Tantalos groaned as his body painstakingly rebuilt itself from the power of his inner world. He was little more than a small lump of flesh, pulsating regularly as thrumming currents of energy passed through it. While the System hadn’t killed him, it had done so much damage that it would take decades for him to reclaim his full strength. In his current form, he was barely C Rank in power. If word ever got out of his predicament, all of his enemies would come out of the woodwork to kill him.
Even his ability to form clones was inhibited, with them too weak and unstable to pass through the universal divide. His own image of himself heavily influenced the power and utility of his clones, and forcing them to take a humanoid form not matching his current state made them peak F Rank in power at the very best.
Luckily for Tantalos, he had made preparations for such an event. His palace had gone into lockdown, all of the available power channeled not into its workings, but into himself. He had slain all save the most loyal of his attendants, ensuring that none would leave and spread rumors about his weakness.
As he rested on the thick golden bier that connected him to the immense beam of energy radiating from the planet’s core, he fumed and schemed, filled with rage at the System, but mostly at Sam Atlas.
Somehow, that man had attracted the attention of the System, and as far as Tantalos could tell, the being that had injured him wasn’t just one of the System Avatars, or even one of the semi-mythical Incarnations, but the actual will of the System itself. Tantalos had committed a myriad of minor crimes against the system, but because he had limited them to frontier universes, he had thought himself safe.
With his injuries and the focus of the System on him, Tantalos couldn’t do anything to directly take revenge on Sam. The most he could do was monitor him through the universal access orb he had bought along with the actual universe, but that connection was powered by his own strength. Limited as he was, Tantalos could only use it for a few seconds at a time, and couldn’t hear anything. Rarely had he been forced into such a predicament by a lower level cultivator. His only major defeats had been at the hands of his peers and betters.
Instead, Tantalos did the only thing he could do. For the first time in months, he sent his awareness along the link between him and the herpetopede called Rax. Ever since granting the monster sapience, Tantalos had paid little attention to him. He had been a long term investment, but given his somewhat childish personality and his tendencies to train away from the main faction, he had been of little use yet. Now that Tantalos was out of options, the only way he could make Sam pay was by taking advantage of his relationship with his beloved pet.
It took an entire minute to fully establish the connection, but as soon as Tantalos felt his mind connect with the far simpler mind of Rax, he sent a complicated string of commands. Time would tell if anything came of it, but if nothing else, it would provide some entertainment for Tantalos during his convalescence.
Sanctum
After addressing the faction, Sam had taken a well deserved break to go and analyze his new suit of armor. He also had a title waiting for him to read over, as he hadn’t had the opportunity right after the fight.
Settling down in one of the meditation chambers underneath the city hall, Sam opened the notification.
You have gained a new title!
Planetary Butcher: Ethereal
Your power is now far beyond the comprehension of mere mortals. You have proved this time and time again, but your latest achievement is one of the crowning jewels of your tenure as a cultivator. A planet died by your hand, an entire world steeped in history and home to a civilization. You have come far in a scant few months, but your journey is only beginning. What is a destroyer of worlds to beings upon whose shoulders rest entire universes?
Bonuses: +25 percent boost to area of effect attacks performed against inanimate objects or constructs
The title was a sobering reminder of Sam’s place in the Multiverse, but also an important checkpoint in his path through the cultivating world.
Sam was intrigued by the bonus. Rather than a stat boost or multiplier like he had been expecting, it instead seemed to be intended to make it easier for him to repeat the feat in the future. Considering how easy it would be for anyone above a certain level to rack up titles like this, it made sense that it didn’t provide a straight multiplier to his power.
He closed the message, moving onto the suit of armor. It emerged from his storage device, improbably contorting to fit the narrow opening of the bag. The gleaming suit clattered to the ground, somehow arranging itself into a perfect configuration. Sam wasn’t sure if that was part of the armament’s enchantments or simply because it was imbued with so much power as a D Rank artifact.
He looked over it, taking in the contours and components of the suit of armor. It was made out of what looked like obsidian and patterned after a suit of plate armor. The plates were studded with jagged obsidian spikes and the helmet was horned. It wasn’t exactly the sort of armor Sam would wear normally, but given its power, he would likely end up giving it a try.
Without wasting any more time, he scanned it.
Regalia of the Dark Conquerer
D Rank Artifact(Armor)
Once worn by Tantalos Veruvax, known more widely by his title of the Butcher, this suit of armor stayed with him all the way through D Rank, contributing to his quickly growing legend. Forged from obsidian mined from a planet so tainted with Fire elemental energy that it was essentially a single massive volcano, it is able to stand up to almost any D Rank threat. While not composed of the most durable materials for its rank, the Regalia of the Dark Conqueror is enchanted to more than make up for that.
Armor Abilities
Voidborne Specter: You may tap into the network of subspace dimensions with the armor’s Dark elemental battery, dramatically increasing the range of teleportation abilities within outer space.
Legend of the Conquerer: Upon being attuned by a new owner, this suit of armor will grow upon the successful defeat of higher leveled foes. Its durability will increase for every kill, based on the difference between the user’s level and their foe’s.
Current Bonus: 0 percent
Sam whistled as he read over the description. Without any further consideration he donned the armor, using his Authority to slot the components into place.
A feeling of unimpeachable strength washed over Sam, a surge of ego that he pushed away with some difficulty. It didn’t seem to be connected to the actual abilities of the suit of armor in any. Rather, it was some sort of imprint left behind by Tantalos’s frequent usage of the Regalia of the Dark Conquerer.
As that feeling subsided, Sam felt a much more grounded, but also more important function kick in. The first of the Regalia’s abilities. Voidborne Specter. He couldn’t use it while on Earth, but Sam could sense a vast wellspring of potency waiting for him beyond the embrace of the planet’s gravitational pull. Oceans of seething darkness just waiting for his command to pull him through the veils of space and time and to his destination.
Sam stood up, feeling how the armor moved. It was completely smooth and felt almost as if he were simply wearing normal clothes. Despite the heavy and inflexible appearance of the Regalia, it flowed around him like silk.
Wanting to preserve a bit of his normal appearance, Sam used his Authority to change the appearance of the weapon somewhat. With his Reality Tinkerer skill, Sam watched as atoms were stripped away from the world around him and affixed to the surface of the armor.
It quickly changed in shape and color, the spikes rounding out and the obsidian changing to a glossy silver sheen. Sam moved his arms around experimentally, but there was no inhibition of his movement. The concealment was only a few atoms deep and would be stripped away in an instant during a fight, but it could always be reapplied.
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Picking up Worldbreaker, Sam slung the hammer over his shoulder and left the meditation room. One more objective remained, his memory jogged by his exchange with Jacob after defeating the Civilization Gestalt. His credit balance was overflowing after the complete defeat of the Selvans, and he was ready to spend it on something he had had his eyes set on for a while. A mental shielding array so that he could finally tell his allies the truth about his time in the Tower.
Sam entered the Interweb a few minutes later, once he had left the network of tunnels underneath the city hall. He didn’t want to take up a meditation spot simply to enter the Interweb. Instead he sat against a wall, closing his eyes and entering a crosslegged position.
He kept his Authority up, feeding a constant stream of information into his mind, even when he entered the Interweb. As a D Ranker, the main disadvantage of the Interweb, the complete cessation of sensory information from the outside world, wasn’t an issue anymore. It didn’t really matter in any case, given that he was in the safety of his own faction’s capital city.
The lines of code that made up the Interweb stabilized into concrete images, coalescing into the shape of the restaurant that he had gone to with Glakassa. Sam quickly used the teleportation interface to head back to the auction house where he had originally seen the mental shielding array for sale.
While it was very unlikely that the same item would be up for sale again, the auction house would be the best place to start looking. Because of the way that the Interweb worked, there was sure to be someone somewhere who could sell Sam what he needed. If not the original device that had been up for offer all those weeks ago, then something similar.
Sam opened the doors softly, but still drew the attention of everyone as he entered the room. His new armor was eyecatching to say the least, especially if any of those present were familiar with Tantalos Veruvax.
He sat down at the closest seat, crossing his legs and looking up expectantly at the auctioneer. The man coughed, and continued speaking.
“Next up is the…”
The next few minutes passed without anything catching Sam’s interest. He mainly wanted to wait until after the auction to see if any of the attendants knew where he could find the mental shielding device.
A few more minutes passed and Sam realized that the auction was nowhere near completed. He started to rise, resolving to come back another time. Then a curious sensation stopped him. A slight resonation in the fabric of his Dao, connecting not to his usual suit of abilities, but his skill branches. Mainly, Karmic Cultivator.
Sam’s attention was rekindled in an instant as the auctioneer lifted a strangely shaped fruit in front of himself. It looked somewhat like an apple, but was a brilliant blue color. Dots of a yellow, almost golden hue, covered it.
“Our next item is the immature fruit of the Bastion Tree! Regular Bastion Tree fruits are the prized treasures of kings and warlords, able to permanently increase the eater’s durability. This variant, meanwhile, fortifies the eater’s mind. While less valuable, it is still very useful.”
Most of those present had been intently focused on the fruit when the auctioneer had pulled it out, but as soon as he explained what it was, they lost interest. The average cultivator, or most cultivators for that matter, had little need for such a treasure. Most people were left alone by the great powers of the Multiverse, no matter what they did. An Ascendent or even a Divine Tier cultivator taking revenge against an F or E Ranker would be like a god reaching down from the heavens to smash an ant because the ant had made the mistake of scurrying across that god’s altar. It was far more efficient to leave the affairs of mortals to those mortals.
Even for those who did have powerful enemies, mental shielding meant little. Very few cultivators were equally matched by their foes, and most battles ended in moments. If an A Ranker had you in their sights, it didn’t matter if your mind was warded with all the power in the Multiverse. It wouldn’t save you. Most forms of mental abilities functioned based on the Dao in any case, so the fruit would only work against surveillance, and not in battle. Thankfully for Sam, that was exactly what he wanted.
“Bidding will begin at ten D Rank Credits!” the auctioneer declared, though his voice was a bit subdued on account of the reaction the fruit had elicited.
Sam instantly raised his hand. Another person in the crowd half heartedly raised their hand as well.
“Fifteen!” Sam barked.
“I have fifteen D Rank Credits! I repeat, fifteen D Rank Credits! Do I have any raises on that offer?”
The other bidder lowered their hand, scoffing. “Ten is already pushing it,” he muttered, but kept his voice low enough that only Sam was able to hear him.
Sam got to his feet and headed to the front of the room to collect his item. He had no interest in waiting to see what else was for offer. Other than utility devices like this, an auction in the Mortal section of the Interweb wouldn’t have anything good enough for him.
As he approached the stand, he realized that he had never actually bought something in the auction before. Alyssa had outbid him the very first time he visited, and although she had given him the item afterwards, he hadn’t seen the transfer to her.
Luckily for Sam, all it took was responding to a trade notification from the System, sending the credits from his account and into the auctioneer’s. The fruit appeared in his hand, ready to be sent through the Interweb.
Sam quickly left the Interweb, arriving in the real world with the fruit still clutched in his hand. Before eating it, he quickly scanned it to make sure that it was safe.
Immature Bastion Tree Fruit
F Rank Natural Treasure
Consuming this fruit will permanently enhance your ability to shield your mind and actions from outside surveillance and interference. This effect scales with the eater’s strength, depending on the amount of essence that they sacrifice to the fruit. It can shield against scrying from up to one Rank higher than its own, or the peak of a Tier, whichever is closest. It can also shield against scrying up to two Ranks higher that originate from another universe. Leveling this fruit up requires a quarter of the essence it would require to reach that Rank naturally. This item will also protect the minds of those who know your secrets, but to a limited extent. You may choose one person per Rank of the Bastion Fruit to extend this protection to. That protection cannot be removed or transferred unless the protected individual gains a mental protection ability of equal or greater strength. This protection can only be granted to individuals weaker than the user.
Note: As this universe is currently going through the initialization process, this protection will be effective against all save for its current owner, Tantalos Veruvax. Once the initialization ends, the fruit will function as normal.
Sam raised fruit to his lips, removing his helmet. He took a tentative bite. There was no flavor at first, just a soft and squishy interior not unlike that of a mango. Then a pleasant warmth started to spread from his mouth. He quickly finished off the rest of the fruit, the warmth turning into an unpleasant burning sensation. Within his mind’s eye, he watched his corespace blossom with the light of a star. A small tree made from glowing energy grew out of his core, veins of energy connecting them.
Experimentally, Sam sent a tendril of his accumulated essence from his core into the tree. He had never manipulated essence in that way before, but the tree was hungry enough for the energy that it did most of the work for him.
A chunk of essence reserved towards Sam’s next level entered the tree. It grew many times over in an instant, branches spreading out through Sam’s core. Leaves glowing with a faint blue light sprouted from the branches, waving in an invisible wind. A pulse of power expanded out from the tree and stabbed into Sam’s mind. He doubled over in pain as the heat from the fruit’s initial consumption grew into a raging bonfire. He felt the edges of his consciousness melting together into a stronger whole, fusing with his mind and soul. The tree that had grown from the fruit pulsated as it transformed into an E Rank entity, merging irrevocably with Sam’s being.
Sam felt an invisible shield lock down around his body. A slight snap rang out as connections were cut. He was a bit surprised at just how many people seemed to have been watching him.
Damn, I’m glad I kept my experiences in the Tower secret until now. Who knows what kind of people were watching me?
Given that Sam only needed to worry about people spying on him from other universes, he was shielded up to C Rank. That was Tantalos’ own rank, but Sam knew that the warlord was at the very peak, almost ready to ascend to B Rank. There was one important distinction, however. Tantalos’ current state. Whatever the System had done to him had dramatically reduced his power, and Sam was sure that the Bastion Fruit would function properly, at least for a while. As soon as he was able to get it up to D Rank, he would be completely safe against all but the most powerful of B Rankers.
Now that he was safeguarded, it was time for a little chat with Jacob. His father would be the very first person he extended the Bastion Fruit’s protection to, but the others would need to be chosen carefully. Ideally Sam would be able to protect his conversations in any situation, but that was not the case. Such an ability would likely be worth far more than any F Rank auctioneer could ever hope to acquire.
With this in mind, Sam resolved to find as many Bastion Fruits as he could for all of his captains. While they wouldn’t be as powerful as his own, given the discrepancy in level, they would be useful for more general security purposes. Regardless, he had something a lot more important to attend to. The secrets of his accomplishments in the Tower, as well as everything he had learned about the nature of reality, had been burning away in his mind ever since he returned. Now that he finally had an outlet, he was itching to share everything.
