"So where are you from? I assume that you are on the frontier too? When did the System arrive?"

"What? How would I know? Yes I am from the frontier specifically from the Falling Mountain Sect." The Dwarf replied while he got to his feet. I moved the blades back a little. Not enough that he would be a threat but enough to look like a break.

"So all the planets aren't the same." I spoke out loud though it was mostly for my own benefit. "Alright what can you tell me about your sect? How many of you are here? Did your stars come?"

He stared at me like I was an idiot. I pressed the twin psychic blades closer to his threat and the irritation on his face cleared up. He raised both hands placatingly. "Uh no only a handful of else came here. Just those who purchased a token or earned it"

"So you aren't here together?" He shook his head. "So why did you attack alone? Were you not together when you teleported in?"

"No, each token leads to a different spot in the forest. Haven't you done this before? System tokens all work the same in that regard."

I stared at him for several seconds. His focus drifted to the eye on my forehead and he shivered. Which brought me a bit of pleasure. "As I was saying why did you attack me specifically? Was it because it was two of us?"

He shook his head. "Your aura is weak and you look like you are on a damn stroll through a pleasure garden. I thought you were a rich br—" The blades moved just a little closer and he grunted. "A distinguished young master so I decided to take my chances."

I laughed and took a step back. "My aura feels weak huh? Do me a favor and help me compare my strength to the rest of your sect." I unleashed my aura in its entirety. It swept through the forest like a tsunami the trees buckled as if they were being buffeted by an invisible wind. The dwarf's face paled and he stumbled back a step. The poor man looked like had just seen a ghost. Xerxes on the other hand looked unimpressed. Or rather he looked like nothing mattered except the large animal leg in his mouth.

"Just my damn luck a fucking off world elite." The dwarf grumbled. "Why are you hiding about? You aren't some heretical bastard are you?" Just like that the fire returned to his eyes. Though it was much more muted. His fingers twitched as if he wanted to go for his weapon so I let both blades inch even closer to his throat. I wasn't sure if he could feel them since they were made out of energy and not steel. Not that it mattered.

"I am an unaffiliated cultivator from a small planet. Not entirely sure what 'heretical' means in this context but I use psychic attacks. If you hadn't figured that much out already."

He stared at me for several seconds and then I felt a warm sensation at the base of my skull. His eyes lit up with spiritual energy and the Eye of Heaven showed me what happened. He had use a spell on me. I waited a second. My psyche should be strong enough to withstand an attack and then the blades would deal with him. When nothing else happened I relaxed.

"Information?" I asked and conjured two more blades around his head. "Or communication?"

"I was just confirming! I can't see must of your status screen but I don't see anything that marks you as a heretic. You also don't have any fel karma"

I cocked my head to the side as I processed what he said. I had heard karma before obviously but with the fuck was 'fel karma'? "What do you mean? How do you check for that?"

"Your Karma is based on the things you do. Heretic usually have fel karma. Although there are some ways to cleanse it. The heavens aren't easily fooled."

"What the fuck does that mean?" I looked up at the sky half expecting face to appear and smite me for killing people. When nothing happened I sighed in relief.

"Uh Young Master? Are you alright? You seem disturbed? Surely your world has had heretics before? Assassins and people who attempt to subvert Heaven's path."

I slowly nodded although only the part about being an assassin made sense. I didn't even know what "Heaven's Path" was. Was heaven the system? If so then would I stop getting quests if I left the path? Would the System generate quests to kill me? "What would happen if you were a heretic? Would the System turn against you? Do other sects turn on you?"

He nodded and now he looked much more concerned. His hand drifted toward his hammer but I didn't really care. "So I assume your Falling Mountain sect is what? Righteous? What's the opposite of heretical?"

"Righteous? Wait wait got damn it are you from a recently assimilated world?" The dwarf's eyes widen and then he nodded his head as if he solved a great riddle.

I considered denying it for a moment but gave up. I knew all of jack shit about the multiverse so lying wouldn't hold up for long. Plus if people knew they wouldn't expect me to know much. I would just have to be smart. "Right as much fun as this is." I gestured between us for emphasis. "I have a competition to win. I will keep the blades here for a minute after I am gone. After that you are free to do what you want."

I gestured for Xerxes who had finished his meal to follow me. Once he fell into step beside me I waved to the dwarf and started walking. I got about ten feet before I turned around. "Oh right in case we meet again. What's your name?"

"Sikheth, Sikheth Anvilheart"

I nodded and committed the name to memory. If we somehow met again it might be fun to compare myself against him. "So what do you think?"

"Weak fighter. Good meat."

I chuckled and shook my head. "I suppose that's all that matters. It looks like the fastest way to get people to attack us is if I look as weak as possible."

"So we will do the opposite of that?" I still wasn't sure how he managed to convey an eyeroll telepathically but he did.

"Absolutely not. The people who would take advantage of that are probably weak. I would much rather deal with the big fishes."

Xerxes snorted and we continued. I returned my focus to the forest around us and quickly put a few things together. Mainly the not all the trees were dangerous. Probably less a fourth of them were but without something like my eye you would have no way of knowing which ones would be safe. The forest itself was going to be the deaths of a lot of people.

Xerxes and I walked for another fifteen minutes before something else approached. Only this time it wasn't a person. It was about the size of a dog and moved on four legs. I stopped moving and Xerxes took up position in front of me while I formed six blades three of which were invisible.

The beast charged through the forest a moment later. It split a tree in two and rushed straight for us. The beast reminded me a bit of a wolf. If the wolf had all its skin and fur removed. Then went on a comprehensive set of steroids. The thing looked like it was only muscle.

"Fiend Wolf"

I barely had a moment to process what Xerxes said before the beast was upon us. Xerxes and the wolf slammed into each other like two elks. The impact was bone shattering but neither of them slowed. My three invisible blades shot forward to join the battle. The beast turned his head and disengaged from my companion just in time to dodge two of the three blades. The third caught it in its side.

The wolf then turned and howled. My stomach dropped as the forest came alive around us. Every direction held at least one monster wolf. Which meant we would be surrounded soon. I conjured another six blades and turned to face our new comers. "Deal with that one as soon as you can. I will take care of our new guests."

The second and third wolves entered the clearing a second later and caught three blades each. I half expected for the wolves to go down immediately but they didn't. The pair stumbled before continuing their charge. I activated **Psychic Aegis** just before they reached me. They slammed into my protective bubble with the force of freight train. The bubble held and I triggered Psychic Blast. Bursts of psychic energy slammed into both wolves but to their credit neither backed down.

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The rest of the pack appeared before the next attack could begin. I laughed as I surveyed the six wolves in front of me. Each one had to be around level 40 at least. Based on their energy which meant that I really shouldn't hold back. I activated Realm of Consciousness and was about to trigger Manifestation of Perfection when I decided against it. On the off chance someone was watching this battle I didn't want to reveal too much. Especially if they orchestrated this on purpose for some reason.

The grey mist filled the clearing. I went to mark Xerxes as immune only to realize that I didn't have to. He was somehow already protected against the effect. I pushed that thought to the back of my mind as a wave of psychic energy poured into me. "So you all aren't stupid?" I asked though I knew I wouldn't get an answer. I formed psychic blade after blade throughout the domain. Some imbued with my tao some not. The wolves weren't completely out of it though.

The confusion effect made coordination nearly impossible so they decided to unleash blast of energy in every direction. Most of which hit the trees around us. The trees shattered like dried wood which only made me increase my blade production. That passive sense of danger picked up which only made the situation worse. My eyes widened when I realized that they weren't trying to hit me. "You sons of bitches."

The majority of the trees shattered but the few that didn't unleashed their poison needles into the mist. I expanded my Tao field to help resist against them but the moment I did the wolves reacted. It was like my tao became a homing beacon. "Fucking assholes." A indigo sun was born and compressed as I activated Psionic Rain. Psychic blades fell onto the wolves with a vengeance.

The attack lasted less than a second before the wolves broke. I wasn't sure if they were coordinating but they all attempted to run. Since Realm of Consciousness hadn't faded their was no chance they could escape. Not without sacrificing themselves. I cocked my head to the side as the wolves rapidly died. Their corpses shimmered before a portion of their spiritual energy flowed out and toward me.

Watching the kill energy process was freaky but felt amazing. Some of it flowed to Xerxes though it was less than ten percent I couldn't help but wonder how to deal with it better. Was there a minimum amount of interaction that would divide the energy between us evenly? Could there be a way for me to maximize his growth and then maximize my own? I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind and focused on what was in front of me. The battle wasn't terribly difficult and I managed to keep most of my cards hidden.

I scanned as much of the forest as I could but there was no one else nearby. I gave Xerxes a quick check before placing a pill in his mouth. Most of his injuries were minor but it was best to be safe. Most of his scales were too pliable for my tastes. "You ready to go or do you need to rest?"

"Collect the meat."

I rolled my eyes before gathering the wolf bodies. There was no chance that I would eat them unless I was desperate. "Are these resources for you? Or do you just want to eat them?"

"Both?"

I stared at him for a few moments and part of me wished my eye could detect lies but there was nothing. I shrugged and stopped caring. The bodies weren't exactly nasty thanks to the mental attacks so I didn't care much. "Any of these direction seem more important than the others?" I took a moment to try and feel out a direction with either my danger or treasure sense but there was nothing.

"Forward the important stuff is always in the middle."

"Works for me." I spread my Tao field out around us and we pushed forward. The forest changed the deeper we went. The trees were thicker around and lacked the needle like leaves at the top. The grass was upto my knees which only made me more nervous. The mental image of big as snakes hiding within made me wish I had a Tao of fire. Of course I had no way of knowing what would happen if I really set this place on fire. Nor did I want to risk poisoning myself.

I was just about to suggest going back when my danger sense picked up. I scanned the forest and grass but nothing appeared. The spiritual energy here was no different than before which put me on edge. "Do you sense anything?"

"Danger"

I nodded and slowly expanded my Tao field. I waited with bated breath for it to encounter something or for something to attack us. It reached a radius of about thirty feet when it happened. A new energy source appeared. It was almost as if the thing had teleported in. It opened its mouth and something shot straight for me. It spread through my Tao field and slammed into **Psychic Aegis**. I stared at it for a moment in mute incomprehension. An acidic burning sound filled the air as if to confirm that I was indeed looking at a tongue.

In the next second the tongue shot backwards and three invisible blades chased after it. I stopped Xerxes from chasing when it once again disappeared from my view. "You are a stealthy son of a bitch aren't you?"

I rapidly considered a variety of options. "Fuck it." I trigged Psionic Rain once again. I aimed the falling blades the best I could but the beast either was immune. Or could move without disrupting the grass at all. By the time my spell was finished I had wasted my energy and was no closer to figuring out where the damn thing was. Before I could decide what to do next something blurred from my left.

I ducked just before the slender appendage hit the barrier. I gave it no time to react and unleashed six invisible psychic blades in its direction. The damn thing leaped out of the grass and I finally caught sight of it. The reptile was about as big as pit bull and was covered in thick scales. Scales that were in the middle of changing colors.

The creature was ugly to say the least. It had four legs and four beady eyes. It had spines going down its back that made it look a bit like dinosaur. The thing even had frills around its neck. Frills that extended as soon as it looked toward me. My danger sense kicked into gear and I dived out of the way just as it launched a ball of black goo at me. Xerxes and I narrowly avoided the attack only to watch it melt a hole in the ground.

"Well damn." I chuckled and formed a pair of balls out of compressed space. Xerxes took off into the grass just in time to stop the weird lizard from fading away again. He slammed into the lizard and knocked it back several feet. Before it could get to its feet both spheres slammed into its sides.

I swore when my attack was repelled. Its scales weren't strong enough to stop the spheres completely. Nor could they kill the thing outright. I pulled the spheres back and sent them in again. The reptile shot its tongue out and wrapped it around Xerxes' neck. My eyes widen and I stopped my attack as the ugly thing tried to use my companion as a shield.

I found the sight amusing, Xerxes did not. He turned his head toward the creature and unleashed a blast of scarlet fire directly into its face. The attack caught the monster by surprise. He didn't give it the chance to react. The Qilin savagely threw itself on top of its enemy and ripped it apart. I shot a psychic blade into the monster's head mostly to put an end to its pain. As Xerxes was in the middle of ripping its stomach out.

"Well that was a bit much." I said while giving the Qilin a wide berth. "You won't be able to use the flame for a bit so we should rest for a while."

"Ugly bad tasting monsters should just die."

The simplistic answer was a little bit frightening and was another reminder that he was not a normal pet. He was a savage monster. "Alright, well lets go I want to try and find somewhere to rest before night falls in this place." I looked at the canopy above and shrugged. "Assuming this place has a day and night cycle."

"Find something good to eat and fun to fight."

I watched Xerxes trot away from the clearing and laughed.