Chapter 88 - Perspective (Patreon)

Oliviala Le’Cruex

“He sealed us off again,” Cameron grumped beside her as he leaned against the comfortable cushion of aura holding them both high in the air.

“His connection with his manabody is superb. I bet he could give Master Lentara a lesson or two. This Aahmra must be extraordinary to teach him so much in a single year.”

“No kidding, I’ve never felt a sound barrier this soft before. How do you think he’s doing it?” Cameron idly poked his finger into the nearby aura.

“Obviously he learned something from Mayalyn’s people that the empire has not yet discovered. Which is good, having knowledge to trade will improve their chances of being accepted by the seats and the emperors. Speaking of knowledge to trade, the Sage of Serandor said Jiran fell through a tear in space. That must be how he found them,” Olive gazed at the horizon as her imagination wandered to distant lands beyond the empire’s borders.

“Indeed, the secret of how he brought them here is priceless. It shouldn’t be possible to travel beyond the borders, yet he must have. Do you think he gained some kind of super-long-range teleportation technique? We both received powerful acclamations after the cage… incident. Maybe he got one too,” Cameron’s tongue stuck out of his mouth as he shivered.

Olive knew Cameron’s words were true. Not even the emperors could travel beyond the borders of the empire. The Graymin controlled the north with absolute dominance. The land was covered in their waste, a vile substance that made travel below a certain tier deadly. Meanwhile, the Graymin kings and queen were confirmed to be a higher tier than the emperors, effectively creating an impassable blockade.

The endless Crags of Caldarra created the eastern border. The emperors, unable to leave the empire for fear of a powerful beast ravaging their home, had once sent a group of tier nines to chart the length of the crags. They gave up after a million kilometers.

The Uncrossable Murinth Ocean was known to contain beasts of the thirteenth tier that dominated massive swaths of water much larger than the empire. Any foolish enough to chart those tides were never heard from again.

The Mashraha Desert runs the entire length of the western border. Beyond those dunes, a rainforest of unprecedented danger stands as an ever-present reminder of the harsh realities of Madra. The Forest of Silence that none dare approach. Her father once told her that a beast’s aura blankets the region and devours any who so much as brush against its surface. For the Mashraha locals, even a glimpse of green boughs is enough to send terror into an adult warrior's heart. ‘The green death kills before your breath stills.’ Or so the locals say.

Yet somehow, Jiran had done the impossible and found a way out and back again where no others before him ever had. Even more miraculous, he came back with members of an entirely new sentient race in tow. Olive didn’t know whether she should cry or scream. The impossibility of it was beyond her comprehension.

My acclamation was right, he lived and holds the answers to the empire's prosperity. It’s always right. I’ll never allow doubt into my heart again.

A cloud of dust in the distance pulled her from her ruminations. A large, slimy beast rolled across the ground shooting spikes from its back to propel itself forward. She recognized it from a compendium she had been forced to memorize: A tier five Prowling Devourer.

They were dragged toward the beast as an explosion overhead attracted its attention.

“How did he do that? I didn’t even see him move!” Cameron was no longer relaxing against the comfortable aura as he strained his neck to see a wave of blue fire expanding above them.

“He’s really going to fight that? Prepare yourself,” She couldn’t help but reach for the pommel of her sword, even knowing she would be useless in the coming fight with so little mana.

“Why? He’s tier six and with this aura, he should be fine,” Cameron patted the invisible wall.

“I don’t think he’s tier six. Even the most disciplined slip up their control on occasion and move faster than they mean to. I haven’t seen him blur once. I think he’s the same tier as us. Also, he just had Mayalyn fight up a tier. When we were kids, he fought up tiers as well. Why would he be any different now?”

“He was not tier two back then! I refuse to believe it no matter what Master Filibree said. You’ll definitely lose that bet. Besides, he has an aura so he’s clearly tier five at least,” Cameron shrugged, not willing to allow for a reality that would damage his pride even further.

“What if he got access to his manabody through an acclamation? It’s incredibly rare but it does happen. We assume he’s got at least one. With everything he’s done, I wouldn’t be surprised if he has two or three, as we do,” Olive watched as Cameron winced with each new argument while refusing to meet her eyes. Suddenly, he pointed and spoke far too loudly for the cramped space they occupied.

“Look at his chest! What is that?!”

Olive assumed he was trying to change the subject but when she looked up to see a ring of blue shining from beneath his skin, her mouth fell open.

“Is that channeling?” Why is it only in a small circle like that?”

A beam of oscillating blue and purple stretched from between Jiran’s hand and the beast far in the distance. When the colored beam connected with sticky flesh, an icicle four meters tall speared straight through its body, pinning it to the ground. A geyser of gore was frozen solid as a wave of ice spread out in a perfect circle from the impact, entombing everything within ten meters in a pristine, blue prison.

“I’m hallucinating, right? That has to be some kind of trick. Was that beast a speed build? I don’t remember much about it but it must just have crazy-low durability, right? Or maybe it was just really fast, pretending to be a higher tier than it was?”

“No, Cameron. That was certainly a tier five. It’s just like I’ve been saying for the last year. His understanding of the elements is simply far greater than our own.”

They grew quiet as Jiran stood still with his head facing the clouds, his mouth was open wide and his eyes were closed. The most passionate expression she had ever seen on a boy covered his face. Mayalyn was no different. Her eyelids fluttered and her lips moved in a silent prayer.

The truth dawned on Olive like a bolt from the purple and green sky.

“It is their faith. Look at them praying. He must have been touched by the voice! That has to be it! They have achieved a true connection to her will.”

As her heart was filled with longing to also achieve that level of connection, the appropriate prayer for her emotions came to mind.

“Envy is my sin this day, Great Voice, please cleanse it away,” She closed her eyes while assuming the traditional stance of prayer with her arms across her chest, hands touching opposite shoulders.

Cameron shook his head as he once more fell back against the soft aura. She was surprised when he joined her, as prayer was usually not something he cared for in the slightest.

“Envy is my sin this day, Great Voice, please cleanse it away.”

Jiran of Feylon

Fathers, that feels so good.

GROWTH 133.52%

MANA   6 > 7

CONCENTRATION 6 > 7

With the additional point of concentration, the function of his attributes was increased by 100%. In essence, he gained an additional one hundred and forty points in each attribute since that was their current value.

His muscles bulged and then contracted back to their original size, though now much heavier. The usually placid ball of mana in his chest swelled and boiled before calming and condensing to its previous shape. Most importantly, His perception sped up. Movement that felt normal a minute ago now felt like watching the world in slow motion.

The wave of longing for more growth tore through his mind. It found no purchase as he tuned his awareness to the world around him. He focused with such voracity that there was no room left within his brain to think. No thoughts meant no desires, no desires meant no insanity.

When it passed, he took stock of the information he had absorbed during his intense focus. Specifically, the cousins reaction to his moment of euphoria as he suddenly gained the power of fourteen Earthlings.

Seriously? They’re praying, right now? I don’t know why I’m surprised. Plenty of people do it. Nothing wrong with having something to believe in.

What's more interesting is that they don't seem to care that I'm listening to them. Maybe they don't realize I can hear them through my aura even when it's blocking sound waves. I mean, it's not like the sound waves vanish just because they aren't reaching my ears.

Jiran found himself both impressed and baffled by the conclusions they were drawing about him. They were such different people that he had trouble pinning down some of their rationales. Feeling a bit bad about eavesdropping on a conversation they clearly thought was private, he stopped focusing on them.

Its probably best not to land. I don’t think I’ll be able to stand right now with how much stronger my muscles are. I’ll probably try to scratch my nose and smack myself in the face instead, then flail about and fall. Too bad this isn’t like a game where when you get attributes you instantly know how to use them perfectly as if nothing changed! Good thing I learned how to do almost everything with my aura.

I’m at seven concentration now, by the end of this tier’s red density I’ll be at nine. Crazy, I’m going to have to go through this two more times before the arena. It might be better to hold off on trying to adapt until I’m closer to two hundred percent. Then I won’t be picking up any bad habits.

No, I don’t like how that sounds. It feels like running away from the problem and I’ve done more than enough of that lately. The more often I adapt to increased concentration and attributes, the better I’ll get at it. I’m going to face this head on.

When Mayalyn realized Jiran was taking them directly back to their camp, she looked at him with furrowed brows.

“I thought we were going to fight more?” Listening to her words was like hearing a voice spoken through a tub of molasses.

Jiran shook his head as slowly and carefully as he could while trying to match the speed of his voice to hers.

“SorryIneedtogoback. We can domoretomorrow,” He grimaced at his absolute failure to slow down to her level.

Back at camp, he deposited the royal cousins and Mayalyn on the ground before sliding into the underground burrow.

What if I try to pack the most amount of movement into the shortest time frame to maximize my understanding of the changes?

Jiran stood in the enclosed space and vibrated his entire body as quickly as he could. Every muscle contracted and released at incredible speeds as he rapidly gained control over his new strength. Soon, he was able to safely expand the size of his shaking to resemble a seizure.

Mayalyn came down the short tunnel with some dinner, the moment she saw his rapid shaking, she burst into laughter. “I am glad you did not dance like that when we first met. I may not have ever spoken to you again!

Jiran moved to grab the food from her outstretched hand with what he felt was a smooth, normal motion. Her scowl proved him wrong.

“You do not need to snatch it from my hands, Jiran.”

Instead of answering, he showed her his status again after removing the royals from the party. She perused the information, her scowl not lessening.

“Concentration,” He spoke with frustrating slowness.

Her eyes sprang open and her anger vanished.

“I see now, my apologies. I did not know such a thing was possible.”

“It’sokay I forgot totellyou about this part. I’mgetting better at moving at least. I just needalittle more time to figure outthe talkingpart.”

“That is understandable, I will clean up the camp, then I must sleep. Goodnight, my Aajiran,” She said with a twinkle in her eyes as she kissed his cheek and left.

Aajiran? I think I prefer being called pervert.

His eyes widened when he tasted the deliciously seasoned tier four meat Mayalyn gave him. Even though his body could no longer absorb the density, each bite melted in his mouth and slid down his throat after exploding with flavors.

Reminds me of Sharaal. Her food was the best. Looks like our new guests know how to cook. I need to focus, only a few days left.

Time dragged on as he grew more and more accustomed to the changes. His focus had been so much on his own body, that he barely registered the cousins leaving the range of his aura well-after dark. Curious about what they were doing, and still holding a seed of doubt about their intentions, he stretched his aura to follow them. They stopped outside of camp, unaware that they were still within his range as he carefully did not allow his manabody to touch them.

“Well, what’s the plan, boss?”

“Don’t call me that!”

“Sure, soon as you stop being so bossy,” Cameron snickered.

Olive clicked her tongue before grumbling at him.

“Jiran is a bad influence on you. And we will do nothing, and everything.”

“Great, glad we cleared that up. Well, goodnight then,” Cameron turned to walk away but Olive’s stamped foot and heavy snort caused him to spin back to her with a grin.

When she was sure he would not actually wander off while she was trying to speak, she continued.

“We will do absolutely nothing to antagonize him, Mayalyn, or her people. Meanwhile, we will do everything in our power to support them.”

“That's… Why? We barely know him!”

“Not only did my acclamation lead us to them, but he holds knowledge we desperately need as well as the trust of her People. I no longer doubt what needs to be done. My faith is absolute. It is my duty to the empire to ensure their safety and prosperity, for the good of all. I know this is what must be done and we all do what we must.”

Something in her voice and the tilt of her chin caused Cameron to take a step away from her. His arms waved in the air between them while desperation tinged his voice. “Oliviala, don’t do this,” Something changed in her eyes as they began to glow with a wavering blue light that brightened the space around them.

She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and spoke with a finger pointed right at Cameron’s chest. Her voice changed to a deep, scratchy and guttural sound. It was fierce, commanding, and grated on Jiran’s aura.

“They are the bridge between us and survival. We shall be their allies in the night and in the day. I hereby command upon your vows of protection. Let them blanket Mayalyn and her people. Your life before theirs, your hammer before theirs, your blood before theirs. As it was sworn with your mana and body under the Great Voice, swear it now upon your life.”

Oliviala sagged as she finished and Cameron fell to his hands and knees as if a great weight pressed upon him. When he looked up, his eyes now also glowed a bright blue as mana locked within his body, forced words from his throat and bound his life to their meaning.

“Princess Oliviala Le’Cruex, holder of my bonds. Your will is my command.”