Chapter 100: Travel Companions

Chapter 100: Travel Companions

Zac stopped for the night at a small clearing and let down Emily from his back. Even the fading light couldnt hide the fact that her face was deathly pale. Moving almost at the speed of a car through dense forest on the back of another human was apparently quite jarring, and Zac had been forced to stop a few times to let the girl take a breather.

There were many things he wanted to ask the teenager about the Tutorial and society after the fall, but he didnt want to push her either. They buried her parents at a beautiful glade just a few hours ago, and she hadnt said anything since then. There wasnt any ceremony, with Zac simply using a broadsword to rip open a hole in the ground where he placed the two together. Since the bodies were naked he first placed a cover over them before he refilled the grave.

Meanwhile, Emily carved the words Remembered by E+J+O in a tree with a dagger she got from Zac. They simply stood staring at the grave for a few minutes before she silently climbed up on Zacs back, and they wordlessly left the glade. Zac had offered to bury them on the Island, but Emily wanted to bury them closer to their home.

Zac prepared a small fire in silence as Emily was looking at the dagger Zac gave her earlier.

What level are you? she suddenly asked as she looked up at Zac, who froze a bit.

Um he said, unsure how to respond. He wasnt sure whether exposing the fact he was over level 50 was such a good idea.

Well, are you on the ladder? Emily changed her question when she saw Zacs troubled face.

Yes. Can you see the ladder? Zac asked a bit surprised.

I knew it. You are way too strong to not be a Ranker, she looked a bit excited. Everyone can see the ladder. I guess that you are considered role models by the System? So it wants to display you for us as well.

Do you know if there are any other Rankers close by? Zac probed, a bit curious.

No idea. I know that the government is looking for you people, she answered as she started cutting and the air with her dagger. However, her movements and technique were horrendous.

Zac took out a spit and large chunk of meat from his sack and placed it on the spit close to the fire. He had grown tired of the tough dried meat long ago and now preferred to barbeque. Now that he was forced to stop for Emily he had the time to spare.

He sprinkled some salt over the slab and left it to slowly be grilled. He mentally kicked himself for not looking for some spices at Fort Roger as the ones from the camper were used up long ago. Then again, he felt that any food-stuffs should have been pilfered long ago in a wretched town like that.

Why are they looking for us? No, not like that, move like this, Zac asked as he showed how to properly distribute her weight.

I dunno. They are trying to get all cultivators to register and become like an army or something? Maybe they want the Rankers to lead the cultivators? she answered as she mimicked Zacs movement.

Hmm Zac only answered as he kept moving. He felt that it wasnt that simple. The world was collapsing, and from his brief visit to Fort Roger he knew that the Governments control was tenuous at best. Perhaps they needed Rankers to keep people in check. Are many cultivators complying?

He turned his eyes inward toward the Axe-fractal in his mind. Since he gained the Seed of Sharpness the axe had two colors, with one side being dark blue with some brown, and the other a steely grey. The colors represented the two Seeds he possessed, Sharpness and Heaviness. There was a clear line of demarcation between the two Daos, and the auras didnt mix in the slightest.

He knew that one of the things he needed to do in the future was to fuse these two, but it was very far off. Alyn explained that there were two ways to improve the Dao. The first was fusion, and it was the path he had been walking since the start. Since the day he saw the vision he knew that the seed of Heaviness he gained was only part of the terrifying aura in the axe-mans swing. He would have to fuse more concepts into it to create a true Dao of Axe.

The path of fusion often walked from simplicity to complexity. It combined simple concepts into something greater than the sum of the parts. The other path was generally referred to as evolution. It meant pushing a Dao Seed to its limit, and from there letting it evolve into a higher Dao of the same category.

That was his plan with his Dao of Trees. There might be a possibility to fuse it into his Dao of Axes as well, but Zac felt it would weaken it rather than strengthen it. Instead, hed work toward evolving it by itself. Unless he suddenly gained a fourth seed somewhere and tried his hands on fusing that as well.

Neither fusion or evolution was better than the other according to Alyn, they were just different. However, she told him that most focused on evolution since fewer Daos were necessary to progress with that path. With fusion hed always need to gain enlightenment on at least two Daos.

Dao was generally considered the true watershed in the path to power. Over time most people were able to hit their level cap, and money could solve the issue of Race evolution. But Dao was something you needed to figure out yourself. There were some tools and treasures that could help out, but it mostly depended on personal aptitude and insight.

Zac felt he probably wasnt some genius since all three of his seeds essentially came from his visions. He did gain the Seed of Sharpness a few months later, but the foundation for learning it came from the same vision as the Seed of Heaviness. He was afraid that evolving all three at the same time would be more than he could chew off.

He still was hesitating whether to put aside two of the seeds and only focus on one, or to focus on both the offensive ones. The Dao of Trees was the lowest priority for now, as its use simply didnt feel as readily apparent.

Finally, he made a decision in his mind. He would focus on the Dao of Sharpness, at least for now. It was the Seed he had for the shortest time, but it felt like the most useful one. He stared at the axe in his mind, trying to glean anything out of the silver fractals.

He also played both the vision of the axe-man in his mind, feeling the terrifying force of the strike. Finally, he revisited the fight with the Fiend Wolf. He remembered the feeling of standing in the Dao Field, where even the air turned sharp from the Dao. He remembered how the casual swings of the beast rent long lines into the earth without any cosmic energy needed.

He also pondered upon what sharpness actually meant. It wasnt as simple as the thinner the edge the more damage he could do. Sharpness needed control and technique to be properly applied as well. He remembered seeing clips before the fall where people tried using razor-sharp swords and barely were able to cut anything since their technique was bad.

He kept it going for a few hours before the mental strain became too much and he fell asleep. He woke up a few hours later, only to find Emily intently staring at him.

Are you Abbot Everlasting Peace? she asked curiously.

Urh what?

Well, you look like a monk, and when I woke up during the night I saw you meditate. You already told me you are on the ladder. So are you Abbot Everlasting Peace? Or Boundless Truth? Is that why you werent interested in me? Is there nothing down there? she peppered off, almost overtaxing Zacs exhausted brain.

Boundless? Wait, what? Im no monk, my hair only got singed off in battle recently. And Im not missing any goddamn parts, okay?