After Dream placed his hand on the deer's head, he inserted his mana which simultaneously locked the deer in place and invaded his soul. The deer could do nothing but let him do whatever he wanted.
[Beginning Hierarchy subordination...]
<[Arcana] has leveled up!>
<[Arcana] has leveled up!>
<[Sophia] has leveled up!>
Sophia spoke, and the next moment, the deer's eyes went wide.
[Infiltrating soul... Applying conversion... Branding Hierarchy... Problem.]
'What?'
[Hierarchy needs someone to be attached to, like a soul connection. The problem is that I haven't directly written the Hierarchy skill to your soul, so there's nothing to subordinate someone to.]
'Is there something preventing you from writing the skill to my soul?'
[It could cause changes to your future development. Hierarchy isn't something to take lightly considering it's something innate to the demons. Although I've tailored the skill to you, it will still fundamentally change how your soul connections work.]
'Like with the girls? But the skill would be under our control. Couldn't we just not use it like that?'
[It's not that simple. Hierarchy literally establishes a hierarchy for you. This means that anybody who connects to your soul must be placed in it or be rejected. It's a skill that acts on a much deeper level than normal skills.]
'...If it's really going to change so much, then is it even worth using?'
[It has its pros. For example, power sharing. If such a skill were to be used in conjunction with Luna's familiar skill, it would allow a much deeper connection.]
'Again, that would require me to-'
[Hang on. I'm not done. While they would have to be placed in the Hierarchy, it doesn't mean they have to be placed below you. Something like that wouldn't allow true power sharing.]
'...They can be placed into it as equals?'
[Yes. Although Luna's familiar skill places her in a fundamentally inferior position, I could tamper with the Hierarchy skill to synergize with it. I would have to do the same with Iris' Devour skill which places her in a superior position as a predator. Or in a best case, they would cancel each other out and fit in fine.]
'Or in a worst case it doesn't combine well and the connection gets thrown out of whack. Are you entirely confident in being able to control three souls fluidly and without pain while trying to put them in a power sharing hierarchy?'
[...No. I am not entirely confident.]
'Then we won't. If you can mess around with Hierarchy and make it so that it doesn't tamper with existing connections, then we'll move on with subordinating Aegis. Otherwise, we'll unfortunately have to abandon the thought. Hierarchy requires us to go all or nothing, but I like to choose which features I want. If you can get us all pros and no cons, then that would be great.'
[I'll do my best.]
'Thanks.'
With that, Dream took his hand off the deer while removing his control. The deer soon returned to normal, although it looked profoundly terrified. John saw that and spoke up.
"Well the deer isn't dead. Did it go well?"
"Not as well as I'd hoped. Your deer is fine."
"Need another animal?"
"No. I think that's all for now."
"Well aren't you efficient in your tests. Very well. If you need to come back here, just let me know."
"Thanks."
John locked up the cage before they both walked back up to the living area.
'I really didn't need to come here if I knew it would go like this.'
[At least you got to visit a friend.]
'I guess.'
[By the way, the Empires are sending out their first army to launch an attack. They're going to use your ships to deliver 7 million soldiers to the frontlines. Their first objective is to take back the landbridge.]
'Oh. Very nice. There's going to be plenty of class 4's there though.'
[They're prepared. Especially the church. In total, there's going to be 46 class 4's going. This doesn't include Riddick or Idona but does include Ciroc. They're also requesting your help.]
'What kind of help?'
[Soldiers. While they're going to be sending 7 million people, your bots are obviously nice to have around.]
'Hmm, give them 400 thousand.'
[No more? That's only a fraction of what we have.]
'I don't want to steal all the experience. It's an opportunity for people to level up. And with my bots there to support, they'll have much less pressure on them. After a few battles, those soldiers will be much stronger than before.'
[That's true. One more thing, there are currently mass amounts of demons that have already pushed into the continent. They're also not going straight for the Mercenary Empire. They're spreading.]
'They're trying to destroy everything, so that doesn't surprise me. Just make sure the info is relayed to the Empires. They all have my bracelets for this reason after all.'
[Of course. Though you should also begin to take precautions. I know you have your soldiers, but other weapons would allow for greater assurance. Plus, building things is a good way for you to vent all that power.]
'...Alright. Prepare materials for me to use. We've had ideas for a couple large scale construction projects, so I guess now's the time to start them.'
..........
......
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That night, Dream and the girls had dinner at John's shop.
Luna and Elisa helped Iris cook a huge feast that would normally be enough for 30 people. It consisted of nothing but the best foods the city had to offer. Considering that John was rich and Dream had incalculable wealth, this much was nothing.
That combined with Iris' amazing cooking skills made for one of the best dinners all of them ever had.
Unfortunately, they couldn't stay much longer after dinner. The reason was that Dream was reaching his limits in terms of controlling the heart. In fact, he was beginning to unintentionally spill some of the mana. This small amount of leaked mana nearly filled John's entire shop with a mana fog.
It was rather awkward for Dream and he didn't really know how to explain himself, so to cover up, he decided to enchant the entire shop to maintain a mana fog density.
Such an enchantment was apparently extremely extravagant according to what John and Elisa knew. When Dream thought about it, he figured it actually kind of was. Even Idona's chambers at the Spire only had a mana fog enchantment, and that was a small room. To enchant an entire shop with it was something never before seen throughout all the Empires.
Knowing that, Dream decided to restrict the enchantments to the top floors of the shop. Apparently one of the floors was a training area while another was a bedroom. Seeing that, Dream enchanted those two floors. It only took him a few seconds and he did it from the living area. This baffled John and Elisa, and by the end of the night, they had come to the conclusion that Dream was a class 4.
Dream didn't bother correcting them as it might seem even weirder if he wasn't. So after he fixed everything up, Dream and the girls took their leave.
Upon exiting the shop, Dream immediately took flight and blasted off to exit the city. The entire way, he began losing control of the heart and mana was poured into the city in waves. It startled many people, but none of them could find the cause.
Once he was out and away from the city, Dream finally relaxed.
*Woosh*
"Ahhhh.... Hahaha..."
Dream chuckled with a wide smile as all the pent up power was released. His soul had been stressed quite a bit and his body's enchantments were on the verge of fracturing.
[It's like you were holding in pee before barely getting to the toilet.]
"Hehe, feels better than that. *sigh* We really gotta pull this together. I won't be able to spend time in the Empires if this is constantly a problem."
[Well you'll probably be in space for a while, so that's not much of a concern. Anything else can be handled by your avatar or by simply calling people.]
"True."
"Dream?! Jeez, you need to move that quickly?" (Iris)
"I guess it was really getting bad." (Luna)
At this time, Luna and Iris finally caught up. They couldn't fly nearly as fast, so they were left behind.
"Sorry. By the way, I've got some more plans for the next week or so. Gonna be doing some construction."
"On what?"
"Some orbital facilities and a couple of weapons of mass destruction."
"A space laser!" (Iris)
"Unfortunately no. Lasers don't combine well with the atmosphere. I could arm an aircraft with one, but it would need to be huge to accommodate the necessary power. While that's not a problem that can't be solved, whether it would be effective against any formidable enemy is debatable."
"Aww."
"I know. Tragic. Anyway, I won't be going in public until I can fix my problem which can take up to a week."
"Will you be completely holed up?" (Luna)
"No. I can still see you. It'll either be in the dome or the factory though."
"That's fine. We'll just continue training."
"Speaking of, the armies are launching troops to begin an offensive. Sophia will give you all the details. I'm sure that would be a good place for you guys to train."
"Maybe. Though we do pretty well on our own. More to kill and there's no one in the way." (Iris)
"Just a suggestion. Anyway, how about we go hunt a few class 4's before I leave?"
"Oh, yes please! Should we get dad?"
"We'll be fine on our own. He's probably busy anyway."
"Ok! Let's go!"
Blasting off, Dream and the girls flew up into orbit and down towards the southern part of the human continent. When they approached the ground, a massive army of 7 million demons was in their view. Unlike before though, none of them were phased and they quickly dove down.
As Dream descended, he released his influence and scanned the area, immediately finding 3 class 4's. They also detected his unrestrained aura.
"I'll take these two. You take that one."
"Got it!"
The girls accepted his orders with a smile and shot down towards their target. Dream also shot towards his, and upon reaching them, launched out magic.
*Boom!*
His two demons were flung away from the third, clearly creating a separation. Without wasting time, Dream entered combat with his pair while Luna and Iris began their own battle.
Iris used her skill to its utmost while Luna provided support. Iris was rather frequently injured whether by impact or slashing, but with Luna there and the constant energy intake from burning demons around her, she was able to easily and quickly recover from the wounds. The other thing that could hinder her would be losing a limb, but even that could be regenerated with Luna's help.
The two made a perfect duo that covered any possible weaknesses. Only an enemy that could utterly overpower them would pose a threat, and this class 4 wasn't one of those.
Even if they couldn't kill him quickly, Iris's skills made longevity one of her strongest aspects. She could pull in energy from any living thing including her enemy. This made it so that she could tire out anyone of similar strength. Only people with ultimate control over their mana like Dream could break that vicious cycle.
Like that, the girls fought for 4 hours before the demon finally fell. When this happened, Dream quickly killed off his two demons that were beaten beyond belief.
"Ahh!! Yes! Did you see that?! We destroyed that demon! We can kill class 4's!!"
Iris flared up in excitement after burning the demon to nothing, devouring it whole. This fight had gone much smoother than the last, and after each one, she felt more and more accomplished. She felt more and more like a true predator that stood at the top of the food chain.
"Hehe, good job guys."
"Not as good as you. You could obliterate those demons. I doubt there's anyone in the world that could kill you now."
"There may not be any one person, but if, let's say, 20 Grand demons attacked me all at once, I probably wouldn't be able to hold. Remember that they get stronger with numbers and individually they're weaker than even animal class 4's, not to mention human class 4's."
"Mm. I guess the next challenge is killing two, one for each of us."
"Yup. Just focus on one for now though. When you can kill one in less than 20 minutes, then you can move on to two."
"Ok! I was just taking it slow in that last fight, so I think I could do that. Can we fight more?"
"Why not? I have eyes on another army. Let's go."
"Yay!"
...........
.......
Several hours and 9 class 4's later, Dream was flying into his factory. Luna and Iris had gone back to the Mountain to rest with their parents.
"*sigh* I really am getting more and more powerful. These level jumps are doing me good. Status!"
Shouting excitedly, Dream took a look at his progress.
----------------------------------------
|Profile|
Name: Dream
Species: Maghdisynthetic Human Male
Class: [Exalted Arcanist]
Titles: [Origin Seeker]
Level: 287
Stats: Strength- S- Agility- A+
Stamina- A+ Magic- S-
Passive Skills: [Sophia] Lvl. 5, [Arcana] Lvl. 18, [Translate] Lvl. 27
Active Skills: [Summons From Another World], [Particle Manipulation] Lvl. 14
----------------------------------------
"Look at that! My strength isn't the lowest anymore!"
Dream laughed as he took a look at the status.
Everything had gone up, though not drastically. The only thing that had a large jump was his personal level.
"I think the last time we looked I was around level 250. Killing millions of demons gave me quite the boost. My influence range actually increased to 1,300 meters. Though that also goes to show how much experience it takes to level. How are people supposed to advance unless they can kill way over their level?"
[By taking their time. Usually people aren't supposed to go on mass-murdering sprees like you and the girls. Riddick took over a hundred years to get where he was. You took one.]
"Very true, but still. Anyway... Everything ready for construction?"
[Of course. Hundreds of thousands of tons of material and hundreds of constructo boots at your command.]
"Hmm, let's make more actually. Don't want production to be stifled while I'm doing this."
30 minutes later...
"And... Done! I think 3,000 additional construction bots will help me quite a bit."
[...Better more than less I guess.]
"Indeed. Now we can start. Construction bots, it's time! Commence construction!"
Shouting to his legion of bots, Dream gave the order to move. Having been prepared, all the bots took flight and rose into the air. Their destination? The wall of the storage area.
One of the preparations Dream had made was to punch a giant hole in the storage area. This would allow the bots to easily carry out their project while being nearby the factory. Once the project was complete, the structure could be released off of the factory and fly to its own orbital path.
All the bots went over to the opening and quickly built a structural platform as a foundation. From there, they started forming the various pieces and skeletons of the structure.
Unfortunately, this wasn't something that could be built in a few hours or even a few days. This project was massive, and the structure would be larger than even the factory.
Dream watched as the bots started the general outline with utmost efficiency. In his vision were the schematics and a to-scale simulated model.
The structure? An orbital railgun platform!