Chapter 215 The Core
Dorian soared through the air, flapping his wings agilely. It took him only a few moments to blast more than a mile away from Potor City, his Sun Eagle form's speed faster than many flying ships.
To the very few people that were scaling the cliff, he appeared as a brief blur of fading, fiery light that vanished into the distance.
As he flew, Dorian drew upon the Laws of the Universe. In particular, he focused on the Law of Pride and the Law of Valor, both Laws that boosted the power of one's physique.
In terms of comprehension, every individual Law had three interim stages and one final stage. The Early Stage, the Middle Stage, the Late Stage, and the Completion Stage.
Dorian's Law of Pride had reached the Middle Stage, as had his Law of Valor. He had already progressed a large amount on his Law of Valor, one of the earlier Law's he'd obtained, and his Law of Pride was something he focused on significantly over the past several weeks, raising it, alongside many of his other Demonic Laws, at a high speed.
Comprehension was comprehension. Once you reached Completion, your comprehension of a Law would be equal to any other King Class expert, with no exceptions. Each Stage reached was a milestone and the speed that you reached each Stage at didn't matter much.
There was no need to steady your understanding or foundation after reaching a new Stage, everything you learned built up upon itself. It was entirely possible to rush to Completion, as long as your soul could bear the increase and you knew intimately how the Law worked. This was why Inheritances were viewed with such importance, due to the great powers they could quickly convey.
On the other hand, after you reached Completion, the state of your soul and your understanding of it would solidify. You could only grow the limit of your soul before you reached Completion of whatever Law you were studying, per what Dorian had researched. You could still greatly increase in power, but the maximum strength you could reach was determined by how powerful your soul was at the time you reached King Class. Rushing to complete a Law wasn't always the best idea.
As for people that used multiple Laws… Dorian had no idea how that worked. The number of people like that was extremely minuscule. There was no record or historical writing that he had seen, or word from anyone he'd spoken to, on what would happen to him after he reached Completion in any of his Laws.
With his enhanced physique, Dorian's body rapidly began to grow stronger. The air around him shivered slightly as a powerful Aura of energy appeared. His flesh grew sturdier and his bones stronger, enhanced by the thronging energy.
These two energies gradually built upon each other. Soon his body was soaring through the air at a blur.
Finally, when he felt his two Laws reach their maximum usage with his current understanding…
He activated his Perfect Body Ability.
BOOM
He broke the sound barrier.
With his Law of Valor and Law of Pride enhancing him with energy, and his Perfect Body Ability perfecting his physique, his strength increased at an exponential level. This form alone was equal to an Early King Class expert, even without having reached Completion of any Law.
His Sun Eagle form smashed through the air like a missile, the faint trail of flames he left cindering and dissipating behind him into the night.
He soared through the sky with impunity, flying over a vast, desolate wilderness. His Demonic Eyes allowed him to see even in the dark, letting him spy on the world below.
There were scattered plateaus that held small islands of land set haphazardly about, but the majority of land on Taprisha was centered in the deep and dangerous ocean of nothingness that existed, far below.
As he flew over Taprisha, he made out huge chains of mountains, jagged forests with tough, gripping trees, large lakes set deep into the ground to avoid being blown away, and more. Taprisha had dangerous wind storms that swept through its oceans of nothingness on occasion, making it unfeasible to inhabit the lower areas long-term.
He could make out a variety of creatures, with the majority of ones he could detect being at the Sky Class or stronger. It was hard for weaker creatures to survive out here in the wild.
'Let's see… first I go this way… alright…' In his head, he followed a mental trail plotted based on the map of Taprisha he'd found. He flew for more than an hour as he shot along in the air, hurtling forward at breakneck speed.
He tapped into the Law of Sloth, enhancing his recovery speed as he flew. This allowed him to not only heal at a faster rate, but also gather energy and replenish his soul. As long as his energy expenditure with the Laws of Valor and Pride, and the Perfect Body Ability, was not too significant, his Law of Sloth could make up most of, or all, of the difference.
Functionally, that meant he could fly for as long as he wanted. Eventually he'd have to eat, or drain his Growth Points to stave off physical exhaustion, but that wasn't something he needed to worry about presently.
Another hour passed as he flew, following a trail of landmarks. He encountered a few flocks of creatures, most of them Master Class, with a few Grandmaster Class beings. One and all immediately turned tail when they saw him, the powerful, rippling Aura he gave off scaring them away.
Finally, after one more hour of extended flight, he found his destination. He'd lost track of the miles as he flew, crossing such a long distance over such an extended period it felt vaguely surreal. He didn't actually lose track, thanks to his Jade Memory, but his immediate memory of the travel was somewhat vague unless he focused.
He hovered several hundreds of meters in the air as he looked down at his destination.
A gargantuan, grey crater in the ground, carved into the rough stone by some terrible force many years ago. The crater was completely smooth, without any cracks or crevices in the edges or sides. No creatures were visible and there were no plateaus of any sort in the area. This entire one was abandoned, ignored by most.
At the center of this crater a large, gaping hole could be seen. Warm, orange light shot out from this hole, simmering up into the air. When Dorian flew within a few thousand meters, he could feel a veritable wave of heat wash over him. Even his Sun Eagle form, which was a creature very used to heat and fire, felt vaguely uncomfortable.
He had found the Molten Core of Taprisha.
That said, while the Molten Core was indeed out of the way, it wasn't as if it was particularly hidden. The wave of heat and light it gave off was noticeable as soon as one entered the area, and visible even from a distance.
Dorian dived down towards the ground after making sure that everything was safe. The wind rushed past his feathers as he cut through the air, forming a small gust.
The closer he got to the crater floor, the more and more heat swarmed over his body. Even in his Sun Eagle form, he could feel himself start to grow singed simply from growing near to the crater.
As a result, in mid-air, Dorian shifted over to his Balance Demon form.
THUD
His body slammed into the earth, surprisingly not making even the slightest mark. The ground beneath him was incredibly tough, his claws leaving only the faintest scratches as he landed.
His eyes flicked to the left and right, double checking everything from the ground level. As he had expected, no one guarded it nor was there anyone nearby that he could sense. This particular World Phenomena was rather unpopular.
And, as he landed, he fully experienced the reason for its lack of popularity.
Heat.
Sweltering, crushing, hellish heat.
His Balance Demon's Body of Balance Ability was passively active, helping throw off the heat and keep his body in a stable position. He tapped into the Law of Sloth, but released his other Laws as he blinked, gradually keeping himself in a state of homeostasis.
The ungodly heat crashed against him and was no longer able to affect him, any energy he lost recovered quickly after.
He stretched as he felt this. He then turned his focus towards the gaping hole that was emitting heat and light.
He began to walk towards it.
According to the map he'd looked over, the Molten Core of Taprisha was located in the hole at the center of this crater, several miles down. The Core was exposed, and as a result, constantly emitting heat and energy. This source of power disturbed the atmosphere and caused weather like the violent wind storms that swept Taprisha, rippling in the air.
The closer Dorian got, the more energy was drained from his Balance Demon form. Still, it was all within acceptable bounds thanks to his Law of Sloth dealing with the brunt of the drain.
In no time at all, he reached the edge of the hole. It was about 5 dozen meters wide and long, a sizable cavern more than just a hole. The ground around it was perfectly smooth, an unusual sight for such a large cave entrance.
He peeked over the edge, and then immediately winced.
The moment he looked down, a huge wave of heat slammed into him, far more intense than anything before. Dorian could feel the blood in his Balance Demon's form expand and vibrate, the agonizingly brutal temperature far exceeding its normal conditions.
Energy began to fly off him in a torrent as his Body of Balance Ability made up for the difference, fighting back against the heat. As Dorian felt this, he took several steps back, frowning.
If it was like that, he wouldn't stand a chance at getting anywhere near the Molten Core.
According to the map, the Core itself was still quite a bit down below this crater, tucked deep into the tunnel that connected here. The unique stretching of the Laws could only be felt if one reached an area closer to the Core.
'Did the Eleventhborn really fly through all of this?' Dorian raised his mental opinion of the rhyming Dragon in his head.
As he thought of the old Anomaly, inspiration struck him. He abruptly smiled as he stepped forward, leaning over the edge and crashing into the pillar of heat once more.
This time, Dorian shifted right into his Ifrit form.
Immediately, the overwhelming sensation of heat vanished as if it had never existed, replaced with only a moderate sensation of pressure, something that he could easily ignore.
"Ahh, that's better." As soon as he returned to this form, he let out a relaxed smile.
While in terms of raw strength the Ifrit Bloodline was not a particularly powerful Bloodline, the Bloodline did have the rather unique ability to both manipulate and be virtually immune to fire.
It just went to show that power wasn't everything.
He felt almost completely unaffected by the Molten Core in his Ifrit form, at least, from the surface. He was aware of the heat, but keenly could tell that it couldn't hurt him. It was ever-present, but unable to do much of anything.
With that in mind, he leaned fully over and looked down the hole. His eyes were able to pierce past the glittering light down below to get a vaguely clear picture.
The tunnel continued down into the earth for about a mile. This crater, and the ground area around it, was already extremely deep into the planet of Taprisha itself.
At the end of that mile-long tunnel, Dorian could make out a huge ball of white fire. He couldn't make out everything clearly, but the massive blazing fire was clearly visible. It was from this storm of flames that he could feel the boiling heat and beams of light shoot out into the air, up and all around him.
'Interesting.' He thought, after a moment of studying it.
He climbed into the tunnel, sticking to the sides as he began to scale down it. His Spatial Ring could easily bear the brunt of the heat, designed to last in extremely dangerous situations. Small, extremely tough Spatial Rings like his, were not at all uncommon. They were created with Space Magic and imbued in such a manner to make them very resistant.
As Dorian began to scale down the sides of the tunnel, the feeling of pressure slowly increased. Even if his Ifrit form could ignore the heat, he couldn't ignore the sheer amount of energy that was being emitted by the blazing fire down below. However, with his powerful physique and soul, he could bear it, if not ignore it outright.
The walls of the tunnel were mostly smooth, but in here, Dorian could find a slew of large and small cracks, as if they had been immortalized in the stone. He was able to use these to help himself have a controlled fall, taking several dozen meter long drops.
As he scampered down, the waves of pressure continued to grow in intensity. Several times, his Ifrit body was banged forward or backwards, knocking him into the walls as he descended.
Dorian stuck past all of that, grunting as he ignored it and continued on his way.
In a short period of time, he found himself at the edge of the huge sea of boiling white flames that he had found. At this point, the huge pressure on his body had reached a peak, making moving forward difficult.
Despite that, the overwhelming temperature still didn't affect him in the slightest.
'Hmm…' Now that he was up close, Dorian could see that an entire, massive chamber existed in the room with the flames. This chamber seemed to stretch for miles downward, back towards the center of Taprisha. The noise from the chamber was deafening, constant explosions and impacts crashing all about.
From this chamber, he could sense something strange.
It felt as if the world around him was being… pulled in, towards this chamber. It was a surreal, and uncomfortable, stretching sensation, one that he couldn't seem to shake.
'Interesting…' He repeated his earlier thought. After a moment, Dorian found himself a good perch just outside the entrance. The cave hole had several small outcroppings back from, but near, the edge that led into the main chamber. He sat down at one of these and shut his eyes, spreading his senses out to the world around him.
What he found delighted him.
"My Laws of Lust, Envy, Pride, and Greed… I can sense them all more strongly here!" He muttered out loud, his eyes closed. The words actually vibrated out of existence before coming to any fruition, the ungodly heat present preventing him from actually speaking.
The violent energy before him didn't do much for Virtuous Laws, maintaining a fairly neutral stance for all of the ones he currently held.
His Balance Demon form was his best form for sensing the Laws of the Universe. However, with his now advanced understanding of most of the Laws, he could more finely grasp them when he focused. Even in his Ifrit form, he could now sense the Laws even clearer than when he was in his Balance Demon form, by a noticeable degree.
The power of a World Phenomena was just that significant. It was mysterious and magical, a place in the Universe where reality itself functioned differently. A truly miraculous spot.
The only really difficult to grasp Law was the Law of Original Sin, but that was a Law that he could only understand through gaining progress with all of the Demonic Laws and then slowly merging that progress.
"But my connection with the Laws of Wrath, Gluttony, and Sloth actually feel as if they have decreased." He frowned for a moment before shaking his head and smiling, noting the detraction. While this World Phenomena clearly brought some Laws closer, it also pushed others farther away.
After a moment's thought, he shook the negative from his mind. Boosting his comprehension of 4 of his Demonic Laws was already worth it in his book. Anything that could save him time and allow him to grow his strength at a faster rate was a huge win.
Dorian blinked as he exited his meditation, stepping over to look into the chamber that housed the Molten Core.
The Molten Core of Taprisha was special because of its extreme heat and unique position as the center and supporting core of a planet. It was part of why Taprisha was such an interesting Exotic World, unlike regular planets.
'Perhaps a place of extreme cold would help the other Laws?' While the idea was simplistic, Dorian felt there was a certain logic to it.
'I'll check around Blizzaria while I'm there for something like that.' He grinned,
'But first… I'm in no hurry to leave here.' He nodded his head, stepped back away from the edge as he sat back down.
'Of the Laws of Lust, Envy, Pride, and Greed, only Pride has reached the Middle Stage.'
The idea of staying here to meditate had jumped into his mind. While he was in a hurry to gain a King Class form, he also wanted to increase his strength before he did anything too dangerous. Making a small pit stop here on Taprisha before he left for Blizzaria sounded like an excellent idea in his book.
The Laws of Lust, Envy, and Greed were all in the Early Stage of comprehension at the moment, but decently close to the Middle Stage. Breaking through to that Stage would boost his Maximum Energy Level, marking a tangible increase in power.
With how close he felt to the Laws of the Universe here, specifically for those Laws, Dorian figured it would only take a couple of days at most, as long as he used up some of the treasures he'd brought with him. All of the meditation he'd done over the past two weeks had helped build him up to this, preparing his foundational understanding.
Without hesitation, Dorian settled in for a period of meditation, to break through each of those Laws to the Middle Stage. He would take full advantage of the World Phenomena, not letting it go to waste.
Without anything like this, he had originally planned on it taking him between one and two weeks to break through. The higher his Law comprehension reached, the slower it seemed to keep increasing.
With this World Phenomena working in his favor, however…
He closed his eyes shut as he focused on the world around him.
The next time he opened his eyes, he would leave for the world where the dead walked.
.. .. .. .. .. ..
On a world far from Dorian, a certain monkey sat atop a small tree branch, staring down at a trio of visitors…
Sun Wukong looked tired. His large prayer beads hung limply around his neck, his body seemed to lean back slightly against the huge tree he was sitting next to, even his Aura felt somewhat faded. He held his staff loosely in his hands as he relaxed, lazing about comfortably.
It was mid-afternoon on the planet that hosted the World Tree, the sun overhead shining its warm sunshine, barely able to pierce through the thick foliage that housed the upper branches and leaves of the World Tree, far above.
The three visitors and Sun Wukong were all standing on or near one of the large roots that rested upon the surface of the planet.
When Sun Wukong looked at the beings in front of him, he couldn't help but smile.
"You must be Xaphan and you must be Aron. I've heard a bit about you two, from a pair of merry Vampires that passed by not too long ago." His voice was full of warmth as he nodded at two of the figures, giving them a smile.
Xaphan's vaguely demonic looking figure, with a large, glowing green gem set in his forehead lit up as he saw that he was recognized. The Anomaly looked as cheerful as ever, fully recovered from the trauma he'd suffered on Magmor.
Behind him, Aron's heavily armored form stood stalwartly, his wolf-head mask covering his head up completely. Beneath his armor, a powerful, deadly Anomaly lay bristling, watching everything around himself carefully.
The third and last figure was a being Dorian would've recognized in a heartbeat.
It was a very plain and unassuming form with grey skin. A form that possessed a unique Ability to 'Phase' through reality. A form that Dorian had just obtained the Bloodline for quite recently.
That of a Grey Mantor.
"Oho? Well, I was unaware my cooking talent had spread so far but-" Xaphan began but was cut off almost immediately as the third figure interjected.
"Xaphan." The Grey Mantor's voice echoed out coolly, full of authority as he motioned for silence. Xaphan glanced at the being, his mouth twitching slightly before he bowed his head.
"Ah yes. You…" Sun Wukong looked at the speaker, his eyes twinkling.
"We finally meet." Sun Wukong stood up. His body blurred as he moved incredibly quickly, so fast that he couldn't be visibly tracked with the naked eye of anyone present. This got surprised glances from both Aron and Xaphan, but merely a blink from the Grey Mantor.
Sun Wukong held out a hand as he reappeared right in front of the third figure,
"I've heard a lot about you as well, Mello."
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Next chapter will likely be on Tuesday. Maybe sooner on Monday, maybe not, I'll keep you all posted!