Defiance of the Fall

she was about to leave, she turned around again.

”You know, the real Deviant Asura is a lot better than the rumors, ” she said, as a smile spread across her face.
”But perhaps not as interesting. ”

”I ’m fine with being called boring if those rumors just die down, ” Zac muttered.

”Doubtful.
The Tsarun Clan is working much too hard to ruin your image and alienate you, ” Pretty laughed.
”Of course, it can all be swept away by deeds.
My Grandpa says there will be rankings and contributions stores like most for this war.
As long as you prove yourself, no one will care about those rumors.
Those who spread them might even face a backlash. ”

”Looking forward to it, ” Zac smiled.
”Is there anything else? ”

Pretty hesitated a bit more before she spoke up.
”Is…
there really nothing you can tell me that can help me with Average and our soldiers? ” Pretty asked.
”I can feel it – how it ’s all related to the events here. ”

It had been a shock to hear that both Average and his old acquaintance Galau had gone missing under mysterious circumstances.
An enormous planet in the depths of the Million Gates Territory had just up and disappeared with them on it, and the event had released enough energy to be sensed all the way to the Allbright Empire.

The Peak Family didn ’t believe that anyone in their sector had the strength to do something like that, and they thought it was related to the Limitless Empire.
That was the original reason Pretty had been sent to the Void Gate, though the infiltration of the Void Star had taken precedence.

”What you ’ve described is completely different from what I know, ” Zac said with a shake of his head.
”From what I ’ve seen, there are only two outcomes from encountering…
that.
You either gain the opportunity, or you die.
There are no disappearances, especially not whole planets.
It might be related, but I am just guessing here as well. ”

Zac wasn ’t lying.
If the scarred planet disappearing was related to the Limitless Empire, then it was probably associated with the Left Imperial Palace.
But as for how and why, Zac didn ’t have the faintest idea.

”Alright, ” Pretty sighed.
”Well, keep your eyes open, will you? ”

”Of course, ” Zac nodded.
”I ’ll see you soon. ”

Zac led Pretty out of his quarters before he sealed it shut.
From there, Zac didn ’t walk over to his cultivation chamber but rather to his closet.
He pushed against a wall, and a hidden chute opened up.
Zac jumped inside, falling hundreds of meters until he landed in a pitch-black room.

These sections were once part of the hive ’s incubator, and only a few hidden pathways connected it with the rest of the hive.
Here, the queen would store and slowly nurture the eggs until warriors came crawling out from the chutes.
These sections were long since discovered and cleansed by Billy and Ogras and had been refitted into secret cultivation chambers or secret shelters.

’

A perfect spot for Zac to accomplish some things far from prying eyes.

There was only so much he could do to improve his strength in the short run.
The best would have been to upgrade his Branch of the War Axe, but he was still somewhat lacking.
The raids hadn ’t provided enough inspiration either, even if the fighting had been hard.

That left him with his second option – his undead side.

Having traveled with Vai for half a year, there hadn ’t been any good opportunities to fill his already opened nodes with Miasma.
Thankfully, the downtime between raids had helped him out a lot.
After every battle, he had hurried down to these catacombs to use the Kill Energy to gain levels.
Just filling them up required a lot less energy than breaking nodes open, and he had made a lot of progress in the past two weeks.

Even then, he was not quite there.
His Draugr form was still level 148, just two levels shy of the noticeable Attribute Boost at 150.
With time running out, Zac decided to finish the process with leveling pills.
Typically, he wouldn ’t have eaten pills when absorbing energy from Miasma Crystals would do the trick, but he was under a lot of pressure from the upcoming mission.

This time, he didn ’t just have his own life to worry about.
If he failed to close the pathway to the Lost Plane, then Gemmy would fail her transition to a Portable Realm, and most people here would probably perish.
He needed every advantage he could get, even if he had to take on a little bit more Pill Toxins.

Zac sat down at his usual spot, and a bottle of the Leveling Pills he ’d bought inside the Orom World appeared in his hand.
The [Aethergate Pills] he bought back in the Twilight Harbour were used up already, but these weren ’t that much worse.
More than enough for his purposes.
Deathly waves of Miasma coursed through his body, and the transition was complete less than a second later, thanks to his upgraded transformation skill.

Two pills were swallowed without preamble, and it felt like a frigid star had appeared in his stomach.
Zac directed the energy toward the empty nodes in his mind, and it poured into the first one like a surging river.
The process went without any issues or surprises, and just two hours later, it was done.

Now, all 75 of his nodes formed deathly swirls as they formed a perfect system, each feeling like a gateway into the Abyss.
He opened his status screen, and a smile spread across his face upon seeing another 260 Free Points added to his pool.
With five levels worth of attribute boosts, he had gained a couple of thousand attribute points these last five levels of his Fetters of Desolation-class.

As usual, he put the free points into Dexterity, pushing the attribute to 9,770 points.
It still felt odd pouring all his free points into the same attribute.
But with two classes and three Dao Branches that mainly provided Strength, Endurance, and Vitality, he didn ’t have much choice.
Even his Wisdom would eventually pass his Dexterity if he didn ’t manually remedy the situation.

Zac didn ’t gain any new quest this time either, and neither did he get another title.
He was mostly tapped out in that regard, unless he managed to create a skill from scratch before breaking through.
Still, the basic prerequisites for his attempt at Hegemony were finally complete, and in just a decade at that.

Just reaching this point thwarted all but a select few mortals, and his journey was completely different from Galvarion ’s struggles.
The maritime Monarch had spent centuries in the E-grade, each step and every node a perilous journey.
Of course, the most challenging part remained; figuring out a blueprint for his Cultivator ’s Core.
This step couldn ’t compare with Galvarion ’s, considering he had pretty shallow foundations and an Uncommon E-grade Class.

There was also the matter of shoring up his foundations, but that was mostly just a matter of time.
But for now, Zac was happy with the results, and he climbed out of the chute.
There was still some time left before he needed to meet up with Pretty and the others, which was perfect.
There was one more thing he needed to do before he set off for the Ra ’Lashar Kingdom.

”Gemmy, are you there? ” Zac asked into thin air.

’

”You smell bad again, ” Gemmy ’s voice echoed through his empty chamber.

”Remember, our little secret, ” Zac smiled and got a giggle in response.

Hopefully, that meant she agreed.
Billy already knew about the situation since the first time Zac transformed, though Zac wasn ’t sure he actually understood he had two Races.
It rather seemed like Billy considered it like his own Titanic transformation.
Still, he had promised he wouldn ’t tell anyone, and Zac trusted him to stay true to his word.

”Okay, Hungry Guy, Gemmy promises, ” the Dimensional Seed agreed.

”Where is Slow Girl right now? ” Zac asked.

”She is in her room, looking at the pattern, ” Gemmy answered.

”Is she alone? ”

”Yep! ”

”Perfect, thank you, ” Zac said as he walked out of his room and flashed over to another section of the hive.

Zac knocked at the door, which swung open by itself.

”I thought you would come over, ” Leyara smiled as Zac closed the door behind him.

”It ’s time you and I have a little chat, ” Zac said.
”About the Limitless Empire and the Left Imperial Palace. ”