“I must confess… I didn’t expect that,” Eternal Selena said, gazing at Arslan and Derin. They were sitting in a lounge, opposite Selena.
Derin had been making eye contact with Selena since they sat down, while Arslan just gazed left and right. He felt the situation was somewhat off. It felt like an interrogation, but not quite. He looked at Derin to see her calm face, the one she usually wore when negotiating with someone. He just didn’t understand what she was negotiating.
“As always, my lion is full of surprises,” Derin said. If Arslan could feel embarrassment he would.
“Are you not worried that Demigods would threaten your life? There will be a lot of beings who will be on the hunt for you, just to search for ways to achieve Divinity. Some Eternals are especially obsessed over not reaching the Demigod stage after millions of years. There are even some who have existed since the beginning of the cosmos, those whose friends have become Divines, yet they are traveling or sleeping throughout the cosmos. They are especially interested in some lifeforms, let alone those with Divinity but also weak. You should consider requesting assistance.”
“Are we weak? Am I weak, to need someone else for protection? If I can’t, then who can? You?” Arslan turned, revealing a part of his existence within his eyes. Domination… she saw the Domination of all things. Laws were rejected in those eyes, but also suppressed to be docile, like he was their master but also not quite. She turned her gaze away, fear blurring her existence before calming down. She knew that his Divinity was shattered, and she couldn’t help but shiver at what Domination at its fullest could do. Would she have also been Dominated when looking into those pale red eyes?
Arslan gazed outside, annoyed that people thought he was just mortal. Someone who could be unconsidered and helpless. I guess I need to walk upon the Path that my ancestors walked upon. Conquer, with a touch of Domination. This would surely warn those old things that covet him or anything he is in ownership of. His heart throbbed with this thought, feeling an improvement in his bloodline that shook the surroundings. If his body agreed, why wouldn’t his mind? Right at that moment, a little spot started germinating on his Existence.
“Love, your thoughts are leaking,” Arslan felt the touch of a hand, reassuring as always. He met Derin’s beautiful eyes, and saw they were as unique as his.
“Apologies,” Arslan didn’t directly speak to Selena, but it should be enough. He got up and said, “I will check upon the others.”
“I will be here,” Derin answered, and Arslan nodded. He better left them alone, as whatever they were doing, their brains were overworking. He wouldn’t be a part of that. He let go of the Innate Energy in his body that had been doing what oxygen should do. He birthed the Seed of Immortality, and if he continued to use Innate Energy, he would reach the first stage of Immortality, Breathless. He couldn’t reverse the process of the Seed recording his usage of Innate Energy, so he would need to refrain from utilizing the training of Immortality. He didn’t want to be disqualified from the competition by becoming an Immortal.
He took a breath, savoring the ship's scent. He missed this, the feeling of taking a breath. The last time he didn’t utilize the training was for a long time. Even Immortals would breathe at times, to relive old memories, for adventure, or out of sheer curiosity. For whatever it was, it was beautiful. With their strength, their bodies functioned in such ways that everything was either beautiful or disgusting. Rarely would an individual balance it manually. He decided that now that the training for being Breathless was over, he would remember this feeling not to give up taking the smell of Existence.
However, he can’t stop his progress. As long as he doesn’t run his Innate Energy for 9 stages of Immortal Realm, he could tread upon other ways. One was his Path, and the other was his Divinity. He waited long enough.
He closed his eyes and used his Existence to sense. His Existence by itself was something precious, and passive metaphysical senses were out of the world. Not everyone can develop these powers, as it’s a kind of an authority Existence grants to those who are worthy. He pulled a little bit of Mind Energy, and imagined his Existence. Instantly, there were lines mingled everywhere, and it wasn’t limited to his body. Even the parts he sensed through his Existence while eyes closed were a part of him. It was beautiful, seeing all of himself. Although there were other methods than cultivating Existence, he can’t help but find them wanting. He can’t comprehend how these methods came to be, as they are born innately to cultivate Existence, but he sensed that there was something deeply hidden behind this. After all, Dao Cultivation also is a method, but it was more like a Path that cultivated their own Innate Energy. If it was created by an entity, what an entity it was! Yet he still found it lacking, which Arslan found funny. He can’t even comprehend it, yet question their worth.
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I guess not having something to do creates thoughts that are a little too above oneself, he thought and closed this subject. For now.
He focused on his Mind Energy, and willed it towards his center. Then he willed to create a pulse from that mass of energy to spread through his Existence. He sensed small particles, but he ignored them. He pinpointed a bigger particle that was red which repelled the pulse. Found you, he thought.
He circled the particle with Mind Energy, without making contact, as he knew it would be repelled. Instead, he opted to create an aura that influenced just enough with the needed input. He inputted everything he knew that was a fact about Domination, and Divinity gladly accepted. However, what greeted him was boundless Red, with nothingness dissipating more than half of it. He searched for something, anything, to progress, yet he couldn’t. How could he see anything without being aware of what it is in the first place? If he could, he would directly use Domination without Divinity, because Innate Energy was omnipotent.
He could create fire because he knew how to. He could Dominate if he knew how to. However, Divinity was a key to unlocking the knowledge to know. He just needed to see it. He remembered the percentage he saw about his bloodline and guessed it was the instinct and emotional part that was unlocked, as he could only use Domination that way. So, he tried unleashing emotion one after another, wanting to see a reaction. Red tried to envelop the places that dissipated, yet couldn’t. However, he also saw a shimmer underneath the world of Red, an equation. An equation that led to unlocking his Divinity and bloodline.
He only saw trigger points on the equation, but he couldn’t comprehend anything to reveal more. However, he could make out that Domination was a concept far away from the likes of something tangible. In a Path, a cultivator would study patterns in the world, society, and entities to tread a Path. However, they would have to create their equation if they wanted to step into the Demigod stage. The condition was that the equation could be used in any way. He filled this condition with just 0.000....01% of bloodline unlocking, yet he knew it’s nowhere enough to become a Divine.
Arslan noticed that it would not be easy, and he could only develop the missing parts himself and decipher the equations one by one. He knew deep inside that it would take a long time to decipher even the start of it from looking at the blurry equation, but he also knew that it was a priceless treasure since he can’t study a concept like this anywhere else. Domination was not just subduing someone, but even subduing laws that surrounded them. His current Domination also had no ability on another entity. The only reason Eternal Selena got affected was that it was Divinity and could use laws and concepts to target her. These potentials would affect their Existence from deep within.
Just as he etched the visible equation which had the activation trigger based on emotions and Will, which is how Divinities worked, he sensed through his Existence that Damon was up ahead. He opened his eyes and stopped by his side, gazing at the space filled with red sunlight from behind. They couldn’t see anything other than a part of Shattered Continent and darkness. It was one of the downsides of not having enough stars that are not subdued by the Red Sun’s sunlight.
“I’m guessing plans have changed,” Damon said, still looking outside. It was peaceful, and he didn’t want to get formal at the moment.
Arslan didn’t mind. They could finish a conversation by the time they finished a formal greeting done at mortal speeds.
“Yes. I will send Derin to Luvi One.”
“Because of that entity?”
“Yes.”
“A Buddha might not like her.”
“Buddhas are not ones to mind a quirky person,” Arslan answered and continued, “And they would do anything to stop unnecessary bloodshed, especially towards a woman with child.”
Damon looked surprised as he didn’t think they would be so careless. “Wouldn’t it be better to send her back? Possibilities are endless, and all this might not be worth it.”
Arslan patted Damon on the shoulder and made eye contact, instilling his feelings ever since he met Derin in one word. “Women.”
One word that held endless love, obsession, pride, and mostly incomprehension.