A few steps away.
[Yun Li’s Mana has depleted to 0%; he cannot regenerate.]
Caelus only listened, walking farther away. He didn’t mind if someone found it; he did it because of her and himself. A life taken is a life taken.
[Absolutionism is Recalibrating...]
[Completed]
"Not right now, Aphro. I’ll be with Elysia for right now to cool off." Caelus replied, speaking in Russian so no one would understand if anyone was watching... Other than Nyx, who could watch everyone.
Finally reaching the Empire, Caelus skipped past everyone, noticing Elysia’s presence at the Pavilion once more; she probably loved the place.
Appearing past the entrance, Caelus looked at Elysia as he waited for her to turn around. She was already further into Foundation Establishment. Realizing he barely even moved from the Fifth to the Sixth stage, well, he didn’t mind it.
"Ely?" Caelus finally spoke.
"AHH- Oh COME ON, don’t scare me like that!" Elysia jumped and turned to Caelus; seeing him, she calmed herself. "Hmmm? Caelus... You look... More angry." Confused about it, she instinctively tilted her head.
"It’s... For something else, for right now I’d rather talk to you about something normal instead of Cultivation, either for daily life or something else." Caelus replied. "As for why I’m angry, you’ll get the news why."
"Ah, alright! Well, wait, why do you want to talk about normal things?" Elysia spoke, only to realize why exactly. "Well, no need to answer that."
"Well, how has your day been?" Elysia asked... Nothing else.
"It’s worse than usual, but it was just something I’m not used to." Caelus sighed. "What about you, Elysia? How has your day been?" Caelus... Already found this way better than before, wanting to decompress and hence going to Elysia, he could’ve gone to Tellus, but she was a bit too stoic.
"It’s been a lot better, I’ve got to interact with another Empire’s Second Prince, though the coronation ceremony hasn’t started yet for them." She replied. "I’ve also been talking more with people, and I’ve learned what they need, so once I become ruler, I’ll help with that where I can." A smile grew on her face.
"Well? Could you list some things you’d do? And are you fine with me giving some criticism to make it better?" Caelus replied.
"Of course! Though, let’s see what I should start with..." Elysia thought to herself, making it look like she was thinking very hard.
"Actually... What would you do as a ruler, Caelus?" Elysia finally conjured a reply.
"Huh." Caelus tapped his foot, thinking about what he would actually do; he wasn’t fully sure of it. "I guess make it better for people to live a normal life without living on the edge, they just have to put proper work, along with that, make it so nothing except laws are forced on you, or that you have to follow. Make it relaxed unless it’s severe crimes, and not to favor people to stop any revolutions..." Rambling a bit, he wasn’t being fully sure about what else he would’ve done.
"Oh," Elysia spoke. "Well, that’s not how my father thinks, but that is how the advisiors think, I guess you’d be good as one." She replied, a smile still on her face.
[2 Hours later]
"Well... We went a little farther than we expected on that." Elysia spoke.
"...Yeah, I could not understand some of the words you said." Caelus laughed lightly, feeling a lot better himself.
"Well, I’ll be going now, you have fun... And also make your own Technique, no help from me, base it on what you truly like." Caelus replied, a smile on his face as he turned away, waving bye as he left without turning back. So he didn’t almost bump into something.
Caelus reached the place where Tellus and her friends hung out, and he sat down there, stretching his leg across one side to stretch, only for Arjuna to come there, his eyes closed as he sat down on the legs for half a second before getting up. "..." Walking to the other side, he sat down once again, this time without the feeling of burning hot scales.
"It’s been a long while, right?" Caelus asked, the last time he talked to him was...
"Indeed, it’s been a month now since we’ve talked. How much have you grown?" Arjuna spoke, his voice more relaxed.
"I’ve slowed down a bit. I’m at the fifth stage of Virtuoso, I’ll probably reach Soul Formation by next year."
Arjuna smiled, listening to Caelus. "Great, I’ll be there waiting for you. I’m at the Eighth stage of Virtuoso, only one away from Soul Formation. I’ve also gotten new techniques... Though I’d like to know which path to take..."
"You’re on the Martial Path, right?" Caelus asked, his tail relaxed, still on the ground, not stiff.
"Indeed, I would pick the Resonant path but... I don’t think it’s my fit, I am not very good with music after all." An exasperated sigh.
"Maybe you could pick the Arcane path, you get both long and short range, with you being able to cover your weaknesses, though the Literature path is probably still a problem." He chuckled, realizing how annoying the Literature path is for people now.
"Hmmm... That could work, but that means I have to study more, and I’d rather not do that if I’m being truthful." Arjuna spoke, looking up at the sky for a bit, watching the birds fly past.
Caelus, on the other hand, noticed a cat walk up to his tail and scratch it, which his tail didn’t seem to mind. "...Guess I make a good scratching post." A soft chuckle came from his mouth. "I see." He finally replied to Arjuna.
"Well... The only other paths you could pick are Valoria, the Undead, or the Literature path." Caelus finally spoke. "Or you could choose to stay only on the Martial Path."
As the cat rubbed against his tail, he saw a few more hunting small pests that tried to escape their grasp. "For some reason, it feels more lively right now." Caelus sighed.
"Indeed, probably because the Yun Clan left without warning for some reason. Though it’s probably something involving a conflict within their clan, they can’t even handle one another getting stronger." Arjuna replied. "I don’t know how they even function like that."
Caelus stayed silent, listening to Arjuna. He only nodded once. To which Arjuna was fine, there wasn’t a reason to comment beyond that. If someone wanted to know if he killed Yun Li, he would say it, but he knew there would be consequences; it simply didn’t matter to him unless it hurt his friends.
"...I should probably make myself remember that some consequences are reasonable... Almost started thinking I was right on everything." Caelus’s eyes wandered while he thought, noticing crows perched on the roofs, one of them seeing him looking and simply continuing with its business.
Along with that, he saw a fox speed by, grabbing food from a stall, as one of them ran after the fox, only to be outsped by it. "Weird, I don’t think they’re usually that fast."
[Animals have Cultivation and get stronger with age, along with their survival strategy. Predators hunt; prey survive longer. Foxes and such creatures get stronger by well... Scavenging and stealing food. :3]
"...Ah, alright, well now I should probably get going, I need more techniques... And also make some pills."
[The amount you spend on ingredients would be minuscule now. Speaking of which, do you want your info right now or when you reach Soul Formation?]
"Soul Formation."
[Alright, saved for that, also as I was saying, for pills, you could use the Vase to make your pills even stronger and then auction them off to get a lot of money, no?]
Caelus heard Aphro and realized he didn’t need to just take the pills, though he felt a little annoyed he had to do something other than what he liked; it would’ve been a good source of... More normal income than entire bars of gold.
Finally getting up, his tail moved as the cat jumped back, only to shake a bit and continue walking gracefully. Stepping forward, he noticed something he was about to step on.
Another cat, standing right below his leg, moved his leg further away, and the cat followed, going to the side. Moving his leg back also moved it back.
"...Come on." He put his leg down on the bench only to slide it down to go on the ground, about to take another step. He saw the cat ready to go under his leg once more.
"...I’m so done." Caelus sighed, teleporting outside the Empire to get another breath without hundreds of people walking or talking nearby. His Mana quickly flowed from his brain to the rest of his body.
Next to him appeared a person carrying a spear, standing upright, with little clothing, but enough to protect them, which was probably hardened by Mana.
"Hmmm? Who might you be?" Caelus looked to the side, one eye open, relaxed.
"No one to worry about, I am simply passing by, though interesting you noticed me, I silenced my footsteps, my scent, and even hid my body." The man spoke, maybe somewhere between his early 30’s
"Heat vision." Caelus replied, continuing his walk, getting farther away from the person, though interested since they didn’t look like the average cultivator, seeing they had a spear, one which wasn’t ’polished’ like the swords from the Empire, he assumed maybe someone who lived alone.
Finally reaching the crossroads, he turned left, heading in a direction he hadn’t gone before, deeper into the forests. Tianyun Peak was farther ahead, so he turned left here. Seeing the trees, he found it weird how oddly quiet it was, not even chirping or rustling in the bushes, well, until right now, when he saw a boar.
"...So many from my world, but I guess if pressured it’d make sense-"
SNORT- The boar didn’t care for Caelus, a single snort from it as it continued with its day, continuing deeper, Caelus’s tail swung side to side, hitting trees and even getting tangled in a vine, though it tore easily. Caelus was pulled back for a second.
Though now, his peace was interrupted by Sol standing next to him. "Oh, Hi Sol," Caelus spoke, walking with him while stretching a bit...
Tap. Tap... Tap...-
"WAIT SOL WHAT-" Caelus turned, realizing he was even here; it wasn’t the place he’d normally find Sol, so he was visibly confused.
"Ah, apologies for scaring you. I just found you while flying by, so I wanted to see what you’re doing." He replied softly, laughing. "Do you like the scenery or the quiet?"
"Both, I like it when I get time to think to myself, I feel safe, as for the scenery, mostly yes, most of my life I’ve stayed at home, so it feels weird going out so much more now." It was in his old world, though this one, not so much, since he’s been inside somewhere, excluding the Arena, at most ten times, though for longer periods of time, for the Pavilion, it still didn’t compare to almost one and a half months wandering or training outside.
[Oooh, you want something to decorate the Peak? I could get something for lighting if you finish a mission :3]
"...I’m fine," Caelus said. It was where he trained and slept, and Night vision covered the lightning problem, so he had no genuine use for a lightning cosmetic.
"Ah, sorry for getting distracted, Sol. What have you been doing? I haven’t talked to you much except recently." Caelus replied, sighing.
"I’ve been studying recently, I got my second path, it’s the Martial Path, since it covers the fact that my Music is mostly for support with some moves for offense," Sol replied, closing his fan with a smile on his face, like always. He turned to Caelus to see what he would say.