Chapter 415 Proponents of Deep Sleep
Affecting luck was nowhere near as simple as one would believe. Even with the effect of Daniel"s system, the changes created by his power were specific, and at the same time, extremely vague. These changes existed in time and s.p.a.ce, and his luck only allowed them to have a lower, or higher chance to manifest.
For example, when affected by Sewah"s negative luck, Daniel had been forced to face numerous unlucky events in his travels. However, it wasn"t his negative luck that had created those events. His luck had only controlled the small events that led him to make a decision that, ultimately, put him in front of these unlucky events.
Like a small fish forced to swim inside an ocean formed by an infinite number of currents, he could only swim in hope that the next current that caught him, would not carry him back.
Now that Daniel had decided to break loose from these currents, he was once again in full control of his choices. Making him more dependent on his free will, than he was in this invisible, yet always present power called luck.
Unfortunately, that had also awakened a part of his mind which wondered whether every little negative thing that happened to him and his friends, would not have happened if he did not change his way of looking at his system. Every injury, every loss, or in this case, both.
He was currently sitting next to Heimart, who had long awakened from his slumber, and was looking at him with a confused expression.
Waking up was not the difficult part of Heimart"s recovery. What was difficult was the fact that, instead of going back to being the same person as he was in the past due to the implanted memories of his older self, Heimart had now changed.
Aeron"s purpose to force Heimart to relive his past life in his mind, was to overwrite the changes which the Mindhive had tried to make by making him believe he was a bandit. Unfortunately, due to powers which he had no way to affect, Aeron had been unable to predict, or stop what had happened next. That, was the merging of those two mentalities.
Heimart"s rationale was split between that of the family man who enjoyed making fun of his gullible cousin and had exceptionally good leaders.h.i.+p skills, and a merciless bandit, who saw the wealth in front of him as something he needed to take, instead of something that was simply there. This was what Aeron, who after Heimart had woken up had checked up on him in order to verify whether the Mindhive"s control over his mind was still present, had told him.
Unfortunately, for as powerful Aeron was, the systems possessed by Iewah"s children were not as simple as one-centered powers. The Mindhive"s power had affected Heimart in was that both Daniel and Aeron could not understand.
The only thing which could eradicate the power of a system, was another system.
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*Primary Quest Started: Shadow of One"s Former Self*
-Description: Help your friend recover his former self by detaching his mind from the Mindhive.
Objective set: Kill the Mindhive.
Optional: Prevent Heimart from murdering any of his friends or family members until the objective is completed.
Reward: ???
Failure: ???
Time limit: Heimart will die of old age in 933 years, 1 month and 18 days.
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Since Heimart had woken up, Daniel had spent the last hour sitting in the mess hall of his black castle, staring at the dish that Imblen and her two adoptive children had cooked for him. His attention was focused on the window that had appeared in his mind, which provided details regarding a quest that he had voluntarily created.
The lack of a clear reward and penalty were a major component in what was causing him to be confused, but more than anything else, was he optional objective of the quest.
According to what the system had revealed, at some point, Heimart would give in to the new side of which his personality was made of, and would try to hurt someone that was close to him. That was something that Daniel would never allow to happen.
What was making him feel somewhat rea.s.sured, was the second small window that he had demanded from the system. A window which had provided to him a method to deal with his new mission, and that revealed that, as long as he managed to get to the Mindhive"s main body, he would be able to defeat him through physical power alone.
However, there were requirements.
One of which, was to obtain an object that was currently in possession of one of the mental factions. The Proponents of Deep Sleep.
A faction which, after falling from grace, due to one of the Mindhive"s experiments, had been able to regain their status, and even grow in power. The source of their ascent, was due to the study and use of an object that had been granted to them by the Mindhive himself.
This object was called the Door to Dream State, and allowed one"s mind to enter, and actively live, in a place called the Dream Domain. A dimension separated from any other, in which time went by much faster than the outside, and everything was possible.
According to the option given by the Karmic System, the only way to find the Mindhive"s true physical body, was by finding the only trace of essence contained within the Door to Dream State. A wisp of essence which connected his body with the Dream Domain, the sase way Daniel"s planet was connected to his body.
Unfortunately, no matter how many times Daniel tried to pry deeper in an attempt to obtain more specific information, something seemed to block him from doing so. Something which he could only a.s.sume was the Mindhive"s system, which the latter had likely used to protect this specific piece of information.
The only way Daniel could find this connection, was by entering the Dream Domain himself, and personally find what he was looking for.
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Dream Galaxy, territory of the Proponents of Deep Sleep.
Thanks to constant acceleration, as well as Nova"s and his" control over stable s.p.a.ce, Daniel had been able to alternate traveling and teleporting through an impressive distance, which had helped them to arrive only a couple of months later.
Now they had finally arrived at the border of Dream Galaxy, which while it was co-owned by multiple mental factions, was notoriously the house of he Proponents of Deep Sleep, and many other smaller components of the numerous mental factions.
In front of them, was a spectacle like nothing they had ever seen.
Instead of being similar to any other galaxy, Dream Galaxy was formed by an uncountable number of immense and differently colored clouds of gases, as well as floating pieces of land which, even before being inhabited by the Proponents of Deep Sleep, had caused it to gain the name it now had.
In poor words, the scenery appeared like something that had come right out of a young kid"s dream, but in galactic proportions.
"That looks so Beautiful!" Said Than, who after multiple requests and complains to his mother, had been allowed to see the spectacle while accompanied by his uncle. "What are those colors? They are so bright!"
"That is a Nebula. An agglomerate of ion.. They are gases and dust." Responded Daniel, refraining from going into an in depth explanation of how a nebula would form, or why it could be observed. He did not want to ruin the show by turning it into a boring explanation of the essences of s.p.a.ce, wind, fire, and lightning.
Xargy, who was now in the shape of a dragon big enough to carry Than in his back, said with his deep voice, "You have seen nothing, human cub. These slow moving gases cannot compare to the Night of Fire, a celebration of the draconic race, where we merge our flames to test which one"s warmer, and more brilliant. Eheh."
"That is so cool!! Can you take me to see it, the next time it happens?" Asked Than to Xargy, whom after hearing the words "next time", turned to look forward, and said nothing more.
Daniel knew that Than was about to insist on the topic, so instead of remaining quiet, he turned to look at his nephew, and after opening a small portal that lead to his home, said, "Go to your parents. Enjoy the view with them."
"But you can"t see this from inside the planet!" Retorted Than with disappointment.
"I will make the formation clearer, so that everyone can see it." Said Daniel with a rea.s.suring tone.
As Daniel finished speaking, Than reluctantly entered the small portal, and ran into his house. Seconds later, he came back out while dragging his parents, Reila and Nilo, by their hands.
When he looked up, he saw the same clear sky he had seen a thousand times, but just as he was about to complain, the sky began to change. The planet"s atmosphere became invisible, allowing for the lights that brought the colors of the nebula inside, and for everyone to see.
At that moment, millions of people, beastkin, and elementals walked out of their abodes, to quietly look at the spectacular sight.
Meanwhile, right outside of the planet"s atmosphere, Daniel muttered, "The Night of Fire.. It sounds interesting. The next time it happens, I hope you will invite me to see it."
These words to Xargy meant more than a simple show of interest towards his kin"s tradition. They meant that Daniel had not forgotten about helping him free his kin from the Tamer"s control. A promise that, one day, they will be powerful enough to take care of all of these loose ends.
"The Night of Fire, it is a festivity where we try to impress our mate. We better find yours before that happens." Said Xargy in order to break the uncomfortable silence that had formed after Daniel"s words.
Amused by Xargy"s words, Daniel smirked faintly before turning towards the Nebula, and advancing into it along with his planet.
Once inside the Nebula, Daniel decided that, instead of personally traveling through the ma.s.sive galaxy with his planet, it was better to reach the closest inhabited planet, and use their teleportation devices to get closer to their destination. So he set the course, and along with his friends, he headed towards a free-floating planet called Curio.
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Curio, three days later.
As a free-floating planet, Curio lacked the warmth that any other star-orbiting planet would have. However, that was not a problem for its inhabitants, who would use the inhospitable conditions to temper their minds.
The highest cultivation level of Curio was only at the level possessed by Aeron the moment Daniel had met him, and could be compared to the late stages of immortality, meaning that there was not a single individual on the planet could possibly be a threat to the current power of Daniel"s group.
However, that did not stop them planet"s key keeper from appearing when Daniel, Aeron, and Edmund descended from the skies, and after looking with deep confusion at the three of them, to ask, "What brings you here in Curio?"
From the keeper"s point of view, Daniel appeared like a normal cultivator with an oddly powerful mind, Edmund was a high immortal whose consciousness was caged beyond what he could perceive, and Aeron was more complex than any other mental being he had ever encountered.
If he had to make a guess, the keeper would say that the three of them belonged to three different and secretive mental factions.
"We have no business in Curio. We just want to use your teleportation device to get as close to the Proponents of Deep Sleep as possible." Said Aeron through the use of telepathy, shattering every form of defence and protection that the keeper had put in place to protect his mind from the millions of mind warriors of which he was surrounded.