While we were being briefed about our duties by the Exalted in charge of managing the Supplies, I reviewed all my skills and abilities to see which will be suitable in my plan to make use of another Transcendent of this world. I can add him temporarily on my Allies.
Although there were empty slots for Supported Individuals, anyone added in it couldn't be deleted unless that individual became my enemy which was regularly checked by the system. As to the criteria it was checking, it delved into the individuals' mentality, perception and attitude towards me. Until now, among the individuals I added in it, although some of them showed signs and clear indications of being envious towards me or my skills, none of them leaned towards becoming my or our enemy.
Like I thought before, every hero that was chosen to be sent in the Otherworlds all possessed the qualities of a true hero, albeit some diverted from normal heroes often depicted in books and other forms of fiction like Raiden.
I suspected Amry before but as it turned out, she was just unaware that the organization she joined in was being used as a front by the Dark Host.
This is why even if I added someone not from my special class, knowing that they're a summoned hero was a huge factor that could be seen with Amry, Matthew and Boris.
Unlike normal Mortal World denizens like Old Man Reol, Ezyn, Yse or Arland, all of them have accelerated growth which was influenced by the world they were sent to and most likely the Earth's unawakened World's Will.
Adding that sly old man also passed by my mind at some point before going to the World of Meta with the three Heroes. However, when I was about to bring it up to him, he suddenly stood up as if there's something urgent he had to attend to. Now that I got to think about it, he probably saw me doing that through his Clairvoyance and chose to stop it from happening.
"Because we still don't know what kind of terrain the Dimensional Space will conjure, all of you are to standby and await further instruction… Dismissed. Get your tents and rest first if you want."
The Exalted from the Dafirae Tribe ended his briefing and left us along with the two Rank 2 Transcendents assistants of his from the same tribe.
Compared to the others from the same tribe, their eyes were held high as they looked down on us. Nonetheless, none had the courage to complain.
It just shows that there were always people with differing opinions. And I doubt Alwyn will be that courteous to me and put me in her eyes if not for Illiana's command. That's the only thing that's protecting me here so… I also want to increase my strength in any way I can before going back.
She was already looking into more specific information about the Portals to the Mortal World, once she pinpointed where the World of Meta or World of Barbarian is, she would take me there after this.
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After lining up from where they gave out the tents for us to make a place we could rest in while waiting for the manifestation of the Dimensional Space, someone called out to me from behind.
"Hey, Ember. Are you truly confident at what you said?" Udann asked while huffing for breath from catching up my quick strides. I asked him earlier but in the end, he accepted without much thought.
Now that he was given the time to think again, he probably wanted to confirm if all that I said was true.
"If you're uncertain, you don't need to force yourself, you know? I can still look for another one who can work with me." I answered him without changing the tone of my voice.
"No. I just want to make sure." Udann hurriedly shook his head.
He has a vicious Energy Intensity and he sounded optimistic at first so I thought of using him. Someone with destructive skills like him was the most suitable. If he became strong enough from my buffs, one-hitting a new Rank 2 Transcendent who's just at the early 300+ of UPL might be possible.
Among my Companions, I guess Avelin is the only one who had the same kind of Energy Intensity. This kind of categorization also came from Alwyn's mouth. It's not as if it's always accurate, but learning how to differentiate the type of enemies just by their Energy Intensity could be proven useful.
"It's not easy to believe with only my words, huh? Then be the judge if this will allow you to make a leap and directly challenge a Rank 2." I lifted my hand and activated the Domain of Valor. It took the form of a small ball of energy which shot out from my hand.
When the Domain of Valor and Bulwark of Invulnerability became a Jewel Skill, the ability to manipulate its form, range or the ability to concentrate it at one point became possible.
It was to avoid being easily detected by others just like how Remilia saw through my part in enhancing Yumiko, Jayna and the others' strength during our assault at the Dark Elven Labyrinth because of the opened circular domain-like ability which spread from beneath my feet.
As soon as that ball of energy hit Udann, his eyes opened wide as the feeling of additional Strength, Endurance and Intelligence coursed through his body. When that ball fully covered him, it became a small thread that extended from beneath his feet to connect to my shadow.
Only those who pay attention to me would notice that he's being supported by my skill. Although doing it this way consumed almost the same amount of Energy, I didn't plan to always do this anyway.
"This… I feel like I finally broke through the 1st realm of my Transcendent Pathway. How is this possible?"
"Are you convinced? I will turn it off. It's draining on me, you see. I can only keep it up for a few minutes every time I activate it." Upon saying that, I deactivated it which instantly removed the buff and put him back below 300 UPL.
Of course, what I told him is a lie. I can maintain it for longer than that. Indefinitely even. As long as I continue absorbing Energy and not do any other thing apart from that.
"More than convinced! I look forward to working with you!"
"Great. We'll split the spoils 50:50. You won't object to that, right?"
"A can even give you 60 if you want."
"No. It's already enough. You're the one who will put your life on the line after all. For the time being, leave me alone, when the Dimensional Space manifests, I will enhance you silently."
And if he reneged on this agreement of ours, I can easily kill him in his sleep and use the Orb of Concealment to avoid suspicion.
This is why I chose someone at the same rank as me rather than Irja who wanted to create some kind of connection to me. Besides, I don't know what will be the Rank 2 Transcendents' role in assisting the tribe.
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After I separated from Udann, I picked a spot that's somewhat isolated to raise my tent made from beast skin and bones. After that, I entered it and used the same Formation as the one in that room sewed in the tent to create multiple layers of screen to block the noises and the leak of Energy.
Making sure that everything holds and no one's approaching this place. I sat in the middle of the tent before activating Support Incarnation.
[4800 units of Level 2 Flux Energy has been used to produce a Support Incarnation]
[Destination: Nysia (Companion)]
[Duration: 57 hours 36 minutes]
[The cost of energy has been doubled due to the distance]
With the same reason as before, the amount of Energy I used to activate it doubled. Other than that, because it was enhanced thanks to breaking through to the fourth realm, the initial cost was also doubled than when I first created it. Additionally, using the totem increased the efficiency and the cost of the skill by 20%.
In a blink of an eye, I was almost drained out of Energy in my body, If not for the Invisible Storage, I might've shown signs of Energy Exhaustion.
With the use of this skill, I'm already more than convinced that this being a higher world isn't the real problem. It's the distance of this world to the Mortal Worlds or Earth.
Also, the possibility of Worldy noticing this is high but because of his connection with me, he's turning a blind eye to it.
The skills I haven't checked yet were the Portal Skill to any of the three worlds and the Support Recall. Since this will involve opening a Portal from this World to the destination, I'm not that optimistic about the chances of them being activated here. Worldy or the World's Will at the destination might stop the Portal from forming. But still, I want to make sure.
As I was about to go into Absorbing Session to refill my used Energy, the outermost layer of the Energy Screens vibrates which indicated someone was currently close to my tent.
Soon after that, a knock could be heard as that layer of Energy Screen delivered the voice from whoever knocked into it.
"Are you inside of this, Ember? I have something to talk to you about."
It's the voice of a woman. I only know two of them here or four if I included Remilia and Illiana. Using the process of elimination, it's none other than Irja.
The source of this c𝓸ntent is fr𝒆e(w)𝒆bnovel