The competitiveness between Iewah's children was not, contrary to what most believed, an irrational and blind impulse. After all, if it was, any encounter between them would culminate in the death of one of the two parties.
Each of Iewah's children could recognize one another thanks to the presence of their systems, and at the same time, they would feel the system's development the same way a cultivator would feel whether his opponent's power was at a stronger, similar, or lower level than his own.
Simply put, Iewah's children would pick their own battles, as they cared more about survival than fighting a battle which they had no chance of winning.
Similarly, those who were too powerful, would sense the low level of development of others, and let them grow until they would become valid opponents.
After coming to around twenty meters of distance from Daniel and his companions, the Swordsman turned to look at Aeron. Then, after a few moments, he turned around, and floated back from where he came from. From the looks of it, it seemed that he was not looking for Daniel, but had instead come to look for something which, apparently, he hadn't found.
This guess was not far off, as if Aeron had been able to read the Swordsman's mind, he would have learned that it was the complexity of his own mind power that had attracted him here, and had caused himself to be mistaken for one of the Swordsman's main targets, the Mindhive.
It was extremely common for the Mindhive to use methods such as hiding his power, or sending human beacons marked with it, in order to stop his siblings from pestering him all day. However, after thousands of battles, the Swordsman had found a way to go around this methods. That way, was to focus on the complexity, instead of the power.
Since the moment they had felt his presence, to when he had left, no more than a minute had passed, which compared to the few minutes spent trying to regain their calm, was an extremely short amount of time.
For that entire minute, Daniel had felt like he was a simple piece of tender meat which had been thrown into a meat grinder. Any step, and his whole existence would be cut into a mist so thin that nothing but memory and fame would remain of his existence.
After wiping a few large drops of sweat from his forehead, Daniel swallowed the frog that had gotten stuck in his throat, and said, "We have all almost died.."
"How did he find you? Isn't your planet completely cut out from the rest of the universe?" Asked Xargy in confusion. "And why did he leave like that?"
"I don't think he was looking for me." Responded Daniel before turning to look at Aeron. He then asked, "Did you get anything out of him?" Unfortunately, the answer as a single weak shake of Aeron's head, as he was still recovering from the shock of feeling a portion of his consciousness being cut to shreds.
This simple experience had come to a great shock for Daniel and the others. The only one who had managed to keep his wits about what had happened, was Xargy, whom had felt a similar obnoxious pressure whenever he was in the presence of his grandfather, whom would constantly release his power in order to assert his dominance over the rest of the draconic clan.
On Daniel's mind, the same phrase kept going on repeat. That sentence, was, "I need to get stronger."
At the moment, the development of Daniel's gift only reached the early middle level, and when compared to that of the other children of Iewah, he was most definitely not within the top powers. Even when in the presence of the Teacher, he had the feeling that he could not compare to him. Be it for the fact that anything he did was seen through, or because contrary to Daniel, Romah was actually considered someone worth befriending by the universal government.
Naturally, Daniel possessed a weapon of mass destruction, and if he wanted, he could start the process which, if left untouched, would ultimately lead to the destruction of the universe as it existed. However, that weapon was nothing but a bluff.
Provided that he could keep his family and friends safe, if he truly used the concept of collapsed space in a fight, he would ultimately end up exterminating any living being present outside his sphere of protection, and that was something he did not wish to do. After all, he also lived in this dimension.
If the risk of using his ultimate power wasn't enough, the massive number of unknowns was. For one, he was sure that if the Teacher came in contact with shattered of collapsed space, he would understand them way faster than Daniel had, and he couldn't say that the same wouldn't be possible for the rest of Sewah's siblings.
What Daniel needed, was enough power to fend off against the strongest members of the universal government. Regardless of whether they were part of Iewah's faction, or the leaders of the major factions which, like gods, were able to create their special type of cultivation, as well as bless those who decided to follow them with their gifts.
Enough power to become worth befriending, instead of being ignored. That was the level of power he needed.
Finally, after years spent under the protective sphere of his system, Daniel realized what the problem with his current lifestyle was.
Lucky encounters helped people survive disaster, but constant luck, made people weak.
Luck had become the main focus of Daniel's existence, and he relied on it for his own safety, as well as the safety of his friends, and family. However, there was a time where he did not possess any form of luck, and while those were the times when he suffered the most, it was also the time where he was at the peak of his potential.
He had allowed karmic points to dictate his survival, instead of being a currency which he could use.
That was a problem that Sewah, when in possession of the system, did not have. Instead, he had kept cultivating despite the increasingly bad luck, and his difficulties had tempered him into a proper children of Iewah.
When had his friends become too weak to keep their own lives? When had they asked for his protection?
Those whom Daniel wished to protect, were the ones who had told him to focus on his cultivation, instead of keeping them in this weak bubble of protection which, while effective against small menaces, could do nothing against people whose powers went beyond what could be felt or seen. If Der, Jerigh, Alexia, Roley, and Gai'ha had been there, they would have told him the same.
"Alright.." he muttered, attracting the attention of his friends, who looked at him with confusion. A confusion that was cleared, when he followed up by saying, "Cultivation it is.."
—–
Ten days later, Alcazar.
One of the most important buildings of the universal government's capital, was the senate. This building would host the meetings of a group composed by the descendents of the original faction that, in time had grown to become the universal government as it was now.
This senate was in control of all three branches of the universal government, and would coordinate them in order to keep peace within their chaotic territory.
"What is the report about the foreign forces? Are they still sending scouts in our territory?" Asked one of the senators, a middle aged man who emanated the power of a cultivator beyond the two hundredth phase of high immortality.
"They are, senator. Ten times since our last report. Always disguised as ambassadors sent to the major factions. They arrive in large numbers, then they make use of the limitations of each faction to split up, and gather information." Said a teenage-looking grand judge, who stood in the middle of the round hall, along with the army's commander.
As the young-looking judge finished speaking, a murmuring noise filled the room.
This noise lasted for a good minute, and was interrupted only as the same senator who had spoken before, continued by asking the army commander, "What about the factions? Where are their reports?"
The army commander took a step forward, and responded by saying, "Senator. Out of the ten factions, in four of the reports we have received, it was claimed that the ambassadors mentioned a possible cooperation between them, and their civilization. These four were the Spiritual faction, the Void Dwellers, the Travelers of Unconsciousness of the mental factions, and the Corrupted Faction."
"Let me guess, it is not a coincidence that the four factions to whom has been proposed an alliance, are also the ones in possession of their own dimensional domain which is separated from our space, am I correct?" Asked the senator with barely hidden anger.
The actions of the foreign civilization, while not actively in contrast with the existence of the universal government, meant that their opponents were either scouting their strength before the competition between the two civilizations, or the intention of weakening their structure in case a war would break out.
"No Senator. You are right. We expect more visiting parties in the next few months. I have already arranged for a few of my generals to be present when that happens." Responded the army commander with confidence.
"Very well. What about the final matter at hand?"
This time, it was the grand judge who took a step forward, and said respectfully, "To answer the senator. The Deathbringer and Timelord have given.. Vague responses. When reminded that they belonged to the universal government, they told us to, and I am quoting, 'get the tree to make them'. At the same time, the other chosen of Iewah have become quiet ever since the second outcast appeared."
The mention of the second outcast was enough to light the interest of the entire room, who sat straight on their seats. One of them asked, "Speaking of the second outcast. Is there any news about him?"
"Odd news, senator. We have discovered a trail of blood that dates back to three years ago. Strangely enough, however, it did not start with the one called 'The Brutal'. One of my- one of the explorers followed the trail back through at least fifty planets, all of which had recently been emptied from their inhabitants, and stopped at a planet called Noraga." Said the grand judge in response.
"What are you saying? That what caused the Brutal to become an outcast, may not be completely related to him?" Asked the senator in confusion.
"Senator, I might be plain wrong here, but I personally think that the Brutal as we know it, is now dead." Responded the grand judge before straightening his back, and explaining, "From what we know, the Brutal was called like that only due to his violent means, and not by his need to cause mayhem. In fact, he was far from being the one who caused the most damage to our government. However, now.. He is purposely attacking one faction after the other, visiting one planet at a time, and causing the disappearance of the inhabitants of each of these planets."
The grand judge's words were cause of shock for the senators, who erupted into a vivid discussion.
After a long minute, the speaker stood up, and with enough power to overtake the voices of those present, he shouted, "SILENCE!"
As the noise of chatting died down, the speaker turned to look at the grand judge, and asked, "Are you saying that something may have taken control over.. One of Iewah's monstrous children?"
"We already know that the elite members of Iewah's faction are born as consciences which accompany their gifts, and if you might recall, for a short period of time, the first outcast behaved more similarly to a proper child of Iewah.. But then, he changed. After changing, he was rejected by Iewah, and became the first outcast in their faction's history." Said the grand judge before taking a small pause, and after making sure that what he had said sunk in, he added, "We were unsure of what had caused that to happen, but two drastic behavioural changes, followed by two unusual events.. It is hardly a coincidence at this point."
This explanation gave much to the senate to think about, as seen by the fact that the expression of each of the present, was now showing a deep state of focus.
The silence was interrupted by the speaker, who said, "Very well, We can use the standing kill order. If I am not mistaken, the Mindhive is classified at a higher threat level than the Brutal. Offer your cooperation to him in killing him, and if possible, obtain as much information as you can about this matter."
"Very well, Speaker. What are we allowed to offer?"
"The Swordsman has pestered him for the past ten thousand years. Offer the full research we have on him." Responded the speaker before standing up, and adding, "This session is adjourned."
"Speaker, what about the outcast?" asked the grand judge before the senators could leave the room.
"Keep an eye on him."
