Exploring
Christopher imdiately spread his perception as far as possible and started flying around at incredible speeds.
Though thanks to his mask, he was able to move without being seen by any of the beings that resided within the secret realm.
As he moved, he relayed everything he sensed to Aisha, who was helping him create a map to help his subordinates when they inevitably set foot into the Dinsion.
He planned to have each of the strongholds approximately one million miles apart from each other.
Which sounded like a lot, but considering the size of the realm they were in, it wasn't too much, but it was also enough for each stronghold to have an ample sphere of activity and influence.
Moreover, with his wills being a part of each stronghold, his range of perception would increase greatly since those wills were still extensions of himself.
But first things first. He needed to find proper spots to place these strongholds in the fortresses.
As he flew, Christopher recalled another asure he had put in place for his people when this expedition entered full swing.
He created another Dinsional ability. Well, the system helped, but he managed to get it done. And he had simply decided to call the ability [Tether].
What it did was quite simple, but also very useful. Basically, using the link his subordinates had to the Dinsion, then anyti any of them was on the verge of death or was about to be killed, the link would react and they would instantly be teleported back into the Dinsion to be healed.
Creating it turned out to be harder than he had thought as there were many prerequisites to determine if soone was about to die or not. But with the System's help, he managed to make it work.
However, with the creation of this skill, there was an issue.
They may not know about it yet, but when they realised that they couldn't actually die in a battle and would just be sent back to the Primordial Expanse, then even if they tried, they were still bound to grow complacent with ti, which would stagnate their progress.
This was an issue, but Christopher had no intention of letting his n die when it could be avoided simply because it could make them stronger if they survived. As Aisha said, they need to face hardship to grow, but they need to be alive to see that growth.
So he started thinking of solutions, and the first one he thought of was quite radical.
Since the lives of everyone who is considered a part of the Dinsion are essentially in his hands, he can do a lot of things to them with ease. And his first idea was mory manipulation.
Basically, he thought of setting up a system whereby anyone who was saved by the tether would have their mories manipulated, causing them to believe that while they had been saved, they had been lucky and they would think that their allies had died in the process, and they had simply been lucky. As such, they wouldn't feel like the Tether was omnipotent, and as such, they wouldn't grow to rely on it.
However, Christopher discarded that idea when it ca simply because of how cruel it was.
For starters, Christopher had lines he wouldn't cross, and mory manipulation was one of them. Unless he had to, he did not see himself ssing with the mories of people, let alone his loyal subordinates.
And then there was the context in which such an ability was used as well. Being made to believe that you had fought a life or death battle with soone you genuinely believed was there and then made to believe they had been killed was multiple layers of ssed up, especially if you eventually found out that all those mories were fake and that said allies never existed in the first place. The minds of so would shatter.
So he thought of another, less morally questionable system. There were a few options he could pick from, but they all revolved around there being a certain "penalty" for using the Tether.
The first one was simply enough. Basically, it was an energy-drain penalty. Pretty much, whenever soone used the Tether, they would experience a severe drain on their energy reserves. Leaving them weakened for a certain amount of ti. This would restrict their ability to fight, train, or do anything related to their energy.
The second one was harsher in so ways. In essence, it was a sort of feedback their souls or bodies, depending on how they died, would receive. The easiest way to call it would be backlash. The cost of nearly dying would be experiencing the pain of actually dying. So, while not fatal, the experience would serve as a grim reminder of the danger they faced and make them wary of using the Tather again, no matter how convenient it was.
The third option wasn't as cruel in that category but was still quite steep. Christopher would pretty much place a limiter on whoever had to use the Tether, temporarily slowing down their growth and progress for a ti as a consequence of using the Tether. This, while not painful, was bound to be very irritating for many, and as such, they would do their best to grow stronger to avoid a similar situation in the future.
The fourth option was pretty mild and was more ntal in its approach. What this option offered was that the soldiers who used the Tether would have their life-threatening injuries healed. But the rest would be healed quite slowly, forcng then to stay put until they had recovered adequately, and they would also be unable to train within this period. Why this was significant was because, in addition to the previously ntioned point, Christopher would also allow the healing soldiers to watch their comrades and see them fight. Watching their close brothers and sisters fight harrowing battles while they just sat there and received good care would make them feel bitter inwardly. Which was even worse because they couldn't grow stronger in doing so.
Christopher decided to pick two out of all these options, and in the end, he chose the backlash and the growth limiter to implent.
This was because of how they complinted each other. The backlash, which he decided to call Rebirth Feedback, was an imdiate consequence, and in simulating the pain or cost of nearly dying, it would reinforce the gravity of the situation on the soldiers, while also not harming them.
Then, the other consequence, being the growth limiter, would be the long-term consequence, which would more subtly discourage the reliance on the Tether by slowing down the soldiers' progress. As it made sure that every ti they are saved, they feel a sense of loss due to missing out on opportunities to grow, motivating them to get better.
The intensity of this would depend on how reckless their "death" was. So if one used the Tether because of a dumb mistake, they would face worse consequences than soone who got one-shotted before they could react.
With all these in place, there was now a suitable deterrent to prevent soldiers from growing too reliant on the Tether, and possibly motivate them even more than before.
He ran the idea by his weapons and Sinestra and Eidrasil as well as Aisha, and they all seed to agree. So he went with it.
No one had noticed the creation of the Tethers besides him, so the chances were that it wasn't going to co into play until much later. Still, it was nice to have reasonable limitations that prevented the soldiers from using it as a crutch.
'Hey, this doesn't look half bad.'Christopher thought as he found a spot.
It was a massive piece of snowy land that was very reminiscent of how the one he had set up for his soldiers. However, there was one glaring difference.
In the center of this place that was thousands of miles in diater, sothing pulsed.
It looked like a Blizzard at first glance. However, the way it moved made it clear that it wasn't just a natural disaster and was possibly sothing harrowing. Find your next adventure on empire
Well, it was definitely sothing harrowing. Christopher had no problems seeing through the thick white snow that made up the creature's body.
'Well, that's wrong. The Blizzard is just an aftereffect of its existence. Its true body is in the center of all that snow.' Christopher humd and tilted his head.
From his point of view, there was a pale blue crystal radiating otherworldly light. And he could sense how. Just from it being there, the reality around it was bending to its presence.
'Cool.' Christopher thought. He knew that the more he explored, the more things he would find in the wider universe. Seeing a lifeform like this was definitely interesting.
He was still gonna kill it though.
"Hm. Let's see. How about we try, this!"
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