Chapter 792: Orom
The group of bubbles that had avoided the fate of becoming a part of the Leviathan’s feast was soon divided even further, where ninety percent moved together toward the tails. Next was roughly six or seven percent that shot away together, moving toward a large ridge on the beast’s back. Zac was in the third group, the second smallest one with just over a hundred of the ‘earmarked’ cultivators.
The final group was just one solitary sphere, covered in layers and layers of engravings. It looked completely different from the others, and it suddenly just disappeared in a puff of spatial energy. As for his own cohort, it shot toward a spot just ahead of the enormous sail-like fin on its back.
Zac instinctively knew that he had survived some sort of culling, but he was still filled with unease as his cage got closer and closer to the space fish. The gargantuan Leviathan took up most of his vision by this point, stretching across the horizon. It was filled with such tremendous power that Zac couldn’t stop his body from shaking.
Suddenly, a large portal opened up in front of him. It looked a bit like the ones the smaller Leviathans had created to pass through dimensions, but this one was far more stable. It was lined with patterns that looked a lot like the brands that covered the whole body of the beast, natural expressions of the Dao.
The small group of spheres shot straight into the portal, and Zac felt an odd spatial ripple pass through him before he was shrouded in absolute darkness. A searing pain suddenly erupted on his left arm, followed by a wave of weakness that spread through his body. Zac had no time to figure out what had been done to him before the darkness lifted and Zac found himself lying with his face down in the dirt.
He hurriedly scrambled to his feet only to find himself in the middle of a forest glade, surrounded by the captives from the other bubbles who had been sent through the final portal. His mind blanked out for a moment, and as he looked up at the purple sky, he wondered if they had been teleported to some world.
The warriors around him all gave Zac the impression of powerful elites, and he immediately tried to flash away to create some space for himself. However, he found that the energy in his body was extremely sluggish, and another type of seal prevented him from activating [Earthstrider]. Not only that, he felt so helplessly weak since passing through that portal.
The other cultivators were as clueless as he was on what was going on. A few tried to escape from the group, only to find the glade sealed with some sort of array. The moment they got close, an ominous rune appeared out of nowhere.
The bubbles were gone, but they were clearly still trapped, and Zac took the chance to check his situation. The result wasn’t great. First of all, there was a new brand on top of his left hand, at the spot where he had felt the pain before. It was extremely complex and reached halfway up his elbow, far surpassing the one that Catheya’s master had once placed there.
It was clear that this brand had replaced the restrictions covering the bubbles, sealing his power and limiting energy circulation to a slow crawl. In other words, it was a prisoner brand, similar in function to the arrays that usually covered dungeons and prisons in the Multiverse. After all, you needed something to make sure a powerful captive didn’t suddenly lash out and kill their captors.
A glance at his status screen confirmed his suspicions. His real attributes were still there, but they were struck over, replaced by a line that simply said 1,000.
One thousand attribute points? That was something you’d see on an F-grade elite. No wonder he felt so weak. He was lucky he had already placed [Verun’s Bite] into a spatial ring. Just carrying the axe when restricted like this would be a bit of a struggle since its most recent upgrade.
In fact, a few captives were in that exact predicament. Shimmering weapons were lying in the grass next to them, and they were desperately trying to lift them, only to barely be able to budge them. Others were luckier, wielding tools without such forbidding weight. However, the brand on Zac’s arm seemed to prevent him from communicating with [Love’s Bond], essentially turning it into a useless necklace.
Zac felt extremely exposed after having his attributes restricted to just 1,000 points, but at least it looked like everyone had been dragged down to the same level, even the Hegemons. Everyone’s aura was extremely uniform, except for the unique flavor granted by everyone’s Daos.
In other words, the 1,000 referred to Effective Attributes, though Zac had already guessed as much after sensing his current strength. After all, his current power was well below the state when he finally passed 1,000 raw Strength by the end of the Tower of Eternity. He didn’t get much time to think about the implications, as a new face suddenly appeared on top of a stone just outside the glade.
“Congratulations, you lucky bastards. You get to live another day,” a gruff voice echoed out, prompting everyone to look over with apprehension.
The first words out of the new arrival were a bit crude, but they were still a relief to Zac. It looked like his life wasn’t in immediate peril, which would give him a chance to figure some way out of this place. After all, his Void Energy had already proven to work against the restrictions of the Space Fish.
Having access to that hidden force had to be a tremendous advantage in this place. Not only did it allow him to unleash skills while the others were helpless, but the skills might even contain their original strength if they could properly circumvent the prison seal. Skills like [Abyssal Phase] might prove to be the key to getting out of this place unseen and unnoticed.
But for now, Zac would bide his time. He needed to understand what was going on, and he once more glanced at the captives around him. This time, he noticed something odd. They were all roughly the same size. If it was just a bunch of humans, Zac wouldn’t have thought much of it, but there were all kinds of races here.
“Now, don’t look so glum,” the metal man said. “Your fate could have been a lot worse. Didn’t you see where most people were headed?”
“Did the others really get devoured?” an insectoid woman asked with a frown, and Zac shuddered upon remembering the scene outside.
It was an almost incomprehensible loss of life that had taken place. That was still taking place, by all accounts. It was a stark reminder of how Earth had essentially been a trial ground where the challenges and dangers were artificially controlled by the System. Out here in the wild, there were no safety nets, and death could lurk around any corner.
But the citizens of Twilight Harbor and the trail takers who visited such as himself were truly unlucky. First, the whole harbor got blown up by the struggle between a bunch of old monsters. But the lucky few who managed to enter the Void to avoid the fallout were snatched up by some crazy monster lurking in the shadows.
“As far as we can tell,” the metal man nodded. “You survived the great filter of the Orom, which means you have potential. The others were deemed lacking and were instead turned into nourishment. This is actually an exciting period for us old citizens as well. The Orom only feeds when it finds a congregation of fate, and that means two things. Fresh faces like you people, and a deluge of new items up for grabs.”
Zac guessed the deluge of new items came from the hundreds of thousands of Spatial Rings that the Orom swallowed. Just the thought of all that wealth made Zac’s heart beat a bit faster, almost to the point he forgot their gristly origins. There had been a lot of Hegemons in the mix, and even some Monarchs might have fallen. His wealth was pretty terrifying compared to most E-grade cultivators.
But compared to what this space fish swallowed, it was simply nothing.
“What about the other groups who survived?” another man asked with worry in his eyes. Zac guessed he had seen someone he cared about setting off toward the tails.
“There are three groups. The largest group is sent to do miscellaneous tasks for the Orom. Indentured Servants, I guess. The second group is second-string cultivators. You’ll learn more about them later. As for you, you’re the first-string, which is what you want to be if you have to be stuck inside an enormous monster.”
“There was one more group. A single sphere,” another captive muttered.
“Oh?” the metallic man exclaimed with surprise. “That’s pretty rare. I haven’t heard of such a thing happening in over a hundred thousand years. I am not sure, but I heard those people are potential disciples, sent to an inheritance trial. Others believe the Orom accidentally swallowed someone with too big a backing and is just providing them with an opportunity or some restitution before letting them go. I’m not sure which is true. In either case, it’s not related to you guys.”
“Then what does this Orom want with us?” an old man standing next to Zac asked.
“That’s the good news; it just wants you to cultivate. To break through your shackles, no matter if it’s related to your levels, constitutions, insights, souls, or crafts. Become a Divine Monarch or the equivalent, and you have provided enough to be set free,” the man snickered. “As to why the Orom is doing this, I think most of you can understand.”
Zac had no idea what he was talking about, but looking around he saw an understanding look on most of the new captives.
“How are we supposed to cultivate with our resources sealed in our Spatial Rings?” a woman asked with a frown. “I doubt this Orom can provide all the specialized arrays and treasures we need.”
“Outside Spatial Treasures are sealed in the Orom World, apparently because of some terrifying item that was brought onboard millions of years ago. Almost killed the big bastard, according to the records,” the attendant laughed. “However, there are secured locations you can take out any items you need for cultivation, and they will be scanned for problems. You can then transfer them into locally-made Cosmos Sacks.”
“What about my weapon?” a man frowned as he looked down at a blue staff that clearly had extraordinary origins.
“Alright, in a few moments, you will have a brief window to stow away items. You will not be able to take anything out though,” the attendant said before touching his golden insignia. “I suggest you take this opportunity, or the items will be lost to you forever.”
Zac felt a shudder from the brand on his arm a moment later, and he realized the brand must have received some command. He tried infusing his will into the ring on his hand, but it was still out of reach. However, he saw the others hurriedly stow away the weapons that were lying on the ground.
“Well, let’s get out of here. We need to be gone before the next group arrives. I will lead you to the closest settlement. You’ll get a better understanding of the situation over there. But if you want my advice; simply settle down and focus on your Dao. This place isn’t all-too-bad,” the attendant grinned.
“Then again, I’m sure you’re all thinking of various ways to escape. I did as well, at first. But you will find that the Orom is not so easily tricked.”