Chapter 139: Heaviness

Chapter 139: Heaviness

Feels good, doesnt it?

Zac was interrupted from his brooding and looked over at the grinning demon. The two were currently sitting in a secluded group of sofas, and the heavy atmosphere kept any curious onlooker far away.

I think I might have shown too much of myself, Zac said with a sigh.

Zac looked at Ogras for a second and shook his head ruefully.

I have a little sister. I believe I have found her whereabouts, but I am afraid that my identity is exposed, and they will use her to get to me.

Since the beginning he hadnt really told the demons anything about himself, and he hadnt even explained why he wanted to keep going on excursions through the teleporter. He was afraid of the same thing he was now, that someone would use his family to get to him. But he was running out of ideas, and Ogras usually had some methods up his sleeves.

To Zacs surprise, he saw that the demon had turned uncharacteristically serious as he looked at him.

The Undead Incursion? Ogras asked with a somber face.

In a town close by, Zac nodded.

You need to find someone who has a teleporter in the area, Ogras mused

I did, but there seems to be some problem, Zac said and retold the conversation with the stocky man.

I think I know whats going on, but well find out for sure in a bit, Ogras said. However, I have an idea that will ensure it doesnt matter what little schemes those politicians have.

Oh? Zac said with some hope.

Ogras took out two glass vials from his pouch and threw them over to Zac.

The black vial contains a poison pill called [Ten Steps to Hell]. If ingested the victim will wake up every night with searing pain in his chest, as though as his lungs are on fire. Every night for ten nights the pain will keep getting worse. On the tenth night you will die. It is extremely painful, and only the most skilled E-Ranked healers would be able to treat it. It should be incurable on this baby planet, Ogras said with a sinister grin.

How does this help me? Zac frowned.

The other vial contains the antidote, Ogras explained. Feed the poison to the man with the portal. Tell him to open the portal in 9 nights. You promise you will give him the antidote when you arrive in his town. If you do or not is up to you. He might try to heal himself, but it will fail. The inevitable pain every night will be a painful reminder to comply unless he wants to die.

Zac blankly stared down at the two small bottles in his hands, hesitant at what to do. He felt that if he actually went through with this he would be stepping over some sort of threshold, arriving at a place where anything goes. The owner of the town by the undead incursion hadnt done anything wrong, and this poison sounded like something horrifying to be subjected to.

Zac snorted but didnt say anything. He didnt know why, but like the demon was a bit on edge about something since he left his seclusion. Perhaps his gains werent as good as hed hoped, and he was a bit antsy. Hed explained his reasoning for accosting Thea, but at the same time it felt like the demon was simply trying to create trouble to take his mind off of other things.

It wasnt the time to start digging into those murky waters. If it was related to the demons cultivation he would never be truthful, and they were neither close enough or drunk enough to have any sort of heart-to-heart about anything troubling. Besides, the demon wasnt the only one with problems.

Various troubles and issues were whirling through Zacs head as he closed his eyes for a bit as he lay back in the sofa. There was the issue of Port Atwood, how to ensure the safety and progress of his emerging island kingdom. The third wave was coming as well, and he still had no idea what he could expect.

There was the issue of New Washington and their shrewd politicians. It felt as though the situation was getting out of hand, and a schism was forming between himself and his fellow humans. He even felt more comfortable around demons and the Zhix ambassador than his own old countrymen by this point.

There was also the heaviest responsibility of finding Kenzie. The feeling as he stood in front of the newly erected gravestone was etched into his memory, and he would rather die than not live up to the promise.

The issues of the Incursions and Dominators were also a constant buzzing in the back of his head. Any other issues like those of Port Atwood, or even finding Kenzie, was all for naught unless something was done about these enemies. Time was running out and unless something changed the invaders would soon be too powerful to handle.

Felt he was weighted down by a mountain of responsibilities, and heaviness shrouded his mind. However, suddenly it was as though various scattered thoughts and impressions crystallized, and ordered themselves up into something structured.

Zac fell into a trance as he somehow felt connected to the universe. Hed pondered daily on the various facets of heaviness lately, and now it was as though the universe suddenly was showing him the answer sheet. His current emotions were actually represented in a small section of something far greater, and in another corner he sensed his original insights.

The Dao of Heaviness was a low tiered Dao, or a foundational Dao as Alyn called it, but the vastness of that he sensed was extraordinary. He desperately tried to imprint the impression of it, but it was as though almost all of it slipped through his fingers. He managed to absorb some small snippets that were related to the emotional heaviness that hed felt lately at least, and it seamlessly integrated into the fractal axe in his mind.

The dark color of the Heaviness-imbued half of the axe got deeper, and it radiated a stronger aura than before. Still, it was nowhere near the vastness he just felt.

He opened his eyes, only to see Ogras face plastered just centimeters from him.

What the hell are you doing? Zac asked with some trepidation.

God damn it, did you just have an epiphany? Just disgusting, Ogras said with a frown as he moved back, and even the little merchant who had appeared from nowere sitting closeby threw an envious glance at him.

Why were you so close that you almost straddled me though? Zac asked with a weird look.

Dont flatter yourself. I was trying to sense anything to get some hints of how to get an epiphany of my own. Since your Dao Seeds are low leveled I needed to get closer to sense the fluctuations, the demon spat.

Did you find out anything? Zac asked curiously.

No, it was just a chaotic jumble. No idea how to get anything useful from that, the demon answered with a grimace.

So, what did you upgrade?

Zac didnt answer, instead opening his menu with a smile.