I finished transcribing the array disc and slunk to the ground. I was beyond exhausted. It felt like my mind had been wrung for every drop of energy it had. Even then I only made three discs. Which was the bare minimum for the energy gathering array to work. Still I couldn't help feeling proud of the accomplishment. I had just started so I wasn't ready to make a decision but I leaned toward Arrays. Even after this little taste I could imagine myself making grand arrays. Works of art that spanned entire cities or even worlds.

I let myself live in the delusion for a few minutes before I stuffed everything into my ring. Despite the progress I had made today it would be better for me to buy an array. Even the worst one in the System shop would be better than this. Not mention Azariah might able to help me get something nicer.

I left the room and made my way out of the academy. The sunlight felt brighter as if I had been hiding in the dark for hours. Which in a way I had. I checked in with the others through Ethereal Convocation but there were no changes. After the following two weeks I fell into a bit of a routine. My day was split between cultivation, meditation, alchemy and array formation. It was so relaxing that it was easy to forget the world had ended.

My progress was nothing to scoff at but it wasn't crazy. My level had effectively stalled. Even consuming crystals like a mad man didn't help. It was like filling a lake with a bucket. My meditation sessions were a bit better though. My comprehension of the Tao of Compression was advancing. Slowly but steadily.

Today I was outside the city limits with Trey. It was time for me to explore more of my new abilities. I waited until a pack of wolf like creatures made their way out of a ruined department store. Their fur was gunmetal grey and as sharp as steel. I wasn't sure if they were a new monster or just a stronger or better version of the older wolves.

Either way it didn't matter. The goal today wasn't just killing them though that was important. I focused on a nearby street light and tried to lift it into the air. It wasn't easy. I had always that the way psychic's were shown in movies was goofy but now that I actually had the power. It was real. I couldn't explain what "muscle" strained as I lifted the thing out of the ground but something did.

What made it worse, was that lifting it was the easy part. I tried to throw it like a javelin. Instead of it shooting through the air, it moved less than ten feet and then dropped.

"Man you suck." Trey added unhelpfully from his spot next to me.

I bit back my initial reply and took several calming breaths. It took me over ten seconds to calm down enough to not punch him off the building. "This isn't fucking easy."

"I believe you once said that 'Nothing worth having was easy' or was that just what you said when it came to attacking me?"

I ground my teeth together and pushed him to the back of my mind. He wasn't wrong but it wasn't helpful. Once again I trained my focus on the lamp post. It took me over five seconds to lift the damn thing. "At this rate you might able to kill an elderly creature. If you can convince it to run into the lamp. And if you can manage to keep it up that long."

"Shut up" I ground my teeth as I aimed at the wolves in the distance. I visualized the light flying forward as if fired from a gun or cannon. What actually happened was closer to a failed football throw. When Trey started laughing I unleashed six invisible blades of psychic energy. The wolves barely had time to realize they were in danger before they were dead.

The silence that fell over us was much better than I thought. "Why can you make them invisible now? That's so wild."

"Its something I learned with the new level of my Mastery spell. I think the color is wasted energy but I still don't get. The Taos still have colors."

"Right so are you really leaving?"

I nodded. "Yeah I want to explore things on the outside a bit. I can't tell if I am weak or strong in the grand scheme. I think its the not knowing that bothers me the most."

"What if you don't come back?"

I sighed and a uncomfortable silence fell onto our shoulders. It was harder to have this conversation than with the others. They were mostly concerned with me not protecting Amara which I got but it wasn't the same. "I will but if I don't your cultivation resources will be made available to you as soon as you turn of age. You will have to follow the plan. Find something powerful to kill. If you can somehow get to something at the peak of the realm that would be best."

"Just don't get yourself killed. I don't think Aaliyah will let me mess with her as often."

I laughed and nodded. I could feel that the situation hadn't been resolved with that but that was really possible. Not until I actually came back. "You have to make sure you are strong enough to leave with me next time. Otherwise I am going to have to use you to carry my stuff.

"Ain't no way. I am going to be stronger than anyway so it doesn't matter. What you need."

I rolled my eyes and stood up. "Come on. Let's head back. You need to get some more combat training and I want to get back to the Arrays."

"You sure you don't want to throw a few more things? At this rate you might hit something in the next decade."

I rolled my eyes and activated Apportation. "Come on before I leave you here." I stepped through the portal.

"Hold up I am coming." Trey dashed in behind me and I let it close.

When it next opened we went our separate ways. He went to join the other warriors while I returned to the academy for another round of Array and Alchemy practice. I was going to get my pill to 80% potency today and a full set of eight array discs.

The next day was much the same only that sense of anticipation returned. At first I thought it was related to my practice but it wasn't. Or nothing made itself known. I even spent two hours on the second continent but there was no signs as to what it was. There was a slight difference in the sensation compared to last time. It felt positive which was the only reason I could focus on pill formation. Whatever it was would be worth it. Especially if it was another opportunity.

I returned my focus to the cauldron in front of me. Excitement threatened to overwhelm the fragile balance in my mind. All the ingredients were finally distributed perfectly. The pill resembled a tricolored ball and the vast majority of its energy was still inside. My cells ached as the medicinal aroma filled the room. I gingerly rotated the pill with my several psychic tendrils.

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Everyone movement filled me with dread and hope. Finally there was nothing to do but let it cool. I turned off the flow of energy and stared as the pill hardened. It was the both the size of a grape and looked bit like Neapolitan ice cream. It felt like an eternity before it was ready although it was less than a minute.

As soon as it was safe to hold with my fingers I laughed. 90% potency was the best I could do with this cauldron. If I had a Tao related to purification or fire I might have been able to try it without the cauldron. That would be an entirely different can of worms. I gently placed the pill into a bottle and sealed it. The healing pill was only a bit better than the cheaper ones I could get from Azariah.

Despite that I gave its own bottle. This was something I made with my own hand. Which as far as I was considered made it a priceless treasure. I placed the bottle into my ring and leaned against the wall. I wasn't as exhausted as the first time but I was pretty tired. It also gave me a chance to think about things. Despite how much I enjoyed making the pill I leaned toward abandoning Alchemy.

I wasn't all that interested in Fire related powers which would hurt me a bit though Time might make up for it. No, the real reason was the lack of desire. When it came to Arrays and Formations I couldn't help but imagine what would happen. What could happen. Entire worlds used to feed some grand thing. I am sure Alchemy had more things beyond poison and pills but the same could be said for Arrays.

Who knew what crazy shit I could learn to make. The more I thought about it the more I agreed. Arrays were the path forward for me. Which meant I needed to send the cauldron back. After I cleaned it. I made a mental note to find a proper alchemist. Someone that could be the leader of all the Alchemists in the country.

I washed the cauldron and placed a couple of spirit stones inside before leaving them with Desbera. It wasn't a major gift but the thought was what counted. After that I got back to work on the gathering array. It took me another three hours to finish up the eight and final disc. As soon as they were ready I laid them out in front of me and sent a bit of spiritual energy through.

It was a bit like when someone lit a Christmas tree. Spiritual energy flowed through each point until it formed a single circuit. The flow of energy in the room shifted almost immediately. It felt a mini vortex was born as spiritual energy was drawn to the middle. There was nothing there at the moment so the energy just kind of swirled but that was minor. A quick round with Ethereal Codex and we were good.

Unfortunately the Arrays actual effectiveness was around 65%. Which was passable according to the information packet. If I were apart of whatever sect that old man was I would be well on my way. I relished my victory for a bit longer before I deactivated the plates. I tried to erase the array but that wasn't really possible. Not without physically destroy them so I decided to give them to the Academy. They might work as examples and in the worst case scenario. Motivational tools.

Either way it wasn't really my problem. I left them and left the academy. I made my way to the outskirts of Amara and started practicing with **Psychic Mastery**. The lessons were a bit more esoteric for lack of a better word. I wasn't sure if the change was because my soul awakened or if it was just the natural part of what I was supposed to do. I had noticed that there were slots on the sigil. A little area where I could impose my Tao. Desbera wasn't able to tell me whether or not I should do it now or wait until I had all of mine.

I also wasn't sure there was a reason to do it now. The spell already provided everything I needed. I wasn't in a rush to learn new things since I wasn't done with this. There was also the nature of the new lessons to consider. They were more about interacting with another person's mind directly. I could kind of force people to ignore me. It didn't work on most monsters and I assumed that was because they weren't aware. Or I guess they weren't smart enough to be tricked.

It worked wonderfully on everyone weaker than me. The mortals had no chance to detect me unless I walked right up on them. Even then I had to make it nearly impossible for them to not see me. It was both funny and scary. I was pretty sure no one on Earth was strong enough to do that to me but when I left? The Eye Of Heaven helped of course But nothing was perfect.

Today's session was for something different though. I wanted to try and reverse the effect. Effectively making myself impossible to ignore. The effect I wanted wasn't the same as just unleashing my aura at full blast. I wanted to avoid hurting anyone. Effectively I wanted to give myself a kind of superstar effect. Despite that there was no guide in the spell on how to do it.

I was trying to do the opposite of what the diagram indicated. Even after three hours I hadn't made much progress. I decided to give it up for now. Making myself a focus wasn't needed right now. Especially since I fought alone most of the time and the few situations were I didn't my killing intent and aura were more than enough. I imagined that would still be true when I fought other people.

With that I ended my training for the day. The sun had just started to set and I was a bit worn out. The peace was starting to get to me and I felt antsy. A feeling that made worse by the anticipation I felt. I decided to walk back to the main building just to exercise a bit. I decided to stop by the training zone to check on the soldiers only to find them in battle with another of the ape monsters.

The ape was probably around level 15 or so which wasn't much of a threat to me. The soldiers who were closer to level 10 weren't faring as well. One had nearly been crushed by a double fist slam while another had nearly been bisected when the ape threw a car door at her. Despite that the group moved like a team. Each one filling in when the others needed help. As far as I could tell they weren't communicating with each other.

Watching the energy flow through their bodies as they moved was oddly beautiful. A bit like watching a well oiled machine move. Despite that they were evenly matched with the ape. To the point where I considered jumping in but before I could the strongest of their group moved. Energy coalesced on the edge of the axe in his hand. Just before a five foot edge grew out. He leaped into the air and roared.

He slammed the axe down with every bit of strength he head. The ape wasn't to be out down. It grabbed a stone pillar and met the attack head on. If it had only been them to the ape might have been the winner. Its strength was likely much higher than the man's but he wasn't alone. As soon as the pair crashed the rest of his team unleashed attacks. Arrows, blades and lightning shot toward the ape.

The poor monster was forced into an impossible situation. It had to either endure the attacks coming at it and focus on the big threat. Or ignore the big threat and tried to avoid all the attacks. Unfortunately for it the team made the choice for it. The axe wielder pulled a grenade out of his back and tossed it at the ape.

As soon as I realized what it was, I shut all three of my eyes. I still felt the flash bang go off. The next second a howl of pain filled the air and the battle was over.

"If I had known you were going to come by I would have warned them." I opened my eyes just as Aaliyah stepped out from inside a nearby building. Her attention was still on the group of warriors. Who were now celebrating their victory. "They were seals before things went to shit. I think they were all apart of the same squad and managed to find each other."

"Are they interested in the army position?" I asked though I was pretty sure I knew the answer already.

"They are. Though only if they can keep their squad together."

I nodded but before I could confirm a pulse of energy spread out from the top of my sky scrapper. I cocked my head to the side before turning to Aaliyah. "You didn't see or feel anything just then did you?" When she shook her head I stood up and activated Apportation.

"Uh they can stay in their squad. I see no reason to change that. If you can get them closer to level 20. We could let them go down and start hunting stronger things. Either the continent or underground." I stepped through the portal and by the time it reopened my heart was racing. I broke out in a sprint toward the building.

The passive anticipation had turned into an alarm. It wasn't until I returned to my room that I finally figured out why. The energy inside the egg had picked up almost as if it contained a storm. A grin spread across my face as I picked up the egg and dashed out of the building. I activated Apportation and stepped out into my makeshift base camp. It was finally time to see my new beast companion.