As Kaden slowly consumed the cultivation materials he had gained, he also pondered what to do.
"I should set up things here so that everything will keep functioning while I'm gone", Kaden thought to himself as he directly ate yet another core. "As for what that is exactly, I'm not certain."
First of all, he did not know what awaited him inside No Man's Land. It might be a short trip ... or it might be a very long one. If it was a long one, he had yet not confirmed how long human slaves lived. It would be shame to lose control of Northwind family simply because he was not there to see things progress.
Then there was the matter of what he would make Northwinds do. Their normal noble businesses were acceptable, but nobles wasted a lot of wealth on pointless things. That useless part could be taken for him to use, but that, without preparations to move them to safer location, required him to be at the hidden hideout. He could not remain there forever.
Kaden had not originally planned the takeover anyway, but that he did not have much use for Northwinds currently did not mean he wouldn't have any in the future.
He even pondered for a moment a possibility that he would get rid of some of the remaining hunter slaves still hiding in Corand by sending them more communications amplifiers and have them go to Frika and set them up before they were eaten. Perhaps, communicating with, say, Kranor would produce some use and arrange him greater benefits from the phoenix clan for arranging such a useful setup for them to manipulate Corand.
He discareded this idea for the time being. At the moment, he did not require aid of the phoenix clan. He was also in good terms with them so there was no need to do anything about it.
There was simply too little to gain by arranging someone else to manage Northwinds and their businesses. They might even be used and destroyed along the way for some 'greater' gain that might not even be Kaden's own direct gain.
Even so, Kaden was still working to errode the foundation upon which the human empires and churches were built upon. It was a long term project and due to that there was no need to rush with it. Controlling the noble family was very useful and could even cause much more damage over long period of time than immediately.
Things were progressing well.
As he consumed the large pile of materials, he felt himself reaching towards the next limit. That being the advanced Lower Cari. The amount of materials had been basically enormous. Not even nobles bothered to consume that much wealth to advance themselves as high as Kaden was. Leaders like Fanin would just reach Condensation stage, but any further than that they did not try.
Yet, these were materials Kaden had basically stolen them. He had very little use for them other than cultivating. Why not use them then? It was not waste.
He still had some left by the time he felt he was at the limit. He added some extra layers of concealment into the hideout before advancing. He did not wish any sign of his presence to leak out.
Vengeance was also flaking pieces off itself. Kaden had used it much and it was also growing along with him.
Feeling pleased with all of the progress. Kaden began consuming more of the remaining materials than he did usually. He wished to break the limit.
A surge of mana flooded towards his core. It was getting filled and not all of the mana could get inside immediately. This was rather unusual considering how the core usually just consumed everything Kaden was throwing at it.
This was not unexpected, though. Kaden was reaching the higher end of Lower Cari and Condensation stage. There was a reason that this was the point where next greater stage was True Cari and True Magus. Physical body with its ability to contain mana was reaching its limit. No more mana could simply fit in.
Kaden reached advanced Lower Cari and Condensation stage right there and then. More mana could be fit in with the latest limit being broken.
"Next limit is the peak", Kaden said to himself. "There is no mana to be fit in anymore at that point. There is only the neccessary step to ascend into higher being by converting my body into mana and obtain a mana body. Unfettered by physical limits."
True Magi and True Cari were far beyond those below them. It was far greater difference than the differences between any of the lower stages.
"Where will I get the resources for that?" Kaden pondered. "Very few of those that reach the point reveal what they did to get there. Those that do, it is usually merely decades of slow progression."
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From advanced to peak Lower Cari and Condensation stage was greater jump than the previous ones. There was no way around it. Either find source of power or slowly progress. There was nothing else about it. If it was easy, there would be far more successes.
Kaden didn't concern himself with it. It would happen eventually, if he worked towards it. He looked at the remaining materials and consumed them. He could observe as much of the mana immediately went into his core, but a lot of it just floated about and was consumed slowly.
"Less and less can go in", Kaden confirmed the matter.
Now Kaden had matters to decide. Would he continue with his original plan or wait. Perhaps even more materials could be taken from Northwinds?
No. The obvious sources were exhausted. To take any more would reduce their ability to be an useful tool.
"Perhaps it is time to go to No Man's Land and see where the black pentagon leads me", Kaden thought. "Things should go well enough in Corand even if I'm gone with proper arrangements."
Since Northwinds held owned the land next to No Man's Land, they had quite a good records of it. While most things that occured there was random, some things could be predicted. Kaden made good use of this knowledge. His preparations were now better than on his first attempt.
With his plan revised, Kaden told Fanin to quietly arrange himself a safe way to No Man's Land. This involved moving all troops affiliated with the family just... move away. Start some random projects just out of Kaden's way to cause random passers-by take alternate route. All sorts easy things that wouldn't be noticed at least on a short notice and by that time Kaden was going to be already long gone.
If there happened to be anyone left on the way, it would be far less than previously and Kaden was well prepared with concealments that time. It would now work even better.
With Northwinds and rest of his slaves having their long term orders, things should proceed, even if he wasn't present. Connection would be lost surely upon entering No Man's Land.
A few days later once all the things were arranged, Kaden finally stepped out of the hideout. He had not come out even for a short time over the entire time he spent there.
Kaden immediately continued his original rush through the lands owned by Northwind family. With his arrangement, he did not even sense anyone even from a distance. He felt safe enough that he actually stopped after a while and took out the black pentagon.
"Still the right direction", Kaden muttered to himself and sensed the connection a bit more to ensure no mistakes occured. The connection felt even stronger and less vague. "The closer I get the more accurate it will become, it seems. Good, I will not have to wander around in No Man's Land any longer than neccessary."
Who even built anything inside No Man's Land? It would have to be a True Magus or an Archmagus. No one else would be able to spend long periods of time there without facing a great danger. In fact, what kind of construction would even be able to remain there?
No Man's Land was completely unstable. Even if a sections didn't just randomly disapear along with what was built there, there might as well be times any building material might just spontaenously become something unsuitable for construction. Maybe the land just rearranges itself and topples whatever was built there or simply moves it deeper or even to the edges. Your secret location might simply move itself out of No Man's Land for everyone to see or go so deep that it becomes difficult to get there anymore.
"Whoever can solve those problems is strong enought that wherever this leads will surely be worth my time", Kaden told himself. Then he frowned. "Unless someone has looted it already long ago."
As Kaden approached the No Man's Land, any signs of anyone ever being there lessened. No roads. No buildings. No signs of anyone, even beasts, living there. The horizon seemed to shimmer with colors. Even back at the greater remnant at Murika, Kaden had not been this close to No Man's Land. It was like looking at a mirage.
While it resembled remnants, it was very different from them. Mana was stale in remnants. Stuck there, doing nothing, being still, and yet generating unusual effects. No Man's Land was like... a sea of mana. Waves ripple about at all times. It was deep and one might easily lose themselves inside it. It was the opposite of stale, even if it seemed to generate similar unusual effects regardless.
Kaden stopped even closer to the edges as he took out his formations he had prepared to monitor his surroundings. He made even more observations. It actually resembled more the conditions he had seen inside the time rift that took him into the time of the cataclysm. If No Man's Land was a sea of mana, cataclysm had been a sea of mana during a major storm.
"I wouldn't be surprised, if No Man's Land... or lands, if one includes the one on the opposite side of the world, is what remains of the cataclysm to this day", Kaden said to himself as he finished setting up his gear. "I'm aware they are generated by the great remnant at the poles, but which came first? Perhaps the cataclysm was spewed out from them as they formed due to some reason. Perhaps the gods did it and then they conveniently came to order the world. If I become strong enough one day, I shall explore the polar great remnants."
That was far in the future. Kaden had greater concerns now. His preparations for the No Man's Land were complete.
He was now carrying the black pentagon out at all times and he had strapped a few formations on his front talons. He would always be able to sense where he was going and would be alarmed of any sudden changes in mana levels. He would see any danger coming he had the chance to react to.
He was also not going to risk flying. There were just as much, possibly even more, distortions in the air and they would be more difficult to see and less time to react.
Kaden hoped wherever the black pentagon was leading him was close. The deeper one went, the more danger it would be. For someone like Kaden, it would eventually be fatal... or at least equivalent. Worse fates than death were not uncommon in No Man's Land.
In fact, that was the more likely fate than any 'normal' death. There was a reason why very few people ever tried to explore No Man's Land. Perhaps if you were desperate, you might go in and hope to simply run into something valuable, but it was far more likely before you found anything, you wouldn't even have time to regret your decision ... or you have more time to regret than you can handle.