Chapter 171 Progression
An exhausted looking Shade sat straight up in an uncomfortable looking chair, his eyes calm and focused. The Shade appeared to be middle-aged, with a full greying beard covering his face and piercing grey eyes. The grey hair on his head was cut short, giving him a fierce appearance.
This Shade wore a set of purple robes, clasped around his lean and muscular figure. Dozens of small knives could be seen strapped to the front of this robe, held in place securely by small metal straps.
In front of this Shade was a large table full of detailed reports. Hundreds of pages of writing, all reporting on various things, were spread out in a wide arc. The rest of the room was plain and simple, a tiled stone floor, empty stone walls with a few windows, and some glowing crystals in the ceiling and walls lighting up the darkness of night.
This Shade looked from report to report, his eyes drawn and tired. Despite that, a powerful Aura could be felt, simmering below the surface.
This Shade was Hasith Shanty, the King of the Shade Commune, ranked 5th on the Recording of Might.
"The Aurelius Vampires have proven capable of stopping my forces due to their naturally higher growth and larger proportion of experts, and because they are defending. Attacking is always harder than defending." The Shade King's voice was pointed as he spoke out loud to himself, thinking it over.
"Now that all three Noble Houses have joined in, there is no realistic chance I can take the field in a drawn-out war. Their Inheritances allow them to fight evenly with me, despite remaining in the Pseudo-Angelic Class. The only result of that would be a huge loss of life." His voice rumbled as he spoke.
He sighed again.
"So many Shade lives lost already just to test their defenses. Yet, what choice do I have? If I don't conquer that world, our race as a whole will eventually be wiped out. If I do not act, trillions of innocents will die." He rubbed his forehead, his shoulders hunched, as if he was carrying a great burden. He took several deep breaths, regaining control of his emotions.
"Yet because I do act, my actions will kill millions… Tens of thousands have already died because of me." He closed his eyes, struggling to maintain that control.
"Damn you, Shadoir of the past."
"You have forced me to become a monster."
"…"
"But if that is the price I must pay, then so be it."
King Hasith clenched his fists, the air around him trembling as he opened his eyes. A vast, overwhelmingly powerful Aura burst forth around him, visibly fracturing the air near him as a glowing, dark Angelic Halo appeared around his head.
"Again and again, I have tried for hundreds of years. I will not fail this time, no matter the price." The King of the Shade Commune made a grim promise. Now that he had achieved the Angelic Class and gained a firm grasp on his power, there was nothing that would hold him back.
"The World of Eternal Evening, Evonon, must return to the hands of the Shade Commune. Only with that in hand will we be able to stave off the disaster the Shadoir left for my Race." He nodded, his eyes full of steely determination.
The World of Eternal Evening, Evonon, was also known to others by a separate name.
The Headquarters of the Aurelius Family, where Marcus Aurelius and his Castle of Darkness could be found.
Silence reigned in this mostly empty room for a few minutes.
That silence was broken, however, as a quiet knocking sound echoed forth.
Hasith looked up from the reports and over to the door that led into the room, his eyes narrowed.
"Come in, Bariel." His voice carried with it absolute confidence and authority.
"Your Highness!" A Shade wearing a set of dark grey plate armor walked in, his helmet held in one hand as he bowed. A faint Lord Class Aura could be sensed around him, one that dissipated as it came within the presence of the Angelic King. The Shade was a grizzled veteran, his old age not dampening his expertise and mind a whit.
"What is it, Bariel? Has one of the Dukes requested a change in their supply lines? The Vampires launched an offensive? One of those Anomalies caused more issues?" Hasith looked at his subordinate curiously. Bariel was one of his trusted aides, he wouldn't interrupt the King without a good reason.
"No, your Highness! It is a report of some note about a new hero that has arisen among our kind." As he spoke, the grizzled Bariel looked up, his eyes full of worship as he stared at the glorious leader of the Shade Race.
"Oh? Go on." For the first time in a very long time, a hint of pleasure appeared in Hasith's eyes.
"This new hero has taken the populace by storm. Indeed, even the King's Army has begun to celebrate his journey and tale, the stories of his prowess spread by the Church of Light's priests and deacons."
"I see." Hasith's eyes narrowed slightly as he heard of the involvement of the Church of Light. He had personally never seen eye to eye with Bashaba, the High Priest of the Church.
"The reason I found this worthy of report is because the epic tale of this hero is about to reach a conclusion!" Bariel's voice was full of excitement as he began to explain, his voice caught up in passion. He was clearly a fan of this hero, Hasith observed with a small smile. Bariel was one of his favored aides, but always seemed so serious and uptight. It was good to see him passionate and smiling about something.
"It is the tale of a Shade that has fought through the depths of Chaos itself to save the life of his beautiful wife. A hero so brave, so powerful, so righteous that evil beings would rather fall on their swords than stand and face him…"
"The story of the kind and gentle hero Inigo Montoya!"
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
"Suffer my wrath, you damn turkey!" Dorian swung a sword made of light futilely at an elusive, and rather chubby, feathered bird, his eyes enraged. Energy fluctuated around him as he attempted to murder the damn thing, irate.
SQUAAAAAK
The bird vanished, however, before Dorian's attack could land, warping away and leaving nothing but a couple feathers that slowly floated to the ground.
"Arrrrrrgh! Why on earth do these stupid birds exist? Let me meditate in peace, dammit!" He shook his fist at the remnants of the bird, rolling his eyes as he let his sword of light dissipate.
The faint echoes of the bird's screech seemed to roll off his ears for a moment before they faded, annoyingly long lasting. Dorian sighed with relief as he saw that it was truly gone, settling back down.
He was sitting on a tree stump in the middle of a thin forest, just outside of a large city known as Kamen. He, and his Moria Liberation Force, had just arrived upon Shaptle, after a long period of travel through a mostly normal World Bridge.
'Finally…' He thought, rubbing his eyes as he looked up at the night sky.
'I can go through with that Baptism now!'
The past several days had been rather uneventful for Dorian. After finally managing to escape from Ballians, he had been stuck traveling several days through one of the longest World Bridges in the 30,000 Worlds.
Despite its huge length, the World Bridge was a relatively normal one. It was covered in forests and rivers, with large populations of beasts roaming around it. Unlike other World Bridges, very few people travelled on this one due to the danger that crossing the Exotic World of Ballians entailed.
He didn't encounter any of the rare Spatial Storms that could appear on any World Bridge, nor did any powerful beast try to attack their ship.
Instead, he spent most of the time sitting with Helena, talking. They talked about her life and childhood, her periods of constant training. They talked about his life, before he was transported to the 30,000 Worlds, living on Earth.
These past few days had been incredibly relaxing and peaceful.
But, now that he had arrived, a sense of urgency filled him.
'Strength… I need more of it…' He constantly felt an urge to grow stronger, to be absolutely certain he could protect Helena and get her out of here safely.
And thus, once he arrived at the Normal World of Shaptle, in the late evening, he had gone off on his own to meditate. He'd helped get all of his allies situated, the lot of them taking up almost all of the rooms in a very nice inn. He had even personally asked Fabian to guard Helena while he was out.
And now… it was time to meditate.
While fighting in the Dream Zone on Ballians, Dorian had acquired a basic sense for a new Law.
The Law of Charity.
This would be the fifth Law Dorian had gained access to.
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Laws Progress
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Law of Valor: 22%
Law of Mercy: 14%
Law of Greed: 18%
Law of Wrath: 38%
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'I've made steady progress again.' He noted. Every time he sat down and meditated, letting the energy from each of the Laws flow around him, he found that he slowly gained a better understanding of that Law. In return, his soul also grew stronger, meaning the power he held increased.
'I'll hit 40% soon in the Law of Wrath… That's around the range where it goes from Early Lord Class to Middle Lord Class for regular people.' He thought, frowning slightly. The difficulty in increasing one's understanding of a Law increased noticeably at this point.
He tapped on his Spatial Ring, looking over the Borrelian Golden Shields, a form of currency that also doubled in function by allowing one to ease the difficulty found in higher level meditation.
At least he was well prepared.
While he was on board the ship, Dorian didn't dare to meditate on the new Law, the Law of Charity. While he may have detected it, he still needed to undergo a Baptism of the Laws of the Universe to access it. Such a Baptism would be quite noticeable, even if it was short, and he didn't want to risk anything that might alienate his allies or blow his cover.
Now, however, out here in the wilderness of Shaptle, there was no risk.
'If only these damn Warping Turkey's would screw off…' He thought, glancing irately at the feathers that had fallen on the ground near him.
Shaptle was a Normal World, but because of its neighbors, was quite an unusual Normal World. Bordered by two extraordinary Worlds, Shaptle had a very unique ecosystem and wildlife.
One of the more annoying organisms was the quite common Warping Turkey, a Master Class creature that could teleport around haphazardly due to its unique mental state, a beast that was decried a pest that should be hunted on sight. It lived in a state of almost zero intelligence, and because of that, was able to naturally use an Ability that allowed it to teleport.
Dorian had acquired the Bloodline while traveling out from the city to meditate and undergo a Baptism of the Laws, interested in its powers. Upon learning of the restrictions on the Warping Turkey form, he had almost thrown the Bloodline away entirely.
If he wanted to acquire the Warping Turkey Bloodline, he would first have to transform into a Warping Turkey for a brief period of time, a few dozen minutes, while his soul adapted.
In that time, he would be almost literally brainless.
'What a pitiful form…' He thought, sighing. The Ability that the Warping Turkey Bloodline had contained similar restrictions. It could only be used when in a Warping Turkey form. It could indeed allow the user to teleport, however, within a decent range.
'Still, if I use it as a base form to combine with, it's certainly possible I might come up with some really unique evolutions.' He tossed the idea around in his head, nodding.
'I'll talk to Helena about it.' If he did opt for the form, perhaps she could watch over him and ensure he stayed put till his soul adapted.
'Alright, enough about that.' He snorted, blowing away the feathers the other Warping Turkey had left, as he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He calmed his heart down, looking deeper into his memory.
Back to the battle with the petty shadow thief, back to the time he spent in the Life Years Dream Zone.
Back to when he chose to leave his family, never to see them again.
To a single, specific point, where he keenly felt emanations from the Law of Charity.
WHOOSH
Dorian opened his eyes, light glowing out of them as he felt a tangible sense of energy in the air. An energy that soothed his soul, similar to the Law of Greed. This energy source, however, was kind and caring, one that filled him with peace and happiness.
All of a sudden, energy swarmed about him as the Law of Charity ran flush in his soul, power flocking into him.
The Law of Charity was related to the Law of Greed, in a way. Both Laws focused on enriching the soul. Each one could help heal from injuries to the soul, be used to reinforce and empower the soul, and could enhance Spells or other Abilities that relied greatly on one's Soul Spell Matrix.
"Ahhhh…" Dorian let out a sorrowful, but satisfied, breath as memories flooded up within him, some sad and some cheerful. He had an epiphany of sorts as he sat on that stump alone, feeling the world around him fluctuate.
Just as soon as it started, the gout of energy rapidly died down, the world around Dorian returning to normal. Slowly, everything settled back to normal around him.
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Laws Progress
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Law of Valor: 22%
Law of Mercy: 14%
Law of Charity: 1%
Law of Greed: 18%
Law of Wrath: 38%
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He smiled as he looked at the results, feeling at peace.
'Got it.' He blinked.
'Status.' He called to mind a second screen, wanting to look at the condition of his soul.
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Dorian - Soul Status
Soul Stage: Lord Class (Pseudo-King)
Health: Perfect
Energy: 199,229/203,602
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'Wow! I've already breached 200,000 points!' His eyes widened in shock at the huge increase. In terms of strength of soul, as a Lord Class expert, his soul alone was already equal to many Early King Class experts.
The Law of Charity was a unique Law that focused on enhancing the power of the soul. The resulting Baptism from it carried over a large increase in strength to the soul, one of the unique benefits from studying it.
'With the Law of Greed and Charity to support my soul… in addition to the practice I've been putting in, I should be able to use more than just 3 Hyperion Beams…' He thought, his eyes turning off in one specific direction through the forest.
Faintly, several hundred meters away, Dorian could just barely make out a squawking Warping Turkey pecking at a large tree. Warping Turkeys didn't eat trees or leaves, or even fruit, they ate only meat. The only reason it was pecking at the tree was likely because it was an idiot.
'Alright, you damn pest. You can be my guinea pig…' His eyes flashed as he stared at it. Somewhere in the distance, one could almost hear a certain environmentalist Vampire ranting at him.
'Balance Demon form, go!' His body shifted, transforming into his most powerful form.
'Law of Greed, Law of Charity, enhance my soul!'
WHOOSH
Energy flooded into his soul, reinforcing and enhancing it. The two different energies were pure opposites in type, but somehow managed to perfectly work together under Dorian's control, aided by the Soul of Balance Ability that balanced out energy in the soul, an Ability unique to his Balance Demon form.
'Perfect Body, activate!' His already well-balanced form grew stronger as his perception of the world increased, his mind processing at a faster rate.
"Ahh." He let out a breath, feeling the world around him. His senses were enhanced to an extreme degree, making every leaf he looked at appear in amazing detail.
'Hyperion Beam… activate! Again and again until I can't control any more!'
.