60-light years away from the Desolate system in the vast expanse of space, a ship could be seen drifting on an unknown current as it progressed.
200-meters long, from the head to the tail, a dull black color allowing the darkness of space to hide it from ordinary sight, and the insignia of a moon on either side finished the ship; within a dark room at the center of the ship, three people sat around a sliver metallic desk with a hollow middle section.
Black military uniforms covered each person in the room, only the shape and color of the moons imprinted upon them differed from each other. Patiently they all sat in comfortable silence for what was to come.
Light flared in the room as a hologram of a man sitting on a black throne appeared from the center of the desk, his sharp gaze sweeping over the three people within the room with a touch of pride.
"Anything to report."
The three remained silent before a lanky man with messy brown hair and sharp red eyes slowly rose to his feet, " soldiers from my division have reported an influx in the number of people entering the planet over the last two weeks, also a few knights have been spotted amongst them," finishing his report the man quietly returned to his seat.
Tapping the armrest of his throne slightly the man pondered his next course of action, "it's happening earlier than we expected; Blood-Moon division is to move out to planet Agrios of the Desolate system and keep the knights in check. You are otherwise not allowed to interfere with the other proceedings."
"Yes Sir!"
Darkness swallowed the three standing people once more with the disappearance of the hologram, "aren't you lucky, your Blood-Moon division gets to head over and join the fun," a gruff voice spoke out among the three. Stepping towards the left a giant man with bulging muscles walked towards the only woman in the room.
"What, jealous it wasn't your Blue-Moon division," laughed out the woman, a smug look plastered on her face, eyeing the large man who was grumbling about unfair realities.
"Albrico, send all the data your soldiers have gathered on the targets to me, send all other information that you would deem as relevant as well."
The lanky man flicked his hand at the woman, " everything you need is already in there, I've also made a list of people you should look after so none of them end up dead and cause problems."
The room quickly emptied with each heading out to complete their respective tasks. Arriving at the hanger of the ship, the female major-general smiled after finishing the last tidbits of the information, looking towards the direction she knew the planet of Agrios was, 'hopefully, I'll find an interesting person,' boarding an aircraft she left the hanger for her ship in space.
___
Heavy winds tore tree and grass from the ground, one man and beast oblivious towards the devastation being inflicted violently clashed once more. Shockwave after shockwave battered the area as the two continued their ferocious exchange; roars of pain and anger mixed with joyous laughter resounded across the battlefield.
With a final clash, only the sounds of laughter were left as the man looked at the still body of the tiger lying dead at his feet.
Blood dripped from the many wounds across his body but the smile wouldn't leave his face, "you're now at the half extreme stage, just another small push and you'll fully step into the stage," hearing the voice that kept him company the many months prior during his seclusion.
"This mental link thing is pretty handy, a few more days and I should fully step into the Extreme," storing the dead beast for trade as the energy extracted from a beast of this level had no benefits to him, "low-level rank 4 beasts are no longer a challenge for me."
Thirio circulated the energy in his sphere dedicated to healing, greenish-white energy covering the many lacerations on his body, mending them slowly.
Moving deeper within the forest, Thirio killed 5 more low-level 4th rank beasts, making sure to store them each; after a quick stop at his base, Thirio made his way to Vamond tower.
_____
"You've been bringing in a lot recently, haven't you? What do you need this time," With a knowing smile on her face Senna took the list that Thirio placed on the table, " I can get you all these fairly quickly, just wait an hour here."
"She does have a nice ass, doesn't she? you really should try to sneak a feel," moving his eyes from said ass, Thirio got comfy waiting for Senna to return with the last of the things he would need for his breakthrough.
"Even with my current strength I can't tell how strong she is, so forgive me for not thinking with my dick," sneering at what the ball of flame was suggesting, Thirio shook his head, "is it because you're made with lust that makes you this way."
"That might be a part of it but, the greater reason is that I've always been like this; doing things this way will slow down your progress for some time won't it."
"Vadne, what do you think will happen if people notice my continuous rise in cultivation without ever actually going out to buy resources or at least having such a transaction done for me?"
The silence that followed was all the indication that Thirio needed to continue, "to prevent any future problems right now, it's best to acquire the less rare resources I'll need from Senna; it will also leave the wrong information on my strength for anyone looking into the resources I use for cultivation as a gauge."
A clapping sound echoed in his head with small giggles of excitement, "so you've already thought up to here. It's a good plan to stay off the radar for the time being."
The sound of the door opening pulled Thirio out of his mental conversation as Senna entered the room and once again took her seat. "I have all you've requested, the Will and Healing Life essences took more time than expected but everything is here," pushing a tag to Thirio's side of the glass table.
Taking the tag and placing it within storage without a second thought, Thirio's eyes never left the woman before him whose smile got brighter at his apparent show of trust. "That's all I need in terms of material, I would like you to look for someone for me and keep me updated with the happenings on the planet," a beep was heard as Thirio sent over information to Senna.
"Oh, so I'll be looking for a student, doesn't that….."
"Don't act like you didn't know I was a student all along Senna; don't belittle both our intelligence, can you do it," cutting her off, Thirio quickly got to the point.
A sensual laugh passed Senna's lips that cause the mountains on her chest to quiver as the movement drew Thirio's direct burning gaze, "Yes I can do, no problem at all; with this, I'll assume our business is complete for today lucky cat," still chuckling Senna slowly left the room as usual.
Thirio left the room with a smile on his face, moving quickly to return to his base and get everything ready for his breakthrough to the Extreme stage. 'I'm finally almost there, a place where I can start my journey to the power I seek.'
___
Erratic surges of energy bounced around chaotically within a room with glowing red walls covered in red runic shapes.
The surges grew with each passing moment as with each re-bound they grew stronger, gray hair floating up from the crown of his head, Rian sat quietly within the tsunami of energy that continuously battered his body for the past hour relentlessly as he tried to subjugate the erratic energy present within the room.
'No wonder there aren't any solid instructions to the Extreme stage with a hurdle like this present,' gritting his teeth, Rian exploded with shocking fluctuations as he released all the energy he had stockpiled during the hour of relentless battering he endured.
The energy quickly covered all the energy within the room and with a shift of Rian's mind, he pulled it all within him like a rushing tide. Shivering at the pain caused by the energy's rampage within his body, he poured all the energy within his spheres that were already brimming with energy.
As the two came into contact, a violent shockwave of energy burst forth jolting Rian's organs as an arrow of blood burst from his lips.
Focusing past the pain, Rian forcefully pushed the two forces into contact while his Will moved and covered the sphere with gravitational energy pushing the two forces together while they slowly fused into one.
Flickering slightly, the runes on the wall slowly vanished, plunging the room into darkness. Laying within a puddle of his sweat a small smile was plastered on Rian's face as he stared at the single droplet of water floating within all his spheres, "Finally made it to the Extreme realm," he muttered before drifting to sleep.
Unbeknown to him six threads of golden energy broke through the void within the room, circling around his body twice, the energy entered through his pores. Circulating within his body six times before dissolving across his body on the sixth circuit.
___
Staring at the shifting clouds covering half of the planet before her, the woman looked on with a look of reminiscences of her face, "General, we have been given the coordinates on where to meet with General Albrico soldiers. They've already set up a teleportation device and we only await your orders to mobilize," glancing behind her to the kneeling soldier clad within her division's uniform.
The standard black that was used for most of the military, dark-red tribal markings covered the arms and legs while a crescent moon of the same color sat above the heart.
"We set out immediately then, I'm sure you guys have been bored being on standby for so long and it isn't every day I can find you guys, such friendly sparring partners," a bellowing laugh came from the general as she headed in the direction of the ship's teleporter.
Walking into the room, the general instantly garnered the attention of her soldiers solely onto her form, "My Warrior's! We have been given a mission to ensure that no pests cause problems for our young that are now training to join the ranks of humans fighting across the cosmos and bring glory to us all. Now my warriors, what is my motto, what is our creed!"
"One punch equal's Submission! Two Punch equals Death! Three punch equals Respect! Our creed is to beat them into submission or beat them to death, once on the field, Victory before Rest!"
Hearing the proud voices rising in excitement, a feral grin spread across the General's face "let's go, we have work to do," leading them all to stand on a massive teleportation device, they all vanished into blue particles.
____
Thirio sat within his cultivation room, three days had passed since his return, all of which were spent getting everything ready for right now. "Try your best to endure as long as possible while the energy builds up."
Having been given additional information about the process from Vadne, Thirio took a deep breath, focusing on the goal before him. Taking the last of the essences he needed from storage, Thirio swiftly absorbed them fully, stepping over the line and into the tribulation for the Extreme stage.
The effects were immediate, erratic energy swiftly pooled into the room from the void, quickly activating the concealment function of the room, red runic words covered the walls blocking the energy fluctuation from leaving the room.
Thirio looked around the room at the surging energy, feeling the impact slamming into his body, he made his resolve anew, closing his eyes the energy drowned his body.
Vadne watched as the energy swallowed Thirio whole, 'let's see if you have what it takes to push into that stage Thirio.'