Big Spar I
[The Corrupted Heart of Encroachnt Physique is unique is unique due to its passive effects on the reality around it. When one has this Physique, their existence passively corrupts the existence around them, causing it to weaken and beco more brittle. Beyond that, though, is that this corrupted reality can be absorbed by the holder of this Physique and absorbed into their heart. The user receives a passive strengthening from this absorption, but beyond that, once their heart has beco saturated with enough corruption, they can pull upon it to transform their body and turn themselves into an entity of corruption, massively boosting their stats in all areas. Not to ntion, the corrupted areas can be used in a variety of ways when it cos to combat or other ans.] Now Christopher was very surprised.
That wasn't a bad ability at all, and the fact that it was passive ant that there was no energy cost and Vazar would only benefit from it being active.
'I wonder if it has a cap though. I doubt he can get passively strengthened infinitely. Moreover, I'm pretty sure the tougher sothing is, the harder it will be to corrupt. Still, this is a pretty cool ability, fighting him in a battle of attrition will only end in his favor.' Christopher thought and nodded to himself, satisfied with everything he'd seen.
"So, have you guys been brought up to speed?" He asked and they all answered in unison.
"Yes, Master." Their voices were tense and respectful as well as fearful. Seeing this, Christopher sighed.
"Hey now, no need to be so tense. I'm not gonna eat you." He sighed. Then again, they had gotten their assessnt handed to them by him and his subordinates, and if they were brought up to speed via mory transfer, then chances were that they knew just how terrifying he was.
His words did nothing to ease their worry, so he rubbed his chin and considered how to make them ease up.
It was strange how easily Christopher forgot any past grievances he had with anyone he'd pulled into his Dinsion. Maybe it was the sheer confidence he had in the fact that they wouldn't be able to betray him, so hating them for sothing they did in the past was pointless, but still, he was just in his twenties, he hadn't reached that stage of having an extrely profound worldview that allowed him to forgive at the drop of a heart and have perfect inner peace.
'Besides, it's not like getting older will guarantee that I'm more empathetic. Look at Pruina, he's been the victim of a single being's anger for millions of years. That's more than enough ti for the hurt of his rejection to have faded, yet here we are.' He mused.
Then again, when one lived for an extrely long ti, their perception of the concept tended to warp. Who knows? Maybe the entity who cursed him views millions of years as days, and so grudges can't be settled in re days.
'There I go, getting sidetracked again.' He sighed and looked at them.
"Alright, I'll be frank, you guys need to ease up. That's an order. No need to act so tense. If I'm dissatisfied with you then I have no reason to be secretive about it." He said flatly and their heads snapped up.
"But Master... what if we accidentally offend you with sothing we say?" Jenny asked tentatively.
"Oh, don't worry about that." Kim, surprisingly, was the one to speak.
"Master is very laid-back. As long as you don't consciously do anything to insult him or do sothing he specifically told you not to do..." She shot a look at Belladonna.
"... He won't do anything." Belladonna looked irritated at the jab but didn't try to defend herself knowing damn well she'd been called out justifiably.
"Exactly. As long as you don't do anything too stupid then I genuinely don't care." Christopher nodded in agreent.
"Define 'too' stupid," Pruina asked with a skeptical tone.
"Attacking unprovoked, blatant insults, trying to force or manipulate into doing sothing. Things like that." Hearing this, the three new initiates relaxed, finding these to not be that bad.
"So Master, is that all?" Silver asked, but the glint in his eyes suggested he knew it wasn't.
Christopher smiled.
"Well, since I'm always thrashing you guys when we spar, I decided we'd do it again, and this ti, Pruina would be on your side, to even things out a bit." Everyone snapped to attention and Pruina looked at him with surprise
"Oh, seriously?" Christopher nodded.
"Yup, and I'll spice up the deal. I won't use authority." Everyone's eyes widened.
"Uh, Master, not trying to doubt you or anything, but isn't that your biggest win condition?" Umbra asked while scratching his chin and Christopher raised a brow.
"I'm sorry but I've wiped the floor with you lot without authority more than I have with it." He retorted.
"We understand that, but well, you're giving us a Paragon and three Quasi-Sovereigns." Thanatos reasoned.
"I know." Christopher just nodded.
"You guys are weird. We have a real chance at winning for once and you're worried about him?" Belladonna asked with irritation and everyone was startled. She had a point.
"Then it's settled." Christopher clapped his hands.
"You guys co at with everything you have. Whoever lands a hit on gets a favor." This made everyone interested. Simply landing a hit was good on its own. But getting a favor from Christopher?
Seeing that they had been adequately spurred, he smiled and jumped back until he was a few dozen kiloters back. By now, the training room was the size of an entire large planet, so there was more than enough room to navigate.
Christopher decided to give them ti to plan as he got ready. He put on his mask and summoned Scarlet and Norn.
While he was confident, he had no intentions of underestimating them. Especially Pruina. Sure the Paragon wasn't at his full strength, but he was still a Paragon. Moreover, their roster was simply too terrifying.
Thanatos was the definition of quantity over quality. It was just that his quantity possessed quality as well. Lenax and Silver were two heavy hitters and the twins couldn't be underestimated no matter what.
Belladonna was a bit of everything and could support anyone where needed, and Kim's abilities couldn't be stressed anymore, especially with her new Ti Affinity.
Then there were the three Scions who needed no introduction.
In short, Christopher could struggle more than a bit if he wasn't careful. So besides his Authority, he planned to use his plethora of skills quite liberally.
***
Christopher hadn't bothered restricting his Aura, and with the addition of Scarlet and Norn, he was like a beacon of power in the distance, but the fact he hadn't done anything let the attackers know that he was giving them ti to get ready.
"So what do you reckon?" Everyone turned towards Aisha. The elf hadn't said anything since so it was easy to forget she was even there to begin with.
"Well, since he isn't using his Authority then that ans we can have an easier ti anticipating his attacks since they still fall within reason sowhat. But he can still affect reality strongly, so let's not rely too much on that fact. In fact, we should fight him like he can still use authority. We've never seen him truly go all out anyway, so he can pull so absolute bullshit and catch us off guard." She said seriously.
"As for plans, well, other than him, Kim is probably our greatest win condition, and he will try to eliminate her first, so protecting her is a priority." She said pointing at Pruina and Kim.
"Hm? What about us?" Constella asked with confusion. It was easy to tell that the Scions had more potent Auras than most of them. So they assud they would be the next high-priority targets.
"You'll have your uses, but Kim is the fastest person here, it's not even a debate." Aisha shook her head and even Pruina seed startled, but the others weren't surprised, so there must have been so truth in her words.
"I'll be on protection duty then," Belladonna spoke with her usual charming voice and Aisha nodded, seeming unsurprised by the volunteer.
"Alright. As for the assault, Lenax, Silver, and Constella will support Pruina. Azure will be the tank, Prism will be in charge of disrupting his attacks. The twins and Vazar will be in charge of ranged attacks, Jenny, your role is flexible so you can move freely. Thanatos will stay at the back and do what he does best, swarming people with overwhelming numbers." She finished.
"What about you?" Pruina asked, sounding a bit amused by her assertion.
"I'll be in charge of making sure you guys don't get caught off-guard and skewered by sothing moving too fast." She said flatly.
"Alright." The Paragon replied with a chuckle.
At that point, everyone summoned their gear and Aisha summoned her armor.
"Let's go."
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