The words that escape her lips aren't exactly what I expected.
Ember did mention she'd be able to see his true form, but I assumed he meant in the heart of battle. Or that she'd be able to perceive that he is a soul energy user too.
I wasn't expecting her to see through his disguise the instant she awakened.
However, it was within the realm of possibilities so I calmly respond.
"I am."
She immediately replies.
"And that Red Hydra's energy reeks on you too, I hope you get rid of the rest of it soon."
Ember laughs and turns to me.
"See, I'm not the only one that thinks taking borrowed power is a bad idea. Especially from that old sorry excuse of a Divine Beast. He just wants to be a dragon so bad, but he never will."
Ember rolls his eyes, and I'm clearly unaware that they can even sense this buff although it's not even activated.
Maria steps forward, still wide-eyed while taking in her new environment, but gets straight to the point.
"If you were waiting for me to become strong enough to guard you while you cultivate, I've reached that point."
Ember nods and agrees.
"It is true. Maria is ready. We can guard the town while you're away."
At this, I take out the last isolation pod and my double and I begin charging it up with all of the remaining containment stones. During the process, it transfers over one more fragment of luminite into my storage, making there six in total now.
In return, I give the silver tablet that controls the walls and bunker hatch mechanisms to my double to hold onto while I'm inside. At this rate, my teammates will come out of their pods about 12 hours before me, so they need a way to exit the bunker.
Maria speaks while this is happening.
"How many of the Dark Guards have soul energy of their own awakened? I assume they are far superior to that 5th guard I faced earlier today."
I reply while setting a 48-hour timer on the pod in front of me with 48.121x dilation.
"Before I defeated the 2nd, it told me three of the Dark Guards have soul energy of their own, while many other servants only relied on the Dark One's power."
She nods.
"So, most likely the 3rd and 1st."
Ember pitches in.
"We can spar in the desert if you'd like some experience. This isn't my first time dealing with The Lich King after all, I can simulate the strength of its Dark Guards and give you some general Soul Energy pointers."
Maria turns to Ember, and for the first time, I see a physical manifestation of energy emerge from her.
A pure blue aura covers her hand and swirls around. In my senses, it feels like a seamless combination of mana and Qi; I can't separate the two, they flow perfectly together and feel as if they've dissolved into one energy.
It shows no source of where it's manifested from, swirling around her hand, then disappearing in the same manner back into her skin and away from my perception.
"That's a good idea, let's train."
I smile and step into the pod and turn to Ember.
"We're an open book, tell her everything she needs to know to become stronger. I'll meet you on the battlefield once my own awakening is complete."
The pod closes, and the room is left in silence for a moment, but my double speaks up to break the tension.
"Well, I mean, It's not like I'm gone, just my strongest version wont be available. Come on, I want to go watch you two spar."
I turn to Maria.
"Especially you, that new ranked up buff, I want to see what kind of form you awakened."
All of them leave to go upstairs while I begin my 3-month training process inside the isolation pod.
Immediately, I begin to start my cultivation process.
The last time I did this was before I was ranked up a second time, and this time around there is far more dense mana in the air than just in a titan's domain.
In the white-walled room of the titan's domain, a majority of the gained mana control came from plundering the walls and soaking in the energy from outside.
In this isolation pod, billions of MP are being held in a concentrated point while circulating through the air in a confined space.
There is a natural euphoric effect of these pods that makes me feel as if I'm floating in a cloud of energy and instantly relax. The fact that Ember and Maria are strong and capable enough to protect everyone while I'm here let's me forget about everything else and concentrate on this one task.
I sit down in the lotus position in the center of the pod, and it feels as if I'm floating in midair while I start taking out over 90% of my Qi pills to begin the oversaturation process.
Last time I did this, it was with less than 150 pills in a box almost the size of a small sports field.
Now, I'm using double the pills and in a space that isn't even large enough for me to take a full step in any direction.
After many hours of swallowing pills and letting the dense waves of white-hot Qi fill the pod, the extreme difference in density of energy that fills the air compared to the last time I attempted this process is astounding.
Just breathing in every few seconds and letting that Qi circulate through my body feels like hours worth of cultivation in the titan's domain goes by. I begin gathering Qi in the same way I left off last time, putting up a denser Qi barrier and circulating it all throughout my body while filtering in more and more new Qi.
Along with this, I continuously absorb the mana that leaks out from the top of the chamber. It lets me continuously activate my perception and stat increasing buffs that stimulate my mana control's growth.
The air around me feels like I'm bathing in a warm bath of pure energy, and every second I continue absorbing it, the stronger and more full of life I become. The rate at which my strength and power increases is on a level beyond that of anything I've felt before.
Days pass, and the constant flow of energy keeps me awake and energized throughout the whole process.
My mind is focused on one thing only, absorbing and processing all of the energy around me.
There is nothing else to think about but finishing the task at hand.
I prepare to ascend in my strength and ability over the next 3 months to heights I couldn't physically or mentally comprehend before entering this pod.
—
Meanwhile, in the outside world through the eyes of my body double; Ember and Maria begin to train while the sun sets.
The golden orange rays disappear over the horizon of rolling sand dunes while I watch a display of flowing blue Soul Energy freeze hundreds of meters of desert in a single slash of the sword. The block from Ember's light red manifested blades sends streaks of transparent flowing fire rocketing back in the opposite direction that disintegrates massive valleys of sand. Their exchanges create whole new landscapes in the wide open desert.
The two of them move so fast, it's almost impossible for my body double's eye to see.
Without the use of Qi in my current state, I'm unable to see the true power of these attacks other than their destructive aftermaths.
One thing is for sure, this is all just a practice match, because neither Ember nor Maria used their true forms. Both of them just stay as humans and have a friendly spar.
Irreversible damage has been done to the open desert, creating what looks like a 5 km wide and deep canyon into the ground after only 10 minutes of fighting.
Both of them come floating back to me once the sun has set with satisfied expressions and we slowly make our way back to the town. Maria is the first to speak.
"So, Ember, why didn't you go into an isolation pod too? Don't you want to grow stronger?"
He replies.
"Well, there's a short answer, and a long answer to that."
Maria shrugs.
"We have time."
I nod.
"Yeah, I'd like to know too."
"Well... It's a bit more complicated than you'd think actually."
He sighs and thinks to himself for a moment.
"Alright, let's start from the beginning."
Ember tells the story of how he woke up in the titan's domain, hatched anew from an egg from a dungeon I'd plundered a while back.
In creating a soul bond with me, a special kind of contract was formed after his rebirth.
All immortal divine beasts like himself retain the power they've gained from every one of their past lives. However, the total release of that power is generally affected by different things depending on their circumstances, planet they're reborn on, and the era they're reborn into.
Sometimes just gaining pure levels is enough to radically unlock their powers, other times it's dependent on the number of enemies they have to kill, and in some cases there is a new skill entirely they're reborn with that dictates how this new life will be completely different.
Ember's fate this life happened to be relying on me, the human that took him from his post as a labyrinth guardian.
He finishes his story up just as we've made it back to the town, turning to Maria.
"So, to sum it all up. In this life, as Jay grows stronger, I do too. Whether that is by level, energy control, or new power boosting skills. Our system level is linked, but the correlation of raw power is dependent solely on how strong Jay becomes. It doesn't matter if I enter that pod and gain more energy control or raw power myself. It will add to my cumulative base, but my availability to that power will only become more pronounced as Jay grows as well."
She responds.
"So what you're saying is maybe tomorrow once Jay has grown a bit stronger you can give me a real fight."
Ember laughs while we all touch down in front of the Guildhall.
"Most likely, yes. I can already feel my power growing. By tomorrow, you'll be able to use that ranked up form on me without holding back. However, it might be a better idea to save your strength for the real enemies."
"True, good point."
We check in on all facets of the town after this.
My double that was doing surveillance updates me on the news.
The construction team has finished their second small apartment complex and have moved onto the beginning processes of the mana-wired power systems, clean water processing for the underground streams, sewers, and tending to all of the personal small business requests from the townspeople.
Over half of the building supplies are already used up, but Maurice said that this next project should take longer than the first. He'll give me a detailed list once they need more supplies. Based on their progress so far, I'll gladly give them whatever materials they need to continue expansion.
My other double that has been managing the new army recruits comes back to me with Luna and reports that everyone is exhausted, but well-fed, and resting. They should all be up and ready for anything in the morning.
Luna has been doing routine checks with her ranked up buff of the town's surroundings, and after her increase in mana control, the range of her [Awakened Guardian's Eye] can now see up to 400km away during the day.
Along with that, now that the sun has gone down, she tests out her [Eye of The Last Full Moon] that shines bright in the sky. It is over 3 times as bright and large as her other buff, and the pupil looks just like a full moon. It can see nearly 600km in all directions from where she stands, and has far better in-depth detail on mana readings and visuals than her other.
With her periodically checking to see if there are any new movements from the direction of Sector 1, everyone feels very prepared, as we'll have hours of warning if they approach by foot.
My doubles, Luna, Maria, and Ember all watch above the town as the night passes, and the rising sun comes again.
Daily life in the town starts up as usual.
The construction projects continue, normal citizens trade goods, settle into their new housing, and make new friends and business partners. The members of the army set off to train with my double in the canyon for team leaders to get used to their new strength.
Along with this, the 3 elemental team leaders begin creating formations and battle strategies with the Elite level fighters that serve as troops under them. This allows them to work as a team and take out opponents on higher floors of the labyrinth that they're incapable of defeating alone.
Back in the town, the humming of Isolation pods in the bunker is muffled out by the laughter and normal daily lives of citizens settling into their new homes.
The sun makes its full cycle, and the silence and peacefulness of the beautiful sunny day puts all of us on edge.
Things are just too perfect.
The day feels so eerie that not even Maria and Ember want to waste their energy sparring. They just stand on guard above the town.
I don't blame them. The only thing I can think to do is continue counting down the hours and minutes before my teammates and real body awaken from their pods.
As the sun fully sets, and Luna's [Eye of The Last Full Moon] illuminates the night sky again, I can only think that all of this is the calm before the storm.
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Author's Note:
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Thanks for reading:)
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