Due to the constant friction between the transparent membrane around the pseudo plane and the constantly churning chaos energy, bright sparks could be seen everywhere when one looked up.
On one of the many cliffs hewn into the side of the mountain pseudo plane, Greem lay bare chested on a blanket spread on the ground.
He had one hand behind his head, and the other around Mary, the vampire resting most of her smaller body on his larger one.
While she had her eyes closed, his own were wide open as he stared up at the "sky" and observed the fireworks, the seeming emptiness of the galaxy, and the infinite amount of stars.
'Not really stars,' he reminded himself.
Each and every single one of the tiny white dots was a full fledged plane, complete with a barrier, consciousness, and millions upon millions of inhabitants.
Greem found the mere thought of such sheer numbers—of both the planes and their inhabitants—mind boggling. This reality truly deserved its description as a multiverse.
If an Adept wanted to travel from one plane to another through the sea of chaotic energy, they needed to possess powerful defenses capable of withstanding its constant corrosive effect.
They also needed to be careful of energy storms and avoid them by any means necessary.
Just like the oceans, the tides in space had varying levels of activity. Sometimes they were violent, and at other times, calmness reigned.
Should a travelling Adept be so unlucky as to end up in one of these storms, he'd be reduced to dust, becoming part of the many, many particles that formed the dark ocean, even if he was Fifth Grade.
For the last thing, an Adept needed to make sure they had sufficient energy to sustain them in their travel.
While it may look like the stars were a mere stone's throw away, the lowest possible period of travel between two planes was a hundred years.
The difficulty of finding those ripe with resources and invading them couldn't be stated enough.
It was no small feat what the Sarubo clan founder had managed to achieve. Greem imagined this is how the Adept found the plane, but quickly corrected himself of that assumption.
'He could have bought the coordinates or obtained them through other means… either way, he's taking his sweet ass time.'
He thought that last part in jest, having some idea regarding the difficulty of breaking through a plane's barrier and establishing yourself on it safely.
It's just that, more and more of the "others" Adept Fügen mentioned kept joining their numbers as the days went by. And they were all from planes other than Lethon.
A quick dive into his memories showed him that they were from planes the Sarubo clan had already conquered, and they had left their posts to come serve as the main force of this invasion.
This naturally defaulted himself, Mary, Anderson, and the four other First Grades they journeyed here with to the rank of scouts.
They were the rookies after all. The clan couldn't afford to send the veterans serving as the pillars holding it up into unexplored territory.
What if they encountered something completely out of their expectations and ended up dead? The clan would suffer for it.
So it was better for everyone (else) to send the rookies and Anderson first, let them test the waters and relay back the situation on the other side before the main combatants would join the battlefield.
Greem perfectly understood where the clan was coming from, however that didn't mean he was supposed to like it.
First, they ignored Anderson's negligence, sat by and let him experiment on his own charges. They were also fully aware of his intent to sacrifice his students and were willing to let him do it.
Now, they were using the rookie or more accurately, "spare" Adepts as probes to ensure the safety of their "more important" members.
Nothing but benefits till the very end.
Had Anderson succeeded, they'd have gotten a loyal Second Grade combatant. If they were right and something untoward happened to the scouts too, their main forces would be untouched and they'd be none the worse for wear.
Greem perfectly understood why the "him" he read about left the clan first chance he got, despite the problems he experienced as a result.
It didn't deter him in the slightest though. He would also leave them when the time came.
This level of callousness and disregard might seem normal, hell, it was praised in Lethon, but that didn't mean he had to sit there and take it when he could simply leave.
Tightening his grip on the vampire snuggling against him, he filled his mind with details about the oncoming war and resolved to perform to the best of his ability.
He was going to milk the clan thoroughly before the inevitable split.
☀☀☀
Five days after their arrival on the pseudo plane, Lord Fügen at long last called for his entourage from Lethon and had them follow him.
He led them to a hall hidden deep within the mountain, where a single Adept whose appearance was obscured by a dark robe and hood floated above a gigantic and complex magic array.
What drew everyone's (except Lord Fügen) attention though, was the door-sized wormhole behind him and the golden chains extending out of it and latching onto him one after the other.
The chains shifted planes of existence constantly, alternating between material and immaterial as they surged out in uncountable numbers and groped the Adept like obsessive fans.
Unlike the awestruck reactions of his juniors, Adept Fügen stood at the hall's entrance and bowed. "Reverent Lord Sarubo, I have brought the first batch."
Multiple eyes widened at his words before every head apart from Lord Sarubo's went low, the shock of seeing a Sixth Grade Adept in the flesh apparent.
This was the mysterious man that formed the clan thousands of years ago. A bonafide god… albeit one who needed neither prayers nor worship to sustain his great powers.
Sixth Grade.
The phrase reverberated through the minds of the bowing Adepts many times. Such a peak was beyond most of them. They couldn't even imagine having such power and prestige.
After all, most of them here would never go past First Grade, and they'd accepted that. But upon seeing a real and tangible example of the height they'd long discarded from their minds, their insides began to bubble in excitement and anticipation.
Maybe it wasn't that impossible. All hope wasn't really lost.
Fully aware of the kind of effect his presence had on this group of inspired and encouraged First Grades, Lord Sarubo capitalized on this moment to communicate the current state of affairs and their mission to them.
He didn't move, turn to look at them, or even open his mouth, yet his deep and gripping voice rumbled through their very souls.
"I have corroded this hole in the plane barrier and sent my spirit clone to the other side. Your mission is to construct a forward operating base at the location my clone has found.
Since you're all First Grades, the brand of the Lethon isn't strong on you. So long as you remain discreet, the will of this plane will not retaliate too strongly.
Take note. Although I have suppressed most of the plane's response on the other side, you will still need to adjust to its laws.
Remember, you must protect the constructed tower with your lives and keep the natives from finding out about it. You must also protect my spirit clone till I'm done with my analysis of the planar laws.
Once you complete this mission and your performance is satisfactory, your rewards will be more than you can imagine.
Prepare yourselves. I will send you over immediately."
The seven Adept vanguards heeded the words solemnly and braced themselves.
Moving for the first time since the eagerly awaiting group arrived, the Sixth grade Adept waved his hand towards them and a number of the golden chains split off from him.
Each of them singled out and pierced a single Adept before yanking them into the swirling wormhole.
☀☀☀
Teleporting out of a plane that recognised you as its inhabitant and forcing your way into one that deemed you an invader were two entirely separate experiences.
Unlike the slightly disorienting journey to the pseudo plane, Greem, Mary, and co were assaulted with energies and forces that would have ground the bodies of apprentices to fine dust and minced their souls to nothing.
It was only due to their Adept level Physiques and Spirits and Lord Sarubo's constant guidance through the corroded space tunnel that they survived the inhospitable environment in the plane's interstitial layers.
Or else they'd have brushed against the "walls" of the tunnel and ended up in a space vortex where even their First Grade bodies and Spirit wouldn't save them.
After a few seconds… or centuries of travel—none of them could really tell—Greem and the others finally reached their destination.
It was a valley, devoid of noise or creatures and hidden in the depths of an extensive mountain range.
Right in the middle of this place above a grassy field, a silent, black robed figure hovered a small distance from the ground. He was wrapped in golden chains that extended out of thin air and the hole behind him.
One moment nothing was happening, and the next, the hole behind the figure began to ripple. One after the other, multiple people shot out of the hole and ate dirt as they tumbled and rolled on the ground.
Despite being Adepts, it took a while for the individuals to get on their feet. Especially those who relied on elementium or focused on Spirit.
As an adept whose Physique took precedence over anything else, Greem was the first to get up, his heavily restricted Spirit not affecting him as much.
Mary was next, as her powers as a bloodline Adept did not utilize laws… at least not in this stage of her development.
As soon as she joined her lover on her feet, countless invisible law chains appeared out of thin air around the both of them and sank into their bodies, a good percentage of their abilities suppressed.
While the other Adepts clambered up and the couple dealt with the foreign and discomforting sensations of weakness, Lord Sarubo reminded them of his presence.
"Good. You all made it through. Some of you should stay behind and terraform this place. The rest should scatter in every direction and secure all direct paths that lead here. No outsider should be allowed to reach this place and disturb my progress.
Some powerful natives may have sensed the spatial ripples when you arrived, so be careful. You only have to defend this place for a month. The second batch of adepts will arrive in that period. Good luck."
Going completely silent after saying his piece, Lord Sarubo returned his attention to the war between himself and the planar will and ignored everything else.
The Adepts looked at each other for what to do and settled their gazes on Adept Keoghan.
Lord Fügen had emphasized repeatedly that he was the leader of their small unit and that his every command was to be treated as such.
"Since we just arrived, our powers are at their weakest, so no extravagant displays. Kiel, Vincomer, Cowen and I will stay here to start work on a functioning base. We need to remove Lord Sarubo and the vortex from sight.
Anderson, Greem, Mary. You three are responsible for exploration and security. Explore the forest and kill any dangerous creatures nearby. Make sure nothing comes here to disturb Lord Sarubo. Understood?"
All those mentioned and assigned jobs nodded to show their compliance, not even Greem and Mary, who were specifically singled out for jobs that took them far away from Lord Sarubo's projection.
As new recruits, especially ones who advanced without the clan's help, they could not be trusted near the clan founder's weak mental projection.
Letting no hint of any possible displeasure at the arms-length treatment show, the trio in charge of security got to work and deployed their varied methods of flight.
Greem and Mary deployed their wings, took to the air and dived into the forest in opposite directions while Anderson summoned a grayish tornado after some difficulty and rode it straight ahead.
****
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