Michael's resurrection was initially only information but soon it turned into a kind of zeal. The child of plane was seen as a leader among all the humans. The entire human race was standing in support of the newly risen hero. While the other races were not really clamouring to support Michael, the reactions were not that bad. The commoners too had seen the visual phenomenon of Michael's supposed resurrection. Thus, the story was easily believed and propagated. The commoners were swept by this happening. To interfere with life and death was something that only the plane-will could do. Thus, Michael's title as the child of plane was accepted among almost all other races as well.
This happening was not unseen by the experts but they could not deny the fact. The saints who had personally watched it happen started telling the stories of Michael's godly resurrection. This caused more and more people to consider him somewhat sacred. They did not see Michael as a mere human anymore but someone who was beyond racial boundaries.
This had exactly the effect that Michael had thought it would. He was already in a position where many races were willing to join his banner. There was only one more thing left to do - and that was to prove his strength. As long as he could do so, he would emerge as a powerful leader and different races would follow behind him. For this, he needed to begin the second part of his plan - the plan to become a hero part 2.
Michael took hold of the military base which was pretty much as developed as a command centre. There were many saints that had joined after Michael's resurrection. While there were only three perfect-realm experts at the moment, the number of saints reached more than 20. This was a powerful base already and with Michael present here as well, even immortal-slayers would not be able to take it down.
Michael's parents had a very ballistic reaction after seeing him. Even if they knew that their son was alive all along, how could they not be worried? Their cultivation was at the peak-saint-realm, and they were the current king and queen of humans. Another good news awaiting him was that his sister had made a breakthrough and reached the saint realm as well. The Rageberg family today was so secure that even in his past life, it would have taken many years for the devils' invasion to pose an existential threat. His brother was currently training constantly as an elite member of the devil-slayers. While he too had been worried about all this, he had decided to preserve through his training. After all, every day, he could feel himself getting stronger. His martial arts and combat standards were already very good. If he had more power, he would be able to support the family in need.
Ramsus also met with Michael but he was extremely depressed. He had considered it his failure that he could not protect his lord in battle. While he was right in feeling so, there was nothing he could have done. He was only in early-emperor realm. There was no way for him to truly stand against powerful elder-assassins of The Deces. Michael tried to cheer him up but it did not have much effect.
Michael started making detailed plans on the same day with the rest of the elders - Mubal, Karslon, Reez, Jerome, Paul and his parents about how he should proceed. He decided to show some of his powers to these people. After all, anyone needs trustworthy allies, even immortal-slayers. Nothing needs to be said about their reactions. Reez, Paul and Jerome understood instantly that Michael had been the immortal-expert they felt before. His parents were extremely proud and even felt relieved. As Michael became more powerful, he would be able to deal with his enemies and other dangers. Michael also explained how he could bring out such power without the required cultivation.
It left most of them in shock. But they also understood that people could not use the same method as Michael. Karslon became even more convinced about some higher power's involvement, though he did not say it.
Michael ultimately ended the meeting leaving all the elders shocked and excited.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grimjoy wanted to meet this child of plane and judge for himself what made him dangerous. Was the plane-will really supporting him? Thus, he had decided to meet with him personally. If this kid was truly protected by the plane-will, he would have to yield to him as would everyone else. But as much as Grimjoy felt some lingering danger form the kid, he could not believe that the plane-will was truly protecting him. But then, why were his senses malfunctioning? He could not figure it out yet. Thus, he decided to use a rare treasure. It was known as aura stone. It was a tool used by The Deces assassins to find their targets who were in hiding. It basically worked in the following way - they would use the aura of the target to charge this stone. The aura could come from the person themselves or from their belongings. Then, you used this stone on other people to find if they had contact with the target.
Grimjoy charged the stone with the aura of the plane-will. Then, he headed for the newly developing city of humans - Rageberg city. Though there was a huge illusion formation around the area, it was not activated at the highest level. Thus, he reached the palace without much difficulty. But he could feel that any expert who had not mastered his level of stealth would be discovered by the formation and would be trapped. He went inside the castle and reached Michael's bedchamber quietly. He could see Michael looking at some map with different parts highlighted. It seemed like the child of plane was going to wage war.
Michael turned around but did not see him. It was expected as even immortal-experts were incapable of finding him in stealth. He undid his stealth then. He was expecting to see Michael's reaction in shock and horror. After all, previously there were many who supported him and Grimjoy would not have been able to kill him even if he tried. Karslon and Astang were there along with many other experts. But here, there was no one to stand beside him. But to his surprise, Michael did not show anything more than surprise.
Grimjoy secretly brought out the aura-stone and the results confirmed his logic - there was no aura of the plane-will on Michael. The aura from his reincarnation would have evaporated by now. Thus, if he was under the protection of plane-will, it would have shown on the aura stone. But Grimjoy was still not convinced. Because the sense of danger was still there.
He smiled and said:
> Michael Rageberg, you are already a legend. The child of plane whom even death can not defeat. I came to meet you today because I wanted to improve our relations. You can tell me of one request and I will grant it.
>
> If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
>
> Michael : Lord Grimjoy, you praise me too much. I may have come back but I am nothing special. The plane-will is not my nanny so the title of child of plane is definitely not true. It is exaggeration by the masses.
>
> Grimjoy : But for a flame, you need sparks. You have indeed received kindness from the plane as there is nothing else that can overturn life and death.
>
> Michael : Indeed. Lord Grimjoy, I do have a request. Please teach me your stealth art without any restrictions.
Grimjoy's felt quite amused by this kid. He was asking for his legacy without any restrictions. Even legacy disciples were not given such right. Grimjoy said:
> Michael, you don't understand what a request means? You can not ask inappropriate things. I am already giving you lot of face by accepting your behaviour. Do you not think that I can kill you every time you resurrect.
>
> Michael : Lord Grimjoy, you could not kill me the first time you tried and you can not kill me today. In fact, if you do not hand over the technique, you will die today.
>
> Grimjoy : Is that so? Who will kill me?
>
> Michael : Me, of course!
Before Grimjoy could react, he felt the world around him change. It was as if the entire was forming into a different one. Soon, the entire room changed into fields and grasslands. The illusion array was formed in such a way that to get out of the illusion, one would need to understand the intricacies of the formation itself. The other method would be to use brute force. Even Grimjoy could guess that he was not strong enough to break this formation. This formation had definitely messed with his sense of direction. If he tried to move straight, he would instead be going in circles.
This was the reason this base was one of the safest places in the plane for Michael and his family.
Grimjoy became serious and his immortal energy started flowing around him. Even if he could not truly feel where any attack would come from, as long as the attacker came close enough, he would kill them.
But contrary to his expectations, Michael appeared in front of him. Grimjoy immediately attacked but his attack just phased through Michael as if he was a projection. Grimjoy became more serious. It seemed Michael was not really attacking. But who would he be attacked by?
Michael again appeared some distance away. He said:
> Lord Grimjoy, you may be quite powerful but you keep on overestimating yourself. I am already very angry at you. I killed the two rats you sent after me. I will kill the Atrexias as well - last one of them. But you are important for the future. The invasion of devils will come. I am not lying. But that does not mean you can aim your sword at me and not pay up!
Grimjoy's anger went through the roof. He felt as if he was being looked down on. Since when had he fallen so low that a child could extort him? He asked Michael
> Oh! Kid, I am indeed unable to break through this formation. But I am not in much danger here. If Karslon came over here, even he would at most be able to die with me. Who else can you ask to fight me?
>
> Michael : Oh, Grimjoy. You are still not seeing the truth. You should have the sharpest intuition in the entire plane. Yet you can not see the danger you are in!
As Michael said so, his aura started rising. It reached the peak-saint realm, before breaking through to perfect-realm but kept on increasing. It reached the peak-perfect-realm and even broke through into the immortal realm. His soul fluctuations also reached the immortal-realm level. At this point, the feeling of danger that Grimjoy had felt reached its peak.
He saw Michael's aura and felt that there was indeed a chance he would be the one to die if he fought here while trapped in this formation! While he could not truly understand if this was due to the illusion or some special trick, the sense of danger he had developed as the best assassin told him that his power was very real. But that was not the end! Michael's aura increased again! It increased like crazy and soon, it reached a level beyond Karslon and Kevin - it reached beyond Astang and reached the level of Igor!
Grimjoy was simply left stunned. Even among the immortal-slayers, Igor was known to be extremely powerful, mostly because of his bloodline. His brawn was the highest among the immortal slayers and in terms of brute force, no one in Aterna could compare to him, except for Goliath. But now, it seemed there was another one! Now, looking at Michael, he felt that this kid was the most formidable adversary to have. His physical power was already oppressive. But his soul power seemed to have gone beyond all bounds Grimjoy thought possible. Also, the power of his soul was utterly destructive and carried the power of death. Grimjoy knew that even with soul-guard, he would be crushed by the opponent. Never had he felt so powerless!
Grimjoy was powerful, yes. But his power lied in his ability to vanish in front of everyone's eyes. Even immortals would not be able to feel him! Thus, he was an extremely fearsome enemy to have. But right now, he was trapped in the illusion formation. As long as he was there, Michael who was controlling the formation would be able to locate him easily. This was a situation where Grimjoy's powers were being negated and Michael's were being heightened. There was no way Grimjoy could escape. He would definitely die and Michael perhaps would not even be gravely injured.
Grimjoy knew that he had stepped into a trap.
But there was nothing he could do. He said:
> Are you not scared to be my enemy?
>
> Michael : It is you who should be afraid of me. I am not someone you can contend against. Let me tell you something - I am not hiding my cultivation or anything. I am only in early-saint-realm. I am also only 18 years old. I have too much room to grow and I can still crush you here. In the future, I will become much more powerful, sufficient to crush you anywhere. You should chose your enemies wisely. Go against me and I shall erase you entirely.
Michael had not been domineering in his past life. He was pretty much one who bullied the weak and feared the strong. To threaten an immortal-slayer, in his past life Michael would never have dared. But after the devil's torture, his very nature had changed!
His dao had already started forming. But when he underwent the life and death calamity and especially when he killed shadow-1, his dao made huge progress. His dao had taken form in his conscient. This was the much famous dao-seed realm. Now, his nature that was generally hidden was coming forth.
This gave Michael a very unique aura. This aura seemed to merge with all the powers under his command and was making them more powerful. It was as if he was the emperor of heaven and earth!
Grimjoy could indeed feel it, even though it was extremely faint at the moment. Grimjoy's sensitive intuition was telling him - this was an emperor in making! An emperor who would rule over all! An emperor who would rule over life and death!
Grimjoy smiled bitterly. It seems that he had made a very disadvantageous transaction with Alice Atrexia. Who could contest against this guy? Ultimately, he sighed and taught his unique stealth art to Michael. Only then was he freed from the formation.
Grimjoy left before giving Michael another chance. He escaped as if he was running from a fierce beast. Only when he exited the forbidden forest did he breathe in relief. He looked back towards the direction of the castle and shuddered.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael was not scared of anyone in the plane except Grimjoy. This was the truth. Grimjoy was known to be the best assassin. Michael had seen the terror of The Deces. This was the first time his All Seeing Eyes had been deceived. Michael was not really expecting to learn Grimjoy's legacy. It was definitely going to be extremely hard to master. But the least he needed to do was upgrade his All Seeing Eyes so that his perception would not be tricked.
Thus, he started to comprehend Grimjoy's stealth art. It was known as - Formless Concealment Art.
He also gave the art to Mubal to train his shadow-eyes agents.
Thousands of kilometres across, Ashley was barely suppressing her cultivation to the peak-emperor realm. But she knew that it was not going to be this way forever.