The masters of the sect all had some distinct features. They were younger than Mash expected, and all of them had long hair. Male or female it didn’t seem to matter to them, and each of them had hair long enough to reach their waist. He looked over their overly attractive features with a sense of strange inhumanity. The irony of his thoughts didn’t go over his head either. Still, despite being the only monster among them, he didn’t think any of them could be called human. Their appearances lacked any problems. It was almost like they were too perfect to the point of being another species altogether.
Their face was too well proportioned, and Mash focused on the obvious leader. He sat in the middle, and his eyes were tilted with a look of pride that only an arrogant person can possess. Mash didn’t hesitate to meet the man’s gaze. He was close enough that everyone on the roof was within his domain. He could compare his own strength to theirs. He realized that the upgrade to his domain was letting him evaluate both their chi and physical abilities. It was like he had developed a new sense, and he was able to understand the strength of their lives. This sense was one belonging to a predator.
Confident in his strength, Mash stood before the masters with his gaze held high. Mash spoke first, feeling like he needed to take control of the conversation.
“Hello, I’m Mash. Daniel brought me here to warn you guys about an upcoming invasion.”
Rather than try and be careful with his words he decided to just speak bluntly. All of the masters looked equally offended when he spoke so casually. The information probably warranted more seriousness, but he didn’t really respect these people. It only took a second for the leader to regain his composure, and his words seemed to shake the others as well.
“Hello, young man. I am Jarel, I am unsure what my disciple has said of me, but there is no need to act rudely.”
The man’s voice wasn’t deep, and it reminded Mash of how the king spoke. The vague sense of omnipotence came from the way he spoke. Although, Mash's mind was fixed on the word disciple. At that moment, he realized exactly how stupid he had been so far. He decided to blame the translation item, though he knew that it was his own stupidity. The word ‘master’ had led Mash’s mind to slavery. He should’ve asked for clarification on the term. There were some people back in his world who would call their teacher ‘master’. Although, it wasn’t very common.
He felt like a complete fool. He had come up with an assumption and stuck to it, without really considering what Daniel had been saying. Now, the pieces fell into place within his mind. A sect was more like an advanced school, and the masters chose to teach the best students. The missions he had seen as forced labor was more like assigned work. Thinking about what he should do to apologize, he realized that telling the truth was probably the best choice.
“I’m sorry. I had made some horribly incorrect assumptions, and assumed you guys would be assholes…”
Mash’s words grew quieter as he spoke, and Jarel flinched at Mash’s final word. Daniel even turned to look at Mash, his face was contorted with confusion and rage. Avoiding Daniel’s eyes, Mash just waited for a response from Jarel.
“I don’t even know how to respond to that. How did you even get that idea in your head? And please don’t use language like that again.”
Mash winced at the hurt confused expression of the man. The reprimand was surprising. While his language wasn’t perfectly clean, it wasn’t particularly bad. Although, as he thought about it, he didn’t know how exactly the word was being translated. Asking them to explain probably wouldn’t be for the best. Also, he didn’t want to bother explaining where his misconceptions had come from.
“The item I use for translation probably lead me to the wrong conclusion. So, if I misspeak, it might just be the item.”
Despite feeling somewhat apologetic, he didn’t feel any desire to bow his head. The people in front of him still looked unnatural and prideful. Mash hadn’t bowed his head to the World Owners and was not going to start doing it for a couple of old people. It didn’t seem to bother them either, or he wondered if they had skills like Daniel. None of them felt hostile, though two of them did look angry. He chose to ignore those gazes and focus on Jeral.
“It is not a problem, but what did you mean by invasion earlier.”
Despite the urgency of the words, Jeral sounded casual as he brought it up. Honestly, all of them seemed unconcerned. That bothered Mash more than their oddly perfect appearances.
“You don’t sound very worried.”
“The sect has survived much, and it will certainly prevail again.”
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Mash could hear the complete confidence Jeral had in that statement. They spoke with baseless arrogance. One that would lead to their failure. Mash could tell that they wouldn’t even be able to stop him let alone the strongest people of his world. Although, since he had passed level 100, he guessed that would put him among the best. They didn’t understand what the scope of the invasion would be like.
“Do you guys know your world’s owner?”
The demons had known their leader. He suspected that they wouldn’t know what he was talking about, but he still needed to ask. Even before getting a response, the people’s expressions confirmed his suspicions. They had no idea what he was talking about. His explanation would need to start from the beginning then.
He didn’t wait for a response and started telling them of the situation. The conversation started with him explaining what a world owner was. Then he shared what he knew about other worlds and how to get there. Finally, he went to explain the invasion. He told them how the scale would span the entire world and losing would mean complete subjugation to another world. Still feeling apologetic, he even shared what his world had done to others. He explained the dungeons he had been in. The people who had been dominated by his own. How his people had conquered worlds without even knowing the reason.
The confident expression the masters were keeping was breaking slowly, and Mash realized he probably could have shared the information with some more caution. He basically just dropped it on their heads and said that they needed to deal with it now. He needed to break their arrogance, to let them understand just how dire the situation was for them. Even his world struggled with the invasions, and he imagined they would struggle more. He could scarcely imagine how many people would die here.
“Are you the strongest people in this world?”
If these masters were as strongest people in this world, then he didn’t think they would be able to survive against an invasion. It took a second for them to process that he had asked a question. All five of them were rattled, and Daniel looked petrified. The other two still hadn’t raised their heads, but he could practically feel the fear radiating off of them. He wondered if that was a product of his evolution or just some intuition.
“No, though we are close. I believe there are only a handful of people at the realm above mine.”
Jeral was the one to respond, and Mash grimaced. While Mash didn’t know exactly what being in the next realm meant, he doubted that they would be as strong as him. Even Jeral would need some incredible skills if he wanted to keep up with Mash. Thinking about what he could do, or what he wanted to do, Mash came to an obvious conclusion. If he could make a portal back to his world, he could take these people with him. It would save them, but the world would be even more likely to fall into that situation. He could stay and fight with them. Depending on how powerful the invading world was, he would have a pretty good chance to win.
“I think I can bring you guys to my world, but I don’t know how much better that would be. Plus, that would mean abandoning the rest of the world.”
Mash evaluated the expressions of the people as he spoke. Almost all of them didn’t seem to appreciate the implication. The only one who even looked to be considering his offer was Jeral. He seemed like the only one who understood what was really at stake. However, he didn’t try and oppose the other masters and shook his head in refusal.
“No, we cannot do that, though perhaps sending a few of the most talented away might not be the worst idea. At least preserve our path for future generations.”
Jeral sounded sad; his words were those of resignation. The other masters felt more subdued once they heard them too. Jeral was the leader for a reason, and Mash could see why. It seemed like he was the guiding voice, the one who could see the greater picture. There was little any of them could do about the situation. One of the other masters, a woman who sat on the far left spoke. It was the first time someone other than Jeral had spoken.
“We must send word to the other sects, even the evil ones. We must all take the fight where we can. It is the only way.”
Jeral nodded to the woman, and she rose from her seat. She gave Jeral a small tilt of her head, before flying into the air. It was strange to see, reminding him of how Red flew. There was no need for wings or anything along those lines. It was as if something had grabbed her and was carrying her through the air. When he saw that he was reminded of the wings on his own back. He had forgotten to change them back. He had changed his hands back but didn’t remember the wings. The wings slowly dissipated shrinking back into his body after a few seconds.
“So, you plan to fight? I will do what I can to help, but I need to test a few things first.”
Mash spoke, informing them of his intentions. Despite only knowing these people for a short time, he knew that it would feel wrong to just abandon them. It would leave a bad taste in his mouth, especially considering the kindness Daniel had shown thus far. Sighing, Mash realized he was making his life as difficult as possible.
The thing he wanted to do was go back to his world and see how much time had passed. He needed to know if he was wasting years here or not. Plus, he would grab any of the others who had finished their trials. They didn’t have a perfect method of communication, but he had left each of them with an imitation of Priscilla. If they were in the same world, he would be able to sense it. Even if he wasn’t there, the body of Priscilla left with his sister would be able to sense it. It would be an effective way to know if anyone was present.
Jeral still had a lot of questions, and Mash was the only one with any answers. The discussion carried on for a while. Some of Jeral’s questions were left unanswered, as much of what Mash knew was from personal experience. He simply didn’t have all of the answers. Eventually, he was released from the conversation. Although he did leave Daniel with an imitation of Priscilla. He didn't know how his portal skill would work and wanted to make sure that he could find his way to them.
“I will return to my world and see if I can’t get some help. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
He would be back soon. While he was concerned for these people, he was quickly growing excited. It was finally time to test his unique skill. To discover the power behind his level 100 advancement.
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Chapter 180: Fey Trial
Name: Mash Stellumbra Class: Chimeric Vagabond
Level: 100
Health: 3000 / 3000
Energy: 3560 / 3560
Fortitude: 300
Endurance: 186
Strength: 250
Agility: 252
Intelligence: 221
Wisdom: 110
Charisma: 100
T: 1419
Free Stats: 0
Skills: Hunt, Thunder-wood Creation, Inhuman Hibernation, Monstrous Transformation →Chimeric Transformation, Thunder-wood Imitation, Chimeric Reconstruction, Vagabond’s Path, Draconic Domain →Chimeric Domain, Adaptable Monster Core, Monstrous Humanity →Chimera’s Constitution, Wooden Body, Mimic’s Avarice, A Touch of Nothingness, Golden Body
Hunt: You have gone beyond your limits when fighting enemies and devouring their power. Go beyond your limits. Continue current fight even after depleting energy. Stats improve while at 0 stamina. Continues until either you or your enemies are dead.
Current Bonus: +100% stats
Inhuman Hibernation: You have stolen the techniques of mages and monks to form an artificial technique, your inhuman body morphing it to fit your corrupted nature. Hibernating will increase the rate at which your body recovers, healing most wounds.
Current Rate: +200% recovery
Thunder-wood Creation: You know how deadly sticks can be. Forge your mana into wooden creations. Lightning has tempered your wood, and it thrums with the power of thunder.
Monstrous Transformation → Chimeric Transformation: Transform your body taking on aspects of those which you have consumed. Control which aspects to take and combine them to create the perfect form. Greatly increased energy consumption when combining forms.
Thunder-wood Imitation: Form imitations of creatures you have consumed, imitating some of their bodily functions through your wood.
Chimeric Reconstruction: Consume what you kill for more than just stats. Steal their flesh to repair your own. Their blood becomes yours. Your enemies are nothing more than your medicine.
Vagabond’s Path (unique): Having chosen the path of the vagabond, you have freed yourself from your own world. An explorer at heart, you laugh as you leap between worlds. Open portals to worlds you have already been. Once per cycle of the moon create a portal to a random world. Create a world of your own, portal to personal world granted.
Draconic Domain → Chimeric Domain (Passive): Your eyes just weren’t enough. Sense the changes in the mana around you. Connect to the mana and life in your space and inherently understand the nature of the mana and life. Your presence suffuses the space, weakens the magic and strength of enemies beneath you. They cower beneath your might.
Current Range: 23 → 53 feet
Adaptable Monster Core (Passive): An unnatural mana core has fundamentally altered your body, fusion with a monster has given you access to its potential. Stamina and Mana combine to become energy. Your monstrous body is better able to handle the changes to your core.
Current Bonus: +75% efficiency
Wooden Body (Passive): You can connect with the wood that you are touching. By expending your energy, you bring your creations to life as another one of your limbs.
Monstrous Humanity → Chimera’s Constitution (Passive): Giving up your humanity has improved your body, improving your physical control, natural defenses, animalistic intuition, and mana control. No longer a human in any sense, you are no longer bound by that which limits them. You have created your own race, improving your rate of growth.
Mimic’s Avarice (Passive): Devour your enemy in battle to temporarily raise your stats. The fresher the victim the stronger the bonus. Gain full benefits even when consuming through your magic. Absorbs some properties of those you devour alive. Removes the negative effects of things you consume.
A Touch of Nothingness: Belonging to no race or group, you have embraced the nothingness that is a part of everything. You are free, and automatically resist others' attempts to bind you. Constantly emit the aura of nothingness within your domain. Your allies will gain some of the freedom you possess. Enemies weaker than yourself will slowly lose that which makes them whole.
Golden Body (Passive): Having stolen the techniques of another world, your body evolves beyond its old limitations. However, even this transformation is incomplete. Seek out the next Step and truly make this power your own.
Trial of the True Body: 5 / 100
