The entire continent of Asa had expanded, adding a series of more landscapes that stretched on and on, even the entire planet seemed to have expanded and Moyo as he floated high above the continent, taking it in saw the potential devastation that could occur if care wasn’t taken in his domain. Dungeons were springing like ants in a new area Moyo guessed was the calamity zone Samantha talked about, gently floating down to the dry humid area that was slowly becoming a dessert, he shrouded his core down to silver while putting on a mask.
The landscape while filled with dungeons that swirled consistently of different ranks had a multitude of people moving back and forth between dungeons. Different banners floated in the air, all of which he had no idea of who or what group they represented. Glancing around, he began briskly walking towards the dungeons in the distance when he came upon a checkpoint manned by two iron ranked experts who were checking something the ascenders each held before they were allowed across.
Not willing to go through the hassle of the guards who wouldn’t even know who he was simply because of the shroud he had on himself coupled with the mask he had on, he opened a pathway and felt a restriction seized on to the pathway that he generated with silver ranked energy. Alarms blared and he saw iron rankers of a path that no doubt gave them extra flight abilities due to the way they zipped around hone in on his location, locking down reality around him with their realms in a bid to keep him locked.
For safety issues and his nature, he preferred to keep inconspicuous, further shrouding himself down to iron, wincing at the powerlessness he could feel. The guards wearing green robes and carrying long spears with green gemlike blades at the edge surrounded him, three in number. Eyeing them as they pointed their spears at him, he raised his hands up, the ascenders who were around pausing at the show,
“halt ascender, state your name and sect!, how were you able to use silver ranked construct to open a pathway?” the one who Moyo just realized held a spear made of gold body spoke,
Moyo guessed he was the leader of the group,
“I have no idea what you speak of” Moyo casually replied,
The guard next to their leader had apparently heard enough, growling as he went on the attack even as his captain barked at him to halt. Moyo moved with precision born of training, noting irritably that the guard was severely lacking in training, relying on simply his iron ranked ability to best Moyo in a fight. Two moves later and the guard laid sprawling on the ground, disposed of his spear and groaning. The other guards took him seriously at that point, the captain and the last one seemed to gather intent through their spears as they considered him dangerous enough to use lethal force.
He narrowed his eyes and flexed his hands even as they attacked, commands echoing from their mouths with their infant authorities that dared raise its head at him,
“PIERCE!” they both commanded,
Moyo slapped the authority carrying intent attack away like a pesky fly before whispering a command to hold. Ashe locked them in place so hard, it took Moyo a few seconds to realize they couldn’t even breathe as well. With a sigh he released them and grabbed the both of them before using a step of Ogun to appear in the air, the guards staring eyes wide at such blatant display of power,
“Now that we are away from the eyes of the public, I believe we can have a meaningful discussion?” Moyo asked,
They nodded all too eagerly, the touch of his Ashe still vivid in their minds and bodies to try anything stupid. Satisfied with the response he was getting, Moyo released them, watching them float back from him,
“pardon us, but are you from the great sects?, if yes, then perhaps you should had informed us of your visit” the captain said,
Moyo guessed they meant either some notable sect that styled themselves the leaders of this land, or the actual main sects that made up the clan. He preferred to go with the latter,
“I am, sentinels” he answered,
Seeing as they were the only main body aura sect in the clan, Moyo thought it wise to use them, no doubt the guards would check to confirm, but by then he should had been gone and whatever ascender they sent to confirm the claim leaving puzzled at the issue. The captain nodded, bowing at the waist,
“Pardon us, I am captain Rark of the green spears sect” the captain named Rark said,
“Apology accepted, now can you explain to me why you would just attack any ascender around?” he asked,
“Security reasons honored ascender, we as you no doubt know serve the delving guild, most ascenders from outside of Gaia” Rark said,
Moyo kept his surprise to himself that the delving guild were around already, Mr. A must had immediately implemented his plan to bring his assets to his world. The name Gaia seemed a bit on the nose, but it sounded catchy enough and he wasn’t going to complain about it. Nodding to the guard, he spoke,
“Go on”
Rark nodded,
“Lately the sects and schools that call this zone home, have been trying to go through dungeons illegal, using all sorts of methods to bypass security. Plus, we’ve been having reasons to believe an attack might be coming from other factions?” Rark asked, more like he was expecting Moyo to explain the situation for him,
Moyo nodded,
“True, however I would like to meet with the leader of the delving guild, I come bearing an important information for the guild” he said,
The captain nodded,
“Right this way” the captain said, gesturing for the other iron ranker to go help his friend up,
Again, Moyo frowned at the ascender he had barely touched who wobbled on his feet, back when he was iron, he was a lot stronger than this. Then again, he wasn’t a regular iron even back then so he couldn’t be the benchmark for strength. The four of them made their way through the air towards a large dome looking structure in the distance, green haze with runes protecting the upper most structure, constructs of different kinds coming in and out of the super structure that stretched for miles ahead.
The dome was a green structure surrounded by lush gardens, an oddity that grew in this barren landscape, no doubt fueled by some manner of path or construct. Tiled roads led to the structure itself, large metallic walls surrounded the already large dome, circumventing it with what looked like weapon bunkers spread across the walls. The weapons turned to their location, honing on to them with a hum and Moyo twitched to produce dominion and cut a line through the weapons, captain Rark however released a pulse of tightly controlled aura while holding a medallion out that released a short burst of light.
The weapons powered down, Moyo and the green spears crossed the platform and into a force field that also protected the dome. Immediately Moyo paused, marveling at what he saw, an entire city built in the middle of nowhere, gleaming buildings that floated a few inches above the ground, gardens that literally hanged in the air, constructs that carried different items flying around, zipping all around with motes of light that Moyo realized were birds made of mana zipping around also.
For the first time in a long while, Moyo realized what he was seeing, a city of mages, well mostly mages as he could feel the intent and aura in the air as well. Captain Rark led him through the air towards a tall building with a green spear floating in the air in front of it, the giant weapon glowing softly and Moyo could feel gold ranked intent coming from it. It would seem their leader was a gold rank, nothing unusual for ascenders coming from outside Gaia. Although Moyo wondered how the power structure worked with his clan, seeing as whoever led the sect was two ranks higher than they were.
He suppressed a sigh; he’d been gone a short while and already he had no idea what was going on even in his own domain. A former friend and his faction under the thrall of a primordial, a dragon he had no idea was previously on Gaia trying to assassinate him locked somewhere in his territory, and now a new zone filled with different sects and a gold that seemed to lord over everyone here. He had half a mind to unshroud his core, remove his mask and just go pick the gold up, asking what was happening here, but he repressed the urge. At best he could be making enemies where allies were to be made and the clan could have gotten to some agreement with them that he was currently unaware of.
As they descended towards the building where large jade crystal doors stood, Moyo folded his arms behind him, keenly aware of the bronze ranked guards that stood sentinel at the doors glancing at them without so much as a warm feeling. Captain Rark saluted,
“Captain Rark of the third division reporting the anomaly sighted, urgent request coming from the great sect of the titans’ sentinels” he said,
One of the guards eyed Moyo with disdain in his eyes,
“and they send an iron?, what happened to that vice sect leader Josh of theirs?” he asked,
Moyo calmly ignored the jibe, it seemed that the relationship between the clan and the green spears were less than cordial at best and tensed as it were. He wondered if that extended to the guild as a whole but ignored the jibe, staring coldly at the guard beneath his mask silently. Captain Rark fidgeted at the silence between the two groups, glancing at Moyo. Moyo sighed and stepped forwards, producing dominion and releasing his aura in the blade as the bronze rankers took several steps backwards in fear at the raw diamond ranked aura that exuded from the blade.
Moyo made a reminder to himself to upgrade the blade sometime, it had grown as strong as it could and needed a few tweaking, speaking in a loud voice he shouted,
“I come at the behest of the titan blade, master of the clan titan blade and lord of all Asa, you have insulted his clan and his authority on this day”
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Turning, he began walking briskly, already feeling the power building behind him,
“Now let’s not jump to conclusions” a voice said above him as a woman appeared in the air, cropped hair and lithe shape standing on a disk of ultraviolet mana.
Moyo paused and glanced up, the woman’s eyes flicking from the blade to him back, no doubt wondering why he held such a powerful weapon for such a low rank. Moyo understood, no master would give his weapon to a lowly iron, but if Moyo claimed to speak with the voice of the titan, the gold ranker who floated above him had no choice than to listen. She spoke again,
“I apologize for the behavior of my guards, be rest assured they would be…...dealt with severely for the slight shown to the titan and his great clan” she said,
Moyo paused before speaking,
“Are you by any chance the leader of the green spears and by proxy the dungeon delving guild?” he asked,
She shook her head,
“Merely the one who all messages come to, Mrs. D as your clan leaders know him would like to apologize and would meet with you personally now” she said,
Moyo nodded,
“Then lead the way” he replied,
The gold snapped her fingers as the disk hummed, shooting a beam of green light to the floor where Moyo stood, a pathway opening up to reveal a familiar figure sitting in a large office, two familiar figures now that he realized it. He stepped through, the gold floating in behind him and into the office, Moyo staring at the two people who sat opposite each other at a desk silently, one he recognized and the other he couldn’t.
Mrs. Martha, sect leader of the hands of Anansi sat on the guest seat, opposite a woman with dark hair wearing a fitted suit. They both turned at their entrance through the pathway, the woman reclining on her chair, a look of contemplative reasoning etched on her face, as if wondering how to deal with the issue. Mrs. Martha however stared straight at him, amusement and caution on her face,
“So, you’re the messenger of the titan?” the woman asked him,
Glancing at Mrs. Martha, the woman continued,
“it’s funny, I’ve always thought you were his voice” she asked Mrs. Martha,
Mrs. Martha turned to him,
“I’ve always thought as much, and to have the blade of the titan as well, the fabled dominion, not even I have claimed the honor of wielding the blade” she said, a smile on her face,
She knew who he was,
With one move he removed his mask, peeling it away as his features came to light, his core unshrouding as well to its full strength. The woman’s eyes widened as she bolted to her feet, bowing hastily, the gold behind him crashing to her knees and bowing as well, only Mrs. Martha remained seated, smile on her face,
“Fancy meeting you here” he said,
“You as well my lord” she replied,
Things had progressed smoothly from there, another chair had been provided, tables were set up filled with different delicacies, both from Gaia and outside Gaia, the woman being cautious as she remained standing, looking at him expectantly. Moyo glanced at Mrs. Martha who smiled,
“I might be wrong, but I think our hosts expect you to give her permission to seat” she said,
“In her own home?” Moyo asked incredulously,
“The honored master is in my home, I am the first of my line to host a master of a world, this great honor bestowed upon my name and sect must be treated as the sacred event which it is” she said,
“Apologies, I didn’t get your name” he asked,
She bowed again,
‘I am Mrs. D, the head of the dungeon delving guild on this planet, a friend of Mr. A” she said, hoping to score points with that name,
Moyo glanced at the gold who remained bowed behind him,
‘I suppose you’re also waiting for permission from me to rise?” he asked wearily,
“Truly the great master is wise” the woman replied with her head bowed,
Moyo rolled his eyes, glancing back at Mrs. Martha, the woman nodded and spoke to Mrs. D and the gold,
“The patriarch and master of the clan grows weary of this behavior, he would prefer you all address him as you would anyone else” she said,
The look of horror and terror on both the faces of Mrs. D and the gold amused him to no end,
“I don’t have this” he said,
“What the hell happened to Asa and where did all the sects and schools rise from?” he asked,
“We were hoping to come to dominion itself and give you an explanation of what happened when you were gone, but seeing as you’re here right now, we might as well do that” Mrs. D said,
Moyo nodded and reclined on the chair,
“Firstly, what was with the behavior of the guards?” he asked,
Mrs. D looked up in alarm,
“Guards?” she echoed,
The gold behind him walked forwards before bowing again,
“The foolish guards at the front of the citadel in their blasphemy insulted the clan of the titan blade, should the master require it, their heads will be presented immediately as the beginning of a compensation to the clan, on my honor as a gold of the green spear sect” she said,
Moyo rubbed his head with his hand in exasperation, glancing at Mrs. Martha as he stood up and walked to the reflective glass that showed the world outside the office. He could hear the seriousness in the voice of Mrs. Martha as she spoke for him,
“you’d come to see soon enough that the titan is not a fan of unnecessary deaths nor trying to butter him up, I would advise you answer him truthfully” she said,
“Yes, of course” Mrs. D hastily said,
He turned to her expectantly,
“The green spear sect is one of the numerous sects who loan out their services to the delving guild whenever we come to a new world you see” she started,
“However, upon reaching this world and realizing the strongest ascenders were barely bronze, they feel……insulted to be under the authority of such, seeing as they have a gold and numerous silvers protecting the dungeons” she explained,
“Let it be said that not all of us feel that way lord titan blade, I swear of this on the archailect” the gold said as a gong echoed, the oath heard and weighed,
Moyo turned to Mrs. D,
“Then why don’t you just let them go back to whatever world they came from?’ he asked,
“We are all stuck on this world by order of the brigade, there’s a blockade with strict rules for things coming in to the planet, even reinforcements” Mrs. D explained,
He nodded at that,
“that’s partially my fault, but I do not like nor condone such behavior against my clan, not when you’re on my territory” he said,
Mrs. D nodded and bowed,
“The decree would go out immediately” she said as a matter of fact,
He nodded,
“With that taken care of, can someone explain to me what this zone is and why are there hundreds of banners I have no idea of what sect or schools or even clans if I’m guessing correctly, they come from?” he asked,
“This zone is as a result of us taking over the red zone” Mrs. Martha explained,
“From the records of the akashic library, it seems that after the calamity and a world has ascended to tier 3, the red zone evolves into a stronger form, expert ranked dungeons of different stages begin to manifest with one master ranked dungeon locked away till majority of the expert ranked dungeons are cleared” she said,
“With the red zone cleared and inhabited by Bastion itself and the master ranked construct given by the great house thousand blades, the dungeons couldn’t manifest there and the archailect resolved to creating a new zone, only this time with double the dungeons and harder the difficulty” she said with a frown on her face,
Moyo glanced at Mrs. D,
“Not the archailect, the Dracons” he said as she reluctantly nodded,
Mrs. Martha glanced between Moyo and Mrs. D,
“Dracons?” she asked,
Moyo waved his hand away,
“a topic for a later date, are these the dungeons being protected by Samantha’s runes?’ he asked,
Mrs. D nodded,
“The six-sided mage has been influential in reducing the damage the dungeons could do to the areas inhabited by people”
Moyo raised his eyebrows at that,
“People live near the dungeons?” he asked,
Mrs. D glanced at Mrs. Martha who nodded grimly at her,
“Yes, they, ah, say they follow the path of the titan blade” she said a little unwillingly,
Moyo folded his arms,
“I don’t understand” he said,
“There is a movement” Mrs. Martha said,
“a movement?” he asked,
She nodded,
“Yes, a movement who have decided to walking the arduous path you did, preferring to live at the edge of danger and delve dungeons a rank of level higher than them” she said,
Moyo had a look of astonishment on his face,
“What manner of madness is that?” he asked,
“it’s the same thing I said as well, the clan has released statements denying and rejecting the group, but they gather more followers by the day” Mrs. Martha said, shrugging helplessly,
“And how strong are they?” he asked,
“Oh, about fifty people strong, usually they started out at about a thousand ascenders strong, but after the majority of them dying off in dungeons like flies, most began to exit quietly, or realizing it was a foolish gesture, they weren’t the titan blade after all” she said with a shake of her head,
“Needless lives wasted, I would have none of it” he ordered,
“And I could have the clans send out the best they have to go after them, but these fifty are bronze rankers as well, monsters who have dedicated themselves to the art of battle and battle alone, it wasn’t worth the stress” she said,
“Leave them to me” he said,
Mrs. D frowned,
“a master of a world bothering to go after mere bronze rankers, it would be a stain on my honor, let me unleash the silvers of the green spear sect on them, they can bring them back alive but subdued” she protested,
“And I thank you for the offer, but I want to see what they’re capable of themselves. While I will shut down this movement, I intend to test them out, I might have use for them soon” he said, glancing at Mrs. Martha,
The both of them nodded at his orders, Mrs. D speaking up immediately,
“Then perhaps, I wish not to impede the great master on mundane things, but there is a situation that might require your divine touch” she said,
Moyo glanced at her,
“I’m no supreme being” he said with cold finality,
“No, but you’ll begin to see soon enough my lord that most of Asa and the world seem to venerate your existence” she said,
Moyo narrowed his eyes,
“Venerate, that word, where did you hear it from?” he asked,
She shrugged,
“I’ve been reading things in the library, which oddly enough, began giving me books formerly restricted to me until you returned” she said, raising one eyebrow at him,
“a matter we’ll look into later, the word?” he asked,
She sat upright,
“The books speak of masters, rulers and…things beyond who are venerated as much as the supreme beings” she said,
“And you thought it might be a good idea to apply it to me?” he asked,
“No, but I’m simply stating what has been happening since the tele hubs began allowing inter-planetary ascenders to come here, bearing news of your display at the tournament” she said,
Moyo idly wondered what she would think of him when she realized he was gradually evolving into such beings, however he had barely placed a toe into the realm of primordials and was a long way from the ranks of Kairos or even Azar who he wasn’t sure was a primordial. He cracked his neck, turning to Mrs. D who watched the exchange between the two of them,
“What is this issue you would like for me to handle?” he asked,
She nodded, fighting the urge to bow at him,
“The black zone is growing stronger, the latent energies of the aether around this zone powering up the dungeons, increasing in ranks. We have seen iron ranked dungeons going to bronze with ascenders within it, bronze to silver, silver to gold, gold to diamond” she explained,
“I see, and you have less resources to handle such issues?” he asked,
She shook her head,
“Those we can handle, contain more than likely, but we can handle, it’s the final one that gives us pause” she said fearfully,
“Diamond to master” he said,
She nodded and pointed at the distance,
“a minute” he said and flashed away, using a step of Ogun to move in the direction she pointed at and teleporting miles ahead towards the coast of the entire continent of Asa. Floating in the air, he saw the dungeon and whistled, sitting atop the water, the large blue spherical opening of the dungeon hummed with barely restrained power. Moyo was sure the reason it hadn’t broken was the simple fact that the aether in the air was made up of expert rank and not master rank, therefore it was slowly powering up.
He knew it would break soon enough though, he could feel it, perhaps in a month or two, it would and all hell would be let loose on his continent. He tore open a pathway back to the room and stepped out,
“it’s powering up, a month or two, nothing more” he said grimly,
Mrs. Martha nodded,
“Exactly, it was why I was meeting with her, all across the world, factions are about to face this sort of calamity to put it plainly”
“There are master ranked dungeons all over the world?’ he asked, the scale of the devastation coming to light,
“No, only here and the union, however diamond ranked dungeons are popping out like crazy, and for some reason they haven’t broken open for which we are immensely grateful” Mrs. D said,
Moyo nodded,
“Well, our focus is clear, I need to deal with the master ranked dungeon first of all, after that we convene the factions of the world” he said,
“it’s time I deal with all of these issues at once” he growled as Mrs. Martha smiled.