"How did you breakthrough" Abe asked? His intention was to ask Captain Zakai the very same question, but the older gentleman had passed out after receiving the vitality pill. Abe would have to ask him later. Besides, Captain Zakai's aura was unstable. It fluctuated between the peak of the mortal realm and the 1st stage of the above-mortal realm, signifying that his breakthrough was recent. But the men in front of him were in the mid stages of the above-mortal realm. They would be better sources of information.
"We received Master's power. And our strength increased dramatically as a result" the earth wielder submissively stated. He was terrified of his master. But his master wasn't here now, and they were definitely going to die. It would be better to die quickly, than to face the full wrath of a ruthless prince.
"When did you receive your Master's blessing" Abe continued with his questioning? What the two men were describing was termed as a 'blessing'. It was the ability of higher entities and stronger wielders to pass some of their power to lower lifeforms or weaker wielders. It came at a great cost. Firstly, those who were 'blessed' would be inherently weaker than others of the same level.
Secondly, their lifespans would be cut down to half of what it was supposed to be. And finally their Masters could easily dispose of them using the power they transferred to them. It wasn't advantageous at all. Only people who were desperate, and leaders who were eager to see results and so didn't mind using their subordinates like disposable trash cans, that took this route.
"Blessing", the leader looked at Abe in confusion, not completely understanding what the young Prince was referring to. "You don't even know what it was yet you accepted it" Abe scoffed in disdain. To think that they didn't even know something so rudimentary, yet they had no qualms accepting such power.
"Did you think that you could receive such power without paying any price at all" Abe mocked? To people like these who were not only foolish, but bullies as well, Abe didn't see the need to mince his words.
"You fools accepted such power without figuring out the consequences first. You are basically living half-lives. And anyone with the same level of strength will have no problems dealing with you" Abe nonchalantly stated. His words sent chills down their spines. Because there was almost no Zandorian who had surpassed the mortal stage, they weren't able to truly test their battle prowess against 'normal' wielders on their level. When they were battling Captain Zakai after his breakthrough they assumed that he was very talented to face two of them who were at the 4th stage of the above-mortal realm. They weren't wrong, but their conjecture was inaccurate. Captain Zakai hadn't stabilized his power at the 1st stage of the above-mortal realm yet, so his battle prowess couldn't be accurately analysed. But to get a good grasp of his abilities, one would have to first understand where these men stood against wielders who grew without a 'blessing'. The 4th level above-mortal realm earth wielder was comparable to a 2nd level above-mortal realmer in terms of pure fighting ability. The leader who was at the 6th stage, was only comparable to someone who was at the peak of the 3rd stage of the above-mortal realm. That was why they were so easily overwhelmed by Abelard's aura. Abelard wasn't a realm above them, yet they couldn't withstand his power because he had risen in ranks purely based on his own talent and hard work, and not due to a power infusion from a stronger wielder.
NAME: Abe
AGE: 11
HEALTH POINTS: 2800/2800
BLOODLINE: Blood Wyvern
BLOODLINE RANK: Rank 9 (locked)
RACE: Zandorian (100%)
LEVEL: Above-Mortal Stage 6 (Level 33.45)
POWER LEVEL: 160,000
WIELDER TYPE: Dual Wielder (Energy Wielder; Scholar)
SPECIALTY: Strength, Intelligence, and Vitality
GLOWS: Earth's Darling Boy; Incomplete (Locked) Transformation [Wyvern]
BREATHS: Hubris Fist
Abelard had also grown during this period. Not only had he gained three ranks in the past month, he had also recently become a scholar. His teacher was none other than Mane's mother. Just a few days ago, right after Indra had left Alexis offered to teach Abelard. Abelard immediately jumped at the opportunity to grow stronger. He was introduced to a new path and found out that he had quite the talent for that path. Besides, there was an added benefit. The technique Alexis had passed on to him was also a high level scholar manual, and this manual was able to affect a person's inherent talent for wielding inner energy as well. Since abiding by the rules of this new manual, Abelard soon realised that his inner energy was growing faster than ever. It was so overwhelming that he had to consciously slow it down. He never thought such a time would come. A time when he had to limit his own growth to save himself from ruining his foundation. Now his progress was almost as speedy as Mane's! He was thankful for the new manual he was studying.
What Abelard didn't know was that even Alexis was baffled by his talent transformation. She had been using that manual for as long as she could remember, yet it had no such effects. However Abelard was able to force a mutation in this manual, and had benefitted greatly from it. For now she didn't know the reason for the sudden mutation, but she was certain that it had something to do with Abe's bloodline. But she couldn't experiment with Abe. He was her disciple and her son's friend. The only way to clarify what the main issue was, was to allow other members of the Western Empire's royal family to use the manual as well and observe their progress. Alas, she couldn't do that just yet. After all, not everyone had the intelligence to follow the path of scholars.
"Last question: who is your master" Abelard asked. For someone to easily grant the power of an above-mortal realmer to mortals so easily could only mean he was very strong. Abelard wasn't experienced enough to clarify the strength of this person, but he knew one thing for sure: this person was way stronger than him! It was likely that the mysterious master was stronger than Abe. After meeting Mane's parents, Abe had come to realize that there were several hidden forces on Zandor. Maybe the mystery backer was as strong as Ray and Alexis.
Unfortunately, this question was proving to be the most difficult to draw out an answer from the two men. Both men remained silent at the boy's enquiry, none willing to answer. The earth wielder had an ugly look on his face. He wanted to talk, he really did, but he was unable to speak a word. The gaze his leader gave him terrified him more than Abe.
"Oh? It seems that I'm not trying hard enough" Abe remarked. Once he was done speaking four earth spikes rose from the ground at great speed. They were so quick that the target of those spikes wasn't able to respond until after he was already run through.
"MMM" the muffled scream of the leader sent chills down the earth wielder's spine! His powerful leader had been impaled onto the ground, a spike nailing each limb firmly to the floor. What was even more miserable was that the spikes weren't stagnant. Abe raised his hand towards the leader and kept rotating his wrist. At his movements the spikes slowly rotated, drawing more stifled screams from the victim. There was a fist sized stone in the leader's mouth. That was what prevented him from screaming. Abe wanted answers, but he wasn't foolish enough to think himself omnipotent. If their master was so powerful, then he had to be cautious, which was why he had already repaired the earth barrier he had destroyed earlier.
"Long and painful death it is" Abe remarked coldly as the cries of the earth wielder joined that of the leader's in what was going to be their last and most torturous day on Zandor. The soldiers watched on in dismay as the kindhearted prince they knew, unleashed his villainous side.