Ri’s gaze found its way to Delia who sat in the corner speaking with her mother, a light smile on each of their faces. She didn’t know when they had made their way back from their short disappearance, but she felt better knowing that they were here. At the very least, that meant that her mother and father would also have Patia-Neva by their side.
As for how their family talk ended… She knew even less about that.
Despite the loud crashing going on outside, the tower itself was perfectly isolated. They could watch everything that was going on as though it was a sick and twisted movie. And much like everyone else, they could only wonder…
Why now?
**
The moment the spear formed in Dyon’s hand, he seemed to breathe in its very essence. Without ever having used a spear in his life, his comprehension immediately broke into the first will level.
Thor watched as Dyon’s aura slightly shifted to balance out his weapon. Although Dyon had yet to move, an expert of spearmenship like Thor could immediately sense the shift in Dyon’s demeanor. He had instantly gone from a person who had never before wielded a spear, to a trained novice – and he hadn’t even pierced forward yet!
Without meaning to, a breath of disbelief escaped Thor. He was at the point where a first level will meant next to nothing to him, but when had anyone ever witnessed the scene before him now?! Dyon’s affinity for weapon’s was simply without equal.
“Just to be clear, Thor.” Dyon started, lowering his stance to mimic Thor’s two-handed grip. “I’m not fighting you to beat you, nor am I trying to mock you. Since you refuse to tell me what it is that tethers you to the Ragnors, I’ll have to understand for myself!”
Sharp spear qi danced around Dyon, his eyes flashing with a domineering might as he struck forward.
His spear glided through the air without a single wasted movement almost as though he had practiced this very strike hundreds of thousands of times.
Lightning arced through Thor’s blue eyes. His spear clashed with Dyon, but his movements were clearly much more practiced.
Thor’s silver spear became snake-like, coiling with the effortless twisting of his wrist and completely bypassing Dyon’s strike. The tip became nothing more than an optical illusion and a sharp light, bending at angles that shouldn’t be possible regardless of how flexible the spear was.
It wasn’t possible for Dyon to react with expert spear technique. However, his 6th sense was far too good to not pick up on the change in Thor’s spear-play. He had switched from a domineering striker, to a crafty specialist. He was clearly displaying his superiority in the way of the spear.
A smile played Dyon’s features as his black spear spun in his hand. Its shaft connected violently with Thor’s snaking spear, sending it off course and just above Dyon’s shoulder.
Piercing spear qi flew just past Dyon’s ear, narrowly missing him as a tempest of winds blasted upward from Dyon’s strike. Newbie or not, Dyon would never lack decisiveness and raw power.
Dyon’s eyes flashed, ‘I can feel it. I can feel his rage.’
“More!” Dyon roared. His spear spun again, twisting violently in the air as he borrowed the wind to make up for his lack of experience with the spear.
Dyon’s movements became more flexible and less boxy. They still maintained the same calculation, but he had added a new fluidity to his movements. Although Dyon’s grand teacher was crude, Dyon was intelligent enough to take his words to heart – no matter how insulting or seemingly useless they were.
Clashes rang out as Dyon’s comprehension skied upward, breaking through the second will level, and then the third.
Dyon’s spear began to snake like Thor’s. Suddenly, Thor’s spear no longer bypassed Dyon’s, but instead clashed directly, diverting and canceling each other perfectly.
The rings of wind and lightning blasted from their strikes, shattering the space between them.
Dyon’s grand teacher had told him that his use of wills was much too shallow and that his understanding was striking. But, what had caught Dyon’s attention was when he berated him for using wind as a simple speed boost and for using sword qi as a simple attacking will.
It got Dyon thinking about what more wind will could be. The truth was, he didn’t have a firm understanding just yet, but, what he did have was a talent for weapons. It wasn’t lost on him that although he could cut right to the heart of how a weapon should be used, that he also lacked with that a certain style and unpredictability.
Before, Dyon didn’t have any idea how to fix this. But, when he first felt the state of one with world, he had gained a perspective on the world usually only celestial level experts reached. And with that, came a newfound appreciation for wind will.
Dyon and Thor’s figures flashed as they sent out strikes in quick succession. The ferocity of Thor’s aura only grew. He was slowly becoming a beast as his arms reddened and bulged. There was no doubt that he was pushing his strength to its upper limits to match Dyon’s Demon Emperor’s Will, but he didn’t feel pain nor did he feel any hesitancy. He only felt the need to vent.
Arcs of green lightning danced under his skin, touching onto a will path Dyon found very interesting.
“Show me more!” Suddenly, Dyon’s spear seemed to fuse into the air. It became formless as the tattoos on his bare back glowed fiercely. The speed of his strikes reached a new level. Despite his spear qi only being at the third level, the sudden boost by a ninth level wind will cause Thor to stumble, not knowing how to respond to the drastic change.
Thor roared, the arcs of green lightning under his skin increasing tenfold. His biceps pulsed violently as red lightning coursed along the body of his spear.
His composure was gone. If Dyon wanted to see his anger, he would show him!
“What do you think we should do?” A group of Planet Mino elders sat around, seemingly discussing something as though they were in a world separate to the chaos of the outbroken war. However, interestingly enough, all of their attentions were focused on a young girl. That young girl was, of course, none other than Saru Shruti!
“Do you all remember why I came here at all?” Saru responded after a moment’s pause.
“Of course, Princess.” An elder responded quickly. “But, there seems to be too many variables at play here. This may not be the right universe to use for your coming of age ceremony. Not to mention it’s far too early for you to take such a test anyway… You know your father didn’t want you to leave until –“
“I was far too cooped up in that place. Don’t you think coming to this universe was fruitful though? How else would we have learned what we have…? To think that the dysfunction of this quadrant was seep so far to its roots… You are right about one thing, it isn’t safe to remain here anymore…” Saru’s eyes glistened with something imperceptible as she looked off to Dyon’s figure in the distance. “I like him.” She suddenly said.
“This… Princess you must choose your words carefully.” The elder responded with a nervous sweat coating his back.
“Is there a problem with what I said?”
“Uh…”
“Can you find another that is so young, capable of beating me, and also isn’t from a clan I would have to marry into as a woman?”
“But… He’s sixteen years old. He’s much older than you! How can he be considered a talent?!” The elder was hyperventilating at this point. Without King Shruti here, there was no controlling Saru’s actions. What if she really chose this man? By the time they got a message back to their quadrant for help in stopping this, it would be too late and their princess would be tainted!
Even worse, a sixteen-year-old with a mere meridian formation cultivation? He’s be laughed out of their clan and forced into a servant role. So what if he could fight above his station, at the end of the day, that was only against these subpar beings. He was clearly the very best this universe had to offer, and yet he was so pathetic. If he hadn’t injured Saru, how would she have placed so poorly.
“Cousin.” Arivata interjected. “You know they’re right. That’s not to mention, how could you be the third wife of anyone? I agree that he is a good man. But, good is not enough.”
“You’re all wrong.” Saru replied simply, still looking off into the distance.
“Wrong?” The elder furrowed his brow alone with the rest.
“Can you see his soul strength?” Saru asked.
“Of course. It’s at the lower second stage. That’s even more pitiful than his energy cultivation.”
“Wrong. We as body cultivators know little of array alchemy, but you should at least comprehend the basics. How often have you see him use an array laced with purple and gold?”
The elders were stunned. How had they not realized this?
“Although I don’t know what level he’s reached, he’s at the very least capable of drawing a master level array, which means his soul can’t possibly be at the second stage like you think. And, despite the fact we’re body cultivators, our souls grow along with our cultivation over time, so the fact that you, as a celestial expert, can’t see through his soul, means that his soul strength far surpasses yours.”
“This… But, Princess. Even if his soul talent is exceptional, you understand as much as anyone how that isn’t translatable to true strength. The soul is simply too fragile. He’ll have an advantage in comprehending wills and stamina in using them, but at the end of the day, if his energy and body lag too far behind, he won’t be able to make use of his wills past a certain point. Didn’t you see how much strain using a mere first level intent placed on him? Even you’re capable of using an intent without struggling that much!”
Saru sighed. “How can you all be so blind?… How is that soul useless to him when he comprehended a supreme law! And you dare to say that the benefits are minimal? With his use of death qi, even if he met up against our best sixteen-year-old geniuses he would at the very least be in the top 50%, and that’s without access to the same teaching and resources they have.”
The elder’s lip twitched when Saru said top 50%. Was that supposed to be impressive? This was a Princess of a Supreme God Clan! Not some commoner slave girl!
However, they could not deny how impressive it was to understand a supreme law at such a young age… Even their princess had yet to, and the amount that had at Dyon’s age wouldn’t be a mere top 50%… It would be more like 0.1%. That said, with how many trillions of life forms there were, that number was still quite large.
“You think top 50% isn’t impressive? Well, let me tell you something else… You all understand that the sutra I have mastered allows me to comprehend my opponent the more I battle him, correct?”
The elder nodded solemnly. It was one of the reasons Saru was looked upon so favourably by their king despite the hundreds of children he had. She was simply the most talented.
“Then you know I’m not lying when I say that he has cultivated for less than three years. Before he was thirteen, he knew nothing of the martial world. Nothing.”
The space became silent as the words of their princess set it. Suddenly, their eyes widened in astonishment.
“Oh, and he also happens to be a peak first grade warrior.”
BOOM!
Three years to reach the upper meridian formation stages was within reason, although it meant they would have to admit that he was a genius. When corrected for the lack of resources in this universe, it was a ridiculous feat, especially when his soul and body were taken into account – not to mention his array alchemy.
But, a perfect grade warrior was something that was sung throughout the universes and quadrants. Not even their king was such a thing!
The elder took a deep breath. “Okay. We’ve doubted the Princess, and I truly apologize. However, Princess much still think very carefully about this. You know as much as anyone being a perfect grade warrior at the meridian formation level doesn’t necessarily mean that you will be at the saint or celestial or dao level.”
The elder would never say that Dyon’s feats weren’t impressive, especially considering the circumstances. However, what he said was also correct. At every level of cultivation, there was an obligation to fill all of your meridians. You could only be said to have the perfect foundation if you continued to do this at every level.
You must temper all 108 meridians at the meridian formation stage. Then you must fill them all with essence energy at the essence gathering level. Then do the same with saint energy. Then celestial energy. Then enigmatic energy. Only then would you reach the level of a perfect grade warriors.
As rare as it was to become a peak first grade warrior. It was even rarer to become a perfect grade essence gatherer. And even rarer to become a perfect grade saint. And so on and so forth simply because many were forced to give up and move on to the next stage without completing it to perfection.
For all Saru’s glorified body guards knew, Dyon had stumbled onto some treasure for the meridian formation stages that wouldn’t help him later on. He could very well have a perfect foundation now, then stall at only 7 essence gathering stages. This was very possible.
Maybe most ironically was the fact that they were correct. Dyon’s grand teacher had gifted him already tempered meridians. So, it couldn’t be said that their worries were groundless.
Saru could only sigh. As much as she wanted to say more words to defend Dyon, they seemed to always have an answer for her that wasn’t completely unreasonable.
“You all take things too seriously. I said I liked him, so I thought I’d defend him a bit. It’s not to the point where I’d toss away everything to marry him. I have my own pride, you know.”
Relief colored the features of their elders as a weight seemed to fly off their shoulders.
Although Saru said this, she was really only protecting herself. She understood Dyon’s personality after fighting him, and he wasn’t someone who would marry her just because she showed interest, regardless of how beautiful she was. That was not to mention the fact that she had aged her appearance and figure to this level… In reality, she was much younger – something Dyon had picked up on, much to her shock.
And… what she hadn’t told her elders was the fact that even she was 100% certain that she deserved to be his wife… Ri and Madeleine, talent wise, were even more outstanding than her.
‘For now.’ Saru thought defiantly.
That said, the other thing she kept to herself was the fact that Ri was a kitsune. Luckily her elders didn’t care too much to watch any fights other than hers. If they had noticed… There may have been some trouble…
“At the end of the day, though,” Saru said in a soft voice as she lifted her hand before her. “He’s done something only 99 other people among trillions have done…” Her hand flashed with a golden light as a key appeared.
The elders remained silent at these words. There was no refuting it.
Much like their Princess, Dyon had conquered an Epistemic Tower.
**
Dyon was completely oblivious to Saru’s true origins as his spear danced in his hands. His after images had almost become real, sending attacks of their own as sharp wind spurred Thor’s attacks on.
The truth was that Saru had only come here for her coming of age ceremony. It was meant to take place when she turned 18, but she had insisted on leaving much earlier. Since she was powerful enough, it was allowed.
This coming of age ceremony wasn’t reserved for the Shruti. In fact, it was a practice of many quadrants and clans, although the scales drastically varied. That said, since Saru was a Shruti royal in line for the throne, her ceremony entailed conquering an entire universe. She had chosen this one because of an interesting phenomenon that occurred sixteen years ago that had piqued her interest. That said, considering she wasn’t even born at the time, many had beaten her here, including the Jafari.
‘What still has him so angry…’ Dyon thought, taking the full brunt of Thor’s strikes. At this point, his arms were quivering under the strain despite his use of Demon Emperor’s Will.
With Tammy safe and Patriarch Ragnor off fighting, by all rights, Thor should see the opportunity to be safe. Why was he still feeling trapped.
Thor’s jaw clenched, he could almost feel Dyon’s spear-play ask the question ‘why?’
However, despite his best intentions, the increased energy in his attacks seemed to answer ‘you don’t understand, nor will you ever.’
Thor was frustrated. Dyon thought that this situation was over just because his sister was saved? He had never heard anything so laughable. That man never took a loss. Everything was well within his calculations. He would never. NEVER. Start a war he didn’t have 100% certainty in winning. Never.
The moment Patriarch Ragnor decided to attack, was the moment that the fate of everyone here was sealed. Everyone seemed to think that the Ragnor clan sent here was a mere branch, but Thor knew the truth.
Patriarch Ragnor wasn’t a mere foot soldier, doing the bidding of the Ragnors. No. He was a key figure among their ranks, a dreadful and powerful man even among the main clan. The reason he was sent here wasn’t because he was expendable. It was because they trusted him the most.
‘You don’t even know that it’s already over…’ Thor grit his teeth, roaring as his spear pierced toward Dyon again.
And yet, even as he thought those thoughts, the sky seemed to shatter as an old woman appeared.
Dyon’s eyes narrowed, leaping backward from Thor. ‘Matriarch Niveus?… But… She should be fighting. Why would they give up their numbers advantage… With Patia-Neva joining, it would be even if Matriarch Niveus stopped fighting… Wha – ‘
Suddenly, Dyon felt a dense energy lock onto him. Matriarch Niveus turned a cruel eye toward him. Ever since she had heard about how Dyon slapped her first in line genius, she had wanted to kill him slowly… In the worst possible way…
Dyon frowned, but before he could make a decision on what to do, a smiling Connery Sapientia appeared in the air too, looking down toward Dyon condescendingly.
“You’re forcing my first in line genius to fight a war when you know the way of the Sapientia is strictly non-confrontational. You’ll have to forgive me for taking her back now, won’t you?”
The demon generals broke away from their fights, covering the distance between Dyon and the two celestials, unwilling to give way.
Matriarch Niveus lightly tapped her cane in the air, a sneer wrinkling her features further. “It pay to be so old, makes me realize all the time I’ve spent on cultivation hasn’t been useless.”
A wild aura erupted from her as a domain slowly began to suffocate Dyon and his generals. This wasn’t the power of a normal celestial…
This was a mid-level celestial!