Nine voices conversed as their bodies watched the spectacle through what looked to be a spherical ball.
"Alright Sirius, up to this point we have understood that this candidate was going to be special, but you have deprived us of the specifics." A masculine voice belonging to a flame-horned man was the first to be heard. "I blindly approved because I trust you and didn't want to jeopardize your little operation, but now I need to know how to move forward with it."
"Same here, though I'm more curious as to why he was so easy to work with and why he was so resilient. He woke up while the Fissure Chamber was still in the process of removing the information you told me to." This voice belonged to Storheil, no longer black and blue, who had taken some time to think about the candidate who had been so interesting to him.
"I personally would like to know how much planning and how many shells you had to sift through in order to find that one. He was," Tanya hesitated before deciding on what felt to be the most proper term. "...odd. He didn't feel like he was threatened by our presence and he could see Pherel's monolith."
Sirius gave them some time to let them ask their questions, carefully thinking of answers to each that would give the right degree of clarity to satisfy the information they intended to receive.
He started by explaining to Silvin, the newest member, and refreshing the rest of the team on a certain task they sometimes performed.
"First off, I should confirm some of your suspicions that this, indeed, is a 'coronation' type operation. We rarely do operations to fix any issues that may appear in the paths of the Middle Realms, much less the Lower Nine where he was sent. Those are usually reserved for the various tears or catastrophe situations that Pherel predicts in the Greater Nine. Sending one or a series of candidates specialized to deal with those minor issues tends to be enough."
"Coronation operations are a bit different though as they usually work in the reverse direction, using the worlds to refine the candidates instead of having them repair the worlds. Silvin, this will be your first such operation so do not hesitate to ask for help. The purpose of this type of operation is to create another person suitable to possess a Monolith of their own, much like us. Usually, these are only done when one of the current monoliths feels close to ascension or death to seek a replacement, however this time will be different. I'm certain you all are aware of a certain monolith that has yet to choose a suitor? Correct?" He did not elaborate more on the subject as the rules regarding this inanimate entity were not entirely clear.
"Thus, with the cooperation of Pherel, Maggie, and Bell, I have been working to create the best possible conditions for success."
"How long exactly have you been working on this then?" This time it was the usually quiet Forrest's turn to speak.
"If I had to put it into a proper measurement of time, I would estimate roughly 2000 years, though that may change dependent upon when you considered my start of the work." His answer was quick to the point it felt like a rehearsed line. "More specifically that was the time I first isolated his soul from the source shell but I had been preparing for a soul like his to appear for a long time, trying to figure out what would be required to achieve this monstrous feat."
"Why did we put him in the lowest world again?" Maggie's question was worded more like a complaint.
"So that he would be the farthest away from the influences of the Heavens and would be able to grow stronger without relying upon their assistance." This time it was Bell who answered, understanding this method perfectly as the third longest member here after Pherel and Sirius.
"It was also to give him time. We are going to force him along a path full of pain and suffering as he will eventually have to break some fairly heavy barriers."
"I have a personal objective as well as I'm sure most of you are aware of at this point, and that is to train a candidate, no, colleague, using the complete growth method." His dark face seeming to turn a shade darker as he raged. "I'm sick and tired of those tenth rate cultivators ruining our candidates by making them skip the tenth level of the initial stages! They always stop their growth at the ninth level of every step and they make flawed breakthrough that exponentially reduce their power as they grow stronger."
"But Sirius, they came around to doing that because making a full breakthrough takes too long naturally. They may be stronger in the long run but it doesn't matter if they don't live that long." Bell once again acted to calm the tension in the room. Everyone here except for Sirius, Pherel, and Bell had used the flawed method that Sirius had mentioned when they were cultivating early on and it effectively ruined them at the top. Luckily they were exceptionally strong even without it so it wasn't too sore of an issue.
"I know. I just want one. Just once in my life I want to see what exactly the result of the Master's system taken to perfection would be. It is the thing I hold the most pride in and I feel it may lead me to ascension." He closed his eyes and tilted his head back, reminiscing about something, looking more at peace than most of them had ever seen him. "I have already taken the proper preparations to raise him in such a way, you may leave the growth aspect of him to me."
The other eight, including Pherel, were already taking pity on the boy.