Annika, sect leader of the storm bringers and lord of titan’s storm sat inside the large dark thundercloud that hovered over her capital city of Umbani which was situated in the kingdom titans’ storm, the traditional name for lightning in her native Zulu language. She inhaled, gathering all the mana and lightning in the large cloud before exhaling back in peals of thunder and flashes of lightning. Her storm core rotated, refining the aether in the air into mana but recently, after the titan blade had left the planet, she and the rest of the clan heads had begun to notice an increase in the potency of the aether in the air, like it was building up to a large crescendo, as if something big was about to happen.

Flexing her hand, her consciousness drew her attention to a small village in her kingdom, at the far edge bordering with the kingdom Solaris, belonging to the dawn archer’s sect, a dungeon had begun to form. With a whisper, she called the name of her second in command,

“Julius”

Down below, the mid-tier advocate Julius perked up from the discussions he was having with town lords belonging to the kingdom, nodding in reply as she sent him the location.

Before the day would be over, a team of one newly minted advocate and ten acolytes would be on their way to the village to assess the strength of the dungeon, and if necessary, clear it. It was with satisfaction she realized the level of ascenders being produced by the clan still sat at the top when it came to the planet as a whole. Although the margin was being reduced by the tenacity of the other factions, the gap provided to them by the titan blade still gave them the edge, plus the fact that almost everyone on the continent seemed to have some sort of urge to get stronger.

Most of this progress could be attributed to the increase in dungeon spawning rate that seemed to be happening everywhere on the planet, already news was beginning to filter in about dungeon breaks from other continents.

King William and his knights had to step in when a dungeon broke in the red zone of his continent, for days news came in without video coverage about how William and his knights had barricaded the entire red zone and bravely stepped in despite the odds of death seeing as they went up against monsters’ level 150. The clan had watched with vigilant eyes, ready to step in at a moment’s notice seeing as the imperials were their allies.

However, the explorer society and its cadre of advocates had appeared like a saving grace, seeing to the evacuation of innocent citizens near the border with the red zone before their president, Luke had led his advocates in to help if possible.

King William had ridden out of the red zone a few hours after the explorers had entered, the head of the dungeon boss on a pike, dripping blood with his knights riding behind him to the cheers and celebrations of his people, and strapped to his waist was a legendary weapon, a blade from myths and legend, Excalibur, won as a reward for clearing a dungeon higher than his ascension level.

The news came from the explorers that king William had bested the monster with pure willpower and strength, it brought a smile to the lips of Annika. The council of clan titan blade had decided to share the information about ascension to expert tier after Mrs. Martha had noticed that the more advocates were being created, the more tidbits of information she could gleam from the archailect became available.

Just a day after the departure of the titan blade, she had come across a hint of what the ‘calamity’ that they were meant to face to ascend into expert realm was all about, and in less than an hour, an emergency meeting was called between all the powers of the world.

This time, Cassandra of the union and Ba Ji of the glorious empire were around. Revealing the fact that while the nature of the calamity was unknown, it would be a swarm monster type and would be ‘challenging’ enough for peak advocates.

However, it would not arrive until a certain threshold of advocates had been reached by the planet. With the agreement of the clan who had implemented the mantra taught by the titan blade, Mrs. Martha had revealed the prerequisites needed by advocates to be potentially strong enough to defeat what was coming, the three prerequisites were needed,

* understanding your domain,

* controlling your domain,

* wielding your domain.

It had driven all the advocates worldwide into a frenzy of dungeon delving, everyone wanted to attain the mythical height of the titan blade after all, but the curious thing was, for every dungeon an advocate entered, three more of the same quality or even higher took its place like the archailect couldn’t wait to keep producing more dungeons from wherever they came from, flooding the market with dungeon loots of different tiers as even initiates and acolytes began dungeon delving in earnest.

Still, the number of humans who wanted to live a normal life was significantly more than those who wanted to live the life of an ascender.

For every ten humans who existed, five chose to remain as either fledgling or initiate and pick up a skill about regular work, four made it to acolyte before the weight and stress of the rigorous lifestyle of hunting monsters got to them and they dropped off the ascension ladder while one battle-hardened ascender made it to advocate, and even with that, Annika knew that a large number of advocates would die during the battle with the calamity on its way.

Shaking her head from the rueful thoughts that pervaded her, Annika felt her HUD light up as a five-way call came up, showing the personal crests of all five sect leaders of the clan, with Samantha now added, her fledgling Octagram sect included.

She answered and immediately felt her consciousness flow towards a singular point, appearing with the five other sect leaders in a dark place, behind her a blue spear crackling with lightning hovered, similarly to the rest were different weapons. A rune circle for Samantha, a flaming hammer for Mr. Boyle, a bow and arrow for Ayo, a red fist for Idris, and a spider for Mrs. Martha. Annika glanced around,

“Well, this is new,” she said,

“An added feature I just discovered, the archailect is full of surprises we haven’t even begun to scratch,” Mrs. Martha said,

“Quite useful, it means we won’t have to leave our domains to meet face to face, anyways, what’s the issue?” Boyle asked,

“I have it on good standing that in the next month or two, the calamity might arrive,” she said,

Immediately Annika felt the gaze of every member of the room sharpen, the air around them distorting as different wills moved in tandem,

“How sure are you?” Idris asked,

“Quite sure, the signs of the threshold are an increased number of dungeons for a start, the final one from another revealing piece of information in the great library is a rise in realm-wielding advocates” Mrs. Martha replied,

“I also believe we’ve been having that for a while” Ayo responded,

“Also true, however from what my little spiders have been telling me, four in five advocates now have realms, knights of king Williams round table have begun warping their cities to their perspective views, pockets of advocates are creating strongholds modeled after them, even on Asa, some advocate thought it strategic to build a city close to my capital of Anansi, thought he could fly under the radar as he smuggled dungeon cores out of the continent,” Mrs. Martha said,

Annika had no doubt the advocate was dead, and while she allowed little cities to thrive under the all-seeing banner of the sect of the storm bringers, Mrs. Martha maintained an iron-clad rule over her domain, every single citizen living in the kingdom of trellis, was subject to the sects’ rules and control.

However, the situation on ground was proof of her theory, soon the powers that be would need to fight for their lives, a secret part of her was glad Moyo wasn’t around to solve the problem for them, too many times she had felt stifled under the power of the titan blade as he protected them, but this was a chance to prove herself and the clan as a whole to prove themselves to the world, that even without the might of the titan blade behind them, they were forces of nature.

Boyle scratched his black beard,

“I believe there is little in the line of preparations we can do, perhaps evacuate the acolytes and below to Bastion itself? since that master ranked construct has made it its abode” he offered,

The master-ranked construct, a giant humanoid creature made of metal and shining gemlike parts that Boyle confirmed to be aether in its purest form stood rigidly in the middle of Bastion, just outside of the gates of dominion itself.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Over the past few days, Boyle and his researchers from the hammers of Ogun had gone over the stone silent construct that neither moved nor twitched, but they could all fill its presence, like it didn’t even consider the level 150 monsters in the red zone a threat to twitch for.

Annika still remembered as Boyle went over the giant construct with wide eyes, muttering about the technological advancement to be discovered from studying the creature, and already, just a few days after, Boyle had brought it to their notice that he had found what was looking like a rough framework for an aether shield, that alone could guarantee the safety of the cities in the continent against monster attacks and dungeon breaks as it also seemed to repel dungeon energies from forming under it.

Immediately the information was deemed a top priority and all the researchers were sworn to oath under the archailect to never so much as disclose the information seeing as it would soon be worth thousands of gold coins. Still, Annika wasn’t bothered about that, everyday she had taken the tele hub to Bastion, fighting against the monsters in the red zone with her faithful vice sect leader Julius behind her, trying her best to grow her realm of lightning and empower it. While killing a level 150 monsters didn’t take her across the threshold to expert, she felt the essence of the monsters pooling in her core, as if waiting for a catalyst to push her over to an expert.

With this news of the impending calamity, a meeting would have to be called for the powers that ruled the world to be in attendance and while she so loathed such meetings of power play, Mrs. Martha had been urging her to attend it, something about her being the face of the titan blade in his absence while ignoring the fact that after the titan blade, she was the most feared of the leaders of clan titan blade.

They agreed to move the acolytes and below to Bastion, while she didn’t know if the kingdom of Bastion could handle the hundreds of thousands of refugees, they would still try their best. With the meeting finalized, her consciousness left the room to return to her body in the cloud, opening her eyes.

Standing up and cracking her neck, she stared into the distance where a large grotesque bird that was deep black and oily appeared over a mountain top, its screech reverberating through the air as the people around that area screamed and ran for their lives, sect members flying on clouds to intercept the monster.

She grabbed her spear and drew her arm back, eyes alight before she threw the spear, the force crackling through the air as it blew the sound barrier, lightning flashing through the spear before it went past the acolyte and advocate members of the sect and exploding in contact with the monster, it gave one last screech of agony and death before bursting into flames.

She could practically see the groan on the faces of her sect members as their leader had stolen another kill and experience points from them, with a smile she hopped off her cloud, free falling to the ground above her castle, she was ready for the calamity.

*****************

Moyo sat near the girl named Ashira who was wolfing down rations by their number, everyone surrounding her and she barely paid heed to the three masters around her, like she had seen enough masters not to be bothered by three.

He was on the ground, tired as whatever high he had passed through after his willpower and authority had merged at that moment to create Ashe had dissipated, leaving him tired. The girl raised her head after inhaling all the food, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, and Moyo looked at her well for the first time.

Her skin was a bit dark, with dark hair and the most entrancing set of eyes he had ever seen, seeing as the ring in them was a combination of three colors, bright green, gold, and grey. She glanced around at them, her eyes landing on master Killian,

“Greetings,” she said,

“you’re from house Kairos” master Killian replied,

“Was from house Kairos, I’ve been revoked of my privileges” she said,

“Must have been a hell of a crime you committed” master Urush rumbled,

She only kept quiet, turning her glance to Moyo who raised an eyebrow,

"you’ve merged your willpower and authority” she said as a matter of fact,

Everyone turned to him, Ulsa in surprise but master Killian nodding,

“You have a high perception,” Killian said to Ashira,

“Silver rank” she replied,

Moyos’ eyebrows went up, Ashira opened the pouch at her side as it appeared to be a spatial bag and brought out a fruit that filled the air with the potent power of aether, biting into it as her physical appearance became better, sighing, she turned back to master Killian, standing up and bowing to him,

“Master Killian stellar blade of house thousand blades, I wish to offer my services for the house in the upcoming swordsmanship tournament,” she said,

“Wait what?” Moyo said,

Ajax stared at her, Ulsa did the same and master Killian’s eyes became serious,

“Denied, you bear the mark of house Kairos, an ancient house, the three claws that dictate royalty, and while I have no idea which of the three royal lines you belong to, the sage is definitely out of it, you don’t look like anyone from his line,” Killian said,

The girl winced and stared back at him,

“Sage?” Moyo whispered to Ulsa who was at his side,

“The three rulers of house Kairos, I have no idea what their actual names are, most rulers go by their sobriquet, but they are known as the sage, the disaster, and the monster queen, except that’s not even their sobriquet too,” Ulsa said,

“So, what’re their sobriquets?” he asked,

“No idea, two of the rulers are reclusive, only the sage sometimes appears in public, but I’ve heard of the strength of house Kairos, even house Dracon wouldn’t dare provoke them to action. Like my house they consist of an array of creatures, mostly mythical monsters” Ulsa explained,

"So that means” Moyo said,

“she’s one of the descendants of either of those rulers, it’s why she has three claw marks on her shoulder, and she’s far away from home,” Ulsa said,

The girl nodded at master Killian,

“I understand, however, I cannot disclose my line, and for good reasons, I would beg your shelter alone, I am capable enough to feed and protect myself to a degree,” she said,

“You looked beaten and bruised when we saw you” Ajax noted,

She nodded,

“Experts of the allied sects under house storm razor and Dracon were after me after they found out I had the location of this planet’s newly formed primordial shard,” she said,

“Well, that explains why there are so many experts and factions here,” Killian said,

“what’s a primordial shard?” Moyo asked,

Ulsa glanced at him,

“If aether shards replenish aether in lower ranking ascenders, primordial shards give a random primordial skill to an ascender, literally a primordial skill of any of the six aspects of the supreme beings and they’re usually mythical rank” she explained,

Moyo’s eyes widened at the power, Ajax snorted at the look on his face,

“It doesn’t work for experts, too much power, only diamond tiered experts even have a hope of tapping it without igniting into an explosion. Masters and rulers are the only ones known to be able to wield it, and even at that it takes years to fully assimilate it as a skill. It's literally a piece of the powers of the supreme beings” he said,

Moyo silently moaned the loss of such a skill, whatever it could had been, he was sure it would be a very very strong one,

“If you were going after the shard without the might of house Kairos behind you, you must had known you would be hunted right?” master Killian said as she nodded,

“Yes, I intended to slip in and out of Agabod with the shard and sell it to the jungle king for funds and a skill,” she said,

“The jungle king already has one primordial shard, it’s why he’s not being messed with, another shard and even the major houses would come together and rain down hell on him or at least his descendants should they leave point 1,” Urush said,

“He was my best bet” she simply said,

Moyo watched as the masters grew silent, then master Killian spoke,

“I thank you for giving me such valuable information, but why tell us if you hope to take it for yourself?” master Killian asked,

“If house Garuda or thousand blades decide to take it for themselves, then I can help obtain it with a few requests,” she said,

“Wait, why are the masters or rulers not going after it themselves?” Moyo asked,

If it held that much power, it made absolutely no sense for them not to go after it themselves,

“The supreme beings knew what would happen should rulers or masters go after a shard, probably wipe out an entire galaxy. The shard is locked in a cube that can only be accessed by experts” Ajax explained,

“So, experts are expendable?” he asked,

“In the grand scheme of things? yes, for every master there are a thousand experts, do the maths”

So much for being special, it was a reminder to Moyo that he wasn’t the main character in this new reality of his. Master Killian nodded, turning to Urush,

“Does house Garuda want the shard?” he asked,

“She came under the protection of house thousand blades, it should rightfully be yours” master Urush replied,

Master Killian waved his hand dismissively,

“My house rulers do not fancy such, and I am not ready to face the ire of the rulers that would turn their gazes to me, however, the blazing empress and the diamond warrior may fancy the shard”

Master Urush thought of it,

“Tempting, however, I can’t contact the house from here, but seeing the shard in the hands of the Dracon or storm blades is a grim reality enough. For now, I believe we need to secure the shard, then deal with this outside Agabod”

“Agreed, Ajax?” Killian asked,

“As long as I get to knock Abraxas about a bit, I’m fine” Ajax replied with a shrug, Moyo rolled his eyes at the typical reply of his master

“Fine, lady Ashira, formerly of house Kairos, your proposition has been accepted. House thousand blades would protect you for the duration of time as of when the shard has been passed on to a greater power, in return, you are to serve house thousand blades as an auxiliary member” master Killian said,

Ashira bowed at the waist,

“The benevolence of this master knows no bounds”

Master Killian simply nodded,

“However, excuse my haste, my disciple needs my guidance for a duel with an expert of house Dracon,” Killian said,

“The expert wouldn’t be Kenuran Dracon right?” Ashira asked, her fists tightening,

“No, some guy, Dragon, whatever, named Vasanz” Moyo replied as he stood,

“Be grateful, Kenuran broke through to gold rank here in Agabod and was the cause of my deteriorated state, a monster through and through, he’s participating in the tournament also”

“Well, isn’t that a ray of sunshine, every expert seems to be above my rank, except me and Ulsa over there” he replied,

“How many experts do you know?” Ajax asked with one eyebrow raised,

“Three, but two were higher than me when we met,” Moyo said,

“don’t listen to him, he behaves like he’s weak and all, but when it comes to it, he’s like a solid wall of brutality,” Ulsa told Ashira who eyed him,

“You got an inspiration to break through to a higher rank?” Ashira said,

“From iron to bronze” Moyo replied,

“feasible against this Vasanz of house Dracon,” Ashira said,

“it would have to be, come Moyo, let us test your new rank,” master Killian said