Cardwell was shocked silly, still unsure what just happened. The arm that he visibly saw rot away, and scatter into dust after he cut it off his body, appeared on his arm, being as it was before. The energy circulation pathways were also present and was like it was never disrupted. His elemental energy and magic energy continued to pour through every inch of his body completely. If he couldn"t see how powerful the person in front of him is, he should just kill himself by his own stupidity. He gulped, and said to Xander, respectfully this time,
"Mr. Simpson, my name is Mr. Cardwell and I do work for Freidwork Conglomerate. What my employer simply wanted to ask of you is whether you would be interested in joining a research committee they have recently established to apply the theoretical information you have recently published."
He was bowing the whole time, so he couldn"t see that Xander didn"t take note of whatever he said at all. Since he thought Xander wasn"t against the idea, he continued to speak.
"My employer is not binding you to a working contract, but rather on a level of invited researcher, and any products developed by the research team, you would have 2% of the net profits. Not only that, they plan to give you real estate properties of your choosing that are under their control-"
"Stop talking," Xander said, his voice soft, but it carried a hint of dominance.
Immediately, Cardwell stopped talking. He knew what his boundaries were now. He couldn"t defeat this person, someone who with a wave of a hand managed to bypa.s.s his defenses and even affect his body to that extent.
After all, once one steps in the Mythic stage, their bodies become united to their chosen domain. A domain is basically their own rule, a rule derived from the understanding of elemental representation that they have copied and embodied in their Magic Sphere. Their magic spheres, upon breaking through to Mythic cla.s.s, meld to every inch and nook and cranny of their bodies, thoroughly fusing with every single cell, every macro and micromolecule that they had in their bodies. The domain they form at Mythic-1 establishes the path they have to take in the future breakthroughs. If in the previous cla.s.ses, they were focused on temporarily improving their physical attributes, at Mythic stage, it is continuous process of strengthening the body and deepening one"s understanding of their domain.
For example, in Cardwell"s case, his elements were Fire, Earth/Metal and Wind. The Domain he created was [Heavy Blazing Winds], which can cause anything within that domain to blaze up while slowly becoming heavier and heavier, and slow down due to the winds. To progress in this cla.s.s, their understanding of their own rule must become perfect. Every 10% increment in comprehension meant progressing a stage. As he was a Mythic-7, he had 70% comprehension of his domain, and whenever it activates, his body is strengthened to a level beyond Adamantium-Mithril alloy. Even if it wasn"t activated, his body should have the strength and defense just below that of Adamantium-Mithril alloy.
Simply put, at Mythic cla.s.s, the amount of time you can extend your personal "rule" is dependent on your comprehension and physical body state. It also still follows the general trend of, if your domain is made up more elements than the other person, your domain will exert more power than your other members. At the same time, the more you extend the area of your domain, the shorter period it can last.
Of course, they weren"t like Xander who was granted total control of s.p.a.ce-Time elements, and he only needed to work with his comprehension of them to improve his powers. He just needed to follow the flow of spell-creation up to Master cla.s.s, and for Legendary and above, he"ll just wait and see.
"Ok, Mr. Cardwell, please tell your employer I am not interested. I simply do not have the time to do so; I only published that paper like I said, because a friend asked for my help. If I receive any more disturbances, well, I would a.s.sume you didn"t tell your superiors about what I mentioned, and I will be visiting you "personally" to address this grievance, ok?" Xander said, smiling at Cardwell.
Of course, Cardwell wasn"t stupid and could see the blatant threat, but it was better living with a reduced payment than dying anyways, so f.u.c.k his employers. He then promised to himself once he submitted the report, he would file for indefinite leave and disappear for a couple of years, focusing on cultivation and using up his ama.s.sed cultivation resources. Cardwell bid Xander farewell and left the establishment.
Xander didn"t mind at all, and signaled Carliste who was standing by the kitchen door to come and prepare the bill. Immediately, Carliste presented the total bill and Xander, upon reading it, nodded and paid via bank transfer. At the same time, he tipped Carliste a staggering amount of 40,000 Etas, causing Carliste to weep in joy and call Xander his daddy.
Xander stood up and head out to his hotel, following the same disguise process. Upon their exit, the mercenaries entered the restaurant again, seemed like nothing had ever happened.
Upon reaching his hotel, he discovered an alert coming from his smart.w.a.tch, and realized he was going to be in for a good show.
________________________________
In an unknown place, underground.
A group of people was present, seemingly waiting for someone. There were a few chatters here and there but was relatively mild. A hologram of another figure appeared after a few minutes, causing everyone to quiet down.
It was the same general who headed the discussion concerning Xander"s contract signing with sprites.
"Everyone, I have received a report that this magic researcher, Homer Simpson, is probably a DemiG.o.d cla.s.s or higher. At the same time, we believe he truly is just a 26-year-old person, and not some old man disguising as one."
"This is a problem because this person seemed to be a foreign power not affiliated with our country. Professor Willow, please explain."
Another hologram appeared, this time, a middle-aged woman was standing with a laboratory coat on her.
"Yes. Thank you general. Please observe the video that I have sent to this committee."
After a few minutes of watching the video that showed the encounter between Cardwell and Xander, everyone was silent.
"This video was taken from the premises of the Seav Restaurant in Verdant city, Delta province of Eta. As you know, video recording equipment have developed to a degree that it can capture the movement of elements as well as even a.n.a.lyze the elements present in the area. The downside is that they must have information concerning these elements to detect and record them properly."
"The video showed that the first time Homer Simpson waved his hand, there were no elemental fluctuations whatsoever detected by the recorder, so we can a.s.sume that he didn"t use spells or controlled the elements right? Wrong. It only means that the first attack he did to Mr. Cardwell was an element that we have not previously detected or categorized. Meaning, it is not possible for him to have studied his primary, secondary and tertiary education in Eta, because for the past 400 years, the education system has been created in such a way people"s information are completely recorded, from their favorite food to their capabilities. Meaning, the information recorded in our database is fake, no matter how perfect the time records were."
"Now look at the second motion that Homer Simpson did, the moment where he restored the lost arm of Mr. Cardwell. We initially thought that the element presented by Mr. Simpson was of the Life-Death elements, because of the decaying and disintegrating property that was shown in his first attack. However, this was not the case. The recorder only managed to detect the presence of 5-elements series, and not a single element particle present in the area was from the Life-Death elements. Either someone tampered with the results or-"
"Ms. Willow, I presume? Why haven"t you invited me to this lovely talk about me?" A voice suddenly resounded in the area, cutting off Ms. Willow. Everyone was surprised, even the general.
"Oh? The general of the state is here as well, and several heads of conglomerate groups and family clans. h.e.l.lo."
"Mr. Simpson, I presume?" A sardonic voice sounded, coming from a middle-aged man seated. Of course, everyone here was just a hologram, so they had nothing to worry about.
"Oh, it"s our divine fortune teller, Mr. Calloway. How are you today, still stuck in the peak of Master cla.s.s, eh? Pity, you never recognized your real primary elements, haha." Calloway froze momentarily before being in a daze. Seeing this, Xander snickered.
"Oops, I"ve said too much. I might advertently help him, haha!" Xander guffawed in his hologram. Professor Willow"s eyes, however, glittered, and she processed the things Xander just mentioned.
"Anyhow, just wanted to tell you that after I complete the task my friend asked me to do, I"ll probably disappear. So don"t worry too much. I"ll probably be done in like, 4 more days? In the meantime, don"t bother or delay me ok? You won"t like when I"m annoyed."
"Oh, what, you going to kill us all?" Another sarcastic voice sounded. This time, it was a woman who looked like in her mid-30s. Xander just smiled, and raised his hand and pointed at her, and snapped his fingers.
"Martha Seward, A DemiG.o.d-4, one of the elders of the Seward family. Hmm, I wonder, check the members of your immediate family, maybe there"s some of them that just suddenly... disappeared? Hehe."
"Ah, what a pity, little Clarissa was just discovered to have 4 primary elements? What a pity she never reached her potential. What about little Henry, your great-grandson, already starting his first day in primary school... oops, I forgot, he just died right now."
"Also I found an interesting fact. It seems your son is still stuck in Mythic-9? Pity, he won"t ever breakthrough now. HAHA!"
As she heard these names coming out of Xander"s mouth, Martha"s face quickly changed. Martha quickly disappeared from the meeting, causing silence to permeate from the room.
"Ok, peace out, I"mma head out tomorrow for my task. Hope I don"t see ya~" Xander did a peace sign before mockingly saluting everyone, and his hologram disappeared.
After a few minutes, Martha appeared, her face full of fury.
"WHERE IS HE?"
"Wait, he did it?" Another one of them asked, gasping.
"Hmph, all of the people he mentioned, all of them just disappeared on the spot! There were camera recordings and all of them literally faded out, like they never existed!" Martha snarled, barely holding her anger.
"NOT ONLY THAT BUT IT WAS ALSO AS IF THEY NEVER EXISTED! THAT"S THE PROBLEM! BESIDES ME AND ANOTHER DEMIG.o.d MAGICIAN IN THE FAMILY, NO ONE REMEMBERS THEY EXISTED! MY SON! MY DEAR CLARISSA, MY BABY BOY HENRY! WHERE ARE THEY??!??" Martha howled, her voice full of fury and helplessness. She had already snapped.
Upon hearing this news from Martha, everyone chilled. No one remembered they existed, except DemiG.o.ds. DemiG.o.ds and above existed in a different spectrum, and that only made the spell much more scarier. Before anyone could even tell her any information, a voice resounded.
"Ehem, ehem, I forgot this part. This is a prerecorded message. If that old witch appeared here yelling and asking where her descendants were at, please tell her that they are completely wiped out of the universe. Meaning, life magic like resurrection or reanimation under death element would not work, because, well, they never existed in the first place. Hehe. Only DemiG.o.ds and above can remember them. Even I still can"t undo it, haha! This is a warning to everyone~ although I can"t touch you directly, I can touch everyone you hold dear~"
"The room visibly chilled. Everyone was silent, some looking puzzled, and others were beginning to whisper to one another, thinking of possible countermeasures while the general looked like he had just faced his greatest enemy, his face twisted. Professor Willow, on the other hand, was quite calm. She found it hilarious that some of the demiG.o.ds the public was in awe could even act as such. As such, she signaled the general that she had something to add to the report.
The general caught the attention of the demiG.o.ds who were panicking and were a bit fl.u.s.tered and confused.
"Ahem, Professor Willow has something to say concerning the situation, giving us more information." The general sternly mentioned, refocusing the thoughts of the demiG.o.ds.
"*cough* *cough* h.e.l.lo, from our short interaction with Homer Simpson, we have found out important information."
"First and foremost, such meetings as we are currently having are easily intercepted by Mr. Simpson. It would have been scarier if Mr. Simpson could appear in this meeting room physically, but luckily we aren"t that unlucky for him to do so."
"Second, he has given us another vital clue about the elements, especially when he hinted at the primary elements of Mr. Calloway. It has been reputedly understood that his elements were of Water and Wind elements, why was he saying that he had the wrong elements? Not only that, but he also emphasized the prophetic abilities of Calloway when he addressed him. Another clue was how he had eliminated the descendants of Ms. Seward. Erased out of existence, and they never existed. Even I have no memory of the people Ms. Seward mentioned, and I"m in the mythic cla.s.s. This indicates that only demiG.o.ds and higher may remember her descendants. However, there might be an exception."
"Mr. Calloway, do you remember Ms. Seward"s descendants that she had mentioned?" Professor Willow asked inquiringly at Mr. Calloway, who scrunched up his face, before cautiously nodding.
"It"s vague, but the names do ring a bell in my mind; however, I can"t remember their faces, and a lot of information disappeared as if there were patches in my mind ripped apart."
"I could see it in your heads already: Yes, there might be another elemental series related to existence, fate, and the afterlife. The things we take for granted before. The elements of Fate, of karma, or reincarnation, maybe even more. This opens a new avenue of magic and research. I would like to call it, Fate series under Life-death elements, based on the paper written by Gold D. Roger last week." Professor Willow was referring to the paper that caught Xander"s attention, the one that gave a revised category of the elements and their hierarchies.
Clapping sounds suddenly resounded all over the meeting room, confusing the members. Then, a familiar voice appeared.
"Wow, congratulations, someone guessed it! It seems me leaving clues for you idiots to discover was worth it then. Please treat this as payment for staying in the country for a while, hehe. To help out, Fate series involves Karma, Heaven, h.e.l.l, Purgatory, Fortune, Prediction, and Reincarnation subseries. What elements are under it, well, that"s up to you to discover~ By the way, this is a recording message that activates when the term "Fate series" is mentioned once." Xander"s voice echoed the room, shaking everyone to the core, especially Mr. Calloway. His fist clenched, and inside, he could see a glimmer of hope in surpa.s.sing the Master Cla.s.s.
"Ehem, It is possible that the people we have called in the past as wordsmiths, astrologers and prophets were actually people delving into the power of Fate series! People who have been inherently lucky, unlucky, or even those with average luck; all these are forms of the Fortune series. This is another type of immaterial elements!" continued professor Willow excitedly.
"The good news with this information is that we can delve more into the mysteries of what we call as soul or life essence. At the same time, we would be able to develop new technological advances and magic spells relating to these aspects. However, the main problem is we don"t have pseudo-spells relating to the Fate series of elements. If we could just collate the ancient texts relating to fate magic, it would boost the speed of development of the field." Professor Willow concluded her second point.
"The third point, Mr. Simpson"s actions were playful and carefree, at the same time, quite deranged, contrary to our previous conjectures of him being calm, collected and experienced. Either he is suffering from a split personality disorder, or..."
"...or he isn"t who he claims he is; this could be a fabricated ident.i.ty of another person." The general"s voice sounded out, interrupting Professor Willow.
"Bzzt! Wrong answer. That hurts, diminishing my ident.i.ty like that. Someone did invite me to go here. I can"t tell you who, but I can trade! In return, I"ll give you a spicy information after 4 days~ Clue: It"s about another outside invader, hehe. You know outside invaders right, like the one the Heavenly Tree Sprite fought off? This time, you"re going to need to call someone with a stronger firepower, or else... oof. Do you know the feeling of being chewed? Me neither. This is a recorded message that activates when the term "fabricated ident.i.ty" has been mentioned."
Xander"s voice echoed again, but by this time, the other demiG.o.ds were already numb to hearing his voice, as well as the bombsh.e.l.ls that were dropped in a simple meeting supposed to discuss about a potential enemy of the state! Why did it change to that said enemy providing information??? Even Professor Willow was quite confused at the motives of this person.
The meeting continued, but they stopped mentioning Mr. Simpson"s name. At the same time, they began to cla.s.sify Mr. Homer Simpson not as a person of Eta, but possibly...an outworlder. The general was also preparing to contact the important government officials, as well as leaders of the other countries as this involved a world-level calamity.
_______________________________
The culprit of the fiasco was merely enjoying a relaxing bubble bath in his hotel suite right now. He was thoroughly enjoying the bath, like he hasn"t experienced it for a long time.
He was thinking how the world would drastically change. Technically, even 6,000 years from now, Fate magicians still didn"t exist; that"s how they disregarded the field. He merely gambled for the sake of this planet, after all. If he could create an opportunity that didn"t exist before, would what will happen 30,000 years from now change? Or will it be accelerated.
Right now, he didn"t try delving into the river of time to observe the future; he decided to wait until tomorrow, since human minds were very fickle.
After his bubble bath, Xander was quite relaxed. Although, he might have lied a bit. Although he did mention that those members of the Seward clan were forever dead, they really weren"t... yet.
Right now, he contained them in a special pocket s.p.a.ce approximately 975 million lightyears away, located in an exoplanet, where there were no intelligent life forms formed yet. They were basically far enough to the point they can never return and will most likely die there. Another thing was that he cut off all the karmic threads he could instantly cut, and then teleported them into the pocket s.p.a.ce, semi-isolated from the ordered system. This was because he even cut the connection between the universe and them; if they were detected they would instantly be wiped out. Any descendants they had would also be wiped out.
Although they could still cultivate and stuff, with only their father as their teacher, the best they would achieve would be demiG.o.d cla.s.s. If Xander"s abilities didn"t improve, pocket s.p.a.ce or not, they would be expelled from the universe by that time, as their information for the universe was too big of an anomaly to not take note.
If they could find a G.o.d that could force them to reincarnate into the ordered system, then they would survive, but all their cultivation and memories would disappear.
If they didn"t decide to cultivate, they would die in less than a few millenniums. All situations were them dying anyways, so it wasn"t much of a big deal for Xander.
Wait. Xander thought for a moment after changing his clothes, before teleporting to the pocket s.p.a.ce 975 million lightyears away. He looked at the two kids, and looked at the father, who was glaring at him intently. He asked the father,
"Do you love your kids?"
"Hmph, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Are you here to spout more of your lies?"
"Nope. I came here to decide whether I should kill you all three or not, based on your answer to my question: Do you love your kids?"
"Yes, I love them so much. I love them so much that I am will to devote my life to teach them to become stronger and not be abused by people like you."
"So you love them so much, that you would die for them?" Xander asked, causing the father of the two to look suspicious.
"What do you plan to do?"
"Oh, just a simple thing. You see, right now, the universe rejects you three. The data you contain currently is enough for the 2 of them to return into the ordered system of the universe, and not be booted out of the Great Void. But that requires you to be booted out of this universe and well, fend off for yourself in the great void. Are you willing to do so?"
"...What should I do?"
"Simple, just walk out of the house. You do know this a pocket s.p.a.ce I created. Nifty, huh, making it look like a house? After you walk out, I"ll take care of the rest concerning your child"s entry. Anyways, its either this, or you wait for all three of you to die and be expelled by the universe on its own as unrecyclable materials."
The man took a deep breath, then moved closer to his kids, whispering words of comfort and telling them that everything is going to be ok. He then made them standby. He then took heavy but fast steps, heading to the door that separated this world from the universe.