"I am the protector! The one true saviour! All who sing will be cast out from reality!" The chants reverberated through the hall as Cypher ascended above the ground in a dazzling display of power.
The sockets of his mask pierced through by the light of his yellow eyes illuminated the dark room slightly.
Sensing the power, Vanderwald waved his hands and cast shadows in a circular radius around the boy, preparing for the coming out burst.
Vrum.....BOOM!
A huge wave of energy emmited from Cypher and caused everything that came into contact to dudtort into a fine grains of sand. Miraculously, the energy seemed to stop when it reached the shadows that surrounded the boy, containing it to a small 4 meter radius.
The chants ceased at once after a few moments. The energy slowly dying down until the lights of the room flickered back on to reveal the aftermath.
As expected, the floor beneath Cypher resembled that of his soul space, completely rematerialised into sand. However unlike the first awakening, this one was contained and limited by the presence of the Cardinal. If he hadn't used his own soul caliber to suppress Cypher, the entire church could have been destroyed.
"So it's finished." Vanderwald watched as Cyphers body slowly descended from the ground. The most notable difference being his height. Growing to 5'6 despite his young age, a Normal side affects brought on by the overall physical enhancements that came with ascending.
Cypher ofcourse felt the change aswell, however a more immediate change caught his attention- his soul core.
The light was much brighter, clearly full of power. It's energy having tripled from the previous amount, he could now be considered more than high level cannon fodder. He now lay at a rank where he absolutely could not be ignored, even against other Dreamweavers.
Now with his soul core upgraded, his previously conservative attacks could be used much more willfully. If before he had to pour 50% of his energy into changing matter into sand, he now only needed 12%. Not only that but they could be much more devastating and even better used offensively with ease.
This was the key difference between rank one and two- The shift from a supportive stance to a offensively aggressive fighting style.
Unfortunately, his mind couldn't implement some of the ability concepts he had in mind until he could use them in combat. Turning his head, Cypher turned his attention back to Vanderwald.
"Congratulations Cypher! under the witness of all those gathered here today, you will be given a true noble title!" He paused for a moment before continuing, "Deacon Ren!"
' A noble title?' Cypher was slightly surprised. Noble titles meant he could attend gatherings of the high class. It was an extremely important luxery.
"Come up and greet your new combrade."
Vanderwald instructed and everyone immediately followed his order.
One by one, everyone walked up and shook Cyphers hand..
"I look forward to working with you Deacon."
One of the priests said in respect.
"Deacon Ren! Our battles will be legendary!"
A Dreamweaver who looked more like a lump of muscle boasted.
"Well done...I guess..." Beastmaster looked like he could fall asleep at any moment.
Slowly but surely time kept passing by, each person that had congratulated Cypher having left after. After some time, Everyone had left accept Vanderwald and Cypher. A moment of silence passes for a moment before Cypher spoke,
"Cardinal? Do you have any other need of me?" He asked.
"Deacon Ren, given your upcoming deployment you must want to know where you will be fighting?" Cypher was now a prized treasure in the church. They wouldn't hold back in teaching him about terrain and warfare.
"Ofcourse Cardinal. The books in the library can only take me so far." Cypher responded.
"Here," A scroll materialised in Vanderwalds black gloves hands. Showdows seemingly receded off it's edges as a side affect of Vanderwalds unique technique," This details most of the battle plan, as well as the location you'll be heading to. However, should you lose it... you'll pay with your life."
Nodding his head, Cypher immediately understood why. If this scroll contains the entire battle plan of basic troop positions, supply lines, and most importantly was how the Dreamweavers would be used and their targets. While Dreamweavers like Cypher could be used as battering rams that fought directly in the middle of the battle, they were best used like commando's and special forces in his previous life. They could go behind enemy lines, gather information, Infiltrate and destroy.
Ofcourse, It would be useless if the Nova Kingdom already knew their plan of attack.
Luckily, this wasn't a major war. Vanderwald wouldn't give him the scroll if it was. However it was still large scale clash between countries and couldn't be handled carelessly.
Thankyou for the trust Lord Cardinal, but I'll only need a moment." Cypher unfolded the scroll right then and their, fully gazing at a map full of labels and annotations.
His mind quickly burned everything into his memory with mechanical efficiency akin to a computer. Almost everything on the continent became clear to him now.
The continent of Valis was an unparalleled size, about 2 times that of Africa in his previous life. It was shaped in a roughly circular shape that lay sorroundounded by an endless sea of water.
On the north side of the continent was Cyphers current position- The Terra Empire that occupied this half of the continent.
On the other side lay the Nova Kingdom, having control of the Southern half of the land.
As the two sole superpowers in the world, both countries had at least 100 cities in each of their lands. Each one housing close to 10 million people.
Now, where was Cypher going to be fighting? The deadlands.
It was a mountainous ash wasteland that cut straight through the centre of the continent and separated both countries from eachovers borders. It was once said to be a region of lush Jungle terrain and wildlife, but now? After Releigh and Endos Fight a thousand years ago left it nothing but an almost empty stretch of land, it was the location of great intrest among the two countries.
It houses an energy source unlike any other, a type of unique crystal that was the mission objective of the army in this campaign. Why this crystal was used? Cypher didn't care at this moment. However the fact that they could only be found in the deadlands was interesting to him.
Narrowing his eyes, Cypher found the key detail of the plan- Cypher was to pair with the Beastmaster Orion to flank the kingdoms army while the Empires army distracts them. It was quite simple but nonetheless effective. By going behind enemy lines he could already see the potential ways to cut off supply lines to secure a victory should the battle drag on.
"Sir, I understand the plan. I will not fail you." Folding the map back up, Cypher handed it back to Vanderwald.
"Very well." If Vanderwald was surprised by the insane memory Cypher displayed, he didn't show it, "I trust your ability. But you are instrumental to the plan. If you need more answers then Orion will help."
"May our Lord look down on you Lord Cardinal." Cypher prepared to leave with a farewell.
"And you two, Deacon Ren." Vanderwald politely responded.