MM - Chapter 236 - ADJUSTMENTS TO THE PATH

Hand in hand, Raine and Celeste traveled to the second basement floor. The elevator doors slid open to reveal a space that bore no resemblance to the storage facility it used to be. It, and the floor above it, had been completely renovated into a sprawling gym. Whirring ventilation and manly grunts were accompanied by the distant clank of weights. While the equipment wasn't at the state-of-the-art standards Raine would have preferred, it was good enough for his people to drill their fitness to the levels he’d set for them.

They found Mel on the practice mats, moving through an advanced Qigong stance with the fluid grace that spoke of hours of effort. She turned as they approached, and upon seeing them holding hands, a goofy, pleased-as-punch grin spread across her face. Celeste threw Raine’s hand away as though burned, then found something far more interesting to look at on the polished floor.

Mel wasn’t having any of it. She dashed to Celeste and jumped in front of her. Much to the redhead’s mortification, she cheered incredibly loudly, drawing dozens of eyes. “Aww, look how red you are! So cute! Congratulations, Cely! So, how was it? Tell me everything!”

Mel’s clear attempt to further embarrass her roused the fire within Celeste. Her eyes narrowed as she set her shoulders to wage a battle to the death. “Sure, I’ll spill… if you give up your next turn, too!”

“Not a chance!” Mel cried out, feigning indignation.

Raine stepped between them, his presence an impassable barrier saving them both from Mel’s friendly assault. “If you’ve got the energy to gossip right in front of me, then you’ve got the energy to train. Let’s get started.”

Turning to Raine, Mel’s brilliant smile somehow grew wider. “Yay! We haven’t worked out together in forever! I don’t mind waiting a little longer to hear all about it.” She flashed her brows at him. “I’m just happy someone finally made a move!”

Celeste growled as she stomped away, leaving matching chuckles in her wake. Raine quickly caught up and they got started. The workout he pushed them through was brutal. It began with the most challenging stage of Qigong short of adding internal force, the movements designed to loosen and warm the muscles while simultaneously demanding intense focus. This was followed by an extensive weightlifting regimen that left their muscles screaming and their bodies completely devastated. Afterward, they took over a sound-isolated meditation chamber.

Some time ago, Raine realized that the training he gave them was flawed. As with all things he had learned from Torune, there were potholes and deliberate mistruths woven into the lessons. He sat on a mat, facing the two women who mirrored his posture. “We’re going to change up the mental strength training I taught you before.”

“How so?” Celeste wondered aloud while settling in, heels tucked neatly beneath her.

Raine’s cobalt eyes moved from one to the other, expression serious. “Have either of you noticed the strength of my mental ability lately?”

“Pretty hard to miss.” Mel cringed as she shifted sore muscles into a more comfortable position.

Both girls felt a pleasant rumble in their chests as his deep voice took on the lecturing tone they knew well. “While it’s not strictly wrong that mental abilities are based on the strength of the brain, there’s more to it.” 

Raine paused, gathering his thoughts before sharing the revelations uncovered in the Mystic Realm. “I learned that Genesis is actually the formation of an ideal. Once that ideal is understood enough and becomes core enough to your sense of self, then Genesis allows it to grow in power until it can bridge the gap into reality. By understanding your ideal and solidifying that knowledge inside yourself, you can also increase your hold over the reality that it affects.”

“Ideal?” Mel and Celeste asked simultaneously, the unplanned harmony eliciting shared glances and shy smiles.

“Yes, an idea, or concept that is core to not only who you are, but to your martial path.” Raine’s gaze became distant for a moment. “My ideal is centered around self-growth through killing.”

Both their brows shot up at the startlingly blunt admission. Unheeding of their shock, Raine charged straight ahead. “By understanding that all the deaths I’ve caused will go to waste if I ever stopped or faltered, the range and strength of my bloodlust increased by somewhere around thirty percent.”

That number caused them both to suck air through their teeth, eyes alight with a fervent desire to dive into their own ideals and gain a similar understanding. Celeste leaned back, voice laced with eagerness to know more. “How do we know what our ideal is?”

“Genesis should have given you all the clues you need. Remember everything that happened then. Whatever you saw, heard, or felt, it was all connected to your ideal.” Raine’s posture straightened, his voice growing serious again. “Today’s task is not to stress your mental states, forcing muscle growth, but to distill your ideal into something you can express with a single sentence. If you have any questions, send them through a message.” His call for silence was unmistakable.

All three closed their eyes, breaths becoming measured. For the next twenty minutes, the only audible sounds were the gentle background buzz of the tower’s life support systems. While the girls dove deep into the memories of their transformations, searching for the underlying truth that powered their mental abilities, Raine took a different path.

He dove into the lake of blood—his inner realm—to try something he’d been considering since facing the Phoenix Elites’ domains. He knew how to gather the blood and crash it against the barrier of his inner realm, momentarily breaking free to affect the outside world. But that was only the start, a domain not only broke free from the inner realm, but they were fundamentally more potent than regular mental strength. The only thing he could think of to achieve that was transforming the lake’s blood before breaking free. 

He tried several methods; forming the blood into the shape of a weapon, causing oscillations, creating geometric patterns, he even begged and pleaded. It wasn’t until he attempted to condense the blood that he made some headway in the form of extreme resistance; so far, it was the only reaction he’d received.

Just as he was about to dig deep and demand the blood do as he commanded, a message arrived from Morty, letting Raine know that the one-star regulars were taking their break. With only thirty minutes remaining before the troops were ready to move, he broke the quiet, voice gentle. “So, what did you discover?”

Unsurprisingly, Mel went first. She stretched her arms high overhead, eyes blazing with eagerness to share her revelation. “The most important things to me are the memories of the people around me right now, and the people who helped me get to where I am. I think that’s my ideal: appreciating the memories I have, and never letting them go while adding more.”

“Memories,” Raine nodded slowly, a thoughtful expression on his face. “That makes sense for your ability: Blackout. By attacking the memories of others, they’ll forget who you are, why they were supposed to be fighting you, and when you’re strong enough, you’ll even be able to erase their memories permanently.”

Mel recoiled at the idea of doing something so foul to another person. Then, she remembered the Phoenix assassin who nearly captured her, and how horrible his mental ability made her feel. She changed her mind in a flash. [Some people are better off forgetting about how terrible of a person they are. If I’m strong enough… could I even save people like that from themselves?]

As Mel pondered, Raine’s gaze shifted to Celeste. She was more reserved than Mel, speaking in hesitant whispers. “I couldn’t get it down to one sentence… I can’t stand the idea of living in a world that underestimates me. I want to be so dangerous, so powerful, so terrifying, that hearing my name will bring our enemies to their knees.” Looking up, her gaze locked onto Raine’s, and for the briefest of seconds, he caught a glimpse of the monstrous existence that the Crimson Nebula became in the past.

He nodded, lips pursed. “Thought so.” He waved off her defensive frown, finding nothing wrong with the raw ambition in her ideal. “That’s not what I meant. Your ideal is perfect for you. I was thinking about Genesis. Each of our mental abilities—bloodlust, blackout, and sireech—was directly represented in the visions we had during Genesis. I was pretty sure that’s how it worked, but I’ll take this as confirmation. Now I can give Fizgore and Rhino some actually useful advice without feeling like I might be misleading them.”

“Are you planning to give them… that?” Celeste caught herself before mentioning ReGen aloud, her eyes flicking toward the door.

Raine’s expression became thunderous for a split second before she caught herself. His narrowed eyes were chastisement enough. “Eventually, yes. But not now, for obvious reasons. The fewer people who know about that, the better.”

“Right. Sorry.” Celeste apologized meekly, dropping her gaze.

“At the moment, you two are the only ones who know. I don’t think Pamalaiha has realized the truth yet. Let’s keep it that way as long as we can.” Seeing Mel’s hurt frown, Raine voiced his reasoning. “It’s not that I don’t want to trust her… how can I explain? Okay, here’s a good example. Celeste, I noticed you chose the battlemasters based on honesty and integrity.”

Both girls nodded slowly, not understanding what he was implying.

“While a good choice in the short term, I don’t personally believe that's the best way.” He saw Celeste about to object and held up a hand. “Before you ask, it’s because trust is fallible, while martial prowess is absolute. Eventually, even the most noble heart can be swayed by external forces, unfortunate circumstances, or outright corruption. Time, and the experiences that come with it, are like water eroding a boulder. If you blindly trust, eventually, you’ll pay a steep price when betrayal comes knocking. Martial prowess, on the other hand, will never wane. The moment it tries, an eager replacement will be there waiting to take on the mantle of leadership.”

Mel shook her head slowly, face contorted as though in pain. “Are you saying we should never trust anyone? Or that if we do, no matter what, they’ll eventually betray us? I can’t… I would never—”

The more she spoke, the more Raine could see her heart breaking. He leaned forward and grasped her hands, expression soft. “That’s not it at all. An infallible relationship is absolutely possible, it just requires consistent, daily effort. It’s only when you’re talking about trusting hundreds, thousands of people, that issues with trust become a certainty. There simply isn’t enough time to give each of those individuals the attention they would need to remain steadfast.”

Seeing that she was appeased, Raine released Mel’s hands and curled a brow at Celeste. She clearly had something to say, judging by her look. She obliged without making him ask. “Bitch doctor aside, won’t promoting strength above all in our battlemasters only make them more dangerous when they do eventually betray us?”

Raine chuckled harshly at her stubborn dislike of Pamalaiha. “You’re absolutely right; they will be. But no less deadly than one you trusted implicitly, stabbing you in your sleep. The best you can do is understand your command team's motivations and keep an eye on them, knowing they will strike only when it benefits them more than remaining loyal. With enough attention, you can make the most of their strengths with minimal risk.”

Both Mel and Celeste opened their mouths to launch into a fresh storm of objections but were stalled by his raised hand. Time was growing short, and this wasn’t the moment for a lengthy debate. He knew for sure they disagreed with him, but that was simply because they hadn’t witnessed the hundreds upon hundreds of betrayals that he had personally witnessed in the past. Experience would eventually temper their faith in people.

“Wanting to believe in the inherent good of others is a very different thing than trusting them; faith is not trust. Enough about this for now. The regulars are almost done with their breaks and ready to move out. Think about what I said and come to me with your questions later.”

Raine stood to leave, and Mel hopped up to follow. Celeste, brows furrowed in deep thought, trailed behind. Raine headed toward the communal showers, but Mel intercepted him, grabbing his arm and squeezing it tight between her breasts. “Where are you going? The showers are over there.” She gently, but insistently, dragged him toward the private stalls. She glanced back at Celeste with an expression that dared her to try and stop what she was doing.

The raw desire in Mel’s eyes was unmistakable, and Celeste’s shooing wave of her fingers was all the permission he needed. Ever the gentleman, Raine allowed himself to be led away, intending to give the little vixen exactly what she wanted.

KakaruNeko, 3rd Wing of the Halnugen

- ZionLine -

The Halnugen streaked across the sky, nine blurs of motion against a canvas of rolling hills and darkening plains. They flew without drifters, each Lunge bringing them closer to mastery of Connection, an innate energy both familiar and alien. Below, a vast army sprawled like a living shadow, a sea of bodies and flickering torches that stretched for leagues.

This was the combined force arrayed against Astra Infernum. Nearly one hundred thousand classers from CronGate, and another hundred thousand from DyingNight, who were commanded by the formidable presence that was Peak Master Lavigne. Finally, a contingent of thirty thousand from Damian Tafell’s Rising Endlessly. They represented the dregs of his current power, those unworthy of being summoned across the continent to his new domain. 

A total force of two hundred and thirty thousand, a hammer poised to crush a fledgling guild. Seeing the army before had filled KakaruNeko with derision. She keenly recalled wondering how foolish they could be to amass so many for such a puny enemy. Her thoughts on the matter had changed drastically. Alaric was no easy prey. 

The Halnugen landed softly outside the command sector in Rising Endlessly’s relatively small plot of land. Their stealthy arrival caused no stir, as they didn’t want it to. They were beholden to none here, as their orders came directly from the Patriarch of the Everlasting Phoenix Clan, Tannis Tafell. They bypassed the central command tent without a glance and moved toward a secluded copse of trees with a gentle stream running through. 

BallZack waited for them there as it was closer to the nearest town than the mountains. He paced the damp bank, expression a mask of intense determination. He whirled as they neared. “Hi there, friends,” BallZack hissed venomously. “Did you enjoy the show? Was it fun watching me burn from the inside out?! Huh? Fuck!” He threw his head back and shouted.

KakaruNeko snorted, amused at the old bastard’s tantrum. Her words were delivered with equal poison. “I warned you he was dangerous. What did you say again? Oh yes, ‘Since he’s so dangerous, oh fearless leader, you can hold Alaric off while we have our fun with the others.’ So, how was your fun? Did you enjoy yourself?”

Before BallZack could explode with fury, Desmondo stepped between them, arms crossed. “His attributes were clearly higher than yours. Significantly so.”

“That’s bullshit!” BallZack ground a heel into the mud, eyes trying to burn a hole through Desmondo to get to KakaruNeko. “He’s a Cleric! The combat log proved it! A Cleric with the Potency of a Warrior and the Finesse of an Assassin? What a load of shit!”

KakaruNeko stepped around the oldest and most experienced among them. “It doesn’t have to make sense. It’s merely an obstacle we must circumvent.” Her gaze swept over the prideful, angry faces around her. The easy confidence from before the ambush was gone, replaced by a grudging respect for their foe. “It’s not only his attributes. He resisted my stigmallage somehow. I could feel it in his intent; he could definitely still see.”

That revelation lifted more than one pair of brows. She continued, unrelenting. “There’s more. Outside of my domain’s radius, he easily crushed my remnant mental strength.”

“What?! Impossible!” BallZack roared, stalking forward, clearly intending to shake the truth out of her. One look from Desmondo gave him pause. She couldn’t entirely blame BallZack for his frustration. What Alaric had done should not be possible. It sounded so outlandish that it must be a lie, yet it was not. For someone to have a domain, their base mental strength must be overwhelmingly superior to that of an expert or a fresh master. For Alaric to have a baseline mental strength above hers, yet not have a domain, made no sense.

A voice of reason came from behind. “Is it possible he found some equipment or artifact that is enhancing his mental strength?”

“That must be it!” BallZack jumped on the comfortable excuse straight away. “If our abilities work here, why wouldn’t items that enhance them exist? That’s not all, either. He did something to me that made my respawn take three times longer than normal.”

Desmondo scratched at his chin, thoughts brewing aloud. “Alaric is a dangerous enigma to be sure, but we shouldn’t jump to conclusions. He showed us almost nothing of his current strength, which is clearly greater than the reports we received.”

“Still, we almost had him.” Another member grumbled, rubbing a deep gash where a Vaaterran’s blade had scored his armor. “If not for those gravity and air devices…”

“And the Vaaterrans.”

KakaruNeko was not in the mood to let them fall back into arrogance. “We underestimated him and his mercenaries. Those Vaaterrans fought through our domains as if they’ve been doing so for decades. They are clearly an elite force. We shouldn’t make another attempt on Alaric unless we can separate him.”

A heavy silence fell over the others. The implications of her words settled like a shroud. They, the mighty Halnugen, had been utterly defeated and were not up to the task if they approached it in the same way again. 

A chime in her interface announced a message that must not be ignored. “How have you not yet completed your mission?! Fools! Teaching that upstart a lesson in who must not be offended is not worth losing multiple days of progress! If you cannot secure the item he brought from the Mystic Realm within the next six hours, you have failed. Do I make myself clear?” 

“Yes, my patriarch.” Frustrated on too many levels to count, KakaruNeko clenched her fists and cursed under her breath. 

BallZack’s chin jutted forward when he noticed her eyes dancing. “Don’t keep us in suspense, ‘oh glorious leader’?”

She ignored the jibe and relayed their new orders. “Our Patriarch has commanded we return to the empire. We have six hours.”

“Shit…” Desmondo swore. Each of them shared the sentiment. Leaving before settling the score was just as unacceptable as failing a mission. 

Knowing how desperate they were, KakaruNeko filled the silence, relaying the plan she’d orchestrated after replaying the battle a hundred times during their flight. She’d analyzed Alaric’s every reaction: the way he protected his people, baited them into splitting up their focus, and then sprung a trap designed to neutralize their most significant advantage: flight. And he did it all while giving away only enough of his current power to make them realize he had even more hidden.

“We have just enough time. When we face Alaric again,” she began, voice firm, “We’ll first separate him from his allies.”

Desmondo nodded, biceps flexing in anticipation. “He won’t come to us without proper motivation.”

“My thoughts exactly.” KakaruNeko agreed, a cold, predatory light entering her eyes. “But we know how to get to him. BallZack, is the tracking script still active on the girl?”

The wiry man spat on the ground. “No, it failed when I died.”

“Fine.” KakaruNeko’s lips thinned into a determined line. “Reach out to our spies in their ranks. Pinpoint her location. We’ll use the army to tie up his Vaaterrans and the rest of his guild. Then, we take the girl and draw him out. Together, we’ll lock Alaric in the void.” 

She looked each of her now grinning comrades in the eye. The Halnugen was no random assortment of peak masters; not one of their domains overlapped in purpose. Combined, their prey would be stripped of every sense—sight, hearing, touch, thought, everything. Against their combined powers, even grandmasters were helpless.

This time, there were no complaints, only a grim, unified purpose. The hunt was on.