He closed his eyes, and began to ruminate on his new Dao, that of Resolve, which seemed to be starting to mesh with his original purpose. If he could take it up to the Fragment stage and then meld it with his other Dao, then he could possibly use it to take the next step on the journey of Dao mastery, which would give him great power.
Sam sat there for some time, before naturally snapping out of his fugue, unable to procrastinate any longer. He got off his bed, and walked outside, moving at a normal human pace. On his way out, he grabbed his armor and his hammer, the only two things that he was going to need on this little adventure.
As he went, he tried to remain quiet. He did not want to cause a scene upon leaving. However, it seemed like the other faction members had different plans for him. What seemed to be the population of the entire city stood outside, waiting for him, and as soon as he exited, they started to cheer wildly, expressing their gratitude for Sam and all that he had done for them.
He waved at them and walked out through their midst, heading towards the city hall. That was where he was going to leave from. As he walked along the streets, people popped out of the buildings to say goodbye to him, and he waved to each of them in turn. By the time that he had reached the city hall, he was being followed by a large group of people, even some of the aliens too.
He spotted the captains waiting in a semicircle in front of the city hall, ready to bid him farewell. Sam walked forward the remainder of the way, and stood in front of them, ready to leave. As he stood there, a chant started to rise up among the crowd, and then among the captains. It was a simple one, asking for him to give them a speech. It seemed that his impromptu speeches in the past had been regarded with quite some prestige, and Sam sighed, secretly pleased at this.
It wasn’t because of any natural oration abilities, simply because of his heightened intelligence, but he had a knack at saying the right thing at the right time while addressing large numbers of people. Sam raised his hands for quiet, and the noise started to die down, letting him speak.
“Faction members, Earthlings, and more exotic. I thank you for joining me here. You have all supported me greatly since the establishment of our faction, and we have prevailed against all odds that have come our way.” Sam paused as a deafening cheer rang out. “We defeated the marauding armies of Salvar Tenebron!” Another cheer. “We defeated the Legion, the greatest threat yet!” This time the cheer was even louder than before. “We will prevail against all odds, no matter what they are!” Sam yelled, raising his hammer high into the air. Red energy sparked around it, and his aura shot outwards, inspiring everyone within its radius. Sam sighed, and then continued to speak, his voice more solemn now. “We face the power of the Titans now, a cabal of E Rank monsters that threaten all that we stand for. I am departing now in hopes of claiming the power to not only protect this faction, but to defeat this threat once and for all. However, the faction does not rest solely upon my shoulders. It is made up of all of you first and foremost. I implore you to step up to the challenge, and improve yourselves as effectively and quickly as you can, in order to be ready for the challenges to come. We cannot afford mediocrity. We must push onwards for excellence in all fields!”
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Sam stopped talking, sensing that his declaration had come to a natural close. The people standing around the city hall were frozen, and Sam saw this as his opportunity to leave. He raised his right hand, and pressed the button on the ring. A pillar of white light shot downwards, and engulfed him, momentarily blinding the onlookers. Then it vanished, leaving a scorch mark on the ground. Sam was gone.
Sam was hurtling through a rainbow tunnel of light, at speeds that he could not comprehend. He was nothing more than a stream of particles, with his consciousness somehow preserved by the magic of the ring. He might have been nothing more than a figment of his mind. Perhaps this was the afterlife.
As the time started to stretch out, Sam realized that he would be here for a while. He noticed that his Dao was still accessible, even in this state, but it was strangely formatted, almost as if it had been stretched along with him.
He could sense patches of further insights through the holes in the thinly stretched lattice of his Dao however, and instinctively reached towards them, drawing them close. As he traveled, he consolidated the power of his Dao, ranking up his Dao Mote of Resolve some time later. His Fragment stage Dao was starting to gain power too, but not as quickly.
As he flew, Sam tried to eke out as much as he could from this opportunity, but eventually, his wild ride ended. Sam blinked, and found himself standing in the middle of what looked to be an active warzone. All manner of aliens fought and died on the blasted plain around him, and as soon as they saw Sam, a large group broke off to attack him.
Most of the soldiers were low F Ranks, but there were a few more powerful ones as well. Sam hefted his hammer, and prepared for battle, not sure what exactly was happening here. Whatever it was, it was not what he had been expecting.
As the aliens charged, a man watched the scene from a few hundred miles away, keeping track of Sam’s every move. As the man tore through the aliens surrounding him in a storm of blood and gore, he smiled. His new pupil might just have what it took to become one of the greats. However, there was just the little question of surviving a battle against an entire army first. After that, then he could mold the boy into whatever he wanted.
Chuckling to himself, the man stopped watching, and reclined on his seat, thinking about the torment that he would be putting his new pupil through. All for the greater good, of course. There had been a lot of red tape to cut through in order to authorize the man’s presence on this world, and he had been forced to come to an isolated world within his soon to be protege’s home universe, rather than have him come to study under himself, as was natural. However, he would make sure that it was worth it.