Leveling up the World

Chapter 926: Saint of the Order

In every high-level awakeneds life, there were times when it was easy to succumb to the temptation of being overly eager to get results. The world was full of various methods of making extracting information a lot faster and easier. When it came to music, not even pain was involved. With enough practice, one could make the target of the interrogation willingly share every last detail and even be grateful for it. And that was without mixing it with magic.

When it came to Dallion, he was careful not to abuse such methods. For one thing, he didnt want a repeat of what had happened during his battle of the Star. Back then, thousands of birds, animals, and insects had been sacrificed in order to grant him an advantage in combat. It had served him well, though was also a reason for the voids effect on him to grow. The void had been purged for some time now, but the lesson had remained with Dallion for life.

The information is useless, the copyette said, still maintaining Clerics appearance. The archbishop will see things before you do them.

He doesnt seem to have seen this.

Hasnt he? Cleric smirked.

Why didnt you go north or south? Dallion pressed on, using his music skills to directly affect the copyettes thoughts. Combining it with magic allowed the music to come into contact directly with the beings subconscious.

The north was out of bounds, Cleric said. The archbishop sent scouts to the south every hundred years or so, but we never stayed. I think it holds too many painful memories.

How old are you?

Were all the same age. Just as your emperor.

When were you unbanished? Dallion clarified.

Its been a while. After the fall of the dyads. There are many a lot older than me, but Im old enough to remember the rise of the empire.

That put him at about a thousand years old. Quite a lot, everything considered. But given some of the other players, he was no more than a newborn pup.

How come you didnt cover the globe in all that time?

It was never our goal to cover the globe. Citadel and monasteries were only built where they were needed. We started expanding three hundred years ago.

Why?

In response to the empire. As it gained strength, so did others. The archbishop knew that it was only a matter of time before all powers became concentrated in a few rulers. And he was right.

The explanation was very well thought out and definitely logical, but it was also a complete lie. Even the copyette suspected soDallion could tell by the emotional fluctuations floating within Clerics body like tiny bubbles. There was another reason that had pushed the archbishop into sending off his Order to roam the world; possibly the same that made him start moving his island throughout the ocean.

And yet you never went north, Dallion noted.

North was not our concern. The west was.

That was true. Based on everything Cleric has said so far, the progress to the nest had been the most cumbersome of all. With most of the non-human races there, the Order had a much more difficult time establishing a local presence. While they wholeheartedly accepted any person willing to join, awakened or not, the non-human races remained cautious, only joining in exceedingly small numbers. Gorgons, furies, and even dwarves were more likely to avoid monasteries, let alone shrines and citadels. It didnt help that their awakening rate was far less than that of humans, so they couldnt even use the services of awakening altars.

Dallion looked at the aether globe of the world. There were several large land patches not occupied by the order.

What about the ocean?

There never was any concern with that, the copyette replied.

Even now?

Even now.

It seemed that there was some sort of arrangement between Tiallia and the archbishop. Maybe she was still indented to him for the advice he had provided millennia ago. Then again, the Order was in an unspoken arrangement with each of the other three major players. Even Dallion hadnt gone into an all-out war, although there was no telling whether that would change in the near future. He knew better than anyone that he was only one alliance away from getting attacked from all sides.

You should have joined the order when I offered, Cleric said, correctly interpreting Dallions silence as the end of the interrogation. It would have been a lot better for everyone, yourself included.

Maybe. Dallion ended the spell binding the copyette. But then, I would never have married.

Dallion glanced at the door. There were fifty-seven other members of the Order within the citadel. No doubt all of them had felt the shift of the domain. There was a good chance a few of them might try something radical.

You can have your shrine back. Dallion stopped using his music skills. Tell the archbishop to move them out of my domain if he wants to remain on the sidelines.

That was it? Cleric appeared confused.

Traits

- AWAKENING: 132

- BODY: 107

- MIND: 98

- REACTION: 111

- PERCEPTION: 108

- EMPATHY: 37

- MAGIC: 186

Sills:

- ATTACK: 100

- GUARD: 100

- ACROBATICS: 100

- ATHLETICS: 100

- FORGING: 100

- ARTS: 100

- CARVING: 100

- SCHOLAR: 100

- MUSIC: 100

- HERBALISM: 100

- ZOOLOGY: 100

- SPELLCRAFT: 100

Jeremy, Dallion whispered.

Saint Jeremy, the other corrected. But I believe that was long before your time, back when the Order meant a thing. Its annoying how fast things get corrupted. Give it a few centuries and even the best ideals get bent.

You left an aether echo running the empire all this time.

The unusual aether glow, the reason he spent so much time isolated, even the impossible feats the entity in the capital had achieved, could be explained with this. Adzorgs claim that the emperor had managed to escape a prison item in seconds was utterly false. The emperor had done nothing of the sort. He had simply ended the existence of the echo within the realm and created a new one in the real world again. Everything else was smoke and mirrors.

The only way I could be certain that my orders would be followed. Of course, the last one had gotten a bit rebellious. All of them do at one point or another. I guess all that power that I put in goes to their head. Thats why I have to replace them every so often.

Who knows?

Other than you and Simon? Jeremy scratched his chin. A few might suspect, but only Alien knows for certain. When I found him, I still believed that Earthlings could fix the problems of this world. Now I know that they cant. Only a Moon has that power, and each era can only have one Moon.

Dallion stood there, saying nothing.

Afraid I might kill you? Jeremy smiled.

You wont. Dallion chased out any thoughts of fear from his consciousness. You dont want to risk anyone finding the real you.

The smile on the others face quickly disappeared.