"Hey! I hope you weren't planning on leaving without saying goodbye!" shouted Faye as she approached Kaid.
"Yeah I actually was. Didn't feel like hearing another story about how your grandfather made you milk the chickens from dawn till dusk," said Kaid with a big grin on his face.
"Very funny mister comedian, they were special chickens for your information," said Faye in a sarcastic tone, seemingly enjoying the interaction.
"Well how about you give me some pointers next time you're in the Murdos system."
"I'd like that, but I'm not sure if I'll ever be back there," said Feya with a weary smile on her face now.
Kaid looked at his friend wondering if she was okay, this was the first time he'd seen her like this. It seemed she had her own circumstances that she was dealing with.
"That's fine, I'll just come find you when I finally decide to build that farm we talked about."
With those words she seemed to perk up, her eyes lighting up. "Can I have your UII card info? I'm using a temp card right now and want to have your info so I can add it to my main account."
"Sure, here you go" said Kaid while thinking to himself, 'This girl isn't ordinary.'
You don't just go around talking about having a temporary UII card to anyone, especially someone you haven't known that long. But this was probably indicative of the connection the two had created during the single interaction they'd had. Even still, she was a little too comfortable talking about the temporary card meaning she likely came from a very powerful family which was why she wasn't too worried about being discovered having a temporary card. It's likely her family received approval to have the temporary card. 'I wonder which big family she's from,' though Kaid as he took his card back from her after the transfer of information was completed.
"Good luck finding what you're looking for. Stay safe out there Kaid."
"Same to you."
With that the two of them went their separate ways, hopeful that they'd run into each other again.
The ship was currently docked on an aircraft station on Kaid's home-world Frisha. The planet had been designated as a farming world meaning the entirety of it had been terraformed to accommodate crop growth. Most people that lived here were either farmers or people who wanted to retire out in the countryside.
Kaid took a second to breath in the fresh air and take in the beautiful blue sky above. He then made his way to the shuttles on the station and prepared for the bittersweet journey to his family's old home.
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'You mentioned before that there were new functions that were available, tell me about them.'
[Assessing...
3 New functions available.
{Artemis Training: available}
{God's Domain: available}
{Forgotten Alter: available}
4 remaining functions unavailable.]
Kaid looked at the list he'd already experienced one of those new functions, the Artemis Training function. Although he hadn't used it the way it was meant to be he certainly felt that it could be utilized for so much more.
'What is God's Domain and Forgotten Alter?' asked Kaid.
[God's Domain allows for the collection of divine energy. Currently God candidate has not started cultivating divine energy.]
[Forgotten Alter allows for God candidate to use sacrifice ability and gain worshipers. Through worshipers can divine energy be collected.]
Kaid's eyebrows shot up. 'Divine energy? Worshipers?' thought Kaid. It seemed he'd forgotten that him being a God candidate was not just a title.
'First tell me what I can do with divine energy and then more about worshipers.'
[Divine energy allows for the distortion of the universe's fundamental laws. With it feats can be performed which go against the universe itself.]
[Worshipers are beings which acknowledge the existence of a God and sacrifice a portion of their strength to them in order to receive blessings. Currently blessings are locked as there are no worshipers. The more worshipers the stronger the blessings will be, and the more divine energy can be collected.]
Although the system had been a bit vague on how divine energy could be used Kaid understood at the very least that he'd be able to make the impossible possible. But for right now he didn't have the means to achieve any of that. Although he was curious about the other locked functions there was one thing that was taking most of his attention, the training function. Right now, he needed to get stronger and learn how to use his abilities. He looked at the monitor on the shuttle, it'd be 3 hours before he arrived at his location.
'Activate Artemis Training'
[Artemis program online.
Available Training:
Hand to hand combat {LV 0}
Weapons {LV 0}
Source Energy {LV 0}
Tactics {LV 0} ]
[Please select option.]
Kaid's eyes lit up as he looked at the 4 options and stated thinking about which one to select first.
[It's recommended candidate start with source energy training.]
Although Kaid wasn't sure what the tactics training involved, he certainly knew that source energy training had to take priority over hand to hand and weapons training. Being able to effectively use source energy would be the deciding factor in many of his battles as his fight with the Pale wolf had shown. With that in mind he selected source energy training.
[Selected.
Source Energy {LV 0}
Requirements: WILL 50, Source Energy 20
Beginning training...]
Kaid closed his eyes as his consciousness faded.
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[ "All things hold within them source energy."]
Kaid was now within the mind space once again. This time however it wasn't the pitch black he had first seen but instead it was now a vast white space that seemed to travel in all directions. The only inhabitants were him and an old man. Although this old man appeared to be human he had a pair of long, thin, white horns protruding out of his head. He stood at a height of about 7 feet tall, covered in a white robe holding a white cane in his right hand. His unmoving eyes were white and had a glossy look to them. Before Kaid could even ask any questions he continued on with his explanation.
[ "The ability to shape existence, that is the true nature of source energy. All living beings hold within them the capacity to destroy worlds if they choose."]
As he continued talking with his ancient voice, he tapped his cane on the floor and the mind space started transforming.
They were now in a field overlooking a group of animals in the middle of a hunt.
[ "All mortal creatures must abide by the rules governing this universe, but source energy allows them to exert their own influence over the world allowing them to achieve feats that seem impossible."]
Kaid watched mesmerized as the prey below, who looked as if they were about to be eaten, transformed at the last-minute growing in size and strength. They then quickly retaliated against the predators killing a few and causing the rest to flee. The prey then transformed back to its original form, started walking for a second before finally collapsing seemingly dead.
[ "But if one dares to shape existence they should be wary of their own limitations. To go past one's limit is to incur death if not achieved successfully. Know yourself, know your limits, and you shall overcome your mortality."]
With that he once again tapped his cane on the floor and they were brought back to the white, endless, world.
[ "I shall show you what's possible and you will have to achieve the impossible."]
As Kaid was about to finally ask a question, the old man tapped his cane once more and his head started to flood with information.
At first he couldn't understand anything that was entering his mind but slowly he came to realize what all this information was. It laid out everything about the origin of source energy, the first beings to use it, how it transformed over millenniums, the different subcategories, how it can be used, the limitations of it. Kaid was learning things about source energy that few people in the entire universe even knew about. He sat down, closed his eyes, and took a moment to gather all his thoughts as he tried to understand all this new information. That's how he spent what felt like a few days in that empty world. When he finally opened his eyes within the mind space, his understanding of the universe had transformed to an astonishing degree.
The old man looked at him with a patient look on his face.
[ "You have the knowledge, now you must learn to use it."]
With that Kaid stood up and tried to sense his own source energy. It didn't take long for him to sense it and take control of it. He used his knowledge to try and wrap himself in his own energy creating a protective shield. He got as far as manifesting the energy before it collapsed.
'This is going to take a while,' thought Kaid.
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He ended up spending the remainder of his time within the mind space practicing his control over his source energy and developing a few new techniques. As Kaid looked at the information for his two new abilities he couldn't help but smile thinking how all that time in the mind space was worth it to get these two new abilities.
[Full Armor
- Mastery 5.9%
-Caster's body will be coated with a layer of source energy protecting them from physical and energy-based attacks. Strength and duration of barrier will depend on how much energy is supplied.]
[Guard
- Mastery 9.3%
-Selected part of caster's body will be coated with a layer of source energy protecting them from physical and energy-based attacks. Strength and duration of barrier will depend on how much energy is supplied.]
Although these two abilities were very similar they provided Kaid with a bit more flexibility considering the amount of source energy he had at the moment. The {Full Armor} ability provided all around protection but consumed 1/3 of his energy every three seconds. He wouldn't be able to maintain it long. Which was why the {Guard} ability was necessary. It consumed less energy while providing him options in regard to protection.
He'd used that male assassin's defense ability as a reference for the creation of this ability. But it wouldn't be accurate to compare their abilities against each other. Kaid's abilities were created from a fundamental knowledge of source energy, they were as close to perfect as you could get. Now he just had to learn to effectively use them, molding them as needed to suit him. With these two abilities he was certain he could hold his own even against a peak [R-04] ranker. Furthermore, he was on his way to becoming one himself considering his current stats.
[Results.
God Candidate
STR: 171
DEX: 166
AGI: 165
STM: 166
INT: 94
WILL: 163
Additional information.
Life force: 961
Energy Source: 91
Abilities:
Absorption {3.9%}
Full Armor {5.9%}
Guard {9.3%}
Sacrifice {1.3%}
---Ascension 1.08/100---]
Although he wasn't able to try any of the combat trainings Kaid was still satisfied with the progress he'd made. His next focus would be on hand to hand combat followed by tactics. He could hold of on weapons training at the moment considering he wouldn't even be able to freely carry a weapon around without any sort of permit or becoming an official ranker.
Kaid's attention was pulled away from his thoughts as the shuttle came to a stop signaling he'd arrived at his destination.
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After the fire, it was decided that Kaid would be sent to an orphanage after no living relatives were found to take custody of him. His family's property was then sold off by the government and the funds placed in an account for him. Unfortunately, his first few adoptive parents made sure to drain him dry of those funds despite the safeguards placed on the account to ensure no mismanagement occurred. Surprisingly Kaid wasn't bitter about the money but was instead saddened by the fact that his family's property had to be sold off.
As he looked out at the beautifully built home that stood where his old house had been and the immaculate farmland next to it Kaid came to realize just how much time had truly passed. He couldn't see any semblance of his old home at all. As he walked along the property fence he couldn't help but admire what he saw. The new owners seemed to really care for their land having taken great care in its upkeep. To the far-off distance he noticed a man working in the fields. Their eyes met and he waved at Kaid. Kaid returned the greeting with a hearty smile on his face. He continued down the road not even considering stopping by and greeting the new residents, seemingly content with the current state of his previous home.
The road he was on was one of the only roads in the area. It connected many of the different farmlands together and also led to the town's graveyard a few kilometers down. As Kaid walked down the road memories of his earlier years started surfacing. As he looked around he saw himself when he was younger running around with his friends, playing along this road. He smiled a bitter smile as he walked down this road of memories.
The graveyard wasn't anything special. It was rather sparce with only a few generations of families being buried here. Kaid made his way across the graveyard headed towards his family's tomb stone. When he arrived at the site he read the three names before sitting down in front of them: Jonathan Solvik, Saraiah Solvik, and Festia Solvik.
The father, mother, and daughter that had died on that fateful day were now reunited with the only surviving member of the family. Kaid sat there thinking that he should be feeling something, that he should be in tears at the tragedy, or angry at the injustice of it all, or feeling guilty at the fact that he was the only one that survived.
He had already released the memory block for his memories relating to the fire so know he was reliving the whole night over in his mind. The blazing heat as the raging inferno consumed the house, his dad screaming at him to get out of the house as he tried to help his mom who was trapped in the bedroom, his sister taking his hand and rushing him out of the house before then running back in to help her dad, long wait as he watched the house crumble waiting for them to come out. These memories silently played in his head as he tried to find reconciliation in them. Kaid had never accepted the reality of these memories and chose to bury them, but now sitting down at his family's graves and sensing the bodies below he was finding peace in the reality of the situation.
His tears had long ago dried, now he was just left with a hollow feeling of the family long lost. He spent a few hours like this, letting memories come and go as they pleased.
"Alright, I guess it's time to leave," said Kaid in an uncharacteristically soft voice.
He turned around and was about to head out before stopping, seemingly having something left to say.
"I'm sorry dad, I wasn't able to live the good life you wanted me to have. I ended up losing that life all of you worked hard to protect." He turned back around and looked at the three tombstones with a strange determination in his eyes.
"On May 18, 3370 Kaid Solvik died."
Kaid had come to finally recognize and accept the nature of his existence. He was not human anymore, and the longer he walked down this path the less human he would be. Fate was guiding him with an iron fist to move towards the destiny given to him the moment he was reborn. He would no longer fight against this truth but, he would also not yield to the will of others.
"I'm not sure how long it will be until I meet all of you on the other side but wait for me. There's still work for me to do."
With that he turned around for the final time and headed out. He had found his resolve. There were things that he needed to know, truths he sought, and he was willing to go against the empire if need be.
For what did he have to fear after all, he was no longer Mortal.
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['Oh, scion of mine, your journey shall be long and your battles numerous.
'Through death you shall bring balance and order to the universe.
'Slay those Gods who would sit on their thrones denying death its rightful place.
'Be strong and unyielding in the face of adversity for you shall become a Desolate God.]
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