Dyon rushed through the forest, sprinting with a smile on his face. He had asked Lyla to help him stop by Ri and Madeleine’s portals and it was safe to say he had little to worry about now.
In terms of the Lotus Alliance, it seemed as though the Gorilla’s Den formation had been pierced through a few times, but, the vanguard had managed to hold out long enough for the formation to extend backwards.
Ri’s new form had been a surprise to Dyon, but, he liked the idea of his fiancées getting stronger – something that was definitely true when he noticed Madeleine had learned her first attempt.
On Madeleine’s side of things, they had lasted long enough for reinforcements to come. Dyon didn’t recognize the clans that supported Madeleine aside from the Sapientia clan, but it was enough for him to know they were her allies.
Because of the added support, Madeleine had decided to enter the temple – a place Dyon was sure had to be some sort of legacy. And… something was telling him that he could fully trust his Madeleine to benefit greatly.
Dyon grinned, leaping from branch to branch. His bare feet relished in the feeling of the damp wood and soft grass. But, he was constantly on guard. His eyes had not stopped shining gold since he entered this forest…
When he asked for Little Lyla for help in getting here, he had pictured coming to the Epistemic Tower. But, it was clear that Lyla had brought him to the closest portal possible, and yet, it was still this far away. So, the only explanation was that the spatial fluctuations were too fierce to form a portal any closer.
But, Dyon was much too happy to care. He was enjoying the free feeling of the wind flying past his shirtless torso and the comfort his sweat pants were giving him. Sure, his battle changpao was proper for when he was leading. But, right now, he preferred to be himself.
‘Mom? Dad? Your son chose pretty well, don’t you think?’
Suddenly thinking of something, massive flowers began blooming around Dyon. They were all a dull white color, characteristic of blooming 10% clones.
Soon, tens of Dyon’s spread out, each going off to study the spatial rifts the littered the thick forest. ‘I don’t even want to think about how many spatial rifts I’d have to absorb to form a proper catalyst. But, that doesn’t mean I can’t use this to comprehend a new path for my spatial will…’
As of now, Dyon had comprehended two uses for his spatial will. The first was heavily connected to his celestial movement technique, and the second had to do with his gravity will – something he could only use when he combined his space and time will.
But, these spatial rifts were very different, and watching Ri fight had given him some inspiration. It was about time he learned an attack path for his spatial will.
Dyon could only laugh to himself when he thought of Ri. How Ri had learned spatial will when she hadn’t known it before? The only explanation had to connect to her faith seed. It seemed his little feu glace had access to some interesting abilities. Especially since it didn’t seem limited to just spatial will…
A serious expression flashed on Dyon’s features as he became aware that the spatial distortions were becoming thicker and more frequent. ‘I guess we’re getting close.’
**
Away from Dyon, Alidor, Kaeara and a group of about ten other Basilisk warriors were slowly. making there way toward the Epistermic Tower.
They had been forced to leave the scaled elephant in the forest, so, Alidor was carrying his sister on his back as he carefully swerved through what essentially amounted to an endless field of mines. Except these mines were among the most dangerous things in universe.
Yet, Kaeara had full confidence in her brother, even to the point where she was occasionally hum tunes and ask silly questions.
“Big brother, why’d you make me read all of those books if even you don’t listen to them?”
Alidor raised an eyebrow but continued calculating each of his movements. If it was just his life, he’d probably be moving much faster. But, he calculated the same problem and checked it over probably hundreds of times before making a move now. He wasn’t willing to put his little sister at any risk.
It was also possible for him to use energy to stave off the spatial fluctuations like the first son had, but he wanted to maintain his peak stamina… A battle he couldn’t afford to lose was coming up.
Kaeara pouted. “All of the books say to take Epistemic Tower last. If you had, none of these spatial fluctuations would even be here. So why are we going now?”
Alidor sighed. “The fact its easier to take the Epistemic Tower at the end is the reason we’re not doing it.”
“That’s not an answer!” Kaeara whined, licking the back of Alidor’s ear in defiance.
“This is a game.”
“Ugh, that’s not an answer either!”
“It’s because of this that we were able to bring the Scaled Elephants across to the Earth Tower side without losing them to weather or the other sporadic changes of the gate.”
“I’m ignoring you. I don’t like you. Hmph.” Kaeara turned away, resting her cheek on Alidor’s back instead of resting her chin on his shoulder.
Alidor didn’t respond. He didn’t like explaining things anyway. His mind worked much too quickly to slow down. It was something his sister complained a lot about, but he couldn’t help it. Plus, he was too focused on making sure they didn’t die now, because if who he was leaving a trail of crumbs for actually showed up, he needed to be at full strength. ‘This is step one.’
Away from Alidor and his little sister, and a long time after they had that conversation, Dyon was still making his way through the forest. But, unlike Kaera, he was fully aware of what was going on.
Before Dyon had come to the gate, he was already aware of the fact the Epistemic Tower was always the last tower to be conquered. The reason for that went further than just leaving the hardest for last. After all, wouldn’t it make the most sense to conquer something difficult while you have less towers to protect? If you tried to conquer a difficult tower, all while protect eight others, you’d only make it more difficult on yourself.
No. The reason the Epistemic Tower was always conquered last was because only when you controlled eight towers would you have enough control over the laws of this gate to turn off the spatial tears that littered the area. This was what make it worth it. Conquering Epistemic Tower would suddenly become manifold easier if you didn’t have to worry about.
However, if you looked at this like it was a game, were things really so simple?
If you looked at the Epistemic Tower like a special area of a game that could only be properly accessed under the right conditions, wouldn’t turning off the spatial fluctuations, despite being easier, force people to miss out on something great?
Originally, this had been Dyon’s plan. When he was speaking to Ri on the day he awoke, he had already planned to do exactly what Alidor was doing now. He wanted to see what was different about the Epistemic Tower if you didn’t turn off the spatial fluctuations. Why? Because weren’t spatial fluctuations evidence of spatial distortion?… And weren’t spatial distortions only prominent when there was a new plane to enter?
Much like the spatial pocket Dyon had just been in, or a legacy world opening, tears in space only meant one thing: there was a portal to another place. And considering how violent the fluctuations were, this place was definitely worth exploring.
But, Dyon’s problem now was that he was no longer the only one who had deduced this. He was used to be the smartest person in the room, but now a worthy rival had entered… A rival who had much more experience with the gates and the cultivation world than he did…
Alidor had proved himself from the very beginning. When Dyon had read the memories of the Vice Commanders, he had experienced an emotion that was all too rare for him… He was impressed.
There was one thing that was very clear about the gates: their spatial fluctuations were connected, and as long as you didn’t die, you could take advantage of it.
When you delved into the deep portions of the game like Dyon had, you gained the ability to even connect to other gates! But, on this scale here, the scale the game meant you to use… Alidor was able to use them to connect to differing areas of this gate itself!
But, the problem with that was although the idea seemed simple, it required a level of array alchemy theory Dyon just didn’t have… That’s why he couldn’t help but be impressed.
Although Dyon’s talent in array alchemy was undoubtable, even Ri had better fundamental knowledge of it than he did. This wasn’t because Dyon ignored it, it was simply because he hadn’t had enough time.
Alidor and Ri had spent years studying array alchemy. Ri because she was simply interested, but Alidor did it as a means to survival. If he wasn’t the best, he and his sister would have long died.
The calculations Alidor used to comprehend and bend the ancient game to his will were theories of array alchemy Dyon had not a single clue about. They were in portions of his master’s memory he simply hadn’t had the time to delve into…
Whereas Alidor practiced an array alchemy built on solid fundamentals and traditional theories, Dyon’s array alchemy was almost as wild as a university student’s note taking short-hand. In fact, the truth was that Alidor had not once studied anything related to alchemy. He had dedicated all of his life to studying formations.
In this match of tradition and new age… Dyon lost severely.
Dyon suddenly became aware that this was likely why he had never made heads of tails of the arrays etched into the tome… How would you understand the most complex of things without first grasping the basic fully?
Much of the arrays Dyon drew now were new and innovative ones he built on top of the old. Using teleportation relay stations or communication arrays powered by multiple people were things array alchemy didn’t have normally. But, no matter how impressive that was, Dyon needed to know that the martial world wasn’t to be underestimated…
Dyon’s thoughts flashed back to his first interactions with Delia and his thoughts on the technology and innovation of the martial world. ‘I have to remember. It’s not that the martial world isn’t as intelligent as those from the mortal realm. It’s that they have no need to advance in areas if they can use power to replace it.’
Why would military tactics be rampant in a world where power spoke over everything? Why would they need storage bracelets when they had space will? And why would they simplify their arrays like Dyon did when they could build much more complex and intricate things without such simplification.
Dyon’s wings burst from his back as he twisted in the air. He cut through the last of the thick trees to suddenly find Epistemic Tower before him.
The feeling of danger was palpable as Dyon hovered in the air silently.
It wasn’t that Dyon’s array simplification had become useless, but, if he didn’t build a solid base first, his array alchemy would soon hit a bottle neck he wouldn’t be able to surpass.
Dyon’s goal was the same as it had always been: to leave the biggest mark on the martial world. All in hopes that his parents were looking down on him and smiling. For them, he’d make sure the Sacharro name never faded… And if that meant he had to form the perfect balance between martial world and mortal world… Then he’d do it.
“Dao of array alchemy. Epistemic Tower. My own legacy. I’ll take control of them all.”
Dyon’s wings tucked as he dove off of the edge of the cliff without hesitation, the wind slicing past his face as he headed into an unknown adventure.