In the Faction Headquarters
Another tremor had struck the city overnight, rocking the buildings on their foundations. Little damage had been dealt, but Eduardo was worried. He had witnessed first hand the strength of the Corpse Titan, the closest of the titans to the city. It seemed that the creature was starting to awaken.
The tremors had started the day after Sam had left, and they had gradually been growing stronger. It was a harbinger of bad times to come. Unless Sam achieved a miracle during his time spent training, all would be for naught. The city defenders were training at record pace, trying to get ready for the battles to come. However, there was a critical lack of powerful fighters, at least compared to the cutting edge of Earthly might. Other than the automatons, there were only about 50 F Rankers in the entire human part of the city, and most of the rest were part of the assimilated faction led by Talnor. It was welcome, but many of the humans were growing annoyed at the disparity in power.
However, Eduardo had no such qualms, as any increase to the strength of the faction was a blessing to them all. The city kept growing and growing, one of the bonuses of having a Metropolis Core. As the faction eventually edged fully into F Rank, which it was getting close to, the core could be upgraded, allowing for the city walls to be expanded, as well as the force field. It would be expensive, but for the rapidly growing faction, it would be worth it. Their numbers were rising and rising, and they would soon cross the 50,000 mark, which would be a welcome sight. Eventually, their numbers would become astronomically large, if they lasted for long enough, but for now, the faction’s goals were more realistic.
In any case, most of the people were not as important as the new buildings, as more than half of them were under level thirty, and almost all of them were G Rank. They were mostly useful for credits. Of course, they were valued as members of the faction, but Eduardo and the other captains had to be pragmatic here.
The city was running smoothly enough, but it was nowhere near enough to defeat one of the Titans. An advance party would be leaving the city in a few days to work on claiming Gungnir, the spear of Odin, and it would be made up of some of the strongest captains in the faction. If they managed to claim the spear, their position would be more secure. As Eduardo walked, he sent up a quick prayer, hoping for Sam's safe return.
In the training cavern
Sam had finally done it. He stood on the far side of the cavern, breathing heavily, as the aftereffects of teleportation left his system. It had taken him time and effort to cross the divide, but he had finally managed it. His control over his skill had increased, but there was still no actual System granted skill. For that to happen, he would have to fully integrate some aspect of his power into it. For now though, he had a powerful new weapon in his arsenal.
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It was mostly useless in battle, as using it took a huge amount of energy out of him, even for only short distances, but it was good as an escape option if he was ever stuck. In addition, he would be able to grow better at it as time went on, increasing its efficacy. A moment later, Gordanus stepped out of a rent in the air in front of Sam, beaming widely.
“You actually did it! I have to say, I was expecting for you to have to call for help, but you actually mastered the skill to a sufficient degree to escape my little obstacle course. The only thing standing between you and higher order Dao skills, like true flight, is upgrading your Dao.”
“True flight?” Sam asked, intrigued.
“You would need a Dao Seed for that, so it's not something to worry about now. My next priority is getting you some levels, as well as allowing you to practice with your new skill. I believe it is time for you to rejoin that little territorial spat that you entered this world in the middle of.”
Gordanus snapped his fingers, and before Sam could say anything, he found himself whirling through the firmament, emerging in the middle of a pitched battle. The same aliens that had greeted his entry into this world still warred on the endless plain, their numbers barely having changed from the first time. This was the nature of war in the Boundless Expanse, a world where men had the power of gods.
With a sigh, he found himself in the same position as he had been upon arriving in this world, only with more power than before. This would not go the same way.
Sam roared, tossing himself into the fray with his hammer glowing brightly. Empowered with the energy of his twin Fragments, the weapon came down like a meteor, destroying a large swath of the nearby aliens. As the others turned towards Sam, he grinned.
‘ “Come,” he said, beckoning with his free hand. They obliged.
Two hours later, Sam stood in the middle of a graveyard, surrounded by corpses. Hundreds of the aliens came every minute, taxing his reserves to their utmost. However, he had been deposited in a more central part of the battlefield, and the small impact that he was having on their numbers was not visible to any of the strongest fighters in the area, which meant that he was safe for now. He had gained another two levels in that time, but his leveling speed was already slowing. Soon he would need to seek out stronger opponents.
His new Dao was getting a serious workout, and he was glad of the newfound strength. The stat bonus had only been an auxiliary benefit, and the power that he had gained from the new connection to the universe was staggering. It almost doubled his total Dao energy stores, and he began to become more adept at blending the two Daos, aided by his class, which increased his ability to mix different Daos. His path was already one that was completely unique, and he would use that advantage to his fullest, blending his Daos in a way that nobody else would dare. Most people simply picked one conceptual path and followed it to the end, but Sam had to follow all of them, which meant that almost anything went in terms of his Dao usage.