The shifts lasted for two full rotations, allowing each member of the group to get around eight hours of sleep. Every time it was Domison’s turn to stand vigil, he stretched his perception to its limits, eyes raking through the glowing forest. Several times he thought he heard the shifting of branches or an eerie huffing, but whenever he tried to focus on the location it seemed to be coming from it faded into the natural ambiance. When Domison finally awoke for the last time before breaking camp, Raze spoke softly into his mind.
‘You cultivate the world's energy while you slumber… I wanted to be positive before I said anything so I watched closely each time you were able to rest but… When you fall into a deep sleep, your body begins to passively soak up all of the ambient mana and life energy around you. The world seems to acquiesce to the hunger of your inner core. ’ There was a slight air of respect coloring the shadow guide’s tone as he spoke. ‘It’s truly marvelous. You may even reach the Abyssal Core Realm within the year… I think I am beginning to see what the master saw in you,’
Domison could only ask in confusion, ‘Abyssal Core Realm?’
For a moment there was no response but Raze finally answered after a few seconds, ‘As you cultivate you will reach several different realms of power. At the peak of each realm, you will have to “breakthrough” so to speak. It will require much preparation to make these breakthroughs and even more perseverance, only getting more and more difficult as you rise to immortality.’
Raze stopped speaking for a moment, seemingly pondering how best to continue, ‘ You won’t need to worry about the realms past Foundation for now. You currently reside in the Foundation Realm, having surpassed the Mortal Realm in your initial training. With the path you are currently on, forcing a breakthrough at that point is easy and quite effective even in terms of widening your foundations. Once you break through into the Abyssal Core Realm, you should even be able to passively cultivate while doing nonstrenuous activities or light labor, but for now, you will only be able to while you sleep and it should enhance your daily cultivation achieved through meditation. Speaking of which, you will need to start meditating daily.’
For a fleeting moment, Domison could see Raze’s glimmering red eyes peering out at him from a shadow with glee, ‘ You build upon those foundations in each realm by ascending through certain tiers. To reach the Abyssal Core Realm you will need to cultivate through four independent stages: The Abyssal Flesh stage, the Abyssal Blood stage, the Abyssal Bones stage, and finally the Abyssal Spirit stage. Once you have obtained those four enhancements, fully incorporating Abyssal energies into your being, you will be able to break through into the Abyssal core realm. This all culminates into one truth, your passive cultivation will exponentially increase your ability to rise through those stages and future ones. Decades of cultivation will be reduced to mere months. It's absolutely extraordinary.’
Stolen novel; please report.
Domison could only stare into space, dumbfounded, as even he could understand the implications this new information made. ‘You said it could potentially shorten the enhancement time for reaching higher realms by decades? That is an insane level of efficiency, you can’t be serious. It’s comparable to the difference between an artificial intelligence transcribing a document versus a human doing it by hand.’
Raze only chuckled darkly, his jovial noises almost seeming to echo through the shadows around the man. He could only shake his head at the revelation and turn his focus onto the upcoming tasks at hand. He stood and turned to Mike and Mel, informing them that he was going to find a trunk he was able to scale in order to get a bird's eye view of the area. As soon as the plan had been discussed the couple tucked away into a tree hollow cut into the side of an absolutely massive red and green speckled trunk.
Domison was to climb to the top of this tree, the largest in their immediate area, and scope out the surroundings. The couple would hide until he returned and then they would make their way straight toward the city. It took only a few seconds for Domsion to scale the tree, his muscles feeling supple and strong. The bark was soft in his fingers and his hands left slight indentations in the plant's flesh beneath him while he looked out over the tree line. He could see the rooftops of megabuildings sticking up over the horizon and he could tell that Old Town was at least another ten miles away judging by the expanse of huge trees and the size of the buildings in the distance.
The megabuildings were, at minimum, fifty-story buildings owned almost entirely by large corporations. The massive structures acted as housing facilities, markets, and office space. Even the metallic surgeons that installed artificial bio-upgrades could be found there. Some of the surprisingly larger Megabuildings housed gun shops and indoor ranges. Small arms vending machines lined the cramped hallways of these buildings, promising professional protection on a beginner's budget if you could get past the general malfunctions of the machinery.
The slums or Old Town as the more dignified Poors preferred to call it, were on the outskirts of the downtown plaza that housed the Megabuidlings in a neat grid. That was how Domison was able to determine their approximate distance. The distance didn’t feel right to Domison however. He was almost positive that they should have only been a few miles away now, not the much lengthier ten that faced them.
His eyebrows furrowed as he sank into deep contemplation. Domison had no time to regard this conundrum further though, as a shrill scream pierced through the noonday sky, followed by a cry for help, “DOMISON! You have to help us! Hurry please God, it’s going to kill Mike!” Mel’s voice cut through all ambient noise and any roaming thought Domison had lingering in his mind.
Raze chose that moment to grace Domison's mind with its presence. His tone of nonchalance immediately put the man on the edge of irritation, 'You may want to hurry back down young reaper, from what I can see through the shadows... She is not wrong in her assumption. It is in fact going to kill the rude, whiney one." Domison did not wait for another second, letting go of the trunk gripped between the fingers of his left hand while the nails of his right dug furrows into the bark as he plunged through the red canopy at speed.