I raised my arms just in time to block the fist that shot for me. I took the hit and rolled its momentum to create distance between me and the boss monkey. I had to release my killing domain to stop losing my mind but without the dog, I wasn't worried. The monkey had several scars going across its body. Scars that included a nasty cut across the center of its chest. I smiled at it and cracked my neck.

The monkey let out a scream of rage before slamming both fists into the ground. Before it could activate whatever ability created the poison it was attacked on all sides. Three psychic blades slammed into its head. A golden spear punctured its chest while a thin rapier stabbed through its throat. On top of all that over a dozen attacks of various elements fell on it like rain.

"Well, that was a bit anticlimactic." I chuckled to myself and turned toward the others. Amahle was in the worst shape with two new burns on the right side of her face. A portion of her hair had been bitten off. Romulus wasn't much better. His resplendent armor was dented in several places but they both stood.

"Where were you." Amahle was the first to speak. "We could have used the help at the beginning."

"I was busy. I found something interesting further in and claimed it. I also found an Aztec temple. I was able to buy a teleporter so we can get back to the other continent-"

I was interrupted before I could finish my Romulus. "Wait. You have contact with the government?"

"Not quite, I have set up a way for us to go to Amara though I don't know if you all would be able to teleport to your cities."

"So what do we need to do? It would be good to let the researchers get somewhere safe. Even if they don't leave the continent."

I nodded and gestured to the cave. "Come on. The journey shouldn't be too difficult. I think between this battle and the last one every monster near here should be dead." I paused and thought about that for a moment and then shook my head. "Outside of the snake."

"What snake?" Amahle asked. Her eyes darting the trees around us.

"Don't worry about it. I am sure it's fine. Nothing at all to worry about" I laughed as we stepped back into the cave. The researchers had gathered together against the furthest wall. They looked like half of them were ready to make a last stand with stones and sticks as weapons. While the other half looked like they would die if a shadow moved too quickly. I clapped my hands together and smiled. "Alright so here's what we are about to do."

It took nearly an hour for us to get everyone ready to go. Most of that time had nothing to do with travel. It was spent convincing everyone that it was safe to go outside and that the cave was not the safest place. The whole process was so irritating that I was tempted to just knock everyone out and drag them along. That probably wouldn't have made me any friends though.

"Romulus can you and Alexander? I am thinking of using the same formation as last time with Paul. Amahle can take up a position within the civilians."

"I can speak for and take care of myself thank you," Amahle said as she approached us. Her voice only had a hint of venom in it which was a slight improvement over what we had been dealing with. "I don't need-" I held up a hand to stop her.

"You are hurt. You didn't use any Tao during the last battle which makes me think you can't right now. Your movement speed is the slowest of all of us. If you don't count Paul, he is several levels lower than you." Based on the look on her face she didn't agree nor did she like my assessment but there was no time.

"Take a healing pill as well. Once we set out I want to get there all at once. After that, you are free to do as you please." We went over several smaller details before we set off. I took a position about thirty feet ahead of the group. Which was closer than I would have liked but it was a compromise. It guaranteed that solo fights would be unlikely but that was fine.

It gave me the chance to examine my dantian. It turned out my hunch was correct, the nub's energy drain was based around the amount of energy I had. As soon as the kill energy started to flow it drained even more. It wasn't bad enough to stop me from leveling but it would slow the process a lot. Unless I could find another source of energy. The second fruit felt like it was burning a hole in my proverbial pocket as we walked.

When we arrived at the temple we found Christopher and a small army of my people standing guard. There was a little over fifty of them. All carrying old-world weapons. They didn't quite look like a trained military, more like an apocalyptic raider gang but it made me swell with pride.

"So how are we doing?" I asked Christopher as a pair of warriors led the noncombatants into the temple.

"Fine so far. We are looking to purchase a defensive array to bolster our position. After that, we are going to have Bravo and Charlie teams set up a perimeter guard."

Silence stretched between us as I stared at the man. The unspoken question was clear but it took several seconds before I got my answer. "I got some military books from the library and figured it would be a good idea to start reading."

I chuckled and shook my head. "Well if it helps I don't mind you having some fun. I am not sure if military techniques will be as useful against monsters but if I come across an army base I will get you what I can. Have Desbera or Azariah arrived yet?"

He nodded. "They are inside. Azariah has been coming and going though. She said something about trying to close a deal. We received a messenger from the UWG. They want access."

I nodded. "That's fine. I figured they would ask about it eventually. Let them in. I don't want to be in charge of the expedition and it's their people that are still missing."

"Speaking of that are you going to search for those people?"

I nodded. "Yeah, someone should and I want to explore more of the continent anyway. Plus I want to see if I can find the people who blew up the boat. Any evidence that points to the Commonwealth would make it easier for me to go and deal with it."

"And by deal with it, you mean..."

I sighed and shrugged my shoulders. "Don't know yet. All of this started with me killing their people. I don't think killing more of them would solve the issue."

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

We went back and forth on a few more things before I decided to get back to work. I left Christopher to organize the defense while I went in search of my two information people. Thankfully they were both standing next to the teleporter.

"Greetings young Master. We were told that you had something we could help you with?" Desbera asked with a smile.

I nodded to both of them and gestured for them to follow. I led them down a side path and into a dark room. I pulled out a flashlight from my ring. "Alright, so I need to know about a treasure I found. I got two of them and I've already eaten one." I summoned the box from my ring and opened it. As soon as I did the fruits energy spilled out like a tidal wave.

I cocked my head to the side when I felt it wash over me. It wasn't as strong. For a moment I had done something wrong but based on the greed in both of their faces. The problem was with me. "Ah, Young Master please cover that. The Divine Fruit is a powerful treasure." Desbera and Azariah said together.

I sealed the box up and placed it within the ring. "So you know what it is?"

"I do. Its a rare treasure that is said to only grow on new worlds like this. No one is sure what it takes to grow one and it is incredibly rare." Azariah replied.

"They are sometimes called the fruits of providence. The exact benefits of the fruit are unknown. Or to be more accurate they are different for each person. Very few are willing to explain what they received."

I nodded along and explained what happened after I ate my fruit. I wasn't sure if I was going to explain what the actual benefits were when the time came but this was fine. When I finished I asked the question that bothered me. "Should I eat the second one?"

"I would not do so. There aren't enough documented cases of people who have consumed the fruits to know for sure. That being said many treasures are toxic to consume in large amounts. I would assume that this fruit would count amongst their number."

I sighed and nodded. "I was starting to think that was true. My body didn't seem as interested when I opened the box just then. So I will need to let it passively gain energy?"

"I can keep an eye out for any other treasure that could help hasten whatever changes are being made. There are usually a few treasures like that in circulation. It might be a bit harder since we don't know what Tao the benefits are based around."

"Would it be better for me to wait until I find that out or just go with unattuned items?"

"I wouldn't wait. There is no guarantee that you will find something that works before then. You might spend decades waiting for the energy to grow." Desbera added.

"Alright, in that case, I am leaning toward adding it to Trey's gift bag. Any reason I shouldn't do that?"

"Not exactly though I would caution you. Most people do not appreciate things given freely. It might be better to have some requirements that he has to reach before giving them over."

I was going to refute that but I didn't. She had a point and I still wasn't sure what I wanted to do with him. I couldn't just hand him every single spare resource I had. What if I needed to trade it? Or what if I needed it for any variety of things? "Fair enough. For now, store it for me. I need to empty my ring before I go back out. I want to give him enough to get started with cultivation. After that, he will have to make his own choices."

I pulled out the box and handed it to Desbera. Next, I started removing the various beast corpses. Azariah went through all of them and picked out the ones that could be worth selling. Which was around a third. Thanks to my spells the corpses were in surprisingly good shape. The ones left behind would either not sell due to being common or be better used as food so I called Christopher over.

Once that was done I caught up with Amahle, Romulus, and Alexander who hadn't gone through the portal. "So what's next for you three? Are you staying here or heading out?"

"We are going to try and grab some levels and hunt for treasures." Romulus was the first to speak up. I was going to suggest we go as a group but when I saw the pained expression on Alexander's face it wasn't hard to make an assumption.

"Would it be fair for me to assume that you all don't want me to come with you?"

Alexander nodded. "It isn't that we don't want to group with you but you are kind of like a star. It's nearly impossible to not get drawn into your circle when you fight. We would just end up watching you. On top of that, the loot sharing would be difficult."

I chuckled at that and nodded my agreement. "What about you Amahle?"

"I am going to take a few days to fully recover. After that, I am going to hunt around her. I plan to travel outward in a slow circle."

I nodded and couldn't find fault with the ideas. It also meant I was free to push as deep as I wanted. "I've instructed my guards to let you all travel freely. The UWG will start to filter in as well. If you need anything feel free to ask."

We discussed a few more things including a formal alliance between the three of us. It was a bit too early for it to be concrete but the basics were there. Which was more than enough for what I needed. I purchased another bottle of healing pills before settling into my cultivation chamber. I spent an hour with both the egg and pearl which gave me a new data point. The nub in my head didn't absorb the pearl's energy.

I still had no way to use that energy. The discovery didn't amount to much but it was something. The improved environment helped me gain much more spiritual energy and I was pretty sure I would start leveling again. Assuming I didn't get into another mass battle. It wasn't until the moon was high in the sky that I stepped through the portal and returned to the continent. The guard rotations were set and it was strangely peaceful. It was closer to a camping trip than a base on a hostile world. Not that it mattered to me in any way.

I left the temple and headed north as fast as I could. The forest felt different in the middle of the night. Not quite more dangerous but less welcoming. If the forest felt like a welcoming battlefield this felt like a forbidden garden. I considered letting my aura go free but my gut said not to. Instead, I stopped running and took a seat underneath a large oak tree. I circulated my cultivation manual for a few minutes to calm myself.

It took me nearly twenty minutes to feel what I was looking for. It was so faint it could barely be considered a tug. I opened my eyes and looked toward the North East. The feeling wasn't as strong as the one that led me to the Divine Fruit but it was there. I smiled and expanded my Tao field into a 3ft bubble. I didn't think it would protect me from any powerful beasts but it would slow down an ambush.

It took two more hours of running before something fun happened. A blur of black in the corner of my vision caused me to leap backward. Narrowly avoiding a head the size of a sedan as it crashed into the ground. It was a jet-black constrictor snake. I was pretty sure it wasn't the same one from before but it didn't matter. The serpent turned to face me and I unleashed my killing intent in a single bomb-like burst.

The serpent's eyes widened but before it could run three psychic blades slammed into its head. I summoned a real sword from my ring and sliced the beast's head off before it hit the ground. The fight, if you could call it that lasted a second. "Now that was fun." I flexed my fist but I wasn't sure if I had somehow become stronger or if the snake was just weak.

Either way, I didn't bother to collect the body. Mostly because I wasn't interested in cooking burned big ass snake over a campfire. I also grabbed a few meals before leaving. I resumed my run through the forest until I came across a section of forest that was wrong. This reminded me a bit of the Everglades or at least the pictures I had seen of them. The ground was wet and it was raining.

To be more exact it was raining in that specific area. I held my hand across the divided half expecting the water to be some sort of illusion. It wasn't, it was very real and very cold. "How the fuck did the System change the climate like this?"

I was no meteorologist but this should be impossible. The storm clouds above just refused to move over to this part of the forest. I released a bit of mental and spiritual energy. Just to test if there was some invisible barrier but I couldn't feel anything. I conducted a couple more tests but as far as I can tell the water was fine just cold. I used my Tao field as a makeshift umbrella and stepped into the swampy terrain. It was much harder to move on the wet ground, which slowed me down.

Despite the weather, the area had a certain beauty to it. It was more mysterious and it made me want to search under every rock. Explore every dark corner. I continued following the sensation until I received a prompt from the System. One that made me laugh.

Fate Breaker(Area Quest): Prevent the Chitonalis from evolving into a Ferrilid Reward: Tao Treasure