Sotarr flew through the vastness of space, observing the conflicts unfolding around the bridges. The first few slots had been settled, and the gods and high-grade masters of various factions were gradually finishing their duels. He and the other observers had managed to minimize the chaos by making the factions duel for the right to send their minions into the new universe.
Fools, Sotarr thought. Such petty battles over an arbitrary order of arrival. With the bridges' passage so fragile right now, there was little point in crossing. I could understand the urgency during the second or third cycle, when lower-grade soldiers could be sent through, or when the resistance of the universe’s inhabitants had been shattered and footholds established to send young scions—but this?
His nostrils flared as he scanned the surrounding spacetime. Countless smaller factions and individuals had already gathered, waiting for years to pass so they could unleash themselves on the fledgling universe and its inhabitants. Part of me wants to crush them all, he mused, but there are far too many narrow-minded gods and individuals who would take offense, only making things worse.
As Sotarr gazed at the bridge, his thoughts drifted to his disciples. They had grown strong in a remarkably short time—hopefully strong enough to face whatever challenges lay ahead.
He had received troubling reports of spies asking about his disciples, likely in connection to a powerful individual linked to the Blackmarket Syndicates. It seemed their actions had drawn unwanted attention, perhaps from the very people whose disciple they had slain.
A wicked grin spread across his face, his fangs bared, and a sense of pride awakened within him. The Syndicates were a vile scourge, too numerous and deeply embedded in the fabric of the multiverse to fully eradicate. There had been many attempts to wipe them out, but they always survived—protected and patronized by gods and powerful figures alike. Killing them all was futile; no matter how thoroughly one burned their stain away, someone would always rise to take their place.
But in this new universe, Sotarr mused, killing a powerful individual has far more lasting consequences. Replacing them in an isolated universe like this is far more difficult.
He drifted through space, pondering the situation. Perhaps he should find and eliminate whoever was inquiring about his disciples. Losing them would set him back millennia, especially considering the records he could earn through their ascension. But then again, if fools sent weaklings to die at their hands, it would only sharpen his disciples' claws—a good thing in the long run.
Unless they use underhanded tricks, or try to terrorize them by targeting those around them...
While a little strife could help his disciples grow, this was a threat he decided to snuff out early.
He would send a message to his wife, Mitania, asking her to look into it. After her service during the trial, she still had a few decades of freedom from most of her duties within the Lyraxis Ascendancy. Knowing her, she would likely investigate the matter thoroughly herself—and tear apart anyone threatening Riseth and Alistair.
Alistair and Riseth watched as King forced a Lirsaross to collapse under the weight of his curses, withering away as it failed to breach his newly upgraded Cursed Barrier skill.
They exchanged a meaningful glance.
"I think he’s ready to take on a dragon," Riseth remarked.
"I think so too. Good timing—we’re running out of time. The retaliatory strike by the AC is supposed to start soon, and I’d like to get that dragon slayer title."
"Speaking of dragons, what do you think Sotarr’s up to?" Riseth asked.
"Probably still babysitting the bridges from the other side," Alistair replied with a shrug.
King, in his human form, turned around, his perpetual frown deepening. "What are you talking about? Do you know of a place where we can find dragons?"
Alistair smiled. "We recently acquired information on a volcanic planet orbiting a gas giant. It's seeded with all kinds of draconic beasts, including a decent variety of dragons."
To his credit, King didn’t growl as he usually did. Instead, he let out a sigh. "That is good. I’m ready to leave immediately," he said without much preamble.
Alistair nodded as they headed to the shipyards. They had spent roughly another week training since returning from Sabis, and things had been developing rapidly since. The blockades on the bridges were still holding, locked in a never-ending struggle, though a few crafts had managed to slip through and were now being actively hunted with moderate success. These ships were likely scouts, meant to feed information about the new universe back to the old one. The Coalition, however, wasn’t willing to take any chances, doing their best to track and intercept the crafts when possible, with additional patrols waiting on crucial border worlds to catch any scout craft.
During this time Alistair and Riseth finally reached level 130, pushing themselves to reach their new skill selection, having also delved the recently discovered cave dungeon on Lacustrine to obtain another skill point.
Tier: [Legendary]
Skill Name: Aegis Stride
Description: A Combat style centered around the Concept of Kinetics, utilizing most of its linked concepts to force the opponent to fight by the user's rules. Increases all applicable statistics by an enormous amount when utilizing Kinetics and directly linked concepts, increases close quarters and armed combat proficiency, and increases reaction speed when using the technique to a large degree. Kinetic Energy conversion and utilization are further improved, and any required focus while utilizing the Aegis Stride technique is greatly reduced. Telekinetic movement speed is greatly increased and extremely resistant to outside interference.
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Tier: [Legendary]
Skill Name: Kinetic Strike
Description: An Incredibly advanced Kinetic Blast variant based on highly concentrated [KE] coupled with the concepts of force, mass, acceleration, and many more directly linked concepts. The [Power] and [Control] of the blast are greatly increased, while all energy costs are greatly reduced. Through the concept of velocity and acceleration, the blast will further gain [Power] the longer it travels at an exponential rate. Through the force concept, incorporeal opponents may be afflicted just as effectively as corporeal ones, requiring extremely high resistance to partially avoid a connecting strike. The user may manipulate the blast to be more concentrated or create greater devastation upon impact at no additional cost. The required focus to create Kinetic Strikes is greatly reduced.
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Tier: [Supreme]
Skill Name: Freedom of Movement
Description: The skill prevents opponents within the user's grade from grappling him or impeding his movement, resisting any attempt at restraining the user at extremely high efficiency and little to no focus automatically unless the user intended otherwise. This includes paralysis and spells that would slow the user down up to a degree. The skill's efficiency is moderately reduced when faced with higher-tier spells and abilities within and above the user's grade but gives the user near immunity from anyone with a lower grade.
Alistair had immediately picked up all three skills, which was a small price to pay as a former human. He still enjoyed the human benefits—additional skill points and more skill options compared to other races—coupled with the dungeons he had recently delved into. He wasn’t worried about running out of points, as he still had three left, some of which he planned to spend developing new skills when time allowed. While the three skills didn’t add anything entirely new to his capabilities, the boosts to his statistics and the reduced focus required were greatly appreciated. In the fight with Eberus, Alistair had pushed his focus to the absolute limit just to maintain his technique and press the hydra, preventing him from killing him and his companions.
While the main appeal was the reduced focus required, the boost in statistics was also quite noticeable, adding a whole new layer of power. Riseth, too, had acquired her Serpent’s Waltz and Realm Tear skills—the power she had used to tear apart Eberus, a feat that had taken everything she had just to maintain before launching it at the monster.
As Alistair boarded the Artemis, he glanced at his stats tab, something he didn’t do much anymore. While he loved seeing the numbers grow, he viewed them mostly as arbitrary figures that gave a rough estimate of his power. Still, he made sure to note down any thresholds he crossed, leaving them for others in his clan to analyze and decipher. To better track his progress, he changed his visualization to display only the total stat points, with the current stat multiplier listed at the end of each stat description.
Power [2074] Increases Physical and Magical Damage as well as general speed and the ability to lift heavy things. Provides a small bonus to self-healing and stamina recovery.
Current stat multiplier: 170%
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Mental [1677] Increases magical capacity and determines the quality and quantity of mana [MP], increases memorization and comprehension capacity, and increases spell power by a large degree. Current stat multiplier: 155%
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Control [2161] Increases motor skills and magic and energy control by a large degree and increases the ability to concentrate by a moderate amount, with a large impact on the efficiency of [Qi] and [MP] usage. Current stat multiplier: 185%
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Body [2760] Increases robustness and vitality of the body, with a large impact on [HP] and [Qi] capacity, moderate impact on damage reduction and environmental and magical resistance, and large impact on self-healing. Current stat multiplier: 200%
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Mind [1581] Increases the defense of mind and soul, as well as mana regeneration by a large degree, and also increases the number of tasks possible at a time. It also significantly heightens the efficiency of attacks targeting the minds and souls of others. Current stat multiplier: 155%
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Senses [1772] Increases reaction speed and fine control of senses like visual smell, etc., by a large degree. It also increases instincts to a large degree, with a small bonus to [MP] and [Qi] expenditure reduction. Current stat multiplier: 165%
Their trip to the yet-unnamed volcanic planet was quite short, as it was only a few systems away and a beacon had been placed to speed up jump calculations. Their sector had been mostly mapped out, and from the looks of it, there were no other factions within their immediate vicinity—a blessing, for now. However, a handful of planets had either the potential to evolve sapient beings, like Skyreach, or already hosted them, such as the dragon-inhabited planet they were currently approaching.
There were only two other planets believed to house powerful beasts, possibly evolving into sapient species, but for obvious reasons, this volcanic world was by far the most volatile. Multiple flights of dragons were locked in a fierce struggle for supremacy. Conquering the planet and adding it to their sphere of influence wasn’t something Alistair believed was the best approach, and he wasn’t confident in achieving it either. Befriending one of the flights, while possible, wouldn’t be easy, but it was their best choice. Even low-tier and feral dragons were incredibly prideful, and they had no clear picture of the temperament of the different flights yet. Alistair had to hammer this into King's skull so he didn’t go off trying to kill the first dragon he encountered, something he had only begrudgingly accepted.
Alistair scanned the displays in front of him. The planet was nearly uninhabitable for most beings, with extreme heat and scarce vegetation, which only existed due to the influence of magic. Rivers of lava crisscrossed the landscape, occasionally rocked by violent volcanic explosions that seemed to occur at random. The poles were cooler, with most of the planet’s vegetation and life thriving there. However, the dragons gathered around the tallest mountains, living in caves near the strongest dragon veins—frequently located deep within the volcanic lands around the equator—fiercely battling one another for control.
Alistair and Riseth planned to remain in orbit for a while longer, observing the dragons in hopes of identifying suitable targets or potential allies.
"We are so close! We should go down there and see for ourselves instead of analyzing them from up here," King protested.
"I understand your urgency," Alistair replied, "but you need to learn patience. We need to get this right. We can't risk upsetting multiple dragon flights that live within our projected borders."
King growled, his piercing, draconic eyes locking onto Alistair’s before finally relenting, throwing his arms up in frustration. "Fine. But as soon as we find a target, we go down there."
Alistair glanced at Riseth, noticing the small smile playing on her lips. "Sure thing, buddy. If we find something, you’ll be the first to know."
"I am not your buddy, Pal!" King said half-jokingly as he left the cockpit.
