…and was instantly elsewhere.

No longer confined within the gloomy interior of the Baron’s great hall, not in the dungeon at all, he now floated above a vast space—a boundless panorama stretching on all sides of him, illuminated from overhead by a tremendous light the size of the entire sky.

This brilliance blazed down perpetually, seemingly almost solid in essence. The lambent glow resonated with wisdom, almost as though the light itself was data in its purest form.

Floating in this sea of knowledge, Jeff stared down on a limitless plane stretching all around him. The plane was divided into a grid-like matrix hosting what looked like thousands, perhaps even millions of identical squares. Peering down at the expanse beneath him, he noticed glowing structures of some kind, populating the nucleus of each cell in the grid.

Jeff felt himself being pulled towards the closest one, inexorably. As he approached, the strange shape in the center began to take on more resolution.

He alighted on the edge of the square, around a hundred yards from the the huge glowing shape, which he now saw to be a massive plant or tree of some sort.

The majestic structure radiated a light of its own, almost eclipsing the overhead radiance.

Adorned with silver and gold accents, the colossal flora was organic in its structure, with branching dark green limbs extending from its central trunk. Each branch bore thousands of platinum leaves which tinkled gently, bathed in the nourishing glow of primal knowledge that streamed down from overhead.

Jeff hesitated a moment, unsure of what to do, then he started to walk across the square towards the Dao tree.

As he approached, he saw that despite its undeniably organic nature, the surface of the tree looked almost metallic, its bark a tessellated pattern of geometric green tiles, each one intricately inscribed with a symbol which pulsed with an inner light.

Jeff moved still closer, straining to decipher the mosaic of markings on the trunk and boughs.

Standing in the shade of the Dao tree, he struggled to focus on the runes etched into the leaves and branches, but no matter how hard he tried, the markings shimmered just beyond his comprehension—an order of magnitude more complex than even the Acuity rune—some advanced composite that encapsulated a higher truth.

The Dao tree seemed to sense his presence—the platinum canopy overhead undulated softly in the golden radiance. The metallic leaves rustled, as though blown by a non-existent breeze. The tinkling chimes from above gently whispered his name.

Jeff… Welcome

A solitary bough of the tree swung down towards him slowly.

Jeff eyed it warily, but sensing no hostility, he remained still, waiting for the branch to reach him.

Dangling from the end of the virescent Dao bough hung a round, variegated seed, roughly the size of Jeff’s fist. It resembled a giant multicolored walnut, ridged and marked with glowing fractal patterns.

The branch bobbed in front of him gently, seeming to indicate that he should take the proffered fruit. Carefully he reached out and took it in his hand.

Without any resistance, the glowing seed came free from the branch and lay in his palm. The violet striations inlaid into the surface of the weighty seed pulsed more brightly, its essence screaming of raw knowledge and power.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Not sure what the next stage of the process was, Jeff concentrated on the seed in his hand for a moment, pondering the Dao of Sundering. He immediately felt the Dao Seed begin to activate, the swirling patterns on its shell pulsing brighter and brighter, the light rivaling the blazing sky above.

Without conscious thought, Jeff allowed intuition to guide his actions. He pressed the seed to his chest, drawing it into the sanctum of his Core Space.

The seed floated effortlessly into his inner world, and there it hovered above the swirling mana pool, casting its light throughout his inner realm.

The terrain within the Core Space had shifted slightly, morphing to accommodate the new arrival.

The cavern walls had pulled back slightly to create a level, dry space at one end of the mana reservoir.

The seed floated towards this newly created Dao Garden in his Core Space, and slowly came to rest on the sloping shore.

For a moment, nothing happened, then the seed began to sink into the chamber’s floor, burrowing down into the solid bedrock. A delicate rivulet of raw mana trickled out from the center of the pool, curving around the Dao Garden, watering and nourishing the buried seed.

Jeff could no longer see it, but he could sense the Dao Seed’s presence, slowly growing in his Core Space.

He knew instinctively that he would need to nurture the seed with meditation, mana, and much combat in order to encourage its growth, and perfect his understanding of the Dao of Sundering.

With a fanfare of horned instruments, the System popped up a new dialog box.

Jeff was presented with a list of four potential Dao Abilities to choose from.

Dao of Sundering Successfully Awakened

Choose Your Dao Ability:

1. ’Rain of Terror’ (Early): Let a thousand swords fall. Let a thousand heads roll. Smite them from above with your wrath. A devastating area of effect attack covering a large area. Cooldown 72 hours.

2. ’Hand of Mu Cephei’ (Early): Woe betide those who stand beneath the bloody red hand of Mu Cephei. Attack a single opponent with a devastating aerial attack. Cooldown 24 hours.

3. ’Slice and Dice’ (Early): Unleash a fog of hemorrhagic steel. Causes massive internal bleeding on enemies within the area of effect. Cooldown 48 hours.

4. ’Fifth Column’ (Early): Blunt their blades. Renders all enemies’ bladed weapons unusable within the area of effect. Cooldown 48 hours.

Jeff read and reread the list, unsure which one to choose from. He felt like a kid in a candy store who’d only been given a single choice. Each one of the abilities looked fantastic and he coveted them all.

Jeff weighed his options carefully, pondering the destructive and defensive potential of each Dao ability on offer. Studying the list again, it became obvious that the respective cooldown times were indicative of which Dao abilities were most, and least devastating.

Rain of Terror had the longest cooldown of them all, a lengthy 72 hours, which indicated a particularly devastating attack. Jeff reckoned this was the System equivalent of a ‘nuclear’ option—such an ability could turn the tide of most any battle, even when faced with overwhelming odds. But its infrequent usability meant that it would have to be kept back as a trump card, reserved for moments of the utmost need.

Hand of Mu Cephei on the other hand, had the shortest cooldown, indicating that it was the weakest attack. It offered a daily dose of death and destruction from above, a short, sharp shock to eliminate key threats.

Slice and Dice appeared to be an offensive ability, while Fifth Column was more focused on defense. They were both equally potent, with 48 hour cooldowns.

Defensive or offensive? Strategic or tactical? Jeff realized that this choice in some ways would dictate his future, and his journey down the Path he was on.

In the end, he chose pragmatically, opting for the Hand of Mu Cephei.

Jeff reasoned that having as much firepower at his disposal on any given day meant that he could remain flexible on the battlefield.

The other abilities were great, but the cooldowns were too long to make them reliable weapons. He reasoned that having an ability that could take out a single, high powered opponent instantly might make all the difference, even in a battle against multiple enemies.

Dao Ability: ‘Hand of Mu Cephei’ Selected

In a split second, Jeff was back in the great hall, and judging from the positions of the remaining Skeleton Knights, no time had elapsed at all.

He knew instinctively that he had been transported outside of the remit of the Tournament, perhaps even the System during his sojourn in Dao Space. He had been hidden from the omnipresent surveillance of the Vogels.

He seamlessly picked up where he had left off, keeping his features expressionless so as not to give any hint to the watching audience that anything untoward had transpired.

Methodically, he continuing to take out the mobs.

After his visit to Dao Space, he felt sharper somehow. His reflexes were more honed and his reaction times were further speeded up.

With the last of the Skeleton Knights done and dusted, Jeff stood amidst the wreckage, deliberately ignoring the Bone Baron who towered in front of him, a deluge of Necrotic energy pouring impotently out of his mouth.

Impatiently waving away the billowing cloud of Necrons, Jeff looked up at the now gaping Baron, a wry smile on his face.

He toyed with the idea of testing out his newly acquired Dao Ability, the Hand of Mu Cephei, but hesitated, cautious about the ability’s cooldown and the temporal mechanics of the dungeon. Was it governed by his own subjective time, or real world hours? He decided to save it for a genuine emergency.

“Look, Urstap, we need to talk…”