193. The Elusive Dao
Greynam Intelligence Headquarters
It is a windy evening and six high ranking Terrestrial Elven police officers are currently sitting on rounded conference table and in front of them is big projected screen of an empty office.
They have been waiting for more than an hour now and if this was a normal meeting, some of them should have had run out of patience but the person who initiated the summons is not a person to be offended as this person has the power to order their execution with a simple command.
“Are you sure the connection is not broken?”
“I’m sure there is nothing wrong. Should I request we switch to another comms line?”
“No. We wait.” There is worry on the colonel’s face as he stared at the screen. Ever since he got the position fifty years, this is the first time and probably the only time Litheka Branch of Lunares Magi School had initiated contact. And while it is not of disaster emergency, he still treated the order of highest importance.
While he was thinking if he should call one of their field agents near the school, a person finally showed up on the screen causing everyone to stand up and saluted.
“Bring in your secretary and except for her, the rest may leave.” A middle-aged Elven with dim golden glowing eyes commanded.
“Understood, Elder.” There was confusion on everyone’s faces but they still left the room without any question and after a few seconds, an Elven woman who looks in her late twenties entered the vacated room.
“Should I call you sister or miss secretary?”
“If you do this again, I will quit and move further east.” The woman moved towards the front seat and grabbed a folder near the table then removed her glasses revealing the same eyes as the headmaster, an identity belonging to a superior race called Moon Elves.
“Ha ha ha. Give great grandpa a visit before he dies.” The person on the conference screen is none other the current headmaster of Litheka Branch of Lunares Magi School. Earlier this morning, he was away on a trip but someone apparently visited his school during the worst possible time.
The headmaster took out a small wooden box then retrieved a bluish rounded succulent leaf then presented it on the screen.
“This quality of tea is not something even the main branch can easily produce. It was left behind as a gift by a human. Tell me about him.”
“His name is Clay Nera Arshua nick-named “Kou Kowu” by Ebicar Country. First appeared at Braria Country as a normal and non-combat citizen and he’s a mystery.” The woman closed the folder and stared at his brother.
“Your office can’t possibly settle for such information, did it?” The headmaster asked a rhetorical question. He already knew they are dealing with a far eastern mage and since Ludunia did not really have organized census, one can easily fake their identity when travelling to other lands.
“He was enroute to Nine Province country and at that time, a suspected Class A Criminal organization called Ferdel Brotherhood had been exterminated. According to investigations, their hideout had been incinerated by at a Tier Seven Fireball. They have far too many enemies to determine who the culprit is but five days later, our guy showed up in an underground market and traded properties belonging to Ferdel. It’s more than enough lead but going after someone and risk being decimated by a Tier Seven Spell, even my boss would choose not to not get involved.”
“And?”
“He went to Ebicar Country and used the wealth from his loot to hire groups of historians to retrieve all transcripts related to a forgotten Druid Race including their bible. Ebicar has more vicious rule when dealing with criminals especially terrorists so tracing our guy’s funds was easy and I don’t need to explain how the information from Braria and Nine Province were passed over.”
“I’m not good with listening to stories. Did you figure out what he’s after?”
“During his stay at Ebicar, he spent well over twelve million zenies tracing translation of the words “Kou and Kowu”. It is an ancient dialect which meanings can be interchanged. Kou means higher power or powers of god while Kowu means powers derived from cultivation and Spirit Essence Awakening.
With his money, he commissioned random people to search every Druidic Shrines and eighteen months after, he left without causing any troubles. Then here he is on Elven lands.
This morning, he visited your school to obtain a token and proof of being a Defense Reservist and a few hours ago, he proactively asked a mission. Do you know where he wanted deployed?”
“Let me guess, near Bellvid Shrine?” The headmaster reckoned thinking Clay is after a well preserved Druidic Shrine within the country.
“That’s what we thought as well but guess what? He wanted us to know that he will be moving at the border to the south close to the Dwarfen Settlements. As to which specific location, he did not disclose.”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
The headmaster attentively listened and is growing confused. There were initial information given to him about Clay suggesting that this person may be a 5TH Circle Mage so upon hearing that Clay is searching for “Kou and Kowu”, he thought Clay would be retracing the origins of Elemental Laws for better understanding of this profound power so he guessed Clay is after Bellvid Shrine.
“Anything else he asked?” The headmaster quizzically asked.
“Tens seedlings of common Muraka Pepper.”
There was moment of silence as the headmaster seemed he is being pranked upon so he repeated what he just heard.
“Common Muraka Pepper?”
“Yes.”
“You mean common Muraka Pepper that only sprouts on Muraka cow dung?”
“Yes. Common Muraka Pepper. I’m not stuttering am I?”
“Ha ha ha. No, that’s not it.” The countenance on the headmaster’s face changed. The fact that Nine Province and Ebicar country did not further investigate and even allowed dirty money to be freely used means they are dealing with a powerhouse or rather they don’t want to risk provoking someone especially someone who might be from Erindal.
While there is an unwritten law that mages above 2ND Circle are not allowed to meddle in the affairs of secular world, that did not mean they are not allowed to set foot and go wherever they wish to.
Normally, powerhouses would just command countries within their jurisdiction to satisfy their mundane affairs but if they suddenly show up in person means it is a serious matter. And tracing the movements of the human they are investigating so far, Clay had not made any move that would drastically impact the secular world prompting mages’ intervention.
There is a possibility that the report of a Level 7 Spell was faked but from the report of the vice-headmaster who personally witnessed Clay, the method Clay used to conjured a simplified Air Bullet Spell was intricately and precisely adjusted to knock one of their best student who specializes in Body Reinforcement Spell which can only mean that Clay may indeed be a 5TH Circle or higher.
The problem is, even with all the information they have gathered, it is still unclear what Clay is after.
“Do me a favor. If he contacts anyone again for anything, let me be the first to know.” With the growing internal strife in the mainland, the headmaster is worried Clay’s presence may further cause turmoil. He can only hope for the best.
“Those tea leaves, can you send me a few samples?”
The headmaster looked at her sister one more time then said, “I remember you saying you hate men treating you like you can’t buy your own stuff so, no! But if you come home my dear sister, your brother shall spoil his little Elstre. Goodbye!”
Zzzzkk!
The monitor turned black causing the secretary furious.
Meanwhile, Clay is lying with his hands on his head on roof of huge transport truck currently headed to the southern part of Greynam. Clay is aware that someone may be investigating him but not to the extent where the higher ups of every country he travelled to would be involved.
Back on earth, he knew terrorists existed but things like Anti-Money Laundering Law that tracks and cracks down dirty money is plain jargon to him. Had he known the wealth he looted from that gang he accidentally met, then he would probably had incinerated everything to the ground.
Almost two years ago, he was supposed to travel north towards Nine Province Country and having no money, he chose to travel on foot but one night during his flight, the rain poured he had to land and take shelter but who would have thought he landed on some gang’s lair.
Similar to the bandits he encountered back at Gar Wahger when he was looking for a cure for his beast transformation, the gang had a few human female captives who were kept alike wild animals.
Clay did not plan on becoming a hero and was about to leave but unexpectedly, they were sheltering a 3RD Circle Mage eager to kill him.
He knew how powerful his spells are when derived from his 200,000TH year old Beast Essence but that mage had an Awakened Spirit Essence so he had to engage in the fight seriously and not take chances.
Clay still does not understand why can’t mages of this world just can’t manifest their mana like he does and needs to cast it in a form of spell. But regardless of how they fight, he can only cover his tracks and bombarded the mountain with a Tier 7 Fire Ball spell in an attempt to cover his involvement.
So far, for the past two years, his sole focus was uncovering Dao.
The first time he felt the presence of this power was the Spatial Tear back when he was introduced to Kraus and since then, it hid itself like a drop of water mixed within an ocean. Clay is certain the traces of energy he felt is not the Dao he is familiar with but instinct is telling him they have similar destructiveness in terms of prowess.
The past two years, he hired a few cultivators and scholars claiming to be experts and to his surprise, it led him to discover more clues of the ever elusive Dao. Using the wealth he looted from the gang he exterminated, he commissioned all sorts of historians, then later obtained a solid lead.
This world has its own ancient bible written by the Druid race and similar to earth’s Christian bible, they have their own version of Adam and Eve but unlike earth’s bible, the first couple went on a quest to seek god’s forgiveness and in their journey, they uncovered ways to acquire god-like powers.
It is unclear what this god-like power is and is even more confusing as the Druids would use the words “Kou and Kowu” to describe them. Their context in many passages can almost be always interchanged and from the hundreds of manuscripts he requested to be translated, there were only three instances where the words “Kou and Kowu” meant differently.
First is the ancient Druidic bible talking about Rakath and Everath. Second is the legend of Ushkam who defeated a devil using a higher level of dark powers and lastly, the Beast Essence Awakening itself.
With the help of historians he commissioned, he came to a conclusion that the first two may mean a literal higher version of mana like Heavenly Qi from his previous lives which is a hundred time stronger than Spiritual Qi. But the third one had resemblance on the book rewarded to him by the outer hall master of Erindal.
Since he could not obtain Dao again in the same unconventional manner, his only choice is to conduct a few tests.
From his understanding of Dao can be transferred like it can to a World Tree, Naraheim Enlightenment Tree, Essence Flames and even pills and while it is a long shot, he has a feeling that the Druidic methods of Beast Essence Awakening is following the same pattern.
And to confirm this theory, he needed to replicate the Shrines of the past.
Unfortunately, there is not a lot of places he can test this experiment except building a simple shrine near the leyline zones where Spatial Tear would randomly burst out.