It has been ten days, the town had recovered its calm after the excitement of their esteemed guest. By now most of the townsfolk had gotten hold of the identity of the noble that visited. This caused a surge of excitement when they discovered that the offspring of a duke visited their town.
Is this the start of a boon for their town?
Suddenly, the wind starts to blow through the whole town. Extremely gentle, the wind blew across town as it moved through the whole town as if it was caressing it before it increased in intensity. The town marketplace was quickly cleared out, shops closing as if invisible people were closing them. The wares were not damaged, and the locks were placed perfectly.
Everyone had no time to marvel at this miracle as they were all swept to platforms that rose from the grounds near the public square in the market. It was hard to believe that the small public square could contain tens of thousands of people together and even have a space about 100 meters in diameter.
An arena had been created in a few minutes.
"What--?"
"What's happening--?"
"I was sleeping just now, what happened?"
Shouts like this echoed throughout the whole arena, the people were confused until one sharp-eyed citizen noticed the town lord and the guard captain together in some special chamber, unknown how they had gotten there.
"Town Lord!!" She pointed out causing every scattered attention to suddenly be focused on the town lord.
"Town Lord, what is happening?"
"Town Lord, who is doing this?"
"Town Lord, .... this...."
"Town Lord, .... that...."
Shouts like this echoed throughout the arena, pressuring the town lord. The town lord, while cognizant of what was about to happen, did not expect the hermit to pull off something like this. He only thought it would be a semi-private setting, who knew he would invite tens of thousands of people? Seeing the number of people panicking, the town lord felt greatly pressured and couldn't help but curse the hermit before his face went pale. He had seen the hermit 'read minds' before, thinking about his transgression, he felt his heart drop.
As if, in response to his transgression, a huge shadow fell upon them and as they all looked up, lines fell upon them and they seem to pass through their bodies as they were imprinted upon the arena and audience seats.
AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!
Screams of panic rose over the arena as many closed their eyes waiting for their deaths only to find that they were alive.
Opening their eyes they saw, that the arena and the seats seem to have been fused as it started gathering mana over their heads.
"Hahaha...." A loud laugh resounded throughout the arena.
"Got all of you!!"
"That was a nice prank." A voice that sounded like that of a little boy echoed throughout the arena, followed by a mumble "I should do this more, this is fun."
This voice put them at ease but they couldn't help but feel fear. Who is this? The citizens were like wooden ducks in the face of the absurdity of what is happening.
"I am the one you call the Hermit." The voice declared.
"Hmmm... While you call me the hermit, I don't like that name." Orion's voice was discontent by this point.
"I've from far away, and where I'm from I'm called a Herculean." Orion's voice was cheeky and proud, a little bit of an exaggeration but he loved it, "For now, I'm Primordial Herculean to you people."
The people of the town were thoroughly confused by this point but they still stayed silent as they felt their brain was filled with lead, unable to control their actions.
"My race is still new, not too many members so our society is peaceful." Orion's voice took a low tone, before suddenly rising higher.
"So I need an experiment, that's why I turned to you people."
"A tight-knitted and isolated society. No better specimen."
"Behold!" He exclaimed.
Suddenly, the whole town was covered by a shadow and the already numb citizens of the town just looked blankly. The merchants and the rest who were not allowed into the Mausoleum, due to not being citizens just looked up in amazement.
Miho and Dario were both in a facility that is now empty due to everyone being in the mausoleum, were only able to listen and couldn't understand what was going on outside but they understood that whatever was going on was probably dangerous. They were grateful for once for their disabilities but they couldn't help but wonder, what sort of power could drag the whole population of the town?
This filled them with dread. This was the last thing they felt, as Orion removed them from being involved in his society.
Another group filled with dread was the group of the young duke Leonhard. They were all in the mansion looking at the mausoleum that sprang up and the mountain floating above the town. Leonhard looked back, looking at a middle-aged man standing there, the man just shook his head. This man is his grandfather.
Not even he, as a demigod is capable of these feats.
The Mountain was just floating, gathering mana.
"This would be called Augean Mountain!!!" Orion declared excitedly, he was enjoying this role he is playing, "You will be called the Augean people from now on. One Society, One Race. Throughout Space, Throughout Time."
"With that, comes the baptism and axiom."
As soon as the words entered their ears, a rune floated towards them, all of them were muted so they could not make any noise as the rune sank into their body imprinting itself in their soul and heart.
If anybody from the six paths were here, they would think Orion was placing slave seals on them but the seals to Lightless who was beside his father read, [Strive], [Absorb] and [Know].
These runes were something Orion created, he created when he was at the edge of the universe. This would also be something that differentiates between Lightless and the Augean people. Them or anyone else can't understand it, this is due to the difference between their souls, while Lightless does not possess the void soul Orion had, his soul was the next best thing. While it would be impossible to create a void soul before he reached the Origin realm [Celestial realm Equivalent for Herculeans]. He could read, understand and write a bit of these rune.
These three runes would be the codex for Augeans.
Strive, they would always look for ways to improve themselves, war or peace. They would have an instinct for deciding.
Absorb, this would give their body and soul the ability to absorb concepts. Concepts as knowledge, concepts as concepts or concepts as energy, laws and so on. They would gain the ability to absorb them. This would only be dependent on the purity of their physique.
Know, they would gain an impartial ability to understand things. This is a side effect of Orion wanting to open their body and soul to understand these runes.
Looking at these people, Lightless felt that they were not fit yet for their roles, he sent his thought to Orion. Orion just looked at him with a smile before he turned to look at Fidele who covered her face as she blushed.
"Since this is your creation, then you must announce it yourself," Orion said simply.
The dazed people of the town, were still in that state as Orion does not want them to think of anything now so that his words could get to their core. This would be their codex in the future, so he can't have them thinking distracting thoughts. This was a violation of their being, Orion knew it but he would have to pay back to them. He also made sure not to enter their thoughts as they could corrupt him. While his Origin is there, he had not reached the Origin realm, so he has to be careful of corruption. This is the reason he only calculates other people's thoughts but made sure to not read them directly.
This is one of his early weaknesses, but it can't be called that as he understood the weakness, so he uses it to improve himself. A weakness Lightless does not possess as he does not have the void soul. Of course, lightless could still be corrupted, another reason Orion remained freehanded with him.
No one likes to see a clone instead of a son.
This moment for the townsfolk would determine their fates, this moment would determine their standing in society. Orion might have opened their potential and changed their total fate, some would still benefit more than others, this is natural and even Orion can't change that. Even if he could, he won't.
He doesn't want a group that has the same thoughts after all.
"Now for the main event of the day." Orion announced, "This is a battle between my son Lightless, and a little cub."
"This is a battle that would show, the fragility of the gods."
"The weakness of being content and never striving through generations."
"The danger in believing in others, not oneself."
"The strength in being independent."
Orion announced as he threw jabs at Leonhard and the system in the thousand realms. If his announcement was limited to the thousand realms alone was a puzzle only he understood.
With a wave of his hands, Leonhard and his group appeared, Leonhard being on the arena platform with the rest floating up in the air. They were being held in the air and they couldn't escape, including a demigod.
This was Orion showing pure disdain.
Even if you're a demigod, you are no different from a mortal to me.
And it worked.
Leonhard, his grandfather, Duste and the rest who knew of his identity were shaken. Seeing how easily his grandfather was handled, Leonhard felt fear so he sought a way out.
"Hermit!!!" He screamed, "I have seen your son, he is a journeyman from what I could deduce and gather."
"There is no way he could be my match, for the sake of fairness, I propose we fight at the same level."
This was a very smart way of saying, 'This stage and everything is your arrangement, How can I guarantee you've not restricted me? Or boosted your son?'
'I want a fight with no tampering.'
Orion understood his reply well.
"Choose your location then?" He replied.
"I choose the plains and I do not want a stage. Let Nature be our stage." Leonhard replied he does not want to be watched by plebeians as if he were a performer.
"Interesting... So be it!!" He waved his hands, transporting Leonhard to the plains while everyone remained on the mausoleum. With another wave, he conjured a projection of the plains, and Leonhard's figure could be seen. The last wave brought Lightless to the plain, facing Leonhard.