》You have gained a minor Enlightenment from the Force.《

》Due to this enlightenment, you have succeeded in your trilogy questline [Trials of Sith]. Your faction status has been changed to [Sith Empire (Old Republic) - Apprentice]. You will soon encounter your Darkside Masters.《

》With your completion of the [Trials of Sith] questline, you have been granted access to the [Trials of Jedi] questline. Be warned that only faction reputation will be affected should you choose to take up this questline.《

》You have been granted a new Intermediate Skill: [Force Veil].《

Erebus had received plenty of notifications from his System as soon as he woke up from the nightmare-ish dream. He quickly read through them all--not minding that Arch was also reading them out at a much faster rate than he could--as he slowly rose from his bed.

It was strange for Erebus to have such a vivid dream like that--albeit also one he could vaguely remember--while dealing with the inner turmoil in his heart. Not even the effects of training in the Sith Academy had been enough to make Erebus go mad with anger like he had done back on Dromund Kaas when he first arrived in this era.

However, that did not mean such vivid dreams were comparable to the training of young Acolytes into apprentices for their Sith masters. No, these dreams granted by the Force itself were far stronger in terms of effectiveness than physical training. What Erebus felt during that dream must have also somehow affected reality itself because as soon as he finished reading the notifications and getting dressed once again, Kreia was waiting for him right outside his door.

"Bad dreams, youngling?" Kreia naturally inquired. Even her blind eyes could tell something was not quite right with her apprentice.

"I'm not surprised you could tell, Kreia," Erebus responded casually--although he too could feel slightly weary as if he didn't get a good enough sleep. "I probably seem like I went through Hell."

Kreia was just as stoic with her poker face as it had been said in the canon, but Erebus could tell she was worried for him. "It seems your strength has grown since your arrival, young one. I can feel the discord even from my cabin in this ship of yours. Your friend Arch too."

Erebus was taken aback slightly upon hearing that Arch had also been affected. "Is he alright?"

Kreia nodded lightly. "It is amazing that technology that far surpasses the galaxy is capable of such things as self-regeneration, but I imagine other worlds--much like that one you encountered young Alex in--will show me just as great technological bounds."

Erebus exhaled a hot breath as he realized Arch was fine alongside Kreia. This revelation made him relax slightly as he didn't know what to do if Arch had been hurt too much by his strength in the Force, but another thing had made him tense up more than before.

'If Kreia and Arch had been affected by my dream, did the whole planet feel it?' Erebus thought to himself as an inkling of dread crept into his features.

Looking at Kreia--who appeared quite fine due to her slightly strong connection to the Force--he wanted to make sure with his own eyes that Arch was fine along with running a planetary scan of darkside users who might be looking for him. Feeling the concern wafting off her apprentice, Kreia led Erebus towards the command deck where the projection of Arch was seemingly already running through simulations projecting the aftereffects of Erebus' sudden power fluctuations.

"Arch! You alright, bud?!" Erebus inquired with a raised voice full of worry as soon as both he and Kreia arrived.

"I'm okay, Erebus," Arch responded curtly like a gentleman. "Luckily, the restoration systems that all Voidships come equipped with kicked in milliseconds after your Force abilities fluctuated beyond safe parameters. If things were too dire, we might've had to eject from the wider galaxy and park in the Void itself to start full repairs."

"Did I respawn?" Erebus inquired--albeit feeling a bit chilly from the knowledge that if things got too dangerous he might've had to deal with floating out in that void again.

Arch shook his head. "Respawning only occurs if your physical body sustained lethal damage just like how Sebastian used the Killing Curse to send your health down to zero. Even if the connection to the Force is due to the amount of midi-chlorians in the cells, there had been no physical or metaphysical damage to you at all while you slept aside from the current state of your soul."

"So, I didn't get sent to respawn? Phew, that's good," Erebus said in relief as he swiped his forehead in relief. "Even though it had been written as quite painless, I still don't like being killed by that blasted curse."

"But there is still something slightly off about you, youngling," Kreia interrupted. "What happened in the dream?"

Before Erebus even had a chance to explain further on that part, Arch had already begun scanning Erebus' body--both physical and spiritual. Erebus' AI ally had looked over the data provided by his own medical devices--though neither Erebus nor Kreia understood how there were medical devices in the command deck when it should be in the infirmary wing--and his eyes widened in surprise.

"It seems the cultivation capacity has been further increased beyond the Gold tier," Arch responded in shock. "Whatever happened had caused Erebus' cultivation abilities to unlock the next major realm of cultivation: the Core Formation and Refinement."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Kreia asked Arch.

"It means that Erebus' current tier of cultivation has been expanded into a higher realm. Previously, the System had been given access up to peak Gold tier of cultivation to help build Erebus' foundation to help mend his soul, but all the higher realms of cultivation remained locked unless specific requirements were met. It seems like the Force went to help unlock greater potential for his cultivation when he went to sleep," Arch responded to Kreia's inquiry.

All of this made Erebus' head spin since he didn't fully understand what was happening save for the understanding that this meant his soul could be healed further.

Before they could celebrate this momentous occasion, Arch's simulations had finished compiling potential outcomes. This made Arch pull them up on the holo-table for both Erebus and Kreia to view while he began to explain what they were looking at.

"It appears that from various simulated events due to Erebus' power fluctuations, there is a 90% chance higher-ranked Sith on Korriban have sensed the disturbance in the Force and--out of the 90%--only a 75% chance of various Sith sending out acolytes to track down the source of the fluctuations," Arch began. "Some Sith include Darths Zash and Baras who are notable figures in both Inquisitor and Warrior class storylines respectively."

"I'm not in the mood to be turned into a living cadaver possessed by an old hag nor betrayed by an old man grasping at straws for power," Erebus sternly replied as his gaze turned colder. "Zash and Baras can burn for all I care."

Arch nodded lightly in response to Erebus' statement, but it was Kreia who raised an important question. "Who are they?"

"Ah, that's right," Arch said as if remembering something. "You came from a different era than our current one, so you wouldn't know."

"Darth Zash--or as she currently is called 'Lord Zash'--is the mistress of the future Sith Inquisitor character from a game from my homeworld," Erebus responded to Kreia's inquiry. "She is meant to be the mentor character to the Inquisitor apprentice she gets from Overseer Harkun. For a small time, the inquisitor--her apprentice--plays along with her whims by collecting artifacts from the time of Naga Sadow while adventuring all over the galaxy, but after collecting all the required artifacts for a ritual, she turns around to show her true face by revealing the ritual was designed to forcibly possess a chosen vessel while killing the original host."

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

Kreia's eyes slightly widened in both astonishment and fear upon hearing her apprentice's words, however the explanations were not yet done.

"While I speculate that such a ritual won't affect you, Erebus, due to being a remnant soul empowered by a System that is far beyond any technology or mysticism of the galaxy, I do recommend caution in dealing with her," Arch responded before continuing the explanations.

"As for Darth Baras, he is the Warrior mentor from said game and is vaguely less sadistic than Zash. He seeks to raise up warriors for the Sith Empire while plotting three moves ahead, but despite being able to hijack the powerful abilities of a Force Ghost who can see the future in glimpses, he too is forcibly exterminated by the Warrior character after suffering undue betrayal by Baras."

"He's a right bastard of a man," Erebus said in an annoyed tone. "However, if I end up having to deal with either or both of them as my darkside master, I'll just use Avada Kedavra on the both of them on the spot."

Kreia only nodded back as she processed what she had learned about the two Sith Lords from her apprentice and Arch. While she did that, Arch started scanning Korriban to discover how many Sith were coming.

As both began to discern the extent of the damages of his power fluctuating as it had, Erebus went back to a notification he had spotted back when he finished reading through them all.

》Due to your arcane power growing and the depths of your madness growing deeper, you have unlocked a new Dungeon Instance. In this Dungeon Instance, you have the potential to deal with forces that may or may not be beneficial in your arcane adventures.《

》Some dungeons will take you into universes that you have not yet visited nor have met the full requirements to venture into, but most instances may even grant you full access to their worlds.《

》Open up the [Dungeons] interface to view all available instances.《

Upon re-reading this notification, it still surprised him that he had been awarded a new dungeon instance. He wasn't fully sure of why he was given such a chance, but this meant all he had to do was use such an opportunity in the future to further level up.

After a few more seconds passed, Arch had detected two very strong Force signatures making their way towards their location inside the Valley of the Dark Lords. Even though they were cloaked using the Vengeful Wraith's superior cloaking technology, Erebus had a feeling something was happening.

"Apparently, there were only two people coming to see us?" Arch wondered. "Such huge power fluctuations in the Force would attract heavy Sith presence towards our location considering our projections, but why is it only two?"

"Could it be because of Erebus' System?" Kreia asked. "You had said that his System was far more advanced than anything we currently have in the galaxy--or potentially ever will have--so maybe it reduced its severity?"

"It is possible," Arch responded after giving it some thought. "The power of a remnant soul's System matrix is definitely more powerful than most power systems in the Omniverse with few exceptions to the rule. Two such examples would be the Akashic Records and the Eternal System."

{A/N: When I wrote the part of the Eternal System in Arch's dialogue, I meant my own original system for my main project's multiverse--not other systems that use the same name. Apologies if you had read other stories that utilize the same (or similar) name to my own system.}

"Confusing things aside," Erebus interrupted, "what are we going to do? I don't know who is coming for us, but I figure it is best we find out exactly who they are before we have to evacuate Korriban to escape being sighted by Sith we don't want to meet."

As Erebus had said those words, Arch had began to scan the two fast approaching Force signatures to identify who they were. Unlike most of the Force Users out there in the galaxy, the trio had no true idea of what was happening.

Fortunately, it did not take too long for Arch to come back with the results. Unfortunately, however, Arch's projected self looked pale with dread and fear.

"What is it, Arch?" Erebus asked--his tone conveying worry for his friend.

Kreia was also not blind to the fluctuations of emotion coming from all over the ship. She could tell that whoever Arch had found out was not someone simple.

"It has to be a mistake... An error in the database..." Arch mumbled out loud as he was still frightened by the truth. "There is no fucking way this is true!"

"What is it, bud?" Erebus asked--slightly more frightened now upon seeing and feeling his friend's intense fear.

Arch turned to look at his friend and master Erebus with a look of pure dread and said in a tone full of raw fear "Those two who are coming? They're Dark Council members."

Hiss...

Erebus breathed in a cold inhale of air upon hearing Arch's explanation. Not even Kreia was left untouched as she felt some inexplainable weight bring her to her knees.

"Okay..." Erebus softly whispered. "Get us the fuck out of here! Anywhere in the galaxy!"

'There is no fucking way in Hell that Kreia, Arch, and I can handle even one Dark Council member--let alone two,' Erebus thought to himself as Arch was rapidly entering coordinates for dematerialization. 'Even though I'd like to be trained in the way of the dark side, I'm not stupid enough to let two Dark Council members anywhere near me as I am. I don't care who they are nor their true identities, but knowing they are Dark Council members is far more than enough for me to get the hell out of dodge.'

"Coordinates set for dematerialization, I'm going to activate the engines!" Arch shouted out as the engines began to whir to life once again.

Both Kreia and Erebus were hoping that the Vengeful Wraith was fast enough to outdo the speed of whatever the two Dark Council members were using to get near their current location as the engines whirred. Arch was making sure to utilize as much energy as possible to get them out of Korriban's solar system with the random coordinates inputted into the navigational matrix.

Phrrrrrrrrr!

The engines whirred to life immediately just as the ship was dematerializing from Korriban. Just as the ship was about to flee into the depths of the galaxy--away from the Dark Council members and Korriban itself--something happened.

》Detecting Host is attempting to leave Korriban with unclaimed rewards.《

》Disrupting spatial travel...《

Erebus' heart dropped in his chest as the engines--which had once whirred to life in their attempt to flee Korriban--cut themselves off. Not even Arch believed for a second that his own System was interfering with taking off from the planet when it hadn't done that before!

Let alone under the pretext of 'unclaimed rewards!'

"What just happened?!" Kreia inquired in fear. "Why are we still here?!"

"The System just prevented us from leaving," Erebus responded quickly as the two dots were within one hundred meters of their location. "Under the pretext of 'unclaimed rewards,' it disrupted the engines."

"It hadn't done that before!" Arch shouted indignantly. "Why did it do that now?!"

Fifty meters and closing.

"I don't know, but I have a bad feeling that whether we like it or not, the System can disrupt the engines and prevent us from leaving if things like this happen," Erebus said in fear. "I guess this time, we have to brave it out. Die fighting if we have to..."

"You won't have to wait too long. They're here." Arch muttered out loud as the two dots had closed the span of fifty meters within two seconds.

Considering that in the current era most of the galaxy used speeders as a form of planetary-based travel and spaceships for interstellar travel, Erebus guessed that they were using speeder bikes to get here as quick as they did. As for both Arch and Kreia, they had very little to no time to prepare. Erebus pulled out his lightsaber in preparation for who was just outside the ship.

===<~(Outside of the Vengeful Wraith)~>===

Darth Vowrawn had met up with his compatriot Darth Marr just outside of the Valley of the Dark Lords. They had discussed with each other about the strange ripple in the Force just hours ago during their travel towards their destination and both had their theory that it might be because of the Outworlder they had been informed about.

After some time riding on speeders diving into the depths of the Valley, both Darths reached their destination, but were slightly perplexed upon the sight of a Empire ship parked in the red sands of Korriban. What further perplexed them was a strange design on its exterior of black vine-like images coating the entirety of the ship's hull.

"Shall we?" Vowrawn asked his compatriot before Marr silently nodded.

Dismounting their speeders, both Darths began to approach the ship with the intent to board. As if sensing their proximity, the door leading inside opened--revealing a man wearing dark gray robes wielding a lightsaber hilt in his right hand.

It was Erebus.

Vowrawn smirked a bit upon seeing Erebus for the first time face to face, but as the more diplomatic one of the duo, he approached him first.

"Greetings to you, acolyte," Vowrawn said with a slight bow.

Marr just looked like normal with his facemask covering his facial expressions. He too bowed lightly though as he followed Vowrawn's lead.

"May we come in?" Vowrawn asked Erebus politely.

Meanwhile, Erebus--on his guard with these two important figures--allowed them inside of his ship. "You both may. Only if we agree to no violence onboard."

"That is fine. Do you have anything to drink?" Vowrawn asked as he and Marr entered the ship.

With their agreement of no violence, Erebus began to show them something neither of them ever expected in their lives...

===+===

》Rewards have been claimed.《

》You are now apprenticed to both Darth Vowrawn and Darth Marr of the Sith Empire.《

》Spatial travel re-established. Urgent quest issued.《

》Due to your minimal reputation with Imperial Intelligence and meeting the elusive Cipher Nine back on Dromund Kaas, you have been given an urgent quest to travel to Balmorra to help aid Cipher Nine in their quest to take down the terrorist known as 'The Eagle.'《

》Check the [Quest Log] for more details.《