novelraw Chapter 113 - 112 - Offer
Chapter 113 - 112 - Offer
The tension in the office was high but Lind could do little. He was not even sure what had been done to him. There had been no fluctuation of Captain Drake's aura nor any warning from a flash of a formation. What was going on?
"Ah, I think you will find foreign Qi in your dantian slowly decaying. That talisman does not only reveal false appearances but binds any such person for a whole day." Lind now understood. A quick glance through his meridians and he did find Qi that did not belong.
Lind's emerald flame surged through his dantian and meridians, burning out the invader. In a moment Lind had control of his Qi once more. Shock flashed across Captain Drake's face as Lind extended his staff once more.
"You have just assaulted a guest of the Heavenly Maiden Sect, I suggest you explain yourself." Lind knew the bracelet would be something explained away by Annabelle owning it for now, but Lind had first been a patient and then helped by the Heavenly Maiden Sect to slip away. This was not a small act.
A slight frown flashed over Drake's face but he was not overly perturbed.
"I simply dislike obstructions to my goals. As a high ranking member of the Emporium, I was made aware of you safely arriving in Petra. After that, it was easy for us to piece together the strange martial 6 elemental that was able to drive off a peak Soul Realm salamander." Lind kept his guard up, but felt the truth at least form the man in front of him.
"Next time, why not simply contact someone normally?" Lind did not understand this person's rush. Drake looked irritated but clearly felt some line had been crossed as Lind was indeed being hunted by fairly powerful beings.
"I will consider it, but the problem I am facing has every moment mattering. I apologize, however, for pushing you into a corner." Lind bowed and waited for the rest. "As I am sure you past it on your way here, you saw the folded space?"
Lind nearly fell out of his chair. Folded space?! Did some damned fool try to destroy Cimmeria?!
"I see you know what that is. Yes, a sect tried to create their own secret realm to increase their profits, but as you can see, it only made a folded space." Drake folded his large hands in front of him and Lind noticed how scarred they were. Lind realized they were fresh scars too.
His mother's treatments were not always 100% successful. If a cultivator was injured by something stronger than them or the wounds were laced with powerful Qi, like acid, scars would be left behind where normally unblemished skin would be.
"Where did it connect to?" Folded space was actually really close to wormholes from science fiction with one critical difference. Wormholes only connect 2 points in space, but folded space was a failed attempt to create a secret realm. Thus, it connected to another realm entirely. It could be a higher realm, but would not last long, or it could be something vastly different to anything Lind could conceive.
He had been studying Ruins and learned about these dangerous phenomena. The creation of a secret realm was not fully understood, mostly because those who succeeded hid all details how they did it.
Some secret realms were strict, but on average, most had a set entrance time and realm limit. Folded space, on the other hand, had no limits and worse, anything inside could get out. This was not a large problem if it truly lead to a higher realm in that regard, as instead, it simply became a bomb if not safely dispersed.
Lind shivered to think that a folded space was so close to him and Annabelle. If there were dangers inside, it might explain the strange Qi around the guards of this station. They might be suffering from Qi deviation.
"I appreciate the headache, but what can I do for you exactly?" Lind was a 6 elemental Soul Realm. They had a nearly limitless supply of World Realms of any elemental combination they wanted here. What by the blessed spirits could he offer?
"It is not your 6 elements I need, but your mind." Drake pulled out a jade slip and slid it across the desktop. Lind sunk his senses into it and was stunned to recognize the very research he asked to be spread as far as possible.
It had only been a month! How was it already spread this far?!
"I don't think you appreciate how incredible your simple advice has been, Lind Frey. It was wise of you to reveal it as Taren Cord as it would only make you more of a target for other reasons." Lind now appreciated the Captain removing his disguise. Both of his identities were being hunted but Lind Frey was at least being protected by the Heavenly Maiden Sect to an extent. Taren Cord had no such protection.
How many identities would he need?
"I really need to break through." Lind verbalized the source of his problems. He was too weak. Soul Realms were not too bad in many small powers, but in the larger world, they were nothing. Cannon fodder at best, insects at worst.
"It won't matter in your case, but your revelations helped even my men improve and they are all at the Stone Tier at lowest." Drake was actually praising Lind but it felt like the man was dragging it out reluctantly. "I need to have everything you theorized no matter if you think it is ready."
Lind did not mind but he had very little to share. The only thing he held back required Soul Eyes and Soul Touch to even begin to do it. Still, he was curious what critical need this man believed LInd could relieve.
"I have put all of it there and this seems intact. I am still working at tier 8 Soul Arts relationships. It will take time. Still, what good does this research have for your problem?" Drake sighed but could see Lind was not lying. He leaned back but seemed to be contemplating something.
The silence was worse than the tension earlier but finally those cold blue eyes narrowed at Lind once more.
"The place the folded space reached is a little problematic. It is a never ending bog of darkness and the nexus point is well hidden." Lind nearly put his head on the desk. How bad could this situation possibly get?
"How close to a catastrophic explosion did they come?" If a nexus node had been created, the secret realm had failed at the stage that so many kept secret. It was also the step all agreed could lead to massive destruction.
Drake finally broke his grim visage as he put his head in his hands.
"Far too close for our comfort. I appreciate your understanding but when we implemented your ideas, it made a massive difference. I know you do not understand the World Realm, but if you have any such breakthroughs, we desperately need them." Lind now understood. Just as the crew on the boat had improved despite it being Soul Realm knowledge, these men found their desperate struggle improve too.
"Is it becoming unstable?" It was only a matter of time but if it was soon, Lind would quite frankly put distance between him and Cimmeria.
"We have a final option but it will be a harsh sacrifice on the part of a Sky Realm to do it. We would like to avoid it, but our estimates put it at half a year before it becomes critical." Lind now really understood their rush. The competition was at that time and very important people will be coming to Cimmeria.
Lind relaxed that there was a final option but he made a note to leave Cimmeria before that time was up, just in case.
"I will send everything to you via the Sapphire Auction House information brokers. No cost, of course." Drake actually smiled at Lind's words. He then stood up and bowed to Lind.
"Thank you in advance for your help!" Lind finally smiled as he understood this man was under immense stress. "Should you need anything, please let me know!" Lind bowed and left the office.
Both the guard and Annabelle were surprised to see Lind's dirty blonde hair but he waved it off. He then bowed to the guard and was about to leave when he remembered a question he had.
"If I may know, who were those aether children in the courtyard?" The guard jumped for a moment but then relaxed. It was an odd reaction but Lind chalked it up to the stress of their current situation.
"The aether children are helping us explore and deal with the damned denizens of that folded space." It was a vague answer but given they recruited aether children across Cimmeria due to their specialties, it likely was covering that so Lind let it go.
He left with Annabelle back into the busy street but glanced at the distortion that took up a large chunk of space. Lind now saw it was far different from the Ruins he had seen before. The flow of Qi was erratic in places as he looked on.
"Six months seems optimistic." Lind watched as the thread of Qi holding the space together frayed slowly before his eyes. He could not calculate it, but he knew few had progressed their Soul Eyes to Sky Eyes as he had. It was possible all of it was just an estimation that could be ruined by an event or battle.
"Scary." Annabelle had followed Lind's look and revealed how sensitive she was to the flow of Qi herself. It gave Lind an inkling that the aether children might be able to find the nexus where humans could not.
"Indeed, let's go find a place to rest and relax before stopping by the Heavenly Maiden Sect." They headed off away from the coming disaster. Lind realized that despite walking to such a nice ward of the city, it was far from the center as the massive fortress was still far from them in the sky.
Lind shrugged it off and followed the smell of food as he took Annabelle's hand once more to guide her through the bustling streets.
****
"He is not as naive as the reports said he would be." Drake listened to Leon, the guard that had guided Lind Frey and his aether child here. Drake could also only nod as the naive youth he expected was not present in front of him.
While he had been able to get fairly detailed reports on Lind Frey, they had a glaring black hole in them for the near year he spent with the Heavenly Maiden Sect. It was said he faced heart demons under their care.
No one could confirm and not even the Stardust Emporium was suicidal enough to pry into the mortal headquarters of the Heavenly Maidens. Information brokers that had tried had never returned or came back with no memory of how they got home.
There was one piece of information, however, that Lind had slipped up on in Drake's opinion. The identity spheres confirmed the girl was barely over a month since she manifested. The bracelet of the guest elder was not hers, but his.
Lind Frey was highly valued by the Sapphire Auction House for some reason the higher ups would not reveal to even captains and the Heavenly Maidens had a guest elder supplying elixirs.
"We may still have some leverage if we need it, but make sure he does not learn the details of our operation. Treat him as we do the commanders and their staff." The Leon bowed to Drake and went to relay the orders.
They were running out of time.