"Don't we feel special?" I said with a playful smile. "Are you offering that to us or all the members of the top ten?"

"I intend to gather as many people as I can. Divided, we are too weak. Even you have to be able to accept that. We need manpower, logistics, and supply chains. The UWG might not be perfect, but they can put together a lot in a short amount of time."

"I leaning toward taking the government's offer," Masquerade added. Something that drew a confused look from each of us.

"Well, I most certainly am not." A chipper voice added as a dark-skinned, curvy woman with a thick southern drawl stepped up to join us. "Am I to assume that you all are the top ten on the standings?"

I smiled and took her outstretched hand. I then placed a kiss on the back of it before gesturing for her to join us. "We are. I am Amari. This here is Amahle, our Roman friend here is Romulus and the masked, mysterious one is Masquerade. Am I right in my assumption that you are Ebony Rose?"

"Right as rain, dear. Number six in the Standings. I hadn't known that there would be someone so attractive at the top. I assume you aren't looking for a wife?" She smiled and sat next to me.

I blushed and laughed at her question. "You are fun. Unfortunately, nope, I don't really do relationships."

"Just my luck. All the eligible bachelors aren't available well..." She glanced at Romulus.

"Don't start." He turned back to Masquerade. "And why are you thinking about the government? Did they offer you something else?"

Masquerade shook their head. "Honestly, I am not interested in leading a town or being a government or any of that shit. I want to be left alone mostly if that means being a weapon for hire." They shrugged.

"Well, it's good to have goals, I suppose, but why the government? You could just join any one of us." I asked.

"No offense, but you seem like an arrogant dick. I don't know anything about the rest of you. Nor have you all made me any offers."

I feigned an arrow to the heart before leaning back into the couch. "I am an acquired taste. What will you do if the government makes you fight with the rest of us? Are you prepared to kill us?"

That caused a silence to fall over us, and the jovial mood was dispelled. I let the silence linger for a bit before I chuckled. "Does the wine work for you all? I mean, like the alcohol part?"

"Not at all. I would have to make a tub full of my uncle's moonshine with double the alcohol to feel any damn thing." Ebony Rose added. "If you lot don't mind me asking, but where are you all located?"

I raised an eyebrow and pointed in the direction of Amara. "A few hours run in that direction. Amara is inside a massive skyscraper, though we are expanding into the surrounding area."

"So free with that information?" Amahle replied.

I grinned. "If anyone wants a fight, they know where to find me. I have no interest in hiding."

"I like you," Ebony Rose said with a smile. "My family and I are living on a niece piece of land south of here. Not sure how long it would take you to run since we teleported over."

"Any strong monsters over by you?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Nothing too interesting, though there are spiders the size—"

"Nope, absolutely not." I interrupted, which drew confused gazes from everyone in the room.

"Don't tell me you are afraid of spiders?" Romulus asked.

"I" I started while searching my mind for any excuses or jokes, but gave up. "I am, I am very afraid of spiders."

"The strongest man in the world is terrified of bugs," Masquerade repeated.

"Not all bugs. Just the ones with too many eyes and too many legs."

"So I guess I won't be inviting you to our weekly hunts," Ebony said. "Last time we found a boar the size of a minivan and had the most amazing barbeque."

I stared at her and the mental image of southern barbeque warred with the one of a giant eight-legged freak. "I could be convinced, but if I happened to fight one of those things, I would obliterate its soul."

"How do you even fight?" Romulus asked. "I haven't seen you carry a weapon, and you don't feel like the mages."

"Psychic, and I keep my aura tightly controlled, so I shouldn't feel like much of anything."

"No way? So you can do telekinesis and read minds?" Masquerade asked.

"Funny enough, no to both of those. I mostly create weapons out of psychic energy and stab people."

"So it's a martial class? No offense, but I would have taken you for a mage. With the whole pretty boy thing you got going on," Romulus added.

"I am a mage. My class creates constructs and I shoot them at you. It's a bit more complex than that, but if you distilled it down."

"You mind telling us what that Tao stuff is? I haven't gotten anything from my class." Ebony asked.

"It's a fun power that you get through understanding something. I don't fully get it myself, but it seems like it's your comprehension of an aspect of reality. My class gave me a vision. If it's the same as mine, you should get one eventually."

"And what does yours allow you to do?" Romulus added.

"Cool shield," I replied and waved down a waiter. I took a finger sandwich from him and turned to the others. I raised an eyebrow at their blank stares and laughed. "It's a shield, though to be more exact, it's a field around me that hardens like steel. It isn't quite as strong as a proper spell, but it's strong enough to deal with just about anything from our old world."

"Mind showing us?" Amahle asked.

I smiled playfully and considered not doing so. The more things they knew about, the more danger they could pose, but I also didn't care. I would fight them if they came, and well, I would be stronger when they did. I activated my Tao field and shrunk it to a foot away from my body. "Go ahead, try to hit me."

Romulus blurred for a moment and aimed a fist at my chest. His hand slammed into the field. A miniature boom followed by a crack echoed through the room drawing all eyes to us. I wasn't sure which of us was more surprised. His Strength was rather close to mine. Probably within twenty or so points. It still wasn't enough to break the field. He grimaced in pain and pulled his hand back.

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"That really was like hitting a steel wall. How are you doing that?" Romulus asked, as he popped a healing pill into his mouth.

"It's my tao. I assume it is a defensive one since I haven't found another direct use for it."

"Mind telling us what it's called?" Ebony asked.

I smiled and waved my finger like Dikembe. "No can do. I can't give away every secret now, can I? Besides, how could it be fun if I just told you everything?"

"We aren't playing a game!" Masquerade exclaimed before getting to their feet. "We are risking our lives and you think this shit is fun?"

"Careful there friend," I said with a smile that was only slightly more malicious than before. "The world is what it is regardless of how you or I feel about it. Now I do enjoy it. Truth be told, it's simpler than the old world. We got a great reset and right now I am at the top. Please don't misunderstand though. I fought through multiple life-and-death encounters during the tutorial for my power. I then did it again and again once it ended."

"Alright, people let's relax." Amahle stepped in again. "We all agreed to play nicely for the event I would hate for us to stay on the wrong foot."

Masquerade sat back down and I decided to keep my tao field going. Just in case. From there, the conversation became much less interesting. We spent the rest of the night talking about small things. Interesting monsters, places, and treasures we had found. None of us mentioned anything important, and it was clear we were all walking on eggshells. After two hours, I decided it was time to head out. I gathered my people together and had a waiter let Aaliyah and her group know. "Alright everyone, I hope you enjoy the rest of the night but I am going to head out. I will see those of you during the Lost Continent trip later. The rest I will see you next time." It took us just under half an hour to collect everyone and get back to our apartment.

We decided to leave at first light the next day. There wasn't anything to keep us in the city and I didn't want to get involved with the other top ten members. I was doing a good job of not overreacting and I didn't want to fuck that up by getting mad at anyone. The sprint back to Amara was faster than the journey there. A few people had managed to gain a level through cultivation and some pills they purchased. Despite the minor improvements, it was still a brisk jog for me. We arrived at the city by the late afternoon and I let everyone separate to rest up while I "summoned my" council.

"Hey everybody. Glad to see you could make it." I said playfully.

"We literally walked up here together," Aaliyah replied while tapping her nails on the table. "Why couldn't this wait until tomorrow?"

"Because I am leaving tomorrow. I met some people who needed help to deal with a horde of monsters. Apparently, they have a governor's quest that makes them fight."

"I was wondering why you hadn't had to do such a thing," Desbera asked. "It is common that the System will turn a nearby settlement into a monster magnet to test the would-be ruler."

"Interesting. I bypassed any trial by being first in the tutorial. Either way, they asked me for help. It should be a good opportunity for our soldiers to get battle experience and boost their levels. I don't want to make anyone go though. Christopher, would you be willing to let people know? I am also unsure what the maximum number of people we could spare."

"I could do that. Do you want me to join you or Aaliyah?" He said and gestured to her.

"Doesn't matter to me. I want the array ready to activate the moment I leave. I don't think we will get attacked, but why not be safe? Whoever stays behind should activate it as soon as anything suspicious happens. I don't want to waste the energy if I don't have to but if it comes down to money or lives, we pick lives."

"In that case, I will assume there are no limits to the amount of money you want to spend?" When I shook my head, Christopher continued. "I think I should stay behind. Despite my lack of levels, I work a bit better with our soldiers."

"If you don't mind, I am going to stay here as well. You may enjoy the constant fighting, but I need a break. Especially since I don't know how low we will have peace." Aaliyah added.

"Suit yourself. No one has to come, but I am hoping to use this as a chance to reach level 35, so anyone who does join me should be prepared for a fight."

"Do you want me to procure some items in advance? I don't know what I can get on such short notice." Azariah replied.

"No, I should be in good enough shape with healing items. If you find anything interesting, go for it but right now we focus on building."

"How long do you expect to be gone? Are we looking at a few days or weeks?" Aaliyah asked.

I shrugged. "Can't say for sure, but keep your eye on the level list. Side note, it seems like the other top ten members, at least some of them are planning on allying. I am not sure if we should or not, but it's something to keep an eye on."

"Why don't you want to do it?" Keshaun asked. Speaking up for the first time in the meeting.

"I don't know if I get along with some of them. Masquerade and I do not fuck with one another. Amahle, Romulus, and Ebony Rose seem interesting enough. I can't say I trust them, though."

Keshaun chuckled dryly at that. "I doubt you can trust anyone, but you don't have to trust each other for an alliance. You have to trust that you each will do what's in their own best interest."

I shrugged. "For now, we will leave it as an option. We will probably discuss it more when we visit the Lost Continent. Speaking of which, I will be going on an expedition with the UWG and some of the others. Not sure how long I will be gone, but you should prepare for the worst."

Keshaun nodded. "You think they might take advantage of so many powerful people not being home? Could happen but they would need to be sure you couldn't just teleport back."

"We don't know what it takes to build a teleporter. If he just has to kill something, it would be pretty short, but if he needs a minimum amount of people," Aaliyah said while glancing at Desbera.

"I don't know for sure. Officially, the area has to be considered yours by the System. That could mean ending any threat to you, or it could mean holding the area for a certain amount of time." Desbera said.

"Regardless, we have to assume I will be gone for several weeks and maybe a month. Unless we can get some vehicles or flying items?" I raised an eyebrow and looked at Desbera and Azariah.

"Flying treasures do exist but you won't find any on the planet. You might if you go off-world or find a Demi-plane here." Azariah replied.

"Uh, Azariah, what's a Demi-plane?" I asked while squinting suspiciously at her.

"Ah Young Master, you can think of Demi-planes as miniature dimensions. They come into existence for a variety of reasons. Anything from a person constructing it to a piece of a crucial dimension breaking off. They tend to get attached to worlds or spots in space. Especially new worlds like this one. I believe you said this world was combined with others. You all should see some of them soon."

"What? I see how would I find these places?" I asked, hoping that I hadn't already missed an opportunity.

She shrugged. "They could be anything, though the most common entrance would be a hole or thinning in the space between here and that place. After that, there are arrays, spells, or the tao itself that can be used to stabilize an entrance."

"They are also precious. Some house materials not seen in millennia, while others could be palaces and treasure vaults." Azariah added.

"Right, right okay so new thing. Let's, let's keep an eye out for any of these things. Let people know about the potential dangers and that they don't have to explore them. I am willing to pay for the information as well." I replied.

"I will have the people who will join you ready to go tomorrow morning. I assume you will teleport this time? Not just sprint there."

I grinned. "Yes, they are a bit further away, so we will have to. Other than that, we can end our meeting here. Unless there is something anyone else wants to bring up?"

When no one said anything, I ended the meeting. Once I was alone, I let out a long sigh. I took an hour to get undressed and showered, and then I went into my cultivation chamber. I cultivated for around half a day before I turned my attention to the pearl. I decided to experiment with it for a bit and discovered that I had to physically touch it if I wanted the energy. Which meant leaving it in the cultivation chamber was a bit of a no-go. The lotus didn't help the situation either. It was clear that the two treasures were interacting with different things. The lotus healed and strengthened my soul while the pearl was being absorbed somewhere else.

I was forced to abandon the search after two hours as I was starting to question every inch of my channels. The whole thing was driving me crazy. Instead, I focused on drawing in energy and calming myself down. I reached my limit on the pearl's energy in less than an hour, but the distance between levels 31 and 32 would take me several days. After another eight hours, I decided to stop and get some sleep. The next day, I was getting myself ready when someone knocked on the door.

"We got fifty people who wanted to go," Christopher said as he entered the room. "We could increase it to 75 if you got the people who would go if asked."

I shook my head. "Only the people who want to go. Have them rested up and I will be down in twenty minutes."