Lorne was sitting quietly in one of the many restaurants in the flying palace. He was there to meet with Master Compassion who invited him out. Lorne wasn't in the mood for visiting, he really wanted to finish making his preparations. However, given Master Compassions connection to his Master, and the fact Master Compassion is unimaginably powerful, and he would be guarding the lives of himself and everyone else from the sect, Lorne thought it was prudent to give the man some face and meet with him.
Sitting quietly and sipping his iced tea, a Texas favorite he introduced to the restaurant; he quietly waited for Master Compassion. Master Compassion finally showed up after another twenty minutes. Lorne knew when he arrived, not only because of his super senses but also because everyone around him suddenly started bowing.
"Sorry I'm late, I was finishing your gifts." Master Compassion said happily as he sat at Lorne's table. "Gifts?" Lorne asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Indeed, I come bearing gifts!" Master Compassion said.
"Are you Greek?" asked Lorne.
"Greek, no, what's a Greek?" Master Compassion asked.
"On Earth, they are a people. We have a saying on Earth. 'Beware Greeks bearing gifts. Since you're not Greek I suppose I don't have to worry about accepting gifts from you!" Lorne said with a dashing smile.
Master Compassion froze for a moment unsure of what to make of Lorne's comment.
"It's a joke, I guess it doesn't translate well through realms," Lorne said with a smile.
"Oh, a joke! Haha, I get it, I get it! Nice one!" Master Compassion laughed as he pretended to understand the joke.
Master Compassion immediately took out a box from one of his spatial storage devices. He placed the box on the table and pointed at it. "What's in the box?" Lorne asked. "Your gifts," Master Compassion said.
"My gifts?" asked Lorne.
"No, your gift and BS42's gift. If you would like you can call him out," said Master Compassion. Lorne sent a message to BS42 who suddenly appeared. "You called?" he said.
"Open the box," said Master Compassion. Lorne opened the box and found a sphere and a data crystal. "The sphere is for you, Lorne, and the crystal is for BS42," said Master Compassion.
"For me?" BS42 said. "It's the full contents of our libraries," Master Compassion said with a smile. BS42 was stunned. "Oh, you didn't think we knew you were copying all of the books? Ha HA, BS42 you're not as slick as you think you are!" Master Compassion said with a mighty laugh.
BS42 was momentarily stunned before picking up the crystal and putting it away. "How do I merit having this, I thought we had to earn these things," BS42 said.
"You've already earned them. Do you know how many direct disciples Master River has?" Looking at the pair with stunned looks on their faces Master Compassion answered with a self-satisfied laugh. "Not many! Master River made it clear we are to hold nothing back from his direct disciples. Even if you don't join our sect you'll have full access to all the available knowledge you desire. I'll even present you with a storage ring filled with materials later if you truly decide not to join. Although I don't know why you wouldn't want to join the sect," said Master Compassion.
Lorne thought for a few moments before replying. "I really considered joining the sect immediately after this, but I've decided I want to spend some time seeing the world. Maybe when I'm done doing that I'll join the sect. It's just, I've been training in a sect for more than forty thousand years and I'm tired of it. I want to see what's out there in this strange new realm." Long said passionately.
"Training outside fo the sect is good too! Just don't forget we're here for you whenever you need us," said Master Compassion. "Thank you, Master Compassion," Lorne said with the utmost sincerity.
"Haha, don't mention it, it's no big thing," he said while smiling.
"As for your gift, Lorne, it's something a little more practical I hope will aid you in case you're right and we end up fighting. I understand you have a particular kind of warrior armor you like to dress up in before going into battle?" asked Master Compassion. Lorne merely nodded in answer.
"Place this on your warrior armor and send some spirit into the device while saying "integrate!" The device will integrate its functions into your armor. Once you've integrated this with your armor you will be able to use the onboard features to determine the improvements and capabilities of your armor.
Master Compassion took a swig of his ice tea and his eyes lit up. "Ooh, I like this ice team, it's much better than the hot tea I'm always drinking. I've going to add this into my favorites!" with that comment Master Compassion disappeared once more.
Later that evening, Lorne was back in his room working and heard a knock at the door. Answering the door he was surprised to find Tower standing outside waiting. "Tower, how are you?" Lorne asked. "I'm great, can I come in?" asked Tower? "Sure," responded Lorne.
"I have something I want to show you," said Tower. Immediately, Tower produced a large magnificent white sword from his spacial container. Instead of looking like some kind of white metal, Lorne noticed the Sword looked more like a white marble. "Is stone stronger than an alloy?" he wondered.
"What a beautiful sword!" Lorne remarked. "Beautiful, destructive, and sharp," responded Tower. "What is it made of?" asked Lorne. "It's a special alloy I came up with that's stronger than just about anything but it's able to be sharpened to the point where it can slice through an atom!" Tower responded proudly.
"Amazing! I have to hand it to you Tower. We're all well rounded in all of the fields, but when it comes to forging weapon and armor you are certainly the best!" Lorne Praised the large man.
"Thanks, I have something for you as well." Tower put away the sword and brought out a cube about the size of his palm made of the same stuff as his sword. "Lorne's eyes sparkled as he held the object in his hand. What's it do?" He asked.
"Well, you throw it at people and it knocks them out?" responded Tower. "Really?!" Lorne was totally confused, wasn't this just a pretty rock then? "No, not really!" Tower laughed. Lorne was stunned. Tower's personality changed so much since he first met him. When they first met, Tower rarely talked and when he did talk it was more of a growl. Now, he was making jokes. It was hard to believe it was the same person.
"I was always inspired by the armor your friend made for you. This is an under armor for your suit. It can serve as extra protection for your body or even protect your soul like your friend's armor. However, this does even more as it amplifies your strength, speed, and defensive abilities by ten times their current strength! The helmet, which is invisible, can similarly increase your laster vision by ten times, and it has a memory core which can record anything your regular or Ridarn vision picks up!
It also has a mapping function and can record and adopt new martial skills you come across in battle. This little baby has it all. I figured you could wear it under your special armor." Tower said.
Lorne was amazed after hearing about the list of things it could do. "Does everyone know about my warrior armor?" asked Lorne. "Yes, we're all excited to see it in the upcoming secret realm. "What if I don't wear my warrior armor?" asked Lorne. "You've got to wear your armor, everyone has been looking forward to it ever since they heard about it." Tower said.
I guess it's a good thing I had planned to wear the armor. However, I had no idea people were anticipating it so much." Lorne laughed.
"Are you kidding? You probably don't know this because you're always training by yourself, but you've become a celebrity within the two sects. All the women are curious about the mysterious Master Lorne! They gobble up every little bit of information about you they can. Even the male students are becoming fanatical about you after hearing you fought against a Great Fiend, and you've reincarnated several times. You're the most exciting thing to talk about, other than dying horribly in the upcoming battle.
"Oh, it's the hero worship thing again. Okay, I'll try not to let down my fans. Anything else going on?" asked Lorne. Yeah, next Wednesday, we're gathering for an assembly led by a student from the Supreme sect. His name is Master Mounkeh. You should set an alarm or something. Everyone has to be there, and the reason is to take about what to do and not do once we get to the secret realm.
"Master Mounkeh?" okay, I'll remember!