Some time later, Sam found himself standing in the line for the Dao Tree. It was far shorter now than it had been before, and Sam was glad that his number one priority for preparation was training, and that he was able to dictate what that training was. For the rest of the townspeople, Lao and the other captains were putting them through their paces.
A bit later, Sam was standing outside of the Dao tree enclosure, and he stepped inside. He had some concrete goals for his time here, which were to strengthen his Dao Mote of Resolve, and to shore up his understanding of his other Dao as well.
Up first was his Dao Mote. He was confident that he could break through to the next level of mastery within the next few days, not counting the one where he entered his Dao. That one he could do today. It was going to hurt quite a bit though, if his memory was anything to go by.
Sam closed his eyes, and entered his corespace, flying towards the shining blue orb that was his Dao Mote of Resolve. A few moments later, Sam was floating in front of its glassy surface. He took a deep breath, and placed his hand on it. A wave of pain shot through his body, and he was whisked away to a vision. He was standing in the ruins of some ancient city, surrounded by silence. Nobody else was with him, and he could tell that this entire city was dead. Sam tried to move, but his feet were stuck.
A moment later shadowy wraiths started to come out of the walls around him, their hands lengthening into claws. Sam knew what was going to come next, and he laughed. This was just a Dao Vision. They couldn’t really hurt him. The pain from their shredding strikes felt real however, and only Sam’s iron will made it feel any less so. He stood there for what felt like an eternity, and eventually something within him clicked, sending him back to reality.
You have deepened your connection to the Dao Mote of Resolve
Resolve is not only strength in the face of adversity, but also strength in the face of apprehension. You must master both your body and your mind in order to truly be one with this concept. When hardship becomes nothing to you, then you will have truly succeded.
Sam could feel his enhanced connection blooming within his chest, and he smiled. It might not have come with any physical bonus, but he knew that he was getting closer to that.
Sam opened his eyes and took in the sight around him. All of the other people in the area were looking at him with apprehension on their faces, but also a bit of pride too. Over the last few days, some of the fear that the citizens had for Sam was starting to dissipate, and this time one of them actually approached Sam. The man stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to say.
“Uh, hello? You know I’m not going to do anything to you, right?”
“I know, faction leader. It’s just that your presence is quite overwhelming.”
“Wait, what? Is my aura out?” Sam said, suddenly panicked. If that had been why everyone had been avoiding him, then he would feel like the greatest of fools.
“No, not at all. You just have this natural charisma that blends with your power to create its own kind of aura. It has nothing to do with the System.”
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“Oh, well I’m glad about that. I was wondering why people seemed so afraid to talk to me. That must have been why,” Sam answered, glad that he hadn't been scaring people with his aura.
“No, I think people just see you as some sort of untouchable avatar of power that is more than human,” the other man said.
“I guess. Just who are you?” Sam asked, suddenly intrigued. This man did not talk like any other citizen that Sam had ever met.
“Oh, just another citizen. Who I am does not matter. Anyway, it was nice speaking with you, Sam Atlas. I wish you luck. You’re going to need it…”
“What?” Sam blinked once, but the man had somehow disappeared without Sam catching it. Seeing as he was basically a superman now, that was quite strange.
Sam rubbed his eye and then sighed. It didn't really matter. Perhaps he had just been a bit too inattentive.
Ten blocks away, the man chuckled to himself. Sneaking into the city had been trivially easy, especially with all of the DNA that had been swiped from Sam and his allies in Paris. When the main bulk of the Legion came, this city would be in for a bad time.
The man pulled out a crystal from his pocket and crushed it. With a whoosh, he was gone, teleporting to a nearby hill. With a single backwards glance, he was off, back to report to his masters.
Oblivious to all of this, Sam walked out of the Dao tree enclosure, whistling to himself. He was happy with his new progress with his Dao, considering that he had barely worked on it. His Dao contemplation and upgrading speed was getting quite impressive, even to himself. Would he be creating multiple Dao Motes every day in the distant future, on his endless quest to gain the Dao of Existence? He did not know, but it was likely.
Sam was now left without any training to do for the foreseeable future, at least for a few hours, and as a result he had some time to check out the new purchases that he had made for the city. He could see the barracks at all times, given their immense size, but he had not been able to see them up close.
Sam raced across the city, almost stumbling a few times as the power boost from the Potency field made itself known. Combined with the effects of the Icon, Sam was quite a bit stronger than he had been before. It was so much in fact that he had been filled with a sense of false bravado for the last few hours, and it was hard for him not to fantasize about defeating Hugo Mar with ease. He knew that this was just a power-addled daydream, but it was quite convincing. By the time that he reached the barracks, he was shouldering his way through a small crowd, all of whom seemed to be waiting for something.
As he reached the center, Sam saw what they were watching. Each of the barracks towers spat out a squat creature every few seconds, and as Sam watched, he saw that they were all completely identical. The smaller of the two towers created four legged metal monsters that each wielded dual weapons in their hands. They all had different weapons, but there were clear divisions between them. Some of them grouped into units of sword wielding robots, while some sported axes. There was even what looked to be a heavy division, with two handed weapons. The latter automatons were only created rarely, which had led to Sam initially thinking that there was only one type.
Sam was satisfied with this one, and he moved onto the larger of the two towers. That one created two legged creatures that looked more human than anything else. They only came out every few minutes, which fitted with the instructions that Sam had given them. If he was not mistaken, every one of these robots was F Rank. Their shiny, chrome colored skin disabused that notion of humanity almost immediately, but they still looked quite realistic.
These ones wielded much more elegant weapons, rapiers, staffs, and even guns in a few cases. This was the one that Sam had the most optimism for, and he walked up to one of the nearby automatons. Sam stood in front of it and studied its face. It was a smooth mass of metal that did not seem to inhibit its senses much, and beneath it was a small grille, perhaps for speech. Sam was not sure whether these robots were actually sapient or not, and he intended to test it out.