182. Preparations

Even a lost heritage of the First Aeon wouldn't be enough compensation to get me to attack the King. Even I know my limits.

- Reinhold of the Mountains

The battle against the Devil Kings was over, but Alistair Tan’s journey had only begun. His six-month deadline to reach the Adept realm loomed, made all the more urgent by Alexandra’s abduction. The demonic forces that had orchestrated events from the shadows had finally revealed themselves, but their origin and purpose eluded him—and probably the entire Empire.

That battle of unimaginable proportions that Alistair had witnessed set a fire under him. The Perfect and the Grand Imperator’s majestic Domains had faced down something unimaginable. Despite being protected by Imperial providence and the matriarch of his sect-to-be, Alistair shivered upon seeing the four layers.

It was unlike anything he had ever seen. The Pathfinder AI had called it a Demonic Curse. Was it based off the Domain? It was made purely of nue instead of the Dao, something that struck him as inconceivable.

Dev’rox knew something, but his ethereal lips were sealed. It was one of those things he got serious about, like Anthony’s shadow technique so long ago. This time, it was even worse. When Alistair pressed, the imp let him feel the impending doom that would come if Dev’rox even spoke one word.

Alistair didn’t ask again.

Still, his curiosity and wonder could not be sated. Both for the pseudo-Domain of nue, and the two true Domains. He felt their power in the depths of his soul. The power of their Domains that could easily destroy his planet.

Such was the ability of a Visionary realm cultivator, less than halfway up the slopes of the peak.

Their might had been dwarfed not even minutes later. That finger of 0s and 1s that descended from the sky—despite his sheer insignificance compared to Visionaries, he could feel that the Pathfinder AI that came down was another rung higher.

A sliver of its might could squash two Domains and the Demonic Curse like a bug.

Alistair would have to surpass that one day if he wanted to achieve his goals.

So he trained. He cultivated every second he could. He practiced the martial arts of the Holy Ravine and {Psychopomp’s Discipline}. He meditated on the Dao and worked on controlling his nue.

Alistair did not sleep a wink. He could go for long stretches without it now, and he had so much to do in the week he had before the Grand Imperator left Earth.

Those words, leaving Earth, he hadn’t fully comprehended the gravity behind them. It wasn’t like going to Faxor or the Symphony of Skills. This was for good.

Not in the sense that he would never see his home world ever again. There would most likely be time for visits, periods of rest from the sect and in his future beyond the Final Frontier Empire.

When he said “for good,” he meant something different.

He was doing the equivalent of moving away from home as an adult. You could come back for holidays, but it was different. He was in a new period of his life. Earth was far too small for him now. The rest of his life would be spent in the multiverse, making friends, facing adversity, and growing stronger in ways that would have been incomprehensible to his former self.

Ways that were impossible if he stayed on Earth.

These were his last days to sad goodbye to his old home. The only home that he had ever known.

Alistair would leave his home in good hands.

One of the unfortunate aspects of the sponsor system was that almost all the strongest were leaving.

Alistair and his sister Evangeline were going to the Clear Water Sect.

Lucius was going with the Satharvon Clan.

Pharaoh to the Corlyon Company.

Marzhan to the Flaming Sword Sect and Sally Ryder to the Ironwater Cultivation Academy.

Oliver was off to the FarNetter Academy of the Final Frontier Empire, one of the five Sublimed Machine official roles. Alfred accepted his invitation to the Annalist Academy, and William to the Mindaugust Academy.

Alexandra was off to…

Alistair swallowed, holding back the pain. No one knew where she was. The Pathfinder AI had told him that the organization that snatched her was well connected and beyond its reach.

Based on their involvement with the Devil Kings, their Demonic Curse ability, and Dev’rox’s unwillingness to speak about the matter, the connection between the demons and this organization ran deep, treading into multiversal secrets.

His best guess was that they were human demon worshipers that messed around with ancient powers. He didn’t know for certain, and gathering more information about the demonic group was one of his top long-term priorities.

Then his thoughts drifted to the dead.

Whimsy, Jesse, Bartholomew, Blaise, Caren, and Brigid. All those bright futures snuffed out before they took the next step. A huge blow to Earth’s strength.

He even thought back to Sofia. Then his mother and his friends and ex-girlfriend. The latter weren’t dead, but what had once been such a big part of his life was now almost absent.

Alistair shook his head. He was getting distracted. What he needed right now was to consolidate the Northeast Order Freehold, which owned every single subregion on the planet.

For that, he talked to John Desmond. The large, stoic man had miraculously risen to become the highest ranked person in the world that wasn’t going offworld to a sect, company, academy, or noble clan.

Perhaps miraculously was the wrong word to use. Since the Flamesmith had basically run the day-to-day operations for almost the entire existence of the freehold, he had received a Subclass—Bureaucrat.

The gains he made with his Subclass were earned through hard work. Bureaucrat was no combat Class, but the extra Attributes and Badge that came along made him stronger in a fight.

John was sorting through dozens of streams of information when Alistair arrived in his office. There were constructs of fire everywhere, performing actions that Alistair could not make heads or tail of.

Birds of flame carried in messages that were too small for the Soulnet. Extra flaming arms allowed John to manipulate multiple instances of system screens and a flamesmithed computer.

“Keeping yourself busy?” Alistair opened the door to John’s office. The large but sparse room was a few doors down from the war room.

“Not as much as you,” John replied without halting his activities. “I heard you did some legwork personally?”

“Well, duh,” Alistair said. The Flamesmith stood up and shook his hand. “Those houses weren’t going to build themselves and my stats make me a better worker than any Builder or Architect. Training without good partners and teachers isn’t going to move the needle. It’s a shame that the Corlyon Clan couldn’t wait to take Pharaoh until later.”

“I’m more surprised that your sponsors didn’t do the same.”

“My sponsors are already gone,” Alistair replied. “My situation is a bit different than everyone else as the Global Mayor/planetary lord. Plus, I’m already going with the Grand Imperator. I have a feeling that journey might open up some opportunities.”

“Always looking to advance. I shudder to think what would have happened if you were more like the Devil Kings or Anthony.”

“How are Donna and Tamia?”

“They’re made of stronger stuff than me. I couldn’t imagine what it’s like for the average person.”

“Donna isn’t so average anymore? Despite her pleadings, I’ve ensured she’s no slouch.”

“That’s true,” John conceded. “However, at the end of the day, money and resources can’t make up for talent.”

Alistair tilted his head up wistfully. “Luck just as much, maybe more. By the time I return, Tamia might be a mighty warrior. She did kill an orc at five years old without crying or hesitating. I might have created a monster.”

“Well, I’ll steer her in the right direction.”

“Yes,” Alistair said. “We got a bit sidetracked, but that’s why I stopped by. You’re probably going to be acting planetary lord for a long time.”

He hesitated for a second. “Realistically speaking, maybe forever? As in the custodian of this particular planet, if I continue to survive, I’ll eventually expand my noble holdings. I’m going to the sect now, for who knows how long, and then after that—I haven’t really planned that far. Mainly because I’m quite confident that any plans I make will be messed up by unforeseen circumstances.”

John put his hand on Alistair’s shoulder. It felt funny how Alistair was now the one looking down. He had grown more than half a foot compared to his pre-initiation height.

“I’ve got this covered, Alistair. You have nothing to worry about. It’s not like I have anything better to do.”

“It’s a huge responsibility,” Alistair said. “Are you sure? A hundred percent sure?”

“Yes,” John said, his tone making it clear that he had given his final answer. “I helped Sofia out because I believed in her, I believed that we needed to be better than barbarism. That conviction hasn’t changed one bit.”

There was a moment of silence. Alistair shook his head and grunted. “I can’t say we saw eye to eye on everything, but she really did care about her people.”

“That she did.”

“On a happier note, let me transfer you the drachma and credits I got from the Quests. Don’t worry, I literally can’t use it unless it’s for the planet.”

Alistair gave John the rest of the 1,000 Platinum drachma and 1,000,000 Land Store credits he received from the Politics I achievement. He had spent a small amount of the reward in the last week, but saved most of it.

“I’ll put it to good use,” John said. “How goes the beast taming?”

“A success. I cleared out any beasts level 60 and above from residential areas and cordoned the strongest of them off into the Wasteland and two other places. They should serve as good training grounds for you all and the next generation.”

The Wasteland’s Mana Storms had been cleared, so it wasn’t black and white anymore. It was a good place to host some beasts, provided that they terraformed the region.

“For the sapient ones, did you try to negotiate?”

“Of course,” Alistair said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the Pathfinder AI purposefully alters beast development to make them hate humanity. I tried not to kill any of the smart ones. With my strength, it felt like taking candy from a baby.”

John sighed. “You have a big heart, Alistair. But we both know that killing them isn’t a solution either. Yes, many people will die braving the wild zones, but without actual challenge, our weakness would become another death. This solution is best for all parties. The beasts get as fair as a shot as they can under the strictures of the Pathfinder AI, and we get real experience.”

“I know, I know.”

John put his hand over Alistair’s shoulder. “Stop the worrying. I see it in your tight muscles. Go off and have fun at your sect and become the strongest, like you were meant to be. With all the resources you’ve given me, the predations will be easy.”

The predations. For a newly initiated world, rats scurried out of the woodwork. They would try to rip off and conquer his planet through underhanded means.

“Speaking of the predations, I should get going. I have to talk to who I think will be one of our strongest allies for that.”

“The Holy Raviners you spoke about?”

“The other one.”

Despite his previous hopes, the way into the Holy Ravine was still barred by the Devonic Elision Field. It was looking like he would leave before they got initiated.

He had also been hoping that the people Lucius found on the other side of the world were from Lisorte. They weren’t, but their story was very interesting. They weren’t actually humans, but humanoid aliens from the Andromeda Galaxy. Lucius conveniently left out that portion.

Alistair found it intriguing that normal aliens really did exist, as in the UFO, non-magicky kind. They didn’t have the Dao before the initiation either. They were less technologically advanced than Earthlings, though smart enough that by comparing star charts with Earth astronomers, they were able to conclude they were from the same universe.

Alistair jumping down the chimney, ready to head southwest, when his new Skill detected an unusual figure a mile away.

[Vanquishing the Devil Kings] had given him three options for the Journeyman Skill of his choice.

[Dharmic Disguise] (Tier 5 Journeyman Skill): The spread of Dharmic Truth often requires a delicate, even deceptive touch—anything for the greater good. Weaving together Mana and Karma, take on a disguise that can even fool cultivators a realm above you. Mana Cost: 100 + 5 per min/Karma Cost: 20 + 0.1 per min. Upgradeable (0/500).

[Codified Steel] (Tier 5 Journeyman Skill): The Steel Body’s Ultimate Technique codified through the Pathfinder AI. Instantly clenches all muscles of the body at three times normal strength, useful for crushing foes in one’s grasp and as a last minute defensive resort. User may still clench normally, without the multiplier. Mana Cost: 100/Stamina Cost: 250 + 150 per second. Upgradeable (0/500).

[Reality Sense] (Tier 10 Journeyman Passive Skill): You have seen into the nature of reality earlier than commonly deemed possible—even in the multiversal heartlands it is uncommon for a Foundation to gaze so broadly. With so many aspects of fundamental reality, you have chosen the ambitious path of complete understanding rather than specialization. Combines life force sense, aura sense, Karmic sight, life force sense, nue sight, and a heightened sense of smell, especially for demons, plus the other four basic senses into an abstract field of view. Upgradeable (0/3,000).

Alistair really didn’t have to think about it. A Skill that was uncommon even in the multiversal heartlands? Tier 10 Skill with a 3,000 Upgrade Point requirement. Obviously, [Reality Sense] had been his choice.

The description of an “abstract field of view” was vague, but once he chose the Skill, it made perfect sense.

Alistair saw for the first time in his life.

In place of his normal vision was… something else.

It was almost impossible to put into words. The base concept was certainly akin to vision, as opposed to his other four classical senses. That made sense. Sight was the most important sense for humans, and the senses he had gained from cultivation were more similar to sight than hearing or taste, except for his demon smelling.

[Reality Sense] allowed him to see in 360 degrees all around him. Alistair found it extremely disorienting at first, not used to the zone behind his head being visible.

Everything within a thirty-foot radius was simply known to him. All the aspects that comprised their very existence, nue, Mana, Dao, life force, Karma—he saw all of that as one reality. It was as if he were omniscient within that region.

The colors around people and objects swirled. What he saw was something more than colors, though color was the most apt descriptor, lacking words for the underlying truth. He saw different “hues” of different saturations and intensities, depending on the nature of the object. Ambrosic glass felt brighter, due to its inherent Mana density, while people were highly variegated, owing to much more aspects making up their being.

That was just in the thirty-foot sphere. After that point, things became murkier. He didn’t have perfect omniscience, just a pretty good approximation, almost as if they were fuzzy. He found that he could focus his [Reality Sense] in any direction, similar to squinting with normal vision. Only for this, he didn’t have to have a line of sight with his eyes, he just had to concentrate on any position.

This ability had a thousand-foot radius, growing less powerful near the edge, though it was still better than what his vision had been like before, and omnidirectional.

Finally, outside of the thousand-foot radius, he had very vague approximations. Though, now that he “saw” the unusual figure, he realized that sufficiently powerful cultivators would glow so bright in [Reality Sense] that he could detect them even beyond a thousand feet, which made sense, since his aura sense definitely worked even for miles, given a strong enough source.

His new Skill also superior to normal vision in terms of focus. Now that he saw the visitor, he realized that he had complete focus at all areas of his 360 degree field of view. Similar to the way his aura sense would never miss a powerful figure, [Reality Sense] made him nearly immune to distractions of attention.

There were only two things unincorporated into his new Skill—his danger sense from [Monk Motionless] and the active [Eyes of Truth]. Alistair suspected he could eventually combine them as he understood the Skills more deeply, which was a good thing, since he was at the fifteen Skill limit for Foundations. Any more, and his existing Skills would lose effectiveness.

Alistair used the Ghost Node to turn himself invisible and jogged over to the figure in his sight. By sight, he meant his new Skill, which permanently supplanted his old vision.

“Hello,” Alistair said. “I was just about to go to meet you.”

“Thought I’d save you the trouble.”

The speaker was a tall and slender woman in a red dress. Besides the Perfect, she was the most beautiful woman that Alistair had ever seen. Selephita the Firebird in her human form.

Her scarlet hair was tied into a messy bun, and it wasn’t morphing into liquid fire. Her pale skin lacked the same orange tint that made her look alien, and her red eyes didn’t shine. Still, gazing upon her face was like staring into the perfection of the Dao, a singular flame that outshone all other beauties.

“I don’t want to stand out too much,” she said, noticing the look on his face. “Take material form and I’ll disguise you.”

Alistair turned his head to look around before shaking his head. [Reality Sense] would take some getting used to. Head turning and eye movement were completely unnecessary now.

They were standing in a park designed for Beast Tamers. There were people hanging around, and he didn’t want to anyone to notice a gorgeous woman talking to thin air. He obliged her command, letting go of the Ghost Node.

Selephita waved a hand, and orange flame instantly washed over his face, changing his entire body into a different form. As the recipient of the disguise, Alistair felt the flame become Mana over his face, where it worked seamlessly to provide him with new features.

Really wish I had a disguise Skill, Alistair complained. “[Reality Sense] was just too good to pass up, right, Dev’rox?”

“I tend to agree with that,” the imp said. “I daresay a new Adept would be hard-pressed to ambush you. It’s perfect for synergy with your Agility-based style. If you detect the danger, you move out of the way.”

“And then even if I do get hit, I have [Steel Body]. Pretty broken build, isn’t it?”

Alistair followed Selephita into a restaurant around the corner. Fine dining was back with a vengeance after disappearing because of the initiation. Chefs that could work with beast meat were highly valued—great ones could help you level up and improve your cultivation.

This establishment was business casual. Being so close to the Leading Domes, it targeted high quality diners, but it wasn’t a formal place, based on the atmosphere. They could sit down without having to talk to anyone.

“I love pizza,” Alistair said, licking his lips. The menu was built into the table with light Mana and some secondary affinities, and you could press on the items you wanted with your aura to order. He got two whole plain pies. “Don’t imagine you’ve ever tried?”

Selephita smiled. “Can’t say that I have.”

“I’m happy I can be the first to introduce you, then. Pizza is one of the greatest foods humanity has ever invented. As such, I’m positively positive that it exists in the wider multiverse. I can only imagine how high up the hierarchy the Dao archetype of pizza is.”

Selephita laughed, which sounded like sparks of a divine fire. “I’ll have to take your word for it. I’ll have some as well.” Her flaming eyes, so unlike a Devil King, peered at his own. “You’re further down the path of a dragon, I see. Even I am shocked at the rate of your growth.”

“Coming from you, that’s a huge compliment,” Alistair said. “Is dragonkind an Immemorial Race?”

She laughed again. “Immemorial Race isn’t a hard line or a true barrier. Dragons you might find on the frontier would come from diluted bloodlines. However, any purebred dragon naturally reaches Ascendant at adulthood. Select kinds like celestial dragons, world dragons, and star dragons go even further, attaining Divine at adulthood. Elder dragons are some of the most fearsome beings in the entire multiverse.”

“And how the hell do you know all of this?”

“I’m born from the Dao, I know things,” Selephita said. “Just kidding. The Pathfinder AI gave me a way better version of the system than what you guys get. I think I have the version that the Sublimed Machine Faction gives to their own youths.”

“Would you mind sharing the secrets of the multiverse?”

“Sorry, you know how it works. Things too far outside of your purview are forbidden. Multiversal Law.”

Alistair sighed. “Worth a shot. The reason I wanted to talk to you wasn’t for information, though. It’s about Earth. Are you staying here for a while?”

“That seems to be my Fate.”

Alistair scrunched his nose. “I don’t fully understand how big a deal being an Immemorial Race is, but shouldn’t the Final Frontier Empire be chomping at the teeth to recruit you? Shouldn’t the Emperor himself be descending on the planet to scoop you up? Alexandra and Pharaoh would never leak info, but the sponsors are watching us.”

Selephita shook her head. “The Pathfinder AI itself blocks my existence to them somehow. It seems to favor me. To what end, I do not know. I can feel that my Fate is with this world, for the next few years. I will continue to grow in strength. If a threat that only I can deal with comes, you can have reassurance that I will act.”

“Thank you,” Alistair said, barely louder than a whisper, as a weight lifted off his shoulders. “How strong are you, exactly? And won’t your cultivation be hampered by this environment?”

“I’ve just become a Beast Ruler, or an Adept in non-beast terms. I’ve formed my internal Domain. Because of the inborn advantages I possess as a firebird, in a few months I should be able to handle Late stage frontier Adepts. The lack of Mana and Dao in this environment is hampering me, but I’m still progressing thanks to the special attention of the Pathfinder AI.”

“What’s an internal Domain? And what’s Late and Peak mean in that context? And don’t you think the Pathfinder AI is going to want something from you?”

Selephita raised an impeccable eyebrow, causing Alistair to blush. “Do not be so shy; curiosity is a good thing.”

Alistair only grew more embarrassed as it was weird to have a being a twentieth of his age talk to him like he was a young pup.

“An internal Domain is as it sounds. Non-sophont beasts cannot manifest Domains outside of their bodies, so they use internal Domains. They’re considered worse than true Domains, but even some humanoid cultivators use them, as they increase one’s durability by an extreme margin. I thought it best to not go for a normal Domain until I can get access to higher quality fire.

“Late and Peak refer to the segmentation of realms. The 99th level of a realm is a bottleneck, where the breakthrough to the next realm might take a long time. A 99th level would be called a Peak Foundation realm. Then level 60-98 would be Late Foundation, level 30-59 Middle Foundation, and level 1-30 Early Foundation. It is similar for the other realms, at least the beginning ones.

“And yes, the Pathfinder AI most likely does want something from me, but I am in no position to resist. One day, we shall part, and it will only be through your own strength that we meet again.”

Alistair contemplated the firebird’s words. The Immemorial Races were truly overpowered. When he himself had been level 30, the idea of challenging a level 80 was ridiculous.

“But for now, you’re good here,” Alistair said. “Okay, I can work with that. Hey, wait a second, if you told me all that…”

The firebird snorted. “That’s all public information your sect should provide you with.”

“Fine, fine, I understand. You should coordinate with the Holy Ravine, once they get let out of their cage. I think it should be soon, but I’m not entirely sure. Their foundations are deep, so if you wait a while, I bet they’d be nice sparring partners.”

“Duly noted. If you’re not busy, could you regale me with what happened in the final wave?”

Alistair spent the next hour or so eating pizza and describing the battle against the Devil Kings with some theatrical flare. He had gotten a good overview of the events he hadn’t seen from the others, so he could tell the entire tale.

He also got to experience what Dragon’s Blood Mastery meant by improved freehand control over blood affinity Mana. It was far easier for him to draw blood-attuned Mana from his soulcore and express it outside of his body, requiring no Skill.

This wouldn’t be useful in combat, at least not yet, but he could manipulate it into shapes to help tell the story.

Selephita seemed to love the story, though she focused more on the philosophical aspects rather than the combat. She was very intrigued by his Spirit of the True Hero. She asked him to show the ability, but Alistair couldn’t muster up the apparition when he tried. He could feel deep down that it would only come out when needed.

After the meal, Selephita bid him goodbye. She stayed around to check out the capital more, while Alistair moved on to check off more things on his list.

Three of his Skills had upgraded tier as a result of adding a sprinkling of Upgrade Points or their natural progression over the past week.

Those Skills were [Eyes of Truth] to Tier 4, [Frozen Claw] to Tier 3, and [Carmela’s Happy Pies] to Tier 3.

For [Eyes of Truth], the crimson Karmic energy that traveled to his eyes became invisible to everyone else, which would allow him to use them in a much stealthier manner.

For [Frozen Claw], the ice produced became more effective at traveling through the target’s meridians. When combined with [Hand of Karma], it created a multiplicative effect.

For [Carmela’s Happy Pies], it synergized with his recently acquired Dragon’s Blood Mastery, allowing him to increase the regenerative effects of his blood essence.

Speaking of blood essence, after purposefully receiving injuries from some of the Beast Lords during his corralling mission, he now had a better understanding of what it and Dragon’s Blood Mastery was doing.

Blood essence was one of the carriers of life force within the average living creature’s body. Life force was the vital energy of the body, responsible for a healthy lifespan. Alistair didn’t necessarily believe it to be related to the big three quintessence—Mana, nue, and Dao energy. It more felt like a gestalt energy field deriving from the process of living itself.

Blood essence wasn’t the only carrier of life force. There was bone essence, muscle essence, nerve essence, and more. Those were all strucutres shared by vertebrates—with how amazingly varied the multiverse was, there were bound to be nigh infinite biologies, and myriad essences.

The blood dragon took blood essence to the extreme, making their entire physical bodies into a form of blood. An adult blood dragon was incapable of dying unless every drop of blood they had ceased to exist. They were their blood at a metaphysical level.

Alistair understood innately after unlocking Dragon’s Blood Mastery, despite not getting told by anyone. That 0.1% efficiency represented how close he was to making his entire physical being into blood essence, where at the end of the road, completely annihilating his brain would be no more than a paper cut.

At 0.1% efficiency, it meant that he could convert Mana, nue, and Dao energy into blood essence, though at a fairly terrible ratio. Since he wasn’t even close to actually being made of blood essence, the increased amount would simply feed into his body’s healing processes, accelerating them.

So what, you could ask. A healing Skill or Health pill could do that. The special part was that he could heal spiritual and mental injuries with Dragon’s Blood Mastery as well. His soul, mind, and body were beginning to tie together in the way a dragon’s were, though as indicated by the 0.1%, it was the very, very early stages.

Dragon’s Blood Mastery and his three upgraded Skills weren’t his only improvements. Alistair had eaten the Dao Fruit bringing him to the verge of a Third Deepening in the Fist Node.

The Dao Fruit of the Fist manifested as a hand-sized octahedron of translucent coral crystal that pulsed rhythmically. Each face displayed flowing martial forms that continuously shifted between various hand techniques. Silver-blue mist swirled within its core, occasionally revealing glimpses of perfect martial execution.

The crystal radiated an energy that resonated directly with Alistair’s Dao Node—the pure essence of countless generations of martial wisdom condensed into a single perfect form.

Harvested from a planetary core, the Pathfinder AI had infused the pure spiritual ether of the core with truths of the Fist.

When he ate it, he felt a sudden surge of Dao energy running through his body, along with insights into the Fist. It was a weird feeling to have foreign thoughts surge into his mind, but they weren’t malicious.

They settled down and integrated with his current understanding of the Fist, building upon it and almost bringing him to the Third Deepening. Alistair believed that since he already had six deepenings/widenings, the fruit had more difficulty providing him insight. To someone else, it might have brought them an easy breakthrough.

Finally, there were the items from the [Vanquishing the Devil Kings] and his point allocations.

Materia of True Martial Clarity was a Mythical rarity item that replaced his shattered Devilsbane Gauntlets. They were an almost invisible substance that he could freely coat body parts in, and conducted any type of Mana equally as good as his previous gauntlets did for blood affinity.

In addition, they were more durable despite their transparent nature, and were extremely versatile, able to cover any part of his body. He could even use them as a shield in a pinch, though they didn’t move around that fast once summoned.

For the stats, Alistair had gained almost an absurd amount from the level ups, the Deepening of his Justice Node, Deliverance of Justice, “Pathbreaker”, and Widening his Ghost Node.

Alistair suspected that the next “Jack of All Trades” would come at 750 in each Attribute and 7,500 overall, which he wasn’t sure if he was on pace for or not.

Finally, there were Upgrade Points. He had an entire 560 worth of them. This one, Alistair actually didn’t allocate yet. He wasn’t sure what the best use of them was, so he left them be. It wasn’t as if there was an emergency that required them, so he could afford to look for a better opportunity.

With one week left, Alistair spent the rest of his time cleaning up the Cursed Lands, the freehold of the Devil Kings. One of the biggest issues with resettling were the ghosts of the many thousands of victims, which he helped to find peace.

Alistair fought against any remaining Devil Princes, giving them their final peace, and in the blink of an eye, the week passed, and so he prepared to board the Grand Imperator’s golden ship.