"Thanks, Aphro." Caelus blinked once, not doubting it. Not because he trusted her now, he was still skeptical. But because she was quiet for so long, she only finally spoke now.
Caelus walked away, Sol disappearing in an instant. Finally looking up, Caelus noticed the night sky with an aurora. He assumed it was rare, but with how people reacted to it... Was it normal? This could be another world, not like Earth.
"Could you tell me what the Star is? I’m thinking it’s like the Sun from the other world..."
[Star Type Classification, the Star this planet is orbiting is about 3,400 times bigger than the Sun from that world.]
Caelus stopped dead in his tracks. "Excuse me, what?"
[I am not miscalculating Caelus.]
"Okay, I trust that you aren’t, but still, what the- Is that why it felt so weird being here?"
Caelus thought to himself, only to let it go. He wasn’t going to be stuck on that; he needed to finish things.
Walking back to the Empire, Caelus noticed people celebrating something; it seemed incredibly important at the very least.
"Did you hear? Princess Elysia herself volunteered to be tested with the thing the Church is testing, and it worked! It even unclogged her meridians and fixed them, allowing her to cultivate."
"She reached the Second Realm in barely a day; she’s truly exceptional after all. No wonder everyone loves her, I can’t find someone who doesn’t, other than petty nobles and her older brother!"
Caelus listened to the conversation while walking by, not noting anything special from those gossiping, but what he heard intrigued him. "It’s not that she couldn’t cultivate in the first place, but I guess they couldn’t kill her if she’s that popular."
From the sound of it, she’s almost universally loved. No wonder they had to do this instead of silently getting rid of her. And especially not ignoring that, since they had lied about her family’s inability to cultivate.
"Hm." Caelus thought, his mind roaming freely.
[Draconic Core has Evolved from Self-Defined Order too... Unnamed]
"Absolutionism. Name it that."
[Draconic Core has Evolved from Self-Defined Order to Absolutionism.]
Caelus continued on, moving through the streets, wondering what he should do next. Taking a moment, he realized what his mind could do exactly.
"...Hmmm, Techniques, I have spammable techniques, and a movement technique, two nuke-like techniques, and one long-range mid-level technique, but the only thing I have to defend myself is a Mana Barrier, so maybe... I can take inspiration from something. But, what exactly?"
Caelus was a little puzzled about what to do next. He also realized how dumb it was of him to test his techniques in front of everyone; he’d probably work on it when he was at Tianyun Peak.
"Ah." Caelus’s voice changed, or more, his accent, similar to the other worlds, softer than when he speaks casually.
"To get closer, you need to make half the distance, but then you’d need to make half more of that distance, repeated indefinitely... no, too simple, Maybe redirection, something which does the defensive part, and redirects it somewhere else, making it inconvenient to use Mana or abilities," He got stuck, going through the half of each movement, and also more than just that.
Weaker than Rupture, Stronger than Rend, something between two polar opposites. from Effective but weaker, and Powerful but Draining "...Equilibrium." He’d still have to test it out, but it’d be an effective middle ground for him.
"Hmmm, I should probably fight someone at my level, with the looks of it. Tellus and Sol are off limits, Nyx is absolutely not, Diana and Vulcan, probably not, and that only leaves... Minerva, not Elysia, she still needs to grow." He spoke to himself in another language, so no one understood since it couldn’t be translated for them.
Stopping right before the area where the Pavilion Entrance is, Caelus stared at it for a moment and turned away. He would’ve gone in to relax, to read something new, but for right now? He wouldn’t. He wanted a moment to himself, part of this day for Techniques, the next part for being with Tellus. And the Last part is finally getting a fight with Minerva.
Finally finding Tellus at the training area, he looked at her, swinging her blade, clearly better at it now, from the advice Sol gave, or maybe it was herself. He wouldn’t doubt either.
Walking up. Caelus stood there waiting for her to notice he was even here.
"Ah- Caelus, you’re here." She spoke. "Is something wrong?"
"Nope, I’m wondering when we could go for that? Or should we wait until the Yun Clan leaves? I’ll resolve that myself, but I’m hoping it isn’t a fight."
Tellus sighed. "It would be wise to leave after the Yun Clan is dealt with; they aren’t allowed to stay here past the time they need, so they might confront you soon." She continued. Sheathing her blade, a click as it fully went in.
"I see, then I’ll be on the lookout, though I do want to know, what do you think I’m missing from my techniques, I have already shown you Rend, Horizon Step, Disjunction, Burning Temptation, and one you haven’t seen, which is Rupture," Caelus replied.
"I know I need something for defense... But what else do you think I need?" Caelus replies.
Tellus looked at him, blinking. "A brain, you just told me all your abilities outloud, instead of showing them so I could understand. Each name gives away something about it."
"...Ah, well, that means they know my techniques and can find ways to counter them, albeit if they used theirs, I could as well... But for Spectators, I don’t know much about them then." Caelus replied, realizing the mistake of using any technique he could instead of finding ways to hide a trump card, though he knew that people wouldn’t be able to tell how Burning Temptation actually worked now.
"I see, then I’ll go Fight Minerva, she’s probably seen me fight, albeit I haven’t seen any of her techniques, and she’s of the same realm, it’ll be fair since she doesn’t know much about how I’ll fight now," Caelus replied.
"But, for right now, Tellus, do you wish to take a break?" Caelus looked to the side after turning away, with Tellus about to walk past him.
Stopping in her tracks. "...Perhaps, I have also noticed the Church said they cured Elysia’s Bloodline Curse with the new thing they discovered... But I saw you help her cultivate before they even revealed it." Her voice was a little shaky. "But not right now." In a flicker, she disappeared.
"At least she found out for herself. I won’t push her anymore; it’ll be her own journey." Caelus walked out of the place, passing the Yun Clan’s Ambassadors and Yun Li.
"...It would be wise if we don’t fight here," Caelus replied before he could say anything.
"...Fine, but only because this is for resources. After this, if I see you again, you’re done for." Yun Li replied, but was now a little hesitant.
"It would be best not to provoke the lizard; they might bite. Either way, the Elders and the other higher ranks of the Clan will discuss what to do anyway." Another Elder spoke, looking at Yun Li, clearly trying to prevent anything from happening.
"...Ah, well, that’s a lot more complicated. I doubt they’d just send someone at Soul Formation to accidentally kill me while fighting someone else, probably someone of my level, or maybe ambush me when I’m outside."
Caelus thought about what they’d do, continuing to walk, going past the Yun family, who were slower than usual, their footsteps fading into the masses’ footsteps, meaning they turned away.
Finally reaching the Entrance of the Empire, he stood there for a second, only to disappear, changing his location to the Tianyun Mountain, specifically, behind it, not inside. Even if someone watched him here, he’d detect it, especially someone of his own realm or weaker.
He then realized what he could do with Equilibrium... A moment of thought, as he noticed, if people could teleport and use telepathy here they could mind read, at least as something of his level, not lower, so he’d have to be cautious, remembering how his brain worked, he thought about the rest of his techniques, one about Sol and also Tellus, describing them to himself to memorize their looks so he could find them easily.
The third one, thinking in his original language, was garbled to anyone who didn’t know it. Continuing forward, he paced around, though not testing it outside or speaking its name. Not even thinking of the Technique, he conceptualized it within a tiny area in the type of light only he could see naturally, without Mana, so no one would be able to see.
Finally done, it took him a little bit of time, but he was ready with the Technique, noticing a presence, his head quickly turning to where it was, his Mana flaring out and pushing down on the person there. His Draconic Aura flared violently in a fifty-meter radius around him.
"Just come up, if you’re watching, at least be honest about it and stay nearby."
[Comprehension has gone from Fifth to Seventh.]
"I see, well then that’s fun, I got there on my own." Caelus grinned, moving in an instant; he teleported next to the person watching. They looked like a normal cultivator, but Caelus was weirded out by why they were here. "So, who might you be?" Caelus spoke, confused; he hadn’t seen them before.
"I-"
"Ah, sorry, let me lower that." Caelus’s Mana compressed back into him, a slight fluctuation that he didn’t mind, but it helped him gain better control of his Mana.
"I am Helel." She replied in a soft voice, shivering, looking scared at just seeing him. "Not dangerous, and at the peak of Foundation Establishment, she’s probably going to reach Virtuoso soon." Caelus thought.
"Well, what do you need?" He knew they were here for some small reason, especially climbing up a mountain at that slow a speed.
"W-Well, I was wondering if you could protect me for a day or two, because of two stronger cultivators coming after me." Her voice shook a bit more.
"And why are they after you?" Caelus wondered; he wasn’t going to protect someone for no reason if they were being chased, but if it was for something that might hurt them, then he would.
"Ah-, I made a pill for myself to help me sustain my Foundation when I went to a higher realm. It gives me a temporary boost in Mana, so it was rarer where I’m from, and they wanted it, but I didn’t give it and ran away. They catch up every once in a while, but-"
"...So they’re toying with you, they want you to be scared, and from the sound of it, they’re probably of the same realm as me. Well, sure, I’ll protect you, but if I find out you’re lying, I won’t do it ever again."
Caelus sighed, noticing two people approaching from the corner of his eye. Virtuoso, at the third stage, could deal with them since they seemed fresh to him, but he wouldn’t get too overconfident.
"I’ll only use Rend and Rupture, maybe Horizon Step, otherwise nothing else, I’ll make sure to." Caelus sighed, rigid rule, but it’d help him from using every Technique whenever he needed; he could modify his own Technique slightly, like how Rend could cut into a net shape if he used it that way.
"Well then. Looks like they’re here, just make sure to hold on for a bit. It’ll be a wild ride." Caelus spoke, speaking more like himself, since this person didn’t know him. A chuckle rang out, and both of the other cultivators approached. Both ladies.
"I didn’t know you went after people weaker than you. It sounds incredibly disappointing." Caelus spoke; he wanted to insult someone, especially these types of people.