The surviving mbers of each group looked at Daniel with horror. Their companions had been exterminated in a matter of monts, and the only reason why they were still breathing, was because Daniel had allowed them to.
The fear they felt was crippling, and forced them to stand dumbfounded, as Daniel approached the young woman and placed his hand over her head. He then injected heavy amounts of healing essence, which combined with his power of ntal Fortitude, allowed him to help her calm down, and leave the panicked state she had been in for the past few minutes.
"Are you alright?" He asked before gently cupping his hand underneath the young woman’s jaw, and perking her head up. While still unsettled about the whole event, the young woman imdiately recognized Daniel as the first student of Hiel academy. A young man that was considered the strongest by any of the academy’s core students, despite never having shown his powers.
"W-What.. What are you doing here.." she asked with confusion, unaware that Daniel was, along with being the first student, the founder of the academy and first outcast of Iewah’s faction. The person whose planet she, and tens of millions of others lived in.
As Daniel tried to reassure the mbers of his group, the three cultivators looked at one another with uncertainty. In their minds, were ideas of escaping, pleading for rcy, or even giving their all into a final attempt against Daniel. However, before they could act, Daniel stood back up from his kneeling position, and without looking at them, he asked, "You know why you are still standing, right?"
Sure that a wrong answer to this question could easily an their death, the three started to analyze their situation, and soon, they ca to a conclusion. A conclusion which in their minds made absolutely no sense, and which they refused to ntion for fear of Daniel’s reaction. It was only after Daniel turned to look at them with expectant eyes, that the surviving mber of the universal governnt said, "You want us to report back.."
"Right on the money." Said Daniel before turning to look at him. He then added, "Apparently, killing every one of your agents was not enough for you to understand. This ti, I hope that leaving a few witnesses alive will have a different outco. Do not disappoint on this."
Not interested in hearing a response, Daniel quietly grabbed the wrist of the young woman, and disappeared without making a sound, or leaving a single trace of spatial essence.
The three cultivators remained quiet for a few seconds, until finally, the silence was interrupted by the surviving mber of the universal governnt, who said, "This matter is not sothing that the governnt will leave unsettled." he then turned to look at the surviving ntal warrior and spiritual cultivator, and added, "You two are coming with . The senate will want to talk to you as well."
As he finished speaking, the mber of the universal governnt touched one of the rings in the middle finger of his left hand with his thumb. This unnoticeable action caused for a simple door to appear in front of them, which they then used to reach the core of the universal governnt’s territory.
-----
Back on planet Alcazar, the three presented themselves in front of the senate, who after waiting for days for a report about the result of their mission, welcod them in the mont their arrival was perceived by those in control of the space around the capital.
"Octa, we have been expecting you." Said the current speaker. His expression initially reflected his high expectations, which were soon put aside the mont he noticed that sothing was wrong, "Why is it only you? And why are they here?" he asked.
"Mister Speaker, senators, we have failed to fulfill the primary objective of the mission, however, we bring new information, as well as bad news." Said the surviving mber of the universal governnt to the senators, after a faint, yet respectful hint on acknowledgent.
The speaker quickly straightened his back on his chair, and said, "Tell us about what you have found out first."
"Sir, we have discovered a few things about their thod of cultivation." responded the mber of the universal governnt, making the senators sit on the edge of their seats. He then continued by saying, "It is called the path of True Immortality, and contrary to what we believed, it does not allow one to beco a high immortal, and a ntal warrior at the sa ti. What it does, is to rge the three aspects of humanity into one, just like our spirit is rged with our bodies."
While these two concepts would appear identical to a common mortal, for an immortal cultivator the difference was abysmal. After all, rging two powers not only allowed a cultivator to obtain the strengths of both paths, but changed their natural power into a more pure form of essence. A power which was believed to be unmatched in the universe, at least until Daniel’s appearance.
"Go on." said the speaker, who encompassed the curiosity of each of the senators into two simple words.
"We have not been able to obtain a thod, but we have a few hints on the origin of that power." Said the survivor of the universal governnt before turning to look at the masked ntal warrior, whose eyes moved on each of the observing senators with fear.
While nervous, the ntal warrior rembered what he and the other two survivors had prepared, and as soon as the immortal cultivator looked at him, he took a step forward, and after bowing politely, he said, "Senators of the Universal Governnt. Each relevant mory contained in the target’s mind has been masterfully removed. I pride myself with being one of the few who could undo such a job, but it appears that I have overestimated myself."
It did not take long for the ntal warrior to realize that the senators had close to no interest to his apologetic behaviour, so instead of waiting for words of reprimand, or consolation, he continued by saying, "While I have failed in my initial job, I was able to see the mories prior, and succeeding our target’s change in powers."
"Get to it. What did you discover?" Asked the speaker, now impatient.
"The first unaltered mory of the young woman prior to her change in powers, showed her as a simple immortal. A week’s worth of mories later, she had beco a true immortal." Said the ntal warrior before taking a small pause. Only after seeing the invested expressions of the senators, did he continue by saying, "Our theory is that the thod of becoming a true immortal is not a path that must be followed, but the ability of the Outcast, or even an object."
"What makes you think that it could be an object?" asked one of the senators.
The ntal warrior turned to look at the senator who had just spoken, and responded by saying, "None of the young woman’s mories were altered before the point in ti in which she beca a true immortal, and we were able to confirm that each and everyone of those who achieved the sa, did so after the Outcast ca into possession of the Door to the Dream State, the artifact left to the ntal factions, by the Mindhive."
"Interesting." said the speaker while stroking his chin. He then asked after a long minute spent in a pensive state, "What news do you bring? Does it have sothing to do with why the majority of your groups are missing?"
It was once again the survivor of the universal governnt who raised his head towards the speaker, and said, "The Outcast discovered us. We have tried to reason with him, but he started a massacre without showing signs of consideration. We were spared only so that we could report his intention to not collaborate with us."
This news surprised the senators, who knew more than anybody else that Daniel did not belong to a major faction who could afford to instigate them. He was the leader of a relatively small group, and like the other group leaders amongst Iewah’s faction, they were not at a level where they could challenge a colossal group like the universal governnt. Especially if supported by the other factions.
To them, Daniel was a kid covered in golden jewels and dressed in imasurably expensive clothes. Impressive to see, but still a kid.
"So this is how it is going to be." Said the speaker before turning to look at the other senators, who nodded at each other, while sending ssages through sound essence to one another for various minutes. Once they stopped, the speaker turned to look at the surviving ntal warrior and spiritual cultivator, and said, "Report back to your factions."
"Senator, do you have a ssage you wish us to report to our leaders?" Asked the spiritual cultivator, hoping to be tasked with sothing important enough to divert the fury of the Spiritual Emperor, after letting him down for the umpteenth ti.
The speaker suddenly stopped stroking his chin, and after crossing the fingers of his hands above his knee, said, "Surveillance and negotiations have failed.. The governnt and the annexed factions will be going to war against the Outcast."
-----
After rescuing the mber of his group, Daniel went back to his planet, where he was welcod by a grateful Fyro, and an annoyed group of people whose job was to report any sort of problem that arose in his planet during his absence.
A few days later.
Daniel and a few of his close friends were currently floating in mid air, observing the event that was taking place underneath them just like hawks would look at mice. What they were looking at, was the massive line that had ford in front of the entrance to the Door of Dream State, which was known throughout the entire academy as the sacred grounds of Hiel Academy.
"Are you sure that you want to open the artifact to the public?" Asked Edmund with evident doubt.
"Do not worry about it. I have already locked the second layer to anyone who does not fulfill the requirents of our group, and the mont soone will try to forcibly absorb the power in order to ascend, the power will solidify around them, and they will be pushed out." Responded Daniel while showing a satisfied expression.
After rging his artifact with his own system, Daniel had discovered that the control he had over it, was vaster than what he had predicted. At the mont, he could set simple actions to the inanimate artifact, which would use its power to fulfill the orders of its owner.
"Can I go back in? I am a step away from obtaining another one of the natural powers of us dragons." Said Xargy after seeing hundreds of young n and won rush into the place where he had cultivated for the past few weeks, and that had helped his cultivation skyrocket to a level which only a few dragons who were ten tis older than him had reached.
"Will you cut that out? We have discussed this already. Your cultivation absorbs too much power, and too quickly. Every three days you spend in there, the artifact requires one just to recover. You will have to wait for the artifact to beco more powerful." Responded Daniel with irritation. It was clear that this had not been the first ti the two had had this conversation.
"Whatever."
"Why exactly do we need the students to reach the peak of immortality?" asked Heimart with confusion.
Daniel did not respond right away, and instead looked at the great number of students who wished for nothing but to barge into the artifact, and beco one of the mythical true cultivators that only this artifact could produce. After a few seconds spent quietly, he said, "Once they reach the peak of immortality, have anyone who isn’t fit for our group graduate. Then send them back to their families. The rest will ascend, and help us with what cos next."
Daniel’s tone was devoid of positivity, and that did not go unnoticed by his friends. Especially from Edmund, who looked back at him, and asked, "What cos next?"
The response to this question, was a single word, "War".
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