Chapter 85: Pioneers

Chapter 85: Pioneers

The smell of freshly cut wood permeated the newly built Falken sect premises. The ‘council chamber,’ one that wasn’t guaranteed to ever have an actual council take place, was currently populated by the only members of the sect, bar one.

They all sat silently, shuffling, squirming, groaning, and contemplating.

Marven stared at the neatly arranged monster cores on the ground. It hadn’t been long since Neave handed them over, and so far, nobody had decided to take a single one.

They didn’t hold bad powers—not necessarily.

Yet... They were far too random.

If they all picked their fill and chose a dozen cores each, they would undoubtedly attain immense power, regardless of the cores’ quality.

This, however, left a bitter taste in Marven’s mouth. He knew he didn’t deserve anything more than this, but... He looked around the room.

Gabrias eyed the pile of cores with reluctant awe. For him, it only seemed to be a matter of temporary indecisiveness.

Hunter looked somewhat distracted and hesitant.

Harel looked like she simply didn’t care. She held a small core in her palm and stared at it. She had been observing that core for a while already, and Marven had no idea what power it held.

He glanced back at the pile of cores. Marven sighed. These cores felt like little more than an afterthought. They felt like something Neave threw at them just to get them off his back. Did this mean that he cared little or none about them?

Marven wanted to kick himself in the head for thinking that, but he couldn’t help it. Neave was gone, and heavens knew how long it would be before he returned. Yet, Marven chose to wait and see.

Rather than thinking about it from a perspective of greed for power, Marven chose to think of Neave. Was it really all right to allow him to utterly disregard them like this?

It was almost impossible for Marven to not feel like he was lying to himself when he thought like this. A big part of him felt he was full of shit and only wanted better powers from Neave rather than the best for his son.

However, with great effort, he pushed these thoughts aside and decided to wait anyway. If he could bring Neave to honestly care about his allies, even a little bit, that would be a tremendous step forward in the right direction.

From almost anyone’s point of view, these cores would seem like a gift worthy of the gods, yet, from Marven’s perspective, the statement behind these cores was clear.

Here you go, convenient acquaintances. Go play with these cores while I leave and deal with my business alone.

Marven had to concede it wasn’t the worst it could be. Neave could have just completely ignored them and gone on his merry way. This gave him hope. If he cared at least this much, Marven thought, then perhaps....

At this moment, his thoughts were interrupted by a booming voice that seemed to be coming from every direction.

***

The crowds cheered, and many people screamed in joy. Among the masses, there were many displeased with this development, those that had never believed in the lost child in the first place.

Yet, what evidence of his deeds could be more significant than a messenger from the heavens appearing before them and stating the truth?

Plenty, Dukean knew. The messenger that was effectively here to kidnap Neave had arrived.

What... What do I do?

He had to rush to the library and find Neave immediately. There was a good chance Neave would run away alone, which perhaps wasn’t a bad option.

For Neave, at least. For Dukean, however... All of his plans would completely collapse.

Just as he turned and sprinted into the masses, rushing to the library, someone from the crowds ran at him, picked him up, and took him away.

Dukean could barely resist the mighty grip of his assailant, and it was almost twenty seconds of extremely fast running later that he finally got a look at his kidnapper's face.

It was a plain-looking man, one he’d pass on the street without batting an eye. Dukean knew who this must be... It must be an agent of the Gods! Perhaps Astrador had seen Dukean in the nightmare realm and told his people to kidnap him, to use him as a pawn to threaten Neave!?

Dukean squirmed and tried his best to release the man’s mighty grip but to no avail.

Once they were away from prying eyes, hidden in a dark corner of some unknown sect’s courtyard, the man dropped him to the ground. Dukean immediately turned to the man and was about to yell...

Until the man transformed into Neave.

Dukean closed his gaping mouth and changed his tone.

“You must drop the habit of picking me up and carrying me like a loot sack.” Dukean slumped against the wall and sighed, tension visibly leaving his body, “Now, tell me why you’re here.”

Marven spoke up, “Neave, what’s happening?”

“I... I can enter the nightmare realm again.”

Yet another round of varied reactions. Marven looked thoughtful for a second, but doubt took over almost immediately, “That... It could potentially be a valuable opportunity for you. Would it be enough to give you a fighting chance?”

Neave thought about it for a bit, “I don’t know... This isn’t normal. I’m unsure whether this means I can enter as much as I please or... No, I’m confident.” Neave looked grim, “I can only enter the nightmare realm once.”

“Would that be enough?”

Neave contemplated it.

Dukean looked hesitant, he clearly wanted to say something, but the words simply wouldn’t come out.

To everyone’s surprise, Hunter spoke next, “Take us with you!”

Everyone looked at him.

Marven yelled, “What are you talking about!? If that were possible...”

Dukean interrupted Marven, “It is possible.”

He didn’t have to continue that statement. A massive ‘but’ was seared into his face, and he looked overwhelmingly hesitant.

Neave immediately understood, “As he said, I can take you all with me. And well, here comes the ‘but.’ You will all have to die eventually. And not just like, in general, you will die inside the realm.”

That was a bitter pill to swallow. The experience of death, even if inconsequential, wasn’t something just anyone could take at face value. Rather, almost nobody could. It was hard to say that was a superior option to being taken hostage, especially after hearing Neave’s description of the nightmare realm. It was even called ‘the nightmare realm’! That didn’t sound particularly inviting.

Despite the evident distress of everyone else, Hunter looked confused, “Wait... So when you pulled me in there.”

“I made it quick and painless.”

Surprisingly, Hunter seemed a little relieved to hear that.

There was no time to pick this dumb kid's brain, Neave thought and turned to the others, “Look, I would love to debate this with you all, but we are running out of time. I’m sorry, okay, I got you all into deep shit, and I apologize. Now hurry the fuck up. You all have to choose. If you join me in the nightmare realm, I can promise you that you will leave as different people. Ones that may or may not stand a chance of escaping this situation. Now, raise your hands. Who wants to join me?”

Marven objected, “Neave, this isn’t...”

“Look, old man. It is the way it is. You have to choose because time is running out.”

Neave pulled a small, purple monster core out of his dimension ring, rounded it up, and placed it into a cup he filled with his blood, “I’m going to take another spirit power before I enter the realm. You all have until I’m done to choose.”

“That isn’t going to take more than ten seconds!”

“Precisely.” Neave swallowed the liquid, and his gaze lost focus.

Marven looked distressed. He felt urgency building up and thought he should hurry to convince the others to enter the realm. However, he wasn’t sure whether he wanted to join the realm himself. As he wasted precious seconds pondering the dilemma, to his immense surprise, everyone had already raised their hands.

Only Dukean looked a little pale.

Marven scoffed and chuckled, “Well, aren’t you eager...?” He felt they were taking the situation too lightly. They were inexperienced and didn’t fully grasp the implications of what they were getting themselves into.

That was what he wanted to think.

Yet, both Dukean and Hunter had already been inside the realm and dared lift their arms again.

I can’t believe I’m still being a coward...

Marven smiled.

Neave opened his eyes.

“So, who is going?”

The body language varied from person to person. All of them had their reasons, some better, some worse, however...

Everyone had already raised their hands.