270. The Bloody Forest

270. The Bloody Forest

Those that cant see in the darkness often remark how it is all black, but those who could see, often see in colors that couldnt quite be described to man. I would be able to unlock all three choices in time, and I thought to myself that the [Dark Void] seemed to be the power I needed the most.

Ive struggled with the void for all this while. Our pace of expansion is dictated by the void, our travels through the void is the clear limiting factor of how we could visit new worlds, and eventually, the conclusion of the council was fairly decisive.

I would select the void.

[The Dark Void].

The selection itself was immediate, and quiet, but what immediately happened soon after, was the appearance of black lightning over the skies of Freshka. Void Lightning.

A single blast to my first body.

I wonder whether this was heavenly retribution.

I felt my soul, already separated across my clones, began to change, and the view of the void came instantly. One moment it wasnt, and the other, I suddenly saw the different shades of darkness in the skies above, in colors I couldnt quite see.

My immediate description of the void layers was-

Magical photo filters.

This was like looking at photos of the stars with infra-red or ultraviolet light. They revealed things that were not there before, or in different places.

Each of these filters revealed a different version of the stars, with different locations. As I shared it with Stella, she immediately understood what this was.

This is the different perspective weve been looking for all this while. Its hidden behind a domain ability?!

I thought about it, and perhaps, it could be a domain ability for me, but there may be certain races or species who could see the different void layers themselves. Stella immediately began to experiment on her newfound access to the [void layers].

We were all very excited to see the new worlds hidden within the void layers, but we had to be prepared. We were not sure what exactly lurked on the other side.

***

Aeon finally has mechs. Prabu said, amazed, as he watched the magical construction emerge from its hangar on the moon. My Valthorns outdid themselves when they built the first moon base, and they outdid themselves again when they constructed what was the first orbital battle platform.

We were expected the first of the remnant meteors to enter our void teleportation range soon, but given that they were such small objects with hardly any bubble of reality, we felt the risk of engagement in such a situation was too high.

With such small bubbles of reality, even if we succeeded in destroying them, we wouldnt be able to flee in time. Its likely that their reality was very fragile to begin with, and so, my void archmages recommended against attacking them in the void sea itself. The best area of engagement was once they entered Treehomes now-expanded sphere of reality.

This was, in a way, the equivalent of letting the meteor enter our solar system.

The means of engagement were these orbital battle platforms, the first few usable space warships, and these mechs. The mechs were not really mechs, but instead, to facilitate the heroes in their movements and survival in space. They were only made possible due to a combination of clever crystalwork from our crafters.

I wish we could make [mechs] with our [hero forges].

Kei, on their shared communication network, responded. I could. You guys just need to work around your limitations.

Each heros hero forge was different, tailored by their assigned powersets. Kei, being the shipgirl that she once was, could make mech suits. Basic ones, but mech suits nonetheless. For Prabu and Colette, their weapons were smaller.

Khefri- didnt want to participate in the defense of Treehome. She said she had things to do back on Threeworlds, so, we didnt force her. Similarly, Adrian had his own set of tasks back on Mountainworld.

Chung- well, being Chung, he decided to ignore us altogether.

I wasnt bothered. But Prabu and Colette tested out our first mechs.

They struggled, and we had to send the mechs back to the workshop to work on the synchronization. In theory, mechs and golems are pretty much the same thing. But golems ultimately were controlled by their masters, and so the [system] facilitated the control and manipulation of the golems many parts.

However, a mech, in our case, is piloted by heroes, and these heroes dont have the relevant skills and classes. Sure, they could still be manipulated and moved about relatively well, but not at the operating level expected of heroes.

Certainly, not a level of performance where these mechs can see battle against the demon kings, even if it should still be quite sufficient for lower levels of demons.

***

Most conventional weapons continue to work, as long as they were within the boundaries of Treehomes reality bubble.

Now that we were able to move in space, we attempted to reach the very edges of this reality bubble, and realize it was more like a rubber ball, than actually a soap bubble. As we move closer to that edge, we are pushed closer towards the center of that reality bubble. So, itll feel as if we are moving forward, but in reality we were not going anywhere.

In other words, it was like there was a treadmill at edges of reality that pushed inwards.

With enough force, and a high enough speed, it should be possible to overcome this force, and pierce the reality bubble directly.

Still, day by day, I could sense the bubble of reality continued to expand.

My domain ability was gradually pushing the world wider, and soon, it would be large enough to accommodate a secondary world.

I wonder what itll be like.

Does the world just pop out of thin air?

Or like a world drifting out of the void? Would it come with an inbuilt population, or would it be empty?

***

Threeworlds. With the Crystal King imprisoned, the first moments of war began to emerge. The human kingdoms and nations struggled to realign in what was a tectonic shift in power.

We sent diplomats everywhere, accompanied by our Valthorns. We had to show force, even if I didnt want to use the stick all the time.

But I had to. There was a point of no return. When the Crystal King attempted to sabotage our preparations, that was the point of no return for me. They put my people at risk.

My spies fed these folks coin, and made them tell more pleasant versions of the story. We asked them to speak out how the Crystal King attempted to sabotage the hero Khefris battle against the demon king.

We were the Crystal Kings divine punishment.

It was an angle that worked well, and helped pacify the commoners. Many didnt really feel strong loyalties to the Crystal King. He was too distant, too aloof. His empire was more of a ragtag coalition of vassal states, rather than a proper federal structure.

The improved farming yields from my druids and trees that came after soon placated the commoners who usually dealt with hunger and heavy taxation.

Naturally, among the commoners, not all accepted the change of regime. This was most unfortunate.

We tried to reeducate them. Expose them to what happened.

But ultimately, some were violent. And death is the only way to deal with them.

It is unfortunate that regime change must occur this way.

But I accept the blood on my hands. I will pay the price for my brutality, when my day comes.

With blood on my roots and leaves, I will transform the world and the human lands into an economy that can support this war against the demons.

***

Dwarfworld

My mages and crafters analysed the Sunsteel and we believe it should be one of the components of what the demons use for the Sun Rings. At least, we believe the Sun Rings to be some kind of metallic alloy. Its this Sunsteel mixed with something else altogether.

So, Lumoof went with the first proposal. Trade. The Dwarven Lord rejected the offer, but Lumoof wasnt bothered. There were many dwarven cities, and we would be able to find a smaller dwarven city that we could support.

Trade? The Dwarven Lord looked absolutely shocked. You want half of the Sunsteel? You might as well rob us.

Lumoof frowned. Half is fair. I will be doing the work. I really rather work this out on friendly terms rather than invade.

I dont know who you are threatening- The Dwarven Lord didnt understand. Naturally, in front of him was just a man. A powerful man, but he didnt grasp exactly what he was faced with.

Lumoof waited for a bit, and realized he might have a point.

Though the dwarven lord rejected Lumoofs trade deal, Lumoof decided to explore the world some more, and realized this world, despite the constant brutal wars between the dwarven cities, was also filled with many relatively high leveled dwarven craftsmen.

Many were level 50-60, and they were available in very large quantities. There were multiple dwarven craft academies throughout the world that produced the smiths, crafters and engineers needed to construct their gigantic war machines.

And they loved large scale construction projects.

He pinged Stella.

Stella, do you think youre keen on sending some dwarves from and to our homeworld?

-sure- but why?

Im thinking of some good ol Perspective. I think Alka would love this world, he could turn this world into one of those Forgeworlds.

Stella paused. If they are a bunch of war hungry dwarves, why not give them war?

Lumoof paused as he digested Stellas message. You know what- youre right. We should give them war.

Oh. Do you want an invasion force? Were a little tight with half of our folks dealing with the Comet remnants and the other half occupying Threeworld-

No. I think I have something else in mind.

Really? Will this world be worth it? Stella challenged. What do you have in mind?

Get me a group of dwarven lords from the academy willing to rule over some alien dwarves? Lumoof said. I believe this world has potential to assist our war efforts. A node should be sufficient, since we should be able to claim some land as our city-

Got it. Stella laughed.

The dwarfworld was filled with many small dwarven towns and cities. Not all were competent, and not all have war machines. There were smaller towns, led by less powerful lords that we could depose. High-leveled, well-trained [Lords] trained by the FTC could sweep in with Valthorn support, take over these smaller towns, and effectively cobble the smaller towns together into a coalition.

Then, we could effectively convert the cities into our dwarven workshops.

Rather than fight each other, it was time to channel the dwarven crafts towards a more productive war.

We would turn this world into a forgeworld, and those war machines will find themselves battlefields where they can do some good.

Spaizzer

Thanks for reading.

I started a xianxia regressor fic. You can find it here and here /fiction/76389/regressor-sect-master

Synopsis

Tundra Fox, a cultivator of immense power and Sect Master of the Verdant Snow Sect, faces an eldritch god from beyond and dies. However, a time-artifact sends his soul back 10,000 years, when he was still in the earlier years of growing his Sect.

This story comes with cultivation, base building, and usual regressor awesomeness, paired with a heavier focus on healing relationships, family and family relations. Tundra Fox will try to prevent family deaths, conflicts, and hopefully, try to raise descendants that don't become arrogant young masters.

Warning 1: The story starts with Tundra Fox with 3 living wives at the start of the story.

Warning 2 : Time and years might move fast sometimes.

Warning 3: Despite the time skips, this is a slow story.