned to the only other living thing here. "Looks like we were right. You got to join me." "Of course I did. You worry too much." Xerxes said while his eyes followed a handful of the small bugs. "Yeah maybe. Do you sense anything? This feels a bit like some sort of survival thing. I didn''t bring anything that would help us deal with the environment." "You brought the food right?" He finally turned his attention to me. His big eyes looked genuinely concerned which only made me laugh. "Yeah, there is enough both cooked and uncooked for both of us." I turned my attention the trees but there was nothing. Outside of the streams of energy and bugs it was empty. I wasn''t sure if that meant we were safe. Or if it meant we were in even more danger. "I guess we should get to walking." We only made it a couple minutes before a golden barrier stopped us. The barrier gave off no energy yet it was as solid as steel. I tried to push through it but it was impossible. I tried for a few minutes before a count down timer appeared. "So I guess we can''t leave the starting area for another twenty minutes?" "Sounds boring." I shrugged and we walked back to where we started. I took a seat and circulated the *Ethereal Codex*. I settled into myself as pure energy flowed into my body. I quickly noticed a handful of problems. Mainly the method wasn''t efficient. The threads of energy that flowed into me left me 40% outside of my body. Once inside my cells drained some of it away before it got to my dantian. The problem wasn''t major and with a slight bit of effort I was able to fix some of it. The initial spill over was reduced by around 5%. A far cry from perfection but it was pretty good. I was pulled out of my trance by a prompt. I still didn''t get how the System did that but I didn''t care. I opened my eyes and checked the timer. There were less than ten seconds remaining.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Welcome to the Chimeric Forest Forge yourself in the Flame of Battle 1. The Trial will last until all ten spots are taken or one month has passed. 2. Each Participant is teleported to a random location on the outskirts of the forest. Each participant has a token. 3. A person must collect an entire set of five tokens to unlock the pagoda 4. A person can crush their original token to flee the trial. 5. People who leave early lose any Standing rewards. 6. Trial ends once ten people have entered the pagoda.* 7. Title earned at the end is dependent on performance. I let out a low whistle as I finished the rules. It wasn''t as bad as it could have been. If I understood the intent correctly. Anyone that didn''t want to be here could run away. Which meant anyone I came across was ready to fight and potentially die. The System blood thirst was clear. It didn''t sound like people would just give up their tokens since they were their route home. If I assumed that people could break them in the middle of a fight than a second problem emerged. If I wanted your token I would have to kill before you could break it. The more I thought it about the more my opinion changed. The escape clause seemed more like a trap. Like the System was technically allowing us to be merciful but that mercy might destroy us. Once again I found myself wondering what the System actually was. That being said the rewards were more than interesting. The title sounded amazing if I made the top ten. If I remembered right a pagoda was kind of like a tower. Chances are anything in their would be worth just about anything on earth. Rather it was a weapon or cultivation resource it could catapult me further. I was practically salivating over the possibilities. The world would literally be my oyster. Even that was a major assumption though. The notification said nothing about potential treasures. For all I knew the forest itself would hold the best items. A place like this had to be filled with amazing natural treasures. I was pulled out my musing when a small black and red token appeared in front of me. The token was a pentagram with a stylized tree in the center. The whole thing was the size of my palm and was around three inches thick. The token had a complex looking array spread through it that was lit up like a Christmas tree. When I tried to put it in my ring I noticed a new problem. I couldn''t do it. The stone heated up like it was a hot piece of coal whenever I tried. I summoned a fist sized chunk of cooked meat and put it back. Which confirmed that the ring still worked. "So I guess the token can''t be hidden?" I placed the token into my robes and nothing happened. Which was nice. It meant I wouldn''t have to carry it in my hand. My guess was that it was meant to allow theft as an option. If someone sneaky enough got close they could take it and be gone before you knew. I turned my attention the forest as a wave of power washed over everything. The wave of energy was clear and caused the world to come alive. The sound of the forest washed over me like a cascade. The wind blew through leaves, howls and cries of animals joined together in a cacophony of noise. Even the air felt different on my skin. "I guess that means the barrier is gone." "Are we able to leave?" Xerxes asked with only a slight hint of irritation. "Yep lets go and see what we can get ourselves into. Try not to eat anything unless we know what is though." I expanded my Tao field to cover both of us. Just in case we were surprised by something. It would give us at least a slight warning. "I make no promises." I rolled my eyes as the Qilin practically strutted along. I still wasn''t sure if the attitude was natural. Or if it was because of me. Either way it was pretty cute. "Whatever just stay close. The last thing we need is to get distracted by nonsense." We walked for half an hour before I decided to stop and check out a few of the trees. They were the strangest things I had ever seen. The bark was black almost the color of obsidian but with a slightly wavey texture. The tree lit up emerald green which made me hesitate to touch it. An instinct that was proven correct as soon as I got within ten feet. A scream of danger filled my mind and I had leaped nearly fifteen feet away as black needles fell from the tree''s canopy. There was enough of them to leave me full a holes. "Well got damn." I shook my head at the thin things. They were about the same thickness as the needles you would use at the doctor''s office. Which only made me more nervous. Just how much poison would something like this have? And what would it do to you? There was very little chance that these things were designed to hurt you. They were so thin that unless they got you in the eyes or some other vulnerable spot they would do nothing. I carefully picked one up and placed it into the ring. When it worked I collected five more. I wasn''t sure if they would be useful but on the off chance they were why not have some. I started to walk only to make it another fifteen more minutes. The thing that stopped me this time was much more interesting. There was someone hid in the trees. Or rather behind them. They were about twenty feet away and if it wasn''t for the *Eye of Heaven* I probably wouldn''t have saw them. It was hard to make out any details about them. It was more like I could see their nervous system or rather their spiritual channels. I could tell that they were shorter than me probably closer to five and a half feet. "Master?" Xerxes''s voice filled my mind as I watched them inch closer. "I see them. Do you smell or sense anyone else?" I spoke through our connection. "No one else." "Good, good lets see what they want." I did my best to pretend like I was enthralled by the forest. The trees and grass became the most interesting thing in the world. Somehow who ever followed me was fooled. We continued this cat and mouse game for another twenty minutes. I was ready to just turn around get the battle started when they made their move. A blade imbued with energy shot for my throat at a speed that would make MLB pitchers green wit envy. My Tao field slowed it down for less than a second. Despite that my danger sense stayed quiet. I ducked backwards and brought my hand up. I caught the blade by its handle and less than an inch from my robes. "Damn nice knife." The blade looked a bit like a Kunai only smaller and thinner. I twirled it around my fingers for a moment just as another two shot for me. I was just about to block them with my Tao when Xerxes moved. The small Qilin bit down on the first, shattering it like it was made of glass before while blocking the second with its scales. Genuine panic shot up my spine as I saw the knife hit. Only for the beast to let out a roar of anger and charge into the forest. I shook my head and chased after him. Our attacker tried to flee but there was no chance. If we weren''t in the forest they might have been able to get away but between avoiding trees and us? Xerxes slammed into their back less than three minutes into our chase. The person yelped and fell to the ground. Xerxes kept the figure pinned and I conjured two psychic blades to make sure they didn''t try anything. When I saw who or what it was I paused. They were a dwarf. Like a literal dwarf from a fairy tale. He was short and stout with a long black beard. He even had a hammer on his back. He had a holster on his right leg with one kunai left. "Don''t kill me!" He called out and part of me wanted to show mercy but of course he tried to kill me. I knelt down next to him and searched his robes. It took me a moment ot find his token and when I did I sighed. He had the exact same one as me. I tossed it back to him but didn''t make Xerxes move. "Empty out any storage items you have. If you do you can leave. If you try to kill me again though I will take you out. Same if you attack Xerxes here." The dwarf looked like Christmas had come early. He reached for the bag that was slung across his body. I had to place a hand on Xerxes'' head to calm him down. I wasn''t sure if the growling was serious or if little buddy was doing his best bad cop impression. When the dwarf was once again reassured he dumped everything out. Most of it was food and a few healing pills which didn''t interest me. What did draw my attention were the small pile of spirit stones. They were all first realm but beggars couldn''t be choosers. I took all of those and placed them into my ring. I decided to let him keep the healing pills. I already had plenty and the guy would probably need them more than me. The meat I gave to Xerxes who completely forgot about the dwarf. I was pretty sure he was scared shitless so it didn''t matter. That and the pair of psychic blades were in place to take him out if need be. "Now before I let you leave I need you to answer a few questions." Chapter 25: Savagery "So where are you from? I assume that you are on the frontier too? When did the System arrive?" "What? How would I know? Yes I am from the frontier specifically from the Falling Mountain Sect." The Dwarf replied while he got to his feet. I moved the blades back a little. Not enough that he would be a threat but enough to look like a break. "So all the planets aren''t the same." I spoke out loud though it was mostly for my own benefit. "Alright what can you tell me about your sect? How many of you are here? Did your stars come?" He stared at me like I was an idiot. I pressed the twin psychic blades closer to his threat and the irritation on his face cleared up. He raised both hands placatingly. "Uh no only a handful of else came here. Just those who purchased a token or earned it" "So you aren''t here together?" He shook his head. "So why did you attack alone? Were you not together when you teleported in?" "No, each token leads to a different spot in the forest. Haven''t you done this before? System tokens all work the same in that regard." I stared at him for several seconds. His focus drifted to the eye on my forehead and he shivered. Which brought me a bit of pleasure. "As I was saying why did you attack me specifically? Was it because it was two of us?" He shook his head. "Your aura is weak and you look like you are on a damn stroll through a pleasure garden. I thought you were a rich br¡ª" The blades moved just a little closer and he grunted. "A distinguished young master so I decided to take my chances." I laughed and took a step back. "My aura feels weak huh? Do me a favor and help me compare my strength to the rest of your sect." I unleashed my aura in its entirety. It swept through the forest like a tsunami the trees buckled as if they were being buffeted by an invisible wind. The dwarf''s face paled and he stumbled back a step. The poor man looked like had just seen a ghost. Xerxes on the other hand looked unimpressed. Or rather he looked like nothing mattered except the large animal leg in his mouth. "Just my damn luck a fucking off world elite." The dwarf grumbled. "Why are you hiding about? You aren''t some heretical bastard are you?" Just like that the fire returned to his eyes. Though it was much more muted. His fingers twitched as if he wanted to go for his weapon so I let both blades inch even closer to his throat. I wasn''t sure if he could feel them since they were made out of energy and not steel. Not that it mattered. "I am an unaffiliated cultivator from a small planet. Not entirely sure what ''heretical'' means in this context but I use psychic attacks. If you hadn''t figured that much out already." He stared at me for several seconds and then I felt a warm sensation at the base of my skull. His eyes lit up with spiritual energy and the Eye of Heaven showed me what happened. He had use a spell on me. I waited a second. My psyche should be strong enough to withstand an attack and then the blades would deal with him. When nothing else happened I relaxed. "Information?" I asked and conjured two more blades around his head. "Or communication?" "I was just confirming! I can''t see must of your status screen but I don''t see anything that marks you as a heretic. You also don''t have any fel karma" I cocked my head to the side as I processed what he said. I had heard karma before obviously but with the fuck was ''fel karma''? "What do you mean? How do you check for that?" "Your Karma is based on the things you do. Heretic usually have fel karma. Although there are some ways to cleanse it. The heavens aren''t easily fooled." "What the fuck does that mean?" I looked up at the sky half expecting face to appear and smite me for killing people. When nothing happened I sighed in relief. "Uh Young Master? Are you alright? You seem disturbed? Surely your world has had heretics before? Assassins and people who attempt to subvert Heaven''s path." I slowly nodded although only the part about being an assassin made sense. I didn''t even know what "Heaven''s Path" was. Was heaven the system? If so then would I stop getting quests if I left the path? Would the System generate quests to kill me? "What would happen if you were a heretic? Would the System turn against you? Do other sects turn on you?" He nodded and now he looked much more concerned. His hand drifted toward his hammer but I didn''t really care. "So I assume your Falling Mountain sect is what? Righteous? What''s the opposite of heretical?" "Righteous? Wait wait got damn it are you from a recently assimilated world?" The dwarf''s eyes widen and then he nodded his head as if he solved a great riddle. I considered denying it for a moment but gave up. I knew all of jack shit about the multiverse so lying wouldn''t hold up for long. Plus if people knew they wouldn''t expect me to know much. I would just have to be smart. "Right as much fun as this is." I gestured between us for emphasis. "I have a competition to win. I will keep the blades here for a minute after I am gone. After that you are free to do what you want." I gestured for Xerxes who had finished his meal to follow me. Once he fell into step beside me I waved to the dwarf and started walking. I got about ten feet before I turned around. "Oh right in case we meet again. What''s your name?" "Sikheth, Sikheth Anvilheart" I nodded and committed the name to memory. If we somehow met again it might be fun to compare myself against him. "So what do you think?" "Weak fighter. Good meat." I chuckled and shook my head. "I suppose that''s all that matters. It looks like the fastest way to get people to attack us is if I look as weak as possible." "So we will do the opposite of that?" I still wasn''t sure how he managed to convey an eyeroll telepathically but he did. "Absolutely not. The people who would take advantage of that are probably weak. I would much rather deal with the big fishes." Xerxes snorted and we continued. I returned my focus to the forest around us and quickly put a few things together. Mainly the not all the trees were dangerous. Probably less a fourth of them were but without something like my eye you would have no way of knowing which ones would be safe. The forest itself was going to be the deaths of a lot of people. Xerxes and I walked for another fifteen minutes before something else approached. Only this time it wasn''t a person. It was about the size of a dog and moved on four legs. I stopped moving and Xerxes took up position in front of me while I formed six blades three of which were invisible. The beast charged through the forest a moment later. It split a tree in two and rushed straight for us. The beast reminded me a bit of a wolf. If the wolf had all its skin and fur removed. Then went on a comprehensive set of steroids. The thing looked like it was only muscle. "Fiend Wolf" I barely had a moment to process what Xerxes said before the beast was upon us. Xerxes and the wolf slammed into each other like two elks. The impact was bone shattering but neither of them slowed. My three invisible blades shot forward to join the battle. The beast turned his head and disengaged from my companion just in time to dodge two of the three blades. The third caught it in its side. The wolf then turned and howled. My stomach dropped as the forest came alive around us. Every direction held at least one monster wolf. Which meant we would be surrounded soon. I conjured another six blades and turned to face our new comers. "Deal with that one as soon as you can. I will take care of our new guests." The second and third wolves entered the clearing a second later and caught three blades each. I half expected for the wolves to go down immediately but they didn''t. The pair stumbled before continuing their charge. I activated **Psychic Aegis** just before they reached me. They slammed into my protective bubble with the force of freight train. The bubble held and I triggered Psychic Blast. Bursts of psychic energy slammed into both wolves but to their credit neither backed down. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. The rest of the pack appeared before the next attack could begin. I laughed as I surveyed the six wolves in front of me. Each one had to be around level 40 at least. Based on their energy which meant that I really shouldn''t hold back. I activated Realm of Consciousness and was about to trigger Manifestation of Perfection when I decided against it. On the off chance someone was watching this battle I didn''t want to reveal too much. Especially if they orchestrated this on purpose for some reason. The grey mist filled the clearing. I went to mark Xerxes as immune only to realize that I didn''t have to. He was somehow already protected against the effect. I pushed that thought to the back of my mind as a wave of psychic energy poured into me. "So you all aren''t stupid?" I asked though I knew I wouldn''t get an answer. I formed psychic blade after blade throughout the domain. Some imbued with my tao some not. The wolves weren''t completely out of it though. The confusion effect made coordination nearly impossible so they decided to unleash blast of energy in every direction. Most of which hit the trees around us. The trees shattered like dried wood which only made me increase my blade production. That passive sense of danger picked up which only made the situation worse. My eyes widened when I realized that they weren''t trying to hit me. "You sons of bitches." The majority of the trees shattered but the few that didn''t unleashed their poison needles into the mist. I expanded my Tao field to help resist against them but the moment I did the wolves reacted. It was like my tao became a homing beacon. "Fucking assholes." A indigo sun was born and compressed as I activated Psionic Rain. Psychic blades fell onto the wolves with a vengeance. The attack lasted less than a second before the wolves broke. I wasn''t sure if they were coordinating but they all attempted to run. Since Realm of Consciousness hadn''t faded their was no chance they could escape. Not without sacrificing themselves. I cocked my head to the side as the wolves rapidly died. Their corpses shimmered before a portion of their spiritual energy flowed out and toward me. Watching the kill energy process was freaky but felt amazing. Some of it flowed to Xerxes though it was less than ten percent I couldn''t help but wonder how to deal with it better. Was there a minimum amount of interaction that would divide the energy between us evenly? Could there be a way for me to maximize his growth and then maximize my own? I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind and focused on what was in front of me. The battle wasn''t terribly difficult and I managed to keep most of my cards hidden. I scanned as much of the forest as I could but there was no one else nearby. I gave Xerxes a quick check before placing a pill in his mouth. Most of his injuries were minor but it was best to be safe. Most of his scales were too pliable for my tastes. "You ready to go or do you need to rest?" "Collect the meat." I rolled my eyes before gathering the wolf bodies. There was no chance that I would eat them unless I was desperate. "Are these resources for you? Or do you just want to eat them?" "Both?" I stared at him for a few moments and part of me wished my eye could detect lies but there was nothing. I shrugged and stopped caring. The bodies weren''t exactly nasty thanks to the mental attacks so I didn''t care much. "Any of these direction seem more important than the others?" I took a moment to try and feel out a direction with either my danger or treasure sense but there was nothing. "Forward the important stuff is always in the middle." "Works for me." I spread my Tao field out around us and we pushed forward. The forest changed the deeper we went. The trees were thicker around and lacked the needle like leaves at the top. The grass was upto my knees which only made me more nervous. The mental image of big as snakes hiding within made me wish I had a Tao of fire. Of course I had no way of knowing what would happen if I really set this place on fire. Nor did I want to risk poisoning myself. I was just about to suggest going back when my danger sense picked up. I scanned the forest and grass but nothing appeared. The spiritual energy here was no different than before which put me on edge. "Do you sense anything?" "Danger" I nodded and slowly expanded my Tao field. I waited with bated breath for it to encounter something or for something to attack us. It reached a radius of about thirty feet when it happened. A new energy source appeared. It was almost as if the thing had teleported in. It opened its mouth and something shot straight for me. It spread through my Tao field and slammed into **Psychic Aegis**. I stared at it for a moment in mute incomprehension. An acidic burning sound filled the air as if to confirm that I was indeed looking at a tongue. In the next second the tongue shot backwards and three invisible blades chased after it. I stopped Xerxes from chasing when it once again disappeared from my view. "You are a stealthy son of a bitch aren''t you?" I rapidly considered a variety of options. "Fuck it." I trigged Psionic Rain once again. I aimed the falling blades the best I could but the beast either was immune. Or could move without disrupting the grass at all. By the time my spell was finished I had wasted my energy and was no closer to figuring out where the damn thing was. Before I could decide what to do next something blurred from my left. I ducked just before the slender appendage hit the barrier. I gave it no time to react and unleashed six invisible psychic blades in its direction. The damn thing leaped out of the grass and I finally caught sight of it. The reptile was about as big as pit bull and was covered in thick scales. Scales that were in the middle of changing colors. The creature was ugly to say the least. It had four legs and four beady eyes. It had spines going down its back that made it look a bit like dinosaur. The thing even had frills around its neck. Frills that extended as soon as it looked toward me. My danger sense kicked into gear and I dived out of the way just as it launched a ball of black goo at me. Xerxes and I narrowly avoided the attack only to watch it melt a hole in the ground. "Well damn." I chuckled and formed a pair of balls out of compressed space. Xerxes took off into the grass just in time to stop the weird lizard from fading away again. He slammed into the lizard and knocked it back several feet. Before it could get to its feet both spheres slammed into its sides. I swore when my attack was repelled. Its scales weren''t strong enough to stop the spheres completely. Nor could they kill the thing outright. I pulled the spheres back and sent them in again. The reptile shot its tongue out and wrapped it around Xerxes'' neck. My eyes widen and I stopped my attack as the ugly thing tried to use my companion as a shield. I found the sight amusing, Xerxes did not. He turned his head toward the creature and unleashed a blast of scarlet fire directly into its face. The attack caught the monster by surprise. He didn''t give it the chance to react. The Qilin savagely threw itself on top of its enemy and ripped it apart. I shot a psychic blade into the monster''s head mostly to put an end to its pain. As Xerxes was in the middle of ripping its stomach out. "Well that was a bit much." I said while giving the Qilin a wide berth. "You won''t be able to use the flame for a bit so we should rest for a while." "Ugly bad tasting monsters should just die." The simplistic answer was a little bit frightening and was another reminder that he was not a normal pet. He was a savage monster. "Alright, well lets go I want to try and find somewhere to rest before night falls in this place." I looked at the canopy above and shrugged. "Assuming this place has a day and night cycle." "Find something good to eat and fun to fight." I watched Xerxes trot away from the clearing and laughed. Chapter 26: Real Battle We walked for around two more hours before I brought us to a stop. Three figures waited about one hundred feet in front of us. Hidden behind two trees and a large overturned log. It wasn''t hard to figure out that they wanted to ambush us but they either hadn''t realized we knew. Or didn''t know how to deal with it. "Aye yo I see you." The trio paused as if they weren''t sure if what I said was true or some kind of trick. Just when I was about to unleash my aura one of them stepped forward. This person looked human from what I could tell. Though his skin was a bit paler than I thought was healthy. A bit like a vampire though he didn''t have the teeth or red eyes. The person in front of me was thin and a bit on the scrawny side. He had a rapier on his hip and dagger strapped to his thigh. He wore some kind of leather armor but none felt like a relic. Nor did my eye reveal anything interesting about it. Based on his energy the trio were probably around level 30 maybe 35. "Good Evening. My companions and I had intended to kill you both in one decisive attack but that seems to not be an option." "Well I must admit I am a bit impressed by your frankness and how polite you are being about it. Would you mind showing me what kind of token you have? If you don''t have one I need there isn''t much of a need for us to fight." That must of have made them think I was weak because the other two revealed themselves. The one hiding behind the other tree was thicker. Closer to an average build with a shield in one hand and a mace made out of wood in the other. The third man had a bow that was already raised and knocked. All three of them were bald and covered in some kind of tribal tattoo. "That won''t be happening. The heaven''s want us to fight. We want to fight and there is no better way to accomplish that than¡ª" Xerxes growled to cut off the man and I didn''t need to ask him to understand why. Neither of us were interested in hearing what the man had to say. Nor did we care. Instead I sent energy into the sigil for Inverted Dimension. I watched their energy travel to various points in their bodies but they were way too slow. By the time whatever abilities they wanted to trigger were half full my newest spell took effect. All sound ceased as we were pulled into a sealed space. The world around us was no different than the forest at least not for me and Xerxes. Despite what it looked like we might as well have gone to a new world entirely. A pulse of energy spread out that solidified space and made it difficult for anyone to activate escape skills or treasures. It wasn''t perfect according to Azariah and Desbera the ability completely seal of space wasn''t going to be found in a 1st Realm cultivator''s ability set. This was still an amazing start. There shouldn''t be anyone strong enough to break out in this trial and breaking wouldn''t be easy. It was made harder by the second part of the skill. The trio attempted to attack me but ended up running away from us. Every step forward sent them backwards while every step in either direction sent them in the opposite. At this level the spell would randomly decide how space broke for the victims which kind of sucked. When I added in **Realm of Consciousness** and **Manifestation of Perfection** though it didn''t really matter. The trio became even more confused while their mental energy was drained away and their hearts were assaulted with everyone of their flaws. It was a bit fucked up to watch them flail about. The leader was only that remembered he was supposed to be fighting me but between the mist and the inversion he was forced to unleash attacks in random directions. One of which caused a beam of condensed energy to shoot out of his sword and into the forest. The attack had enough power to punch a hole into every tree I could see. The big guy slammed his mace into the ground which caused an quake that nearly dropped them all into a hole. After a few more minutes I decided it was time to end this. I triggered Psionic Rain and conjured a handful of blades. The two followers died pretty quickly but a ring on the leader''s hand shattered and a bubble of grey energy formed up to protect him. Suddenly his eyes gained a clarity that wasn''t there before. He glared daggers at me before grabbing and shattering his token. My attacks rained down on the shield but it was like trying to punch through steel. Whatever treasure he had used was more than enough to stop me for now. "You will pay for this!" The man snarled and disappeared from the trial. I stared at the spot where he had been and sighed. That was definitely overkill which sucked. "Next time we should try to let them fight for a bit before we just hit them with our best shit. Especially since someone might have watched that." Xerxes and I jogged up to the corpses. I collected their armor and storage bags while Xerxes sniffed at them. I considered taking their corpses but what would I do with them? They were way too human for me to consider allowing Xerxes to eat. Not to mention we didn''t have enough cemeteries on earth for our dead let alone other people''s dead. I decided to leave them there in their under cloths. I collected their tokens and found that they both had a creature that looked like a rhino and tiger mixed together. It had the body of the tiger but the horn and skin of the rhino. The thing looked terrifying and part of me hoped to not find it. While another part secretly hoped to fight something interesting. "Find anything interesting?" "No food" I shook my head at the Qilin and ended my spell. The world around us shattered like class. We returned to the real world a second later and I half expected to get attack. Nothing that exciting or interesting happened. Instead we found the forest as it was. We continued on our way like nothing had happened. We were attacked two more times. The first was a weird squirrel creature that could dig underground and the second was a man bat monsters. The thing was nearly five feet tall and tried to lift Xerxes into the sky. Something that earned it a spot in Xerxes'' stomach. Neither of those battles were what caused us to stop. Instead it was the massive tree hollow we had found. The tree was bigger than almost all of the ones on earth and could probably have fit a city in its branches. The hollow its self was filled with bones most of which were broken. "Do you think we should keep going or wait to see if something comes back?" "*Wait. Big nest means big beast. Big Beast means a lot of food.*" "You do know that we could end up being eaten by it right? I don''t want to be something''s food." "*Then don''t die.*" I glared at the chimerical creature for a long moment before I shook my head. If we were going to be here for the immediate future it would be best to tidy up. Since I wasn''t about to pick up whatever bones these were with my hands now was as good a time as any to get some psychokinesis practice in.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. It took me around two hours to move all the bones and other debris out of the hollow. A process that was made worse by the constant. "Give me food, give me food" from Xerxes. After the first hour I seriously considered how much effort it would take for me to launch Xerxes in the distance. Of course I wouldn''t do that not only because I couldn''t but because I still needed him. "*Now that you are done picking up the dead things. Can we do something fun*?" I gritted my teeth and took a deep breath. "No, we are going to rest. Since nothing came while I was doing that I am going to assume that the monster is either dead or its gone." I sat in the middle of the hollow and unleashed my aura. It exploded out of me throw the forest in every direction. I could almost feel the other beasts take notice of my presence. I didn''t want to start a new battle but this would hopefully make them stay back. Of course it might also draw powerful people here. Which as far as I was concerned was an win win situation. I tossed Xerxes a pair of spirit stones and some meat to cultivate with before I did the same. I let myself sink into meditation and cycled the Ethereal Codex. "Danger" "What?" It took me a moment to process who was talking to me let alone what the voice had said. "Danger!" I bolted up just in time to see an arrow rocket toward me. I threw myself to the side and expanded my Tao to its maximum distance. Anger and confusion raged through me as I took in the seen. It was even darker than before but the enemies were lit up like bonfires. Another arrow forced me to take cover against the tree. "Toss your token out, hand over your pet and maybe we let you leave with your life." I poked my head out in search of the voice only for a scream of danger to force me back. I scanned them through the tree bark and counted a total of five people. All of them were around my level which meant this might get tricky. "Well nice to meet you to. I was wondering when a proper welcoming party would arrive. You mean telling me what token you have? It would make whatever comes next much easier." Two of them started moving their energy into the right and left arms respectively. When I decided to make my move. Inverted Dimension and Realm of Consciousness triggered one right after the other. We were pulled into my personal arena. Five on two were much better odds for having a good time. I let my laughter fill the air adding to the atmosphere as the diamond from Manifestation of Perfection appeared in the sky. I stepped out of my hiding place and unleashed Psionic Rain. Just as the indigo sun appeared a tidal wave of water exploded out of the man in the middle. My eyes widened and I barely had the time to brace myself before I was slammed into the tree. The wind was knocked from my lungs and I wanted nothing more than to crawl into the fetal position. The Eye of Heaven showed that two more skills were on the way. I gritted my teeth and looked to Xerxes who unleashed a blast of flame from his mouth. The fire ball caught one of the warriors in the right arm. The energy in his body slipped out of his control and his scream joined the cacophony of noise. I activated Psychic Aegis seconds before something slammed into the Inverted Dimension from outside. Their leader stepped forward and removed a orb from his bag. The energy packed into the orb warned me before my danger sense did. Under no circumstances could I let whatever that did happen. Two paths figuratively opened in front of me. One where I attempted to retreat and one where I pushed forward. I looked over at Xerxes and we didn''t need to exchange words to know which was the correct answer. I grinned and reached for that part of me that thrived on battle. I activated Apportation and compressed the portal to the size of my hand. Just big enough for the orb. The other end of the portal opened in front of the leader. There was a brief struggle before my spell won. The orb was ripped from his hands and into mine. I placed it into my ring not wanting to risk blowing myself up. Another impact caused cracks to spread throughout the pocket dimension. My connection to both Inverted Dimension and Realm Of consciousness snapped like dried tinder as lightning rained down on the battlefield. I laughed as Xerxes rushed forward. Six psychic blades each imbued with my Tao rushed behind him. Xerxes roared just before he slammed into the closest cultivator. A tall broad shouldered man with a shield the size of door. The man went down but managed to stop Xerxes'' charge. Not that it mattered. Less than a second later six bladed slammed into his prone form. I barely felt the spiritual energy flow into me as I turned my attention to the others. The leader was a slender man with lightning arcing between his palms. He glared at me and I had to resist the instinct to rush him. Instead I activated Psychic Blast. A beam of indigo shot for him seconds before a beam of lightning came for me. The bolt slammed into my shield and exploded in a enough white light to blind both my normal eyes. Fresh cracks spread through my shield as I conjured another sextuplet of blades. This time they were all imbued and invisible. Two shot toward the leader while the other four went to back up Xerxes who was covered in wounds. The qilin hadn''t backed down from the battle and had ripped the arm off of a woman. Two blades slammed into the head of a man who was just about to plunge a spear into his stomach. The next set caught their archer square in the chest. I couldn''t confirm if he had gone down before another lightning bolt slammed into aegis. This time the shield completely shattered. I gritted my teeth as the remnants of the lightning slammed into me. My nerves were on fire. I had to circulate the Taos of Adamance and Lucidity stop from losing my mind. As soon as the pain faded enough for me to think six more blades formed like a halo behind me. The leader''s energy surged just as all six shot for him. Time slowed to crawl as we raced to kill each other. A barrier of blue lightning sprung into existence just in time to block four of my six blades. The first two caught him in the center of his chest. The man stumbled and I grinned. "I take it back. I don''t really care what your token is." I called out and conjured a pair of floating orbs. My danger sense picked up as space somehow felt fragile. Almost like the membrane of the world could be broken if I pushed too hard. I put that thought to the back of my mind. "Peasants should know their place." The man wiped the sweat from his brow as lightning arced all around him. For the first time I found myself jealous. Lightning looked amazing. We stared at each other for a long moment before the ground began to tremble. "Danger!" Xerxes'' practically screamed into my mind before disengaging with the enemy. I had tear my gaze away from the group to see what he was talking about it. I looked to the west but there was nothing. Still the genuine terror in his voice made me want to be safe. I pushed spiritual energy into the Eye of Heaven and wished I hadn''t. A monster was slowly making his way over. The thing was about the size of skyscraper and its energy was at least two or three times my own. "Is that" My mouth dried the creature looked toward me. There had to be at least two miles between us yet it felt like it could reach out and touch me. I took a step back as the creature bounded toward us. My spiritual energy flooded into Apportation. "We should go. We should all go." I turned to other group just as they were engulfed in a burst of lightning. "Sons a bitches." I turned and stepped through the portal along with Xerxes. We skipped five miles in an instant and it still didn''t feel like enough. We sprinted as fast as we could for another three hours before I felt calm enough to stop. The adrenaline had long worn off and my entire body ached. We ducked into another tree hollow. This one was empty thank god. "Are you alright?" "Pain, Lots of pain" He dropped into a heap on the forest floor. I scratched behind the scales on his shoulders. Not sure if that would be same for Qilin and dogs nor did I care. I placed three healing pills into his mouth and then I took two. "Next time it would be wise to avoid a five on two. I assume you couldn''t kill any of them?" I switched to mental communication just in case whatever that was could hear this far. "No, I took one arm and three fingers." The pride in his voice was enough to make me laugh. I wasn''t sure how regrowing limbs worked but there was no way they could do it quickly let alone easily. Once the majority of his injuries had healed I laid back in the dirty. The mixture of exhaustion, excitement and terror made me want nothing more than to get some genuine sleep. "*Can you watch for now? I want to get a nap?*" Chapter 27: Night Terrors I woke up sometime later and something was wrong. I bolted up right and circulated my energy. "Xerxes, is everything alright?" I looked at the small qilin who was staring off into the forest. "Xerxes!" "I don''t know. Something weird." Well that was fucking ominous. I stood up and opened the Eye of Heaven. It took me a second to process what the problem was. There was no energy. It was just like Earth before the System arrived. I tried to pull in energy with my cultivation manual but it was like turning a water will without water. I expanded my Tao field until it covered both of us and stepped out. I shivered as the air brushed across my skin. It was empty. I hadn''t realized just how used to spiritual energy I had become but this felt horrible. It wasn''t quite as bad as not having air obviously but this was wrong. It felt like hundreds of crawling things were going across my skin. Or I guess more like a drug withdrawal. I was about to head back into the hollow when I caught sight of something. It was a humanoid figure about two hundred feet away. I couldn''t see them clearly with either my normal sight or the Eye of Heaven which made me even more anxious. They looked almost like a living shadow with pure white eyes. I took a step toward the figure only for four more sets of eyes to appear just behind it. Every horror movie instinct I had told me to just turn around and walk away. Only this wasn''t a movie, it was very real and since this was a trial it likely had something to do with the forest. "Do you sense anything from them?" "No. very weird people." The slight tremor in his mental voice told me all I needed to know. Whatever the fuck this thing was it wasn''t to be played with. Before I could decide what to do more eyes appeared and then the shadows smiled. Each and everyone at the same damn time. Fuck that. I expanded my Tao field to its maximum but either the shadows didn''t care or they enjoyed it. Each and everyone started laughing. The sound grated on my soul. Like dozens of claws scratching across dozens of metallic chalkboards. Intellect Fortress activated which confirmed that this wasn''t just for show. These things were actually attacking us. I braced myself for a fight but none of the creepy things moved. I checked in with Xerxes who wasn''t faring as well as I was but he wasn''t in danger. I was about to activate **Apportation** to get us out of here when an idea came to me. The more I thought about it the more the idea felt pretty good. I took a seat just outside the hollow and gestured for Xerxes to join me. "Master? What are you doing?" "Its fine. Sit in my lap I have an idea and it might not be fun." The fit was a bit uncomfortable but when he was in position I pushed the Tao of Adamance into him. I felt him relax as the pain from the creatures attacked ended. "I am going to use it to improve my mental defense spell. Can you keep an eye out? Just in case something else tries to attack us?" I ignored his protests and closed my eyes. It took me nearly a minute lower my mental defenses just enough for the pain to increase. It was a bit like goldilocks. I had to find the right amount of agony that it would help me while not actually killing me. Intellect Fortress slowly absorbed more and more of my energy. I slipped into a meditative trance where I was half awake and half not. The pain became a constant presence both a familiar ally and a the worst kind of enemy. By the time I opened my eyes I wasn''t sure if I was relieved or disappointed. The hesitation lasted until I opened my spell screen. It worked! Intellect Fortress had leveled up. From what I could tell advanced proficiency didn''t provide much in terms of new toys. It just made the defense it provided even better. When you added it to what my Wisdom provided my mental defenses were pretty busted. Which only underscored the need to get something better for my physical defenses. I tried to get to my feet only to stumble and nearly fall. My knees felt like they were made out of paper. "Stupid master" Xerxes said. "Well good morning to you too buddy. I hope my cultivation didn''t hurt you too much?" "Of course not. The evil creatures gave up almost an hour ago but you didn''t stop." I nodded and took a deep breath. I didn''t need the Eye of Heaven to tell me that the energy returned. Which only made me more confused. Did the shadows drain the energy or did the energy leave as a way to weaken us before they showed up? I looked up at the tree canopy and chuckled. The System was a son of a bitch. "Did you sense anyone nearby?" "No, no monsters no humans nothing." I scanned the forest with my eye but there was no one within range. Even with energy pushed into it. I shrugged and started to stretch. "Alright so they way I see it we are dealing with one of two possible scenarios. Either the shadows are just monsters that appear in this area of the forest or they appear at night. Or whatever period of day that was. Are you able to keep track of time?" "No" I shook my head and decided to leave that alone for now. Part of me wanted to rush off in search of the group from before but I am not sure we would win. I took their crystal ball thing so we should be able to kill them. Assuming we could use it but did I want that? Intellectually the thought was stupid but it felt like cheating. The weapon was theirs and if I used it to beat them then it was like I hadn''t won. Of course I did steal it so... I pushed the thought to the back of my head and gestured for Xerxes to follow. I wasn''t interested in just randomly activating the thing if I didn''t need to. The last thing I needed was to accidentally blow myself up. "Alright, lets see what we can get ourselves into today." Xerxes and I started off walking but before long we were jogging. The forest turned into a blur as we sped through the it. I wasn''t sure how long we ran before we forced to stop. The section of forest we stopped in seemed normal. Which only made the scene in front of us even more odd. There were two people standing in the center staring down at a red and white lotus flower. The two people were some kind of beastmen. Or some sort of werebear. Each was well over seven feet tall and had massive hammers on their backs. They wore leather armor that looked simple for lack of a better word. It wasn''t until I passed the **Eye of Heaven** over them that I realized what was wrong. They were trapped in some sort of array. Spiritual energy was drawn in from the forest and into a pattern drawn under the grass. If I hadn''t had the eye it would have been impossible to see. Even with it I couldn''t tell what the array did.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Based on the way their energy moved it was like they were asleep but their eyes seemed aware. "What should we do? I might be able to break the array but there is no way of knowing what the consequences would be." "Why help? They got stuck." I nodded at the albeit simple point of view but it wasn''t that simple. I kind of wanted to see if I could do it. This would be my first test with a genuine array. Or rather the first attempt at getting rid of one. The question was how should I begin? There was no central node for the energy gathering. Which meant the obvious part was out. I would also need to worry about what happened when I acted. If I break it wrong the energy would rush out to fill the empty space. I couldn''t properly gauge its strength so it was possible I''d blow us all up. I stared at the array for what felt like an hour before I had a plan. I couldn''t be sure but it looked like either the forest''s growth or time had caused some parts to be weaker than the others. If I could chisel away at those spots I should be able to slowly release the energy. If the worst happened I might able to form the connection with my own mental energy. It wasn''t a perfect plan but since when were there ever perfect plans? I pulled out my stylus and got to work. The work was painstaking and it felt like something was breathing down my neck. Every step made me feel like a bomb disposal expert where as every time the energy got away from me I thought I would die. I circulated the Taos of Lucidity and Adamance to my mind clear. It was impossible to know just how long I sat there before the final thread was undone. The flow of energy attempted to rebound into the array but I took control of it and directed it into my dantian until it petered out. My sense of accomplishment faded when a pair of gruff voice filled the air. Both of the bear people spoke in a way that reminded me of a coach or a drill instructor. "Where are we? What in the great beyond happened." The first one asked while he rubbed his head. "You ask me but how would I have the answer?" The second responded. I got to my feet and smiled as pleasantly as I could. "Greetings gentlemen?" Both of them jumped slightly and reached for their hammers. "Its alright. We have no problems. I managed to get you out of the array and I would prefer not to have to fight you. It would kind of ruin the whole saving you decision." "Just who are you? Some kind of human? Are you one of the princes?" The first one asked. His massive paw wrapped around the handle of his hammer but neither of them drew. "I don''t know who the ''princes'' are." I paused and then shook my head. "Unless you mean a group of people dressed in some robes where one uses lightning. I tried to kill those people." "You fought the third prince?" The second bear asked. His eye widened into saucers. I prepared myself for a battle but there was no anger in his eyes. If anything they looked look like they met some kind of celebrity. "Uh honorable warrior. Would you mind explaining your conflict with the third prince?" The sudden change in tone was jarring enough to stop my train of thought. That wasn''t a problem for Xerxes who strutted in between us. The bond between us lit up with enough pride to make an angel jealous. "I can''t say I have anything against the person. He and four others attacked us. We fought until a massive creature interrupted. My partner here" I gestured to Xerxes. "Removed an arm and some fingers from one of the guards. I am pretty sure the prince isn''t in the best of shape." When I saw the surprise and disbelief on their faces I decided to recount the battle from start to finish. Although I chose to leave a few things out. Including the the sphere that I stole. I didn''t want to risk getting betrayed for whatever it was. When I finished they both looked much more impressed. The larger of the two let out a bellowing laugh. It was so loud that it hurt my ears. "I only wish the great mother had seen it fit to let me see the look on that smug bastard''s face." "Ah right by the way do you mind telling me your name?" "I am Ursine of the Iron tooth Tribe and this is Tanuk." The largest one replied and pointed to himself then the other one. "Right nice to meet you. My name is Amari and this here is Xerxes." "How did you get your hands on Qilin? Are you sure you aren''t a member of the Taesha Kingdom?" I shrugged. "No clue who or where that is. All I know is my planet recently got the System. Not even a year." When I said that they both looked like they were about to leap out of their fur. They then both unleashed a roar that turned into a laugh. "By the Great Mother you fought a prince and his entourage to a stand still? Such a terrifying junior. What do you say that we stick together? My brother and I intend to use the trial to get strong enough to defend our tribe." "From that Kingdom? No offense but if you two are the strongest you got I don''t think you will be able to fight off a whole kingdom. Especially if the princes are organized by power and not age." "Don''t we know it but no our goal is to get a place in the imperial army. If we rank high enough our tribe will get to avoid conscription." Tanuk replied and nodded to his brother. "Oh then are you sure you want to travel? I mean I have no problem I doubt the guy is going to be very happy with me. Especially after Xerxes bit of a guy''s arm off." "Aye that is true but together it might be easier for us to get somethings done. You saved us from the array and I imagine you could use some help with the nastier beasts." I considered it for a moment but decided against it. "No thanks. I appreciate the offer but this is my first time off world and I would like to explore a bit. I also don''t want to get drawn into a world conflict. Especially when I don''t understand what''s happening." That made the mood grow a bit heavier and I was worried that things would fall apart. Thankfully we got through it. I asked a few more questions about their home and learned that it was a planet full of beast people. Up until it was purchased through the System. King Taesha purchased it and half his kingdom that way. Which was apparently allowed through the System. They weren''t sure why so I couldn''t figure out how to protect earth. The System''s defense would defend us for now but nothing was absolute. We sat and talked for a while before it was time to go. Ultimately this wasn''t a social call. We were all in competition for the same prize. I considered asking about their token but I decided against it. I was pretty sure me and Xerxes could take them out but why? I already had two token including a spare so there was no need. I also wasn''t in a hurry to reach the middle. This was a great chance for me to get stronger. "Alright, we are going to leave you both. I wish you the best of luck in your goal. I hope if we meet again that we are able to part on good terms." I decided not to let them watch us leave. Just in case they told some of the princes about it. **Apportation** opened and Xerxes stepped through. "Good luck. I hope you manage to gather your tokens." Ursine waved as the portal shut. A few seconds later we were five miles away. "Meat." I shook my head at Xerxes. "Well at least someone is entertained. Come on lets see if we can find something fun. Not taking whatever flower that was kind of sucked." We turned and took off deeper into the forest. The trees slowly began to shift ones that looked more like palm trees. Only their canopies were a dark sanguine red. Something that made me think the forest was hungry for lack of a better word. We ran for what felt like an hour before we noticed the first problem. The issue came when I stepped through a bunch bramble-like bushes and cut myself. The blood dripped onto the ground and was immediately drained. "Who the fuck made vampire plants?" I was going to ignore when the Eye of Heaven showed me something that made my blood run cold. A black energy flowed into the cut from the trees. I watched this foreign energy travel into my body and then into my dantian with a mixture of curiosity and horror. When it entered my dantian nothing happened. It took me several seconds to realize what it was doing to me. It was slowing my energy down. I popped a healing pill to deal with the small cut and stop the energy. When I circulated the Ethereal Codex. My energy was slightly slower to respond. It wasn''t a big deal right now but if it happened over a long period? Or if I got into a battle and was covered? I shuddered at the thought and checked with Xerxes. Thankfully whatever method he used made it the foreign energy weaker. "Alright so from now on we need to avoid getting cut. Or bleeding at all I suppose." Once again I expanded my Tao field and got ready to leave. The multiverse was truly a fucked up place to be. Chapter 28: Bullies The blood forest only got creepier from there. It felt like we there were eyes on us but nothing worked. Neither of us detected anything which only made me more nervous. It felt like a monster was in the darkness ready to slit my throat. "Are we sure we don''t want to burn this place down? We might be able to skip the entire trial like that. Or at least make it an all out battle." I asked only partially joking. "Forest bad. Forest on Fire worse." The slight edge to his mental voice made it clear he wasn''t completely convinced. It wasn''t until a familiar ache spread throughout my body that I began to get worried. This wasn''t because of the black energy or the trees. No this was my body finding something it wanted. Which meant there was a treasure somewhere in nearby. For the first time sense all this went down I seriously considered just ignoring it. "I can''t. I could probably use whatever power boost it would provide." I sighed and ignored Xerxes'' confusion. I adjusted our angle and picked up the pace into a brisk job. It didn''t take long for us to find where we were supposed to be. Which only made me confused. There was a small blood-red fruit hanging from a tree in the center of red marshy spot. The fruit reminded me a bit of a pomegranate only it looked like it dripped blood. The weirdest part though wasn''t the fruit. It was the three humans trying to rip each other apart. At first I thought it was just a battle but there were a lot of things wrong with it. First the trio attacked each other indiscriminately. Second none of them used the weapons that were scattered around them nor did they even attempt to use their spiritual energy. It was like they had all lost their minds. The fourth thing was what sealed the deal for me. I felt something pushing against my mind and then Intellect Fortress activated. The effect wasn''t anything notable but I had a theory on why. The black mist from before had already been expelled from my system but what would have happened if was still there? Would this treasure''s influence have made the mental attack worse? Either way it didn''t matter. The trio had different token than I did so taking them out was obvious. I formed blades imbued with the Tao of Lucidity and shot them at the trio. They each got two mostly because I wanted to see if saving them was even possible. As soon as the blade sunk into their bodies the trio stopped fighting and turned toward me. The scene was like something out of a horror movie. My gaze drifted between them and the tree. The damn thing was controlling people. What is with the System and the evil plants? I activated Psychic Aegis in its wall form and waited. The trio ran straight into the wall as if they expected it to break. Another six blades slammed into them this time each pair had a different imbuement. They stumbled back a step and were slow to rejoin the battle. Not that I planned on giving them a chance. I unleashed a compressed Psionic Rain to finish this off. Their kill energy flooded into my dantian a moment later. Next I decided not to just walk up to the tree. On the off chance it could do something special. This was also an excellent time to practice with my Psychokinesis. I reached out to the fruit and gently tugged it toward me. It took me nearly ten minutes to bring it over. I wished I could say it was because of the tree but that wasn''t true. As far as I could tell the tree wasn''t able to do anything. When I had the fruit in hand I almost wished I didn''t. My body definitely wanted it but here was something else there. A sense of danger that made me not want to eat it. There was also the things texture. It was cold and slimy. "Are you able to use this?" "Eat!" I considered handing it over but decided against it. I decided to trust my danger sense that and it was really nasty. I put the thing in my ring. "Alright now should we destroy this place? I could probably carve through it. If you set it on fire." "Let plant kill other people. We should leave." I sighed and collected the three tokens. All three tokens had the same image, a blood red drop. I started to put together how this trial was set up and I had to admit it was interesting. The trial was likely divided into five zones. Each zone had a single type of token. Someone who wanted to win would need to grab a token from each zone. Which meant that the most optimal play would probably be to wait until someone grabbed the other four and then kill them. Of course the danger was that whoever could gather four would be strong and that might have only gotten stronger with treasures. Not to mention the number disparity. The best target would be a solo traveler or perhaps a duo? I grinned as an idea began to form in my mind. What would happen if one person gathered all the tokens? Or perhaps almost all the tokens? "Hey Xerxes what do you think if we made people come to us instead of going to them?" The plan was more of a loose idea at this point. If we were going to pull it off we needed a spot that was beneficial to me while being central. Which meant I needed to find like a hill or something. Once there I needed to get the word out. There was also the risk of the prince. I didn''t think I could beat that whole quintet in a 5 on 2 let alone if it was the entire trial. For now though there wasn''t much to do and I wanted to find a few more treasures. I might be able to create a dinner bell of some kind if I get enough of them together. "Which direction?" "That one" Xerxes replied while pointing toward the west. I couldn''t come up with a reason to reject that so we left. I expanded my Tao field again and scanned the environment. The further we walked the stranger the place got. It wasn''t just the trees there were vines, flowers and other plants that were freaky for lack of a better word. It was as if some crazy person randomly combined several different things. As if they wanted to see what would happen. We came across a massive flower that made my stomach turn. It looked like the corpse flower from earth only it was four times as big and dripped a syrupy blood red gel. The worst part was that it smelled sweet. Like it was filled berries or candy. I felt something tug at the edges of my mind as if I was being drawn to the flower. Or rather that the flower was trying to draw me to it. The effect wasn''t anywhere near strong enough but it made me want to destroy the thing. "Do you think this would be valuable? Or should we just break it?" I asked the question though I was pretty sure I already knew the truth. If the System was anything it was balanced. This place was designed to make us kill each other but their were plenty of rewards.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The question was how do I harvest it and what did I harvest? Was it the gel I wanted or the plant itself? I pulled a sword out of my ring. "Do you know how to do this?" "Nope" The smugness in his mental voice made me seriously consider tossing him into the plant. I tossed the Qilin some meat and made my way up to the plant. Its allure intensified but it wasn''t at the level where Intellect Fortress activated. At first It tried to find any kind of seed or whatever this kind of plant would use but either there was nothing or I had no idea where it was. I gave up after a few minutes and grabbed the plant with my psychokinesis. When I was sure I had it I used the sword to cut through the base of the plant. Once the bulb was free I placed it into my ring and dug up the roots. The roots were oddly normal. A tangle of black and red thorn like things. I half expected them to crawl about or some insane scary movie shit. Those also went into the ring and then I stepped away. Not wanting to get involved in whatever this was any longer. I drew out a water skin and washed the syrup from my fingers as we walked through the forest. I had just convinced myself that my fingers were clean when a scream shattered the calm. I raised an eyebrow at Xerxes just to confirm that we both heard it. We didn''t exchange words as we jogged through the forest. My initial instinct was to sprint to the voice but this forest was able to lie. Also who knew just what I would find. Despite my hesitation we arrived at the source of the voice within a few minutes and what I saw made my blood boil. There were four people in the clearing. Three of them were men in full plate style armor. The armor was the color of steel though it had a small amount of spiritual energy flowing through it. A stylized two headed raptor sat in the middle of their breast plate. The bird was beautiful and was done with a mix of blue and gold that made it feel like it was heavenly. It somehow felt like it would just fly off the armor if given a chance. Based on the energy that flowed to and away from it I realized that I might not be far off. The fourth person in the scene was what made me angry. It was an older man who lacked his right arm. He was covered in dozens of cuts and bruises. The black energy that poured into him was waging a way against the energy in his dantian. A war that the man struggled to endure let alone fight. A process that was made infinitely harder by the attacks from the other three. It wasn''t even like they were trying to kill him. They were just making his life harder. "Please I will pay you when the trial is over. I have already found several herbs." The old man pleaded. "Like we care about that. We were told to collect the payment from you today. If you can''t pay..." The leader''s grin had a predatory glint to it. A glint that made me want to punch him. A wolfish grin spread across my face as I made my choice. There was something I wanted to test. When three test subjects so eagerly volunteered who was I to refuse them? I pushed energy into Inverted Dimension. I took control over the domain as it spread out across the forest. I released slowly, letting it slowly replaced the world until it extended well beyond the foursome. The act was uncomfortable to say the least. It was like trying to restrain an unruly dog. A dog that wanted nothing more than to jump leash and rush forward. Once it was done I leaped up into the branches of the tree. I did my best to imitate a relaxed and mischievous posture. Even while the branches poked into my back. The moist things felt like bloody fingers and every part of me wanted to just break the whole thing. "Fellas!" I pushed a small amount of spiritual energy into my vocal chords. Just enough to have my voice boom throughout the domain. They turned to face me but of course they faced the wrong direction. Next I activated Realm of Consciousness. The mist bellowed out from my actual position which only increased the confusion. The old man''s eyes widened and he became praying to someone called "The Traveler" which added yet another question to my long list. I tried to protect him from the spell but I couldn''t. For some reason the only person I could interact with on that level was Xerxes. He wasn''t my target so I pushed him to the back of my mind. The trio had a very mixed reaction. They had a fallen back into a formation that left no avenue for a surprise attack. Except either below them or above. They all had drawn short swords. Though none of them were relics. They all had storage bags connected to their hips. I briefly considered stealing them but it would take too much time. "I would give you the chance to apologize to the man on the ground but lets be honest. You won''t. You will answer a question for me though. Are you with one of the princes?" My only source of hesitation was that I didn''t want to start a two person war against a royal family. If they all had armies with them in here than I would die just from sheer numbers. I also didn''t want to start a rebellion or anything like that. "That''s right bastard. We are members of Prince Scythan''s Honor Guard." The lead man began. His eyes scanning the distance. "Reveal yourself now and we will give you a painless death." I stared in utter confusion for several seconds before I realized he was serious. "Why the fuck would I do that? Do people actually agree to that? I mean I could understand if we were on your world but I could just break my token to leave." It wasn''t until I finished my sentence that I realized my mistake. I just revealed that we weren''t from the same world. I wasn''t sure if that information could be used to hurt me but I wasn''t going to take any chances. I activated a compressed Psionic Rain wanting to end the fight as soon as possible. Unexpectedly a ring on their fingers shattered and a transparent barrier appeared. For a moment I was worried the barrier would be strong enough to make this a fight but I was proven wrong. The blades all went through the shield as if it wasn''t there. The trio barely had the time to yell out as they were pelted with dozens of mental blades. I conjured another six psychic blades just to make sure they died. Every instinct I had warned that his was probably a trick to get me to reveal myself. When three sources of kill energy flooded into me though I relaxed. Did they not have mental defenses? My mind was brought back to a conversation with Desbera about the rareness of my particular class. People who specialized in psyche based attacks were very uncommon out here in the edges. Which also must mean that defenses against such attacks are equally rare. That still didn''t account for just how weak these three were though. A honor guard should be strong enough to protect their prince so either this "Prince Scythan" was weaker than the last one or these guys were the scraps that he could send out. Either way there wasn''t much I could do about it. I was just about to end my domain when a second ring shattered. This one was on the lead guards finger. When it did a bolt of blue energy shot up and into the air. It reached the ceiling of my domain before shattering in a display of blue and gold sparks. At first I thought it was just weird fireworks. Then I realized that it was a warning system. It was meant to let people know that this person was dead or at least in trouble and where to find him. Of course it was pretty useless inside this dimension so it didn''t matter. I waited another few minutes before I decided it was time to move on. There was a chance that there was a secondary signal that would trigger as soon as we returned. The spell would on its own eventually so there wasn''t much to be done but give it a try. I ended the Inverted Dimension. The world shattered and we were back in the real forest. I made my way over to the trio and collected all their valuables. I was about to transfer all the stuff in their bags into my rings when I thought better. You couldn''t really put a spatial item inside another one. Without the risk of the two spaces breaking. Instead I transferred the stuff into one bag and hid that one inside my robes. The now empty bags were then slung over my shoulders. That way if someone tried to rob me they would go after these bags and not search for the ring. Or the third bag. The idea wasn''t perfect but it worked for me. I then stuffed their armor, weapons and tokens away. I already had their token so it wasn''t a positive for me but I might be able to trade it later. When everything was taken care of I turned my attention to the man who hadn''t gotten up. He looked like he couldn''t decide if I was an angel here to save him or a demon that would kill him. Which was fair since I had just killed three people in the span of a minute. A process that wouldn''t have made any sense unless you knew that they were mental attacks. "Hey there how''s it going?" Chapter 29: War The man stared at me silently for so long that I thought Ethereal Convocation had stopped working. When Xerxes stepped in between my legs and up to the man he responded. "Uh th-thank you honorable stranger." He began and I held up a hand stop him. "Just speak freely. I have no interest in hurting you or taking anything you own. I am going to assume that you either don''t have your token or your token is the same as the other three." His eyes went wide and then he nodded so fast that I thought his head would fall off. "Yes, yes very wise indeed. I entered in this part of the forest. How could the small baubles I have be of interest to the distinguished young master." I stared at him and then turned to Xerxes. "Right, right can you confirm something for me. Is Prince Scythan the third prince?" He shook his head. "No, he is the second." I rubbed my chin and paced around the clearing. "Are they ranked by power or by age?" "Uh neither. It is based on favor from the King. Prince Scythan is actually the eldest sibling. It is unknown which of the three is strongest." "Interesting. Which of them is the wealthiest?" Now the man began to squirm. He searched the dirt in front of him as if it would tell him the answer. It wasn''t hard to guess what he was thinking which also meant he was useless to me. "Scratch that no need to answer. I am going to leave and I would like you to deliver a message for me. Let them know what happened here and if they would like to get revenge they are welcome to find me. Oh and let them know that I am the person who fought the third prince earlier." The man''s face went through a series of expression. From eagerness to outright terror. By the time I was finished he looked like I had just handed him off to the executioner. "Just tell people what happened and what I look like. The rest of the details I leave to your discretion. You can even use the information for benefits if you come up with a way to do so." I gave the man a healing pill but I wasn''t sure if it was to make me feel better or him. Regardless I pushed the man from my mind and sprinted off into the forest. We ran until we came across a spot to rest. The area looked mostly "normal" the grass only had a slight red tint and wasn''t wet nor slimy. It was still overgrown so it wasn''t exactly an ideal camping spot. There were three trees surrounding the clearing that gave cover from each direction. It wouldn''t hide us completely but it would help. "Alright, lets rest here for a bit. We can recover our energy and get ready for a real battle." Xerxes snorted before laying in the grass. "Good fight. Today has been very boring." I shrugged at that. I couldn''t really disagree with it and I could understand why he wouldn''t be happy about it. "There would be plenty of time for real fights so no need to worry." I sat down and went through my new treasure hall. The trio didn''t have much. There weapons were higher quality than what we had access to but that was about it. The few resources they had were found in the bloody section of the forest. Which was good. The Eye of Heaven helped me divide the stuff into low quality and middle quality things. Mostly based on the amount of energy they held. That and how stable those treasures were. I kept the divide as I placed the gear back into the ring. Most of it anyway. I kept two weird looking fruits. They both kind of looked like candy apples. Though just behind the hard skin was a blood red liquid. Both of them made my cells ache and I was pretty sure I knew what they were. They were attribute fruits. Though I couldn''t tell which attribute it would improve. I tossed the bigger of the pair to Xerxes. I figured he could use the bigger boost since my attributes were already insane. "Well bottoms up." I opened my mouth and took a bite. The skin cracked and the sweetest liquid flooded into my mouth. I hated how tasty it was. I finished the fruit in a three bites and part of me wished that I had another. Energy surged into and threw my body. I pulled up my status screen and nodded. My constitution rating increased by two which considering where we were made some sense. "Did you enjoy the fruit?" I asked as I turned to face Xerxes. "*More food!*" He practically roared in my mind. I rolled my eyes and tossed him another piece of meat. "If you keep eating like this you are going to get fat." We stared at each other for a moment before he snorted. I rolled my eyes and he went back to eating. I resisted the urge to laugh at him before settling in. I circulated the **Ethereal Convocation** and let myself slip into meditation. We sat there for several hours before a passive sense of danger filled the air. I ended my cultivation session and got to my feet. I couldn''t be completely sure but it seemed like one of the princes had come to find us. Or at least some of their people. I opened the eye and infused it with spiritual energy. Sure enough five figures lit up in the distance. The middle most figure was stronger than the other four but not overly so. Which made me think it was a kill squad and not the actual person. They would be here soon which meant it was showtime. "Xerxes new friends are on their way. Are you ready to greet them?" Xerxes looked at me, tossed his head back and let out a roar. He then unleashed a surprisingly condensed aura. It felt like it was nearing level 30 though it was hard to guess beast levels properly. I got to my feet and cracked my neck. I wished I could see what kind of stuff they had in their bags. "Alright, you run interference for their martials. I will do crowd control." I transmitted a series of images through our connection to explain what I meant. I couldn''t be sure he actually understood but he did move in front of me. So I considered that a win. I considered setting up a few traps just in case but I had no idea how nor did I have anything that could hurt people like us. I watched them get closer and then their auras disappeared. They couldn''t block their spiritual energy but it was still weird. At first I thought it was the environment but the effect got stronger as they got closer. "Are they trying to hide from us?" I had to resist the urge to laugh. Instead I pulled out my waterskin and leaned against a tree. I lowkey wished that I had a table to set up just to really hammer home the uselessness of the situation. I took the time to circulate my energy as I waited for them. By the time they appeared I was almost bored. The leader landed closely followed by the four others. The look of surprise and curiosity on their faces made my preparation more than worth it. The four in the back wore the same armor that the trio from earlier did. Only they wore their helmets. Their leader''s armor was much higher quality and his bird''s color scheme was inverted. The leader was also the only one not wearing a helmet. His head was bald and his right eye was milky white without a pupil. He looked at me for a moment before shifting his attention to Xerxes. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. "That is a Qilin. How exciting. The prince has given me some measure of judgement over your fate. If you hand over your pet as well as your token. We will only take your right arm as payment for the deaths of our fellows." I stared at him blankly for a moment and then gazed at Xerxes. "Well do you want to go with the strange man?" I mockingly asked. "*Can I eat that one*?" He sent a mental image of the woman on the far right. The idea of letting him eat a person still kind of felt weird but a fights a fight. "*Sure have fun*" "I am not sure what you are doing but the Prince has been kind enough to extend me these privileges. Do not make me regret extending them to you." "I am sorry what''s your name?" I interrupted. "This will be a lot easier if I have an actual name for you. It will stop me from calling you something rude in my mind." "You may refer to me as Tamais. I must insist upon your answer now. The prince did not give us all the time of this trial to settle this issue." I nodded. "Of course, of course oh right which token do you have? Just for information gathering purposes." A small vein protruded from the man''s temple and for a moment I thought he would just attack. To his credit though he didn''t. "We have the one from the swamp lands. It resembles some sort of chimeric frog." I scanned his armor but I didn''t see any signs of the actual token. "Don''t tell me your prince takes the tokens from you all? Oh right about your offer. Unfortunately Xerxes here doesn''t want to go with you. I also have no interest in giving up the tokens I''ve collected." Tamais reacted as if my words had physical weight. As if they had somehow slapped him across the face. Confusion transformed into fury as he drew a long rapier from his bag. The others moved as well. Three of them drew blades while the fourth conjured a fireball in her palm. Spiritual energy surged into the several sigils, one after the other. First **Inverted Dimension**, then **Realm of Consciousness**, then **Manifestation of Perfection**. Space trembled as the world around else was replaced with one of my design. The rage in Tamais'' eyes was replaced with concern for just a moment. "Activate the formation!" He called out. The mists of **Realm of Consciousness** had hidden him from back up. Which meant it was time time for me to get to work. Six invisible blades formed a halo above me. Before I could launch them something strange happened. A stream of pure spiritual energy sailed from the four guards into Tamais. I quickly put two and two together and realized that whatever formation they were using didn''t need senses to work. It would just go to the proper location. I made a mental note to find a way to deal with that weakness later. I considered stopping him but a part of me wanted to see just how strong this formation would be. If this guard could use it then the princes likely could as well. Which meant I needed to be prepared. I also just wanted to fight it. The transformation he underwent was fascinating. Outwardly he looked the same but the energy going through his body was insane. It was like he had just jumped more than ten levels. I didn''t think he had entered the next realm but he was pretty close. Unfortunately for him he still couldn''t see. I unleashed all six blades at him only for him to trigger a skill. A barrier made out of crackling black energy formed just as my attack arrived. Unlike the trio this barrier completely blocked my attack. I grinned when I saw that I might get to have some fun. "*I am going to deal with important one. Try to take out the others if you can. Hide in mist. Don''t let them hit you.*" Xerxes roared his response and took off toward the group. Who hadn''t moved. I pushed them to the back of my mind and focused on **Manifestation of Perfection**. The diamond''s light grew more intense and Tamais began to waver. Uncertainty crossed his features before he shook his head. He then raised his sword and unleashed a beam of pure spiritual energy. A laser of darkness blasted through the mist and through the wall of **Inverted Dimension**. My connection to the spell grew weaker but it wasn''t destroyed. "Very impressive. The other three weren''t strong enough to do that nor were they strong enough to defend against me earlier." I taunted while launching another sextuplet of blades. He avoided two of the blades while the other four caught in his torso. "Come on. Don''t tell me that''s all you got Tamais. Your prince is going to be so disappointed." Tamais gritted his teeth. "I will carve out your lungs and hang them from your body for thirty days." "That sounds like the bloody eagle." I cocked my head to the side. For a moment I wondered if our fairytales and myths were just cultivators that were on earth briefly. I put that thought to the back of my mind when Tamais activated another skill. This time he sunk into a pool darkness at his feet and reappeared twenty feet away. He was further away from me than he was before so I wasn''t worried but it was proof that he had unlocked quite a few of his skills. My mind went back to that massive bolt of lightning from the third prince. I was about to activate Psionic Rain to further test him when I noticed something odd. His other soldiers refused to activate any of their skills. Even once Xerxes started attacking. "Oh don''t tell me that they are giving you their energy? Well that''s ass." I seriously considered unleashing a dozen attacks on the squad but didn''t. One it wouldn''t be any fun and two I wanted Xerxes to get the kill energy. They should give him at least a couple levels. Instead I activated a compressed **Psionic Rain**. Blades rained down and I expected him to trigger the shield again but instead he imbued his blade with darkness. I couldn''t tell which strand it was probably shadows or something similar. He launched a thrust toward the indigo sun and like something out of an apocalypse movie it was consumed. Inky blackness surrounded it until both it and its blades were gone. The abruptness of it was startling. "How did you do that?" I know he wouldn''t respond but it didn''t matter. Based on how much energy went into my spell I doubted he could do that again. At least not easily. I activated **Psychic Blast** and unleashed a beam of psychic energy. The attack washed over him in a second. He screamed and then the energy in his body surged. Once again a black sphere enveloped him but before I could prepare my next attack a scream of danger caused me to dive to the ground. I narrowly avoided an explosion of utter darkness. I felt my connection to all three of my spell end and the world shattered. For a moment I thought we had been thrown into a literal abyss. The defensive array in my robes was overrun in an instant. My skin felt like death itself had pressed boney needles into every cell. Pain shot down my bond with Xerxes making it clear that we both had endured the attack. Another scream of danger forced me to roll just before a sword slammed into the earth. I locked eyes with Tamais and he was utterly furious. I formed the largest sphere of compressed space I could manage and shot it at him. I was sure that it would hit and at least force him back. Instead he bent backwards until he was nearly parallel with the ground. The feat was impossible by all laws of physics I had ever understood yet this man just did it. I activated Psychic Aegis in its wall form just as he righted himself. I imbued the spell with the Tao of Adamance just as he imbued his blade with some piercing Tao. I rolled to my feet just as his rapier punched straight through the shield. "Alright! Now this is what I wanted!" He withdrew his blade and I conjured another six blades. Three of which were visible. I take a moment to check in with Xerxes who had lost most of his momentum. The others hadn''t managed to turn the tables yet but it was much more even. I turned my attention back to Tamais and laughed. Time seemed to slow to crawl as the thrust a blade cloaked in darkness at me. I gave up on Psychic Aegis and instead brought all six blades together. All six shot forward to meet his attack. When they met it was like the world exploded. The confusing mix of colors blinded me or rather almost blinded me. I closed my natural eyes and sent spiritual energy into the Eye of Heaven. A familiar sensation filled my mind and I knew exactly what to do. I gave up on energy manipulation and summoned two swords from my rings. Before I had a chance to think about what I was doing I launched myself at Tamais. I slammed into him like an NFL linebacker. We hit the ground. Instead of imbuing the blades with the Tao of Compression I created a spot at their tips. A spit where space was crushed to a pinpoint. I slammed both blades into his chest just before pain exploded in my left side. I turned the blade in his chest and something inside me popped. A spider web crack of space spread out from the wound until Tamais'' body shattered like glass. The most spiritual energy I had ever felt surged into my dantian like a tsunami. Utter bliss mixed with the trill of battle in my mind as I turned my attention to the other four. "Master!" Xerxes'' voice traveled down our connection but it felt distant. Like he was calling to me down a long hallway. Not that it mattered. I got to my feet and formed a halo of blades above me. I unleashed all six at the remaining warriors. There was only three targets? My vision blurred just as all six slammed into their targets. Suddenly the ground rose up to meet me. I tried to push energy into the sigil for aegis but the skill was on cool down. "Heal!" I summoned a pill bottle from my ring but my hands had gone numb. I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and prepared for another attack only to realize it was Xerxes. I grinned. "We won" Then the world went dark. Chapter 30: New World I bolted up sometime later. My addled brain braced for a fresh fight. Instead I found a rather irritated Xerxes looking at me. ¡°Stupid human.¡± I resisted the urge to laugh at the irritation in his voice as I recalled the battle. Based on the gaps in my memory and what Xerxes explained I hadn¡¯t won as cleanly as I thought. Tamais had stabbed me in my lower right side. Whatever Tao he used has wreaked havoc inside my body. When I passed my mental gaze over my channels I nearly cried. The area around the impact site was ruined. Fortunately the area didn¡¯t have any sigils but it ruined the circulation of my energy. It was a bit like a car crash on a highway. A bit of experimentation revealed that the situation was a bit of a mixed bag. I could redraw the area but it would hurt. Like a son of a bitch. The pain was like carving into my actual flesh. After my first attempt I wondered if the channels were literally a part of my body. Despite what the tutorial workers and Desbera had said. With the damage done I would probably need to spend a day or two redrawing the area. Which would take us out of the battle. To add insult to injury Xerxes had been forced to drag me away from the battlefield which meant we hadn¡¯t claimed any of the gear. I wanted to go back but Xerxes confirmed that there was another alert ring. Which meant that people could have found the battle site already. The results of the fight weren¡¯t all bad though. Xerxes had gained the majority of the energy from his battle and it was immense for him. He had to have gained at least two or three levels. For me the gains were less noticeable on the outside but no less powerful. First my comprehension over the Tao of Compression had increased. Tao of Compression. Comprehension: Middle. Intelligence +20, Strength +20 The change made my aura even more condensed. Despite all the power I had used I still managed to reach level 41. Leveling had started to feel like a Sisyphean task. Where every battle would cost me more than what I gained. Now the quiet days of meditation could make up the difference so it wasn¡¯t helpless. Progress was like trying to fill a bucket with a thin stream of water where every so often the bucket would get dumped over. Those weren¡¯t the only benefits though. My proficiency with both Ethereal Convocation and Realm of Consciousness increased a stage to Advanced and Mastered Respectively. Based on the new sigils the improvements were notable. Realm of Consciousness increased the omniscience which was great. It also would drain more energy. Convocation''s improvement was much more interesting. It increased my group call size to five people. The connection it would create would be much more stable. I could also keep the call stable for a full day. Lastly the maximum range was five miles. My stats had taken a large leap forward which made the situation much better. I placed my free points into Constitution mostly due to my inability to avoid getting stabbed. The boost wouldn''t amount to much in the grand scheme of things but that was fine. I pulled up my stats and gave them a final review. My wealth was also incredible. Apparently killing real people was very lucrative in the System''s eyes. Which gave me mixed feelings. On one hand it meant I was rich. At least by Earth''s standards on the other hand it meant that the System really wanted us to kill each other. Would everywhere just be lawless wastelands? I shook my head and pushed those thoughts down. I knew that wasn''t the case. At least one Kingdom existed and at least one sect which meant there were likely many more. No way if one civilization managed to dominate everything that there princes would be stuck here for this trial. Especially since they hadn''t already left. Why risk everything here when you could just buy a kingdom''s worth of supplies? The tutorial workers also mentioned a few factions. The thing I needed to be worried about were the laws. There was no guarantee that slavery for example, was illegal everywhere. I shook my head and focused back on the world around me. Ultimately there was no use worrying about other things. I needed to focus on the current situation It was hard to determine just how strong I was since there was nothing to compare myself to. The closest benchmark I had was Tamais¡¯ energy and I was much stronger than him before the formation activated. When I took the formation into account I was just a bit stronger. If I was forced to fight him straight up I would probably lose but if I set up my full kit and avoided him. Well that would be a different story. I got to my feet and stretched my muscles. The area Xerxes dragged me to was some kind of burrow that sloped into the ground. We were at the border of the bloody area and the swampy one. I used my psychokinesis to bury the entrance to our hiding place and pulled out my spirit stones. I gave half of them and all of the uncooked meat to Xerxes. The last battle made it pretty clear that we weren¡¯t quite ready to do whatever we wanted. Which meant it was time to get things on the road. I would give it three days. Three days to recreate my channels and to gain as much powers as possible. After that it would be time to see what the rest of the trial had for me. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Prince Scythan) I took a sip of bloodroot tea as I poured over the map. The chimeric forest was worst than expected. Yet it had made little difference. I turned an eye toward my Hand. Talia hadn''t moved from her spot on the ground nor had I expected her to. "Tell me what do you think of the situation?" She kept her gaze on the ground but spoke with a surety that gave respect to her position. A position that had been earned with the slaughter of countless others. "I believe it would be best to wait. We do not know the identity of this rogue cultivator. It is likely that they are a mercenary under either the King or the Crown Prince. That assumes we trust what the third said on the matter." "You don''t believe him?" She hesitated a slight shift of weight the only thing that showed her fear. "I do not mean to question the royal family¡ª" "I believe him. My brother is soft but not foolish. He doesn''t have the mettle to throw away his followers. Furthermore I spoke to one of my spies amongst his followers. Do you know what they told me?" "I wouldn''t dare to make assumptions." I chuckled at the response and leaned back in my chair. This accursed demiplane was another reminder of why I hated leaving the palace. Who but the peasants could live like this? "His wounds were primarily to his soul. Further the Tao in his wounds were strange." "Do you mean to say we are dealing with a mentalist?" "It seems like that but it begs the question. Are we dealing with a person who belongs to a proper clan? If so why are they so clandestine? If they wanted they could just claim the trial''s top spot. I have a theory. I believe that we are dealing with a man in exile. Perhaps a forgotten son or some such. It would explain the reports of Qilin and his power."A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. I took another sip and turned in the direction of the crown prince''s camp. "I had considered inviting him to my side but after his defeat of Tamais I am not so sure. Tamais had managed to activate his formation but there is no indication that the formation was deactivated. Do you know what means?" There was a brief pause while she considered the information. It was almost like watching a clockwork automaton. Finally when it clicked she shuddered. "That was strong enough to defeat him while he was empowered? That would place him at the peak of the Condensation realm? Why would someone like that come here alone?" "I do not know and truth be told I do not care. This is our best chance to deal with at least one of my brothers. Prince Kerian has not recovered yet he hasn''t left the trial." "I...the King decreed that the family was not to kill one another." There was a slight tremble in her voice. A tremble that made me grin with delight. It had taken me years to get the perfect reaction out of her. It was almost like playing an instrument. "Who is to say who killed him and who didn''t? Not even my royal father can see what happens in a System Trial." Of course the unsaid part was that I wouldn''t be the one punished should he find out. I took another sip of the tea. Spiritual energy flowed into my dantian. Even with the better environment I hadn''t reached level 38. I could grab one or two level if I burned the majority of my wealth but that was impossible. Why would anyone become penniless just to speed up the process? "Get ready. I want to move out in the next four hours." With any luck the race for the throne would have one less participant soon. Talia backed out of the tent and I was left alone. My gaze shifted to the array around the tent. The only thing that kept the putrid air of the outside from getting in. "I hate this damn realm." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (Aaliyah) The new recruits went over their spear forms while I glared at them from my rooftop. Their average levels had stagnated and for some unknowable reason that bastard left me with the final say. Both sides had become insufferable in his absence. The cultivators and Christopher wanted to keep pushing especially with the System''s Herald''s new level. Amara couldn''t be defended by one person especially not a person who was hell bent on not being here. I sighed and stared at the setting sun. That wasn''t fair. It was more accurate to say that stagnation was lethal now. The status quo was change. Those of us who wanted to settle down and forget the chaos were in danger of being eaten. Even if we hid behind the walls. Furthermore an unpleasant rumor had started to spread. A rumor that was hard to disprove. Most of us no longer received quests. It was impossible to prove of course. There was no quest generator but it was a specter that hung over everyone. Especially the "forsaken" as people had started calling them. Without the System''s Guidance people had gone a bit crazy. "Aaliyah" I groaned and turned around. Keshaun and Christopher waved at me and I shook my head. "What''s up?" "We have a problem. A group of cultivators have attacked a group of noncultivators. They are trapped in an old apartment building. We hoped that you could go and deal with it." "I am not him. I can''t fight of a group of people." I sighed but drew my daggers. "Where?" Keshaun nodded and gestured to the west. "Just outside the array. The building is two stories and our intel places the trio on the second floor." "Alright so you want me to get them out or kill the people attacking them?" "Just get them out. We don''t want to risk their lives. We will send in a proper group to apprehend them." I looked at Christopher who nodded his agreement. "If you can hang around after we would appreciate it. Just to make sure nothing unexpected happens." I sighed and stepped off the building. The world blew past me until I activated **Umbral Dance**. I became one with the darkness. For a moment it was like the world ceased to be. In the next I reappeared nearly three miles away. I couldn''t help but wonder if this skill was equal to that portal one. The **Shadowdancer** class was fun. Albeit not as lethal was it could be. I arrived at the location and sure enough the new faith had taken hold. A man who looked like he looted a Halloween costume store stood on a box ranting about the "glorious System". "You all heard the voice and you saw the message boxes same as I. You have no doubt noticed the disturbing lack of direction. I don''t know how clear the System has to be! Those who refuse to enter the new world must burn with the old!" I shook my head at the nonsense but a part of me couldn''t ignore it. The top ten had shuffled more time than I could count but the two at the top never changed. The System''s Herald was insane. Or at least that''s what everyone thought but the more time went by the more I wondered. Were we the crazy ones? Monsters were at the gate. The tutorial woman told us that immortality was available or at least hundreds of years of life. Hell the social order had been flipped on its head and here we were. I turned my attention from the preacher and back to the task at hand. I activated my skill and the darkness swallowed me. It was like stepping into a dream when I reappeared. The hallway was almost untouched. The walls held pictures of Disney characters and small flowers. While scattered toys decorated the floor. There were signs that it wasn''t the old world of course. Scratch marks on the ground where furniture had been moved. Broken windows covered in plastic or cloth. It wasn''t hard to see what they had been trying to do. What they wanted to do. "Hello? My name is Aaliyah. I am with the city of Amara. I am here to bring you away." Someone moved in the next room. Two people and then a third. From the sound of it was two adults and maybe a child. A moment later a bald dark skinned man stepped into my room. A metal cudgel held in one hand. Though based on the hesitation in his eyes and the utter lack of killing intent he had never used it. "Why are you here. We already told your people that we wanted nothing to do with you all." I sighed. "Yeah, the people out there don''t care about that. Some of our people saw that you were in trouble and we want to bring you to safety." The man hesitated just as the preacher''s voice passed through the walls. "If we don''t act the System will! Are we willing to stand by as our lives are cut down because we refused to do what we were supposed to! Because people refused to let go of the old ways? No! We cut the cancer away now." The color drained from the man''s face and he lowered his weapon. He called out in a different language. I couldn''t tell which. Soon after a woman and a little girl stepped into the room. My heart dropped when I saw them. The woman was pregnant. I passed a mental eye over **Umbral Dance**''s sigil but there was nothing about how it affected the body. "Alright, alright I can only take one person at a¡ª" "Our daughter, then my wife and you can come back for me after." The man spoke up before I had finished the thought. I thought about it for a moment but couldn''t come up with a reason to disagree. I gave the little girl a smile and picked her up. "Close your eyes and we will be there before you know it." After that I activated my skill and the darkness swallowed us. We reappared next to a pair of guards. "Keep an eye on her. I am going back for the other two. If things go to shit send in a squad to deal with the crazies." I didn''t bother to wait for a response. I activated my skill again and disappeared. I appeared just as a door blew open somewhere beneath us. The woman froze her gaze shifting to the wall as if she could see the stairwell on the other side. The husband pushed her into my arms and we were engulfed. "Send them in." My mouth had just barely reformed when I called out. I wasted no time before reactivating my skill. My skill was amongst the fastest transportation skills in Amara and it felt too slow. When the darkness fell away the room was no longer empty. The husband had been backed into a corner. While two people I vaguely recognized from outside stood in front of him. I drew daggers and the lights in the room dimmed. I stepped forward the blade in my right hand caught the closest cultist just beneath the ribs. A quick twist and their blood spilled to the floor. The second cultist was faster on the draw. He raised a short sword but choose to defend instead of attack. A mistake. My dagger slipped beneath his guard like a snake before I slit his throat. I didn''t get a chance to reflect on the deaths before footstep roared up the stairs. I reached out, placed a hand on the husband''s shoulder and let the darkness consume us. Chapter 31: I Hate Swamps I took a deep breath as the energy in the burrow flowed into me. Three days passed in the blink of an eye. It was so quick that I seriously considered staying for another week but that wouldn''t do. I couldn''t be sure that the rest of trial goers wouldn''t have completed the task already. I took another breath and stopped the flow of energy. The energy slowed in my channels and I let out an annoyed sigh. I opened all three eyes and took in the world around us. It was drab. The earthy and sanguine colors had become annoying. Every time I took a break from energy gathering it was all I could see. That wasn''t enough to ruin the joy in my heart. I looked at the ground nearly five feet below me and laughed. I could float! Lowing myself to the ground still took a serious act of will but I counted it as a win. I carefully lowered myself to the ground and stretched. My body was a bit stiff but that was the worse of the bad changes. The good changes were great. My psychokinetic control was much better. I could easily lift up to fifteen or so pounds. If I focused I could hit one hundred. "Yo big dog. You ready to head out?" I glanced over at Xerxes who had definitely grown. He was now closer to a wolf than a dog. He had lost some of the childlike innocents in his eyes as well. It turned out the natural treasures were designed for beast bloodlines. The ones he could absorb on short notice provided decent benefits so I was excited to see what the big ones would do. "I am ready!" He then tossed his head back and unleashed a roar that made the ground tremble. His aura exploded and it felt like we were in the middle of a savage jungle. A place where only the strongest predators could reside. "Well looks like I wasn''t the only person who was tired of this place. Come on lets go and see what people have been up to." I stepped up to the wall of rock and dirt a ball of compressed space slowly expanded until to the size of a car door. I launched it forward. In the next instant a massive chunk of the wall ceased to exist. I still didn''t get how this Tao worked. Thanks to the Eye of Heaven I had some theories. None of which were helpful now. We stepped out into the forest and were hit with a wall of stench. "Next time we explore a world it needs to be a beach or a spa." Xerxes snorted which made me roll my eyes. "Alright, if I remember right we need to head right. Keep your senses ready. I imagine people should be looking for us now." I expanded my spiritual sense to about five hundred feet around us but that was nothing compared to Xerxes'' senses. We still hadn''t figured out just how far away his nose was food for. We jogged for less than twenty minutes before a creature that looked like six winged hornet shot toward us. I warned Xerxes but it wasn''t necessary. The poor bug shot out like an arrow only for the Qilin to catch it by its stinger and slam into the ground. I had barely stopped moving when he ripped the bug''s head off. "Shitty hunt." I laughed. "Do you want to keep the corpse? Not sure if ugly hornet corpse is worth eating but who knows." He looked at it for a moment and then shook his head. "Poor hunt. Nasty meat." I shrugged and gestured toward the forest. We settled into a pace that rivaled nascar drivers until my treasure sense started to act up. It wasn''t as strong as the lotus back on earth but no reason to ignore a potentially good thing. We diverted course and ran until we encountered a clearing. We stopped at the mouth and stared. The clearing had a massive hole in the center that led into an underground chamber. There were six people in the hole five of them stood over the sixth. The five were the uniforms of one of the three princes while the sixth was the dwarf from earlier. I grinned when it hit me. I had found the first got damn prince. "All you had to do was give the crown prince some face and you could have avoided this. You can''t blame us for what happened." A slender guard with a scar across his right face spoke up. His voice grated on my nerves. I checked their energy levels with my eye and grinned. The guards were a bit stronger than Tamais but the man. The prince was on a whole different tier. It was like his power was pushing at a threshold. It took another second for it to click. He was at the threshold of the realm. As much as I wanted to fight him I wasn''t confident I could win. Nor was I confident Xerxes could hold back the five guards. Lastly if their royalty worked together than they should already know about my abilities. That being said there was no way I was going to let them kill the dwarf. I looked at Xerxes who readied himself just in case. We retreated to the maximum distance we could for the *Eye of Heaven.* I triggered Apportation. I felt the portal open deep in the cavern and then a shocked dwarf shot through it. The portal remained open long enough for me to look eyes with the Prince. He was different than the other two. Staring at him felt like looking at a honed blade. A blade that cut through the world if it stood between him and his goal. I glanced at the sword on his hip. I fought back the urge to wince when I realized it was a relic. Not only was it a relic but it was on a different tier than what Aaliyah and the others used. A scream of danger was my only warning when something shot through the portal and at my throat. I expanded my Tao field just before the attack hit but it was like holding back a runaway train with my bare hands. I forced the portal shut just as the Prince''s guards rushed for us. I couldn''t spare them anymore of my attention as whatever the prince did continued. It was an attack made from his Tao only it was more dense than anything I had managed. I quickly formed a barrier with the Tao of Adamance. Seconds felt like hours as I slowly ground it down. "Got damn." I gasped as the blade at my throat was extinguished. I immediately opened another portal and took the three of five miles away. When we stepped out of the portal we were in a different section of the blood forest and I briefly considered another jump. When we saw no signs of the prince or his people I decided to rest. "Thank you. I didn''t think we would meet up again so soon." Sikheth replied. "You have my eternal thanks for saving my life back there. I don''t think ole Sikheth would have gotten out of that on my own." "Why didn''t you just give up the treasure? No offense but you don''t seem like the type that could win in a five on one situation." He awkwardly rubbed his beard for a moment as if deep in thought and then he laughed. "I got a bit greedy. That treasure was a piece of bloodmoon ore. Its really hard to find since it requires but blood attuned energy and lunar attuned energy."Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. I shrugged and took a seat against a tree. "Still you have to be alive for that kind of thing." "Yeah of course you have to be willing to go after what you want. It was just my luck that I was attacked by an elite. You haven''t told me why you would stick your neck out for someone you barely knew?" I grinned. "It seemed like the right thing to do and I have already gotten two of trio upset so why not bother all three?" Sikheth stared at me like I had grown a second head. "What kind of reason is that?" I laughed and shrugged. "Its kind of fun. I haven''t killed any of them so I don''t think its too big a deal. Besides we are all her competing. Speaking of which how many tokens have you gathered?" "Two, well four total but two of them are copies. I don''t think I am going to participate in the final part of the trial. I''ll let the monsters work that out." I raised an eyebrow at that. "Which ones do you have? If you aren''t interested maybe we can make a trade?" He pulled out all four of his tokens and I already had both. It wasn''t all bad he did have a few treasures that Xerxes wanted. We managed to exchange a handful of things. I even got a couple of attribute fruits out of it. None of them were luck based so that was slightly disappointing. "Question if a person wanted to join a sect how would they do it?" "Well the most common way is to be invited. Most outer members can''t invite people which makes it trickier. If you can reach one of the sect''s recruitment centers you could join that way. Lastly there are recruitment events throughout the multiverse. From what I heard if you perform well enough you can receive multiple invites at once." "Do you know of any events or where I can get a token to those events?" He shook his head. "Uh not really I joined my sect when I was child so I don''t know much about it." "Alright, well thanks for the info. Once I get out of here I will have to see if there is anything near my world. I don''t think the prince is searching for us. So we should get going. Stay safe." I gestured to Xerxes to follow. "Good luck. Happy hunting." He called out as we disappeared into the forest. I took us back in the direction of the cavern. I was pretty sure the prince would have left already and I was tired of this area. I wasn''t sure if a swamp would be better but I was willing to give it a chance. We arrived at the cavern about an hour later and found it empty. I expanded my soul sense and scanned with the eye just to be sure. "Should we explore underground or just get out of here?" "Leave, it smells horrible." I chuckled and took a moment to check with my senses. I half hoped that my treasure sense would reveal something left behind but there was nothing. "Fuck it, let''s get on out." We turned and continued running. We reached the outskirts of the forest a while later. The swamp section was no more inviting than the forest. It had a passive stench of death that was different than the blood forest but no less disgusting. I removed a strip of cloth from my ring and used my psychokinesis to keep it on my face. "I took a moment to check if there were any treasures around. When nothing happened I shrugged and we continued forward. We hadn''t made it deep into the swamp when a creature shot up out of the water. Its sudden appearance stunned me. The creature was like a six legged crocodile with two mouths and four eyes. I threw myself to the side just in time to avoid the beast taking my right arm. I landed on a overturned tree and spun around. Before I could unleash an attack the beast was gone. Xerxes landed behind me a second later but he was just as confused as I was. I expanded my soul sense to search everything around us but it was like the creature had seized to exist. Even the Eye of Heaven made no difference. I expanded my Tao field to cover both of us and waited for another attack. "Do you smell anything? Or see anything?" I asked while the hair on the back of my neck stood up. "Nothing. Everything smells like death." I bit back a swear and took a deep breath. I had no idea how a creature had got past both my spiritual sense, the *Eye of Heaven* and my danger sense. It was clearly an ambush hunter that could either hide its scent and energy or knew how to hide within the swamp. The passive energy in the air further confused my senses. Just as I was debating next step the water to my right moved. It was a slight movement that I couldn''t be completely sure I hadn''t imagined. Xerxes and I leaped to the side. Just a the beast shot out at us. Three invisible blades of mental energy shot toward it along with a burst of fire from Xerxes. All four attacks slammed into the beast and it let out a roar of pain. The beast slammed into the ground but before we could follow up it turned and divided into the murky water. I cocked my head to the side and conjured a halo of blades. "Next time it comes up try and tackle it. It doesn''t seem very strong in a straight up battle." I scanned the water but their were no signs of the monster. I circulated the Tao of Adamance to help keep my calm. The waiting was worse than the fight. I couldn''t help but feel like something was breathing down my neck. It felt like an eternity before something happened. This time it leaped out of the water and unleashed a black fog from its mouth. Xerxes was about to rush at when I sent a warning down our link. I activated *Psychic Aegis* in its wall form. The black fog pushed against the barrier and my skin crawled. It was like the beast had spit pure rot at us. This time it didn''t duck back into the water. It ran forward and slammed into the shield wall. I was about to launch my blades when something strange happened with the creature. The scales around its neck flared out like a frilled lizard and then my danger sense screamed. I ducked to the right just a beam of black rot smashed through the shield. The tree behind where I had been standing had rotted almost instantly. "What the fuck?" I turned my focus back to the beast just as it tore through the hole in my barrier. Xerxes ran forward to meet it and the two monsters crashed into each other with bone shattering force. I sent my invisible blades at the beast just before Xerxes howled in my mind. He retreated as a black sludge burned the sides of his mouth. So its a poison touch kind of monsters? I activated an imbued *Psionic Rain* it took less than a second for the spell to rain down on the beast. A second that it used to pursue Xerxes. The Qilin leaped backwards to avoid it before unleashing another blast of fire. The fire caught the lizard on the side of its head just before *Psionic Rain* hit. Our combined attack slammed into the creature but it wasn''t enough. The reptile unleashed another blast of rot. This time aimed at me. I ducked below the attack and time slowed to a crawl as it narrowly missed me. The energy made my skin feel like it would melt off of my body. My eyes began to water as I activated another spell. A blast psionic energy shot toward the monster as it scurried to the water. Xerxes roared and leaped for the beast as I conjured and unleashed another six blades. The beast leaped for the water and was mere inches away when our combined attacks slammed into it. A surge of energy flowed into my dantian and I let out a breath. The creature didn''t give as much energy as I would have thought. I assumed that meant Xerxes got the other half. "Well that was one hell of a welcoming party." I grinned at Xerxes as I rushed up. The black gunk was still on his face. "Hold still I am going to see what I can do." I placed a reassuring hand on his back. I then held my other hand in front of his mouth. I slowly formed a sphere of Compression around it and focused on the rotting tar. It felt like performing surgery while having no medical knowledge. I said a mental prayer to whatever was responsible for the guiding hand but nothing responded. I wasn''t sure how long we stood there as the gunk slowly shrunk. It didn''t so much as fall off Xerxes'' face as it just wasn''t there anymore. When I finished I held an orb the size of my palm. It was filled with the Tao of Rot and every part of me said I should throw it out. Yet I decided against it. I was pretty sure I wasn''t going to go down the necromancer route but just in case that changed or someone else wanted to this might help them. I placed the disgusting thing in my ring. "Feeling better?" I asked and placed a healing pill in his mouth. "Thank you Amari." I scanned the area and was pretty sure that we were safe. Or at least safer. "Let''s rest here for around half and hour before we set out. I want to make sure whatever attack that was didn''t hurt you too bad. Or that it won''t have any lasting effects." Chapter 32: My Meeting with the Prince We sat together for the full half hour and nothing happened. Xerxes consumed another healing pill though it was mostly out of caution than anything else. "Alright, so which direction should we head in? We could go down the right swampy path that makes me think of a horror movie. Or we could go down the left swampy path that makes me think of a zombie movie." I grinned at Xerxes who snorted and leaped onto a route and took off. "I guess right it is." I leaped up and chased after him. We rushed through the swamp until I felt a familiar sensation. I grinned and gestured for Xerxes to follow. We landed on a patch of solid ground which let us pick up the pace. It wasn''t until we came across a clearing that I realized what called to me. The clearing was nearly completely dark only the darkness was wrong. It was a bit like it was tangible. In the center of the darkness was a figure in the same robes as the Taesha Kingdom soldiers. For a moment I thought it was one of the princes but that hope was dashed. They wore better robes than the guards but based on the energy in them they were likely closer to Tamais. I couldn''t tell if the person was male or female as they were on their knees and staring up at the tree crown above them. Their most striking feature was the purple flower growing out of their chest. The flower was nearly as big as the person''s chest. It was a mix of black and purple where the black made up the base. A base that looked a bit like tentacles that dug into the victims chest. While the purple was like four conjoined roses. When I looked at with the **Eye of Heaven** I gasped. The flower was absorbing their energy. The plants tentacle roots had dug all the way into the person''s body, into their channels and then into their Dantian. The plant had turned a person into nutrient rich soil. The whole thing was disgusting but also beautiful. I shivered and scanned everywhere. There was no way I would let one of those things sneak up on me. Assuming that was how it worked. I covered my face with a cloth as well. "Stay back and watch your self. I don''t want that thing to get on you." I took a half step froward when another idea came to me. Wouldn''t it be better to remove it without touching it? I mentally reached out with psychokinesis. As soon as I touched it the thing squirmed and then the person stood up. Black and purple eyes stared at me though I was sure they couldn''t see anything. The puppet body then ran at me like something out of a zombie movie. In my surprise I unleashed a blast of pure mental energy. I didn''t bother to shape into anything. Indigo washed over the body and it stumbled. The flower on its chest squirmed as if it wanted to dig itself deeper into the person''s body. I unleashed another blast this time through **Psychic Blast**. Waves of indigo energy blasted into the body until a surge of energy ran into my dantian. I wasn''t sure if the kill I got was the person or if it was the plant. I also couldn''t bring myself to care. I pushed the body onto its back with my psychokinesis and waited. I half expected for the body to leap up at me but nothing happened. I gave it another moment before I walked up and kicked it. When it stayed still I activated my Tao field and compressed close it to my body. I then knelt down and picked up the flower. It made a horrible sound as I yanked it out of the person''s body. A massive chunk of their chest was just missing which confirmed that they were definitely dead. I looked down at the flower and was pleased to see that it wasn''t moving anymore. My treasure sense was just as strong as before so I put the thing in my ring. I didn''t want to deal with now and there was no way I was about to eat the ugly thing. I was about to stand up when I felt someone enter my soul sense''s range. I took a breath and watched. The person approached slowly and with the trees as cover. "Someone''s coming. Get ready." They wore the same robes as the princes'' guards which confused me. There was no way the man didn''t know I was here so either they wanted to confirm the plant or they wanted to see me. I slowly expanded my Tao field while thinning it as much as possible. I wanted it in place just in case there was an attack but I didn''t want it to cause an attack. The figure inched closer until he was a few feet away from the tree line. I slowly got to my feet and pretended to stretch. I gave him a few moments but he made no move to attack. I shrugged and activated Apportation. The portal appeared a second later a man was pulled through. They were bald with a complex array drawn across his face. His skin was pale almost vampiric and his build was thin. For a moment I wasn''t'' sure if he was actually a fighter. He looked more like a scholar that was forced into the field. When he realized what happened he scrambled to his feet and brushed his robes off. "You are the wondering cultivator yes? I am sent on behalf of the second prince, Prince Scythan. His royal Highness would like to meet with you." I cocked my head to side and mentally checked the sigil for Ethereal Convocation. When I confirmed that the spell hadn''t been damaged I shook my head. "If this is about Xerxes than no thanks. Not going to trade him or give him away or any other crazy thing." The man shook his head. "No, the prince would like to discuss your assistance with a problem." I squinted at him not sure if he was fucking with me. I looked at Xerxes and then I considered what to do. There was a nonzero chance that this was a trap and that as soon as I showed up they would attack us. "Why did you come here? Did the prince leave this person here to draw me out?" The man shook his head and looked at the corpse on the ground. "No, we have been searching for you for the last two days. I felt energy fluctuations from this direction and decided to investigate. How did you deal with the Dreamlilac by the way?" "I just attacked it. Once I realized that it was using that person''s body as a soil it wasn''t too hard. I have my own means for removing it from the corpse." From the look on the man''s face he wanted to ask for more information but he decided against it. I wasn''t sure if that was because he didn''t want to offend me or if he didn''t want to risk me not agreeing to travel with him. "I see in either case the prince would like to offer the lilac to you as both a gift and proof of his good will." I paused at that and then glared at the man. "Did he place the flower into that person? To grow it?" "Not quite, the Lilac was already in the forest but his royal highness was aware of what it was and how it could be of use to you. Or rather someone with your kind of class. It is true that you specialize in mental or psyche-based attacks?" I slowly nodded and looked over at the body. I wasn''t sure if he was telling the truth. The flower was something I wanted so that part was accurate but it does seem weirdly out of place. Everything in this place has been related to death. The only exception was the area I started in. Of course it could be random chance. This place is called the Chimeric Jungle after all. Still wasn''t it rather cruel? They could have killed the person and saved them from whatever happened.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "And where is your prince? Where would he want to conduct this meeting?" The man gave a genuine smile for the first time in this conversation. "We have claimed a section of this untamed wilderness about three miles from here." He gestured behind him. "I see, in when does he want me to join him?" "I am ready to lead you to him right away." I looked over at Xerxes. "What do you think?" "We should go. It might be fun and provide good meat." I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. His simplicity was both inviting and annoying. It was literally like talking to a child but in a very real sense he was. "Alright, lead the way. I warn you if this is some sort of trick I will kill your prince. Even if you manage to take me out." I released my killing intent for just a moment. When I saw the color drain from his face I grinned. It was hard to know if he was seriously afraid but it would have to do right now. "Right, please uh please follow." The man turned and jogged off into the forest. I nodded to Xerxes and we chased after him. The run through the swamp was oddly peaceful. At first I thought there just weren''t any monsters nearby but I soon realized that was wrong. The man in front of us had done something. A field of energy had settled around us and it was like our aura had faded from the world. It wasn''t the same as pulling your own aura inside you. It was like he made a space that lacked energy and then stretched over us. I tried to duplicate the feat as we ran but it didn''t work. The sounds of the swamp began to fade in favor of muted conversations. The colors of the Taesha Kingdom became more prevalent. At first I thought they couldn''t see us as we passed but that was proven wrong when two guards stepped up to block our path. Based on their energy levels they were both stronger than the man who escorted us. Each one wore proper armor. The taller of the pair held a spear while the other a longsword. They only glanced at Xerxes and I but I was pretty sure that was for show. Either the prince wanted to project strength or if he wanted to intimidate me. Either way it didn''t work. I briefly considered returning the favor but the memory of what happened on earth stopped me. The last thing I need was to kill the prince''s lover or something and then get involved in a massive war. The man ended whatever effect he used to get us here and the pair of guards stepped aside. We strode forward and I was impressed. There were around twenty people in here which if I assumed all three princes had a similar entourage than the kingdom had sixty tokens. I wasn''t sure how that worked but it felt odd. Of course for all I knew there were hundreds of people running around. I still hadn''t figured out just how large this place was. We stopped walking when we stood about fifty feet from a massive command tent. The tent looked brighter than all the others ones as if it was brand new. Furthermore the tent had a potent array going through it. From the parts I could see it wasn''t anything dangerous. It was mix between sound isolating and atmospheric control. "Wait here. I will let the Prince know you have arrived." I nodded and watched the man step into the tent. I spread my soul sense over the area but it made no difference. The arrays made it impossible for me to hear their conversation. I could confirm that the there was only three people in the tent. The Prince, a woman in armor and then my guide. I turned my focus to the rest of the camp and was shocked. If I hadn''t known that everyone was teleported here than I would have thought this was a war camp. Which meant that they had this kind of thing down to a science. If this was what all organizations in the multiverse did than I really should join one. I caught several people eyeing Xerxes but none made a move. "Can you smell the people in the tent?" "I can but there are other scents blocking it. Some sweet smelling things." "Keep an eye on things. If people start to gather around once we enter let me know. We might need to force our way out of here." Just as I finished the thought the guide stepped out of the tent and glanced at me. "His Royal Highness will speak with you." He gestured to the tent and then stepped to the side. I nodded my understanding, expanded my Tao field to a two inches away from my body and stepped into the tent. The tent was surprisingly lavish for something inside a swamp. It looked like it was more for a rich person who wanted the aesthetic of camping without actually camping. There was a stone table in the middle of the room and then two chairs at either end. Once the tent''s flap closed it was like the outside world ceased to exist. Both the sounds and smells of the swamp were replaced and there was even a nice flowery smell in its place. I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind and focused on the prince who was disconcerting. I couldn''t put my finger on why he made me uncomfortable but he did. He was definitely human with a similar skin tone to the other soldiers only he was in better shape. It was almost like he hadn''t left this room the entire time. "Hello, I hope that my followers haven''t been a problem for you? I assume you are familiar with my identity?" I nodded. "I am told you are the second prince of the Taesha Kingdom. A kingdom that I assume is out on the frontier." He grinned wolfishly and gestured to the free chair. I glanced over at the guard as I took a seat. Xerxes moved to my right. I stroked his fur and scales while I waited for the prince to speak. "You are well informed. I do not enjoy pointless conversation so I will skip to what I have brought you here for." He waved his hand and a pair of servants entered the tent. They held trays with small sandwiches, sandwiches filled with a purple meat that made me think of the strange flower. My body didn''t react as they placed a tray in front of me. "I would like to buy your assistance." I was careful not to let my face betray any emotion as I leaned back in my chair. It didn''t take a lot of thought for me to piece together what he wanted. "You want me to help eliminate your brothers? Is this some attempt to move for the throne?" The prince tossed his back and laughed. "Not exactly. My royal father has arranged rules for succession. I have arranged for my third brother to be dealt with for this competition. I would like for you to me deal with my crown brother. I am told you have already had a run in with him. How was the encounter?" I did my best to smile through gritted teeth. Either he already knew how that fight had gone or his information wasn''t anywhere as good as he thought. "So why me?" "Oh come now why wouldn''t we want someone so distinguished? There are so few mental specialists around that I am curious as to your origin. Would you mind sharing that with me?" "I mean no disrespect but why would I share such things? I am sure you understand that a person history could be used as a weapon aimed at their back. Wouldn''t it be better to avoid that kind of additional pressure?" Prince Scythan smiled and clapped his hands as if he had found a partner for a fascinating game. "Of course, I merely want to be sure that associating with you won''t cause problems for my father. As much as competition between juniors can be fun we can''t afford to offend our elders right?" I grinned. It wasn''t hard to piece it together. He was afraid that I had some powerful figure keeping an eye out for me. I briefly considered lying but if I did it might make things more difficult. If I claimed some powerful elder and then they never showed up that would be worse. Of course the brief threat might be all I needed. "Let''s just say that my actions here are my own. No one will need to hear about what we do. Now what exactly do you want me to do?" "I would like you to deal with my elder brother while I and my people deal with the rest of his troops." He held up a hand stop my protest. "He will have a treasure that will ensure he can escape the trial. I don''t want you to nor do I expect you to kill him. That would cause problems." I nodded and had to admit the idea was intriguing. It would also let me battle the first prince without his guards. I mulled it over several times before something came to me. "You said the prince would be able to leave. What about the rest of his people? I find myself doubting that everyone has similar safety measures." Chapter 33: Shadows A heaviness fell on the room as a slight killing intent began to seep from the guard to the prince''s right. I shifted my gaze to the woman whose face was covered by a metal helmet. I wasn''t too bothered by the reaction but Xerxes was a different matter. He raised his head and let out a growl that sounded like it came straight from hades. I kept my face blank as I locked eyes with the prince. "Everything alright?" I asked through our bond. "Fine, she is an irritating woman trying to intimidate us." "It is as you say. It is unlikely that his followers would be able to escape. Most would die though some would be able to break their tokens and return. As for how many would suffer either fate it would be up to the Heaven''s to decide." The prince replied as if he hadn''t noticed what was going on. I scratched just behind Xerxes'' ears as I contemplated how to respond. Did I care what happened to those people? After all we were all technically enemies. I didn''t exactly want those people to die though. I couldn''t really claim that I cared one way or the other. "Alright so you''ve told me what you wanted. This should be the part where you tell me what you are willing to give me." The prince grinned like he had checkmate and clapped his hands together. A guard entered carrying a spatial bag that he then tossed to me. I caught the bag and placed it in my lap. When the prince gestured to me to check I did. What I saw made my eyes nearly pop out of my head. It was filled with treasure. The majority of the bag was spirit stones. The majority of which were first realm. "There should be enough for me to get a level or two." I said out loud. I turned my attention to the other treasures and there were five in total. Including one that was blue and gold cloud. I stared at it in confusion but decided not to pull out of the bag. I placed the spatial bag onto the table and took a moment to think. It was pretty clear that the prince wasn''t sure he could beat his brother but he shouldn''t be clear that I could. "What makes you think I can do what you ask?" "Mental or psyche specialist are rare. I am betting that even if you can''t beat him you can force him to escape the trial. Of course it goes without saying that if you were to die in battle that it would be your own fault." I grinned. "So its more accurate to say that you want me to wound him enough that you and your people can deal with him?" Despite how cowardly it felt it wasn''t a bad strategy. If I softened him the first prince would have to choose between fighting or retreating. "What kind of person is the first prince?" The smile on Scythan''s face faltered for a second at that. "Why do you ask?" "Well if i am going to fight him I would like know him as well as possible. It might give me an advantage when fighting him." My gaze drifted to the woman who despite the menacing aura she gave off hadn''t said anything. Based on her energy she was around level 40 in strength which meant that she could be fun to fight. It also meant that offending the pair was probably not the smartest choice right now. I couldn''t guarantee that I could take both of them plus all the people in camp. "He is an interesting man. Proud and capable but also very direct. He prefers facing his opponents head on." "I see and if I were to decide that I didn''t want to answer you now? Could I have a few days to think it over? Your treasures are impressive but I must admit I don''t recognize most of them. It would be a bit reckless if I agreed without thinking about it clearly." The woman at his side took a half step forward before Prince Scythan stopped her. The smile on his face no longer reached his ears which made me worry. I braced to break out of the tent but he laughed. "Of course, it wouldn''t be wise of you to just agree after the first move. I will grant you three days. After that I will be forced to assume that you will not accept my proposal." "Agreed, in that case my companion and I will take our leave. I assume that you will not leave this spot?" He shook his head and we exited the tent. The stench of the swamp hit us as soon as we stepped out. Part of me wanted to turn around and hide within but I didn''t. The other members of the camp stared at us as we left. Once we were outside the bounds of the camp I expand my soul sense to its limit. Once I was sure no one had followed I gesture to Xerxes and we took off. "Do you want to work with him?" Xerxes asked after a while. "No, not really but his plan wasn''t bad nor were the benefits. I want to see how effective the first prince is. If my gut is right we should receive a message from him soon. Especially if the third prince really had left. It would have to be obvious that Scythan had made a move." "You want to work with him then?" "Possibly, I wouldn''t mind fighting both princes and their head guards but I wasn''t interested in being the reason weaker people got slaughtered. Of course there was the argument that my in action would just cause deaths on both sides. No what I want is a reason to not side with Scythan. If the first prince is willing to offer me something more valuable than those treasures." We rushed through the swamp until I felt like we had gone far enough. I was pretty sure a while ago that no one had given chase but that first escort made me nervous. We came to a stop on top of large black and white mushroom. The mushroom was the size of a tree and unlike everything else around didn''t give us death attuned energy. "So three days until we need to get back which means we could search for more treasure or try and find more tokens." I voiced my thoughts as I paced. The biggest question was the distribution of tokens. Chances are the people who knew they weren''t strong enough to fight have either left or they are staying at outskirts. Which meant that it would both take longer to find them and fighting them would suck. They wouldn''t be strong enough to make it worth my time. Of course there was the option to visit the first prince myself. I didn''t know where he was but there couldn''t be a lot of places to search. The swamp was unlikely which meant either the blood forest, my starting zone or a zone I haven''t been to yet. I didn''t have to think about it long before the obvious answer presented itself. I could only do what I had been doing explore, fight and find tokens. "Lets avoid the area with the second prince. I don''t want to risk any accidents before I''ve made my choice. If you pick up any of their scents let me know." Xerxes nodded. "Do you like any direction more than the others?" Xerxes tossed his head back and unleashed a roar. The sound reverberated through the area for a few minutes before he pointed to the right. I stared at him in silent question before I shrugged. I wasn''t sure if this was a guess or if he smelled something in that direction. I also didn''t care. It was better than what I had. We turned and rushed in that direction. We had run for a short while before we started to see signs of monsters in the area. At first it was the lack of living things that drew my attention but soon overturned trees and black blood began to appear more frequently. I caught sight of the creature in my soul sense long a short while later. It was the size of a person and at first I thought it was a trial taker but when I saw its face I flinched. Its skin was black and leathery. The creature''s face had two eye holes and a mouth only they were all wrong. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. They were black voids and the mouth was two or three times bigger than it should be. Lastly the creature was permeated it with death attuned energy. The creature was some kind of undead. I gestured to Xerxes to stay close. If the last fight was any hint than we couldn''t afford to actually touch the thing. I decided to watch the creature for a while and what I saw made my blood run cold. The creature not only had a Tao related to death it had an aura. An aura that drained the life out of things as it passed by them. Fortunately the creature was around level 30 or so based on its energy which meant we should be able to take care of it. I quickly ran through an attack plan with Xerxes before split up. When I saw Xerxes get into position I formed a halo of six blades above me. As soon as I did the creature turned and we locked eyes. The darkness in its gaze seemed to stretch on like an endless abyss. An abyss that threatened to drain my soul. No sooner did the effect happen did it stop. Intellect Fortress consumed a massive amount of my energy. "You son of a bitch!" I exclaimed. A grin spread across my face as I unleashed my attack. This creature was good at soul attacks. Just as my six blades shot forward Xerxes unleashed a blast of flame. Our pincer attack slammed into the ugly creature in less than a second. I began my next attack as soon as the Eye of Heaven confirmed he was still alive. The monster was slightly faster. It opened its mouth and unleashed a keening wail. The sound made me think of a banshee as it permeated every part of my body. Once again Intellect Fortress activated and was pushed to its limits. Just as I had processed that another chunk of mental energy was stolen. At first I thought it was the spell but I quickly realized that was wrong. It was Xerxes! I gritted my teeth and activated Psionic Rain. I wasn''t sure just how strong his Psyche was but if he was forced to rely on our connection it couldn''t be doing well. An indigo sun illuminated the murky swamp seconds before it shattered. I didn''t bother to watch the rain fall before I began my next attack. Psychic Blast fired from both palms in its beam formed. Each one imbued with the Tao of Adamance. My eyes widened as the monsters mouth expanded like a serpent until it was as big as beach ball. It sucked in both beams like a black hole. My initial reaction was to end the ability but another part rebelled. The part that savored battle ignited my chest like an inferno. I grinned and doubled the out of energy. "Alright, lets see who can hold out longer." I couldn''t tell if the monster understood me but it made no attempt at retreating. If anything its darkness grew more oppressive. The swamp around us rapidly began to die as if the beast was trying to drain everything to feed its attack. "Good, Good! More" I called out as forced even more energy into the twin beams. Just as I was enjoying the battle I saw a flash of movement and then a ball orange flames slammed into the creature. The energy in its body back lashed like an angry dog that had slipped its leash. The moment it did my attack consumed it. Indigo light washed over it. I ended my attack a second later. I didn''t need to wait for the the kill energy to know it was dead. I glanced over at Xerxes who looked proud and sighed. I looked down at my hands as if they would explain why I felt so disappointed. I sat down and circulated the Ethereal Codex to calm down. When I had calmed down I sighed and got to my feet. I glanced over at Xerxes who was staring at the monster''s corpse. "I take it you don''t want to eat that one?" When he literally turned his nose up at it I couldn''t help but laugh. I thought back to other undead creatures and he hadn''t eaten most of those. "So does that mean you hate undead? Or is the swamp creatures?" "Undead meat is rotted." "Fair enough. Do you have any Tao strands?" I was pretty sure the flames didn''t have any kind of special energy to it but I wasn''t sure if that was a restriction or not. "No, I want one for fire." I shrugged and was about to ask why he didn''t try to use any of mine but decided against it. Despite the childish outer shell he was pretty proud so I figured he either didn''t want to or couldn''t. "I vote we leave the corpse here. I don''t think ugly leather would help us." I decided not to voice the real reason for my objection. The idea of carrying around undead body parts felt wrong. I still wasn''t onboard with the weird flower but my body told me I needed it. "Are you ready to head out again or should we rest a little longer." Xerxes got to his feet and shook his large head. "I am ready." I laughed and we took off at a run. We encountered another two monsters. All were various types of undead but none were as powerful as the ugly leathery thing. I couldn''t be sure but I started form a theory about this place. At first I thought the forest was a weird creation of the System but what if it wasn''t? The Chimera in earth myths was a creature made up of multiple creatures. What if this place was created by a person? A person who stitched together five regions and from it many kinds of creatures? If I went with that assumption than the tokens could unlock a literal treasure trove. The idea only made more confused. Either the princes just didn''t care or they hadn''t realized it? Both ideas seem illogical which meant that it had to be a third option. Were they so rich that this kind of chance was useless to them? I shook my head and banished the thoughts. I could let my mind wander across what-ifs and possibility until the day I died. There was nothing I could do about it now anyway. Xerxes and I continued until the swamp grew dark. I wasn''t sure what it was that made me stop. It was a sense of foreboding that made my stomach ache. It wasn''t the shadowy figures began to appear that I dawned on me. How long had it been since these things appeared? Xerxes howled as we stood back to back. Logically I knew that this was a bad place to be. That surrounded by a army of shadowy creatures was no where near a good time but something inside me didn''t care. I didn''t have to reach for that part of me this time. It bubbled to the surface on its own. A grin spread across my face as I watched the shadows multiply. I scanned them with the Eye of Heaven and still couldn''t tell what they were or even their approximate levels. "Don''t get too far away just in case I need to activate the Inverted Dimension." Xerxes offered a howl in response. I laughed and shrugged my shoulders. I couldn''t think of a reason to let the shadows make their first move. Energy surged into the sigil for **Psychic Blast** while I expanded my Tao field to its maximum range. Indigo light shot forward. It was time to have some fun. Chapter 34: Fractured Space I waited with baited breath for the shadows to react. For them to unleash some kind of shield or barrier but they did nothing. The attack washed over them a second later and most of the shadows dissipated. I waited for the surge of kill energy but not only did nothing come, the shadow reappeared. A blast of heat from behind me told that Xerxes had begun his attack. Before I could decide my next attack the shadows sprung into action. Seven of them flew straight for me. I activated Psychic Aegis only for them to completely ignore it. I brought up both arms to brace as the first shadow arrived. The grinning creature passed straight through my body. The icy chill of death passed through me. The shock forced me to stumble a step. Just before a second shadow arrived. This one forced its way into my body and it felt like I was being torn apart from the inside. My eyes bulged as I spread each of my Tao through my body. Another shadow slipped into my body and I let out of soundless scream. I pushed the Tao of Adamance into Intellect Fortress as my soul felt like it was being ripped apart. I clawed at my chest in a desperate attempt at forcing whatever it was out. Suddenly there was a pop and all the spirits were ejected from my body. "Xerxes!" My throat felt like it had been scoured by sandpaper but I didn''t let that distract me. An indigo sun appeared in the sky only this time it was imbued with the Tao of Lucidity. The light it emitted was nearly twice as intense and the shadows retreated like the night from the day. I unleashed my attack and fell to a new. My mind scrambled to explain what had just happened. Had the shadow tried to possess me? The thought sent a cold chill down my spine. A chill that transformed into fury. How dare some shadow creature do that to me? I formed a ball of compressed space and launched it. The Tao based attack fared much better than the spell. The shadows reformed slower but it wasn''t enough to really stop them. I rolled my shoulders as Xerxes landed next to me. A quick mental exchange told me he hadn''t avoided the effect either. The shadows weren''t there to kill us but to control us. I activated Realm of Consciousness and imbued it with the Strand of Lucidity. The mist grew denser. My awareness spread through the domain. It wasn''t only shadows coming after us. There were people though now that I knew what to look for I knew they were being controlled. I rapidly formed blades and fired them at every person I saw. The shadows that had possessed people were forced out while the other shadows hissed. Their voices joined together in a cacophony that made my skin crawl. The people who were possessed fell into two camps. Most of them collapsed like puppets with their strings cut. A minority didn''t. Their energy still stirred in their dantian. They weren''t conscious and from what I could tell they wouldn''t wake up anytime soon. Did that mean I could rescue people from the darkness? "Xerxes, don''t kill any of the actual people. I want to rescue them." Xerxes grunted in response but resumed his attack. I couldn''t spare him much time but without a Tao strand his attacks weren''t too effective. The light from the fire seemed to scare the shadows. Not that it was easy to tell. They all smiled like maniacs. Just when things reached a manageable point the shadows flew away from me and my domain. As soon as they were outside the confusing mist they piled on top of each other. I gritted my teeth as they transformed into some Frankenstein''s monster of an amalgamation. I didn''t need my danger sense to tell me that this one might be too much for us. My gut told me to run but there were at least four people on the ground. "Fuck it" I grinned maniacally as the lumbering creature approached. I wanted to have some fun so lets have some fun. Spiritual energy surged into the sigil for Inverted Dimension and then Manifestation of Perfection. I still couldn''t imbue either spell with the Tao so I couldn''t be sure either would be useful. In a moment we were all shifted into another spatial realm. The confusing properties of Realm of Consciousness still effected the creature but its effect had lessened. The creature seemed smarter now as well. A scream of danger forced me to move to the side just before a ray of black energy tore through my domain. My control over the spell started to slip. "Attack!" I commanded as six blades formed. I stabilized my spell as Xerxes unleashed a mouthful of fire. This time when the flame hit the monster let out a cry. A cry that was as sweet as music to my ears. The creature became more corporeal by absorbing its allies? Which meant it shouldn''t be able to possesses us anymore. I conjured Psychic Aegis in its wall form in front of the creature. I couldn''t be sure how long the barrier would last but it should buy me a few moments at least. Next I formed another ball of spatial energy. Instead of launching it immediately I compressed it down the size of my palm. When it was ready I unleashed it like a laser. Instead of the controlled beam I wanted it was more like a water cannon. It took my full concentration just to aim at the creature. The launched forward and carved through the right arm of the beast. The beam then continued past the beast and into the walls of Inverted Dimension. My vision swam as I cut the attack off. Before I could decide what to do next all the hair on my body stood on end. My danger sense practically exploded as space cracked. For a moment I thought that something had gone wrong with my spell but it wasn''t. Space had literally cracked. Just as I finished processing that information the crack started to grow. Pieces of space fell away revealing an empty blackness that made my skin crawl. No sooner did that appear did a suction for start to pull everything toward it. I pushed spiritual energy into my feet and launched myself at the closest tree. I slammed into it like a runaway freight train. As soon as I got my bearings I scanned the area with the Eye of Heaven until I found Xerxes. He had taken refugee behind an overturned tree about fifty feet away. I returned my attention on the literal hole in reality and tried to figure out what to do. The shadow creature had long been sucked away along with what remained of all my spells. I lost connection with them as soon as they passed through. I considered using the Tao of compression but I couldn''t be sure that it wouldn''t make the situation worse. The swamp around us started to be drawn in and genuine panic threatened to consume my mind. Intellect Fortress fought against it but that was like using your hands to stop a dam from bursting. Just as I was about to gamble with my Tao the hole started to heal. The edges of the hole began to crawl back together. I activated **Psychic Aegis** to form another layer of protection in front of it just to be safe. It felt like an hour passed before space stabilized and my danger sense finally abated. Still neither of us moved. It felt like we stood in a mine field and every move had the potential to end our lives. "Are you alright?" "Safe, don''t do that again" His mental voice was equal part irritated and exhausted. When I heard his reply it was like a dam broke and I couldn''t stop myself from laughing. I wasn''t sure how long it took me to get my mind under control and I still wasn''t sure if I really thought it was funny or if it was stress. Cultivation had time and time again proven itself to be both dangerous and awesome. Part of me wanted to test breaking space again but I still had no idea how to control it. I also didn''t want to end going wherever that crack led. I took another breath and looked around. Chances are the battle would draw attention soon. Which meant that we should get out of here. I didn''t need the Eye of Heaven to tell that space was still weak here. "Lets go. Lets find somewhere to bed down for the night. I am pretty sure that there are more of those creatures here." Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Xerxes and I took off north until we came across a mushroom forest. Since it was the only area with dry solid ground we decided to set up there. "I will take the first watch. Get some rest." I nodded to Xerxes who laid down under the closest mushroom. Once he was settled in I climbed on top of it and sat in the lotus position. I expanded my soul sense to its maximum and watched the swamp. I still hadn''t gotten used to this feeling. It was like being able to see without actually seeing. I was aware of just about everything. I wondered if this was what Superman felt like when he listened to the entire planet. I settled into a meditative trance where I did my best big brother impersonation. I stayed like that until Xerxes started moving again. I gave him a short while to get himself ready before we switched places. As soon as I laid down I was overcome with a wave of exhaustion. It was like the mental stress of the last few battles hit me all at once. I was out before I realized it. I wasn''t sure how long I was asleep but when I woke up I felt great. It was a bit like I had taken an expresso shot. "Yo Xerxes you ready to head out?" I called out while I rolled my shoulders. I expanded my soul sense and found there was nothing of note nearby. A second later my little Qilin leaped down to join me. "You are awake. Lets find some prey." I grinned and ran my hands through his fur and across his scales. My grin faltered when I smelled the mix of decay, blood, sweat and whatever else he had on him. "Remind me to find a place to get a bath. Come on. Either we find something to fight or we enter the next part of the forest." I opened the Eye of Heaven as we ran and enjoyed the colors that danced around us. I was used to weirdness of having a third eye by now though I still struggled to keep it open. I had to train new muscles to work like my old ones. Which was my main weakness. I still had to open the eye consciously. I even infused a bit of spiritual energy into it to further improve my perceptive range. We stepped several times over the next few hours. Each time we came across a natural treasure of some kind. Most of which were attribute fruits from what I could tell but I decided not to eat them. I was pretty sure none would work on my Luck attribute so they weren''t super useful to me. The ones here were Constitution focused which when you considered where we were made sense. Xerxes and I fought against several beasts but none of them were at the same level of the leathery skinned zombie let alone the shadow monsters. We were just about to head into the next area when something interesting happened. Just as I was about to withdraw my soul sense someone passed through. It was a small group, a trio and each member wore the clothes of Taesha Kingdom. At first I thought it was people from the second prince who had come to demand an answer but I quickly realized that was wrong. For one this trio was much better equipped than Scythan''s people. Second their color scheme was inverted. I vaguely remembered from history class that branch families sometimes had different colors than the main one. If that was true here then was this actually the third prince? Or was it flipped in the multiverse? Either way it didn''t matter. I called out for Xerxes to stop and we stood at the base of a large tree. They traveled for another few minutes before the trio stopped and conversed with one another. Their conversation boiled down to whether or we knew they were following and whether or not they should approach. Their leader, a woman with black skin and white hair was the one who made the final decision. The trio entered the clearing a few minutes later. I scanned them with the eye and was surprised to see they were all around level 40. When combined with their gear they might make a fun fight. Of course the numbers advantage might end up hurting them we fought in the Inverted Dimension. The woman walked until she was about half way between our two groups. She extended her clasped hands in front of her and then bowed. "This one greets the distinguished cultivator" I blinked in confusion and then looked at Xerxes before stepping forward. I copied her movements identically. "This one greets the distinguished guards." A brief look of confusion passed across her face before she smiled. I glanced behind her at the two other guards who looked like they wanted to laugh. At first I thought there was some kind of joke or insult but I noticed something odd. Their hands were slightly different from hers. She had her right hand covering her left with her sword clasped between. While the men used the opposite hand. I quickly adjusted and then the woman stepped forward. "I bring formal greetings from the Crown Prince of the Taesha Kingdom." I couldn''t the smile that spread across my face. I felt so important. Like some kind of noble lord. "I greet the Prince''s Emissary." I did my best to imitate a regal appearance as I stepped forward to meet the woman. "The prince would like to formally invite you to a meeting. I have been tasked to act as your escort should you choose to accept." Well the first prince had definitely won the initial meeting competition. I nodded and gestured for Xerxes to join me. The woman shifted her gaze to my companion and her smile grew. "We had heard rumors that you possessed a Qilin. It is an auspicious sign. We hope that your trial has been well." "Indeed I have partaken in many battles as well as found many natural treasures." "Wonderful." She gestured with her right hand and the guard on that side stepped forward. He slowly reached into his bag and pulled out a token. The Eye of Heaven told me it was the real deal so when he handed it to the woman and she handed it to me I was confused. I wasn''t sure if it would be rude of me to refuse the token so I took it and sent it into my ring. Once again a look of surprise passed across her face and once again she wiped it away. I scanned her fingers but found no rings. Were rings that rare? Or did they just "The Crown Prince has offered this as a token of his good will. Naturally he has offered you full guest rights as well as safety but on your travel to meet him and as you depart." Now that piqued my interest. Since the second prince hadn''t offered me that could he have just attacked me? A second thought soon followed the first and I had to resist the urge to sigh. Since I hadn''t asked or brought it up had I revealed that I wasn''t someone important? If so did I ruin my negotiation position before we even began? I bit back the slight bitter taste in my mouth and used it as a lesson for next time. "I have received your words and swear to cause no harm to your prince or his people as long as no harm is done to me and mine. I also accept his offer and will follow you." The woman smiled and the other two guards moved into position on either side of us. Once everyone was in position we turned and sprinted north west. At first I thought we would head deeper into the swamp section but we shifted more westward until we stepped into thick jungle. At first I thought this was just a repeat of the first area but darker and with thicker trees. It didn''t take long for that misconception to correct itself. A creature that looked like a massive hercules beetle thundered through the forest and toward us. I had started to conjure my halo of blades when the two guards on our sides blurred. Their movement skills took them right in front of the overgrown insect and a second later the bug exploded. The larger of the pair had used a staff while the smaller a thin rapier like blade. I wasn''t sure which of their attacks had actually killed the thing. Not that it mattered, their cooperation was incredible. Neither of them said anything before the attack yet they moved in perfect unison. I gave them a pleasant smile as they took their position again. My thoughts had turned to the mysterious crown prince. Just how strong was he that his followers were that effective? My desire to fight him grew and I wished we could pick up the pace. Chapter 35: Flattery Will Get You Everywhere Thanks to a few well timed warnings from me and Xerxes we avoided most of the monsters as we ran. Unfortunately the monsters were all massive insects. There were various kinds of beetles, Milli and Centipedes as well bugs that had no earth counters parts. Some of which seemed to be either undead or covered in death attuned energy. I decided not to ask about any of as to not risk my esteemed my reputation in front of these people. I was about to ask how much longer until we arrive when I started to see other people with my soul sense. Unlike the stiffness of the second prince''s camp this one was much more active. There were two groups, less than half were guards who patrolled the perimeter while the rest were civilians. They were all cultivators but the noncombat people had energy around levels 10 to 15 which would have made them midtier on earth. Chances are if enough of these people got together they could take over a few cities assuming that I or the other top 50 or so weren''t around to stop them. The guards weren''t as strong as the trio escorting me. They were likely in the mid thirties. They all had auras though and more than a few had a Tao strand which was impressive. I still wasn''t sure what the standard was in the multiverse so it was impossible to know if these people were strong or weak. We stopped sprinting as we entered another base camp. This one was much less impressive when compared to Scythan''s. If his was designed for comfort and beauty then the first prince went for effectiveness. The trees had been cleared out in every direction and the most important tents were located in the middle. There was even a wooden wall that surrounded the whole thing. I was pretty sure it wouldn''t stop a cultivator that wanted to get in but it should be more than enough to stop weaker beasts. It would also provide a short warning before an attack could begin. Xerxes and I were led to the base of a hill. At the top was what I assumed was the prince''s tent. It was in the same inverted color scheme with the falcon on top. The woman smiled and bowed to us before she went in. I scanned the tent and saw another set of arrays. Only these arrays weren''t part of the tent. Instead their were small array flags stuck into the ground every ten feet or so. Part of me wanted to ask the prince about that but I wasn''t sure if these were secrets or not. Based on the way every had treated information so far I leaned toward the former. I could tell that the arrays were similar to Scythan''s. They would isolate sound, smell and my soul sense couldn''t pass through. Part of me wanted to test how strong they were but the prince had so far been cool. I wasn''t willing to fuck that up just to test my strength. We were left waiting for a few minutes before the woman left the tent and gestured for us to follow. She stepped to the side and we entered. The tent was nearly identical in design to the other one but was more "normal". The table was made out of nice wood but still wood. Same with the chairs. The only interesting thing about the tent was the floating fire lights. They were fireballs that just flickered. All of that paled in comparison to the man seated at the table. He was thin and slightly feminine in appearance. His hair was tied behind him but was long enough to nearly touch the ground. He was in a dark blue robe and had no weapon. He didn''t even have a guard in the tent. I was pretty sure that he could call for help if needed but the Eye of Heaven made something clear. Based on his energy there was a clear difference in strength between us. He took me in a for a moment and then got to his feet. He repeated the gesture of the woman only he didn''t bow as deeply. "Greetings to the distinguished cultivator. I hope your journey was pleasant." I smiled and copied the movement. "Greetings to the Crown Prince. Your escort was more than impressive. I am thankful that you sent them." "It was no trouble. Please take a seat there are many things that I wanted to discuss with you." He gestured to the seat across from him. I nodded and took the seat. Xerxes took up a spot next to me. When I sat down the crown prince leaned back in his chair. "I have heard that you met with my brother. Have you agreed to his offer?" I smiled and shook my head. "I have not made any agreements as of yet. Is that why you wanted to speak with me? Is this your attempt to recruit me to your side?" He laughed before he shook his head. "No, no quite the opposite. I would prefer it if you stayed out of the conflict between my brothers and I. It is dishonorable for us to involve rogue cultivators and outsiders." That took me by surprise but when I thought about it a bit further it made sense. The Crown Prince clearly didn''t need my help which meant that I was a wild card. "I see, if I refuse I might be forced into conflict with your brother and his followers. Are you asking that I avoid that or am I free to defend myself." "I can assure you that the battle between us will commence soon. From what I have seen you are a mentalist. Not to mention you have a portal based movement ability. I would like to be sure that you won''t participate in that fight." He clapped his hands and the woman entered. This time she had another token. I glanced at it but I already knew what it was. "Are you not interested in the reward at the center of the trial?" "Oh I am but it is of secondary concern. This trial is a challenge from our royal father. I won''t go into detail but until we deal with our own issues we won''t proceed from this point." I nodded and held a hand out to the woman. When she gave me the token I placed into my ring and nodded. "Alright, I won''t fight. I would like to make a request of you." He gestured for me to continue and I did. "I want the chance to fight you. If time permits of course. I wouldn''t want to interrupt your business but I would like see if I can beat you." The prince glanced at the woman, then back at me before he tossed his head back and laughed. "That''s all you want? Are you being serious?" I grinned and nodded. "Well the tokens are nice as well. They will make my journey from here a lot easier." "Very well assuming there is still time after this conflict I will do battle with you. I must ask who is your teacher? I don''t recall anyone with your description in the Taesha Kingdom so I assume you are from outside?" I slowly nodded and briefly considered lying but I was likely to make some mistake in etiquette. I also didn''t know anything about having a teacher or how to make one up. Instead I decided to be honest and let the cards fall where they may. "I don''t have one. My world was recently assimilated." They both looked like they had swallowed a mouthful of chili peppers as they looked at each other. "You speak truly?" The prince asked and when I nodded he laughed again. "I suppose their is always something under the heavens. I would recommend you find a teacher sooner rather than later. I am not sure if you realize but this stage is when your path is most malleable. It provides the most directions for growth as result you are most receptive to teaching."This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. I raised an eyebrow at that. "Should I do it before breaking through?" "I would suggest so but it isn''t overly needed. I would suggest you take your time. Most people spend decades in the 1st realm to sure up their path and explore the things they care for. There is no need to embark on Heaven''s path at a sprint." "I was told about competitions where people could join sects or at least try to do so. Do you know where one of those places could be found?" The prince smiled. "I do. If you manage to best me in our battle I wouldn''t mind providing you a teleportation token." My eyes widened as I considered what he said. I already wanted to fight him but this way I would be killing two birds with one stone. "Alright, you have a deal." After that we settled into a smaller conversations. He provided us with a meal and some wine to drink. Both of which helped to restore my spiritual energy. He even provided a beast crystal for Xerxes. I wasn''t sure how long we sat and talked before I decided it was time to go. We were still in a trial and there was no guarantee that there weren''t other people who had collected all five tokens. "Thank you Crown Prince Menelan. I look forward to our battle and I hope things go well between you and your brother." "I wish you the best of luck and I look forward to hearing about your success in the greater multiverse." With that said Xerxes and I were led out of the camp and back through the forest. We traveled for what felt like thirty minutes before I gestured to a large tree. When we stopped I turned and bowed to the trio. "I thank you and your Crown Prince for your hospitality. I think this would be a great place for us to part ways. I would like to explore this part of the forest before I head deeper in." The trio smiled, nodded and then bowed. "Thank you we are pleased that you were able to come to terms with the Crown Prince. We wish you fortune and auspicious encounters." Xerxes and I watched the trio leave until they were too far away for any of my senses to the detect them. I then pulled out both tokens. One depicted a massive ape with multiple arms while the other was a swarm of horrible insects. I took a moment to appreciate both of them before I sent them away again. "Alright, lets see if there is anything else in this area before we go and see what else the forest has for us." Xerxes howled and for the first time since he had been given the beast crystal I took a careful look at him. His fur was much denser. I attempted to run my fingers through it but it was like being cut by small blades. That wasn''t the only change either. His scales were much tougher. I rapt my knuckles across and I wasn''t sure I could get through them without relying on the Tao of Compression. Once Xerxes saw that he I was admiring him he tossed his head back and let out another howl. Pride and contentment flowed down our bond. "Stronger. Lets find someone to test my claws." I raised an eyebrow and absent mindedly wondered if I was a bad influence on him or if he was influencing me. I didn''t dwell on it. "Alright, lets see what we can find." I let my aura explode and Xerxes did the same. The forest came alive in response to our killing intent. The smaller and weaker creatures scurried to avoid us but they didn''t draw our attention. We took off to the west in search of something fun to fight. I wasn''t sure how long we had run before we encountered a massive centipede. The creature was the size of a bus and had a massive black horn. As soon as the creature sensed us it let out a hissing sound that grated on the ears. I was just about to expand my Tao field and prepare for battle when Xerxes leaped forward. A ball of red and orange flames formed in his mouth seconds before he blasted the beast. A halo of indigo blades formed above me but before I could launch an attack my haughty Qilin slammed into the bug. The bug slammed into the ground and barely had a second to react before Xerxes was upon him. Another blast of flame had already formed at the beast''s throat. The creature was once again engulfed in fire its cries filled the air. Cries that almost made me feel bad for it. Not enough to spare it but enough to make me want to end the fight sooner. All six blades of psychic energy slammed into the creatures head and the fight was over. The majority of the kill energy had gone to Xerxes which wasn''t a problem. "Well do you just hate those things or are you trying to tell me something?" Xerxes shook his head before leaping off of the beast. "I am bored. You wasted so much time with the pretty one." I laughed and then reflected for a moment on what he said. "You never call me pretty?" Xerxes snorted and squinted. "I will have you know I have a very impressive visage." Xerxes sniffed the air and turned to the northwest. "Something is coming." I nodded and formed six blades. Only three of which were visible. I then expanded my Tao field to cover both of us. We weren''t forced to wait long. A massive bug with six legs and two long Antennae crawled into the clearing. When it saw us it let out a loud chittering sound that made my vision blur. When Intellect Fortress failed to activate I let out a sigh of relief. This thing looked like a tank but if it couldn''t use mental attacks then it probably didn''t have the best defenses. I was about to launch my attack when the beast''s mouth began to glow an emerald green. My danger sense piqued and threw myself to the side. "Move!" I yelled to Xerxes who didn''t hesitate. We narrowly avoided a spray of acid that was nearly five feet wide. The forest floor burned as caustic smells filled my nose. I bit back the urge to vomit and launched all six of my blades. I didn''t bother to wait to see them hit. Instead I activated Psychic Aegis, a wall of indigo energy infused with the Strand of Adamance sprung up between us. Xerxes took the moment just after it appeared to unleash another ball of fire. The creature let out another cry as the attacks rained down on it. The ugly thing then charged forward and slammed into the wall. The wall cracked but managed to held back the bug. I unleashed Psionic Rain and imbued it with the Tao of Compression. Dozens of psychic blades fell and passed right through its exoskeleton. The bug let out a cry of pain. Its pincers snapped as if it wanted to split us in two. Xerxes unleashed another blast of fire and the bug had enough. It lowered its massive body and rammed through the wall. I barely had enough time to activate Apportation before it was upon me. Its pincer approached like a guillotine, just before they could claim my life I was yanked backwards and into the portal. I stepped out of the portal and onto a tree branch behind the beast. Psychic Blast shot out and exploded like a flash grenade. The light washed over the beast and for the first time it stumbled. The creature moved as if it had lost control over its body. Neither Xerxes nor I wanted to give it a chance to recover. Six imbued blades shot for the beast and were joined with the largest blast of fire yet. All seven attacks slammed into the creature. The monster let out another his of pain and then my danger sense lit up. "Fuck me!" I launched myself from the tree seconds before a gout of acid reduced it to goop. I tucked myself into a roll. I formed an orb of compressed space the size of a beach ball and launched it at the head of the insect. "Die already!" The sphere carved into the creature''s skull and black ichor rained down onto the battle field. A second later another blast of red and orange slammed into the hole I created. I had just gotten to my feet again when spiritual energy surged into my dantian. The sheer amount of energy made me double over. My level increased to 42 which made the battle one hundred percent worth it. When I looked over at Xerxes I was pretty sure he had also gained a level. I took a minute to catch my breath and spend my free points. I was going to put them into strength when I rethought it. The Eye of Heaven was definitely based around perception so why not focus more on that? I wasn''t sure if the attribute actually effected it but why not gamble on it. After all my Wisdom was already crazy and my intelligence wasn''t far behind. With the decision made I took a breath, got to my feet and made my way over to the corpse. I placed a palm on its body and grimaced. I couldn''t send this thing into the ring. The news wasn''t a surprise but it still stung. I wasn''t sure what to do now. I could either leave the body and all the good stuff it surely contained or I could try to rip it into pieces. Chapter 36: Big Bird It felt like it took us hours to tear the ugly thing apart. I wasn''t strong enough to rip it open even with the swords I had in my ring. Which meant I had to rely on psychokinesis. The exhaustion I felt was on a whole different level. My body felt fine but my mind was drained. It felt a bit like I had drunk thirteen straight shots. By the time we finished Xerxes had lost most of his excitement. Until we found a small orb in the beast''s skull. The orb was the size of crystal ball and was filled a dull emerald light. If it wasn''t for the Eye of Heaven I would have thought it was useless. I was just about to put into my ring with the other treasures when Xerxes bellowed in my mind. "Give me!" I gritted my teeth, as irritation and mental pain washed over me. I had to take several calming breaths before I was ready to respond without saying something I''d regret. "What is it? Why are you so loud?" "Beast core! I need it" I raised an eyebrow at the ball and vaguely remembered something Desbera mentioned. Beast cores were beast Dantians basically, they stored the energy for the creature. I squinted at the eager Qilin as something dawned on me. "Have you been eating all the other beast cores? Without telling me?" "Yes" He stated matter-of-factly. The abrupt answer deflated most of the indignation in my heart. I was about to raise the issue again but I also realized I didn''t care. As far as I knew beast core weren''t useful to me. Desbera had mentioned cultivator could drain them to but why would I do that? I tossed him the orb and continued my work. "If I ever find a use for those I might have to take some." I called out but either Xerxes hadn''t heard me or was ignoring me. I decided to assume the best of my companion. The majority of the bug had been dealt with and what remained wasn''t worth it. I stored some of the meat inside just in case. It likely wasn''t going to be the best tasting stuff around but beggars couldn''t be choosers. When I was ready to set out Xerxes was done absorbing the core. From what I could tell their was a significant increase in power but he wasn''t complaining. "Alright, I would have said we should keep hunting but the recent gains have been pretty nice. Lets move on. I am willing to bet that gathering the tokens was only the first step." I activated Apportation and we stepped through the portal. We reappeared five miles deeper in the forest. This whole time we were heading in a circle. No matter how northward I wanted to go. Which either this place was massive or that you couldn''t go into the next region. Kind of like it was level locked. We had traveled for what felt like two hours before a pulse radiated out from my ring. I grinned and summoned all five of them. Before I could do anything with them they floated into air and a stream of spiritual energy formed between them. When I saw that I couldn''t help but be impressed. The tokens were some kind of special array. One that wouldn''t show itself until you gathered all five and headed far enough inside. It also didn''t take a genius to realize that they array was a kind of map. Or a compass I suppose. It automatically adjusted itself as I ran. I expanded my soul sense to monitor the area around us which was the only reason I saw the beast. Unlike every time before this creature seemed to know that it was being observed. Before I could send a message to Xerxes a jet black viper with pentagram like symbols along its head shot out at us. I barely managed to activate Psychic Aegis before the serpent was upon us. No sooner did the wall of energy form did the serpent crash through it. "Fuck!" I brought up my arms just as the snake slammed into me. The defensive properties of my robe were the only thing that stopped its sword like fangs from skewering me. I let out a scream of pain as I crashed through two trees. My back felt like I had gone twenty rounds with Bane. For a moment nothing except the pain existence and I wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole. A roar from Xerxes brought me back to the moment. A halo of psychic blades formed and shot at the snake in an instant. I grabbed a healing a pill from my ring and popped it into my mouth. My muscle and bones quickly repaired themselves and I got to my feet. I rejoined the battle just in time to see Xerxes running along the snake''s back. Orange and red flames firing into its scales. Unfortunately the flames barely effected the snake. Energy surged into the sigil for Inverted Dimension. "Leap off its back." I couldn''t help but smile when Xerxes immediately followed the command. Before the serpent could retaliate my spell triggered and reality was overwritten. Spatial dimensions were swapped and the snake''s attack went off in the wrong direction. I didn''t stop there, Manifestation of Perfection was next. A diamond appeared out of a clouds in the sky above and the viper was put under additional pressure. The serpent launched a breath of black bile at the ground in a desperate attempt to hit the diamond but it was useless. I completed my trio of spells with the addition of Realm of Consciousness. This one was the only one I could imbue but its power was no less useful. The confusing mist spread all four surfaces and the viper began to sway. I grinned and nodded to Xerxes who restarted his attacks. Even with our combined onslaught the serpent didn''t give up. It thrashed violently in random directions and nearly caught my with its tail. I unleashed Psionic Rain and formed a blade of compressed space to continue the attack. After seeing just how strong the snake''s scales were I wasn''t surprised when it resisted the spatial attack. When I saw that it only marked the scales I couldn''t help but get excited. This thing had to be the strongest creature yet. The mental attack was much more effective. It passed right through its scales and targeted the creatures mind. A mind that was proving itself to be incredible. I was about to start a second attack the snake unleashed a hiss that made my bones ache. The sound reverberated throughout the dimensional zone and I was forced to flood it with energy to prevent its destruction. I gritted my teeth and circulated the Tao of Adamance through my body. Xerxes fared better than me and unleashed another blast of flame. This time the attack slammed into the snake''s mouth. The horrid sound ended. I unleashed **Psychic Blast**. The snake was once again inundated with psychic energy. From there the battle shifted in our favor. The snake likely couldn''t unleash either the hiss or the black breath any longer. Nor did it have a way to deal with the confusing effect of my spells. When it finally died I was both happy and disappointed. It was a great battle but quite painful. I barely had time to appreciate the win before Xerxes was digging through its head. I decided to leave him to it. There was no way I was going to collect this things meat.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. It was way too big and my ring was starting to fill up. Especially when you considered there might be more treasures in the middle of this place. That didn''t mean I wouldn''t take something from it. I reached out with my psychokinesis and slowly ripped the creatures fangs out. I wasn''t sure if there was a better way to extract them. A way that wouldn''t hurt the fangs but I didn''t care that much. I wasn''t a dagger user so I didn''t need them to be too high quality. I also didn''t know any poison master types. When I had the fangs I shattered my dimension and looked around. When I found the five tokens floating in the air I smiled. I would have been pissed if I lost the path finder. I turned to Xerxes who was about to start absorbing his new core. "Wait, that one might take too long." I psychokinetically grabbed the ore and a second later it was in my ring. Much to the annoyance of Xerxes. "Come on as soon as we find a safe place to stop the sooner you can increase your strength." I laughed at him as we followed behind the compass. We were attacked three more times before the tokens stopped. Each of the monsters that came for us were serpents, two of which were poisonous. The last one was a constrictor and I wasn''t sure which was worse. Thankfully they all attacked together which meant that once I set up my killing grounds they attacked each other more often than not. Despite the success I was happy when the tokens stopped glowing. The area it had lead us to was not a pagoda and was still a forest though this one was even stranger than all the others. It was massive. All the trees looked more like skyscrapers. It also wasn''t dark or rather it was somehow day time in this area. I scanned the canopy but there were no signs of a sun or anything that produced the light. The more things I saw here the more interesting this place became. I scanned the area around us but there were no hints as to where I was supposed to go. Or what I was supposed to do. I turned my attention back to the token. At first I thought it was empty but that wasn''t true. There was a small amount left inside. I sent a small amount of energy inside and found my focus pulled into the token. Suddenly I was looked down at a massive chimeric rhino creature. As soon as I saw it the whole thing clicked. The tokens were bounties. I needed to find the image on the token and fight it. Once all five were dead either the pagoda would appear or I would be led to a different area. Not only did I need five tokens to lead me here but I also needed it to show me the creatures. I pulled out the other tokens and repeated the process. Once I had all five creatures in mind I grinned. The next part of the trial was a hunt. A hunt through a giant forest sounded like an amazing opportunity. Especially if we assume that there will be even more treasures. "Xerxes we are going to be hunting five monsters. If you smell anything let me know." Xerxes tossed his head back and let out a howl that reverberated throughout the forest. I laughed at his excitement and then picked a direction. We ran for a short while before I decided that the forest floor wasn''t good enough. I pushed spiritual energy into the soles of my feet and walked up the nearest tree. It took a second to modulate the amount of energy I needed to stick to the tree without going through but once I did it was easy. Xerxes followed and we were leaping from tree to tree like fantasy ninja. It was hard to know precisely but we had to be several stories up. We ran for around half an hour before a creature that looked like a preying mantis stepped out of the tree. It took my brain a second to realize that the creature had camouflaged itself and it didn''t literally step out of the wood. I formed six psychic blades and a moment later the creature was dead. It fell to the forest floor as we passed by it. The disappointing fight confirmed that all the creatures weren''t going to be as tough as the snake. Which kind of sucked. I had hopped I would be able to grind to level fifty here but that was now uncertain. I decided to not think too deeply about it. I either would reach level 50 or I wouldn''t. If I could trust what the Crown Prince said than I shouldn''t too consumed with speed. Xerxes and I picked up the speed until we came to an empty clearing with a large tree hollow. The hollow as halfway between us and the ground which made me concerned. My danger sense was silent but the hole seemed like it was the nest for some kind of bird. I gestured for Xerxes to step back with me and we hid against the trunk of a tree. We were about a one hundred feet away which still felt too close in my opinion. We weren''t left waiting for long when a large four winged green hawk like bird appeared. The bird'' beak was serrated like a blade and seemed sharp enough to punch a whole through anything on earth. We watched the bird as it tucked itself into its nest. For a moment it turned in our direction and I suppressed my aura as much as possible. I even stopped breathing the next several seconds. When nothing happened I poked my head and found the bird was gone. It had hidden itself in its next which meant we had a choice to make. "Should we try and take it or should we pass it by?" I asked and concentrated the Eye of Heaven on the nest. The creature was at least level 45 and there was a good chance it was level 50. Which wouldn''t be a problem on its own. The deciding factor was its flight. I didn''t think I would die if I fell from here but it certainly wouldn''t be pleasant. "We fight! How could an oversized bird beat us?" I had to resist the urge to laugh. I nodded my agreement and we quietly moved closer to the nest. Our biggest threat was the bird rushing us to get out so I decided that Xerxes would lead. Once he was inside I would follow and activate Psychic Aegis. Its wall should be able to keep the bird pinned for short while. If it didn''t I would rely on Inverted Dimension. Once we were in position I nodded and Xerxes bounded into the nest. I followed and the indigo wall appeared between us and our enemy. The bird was only surprised for a moment before it unleashed a careening cry that made my vision swim. Intellect Fortress triggered and then a second later Xerxes consumed a huge chunk of my mental energy as we were drowned in a ferocious aura. The bird was using the nest as an amplifier for its killing intent. It was like being caught between two speakers just before someone hit the microphone. I gritted my teeth and activated Psychic Rain. The indigo sun formed but before I could shatter it the bird slammed its serrated beak into it. My connection to the spell broke and my energy rebounded like a rubber band into my mind. I bit back a scream of pain and tried to command my energy but it refused to obey. It was like my spiritual energy had turned to sludge. I abandoned my spells and conjured a halo of six blades. I shot the blades at the bird in an attempt to end the battle all at once. Unfortunately the bird''s beak glowed with a Tao that felt like it would cut us in two. It slammed its beak into my swords and they shattered like glass. Before I could follow up Xerxes howled and fired a blast of fire. The attack caught the bird in the side of its head. I conjured six blades of compressed space and launched them at the bird. This time each blades took a chunk of flesh. The bird''s blood poured onto the ground and intensified the feeling of slaughter in here. The bird''s fury was almost tangible. It leveled its gaze on me and unleashed a cyclone of air at me. I ducked to the side and avoided most of the cyclone. My right arm and shoulder felt like it was trapped in a blender. I flooded my arm with the strand of adamance to prevent it from being ripped apart. When the attack the flesh on my arm was nearly been ripped clean off. The pain forced me to my knee as a fresh surge of energy flooded into my body. I gritted my teeth as flesh started to reform. I glanced over at Xerxes who swayed on his feet but there was nothing I could do. Just like he could take my energy I could take his. Unfortunately I neither of us could stop the flow. I quickly swallowed to healing pills and activated Realm of Consciousness. I imbued the spell with the Tao of Lucidity as the mist consumed all of three of us. I repositioned just in case the bird decided to just blast that area before I considered what to do. I pushed energy into the rest of my spells until Inverted Dimension sprung forth closely followed by Manifestation of Perfection. The bird let out another cry and then slammed its head into the ground. I grinned and formed three blades of compressed space. Xerxes let out a howl of rage before orange and red flames formed in his mouth. I grinned at him and we didn''t need words to sync up our attacks. Compressed space and burning flames shot forward a second later. Chapter 37: Heart of the Forest Our attacks slammed into the bird and it let out a cry of pain. The bird was missing chunks of flesh throughout its body including in two of its wings. I was pretty sure that it wouldn''t be able to fly anytime soon. I formed a blade of compressed space and was about to shoot it at the bird when something odd happened. My connection to Manifestation of Perfection popped and it consumed a large amount of spiritual energy. The diamond in the sky sent out a pulse of energy. As soon as the pulse of energy passed over the bird it collapsed. The suddenness of it made me stop what I was doing. I wasn''t sure if a bird could play dead or not. I gestured to stop Xerxes from rushing up to it. I knew it was still alive thanks to the energy that flowed through its channels which only amplified my confusion. I took a tentative step forward and then a burst of kill energy flooded my dantian. I glanced over at Xerxes and confirmed that it was the same for him. I wasn''t sure what had just happened and I wasn''t in the mood to investigate. Instead I formed a trio of psychic blades and launched them at the bird. Each blade landed and then the bird died. I waited for something to confirm the kill but nothing happened. After a few moments I walked up to the body and kicked it. "Alright, I guess it died or rather the System considered it dead after Manifestation went off." I ended my spells and took a seat next to the corpse. It wasn''t hard to figure out that my proficiency with it had increased which let it unleash a stronger attack. Was that collapse what happened when someone''s Tao heart was crushed? Once again I had questions and no one to ask. The lack of information was annoying but there was nothing to do. I gestured to Xerxes who bounded up and searched for the thing''s beast core. I quickly pushed the situation out of my mind and started to cultivate. This was going to be our rest stop for now. The stench of blood made me want to puke but that was alright. I expanded my Soul sense to keep watch on the surrounding area and handed Xerxes the other beast core. Within a few minutes he was happily absorbing the energy. It took him several hours to fully absorb the cores but when he did his aura exploded. His aura flooded the nest and then out into the forest. It wasn''t quite as dense as my own but it was very close. Based on it and the amount of energy coursing through him we were at the same level. He might even be a bit stronger than me. Furthermore his killing intent had grown thanks to the recent battles. It now felt like he was a literal apex predator as if he would rip the world apart. He tossed his head back and let out a howl of pride, fury and hunger. It was as if he was announcing himself to every monster in the forest. I couldn''t help but laugh. When he finally calmed down I patted him on his back and handed him a few spirit stones. They wouldn''t be enough to get him anywhere near a new level but every little bit helped. "How are you feeling?" "Amazing, I want to go out and hunt something." I stared at my very blood thirsty companion and laughed. "I am sure we will find something to fight again soon. I want to look for some treasures though. If the last few battles have been indicative of things than I might need a power up." I stretched and rolled my joints and then looked at the bird. I considered carving it up or rather ripping it apart but decided against it. Honestly I didn''t need more animal meat. Not only did not care much about cooking it all but we had plenty of food even with Xerxes'' appetite. With my mind made up I decided that we would leave in a half hour. I wanted to do a search around the nest. My treasure sense and body hadn''t told me about anything but better safe than sorry. "Do you smell anything?" I asked while I walked around. "No monsters, many plants. Do you want me to find something to fight?" I cocked my head at the longer sentence. I wasn''t sure if he had become smarter or if he had just didn''t want to speak up before. "Uh lets avoid it for now. My wounds don''t feel great and I would prefer to give it a few days." I did two circuits around the nest before I gave up. Xerxes and I leaped from the nest and onto the closest branch before we were off. I expanded my Tao field around us just in case. I wasn''t sure how long we had been running when I felt a tugging to my left. The effect was so strong and sudden that I missed a step. I nearly fell of the branch when Xerxes caught me. "What happened? Have you forgotten how to walk." He grumbled. I rolled my eyes and glanced toward the feeling. "Something''s over there. You want to go and find out what it is?" I didn''t bother waiting for his answer before I pushed spiritual energy into the soles of my feet and leaped forward. I shot through the air like a bullet. My laughter filled the air when I felt Xerxes chase after me. At this speed we found the treasure before I finished laughing. We several hundred feet above a tree with gnarled roots. At first I thought this was some kind slaughter grounds but I realized that wasn''t the case. For some reasons the tree''s roots had reached up out of the ground and wrapped around something that was about ten feet across. The object itself was completely obscured. All around the roots were dead beasts. The beasts had all been stabbed by the roots. This treasure had some kind of defense mechanism which made me leery of getting any closer. "I don''t think this will work but why not give it a chance." I activated Apportation and tried to pull the object to me. The portal appeared but as soon as it tried to pull the object. The roots shot through it like a blades. Xerxes and I barely had the time to dodge before we were assaulted. I couldn''t help but laugh and close the portal. "Stay here just in case I need you to blast it with fire." I leisurely walked down the tree until I stood a few feet behind the closest dead beast. I waited a few seconds just in case the plant continued the attack but when it didn''t I formed six blades. Three were psychic and three were made of compressed space. I fired all three making sure not to hit the treasure. It turned out I didn''t need to worry about that. As soon as the attacks passed the closest corpse more roots shot up. Most of them came from beneath the ground while several came from the bodies of the beasts. When the onslaught finished I let out an exasperated whistle. That was a pretty extreme reaction. I unleashed another set of attacks but the results were the same. Rather or not I used a spell or energy. I even tried the Tao of Lucidity but it didn''t matter. I stared at the treasure and double checked my senses. Without a doubt I was being drawn to it which meant it was possible to get it. At least that was my assumption. I activated Psychic Aegis in it a bubble form and sighed.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. My gut told me this wouldn''t work. That this was some sort of bullshit trial that required me to get hurt. I did my best to silence that voice while I strode forward. As soon as I made it past the first beast corpse the roots started attacking. I tried to counter each of them with spatial attacks but there were too many. I wasn''t sure if there a lot of roots that replaced themselves or if it was a few really fast roots. Psychic Aegis shattered at the halfway point. I countered the roots with my Tao field but it was like holding a heavy bag for a boxer. I held on for few more steps when the first root got through. I just managed to knock it off course and into my shoulder. My robe activated a second later but it made no difference. Its protective array was overrun almost immediately and I was forced to take each attack with my body. I bit back a scream as I reached out for the gnarled roots. As soon as I did spike shot out and skewered my hands. I screamed and fought the instinct to retreat. Spiritual energy flooded into my arms as I began ripping the roots apart. It felt like an eternity before I was able to see what I was suffering for. It was a heart? It looked like some dryad or treant''s heart. Something that you would see in an old fairy tale. Roots slammed into my back and it felt like a giant was trying to rip my spine out. I bit back any further questions and reached for the treasure. When my fingers wrapped around it I cry with pleasure. I ripped it out with every last bit of strength I had left. It resisted for a second and another root slammed into the back of my knee. The pain made me scream. I reactivated Apportation and let the portal suck me away. I was forced out of the portal on the branch next to Xerxes. "Got it." I said weakly before grabbing a healing pill and swallowing it. The medicinal power of the pill slowly got to work while I laid there. I could tell Xerxes was talking to me but I didn''t care. I wasn''t sure how long I stayed there before the pain faded and I got up. I was about to place the ring in my ring when I thought better of it. I still wasn''t sure what it would do but I did want boost. I slowly got to my feet and grinned at Xerxes. "You mind watching me for a bit? I am going to try and absorb this thing." "I will take care of it. Don''t die." "Of course not." I flashed him a teethy grin before I leaned against the tree trunk. I opened my robes and placed the heart against my bare chest. As soon as I did the heart started to beat. The sensation was strange but oddly calming. I took a minute to calm myself down before I got to work. I started circulating the Ethereal Codex. The hearts energy immediately flowed into me. Pure life attuned energy powered into every part of my body. It ignored my channels in favor of the muscles, skin and bone. My wounds healed at a rate visible to the eye. Every cell in my body felt like they were starving and the heart was eager to feed it. Thanks to the Eye of Heaven it was child''s play to direct the energy where I needed it to go. Once it was done with injuries I let it work from inside out. I directed into the muscles of my organs. I grimaced as it broke down and rebuilt everything. The sensation wasn''t quite painful, it was more uncomfortable. Like having an itch that started in my organs only to slowly move throughout my body. No matter how I controlled it I couldn''t make the sensation stop. Once it finished my organs I directed into my bones and muscles. It felt like the very power of the earth had infused itself into my body. My bones were becoming as dense as stone while my muscles were strong enough to rip mountains apart. The hearts energy was slowly running but there should be enough to finish its task. The heart slowly sunk into my chest as even more of energy surged into me. Once it finished with my bones and muscles it moved to my skin. Briefly it grew darker until it was the color of freshly tilled earth. I was consumed by the smell of plants, the smell of nature. The energy spread up toward the **Eye of Heaven** before it was repulsed. I wasn''t sure if the eye needed different energy or if the heart was high enough quality for it. I wasn''t too worried about it though. The heart had already reforged most of my body. Suddenly my mind was pulled away from my body and into the tree beneath me. I traveled down deep within the dirt until I was connected with its roots. A super high way that spread the length of whatever realm we were in was open to me. I reached a mental tendril out to the closest root and visions filled my mind. Visions of cultivators doing battle with a massive squirrel like creature. It was the size of a lion and its teeth contained enough power to split steel. I released that toot and searched for another. Each time I received a vision of different areas, different treasures and different monsters. I wasn''t sure how long I stayed like that before I returned to my body. When I did the heart was finished and my skin returned to a normal shade. Albeit slightly darker. I was about to get up when I noticed something shocking. My heart was different. It was half as big as it used to be and looked more like the plant one. At first I was worried that the smaller size meant it would pump worse or that I wouldn''t be as strong as I should be but that wasn''t it. If anything the blood that came out was richer. It was brighter shade of red. I watched it for a few more minutes before I hopped to my feet. As soon as I did I let out a whistle of excitement. My body felt amazing. Not only did I feel lighter and stronger but I was also more energetic. It was like my body had evolved. I pulled up my status screen but there were no new changes. That made me pause. I had assumed the status screen was some sort of force of nature. That it told everything but if it didn''t then I had to rethink. We there other benefits that wouldn''t show clearly? I laughed and looked over at Xerxes who now laid down about ten feet away. "Now that was exciting. How long was I out?" Xerxes snorted and got to his feet. "I don''t know. Several hours." I rubbed my chin as if deep in thought and then looked down at the clearing where my new treasure used to reside. Part of me wanted to blow the whole thing away but I decided against it. Mostly because I didn''t want to risk breaking space or something stupid. I also didn''t want to risk the other trees coming alive and trying to fuck me up. "Alright, lets get going. I want to see what I can do now." When Xerxes confirmed he was ready I grinned and leaped away. I nearly slammed into the next tree as I overshoot my intended target by nearly ten feet. I pulled myself out of the imprint I made and felt a bit like a cartoon character. Only the wooden splinters poking into made it much less comfortable. I took a minute to adjust my strength as Xerxes laughed in my mind. When I was reasonably sure I wouldn''t slam into anything else we took off. With my new speed Xerxes had to push himself to keep which was fine by me. "Do you know where we are going?" I nodded and expanded my soul sense to its maximum range. "The first beast isn''t too far from here. I want to see if I am strong enough to take it." I felt dull pulls in nearly every direction but my gut told me that it wasn''t a good idea to chase them all down. At least not yet from what I could remember not every root led to a place that would be safe for me to visit. That and I didn''t want to risk anyone else killing any of the beasts before we got there. I was pretty sure it was a winner takes all situation and I was going to be first to claim the reward. After that I would get my fight and then I would go home. Home to a world that was still in chaos. The journey flew by as we passed several weaker creatures. Including another of the camouflaged mantis. None of them gave me a challenge worth stopping for so we kept going. When the trees started to look familiar I slowed us down and began to search. A short file later I found it. A massive multi armed gorilla. It was probably two or even three times as big as a silverback and twice as muscular. I was pretty sure I could bombard it with attacks from here but a part of me wanted to see just my body had changed. This guy would be a beautiful test. I pushed spiritual energy into all four of my limbs and once again marveled at how easy it was. It was almost like my muscles were made for energy now. I could take around twice as much energy as before. I even felt like I could push that limit about without causing too much damage. When I was ready I nodded to Xerxes who leveled his eyes on the ape. I then launched myself from the tree like a rocket. It was time to have some fun. Chapter 38: Trial Takers The massive gorilla roared and our fist connected. It sounded like a bomb had gone off. A shockwave exploded outward with enough force to splinter all the nearby trees. I grinned and leaped backwards narrowly avoiding the ape''s follow up strike. The ape pursued and we exchanged a dozen attacks in seconds. Not only did I block each one but body felt wonderful. I amped up the spiritual energy in my hands and went on the offensive. Barely remembered boxing lessons came to the forefront as I avoided two blows for everyone I gave the beast. My laughter filled the air with every blow I landed. It felt like punching a steel wall. We continued like this until the ape unleashed a roar that made my bones ache. It then activated some sort of skill and doubled in size. Its body glowed black and its fur became as sharp as blades. My danger sense roared but I ignored it. There was no way I would run. I came here to test my limits. I brought both hands up and covered my fists in spiritual energy. My fist began to glow and I felt like some sort of superhero. The ape blurred and I launched jab with every ounce of strength I had. The air screamed as our fists collided. A wave of force exploded from the impact site. This time I lost the exchange and shot backwards. I flipped in the air and braced my feet against a tree. I looked up just in time to see the gorilla chase after me. I ducked its massive fist and aimed a jab into its sternum. This time it felt like my fist would shatter. My danger sense screamed at me and I dropped to the ground before the rest of my mind could catch up. By the time I realized what happened the gorilla had slammed its arms together in the world''s most lethal bear hug. I leaped back ten feet and rolled my shoulders. "Is it a defensive skill?" I looked down at my fists and laughed. "I guess I can''t beat you like this." The ape roared and rushed me. I activated **Apportation** a was yanked through a portal just before the gorilla slammed into the spot I had been. I reappeared a hundred feet above and behind him. A halo of psychic blades formed behind me. I opened the **Eye of Heaven** and shook my head ruefully. Whatever ability the ape used pushed it power through the roof. It was either at the very peak of the first realm or had just broken through. Either way I wouldn''t be able to beat it without going all out. The ape turned and pushed off from the ground with enough force to crater it. He didn''t so much as fly at me as just appeared. Its fist slammed into my Tao field just as all six blades sunk into him. The impact from his fist shot me back nearly thirty feet even with my Tao field cushioning the impact. I summoned a blade of compressed space above me like a scorpion''s stinger as I waited for the ape''s follow up attack. Instead of charging me again the ape grabbed the splintered tree trunk and launched it. I laughed and split it the projectile in two. Just before the gorilla arrived. Once again I met its fist with my own. A thrill of pain shot up my arm and into my spine as I once sent again sent flying. "You son of a bitch." I pulled myself out of a tree trunk and grinned at the ape. "You are still getting stronger." A part of me feltlike I should be much more panicked about that but I couldn''t bring myself to worry. This was better than I had hopped. This was a fight. I reached for that flame inside and let its fire consume me. I teetered at the edge of madness as another halo of blades formed. "Come" I wasn''t sure if the ape could understand me or not but it unleashed a roar and the battle was on. We exchanged attack after attack for what felt like hours before the gorilla disengaged. I leaped backwards and increased the distance between us to about twenty feet. I got a healing pill from my ring and swallowed. The bones and muscles in both arms cracked and popped as they reset themselves. I wasn''t sure if the ape''s skill allowed it to recover its soul or if it was just monstrous enough to ignore the damage. A small voice in the back of my mind told me that I should stop playing games. That I should activate my spells and drown the ape. I decided to ignore it. The ape hadn''t used anymore abilities which meant we were equal. There was no way I would let an overgrown gorilla force me to use more of my abilities. "I hope you aren''t finished yet" I taunted him as another halo of blades formed. Three of the six were made out of compressed space while the other three were mental. The ape roared and its energy exploded. He looked like a bonfire to my eyes but there was a problem. A second energy started to mix with its spiritual energy. The creatures power seemed to leap a tier and genuine panic shot through me. Before I could decide what to do the gorilla ripped a chunk of a tree and launched it at me. I brought my two spatial blades down just in time to block. The wood splintered with a large chunk punching straight through my shoulder. I unleashed all of my blades as the gorilla charge. Each step sounded like a stampede of animals. It didn''t even bother to avoid each attack. The spatial blades somehow shattered against its skin. While the psychic ones pushed through and disappeared. I leaped out of the tree just as it arrived. I made it halfway to the ground before it was on me again. My danger sense screamed. I brought both hands up to block the punch. It felt like I had been hit by a train. I was launched into the ground so hard that I bounced off of it. I forced my Tao field out as far as I could just as the gorilla arrived. It launched another fist this time into my right side. Once again I was launched through the air. It felt a lava had been injected into my stomach. I had to fight to stop from black out as I slammed into a tree. I formed a square of compressed space and kept in between us. A swallowed two pills and let them get to work on my wounds. What the hell just happened? If the ape hadn''t been in the second realm before it certainly was now. It couldn''t have broken through during the fight could it? No that weird energy was still coursing through its body. "Do you need help?" Xerxes asked His voice was like a bucket of cold water on my exhausted mind. "No, no I got it. Stay back." The ape let out another roar and I knew my time was up. It slammed its fist into my defensive wall with enough force to level a building. I grimaced as the healing pills finished. Another crash and my barrier splintered. I spit up a mouth full of blood and formed six more blades. The ape shot forward and I met his attack with two spatial blades. This time a part of its fingers were carved off. Dark red blood spilled on the ground as I scrambled to not be crushed. My blades slammed into the ape from all sides and it stumbled a step. I formed the largest sphere of spatial energy I could and practically slammed into the ape''s right pair of arms. For the first time this battle the ape suffered real damage as both arms were severed just above the elbow. The ape''s energy flickered like a dying candle as it swung for me. Only this time the attack was barely there. I dodged but decided to create distance instead of following up.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. I stared at the monster''s channels in complete confusion. Something gone terribly wrong. It was like the creature was disintegrating from the inside. At first I thought it was something I had done. As if the Tao of compression had gotten stronger but that wasn''t it. The gorilla started to shrink like a balloon that had a hole in it. I felt Xerxes land next to me which only piqued my curiosity. "Do you know what''s going on?" "Life force. It burned it for power now it is dying." I raised an eyebrow at the Qilin. "The fuck does that mean? Are you able to do that? Can I do that?" "Yes, but you die after." That dampened the ideas that started to sprout in my mind. There was no way I would exchange my life for more power. Especially based on how the gorilla faired. It had shrunken to half its original size and made a pathetic whimpering sound. I shot a pair of blades into it out of mercy once I was sure it wasn''t some kind of trick. I guess it made a kind of sense. You couldn''t just get more power out of nowhere. You needed to pay some kind of price for it. The power that it displayed was insane. It was a waste though the fight was arguably the best one so far. With only the encounters with the princes even close to it. "Does it have its beast core still? You can take it if you want." Xerxes shook his head. "No, there will be nothing." I shrugged as the corpse fell a part. A beam of light shot into my ring and the kill energy surged into my dantian. A quick check told me the that one of tokens had lit up. That confirmed that my task was to hunt them all down now which meant I had four more to get. "Do you have any idea where the other creatures are? We are looking for a type of tree, some blood creature, either a bunch of bugs or one big bug, and a weird chimeric monster." Xerxes stared at me for several long moments. I was pretty sure he wanted to call me something but there was no communication between us. After enough time passed I laughed. "Come on. Lets see what else is out there." "I help next time." His tone left little room for disagreement which was amusing. I nodded and pushed spiritual energy into my feet. We sprinted up into the trees and were on our way. I scanned everything we passed just in case there were more creatures in hiding but there was nothing. It was like the forest had gone to sleep. Even the sounds were muted. I wasn''t sure if that we because the gorilla died, I took that treasure or if there was monster waiting to rip us apart. We traveled until we came across an empty clearing. The forest had started to darken and I wasn''t in the mood to face off against a bunch of shadows if we could avoid it. We headed to the ground and I summoned a tent from my ring. "When we get back I need to learn an array for this kind of situation. Like a protection ward or some other thing." I grumbled until the tent was in place. "You can sleep first." Xerxes nodded and lay down next to the tent. I watched the energy in the area get pulled toward him. It was similar but also different from how it looked for people. His core was located next to his heart and it didn''t look empty. If anything it looked full with milky substance. The energy he pulled into himself clashed with the substance and the substance started to dissipate. The sheer amount of it made it clear he wouldn''t be done for a while. I wasn''t sure if that would be when he was at level 50 or if there was some other limit. I would have to get some proper information crystals on beast''s how to treat them. I groaned and closed my eyes. It felt like the list of things I needed to do just kept increasing. It was fun but part of me wanted a spa day. I chuckled to myself and expanded my soul sense. I didn''t trust this calmness it felt like we were being watched. Like a disaster was around the corner. I stayed like that until Xerxes woke up. We then switched and it was my turn to down some meditating. I decided to focus on the Tao. I was pretty sure both Lucidity and Adamance were close to a breakthrough. I took a deep breath and focused on the strand of Adamance. When I awoke from my meditation the forest had become warmer. I checked my body for any issues I might of missed. When I was sure I was good I opened my eyes and got to my feet. "You ready to go?" I opened all three eyes and surveyed the area. Everything was mostly the same though the energy was denser. I wasn''t sure if that was a change in the forest or just us not draining it. "Yes, there are cultivators nearby." I raised an eyebrow at that. "Where? How do you know?" Xerxes pointed with his head to the Southwest. "They smell like you not like me." "Uh huh," I decided not to ask too many questions about how I smelled and instead pushed energy into my feet. "Well lets go and see who they are. They might know more about this situation or they might have beaten one of the bosses." I jogged up a tree until we were in its branches. After that I let Xerxes lead the way. We ran for what felt like thirty minutes before something entered the range of my soul sense. I gestured for Xerxes to stop as I watched the group. There were four of them and they all wore the same robes. They weren''t the same as any of the princes. There robes were a mix of purple and black. Two of them had swords on their waist. One had a bow and the last one didn''t carry a weapon. They looked like humans if a little skinnier. I didn''t see elf ears or any other supernatural traits. These people must be from a faction. The only question was were they from the same places as the princes or somewhere else. I watched them for a few minutes before they started to bicker amongst themselves. They are argued over who would get the next bit of a loot but there was no malice in it. "*Lets be nice to these people*." I gestured for Xerxes to follow as I moved to intercept them. When we were about fifteen feet ahead of them I took a seat on a tree branch and pulled out some meat. I handed a portion of it to Xerxes while I ate the smaller bits. I wasn''t sure what creature it came from and at this point I wasn''t in the mood to think about it too much. We sat there until the group stepped into view. "Barkim If I told you once, I then told you twice you''ve got to lay off the spirit ale or you are going to go deaf and dumb." The man with the bow slung across his back said before breaking out into laughter. Barkim slapped the archer on the back and chuckled. "If the ale is how I go then the ale is how I go old friend." It was the non-weapon wielder who noticed me first. He summoned a flame above the palm of his hands glared up at us. He unleashed his aura which caused the rest of the group to focus. His aura wasn''t bad, between it and the amount of energy in his dantian I would place his level in the low to mid thirties. His allies were closer to the low thirties. "Excuse us stranger. I don''t believe we have done anything to draw your ire but if we have we offer our sincerest apologies." The mage called out. He took a half step forward while his companions drew their weapons. They didn''t point them at me which raised my opinion of the group. I flashed them a smile but didn''t move. "No need to worry I have no interest in hurting you. I was hoping you could answer a few question about the trial." I stepped off the tree branch and fell to the ground like a stone. I did my best superhero landing as I split the ground in all directions. I had to fight back the grin on my face as I straightened up. I glanced over at Xerxes ran down the tree''s trunk to join me. The cultivators raised their weapons but none of them aimed at us. They all glanced toward the mage but since he made no move neither did they. I stopped walking when we were about a hundred feet away. I then offered the same bow the Crown Prince''s people did. "I hope we can have a pleasant conversation." Their leader nodded and returned the bow. He then gestured for me to follow and I did. A few minutes later we all sat beneath a tree. A pitcher filled a weird type of wine sat between us. "My name is Nevian and I am from the Clear Sky Mountain." I smiled to him and then to each of his followers. "My name is Amari and I am from Amara. Not a sect I am afraid." I gestured to the wine. "Is that the ''spirit wine'' you two were talking about before?" Chapter 39: Wine and Hollows The spirit wine was similar to beast meat. It not only tasted great but it also gave you a bit of spiritual energy. It wasn''t enough to make a difference but it was pleasant. Kind of like small traces of caffeine, not enough to get you hyper but enough to notice. "Are you two really in the trial alone?" Nevian asked as he took a sip from his cup. I grinned. "Yeah I got a token and it let Xerxes here come with me so here we are. I wasn''t expecting so many random people to be here." "Ah, you got the token as a quest reward then?" "Exactly. Is that unusual so far everyone I''ve met got it through their sect or kingdom or some similar method." He shook his head and gestured to his companions. "No, we all got them through quests. I can''t speak for anyone else you''ve meet while here but the likely explanation is contribution points." I gestured for him to continue his explanation. "Well you might not be aware but trade is a common way to gain points. If you were to earn a thing like a token but have no interest in going..." "You trade it for points." It also went without saying that if a prince were to "offer" to give you points in exchange for a token that you would be best served by accepting. "Does your sect ever force you to give up an item? Say in the name of providing someone more talented an opportunity?" I got my answer from the looks on their faces. That put a massive downer on join a sect idea. I couldn''t be sure but I should be strong enough to be a top tier member at my realm. So it shouldn''t be a major problem for me. No the biggest danger for me would likely come from nepotism. "Are family members in the same sect allowed to help each other? Say for example a third or fourth realm person had kid in the first realm. Would they be able to kill people to protect their kid?" The foursome looked at each other and a uncomfortable silence fell on us. I was just about to take back the question when Nevian spoke up. "Yes and no. It is not unheard of for people to belong to the same family and be in the same sect. It is also not uncommon for protection to pass down. It is as a general rule frowned upon for elders to interfere in the affairs of the younger generation." I slowly nodded. I considered it for a moment and decided to open the Eye of Heaven. I scanned the area half expecting to find some floating eyeball or a camera. With the way he went out of his way to avoid saying something offensive. There was nothing there. I smirked when three of them struggled to tear their gaze away from the eye. "Um are you human?" Nevian asked. "I don''t know many species that have three eyes especially not such a unique one." I laughed and ran my fingers through Xerxes'' fur and across his scales. "I am human. Uh lets just say the eye is a new addition. Something I got due to unique circumstances." "Ah well I am happy to hear about your fortune. Do you intend to reach the pagoda in the center?" I nodded and he continued. "It may not be safe for a pair such as yourself. I am not sure if you''ve figured it out yet but the task for the inner ring is to hunt down five beasts. My companions and I have defeated one. It was a kind large beetle that shot acid." I cocked my head to the side and glanced at the others. When I saw no signs of confusion or deceit on their faces I nodded. Was I wrong about each token making you fight the same things? Is it a rather race to take out all five creatures? "Have you seen anyone else? Has anyone dealt with more than one of these bosses?" He shook his head. "We haven''t encountered many people yet. I believe a large reason for this are those princes. They don''t seem interested in entering this part of the trial just yet." He looked at his companions and gave them a slight head nod. "We plan on collecting as many useful resources and leaving before then. I don''t think we will be able to deal with our list." That came as a shock but when I reflect on the gorilla battle it made sense. These guys aren''t as strong as I am and I nearly died. Chances are if I had to use physical attacks I would have died. These guys weren''t as strong as me. Of course there were four of them so it should be possible. Either way I guess I couldn''t blame them. It was disappointing though. "Understandable, are you going to wait until the day they enter or will you leave before then?" "Ideally we would leave once we receive word that they have decided to enter. We have a few means in place to that effect. We also have an agreed upon exit date." I slowly nodded my understanding. "Right, well have you seen anything odd things since you''ve been here? Any weird places or places with strange energy." They looked at each other for a moment and then shook their heads. "No, none that we can recall. If we encounter such a place we can let you know. If we encounter one another again." I resisted the urge to sigh at them. Instead I pulled out a bit of the premade food and passed some over to them. "Take this as both a gift and thank you for the wine. Our cooks are still new but they are fast learners." They unwrapped the boxes slowly and then sniffed the food inside. When they smiled I smiled and everyone seemed pleased. "We thank the kind stranger but it would be best for us to leave." We said our good byes and I opened a portal with Apportation. Mostly so we didn''t have to have an awkward moment. Where we pretend to not know where each group was going. Xerxes and I stepped through and then reappeared five miles away on another tree branch. I waited for the portal to close before rolling my shoulders. "Well they seemed nice." "They don''t want to compete for the prize." "Yeah, that part sucks. I guess its best to know your limits but it seems like a waste. I assume you want to keep going right?" His response was a roar that shattered the quiet atmosphere. I couldn''t do anything but grin and unleash my aura. "Come on. Let''s see if we can find anything interesting." I decided not to cage my aura again mostly because Xerxes wasn''t too good at doing it so it didn''t matter. His strength was enough to either scare creatures away or draw them to us on its own. I also expanded my soul sense. We ran for a while before we encountered our first opponent. It was a cross between a lion or tiger-like beast and ant. Which was incredibly freaky. Its upper body was ant-like like and despite the weird appearance, its mandibles were incredibly strong. I was about to unleash a full assault of psychic blades when Xerxes insisted on dealing with it alone. I was going to refuse but it would be a great opportunity to see just how strong he was now. I took a seat on a branch and watched the pair go at it. Xerxes was incredibly savage. He took every chance to gore and rip at the ant but its mandibles were a serious threat. Several times he was forced to retreat just when he started to get the upper hand.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. They entered a strange hit-and-run kind of game until Xerxes got irritated. I chuckled as his emotions passed through the bond. He then unleashed his blast of flames nearly point blank. The ant let out a shriek of pain. As it stumbled back a bit. Xerxes'' attack wasn''t enough to end the battle but it was opposite to the delicate dance they were in. Once that happened the battle slowly shifted. Xerxes took advantage of the bug thing''s fear of his fire to make it overcommit. He then ripped and clawed at its softer stomach. Through the battle, Xerxes would occasionally slam its head into the beast. As if his horn was there. Which made me curious. The horn was growing though it was more of a blunt nub right now. I would need to see if I could do anything to help it grow. I was pretty sure that Qilin horns were special in mythology books. Of course that could become a problem once we entered the real multiverse. I shook my head and returned to the battle just as Xerxes and the ant rushed each other. I half expected him to unleash another blast of fire but he didn''t. Instead, he sunk his fangs into the ant''s right mandible. From there their moments took them in opposite directions and he ripped the thing off. Green insect blood spilled all over the ground as the ant hissed and cried in pain. After that, the battle was basically over. Xerxes swiftly removed the second mandible and then he ripped the bug apart. I considered launching a blade into the things head just to end its pain but didn''t. I didn''t want to drain any of the kill energy and I would be pissed if he did it to me. Once the beast finally died I leapt down. "Get that out of your system?" He snorted at me and then dug out the thing''s core. This time I grabbed it with Psychokinesis and put into the ring. "Not right now. We can''t afford for you to get drawn into something. Besides we might find some more fun things for you to kill." He growled at me for a second and then shook himself like a dog. A sight that was much less cute by the bug guts and blood on his face. It took him a moment to get all off and I had to pull out a water skin to help. "We are starting to run low on supplies so we will have to rough it for a bit. You ready to head out?" "Ready." We returned to the tree branches and set out again. We encounter another battle but this one is weaker than the last. It was another of the weird squirrels and we decided to take it out together. The amount of energy it provided wasn''t worth dealing with. I was just about to call for a break when I caught something odd with the Eye of Heaven. One of the larger trees to the west had a lot more spiritual energy flowing through it. "Follow me." I shifted direction and went to the forest floor. It wasn''t until we got to the clearing with the tree that I realized my initial assumption was wrong. Very wrong. The tree had a complicated array that flowed through it like water. I sent a tendril of energy toward it only to get shocked. It wasn''t very painful probably closer to an earth stun gun. Of course that was with my new body. "We are going to take a break. I want to see what this is." I took a seat across from the tree and formed multiple tendrils of energy and slowly tested the array. I remembered how to break one but this was much more complicated than the practice ones in the academy. Which only made me more curious. A real cultivator should have been involved with this. Which should mean the loot would be even better. I couldn''t help but lick my lips in anticipation. The array was almost a work of art. The sigils flowed up and down like water which made it even harder to find the right spot. It was a bit like playing a game where the correct code was spread throughout lines of other words. I needed to select each one in the correct order. Furthermore the intense focused drained my mental energy which made it more likely I would mess up. After two hours I was forced to stop. "Got damn." I groaned and stood up. "Is the tree too hard for you?" I whipped around and glared at Xerxes. I couldn''t tell if he was making fun of me or if he was asking genuinely. After a long moment passed between us I decided to let it go. I sighed and rubbed my temples. "Yes and no. It''s going to take some time. I wonder if there are skills and spells for this kind of thing." I rested for two hours before I got back to work. Sweat beaded on my forehead as I pushed against the array. I formed three mental needles, the maximum I could and poked at every bit I could. I watched the first layer of the array break. There was a deafening crack and then the tree shook. I had finally forced a weakness into the array. It was just large enough for me to fit my energy threads inside. I began slowly widening the flaw. The array''s energy made it feel like playing the highest-risk game of operation in history. Another crack and I nearly loss control. The arrays was broken but I couldn''t let it collapse too fast. I tried to take control of its energy but it was like grabbing water cannons. Instead I diverted it. I let it return to the earth beneath us. The spiritual energy in the area slowly picked up. Either a beast or a cultivator would notice the increase which meant I needed to move faster. Another crack and my blood went cold. I scanned the array in search of whatever failure that was. There was nothing? Another crack and it hit me. This wasn''t the array. It was the tree. My connection to the array shattered as the last of energy flooded into the ground. I leaped back half expecting an explosion. Instead, the tree opened. A new hollow of at least ten feet opened and revealed a staircase draped in darkness. I was about to expand my soul sense but their was another array. This one just as complex as the last. Only it wasn''t designed to stop me from going down. It just stopped me from looking. "Well I guess we should see how far this rabbit hole goes." I glanced over at Xerxes and stepped in. As soon as we were both inside the hole closed behind us. I pressed a palm against the new wall but nothing happened. "We deal with that later." There was enough space for us to walk side by side so we did. The air in the hollow was stale as if it hadn''t been opened in a very long time. There was no sign of life or anything if I hadn''t walked through a tree I would have assumed we were inside a building. I wasn''t sure how long it took us to reach the bottom of the staircase but when we did several lights flickered on. Or rather appeared in the air. This new chamber was around ten feet tall and was perfectly spherical. It had a central stone platform that we stood on and another staircase that traveled further down. Once again I tried to expand my soul sense but it didn''t work. I couldn''t see more than a few inches beyond my body. "I assume you still don''t smell anything?" I stepped up to the balcony and peeked over the edge. A wave of vertigo hit me and I stepped back. "No, it is empty here," Xerxes replied and for the first time, he didn''t sound certain. I expanded my Tao field to cover us and stared at the staircase. "You know if this was a horror movie the smart thing to do would be to return to the top and run away." "We can''t leave. We must keep going down." "I know just felt better to get that off my chest. Stay close there might be more of those shadow creatures the further we go." We began our slow descent every ten feet or so another light would activate. Something that just barely illuminated the next set of stairs. I circulated the tao of adamance to keep my mind from wandering. Every step and every part of the wall looked the same which made it feel like we made no progress. When we reached the next landing I wanted to jump for joy. This room didn''t have an observation area and looked a bit like a library. There was a set of shelves on one side of the room filled with stone slips. Slips that were information stones just in a different shape. They still pulsed with spiritual energy. In the middle of the room was a wooden table with a layer of dust that made me think no one had sat there for years. The wood looked like normal earth wood but if we took the situation into account that made no sense. There was a literal magical forest outside so an alternative theory sprouted. This place was old. The energy in the table had just faded over time. There was another staircase but I had little interest in that right now. I turned my focus to the shelves of crystals. I picked up a set of ten and moved over to the table. I wiped as much of the dust off as I could and sat down. "Can you keep watch?" I picked up the first crystal and sent a thread of energy inside. There was a brief surge as information flooded into my mind. It was immense, like cramming an entire textbook into my head at once but I could handle it. Once the first burst of information finished I moved onto the next. Chapter 40: Prisoner By the time I finished with the first set, I needed a break. I had a dull headache that made me want to take a nap. The information inside was fascinating though. The Chimeric Forest was once a part of the Verdant Fields sect. It was their beast research domain. It was effectively an area where beast masters, tamers, and breeders would drop their creatures to train them. According to a map on the fifth slip, this place should be five times larger than it is. There also should be other zones not just forests. This meant the System likely changed the area or at least shrunk it down. I just didn''t know why. If it just wanted a place for us to fight it could have made an arena. Did it want us to find this place? Are there similar places throughout? I glanced at the rest of the slips and sighed. By the time I consumed the rest of the crystals, my headache felt like someone had taken a hammer and chisel to my skull. My vision was blurry and I wanted nothing more than a good nap. Unfortunately, there was no time for that. This place wasn''t a research facility like I thought. It was a type of prison. It was designed to hold a single person. None of the crystals explained who they were or what they did to get trapped here which only made me nervous. Logically they should be dead. I couldn''t tell just how long this place had been here but it should have been what a year at least? That estimate was based on things I knew were wrong but still best case they should be dead. Yet a part of me didn''t feel like that was true. A little voice in the back of my mind said that if I traveled down those stairs I would encounter something insane. "Welp let''s go and see what awaits us at the bottom of the abandoned prison." I gestured to Xerxes who let out a low growl. He got to his feet and we restarted our journey. When we reached the next level my irritation had reached the point where I was ready to try blowing a whole out of here. Thankfully there were no more stairs. This room was the same size as the one above and had two doors. One looked normal and was to our right. The door was made out of unadorned wood. The second door was much more imposing. It was closer to twenty feet in height and had a second array engraved in its wood. The energy was still there which only made me more nervous. Whatever was trapped here was not nice. I decided to open that door last. "Stay close," I muttered before I checked behind me. Ever since we entered this room. I couldn''t help this feeling. It was like someone was reaching out of the darkness for the back of my neck. I sighed and circulated the Tao of Adamance for a few moments. When I was calmed down enough to focus I stepped up and opened the other door. The room was empty except for an array on the ground. The array resembled a ritual circle with a mat in the center and four spots at each of the cardinal directions. It took me a minute to piece it together but when I did I chuckled. This was a cultivation chamber. Which meant the floors above were guard stations. I took the time to commit the array to memory. I couldn''t tell if it would be better than the one I already had but more the merrier. I only wished the materials for it were still here. I scanned the room for anything worth taking but there was nothing. I considered breaking the array but it was more complicated than the one on the tree. There was no reason to do it. I looked back and forth between the array and Xerxes for a moment before I got an idea. "Hey, body. You want to cultivate for a bit?" "You mean the beast cores?" I nodded. "We don''t have enough for all four spots but we should be able to get two. I could probably supplement the other spots with spirit stones." Xerxes looked at the array as if deep in thought and then walked over and lay down. Once he was in position I removed things from my bag. I placed the two beast cores and the other weird thing he wanted. The last spot got a set of five spirit stones. Once everything was in place I made my way to the exit. "If you get in trouble feel free to tell me. I know not everyone can handle a lot of energy at once." I flashed him a grin. He then growled at me. I pretended to be aggrieved and stepped out of the room. Once I was out I sent a bit of energy into the array and activated it. I bit back my anxiety as the array powered up. The array lit up like a long-dead city. I watched the energy spread through it from all four points. It was a bit like watching the energy flow through a labyrinth. At first, I didn''t get why the pathway was so complicated. It wasn''t until the first bit of energy got to Xerxes that I figured out why. It both staggered the energy and refined it. The energy that came from each of the items was stronger when it reached him. By the time he was dealing with the full force of it, I wasn''t sure he could handle it. I was half a step away from stopping the array when he sent reassurances down the bond. It wasn''t words, more like a determination not to miss the opportunity. I grinned and nodded. "Sorry about that buddy. I guess I forgot just who you were." I moved my gaze from the array and turned toward the creepy door. I stepped up to it and pushed a bit of energy into its array. The array unraveled like a work of art. Each part connected to and undid the next as if they were a massive set of dominoes. When the array finally opened a part of me wished it hadn''t. I ignored that part and pushed open the door. I stepped inside and five flame lights lit up the chamber. What I saw made my heart skip a beat. The room was probably two or even three times the size of the others. In the middle was a person who was knelt as if in supplication. They had dark black skin and long jet-black hair. Their back was bare and covered in so many sigils that my head hurt. They were covered in an array that spanned the entire room. To even compare this thing to the other arrays would be like comparing an abacus to a supercomputer. There were a myriad of components. I wasn''t sure I could solve any one part before the trial was over let alone all of it.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Furthermore, when I stared at the figure with the Eye of Heaven I nearly ran from the room. I had no idea what level of cultivation they were at. If my level felt like a flame then this person was a supernova. It was like their power was truly limitless. I was about to step away when the figure spoke. Their voice was hoarse like they hadn''t used it in years. "Another come to continue my torture. No, no you are different. Have the ages finally consumed them?" The figure made a horrible sound. It was like a cross between a smoker''s cough and a witch''s laugh. It made me want to turn around and run as far from here as possible. "Speak boy. I can not hurt you nor will I" "W-what are you?" The figure took in a mouthful of air and laughed. The act caused their body to shiver and then the array intensified. After that their body seized as if lightning had shot through them. I bit back a gasp as I traced the energy that flowed into the array. It was terrifying. I was sure that even one discharge of that could kill me. "To think there would come an age where someone would not be able to recognize us by sight. The river of time indeed comes for us all." "You have more energy than anyone I have ever seen. What realm are you in? 2nd? Third?" I asked with a bit more confidence than last time. "No child. When I was alive I was an exalted Exarch. That would be the peak of the fourth realm." My eyes widened at that. "How did you get stuck here?" "I was imprisoned by the Verdant Field Sect several millennia ago. Their sect master wanted to take something I refused to give." My eyes spread to the array. I resisted the urge to flinch away. "Was it worth it? You''ve been here for thousands of years." Once again the person laughed and my skin crawled. "This is what it means to cultivate. What I had was mine by birth and by deed. I would not bend but I suppose it matters not now. I outlasted him and he has killed me." "You look fine. I don''t know if I could undo the array but maybe if we work¡ª" "No child the array and I are one. To break it would kill me the same as plunging a blade into my heart." "Why would someone make an array like that?" I figured out the answer before I finished the question. What better way to torture or imprison someone? I had no idea what happened the sect but this place was still here. This person was still here. "Tell me child where did you get that eye?" The question caught me off guard and I flinched back a step. Something that earned me a mocking laugh. "I ate a fruit and got it." "Ahhh has this place become a demi plane? And one connected to a baby world? The irony. And people say Heaven lacks a sense of humor. Tell me child is this place a trial ground? Does it belong to you?" I shook my head. "No, it''s not connected to my world either. I got a token along with a few others. It brought us here to compete." "Yes, the System I should have assumed. Tell me boy are you able to shape your spiritual energy?" I nodded and formed a blade the size of my forearm. "Good, good come here. I want you to end this journey. I am ready for my soul to leave this place." I didn''t move. "No offense but that sounds like the thing you would say to get me to come near you so you could rip my head off or something. Why should I trust you. Now that I think about it why should I trust this story? For all I know you are some evil creature that was imprisoned for breaking the law." The person laughed and I took another half step back. "Where is your heart? You won''t get anywhere if you step with such light feet." The figure fell into a coughing fit that made me think they were going to lose a lung. "I am going to give it to you. Assuming you aren''t afraid." Greed and curiosity warred with commonsense as I stared at the figure. "You want to give me the thing that was worth trapping you here forever? And I am supposed to be happy about it?" "I can see the greed in your eyes child. Power is always a sin if you can''t hold onto it. What will you do? Let the opportunity fade in favor of safety or seize opportunity?" The figure laughed and began to move. The array trembled and the sound of dangling chains filled the air. Suddenly killing intent flooded the chamber. The figure in front me transformed until they were thousands of feet tall. My danger sense deafened me as my spiritual energy turned to sludge in my channels. Intellect Fortress activated and devoured my energy. It still wasn''t enough. Suddenly the image shattered like a window pane. Its pieces fell to the ground around me and the original chamber returned. Only the mysterious figure stood facing me. Their eyes were wrapped in white bandages and the array had changed. It now had energy chains that dug from its body and into the rest of the array. "So what will it be child? Fear or Possibility?" For the first time, their voice changed. It was not filled with majesty, power and danger. If this person was an arrow at the end of its flight before then they had become a full quiver. I thought about it for a moment before I unleashed my own aura and killing intent. It pushed back against the tsunami that came at me but it wasn''t enough. I was like a child against a proper warrior. I took a step forward. The murderous aura seemed to double in power. My teeth ground together as I took another step and then another. The short distance between us felt like a football field but I had made my decision. I had no idea who this person was or why they were here but I would take what was mine. I lost count of how many steps it took before I was in front of them. The chamber fell away and there was nothing beside them and I. I raised my blade and plunged into his chest. For a moment the world ground to a halt. I felt their soul shatter and their body go slack. Just as I was about to step back the world shifted. We were no longer in the chamber but floating inside a white void. The person had transformed. Instead of their bedraggled and half-dead appearance, they looked like a celestial warrior. They wore a resplendent golden robe. Their eyes twinkled like stars. They looked androgynous but ethereally beautiful. "Thank you. I do not have much more time so I will be brief. You can consider this my inheritance. I do not know what form it will take." He then reached out with a hand that seemed both impossibly powerful and incredibly ethereal. As if touching it would break it or it would break the world. I tried to flinch away only to realize I was paralyzed. Their hand reached through my chest and grabbed my soul. My eyes widened as a primordial fear flooded my body. I opened my mouth to beg, to plead to say anything but no words came out. The person laughed and a foreign energy surged into me. It spread out from my soul and into every part of my body. Golden energy sufficed my body until it drained out of every pore in my body. "A Deva must not beg whether for life or death. A Deva forges their path. Your road won''t be easy child. I wonder if you will view me as a hero or monster by your end." There was pity in the resplendent figure''s eyes. Pity and relief as they let me go. The figure''s last words were lost as their voice began to fade as if I was deep within an ocean. I pushed with every ounce of strength I had. Nothing responded. Slowly every one of my senses abandoned me. I lost connection to the energy in my dantian. Eventually, even the Eye of Heaven was blinded. A cocoon of golden light surrounded me just before I fell into darkness. Chapter 41: The Second Fruit Trey leaned back in his chair as the Amaran council went back and forth. They had been debating for the last three hours and hadn''t gotten anywhere. "The Young Master was very clear that his apprentice should receive the fruit once he was of age for the System." Azariah repeated for what had to be the fifth time in the last half hour. "I am aware." Desbera began. Trey let out a groan and interrupted the conversation. "Its my fruit and my opportunity. Amari said that doing certain things before the System arrived might provide better benefits. I have enough credits and points to get the fruit." "We are well aware. It is a difficult decision which is why I say we wait until he gets back. It would be within three weeks anyway why not wait a bit longer?" Christopher replied. Trey gritted his teeth as he glared at the man. "My birthday is next week. This is the last chance for any improvements before then. If I wait then I might as well just follow through with the plan." The council devolved into another round of complaints until Azariah banged her fist against the stone. "I am not going to pretend to know what he would want. I will say that we can''t run around like lost children. Beast attacks have only increased since he left. You all know what that other lunatic is doing. Trey has to make his own choices sooner or later." She turned and stared at Trey. "You are aware that we don''t know what the fruit will do? It might be too much for you to handle before you break through. There is also no guarantee that it will provide you anything new. Amari never mentioned getting any titles for eating his." All eyes in the chamber fell on Trey. He nodded and stared back in defiance. He held out his hand just before a ball of orange and red flames appeared. "I''ve already gotten a Tao strand. So I want to do it. If there is even a chance that it will help me then I want to try. You all might be willing to wait around but I want my own power." The council fell silent at that before they nodded their agreement. Azariah stood up her tail fidgeting behind her. "Alright, come on then. We will have to explain to the Young Master what happened when he returns. I hope there will be good news." Trey nodded. His stomach twisted into a knot of nerves and excitement as he followed after her. His mind worked a mile a minute as he mindlessly put one foot after another. "Are you listening?" Azariah''s slightly annoyed voice broke through his thoughts. When he looked up he realized they had already arrived in her office. "I am sorry what did you say?" She sighed and placed her hand gently on his shoulder. "I said that you should take your time to absorb the fruit. Even he took a few hours to deal with it from what I heard. There is no need to rush. Desbera has provided one of the academy''s chambers for you." She handed him a small black box. "I wish you the best of luck." Trey swallowed and took a breath. He grabbed the box and nodded. "Thank you. Can''t wait to show off what I get." He gave a only partially forced grin before bouncing to his feet and leaving the office. He made his way to the academy each step forming up his resolve. He ran across a few members of the "Elite Squad" that Amari ordered. They all looked different ever since they returned from the underground. It was a bit like people in war movies only instead of sadness there was an aggressiveness in there eyes. Like they were ready to fight at a moments notice. None of them had become as strong as Amari though. Most of them weren''t stronger than Aaliyah or that Romulus guy. I let them pass by before I continued on. Despite what everyone said there was a clear difference between the warriors and the guards. That was on top of the problems between cultivators and noncultivators. It felt like we were all about to start fighting. I needed to be strong enough for that. I entered the academy and placed my contribution card on the counter. "No need." The worker started. He was a portly man who lost his right arm during a beast attack a few weeks ago. "Your chamber is already reserved. Its the one at the far end of the hall." Trey grinned and grabbed his card. "Thanks wish me luck." He darted down the hall until he was outside the right chamber. He stepped up to the door and it opened. The chamber was sparse with an array the only source of energy. There was a podium where you could put treasures but I''ve never had anything to go there. The kind of treasures he had require you to consume them directly. Trey let the door shut behind him and then activated the lock. The array came on and it was like the outside world didn''t exist anymore. He made his way over to the center of the room and sat down. He took a moment to calm his beating heart and to prepare himself. If he were being honest with himself this was terrifying. The thought of being ripped apart by rampant energy or popping like a balloon didn''t sound pleasant. This was the only way forward. Cultivators had to be willing to stand on their own and push forward. Even if it meant marching to your death. That was the only way to get stronger. That was the only way to make sure you didn''t have to suffer. Trey took another deep breath and opened the box. The fruit inside was ugly. It was misshapen and looked like it shouldn''t exist. It was the size of dragon fruit but was orange and red in color. It was oddly cold to the touch like it had been refrigerated before this. He brought the fruit to his nose and gave it a sniff but there was nothing to smell. There was a vague sense of desire from his body. Like he was hungry but it was nothing like Amari described. For a moment he wondered if he had been tricked but that seemed unlikely. It might be because he didn''t have the System. He could only vaguely sense his dantian which further supported that idea. He shrugged his shoulders and chalked it up to something to think about later. He brought the fruit up to his lips and took a bite. He had to fight against the urge gag. It tasted nasty and sweet. Kind of like medicine that was supposed to taste like candy or bubblegum. Still he kept going. Each bite sent another wave of power through his body. It felt every cell had opened up and greedily swallowed every bit of energy. By the time the fruit was gone it felt like his body was on fire. He bit back a scream and fell forward onto his hands and knees. The heat slowly condensed at a spot just behind his shoulder blades. The heat grew more and more intense until he was screaming in agony. Fear sprouted in his stomach as dozens of what-ifs threatened to drag him down. He shook his head. His fingers dug into the stone at his feet. The pain intensified and his skin began to tear. Warm blood ran down on his back. He scrambled to remove his robes. He reached for his bag and the healing pills inside only to be thrown forward by a wave of pain and a muscle spasm. He screamed as something ripped itself free of his back. The sensation nearly enough to make him lose consciousness. Once again his back spasmed and he was forced forward. This time something ripped its way through his back. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. His vision swam as his spiritual energy rapidly drained. Trey reached a hand behind him half afraid of what he would find. When his fingers passed right through a current of spiritual energy he froze. What was that? What''s going on? He reached for his bag and sent a thread of spiritual energy inside. He quickly retrieved a mirror and held it up behind him. What he saw nearly made him collapse. Laughter surged up from the pit of his stomach as his shoulders spasmed. Pain and elation blurred together. "Wings. I got wings. That was so much cooler than an eye." He sat there on his hands and knees until a hum spread through the room. "Come in." He tried to call out but his voice was closer to the whisper. Still whoever it was must of have heard it because the door opened. Suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder and he was guided to his feet. "Are you alright? You have to get rid of your wings. They are draining your spiritual energy." A voice called out but it was distant and dream like. Suddenly he was smacked across the face. Something that made the world explode into focus. "Your Wings! Young Master." "How do I" He concentrated and tried to form a connection with them but it was so hard. It would be so much easier to sleep. Why couldn''t I¡ª Another slap and he was brought back. He tried to withdraw all of his spiritual energy. Pull it into his body but it was like trying to pull water that was already flowing out of a hose. Slowly he managed to stem the tide until it was barely a trickle. "I did it." He mumbled before the darkness claimed him. He came to sometime later to muffled voices arguing. "He wasn''t ready. We should have waited until he had increased his level. Master Jackson had already had his class when he consumed the fruit." The first person scolded. "It was his decision and according to the doctor he should be fine once he regained his energy." The second voice replied. "I am supposed to trust your doctors? They aren''t even proper healers. We haven''t even verified if the medical tomes you people have are worth anything when you take into account spiritual energy. Let alone whatever changes the divine fruit would cause. What will the Young Master think if he returns and his disciple hasn''t awoken?" Trey groaned and sat up. He was in a bed and from the looks of it he was in the main building and a room on the upper floors. He pulled his feet to the edge of the bed and was about to stand up when his memories slammed into him. His hands shot to his back and shoulders in search of the wings. When he felt nothing his confusion only intensified. He could vaguely remember getting them and then getting rid of them. "Wings? Appear? Please?" He tried a few commands but nothing worked. He was about to call out when he remembered a bit more. Instead of trying to force the wings to appear he tried to release his spiritual energy through his back. It took several tries before a sucking sound and then two gorgeous wings shot out behind him. His wingspan was around ten feet and the wings were both corporeal and not. Like they drifted between being solid and real. They were a deep red and blue color like the mix of a flame and the depths of the ocean. They were beautiful. "Holy shit!" A moment later the door on the far side of the room was thrown open and three people walked in. Aaliyah, Azariah and Desbera. Each one with a different look on their faces. Aaliyah looked like she had just seen something unbelievable while Azariah and Desbera looked like they had just seen a ghost. "Look at what I can do!" A second later the world seemed spin around and Trey stumbled forward. "Young Master you can''t handle the consumption of the wings. Withdraw them until you have more energy!" Desbera practically screamed. I grimaced as I stopped the flow of energy. The wings disappeared and I dropped to a knee. "Is that what running out of spiritual energy feels like? That sucks." "Yes, though its a bit worse since you don''t know how to cultivate and you don''t have access to your dantian. You are relying on the small amount of energy in the rest of your body." "Do I have to wait? I mean I can pull the energy inside my body right? I just did that." Desbera slowly nodded. "Technically yes but the System makes the process easier and more efficient. Ordinarily you would use your cultivation technique to form a connection with your Dantian. After that you would just cycle the technique to form your channels and that would be it." Trey grinned and rolled his shoulders. "Great I should have some contribution points saved. Why can''t I buy a manual and get to work?" "We don''t have anything better than the most basic of manuals. You might be able to buy something directly from the System shop but they wouldn''t be very good and would be much more expensive. Further we don''t know what the Young Master would want for you. If he has plans than I don''t want to ruin them." Trey shook his head. "I am free to do what I want. Come on lets get me a manual." He didn''t bother waiting for them to make up their minds. He dashed out of the room and to the contribution store. When he arrived he was disappointed to say the least. There were three manuals available. They were all just first realm basic manuals. One was designed for melee focused people another for mage or general energy manipulation and a third for crafting. None of them sounded thrilling but there was nothing to do. He decided not to make purchase. Instead he checked out what was available and the System Hub. The options there were even less useful. The manual was the basic one from the Tutorial and was good all around. He considered all three options before pulling the trigger on the tutorial one. The deciding factor was its general use and that everyone else would have gotten it. He would have gotten it if he was old enough. He grabbed the crystal and then started back to the academy''s cultivation chambers. He was almost there when Desbera and Azariah stepped in front of him. "I understand your excitement but it would be best for you to rest. At least for a day or two. The fruit likely caused a lot of changes to your body and it will take time for you stabilize your foundations." It was Desbera who spoke up but based on the look Azariah gave both women were in agreement. Trey was about to complain when another bout of dizziness hit him. "Fine, I will start practicing in two days. Can I go out and fight some monsters at least?" "You can after you sleep for a few more hours. There is a incense stick that you should burn just before you go to sleep. It will help with your recovery." Trey nodded and shifted course. "Do either of you know anything about wings? Is there a way for me to control the amount of energy that they cost to make?" "I am afraid I can''t be sure. There are skills and spells that let you grow wings. If they function similarly than yes you should be able to do so. Of course your wings came from a Divine fruit so its possible they function very differently." Desbera replied. "Should I keep them hidden? Should I avoid telling people that I have them to begin with?" Both women nodded and it was Azariah who offered a reply. "Information is just as valuable as treasures and credits. I would limit the amount of people who know the details of your ability. It is unlikely that you will be able to hid them if you intend to use them often." She then looked him up and down. "Which I assume you no doubt will." Trey laughed and interlaced his hands behind his head. "I imagine having wings is pretty rare and its probably something the ladies will love." When the two women glared at him he burst into a fit of laughter. A fit that didn''t stop until they were in front of his house. "Go inside and get some rest. I will have someone come to get you in a few hours for training. They will be very upset if you aren''t ready to go." Trey grinned and nodded. His excitement clear on his face. "Do you think Amari will be jealous? I don''t know what his eye does but it can''t be as nice as actual wings." "Uh well it is hard to know. The Young Master is a rare talent and it is believed that the fruit provides what you need or truly want. It is better not to compare what you''ve received with other people." Trey shook his head and opened the door. "Thanks for helping me." He then stepped into the house and closed the door. He stepped into the room and let his smile fade away. He looked down at his hands and shook his head. "I wish I could have shown them to you." Her voice was softer than a whisper. He still looked around in search of anyone that might have overheard him. He didn''t think anyone would be upset about it but he didn''t want to be ungrateful. He had more resources and was undoubtedly in a better position than the majority of people. Just being able to live here was a boon that many would fight for. He shook off the complicated emotions brewing in his stomach and focused on the moment. He made his way over to the incense stick and lit on fire. He waited for the smoke to fill the air before he turned to his bed. It was time to get some rest. Chapter 42: The Seal The world came back in pieces as if I was waking up from a dream. My body felt sluggish like I was stuck in syrup. I tried to open my eyes but nothing happened. I tried to connect to the Eye of Heaven but nothing. I fought against the urge to panic and focused on the parts of my body. First I concentrated on my finger tips. It took several seconds before I could move them let alone the rest of my hand. Panic threatened to overwhelm the conscious part of my mind. Suddenly the sensation disappeared. Intellect Fortress had activated. The spell felt like a lifeline and I hurriedly looked inside myself. I half expected to see horrible damage but instead I was fine. If anything my channels might have gotten stronger. It was hard to tell with my mind still fuzzy but it was still a lifeline. A shred of hope. I tried to move either of my hands but it was like the liquid around me had become tar. Like it didn''t want to let me go. That led to another realization. I couldn''t breath. A fresh surge of fear swelled inside me. I couldn''t drown. I wouldn''t drown! The fear was almost enough to overwhelm Intellect Fortress. The skill drained more and more energy until finally I calmed down. I wasn''t sure if it was the spell forcing me to be calm or if it was a macabre acceptance. Either way I realized that I wasn''t drowning. My lungs felt fine. My body felt fine. I tried to activate the rest of my spell but my energy was sluggish. Even after several seconds nothing activated. Okay Amari what do you know? My memories slowly returned and I gritted my teeth in annoyance. Had I been possessed? Am I locked away? No felt fine. If anything it was more like...Like I was inside a cocoon. Was that golden liquid real? If so I just had to fight my way out right? I was awake now which should mean whatever changes it caused were over now. I went through everything that I knew when something occurred to me. The liquid came from inside me right? So why couldn''t pull it back in? Why couldn''t I just cultivate it? I returned my focus to my dantian and cycled the Ethereal Codex. The process was slow at first. Every rotation of my energy made the cocoon tighten around me. I couldn''t be sure if I was in a liquid or if it was just a thick film. Like the sack that a baby would come out of. Even at its tightest it didn''t let me move. The cultivated energy didn''t enter my channels. I wasn''t sure where it was going but I could feel that it was going somewhere. I wasn''t sure how long I sat there before something changed. A crack resounded through the darkness. Quickly followed by two more. At first I thought something had gone wrong but I soon realized that was wrong. The cocoon was actually breaking. I doubled my efforts until the cracks began to blur together into a single cacophony of sound. Once again I tried to move my fingers. It wasn''t easy but I could do it. Next came my hands and then my arms. Before too long I could move most of my body. I still couldn''t get out of the cocoon and I was trapped in the fetal position but that was fine. After a few more cycles of the codex I decided to try something different. I relaxed my cultivation manual and forced energy out of every point in my body at the same time. Spiritual energy exploded out of me like a bomb. Every cell of my body felt reborn as air and light washed over me. Golden goo and parts of the cocoon splattered over nearly every surface. I took in a breath of deep air like a starving man. For a moment my senses were overwhelmed as I regained access to everything. The energy in my dantian felt like fire and electricity as it surged through my channels. I stood there covered in goo like some kind of horror movie monster. I took stock of my situation. Things were more or less what I expected. The figure and the array were gone. Based on what they said both were connected which was fine. I slowly opened the Eye of Heaven only to stumble forward a step. The eye felt stronger. I concentrated on seeing only through it and my vision zoomed in on the wall in front of me. I could see through it. Barely but I could see through it. It wasn''t quite like an X-ray machine, instead it was closer to a black and white filter. The wall became black and out of focus while the thing on the other side became white. Unfortunately stone was on the other side so I couldn''t be sure how useful it was. I experimented with it for a few minutes and made a second discovery. I didn''t need the eye anymore. If I wanted the X-ray like vision the eye had to be open but all the of its old powers worked if it was closed. When I passed my gaze over my own body a mix of fear and curiosity passed through me. There was a spot just over my heart where the mysterious cultivator had touched me. That spot was rapidly drawing in spiritual energy. I tried to form a connection with the spot but nothing worked. I couldn''t control the flow of energy either. Lastly I opened my robes and looked at with my normal vision. There was a tattoo like mark. The mark was a golden circle about the size of quarter that was connected to four quarter circles that extended further out. I gingerly touched the mark half expecting for it to burn or hurt but it didn''t. I tried for other things including circulating my cultivation technique but nothing changed. "Alright, so I got a weird tattoo?" When I reached for my Tao I discovered a second change. An amazing change. I expanded each of my Tao fields to make sure that I hadn''t gone crazy. I grinned and then laughed. "My affinities increased." I called out in a mixture of disbelief and excitement. Was that why he was captured? If affinities were as important as the tutorial workers made them seem than a free boost like this was definitely up there. It was hard to tell just how high the boost was since there were no meters but if I had to guess. I would put it around ten to fifteen percent. Which seemed heaven defying. I checked the rest of my body but that seemed to be extent of my changes. "I don''t know who you were but thanks." I spoke out loud. Now that the rewards were here I couldn''t help but admit I had gotten a steal. Of course the warning about people hunting me down was there. Which didn''t make much sense. After all how would they know about the benefits? No the only culprit would be whatever the circle was. Part of me was excited to see what happened once it stopped drawing in energy another part was terrified. The last thing I would want would be to get sealed up like that. I wasn''t sure if death really was the end for someone like that but if there was something I could do for them I would. I shook of the melancholy that took hold and stepped out of the chamber. I glanced over at the cultivation chamber and found that Xerxes was finished. I stepped up and opened the door only to be nearly knocked over. I leaped back and raised my fists just as terrifying howl shattered the calm. It was almost as loud as a jet engine and carried an intense killing intent. "Xerxes?" I called out just before the massive beast launched himself at me. "Amari?" He responded. I grinned and scanned him with my eyes. What I saw made my steps falter. "Are you at the threshold? Are you able to evolve?"The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "No, not until you do but I could." His mental voice had lost the childlike edge to it. Now it sounded regal and powerful like a noble lion or a king. I couldn''t help but laugh as I stared at him. His scales had lost their pliability. I wasn''t sure I could break them without going all out. His mane was even more luxurious. Altogether both of us had grown by leaps and bounds. I doubled checked the status screen but there were no changes for me. Which meant either the System didn''t register the strange mark or it didn''t do anything yet. The Eye of Heaven hadn''t changed either which was odd. "Well I guess that proves you aren''t omniscient. Either that or you only care about major changes." I muttered to myself. "I need to get changed and get this goop off of me. Can you give me a minute?" I tossed out some meat from my ring and stepped back into the other chamber. The next hour was spent scrapping goo off of my body with a broken. A process that also removed almost all the hair from my body. I still wasn''t sure what the golden goo was but it had weird sweet smell. A bit like honey when I finally got it all off I wanted nothing more than to take a shower but this place lacked those facilities. Thankfully my robes auto cleaning feature still worked. So I got to wear clean and dry clothing. I rolled my shoulders as I left the chamber. "Alright are you ready to leave?" "Ready" I grinned and activated Apportation. The portal opened and were back in the entrance chamber a few minutes later. "Do you have any idea how long we were down there?" He shook his head and I shrugged. I made another note to get a watch or literally anything that properly tell time. This guess work had long ago become annoying. When we got back to the sealed entrance I tried to force it open but quickly realized it was impossible. I sent threads of energy along the array until I found a weak point. Weak by this places standards still required me to peck at it for what felt like an hour before it unraveled. The door reopened and we were hit with fresh air. We stepped out and I took several deep breaths. Just to clear my lungs of the old stale air. I hadn''t realized just how much I missed clean air until this moment. When I calmed down and I glanced back at the tree hollow. "Xerxes do you think you could burn that place down?" He let out a low growl and then unleashed a blast of flame. The attack slammed into the tree''s inner chamber but it didn''t ignite. It took two more blasts before it was burning. We stayed a bit longer to make sure the entire forest didn''t go up before I decided it was time. We ran up the nearest tree trunk and headed north. The further away from the tree we got the more excited I became. It was like I had saved up all this momentum and now it was time to explode. I slowly ramped up my speed as we traveled until we were practically flying from branch to branch. My let my soul sense fill the area around us but it kept going. It didn''t stop until it formed a sphere more than three times as long as it used to be. When I combined it with the Eye of Heaven it felt like I could see everything. The forest blurred by us until we came across another of the camouflaged bugs. I summoned my psychic energy and began to form a halo of swords. Only it happened much faster. It was almost like the energy begged to be used. I barely had to shape the energy. I couldn''t help but laugh as all six blades found their mark. The kill energy surged into my dantian which was a slight surprise. I had expected the weird mark to steal some of the energy. So I guess you won''t slow my leveling down? I knew I wouldn''t get an answer and I didn''t really care. We continued on until we came across a group of cultivators locked in battle. I didn''t recognize the robes or colors that either side wore which piqued my interest. One side were a group of beast humans. That included a humanoid bunny, a reptile that kind of looked like a dinosaur and a wolf man with a glaive. The other side were humans though their eyes were different. Their pupils were vertical slits. I scanned them and was disappointed. No one in this group was above level 28 or so which meant they were weak. At least compared to us. They were locked in battle over what looked like a blue and green rose. The rose was as big as a dinner plate and looked pretty. That was all that was interesting about it though. I sat down on a tree branch and watched the two groups go at it for a few minutes before I was spotted. It was the wolf man who noticed. He lifted his glaive toward me and leaped back with the rest of his group. He sported a nasty cut across the front of his chest and he couldn''t decide who was a bigger threat. The trio of humans he fought or me and Xerxes. I was about to call out when I felt a familiar warmth at the base of my skull. My gaze snapped to the lizard who had just used a skill on me. I was pretty sure it was only a scouting skill so I wasn''t too worried. "It is no good. I can''t see anything about that one. We should withdraw." The lizard called out with clear panic in his voice. The bunny person quickly nodded their agreement. The wolf person didn''t look like they wanted to. The three humans had taken a position between the two of us. Forming the third leg of a triangle with the weird flower at its middle. They looked just as worried as the beast people. "Hey, got no problem with you all. Just watching the fight." I grinned at them which was apparently the wrong thing to do. The wolf man tightened the grip on his glaive while the human leader aimed his sword in my direction. "You intend to steal the treasure while we battle." He stated whether than asked. "I didn''t say that. I have no interest in the flower. I want to watch more cultivators go at it." "Our battle is mere entertainment to you?" The wolf man growled. "Well yeah basically. You all are around level 30 or so?" The look of surprise on all of their faces was amusing so I continued. "You aren''t really strong enough to make a fight worth it. Though if I could see more of your skills and spells it could be fun." "You are antagonizing them. Do you want to fight them?" I shook my head and was about to give up on the show when one of the human cultivators unleashed a bolt of lightning at me. I was about to counter it when Xerxes unleashed a blast of fire. The two attacks met in the air but it was hardly an even battle. Xerxes'' flames consumed the attacks and continued on toward them. The group was able to dodge so it could have ended their but it didn''t. "Help us deal with the intruder. After that we can decide who gets the treasure." The swordsman called out before he unleashed a massive slash in our direction. I imbued my hand with spiritual energy and the Tao of Adamance and held it out. The slash hit my hand with a thunderous bomb. I then got to watch the color drain from the leader''s face as it did nothing. When whatever skill he used exhausted its power I looked at my palm. The attack barely cut me. "Now that wasn''t nice." I mocked as I got to my feet. Before I could make another move the rest of the man''s group unleashed their attacks. Lightning and fire shot toward us and my danger sense stayed silent. I activated Psychic Aegis in its wall form and let the attacks slam into it. I then jumped off the tree. I fell straight down like a stone and then crashed into the ground like a bad ass. "I hadn''t planned on fighting you all now but this could be a fun warm up. A chance to test my improvements." I was pretty sure I could end both groups with one or two attacks so I decided to limit myself. I would only use my bare hands and feet. I glanced over at the beast people who hadn''t made their move. "Last chance. You all joining in?" They group turned to the wolf man who hadn''t unleashed the grip on their weapon. "Ready your tokens." They said through gritted teeth. I chuckled. "You don''t have to look so unhappy about it. Running away is perfectly reasonable. I''ve done it a few times." I needled him. The spiritual energy next to shimmered just before the human with the great sword appeared. I grinned and flipped backwards completely avoiding the strike. "Now that''s rude." I laughed but it was Xerxes who stepped up. The Qilin slammed into the warrior with the force a linebacker. The warrior tried to block but he might as well have tried to block a runaway train with what good it did. The man was thrown nearly forty feet and through a tree. "Mine" Xerxes declared. I decided not to fight with him about it. I wanted to see what he could do now anyway and it wasn''t like there was a limit on people to fight. I turned my attention to the rest of his team and offered them a mock bow. "Well, shall we get to it?" Chapter 43: Beast Number 2 Lightning and fire formed in both of their hands as they looked uncertainly between me and Xerxes. It wasn''t hard to figure out what was going through their mind. Especially since Xerxes'' battle was anything but quiet. I pushed spiritual energy into my feet and grinned. "Well if you insist." I pushed off from the ground. I arrived in front of the pyromancer before either could react and landed a straight jab into his ribs. He doubled over immediately but I was forced to disengage. A bolt of lightning crashed into the ground where I had just stood. "You are going to need to do a bit better than that friend." I taunted and resumed my attack. This time I pressed the lightning mage. He was a bit faster and unleashed bolt after bolt at me. Each one was poorly aimed and slow which made dodging a bit too easy. Of course with the Eye of Heaven I knew whenever they would launch an ability so it didn''t matter. This time I launched a right kick into his kidneys that caused him to double over. I was forced to change my next attack into a push kick to force us both out of the way of massive fire ball. "Don''t hit me too" The lightning mage called out as he gasped like a fish. "Well if you weren''t in the way you wouldn''t have to worry." The pyromancer replied as energy amassed in a spot on his shoulder. "Fellas, fellas don''t fight each other. That''s my job." I danced out of the way of a lance fire that nearly torched the trio of beast people. I bent down and grabbed a piece of broken wood and launched it at the pyromancer. The wood tore through the air like a spear just slow enough for him to get down. I pushed the pyromancer to the back of my mind as the lightning mage returned to the battle. He activated a skill that caused storm clouds to fill the sky. "Die you fucking asshole." I stared at the rapidly amassing clouds with uncertainty. I wasn''t worried about the damage it could do. My danger sense had finally picked it up but it wasn''t enough to make me scared. No in this case it was the mark. The lightning in air was dragged into the mark. It wasn''t enough to break the skill not yet anyway which made wonder. What would happen if I let it hit me? A crack of thunder cemented my decision. The clouds glowed dark blue just before a bolt of lightning the size of a person slammed into me. The sensation that passed through me was incredible. It was like getting hit with the worst stun gun imaginable. My muscles spasmed uncontrollably and I nearly dropped to my knees. As the lightning sought every inch of me for destruction. Before I could decide what I wanted to do about it the mark turned into a blackhole. Suddenly the lightning was the one being hunted through my body. The mark was voracious and consumed nearly 70% of it before the rest discharged into the air. I watched the process from start to finish hoping to figure out more about the mark but it didn''t work. I had no idea where the energy went and the mark didn''t give anything back. After a second or two I was forced to give up. "Well that one hurt." I turned my attention to the lightning mage and got to watch as his joy turned to ashes. "How are you alive!" I was about to respond when the pyromancer and unleashed another lance of flame. This one caught me across the chest which caused my robe''s defenses to activate. The pain wasn''t much but it was enough to be irritating. I was still pretty sure I could beat them with my hands but it would take too long and this wasn''t a lot of fun anymore. "Xerxes don''t kill or maim that guy. We aren''t here to kill if we can avoid it." He transmitted irritation across our bond which made chuckle. "Alright fellas. Allow me to the be the one to congratulate you. I previously decided not to use my energy against you but I am abandoning that now." The pair looked at each other. Their expressions shifted from confusion to irritation and then fury. I was pretty sure they were about to say something but I didn''t really care. An indigo sun appeared in the sky above as I activated Psionic Rain. "Last chance. Drop whatever valuable things you have in your storage bags or rings and leave." As if to punctuate my point their leader flew across the clearing and bounced off the ground like a ball. A second later Xerxes moved up next to me. I grinned down at him before I turned my attention back to the group. "So what will it be fellas?" The pair of mages scrambled to help their leader to his feet and then glared at me. Despite the attitude we all knew the fight was over. A second later I ended my spell and trio dumped out their treasures. "You can keep your tokens. I won''t strand you here and I don''t need them." I gestured to each one. The rest of the stuff was interesting. I didn''t know what most of it was or did but some of it made me hungry so I scooped it into my ring. I then turned over to the beast trio. "So you all are still here? My gut tells me that you all don''t want to fight so if you leave one valuable thing a piece you can go as well." Before they could answer I held up my hand. "This isn''t a negotiation. We can still fight about it." Once again the same scene played out with the quantity being the only difference. The trio left three natural treasures. All fruit and all made my body ache. I wanted to know more about the fruits but the trio had already left. I wasn''t too mad about it. I was sure the treasures won''t dangerous which meant I could probably get Azariah or Desbera to identify them. The amount of energy they had was impressive but not overly so. They were all around the same potency as an attribute fruit. "I want half" Xerxes'' words pulled me from my thoughts. "What? Since when did you want these things. You get the cores." I complained playfully. He only snorted and charged up a nearby tree. He was up and on one of its branches before I finished complaining. I checked the clearing again and decided to leave the flower. If either group had the guts to come back they would get a nice surprise. After I joined Xerxes and we set off. After the run in with that group of cultivators we decided to ignore the weaker enemies. The amount of energy they would provide wasn''t worth the effort. Especially if I got injured. Our supply pills were low which meant every little bit counted. There was also the energy regained versus the energy lost to consider. Even Xerxes had lost interest in the small fry. Thankfully the token for the chimeric rhino lit up after several hours. We shifted directions and went after the target. By the time we arrived night had started to fall which only made me more anxious. Our target was closer to an elephant in actual size and looked like a tank. Its area was more grass land than forest which made me think the System set up the zones to benefit the monster. It had two horns in the middle of its head. Its skin was dark grey and thick. "What do you think buddy? Can you hurt it?" There was a long pause before Xerxes replied. I decided to let the silence linger until he was ready to answer. "I don''t think I can break through its skin. Fire might work." I nodded. His reply was more or less what I expected. This guy looked like it was designed to counter heavy hitters. "I will take lead. I doubt its soul is as strong as its body. We split up to distract it and take shots until its dead."Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! We confirmed the plan and Xerxes moved around the right side. I gave him a few minutes to get into place before I began my attack. I began with Realm of Consciousness and imbued it with the Tao of Lucidity. The grey mist bellowed out from me in all directions. The rhino realized something was wrong attempted to charge me only to loose steam before it crossed half the distance. Next I activated Manifestation of Perfection. The familiar diamond appeared high in the sky and the beast wavered a step. Xerxes howled and a blast of fire caught the rhino in the right side of its face. The heat kicked it into gear. The rhino bellowed and charged in the direction of the flame only to once again loose steam. Next came Psionic Rain imbued with the Tao of Compression. Sharp blades of mental energy rained down on the beast and began to tear into it. I had just started amassing energy for my next spell when the rhino began its counter attack. Lighting crackled between its two horns. My danger sense picked up as my teeth began to ache. The power contained in this attack was much more powerful than what that cultivator could manage. I decided not to give it the chance to unleash its blast. Instead I fired Psychic Blast from both hands. Both attacks washed over the rhino and forced it back a step. Despite that it didn''t stop charging its attack. My danger sense screamed at me to move right before the monster turned in my direction. I forced energy into Apportation just as it unleashed a concentrated beam of energy. The portal yanked me away just before the beam obliterated everything behind where I stood. When I stopped out of the portal I let out a sigh of relief. My heart beat picked up as I bounced on the soles of my feet. Now this was a fight! I formed a halo of blades and Xerxes unleashed another blast of flame. The rhino was hit by our combined assault but didn''t stop. I waited for it to unleash the electric beam again but it didn''t. Instead it picked a direction and charged. At first I thought it had somehow overcome the confusion but that wasn''t it. The damn beast had just picked a direction and went for it. "Xerxes be careful." I was bout to open another portal but Xerxes took care of himself. He unleashed another blast of fire and then leaped to the right like a matador leading its bull. The rhino crashed into and then through three trees. I grinned and summoned six more blades. Three of which were made of compressed space. I unleashed all six blades and chased after the rhino to make sure it didn''t leave my domain. Each attack found their mark but not even compressed space was enough to rip through the damn thing''s skin. It was like it was impervious. Despite that the psychic attacks were doing their job. The beast''s soul was definitely stronger than average but that wasn''t enough. I could practically taste victory on my lips when it began to charge lightning. I leaped back wanting to put a bit more distance between us as I waited for the attack to charge. The energy it was gathering nearly much more than last time. I was about to retreat out of my domain when I smacked myself in the head. I had forgotten about Manifestation of Perfection. I snapped my connection to the spell and it emitted a soundless wave. A wave that washed over the rhino. The rhino immediately lost control over its self. I could see the energy backlash into its channels causing even more damage. The next moment the rhino collapsed. I fired another halo of blades and Xerxes unleashed another blast of flame to makes sure the thing was dead. We didn''t relax until we received a surge of energy. There was enough energy to make up for what I spent in the battle and some. I ended Realm of Consciousness and let the mist filter away before we made our way up to our prey. I was about let Xerxes have it when I realized it would take him all day to carve through its skin. "How I about we take the whole thing and then carve it up when we have the time?" "Agreed" I placed the carcass in my bag and looked around. It was hard to know when the shadows would appear but it was best to get out of the open as soon as possible. I activated Apportation and we stepped through the portal. It took us two more jumps before we were in the thicker parts of the forest. From there we ran until we encountered another bird''s nest only this one had been the sight of a battle. From the look of the blood the battle was relatively recently. We split up and searched the surrounding area before we entered. I closed up the entrance with psychokinesis and few broken branches. After that I expanded my Tao field until it covered our entire tree. There was a brief debate over whether or not it would be better to be hidden and thus not use the field that big or declare the area as ours. Something that would obviously not be stealthy. The final decision came down to power. We should be the strongest duo in this challenge or at least in the top ten. If we assumed the princes would takes themselves out or at least weaken themselves. We should be at the peak of power. So it would likely be more of a pain in the ass to pretend we were weak. On top of that good reason neither Xerxes nor I wanted to pretend we were weak. "I think we have enough power now. I am not sure how many days have passed since the start of the trial so we should pick it up. I want to try and take out at least two of our remaining beasts tomorrow." "A quick hunt would be reckless." "It could be but if we wait too long someone might reach the end of the trial first. I don''t know much about the System but from I have seen it rewards skill and ambition. I feel confident that whoever finishes first will get a better reward." Xerxes didn''t say anything for several moments after that. A calm silence fell and I decided to leave it alone for now. When he responded we were on the same page. "I agree. We should move faster. If that prince comes we might not be able to beat him." I grinned and patted him on the shoulder. "We''ve gotten a bit stronger so I wouldn''t put it as a guarantee. That being said we should be careful. You rest first. I have a few things I want to take care of before I get some sleep. After that I turned my attention to the strange mark. There was still no sign of it doing anything. It didn''t react in the slightest when the rhino unleashed its lightning which only deepened the confusion. I couldn''t tell if it was diverse energies or potency of energy. I pulled out a spirit stone and started to absorb it but the mark didn''t attempt to absorb it. I tried it with a couple of treasures as well but it was the same. I tried cycling and a few more things but they also didn''t work. Is it full? If I assumed that the energy it drained from the lightning bolt put it as max capacity for the moment than that would explain this situation. I tried to pass my consciousness over and through it to get a feeling for how much power it had. Nothing happened. After few more attempts I decided to give up. I expanded my soul sense to monitor our surroundings but everything was oddly calm. No shadows, monsters or other cultivators passed by us. Instead of doing nothing I decided to meditate. I could feel that All three of my Tao were close to a breakthrough. I just needed the flame to ignite the process. Several hours later I still hadn''t figured it out. The Tao was just as elusive as it had always been so there wasn''t much more I could do until I got back to earth. From there the night passed uneventfully. Several hours later we were both awake and we set out in search of the next creature. We found our next target a few hours after we set it out. Just like the token showed it was a big tree. It boasted physical defenses that were on par with if not better than the rhino but that was it. Between Xerxes'' flames and my psychic attacks the battle turned into a grind fest. The tree was able to swing its larger branches at us and shower us in razer like leaves but that made little difference. The battle took an hour or two. When it died the token absorbed its energy and we began the laborious task of searching for the core. "Alright, from now on I vote we leave the core if it takes more than fifteen minutes to retrieve." I grumbled and placed the core into my ring. "You might be right." The exhaustion in his voice made me feel a little better. "Alright so that''s three down which leaves the bugs and whatever the blood is. The bugs would probably be the easier of the two. Our attack style is pretty good at large amounts of weak enemies. Especially if the enemies are stupid." "So you think it would be better to fight the bugs now and then gather our strength for the final battle?" I nodded and summoned the correct token. I triggered Apportation and we stepped through. We made two more jumps before we were in an area similar to the swamp zone. I expanded my soul sense in an effort to find the swarm or its hive but it didn''t work. The area was just too big. Which meant we had to check on foot. As soon as we entered the area the mark came alive. It start absorbing the ambient energy which initially concerned me since this stuff was death attuned. When nothing bad seemed to happen I got over it. We were drawn into three more battles as we ran. There were more of the weird leathery skinned creatures but now that we knew how to handle them. They weren''t a challenge. Eventually we found what we were looking for. It looked like a sinkhole from distance but it was actually a underground network of dug tunnels. The whole thing reminded me of an anthill only three times as large. "I have an idea but it might make the bugs angry." I grinned at Xerxes who only snorted in response. I stepped up to the hole and took a breath. This next part was going to be fun. Chapter 44: The Final Hunt My plan was pretty straight forward. I needed whatever bug was down there to come up. The best way to do that was to convince them they were under attack. The best way I could do that was to unleash my aura. I unleashed my full aura and aimed it down into the hole. It took me a few seconds to get it right when I did we were only kept waiting for a moment. The ground began to tremble. Next came the sound of hundreds or thousands of feet scurrying on every possible surface. "Here they come!" I formed a halo of swords half of compressed space the other of psychic energy. I said a silent prayer and wish that were dealing with ants and not something truly horrific. The first bug appeared and was promptly burned to ashes. It was a four legged abomination covered in chitin armor. From the brief glimpse I had it should be blind or it at least didn''t have eyes. They also had two additional appendages that were scythe like blades. Another two appeared and promptly received psychic blades. When those died I let out a sigh of relief. It looked like these things relied on numbers alone. They creatures surged upward like an unstoppable tied. I ordered a retreat and we fell back about fifty feet. The ground continued to tremble until the hoard arrived. It was the most disgusting thing I had ever seen. They tripped over and crushed one another in their desperation to reach the surface. I wasn''t sure if our attacks dealt more damage than they did to themselves. I could swear that they were also eating their dead. My skin crawled and I had to confirm multiple times that nothing had crawled up my arms and legs. I activated Psychic Blast and Psionic Rain to blast the hoard. It was nearly impossible to miss at this point. Even with Xerxes'' help it wasn''t enough to stop the hoard. They chopped at the base of our tree which forced us to retreat. By the time the fifth tree was destroyed I activated my next spell. The mists of Realm of Consciousness bellowed out in all direction. My domain was quickly followed by Manifestation of Perfection. As soon as the diamond appeared in the sky the battle began to turn. It was like the grim reaper had took to the field to claim every bug. They died by the dozen. I cocked my head to the side as I tried to figure out why. Was it because they are a hive mind that they lack a Tao heart? Or was it something innate to being a bug? Xerxes slowly stopped his attacks as we watched the things slowly die. "This is probably the world''s weirdest and biggest bug zapper." I was about to move further away when the ground shook. I expanded my soul sense and cursed. "Looks like the Queen is on her way." A few moments later the earth exploded and dozens of the ugly insects fell into the hole just as an abomination leaped out. The queen was the size of a car and twice as ugly as her children. I activated Inverted Dimension as soon as it climbed out of the hole. I lost count of the number of bugs that were pulled into the spell and it didn''t matter. "Lets get this over with." As soon as the spell finished and we were locked away from the rest of the hive Xerxes and I unleashed everything. As an extra layer of protection I activated Psychic Aegis in its wall form. Once again we joined the battle. The queen wasn''t to be underestimated though. It unleashed a black acidic gunk that tore through my wall. The spell collapsed almost instantly. The black gunk came out with the force of a hose on top of its acidity. I expanded my Tao field to meet the horde but it was barely enough. "I guess that means we got to get our hands dirty." I formed a halo of imbued blades and leaped to the ground. The few lesser bugs that could still attack were ripped apart. I focused on crowd control and the rate of bug deaths ballooned. Xerxes focused his attention on the queen. Which resulted in the overgrown bug burning like a candle. Once I got the horde down to a manageable level I triggered the secondary ability of Manifestation of Perfection. The soundless wave passed over the queen and her horde. The battlefield became deathly still just before energy surged into my dantian. I activated the cleaning property of my robes and ended the Inverted Dimension. As soon as I was able I activated Apportation and escaped the graveyard of insects and reappeared in a tree a hundred feet away. "If you want that beast core you got to get it on your own." The fourth token absorbed the required energy which meant we were almost at the end. I took a moment to expand my soul sense just in case we were being watched. There was nothing of note. When Xerxes finished his grisly task we left. There was no way we were going to stay in the swamp zone if we didn''t have to. We made our way back to the former bird nest and rested for a few hours. Once my spells were off cool down and Xerxes had regained enough energy to show off his full strength we set out. We ignored a few treasures that emitted weak pulls as well as a number of cultivators. None of them were above level 35 and none of them looked wealthy enough to make a battle worth it. The journey back to our hidey hole was shorter than I expected. A feat that was made possible by Xerxes'' sense of smell. Not only did we avoid several monsters but we found short a series of short cuts that let us by pass the long part of journey. "Alright, take the first watch. I want to get the stink of bug off of me and get some last minute meditation in." I walked to the back of the next and removed a bottle of water. It wasn''t anywhere near enough for a proper shower but it would have to be enough. I scrubbed for what felt like an hour before I sat down. I relaxed my mind and went through my cultivation technique. When I came to the forest was quiet. As if it were the middle of the night. I passed my mental gaze over my dantian and was pleased. I was pretty close to level 43. With any luck I would hit the right level before we left. I stood up, stretched my arms and found Xerxes. "You can rest for a bit before we set out." "I am fine. I would like to hunt the next prey soon." I looked at him with the Eye of Heaven just to be sure. His energy levels were pretty high which should get us through one or two more battles. "Alright, if you''re sure. The next one is the blood drop so we ready. I wouldn''t be surprised if it was some vampiric creature." I expanded my soul sense to confirm that no way waited for us to exit and then we left. I pulled out the final token. The token felt warmer in my hand. I wasn''t sure if that was real or if I imagined it. The journey took us through the forest and into a sanguine area. One that was very similar to the first zone. Once again I wondered who built this place and why. Was it really meant to be a beast training ground or was it really the prison? "There is something." Xerxes'' voice caused me to stop so fast I nearly fell out of the tree. I expanded my soul sense but there was nothing. "What? What do you smell?" "Nothing"Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. I cocked my head and was about to yell at him for scaring me when I thought about it again. "What do you mean by ''nothing''?" "I don''t smell any other living things? Not even small insects or beasts. Just blood." "I see," I scanned everything around us with the Eye of Heaven but there was nothing to see. The blood attuned energy was beyond abundant but that was it. I tried to prod the strange mark into absorbing the energy but it either wasn''t interested or it couldn''t. "Stay close I am getting a bad feeling about this place." We continued forward until the trees became thinner. We were forced down to the ground. The ground was wet and slightly sticky. A combination that made me want to go and scrub everything. I strained my senses to their limit in search of anything but it was like we were alone. "I don''t even sense cultivators in this area." "All dead?" I shrugged. "Its possible. Though we should have heard about it. No one warned us to stay away from this region nor have we heard of anyone running. Which would mean that no one escaped." I chuckled at the thought. "A beast or group of beasts so strong that no one has managed to get away let alone defeat it. That sounds fun." Xerxes snorted and strode a bit further ahead. "What? Something strong to wrap things up sounds perfect as far as I am concerned." "Unless it kills us to." "Would it matter? I mean if we can''t beat it than we would lose the contest. It isn''t like we have a choice in the matter. Unless you want to give up and go hide. Something I doubt the System would tolerate." Before Xerxes could respond we came across a lake blood. Not blood attuned energy or blood attuned water like the rest of this place. Genuine blood. The stench was overpowering and invasive. I covered my nose with a cloth but it made no difference. Took a step back as a sense of unease spread through me. It wasn''t quite danger as just discomfort. "Stay away from the water." Just after I finished the blood pan began to move. It started as a single ripple but by the time it reached us three more had joined it. I expanded my Tao field to cover both of us as my danger sense began to pick up. A short while later a humanoid figure rose up from the blood like some kind of siren. I couldn''t tell if the figure was male or female nor if it was solid or liquid. It had a pair dark ruby like eyes that stared at me. I couldn''t tell if it truly saw me or if it was some kind of doll. Neither idea did anything for the passive danger it gave off. This thing was stronger than the other beasts by a mile. As it appeared the blood around it hardened into a suit of plate style armor. Last to join the ensemble a weird lance. It looked a bit like the stinger of a large mosquito only made of blood. I didn''t need the Eye of Heaven to tell me that it was chalked full of energy. I was pretty sure that it wasn''t a weapon, but a part of the creature. "Can you understand me?" I asked as I circulated my energy. The figure didn''t respond which made me decide to take a gamble. I pushed energy into Ethereal Convocation but before I could form the connection my blood ran cold. My danger sense screamed as the blood doll raised its lance and shot a jet of blood at us. I abandoned all thoughts of countering the attack and jumped out of the way. The blood shot forward like a water cannon. Everything as far as I could was punctured. I turned toward the pond only to find the blood figure gone. Another scream of danger forced me to my left just as a figure rose out of the ground behind me. Their lance tore through the spot I left with enough force to have split me in half. A second later a blast of red and orange flames slammed into monster. I took that moment to retreat and form a halo of psychic blades. My mind raced with possibility as the blood knight rushed at me. It was fast. Incredibly fast. I imbued by left arm with as much spiritual as I could and used it to meet the lance. The lance punched through my arm but stopped before it came out the other end. My eyes widened as my blood and spiritual energy was sucked out. All six blades fell like rain on the creature and Xerxes unleashed another blast of fire. None of it was enough to force the monster to release me. If anything it was getting stronger. Panic shot through me and I started to imbue my right hand. No, no its liquid if it trapped both arms...I shook away the thoughts and forced energy into Apportation as fast as possible. Five percent of my spiritual energy had already been stolen. I couldn''t even guess how much blood I lost. The portal opened and I was pulled through. The small victory died on my lips as the blood knight followed me through! The portal slammed shut before Xerxes could join us. The blood knight withdrew its lance and slammed a fist into my stomach. The hit knocked the air out of my lungs and the world spun. Apportation''s exit portal opened and I half half crawled out. Something blurred to my right and then Xerxes crashed into the blood knight. He pushed the monster nearly twenty feet away before I got to my feet. I looked up just in time to see Xerxes get slammed onto the ground. A psychic blade materialized and practically teleported into the creature''s head before it could slam its lance into his head. "Together. We attack together." I wiped a bit of blood from the corner of my mouth and activated Psychic Blast. A beam of mental and spiritual energy washed over the knight as Xerxes joined me at my side. "I will lead you take advantage of the openings. Keep it off me. If either of us get drained we die." The knight raised her lance and I reached for the flame inside me. I grinned and formed a halo of blades. Half compressed space half psychic energy. I then imbued the psychic blades with both of my remaining Tao. The blood knight launched itself at us and I laughed. As soon as I let my blades fly I formed another set a barrage of blades met the monster''s charge. The blood knight showed no hesitation nor any signs of fear as it charged. It deflected the blades it could while it let the rest hit it. The monster had only crossed a fourth of the distance before Xerxes met its charge. The pair slammed into each other like run away trains. This time the blood knight stayed fully corporeal. The Xerxes lost the exchange but it wasn''t by much. Before the knight could follow up I unleashed another round of blades. The pair separated. I was about to unleash another round of attacks when I caught sight of something. The blood from the ground flowed up and into the knight. Where it slowly healed the cracks in its armor. "You son of a bitch." I pushed energy into the Inverted Dimension as the knight finished healing. Xerxes let out a howl of rage but I held him back from charging. Reality was swapped as my spell took over. The blood knight stopped its charge and spun with inhuman speed. I held Xerxes back from attacking as we waited to see what the creature would do. When it unleashed a gout of blood in the opposite direction I grinned. An indigo sun was born a second later and Xerxes shot forward. The compressed Psionic Rain descended on the knight and it was forced to react. Its speed was incredible. It had already raised its lance to crush the sun before Xerxes reached it. Unfortunately it was still trapped under the effect of Inverted Dimension. The attack it thought was crushed crashed into it a second before the meteor that was Xerxes arrived. The knight was far from finished. Its body became liquid just after it crashed into the ground. It attempted to absorb blood from the ground as it reappeared but why would I let that happen? Another six blades slammed into its back before any of its injuries had begun to heal. The knight launched a gout of blood in the wrong direction a second before a gout of flame caught it from behind. Xerxes let out a roar of challenge before his fangs glowed with spiritual energy. He launched himself forward and sunk his fangs into the knights weapon arm. This time when it tried to become liquid it wasn''t able. "Good!" I formed a ball of compressed space the size of a volleyball and launched it with the speed of a bullet. The knight began to turn into liquid only for Xerxes to tighten his grip. My attack so much as hit the knight as it erased him. It was as if the area in space where it had been simply didn''t exist anymore. Something about that resonated deep inside me but I pushed it aside. I formed another halo of blades just in case the creature could rebuild itself after that but nothing happened. It wasn''t until energy surged into my dantian and Xerxes joined me that I relaxed. "That was fun." "It was a good hunt." Xerxes'' reply was exhausted and pained but I ignored it. I had a good idea of his personality by now and he wouldn''t appreciate me worrying too much. I did pull out a pair of healing pills and gave them to him. "Heal up. My spell should last a few more minutes. I don''t know what happens once we leave so we should expect everything to be hell." Chapter 45: End of the Trial When Inverted Dimension ended Xerxes and I stepped out. The blood pool had grown weaker for lack of a better word. The amount of energy inside had faded. I still wasn''t sure what the pool was supposed to be. I couldn''t tell if it was a pool created from dead people or if it was some kind of treasure. "Do you sense anything?" I asked as I expanded my Soul Sense into our surroundings. Before Xerxes could answer my ring began to warm up. It wasn''t painful yet but it was impossible to ignore. I was pretty sure I knew what it was so I summoned the five tokens. Lo and behold the five tokens appeared and formed another symbol in the air. I glanced at Xerxes as we once again started a game of follow the leader. This time the tokens led us due north and much faster than before. As soon as we left the sanguine part of the territory we could sense other monster but they gave us a wide berth. The few that got close enough to attack us were crushed by a beam of light from the token. After the first few shots most beast stayed away. From their the journey was uneventful. I wasn''t sure how long we had ran before we entered a quiet stretch of forest. This area felt pristine, as if it was someone''s personal garden and not a murder trial. Even the trees were normal size. None of that was the biggest surprise. In the distance there was a black and red tower that I assumed was the pagoda. It was difficult to tell just how far it was but if I had to guess it was within ten miles. I turned my attention to the tokens. The tokens that were in the middle of dissolving. I tried to stop them but there was nothing I could do. Even with an infusion of spiritual energy they collapsed. "Well I guess we don''t need those anymore." I tried to activate **Apportation** to take us further but the spell failed to activate. "Looks like we have to walk from here. You up for it?" "I am ready to go." I laughed and expanded my soul sense before we took off. When we arrived in front of the pagoda. It was beautiful it looked both old and new like someone had seen a building from imperial China and then made it modern. Only modern was fantasy. There was a sign in front but their was nothing written on it. There was a surprisingly high amount of energy inside. It wasn''t hard to figure out that it was an array the only question was what kind? I didn''t think it would hurt us and my danger sense hadn''t reacted. "I guess we head in?" I gestured for Xerxes to follow as I walked up the stairs. As soon as we passed through the doorway there was a pulse the traveled through our bodies. The pulse explored every part of my body like it was probing for something. My heart practically stopped when it got to the weird mark on my chest. I prepared myself to fight my way out but nothing happened. The pulse faded and the darkness was replaced with light. I looked around in confusion. Xerxes was here to but we were the only ones. "I think that was teleportation. It wasn''t the same as what the System does but it was kind of similar." I murmured. We stood on a balcony toward the very top of the pagoda only it was taller here than it was from the ground. At least I thought it. This felt like being at the top of the statue of liberty while from the ground it looked more like a tall building. I walked over to the balcony and reached a hand out. I extended my hand but met an invisible wall. Which was only added to the pile of unknowns since it wasn''t there even with the Eye of Heaven. I turned around and walked back to the entrance but as soon as I stepped through the door way I reappeared on the balcony. I did it two more times before I gave up. "I guess we should take this time to recover." We sat down and started to cultivate. I was going to hand over a pair of spirit stone but the tower once again had a surprise for us. The energy was much denser inside. On top of that the energy practically rushed into me when I started. I glanced over at Xerxes who was in a similar situation. I pushed down my irritation at taking so long to complete the quest. If I had gotten here days ago how much progress could I have made? The treasures we found did make it sting a bit less. I took a deep breath and focused on absorbing energy. I sunk deeper and deeper into the process until I reached the threshold of level 43. This time I let the energy swell until that last barrier was broken. Increasing a level was still a minor break through at this point but they were fewer and further between. The question of where to put my two points only last a moment. As much as it was being super strong. My kit was pretty clear. Wisdom and Int were my main attributes. Perception was a close third place. Strength was dead last which only left Agility and Constitution. Between those two Agility was the clear winner. If I could avoid the hit in the first place why would I worry about survivability? Of course the nagging part of my brain said that there would be attacks that couldn''t be avoided but I ignored that part. I put the two points into Perception and turned my attention to my Tao. I was confident I could push all three of them to the next level if I really wanted. Despite that I didn''t want to rush them. I was sure I could do one more before we left so I turned my attention to the Strand of Compression. I took my time to reflect on all of my battles until now. Each one felt like a walk along the path of my Tao. It wasn''t until I arrived at the battle with the Blood knight that something changed. It wasn''t the same as when I got my Tao. Those were like moment of startling realization. This was more like a gradual awakening. When the sensation passed. I opened my notification screen and smiled. Tao Strand of Compression: Comprehension: High. Intelligence +40, Constitution +20, Wisdom +20 The rewards were impressive and it confirmed something that I was unsure about. I could kind of stir the attributes I wanted. I focused more on the understanding of space instead of the physical compressing of something. The results swapped the Strength for Constitution. Which I assumed was due to surviving the collapse? That one was harder to explain. I opened my eyes and looked around. Xerxes and I weren''t the only people here now. A group of cultivators in black and white leather armor sat across from us. There four of them and they looked rough. Their injuries were slowly healing but it was clear that they had been in a lot of fights. All four were men and they had swords in sheathes in front of them. The person I assumed was their leader opened his eyes and stared back at me. He released a trace amount of his aura and it wasn''t bad. It was sharp like a blade that would cut through whatever was in front of him. It wasn''t as strong as mine but it wasn''t bad. I decided not to release my own. Mostly because I wanted to keep the peace and I was pretty sure we couldn''t fight here. I returned to my meditation. This time I focused on the Tao of Adamance. The process for the Tao was similar to Compression only there was no individual battle that left an impression on me. It was the combination of all the battles. The desire to push forward and win against any odds. I relished each of the many battles until I completed the improvement. When it was done I pulled up my status screen and read through my improvements. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Tao Strand of Adamance: Comprehension: High. Comprehension: High. Wisdom +40, Constitution +40, So it appeared that 80 points was the norm for High Strands. Which was double the middle tier. It was a simple and straight forward path which made sense when you considered where it came from. I didn''t bother opening my eyes this time. Instead I focused on the Tao of Lucidity. The most confusing of my Taos. It was the one I had the least understanding off. It was confusion or I guess understanding. It was hard to process and explain. Despite that I was mostly confident that I could upgrade it. The process was slower this time. I needed to reflect on every battle I used it multiple times before I was able to break through. A throbbing headache and wave of spiritual exhaustion made me want to go to bed. I passed a mental eye over my body but from what I could see I was fine. Outside of a lack of psychic energy. I made a mental note to not force a breakthrough like this again. At least not with all three strands. I rest for several minutes before I pulled up my last notification. Tao Strand of Lucidity: Comprehension: High. Perception +40, Wisdom +40 It was much less interesting the third time. The benefits were great and just made my Wisdom attribute even more dangerous. I still wasn''t sure how power worked with respect to each attribute point. I was pretty sure that the massive change was enough to cause some serious damage. I was about to open a communication line with Xerxes when I felt a presence enter the pagoda. The figure or rather figures appeared at the entrance a few moments later and I opened my eyes. I raised an eye brow to the Crown Prince who was now missing an arm. Furthermore he only had two of his guards with him and I barely remembered them. "You look like thing didn''t go as well as you had hoped with your brother?" The Crown Prince flashed me a smile though it was clearly strained. He and his guards walked over and I stood up to greet him. "That would be a fair analysis of the situation." He began. "My dear brother had a surprises for us but we prevailed. Just not without most of my supporters being sent back." I nodded and gestured for him to join me and Xerxes. "I see do you regret not having my help?" He shook his head and we all sat on the ground. His guards popped pills into their mouths and then started to cultivate. "No, it is still better for my siblings and I to deal with our own problems. I would much rather not involve outsiders." I nodded and glanced at the stub that was now his arm. "Are you going to recover from that?" He sighed and nodded. "My family has a few methods though none are pleasant. I had expected you to be more disappointed. It appears that we aren''t able to have that battle you wanted." I nodded. "True but Xerxes and I have gained a lot. I can''t complain about the benefits and there is no use in complaining about what happened." The Crown Prince stared at me for a few moments and then laughed. "Well you are an interesting man. It looks we were the third to arrive. I hope we weren''t too late after you." "I don''t know for sure. We were first and we spent most of that time in meditation. I don''t think its been more than few hours or maybe a few days." "Good, good catching up to you has been wonderful but I am going to start my recovery. If we don''t get another chance for conversation than I wish you the best in dealing with the troubles of your world." I laughed at that and wished the same to him. I leaned back against the wall and ran my hand through Xerxes fur as we waited. We briefly discussed letting him use some of the beast cores but it wasn''t the best option. We were surrounded by other people and I wasn''t sure what would happen if Xerxes started the bloodline improvement process. Even he wasn''t sure what would happen. If my companion was taken out of commission and a final battle happened we might be in trouble. Especially if I had to fight everyone in the tower. After that more people slowly filtered in over the course of three days. The groups looked worse and worse until the tenth group practically collapsed as soon as they got through. The trio passed out immediately and the decision was made to move them to a corner of the room. Soon after their arrival a pulse spread through the entire trial zone. Everyone that could move got up and staired as the trial zone turned white. It was a bit like the world just ceased to exist everywhere the wall of light passed. The wall of light rapidly made its way toward us until the pagoda was consumed. I glanced over at the rest of the cultivators and flashed them a final smile before we were pulled away by the System. The never ending white continued only I was alone. Even Xerxes was missing but I could still feel his presence through our connection. The emotionless voice of the System ruined the calming silence as it declared the state of the trial. Congratulations on achieving first place in the Chimeric Forest Trial. Total time taken: 15:10:40:32: Limited Title Provided. Awarded Title Permanence, Selection from the First Realm Chimeric Pagoda. After that a scroll-able menu appeared. The menu was divided into three categories, Name, Quality and Type. It wasn''t difficult to figure out what I was looking at. Either the System didn''t want us to see what was in the pagoda or it wanted to filter our choices. Either way there wasn''t much I could do about it. The important question here was what did I want. Obviously I would stick to the peak quality stuff. I couldn''t come up with a reason for why I would go with lower quality goods. Especially since I had no idea what this stuff was anyway. The System didn''t give much of a description. I decided to ignore the weapons and armor as well. I didn''t use them to fight and I didn''t think I need it. Robes could be an interesting choice. Next I needed to decide what to do between a resource that could make me stronger or a cultivation resource. I still needed to repair my cultivation cave. The more I thought about it the more my answer became obvious. I shifted my focus to things that would spruce up my cultivation cave. I was pretty sure that at least some of the items I found and stolen would boost my strength. Ideally I would be able to add it to the contribution store as well just to get more people doing work. I couldn''t help but shift my focus to the arrays. From what I could tell I would get a package that would include either array disks or flags that I would place within an area. Which should mean the arrays were mobile. Of the few array that were available there were two that had drawn my attention. The first was called the Chimera Blood Fusion Array. From the short description it was designed to nurture beasts and would no doubt be helpful for Xerxes. It would also be pretty great if we decided to create more beast masters in the future. I couldn''t be sure but if it turned out to be big enough that I could put it somewhere public than that could be amazing. The second was called the Heaven''s Convergence Array. It was an upgraded version of an energy gathering array. Only from what I could tell it would work on a larger scale. I should be able to use it to cover the entire main building at least. On a larger end it might cover the entire city. On the other end if it was small and only worked for me than it would be good but not great. Between my affinities, spirit stones and exploration I leveled up pretty quick. The question boiled down to my personal strength or Xerxes''? The answer was obvious. Xerxes was my strongest ally which meant it was best for me to have him get as strong as possible. I selected the Chimera Blood Fusion Array. A moment later a white box the size of a suit case appeared at my feet. I picked it up and took a peak inside. Sure enough there was an information stone though this one was longer and narrower than most. Closer to the ones in the hidden prison. Next to them were a set of ten engraved jade discs. The disc held no energy but I could tell that when I powered them up they would hold a lot of it. I considered dealing with the stone now but decided against it. I wasn''t sure how long this state of nothingness would last. The last thing I wanted was to appear back home and just stand there. It wouldn''t due good to the dignity of the ruler to look like an idiot. I closed up the box and sent it into the ring. With that everything from the trial was dealt with which meant it was finally time to head home. I couldn''t wait to shower. Chapter 46: Home Again The endless white expanse faded and was replaced by Amara. I felt Xerxes arrive beside me a moment later and a small stream of emotions filtered through the bond. "So you didn''t get a reward? I wonder if that means the System considers you apart of me or if you weren''t considered a trial taker?" "I don''t know. The city has changed in such a short time." I nodded my agreement. It had only been fifteen days but it felt like forever. The city had changed with the streets having been cleared. It looked like a proper city and not the ruins of an apocalypse. There were even people selling things at stands now. Based on our position the System hadn''t brought us to the exact spot we left. Part of me wondered if there was a reason for that but that part quickly lost. I didn''t really care and I had no way of knowing. Xerxes and I strolled toward the main building and took in the sights. There was clearly a kind of return to normalcy. Or whatever the new normal was with most of the people around here stuck at level 5 or so. Outside of all the mismatched clothing it would have been possible to forget the end of the world happened. My gut reaction to that was irritation. These people had the chance to become gods. To have the power to crush mountains and they chose to be normal. Part of me knew that wasn''t fair that no one signed up for this and that people wanted to be safe. It was also clear that not everyone would gain power most would die in the attempt. Were they crazy for wanting to play it safe or was I? We made it half way before I decided to take a break. I hadn''t reviewed the new title or its changes and I was pretty sure that something would need my attention. Xerxes and I walked up a building much to the shock of the people around us. We sat down at the top and I tossed Xerxes the last of the prepared meat as I pulled up the title screen. Chimeric Forest 1st Place: Achieve first Place in the Chimeric Forest Trial: All Attributes +10, All Attributes +5% Imperious Strength: First to attain 2500 Attribute Points in world.: Potency of Attributes +5% Glory Hound: Gain 25 Titles while in the 1st-Realm: Potency of All Attributes +10% I didn''t recall getting the second or third titles which were nice bonuses. The trial title was a bit disappointing. It was great but I kind of hoped for something insane. Like +10 percent to everything but I suppose beggars couldn''t be choosers. Especially when you considered the second title. I assumed the "First" part referred to people of earth. I doubted I was the first person in the trial to get to 2,500 attribute points. The Crown Prince for one seemed incredible let alone the other princes and their guards.
Name Amari Jackson
Level 43
Class [1-Epic]Psionic Paragon
Species [2]Human
Affiliation Earth:Amara: Ruler
Trait [1]Eye of Heaven
Manual [1]Ethereal Codex
Titles Beloved by Tao, Big Game, Beastbound, Centennial, Classed, Chimeric Forest 1st Place, Chosen, First to Ten, Glory Hound High Class, Horde Breaker, , Imperious Strength, Leader of the Pack, Monstersbane, One Man Army, Overlord Slayer, Overpowered, Perfect 100, Prime Forebearer, Prime Hunter, Supreme Predator, Tutorial, True Elite, Voyager,
Limited Titles Pinnacle, Primal Battlefield,
Tao Strand of Adamance ¡ª Comprehension: High, Strand of Lucidity ¡ª Comprehension: High, Strand of Compression ¡ª Comprehension: High
Agility 233 (Increase:75%. Potency:140%)
Constitution 348 (Increase:75%. Potency:140%)
Intelligence 446 (Increase:75%. Potency:140%)
Luck 184 (Increase:90%. Potency:140%)
Perception 317 (Increase:75%. Potency:140%)
Strength 265 (Increase:80%. Potency:140%)
Wisdom 758 (Increase:80%. Potency:140%)
Free Points 0
System Credits [1]175,971,277
My screen might as well belong to an alien when I compared it what it had been. Triple numbers in all six attributes was incredible. Furthermore I could hold a third Limited Title which were the best kind so far. Even my weakest attributes were probably enough to beat everyone in Amara if not the entire world. A fact that was worrying. The Crown Prince didn''t provide a token so I needed to find a new way off world. Or else my growth would slow. There was no way that I was at the maximum for the realm. I could feel it like a deep hunger in every part of my body. I wanted more I could do more. I stared at the streets below until I felt darkness coalesce behind me. I sent a sense of calm to Xerxes since I had a pretty good idea of who it was. Sure enough the darkness fully formed and revealed Aaliyah. "There you are. We got reports of a strange man and his massive dog¡ª" That earned a growl from Xerxes which made me chuckle. "People should probably get more used to seeing me. Maybe I should build a statue? You know something like the Statue of Liberty. Something that make Kings of old jealous." I watched her shake her head and fight against the smile that threatened the edges of her face through my soul sense. Another benefit of my new level of power. "What do you think they think of me?" I wasn''t sure why I asked that question nor was I sure if I wanted an answer. Either way that arrow was already in flight. "It is hard to say things have been chaotic since you left. Your little student has helped with that though." I turned around at that and mentally did the math. Trey''s birthday happened a few days ago. I grinned and then got to my feet. "What happened?" "Well the problems between the non-cultivators and cultivators have picked up. Especially now that levels have stagnated. A weird cult has sprung up. Its based around people believing that the the System is punishing us because of the non-cultivators. That they aren''t chosen or whatever." "What?" I looked out over the city although I knew I wouldn''t see anything. "Is The System''s Herald doing that? Or is it someone else?"Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. She sighed and stepped to the edge of the building. "We don''t know. That freak has been killing people ever since you left. Thankfully he hasn''t come here for a fight but some of the scenes he created a horrible. A former crime scene investigator thinks he''s escalating." "You mean like he''s getting worse? Is it because no one can stop him?" She shook her head. "The current theory is that he wants you. You''ve become the batman to his joker." I shook my head at that. "I should be a lot stronger than him now though. I mean you all can''t see it but my attributes have skyrocketed. I also learned several tricks during the trial. The Eye of Heaven is stronger now as well. Xerxes is at the level barrier now. It wouldn''t be much of a fight." "We assumed as much. Which is why there is a second problem. Both the United World Government and the Commonwealth have stopped responding to us." I cocked my head at that. "Are their teleporters open?" She shook her head. "So have you heard anything about the System''s Herald?" "No, the lack of communication has placed us in a information dark zone." "I see, do you all think that might be connected? That they might be either dealing with him or trying to deal with him?" "We considered it which is why we pulled our people back. We''ve focused more on the underground areas and keeping our borders secure." "Alright, well what''s going on with Trey. He got the System right?" She nodded and then looked toward the central building. "Oh he did. He ate that fruit early though. In hopes that it would give him a unique title or something. He wants to tell you what he got on his own though." "Right? And you''ve agreed? Well it doesn''t matter to me. I imagine I will see him soon enough. I have to go through the treasures I got at the trial. Do you want to join?" "No thanks I am tired of looking at alien plants and animal parts. The cooks have gotten better though. The food tastes better and like normal stuff. I am going to take a squad out to patrol. The council was about to decide whether or not to begin building a city underground." "Interesting oh what happened with the guard soldier divide idea?" "We got several groups who have signed up. The soldiers spend most of their time underground. Christopher and Keshaun would have more information." She activated her movement skill and sunk into the darkness. I waited until she was completely gone before I gestured to Xerxes. I sent a message to Azariah and Desbera to meet me in the council room in an hour and to bring whatever identification items they had. I wasn''t sure how valuable this stuff would be but it should be amazing. I activated Apportation and we stepped through. Xerxes went into the cultivation chamber while I entered the bathroom. It was time for me to get my shower. An hour later I felt amazing, clean and ready to go. Xerxes stood next to me as we waited for the others to join. I hadn''t noticed while we were in the trial but Xerxes had grown. He was now closer to large wolf than big dog. Which was awesome it made me feel like a mobster or king with a steady attack monster next to me. I waited for other to file in and shut the door before I began. "Hello everyone. Xerxes and I gained a few items during the trial and I hoped that you would help me identify them?" "Sounds simple enough Young Master. I would love the opportunity to help you sell your fortune as well." Azariah replied. Her sharp claw like fingernails tapped eagerly on the table as she stared at me. "I will provide whatever services I can as well." Desbera replied. I held out my hand and slowly summoned everything out of it. I wished that there was a way to do it faster like a "empty all" button. I didn''t pull out the beast corpses though. There was no way I would have the nasty just in this room. The appraisal section took three more hours. During which I needed to go into detail about the location of the items and what their natural area looked like. The goods were divided into four main piles. One pile that would be sold, one pile that would go to me, one pile that would go to Xerxes and then one pile that would be sent to contribution shop. Of the piles Xerxes and I had the smallest but that wasn''t a bad thing. The best items were for us. Not counting the attribute boosting fruit. It turned Xerxes couldn''t get a benefit from these kinds of fruit and I was already at my limit. Which meant they were useless. I did set a few of them to the side in a kind fifth pile for Trey but he didn''t need much. It would take him several days to purchase the items I left for him and then consume them. It was to the point that it was obvious nepotism. I placed my and Xerxes'' items into the ring and Desbera took the stuff for the merit exchange. Azariah did the same for her pile. "Ah yes, Young Master I have made some inquires about the underwater vessel you wanted. I have found a seller that could provide one if you still have need." "Absolutely. Do you have any details? Like size, requirements to pilot and other details?" I asked my excitement building. I hadn''t abandoned the idea of exploring the ocean floor. Azariah pulled out an information crystal from her dress and handed it to me. "It is all in here including the price. If you would like me to make the purchase you have two days to decide." I grabbed the crystal and sent a thread of energy inside. It took me less than a second to process the information. The ship''s specs were a mixed bag. It would do what I needed it to do for sure but it wasn''t exactly a grand vessel. It was classified as both Low Quality and First Realm. Which meant it was only a little better than just making a submarine out of earth materials. It did have one thing going for it. The ship could be upgraded fairly easily. If you didn''t count the cost of parts. The whole thing was designed to be modular which was why it was so bad now. The original owner just lowered the quality of each part until it landed here. The price would take a chunk out of what I had but I could afford it. I reviewed the data on more time before I sent my confirmation to Azariah. "Alright, buddy what should we do next?" I asked Xerxes now that we were alone. "Do you want to check on that human? Trey?" "I do. Honestly I am a bit confused on why he hasn''t found me already. I half expected him to come running through the door." I closed my eyes and expanded my Soul Sense to its maximum. I searched the main building and then every building nearby. It wasn''t until I got to the academy that I found him. What I saw made me question my senses. Not only was he much stronger but he already had an aura and killing intent. I would put him around level 12 or 13 which wasn''t much for me but compared to the rest of the world it was pretty impressive. "So he definitely got some nice benefits from the fruit though I can''t tell what they are. He doesn''t have an eye. You want to go and see him?" I asked though I already knew the answer. I was about open a portal when I thought better of it. Why not strut around the place like a peacock? It would be good for people to know I was back and it would be fun. "Lets have a little fun." I grinned and left the room. I double checked my robes, hair and face just to be sure there was nothing that would ruin the attempt. When I was ready I straightened my back and did my best important person walk. Xerxes and I drew quite a few eyes as we moved through the city. Most of the eyes were on Xerxes which only made the arrogant Qilin more arrogant. The view people who focused on me had complex looks on their faces. Some were happy that I was back while others seemed afraid. Like I would come offer beat them all which wasn''t completely unfair. If you took my reputation into account. We arrived at the academy just as group of what I assumed were the soldiers left. The foursome looked at us saluted and then continued on their way. "I am leaving now!" Trey''s voice echoed as we entered the building. I looked as Trey stepped to the top of a set of stairs. His head was turned toward someone behind him. I raised an eyebrow as he turned around and saw me. The smile on his face grew wider and brighter and the he bounded down the stairs. "Yo, I was just about to come see you. How did the trial go?" I grinned, pulled up the Chimeric title and showed it to him. His eyes widened for a moment and then he laughed. "First place as expected. I am level 15 now so can I come with next time?" I considered it for a moment and had to admit it would be nice to have a second or third person around. "Your level is a bit too low for the kind of stuff I would do but we might be able to grind you up. I don''t have any quests right now." Trey''s face brightened as I spoke which was more than enough to convince me this was right. "Great I can set out now if you''re free?" I chuckled and held up a hand. "Slow your roll. I am going to set out again soon but now I am taking a break. I heard you got some unique titles?" He nodded and got that far away look in his eyes. "I got one for upgrading my species and getting a Tao before getting the System." "So nothing from the fruit? Or did it help with the species thing?" He shook his head and grinned. "Nope, no title but I got something pretty amazing." I looked him up and down but there was nothing different about him. "Well what is it? You didn''t get a magic eye that''s obvious. Did it change your channels or dantian?" His grin only grew wider as he shook his head and started toward the door. "Outside I don''t want to get yelled at again." I looked back to top of the stairs to find Desbera glaring at both of us and raised an eyebrow in an unasked question. When she let out an exasperated sigh my interest was piqued. Xerxes and I chased after him. When we were outside we found Trey standing in the middle of a mostly empty street. I watched the energy surge from his dantian and into two spots in his shoulder blades. My eyes widened as the spiritual energy left his back and took on the form of a pair of majestic ten foot long wings. Chapter 47: Reunion The wings were incredibly beautiful and were made of energy though they were solid to. I could tell it wasn''t a skill but some kind of innate gift like the Eye of Heaven. I was about to step forward and touch one they disappeared. I looked over at Trey in confusion only to find him doubled over and more than half of his energy gone. "So the wings eat up a lot of energy? Is it based on how big they are or just how long you maintain them?" Trey grimaced and then stood straight. "Its mostly the size. I can stretch them to fifteen but the energy drain would be too much." "Hmm" I rubbed my chin as I processed the information and thought about how to best use them. "What''s the smallest size that you can make them and still fly?" "Well that''s the weird part. I can make them about as long as my arms and still fly. Some people who used to be scientist weren''t sure how that worked and after several test we kind of gave up. When the wings aren''t out they don''t take up any energy though." "So why would you ever? Make the wings big?" I asked ready to chalk it up to something worthless. "Oh right I can carry more people and the things can also block attacks. They aren''t the greatest shield but it isn''t bad. Desbera and Azariah place them out around a middle quality defensive treasure." Now that made me pause. "Wait can you imbue the wings? Like with your Tao? Would add and additional quality to them?" He shook his head. "I tried but it didn''t work. The Tao of embers couldn''t go into the wings. I was hoping to get burning wings because that would be epic." I laughed and nodded my agreement. "So you can fly though? How fast?" At that he flinched and awkwardly rubbed his neck. "You can fly right? You said you could." "Yes just not very well. Its not easy!" I shook my head and then laughed. "Alright, its not that big a deal. You just need to continue practicing with it. I am going to come up with a training regimen for you. Have you continued at the academy?" He nodded. "Yes though there isn''t much more to do. I''ve been experimenting with different weapons and mostly training with the soldiers." "I see so underground? Can you show me around? I want to see what''s already been done and I don''t want to be that asshole." "No problem I am done with training for the day." "Xerxes will you join us?" I asked the Qilin who had convinced a couple to give him a stack of what looked like black ribs. I couldn''t tell if the ribs were supposed to be black or if they were really burned. The two men who had handed them over didn''t look upset so I let it go. "Will we hunt?" "Probably not, I don''t plan on looking for a fight anyway." I replied to looks of confusion. I was about to explain myself so people didn''t think their new king was crazy but I didn''t care. "I will stay here. I want better food." I chuckled as he ran into the city. I watched him get further away with my soul sense for a few minutes before I left him to it. "Alright, lead the way." I stepped up next to Trey as we headed toward the cave system and spirit water lake. "Are you sure its alright for him to go off like that? it wouldn''t be good if he ate someone." I shrugged. "He would be fine. He probably won''t eat anyone and he strong enough protect the city on his own. Even if he did encounter something that was too much for him he would be able to handle it until I got back." "Really? wait is he stronger than you?" He asked as he looked in the direction Xerxes had left in. "No, we haven''t fought and we kind of empower each other but my attributes are stacked. I got to fight with other cultivators during the trial." "How did that go?" He asked as we stepped into the cave system. The air was much cooler inside so I took a moment to enjoy it before we continued. "I was above average for sure. There was a guy well three princes really. The most powerful of them was stronger than me. We didn''t get to go all out but I doubt that I could''ve won without Xerxes. After that though I got several more tiles and a lot more attributes." "Wow so we couldn''t be them if they came here?" The excitement and joy slowly leached from his face as he asked. "No, maybe people in the top fifty would be able to go against their stronger soldiers but it would boil down to a three on two. Of course the trio were just as likely to fight each other apparently." "Some kind of struggle to be king?" I nodded. "Seemed like it though they said their father prevented them from killing each other. Either way it isn''t a problem for us. The System hide us from other people." "Alright, so did you find any fun things while you were gone?" I grinned and nodded. "The trial took place in a crazy forest." I went over the events of the trial though I kept the part about the prisoner and the weird mark to myself. I wasn''t sure if knowledge would be dangerous at this point. I also didn''t want him to know about all my secret cards. From there we discussed small things that I missed while I was away. There weren''t many problems that Aaliyah hadn''t already gone over. When we arrived at the forward camp I was impressed. I had expected to find a cavern with a handful of tents but this was closer to a town. There was a central building that acted as a command center. The other entrances were protected armed guards and makeshift gates. Since they all lacked energy I was pretty sure they wouldn''t make much of a difference if something came here. "So you guys just pick a direction and go fight stuff?" I asked as I spread my soul sense throughout the cave system. "For the most part. We typically break into squads of five people to explore with a mapper. If we encounter something dangerous we go back and get a proper attack squad." "Alright, so how have you all been doing? How many people have died? Do we have any permanent injuries?" Trey slowly shook his head and gestured for me to follow him to the command center. "I am not sure on the numbers but the commander should be able to tell you more." He led me into the building where several pairs of eyes landed on us. I felt two skills attempt to scan me but none of them forced Intellect Fortress to activate. So I decided to ignore it. Trey led me to a tall dark skinned black man who dressed in army fatigues. The old world clothes felt out of place in this area. As if he was a figure from the ancient past. The person looked at me for a moment and then nodded.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. "I assume you are Amari? I don''t believe we''ve had the chance to meet. My name is Derrick Jones. I am in charge of the subterranean expansion." I nodded and shook the man''s hand. He wasn''t very strong probably around level 10 or so. Which was a problem but the other warriors here were closer to level 20. Which meant that the strongest of our people were down here so I wasn''t too worried. "Nice to meet you. Can you tell me how things are going down here?" He nodded and gestured to the table next to us. "We''ve mapped out everything below Amara and outside of a some small ore veins we haven''t found anything of note. We are starting to expand in circles to clear out everything though we have been forced to stop to avoid some monsters." "Oh? How strong are those monsters and how many?" "We lost two scouts when we tried to check on the best northwest of here. They reported that it was around level 50. We aren''t sure why the creature hasn''t come after us yet so we''ve have stationed a set of heavy guns in the region. There are two more though those are around level 30. We have been planning a raid on each but they have smaller creatures around them." "Well that''s interesting. I could probably take those out for you if you like? It might also be good training for our soldiers." He raised his eyebrows at that. "If you don''t mind my asking what level are you?" I couldn''t help the grin that spread across my face. "Level 43 though I am stronger than what that would imply. Xerxes could also help." "Xerxes is another warrior?" He asked as his gaze returned to the table. "A beast companion but effectively the same." "I see if you two led the charge we might be able to deal with the strongest. Even if you can''t beat on your own. You might be able to hold its attention." "I am sure we can kill it for you. I can leave the smaller monsters for you all to deal with though." "Can I come with you?" Trey rejoined the conversation. "I should be able to stay out of the way but I want to see you fight." Derrick looked at us both and then back at the map "I will leave it to you then." From there we went over the smaller details. For the most part the soldiers were doing pretty well. They were forced to move in semiautonomous groups due to the lack of communication skills but that was more of a benefit. The group ended up bonding better. Which made them fight harder to get back. The result pretty good. The soldiers average level was 18 and was much more uniform than the guards. Altogether I was impressed with what Christopher had put together. "Alright, I am going to head out. Trey you can come though if I tell you to leave than you need to go. I have a few ways to get to safety but I might not be able to get to you." I sent word to Xerxes but he decided to leave it to me. Trey and I left the camp within the hour. The cave system was slightly confusing since all the paths looked like the same. "You are surprisingly good at traveling through here. Is that because you''ve done it a lot?" I asked though the answer was obvious. "Well most of us don''t have a handy map so we have to learn the paths. Once we get a bit closer we will have to be more careful." "I can release my aura if you want? Just to keep the small fry off of us." "You would likely draw the stronger monsters to us. It would be better to¡ª" My aura exploded before he could finish speaking. The caves shook as it felt like the world was drowned in blood. I expanded my soul sense alongside and watched as every nearby critter scurried to be anywhere but here. It felt good. "Well that''s extreme." Trey said. Though the look on his made it seem like he might pass out. "I still don''t like how bloody it feels. I want to change it to something more I don''t know regal? Fancy? Beautiful? No Awe inspiring." I grinned and retracted my senses. "Don''t forget reasonable and calm." He mocked as we walked on. "You didn''t mention where you planned to go next." "Yeah, not sure at the moment. We are making plans to search for the underwater city. I know I am no where near ready to evolve or advance so no worry there. I need to upgrade my Tao as well." I shook my head as I processed the long list of things I wanted to get done. "I will look for away to explore off world places too." "I still get to join you right? I am not as strong as you but I can do a lot." I nodded. "That''s fine with me. I won''t be able to get you to level 40 quickly but with some tender loving care level 20+ should work. You might even get a cool class. "Our conversation died out as we got closer to the beast''s haven. It wasn''t until we reached a section of crumbled wall that I could feel the presence of something strong. When Trey confirmed that this was the right spot I started digging with psychokinesis. By the time I finished my mood had soured and I had a dull headache. From here I led the way. I expanded my Tao field just in case. "Did that scout mention what kind of creature we were dealing with? Bug? Reptile? Undead?" Trey cringed but nodded. "It was definitely a bug. It''s something with a hard exoskeleton and it was massive." "Big and Slow?" He nodded. "I would hope so. Big and Fast would be frightening." I was about to respond when I caught something in my soul sense. It was a large cavern probably around the size of high school gymnasium. It was filled the bodies of various monsters but in the very center was a creature that looked like an overgrown beetle with six legs. It had a horn like appendage on its head only it was open that the top. Kind of like it had a canon. It had two crab claw like hands that were big enough to split a person in two. Sure enough its energy levels put it around level 50. "Well that thing is pretty impressive. Though not as strong as the stronger creatures in the trial. I want you to stay in the air with your wings. Use the minimum amount of energy to do so. Think of it as endurance training." I broke into a brisk jog as we rounded a bend and I saw the ugly creature with my eyes. The thing was just horrendously ugly. I waited for Trey to get into the air before I entered the creature''s cave. As soon as I did it began to move. The creature made a clicking sound that made my skin crawl. It shifted its massive body to face me. My danger sense picked up just before a black gas bellowed out from the sprout on its face. My eyes widened in shock and disgusts. The gas wasn''t a gas at all. It was a bunch of tiny locust like bugs. I activated Psychic Blast and its indigo light washed over a chunk of them. Some collapsed but more rapidly moved to replace them. "Alright, so I guess fighting you guys is pointless." I pushed energy into its sigil along side the Tao of compression. Before the army of small bug could reach me an indigo sun was born. As soon as the sun was full I shattered it and let the blades rain down. The cloud of bugs change course to try and protect their mother? Or whatever the thing was but they weren''t enough. I half expected the psychic attack to end it right there but I was wrong. The big beetle unleashed another storm of clicks before it charged at me. I pushed spiritual energy into my legs and ran up the cave wall. The beetle crashed into the wall just as I leaped off. A halo of six imbued blades formed and struck before I returned to the ground. "I guess there is a difference between monsters on earth and the ones off it. Is it because of the quality of energy? Or something else." I mused out loud. I shifted my focus to Trey who was struggling to stay up. His wings kept fading in and out of solidity. Furthermore he was wasting more energy than he should. Most of it was just seeped into the environment. I turned my attention back to the battle as the beetle resumed its attack. This time I formed a sphere of compressed space and fired it at the bug''s left leg. For a moment the creature''s exoskeleton resisted and I briefly considered collecting its body after the fight. The next moment the leg was gone. The bug collapsed forward and unleashed a storm of clicks. I was about to stop forward when the beast unleashed a new attack. It opened its mouth and wave of sound shot toward me. The wave slammed into me a like a truck and then reverberated off the cave walls. My teeth felt like they would shatter. A second later the bubble of Psychic Aegis formed. The reprieve from the sound might as well have been a gift from the System. I activated Psychic Blast in both hands. Twin beams of psychic energy washed over the beetle and its struggle was over. I ended my attack and gestured for Trey to join me. "Your energy usage isn''t as good as it could be. I would say you are using around ten percent more than you need." "Right, how did you do that?" Trey breathlessly asked. "It was a higher level but you beat it like it was nothing." I grinned. "Level isn''t everything. Its more important to have the attributes. Which is why the attribute fruits are so important." I looked down at the beetle''s corpse. "Do you think this guy should come back? I have a few beast corpses in my ring but more would be better for weapons." "Would we have to carry it back or can you do that telekinesis thing?" I shook my head and sent the body into my ring. "No, also its Psychokinesis. Telekinesis is just moving things without touching it. The other is moving things with the mind." Trey stared at me blankly before shaking his head and walking away. "Nerd." Chapter 48: Amara will Stand The rest of the monsters shared similar fates. None of them were anywhere near the strength of the beetle and they had unprotected souls. They might as well have just killed themselves before I got there. I only collected one of their corpses. The main bug was another of the big centipede types. Only its outer shell was thicker than usual. "Alright, so you should continue your training with the wings. Do a few laps around the city." Trey rolled his eyes. "Do I have to paint the walls too?" I chuckled and stepped in front of him. "I mean that might be nice. For now, though let''s get out of here." I activated Apportation and a few moments later we were outside of the city. "I am going to find Xerxes and drop off the rest of these corpses. You should go rest and cultivate." I watched him until he was out of view before I made my exit. I sent word to Xerxes who found me a short while later. The crowd parted as if the massive Qilin was royalty. Which in a way he was. Of course, he was also more than strong enough to demand the deference without my reputation. "You look well. I am guessing you found some way to entertain yourself?" I playfully mocked. "There are many sweet things here. Why don''t you bring the sweet foods with us in that ring?" I cocked my head and looked from where he came half expecting to see a worried merchant. "So you want me to pack some candy for you? Alright, I can do that. We should see if someone can get you a storage device. I am on my way to drop off the corpses. Do you want to come?" "Yes" "You are a Qilin of few words." I gestured for him to follow and started down the street side by side. "Did you see anything I should be worried about?" "Nothing besides some of the weaker humans are not liked by the stronger ones. I do not understand why the weak ones are not simply eaten." I stumbled a step before I could catch myself. I made another mental note to remember that he was not human. Or moral or at least lacked human morality. "Well, that is generally frowned upon. It is the duty of the strong to protect those weaker than us." "Is that a human characteristic or is it yours? I do not believe the other humans would be so kind." I gave him a reluctant nod. "Do you think I should do what others would have done? Or should I do what I want?" "It''s your choice. When will we get to enjoy another good hunt?" I shrugged and looked into the sky as if it would reveal the answer. "I am not sure. There might be stronger things if we scour the world beneath our feet but I don''t know. There might also be strong beasts deeper into the second continent. If not there is the ocean though we might not do well there. Lastly, we could leave the earth behind in search of better areas." Xerxes shook his head as a brief flash of annoyance made it across our bond. "In other words, we have no immediate plans." I chuckled. "I wouldn''t say that. We should enjoy our moments of peace. It will give the time to work on arrays. Either way, I will get a vessel for exploring the deep ocean soon." "I hope you know that I can not breathe underwater." "I had assumed as much. I have Azariah gathering a few things that will help keep us safe. I would like to know how our bodies will hold up against water pressure." "I will wait to see what happens when it happens." From there our conversation descended into small talk about the people of the city. When we reached the storage area I was somewhat impressed. The workers had made a massive walk-in freezer where all kinds of meat were stored. The freezer was divided into categories based on the type of meat it was. The smallest section was labeled "Regular meat" and well it was nice seeing actual beef slabs. The rest was creepy. There were slabs of meat in a variety of colors, shapes, sizes, and textures. Some looked so dry that you might mistake it for burned bricks. Xerxes and I made our way to an array that was set up for animal skinning. There were five people, three men and two women who were hard at work. "Hello, I got a few things that I would like to drop off. Do you have a system going or can I drop them anywhere?" It was one of the men who responded. A light-skinned man with red hair and thick sailor-like arms. "You can go ahead and leave it in the next-up area." He gestured to an empty patch of land about fifty feet away. A patch that was stained a dark brown color that made my stomach hurt. "We will get to it all as soon as we can." "I should warn you." I started as I walked over. When I was in the right place I held my hand out. "I got some big kills." With that, I started summoning things out of the ring. Each delivery caused mixed reactions among the workers. Their faces went from shock to annoyance to fear and finally awe. "We separated them the best we could but neither of us," I said and gestured to Xerxes. "Know anything about butchering animals." "Are you that king guy I was told about?" A man who looked like he was in his fifties or sixties said as he stepped forward. He had dark leathery skin like he had spent years baking in the hot sun. "I am." I flashed him a smile that he didn''t return. "Well thank you for doing what you can to keep me and my granddaughter safe. We were refugees from a smaller town near here. One that was overrun by monsters." I nodded. Based on the looks on the other''s faces they had similar stories. "I am sure that happened but it is good you''ve found something to do. Have you been able to earn contribution points?" The man nodded and gestured to the equipment behind him. "I have don''t you worry. I might not be as strong as the rest of you but I feel thirty years younger." I laughed and patted the man on his shoulder being careful not to accidentally hurt him. From there we settled into conversations about how things were after the System arrived. The conversation was overall sobering. Things had gone pretty well for me but others hadn''t fared as well. I was happy to hear that people kept fighting and looking out for one another. Despite the good conversation I had to take my leave a few hours later. I said my goodbyes and left the people to their work. Xerxes and I head back toward the central tower. While we walked I sent word to the rest of the council about my plans. I needed a place to set up my new array. Took nearly two hours for us to find a place and for me to place the array discs. We settled on a large gymnasium that we emptied. "So do you have any idea how long it will take?" I scanned the array again just to be sure we wouldn''t have any surprises. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "There is no way to know. Bloodline purification is a lifelong pursuit. The array should be enough to break through my bottleneck, assuming what you said about it is true." Xerxes replied as he lay down in the middle of the array. I pulled out two bowls of spirit water and placed them down next to him. "I''ve placed all the beast-improving treasures at the four points. If something goes wrong send some energy into the node here and it should stop the array. If that doesn''t work try not to collapse the building. I don''t want anyone to get hurt." The Qilin nodded his head and then closed his eyes. I waited until I saw the energy start to enter his body. I activated the array and stepped out to the evening sky. The bond between us went dim and opened another portal. I entered my Tower and was about to head up when Keshaun called out to me. "If you don''t mind. I would like a word?" He gestured to one of the empty rooms on the first floor and I agreed. I took a seat at the table while he closed the door. "I have heard your trip to that trail went well. Congratulations." I nodded. "It was a fun experience. There were some strong people including a few that might be stronger than me. I think we will need to up the resources going to our people soon. Was that what you wanted to talk about?" He took a seat across from me and shook his head. "No, you will have to forgive me for being blunt but what are you doing?" I cocked my head but before I could ask for clarification he continued. "We have kept the details of the World Trial under wraps for the most part but that was ruined while you were gone. You have no doubt received the quest?" I sighed. The world Trial no had a timer. It hadn''t changed the deadline but now it was much more real. "I know but what would you have me do? The other factions haven''t done much as far as I know. They have almost no presence on the second continent and the third is controlled by a bunch of small groups. Should I just kill them all? Like some kind of Caesar?" Keshaun slammed his fist into the table as his spiritual energy rotated through his body. The quantity of it made me shake my head. He was barely at level 8. "I am not telling you to kill anyone. You have seen what this System does to the people it deems lesser. What do you think will happen to the rest of us if you fail? What do you think happens to us if the System decides the whole planet is a failure? Your strength might let you survive in the beyond but what about us? You have been treating this like a game. As if it''s some challenge you can overcome by beating the next monster." His words were like a bucket of cold water. I opened my mouth to refute his words or at least defend myself but I couldn''t. Not really. "What do you want me to say?" "You once called yourself the Strongest person in the world. At some point, you are going to need to act like it. Either that or stand aside and let someone else take the reigns." "And don''t tell me you think you could take that position?" I released the smallest bit of my aura that I could manage. Despite the control, Keshaun swayed and nearly collapsed. Still, the man didn''t look away. My respect for him grew. I sealed my aura and let him catch his breath. "You still haven''t told me what I should do. It''s easy to talk about what should be done. It won''t be your hands stained with blood. Unless everyone in the world gave up I would have to fight. Chances are I won''t be able to keep the battle from injuring innocent people." "You underestimate how much people want the world to go back to normal. If you promise them normalcy or at least something close to it. Many would gladly surrender. As for the rest, how do you think a country comes into existence? Through kind words?" He shook his head as the bass returned to his voice. "The System undid the natural order so someone will need to rebuild it. It can be you or you can let it be someone else." I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes. I suddenly had a massive headache. One that couldn''t be helped with any of my Tao. After a long while I opened them and stared at Keshaun. "Go and gather everyone from the council. It''s time that I make some decisions." I waited until he had left before I opened a portal. I stepped through and found Saanite waiting in the council meeting room. "Greetings Amari Jackson." "Do you spend all your time here? Just waiting for us to appear?" I took a seat and paged through the System shop. "Most times I can be found here though not always. If there is somewhere else you believe my talents could be of better use please inform me." I shook my head. "Saanite, what do you think of the Earth? Compared to other worlds going through similar trials?" "Well, Young Master it is hard to say as each world is rather unique. I would say that the Earth is progressing relatively as expected. The only anomaly is you." "In what way?" "Ordinarily worlds that receive this trial tend to be the most chaotic with the members of its top ten forming factions. Those factions tend to devolve into massive wars. The success rates of these worlds are amongst the lowest as no force has enough power to control the planet. The clear difference in power between you and the others makes this outcome unlikely." "In your opinion what is the likely outcome for Earth? Based on everything that has happened so far." "I would say that either you conquer the world or you abandon it. If you abandon it the world likely fall into chaos and then it will fail the trial. After which the System would decide what to do with it." "Either way it would be my fault," I mumbled. I let the resulting silence hang in the air until the rest of the council arrived. Their conversations ended when they felt the mood in the air. I didn''t start speaking until everyone had taken their seats. "Welcome everyone. I am sure you all are aware that the world trial will end in about six months." "I was wondering when you would want to discuss that." Christopher started. I raised a hand to stop him before he could go any further. "I believe it is time for me to start taking this more seriously. I am going to expand Amara''s influence." That caused multiple small conversations to begin. I released my aura for a moment and opened my third eye. The effect silenced everyone with more than a few grabbing their heads. "I want to make sure that everyone here understands what I mean. I intend to conquer the world." The room was so quiet that you could''ve heard a pen drop. I leaned back and stabled my hands. My gaze lingered on each person, one at a time to make sure they understood the gravity of what I meant. It was Christopher who broke the silence. "There is no need for something that drastic. We could unite the world into a new version of the United Nations. With your strength, it wouldn''t be hard to do it either." "You can''t be serious?" Keshaun began. His gaze stared at Christopher as if he could see the man''s soul. "The United Nations was nearly useless in the old world. Why would a new version be any better." "We didn''t have anyone with his kind of power before! We ended the age of kings long ago why would we want to go back." Christopher roared back. His killing intent billowed around him as if to further punctuate his point. "Forgive me if this is beyond my place but I would point out that what you want is not different than what the Young Master is suggesting. If your plan for this "United Nations" relies on his power to defend then would he not be the ruler of the world?" Desbera began before she was interrupted. "We aren''t Gods or Kings! What we''ve done here is great but we should be trying to bring people together. Not crown some king to ruler over us all." Christopher''s killing intent rose again which prompted me to act. Crushing his killing intent with my own was like snuffing out a candle''s flame. I was careful to spare both Azariah and Desbera from the effect only for both of them to activate an array. One I hadn''t noticed before. The array created a safe zone around them. I was pretty sure I could crush the bubble if I wanted to but I wasn''t sure what that would mean. I ended the effect a moment later. "You all are my council and I accept that some discussions will be animated. I won''t tolerate attempts to intimidate one another. There won''t be another warning." As no one looked like they could or would continue speaking I decided to make my stance clear. My resolve increased with each word. "The United Nations idea isn''t bad but the System was clear that it required a single ruler. What difference would it make if I conquered the world under the banner of Amara or a United World? Further, does anyone here think the leaders of the world would gladly share authority with me? How long until they make plans to scheme against me? Or replace me? What happens if I leave this world and the System considers it some kind of civil war?" "If we were to do this what would you want us to do? It''s one thing to have the army fighting monsters and being the police. It''s another to have them conquering and killing other people. They might not be willing to accept that." Aaliyah asked. "I have considered that. Ultimately they will have to make a choice. I have had no problem sharing my resources and letting people grow but now it''s time for loyalty. They will need to decide if they want this or not. The people who choose to stay will be able to decide where they go. Whether it''s fighting in the army or being the police. If one gets too lopsided people will be assigned. For the people that decide they don''t want to work with me. They will have to leave. If Amara is to stand it will need to do so on the backs of people willing to fight." Chapter 49: Covert War "So you are suggesting that we throw everyone who doesn''t want to be part of it to the wolves," Christopher replied with much less venom. "I do. They will be allowed to go where they want. I am not going to have anyone killed for it but people will have to make a decision." "Assuming that we do this how do we go about it? Do you want the army to move out and deal with people? Are we gathering weapons to destroy anyone who stands against us? What are the logistics?" Aaliyah asked next. "In short yes. I will deal with the UWG and Commonwealth. There is no point in risking lives to fight members of the top ten. I will expect our strongest to deal with everyone else. I don''t know much about waging war or building a proper nation. For that, I will lean on you all the rest of our people. If there are any former soldiers, historians, politicians, or anyone else with knowledge that could help I want to speak with them." "This is insane," Christopher grumbled though the fire in his eyes had long faded. "We aren''t soldiers or conquerors." "If there is anyone that can not give what I need from them you are free to leave. Pass word throughout the city. It is time for Amara to shift into a proper nation." "What do you plan to do about the other two forces on this continent?" Desbera once again joined the conversation. "I am going to visit them and let them know what I plan to do. I am confident that they will plan to fight me for it. With any luck, I can get a good fight out of them before I crush them." "Is your goal to deal with them or have fun," Keshaun asked though based on the tone in his voice it was more of an accusation than a serious question. "I offer words of advice from what I have heard and seen. Your world will need powerful elites. You have fostered some of course. You and the boy chief among them but that isn''t enough for a faction. Killing every member of the top ten would be a tragedy. Not to mention the rest of your top one hundred." Desbera stated. I rubbed my temples for several moments before I sighed. "You are correct but I can''t guarantee that they will listen." "You kill a wyvern to scare the dragons," Azariah said. All eyes landed on her a moment later. It took me a moment to process what she said and what she meant. "You mean I should make an example out of one to make sure the others play nice. It''s not a bad idea not exactly exciting but not bad. I could probably beat some of them badly enough that they give up. I would need to do the same for the Commonwealth. I also don''t want to risk them attacking here afterward." "Do you believe that either of them would do that?" Aaliyah asked. "I mean even if they ignore how strong you are would they be willing to kill that many people?" "I think it would make it more likely," Keshaun replied. "Once it''s clear that they can''t beat him with power they would likely search for some other way to gain influence. " "You think they would try lives to force him to back down?" Aaliyah asked as if she couldn''t believe it. "It shouldn''t matter as long as the array is functioning. If they sent a strong enough group to break through it and overpower all of you there would be nothing to fight the Young Master with." Desbera replied. "Which is why I am going to deal with them directly. We have to assume that they are expecting something like this. Especially after the last time, I went to the Commonwealth. I want the majority of their force aimed at me. It would be difficult and annoying to have to worry about keeping all of you safe. Especially if the rest of the top ten show up." "Can we count on Romulus or Amahle? You mentioned that they were friendly toward us and you have an alliance with Romulus." Aaliyah asked. "I don''t know. I am pretty sure Romulus wouldn''t join them to fight me but I am not sure he would help. I am no expert on international law but it seems like planning to conquer the world ends whatever treaties or alliances you had." The council went back and forth for another hour before I decided to end things. I ended the meeting with an agreement to continue tomorrow. Now that I had made the decision everyone shifted to focus on the details. We used the system I created back when I conquered my first town. Once the enemies fell we needed to get the new territory up and running fast. I entered my bedroom and lay down. Between the trial and the upcoming changes, I was tired. The next day brought another series of meetings. This time we moved it to a different building due to the amount of people in attendance. Everyone from actual historians to former history students had an opinion. Alongside them were political scientists, sociologists, and soldiers. The meetings swelled to five hundred people before I had everyone else wait outside. The meeting area was a former convention center that had been redesigned. It reminded me of going to vote only without the stickers, desks, and tablets. The meeting was strange, to say the least. As a former law student, I was no stranger to public speaking but this was different. My word had become law. People looked at me with either reverence, fear, or nervousness. One elderly woman who used to work for the German government nearly jumped out of her skin when I dropped something. It ended up being the most fun part of the conversation. The meeting could be boiled down to a complete redesign of the Amara. My tiny country shifted from a city and a town to a country. The easiest and hardest pill to swallow was that the country was officially an absolute monarchy. I could do whatever I wanted. That nearly cost us a third of the attendees but when Desbera, Azariah, and Saanite pointed out that it was already true. We managed to salvage the situation. It also didn''t paint a full picture. As explained by the others I would only interfere on important issues and things I personally took an interest in. My main job was to be the nuclear deterrent. I was to cultivate and get strong enough that when Earth was no longer shrouded people didn''t invade. The way the ranking system worked Amara was considered an unranked organization. Unofficially it was late First Realm, due to my personal cultivation. Which meant just about anyone else could come in and wipe us out. Which meant that Amara would need to function without me. Which was where the new council came in. It was reminiscent of the House of Representatives only much bigger where many different people would come together to make decisions. It was this body that would deal with the day-to-day issues, pass laws, and deal with the influx of refugees. The government was also divided into five departments. There was a Department of Commerce, State, Justice, the Interior, and finally Education. The last of which was equal parts about educating people as it was about developing weapons, pills, and other things we would need. There was even a discussion about an array and alchemy department but it was too soon. The amount of people who could reliably make even the simplest of arrays was too low. Same with alchemy. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. From there things shifted to the minutiae. Details that included how people would join the country, whether would they be full citizens immediately or would need to meet requirements first. A process that became increasingly theoretical since we didn''t have a massive population yet. When I was tired of the conversation I ended the meeting. I briefly checked in with Xerxes who was now inside a weird emerald cocoon. One that I couldn''t break. At least not without unleashing the Tao of Compression. I couldn''t be sure my normal attacks wouldn''t ignore the cocoon and hit Xerxes. I decided to leave it alone. From what I could see the cocoon was helping him. The amount of energy going into it was startling. The array had turned the area into a bit of a dead zone. Where cultivation took nearly twice as long. I made a mental note to have the homes in this area moved so that they would be dedicated to beasts. I didn''t want to accidentally create a slum. After that, I went and found Trey. I spent two hours grinding the monsters in the area with him. By the time we were finished, he was closing in on level 20. I opened a portal and brought him back to the city proper before it was time for me to depart. "Are you sure you don''t want me to join you?" He asked for the tenth time in the last two hours. "I am doing better with my wings and I should be able to deal with anyone outside the top one hundred." I shook my head and patted him on the back. "Don''t worry about it. I am pretty sure I can handle it and it will let me have some fun." I rolled my shoulders and took a deep breath. "Besides if anything happens I would prefer you to be here. That way you can make sure Aaliyah, Christopher, and the others are taking care of things." Trey nodded just before his wings appeared behind him. I took a moment to appreciate how beautiful they looked before I turned to leave. "Keep practicing with those. I am going to see if I can find a gift like the fruit for Aaliyah and the others. If I had known how good they would be I would have tried harder to find something special for the whole council." "Don''t worry about it Instructor Desbera says that cultivation is ultimately a personal journey. We can''t rely on you to give us everything." I waited for him to fly off toward the tower before I activated Apportation. I stepped through the portal and reappeared over five miles away in the middle of an intersection. "I wonder at what point you go from being a hero to a monster? Would I even notice the change?" I sighed and focused on the task at hand. The historians would be the ones to decide that. Today it was time for me to solidify my path. I pushed off from the ground and the city blurred as I ran. In seconds I was at a speed NASCAR drivers would be jealous of. I had crossed half the distance to the UWG before something changed. A leopard-like creature with silvery metallic fur leaped at me from the shadows of an old storefront. Six blades of psychic energy slammed into it. I didn''t have to break my stride before the creature was dead. I continued like this until the lights of the city were in view. I opened another portal and appeared on top of the former UN building. The street below me looked so out of place. Like it was frozen in time. Men and women in business suits swarmed with places to go. Even the old billboards were lit up, with products that no longer existed. The Eye of Heaven made the situation even more stark. Everyone was too low a level. Like they had just given up on cultivation. A complex flame of emotion formed in the pit of my stomach. Anger, disappointment, disgust, hate, none of those were accurate descriptions nor were they wrong. I watched them for a few minutes as I firmed my resolve. When I was ready I stepped off the edge of the building. I released a burst of spiritual energy to cushion my impact as a group of mortals ran to avoid me. I opened all three eyes just before a group of six cultivators stormed out of the building. Masquerade wasn''t with them nor were any other members of the top ten. "What''s the meaning of this!" The lead cultivator called out. A broad-shouldered man with a war hammer in his hands. He looked like an NFL linebacker and bodybuilder combined together. His physique had to be beyond what was possible before the System. Despite its impressive appearance, he didn''t have the energy to back it up. I wasn''t sure if he looked like it due to a treasure he ate or if it was what happened if you put too many points into strength and upset the attribute balance. "Hello, I am sure you understand who I am. I am here to speak with your leaders." The man gripped his hammer as if he wanted to rip my head off and part of me wanted him to try. I wanted him to give me a reason to attack but that would be unfair of me. I took a step forward and all six tensed. I had just started to manipulate my energy when the door opened a familiar squad stepped out. I gave a respectful nod to Chang Yi and his team. Who offered me a bow. "Governor Jackson we weren''t aware that you were coming by today or else we would have provided a better reception. Is there something we can do to help you?" "As I explained to these people I need to speak with your leader. There is something I need from him. I would prefer not to do the conversation out here out of respect." Chang Yi''s group looked at him clearly prepared to follow his lead. Part of me respected that. They were all scared but willing to fight anyway. Before a decision was made there was a shimmer in the energy around Chang Yi. At first, I thought he was preparing an attack but I quickly realized that wasn''t the case. Instead, he was either using a communication ability or someone else had connected to him. "Alright, we have arranged a meeting room for you. If you would kindly follow me." He gave a polite bow and turned his back to me. The groups behind him parted and I followed. I stayed about five feet away from him to not scare him any further. The rest of their cultivators fell in ten feet behind me. The walk to the private room was quiet. Eyes lingered on me as we walked and more than a few side conversations began. None of them were important enough for me to care. The building had gone through a transformation of its own. There was a series of arrays that spread across every inch that I could see. The arrays weren''t anything special and only made the building more durable. Even with the modifications most cultivators could rip the stone and wood apart with our bare hands so I wasn''t sure what the point was. Secondary arrays controlled the things that made the place comfortable. Things like climate control, electricity, and fresh water. It represented an interesting combination of old and new. We arrived in a room, not unlike the one where we collected my auction winnings. Chang Yi and his group took up positions on either side of the door before he gestured for me to enter. "Someone will come and speak with you as soon as they are available. If there are any refreshments you need please let us know." I cocked my head at him as the fluctuations returned. I attempted to access them, hoping that it would let me hear the conversation but either I couldn''t or I didn''t know how. "Alright, sure" I stepped inside and the door shut behind me. The room was identical to the last one. It had no windows, there was a simple black table in the middle, a small couch, and two chairs to sit on. Yet for some reason my danger sense was active. It wasn''t enough to make me panic, it was more like a dull ache or itch in the back of my mind. I gently and slowly expanded my soul sense throughout the room and then as far into the building as I could. I listened in on several conversations before I found the one that interested me. There was another meeting going on. Similar to the one I had a little while ago with my advisor. The more I listened the more amused I became. It appears that they were planning to do the same thing I was. Only they lacked the power to do it. Their plan to deal with that was poison. I turned my focus to the intricate patterns of vents that went through the building. There were four people currently placing some sort of alchemical solution into them. They had already blocked the vents that would lead away from this room which meant they had planned to do this already. Or they had done this to kill someone earlier. Either way, it didn''t matter. It wasn''t the poison that made my danger sense act up. Instead, it was a device in front of the former chief. It was covered in the densest array I had ever seen. The device looked like an old jewelry box made out of stone and wood only it was filled to the brim with energy. Based on their conversation the System provided them with a way to kill me. A bomb that could wipe out a country. The thought made me grin. The System would always provide a way. The only question was how should I play it. If that bomb went off there was no way I could protect the people here. I grinned to myself as I activated Apportation. It was time to crash a meeting. Chapter 50: Battle of the Strongest I stepped through the portal and appeared to a round of gasps and shocked cries. The room was about half again as big as my own. The former chief sat at the head of a table flanked by four others, two on each side. I didn''t recognize any of them which meant either they weren''t at the auction or they were new. None of them had any real power so I wasn''t too afraid. "Greetings. My room wasn''t ready for a conversation so I decided to join yours. I hope you don''t mind." I used psychokinesis to pull out a chair and then I sat down. "It was weird. The room I was sent to was set to fill with poison. I assume you wouldn''t know anything about that?" "Just what are you here for?" James began. His hand inched ever closer to the box in front of him. I grinned and grabbed it with psychokinesis. I let the box float about ten feet off the table while I decided what to do next. "You know I felt pretty guilty about what I wanted to do. Like it was evil or something and perhaps it is but this changes things. You see the way I see it. You either planned to kill me with the poison well in advance or you''ve used that setup before." I released a small burst of my aura to stop them from interrupting me. "I don''t care which. Not really. I am sure you and your people have received the updated World Quest. The System wants us to unite the planet under one leader. I''ve decided to be that leader." "And you expect the rest of humanity to stand by while you appoint yourself some kind of God king?" The woman to his right asked. The color slowly returned to her skin. She wore a veil that had some kind of array in it. An array that stopped me from seeing her face. Even with the Eye of Heaven. "Pretty much. What do you think will happen if the System deems us a failure? It might abandon the planet and remove its protection. If that happens how long do you think people like you would survive? Who knows what kinds of governments and countries exist out there?" "Still none of that is a reason why you should be in charge. You aren''t even thirty years old. It would be better to let the proper government resume control and bring order to the world. If you and the rest of the cultivator ceased their fighting we could build something better." Now it was an older man''s turn to speak. He looked like he was in his sixties with a round face and bulging belly. "You can''t be that naive. You don''t have the power even if I gave the position to you. I don''t believe any of you have unlocked the quest for this either." The look of confusion that spread across almost all their faces told me I was on the right track. "How long could you keep the top one hundred obedient? Let alone the top ten. The world would devolve into civil war before the year timetable was over." "And just how do you intend to do it?" James asked. His eyes locked on my own. "Same way every other country did. I will recruit who I can and the rest." I paused as a weight settled on my shoulders. I opened the Eye of Heaven and released a bit of my aura to punctuate my words. "The rest I will kill." An eerie calmness settled in the room after that. An almost tangible silence. Anticipation filled the air as if we were in a room surrounded by gunpowder. A feeling that lasted until I heard footsteps thunder down the hall. I expanded my soul sense and caught over a dozen cultivators rushing toward us. "Ahh, I suppose they''ve figured out I left. If you or any of your people disagree with me. I will be waiting in what remains of a city northeast of here. You are welcome to face me there." I activated Apportation just as the door opened. I pulled the bomb with me as I stepped through the portal. Just as the portal closed a dozen spells shot toward me. In the next moment, I stepped out of the portal and onto a rooftop five miles away. I continued until I arrived at the city. I still wasn''t sure what city it belonged to. Definitely somewhere in Asia but other than I was clueless. There were no signs, buildings numbers and the architecture didn''t scream any one culture. I took a seat on the edge of the tallest building and gave the strange box my full attention. The sigils used in the array were different from the ones used by the System and those used in the lesson at the academy. These seemed like something an elf would make. They were beautiful and fragile-looking. As if they could snap if you stared at them too hard. Only the amount of energy they contained made it seem like the opposite. I was pretty sure I could break the array if I wanted thanks to the eye but did I want to? It could be useful if I have to fight a strong enemy in the future. There was another use for it of course. I pulled out the practice array discs and laid them out in front of me. From what I understood there were at least three different styles of arrays. The ones from the System looked a bit blocky. Like the kind of shapes you would get from a machine. Next, you had the ones on this box that were fancy and a bit extra. Like they were designed to be pretty. Next, you had the ones from the Chimeric forest. Those like older and more natural like they were made by forest people or at least someone who wanted the symbols to look natural. Last, there were the ones from the academy''s lessons. Those looked uniform and simple. Like they were designed to teach you the basics of drawing. My assumption is that each group or maybe even each person would have their own unique style. Kind of like handwriting. Which would also mean that no style was better than the others. It was just what you decided to do. The real test would be energy and probably size. Which meant I should be able to use this box as an example to practice with. Even if I don''t have a design for whatever array this was. I sat down, formed a thin stylus of spiritual energy, and got to work. After five hours I put my stuff away and lay down on the roof. I had a slight headache and still couldn''t get the array right. The problem wasn''t the array but the size. I had to take an entire disc to form the first few sigils. At that rate, I would need a small mountain of array discs to from the whole thing. It was difficult to make the sigil and fill it with the right ratio of energy. Even with the Eye of Heaven it was kind of like trying to rub your stomach and pat your head at the same time. I took a short break before I summoned a pair of spirit stones and rotated the Ethereal Codex. When I recovered my energy I wiped the discs clean and started again. I repeated the process every day for a week before something changed. An energy fluctuation interrupted my practice. I expanded my soul sense to its maximum and caught several people making their way toward me. I sent everything into my ring and grinned. "Guess it''s show time." I cracked my neck and rolled my shoulders while I waited for the group to arrive. The group was an interesting mix. I could immediately tell that Romulus and The System''s Herald weren''t present. Likewise, I could tell that Amahle was. I was pretty sure Masquerade was too. Either way, there was nothing I could do about it. Several of them arrived with movement spells while the others used brute force. The majority were weapons users. Some even had old-world weapons including one archer who also had a massive sniper rifle on her back.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "Amahle. Hi again how''s it going?" I asked with a grin. "I don''t want to kill any of you because you all are rather strong and thus your deaths would weaken Earth. That is dependent on something though. First, where is Romulus?" "He decided not to assist us so we went after him first." A man with two wicked daggers on his hips replied. The man wore a black robe that made me think of someone cosplaying an assassin. He even wore a black half-mask to cover his face. I glanced at the others and none of them moved to deny it so I figured it was true. "Did you kill him?" "No, he got away and we left his people alone. He was injured though." This time a man with a large Bo staff replied. He wore a mix of white and gold armor that looked pretty sturdy. It even had spiritual energy coursing through an array drawn on top of the metal. "Good, good so I guess this doesn''t have to be too personal. You all are welcome to turn around right now. You don''t have to fight for the government." "You think we should let you be king?" Amahle finally spoke up. "No way, why shouldn''t any of us rule or why couldn''t we all rule together." I sighed. "You all couldn''t even get along with Romulus and the moment you disagreed you attacked him. Even knowing you were coming here to fight me. We all wouldn''t get along. The moment I left or if I got hurt you all would move to take advantage. Same for the rest of you." I held up a hand to stop whatever argument she was about to present. "I made my choice." I released my aura in its full glory. The world became a bloodied battlefield. The buildings groaned and windows shattered. "Now last chance. Anyone that doesn''t want to fight can run." When no one moved I grinned. "Let''s battle for the world." I formed a halo of blades as a dozen attacks shot toward me. My heart raced as the flame of battle ignited. Six blades clashed with six attacks before I activated Apportation. I stepped through the portal and reappeared next to the man with the Bo staff. I launched a kick into his kidney that launched him through the closest building. Before I could follow up Amahle appeared her thin blade aimed at my heart. I launched myself backward and off the building. Another halo of psychic blades formed just as the cloaked figure stepped out of a pool of shadows. A beam of utter darkness coalesced in his fingers. The beam shot forward like a laser as I braced myself against the side of the building. "Not bad. Not bad at all." I called out as the beam chased me down the side of the building. At the rate he was spending energy, he wouldn''t be able to keep that up for long. I launched three blades at the Bo staff user and the archer who waited at ground level. The warrior activated a skill that doubled the size of his staff and caused it to glow with transparent energy. Despite its size, he was able to move it effortlessly. The staff shattered my blades and swung toward me. I didn''t need my danger sense to tell me that I couldn''t let it hit me. I slammed my foot into the building''s window and fell through. I landed, went into a roll, and then sprinted for the other side of the building. I blew out the window and stepped back onto the side of the building. "You should so show me how to do that." A voice called out right before a lightning bolt the size of a car shot up from the ground. I expanded my Tao field to meet the blast. Time slowed to a crawl as the two waves of energy clashed. For a moment it was impossible to tell which of us held the advantage. The stalemate was shattered when a ball of fire shot toward me from above. I gritted my teeth and abandoned my defense. I pulled back and spun to avoid the lightning while bracing myself against the flames. White hot pain shot along my arms as the scent of my burning flesh filled the air. I formed another halo of blades and shot them at both targets. The duo retreated narrowly avoiding my attack before ducking through an open door. I released my hold on the side of the building and rocketed after them. I slammed into the ground like a meteor a moment later. "I hope you all have something more to show me. I haven''t even started to fight back." A scream of danger forced me to leap back just as Amahle and another swordsman appeared. Twin blades, one rapier, and one cutlass swung to rip me apart. Energy surged into sigils on their arms and then edges nearly doubled in size. A wall of compressed space formed just in time to block both strikes. I let out a roar and launched the wall forward at the pair who scrambled to move. Amahle was successful the second swordsman not so much. His screams filled the air as my attack severed his right arm. He activated a movement ability that doubled his speed as he ran to get away. I grabbed his sword and stowed it in my ring. I expanded my soul sense to get a better understanding of the battle. The swordsman popped a pill to stop the bleeding but it was clear he wouldn''t return. His spiritual energy was nearly exhausted and his heart wasn''t in it. Amahle was above me along with several other cultivators. The archer was preparing a shot while Masquerade and Ebony Rose prepared some other attack. I ripped a door off its hinges with psychokinesis and launched it like a disk in the archer''s direction. To her credit, she didn''t panic. Instead, she launched an arrow that split into more than a dozen just before they shot through the door. I activated Psychic Aegis in its wall form to counter. As soon as her skill was done I launched another door at her. This time she wasn''t fast enough to dodge. The door slammed into her like a cannon ball. I was pretty sure it wasn''t enough to kill her but she wasn''t going to rejoin the fight for a while. I activated Apportation and stepped through the portal. A moment later I was on top of the building. I pushed a bit of spiritual energy into my throat to amplify my voice. "You all can still give up. I am not very good at not killing people with my spells. I would prefer it if I didn''t have to kill you all." I had just finished when I saw someone appear behind me. They somehow stepped out of the metal of the building as if it were made out of water. It was soundless which made the skill or spell that much more interesting. I recognized the figure as soon as their body became normal. It was a masquerade only their aura was much different than when we fought together. If my own killing intent was like a dozen bloody battlefields then theirs reminded me of an assassin. A blade that would kill with precision. He raised a pair of daggers that thrummed with power. Energy surged into a sigil just above his heart and then the world changed. Everything became deathly silent. My danger sense screamed as he took a step forward. The lack of sound gave the motion an almost hypnotic effect. I couldn''t be sure he was actually moving. Another step and the sense of danger grew. I spun to face him only to stumble back a step. In the next moment, he was in front of me. His daggers twirled as they shot for my throat. I raised both hands but it felt like I was trying to move through molasses. I expanded my Tao field as the blades flew closer and closer. The strand of adamance filled my mind as I fought to end whatever this was. It wasn''t enough. The blade tore through my Tao field like it wasn''t there. I gritted my teeth and sacrificed my left hand to stop either blade from ripping my throat open. Undaunted Masquerade spun his daggers around and stabbed them into my chest. The pain ended whatever his skill did to my mind and I launched a kick into his stomach. Sound returned to the world a second later as the other cultivators returned to the battle. I summoned a healing pill from my ring and swallowed it. "Alright, not bad. Not bad at all. Now it''s my turn." My energy surged through my channels as Masquerade once again sunk into the building. "Retreat!" Amahle called out as she activated a movement skill that caused a miniature tornado to surround her. I grinned as they activated a variety of movement abilities. It didn''t matter. There was no way I would let anyone get away now. Important Schedule Update Greetings everyone. First let me thank all of you for joining me on this journey. This has been the longest of my stories so far and I am beyond pleased that so many of you have enjoyed it. That being said its important that you know what to expect. Amari''s Ascension will be ending at the end of Volume 2. That will be chapter 70 for you all. I intend to take the skills I''ve developed from this story and put them into a new adventure set in the same genre. I am hard at work on the next story and I may post some sneak peak previews for everyone on the discord so if you want that chance you should join. I will post information updates when we get closer to the release date of the new novel. Thank you again for joining me on this adventure.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Chapter 51: Terror Phantom trembled as the man unleashed more of his monstrous aura. It felt like dozens of hands were about to pull him down to the underworld. He hadn''t even moved yet nor did he make another circle of those weird swords. Spiritual energy surged into Umbral Step but something was wrong. Every time he triggered the ability he went in the wrong direction. "You said we could win if we worked together. This doesn''t fucking look like winning." He barked at Amahle as he raised his twin daggers. His hands trembled as he searched for a way to get away or fight this monster. How the hell did he get so strong? Weren''t we all in the tutorial? Didn''t we all bleed and kill to survive? Why did it feel like we were children? Suddenly a weird purple diamond appeared in the sky. He was about to activate Shadow Blast when the diamond let out a silent pulse. He braced himself for whatever fresh hell the attack would unleash but nothing happened. He looked around and saw similar looks of confusion on everyone else''s face. Was the skill useless? Or did it make him stronger? No for someone he wasn''t moving either. Phantom pushed energy toward the sigil on his left shoulder hoping to take advantage of whatever just happened. Just as the skill reached half its required energy he stopped. What if it wasn''t a trick? He was the strongest man in the world there was no way a skill he used would be useless. What if he needs us to attack first? Besides what could Shadow Strike even do? It was better to run. No sooner did he make that decision did another thought enter his mind. There was no way he could outrun him. His agility wasn''t even above two hundred yet. How the hell could he escape. "Where the fuck did this Mist come from?" Phantom was pulled from his thoughts only to find the world had been replaced. Replaced by some shit out of "Silent Hill". Panic rose from the pit of his stomach as he searched for anyone else. It was nearly impossible to see further than a few feet in front of him. Once again he attempted to activate Umbral Step only to give up halfway. A scream filled the air and his fear transformed into full-blown panic. "I won''t die!" He empowered Shadow Blast with the Tao of Shadows and prepared to blow away the mist. His grip on his spiritual energy waned as the darkness claimed him.
"Do you think they can win?" Abigail asked for the third time today. Her gaze trained on the large glass window as if the distant skyline would reveal some secret of the battle. "The System changed a great many things so it''s hard to say." General Williams began. "Group tactics seem useless in the face of raw power but everyone loves an underdog story." Abigail scoffed and shook her head. She brought her cup of tea to her lips and drank deeply. "This ''Spiritual energy'' is truly wonderful. I feel like I am thirty years younger." "If what they said in the tutorial is true then it barely matters. We could end up living thousands of years." The pair fell into the comfortable silence of old friends for several minutes before Abigail spoke. "James will never go along with the brat. If we don''t do something when and if the time comes he will drag us all down." Williams chuckled at that and rubbed his narrow chin. "I am sure that would be considered treasonous to say. Where is your pride as an American." She shook her head and took another sip of her tea. "There is pride and then there is reality. Even if we could use that bomb he got what would be the point? He came on his own which means that the people from his city would survive the blast. Even if they killed everyone in the battle we wouldn''t gather power fast enough. We would get stuck with another tyrant." He sighed and started to pace around the room. "It seems that the new world is built for the young. So it''s your opinion that we should surrender when and if he returns?" She nodded. "We will have to make some concessions as to appear genuine. We could round up the former chief?" "No, no that would be too risky. I will bring a map of the interesting locations our scouts found. If it turns out Maximilian has some secret up his sleeve then nothing is lost." She laughed and placed her now empty cup on the desk. "It''s almost like the good old days." --- I ended the last of my spells and surveyed the battle. I managed to spare a few of them. Everyone in the top ten survived which was an acceptable result. The battle was disappointing for lack of a better word. Amahle, Ebony Rose, and Masquerade were the only ones worth fighting. They might have won if I had stuck to facing them barehanded but once my spells were added in they were taken out. It didn''t help that the lower-level cultivators were easily swayed by both Manifestation of Perfection and Realm of Consciousness. They were forced to fight each other more than me which only guaranteed their deaths. The battle wasn''t a complete waste of time though. I got two interesting rewards. The first was a skill advancement. Manifestation of Perfection was now at the Intermediate level. From what I could it came with two changes. The area the diamond could impact was roughly doubled to around two miles. Second, it now restricted the use of movement abilities. At first, I thought it was only an improvement to the doubt effect but it wasn''t Movement abilities just refused to work and the few that could work would either not take you far. Or the user would get hurt. The second part was much more interesting. It was a new quest, specifically, it was the Road of Kings quest. Road of Kings(Unique, Timed): Enter the first trial within a month. Defeat the challenge. Reward: Random Treasure(Quality based on Performance) I tried to activate the quest immediately but nothing happened. I made a mental note to ask Desbera about it when I got back to Amara. Now though I needed to decide what to do about the unconscious people in front of me. I was pretty sure they would wake up soon. I also didn''t want to risk another fight when they woke up. I thought about it for a few minutes before I decided that it was up to them. I collected them and left them on the upper floor of the tallest building. I then went to the top of the building and blasted my aura at full strength. It probably wouldn''t keep monsters away forever but it might buy them some time. There was also the fact that they had been trying to kill me not that long ago so I figured we were even. The next question was whether or not I should head back to the UWG. Chances are they weren''t going to let this go with just this fight. As much as I want to solve things peacefully it probably wouldn''t work without a little force. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Of course, there was still the Commonwealth though they shouldn''t have any worth fighting. No the biggest threat to me would The System''s Herald. I sighed and activated Apportation. I would hunt him down next. I had to use two portals before I was back at the UWG headquarters. Only the entire city seemed deserted. I searched with my soul sense and was pleased to find that the civilians were all in a few buildings to the north. The fact that they set this up already meant they knew I''d win. Or at least they planned for it. "Well, I shouldn''t keep them waiting." I walked down the side of the building and prepared myself for another battle. As soon as I was in front of the door another group of soldiers came pouring out. Only a few of them were cultivators and they all had old-world weapons. "I am not in the mood to play around. The System has given me a quest for this. This will be the last chance I say it. Lay down your weapons or I am going to level this place." I punctuated my words with the full release of my aura. I kept it contained in this area to not get the civilians. Some of the soldiers swayed on their feet but none collapsed nor did they die which was slightly impressive. When none of them made a move I formed a halo of blades. "Hold on, just hold on." A voice called out from behind the group. The soldiers parted and James Maximilian walked toward me. He had a briefcase in one hand and a handgun in the other. "I am prepared to offer you one of the quest rewards we got a short while ago to leave and never come back." I stared at him for several seconds not sure what was going on. "Is there a bomb in that case? If there is I am going to kill you and everyone else in the building." I reached out with psychokinesis and levitated the briefcase about ten feet in the air. I waited a full minute before I decided it probably wasn''t trapped. I brought the case down and left it on the ground between us. "I can see the writing on the wall. I am not sure what the hell this ''System'' did to us but I can''t win. Instead, I am using that stuff to buy my way into your graces." I cocked my head at him half expecting him to pull his gun and try to shoot me. After a few seconds, I realized that wasn''t going to happen. I couldn''t help but laugh at the old man. "Is it the power? Or is it fear?" "Is there a difference between the two?" I shrugged and stepped toward him. "Lead me to your System hub." I let the briefcase float behind us mostly to show off. There was a passive sense of nervousness. It wasn''t quite dangerous but I couldn''t put my finger on what it was. The soldiers settled in behind me and I could tell it wasn''t them. Most of them were still pale from my aura and the ones that weren''t looked like they were in a funeral procession. It was clear they were willing to give their lives to stop me but that was about it. By the time he led me to an elevator, I found two other people in the building. They were also in the same room as the System Hub. I expanded my Tao field but kept it to a few inches away from my skin. Just in case. We stepped out of the elevator and a short while later I was in the room with the hub. The pair that waited for us were older probably in their fifties or sixties. The man and woman stood in front of the System Hub but neither of them seemed too interested in it. I braced myself just in case this was some sort of last-ditch effort to take me out but I didn''t need to bother. It turned out I wasn''t the only one confused to see the pair already waiting for us. "Abigail? Williams? What are you two doing here?" James asked. His hand firmly wrapped around the hilt of his gun. "We figured someone needed to be here just in case you decided to do something unwise." The man began. "Though it turns out we didn''t need to be too worried." She shifted her gaze to me and gave a polite smile. "You are the man who has caused all this commotion. I had heard you were beautiful but the rumors did not do you justice." I stood there in stunned silence for several seconds before my brain kicked into gear. "Right, right thank you. I apologize but who are you?" The woman laughed and offered me a slight nod of the head. "My name is Abigail. Abigail Taylor, I used to work in the Department of State. This here is General Tyler Williams formerly of the United States Military." I raised an eyebrow and slowly nodded. "I suppose that makes sense so it''s the three of you that took control of this place?" "That would be correct though they are supposed to be with the other civilians." James began. "This is still a danger zone." I waved a hand in his direction and stepped up to the Hub. "Alright, so what is it you actually want? Let''s just be blunt about it." "Let us maintain control over the city. You would be the leader of course but I doubt you have the logistics network to control many cities. The people here already trust us." The General started. "Further we are prepared to share a map of important locations our scouts found recently." I locked eyes with the trio and momentarily considered it. Ultimately they weren''t wrong. I would need to take over the Commonwealth today as well so it would make things simpler. "And I suppose you are going to tell me just how useful you can be? That I won''t be able to do it without your help?" Abigail shrugged her shoulders and then looked back at the Hub. "No idea. I imagine that between you and the people you have, you don''t have a lot of time. Assuming you can unite the world, beat back whatever monsters are still out there, and do it all before the System''s deadline is a gamble. That being said we aren''t doing much of anything and we do know a bit about running a city. I can''t speak for the others here but I am not interested in living for thousands of years or punching a hole in a mountain. I lived through enough chaos. I will do what I can to bring people a bit of normalcy but after that, it is up to you a lot." "You all would still be expected to follow and enforce whatever laws I or my people decide on. I am not going to be happy if I have to come back here. That being said I don''t mind your suggestion. I will have some people sent over to review what you all are up to and what you can provide." When no one complained I placed my hand on the Hub. It took the System a moment to handle the transfer. As soon as it was done a prompt screen appeared. Based on the looks on everyone else''s face they all got something similar. The city was really mine. I made a couple purchases including a teleporter and prepared to leave. "You should make an announcement to everyone. They might panic after receiving that message. I am going to deal with the Commonwealth now." With that, I stepped through the portal and returned to Amara. I connected with Christopher and Aaliyah through Ethereal Convocation. I explained everything I could and had them arrange the rest. After that, I decided to head to my cultivation chamber. I hadn''t used a lot of energy in the battle but better safe than sorry. I cultivated for two hours before I checked the bond with Xerxes. I still couldn''t feel anything from him which I hoped was a good thing. It was a bit odd not to have that connection anymore. Not to mention that I don''t have him watching my back anymore. With that everything was done so I activated Apportation and left the city. My arrival at the Commonwealth went much the same way as the UWG. Only the city was oddly empty. That pervasive sense of worry was still nagging at me. Which only made me more confused. I spread my soul sense as far as I could but there were less than a hundred cultivators. Most of which were under level 15. The defensive array was still up so I was pretty sure they hadn''t been killed. I decided to wait a little while just in case everyone was out on some kind of mission. When an hour had passed only two trucks had entered I decided that enough was enough. The only way I would get any answers is if I asked and well there was only one way to ask. There was something I wanted to test now that I had reached Advanced proficiency in Apportation. I slowly pushed the Tao of Compression into it. For a moment the sigil resisted the Tao, as if it disliked the idea of anything but spiritual energy going through it. That resistance gave way a moment later and the portal began to form. It took nearly ten seconds for the portal to fully form. It wasn''t as stable as usual so I quickly entered and waited for it to reopen. I gave a mental sigh of relief when it reopened and I stepped out on top of a building. I hadn''t been inside for more than a minute when my danger sense screamed at me. There was an alarm and then the sky darkened as a many spells shot toward me. Despite the numerous attacks I couldn''t help but feel excited. I was about to make my move when I caught sight of a trio leaving one of the command tents. When I realized who it was I cocked my head to the side. It was the same group from the last time I was here. A familiar fire sparked in the core of my very being as I locked eyes with each of them and I wondered if I really was going crazy. I pushed that thought to the back of my mind as I activated Psychic Aegis in its wall form and started laughing. Chapter 52: Kingdom Come There spells slammed into my defensive wall for nearly ten seconds before I got tired of them. I unleashed my aura and killing intent at full blast and started my attack. I pushed off from the ground and practically teleported in front of one warrior. The man had just enough time to realize I was there before I launched him into the woman next to him. I spun and launched a straight kick into another man''s chest. I hit him with enough force that I felt his ribs crack. I decided not to follow up. I wanted to frighten these people not actually kill them. Their leaders didn''t have that same sentiment toward me though. They pulled the pin on a variety of grenades and lobbed them at me. I reached out with Psychokinesis. I grabbed what was either a pair of smoke grenades or stun grenades and launched them back. The rest I let explode. I closed my normal eyes but left the Eye of Heaven. A moment later all the bombs explodes. The flash blinded everyone but me and the smoke might as well not have been there as far as the Eye of Heaven was concerned. The pieces of shrapnel couldn''t make it past my Tao field which meant the attack accomplished nothing. "Come on you guys got to make at least a bit more fun than this." I grinned as people scrambled to get away from me. I ignored them as I advanced on the group. The trio had grown to five. I wasn''t sure who the other two were but they didn''t seem happy to be here so I wasn''t worried. Their auras exploded but they might as well have been candles caught in a tsunami. I could snuff them out from here if I wanted. "Come now. I am not here to kill you all. I am here to conquer you though. You can give up the settlement and accept me as your new leader. Or we can fight. You five won''t survive that though." "No" Their leader stepped forward. His answer so curt that it took me by surprise. I cocked my head in his direction expecting him to say something else. That he would threaten me or something but that was it. "Well that was straight forward." I shrugged and formed a halo of blades. "Activate the Array!" One of the two newcomers called as all four of them took up positions around their leader. They each formed a series of hand signs that caused their energy to surge. I took a step back as beams of energy traveled from the four and into the man in the middle. Whose power began to surge. He was as strong as the princes in the forest before it finally stopped. "You combined your power and pushed it into him? How fun." I grinned as the leader took a step toward me. "My name is General Zacharia Lawson and I am going to put an end to your insanity." He drew his sword as energy surged into a sigil on his feet. A moment later he disappeared. His speed wasn''t bad but it wasn''t enough to avoid my soul sense. He reappeared ten feet behind me. His sword glowing the a Tao related to cutting or sharpness. I countered with all six of my blades. His sword slammed into me with the force of a runaway train. The force shattered all six blades in an instant. My Tao field countered which was the only thing that kept him for slashing through my spine. I turned toward him and laughed. "I take it this new level of power can only be maintained as long as the other four don''t move. Or rather is it their energy. They have to keep giving it to you." I couldn''t help but laugh when his face darkened. "No need to worry. If I had known you could do something like this I would have let you do it earlier. This is what I needed." I took a breath and withdrew my aura. "You look almost like you are about to break through to the 2nd-realm though I guess it isn''t your power. I doubt the System would count it." "Enough talk." Zacharia waved his sword and seven more blades appeared around him. "Die" All seven shot for me. I didn''t need my danger sense to know I wouldn''t survive if all of them hit. I activated Psychic Aegis in its wall form. The first three blades caused a spider web of cracks to form. The second set of three caused the barrier to shatter. I leaped backward and formed a ball of compressed space just in time to counter the final blade. No sooner had it shattered did my danger sense scream. I ducked to the side just as Zacharia appeared. His blade slashed through the spot I had just stood. I gritted my teeth. I checked with the other four cultivators. Who hadn''t moved nor did they provide more energy. So why was he getting faster? Was it the spell he was using or something else? Either way it was time to get serious. An indigo sun imbued with the Tao of Compression was born a moment later. "Lets see how long you all can keep this up." I shattered the sun and exploded backwards. Psionic Rain shot toward Zacharia like bullet from a machine gun. He tried to counter with his sword but there were too many. Instead he activated his movement skill again. A scream of danger let me know he decided to focus on killing me and not avoiding the attack. That was fine by me. I unleashed Psychic Blast just as he reappeared. Just before the mental attack hit him a ring on his left hand exploded. A shimmering barrier surrounded him and Psychic Blast was repelled. Zacharia continued. I imbued my right hand with the Tao of Adamance and used it to block his blade. My palm held up for a moment before his sword punched straight through. Pain shot down my arm just before he yanked it back out. Blood dripped won my hand as I created distance between us. I summoned a pill from my ring and swallowed it. The itchy healing sensation took effect and I turned my focus back to the battle. "Where did you get that ring?" I shook my head. "Never mind don''t tell me." I pushed energy into Inverted Dimension. A second world was born a second later as he and I were pulled away. For a moment I worried that the array would end if we weren''t next to the other four cultivators but it turned out not to be the case. I wasn''t sure if it was because this area wasn''t truly a separate place but more like a private arena or if the array was just that good. "I don''t get it. If you are this strong why aren''t you ranked higher? Do kills gained with this array not count for you? Are you not a cultivator?" Zacharia wiped the blood from his blade and glared at me. "The person who brought us this array is dead. They got it from a quest and asked that we used it to kill you. It isn''t our power." I nodded and my thoughts flashed back to that family. The one whose kid I accidentally killed. "Was it one of the parents from back then?" He nodded and I sighed. "I take it this means there''s no chance you back down?" "None." I sighed and activated Realm of Consciousness. The domain spell was imbued with the Strand of Lucidity. "For what its worth. I won''t kill the others after this. If they lay down their weapons they can join Amara."If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Zacharia grunted and pulled out what looked like a slip of paper. Only it was covered in strange sigils. He infused it with a bit of energy and then it shot into the air. "We hadn''t expected to fight you today but we''ve learned a few things. I still don''t understand what your abilities do. This talisman should deal with the confusing mist nicely." I couldn''t but laugh as the talisman unleashed a pulse of energy. A pulse that cleared out an area of ten feet around him. "Not bad at all. If you all had worked with the rest of the top ten you would have done so much better." "That would be trading one master for another. The others had their own goals and believed they could win without us." I watched energy surge into the sigil at his feet but I wasn''t worried. His talisman dealt with the mist just fine but it did nothing for Inverted Dimension. Sure enough he disappeared and reappeared further away from me. He tried a few more times but he wasn''t anymore successful. "If you have another talisman now would be the time to use it." I formed another halo of blades as Zacharia did the same. There was a clear difference between blades from with a proper swords related skill and my own. His felt like they could cut me in two if I let them hit. Of course that was still a huge if. Just before I unleashed my attack the Inverted Dimension trembled. It took me a minute to realize what had happened. When I did I couldn''t help but chuckle. "It appears that the people on the outside are trying to break in." Zacharia glanced at the wall and slowly nodded. His sword glowed with the same Tao from before. The blade increased in size until it was nearly ten feet long. At first I thought his plan was to hit everything as to not worry about the dimensional restrictions but that was wrong. He unleashed his attack at my spell. It was strong enough to leave gash but not to break free. A moment later the attacks from outside focused on that spot. I slowly nodded. "You have a way to communicate with the people out there?" I checked him with the Eye of Heaven but there was nothing. No signs of mental communication at all. When it hit me I started laughing so hard my stomach hurt. "You are using old world tech. I hadn''t considered that it would work here. Very impressive but it won''t be enough." I activated Manifestation of Perfection. As soon as the familiar diamond appeared in the sky Zacharia''s movements slowed. His strikes became less sure and his attention drifted to other areas. "I launched six blades at him. He barely had the time to activate his skill before my blades slammed into him." I waited a moment half hoping the old general had some final card up his sleeve but it wasn''t to be. Energy surged into my dantian and I shook my head. Without his help it would take the people outside a little while to break through which gave me a few options. I could attempt to get the Tao he used. Or rather some version of it but was that the correct option? I shaped my attacks into swords but that didn''t mean I wanted the Tao of swords. Assuming that was even a thing. If I assumed it was the Tao of or I guess the strand of sharpness than it could match. Combining it with one of my other Tao could work. Focusing on mental sharpness but I wasn''t sure that was good. After all how was that any different than lucidity? I shook my head there was no reason to get too concerned about it right now. My current power was more than enough, especially for the Earth. I pulled Zacharia''s body over and removed his spatial bag. I slipped it over my shoulder and then I put his sword into my ring. I let him keep everything else. I wasn''t sure if burials were an important thing anymore but he deserved it. When I was ready I collapsed my spell and stepped out. The cultivators ceased their attacks. The four warriors had abandoned their array and had grim looks on their faces. The rest had expressions that ranged from furious to terrified. "Put down your weapons. Zacharia lost and I promised not to hurt the rest of you." I turned toward the four leaders who still hadn''t moved. "Lead me to your System Hub. I am willing to let you four stay in charge here as mayors or whatever you want to call yourselves." "How are we supposed to know that you aren''t lying to us." One of the leaders asked. He looked like he was in his early thirties with an army style buzz cut and an axe on his shoulders. I shrugged. "You can''t. I gave the man my word but none of you have to do anything. If you don''t want to be here than you could leave. Either way I am not going to kill you. I want you to show me where the Hub is but I can find it on my own." "Why would you do that." The woman next to the axe wielder asked. She looked like an ice mage of some kind. I shrugged. "It was a good fight. The toughest I''ve had on Earth it was fun. I am leaving now. Make your decision." It took me around fifteen minutes to find the hub even with my soul sense. From there the rest was straightforward. I took over the city with no issues and purchased another teleporter. I was about to leave when the four warriors stepped into the room. "If that offer is still open we''d be willing to take it." This time it was the pugilist who spoke. He glanced at the others before turning his attention to me. "We don''t exactly have anywhere else to go." I nodded and made the arrangements through the System. "It won''t let me appoint all four of you so which of you officially wants the title?" The other three looked at the only person not to speak. It was an older man maybe in his early to mid forties. He was almost as tall as me with thick white locs that fell down his shoulders. He had a sword on one hip and revolver on the other. "I suppose that means. I will take it. Many is Ezekiel, Ezekiel Washington." I nodded. "Sounds good. I will have someone sent over to help get you all situated. Get your array up as soon as you can. I assume you understand that you all will be expected to follow any and all of Amara''s laws." "Of course" They replied one after another. I went over a few more details. I decided to let them keep the array to themselves. They wouldn''t be able to use it properly until they got a fourth person anyway. That and they wouldn''t be able to take full advantage of it at their current levels. It wouldn''t give them enough power to stop me but it could help with monsters. I stepped through the portal and a few moments later I was back in Amara. After I made arrangements for a group to go and reinforce the city I made my way to the Tower. Today''s battles were still a net loss for me in terms of energy. It wasn''t a problem but I needed to reach level 50. The sooner I did the sooner I could focus on what came next. I also needed to make arrangements for the Road of Kings quest. I wasn''t sure if I wanted to go alone for that or bring Xerxes. I wasn''t even sure if that was an option. Either way those problems could be dealt with later. I stepped out of the elevator and entered my apart. I decided to start with a shower before settling into cultivate. I divided my time into the thirds. One third went to cultivation, the second to meditating on the Tao and the final third on my spells. I wasn''t sure if I had to have them all at max before I evolved but I figured that it couldn''t hurt. It might even get my some kind of title. I decided to extend my cultivation session to three days instead of one. The extra time turned out to be worth it when I reached level 44. The energy required for level 45 was more than every level before it. It would probably take a full week of cultivation unless I consumed a treasure or the spirit water. Unfortunately I couldn''t afford to take that much time away. There had already been several attempts to contact me. None of them seemed especially urgent so I decided to let them take care of it. When I was ready I left the tower and made my way toward the academy. I checked the bond with Xerxes and found still inert. Though I couldn''t shake this sense of anticipation. It wasn''t like last time this felt like something wonderful was going to happen or at least something beneficial. I formed a connection through Ethereal Convocation with Christopher and Aaliyah. "Is there anything I need to know?" "There has been a sighting of that madman. He left a message for you." The disgust in her mental voice made my skin crawl. "Meet me in the teleporter room." I swore out loud and changed directions. I wasn''t sure what the herald was up to but it was unlikely to be anything good. I opened a portal and stepped through. When it next opened I was in the teleporter room with Aaliyah, Christopher and a group of four other soldiers. The soldiers weren''t very strong from what I could see. I looked at Aaliyah who was paler than usual. "What are we dealing with? Is he challenging me to a fight or something?" Chapter 53: Bloody Herald "Its gruesome to say that least." Christopher began. "I am guessing he heard about your fight and well decided to make his stance known." He gestured to the teleporter. "You will understand when you see it." I looked at Aaliyah who didn''t add anything so I nodded. "Lead the way." A moment later we were on the second continent. In one of the small refugee towns. It didn''t technically belong to any of Earth''s factions and thus wasn''t protected by anyone. The town was no bigger than three blocks and was made out of a strip mall. It reminded me of some zombie survival movie. We hadn''t been for five minutes before I realized something was wrong. There were no people outside. The few faces I saw where hidden behind doors and in windows. I was going to ask about it but the looks on Christopher and Aaliyah''s faces made me stay silent. I mentally prepared myself for a battle. The soldiers flanked us while we walked. Their presence wasn''t necessary but it did make me feel like some important VIP. The small joy I had was dashed when we turned down a side street. The stench of blood was enough to make my stomach curl. It was disgusting as if we had entered a slaughter house. I resisted the urge to cover my face as we kept forward. I was led into an old office building where I froze. The world froze as my eyes passed over everything. There was a trio of people two men and a woman. One of the men and the woman were older probably in their forties or fifties. The second man was younger maybe in his early twenties though the state of their corpses made it hard to know for sure. They had been posed in some insane triangle with each body forming one point. They were connected by a trail of blood and in the middle of the triangle were the words "Purge the Weakness. Embrace The System''s Will". I stared at the scene in mute incomprehension for who knows how long before my anger exploded. Voices broke the silence around me but they were small and so far away. The looks of terror on their faces spoke to unimaginable suffering. I was about to remove them from the wall when I felt a hand clap onto my shoulders. Energy surged along with my rage and I had formed two psychic blades before I realized what happened. Aaliyah leaped back nearly five feet. Now that I was in control of myself again I realized what I had done. My aura had warped the metal of the walls to the point that it looked like the building would fall. Aaliyah looked like she was torn between running for the hills and staying stark still. Christopher and all the soldiers were barely conscious. I withdrew my aura and apologized though the words felt bitter in my mouth. Intellectually I knew that there was no way I could have been here. That there was little I could have done to stop this but emotionally it was different story. I reached up with psychokinesis and gently removed the nails from their bodies. I placed all three of them on the ground. "Do they have family? Can we get blankets or something to wrap them up in?" "I can check but so far no one has come forward. We''ve managed to keep most people from here." Aaliyah replied as the others got back to their feet. "Who is in charge here? Can we absorb this place? If we had a few soldiers here we probably would have known about it in advance." I turned away from the bodies and back toward the others. I was having a hard time believing the words coming from my mouth. There wouldn''t be anyone that could have fought the Herald besides me and then maybe other members of the top five. "The mayor is a former pastor named Mark Thompson. He isn''t a cultivator but his reputation led people to trusting him. No one is above level five here and if it weren''t for the constant hunting they would have been killed by beasts." I nodded. "Organize a meeting and bring them into the fold. Don''t force them if they are against it. I will come over and take care of it." I turned to the soldiers. "Stay here and help out wherever you can. I am not sure if the Herald has left anything behind for us so be on your toes." With that taken care of I activated Apportation and stepped through the portal. The mental refresh of the temporary space helped my mood a bit but it wasn''t enough. When the portal opened I stepped out onto the roof of a hardware store. The small town was uninteresting and unimportant in the grand scheme of things yet I couldn''t help but feel like I shouldn''t leave. I expanded my soul sense to its maximum and took a seat. I watched people go about their lives. I watched Aaliyah and the others get to work. I sat there for four or five hours before I decided that the Herald wasn''t coming back. I made my way back to the teleporter. When I was back in Amara I made my way to the academy and sent word to Desbera. I wasn''t left waiting for long when I was led into a private meeting room. "I wanted to ask what you knew about the ''Road of Kings'' quest line? Specifically if you knew whether or not Xerxes could join me?" She paused for a moment and took a sip from her tea as if searching for the answer within. "I don''t know. From what I heard its a test meant for the prospective king. That being said if you were a beast master class it wouldn''t be reasonable for you to go alone. That would mean taking the test using a small part of your collective power. Of course the System is hardly known for making thing easy." "So should I wait for Xerxes to wake up or go on my own?" "Well it is hard to say. I am not an expert in beasts but your companion could be incredibly useful to you either way. You mentioned you had some time before you had to go. My suggestion would be to wait. You have no idea what challenges you may face. It might be better to focus on a secondary task such as your city or even arrays. Arrays could be considered common traps in the multiverse." Fair enough. "Do you know if the academy has anything that would he reach level 50 faster?" "Unfortunately not. There are cultivation chambers of course but they wouldn''t make a large difference. From what I''ve heard your personal chamber is equal to if not better than what we have." "When I was dealing with the leader of the Commonwealth he had a ring that created a shield. Would the academy have something like that? Or would I need to buy it?" "It sounds a type of treasure. Your assumption is correct. Our facilities are only for education. Your emporium should be able to do it though. I have noticed that you haven''t managed your wealth very well." I awkwardly rubbed my neck as I searched for the correct words. "Uh, I''ve never had many like before the world changed. Its a bit hard to wrap my head around the number in front of me. It feels like its play money. Especially since I''ve never seen it anywhere. Its just a number on magical floating screen." Desbera''s facial expression tightened before she let out a soft laugh. "I assure you the money is very real. I would recommend you take advantage of it now. Once you evolve you will stop getting money from the kills. Or more specifically the System stops financing you."Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. I raised an eyebrow at. "The training wheels come off? So should I delay my evolution? Would it be better to be the first person to break through or to achieve a perfect breakthrough?" She let out a long sigh and took a drink of her tea. "I am afraid the ''perfect breakthrough'' has been the bane of many cultivators. In short there is no ''perfect breakthrough'' there will always be something more you could do. Whether you cultivate your body, buy better weapons, chase one more title or even fight one more monster. You don''t want to exhaust your momentum chasing a title that might increase your strength by ten percent or so." "I see so over time the benefits of waiting are surpassed by the detriments. I need to find the point where balance shifts." "Well said Young Master." "Ok another question. I want to try making my own spell. Could I do it now?" "Ahh now that is difficult. You certainly could do it now. I would hazard it though. Your knowledge of sigils shouldn''t be very high. Since the System was just introduced your foundations in the subject would be too shallow. It would likely cause whatever you make to be lack in quality." "I have the academy for that though? Would you be able to provide the foundations?" "We could there are plenty of stones that could help you. If you are sure you want to attempt it I can arrange them all brought to a room for you to review." "Do that please. Do you have an array or whatever I would need to make the actual sigil? I am not sure if I can just do it in my body." "We have empty stones yes but nothing that would make the process easier for you." She replied. "You might be able to purchase something or go off world and find find something." I nodded. "That brings me to something else. Do you know where I could get teleportation tokens? I imagine you can''t just buy one?" "The most common option would be quest rewards. The System provides them often enough. Other than that it would be through knowing someone else. Or if a nearby world leaves their teleporter open. Of course you would need to upgrade your teleporter so it can take you off the planet." We went over a few more things before we decided to part. She needed to check on a few other students and I needed to make a few purchases. I made plans to return later when she could have the stones prepared. I made my way over to the Dawn Emporium. The shop could hardly be called that anymore. It was now more of a mall with a variety of things for sale. One of the coolest things about the System was the lack of shop keeps. It wasn''t that real people didn''t work at the store but you just didn''t need them most of time. I took a seat in front of an open crystal and started going through everything. I refreshed my healing pill supply but that was about it. The stuff for sale was basic. Weapons, armor, robes and even energy dense food was available. The problem was that I didn''t want to wear armor. It was incredibly uncomfortable. It also wasn''t much better than my own body. The stuff here came from monsters I killed so it didn''t matter much. I went through the list twice before Azariah walked over to me. I closed the menu and gestured for her to sit. "I have heard that your recent trip was beneficial. Congratulations to both you and Amara." I grinned. "Thank you. I was hoping you could help me with something. I want to improve my defenses and grab some additional treasures. Would you be able to help me?" "Ah well after the purchase of ship you wanted it would be difficult to find something of quality. My information channels are decent but I am afraid it will be difficult to find something that could strengthen you in the short term. I could probably manage one or two items at most." I considered it for a moment and then shook my head. "No focus on outfitting the people here. I am doing fine for the most part. Between my robes, spells and Tao. I would like for you to get your hands on array that would help me build skill sigils." "Oh? Are you planning on creating something for yourself? Do you want it mobile? Or stationary? Stationary arrays would be a bit more powerful but obviously wouldn''t be able to be carried with you." I briefly considered why a person would want a mobile before I shook my head. It wasn''t a completely bad idea and I might grab one later. For now though stationary was obviously the best option. "Stationary if possible I want it placed in the academy." She tapped a claw on the table as her eyes got that far away look in them. When she returned to the moment a screen appeared in front of me. When I saw it I couldn''t help but flinch. The array wasn''t cheap. I sighed and confirmed the purchase. A moment later a series of boxes appeared on the table. All of which ranged in size from the size of my hand to slightly bigger than my torso. Azariah waved her hand over each one and they disappeared. I stared at her for a moment or rather at the strands of energy that disappeared into her body. It wasn''t the same as the Tao of Compression but they were similar. Very similar. "Are you? where did?" I took a moment to gather my thoughts and calm down. "Was that a spatial skill or do you have a storage item I can''t see." Azariah laughed and ran one of her claws along her arm playfully. "Skill. My class makes it possible to store things without a storage item. Its rather common for mercantile classes and they don''t have a lot of space. Its great for preventing theft or carrying the most valuable items." "Can I get something like that?" I practically salivated at the idea. If I could have my own private storage area than would I need a ring? Or anything else? I could give the ring to someone else and then¡ª I was pulled out of my thoughts when Azariah replied. "In theory yes. It isn''t impossible but combat classes typically don''t have them. It''s usually considered a waste of a slot. You can use rings and most items can be sealed. Further you could even seal your rings to stop others from stealing them or if they did steal them they wouldn''t be able to use the items." I nodded and I could see the wisdom in that but I definitely couldn''t just let it go. The idea was too interesting. What if I needed to steal something and my items were checked? Hell what if I gained a weapon and needed to get it somewhere where they were banned? "I see would someone with the Tao of Space be able to do it?" She nodded. "They are the most likely to be able to do it. They are able to make all manner of spatial objects and arrays." Her gaze drifted to my forehead and to the eye that was no closed. "Was it that thing that gave away my little secret?" I nodded. "I could see the attuned energies. It was similar to the Strand of Compression but the lack of storage ring gave the game away." "Just so you are aware Young Master. Rings and bags are the most common storage items. They aren''t the only ones." She stood up and glanced around the room. "I will take this over to the academy but it will likely take a few days before its up and ready to be used. Do you want access added to the contribution system?" "Yeah, do I need to head over their to set that up." "No, but you should visit them anyway. The goblins get a bet antsy when it comes to respect and the ruler not visiting them..." I gave a rueful grin and stood up. "I will bring them a gift or two to help smooth any ruffled feathers." "They do enjoy natural treasures." She laughed as she walked away. I chuckled and left the academy. I was on my way back to the Tower when something happened. There was a massive drain on both my psychic and spiritual energies. I immediately expanded my Tao field to a foot around me just in case it was some kind of attack but it did nothing. The drain only increased as it drew my Tao in as well. I passed my minds eye through my body until I found the culprit. When I saw what it was I couldn''t help but grin. I activated Apportation only the spell took nearly twice as long to activate with additional drain. When the portal was fully formed I stepped through. My heart pound with excitement. The portal opened and I stepped out in front of the building. A growing crowd stood out front while a massive amount of energy was being drawn into the building. "Everything is fine." I called out as the crowd parted for me. "You can all go back to what you were doing. I will handle things and the energy drain will fade." I activated Psychic Aegis in its wall form behind me as I entered the gym. As soon as I entered a resounding roar filled the air. My grin turned into a full blown laugh. Xerxes was finally awake. A crack spread across the emerald cocoon followed by a blinding light. I shot my eyes and expanded my soul sense just in time for the cocoons shards to shoot out in every direction. I blocked several with my Tao field but even more embedded themselves into the walls and went through the windows. A second later his emotions surged through our bond like a Tsunami. They were a complex jumble of excitement, pride, hunger and blood lust. I couldn''t be any happier. Chapter 54: The Road of Kings Xerxes had gone through a metamorphosis. He had grown in size and was roughly as big as a horse. His fur had become harder. I wasn''t sure I could get through it with my bare hands. His scales were even harder. Staring at them made me think of a mountain or impassable diamonds. All of those changes paled in comparison to his aura. He gave a passive feeling of fire. Like his attention would result in all of Amara erupting into a conflagration. "You got stronger?" I asked though from what I could tell he hadn''t evolved. The amount of energy in his dantian was roughly the same. Which only made me more confused. Had he gotten a Tao? "My bloodline improved and I have access to a beast heritage." Even his mental voice was more powerful than before. It felt like I was speaking with some kind of beast royalty. "You didn''t evolve, right? You are still First Realm?" I stepped forward and placed a hand in his fur. "No, I have not evolved and neither did you from what I can tell. You are starting to fall behind." The smug playfulness in his voice made me release a portion of my aura. Just enough to fill the room and not hurt any of the people outside. Xerxes'' aura joined my own and the room transformed into a hellish battlefield. We stood in the middle of a burning battlefield. One that had fallen to chaos and blood lust. Where survival was the only thing that mattered. There was a brief moment of resistance before the sigil for Harmonic Resonance expanded. I didn''t need to pull up my screen to know that we had just advanced to Intermediate proficiency. Along with the change in the skill came a rush of power. It felt like someone had injected adrenaline straight into my bloodstream. I suddenly felt like I could fight an army on my own. I relished the power for a moment before I withdrew my aura. I waited for Xerxes to do the same before I opened my eyes. "I guess that''s how we advance that skill. How are you feeling?" "Ready for a fight." I grinned and gestured for him to follow. "Well, you missed that. Not that it would have been a fun battle if you were there to help me out. I have a quest coming up that you might be able to help me with." He snorted as we stepped out into the city. The crowd had grown to two or three times its original size. There was a mix of soldiers, unaligned cultivators, and civilians. I half expected them to turn and run when they saw us but they didn''t. Instead, they started to clap. "Is this normal? I did not think that they liked you." Xerxes asked as I stood there dumbfounded. Slowly the claps turned to a raucous applause. When my wits returned I grinned and gave them a bow. Something that was immediately overshadowed by Xerxes. Who tossed his head back and let out an earth-shaking roar. It sounded like a jet engine and I had to seal my ears with energy to protect them. Thankfully the others were fast enough to do the same. The few that weren''t popped healing pills. We both enjoyed the applause and cheer for a few minutes before I activated Apportation. We stepped through the portal and returned to our private quarters. Where we noticed a large problem. "You might be too big for this place." I laughed and sat down on the couch. We should have someone hollow up a lower floor for you. We could probably knock down a wall or two and make you a cultivation chamber." Xerxes snorted and then lay across the floor like a massive dog. He cut a visage that was equal parts terrifying and cute. Like a pet bear or tiger that could breathe fire and crush buildings. "That will be fine. I don''t believe that the array will be of use to me again. At least not until we''ve evolved." I nodded. "I don''t think I am going to evolve for some time yet. I want to max out my Tao and maybe grow them. I am not entirely sure how that works. I know it will have an impact on my class choices. Further, we should be the strongest beings on the planet. Assuming there aren''t some monsters hiding somewhere. I want to see what our current strength is like off-world." "What is the quest?" I shrugged. "I don''t know what it is until we go. It just says that I have to ''defeat the challenge''." "We should go soon. I want to find someone to test my new power against." I leaned back into the couch and closed my eyes. "You know we could always fight it out. It would let us both blow off a bit of steam?" "We would just hurt each other. If you haven''t noticed we draw energy from each other. Besides it wouldn''t be much of a fight if we couldn''t go all out." I gasped and placed a hand over my heart in mock pain. "Are you implying that you could beat me? I am offended." He snorted and I leaned forward. "We will have to go after the Herald. He has been causing problems and killing people. He is also the only person with strength comparable to ours." "That''s the bloody human you mentioned? The one that kills the weak?" I nodded. "He killed a trio earlier. The problem is I don''t know where to find him." "Well if he wants to be leader of this world won''t he have to come to you? If so we could just wait for him to arrive." I considered it for a moment and then shook my head. "The problem is that I don''t know if that''s what he wants. He seems religiously obsessed with the System." I paused for a moment as a slight change to the idea formed in my mind. "If I could make the System force him to fight me though..." "How do you intend to do that?" "The king quest. The System enjoys conflict so if I complete it and become the recognized king it might force him to fight me for it. Or at least give him the quest. If that happens then he would likely come for me." "So it all comes back to your quest. The sooner we complete it the better." I nodded. "It seems like that. I had wanted to work on a new spell but I don''t know when he will attack again. It would be safer for everyone to get things done quickly. Especially while he knows I am still around." "We can go tomorrow." "Alright, I guess tomorrow I begin our journey to be the King of the World" Xerxes and I talked for a bit longer before I decided to rest. It was still a bit freaky to not need sleep but I still wanted it. The next morning Xerxes and I made our way to the teleportation room just before sunrise. I wasn''t sure if the Herald had eyes in the city so it was best for me to leave before anyone else knew I was gone. With any luck, we would be back in a day or two. I did send a warning to Trey so he and Aaliyah would be aware. When we were ready I placed my hand on the hub and read the prompt. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Begin Trial? I confirmed and in the next moment, the world narrowed to a pinprick. Even the Eye of Heaven was blinded. My body was pulled away only the sensation lasted for less than a second. I blinked several times to get adjusted to the new lighting. When I was I nearly stumbled back a step. I was in a room made out of dark grey stone. A weird sort of sigil was on the ground. One that made me think of a ritual circle in a book than anything from the System. Lit braziers were hanging from the ceiling and no windows. I felt Xerxes arrive a moment later which calmed that worry. I wasn''t sure why that teleport was so much faster and easier than the others. I might as well have been asleep for the journey with how easy it was. Before I decide what to do next I made a startling discovery. The energy density here was tragic. It felt horrible almost like I was trying to breathe through a mask or face covering. Further, the Eye of Heaven showed that there was almost no energy. "Did the ceremony work?" A high-pitched voice asked from behind us. "Are these the warriors?" We turned around to find that we were not alone. There was a group of ten people five of which were armor. Armor that was reminiscent of plate but not. It was kind of like they had seen plate armor in a book and then tried to make it. It wasn''t until I expanded my soul sense that I realized I was wrong. They weren''t people in armor they were the armor. It was like a ghost was inhabiting or possessing the armors. Only there was no death energy. "Excuse us for not providing more appropriate gifts honorable warriors but we are in desperate need of your assistance." "Are they robots like in your world?" Xerxes'' mental voice woke me up and I started processing what happened. I was about to give the lead knight an answer when a message from the System appeared. Road of Kings(1): Take your place with resolve. All obstacles shall fall away. So I guess that means this is the first in the quest chain though it doesn''t mention how long it actually is. It also doesn''t tell me what to do. I waited another second before I decided to give up. The System would give or it wouldn''t. There was nothing I could do about it. "What do you need?" I did my best to project the air as a noble warrior or grand adventurer. A process that was harder due to the lack of facial expressions from the people who summoned us. The person who had spoken was clearly some kind of king. Their metallic body had trails of gold that stretched through them. In a way that was reminiscent of veins. It also had a spikey head that kind of looked like a crown. "Thank the Grand Maker. My name is Regelus and we are in desperate need of your assistance." I expanded my soul sense to its limit as the Regelus continued. From what I could see we were in the basement of a large building. Maybe a castle or something like that. For its size, it was sparsely populated. "The traitor''s siege has already begun and need someone to deal with it." I raised an eyebrow at him and then at Xerxes. Surely the System hadn''t called us to kill a bunch of people. "Are you asking that my companion and I end your civil war? Do you have the details of the people on the other side?" Regelus shook his head and tentatively looked at both of us. "These are still my people. My maker did not want us to fall into disarray nor did he want us to kill each other. If it is acceptable we would like to descend into the elder tomb." I stared at Regelus until he decided to continue. "According to legend, our founding ancestor left an artifact in the heart of his tomb. Whoever possesses the artifact would be considered the true ruler of our people." I nodded and then looked at the other soldiers. "Are you not the true king?" As soon as I finished a strange energy emanated from the soldiers and aimed at me. Initially, I thought it was killing it but it wasn''t the same. It definitely felt like they would fight and kill me if they could but it was more like what I said was evil. Like they considered the very question to be wrong. Was it faith? Like zealotry? Regardless of what it was, it wasn''t enough to stop or even threaten us. Xerxes responded before I could, his killing intent exceeding the combined power of the soldiers in an instant. I was about to add mine to the mix when a groaning sound filled the chamber. It was a bit like we were in a desert and Xerxes just provided a torrential downpour. The stone around us grew weaker and the bodies of the warriors trembled. "Enough." I declared and Xerxes stopped. "Where is this tomb? Why are you sure that obtaining this relic will solve your civil war?" "It is this way." Regelus turned and walked toward the exit. "The traitors are misguided. It is their belief that my maker intended to choose a worthier successor and some believe that he had." "I see, so you are the original heir? Or have you decided that your make picked you? Either way, it doesn''t matter to me. Do you know what this relic looks like? Or even where to find it in the tomb?" Regelus'' non-answer made it clear we were going into this blind. Our group fell into an uncomfortable silence. The guards walked in lockstep with us and I was pretty sure they were trying to intimidate us. Not that they could. The lack of energy in this world only made it easier to tell that these people were weak. I wasn''t sure how Earth before the System would have looked but this might be it. They barely had enough energy to be considered level one. Which only made the System seem stranger. Trey had more energy when I met him than any of these people. "What is your cultivation level?" Regelus and most of his guards froze a step at the question. For a moment I wondered if I had done something wrong or if I would need to intermediate them again. "We have not been blessed by the energy of Heaven and Earth. Otherwise, we would not have resorted to the summoning." "What do you think?" I asked Xerxes while we headed deeper underground. "They are very weak but this tomb might be interesting. We could also fight the rebels if everything else fails." Once again I was slightly impressed by my companion''s desire for violence. Of course, I probably wasn''t much better, especially by Earth''s standards. We went over a few more things until we were led into a massive stone door. The door had to be at least twenty feet high and had the image of an orb surrounded by six black orbs. I wasn''t a mathematician but I was pretty sure they wouldn''t be able to open the door. I stepped up and placed a hand on one of the doors. I tried to send a small amount of spiritual energy into it but there was nothing to accept it. After a moment I shrugged. Brought force it is I guess. I placed a hand on either door and pushed. The door nearly flew open. The lack of weight and my surprise caused me to stumble forward a step as the doors slammed into the walls. I coughed and then looked back at the group. "I will bring you the relic soon." "Thank you. May the Grand Maker honor you amongst all great elders." Regelus called out as the door slammed shut behind us. I watched the group with my soul sense until they decided to leave. "Alright, well it doesn''t seem like they were lying. Nor did they try to trap us in here so I guess we should play along?" "I do not smell any living things here. Nor do I smell any blood. Let''s get this done." I laughed and interlocked my fingers behind my head. "Well let''s see if we can find anything in here. I am not sure if it''s tomb robbing if we were invited inside." We started walking while I monitored the path a head with soul sense. I took a moment to appreciate the images on the wall. They were a type of hieroglyphics that likely detailed the creation of whatever people those were. It looked like a person crafted the first of the knights through some kind of meteor that fell to the ground. It was hard to tell if any of the story was real or how accurate it was. It did make me curious as to how it worked or rather how did golem or machine-like life came to be in the multiverse. Did they come from a single crafter or did they just evolve differently? I put that question into the growing pile of things to learn if I ever got the chance. Xerxes and I continued into down the hall until my soul sense hit something. My senses stopped when they encountered a barrier. From what I could tell it was some kind of array and a really complicated one at that. After I let Xerxes know we both decided to pick up the pace. I extended my Tao field to cover both of us just in case were about to encounter something dangerous. When we could finally see the array I was left dumbfounded. It was in a style somewhat similar to the System''s. It was in more formal-looking box text. From what I could tell the array acted like some kind of trap or container. It trapped all the spiritual energy inside the tomb. From what I could tell the array wasn''t difficult to deal with. Thanks to the Eye of Heaven I figured out what the real problem was. The Tomb was covered in arrays. Just from here, I could see two arrays before the tomb turned up ahead. If the amount of energy inside the tomb was indicative of how many arrays were present then we were in for it. "I guess this means that the real challenge is to see if I can break the arrays?" I looked over at Xerxes who looked like someone had stolen Christmas. Chapter 55: Worthy Despite how intricate the first array was breaking it shouldn''t be that hard. From what I could tell it should be possible to break the array by hitting it hard enough. Something that I decided not to share with Xerxes. I took a moment to to study the array. Mostly to see if I could recreate it. The sigils that made it up didn''t seem too complicated. It took me around thirty minutes to commit each one to memory before I was confident I could make them again. When I was ready I formed three blades of compressed space and prodded along the edges of the array. "Its kind of weak." I placed each of the tips against connecting nodes of the array and pressed into them. The array shattered like a glass window pane. A wave of energy washed over us which prompted me to circulate the Ethereal Codex. A moment later the energy split as me and Xerxes worked to absorb it. There was enough to get me around a fourth of a level which should mean I would level up at least once by the time we finished. "You ready to get a move on?" I asked as strode forth. The next array was only a bit more difficult than the last one. It was mostly the same sigils so I wasn''t too interested in it. Instead I let Xerxes break this one. He slammed his head into the array like a battering ram until it broke. A blunt method was both disappointing and incredibly effective. Once again we absorbed the energy as fast as possible. This pattern repeated itself until we reached the fifth array. By now we had to have traveled a mile deeper underground. I couldn''t see anything with my soul sense besides dirt and stone. A part of me felt like we might get stuck under here forever if we weren''t careful. I pushed that fear to the back of my mind and focused on what was in front of me. This array was much more interesting than the rest. For starters it was three arrays in one. Or rather it was a nested array. There was a gathering array that provided the energy for the shield that stopped us from going forward. Inside both of those was the array that trapped the energy. The effect was impressive. Neither of us could break through this one even if we imbued our attacks with the Tao. It also served as a guide on how to create more complicated arrays. After all why couldn''t I make an array just like this one? Place a few spirit stones inside an energy gathering array so that it diverted the power to a secondary or even tertiary effect. Once I understood what the array was doing breaking it wasn''t too hard. I just dismantled the gathering portion first. After that breaking the shield was easy. The potency of energy in this area had increased so we were forced to take our time absorbing it. Not that I was complaining. This the most efficient way of increasing my level so far. Part of me wished their were enough for me to grind to level fifty. We continued onto the next array. Arrays six and seven were different stories. It was like the difficulty sliders on the dungeon had been dialed up. The sixth required me to break two smaller arrays while a third array released pulses of energy that disrupted my energy control. It was the most pain in the ass thing in the world. It reminded me of when the orphanage volunteers would show up and everyone wanted to play virtual "Operation". Only the stakes were much higher. It was the seventh array where shit got real. The array was no easier to deal with than the sixth and there was monster to fight. I held my hand out to stop Xerxes from blasting it with a ball of fire. Even with the Eye of Heaven I was having a hard time understanding what this array did. It had a near identical set up to the previous one only there was a component that transmitted energy into the golem. It wasn''t the same type as the ones outside. It was more likely that this one was a prototype or maybe a doll version? Regardless of what it actually was the golem made no attempt to move. Which made me not want to attack it. I formed three blades of spatial energy and sent them toward the array. As soon as they got within ten feet the golem moved. It slammed its fist into each of the edges until they broke. Only the Tao wasn''t destroyed. The puppet absorbed the energy. "Oh you son of a bitch." I grinned as I stared at the beautiful thing in front of me. "It will absorb the energy from any attacks we use against it. My guess is that it can use that energy to either make itself stronger or to repair the array." "So we have to work together?" Xerxes asked. His tone filling with anticipation. He bore his fangs at the golem. "It looks like it. Try to avoid using too much power. I am not sure if the golem has a maximum amount of power. The last thing we need is to create an immortal killing machine." Xerxes snarled and shot forward like a cannon. He slammed into the golem a moment later and slammed it into the array. For a moment I was worried that bringing the array and golem together would cause a problem but there was nothing. I waited a moment to be sure that Xerxes could handle himself before I turned my attention to the rest of the array. I shaped three blades of compressed space and got to work. It felt like it took me an eternity to get it done. Something that was made even more difficult whenever Xerxes unleashed a breath of flame. By the time I broke the array neither of us was in the mood to keep going. It turned out my initial assumption was too limited. The array that controlled the golem was connected to the main array so whenever I broke a part a surge of energy would go into the puppet. Which made it stronger. Which made Xerxes need to try harder which ultimately made things harder for me. The creator had effectively created self perpetuating loop. "Lets rest here for now. I can''t see how many more arrays there are which means we should pace ourselves. The last thing we want is to face a hard challenge while we are exhausted." "Agreed. You will need more time to recover your energy and your mental exhaustion so I will rest first." Part of me wanted to argue with him over that but I didn''t care that much. I also wanted to spend a bit of time to process all I learned. I felt like my understanding of arrays had increased. It wasn''t as tangible a thing as a spell or even the Tao but I had advanced nonetheless. I wanted to get to work on my own arrays but I wasn''t confident in making one without array discs. The stone here was horrible. It barely held energy which would make the drawing of sigils harder. Not only that but it would also make an arrays I made worse. I spent an hour meditating on my Tao while I kept my focus on the world around us. I wasn''t sure if there were other golems nor did I know if they could range this far from an array but I didn''t want to take the risk. When we switched I decided to take a nap. The ground wasn''t exactly comfortable but I wasn''t sure how much sleep I would get once this was over. It was possible that this quest would immediately start another or that the Herald would attack as soon as I was back. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. We started up again as soon as I felt up to it. The next array was a different beast than the others. It was filled with a Tao. The Tao was something related to darkness which only added to my unease. I couldn''t see what was going on the other side of the array. The array was a thick inky black cloud. I formed blades of both compressed space and psychic energy but neither helped. I couldn''t break this array from here. I also couldn''t see where the energy was going it all just disappeared. I pushed a bit of spiritual energy into the Eye of Heaven but that barely made a difference. "I think you should stay here." I glanced over at Xerxes. I held up a hand to stop him from arguing. "I don''t think this is an array that could be dealt with through force. My guess is that I have to enter it to deal with it. I have the Eye of Heaven to help but you don''t and the last thing we need is us both to get stuck. If I don''t come back in an hour or so then you can start burning it up." I waited a moment for him to agree and then I strode forward. The moment I entered the darkness I regretted it. Whatever Tao this was worked differently. The darkness was somewhat tangible. It seeped into my channels like oil. I had only took a handful of steps before it started to gunk up my channels. I flooded my body with my own Tao to fight back. It was like trying to hold onto the rain. The harder I tried the more seemed to slip through. Finally I decided to shift goals. I expanded my Tao field to its maximum used it like a filter. It wasn''t enough to stop the flow of Tao but it helped. The Eye of Heaven strained to see the darkness and I had to double the amount of energy flowing into it. Finally I started to pick up thin energy paths. I gritted my teeth as the darkness dug further and further into my body while I searched for the core of the array. My channels strained and burned as I forced more of my energy through them. By the time I found the array''s core it felt like I had walked for days. It took me three tries to form the blades I needed to break the array and then another five to keep them stable. The darkness intensified every time I hit the array. As if it knew what I was trying to do. By the time the first layer shattered my energy felt like sludge going through my body. By the time the second layer fell my muscles felt like they had been turned to stone. I tried to activated both Intellect Fortress and Psychic Aegis but neither spell worked. I took a moment to pass my inner eye over my body and immediately regretted the choice. Not only were my channels covered in a pervasive darkness but so were my sigils. I couldn''t activate any of them. I fought against the panic that threatened consume my sense and focused. I just needed to break the array. After that the darkness would fade and then I could recover. I tried to form another set of blades to help my progress but it failed. I bit back a scream of frustration and renewed my work. The third and final layer of the array began to unfold. My mind worked almost on instinct as I hammered at the array''s nodes. Suddenly there was a crack. Panic shot through me and I was about to search my sigils to find out what had broken when I saw the array core. It was falling apart. I dropped to my knees and slammed all three blades into it. The crack exploded and light was returned to the world. I groaned and leaned forward with my head in my hands. The darkness had started to fade but it would be a while. I wasn''t sure if this array was designed to kill you or just weaken you until you couldn''t or wouldn''t want to move. Either way I had dealt with it. I felt the familiar wush of energy and slowly circulated my cultivation technique. The surge of energy hurt in a good way. It was like the burn you feel after you finished a workout. I laid there in a stunned silence for what felt like hours but was likely only a few minutes. When the darkness had fully been flushed from my system I stood. "Are you alright?" Xerxes asked. I nodded. "Yeah lets hope that''s the last of that kind of array. That was not at all fun. Did anything happen while I was resting?" He shook his head. "No, I don''t smell anything further into the tomb so its likely that this challenge isn''t done yet." I groaned and then started forward. "Lets just get this over with." We continued on our way and the images on the walls began to change. It started to tell the story of the death of the maker from the beginning and what I assumed was the creation of this tomb. It explained that the maker created this place before his death. Once he finished he walked into the tomb and never came out. It was bitter sweet and reminded me a bit of the story of King Arthur. Specifically the part where Arthur was supposed to return in Britain hour of greatest need. A fact that made me a bit curious. If Arthur had been some kind of cultivator than maybe he left something behind. Of course, it was more likely that it was just a story and that he never existed. The happy thoughts faded when the tunnel ended and we entered a large chamber. The room was the same size as the one that we used to enter this place. Likewise there was a door on the other side. The unfortunate part was the array between us and the door. Even with the benefits of the Eye of Heaven I couldn''t tell what it did. I could tell it wasn''t decide to kill nor disable like the last one. The energy was vaguely similar to the Tao of Lucidity which was frightening. If this was some kind of illusion trap we might be in trouble. The array was half as big as all the others but contained nearly three times the energy. Staring at it made my heart tremble. I searched for weak points in the but there weren''t any. The array was perfect as far as I could tell. I formed three blades of compressed energy and let them float around it. After ten minutes I closed my eyes. "I am not sure what to do." "You have dealt with the other arrays why can''t you deal with this one?" Xerxes asked as he lay on the ground. "This one doesn''t have a flaw anywhere. Its like the creator used each array to cover up the other array''s flaws. I don''t think I can break it." "Should we combine our strength? We may be able to blow it up." I had to admit the idea a certain appeal to it but I decided against it. I wasn''t sure how dangerous the array was nor could I tell if it would retaliate if we tried it. "Outside of trying to break it the only other option I can think of is going into it. Like the last one and trying to break it from the inside." "What if you can''t get back out?" I chuckled and rolled my shoulders. "Aww it almost sounds like you are worried about me. I guess we can''t get anything if we aren''t willing to risk our necks. If I die or in some other way get fucked up then feel free to try and blow the whole thing up." I stepped forward half expecting my danger sense to scream a warning but there was nothing. I took a breath of air and then stepped into the array. I hadn''t taken more than a step when five spectral chains shot out of the center of the array. I expanded my Tao field as fast as I could but it was no where near enough. All five shot into my chest and latched onto my soul. A secondary pulse of light and the room changed. It was the same chamber only newer. It only took me a moment to realize that I was in the past. Or rather an illusion of it. A figure stepped into the room. My brain recoiled what what I saw. Somehow the person in front of me was both bigger than entire planets and the same size as the golems outside. It was like two images were superimposed on each other. The figure looked at me and the weight of a mountain slammed onto my shoulders. I collapsed onto my stomach and had to fight just to breathe. "Interloper?" My body felt like it would shatter just from the sound of his voice. I tried to respond, to defend myself my energy refused to move. Primal fear rose in the pit of my stomach as the figure moved closer to me. The pressure suddenly disappeared in air rushed into my lungs. My energy surged like a dog that had slipped its leash and burned through my channels. I expanded my Tao field though I could tell the difference between me and whoever this person was too great. I braced myself as the figure spoke again "Prove you are worthy" Chapter 56: Crowned The world shifted and I was returned to the original chamber. Before I could relish the small victory burning agony spread throughout my body. I looked down half expecting to be on fire but there was nothing. Another pulse of pain forced me to scream. I passed my mental gaze over my body and saw the problem. The chains from earlier had somehow dug into my soul and were now trying to rip me apart. The chains were a bright golden color and radiated a weird Tao. At first, I thought it was a Tao related to light or maybe the sun but it wasn''t. This was more like arrays? The chains pulled and I was forced out of my thoughts. The pain forced me to my knees. My attempt at circulating my energy caused a fresh wave of agony to spread through my body. Panic rose in the bit of my stomach as I tried to figure out what to do. A familiar caress brushed against the back of my mind and a wave of relief passed through me. The path forward was obvious. I called on each of my Tao to fight against the first chain. I alternated each one starting with Adamance and ending with Compression. By the time the first chain crumbled my soul had started to show cracks. I shifted focus to the second chain and popped a healing pill. The pill''s effect on the soul was lacking but at this point, I would take whatever I could get. Even the pain relief was welcome. I took a moment to scan my surroundings. I hoped there would be something in the environment. Something that would help me alleviate the pressure but there was nothing. Another pull and a fresh wave of agony shot through me. I bit back a scream and doubled my efforts. The second chain shattered and the restriction on my energy weakened. I circulated the Ethereal Codex and portions of the chains began to fall apart. Fresh energy entered my Dantian as I fought against time. The third chain collapsed as tears started to well in my eyes. I maneuvered myself into a seated position and focused on the task. Now that the array had lost sixty percent of its power the pain was much more manageable. I could think clearly. I pushed a small amount of energy into Intellect Fortress to help me fight through the pain but there was little my other spells could do. This was a test of Tao and endurance both of which I had plenty of. The fourth chain collapsed and the array reached a tipping point. Its ability to hurt me was greatly diminished and now the array was collapsing. I shifted my energy to maintaining the array. Not to stop its collapse but to slow it down slightly. I wasn''t sure what would happen if an array collapsed around my soul and I didn''t want to find out. Despite my efforts the fifth chain shattered and the array rebounded. For a moment it felt like a vacuum had emerged in the center of the chamber. I gritted my teeth and stole as much energy as I could but I hadn''t gotten more than ten percent before it dissipated. Despite that, I had achieved my goal. Between all the arrays in this tomb, I had leveled up. I placed my freebie points into Perception and then took a moment to assess the damage. My fear was unfounded. The damage to my soul was relatively minor from what I could tell. Not only that but it looked like it would be a bit stronger when it healed. The small cracks reminded me of that pottery that you would break and repair. It wasn''t enough for me to think that this was some sort of reward and part of me wanted to go and blast that king for not warning me. I took another moment to calm down. Even if he had warned me I would have come. I also wasn''t sure how I was supposed to leave this place. As far as I could tell the System wasn''t on this world nor did I have a teleportation token. I had to assume the System wouldn''t let me go back until I accomplished the goal. When I felt ready to continue I opened my eyes, stood up, and cracked my knuckles. "I guess we should see what''s next." "Are you sure you don''t want to rest first? It seemed like the array took a lot of you. Your aura isn''t as stable as it used to be." I hesitated for a moment before I shook my head. "It''s hard to know how long we''ve been in here but people have likely noticed that we are both missing. I don''t want to leave Amara without my presence for too long. Hopefully, we don''t have to deal with anything too dangerous." I gestured for Xerxes to follow as I stepped up to the door. My mind drifted back to the man from the vision or illusion. I couldn''t be sure but he had to have been two or even three realms above me. The giant had been frightening but he was also proof of concept. Proof that my current strength wasn''t enough and that I could go much higher. The thought made me grin and I pushed the door open. As the door opened braziers on either side of the hall lit and bathed the hallway in blue light. The walls were empty this time which made me think we were about to enter the burial chamber. I nodded to Xerxes and then expanded my Tao Field to cover us both. Each step filled me with anticipation. I wasn''t sure if we were marching toward a treasure trove or if we were about to enter some Roman gladiatorial arena. I couldn''t tell which one I wanted it to be. When we got to the end of the hall we found a chamber that was twice as big as the last one. The central component of the room was a statue and coffin in the center. The statue was of the giant from the vision only it lacked his power. There was no array or even spiritual energy in the statue but that didn''t stop me from staring at it. The craftsmanship that went into it was insane. Part of me wanted to take the statue and put it in my ring. Further, I was pretty sure that would end in disaster. The same thing was true for the coffin. It was made out of black and white wood that looked like it was carved by a god of crafting. I looked at the coffin for another few seconds before I focused on the rest of the room. The only other thing of importance was a crown that sat on the head of a mannequin-like statue. This statue lacked any identifying characteristics and was clearly there to hold the crown. I reached out with psychokinesis half expecting some trap to trigger Indiana Jones style. Sure enough a wall to our right opened and another of the golems stepped into the room. This one looked much stronger than the one we fought earlier. It also had its array spread throughout the inner parts of his body. I waited to see if any other arrays would activate but when the machine raised a stone hammer I shrugged. "I guess the final part of this is a fight." Before I could begin my attack Xerxes shot forward like a cannon. The oversized Qilin crashed into the creature like a runaway train. The expected sight of the golem slamming into the wall behind it didn''t happen. Instead it swung its hammer at Xerxes with enough force to split a mountain. My companion was knocked nearly ten feet out of the way. For a moment I worried the attack had broken his neck or at least cracked his skull but I was wrong. Xerxes unleashed a blast of imbued fire that slammed into the golem''s side. Fire licked at its stone but like something out of the terminator the thing kept going. I formed six blades of compressed spatial energy and shot them forward to meet the thing''s charge. The golem must''ve sensed the attack because it abandoned its attack on Xerxes and shattered all six blades. Its hammer glowed with spiritual energy a second before my danger sense screamed at me to move. I divided to the ground just before it launched the hammer at me like a bullet. The hammer embedded itself into the wall with a resounding thud. I was about to get back up when the golem''s array pulsed and a second scream danger filled my mind. Suddenly the hammer shot out of the wall and back into its hand. The whole thing reminded me of something from an action movie. "Ok that was pretty dope." I laughed and activated Psionic Rain.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Dozens of psychic blades fell onto the golem like a heavenly judgement only for nothing to happen. The lack of response from the stone warrior made my mind blank. Xerxes took the moment to ram into it. The creature tried to withstand its charge but clearly Xerxes took offense to the idea. He imbued himself with enough spiritual energy to wipe out a building and the golem was forced backwards. The creature didn''t stop until it was half embedded into the wall. "It doesn''t have a mind." Xerxes snarled into my mind just before he opened his mouth and unleashed another blast of crimson fire. The heat from the flame was intense enough to melt the stone behind it but it wasn''t enough. The golem dropped its hammer, lifted Xerxes into the air and launched him at me. My eyes widened as I braced myself for the impact. I infused my legs with spiritual energy and expanded my Tao field to slow down his impact. He still hit me like a truck. We were both nearly thrown across the room before I stopped us. "Alright, I don''t think this is working." "Mental attacks won''t work on this one. Use your Tao and cover up my weak spots." Before I could respond Xerxes roared and charged toward the warrior who once again held its hammer. I sighed and formed another six blades. I fired them and the golem was forced to make a decision. It prioritized the blades over the Qilin and swung its hammer. Three blades shattered just before Xerxes arrived. The Qilin lowered his head as if he intended to charge through the golem and not into it. He knocked its hammer free and slammed into the ground. Before the golem had a chance to recover he unleashed a point blank blast of fire. This one was much more effective. Half of the stone warrior''s face began to melt but Xerxes wasn''t done. He savaged every part of its body it could reach with its claws. The golem held out a hand and its array began to activate. This time I reached for the hammer with psychokinesis and pulled against it. We began the strangest game of tug of war I had ever seen. I gritted my teeth as the hammer inched ever closer to the Xerxes and the golem. I split my focus and tried to form another blade of compressed space. It felt like I was splitting my mind in half. Just when I had decided to give up on the idea something popped. The blade of space didn''t so much as form as explode into existence. It wasn''t so much as a blade of space but a crack in it. A crack that I could aim and fire. I grinned and released my new attack. It would be impossible to describe what happened as "cutting" the golem. Instead it was like the space where its right hand had been simply ceased to exist. Bits of stone fingers fell to the ground and Xerxes roared. Another blast of fire and the golem stopped moving. I scanned the room with the Eye of Heaven. Half expecting another challenge to appear but thankfully nothing did. The golem shattered into harmless pieces of stone along with its hammer. I took a seat ground and laughed while Xerxes let out a roar of triumph. The array practice was great and was probably the real treasure of this place. The battle was definitely the most interesting part. I took a moment to cultivate the energy in the room before I turned my attention to the crown. Now that the battle was over it floated right over to me. I took a moment to examine it but no matter how hard I looked I couldn''t find anything interesting in it. Even to the Eye of Heaven it wasn''t all that interesting. I shrugged and tried to put it into my ring. Only it didn''t work. I tried twice but either the crown wasn''t able to be stored or the ring couldn''t take it. Either way, there wasn''t anything I could do about it. I decided to hold levitate instead of taking the risk of putting on. I wasn''t sure why but that felt like a bad idea. "Alright, so do you think we should just go back or should we look for some door?" "Why would the back of a tomb have a door?" Xerxes asked as he turned and started to walk back. I rolled my eyes and interlaced my fingers behind my head. "So will you let me ride on your back? You should be big enough for it now." "And why would I agree to that? You are just as fast and I am not a pack animal." I laughed and shrugged. "Who knows? It might look cool a king on the back of Qilin would be stuff of legends and what if I can''t walk? It might be the only way for me to survive." "If something like that happens I will carry you but I won''t be a mount so you can show off." The irritation in his voice made it clear that he was not interested in continuing the conversation. "On the off chance the quest doesn''t end once we get back do you think we should support that king? Or should we go and see what the other person has in mind?" "We already got the crown. As far as I am concerned that is the extent of our participation. If we don''t have a choice then we should focus on whichever is easier." "How utilitarian of you. I suppose it''s fair though. It isn''t like we have any knowledge of the situation here and the System teleported us in front of these people so I guess it was the System that favored them. Either way, it isn''t our problem." When we exited the tomb we found the group had shrunk. The king was still present but he only had three guards with him. The guards looked a bit stronger but not by a significant margin. The group''s stares as the door shut behind us were a bit uncomfortable. Their lack of facial expressions was weird. "Greetings honorable hero¡ª" He began but his words faded when I lifted the crown up. I floated it over to him and he took it reverently. I wasn''t sure if they had some way of silent communication because they just went silent. After a few awkward moments, the king placed the crown on his head. In the next moment, the crown emitted a pulse of energy and melded with the king''s head. A hollow image of the giant from before formed that emitted a hair-raising aura. It wasn''t as strong as the pressure that pinned me but it was enough to give Xerxes and I run for our money. I braced myself for a battle but I needn''t worry. The image disappeared and the king''s aura fell. I was about to ask if that was all when a floating stone appeared behind the king. The stone was about the size of a basketball and had the symbol of the System on it. I glanced over at Xerxes to confirm that he saw it as well. When he did I shrugged. The king and his knights were leaving which I guess meant our job was done. We made our way over to the stone and I placed a hand on it. No sooner had I touched did I find myself back in Amara. The guards in the room gripped their swords a moment before they realized who we were. "Good job everyone. Did anything happen while I was gone?" "Not that I know of sir." The first guard, a tall man with a two-handed sword on his back replied. I nodded and was about to leave when the package appeared at my feet. I picked it up and sent it into my ring. It wasn''t that I didn''t want others to see the quest reward. No, it was more that I wanted to limit the possible eyes on me. The fewer people that knew things the fewer captives someone could take. Also if the Herald was keeping an eye he wouldn''t know as much about me. Of course, it also made me a bit more mysterious. "Alright, so let''s take a day to rest? I will check in with everyone to make sure nothing needs my attention and then we can make our next plans." "Agreed. Can we go back to the Tower first?" Xerxes asked as he stretched in a way that was too reminiscent of a cat. I nodded and activated Apportation. The portal opened and we stepped through. I let Xerxes head into the cultivation chamber while I took a seat in the former council room. I sent messages to the rest of the council but they didn''t have much for me to deal with. Instead I decided to do a little shopping. I pulled up the System shop and paged through what I had access to. Amara''s population was on a steady incline which meant we would gain access to more shops. I still wasn''t sure if I wanted that or not. More shops would give us access to more things but it would weaken Azariah''s position. It would also weaken my own indirectly since I invested in her. I settled on buying infrastructure. I bought a few more machines that would let us convert the spirit water into spirit stones. Chief amongst them was a device that kind of reminded me of an industrial water filter only it compacted and froze the liquid. Despite the description, I still didn''t really understand how it did it. After that, I purchased a few more settlement defense arrays to protect the other settlements. Thankfully the Commonwealth''s former HQ was already defended so that saved me a pretty penny. From there I left a portion of my credits for the council to spend. I didn''t want to get too bogged down with the various arrays I could buy. Since they were all incredibly expensive. The sooner we could manufacture our own arrays the better. I closed down the menu screen and summoned the box from my ring. It was time to check my reward. Chapter 57: Prize Time The box held a plaque and then what looked like a vial of light blue gas. I focused on the plaque to start. I sent a small bit of spiritual energy inside and received a burst of information. The vial was much more interesting than it appeared. It was an item called a **Heaven''s Path Cloud**, it was a flying treasure. Though calling it a flying treasure was massively underselling it. It was a high-quality treasure that should be able to fly in just about any environment. The cloud relied on the energy control of the pilot to maneuver which shouldn''t be a problem for me. The only flaw if you could call it that was it was meant for one person. There was no way Xerxes would be able to join me in the air. It also meant I probably wouldn''t need him to carry me around which was disappointing but not by much. Part of me really wanted to take the cloud out and see what it could do but now wasn''t the right time. I placed it back into my ring to deal with later. It was time to review the rest of my growth. The Tao of Compression went up a stage which caused my attributes to take a nice leap forward. On top of the two levels. The growth of my Tao had me a bit concerned. I wasn''t sure if it would become harder to get new strands if I maxed some out but it was definitely time for me to get a new one. I was pretty sure compression was going to be related to space. I rarely used it with anything else which put me in a unique position. I could focus on Time and try to pair them. I wasn''t sure if the Tao had categories but Space and Time were usually combined. At least in most video games or books. I could try to get another one related to space. Maybe one that focused on the spatial slashes? It would at least guarantee me another attack. Lastly, there was another idea in the back of my mind. Was there a Tao related to arrays? Or at least for crafting? I found a book on Taoism a little while ago and it mentioned that Taoism was about everything. "The Way" as it was referred made it sound like you could get inspiration from everything so why couldn''t you do it with Arrays? Unfortunately, the academy was of no help in this. I wasn''t sure if it was because of the System or if it was something else. The information on the Tao was basic. It explained there were weapon-based Taos with the most common being the sword. The elements also existed including lightning and wind. Apparently, those two belonged to different categories from the other elements. The categories were called "Spheres" but that was all it would tell me. I figured upgrading the school would help me with that but I wasn''t strong enough to do it. I would need to fight with something and I could only make the challenge once a century. It also didn''t matter too much. I was too weak and inexperienced to worry about the categories from what Desbera explained the last time I asked her. I got to my feet and walked out onto the balcony. The city looked beautiful from up here. The lights looked brighter and now that there was no pollution even the air felt nicer. Further, the energy-gathering array made the atmosphere better than almost anywhere else on Earth. Not counting the homes of some beasts. It still wasn''t a match for mine and Xerxes'' chamber but Amara was rapidly transforming. It wasn''t a struggling group of survivors anymore. It was a proper city and more than that it was the place to be. Saanite was keeping track of the people immigrating here and it wasn''t insignificant. We were still a far cry from Earth''s biggest cities but we could rival smaller ones. It wasn''t enough for me though. I wanted Amara to be New York, Chicago, or Paris I wanted it to be the place everyone wanted to be. A monster of a city. I let myself fantasize about various ideas before I turned my attention to something I had been putting off for far too long. I summoned the Heaven''s Pearl from my ring and sat down. I was pretty sure the pearl was on its last legs. I would finally get to find out what the fuck it did. I circulated my technique and let the energy pour into me. The pearl rapidly shrunk until the last of its energy entered my dantian. A wave of calmness passed over me that felt better than any high I had ever had. When the sensation passed I opened my eyes. I felt different but I couldn''t tell what had changed. I got to my feet and tried to expand my Tao field. It expanded with unheard-of ease. It was as if before now I was trying to control it with one hand behind my back but now. Now it was as easy as breathing. I switched Tao and the sensation was the same. Until I started with the Tao of Compression. Previously this one didn''t do much when it was in field form. Outside of just allowing me to condense it better, this was different. Space had solidified around me. It wasn''t quite a wall but it was better than what Adamance could provide. Of course, it didn''t work for mental effects so it wasn''t a replacement. Next, I formed a blade of compressed space. Not only was it faster but the process was easier. It used very little mental energy to do and I could control them as if they were a part of my body. I experimented with forming the slash from earlier and accidentally cut a six-inch gash into the ground. "So the pearl improved my affinities?" I grinned and went back inside. I had to find a mirror. When I saw my face I let out a low whistle. It was still hard to put a finger on what had changed. My facial features were just better. I was proudly in supermodel territory. "I got to find more of these. Even if I just sold them. For other people, these had to be worth everything." I played around with my Tao until Xerxes entered the room. "What did you do? My connection to the Tao of Embers has improved." I grinned. "I had a treasure. We might be able to find more of them if we travel into the ocean. Though I doubt it. My assumption is this is another special treasure. If we did find more we would need to decide what to do with them." "Why wouldn''t we just consume? Our affinities should have no upper limit." I shook my head. "Honestly I don''t know if we would need them. They might benefit Trey or Aaliyah better and if we didn''t give them away then it would be better to sell them. Money is always useful." Xerxes snorted and then lay on the ground in front of the couch. "If they want them they should go and get them." I took a seat on the couch next to him and shrugged. "I mean maybe but that''s what strength is for. They won''t be able to rely on us forever. They will likely want and need things I can''t or don''t want to get them. For now, though I can help them so why not?" "They have stopped fighting. Most of their levels haven''t changed in a week and very few would survive either of our auras." I sighed and cracked my neck. "I know but what do you think I should do? The contribution store already awards personal advancements so I can''t do anything there. I don''t want to conscript people besides I am not sure that would help any. People who don''t want to fight are never good at it. Not to mention that some of those people are becoming other things we need. Craft people and even a few healers."This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. "*Do you think its enough?*" I shrugged and we fell into silence. There was of course a second reason why I didn''t care if they got stronger or not. I still planned to leave Earth and if the citizens were all too weak then it shouldn''t be hard for the council to maintain order without me. I wasn''t sure if that thought was evil or not and I really didn''t want to know. When I got tired of waiting I stood up and made my way into the cultivation chamber. There was no way I would gain another level anytime soon but another Tao strand? That was doable. I sat in the center of the gathering array but didn''t activate it. The energy wasn''t needed and I didn''t have a lot of useful treasures anyway. I closed my eyes and went over the small insights from my last few battles and the arrays. I was still a good distance away from improving the Tao of Adamance so it wasn''t my focus. I decided to let my mind wander and go with what my instincts told me. I took another breath and slowly entered a meditative state. I wasn''t sure how long I sat there before something changed. It was subtle at first like a slight breeze, like the last piece of a puzzle that finally slipped into place. Strands of energy danced and pulled at my focus as if each one vied for my attention. It felt like I could seize them all with a thought. Yet there was no pressure. No need to worry about picking one before the sensation ends. No need to stress about which one I would get. They were all mine. I let go of my worry and embraced the sensation. The freedom of the Tao. The truth settled onto me like a warm blanket but I didn''t move. There was no need. The Tao slowly ascended. Returned to its grand heights. I took another breath and waited until the sensation completely faded. I slowly opened my eyes and stretched. I wasn''t sure how long I sat here but it felt like a little while. I made a mental note to buy a clock or at least a timer for this place. This weird lack of definitive time was irritating. It felt like we were in a vague timeless dimension where only the position of the sun mattered. Which I guess was how things worked before industrialization. I shrugged and turned my attention to the thing I cared about. I opened my notification and smiled. It wasn''t what I expected but it was good nonetheless. Strand of Flow: Intelligence +10 Perception +10 I took a few moments to test what it did and was surprised. I assumed it was about the flow of time but that wasn''t the case. Rather it was about energy flows. I couldn''t do anything with the Tao. It wasn''t an attack nor was it a defense and imbuing my body with it didn''t do anything. It did have amazing synergy with the Eye of Heaven. It even helped with understanding my sigils which would probably be clutch when I made my own spells. All in all, it was a utility or rather supportive Tao which was good. I still lacked a powerful ender. Neither my Tao nor my spells were good at putting an enemy down. At the moment it wasn''t a big deal but if I ever encountered something that could go the distance with me I would be in trouble. I briefly considered continuing my session. I was pretty confident I could push toward a Tao of time. I wasn''t sure how long it would take me to get it but I could do it. I decided against it though. I wanted to spend some time working with Arrays. Furthermore, I didn''t feel like sitting here any longer. I stepped out of the cultivation chamber and cocked my head in confusion. Xerxes lay on the floor the same as when I left him but Trey and Aaliyah were with him. "You are finally finished," Trey complained. "I wanted to go out fighting." I shook my head and took a seat on the couch across from the pair. "I had things to do. How are things going? Did anyone notice we weren''t here?" Aaliyah shook her head. "No, but you going into seclusion immediately didn''t exactly help. Thankfully uh Xerxes was here and managed to scare people." She glanced over at the Qilin as if he was a wild animal. "It was no big deal. They got to bask in my presence and they gave me food." Xerxes replied through our bond. "Is that why she''s afraid?" "Is that what it''s like when you use that communication spell? Do you just stand there silently?" Trey''s question brought me back to the moment. I rolled my eyes and shifted my attention to the massive window. The sun was high in the sky so it was likely midafternoon? "If you managed to get one you would know. Outside of the impatient one here did anything else need my attention?" "Not really, I am told that the academy is ready whenever you would like to go. They said you would know what that means." I grinned and rubbed my beard. "Good alright, I am going to head over there to do some reading. Have we heard anything about the Herald? Ideally, I would like to take care of that problem as soon as possible." She shook her head. "No, once again he has gone radio silent. We''ve checked in with the settlements on the third continent but they haven''t encountered anyone like that." "How are they fairing? Do I need to go over and recruit them?" I glanced over at Xerxes who perked up for the first in this conversation. "No, the majority of the world''s armies ended up on that continent for some reason. They managed to hold the line against the monsters and were mostly a threat to themselves. With the rumors of your visit to both the UWG and the Commonwealth everyone either wants to join up first. Or they want to wait and see. Only the wait-and-see group is rapidly shrinking." "Do we have a count on how many people we are talking about?" I leaned back and placed my ankle on my knee. "Not quite probably one hundred thousand at least though smaller villages and towns are still being found. We have the army ready to move in and subdue the continent but we wanted to be sure you didn''t want to do it." I waved my hand dismissively. "It''s yours or everyone''s I guess. Truth be told I don''t care much about what Earth has. Outside of the ocean of course. If you find any more of those pearls I want them. Other than that either let the person who found it have it or place it in the merit shop. Oh, who is managing the money?" Aaliyah stared at me for several seconds while a vein on the side of her head threatened to burst. She sighed and shook her head. "Apparently one of the Wall Street types got a mercantile class. According to her its a mixture of mercantilism and administrative abilities. Zero combat. She has taken it upon herself to manage the economy in a weird kind of capitalist feudalism." "I don''t know what that means. Do I need to go and deal with her? What''s her name?" "Evelyn Stephens and no please don''t. She is like a person who read Ayn Rand once and then decided to work for you. Anything you don''t strictly regulate she believes in leaving it up to the ''market''. Something that makes arguing with her a pain in the ass." I nodded. "Tell her to be careful. If I leave and come back to find that you all have allowed something insane I will wipe her out. No slavery or anything like that. No selling body parts." The look on her face was much more strained at that but she didn''t say anything. "Alright, I will do that." She got to her feet and started toward the door. "Are you planning on leaving again?" I paused for a moment and really considered it. "I don''t think so. I am probably going to focus on arrays for the next week or two. After that, I don''t know. If the Herald starts to act or if anyone finds him I will go after him. If not then I might do something different. I still don''t know if there will be a second stage of the Road of King''s Quest. Since this last one didn''t name me ruler of Earth I have to assume there will be at least one." She nodded and looked at Trey. "Come on. We are heading out to do some training underground and it would be good to boost your level." "Alright, we still have to go out together!" He shouted back as they left the room. I stared at the doorway for a few moments before I laughed. "Your little cub has grown. He should be able to hold his own more often now." I glanced over at Xerxes and shrugged. "You are probably right. I just don''t know if I wanted to drag him along. Our fights are getting worse. If the trend continues he won''t be able to keep up." Xerxes growled and then lowered his head. "He could die here if he encounters a bad monster or gets stabbed in the back. At least that way you would be present to look after him." That made me grin. "Am I to assume that you wouldn''t look after him?" His irritated snort only made me laugh harder. "For now it doesn''t matter but I will give him the chance. His level has brought him into the top ten so he isn''t weak. Not really. Do you know what you want to do for these next few days?" "I will hunt with the cub. I would like to see how well he can fight and if he will be useful." Chapter 58: Two Weeks Two weeks passed by in the blink of an eye. I spent nearly the entire time working on arrays. I was forced to spend a not insignificant amount of my remaining funds to get new practice discs but it was worth it. I was confident I could reliably make most gathering arrays. Between the Strand of Flow and Eye of Heaven, it was easy to deal with the basic stuff. Making the array smaller was a different beast altogether. At first, I thought it was mainly about size but that was misleading. It was more about energy density. I needed to shrink the sigils down while ensuring that each part didn''t affect the rest of it. Even with my advantages I couldn''t get the basic stuff below a single disc. Based on a few information stones I got through Azariah it was possible to create arrays inside your body. There were even people who made arrays on their skin through tattoos and in their bones. Each one had benefits and detriments so I wasn''t about to rush out and scar myself. I managed to create a pair of mobile gathering arrays, create a bigger one designed for Xerxes'' personal chamber, and redo my own. I started replacing the arrays in the academy but that was a long-term process. None of those were the biggest changes over the last two weeks. That was the massive business venture we started. The tomb inspired me to buy arrays through the System and Azariah. I then practiced breaking each one until I could make an array-breaking array. Something that I was disappointed to find out was relatively common. What wasn''t common was selling them. I effectively created methods to break common arrays and then offered to sell those arrays. I then started to work on improving the original arrays so that Amara was protected. My passion for this project was stifled when someone pointed out that I was basically financing both sides of conflicts. Still, the money that flowed in from the Arrays was amazing. I even provided Azariah with a decent amount of improved gathering arrays. We weren''t going to revolutionize the market anytime soon but we were earning decent money. Money that could then be used to buy new arrays. Arrays that I could then study. Financial growth wasn''t my only form of growth. Combat helped with my other Tao but that was no match for crafting. I wasn''t sure if it was my affinities or if it was just diligent work but I managed to improve the Strand of Flow a stage. Despite all my growth, I couldn''t hide away and do Array work forever. I took a minute to review my improved status screen before I left.
Name Amari Jackson
Level 45
Class [1-Epic]Psionic Paragon
Species [2]Human
Affiliation Earth:Amara: Ruler
Trait [1]Eye of Heaven
Manual [1]Ethereal Codex
Titles Beloved by Tao, Big Game, Beastbound, Centennial, Classed, Chimeric Forest 1st Place, Chosen, First to Ten, Glory Hound, High Class, Horde Breaker, , Imperious Strength, Leader of the Pack, Monstersbane, One Man Army, Overlord Slayer, Overpowered, Perfect 100, Prime Forebearer, Prime Hunter, Supreme Predator, Tutorial, True Elite, Voyager,
Limited Titles Pinnacle, Primal Battlefield,
Tao Strand of Adamance ¡ª Comprehension: High, Strand of Lucidity ¡ª Comprehension: High, Strand of Compression ¡ª Comprehension: Mastered, Strand of Flow ¡ª Comprehension: Middle,
Agility 233 (Increase:75%. Potency:140%)
Constitution 383 (Increase:75%. Potency:140%)
Intelligence 649 (Increase:75%. Potency:140%)
Luck 184 (Increase:90%. Potency:140%)
Perception 376 (Increase:75%. Potency:140%)
Strength 265 (Increase:80%. Potency:140%)
Wisdom 848 (Increase:80%. Potency:140%)
Free Points 0
System Credits [1]850,000
I was pretty close to a thousand points in Wisdom which was now my goal. It sounded like something the System rewarded you for. My Tao was coming together. I still wanted at least one more but it looked like I would master them all soon. Especially if I could find a treasure or two. Either that or devote some serious time to it. I also wanted an additional Limited Title. Next, I reviewed the new-level rankings. Things had finally stabilized and it wasn''t as bad as I thought.
Standings Name Level
1st Amari Jackson 45
2nd The System''s Herald 40
3rd Romulus 32
4th Amahle Umzawi 30
5th Money Trey 29
6th Aaliyah 25
7th Ebony Rose 25
8th Amaran James 21
9th The Monkey King 20
10th Stone Fist 19
...100th James Jones 14
We lost some powerful people but Aaliyah, Trey, and a person named James had joined the top ten. There was a weird decision by various members of the army who decided to put "Amaran" in front of their names. At first, I thought it was a prank but they were all serious about it. There were already ten of them in the top 100 though only one was in the top twenty-five. Unfortunately, everyone that survived our battle either had made no progress or was dead now. Something that weakened the world. At first, I thought they had all been recovering but that wasn''t the case. Some of them were including Romulus but most just stopped. I guess our fight had scared them into apathy. Which was a problem I couldn''t fix. I could show up and make them fight but that wouldn''t help anything. It would likely make the situation worse and further demoralize them. Ultimately I was forced to leave it alone. The Herald was still a mainstay and was somehow steadily getting stronger. Part of me was worried about him but a greater part relished seeing his name on the list. Seeing someone strong enough to keep up with me. Or at least somewhat keep up. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. "I hope you all haven''t gotten anyone killed?" I sent it to Xerxes as I left the academy. I let out an irritated hiss when I stepped out into the sun. "Why can''t it always be dark out?" "Everyone is fine. There was nothing worthy of hunting." I couldn''t help but laugh at his irritation. "Where are you? I am going to head over." "North of the city. A few hours beyond that old city." I was about to activate Apportation when I got a better idea. I summoned the Heaven''s Path Cloud and removed its stopper. I don''t know what I expected to happen but it wasn''t what did. The cloud slowly poured out and coalesced at my feet. Once the vial was empty the cloud kind of popped in a vaguely round shape. It had a diameter of around three feet and reminded me a bit of rainbow cotton candy. The cloud was thick enough that I couldn''t see the ground but it was still a cloud. If it wasn''t for my trust in the System I wouldn''t willingly trust it to hold me. I tentatively stepped on it half expecting to sink through but only gave an inch or so. After that it was solid. I wasn''t sure if the thing could catch me if I fell on or not but it should hold. I stepped on it and grinned at the small crowd that had been gathering for the last few minutes. I gave them a wave and sent a small bit of energy into the cloud. The cloud lurched into the air as if I had slammed the gas. I cackled as I shot into the air. It took me several seconds to get control over the cloud but once I did flying was rather simple. It moved based on my intent so I had to send a mental command to the cloud. Furthermore, the cloud was really responsive. I wasn''t confident I could use the cloud to avoid something but travel should be no problem. Interestingly enough the cloud came with a secondary array that protected me against the wind. I couldn''t be sure since the temperature up here wasn''t too extreme but it seemed like it controlled for that as well. I made a mental note to study the array on the cloud later. If I could learn the protective shield it would be a boon. I wasn''t sure what made the cloud but if it was an array I wanted to master it as well. The flight to Xerxes and the others was way too short. I had half a mind to delay my arrival just to play with it a little more. When I saw the group I decided against it. Trey was flying about ten feet off the ground, his wings extended about fifteen feet while a ball of fire and ice floated on either side of him. His aura was unrestrained which only punctuated his new power. "Not bad. Not bad at all." I called out as I slowly brought the cloud toward the ground. "What! Where did you get that? And can I get one?" Trey asked as he returned to the ground. I stepped off the cloud and returned it to its vial, a process that took a mental command. Once it was gone, I grinned at Trey. "You don''t need it. What you should focus on is other movement abilities. If you can get some kind of teleport or something that just made you faster, that would be great." "I think I have a skill for that coming. My next skill quest seems like it would do that or maybe some attribute boost." I nodded. "How about you? Did you find something worth fighting?" I grinned at Xerxes who snorted and looked at the creature''s corpse. The beast was a big black and green cat. That made me think of poison. "It was a good fight for the cub but not a match for me. Is it time for us to go and hunt something?" I laughed. "I think it''s time for us to get back at it. I am not ready to head into the ocean but we could spend a bit of time hunting. Assuming you two aren''t done for the day?" "Fuck no! Let''s go. Can we go underground or maybe to the second continent?" "Do you think you could fly back to Amara from here? If so we could go underground." He nodded. "Yeah, I can fly for at least an hour if I don''t have to carry anyone." I nodded my head and then gestured to Xerxes. "Why don''t we have a little race?" I resummoned the cloud and climbed on top. First one back to Amara wins?" We each got into position and Xerxes unleashed a roar that started the race. The world rushed by me as I kicked the cloud into high gear. Trey and I chose to go above the tree line. While Xerxes tor straight through it. Our laughter filled the air as the world turned into a blur of green and brown. Trey took the lead as spiritual energy surged into the wings on his back. He reached a speed that would have made NASCAR drivers jealous. Next came Xerxes who ripped through the forest and whatever monsters were unfortunate enough to be in his way. Trees split and fell as he worked to keep up. "You got to do better than that!" Trey called over his shoulder. A laugh was my only response before I doubled my energy output. The cloud lurched forward before turning into a missile. I opened the Eye of Heaven as my normal eyes were virtually useless. I just barely caught sight of the city before we were flying over it. I briefly wondered what the former citizens of the UWG thought when they saw the three of us. I banished that distraction when Xerxes unleashed a roar and bounded up the side of a building. His energy surged and he leaped from one building to another. I passed Trey a second before we left the city limits. From there we were back into the wilderness. A trio of flying beasts that were a cross between a hawk and some kind of bug tried to attack. A ball of fire and ice took out one of the birds. I then unleashed a pair of spatial cuts into the other two. My targets were dead before they realized but Trey''s screeched until they hit the ground. The Tower of Amara appeared in the distance and we all upped our speed. I quickly hit the cloud''s maximum and had to pull back. Trey took the lead. I briefly considered activating Apportation for the win but decided against it. I slowed the could but Trey pulled off a feat flying that seemed impossible. He shifted himself into an upright position and then beat his wings to alter his momentum. Which allowed him to kind of flip in the middle of the air. After that, he descended to the ground with a grin on his face. Xerxes arrived second and then I brought the cloud down. "Boom. I am the man." Trey called out. I laughed and bottled up the could before I gave my attention to the two of them. His speed and skill were rather impressive. "Was that a spell you used or was it pure Tao?" "Tao. I just got the Strand of Frost a couple weeks ago so it isn''t as good. It was also hard to use both of them at the same time but when I did they were pretty impressive." I looked over at Xerxes. "You didn''t hit anyone when you went through the city right? The last thing I need is a bunch of innocent people getting hurt." "The humans are fine. I avoided them and went into the air." "Alright, let''s head underground and see if we can find something fun to fight." The three of us decided to set out on our own mostly to move faster. I was confident that any monster Xerxes and I couldn''t confidently handle would only slaughter everyone else. That was arguably true for Trey as well so there wasn''t much to worry about. Once we were far enough away all three of us unleashed our auras. The small fry scattered which should bring the more dangerous game to us. We walked for what felt like an hour before I caught something trying to sneak up on us. The creature was silent but that wasn''t enough to hide from my soul sense. The creature looked like an alligator only its scales were more like stone than anything else. I waited to see if there were others but it was a lone hunter. It took several minutes before it decided to make its move. It lunged for me as we rounded a bend. I unleashed a spatial tear that removed one of its front legs. Brown blood spurted on the ground as I reached out with psychokinesis and pinned it down. "I don''t assume either of you know what this is? I don''t know if these creatures have names or not. Nor do I have a spell that would tell me?" I unleashed a blast of psychic energy into the reptile''s head to put it out of its suffering. Trey shrugged. "Uh, no idea. There was a woman who had a scouting skill that could tell so they have names. I don''t know what it''s called though." I glanced over at Xerxes who shook his head. "Why would I know about a random creature?" I squinted at him and considered whether or not it would be racist to ask again. I was pretty sure assuming that he knew the name of beasts because he was a beast was at least speciest. When Xerxes let out a low growl I decided to let the subject go. "So it doesn''t look like we will get a lot of energy from these guys so do we want to stick together or split up? I can keep us in contact with each other." "I don''t need any more energy as long as I don''t use too much energy." Xerxes replied. "I don''t mind. You two scare everything off and I think our group might keep some of the smarter ones away. They typically avoid attacking groups of three or more." I activated Ethereal Convocation with Trey and then we walked until we found a split in the road. I sent Xerxes after Trey just in case and then I continued on. I withdrew my aura hoping to make myself as juicy a target as possible. My efforts paid off better than I thought. Five more of the lizards ambushed or rather tried to ambush me. Between my spatial and mental attacks, they didn''t stand much of a chance. I collected their bodies though I wasn''t sure if they would be worth anything. Part of me wanted to see what the meat tasted like and if it would be worth barbecuing. "I think it''s time we headed back. These guys will only be worth it if we slaughter them in mass." "Alright, I guess that''s fine. I am headed back." I sent the same message to Xerxes. We were back in Amara within the hour. "Alright, I will go by and improve your energy-gathering array. If we want to get serious about improving our levels we will need a mix of combat and cultivation. Not to mention meditation." "Sounds good to me boss," Trey said as he started to walk off. "Meet up here tomorrow?" I agreed and then opened a portal for me and Xerxes. I left him on his private floor before I headed up for a bath in bed. Chapter 59: I Hate Losing We started grinding before the sun was up the next day. This time we headed in the opposite direction and encountered more insectile creatures. These were much less entertaining to fight which meant I killed them without mercy. It wasn''t enough to reach level 46. Not by a large amount but after Trey gained another level I decided to call it. I wanted to do some exploring and the combat was a bit dull. I let Xerxes and Trey continue since they were having fun but I headed back to the surface. The problem was I wasn''t sure what to do next. I could go to the third continent but from what I''ve heard there wasn''t much there. It had gotten the "deserts" of the old world. Which meant it was a weird mixture of heat, and ice where growing crops were difficult outside of the forest and grassy areas. Chances are if there were any treasures there they wouldn''t be the kind I needed. There was the primal battlefield. I probably couldn''t beat the stronger puppets but I should be strong enough for the weak ones. I also wasn''t sure what Taos were there nor did I know what treasures were present. The only potential issue were the dangers. If I fucked up or if Binary wasn''t awake and something strong got out... Of course risk and rewards were a very real thing. Lastly I could return to making Arrays. The finances were a pretty nice incentive. It turned out the decision wasn''t mine to make. I hadn''t been in Amara for more than thirty minutes when Aaliyah ran up to me. She looked like she had just gone through a battle. That mixed with slight fear in her eyes told me all I needed to know. "Where?" "He''s on the third continent. He killed a town and is waiting." "Xerxes bring Trey and be quick about it. I might need your help." I sent out a string of commands to my council and leaders of the army. Amara was shut down to all visitors and the array was active within ten minutes. It took too long. Every second felt like an eternity. I wasn''t sure if this was another trick from the psycho or if he really wanted to end this. Which meant I should have been there already. Still I couldn''t let that distract me. That could also lead to disaster. If this was a trick or some kind of ploy to get me out of Amara... well I just couldn''t any of it happen. When Xerxes and Trey arrived I gestured for the former to follow and the latter to go. I held up a hand to stop his attempt at arguing. "No, you can''t come. You aren''t strong enough and I don''t know what he has planned. Stay here and take care of everything with the council. Keep them safe." I paused and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "If something happens here while I am gone I leave it to you. Amara is yours to defend." Watching the disappointment in his eyes be replaced with excitement and then grim understanding caused a mix of emotions in the pit of my stomach. I loved that he was taking this seriously but apart me knew it wasn''t fair. This was a hell of a responsibility for an adult let alone a teenager. Still there was nothing I could do about it. I decided not to say anything else and turned to Xerxes. I updated him on the situation as we made our way to the teleporter. "So we are hunting another predator. It is not good to go to him." I grinned at him and shook my head. "Don''t tell me your afraid?" The massive Qilin growled as we enter the room. The three guards froze but neither of us paid them any attention. I placed a hand on the teleporter and in the next moment I was standing in sandy square. I wasn''t sure where this place was before the System arrived. Likely somewhere in the middle east and it wasn''t important not now anyway. I briefly considered summoning the cloud but decided against it. I wasn''t confident dealing with attacks in the air and my gut told me that the ground would be safer. We entered a full sprint as my mind raced. We had tried to learn as much as possible about the Herald but the chaos caused by the System made it impossible. He was either a murderer already who was either free now and used the System as an excuse. Or he was someone who went mad after. Either way he was a monster now. I was pretty sure that I was stronger than him overall but his disappearances made me think he had gained some advantages. If he had a treasure like the bomb than we might be in trouble. Hell if he had a strong weapon I might be in a bigger problem. Either way there was no use to making him a bigger threat in my mind. We were going to fight each other either way. I wasn''t sure how long it took us to arrive but when we did I had almost wished we hadn''t. The town was clearly a victim of the System''s randomization as it looked like somewhere in the middle east had been combined with a city block in Asia. None of that was what drew our attention. That was the stench of blood in the air. Xerxes was the first to notice and even the violent Qilin was unnerved. As soon as we were within the town''s limits a massive killing intent exploded from the largest building. It wasn''t hard to tell that he was calling us. Which was irritating but I wasn''t an idiot. I wasn''t going to go directly to him. Instead we ran up a building that was in between us. I expanded my soul sense to verify that there weren''t any traps before we approached. We stopped on a stone building about thirty feet away and below him. The Herald had gone through a transformation since the last time I saw him. He now wore a black and red blood stained robe with a single nasty blade on his hip. The robe had an array going through it but the real point of interest was the knife. It was definitely a relic and one that was awakened or rather had a proper spirit with it. The blade reminded me of something a serial killer would use. The blade was serrated which only added to the intimidation factor. The himself looked oddly calm. "Hello there powerful leader." He grinned and ran a finger over the tip of his blade. He drew a small drop of blood, that was immediately drained by the knife. "I see you''ve gone for the serial killer vibe. At least you haven''t hung corpses from the wall again." The Herald cackled and looked over at Xerxes. "And this must be the little puppy I''ve heard about. I didn''t take you as pet guy." Xerxes'' killing intent exploded. It felt like a primal beast god had stepped onto the battlefield. His energy surged but I placed a hand on his shoulder to delay the blast of fire I knew was coming. "What are you doing? or rather why have you gone through this?" The Herald tossed his head back and laughed. "Do I need a reason? Why are you doing what you want? Why are you fighting, building your little city? This is what the System wants. Who am I to question it?" He took out his dagger and spun it in his hands. "Why should we fight it? You feel the energy same as me. You''ve drunk from the well it provided. Why should we allow kill the beasts?" His laughter cut off abruptly right before a scream of danger forced me to my right.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. I narrowly avoided a slash that dug nearly four inches into the stone. Thanks to the Eye of Heaven I knew what happened. He had unleashed a sharp Tao that just slashed at me. It was similar to what I could do with space but different. I activated Psychic Aegis and Xerxes unleashed a blast of fire. The Herald''s laughter erupted as he disappeared. My eyes widened as he appeared in front of me and slammed his dagger into the shield. Aegis held for little more than a second before it shattered and I was forced to dodge. We exchanged a flurry of blows before Xerxes charged him. Xerxes'' attack forced us a part. The herald activated his movement skill and disappeared. I rolled my shoulders and expanded my soul sense to search for him. He was clearly faster than me but our strength was similar. "I think you might need to take charge buddy." I looked down at Xerxes howled in response. A moment later the Herald reappeared two buildings over. I formed a dozen psychic blades and was about to charge after him. When he activated a new skill. A crack in space opened and a creature that looked like a blood red hound stepped out. At first I thought he had a pet but that wasn''t it. This creature was made out of energy. It reminded me a bit of the golems. "Here doggy doggy doggy" The herald began. Xerxes let another howl as the Herald and his pet stepped onto a rooftop. "You are going to have to use your Tao against it. I don''t think its solid either." I started. "Try not to swallow of any of it." Xerxes and blood dog leaped for each other while I devoted my attention to the Herald. I launched my blades before he had a chance to activate his movement ability. The Herald ducked in narrowly avoiding the first two blades. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the other ten blades came at him from nearly every direction. Just before they would have slammed home he unleashed a Tao field that was reminiscent of a dozens of omnidirectional slashes. My blades were eviscerated. A scream of danger a second before he was in front of me was my only warning. I expanded my own Tao field and space solidified around us. It was like his dagger was stuck in molasses as he shot for my heart. I unleashed a spiritual energy infused side kick into his chest only for his robes to absorb most of the impact. The Herald shifted his blade into his off hand and swung it for my throat. I brought up a hand to block the blade and had to bit back a scream of pain. The blade started draining blood from the wound. I unleashed psychokinetic blast to separate us before it could take too much. The herald twirled the blade in his fingers just before energy surged into his right arm. A second later a bloody mist spread out from his body. The mist reminded me of Realm of Consciousness only it felt more evil. Like I was about to enter a killing field. I activated Realm of Consciousness and the two domain abilities clashed. The world around us was delineated where one side was cloudy misty field while the other was killing field. An indigo sun was born a second later as I activated Psionic Rain. The Herald faded back into his skill so I decided to target everything. Dozens of psychic blades shot after him. I expanded my soul sense but once it tried to penetrate into the bloody mist it was like trying to see through a snowstorm. "Come now. Show me more" The Herald''s voice was distorted as if it came out of a horror movie filter. I circulated the Tao of Adamance through my mind as I considered my next steps. He was faster than me which meant if we got pulled into a game of hit and mouse I would lose. He was faster and unless I used Apportation it would be harder for me to escape his mist. I could use the cloud but that would make me a bigger target. A scream of danger pulled me out of my thoughts as a bloody figure rushed toward me. At first I thought it was the Herald but it wasn''t. It was like blood elemental. Some how the liquid humanoid was able to find me despite the mist. I formed six psychic blades and launched them into the thing but as soon as it was down two more entered. I took out another one but the second cut me across the back with sharp talon like claws. When it started draining my blood I cursed. Was this the ability of his knife? I unleashed Psychic Blast into the elemental and then waited. When nothing else entered my territory I let out a sigh and activated Apportation. As soon as I stepped out of the portal the Herald was in front of me. Blade slicing through the air. Once again I sacrificed my right arm to avoid a lethal blow and leaped backwards. The lack of blood in the wound only made the fight stranger. I activated Inverted Dimension followed by Manifestation of Perfection. As soon as I connected to both spells I figured this battle was over. I unleashed a spatial slash aiming to remove his head. Just before the spatial attack hit he used his Tao field. This time it wasn''t enough. He barely managed to avoid the decapitation in exchange for gouging out his right shoulder. If it weren''t for his robes it likely would have taken his entire right arm. I stepped forward ready to unleash another set of attacks and to end this. When he started laughing. In the next moment all of my spells collapsed as a twisted cage appeared. It was made out of a pitch black metal that was covered in bones and barbed wire. I tried to activate Apportation but the spell failed. Further trying to use the Tao of Compression felt like fighting through tar. "Like it? This is my level forty skill. Nightmare Cage." The Herald''s voice once again was altered. It seemed to come from all over the cage and it sounded like the stuff that nightmares were made off. A pervasive terror settled on me like a weight. "So its like Manifestation?" I grinned and circulated the Taos of Adamance and Lucidity, one after another. A complex storm of emotions formed in my stomach as the cage began to rattle. I knew I should be worried. That this was a bad situation to be in but I couldn''t stop the joy I felt. This is a fight! I tried to unleash a spatial blade at the cage but what formed could barely cut anything. I didn''t bother shooting it at anything. The Herald appeared about ten feet away. His dagger twirled while he laughed like a maniac. I formed another halo of psychic blades as I tried to decide what to do. I unleashed my blades but before they could cross half the distance chains from different points in the cage unfurled and slammed into them. "I might need some help here buddy." Xerxes didn''t respond but he did send reassurance down our bond. "I don''t get it." I began. "With your strength you could have made a country. You could have done so much but instead you choose to kill the weak?" The Herald grinned. "I choose to do what the System wants. The others are pathetic. You''ve had to see it. Look at this power." He gestured to the cage around us. "We have strength that would have made us gods. We have a teacher willing to guide us on the path. What other excuses could they have?" The more he spoke the more I had to admit I agreed. Not that I wanted them all to die. I shook my head and formed another halo of blades. The Herald blurred but this time I was ready. I activated Psychic Aegis just as he reappeared. The wall only held for a second, but a second was more than enough time to launch my attack. The cage managed to protect him from two of them but the rest rained down. The Herald abandoned his attack and retreated to the edge of the cage. He swayed on his feet briefly before he steadied himself. A Tao related to fear spread through his body. For some reason the fear calmed him down instead of anything else. "Aren''t you the same?" He started. "Sure you aren''t hunting them for their energy but you are using them. They''ve become little more than slaves and servants." I activated Psionic Rain and once again a indigo sun was born. Before I could release the attack five chains shot out and engulfed it. My connection to the spell broke and disappeared. I ruefully shook my head and stared at him. "I got to admit that part''s pretty irritating." I formed another halo of blades as the Herald rushed me. He flipped his dagger into an ice pick grip and swung at me. I countered with a psychic blade and slammed a right hook into his chin. My blade held his for less before it slashed across my shoulder. Once again it stole more of my blood. I swore as I summoned a package from my ring. I was sixty percent sure that what I was about to do wouldn''t kill me. I wanted to say that I was doing this for the greater good but that wasn''t the case. I sent a small amount of spiritual energy into the array and launched it at the cage''s ceiling. I watched the bomb slam into the cage just before everything exploded. Chapter 60: Moving On I summoned a simple defensive array that I planned to study. I activated the array and an earthen shield wall appeared. The wall weakened the explosion but wasn''t able to stop it. I expanded my Tao field and activated the array in my robes as the explosive wave washed over me. The cage was decimated and I lost sight of the Herald. The world had been drowned out by the explosion. I wasn''t sure if the Herald''s skill was a different space or just sat on top of the town. I dropped to my knees and covered my head hoping that all those school drills would pay out. Several bones snapped as the explosion forced me down. A second later the ground gave way and slammed into something metal. I tried to rouse my Tao to reinforce my body or make another shield but it was like my body was paralyzed. When the world returned I lay in the middle of a massive crater. The bomb had almost destroyed the town and every part of my body ached. I let out a groan of pain as Xerxes landed next to me. I got to my feet and looked at my partner. He had a nasty wound going down the right side of his face and his left leg was wounded. Further, his aura wasn''t even half as strong as it used to be. "He isn''t dead." My voice came out hoarse and softer than I expected. I got to my feet just as the Herald managed to dig himself out of a building. I tried to form another set of blades, but I only managed one. Just maintaining that one blade took the majority of my focus. My head felt like someone was slamming an ice pick into me. Despite that, when the Herald pulled out a circular palm-sized object, my blood ran cold. "Good, good. I can''t wait to see what you can do." I launched my blade and Xerxes unleashed a ball of fire. Neither attack had made it half the distance when the Herald snapped the token. The next second he disappeared. I scrambled to pull up the Leaderboard half hoping that I hadn''t just fucked up. When I saw the names at the top I collapsed to one knee. The System''s Herald was gone. Truly gone. "Son of a bitch!" I wasn''t sure how long I sat there before I summoned a set of healing pills from my ring. I handed five of them to Xerxes and swallowed four. The sensation of my bones repairing themselves and the rest of my body healing only made me feel worse. There was no way for me to know where he had gone. On top of that, there was no way for me to go after him, and even if I could, I wasn''t in a position to bring him back, especially if the token was given to him by an ally. "We should get back" Xerxes said. "The others will need to know what happened and we have to recover." I gritted my teeth and wanted to argue with him but he was right. There was nothing I could do here. There was also a chance that either Azariah or Desbera could do something about it. They might be able to buy information on any strangers appearing. I sighed and turned around. "Can you walk?" Xerxes nodded but it didn''t take a medical expert to tell that his hind leg wasn''t in the best state. There was no way either of us was going to be much good in a fight. "Let''s stay here for an hour and then we can head back. I don''t want anyone to see us like this. It would really ruin the whole royal aesthetic." Xerxes snorted and lay on the ground. "Did you have to blow it up?" I chuckled and lay on the ground. "Either that or try to wait until my other spells were off cool down. Either way, it probably wouldn''t have ended well for me. That cage was a problem. What took you so long?" Xerxes let out an irritated snort and shook his head. "It kept returning. No matter how many times I killed it." "That sounds like an interesting spell. I wonder if he had to continuously fill it with energy or did it replenish from blood or from you?" "I will kill it next time." "Now that Xerxes is something we agree on." We stayed there for two hours before we made our way back. Part of me was upset that he managed to get away but there was another part. A part that I pushed as deep down as I could. A part that was happy that he escaped. He was definitely the most fun fight I''ve had. The only fights that could be compared were the ones with otherworlders. I had to leave Earth. We were back in time before I realized. A small group of Amaran soldiers were waiting for us. They were led by Aaliyah and Christopher. The relief in their eyes didn''t quite match the apprehension in the actual town. "I take it everyone saw the change on the leaderboards?" "Hell yeah, you actually beat that guy?" Aaliyah began before she looked us up and down. "Looks like he got his pound of flesh. Did you bring his corpse back?" I shook my head. "We didn''t kill him." That earned a round of murmurs and swears. I held up a hand to quiet everyone down. "We went at it and I used the bomb the UWG so graciously provided. We both survived but he decided to flee. He must''ve gotten a teleportation token and cracked it. He wasn''t in any state to keep going. Further, I don''t think he can return here. Earth should still be hidden by the System and he didn''t have any teleporters as far as I know. They should have all been controlled by others. The only question is what happened to the one he got from the tutorial. Either way for now he won''t come back." I was about to send my people back when a pair of women walked up to us. They were dressed in black and brown dresses with headscarves that reminded me of the Hijab. Only they were covered in tiny sigils. Further, they covered everything but the eyes. Based on their energy they weren''t even level five which only made their outfits more interesting. "Excuse us. Would you be the Leader of these warriors?" "I am. How can I help you?" I flashed both women a smile and then glanced at the trio of nervous-looking fighters behind them. There were two women and a man who all had scars. One of the women was missing their right eye. Despite that, they all had decent auras. Their energy put them around level ten or so which wasn''t bad. "Are your friends worried about approaching or worried that I won''t like what you have to say?" "A bit of both. We haven''t had the greatest history with strong people. We will have to ask for your forgiveness for any perceived disrespect." I chuckled and waved my hand dismissively. "It''s no big deal now how can I help?" "We were wondering what one would need to do to join your group? Or rather be under your protection. It isn''t hard to see what direction the wind is blowing."" "I wasn''t aware you wanted to do that. I was under the impression that you all wanted to keep your independence?"This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. The women looked at each other before the second spoke up. "Independence has its place. I hope you won''t begrudge us that." I laughed and shook my head. "Not at all. You and your people are welcome. You all would be expected to obey all laws and rules. Am I too assume you ladies are the leaders?" They both nodded and I continued. "I would love to hear how you two got the position for now I have no interest in taking control over it from you." I looked over at Christopher. "Can you arrange for someone to come over and take care of this?" "I can take care of it. Do you want us to station a group here to keep the town safe?" "Xerxes and I will stay here and set up a defensive array." I looked at the woman. "Would your people be able to take care of the defenses or should I send people here." The first woman shook her head. "We can manage. Especially if you keep your word with the array." "Oh right, would you mind telling me your name?" "Shamsi and Hasti." The first one introduced herself and then gestured to her partner. "Beautiful names. Are you related?" "Hasti is my niece. She was fortune enough to be in that tutorial." "I see, I see I wish the both of you good luck. I am going to set up the array." I gave them a polite smile before Xerxes and I made our way to the outskirts of the town. "Was it wise to let them join just like that?" Xerxes asked. I shrugged. "I don''t think they will matter much. They''re pretty weak. Though they must''ve done something right. I kind of want to know the story of their clothes. It might be worth it to learn the array." "Why didn''t you just ask them for it?" I couldn''t help chuckling at that. "It would be rather rude to ask for a woman''s clothes. Plus with my current reputation, it might not be viewed like a joke. The last thing I want is that kind of reputation." The Qilin snorted before unleashing a small blast of flame into a squirrel-like beast. The thing was as big as rottweiler and its teeth looked more like daggers than anything. Despite that, the creature was nowhere near strong enough to challenge Xerxes. It was dead and neither of us had to break stride. "Do you intend to give them an array? Without making them pay for it?" I shrugged. "Between the money from our array business and killing beasts. I am not exactly poor. On top of that what I want is to control the planet. If everyone needs me for their defenses and other arrays then they can''t exactly turn against me. In addition, once we leave Earth any uprising will be lessened if they can''t count on those shields." "So it''s all about improving things for yourself?" I shook my head and placed a hand against the bark of a sturdy-looking oak tree. "No, it''s a bit of both. I want everyone to be helped but why can''t I benefit from the arrangement?" Xerxes made out a sound that was a mix between growl and purr that made me stumble a step. The wave of amusement that passed over our bond made it clear what it was supposed to be. "Did you just laugh at me? Aww, how cute." I laughed and removed a set of array flags from my ring. A quick flexion of will and I ripped a five-foot chunk of dirt out of the ground. Next, I tossed a flag inside and dropped the dirt on top. "Don''t be an ass. I still don''t understand how that works. Won''t everyone just pull the flags up?" I gestured for him to follow while I plotted out where the next flag would need to go. "They could but they would have to know where to look. I doubt anyone on Earth could find them. Not unless they had a scouting ability designed for it. They would then need to see through the layers of dirt. Further destroying a few of the flags wouldn''t be enough. As long as the array maintains integrity long enough it will have served its purpose. Lastly, the array isn''t designed to keep this place safe no matter what. It will protect and buy time." "It would be easier to just make the people stronger." He grumbled. "Not everyone can be strong. Besides time is something everyone wants to buy. Even if it''s just five minutes." "Do you intend to go after the human? If we find him?" Xerxes finally broached the topic that had lingered in the air. I didn''t immediately answer him. Instead, I focused on placing another two flags before I sighed. "Probably. Though I wonder how things will change for us. I doubt he will come back to Earth. I don''t think he wants to fight me for it and I don''t think he wants it." "Yet you do?" I laughed and nodded. "Of course, how many people can say that they took over the world. I also want the titles and the power. I want it all." "You already have it." "I do..." We settled into a steady silence as we finished our circuit around the town. When the final flag was placed I sent a stream of energy into the last flag. When it was full a wave of invisible energy spread out and connected to the other flags. I felt the array come up but I didn''t trigger it. The shield wouldn''t be as strong as Amara''s but it should be able to deal with most beasts. "So now that''s done should we head back?" "You don''t want to hurt anyone else? No monsters or treasures on this continent?" I shook my head. "No we mostly need energy and the amount of slaughter we would need would be a waste. The others could use it to improve. We have a few other options. We can gather the energy but the battlefield could provide us with more. Treasures or other things might be there as well." "I thought you said we weren''t strong enough?" I grinned. "We aren''t. The strongest of the puppets or whatever they were could fly. That should put them in the third realm according to what I read in the academy. I am not sure we could beat one of those even if we cooperated but the rest. The rest I think we could handle. We also have the oceans to explore." "When do you want to set out?" "Let''s focus on recovery and managing our new territory. After that, we can go exploring." I stopped by to make sure that things were going fine before Xerxes and I left. We returned to Amara and split ways. I was about to head to the Tower to do some cultivating when Azariah strode toward me. She was flanked by two rather strong guards. Probably around level 10 or so. Which for the city was impressive. "Your ship has arrived. I have the time to show it to you if you like?" I raised an eyebrow and gestured for her to lead the way. "Alright, let''s do it. How much did it end up costing us?" "It wasn''t cheap but we were able to work things out with that treasurer of yours. Between your initial investment and the money we are making through the arrays, we haven''t lost anything. I can have a breakdown sent to you later?" I nodded and pretended not to notice that she hadn''t actually answered the question. I would need to sit down and manage my own finances soon. At least understand them a bit. I wasn''t sure if the System protected me from getting robbed like that but I didn''t think so. The System didn''t seem "kind" in the slightest. "Alright, is there anything else you can set up for us? Some more arrays to study would be golden." "Ah yes well that will be difficult in the short term. My trade connections aren''t the strongest and people have taken offense to what we''ve been doing. So far your work hasn''t caused issues for any of the top factions so we don''t need to be too concerned but..." I let the unsaid warning hang in the air for a few seconds before I shrugged. It didn''t really matter. As long as the earth was hidden we wouldn''t be in too much trouble and once I left the world I would handle things. If the worst happened we could abandon the business and focus on making our own arrays. "Are you able to get me teleportation tokens to any other worlds?" "Oh right, I am working on it. I should be able to manage one or two soon though. Your work has earned you some interest amongst the Formation and Scripter sects." "Can you get me some basic information on them?" "I can do so though they all have relatively strict requirements for potential students. You would need to take a proficiency test so I would recommend you prepare yourself first." I nodded as we entered one of the large warehouses behind the emporium. The warehouse was almost twice as big on the inside which was just cool. I was led through a hallway and into a back room where I found something strange. The best way I could explain it was that the ship was kind of trapped inside a bottle. I could tell that the "bottle" wasn''t tangible and was instead some kind of array. My best guess was that it was meant to show off the ship. Further, the array was based on the Tao of Space. Not too different from Compression though much higher quality or compression I guess. "This is my new boat?" I asked though I already knew the answer. I didn''t know anything about boats but that was closer to a yacht than what I was expecting. "This was so worth it." Chapter 61: All That Matters The ship was reminiscent of a pirate ship. It was made out of dark brown wood that was better than anything on Earth. The amount of energy each piece could and had gone through it was beyond impressive. Unfortunately, the spatial array consumed the entire ship. Which meant I wouldn''t be able to add anything. There were also areas that looked a bit like cannon holes though I didn''t see any energy sources in them. "I am glad you are pleased. The vessel is at the peak of what could be considered the early 2nd Realm. It should be able to handle any aquatic life on this planet." I let out a low whistle as I explored every inch with the Eye of Heaven. "Can I go aboard? How do we control it?" Azariah gestured for me to approach and then she settled into position behind me. "You would need a crew of around ten or so to run it. Though your talent in Arrays and energy control might let you do it with eight. Though it could be risky." We approached the bubble of energy and at first, it didn''t let us through. It felt like a literal soap bubble that resisted my approach. When the bubble finally broke I turned prepared to try and seal it but there was no need. The bubble had already sealed itself. "Is that how the ship will deal with the water? Is it strong enough?" She laughed and shook her head. "Forgive me Young Master I forget how new you are to this. That bubble will have no problem in the ocean here. It would be stable in an early third realm ocean though it wouldn''t survive against the beasts." I decided to ignore the laughter and turned my attention back to the boat. It was legitimately a wooden ship. I briefly considered asking why they would make something like this but decided not to. Either this was the only thing I could afford it was amongst the best available. Lastly, I also didn''t care that much. We meandered through the ship for a few minutes before we entered the command center. This room was a weird fusion of Sci-fi and fantasy. There were two tables each with four spots. In front of each seat was a circle that I guess was where a screen would appear. Behind and in between both tables was a chair. The chair was made out of wood, cloth, and some other comfortable-looking material. The whole setup reminded me of something from Star Trek or Star Wars. I made a beeline for the chair and sat down. "You should be able to manage a large portion of the arrays from here. Just send a small amount of mental energy into the console and it should guide you from there." I nodded and did as instructed. The chair worked a bit like an information stone. Only the information it transmitted was ten or twenty times more than anything I encountered before. A splitting headache began and I had to cut off the flow of information. The majority of it was a kind of user guide. I could give people designations that would let them access the ship. Everything from radar to weapons and steering. I could control the steering from the chair as well as delegate it. The ship also had a minimum intelligence to attempt it. I was just barely above the threshold which meant fine controls were likely out the window. I wasn''t sure I could find a decent crew so that was something else to worry about. "Let me guess I would need to train people to be shipwrights and captains?" "That is usually a devoted effort. Your people won''t be traveling the multiverse anytime soon but for what you want it for this vessel should be enough." "On that, we agree. I am going to take some time to get used to it. It feels a bit like downloading a massive file. On top of that controlling the streams of mental energy is a pain." Azariah shook her head and turned to leave. "I am sure you will master it with time, Young Master. Should you need anything more please feel free to come and find me." I watched the draconic woman until she was gone and I was alone in the cockpit. "Is it a cockpit or bridge when you''re on a shipping vessel?" I murmured out loud. I took thirty minutes to go through the rest of the ship''s information and was shocked. The ship could be shrunken down. It came with its own storage box that would be the size of a suitcase. I couldn''t put that item into a storage ring though which was annoying. The ship was also pretty modular as well. If I wanted to I could replace nearly everything. It would require a skilled crafter though. I could possibly learn the array portions but when it came to the actual ship I had no idea what it was talking about. When my headache faded I finished absorbing the rest of the information. After that, I bound the ship to myself with a mental imprint and a drop of blood. With that done I left the warehouse and made my way to Amara proper. The ship''s presence did change things a bit. There was a part of me that wanted to explore the oceans now which wouldn''t necessarily be a bad thing. It would let me test out the weapons and how energy worked. Would I get credit for a kill with the ship''s arrays? Further, the vessel had private quarters for the captain and their second in command. It could house a total of twenty other people in what were basically barracks. Based on the information downloaded the beds were relatively comfortable but there wouldn''t be a lot of space for cultivation. Energy would be dense enough but divided between a whole group the process would be difficult. Probably still better than some of the worst places on Earth. I might be able to improve the gathering arrays to help it. Either way, all of that would be a future problem. Today I needed to decide who would make the trip. Xerxes would likely alternate with me in my room. Trey could take the second-in-command spot though it might not be the best to give him the power associated with it. After that, I wasn''t sure. I activated Ethereal Convocation to connect to Christopher and Keshaun. "I need you both to make a list of around twenty people. I am going to explore the ocean soon and I need people. I want some of them to be able to defend themselves and some people who be able to navigate. If we can get people with seafaring experience I would appreciate it." "Do you have any other requirements? Must they be cultivators?" Keshaun responded. "Hmm no not necessarily. If they are willing to come they are welcome. They should be made aware that things won''t be safe. The situation is dangerous. For now, make the list and include anyone who could fit the criteria. I will decide who to invite after." "I will see what I can do." Keshaun said before I felt the connection to him fade. "I will do what I can but we don''t exactly have a navy." Christopher began. "I might be able to find people who were in navies. Do you want me to check in with just our soldiers or should I look into people from other settlements?" I briefly considered restricting the opportunity to just "our" people but I decided against it. Ultimately everyone on earth was "our" people. The last thing I needed was to divide my people. "Yes, anyone no matter their previous allegiance. Further, make it clear that everyone is welcome to participate in the contribution system. I want to integrate settlements as we get them."This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Christopher asked a few more questions before I ended the connection. I was about to enter the tower to focus on cultivation when a group jogged up to me. The group included five people three of which were women. One of the men somehow looked like he had just stepped out of the Fashion Week catalog. He even wore a proper grey business suit. Despite the attempt to look calm, he was nervous. His eyes fidgeted between me and the Tower as if he wasn''t sure which way he should be looking. His step faltered as he approached as if he was giving himself just a little bit more time before he needed to speak. The man had consumed so much of my attention that I hadn''t noticed the trio was carrying a flag between them. The flag was simple but beautiful. It was sky blue and there was a design on the front though I couldn''t see it from this angle. "Hi, um I mean hello Mr. Jackson." The first woman began. She looked like she couldn''t have been older than 17 or 18. "We took a quest in the merit exchange to design a flag. We were wondering if you could confirm it as complete?" I blinked several times out of confusion but the group must''ve thought it was displeasure because they stammered out a few words. After that, they started to walk away but I stopped them. I was pretty sure I hadn''t requested a flag but now that I had one. I definitely wanted it. "You are going to have to show it to me." I smiled and stepped closer. Two of the women unfurled the flag and stood at either end. While the man and woman who spoke up stepped in front of it. "We decided to use a pattern inspired by fantasy and real life." The woman began before gesturing to the man. "We decided to use the central tower as inspiration. In addition, we chose a color combination that would invoke both awe and hope. We weren''t sure if you had any preferred colors so that could be changed if need be. The pair kept talking but I had stopped listening. The flag was for lack of a better word beautiful. It made it look like the central tower was just in front of the shining sun and both were framed against the sky. There were small geometric designs that spread through it that I didn''t get at first. "Are those supposed to be sigils?" "Ah yes, we had heard that you worked with them so we thought they would be a good touch." The fifth member of their group added. A skinny androgynous person with dirty blonde hair added. "Am I to assume that was your contribution." I grinned at them and at the rest. "I think that flag will do fine. You can count the quest complete. Can you leave the flag with me? I want to have it mass-produced. I can also pay you all for it in addition to the points." The group shook their hands so fast that I was worried they would knock them off. "The contribution points are fine. The things inside are more than what we need. We can also exchange them for System Credits if we really want though the exchange rate isn''t great." "Fair enough. Feel free to let them know that everything is accepted. If they need anything more have someone let me or the council know." They handed me the flag and I sent it into my ring. I exchanged a few more details with the group and found that they were fashion students. Though they were from different parts of the world. When we were done the group left and I continued into the building. I left the flag and instructions with Saanite before I headed into my home. Xerxes was leaving his cultivation chamber as I was headed up. "I am going to help the cub with his hunt. I want to test my strength further." I raised an eyebrow at the Qilin and then chuckled. "I hadn''t asked. Feel free to have fun with the ''cub''." Xerxes snorted and I opened a portal for him. Once he was gone I sent a warning to Trey. After that, I shut the door and entered my cultivation chamber. I devoted the first few hours to meditation. I was on the path to improving each of my Tao strands but that was a long-term goal. I briefly considered looking for treasures to help but I wasn''t sure. Apparently, it wasn''t the greatest idea to just consume everything. You needed to properly understand your Tao and if you borrowed that understanding from drugs. You risked hurting yourself. As Desbera explained it was a bit like building your house on sand. It wouldn''t be able to hold up the grand weight I wanted to place on it. In this case, a collapse could lead me to disaster. I wasn''t sure you could recover from that. On top of that, I wasn''t in any rush. My power was fine, my Tao was fine now was where I needed patience. When my meditation ended I pulled a few more spirit stones and placed them within the array. Next, I grabbed two more crystals and crushed them to improve the atmosphere. With everything ready I sat down and began to cultivate. After the battle with the Herald, my channels were parched. Like a desert in desperate need of rain. Further, the damage hadn''t fully healed. The remaining damage couldn''t be healed with any pills I had. Which meant time was my best bet. I threaded the energy through my channels and into my dantian. I watched my energy slowly refill. The lack of kill energy only added to the complex feelings in my stomach. I pushed the emotions down and took a deep breath. I slowly let my power build as I entered another meditative trance. This one is just to stay calm and to speed up the recovery of psychic energy. A soft alarm shattered the calm and quiet in my chamber. Four hours had passed by in a blink of an eye. I slowly opened my eyes and cracked my neck. I still wasn''t sure why I still did that. My muscles felt fine, stronger than ever before. I got to my feet and thought about what to do now. It would be faster to stay here in cultivate than to go and fight but I was antsy. Or rather the battle made me crave more. I had half a mind to go sparring with Xerxes. I sent a message to the rest of the council two at a time to get up to speed on what I missed. The short of it was nothing. Saanite had explained the flag and people were working on making more. It turned out that someone had managed to reawaken more technology with arrays. The arrays were super basic but they allowed things like printing presses, TVs, and other things to function. Something that left me feeling a bit odd. The old and new were clashing strangely. From there I traveled through Amara by rooftops. The dying light of the sun framed the city in a beautiful light. I watched the shadows to my right move as spiritual energy surged into them. A moment later a person appeared. I flashed her a pleasant smile and sat on the edge of the roof we stood on. "Everything going well?" I watched her lean against a wall through my soul sense. She didn''t immediately answer so I decided to give her the time. "Yeah, things are changing. It''s difficult to keep up with sometimes." I chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, you would think the world had ended." "What are you going to do next? I don''t mean exploring oceans and anything like that I mean for the planet? We''ve all been waiting to see are going to turn into Julius Caesar or will you leave everyone alone?" I shrugged. For the most part, things will continue like they are. I won''t be here forever. Hell, I probably won''t be here in five years. That''s not to say that I am going to never come back of course. My plan is to have the System recognize me as the leader. After that, I will let settlements govern themselves. The council will act as my will and I will make important choices when needed. "So democracy is dead then?" Her voice was solemn as if she already knew the answer to the question before she asked it. I paused the smile on my face faltering for the first time. "Yeah, though I imagine it won''t be too different for most people. They will continue with their lives. Doing what they can and what they want when they want. I don''t plan on turning the Earth into a dystopia or anything though holidays devoted to me sound fun." "What about the people who disagree? There are whispers about restoring democracy now that things have calmed down." I shook my head. "I don''t care. People have forgotten that the world has changed. Amara hasn''t dealt with a beast horde in forever. That''s mostly because of me. My gut tells me the System isn''t done with me either. So when the next trial comes they will have to figure out what they want to do. If they can''t wait they are welcome to deal with me before then." "You aren''t winning the whole ''not dictator'' thing," Aaliyah grumbled. "Should I? Honestly I am not sure that I am not a dictator. I am technically leading through power. Though I think I am closer to a monarch than a dictator." "I don''t think the difference matters to most." "I suppose you are right. The only thing that matters is my success. If I win history will remember me kindly if not then I guess you are talking to a monster." Chapter 62: Second Demiplane "I was hoping you could help me with something, " Aaliyah said. I raised an eyebrow at her serious tone but nodded. "Would you fight with me? I want to see just how strong I am and guess you are." I cocked my head at her and considered it for a moment. Her aura was decent and her level was high enough for the top ten. Still, she lacked something. I couldn''t put my finger on what it was but I could feel it. "Alright, we can do it on the rooftop." I got to my feet and started to push energy through my channels. I decided to let her make the first move. Mostly because I wanted to see what she could do. The darkness around me surged toward me like ink until it was crawling its way up my legs. It was oddly cold kind of like dipping my foot into an ice bath only it was wrong. I couldn''t put the sensation into words it just felt "wrong". I reached to try and rip it off only to realize I couldn''t. Or rather that the shadows were still two-dimensional. "Huh? Fascinating." I grinned and forced my Tao field out in every direction. The shadows practically exploded off of me. "Are they real? Or illusions? Are they dispelled by bright lights?" I asked though I wasn''t interested in her answer nor did she give me one. As soon as I retracted my Tao she moved in. Her daggers swung for my throat and heart. The daggers felt fake or I guess imitations of what The Heralds were. I grabbed the one going for my neck with psychokinesis and then caught the other with my bare hand. Her strength was no match for mine. I brought my knee up and then unleashed a front kick that launched her a few feet across the roof. "Your attacks lack lethality." I formed a dozen psychic blades and aimed them down at her. "You are going to have a hard time until you solve that issue. Do you have any more skills to show off?" She hesitated for a moment before the darkness surged. This time darkness flowed upwards as if gravity nor any other law of physics held sway over them. The darkness formed a kind of bubble around us. Almost all my senses were sealed as a domain skill activated. I closed my eyes and focused exclusively on my Soul Sense. I still wasn''t used to this view. It was kind of like my senses were everywhere in the domain. Without my eyes as a natural anchor, it was weird. Despite that watching Aaliyah was easy. She activated a skill that caused darkness to coat her blades before she ran at me. I stepped into her guard and avoided her initial swipes before separating. We repeated the process two more times before I decided to attack back. I pushed her right leg out from under her with psychokinesis and then summoned a psychic blade and blade it above her chest. I then formed multiple blades of compressed space and launched them into the darkness. The domain shattered and we were returned to the roof. "Not bad. You should be able to handle most people on Earth now. Romulus, Trey and maybe Amahle could be an issue." "How could you still see?" She asked with the barest hint of irritation and awe in her voice. "I awakened my soul sense." I held up a hand to stop the question that was sure to come. "Not important. It''s a thing soul cultivators can do." She slowly nodded and then I offered her hand. When she was upright she brushed off the front of her pants. "I couldn''t beat the Herald then?" I shook my head and tried to come up with a kind way of replying but I decided against it. Some things were better off said bluntly. "No, you didn''t attack me with real intent to kill. You should work on that. Second, your attributes are too low. I am not sure if there are other titles you can get but you should look into it. If not get into more fights and get more levels." Aaliyah sighed and walked toward the other side of the roof. "That''s what you said last time. When you go exploring can I join you?" I grinned and nodded. "Absolutely, your class seems to be related to stealth. That could be pretty nice. If you can get a bit stronger you might be able to assassinate people." She shook her head and stepped into the shadows. A moment later she was gone. I activated Apportation and watched the beautiful portal form. I stepped through and reappeared in the subterranean city. The number of soldiers present had increased to the point that this was one of the most heavily defended areas in Amara. Of course, as long as Xerxes and I were here it didn''t really matter. "You two still hunting?" "We have found something strange. The cub did not want me to share it with you." "Is it dangerous? Is it something you can''t handle?" "We do not know. The cub said it was a strange room. We have not gone further than the main chamber." "Alright, I am on my way." Once I got the directions from Xerxes finding them wasn''t too hard. They were roughly ten miles southwest of the town. When I arrived the pair stood in front of a somewhat familiar shimmer in the air. One that denoted some kind of demi-plane. "You all went inside? It''s dangerous to go into a demi-plane alone." I was about to hammer on that point when I remembered that I had technically done the same. I also likely wouldn''t have told anyone if I had found this one first. "The cub is fine. We did not go too far." Xerxes began in my mind. "It''s not a big deal there was nothing inside but some large statues and a door that we couldn''t open," Trey whined until glared at him. "And you were going to stop if you had been able to open the door?" When he didn''t answer I nodded. "As I thought. I am going to send word to Aaliyah and then the four of us can go in together. I pulled out a pair of spirit stones and one to each of them. "For now recover as much energy as you can. We might get into a good fight." It took Aaliyah nearly an hour to find us. When she did she was out of breath and a bit disheveled. "You good?" "Yeah." She panted as her gaze drifted from me to the others. "I was told that something happened?" "Huh? In retrospect, I should have chosen better words. The duo here found a demi-plane. We are about to go inside and see if we can find anything. Do you want to join us?" Irritation flashed across her face for a moment before she calmed. "Will it be dangerous? I mean for all of us?" I shrugged. "The last demi-plane was filled with the things that could still kill me so this one may have giant dragon monsters that could eat us all whole. It''s also possible that it''s just a massive treasury filled with gold, drugs, and diamonds." I chuckled at the end of that but figured it wasn''t impossible. If it was a tomb then people wanting to be buried with wealth was possible.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. "Whatever I am willing to go," Aaliyah replied. I tossed her a spirit stone so she could be at her best. "Take the time to absorb that and then we will head in. Xerxes and I will take the lead while you two support us. If we encounter something too dangerous you retreat first. No point in getting yourselves killed. As for loot, keep what you find." Everyone murmured their agreement and then I let them get to work. While they recovered I decided to enter the plane and see what I could find out. Now that I had the Tao of Compression stepping through the dimensional film felt different. I wouldn''t call it a homecoming, closer to a familiarity. The film broke and I stepped into a massive chamber. It was hard to know for sure but the ceilings had to be over fifty feet above us. There were four statues of seated warriors at the four cardinal points. Each one depicted bald humanoids in stone chairs. At first, I thought the figures were supposed to be human but the more I looked the more I didn''t think so. Despite the size depicted they didn''t have the same bone structure nor did they have ears. The statue''s body proportions were all odd to look at. Their limbs seemed a bit too long. They also wore clothes that made me think of ancient Rome. That kind of armor skirt thing they wore in history books. I turned my attention to the door and quickly realized the issue. The door was massive and made out of grey stone. The stone was of higher quality than anything I had seen until now. It looked like it could hold more energy than everyone in Amara put together. There was no way I could break it. Thankfully it didn''t seem like you were supposed to. The door had a massive array going through it. The array was once a work of art but the array failed when whatever made this place a demi plane happened. Or time has caused it to erode. Either way, I might be able to break it. I was about to get to work when I saw everyone enter through my soul sense. "What the fuck?" Aaliyah said as she looked around. "Are we in a giant''s throne room?" "See I said it was more like that old horror guy. Slenderman." Trey replied. The irritation that passed from Xerxes to me made it clear that this wasn''t the first time he had mentioned the horror character. Something I found hilarious. "Let''s hope this doesn''t turn into an actual horror movie. Why do you think this place is a tomb? I get the statues and all but it could be a throne room couldn''t it?" Trey''s eyes brightened like a kid on Christmas morning. "I hadn''t thought about that. Do you think this place is a piece of a king''s throne room? Desbera said that these planes are just smaller pieces of proper worlds. Is it possible that this place broke away from a castle or maybe is a castle? Oh maybe in a like a massive battle?" Trey''s tone picked up as he continued through what-if scenarios until I held up a hand to stop him. "I don''t know. There is an array on the door which is probably why you couldn''t open it. I am going to work on breaking it. While I do that the rest of you should explore the chamber. One of you might want to go back and ask Desbera if she has any more information that might help us. Oh and get the array that could make a permanent entrance. I forgot to bring that." It was Trey who volunteered to go back which left Aaliyah and Xerxes to explore. I spent a few minutes watching her try to navigate while ignoring the horse-sized Qilin before I turned to my work. I decided to spend a little while memorizing the array. I was pretty sure I wouldn''t be able to create something this complicated in the short term which meant this was invaluable. I spent about an hour jotting down notes on everything from the position of the arrays to their size and detail. Whoever made this had to be an array master which only increased my desire for this place. If I could find a heritage or something for array crafting my power would skyrocket. When I felt I was ready I got to work. If formed tendrils of spiritual and psychic energy each one focused on a different area in the array. Each step led to the next in a cascading series of actions and reactions till it felt like it would be impossible to stop. The array''s energy had to be properly redirected into the stone. Now that I was manipulating I could tell it was way too pure for me to cultivate. It seemed like anything more than a drop or two would overfill my dantian and burn through my channels. If it wasn''t for the quality of the array taking it apart this slowly would likely be impossible. I was forced to take several breaks and the process ballooned from a few hours to nearly three days before it gave in. I slowly withdrew my energy from the wall and let the vestiges of the array fade. I had tried to preserve it in a way that would let me reactivate it but that wasn''t possible. Or at least I wasn''t good enough. "Alright, lady, gents, and massive dog monster creatures," I said as I got to my feet. "I think it''s time we got this show on the road." I stepped up to the door placed a hand on either side of the seam and began to push. It felt like I tried to move a mountain with my bare hands. I pushed spiritual energy into my arms for an extra boost and only then did it start to move. The door slowly slid open revealing an ornate dark hallway. The ground bore the small remains of what looked like carpet while the walls had faded paint and carvings. When the door was open enough for us to get through it I gestured for the others to follow. "Are we taking any bets? Tomb or Castle?" I asked while I expanded my Tao field to cover us. "Um, I am leaning toward a castle or some kind of house," Trey said. "I can''t tell what kind of carpet this used to be but it seems a bit fancy to be a mausoleum." "I guess I will go with mausoleum just to keep things interesting," Aaliyah added. "Also plenty of mausoleums had fancy carpet. That was the whole point." Xerxes snorted and trotted a few feet ahead of the group. "Sense anything?" "No, it seems empty and the air is stale. I don''t think it has been opened in a long time." "What are the chances that this place is completely empty?" I asked. "I doubt it. The System probably wouldn''t just give you an empty building. It should have something dangerous inside." Trey replied. I was about to scold him for jinxing us when a wave of spiritual energy washed over us. I froze like a deer in headlights as I waited for something bad to happen. We stayed like that for several seconds before I chuckled. "That could have been¡ª" A slam resounded through the hall from somewhere ahead of us quickly followed by two more. The sounds were followed by a set of footfalls, each one was eerily in sync which made me think were dealing with golems or puppets like from The Road of Kings trial. I glared at Trey before I rolled my shoulders. "Alright, on the off chance we can''t beat whatever''s coming evacuate safely but quickly." I formed a halo blades, one from each Tao except for Flow. I then made a few more from collapsed space just in case mental attacks didn''t work on them. I felt the others ready themselves and I couldn''t help the grin that spread across my lips. We weren''t kept waiting long. A trio of ten-foot-tall stone warriors stepped into range of my soul sense. Each one was massive and looked like they could punch holes through solid steel. Each one wielded massive hammers that they held across their bodies. The arrays animating them were works of art and I wasn''t sure I could break them in the short run. "They are coming. There are three of them so stay on your toes. Xerxes and I will each take one. You two work together on the third." I had just enough time to give out my orders before the trio arrived. Seeing them with my actual eyes did nothing to change my perception of them. There was no way my fists would be able to break through them. I picked my target and shot all my blades at it. Just as I expected the psychic blades were useless but the rest were fine. My spatial blades weren''t strong enough to break through the stone but they were able to damage it. Which I considered a win. I conjured and unleashed several more blades while the others clashed with their opponents. Trey''s fire and ice attacks were sloppy but effective. The clashing temperatures created a weakness that wasn''t much at first but it slowly got worse. Especially when he focused on the same point. Aaliyah managed to take advantage of it her darkness let her attack a bit like an assassin only the statues didn''t have vital organs or any important points she could go after. It took the pair a few seconds to get into unison with each other but it was impressive. Xerxes was doing his own thing. His statue was stronger than him but not nearly as fast. The horse-sized beast unleashed a barrage of attacks that were whittling down the statue. I turned my focus back to my own battle. The cuts spread throughout my statue were mostly cosmetic which was great news. It meant that this thing could withstand what I needed. Hours of meditation were great for getting stronger but some somethings could only be done through combat. The statue raised its hammer and charged me. I cracked my fingers and formed a half dozen spatial slashes. "You are going to help me get a bit better with my Tao." Chapter 63: The Castle The statue rushed toward me as I began my experiment. I formed another set of spatial blades and shot them at the statue. They forced the statue back a few feet so I could focus on my experiment. I recalled the scene in Chimeric Forest where space broke and tried to cause it again. only this time I wanted to control it. I felt space shrinking but it wasn''t the same feeling as back then. This felt like I was squishing a rubber band. No matter how hard I tried I couldn''t rip space. It was like it was made out of rubber. When the statue crossed half the distance I was forced to abandon my practice and slam another set of blades into the statue. This time it stumbled back a few steps. Next, I reached out with psychokinesis and tried to rip the hammer from its hands. As soon as I did its finger melded together with the hammer. Suddenly I was trying to rip the entire statue apart. Something that might as well have been impossible. I shifted to a different idea. I tried to form a ball of compressed space in the palm of my hand. Only this time the goal wasn''t to make a ball of energy, it was to create a small hole. I wasn''t sure what would happen if I formed what would amount to a small black hole but I figured it couldn''t be as bad as the big one. Especially if I could control it. After three failed attempts I was forced to avoid a swing from the giant statue. I ducked the first one and was in the middle of retreating when my danger sense screamed. I activated Psychic Aegis and condensed my Tao field just before the ground exploded upwards. Two twelve-foot-long stone spikes shot up. I barely had enough time to leap away before Aegis collapsed and my Tao field was destroyed. "Well damn." I grinned and formed another set of spatial blades and launched them at the statue. This time I aimed at the thing''s neck. Three blades dug into its neck but it wasn''t quite enough. The statue stood up and raised its hammer. Energy from its array circulated like blood as it chased me. I narrowly ducked a swipe with its hammer when my danger sense screamed. This time I was ready and launched myself backwards. I unleashed a wave of spatial attack before landing. The golem used its hammer to shatter most but a few more slipped its guard. The golem tried to get back into the fight but its wounds were causing it to slow down. I retreated another ten or so feet and unleashed another set of spatial attacks. I wanted to remove the things head and finish it cleanly but it was smart enough to defend that. Instead, I took its right leg below the knee. The array that animated it was beyond impressive. As soon as the limb was lost the array attempted to restore it. The process was too slow to make a difference in this fight but it was still impressive. If anything it made me want the array more. If I could figure out how to make these things I could create a self-healing army. Of course, I didn''t have access to this level of stone. I unleashed another set of spatial attacks. Half were aimed at the arm wielding the hammer the other at the neck. The golem defended itself the best it could but it was nowhere near enough. It took only a few seconds for its head to fall off. I placed the pieces into my ring and checked on the others. Xerxes had reduced his statue to a pile of burned rubble. The Qilin sported a few bruised scales and a bit of blood dripped down his right leg but he was triumphant. I tossed him a healing pill and went to check on the other two. Their golem was still going at it. They had scored several good hits against it but they weren''t enough. Between the self-healing and their current damage output, they would be forced to fight for several more hours. I formed a pair of spatial blades and aimed them at the weak spot behind the things right and left knees. I had to resist the urge to shout timber as it fell forward. It struggled to get back to repair the damage while Aaliyah and Trey doubled their efforts. I decided to let them have it. I walked over and sat against the wall to regain a bit of my energy. Unfortunately, I didn''t have any stones or crystals that helped with psychic energy. On the bright side, it wasn''t hard to recover. I just needed rest and relaxation something that would be easy to get in a lost mysterious building filled with enemies. The others joined me when they finished their enemies and we decided to wait for around twenty minutes. After that, I hopped up and we continued. I tried to spread my soul sense through the ground or the ceiling but I couldn''t penetrate thanks to yet another array. "Looks like I won''t be able to see anything in the walls. Stay close I don''t want anyone getting separated or lost in here." We fell into speculation about the point of this place until we came across a "T" intersection. "What are we thinking? Left or Right?" "Well, I think we should go right. Right is always right." Trey said with a grin. I rolled my eyes but no one offered a better answer so we headed right. We came across another pair of statues. This time Xerxes fought with the duo and we finished them up without too much trouble. The lack of kill energy made the situation annoying. We continued onward until we found a room filled with art and furniture. Everything was massive so it wasn''t useful to us but I figured we might be able to sell it. "I am thinking that house or castle is winning out." I grinned and picked up a painting of a warrior. The figure wore armor that covered most of his body and held a plated shield in one hand. "I am going to take this." "I didn''t know you were a patron of the arts," Aaliyah asked as she grabbed a plate that was the size of her head. "Are you taking it because you care about the person or because it looks expensive?" I shrugged. "A bit of column A and a bit of column B. I do love good art. I remember when the orphanage took us on a tour of one of the museums. I felt like I could stare at the paintings for hours if not days. The amount of effort that went into making something like that. I don''t know who made these but it''s nice that someone still looks at them." "Assuming that none of this is cursed or something," Trey added as he picked a pair of chairs and placed them into his spatial item. "These things take up a lot of space so we can''t collect too much." I nodded and made a note to come back for the rest of the stuff. "We will have people come in and collect it later. With any luck, Azariah would be able to find someone who knows what this place is. Either that or they could find someone that wants most of it." We continued back down the hall until we came across a massive set of stairs. I couldn''t help but feel like a medieval knight as we ascended the rounded staircase. A part of me felt like we should be more worried about being attacked but I ignored that part. That part wasn''t any fun. We got to the top of the staircase and found ourselves in a massive hallway. The hallway went in both directions which meant we had another choice. We decided to go right and were about to start exploring when we heard a familiar sound. The wall to our right opened a metal giant stepped through. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. The giant was similar to the stones and likely came from the same "mold". Those were the full extent of the similarities. This statue was on a whole different level than the last one. I had to open the Eye of Heaven and push more spiritual energy into it to see the array inside. Even then it was more of a hazy outline than what I was used to seeing. The statue didn''t wait for me to finish my analysis. It drew a straight sword from the sheathe that came out of its right leg. My danger sense screamed and I activated Psychic Aegis as fast as I could. The wall had just formed when the statue slammed its sword straight through. The barrier shattered as we scattered for safety. I formed six spatial blades and shot them at the statue. All six shattered against its body without leaving so much as a scratch. The statue reorientated on me. The distance between us disappeared almost instantly. I brought up both arms and imbued them with spiritual energy before they slammed a boot into me. I was launched through the air. It felt like I had been hit by a runaway freight train. I conjured and fired another set of spatial blades but they fared no better than the last. A flare of red and then a fireball slammed into the statue''s back indicating Xerxes had joined the battle. I leaped up and pushed spiritual energy into the sigil for Inverted Dimension just as the statue turned the others. Geometric patterns washed over the hallway as my spell took over the area. The statue froze like a doll that had its strings cut. I formed another set of blades just in case my hunch was wrong. When the statue hadn''t moved for several seconds I laughed. The others looked at me like I was crazy and I briefly considered not explaining what had happened. "This is technically a different space the array in the puppet can''t connect to the building so it doesn''t know what to do. Now help me deal with it before it wakes up or something else happens." I launched attacks at the statues but my real attention was on Trey and Aaliyah. I hadn''t released them from the spell''s effect so this should be a good way to test how quickly a person could adapt to it. Especially someone who already knew what to expect. The results were a mixed bag. They knew what they wanted to do but they had to concentrate to attack where they wanted. That was made much harder when it came to movement abilities. I had Aaliyah test hers a couple of times. She basically couldn''t guarantee where should would end up. It wasn''t until she imbued it with the Tao of shadows that changed. Even with it though it was hard to do. If I assumed stronger people would adapt faster it would mean I would be safe in most fights. Especially since I would add in Realm of Consciousness. My only fear was someone like me. Someone with strong mental defenses. That was a concern for future me though. I turned my attention to the battle if it could still be called that. The metallic warrior had started to move again but it was a bit like it had lag issues. Its attacks were slower and much more predictable. It took us all working together but we managed to take it down. When we did I ended my spell and we returned to the hallway. "How long have you had that one? It seems a lot stronger than mine." Aaliyah asked. "I got it from a quest. It''s peak quality so it''s nice but you should be able to get something nice. I have a different spell that I got from my class that works kind of similarly to yours." She nodded and looked down at the ruined statue warrior. "Is there a way to get better skills? Outside of classes and quests? Mine give middle and high-quality skills." I shrugged. "Desbera mentioned that there were places you could buy them though they wouldn''t be cheap. You could also grab stuff from the System though I am told that those aren''t the best things to use." "Azariah said that they were trash and not worth buying," Trey replied a bit too eagerly. I glanced over at him and shook my head. "Not helping. From what I''ve seen opportunities build on one another which is why the tutorial was so important. From now I will focus on unlocking the rest of your class stuff. You might be able to make your own skills and if you do well enough there you could get rid of all the old stuff. Once you evolve your class you get the chance to get rid of the ones you don''t need by combining them with others." "Is that what you do with arrays?" She asked as I gestured for everyone to follow. "They aren''t the same but they are similar. From what I read improving or changing your sigils is about mental energy, energy control, and understanding of sigils." She nodded. "So it means that I need to study if I want to get the good stuff?" I grinned. "Get to reading. Now though focus on what''s in front of you. We might find information stones and crystals in this place. I imagine if this place stores valuables then what could be more valuable than skills and spells?" After that, we settled into a steady silence. My mind drifted to the beautiful fading architecture around us and I couldn''t help but wonder who made this place. I was pretty sure this was more a castle than a tomb. It made me feel like a dignitary would round a corner or step out of a side room but nothing happened. The rooms we entered were beautiful but that was it. Furniture, decorations, and even clothes were present. All were sized for giants which increased my disappointment. I was worried that we would only encounter the powerful statues on this level but that wasn''t the case. We faced off against more of the stone statues which allowed the others to get more practice. We continued like this until we came across a cultivation chamber. The room was connected to a large bedroom and was as big as a high school gymnasium. A massive array was carved into the stone floor that reminded me of ritual circles in movies. There were five outer circles where I assumed you would place treasures. It was the fifth of these circles, the one furthest away that drew my attention. There was a treasure inside. The treasure didn''t call to me but the energy inside was pretty good. Probably the middle condensation realm. The treasure looked a bit like the core of a star. Or a compressed ball of liquid fire. "Can I have that?" Trey asked. His mouth practically salivated as he looked at it. I checked with everyone else but no one was interested in the item so I shrugged and let him take it. I tossed him a scripted box and he stored it inside. Part of me wanted to take the floor with us. This array was of higher quality than the ones in Amara. Unfortunately, it wasn''t possible. I could tell that anything I did to break up the pieces would destroy the array. "Alright, let''s get a move on." We headed back down the hall and started down the other side of the hall. This side was similar to the last down the cultivation chamber. Only there were no treasures. If I had to guess this floor was likely for either lesser important royals or maybe important guards? There was no throne room or anything that made me think of a royal family. "I think this might be for visitors," Aaliyah stated. "Maybe where visitors or dignitaries would stay in the castle. Assuming that this is indeed a castle." I considered it for a moment and it made a lot of sense. "If that''s the case then are the pictures supposed to impress people or are they supposed to intimidate them?" "It could be both depending on who is using the room." I shrugged. "Either way it doesn''t matter now. Does anyone want to retreat?" When no one said anything I gestured for them to follow. We made our way back to the staircase and continued up. The next few floors were much the same. More stone statues attacked and we were getting much faster at dealing with them. When we worked together we could kill them in less than fifteen minutes. It wasn''t until we had gone up five floors did we came across something different. We were attempting to leave this section of the building for a different one when we came across a collapsed staircase. The staircase was covered in stones but there was a path that led outside. A path that let us see where we were. There was a literal battlefield worth of corpses. The smallest amongst them were six or seven feet tall while the biggest were closer to fifteen. Most of them were nothing more than skeletons but a few weren''t. A few were strangely preserved almost like someone had turned them into mummies. The grandeur of the scene was only rivaled by its solemnity. The strangest part of the situation was the barriers. In the far distance, the world just ended. It was kind of like we were in a video game and that was the end of the level. Only that end was less of a wall and more of a dome. It extends all around us. "I guess that is where the demi plane ends?" Chapter 64: Marks "Should we go down? It seems like we would be going into a cemetery." Trey asked. "I don''t know. I mean it''s clear that we have to go down there if we want to advance. Just stay close?" I stared at the former battlefield as my danger sense piqued. It wasn''t screaming at me, it was more like a passive fear. A lingering fear. I shook my head and expanded my Tao field to cover us. "Stay close. Something dangerous is out there." I had to force open a window for us to get down but as soon as we did my anxiety increased. It felt like we were in some kind of horror movie and the background music picked up. Every step made me feel like a hand was reaching for the back of my neck. "You alright? I haven''t seen you look so scattered and afraid." Aaliyah asked. As her blade hand trembled slightly. "Yeah, yeah just danger sense and all. Honestly, it''s a bit irritating to deal with. I would much rather whatever¡ª" We were suddenly blasted with a wave of killing intent that made my blood run cold. I circulated my spiritual energy ready to blast any and everything. The others moved as Xerxes growled. A second later a pair of spectral giants appeared. One behind and one in front. The giants were in different clothes, with one in what was a weird interpretation of plate male while the other was in black robes. I was about to activate Psychic Aegis when my danger sense screamed. I wasn''t sure why but activating the spell seemed like it would get us all killed. "Move!" I grabbed Aaliyah and launched us nearly ten feet away. I saw Trey pop out his wings in the corner of my eye as Xerxes moved away. Aaliyah and I landed with a thud seconds before the giants slammed into each other. Their weapons clashed with a sickening thud before the two apparitions exploded. I stared at the spot where they had been in confusion. "Wh¡ªwhat?" I asked as I pushed spiritual energy into the Eye of Heaven. The eye revealed nothing which only made me more worried. I formed a halo of blades half expecting to get a new warning but nothing happened. "Were they illusions?" Aaliyah asked as she got to her feet and brushed the dirt off her clothes. I looked up as Trey slowly landed next to us and Xerxes leaped over a pile of stone. "It was real or at least the attack was real. Was it an array? Maybe something designed to battle invaders?" I shook my head and circulated the Tao of Adamance to calm myself faster. "There were no array flags nor were there any energy flows. There is nothing that would indicate an array. Nor were they puppets." "Is it possible they were real ghosts?" Aaliyah asked. "I mean I remember the tutorial worker mentioning that the undead existed. Maybe this was an undead castle?" I slowly nodded. "I don''t think they are undead or at least that this place wasn''t originally for the undead. Maybe they were attacked by undead but this scene doesn''t make sense. Either way, we should keep going." There were a few murmurs at that but the group wasn''t ready to run away. Once again I expanded my Tao field. I kept the Eye of Heaven primed on everything just in case some ghosts were watching. We pushed forward and came across several more scenes. Only some of which involved us. We were forced to duck behind a half-broken statue when a trio of giants clashed with axes raised. For some reason, these spirits were stronger more "real" than the rest. I wasn''t sure if that was due to how strong they were or if it was something else. I was starting to put together a theory about what was happening. "I think we are witnessing the battle. Like the spirits or images are people who fought here. It''s like the memory of the battle is replaying itself for us." "If it''s just a memory why can it hurt us?" Trey asked. "If it were to kill us would we actually die or would something happen?" "I doubt it. I think the battle happened but the echoes or memories are still able to affect things. The wounds from their battles are still breaking things. We should avoid the attacks the best we can." "I can''t smell any of them." Xerxes replied. "It''s like they aren''t really there." When everyone was up for it we continued. We passed through an area with a solitary corpse when my treasure sense picked up. I scanned the body hoping to find a weapon or piece of armor but that wasn''t it. The only important thing on the body was a ring on the giant''s left hand. I was about to march over and take it off when I thought better of it. Instead, I reached out with psychokinesis and tried to gently remove it. The process was harder than I initially thought. It was like trying to use fine control over a muscle I just learned how to use. When I finally got the ring off I had to resist shouting in excitement. I pulled the ring, which was big enough to be a bracelet over. I bound it to myself and it shrunk. I was about to send my consciousness into the ring when Trey spoke up. His excitement was almost palpable. "Wait, wait, wait could we do this with the armor too? Could make the giant armor fit us?" "I don''t think so. The ring is a spatial item for one and for two I think it would need to be of higher quality. Maybe if they were relics." I passed my gaze over the ring and what I saw made me gasp. Most of the ring had collapsed likely from the ages but what was still there was special. First, there was a small mountain of spirit stones, all of which were 2nd realm. Second, there was a skill stone. I pulled out the stone and sent a small stream of energy into it. It wasn''t enough to learn the ability but it was enough to figure out what it was. As soon as I saw it I lost interest. It was a weapon skill meant for a short sword though it could work with a dagger. The skill would cause a ramping effect where each hit made you a bit faster. It wasn''t anywhere near good for me but Aaliyah was a different story. I tossed it to her. "See if you can learn that." "Are you sure? Even if you don''t want it you could sell it or something?" "It''s fine I am going to keep the stones to help me level later so I am good. If it helps you get stronger then Amara gets a bit stronger. Which really means I get a bit stronger." I flashed her grin as she sat down in front of a half-collapsed wall. While she learned the spell I glanced over at the others. "When she is finished I want to head into the castle. I am a bit worried that the battlefield will get more dangerous." I wanted to sit down and start absorbing my stones but I couldn''t focus. The passive danger had me on edge. Instead, I explored the area and tried to push together what happened here. From what I could tell it was the robed giants that had attacked. They advanced on the castle from the north where they were met by the knights. The broken pieces of statues told me that whoever lived here could control them or at least direct them. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. I had no idea why they were fighting. Neither the corpses nor the memories provided any hints for that. When Aaliyah finished with her skill we decided to continue. We got to the door without any more warriors appearing which was a stroke of fortune. I activated Apportation to take us inside the building since I wasn''t sure if breaking the door down would be dangerous or not. The last thing we needed was to get attacked by the spirit of an ancient king because we were rude. The room we entered was more beautiful than the rest. It had a grand staircase with black and red carpet. The carpet was faded, though it was in much better shape than the other building. There was a heraldic symbol in the middle of the carpet. One was two crossed hammers with a spark of fire behind it. "I wonder if these people were a family of crafters. Could that be the reason they were killed?" "Why would they kill crafters?" Aaliyah asked. "Well they could have refused to build something or they could have tried to build something too dangerous." I decided not to mention that if it were the latter it was possible that whatever they tried to build could still be here. If it was I wanted it and if it wasn''t then there was no point in getting everyone''s hopes up. "Let''s explore everything on this floor before we go up the stairs." Two halls lead off from this room. I picked the right and started walking. We walked for less than fifteen minutes before we found the jackpot. A room devoted to alchemy. There was even a faint medicinal smell in the air. It wasn''t enough to make me hungry but it was enough to make me steal everything. "Collect everything." I rubbed both hands together as my mind filled with the image of a literal pill mill. One that produced every pill Amara could ever need. The others were clearly in agreement because we looted the place in less than five minutes. Cauldrons, pillcases, and everything else found their way into a ring or bag. Xerxes even found a few dried herbs that he wanted. I wasn''t sure if beasts were better off with pills or the natural product so we stored them all. Desbera would likely be able to answer it. Only after we took everything that wasn''t nailed down did we leave. There was a staircase that led down from here and after a short conversation we decided to follow it. If our hunch was correct we should be able to go down and then back over. We descended into an area that was more basement and catacombs than a fancy castle. It was made of bare grey stone and dark metals. There was even a hallway that led to cells. "You know the fact that this is a real dungeon or prison makes everything much more real." "Well the dead people did that for me," Aaliyah replied with a deadpan expression on her face. "These people were probably assholes. I don''t think the dungeons will have anything for us. Maybe we should head back now? Or just leave. The last thing I want to deal with is the ghost or memory of a torturer." I cocked my head at her and then we picked up the pace. I used my soul sense to check each hall as we went through it. There was nothing of note down here. There were remains. Skeletons chained to walls, dried blood, and bits of clothes. I wasn''t sure why but the dead here felt worse. I guess it was because the people who died outside died fighting but these people. These people likely suffered greatly. By the time we left this area, we all were relieved. Strangely enough, the next room was a forge. The difference was so stark I had to step back into the dungeon. "Who puts a dungeon next to a forge?" "It would make good body disposal especially since you do not eat your corpses." Xerxes'' words caused me to stumble a step. I locked eyes with the Qilin and once again I was stunned by my companion. "What? Did he say something?" Trey asked. His attention returned to us from the wall he was examining. "No, no he did not. It is not important, we are just going to move on. Do you think you could get this place up and running? If you could reignite the forge maybe you could get something from it? Or maybe check the forge for a fire treasure?" The forge was closer to a giant furnace than anything you would have seen on Earth. There was a singular stone platform suspended over a massive pit. This platform held a giant workshop. Everything from old hammers to tongs and everything in between. Trey flew just above the pit and unleashed several balls of fire at something I couldn''t see. The expected sight of an inferno that would turn this place into an oven didn''t materialize. After nearly three minutes I would have accepted a dull orange glow. Neither happened. I couldn''t help laughing at him as he returned to the ground. "Maybe your fire just isn''t hot enough? What about any treasures inside?" Trey rolled his eyes and withdrew his wings into himself. "I didn''t see anything down there. It was just empty. I also didn''t feel anything so I don''t think there''s anything here." I expanded my soul sense to check and was about to agree when I saw something. There was a small array at the bottom of the pit. If I hadn''t had the benefits of the eye then I probably would have failed to see it. "There is an array." I activated Apportation and stepped into space a few feet above the black pit. I half expected some trap to trigger when I arrived but nothing happened. A moment later Trey stepped out of the portal. "Is it down here?" I nodded and started removing the metal pieces with psychokinesis. It took me a few seconds to find what I was looking for. I expected to find another treasure devoted to the Tao of Fire or perhaps metal but that wasn''t the case. It was a cube the size of my palm and gave a white transparent glow. "I think this is what would ordinarily power the forge? Maybe the fire would go in here and then you would trigger the cube?" I had more than enough experience with array breaking so this wasn''t worth thinking about it. I formed a half dozen threads of energy and snapped the array. Once it was gone I collected the cube but before I could put it away my body lurched forward. I could vaguely hear Trey speaking to me but it was like he was a world away. Before I could process what was happening my focus was pulled to my heart or rather the mark that had been placed there. Strands of energy reached out from it and grabbed onto the cube. I tried to resist, to break the connection but it was like the mark was a starving beast that had finally found food. I unleashed a blast of psychic and spiritual energy into Trey with enough force to launch him over ten feet away. Power surged through me like lightning the world shifted and I dropped to my knees. My breath caught in my throat as my spiritual energy surged. It felt like I had received a shot of pure adrenaline into my heart and dantian. I was filled with boundless power. I lost control over my energy and my Tao field exploded outward. Golden lines spread and crawled across my skin like fire ants as I struggled with the pain. A primal force took over my body, it felt like every muscle, bone, and cell had become supercharged. It felt like the process took an eternity before it stopped. My energy slowly calmed down until I could control it again. My head and heart throbbed as the golden light faded into my body. "Amari!" The rest of the world returned in a wave of sound. I held up a hand and tried to tell everyone to stay back but my voice barely whispered. Suddenly hands were on my back and a moment later I was turned over. Trey, Aaliyah, and Xerxes stood over me. Each one had different expressions, Xerxes looked like he wanted to rip the world apart, Trey looked like he had seen a ghost and Aaliyah looked like she was staring at a dead man. I flashed them all a smile but I must''ve looked worse than I thought. "What did you do." Xerxes'' words slammed into my mind with the force of a sledgehammer. "What hurt you." I groaned and forced myself into a seated position. I quickly withdrew my Tao field not wanting to cause any other problems. "I don''t know. I don''t know what happened. I think I absorbed whatever the cube was and the energy was too much?" I passed my mental eye over my body but there was nothing. The mark was still there and it felt a bit more potent but I couldn''t be sure I wasn''t imagining it. I pulled up my status screen hoping that the System would be kind enough to explain what happened. There was a change but it didn''t explain anything. The cube had allowed me to gain a level. I spent my free points and closed the screen. "Let''s rest here for a bit. I have a splitting headache and I don''t trust myself in a fight. Not right now anyway." I started to activate Apportation when a pair of hands grabbed me around the shoulders. I looked up as Trey expanded his wings and yanked me into the air. Chapter 65: The Throne We sat tight for two hours while I got control over myself. I was pretty confident I was fine after the first hour but no one wanted to take the extra risk. I attempted to connect to the mark but nothing worked. The Eye of Heaven showed me the energy inside after a while but that was it. The mark had absorbed a lot of energy. The energy it had managed to steal was immense. Far more than I realized, there was probably enough energy inside to gain one or two levels in my current state. The strange part was its attunement. It clearly had one only I had never seen this kind before. It was a weird golden color that reminded me of the prisoner''s hair. Our working theory was that it was somehow related to the Tao of Light, though it was very different from what I saw with Romulus. Of course, his was closer to the sun than pure light, so that might explain the situation. Regardless of the strangeness of the mark, the cube was definitely worth it. The additional level was worth it alone since almost nothing in here gave spiritual energy. "Alright, let''s go. I don''t want to be in here forever and the longer we are all gone the more chances for Amara to erupt into chaos." "What do you think would happen? We are still alive, the leaderboard didn''t change, and it''s not like someone is going to overthrow you in a few days," Aaliyah said as she got to her feet. I shrugged. "True but I am more concerned about a quest. The last thing I want is for the System to start something without me knowing." "Well, we could pick up the pace if you want," Trey said as he and Xerxes walked over. "We would need to stop going through each room." "Eh, we will be fine. I like the artwork." I expanded my Tao field and headed toward the exit. "I also don''t want to risk anything here getting out. Ideally, I want to find a way to resolve the memories or at least map them out. It would be a waste of resources if we couldn''t use this place." "Already planning your future castle?" Trey laughed. "It''s a bit big for us though." "Nah, this place is a bit old-fashioned for me. Plus I don''t want to climb the stairs to get everywhere. If we become friends with a clan of giants or something though it could be a good trade. It''s mainly the forge if we can get it ignited we might be able to build some nice weapons. Better than the stuff made with Earth''s equipment anyway. Worse case we would have a second forge so it would still be a win. "What if we can''t deal with the memories?" Aaliyah asked. "Well in that case we would restrict everyone to building. We haven''t encountered too many dangers inside. Not counting the statues." As if my words were prophetic, a wall opened and two stone statues stepped out. These statues wielded stone spears in their left hand but were otherwise identical to the rest. We fell into our familiar battle strategy and dispatched both of them. "Huh you know these guys are a bit too easy," Trey said as he picked up one of the spearheads. He placed it into his storage and jogged toward the other end of the hall. "I mean you both are getting stronger so you should be able to handle it on your own. Of course, that assumes you don''t get complacent. Once we leave we should have a sparing session." Aaliyah shook her head almost as soon as the words left my lips. "I think I''ve had enough of sparring with you. At least until I get to your level. There is something I want to discuss with you when we have a free moment." "We should keep moving." Xerxes said. "I want to find a good hunt and these statues are not worthy prey." I raised an eyebrow at the Qilin and looked over at the pile of burned rubble that used to be the statues. "They are pretty strong. I mean they would be somewhere near the top on Earth. At least in the top ten." "There is more to a hunt than power. They do not think nor do they have instinct. They just attack. It is disgusting." I shrugged and turned my attention back to the others. Who looked both irritated and curious. I quickly explained our conversation before we decided to move forward. "Do you think you could scout ahead?" I asked Aaliyah. She paused as if considering it for a moment. Her spiritual energy surged a moment later and she disappeared in a wave of shadow. "I got to get another movement ability. That''s dope." "You can literally open magic portals," Trey replied. "Like a doorway to another spot and you can go further than we can." I shrugged. "The greedy are never satisfied." I ducked out of the way as he swiped at me and then jogged forward. We gave the next few rooms a cursory look but there wasn''t much to see. This area was likely built for servants. The rooms were nearly identical and lacked any real customization. It reminded me a bit of being in a college dorm hall. Only it smelled better. Aaliyah reappeared when we reached the next flight of stairs. She gave a quick accounting of what she found before disappearing again. I activated Ethereal Convocation so she could update me in real-time. The next two floors are pretty identical to this one. There are pieces of furniture that could be valuable but nothing that would draw much attention. We decided to skip them for now. We would come back later and empty this stuff out after we dumped our storage. We eventually made our way back to the atrium which meant it was time to explore the main staircase. I decided to withdraw my Tao field to not risk drawing the attention of either a memory or an array. I activated Apportation to take us to the top of the staircase but no sooner had we stepped out of the portal did a pair of statues appeared. Both of them were made of metal and drew swords from their right legs. "Split up as we planned. Work together and join me when you can." I could practically feel the apprehension from Aaliyah and Trey but Xerxes wasn''t deterred. He unleashed a blast of flame into the right-most statue. The flame wasn''t enough to cause any serious damage but it was enough to draw its attention. After that, the rest of the trio moved forward. I waited until they put some distance between me and the last statue before I activated my abilities. I formed a dozen spatial blades and shot them forward like shards of glass. They slammed into the statue. A dozen scratches marred its form before it had crossed half the distance to me. Energy surged into Psychic Aegis until an Indigo wall sprung forward. The statue raised its sword and tried to split it in two. The wall buckled but held. A grin formed on my face as I formed a halo of blades. It brought its sword down again this time a spider web of cracks formed from the impact sight. It wouldn''t survive another hit so abandoned the spell and focused on offense. I launched blade after blade in a desperate offensive designed to rip this thing apart. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. I managed to take off the statue''s left hand before I had to retreat. I took the time to check on the others as I retreated away from the stairs. Blood poured from a nasty cut on the right side of Xerxes'' body. The wound was deep but the Qilin hadn''t stopped his attacks. If anything his ferocity had grown. Every once in a while the darkness around the statue would shift and a dagger would find a weak spot. Somewhere the metal wasn''t quite as thick. Her dagger was just barely strong enough to puncture the metal but with her new skill that was changing. Each hit made her faster which in turn let her get more hits. The statue wasn''t stupid though. It nearly split her in half when she tried to go for its throat. Trey was the unsung hero in the exchange. He had activated his transformation skill. His skin turned almost volcanic as he launched balls of flame into the statue. He darted in and out with his wings just often enough to stop Xerxes from taking major wounds. A scream of danger brought my focus back to my opponent. His sword swung with a finality that left no illusions. I ducked just in time to avoid the statue taking my head. For a fraction of a second, I was about to deliver a punch to the underside of the blade. Instead, I went to expand my Tao field when a familiar sensation passed over me. It was so abrupt that I lost my focus and stumbled backward. Another swing of the statue''s blade nearly took my right arm. None of that mattered when I figured out what the sensation wanted me to do. I could''ve smacked myself at the simplicity of the idea. Instead of forming a proper field, I aimed the Strand of Compression in front of me. I had to form a blade of spatial blade to keep the statue off me long enough to make it work but when I did I couldn''t help but laugh. I took a step only that one step took me nearly fifty feet away. The drain on my psychic energy was immense, more so than forming ten blades but the results were more than worth it. Effectively I had made a pseudo-movement spell. It wasn''t as good as Apportation or whatever Aaliyah used for the shadows but it was great at what I needed. I was pulled from my reverie when the statue attacked again. I repeated my actions though I pulled back on the amount of energy expended just a bit. This time one step took me about twenty feet away. I unleashed another round of attacks at the back of the statue in the moments it took to find me again. The pattern repeated itself three more times before I found a new problem. Between using my Tao for attacks and movement I was burning psychic energy. My head throbbed like someone had taken a jackhammer to it. The statue wasn''t doing much better. It had managed to keep its sword hand but its right leg was gone and it could barely stand. The problem was that I was having a hard time forming more attacks. My last half dozen spatial blades were too weak to cut through the metal. Thankfully that problem was solved a second later as two blasts of flame slammed into it. Almost as soon as the flames died the darkness at the statue''s feet coalesced and Aaliyah stepped out. Her darkness already swinging for the wound on its neck. She slammed her daggers home and then twisted her wrist. In the next moment, the statue''s head popped off and the battle was over. I grinned and moved to sit against the wall. "Good work. Cover me for a moment. I need to recover some psychic energy." Despite my best efforts it took me ten minutes to fall into meditation. I wasn''t able to go into a proper trance so my recovery took longer than I would have liked. When my headache was gone and I felt confident enough to fight at nearly full power I decided to get a move on. I didn''t want to keep everyone waiting and I didn''t want to risk getting into another battle. "Are we ready to move out?" I asked as I got to my feet. I cracked my neck and rolled my shoulders. "Yeah, Aaliyah went to scout ahead but didn''t find anything dangerous. She said there was a door that scared her. She stayed away from it." "Alright, well that''s fine I assume that whatever we need to find in there. Either that or the king." Based on the look on Trey''s face my joke wasn''t appreciated. "I didn''t smell anything living from the door. I do not think there is a king inside." Xerxes replied. "That''s a slight relief. I doubt there will be a king statue but there might be some kind of knight. A last defender of the king kind of thing." I expanded my soul sense to keep an eye on things just in case before I called Aaliyah back through my spell. It took her a few minutes to return and then we sat out together. The next room was a large hallway flanked by statues. Thankfully these statues were just for aesthetics. Further, these statues were incredibly detailed. They were the kind of things that Renaissance artists would be jealous of. I briefly considered putting the statues in my ring but they were too big to do it whole. There was no way I would break any of them. That felt like a crime against humanity or giant kind I suppose. We decided to spend several minutes admiring the statues before we reached the final door. This one was a higher-quality version of the one we entered to get into the demi-plane. It was made out of the same material though the images were engraved with much higher quality. Almost as if the stone was liquid at first and they slowly drew them in. "I wonder if we could find a stone carver inheritance," I asked not expecting an answer. I checked the door for any signs of an array and found nothing. The door was just a door. There was a slight sense of danger. Not enough to worry me but that couldn''t be said about the others. I released the Tao of Adamance to firm everyone''s resolve and then pushed the door open. The door slowly swung open. As soon as it was open a dozen flame lights appeared on either side of us. The flames bathed the path in front of us in red and orange. The room was surprisingly empty. It was made out of grey stone and there was a single massive throne at the far end. The areas to our right and left were empty except for stone plaques. Plaques that I assumed people were supposed to stand next to. There was a beautiful black carpet that went from the door to the base of the stairs in front of the throne. The whole scene felt both awe-inspiring and depressing. Part of me could only wonder what this room would have looked like at its best. When it was full of giants they held court or whatever giants did. Of course, that part reminded us that we would have likely been killed if we entered during that time. I let my soul spread through the area in search of whatever had my danger sense going off. After several seconds of nothing I took a step forward. I gestured to the others when nothing happened and we continued forward. I spread my senses over the plaques and found that they were names. Naturally, I didn''t recognize any of them which also meant that our earlier assumption was likely correct. We either didn''t have access to the space where important people lived or we just didn''t hadn''t found it yet. I committed the names closest to the throne to memory and prepared to move on. Before I could get within a hundred feet of the throne a massive flame practically exploded about 50 feet above. The flame might as well have been a sun when compared to the flame that lit up earlier. Alongside the flame came a spectral figure on the throne. The figure was above twenty feet tall with bronze skin. He wore metallic armor with animated flames that spread through it. There was a double-sided axe leaning against a now resplendent throne. A second later the image shattered and it was like two images existed at the same time. One where the king sat upon a resplendent throne and another that was the room we were currently in. "Curious." The king''s voice slammed into me a like freight truck. I was forced back a step while the other dropped to one knee. I expanded my Tao field to defend them but it was like putting a band-aid on a stab wound. If the king wanted any of us dead he would just have to speak. A small amount of energy traveled through into spectral throat and then he opened his mouth. I braced myself only this time the voice was weaker. I still felt it in every part of my body but it was only painful. "Who are you? And why do you intrude upon my sanctum?" Chapter 66: Giant Patriarch My mind raced to find an answer that wouldn''t get us all killed. I couldn''t just how powerful the king was but I knew we couldn''t beat him. Not even if we worked together. Nor did I think we could escape. Before I could come up with something I felt his soul sense pass over us. It felt like my psyche, my body, my everything was within his hands. That he could crush me with barely a thought. Suddenly, there was a thrum in my chest. A beat that caused the whole world to stop. For a moment, I thought he had somehow popped my heart. When a familiar sensation spread out I realized I was very wrong. Golden lines spread across my skin as righteous indignation surged. Who was this ghost to talk to me like that? A forgotten memory that needed to remember its place. Fury surged as a golden splendor filled the chamber. I pushed back his spiritual sense and let my aura flood out. My Tao joined it a second later as I claimed this room and everyone in it. It was¡ª Suddenly the light was gone replaced with darkness and cold stone. The pressure that had been a firm hand was now like a tyrannical fist. A fist that could and would smash me into nothing. "Kingling? I had thought you were all dead. Perhaps I should remedy that now?" The disinterest in his voice only fueled my fire. Spiritual energy flooded into Psionic Rain as I prepared to shatter this spirit only for it to freeze a second later. I screamed as foreign energy poured into my channels like liquid metal. I passed my mental gaze over the scene and wanted to rip the world apart. Spiritual energy flooded into my channels in reverse dashing away every ounce of power I tried to draw. I tried to resist but there was nothing I could do. His energy was stronger, purer than mine. For every drop of his, it took an entire level worth of mine. My greatest fear was avoided when the energy went toward my heart instead of my dantian. "Leave him Alone!" A voice that sounded like it was a world away called out. Followed by a fury that surged into my mind. I tried to send a wave of calm toward Xerxes but I couldn''t be sure it worked. The energy arrived at the mark and began to form an array around it. The array was stronger and more beautiful than anything I had ever seen. It made the ones animating the statues look like a child''s drawing. When it was done the energy from the mark stopped. I could see it railing against its new prison but it might as well have been a child fighting a tank. In the next moment, my focus was pulled to the rest of the world. My soul sense was restricted to less than a foot beyond my body but that was enough to tell what happened. I was face down nearly a foot into the stone. The golden lines were gone and with them the emotions that had taken over. "You are not ready." The king spoke again just before I was pulled up into the air. Warm blood dripped down my face but I could tell I wasn''t too hurt. "Who are you?" I tried to project strength into my voice but what came out was closer to a mousy whisper than anything else. "I am, Kurom Patriarch of Clan Lothos." Kurom paused and a complex web of emotions passed over his face. "Or I was before we fell." "It is nice to meet you Kurom. My name is Amari and I am the ruler of Amara. I¡ªwe did not intend to disturb your rest. I would like to know the story of what happened here. If you are willing to share?" An uncomfortable silence fell onto us. I wondered if I had just made a mistake. If I had just doomed us by not asking to leave. I was about to try and blast the others toward the door when Kurom lowered us to the ground. After that, his soul sense withdrew completely and I was no longer restricted. I wasn''t foolish enough to try and reexpand my senses so I just stood there. I wasn''t sure how long we waited before he decided to speak. "We were one of the major titan clans. Devoted to the research and construction of arrays. We were attacked." Kurom closed his eyes as if reliving a painful memory. "The empire wasn''t able to come to our aid and we did not last long." "Who attacked you? Were they after something inside or were they here to wipe you out?" I decided not to ask if they would still be looking for them since it seemed a bit callous and in truth I didn''t want to know. If there was an enemy too strong for Kurom to deal with then there wasn''t anything I could do about it. "I can''t recall. The battle... my soul was damaged. I was only able to leave a small fragment behind. Do you know what year it is?" I shook my head. "No, idea the System arrived on this planet not even a year ago. I am not even sure there is a universal calendar." "Ah, you are a forebearer for your world. That explains some things. Though your strength is a bit unusual. That doesn''t explain why you have that mark on your chest. Nor does it explain that Eye. To think that someone would be so blessed by fate." "What do you know about the mark? And the Eye?" I had to work to stop from bombarding the spirit with a dozen questions. Instead of answering me he turned and took a seat on his throne. He placed his axe in his lap and for a moment I thought he was about to kill us. Thankfully he didn''t. "I don''t know much about it. Nor do I remember much. It was a gift that could be bestowed by the Celestines. Though I don''t know if they would do so for one that isn''t theirs. It is halfway between a power and an inheritance. It was said that it was what allowed their power to stay relatively unchanged for millennia." "What do you mean? I am not going to be possessed or something am I?" I had to resist the urge to press against the mark, to search it for signs of some ghost or echo or whatever else. "I don''t know. I can say that yours seems to be wrong. I didn''t sense anything besides the power inside. No will of its own." I held up a hand to stop him and then started to pace. The prisoner seemed genuine about dying which was a further point against the possession theory. He also said that it could be taken from me. So was it forbidden? Or had he done something to it to make it weaker? Or maybe stronger? I considered the situation a bit longer before I gave up. The only way to gain anything in this world was through risk. Which meant I had to roll the dice. I slowly explained everything to Kurom. Not leaving out even the slightest detail. When I finished the giant''s face had gone from shock to surprise to laughter. "Blessed indeed. I don''t know much about the Celestine nor can I say if they are still alive. From what memories I have left they had been hunted by one of the forces. The mark you have should be the last one in existence." I couldn''t help the grin that spread across my face. "Can you remove the array on it?" "No, I would not. I meant what I said earlier. The power inside the mark is too much for you. Your body, soul, and heart are all too weak. As it stands the mark will continue its work reforging your body but that is all."If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The brief emotional roller coaster came to a screeching halt at the last thing he said. What was happening to my body? I passed my mental eye over my body twice but there were no changes that I could see. When I got tired of looking I opened my eyes and stared at the giant. I half expected and hoped to see a smile on his face. Something indicating he was messing with me but there was nothing. "What''s it doing to my body?" "I can''t say for sure. My assumption is that it removes the weaknesses in your body and makes it stronger. Purifying it in a way. I have made it so that it won''t spread across your body though you would still be able to access its power on purpose if you truly tried." "Can I undo it? If it''s just making me stronger that''s one thing but if it''s causing some other change I don''t want it. I don''t want to wake up with a third arm one day. Or some other crazy thing." "Says the man with three eyes," Trey murmured under his breath. I decided not to look back at him. I wasn''t sure if Kurom had heard it and if he understood it. The last thing I wanted was to draw attention to them. "It does not matter. I am unable to remove the mark which means you will have to deal with it. Neither your knowledge of arrays nor your personal strength would allow you to slow down its advance." I nodded and asked a few more questions but the information was much the same. The array would fade over time and would only slow down the mark. If I broke the array on my own that would change. It would give me a boost in power along with the personality changes. The difference that the mark made wasn''t insubstantial. It was enough to push me into the second realm. I wasn''t truly past the threshold but my power would let me fight at that level for a time. I suggested letting the mark just take over to speed up the process but that was apparently unwise. Either my body, soul, or heart would collapse under the power of the mark. The way Kurom described it, the process would be like playing Jenga. If I let the mark remove too much too fast the tower would fall and I would die. If I do it just slow enough I would be stronger. I was willing to take the gamble until we got to what my heart crumbling would mean. The other emotion or I guess personality would take over. There was no way to know what would happen at that point. Best case I would turn into a maniacal king, worse I might wipe out all life on Earth. Kurom theorized that it would still be based on my emotions. Which meant I would be putting an unpleasant mirror in front of me. With that decided we moved on to other topics. "Are you able to teach me about arrays? I am working on a Tao for it but a proper teacher would be nice." Kurom stared at me a moment before his soul-sense washed over me. I shivered as it felt like I was naked before him. As if there was nothing I could hide. When he finished I had to remind myself that he was strong enough to kill me. "You have incredible affinities which should help your energy control. Based on your history your understanding of sigils lacks luster to put it nicely. Tell me the story of your eye. What does it allow you to do?" I recited those events though I left it the second fruit and what happened to it. "I see, I see the Eye of Heaven is interesting. Tell me can it evolve? Does it have a section on your heaven''s screen?" I nodded and he stood up. "I can teach you a bit but you will have to develop on your own. The System won''t allow me to exchange anything of value with you without naming you my disciple. So it''s up to you." I raised an eyebrow and waited for something to happen. Some kind of notification or blinding light but there was nothing. After several seconds I looked up at the giant. "Uh, what do I do?" "I asked you a question. The appropriate response would be to offer me an answer." "If I accept what do I have to do? What exactly am I signing up for?" "Well, you would be accepting me as your teacher. I am a spirit so I can''t exactly leave here. I will also add that you must revive me when you are strong enough." "That''s all? No blood oaths? No giving my firstborn son to you?" I started to laugh only to realize that Kurom wasn''t laughing. "The bond between teacher and apprentice is a serious one. Do not disrespect it with jokes. Cultivators often find teachers throughout their journey. I can not call myself a true master for you. For now, though I am all that you have. I will pass down what I can." I nodded and copied the pose I learned during the trial. I gave him as respectful a bow as I could manage. "I am thankful that you are willing to teach me. I would be thrilled to be your apprentice." "Good. Now you can raise your head. I am going to treat your performance within the castle as your trial for the first realm. Unfortunately, it won''t be enough for me to give you credit. As you did have help. You also didn''t defeat any of the spirits. Not that you could have." Before I could complain about his assessment a screen appeared. The screen was a slow scroll through a list of items. Each item had a barebones description which made it impossible to pick anything. "Wha¡ªWhat is all this?" Korum retook his seat. "Did you think that the castle lacked impressive treasures? Or that they had all been taken away? The latter is true. Unfortunately, the majority was stolen. What little we were left with was taken when the System took the castle. Even now I only have access to a portion of it." The System has allowed me to award you points, a sort of currency that you can use to buy things. It''s up to your judgment to decide what to get." I stared at the list of items and shrugged. The items sounded interesting. They were divided into a variety of categories from consumables to weapons to cultivation resources. I had no idea which ones to pick. "You have 18,000 points to spend. Feel free to ask for any clarifications." "Um, what should I get?" "Which part of it up to your judgment did you misunderstand? I can explain some if you don''t understand them but that''s all." I stared at him for several more seconds. I wanted to question if he was being serious or not. If this was some sort of additional test by the System I decided against it. The System definitely had the items and the last thing I needed was to lose out on this windfall. The question was what should I do? The weapons were useless to me but they could probably help some of the soldiers. Unfortunately, there weren''t enough points to outfit an army. I stopped on an item called the Primordial Beast Drops from what I read the drops would help Xerxes break through and then help solidify his foundations afterwards. The item was pricey at 3,000 but it was hard to argue against it. I selected it and kept going. Now that I had made the first decision the next few were easy. I purchased an ice-based treasure called the Glacial Orchard. It was only middle quality but it should be enough for Trey to get a Tao in that direction. I wasn''t sure what he would need to form his idea of fire and ice but it should help. The darkness one was more interesting. It was called Pearl of Erebos it could either help one advance darkness-related Tao or it could be added to a cultivation chamber. Both items came out to 5,500 points which hurt though it wasn''t too bad. Eight and a half for three of my followers was more than fair. The next item that drew my attention was weird. It was called Warrior''s Ascension, initially, I thought it was just for appearance but the price tag made me rethink. It was 5,000 points, which made it the most expensive thing so far. "What''s the Warrior''s Ascension?" "That is a prized artifact of our family. It speeds up one''s comprehension of weapon-based Tao and it speeds up a warrior''s weapon mastery." I cocked my head at the giant. Wasn''t that too convenient? If I bought this and it did what he said it would then I would''ve gotten everything I needed. I could put it in the academy and our army would grow. Sure the price would hurt and would limit what I could get for myself but that would be worth it. My affinities made cultivation easier and I would still receive array training. "How big a change would it provide?" "It is hard to measure it but it should be more than enough for a beginner world. It will be less effective as people advance though. I imagine that by the time you are in the core formation realm, it won''t help as much. Of course, at that stage, even a minute improvement could take centuries." I grinned and made the purchase. Not only would it make my people stronger but it would make people need me to advance. Which should solidify my control over the planet. With that, my companions and my country would be stronger. Now I had 4,500 points to play with for me. It was time to get down to business. Chapter 67: Primordial Beast Drops "Is there anything in here you recommend for me? I am about to break through so if there is something here that could help?" "The Essence Stabilizing Jade could help you. You could wear it and it will make your energy more stable. You could also take the Arcane Formation Array. Its a portal array and could help you with your pillar creation but it would be more reliant on the energy in the area. It has a great effect than the jade. Further there are the Solidity Pills they help after you''ve made the pillar but come with great impurities as we did not have a great alchemist at the time." Naturally I asked him which was better or which I should pick but he refused to answer. I quickly ruled out the pills. They were the cheaper of the trio but I didn''t want to deal with impurities. I had already eaten enough pills to make that a future problem. Of course, that was also a good argument to take them. I seriously considered the array. It was the more expensive option at 4,000 points but it would be useful the entire time. Further once I finished with it I could leave it in the academy. Thus making everyone else stronger. Last was the jade. At 3k it was the middle of the road option but that also meant it was excellent at anything. It could be worn which meant I could use it freely and it could be left with the academy but only one person could use it. I was about to make my selection when I saw something else. The item was called the Boundless Dewdrop and it wasn''t anything special. It didn''t have a description but it was like the item was calling to me. It wasn''t quite the same sensation as the caress that guided me nor was it my treasure sense. "What is the Boundless Dewdrop?" "I don''t recall. It was an item that was added toward the end but I can''t recall why I added or what it was for." I looked up at the giant not sure if he was fucking with me or not but there was no hint of deception on his face. If anything he genuinely looked unsure. "Since you don''t know what it is can you just give it to me?" He shook his head. "No, the System has its restrictions. I am already providing it at the lowest price I can." I sighed and made the purchase. The item was 1,500 which meant the jade was the final item. I made my final purchase and the menu blinked away. A moment later five boxes and a statue appeared. The statue was much much bigger than I thought which in retrospect made sense. It was nearly as tall as Korum and depicted a bald warrior with sword raised as if prepared to strike someone down. I had expected the statue to have an array or some energy rich material inside it but there was nothing. Instead it was like the statue itself held some special meaning. It felt a bit like the Tao fruit only different. Ultimately it wasn''t something I would use so I placed it in my ring and collected the other items. The jade and the Boundless Dewdrop went into my ring. "One for each of you." I flashed them each a grin and handed them a box. The only person that didn''t get their box was Xerxes. "I am going to keep yours in my ring until we get back." "Good." He responded. The others opened their boxes but after a brief discussion we all decided it would be better to wait until we had time. None of us knew how long it would to take to refine the items and what benefits they would bring about. "Korum, I assume you are unable to leave this place?" "That is correct though it won''t matter not for a few years yet." The giant stood up and stepped toward us. Each step filled the room with a hair raising majesty. His spiritual energy surged until he was as bright as a sun to the Eye of Heaven. I stumbled back a half step before something grabbed hold of me. "Wha¡ª" The words died on my lips as Korum reached out and placed a finger in the middle of my forehead. My world was engulfed in an all consuming white light. Information flooded into my soul and formed a pure white sigil. Whatever Korum created was more than anything I had ever seen. It was like a sigil made up of many many sigils. Each one held enough knowledge to crush my soul dozens of times over. I bit back a scream as my consciousness was yanked back the world. My vision swam as I collapsed to one knee. "What the hell was that?" I groaned. I closed my eyes and took several steadying breaths before I felt back to normal. I got up ready to shout but when I saw Korum I froze. Korum had been a spirit but he had felt powerful. As if he was more real than we were but now he looked dim for lack of a better word. As if all his light had been squeezed out. Even the throne and axe seemed worse. Before they were like celestial treasures that could have cut the world in half now they were frail. As if they could break if Korum tried to raise them again. "Do not look at me with such pity." Korum began though even his void was weak. It was barely a shadow of what used to be. The voice that had felt like it could crush me. "An impartment has a price even for a spirit. It will take me sometime to properly restore myself." "Can I help? I could give you a bit of energy or maybe bring some crystals here?" I barely managed to keep the sadness from my voice. "Once you are at the same realm as me you might be able to help but until then I will wait here. I look forward to seeing you when you are ready to break through to the third realm." I opened my mouth to protest but before I could Korum leaned back in his throne and disappeared. I stood there in shock for a few minutes before I cracked my neck and turned around. "Alright, well for now lets leave. I am not sure if this place will remain safe. The last thing I want is to fight something strong again." "Thanks." Trey said as he patted his bag. "I don''t know what that thing is but it seems pretty good." "Same from me" Aaliyah added as she disappeared into the darkness. "Its no big deal!" I called out though I wasn''t sure she could still hear me. "Its all good Trey. I am still not sure how a fire and ice mix would work but its up to you." The walk back through the castle was uneventful. The few rooms we hadn''t checked were either empty or filled with art which I liked but I decide to leave behind. Now that I knew the Korum I wasn''t sure if looting his home was a good idea. Further I didn''t want to carry it. When we were back at the entrance I had it sealed and spread the word that people weren''t to enter. I wasn''t sure what the consequences would be if someone violated the rules but I figured I would deal with it if it came up.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. I was about to open a portal when I thought against. This was a great chance to practice my new trick. "Want to race? On foot this time?" Trey laughed and Xerxes howled before we took off. In a dead sprint I was faster than Trey but slower than Xerxes but when I added in my new step. I was faster than both. Unfortunately aiming was still incredibly hard. I could aim the general direction but the amount of energy used would alter the distance and that was on top of the way I stepped. If I stepped at the wrong angle I would end up off balance or crashing into something. By the time we arrived at the underground town my ego was bruised, I had a massive headache and I was in last place. "Note to self. Train in an area where missing didn''t mean I would hit a wall" "That''s so weird. Its like your teleporting but you aren''t really." Trey added. "Can you show me how?" I shrugged. "I don''t think so. I guess that your whole fire and Ice thing are the results of your Tao so you should figure out what you can do with it. I imagine cooking things and maybe alchemy." Trey groaned and rolled his eyes. "Don''t get started on that. Desbera has been ''reminding'' me to take the lesson on alchemy." I cocked a questioning eye brow at him. "So why don''t you? I am pretty sure alchemist make money. At least as much as an array master if not more." "It just seems boring. You stand in front of a weird furnace thing that reminds me a bit of a play kitchen and control the fire. If you do it wrong it might blow up." I shrugged. "I guess, its your call ultimately. I would go for it just to have that in my tool kit but it would be a bit of work. Assuming that its anything like arrays." He shrugged and then interlocked his fingers behind his head. "Maybe right now though I want to focus on catching up to you. It feels like every time we separate you come back ten times stronger." I grinned. "I wouldn''t say every time but you just have to keep your eyes open. Opportunities to get stronger show up all the time." "Uh huh just invite me next time you go off on an adventure." I laughed and nodded my agreement. "The next one is the ocean so take a few days to deal with that item and then we will set out." After that we split up with Trey heading home while me and Xerxes went over to the academy. We had a short conversation with Desbera about where she wanted the statue placed and how people could gain access to it. Since I wasn''t sure just how potent it would be I decided to make it free. I gave her the authority to add it to the contribution shop as a kind of service. It made me feel like we were starting some sort of library but that wasn''t too big a deal. I left a few of the fancier statue parts behind as well so people could study them. Despite my work with arrays time wasn''t something I had a lot of. With that decided Xerxes and I made our way back to the tower. "Yours should help you break through. At least that was my intent." "Is it alright if I break through before you?" The emotion in his mental tone caused me to stumble a step. It wasn''t quite fear nor was it anger. It was closer to disbelief or anxiety. Ether way the emotion wasn''t like the crazy Qilin. "Yeah, why not? Both of us being as strong as possible before we go exploring would be for the best. The last thing I want is for us to get attacked and we die because we were worried about something else." Xerxes didn''t say anything for several seconds. I started to get worried that I had broken him when he let out a howl. The howl was nearly enough to shatter the glass in the whole building but I didn''t say anything. The excitement I felt only made me want to reach level 50 faster. "Alright, calm down. I am going to get things set up. I assume you don''t know how long the breakthrough will take?" He confirmed and I activated Ethereal Convocation. I spread word with all members of the council. The Tower would be locked down until Xerxes finished. I considered forbidding anyone from being within a mile but of the building but that would mean a not insignificant amount of people would have to leave their homes. Which seemed kind of dickish. With that taken care of he and I entered his personal cultivation chamber. I activated the array and shattered a few spirit stones to get the juices flowing. I let Xerxes get comfortable while I pulled out the treasure. The Primordial Beast Drops were in a palm sized white bottle. The bottle was shaped a bit like a tiger and was made out of what I thought was marble. Their was a stopper on top that looked simple though I could see the small array drawn in it. The stopper was simple at first glance but there was a small array written across it. This array had the simple and blocky design of the System. Which only made me more curious. Had the System sealed it after it was taken away? If so why? Had it known that it would give this place to someone? That they would have a beast companion or was it just storing it better? I couldn''t be sure how good Korum was at his best but surely he could would have arranged safe storage. I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind and focused on the present. I stopped the array and unsealed the bottle. As soon as I did I was hit by a medicinal smell that made my blood boil. It wasn''t just medicine, it was like the bottle contained the essence of a hunter that stalked a forest. Or two beasts locked in primal combat. A fight where nothing mattered but dominance. My aura swelled for a moment as I was overrun by the desire to fight. Intellect Fortress kicked in a moment later and the effect ended. I quickly stoppered the bottle not wanting any of potency to fade. Damn that was nice. I grinned at Xerxes who let out a derisive snort. Though the hunger in his eyes made it clear how he felt. "Do you think you should drink it? Or should I pour it in a bowl and let the aroma fill the place?" "Drink it. It is harder for beasts to refine things outside of the body. The additional time would cause it to lose potency." I was about to ask him a few more questions but the look in his eyes told me that I was playing a dangerous game. He was pretty loyal to me but I wasn''t sure if that would stop him from setting me on fire. I held the bottle out to him and pulled the stopper out. I tipped the liquid into his mouth before the aroma could spread too far. Xerxes swallowed it down and closed his eyes. A warning from my danger sense sent me running to the door way. Before I could make it half way across the room a weight descended on us. It was similar but not quite the same as what I experienced during the tutorial. It felt like something was watching us or rather watching Xerxes. His scales and fur glimmered with barely restrained power as an unseen wind passed through him. The vibrant pearlescent colors of his scales pulsed like a steady heart beast as he drained more and more energy. The arrays strained to meet his needs and I reached into my ring for anything that could help. I tossed out spirit stone after spirit stone until I felt the room enter a strange equilibrium. His breathing slowed and for a moment it felt like he synced with the world or rather the heavens. The air in the room constricted as if everything was holding its breath. As if the world was waiting for judgement. In the next moment the energy in the room surged and Xerxes'' eyes flew open. He got to his feet and tossed his head back. A roar that shook the foundations of the buildings blasted out from him along with remaining spiritual energy. I didn''t need my soul sense to know that the glass in the building had shattered and I didn''t much care. I watched the energy coursing through his body condensed. Turning into a thicker almost syrup like liquid that had no issue moving through his channels. Xerxes began to glow with a fierce primal light. Xerxes scales seemed to come alive with as he unleashed his aura. It felt like we had been transported into a primal battlefield. A place where civilization had faded and the law of the jungle reigned supreme. Xerxes locked eyes with me and the connection between us strained. For a moment I thought that it would break as fresh vitality surged into me. I felt much more alive for lack of a better word. The dull aches that I hadn''t really noticed faded away as fresh energy flooded my veins. It felt like I had just taken a hundred expresso shots. I grinned at him as the world slowly returned to normal. Now that the transformation was complete the changes in his body were even more pronounced. It wasn''t so much as the amount of energy he had changed, It was the quality of that energy. I could tell that he could gain levels again which meant he likely had to gain another fifty. Though I couldn''t tell if how much energy it would take. "Well, you might just be the strongest thing on Earth." I laughed and a moment later Xerxes howled again. Chapter 68: Improvements "How do you feel?" "Much the same I think. I know that my limits have increased. The energy in here won''t be enough to get me another level." I nodded and glanced at the room. Or what still remained of it. The glass windows that made up the far wall were basically gone. A few lingering pieces sat within their frames but that was it. The metal had been dented in many places. I quickly spread my soul sense throughout the upper floors and sighed. "We are going to need to fix things" "We should have had better materials to begin with. We could move into the castle?" I shook my head. "Nah, I like the whole big tower thing. It''s pretty cool though the castle would make a great place to retreat to. A safe haven on the off chance someone attacked Earth. Or that people could hide in for some other reason. Hell, it might be a good place to send people to train. Assuming that we can deal with the spirits. For now, though we need to have people start on the repairs here. I don''t think the arrays can handle the damage." "Are we going to go and hunt? I want to test out these changes and find something strong to fight." I shook my head and started back toward the door. "I need to use my prize. You are welcome to go and hunt on your own and with some of the soldiers. I think Trey and Aaliyah are going to be busy for a while longer." Before I could get out of the room a message came in from Christopher. "Romulus is here and he wants to speak with you." I raised an eyebrow though I knew he couldn''t see me or it. "It appears Romulus is here. You want to come and see what he wants?" "Sounds good to me." Xerxes replied as I opened a portal. We stepped through together and a moment later we were outside. I glanced up at the building and grimaced. It was as bad as I thought. Before I could dwell on it two people entered the range of my soul sense. The first was Christopher who had gotten a bit stronger. The second was Romulus whose golden armor was dented in several places. The gold wasn''t as resplendent as I remembered. It was still a mix of white gold though the design had changed a bit. It now featured a prominent gold and white sun on the middle of the breastplate. Despite its appearance, it wasn''t lesser than the old armor. If anything it was of higher quality. It took me a moment to piece it together but when I did I couldn''t help but laugh. His armor was either a relic now or he had somehow gotten a relic set. Something that was further supported as it the dents slowly repaired themselves. Part of me wanted to ask him where he got it and if I could get a set. "Amari, It seems you have become even stronger than last time." There was a slight smile on his face. A smile that grew strained as he looked at Xerxes. "The same goes for your beast companion. It looks like the opportunities have been boundless for both of you." I grinned and nodded. "I guess you could say that. I am still focusing on the journey to level 50. I missed you at the battle and the resulting things afterward?" "Yes, I apologize. They tried to convince me to join the battle against you but I decided against it. After that, we had our own battle. I was forced to teleport away with a trial I had access to. I got back not too long ago." I searched his face for any signs of deceit or anything else but there was nothing. After several seconds I shrugged and decided to move on. I wanted to believe in and trust him so there was no point in getting too worried. If there was something I needed to deal with I would. "I see so what are you planning to do next?" "I was hoping you would allow me to use your underground training area? I am looking for stronger beasts and outside of the second continent I am struggling." "Sure, I have an alternative option for you though. Soon I plan on exploring the ocean floor. I don''t know if those creatures will be stronger than what we got up here but probably more so. You are welcome to join us." He glanced over at Christopher and then back at me. "To make sure I understand this is your expedition? How would we handle disagreements?" "Finders keepers if on the off chance you encounter something at the same time as someone else a price can be offered for the item or items. If their no agreement I will take the item and provide both parties something in exchange. If we enter battle together items will be divided based on contribution. I am not sure how ''fair'' that system is but it''s the best I got." Romulus furrowed his brow in thought for a few minutes before he nodded. "I suppose that''s the cost of doing business. Might I ask what''s to happen with my city? We originally entered as allies but I don''t believe there is a system like that under the System." I shrugged. "I imagine the System will view me as the king when the year ends. If you are okay with that we won''t have any issues. If you aren''t well you have until then to do something about it. I like you and the Roman theme you have going on so I would like to keep you. Maybe put you in charge of something important. Like the army and let Christopher take the more mundane police force but your call. If you come for me I will defend myself." A tense silence settled on our shoulders as I waited to see what he would do next. "I can accept that. When should I return to go on your trip?" "Come back in about three days. I plan on placing the boat in the water and setting out probably be the middle afternoon." We discussed the details for a few more minutes before we split up. I had Xerxes escort him while I headed back to the tower. I short sprint and I was seated inside my cultivation chamber. I meditated for a few minutes before I got to work. The Boundless Dewdrops were both similar and different from the Primordial Beast Drops. The bottle was less intricate. It was about half as big as the beast drops and was transparent. The liquid inside was clear like water though it had the same viscosity as sugar. There were sparkles golden sparkles spread throughout that made me think of stars. I steadied my breath and calmed my racing heart. I still wasn''t sure why I was so excited. Nor did I know what the dewdrops would do for me but I could tell it would be great. That it would strengthen me somehow. I took another deep breath and I got to work. I popped the array and inhaled the aroma. The dewdrops felt like a calm gentle ocean in comparison to the beast drops. That didn''t mean that it was weaker just less volatile. The aroma made my body come alive. It was like every cell in my body was charged. Charged and starved for energy. I placed the vial to my lips and tossed it back. The drops felt like the most refreshing glass of water I had ever had. It poured into my stomach like a fresh tide. I closed my eyes and started circulating the Ethereal Codex. I had gone through two cycles before something changed. It felt like a veil had been pulled back and my mind and body were finally in sync. In the next moment pour welled in my stomach like a surging tide. Only the energy had a mind of its own. I raced to gather it when a familiar caress of my mind. It encouraged me to let it go. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. I barely had a moment to make a decision when the energy escaped my control. Instead of tearing through my channels, it shot straight to the spot on my forehead. The location of the Eye of Heaven. I lost control over the eye almost immediately. A sensation that made me feel both vulnerable and blind. Although my actual vision wasn''t impacted. A moment later I lost sight of the tendrils of energy in the environment. I had to fight the urge to pull up my status screen. My soul sense snapped back like a rubber band until I lost connection to it as well. Panic rose from the pit of my stomach but I refused to let it overwhelm me. Next came a calming chill spread out from the eye. It was like someone had pressed an ice cube against my forehead. I clenched my fist as the strange sensation spread through my body. An invisible wave of energy washed out from my forehead and out into the building. The wave spread out until there was nowhere else for it to go. Next, I felt a snap back like a rubber band. Only to be reabsorbed by the eye. The process repeated over and over until I lost count. My heart slowed until it beat in unison with the pulses. A calm acceptance washed over me as the eye opened. The world exploded into color. Each one was deeper and richer than ever before. My awareness felt deeper, stronger than it was before as if I had been trying to see through a veil my entire life. The sensation faded until everything calmed down. The energy in the room had normalized. I wasn''t sure how long I decided to sit there but when I was ready I stood up. I pulled up my status screen just to confirm what I already knew. The Eye of Heaven had evolved. It was now second realm which wasn''t as cool as Xerxes evolution but I wasn''t complaining. I closed the menu and stretched my muscles. I briefly considered reaching out to Xerxes but I decided against it. He was probably fine and I wanted to experiment with the new changes. I activated Apportation and stepped through the portal. I stepped out five miles away in the middle of the forest. From what I could recall there shouldn''t be any soldiers or guards in this direction. Which meant I should be able to have some fun. I suppressed my aura and started walking. I wasn''t left waiting for very long before a monkey-like creature attacked. It reminded me of a howler monkey only much larger and dark green. This one was maybe three times as big as the normal version. The monkey looked at me for a moment before it opened its mouth and shouted. Only the sound was tangible. It slammed into me a hammer and caused me to take a half step back. I was going to take the time to enjoy the fight but that went out the window immediately. I formed a trio of spatial slashes and shot them at the monkey. Its howled died a second later as its trisected body slammed to the ground. "Not to self-hunt down the really loud monkeys." I decided to collect the corpse just in case its meat turned out to be special or something. I sent a bit of energy into the Eye of Heaven and gasped. My vision zoomed in to an almost impossible degree. I could see all the way to Amara from here. Not only could I see it I could see it clearly. I could see all the way into the living room with near crystal clear quality. I cut off the flow of energy to the eye and had to blink several times to get my vision back to normal. I decided to experiment a bit more before I went out and found something else to fight. What I found was enough to blow me away. First, the eye didn''t unlock any new powers. It was more of a modification of the things it could do before. Which at first was a bummer but it really wasn''t. My energy control shot through the roof. Not only was it easy to shape my psychic energy into weapons but I could do other things with it. I could still create a field around me where things would be ''invisible'' but that was just the start. I could carve arrays into the ground and trees with ease. It might as well have written the arrays themselves. My vision was also much better which was proven when a snake the size of my arm tried to sneak up on me. The serpent had some chameleon-like ability that let it hide by blending in only it might as well not have tried. Lastly, my psychokinetic control improved by leaps and bounds. Before it felt like trying to control things with a video game controller. It was a bit awkward and required me to concentrate to use it. Now though it might as well be a third arm. I still couldn''t lift more than a hundred pounds or so but it was much better. I made a note to figure out how to incorporate it into my fighting style. There was still a slight delay between forming my mental attacks and then using psychokinesis. It wasn''t based on my control but rather on my thoughts. Either way, it was one more thing to work on. I sat out to hunt for another hour collecting several snakes and three more of the monkeys before I decided to head back. I pulled out my cloud and was glad to see my control over it increased. As long as I didn''t need to do any fancy flying controlling the cloud was easy. I arrived in Amara a short while later and made my way to the Tower. I head inside and back to my cultivation chamber. It was still too early for me to try any new advancements. Not without trying to bankrupt myself through stones but something was sitting nestled in my soul. I closed my eyes and passed my gaze over Korum''s sigil. It took me several minutes to figure out just what it was. In truth, I still couldn''t say I understood it but he had somehow crystallized his knowledge. Or at least some of it. The information was divided into three categories, one for each realm. No matter how hard I tried I couldn''t access anything beyond the first realm. I wasn''t sure if that was some kind of safety feature to stop me from frying my brain or if it was designed to stop me from learning too fast. Either way, I didn''t care. The information already presented was incredible. It built on what I learned at the academy on the nature of arrays but then branched off in multiple directions. Broadly it described two types of arrays. You had arrays that could be used by people called war arrays and then spell-like arrays. The former was basically boosts. The arrays could be worn or activated by an army to do things like make their general stronger or make the unit more powerful. I wasn''t sure how the UWG had gotten their hands on one like this but based on this information there was around low or middle quality. The strength it gave the target was impressive but according to Korum''s notes, I likely would have lost in the multiverse. There were war arrays that could have boosted a target into the middle of the next realm. Something that would have killed me probably several times over. Despite the usefulness of it, I didn''t want that kind of thing. As shown in my battle they had a massive flaw, the army. I would get stuck defending the people who were boosting me which would make me weaker overall. Of course, I was a ranged fighter so it wasn''t as bad as a warrior so I kept the idea in my back pocket. If the choice was using this kind of array or dying then the array would have to come. I didn''t like the implications for the wider multiverse though. I had been hoping that wars would be more like one-on-one fights that would spare lives but this seemed to be the opposite. A small portion of Korum''s info focused on tactics that could be used to maximize arrays while limiting the danger to the actual army. Despite the interesting parts of these arrays, it was the second kind I liked. The spell arrays were general-purpose things. You could make arrays do almost anything. Korum mentioned a handful of possibilities like buildings that worked like storage rings, illusion arrays, killing arrays and even sealing arrays. Further, I didn''t necessarily have to engrave the arrays onto discs. As he showed with my energy. It was theoretically possible to seal something inside of another person. Or make arrays of weapons that would launch beams of energy. My dreams of magical cannons and robots like the weapons on the ship were quickly dashed. Like Alchemy this profession might as well lit your money on fire. It wasn''t just getting the money according to Korum it was spending it. Low-level arrays which included most of the common stuff in the first realm were easy enough. What about when you entered Foundation Establishment or Core Formation? I might bankrupt myself just trying to build one thing. There was something else that drew my attention and as I read it my resolve firmed. The Tao you focused on would influence the kind of arrays you could make. For example, the storage rings needed someone with insight into the Tao space to make. What would the Tao of Time do? Or what about the mental Taos? How much could I sell for? Korum didn''t elaborate too much on things like that but the implications were there. Time and Space were definitely the paths for me. Chapter 69: The Ocean Blue I had intended to spend the next two days in silent meditation but that was quickly proven impossible. Between selecting the people for the expedition, training people on how to use the ship, and getting the ship to the water. I was working the entire time. Moving the boat was surprisingly easy. Its array allowed it to shrink and reduce its weight substantially. Once that was done Xerxes and I did the actual heavy lifting. The only hick-up came when we learned we couldn''t teleport with it. Not only did the System''s teleporter not work but neither did Apportation. Despite the setback, we were able to take it to the beach where the Heaven''s Pearl was found. Once there we set up a base camp and got to work. The day of the expedition Xerxes and I were active as soon as the sun was up. "Are you sure we should bring the others? We can''t be sure they will be reliable." "I know but between you and me we should be fine. Trey and Aaliyah aren''t bad either so I think it will be fine. Besides everyone invited knows what they are getting themselves into. What about you? How do you like being an evolved being?" I chuckled and spread my soul sense into the surroundings. I watched people, my citizens get to work. Most of which were just guarding the area. "It is good. I can regain levels but we will need to improve the skill soon." I cracked my neck and nodded my agreement. "I am guessing we will find some fun things to deal with. Ideally we will find some underwater cave or something so we can leave the ship behind." I gestured for Xerxes to follow me as we entered the massive ship. I triggered most of the arrays and felt the ship kick into gear. "Feel free to take the main cultivation chamber. I don''t think you can help me drive this thing." "No, I can not interact with the arrays. I can keep an eye on the humans for you." I nodded as we entered the command room. I took my seat in the captain''s chair and couldn''t help laughing. This whole thing had long ago felt like a movie but this was just a whole new level. "We have to get a ship to explore space with later." I glanced up at the ceiling as if I could see the vastness of the cosmos. "I want to see what fun things we find." After that Xerxes and I discussed a few more things as people started filing in. Each of them looked equal parts excited and afraid which only made me want to say something. Once the command room had filled enough I stood up and put a small amount of spiritual energy into my voice. "Hello, everyone. I would like to take the time to welcome you and give you one last chance to back out. For those of you who haven''t had the chance to meet with me, I am Amari the king of this country." The declaration caused a few murmurs to pass over the crowd though I was pleased to see that they weren''t upset. If anything they seemed happier about it than I expected. "I am going to lead this expedition and I will do everything I can to keep you safe. That being said it will ultimately be up to you. I can''t and won''t promise that I will be able to deal with every situation or defeat every enemy. There is always the chance we come across something stronger than me. For those of you that decide the risk is too great you may leave anytime before we enter the water." I paused a moment to let the gravity of my words settle on everyone. I wasn''t trying to scare anyone though my words weren''t there to inspire confidence. I trailed my gaze across the crowd and was beyond pleased to see that no one moved. "For those who choose to stay, I offer you adventure and a chance to find treasure that will boost your strength to a new level. No doubt many of you have reached a point of stagnation in your cultivation. A point where the hours and hours of grinding have provided fewer and fewer benefits. I am here to tell you that this will be a chance to reforge yourself and emerge as future pillars of Amara." I released a small portion of my aura. Just enough to punctuate the point without killing anyone. The effect might have been more potent than I realized. "For Amara!" "Long Live Amara!" The command center fell into cheers and loud conversation. I briefly considered stopping them so we could start moving sooner but I decided against it. What I had said was true. There was no guarantee that any of these people would return so if they wanted a bit of fun why not give it to them. It wasn''t like we were on a time crunch anyway. I let them enjoy themselves for around thirty minutes before I called for calm. Everyone took their seats and I connected to the ship. Energy flowed into my mind as I took a moment to get used to it. The ship let me connect to each of its systems if I wanted. Things like life support were better off ignored unless something went wrong. The visual data though was much more interesting. I wasn''t sure how it worked exactly since there were no cameras on the vessel. Despite that it let me see everything. I checked in on Romulus who sat in his room cultivating and then on Trey, Aaliyah, and Xerxes. I got tired of doing my big brother impression and turned my attention back to the ship. I connected myself to the propulsion system and kicked it into gear? I wasn''t sure if this thing had "gears" but either way we set off. It didn''t take long for us to encounter weird shit. I wasn''t sure which ocean we were in and if I didn''t know better I wouldn''t be sure we were one Earth anymore. Planets twisted in and out of the soil like the gnarled roots of trees. Fish that would have been right at home in an eldritch horror story swam about. The whole thing was eerie. I decided to stay close to the surface to give everyone a chance to adjust. Dealing with the information the ship fed me was strange. I imagined it was what being constantly connected to the internet was like. As we moved it updated everything from temperature to the ambient energy in the water. The energy was much denser down here. Obviously, the most dominant Taos were related to water but there were plenty connected to darkness. Though I didn''t sense the pull of treasure in any particular direction. We had traveled for about half an hour before the first beast got curious. A creature that looked like an electric eel only instead of electricity it was darkness shot for us. I activated the defensive arrays and the ship unleashed a blast of spiritual energy. The beam went wide by nearly two feet. The eel slammed into the right side of the ship and a blast of shadows nearly forced its way through the outer array. The ship lurched to the left knocking over two people. "Fuck me. Shift and assist with aiming!" I quickly reset the array and tried to alter my aim but the eel was incredibly fast. I missed two more shots before I decided on a new course of action. I expanded my soul sense until it was just outside the barrier. Next, I closed my eyes and ignored the display.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. The next shot hit the eel center mass. The eel was almost vaporized. What little of it that remained fell about twenty feet before a school of fish shot forward and tore into it. Like a pack of frenzied piranha. The scene was equal parts concerning and impressive. I activated the ship''s repair function to deal with the damage. Damage wasn''t all that bad. It wasn''t enough to threaten the integrity of the ship but it was better to fix it now than be sorry later. Once the ship was ready we set out again. Finally venturing further away from the surface. It was another hour before we came across our first treasure. The treasure was located inside a trio of massive clams. At first, I thought we had found another set of Heaven''s Pearls but that wasn''t the case. These were definitely pearls but they were associated with the Tao of water. They were collected and left in the sealed storage area. I also decided to kill and take the clams. Their shells were incredibly hard which made me wonder if they would be good for crafting. We repeated the process a few more times killing nearly a dozen creatures that ranged from a piranha-like fish to a huge version of the fish with the light on its head. Each time we got a bit better at aiming to the point I didn''t need to rely on my soul sense. It wasn''t all positive though. The water pressure and atmosphere were having a strange effect on some people. Some just got sick kind of like sea sickness others got a bit weird. They just went catatonic. I was forced to use my Tao field and the Tao of Lucidity to wake them up. Something wasn''t too big a problem right now but could be if it got worse. Our battles also confirmed that we couldn''t use the ship for leveling. Based on what we experienced and what Korum''s data added the only way killing someone with an array would award energy was if you created the array or if the array played a supportive role in the death. Since I wasn''t even attacking nor did I create the ship''s array it didn''t count. Which meant we would need to find somewhere to get out and fight. No one was in a rush to battle. The environment in the shop was pretty good. It was a bit better than what we had in the Tower which for most people was enough. The only question was when would Xerxes and I set out. I would lie if I said a part of me didn''t want to face these monsters in a fight. It was hard for me to gauge their energy levels but I was pretty sure they were at least level 30. With the big piranha around level 35 or 36. "Let''s take a moment to rest," I called out as we entered an energy-dense region. The rest of you can go and rest for an hour. I will maintain things until then. Once you all get back we will switch. I waited for people to start filtering out before I got to my feet and rolled my neck. "I must admit being this deep under the ocean isn''t comfortable," Aaliyah said as she stepped up next to me. "It makes the world feel smaller. Like we are trapped in a prison." "Well in a way we are. I am not sure how water pressure works for us but my guess is that its not good. Even if we could survive the pressure most people couldn''t and then we would be at the mercy of the ocean." "That isn''t helping." She grumbled. "Are we looking for something? Or are we just wandering the deep blue? Waiting for a shark to take us out?" I shook my head. "There is a faint sense of treasure I guess in the ocean but I don''t know where." "Well, we''ve already found a lot so not much to complain about. Though I can''t imagine you are having fun." I shrugged. "The ship is fun but it makes me wonder about what''s up there." I gestured to the ceiling. "The monsters, the people the everything. Don''t get me wrong the new earth is fascinating but it''s still earth I guess." "I don''t get it. Where does this wanderlust come from? Surely you had someone you cared about?" I shook my head and sighed. "Not really. That isn''t to say I wasn''t popular anything but I grew out of the foster care system when I was eighteen. Most of the people there I could remember either passed away, retired, or just left to do other things. That was nine years ago. I''ve had small flings in university but I always convinced myself that the time for that would be after. After I got my degree, after I got my law degree, after I was wealthy blah blah. The System''s arrival made it a bit pointless. Though in a way it was a benefit. I was free to do what I wanted. There was no voice in the back of my head warning me about dying and leaving someone behind. I could risk my life as I wanted." I reached up and wiped the solitary tear that had formed in my third eye. The familiar uncomfortable silence fell on us and I sighed. "Either way it doesn''t matter. I should have well over 400 years to do what I want. I know have you guys to worry about and I get to explore the stars like some Sci-fi hero. All while having superpowers that would make Superman jealous." "Amari..." The softness and the pity in her voice caused a fresh wave of irritation to rise in my stomach. I tugged away from her and made my way toward the captain''s chair. "It''s fine. You should go and rest we will need to cover more ground soon." I watched her pause and then disappear down one of the side halls. She had only been gone a few minutes when I started to feel guilty about what I said. She wasn''t trying to offend me or anything and I knew that but... Well, it doesn''t really matter. I would apologize later. For now, it was better to focus on leaving. I wasn''t too tired so it wouldn''t be a big deal to skip a break or two. I reactivated the systems I could control without everyone else as people started filtering back in. "How are thing''s?" I asked Xerxes through our bond. "Quite, there is not much to do. Neither the cub nor the shiny warrior has done anything to be concerned about." "Good, keep an eye out for anything interesting. I am going to want to try out the smaller vessels. I want to fight something." Xerxes didn''t offer a verbal response to that but the hunger that surged across our bond made it clear he was in agreement. I grinned and leaned back in my chair. "Alright, everyone keep the scanners searching for pockets of air. I want to find caves or underwater structures." We continued our journey and came across a few other beasts. Most of them were strange fish but there was one that drew my attention. Not because it was strong or anything like that but because it was a weird crab. The crab was dark blue and black with four claws and six legs. It didn''t have eyes or a mouth instead it had gill-like marks on its sides and released spiritual energy every so often. It honestly reminded me a bit of a crab and a bat combined. "I wonder what that thing tastes like?" I murmured to myself as I aimed the weapons at it. The ugly thing must''ve sensed either the weapons or its imminent danger because it tried to run. Unfortunately for it, my aim had improved by leaps and bounds. It only took one shot to kill it something that was made more annoying by the lack of kill energy. Once I was sure it was dead we collected and we set out again. After that, the beasts started to give us a wide berth. I could still see them hiding in the shadows but they weren''t interested in fighting nor did I sense any treasures. After an hour of this, I decided to shift our focus to speed. Since we weren''t worried about treasures or even getting into a fight it required less effort from me. I wouldn''t say that the ship could drive itself. At least not like old-world modern cars but it could compensate. As long as I paid enough attention to avoid crashing into a wall there was nothing to be worried about. The more we traveled the more my excitement started to build. My mind was filled with ideas about what might be found. It was time to see what secrets the oceans held for me.