As Orion entered, a room full of multicoloured orbs greeted him.
To everyone's surprise, instead of reaching out to one of the orbs, Orion simply sat cross legged in the middle of the room.
Emptying his mind of any thoughts, he simply waited.
¡RUMBLE!
Not even a second had passed when the entire room started violently shaking as a gigantic crimson orb appeared in front of Orion, it's pressure overbearing to say the least.
Opening his eyes, Orion apathetically gazed at the orb. His previously childish and innocent gaze had completely disappeared only to be replaced by an endless field of silver indifference and arrogance.
"Bow."
His words seemed to be laced with the very essence of dreams as the world seemed to twist in accordance to his Will.
¡RUMBLE!
The crimson orb seemed to have been riled up by Orion's words as its previously blank intentions became malevolent.
"Bow." Repeated Orion, this time, in runic tongue.
From the void, a myriad of pinkish amethyst runes appeared as they immediately bound the gigantic crimson sphere and nullified all its power.
"Oh? So he is a Dream Childe… or maybe a spiritual Childe? Both?" Uttered Pillar Brimstone as she watched Orion seamlessly manipulate one of reality's most powerful forces.
Orion's gaze became even colder as his chest opened up, allowing for the crimson orb to fuse with his heart.
¡BOOOOOOOM!
As soon as the fusion ended, a loud explosion occurred and Orion instantly disappeared, only to reappear a second later, his aura completely different.
"Myriad Heart of War…" He calmly announced.
"Wow, you managed to get a God grade artefact, the highest grade." Congratulated Pillar Brimstone as she mysteriously smiled.
Walking out, Orion's brow slightly rose as he noticed the perplexed gaze his parents were giving him but he quickly let it go as Brimstone continued.
"I think that's one of the only artefacts I know nothing about. You'll have to figure out its use on your own kiddo."
"Are you okay?" Asked Hera, cutting Pillar Brimstone's words short.
"Yeah, I'm fine…I just feel weird." Answered Orion.
"What happened when you chained the artefact down? Your soul signature disappeared for a second." Asked Eros.
"Huh? You didn't see what happened?" Asked Orion in surprise.
"Nope. Your body flashed in and out then it all stopped as you fused with the artefact."
"Oh…that's interesting. Well, I fought the incarnation of the artefact for supremacy and I won."
"Well done kiddo." Happily said Eros as he ruffled Orion's hair.
"Alright, let's go get your first weapon-"
"No need. My artefact provides me with more weapons that I would need in my lifetime. I just need techniques."
"Is that so? Well, I'll take your word for it. Let's go to the archives."
The world around them crumbled as in another instant, they found themselves in the clan archives.
'How does she do this…? Could I do that with dream runes?'
After walking past a few doors and bookshelves they arrived in front of a grand gate, similar to the one he had just left.
[Hall of Wisdom.]
"Am I gonna choose the techniques alone as well?"
"No, we're coming with you." Answered Hera as she pushed the gates open.
"Alright, before you choose, I'll have to explain a few things. I suppose your mother has already explained what Ancestral dao arts are, yes?"
Orion nodded.
"Primordium Arts?"
"Nope."
"Alright, I'll try to keep it simple."
"In the past, we cultivators mistook what the real essence of cultivation was. The path diverged into body, soul and qi. As one's cultivation grew and they focused on said aspects, they'd get stronger. The problem was that fundamentally, what was the point of having a powerful soul or body if you were still bound by the laws of existence? Wouldn't you simply be a stronger slave for the heavens to use?"
"After god knows how long, the Dao path, the one we follow, was birthed to counter this problem. Before I continue, it's important you know that though those paths are fundamentally wrong, some geniuses managed to break all conventions and equal the dao path. Some body cultivators without ever learning a single law or interacting with any runes are powerful enough to bend and command the laws of heaven. Some call them insurgents, others call them traditional gods, either way they're weaker than us so it doesn't matter. The Dao is supreme."
"Anyway, after the dao path was formed and we ascended through the ranks, we noticed that the other three paths weren't necessarily useless. They were compounds of the Dao path. So we created runic grimoires that would help the cultivator cultivate the three paths on top of the dao path."
"What? Cultivating four paths at once?" Asked Orion.
"No, the grimoires use special runes that follow the progression of your dao path and evolve alongside it, essentially cultivating for you. Honestly, it completely revolutionised the world when it came out. A single true god would have the combined power of four peak orthodox gods while having a dao that could dwarf any faith or incense god."
"I see." Nodded Orion as a thought passed through his mind.
'If True Gods are that powerful, why do other gods even exist?'
"Alright, go choose your techniques."
Walking in, just like in the Hall of Ash, Orion was greeted with multiple floating orbs.
Strangely enough, as he observed these orbs, he hesitated.
'Do I really wanna get tainted by someone else's dao? What if it makes my path impure in the future? Should I really…'
'Does it matter?' Asked Vulkron.
'Huh?'
'Being afraid of being tainted is doubting the dao you'll eventually form.You need to believe that your future dao will protect you from whatever external influence tries to tarnish you.'
Hearing this, Orion couldn't help but smile.
'And you say I'm the crazy one?'
"Touch the sigil on the ground and a list of techniques will appear in your mind with a brief explanation. Once you choose, the orb will come to you." Explained Eros.
Getting to his knees, Orion touched the sigil as his mind fell into a world of interconnected runes and formations.
As Orion browsed through various dao arts, Hera and Pillar Brimstone discussed.
"Kid's got a pretty sturdy dao heart. It's rare even for Heirs to be this brazen." Calmly said Pillar Brimstone.
"I'm afraid forming a dao heart this early will hinder him in the future. He's only a child, he knows nothing of the world and what lies beyond. The convictions he holds today may mean nothing to his future self." Said Hera.
"Who cares? If his dao heart hinders him then he'll simply need to shatter it. If he can't then that's his fate. Either way, this isn't anything concrete yet so there's no need to worry. What he just formed can only be described as fickle." Said Eros.
A few seconds later, Orion's eyes slowly opened as floating golden runes lingered around his sclera.
"So? What'd you get?" Impatiently asked Eros.
"For my body's Primordium Arte, I chose [Scriptures Of The Origin Titan Emperor]. For my soul I chose, [Path Of The Soul Singularity] and lastly, I didn't choose a qi grimoire, instead, I chose a grimoire of existential ascension called [Ascendance of The forgotten]."
The path of existential elevation was one birthed after the creation of the dao path focused on perpetually elevating the base state of the cultivator in hopes of one day naturally reaching the God state.
"Hm, it's pretty rare for people to choose ascension arts but the choice is yours. What'd you get for your Dao Arts?" Answered Eros.