ACCR Chapter 10 An Honest Conversation


    Why was I here?!!!


    Within the span of a micro-second, I had the urge to rage, with the words almost at the tip of the tongue, but when I took a good long look at the woman, I swallowed them back.


    She was blatantly showing her embarrassment. Though she was trying to mask the scent of alcohol with her spiritual energy, I wasn''t fooled.


    "Hey there bro, are you an old flame or something? I would suggest that you get lost, before my brother and I show you the door."


    I frowned at the dark and pink haired man. His condescending attitude alone was grating on me.


    "And who might you and that brother of yours be? No, I don''t have the time to care. Ms. Toba, this place is unsafe... For a woman like you."


    "Oh! Enlighten me then, Mr. Emerald..."


    She waltzed right next to me, raising her gaze into mine, with a smirk that elicited a flutter out of heart.


    "Do you believe that I can''t take care of myself? That I am weak? That I need a Nascent Soul to keep me safe? That I am only useful as a pawn in your eyes? A piece that can be casually discarded after its usefulness has expired?"


    The questions came one after the other, without any break within, making me very uncomfortable.


    The two men had slunk off after the third question, having finally gleaned that they couldn''t win.


    "You... Are intoxicated."


    "Are you going to ignore my questions?"


    "No. Just that this isn''t the right place to address them at length."


    "So that''s how you are gonna play it. Then... I will only leave this place under one single condition..."


    She took a dramatic pause at the end, her steely grey eyes boring a hole through me. I would have loved to say no to that, but the embers of anger were still smoldering within those eyes of hers.


    "What?" I decided to play along, resisting an urge to facepalm.


    "Do you see that platform, the one floating up there?"


    "There was no need for such an extensive explanation." I grumbled.


    "I want us to compete in that. Whoever wins, gets the other to do what they want."


    "Oh! Could it be that you are overly familiar with these kinds of places? Could you, the prim and proper Ms. Toba, be a rowdy fellow in secret?"


    "Don''t take that tone with me Emerald! Will you play, or will you use force?"


    Frustration welled up within me. This wasn''t a place for me. I was supposed to have been back in my suite, enjoying my calm and peace. This woman was getting in my nerves!!!


    "When I win, we will leave this place, and you will immediately go back to your accommodations!"


    "The game is called the steps..." She took the liberty of explaining while we floated up onto the platform under our own power. I decided to focus all my attention on the woman, because of the heartattack I might get upon putting my attention in the gazes from below.


    -----


    A few minutes later, I was at the counter, spinning an emerald coin, a condensation of my spiritual energy, on its top.


    "You should be happy with your win. What''s the long face?" I asked.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    "Did you use all your abilities?"


    The side eye made me ashamed.


    "Seeing me as nothing more than a pawn wouldn''t have pained me if I wasn''t the matriarch of a clan..."


    She started, with her gaze going back to the contents of her glass, which she was swirling with a finger.


    "I have put in a lot of effort in raising my clan to where it is. Yet, a single Zeus shows interest, and then everything changes instantly."


    "I used to think that I had atleast finally reached the pinnacle of power, where I could protect my clan. But the past few days have shown me how naive I had been. Tell me, Mr. Mumaso. Is a cultivator at the late Core Formation stage really too weak to even have a say in your war with Zeus?"


    "You shouldn''t devalue yourself. In the current Federation, even Zeus wouldn''t dare to blatantly dismiss you."


    "Yes, but he can still act in secret, right? And if that comes to pass, I doubt that the Federation would oppose Pantheon over me."


    Now that I have gotten to know you, there is no way I would sit back and leave you to that fate.


    "Ms. Toba. What I hate the most in this word are lies and secrets. Me divulging my reason for hiring you wasn''t because I took you to be a disposable pawn."


    "Should I be grateful?"


    "If I was powerful enough, I wouldn''t resort to these kinds of schemes. I have many things to do."


    A glint appeared within her eyes as they turned to look at me, regarding me seriously for the first time.


    "What kind of power would you need to take down that man?"


    "Late stage Nascent Soul."


    "What about political power? An organization? Can you take on the entire Pantheon without such things?"


    "They will only be constraints."


    "In my eyes such a cultivation level wouldn''t be enough. Organisations have all sorts of connections, especially the sects. The other great sects wouldn''t sit by and let you deal with him."


    "Ms. Toba, you underestimate the power of a cultivator!"


    Chatting with her was a pain. I wanted to sleep. To just go back and enjoy my quiet solitude.


    Once again, I absent-mindedly twirled the emerald coin. This activity took me back to the time when I had just entered the Foundation Establishment stage. My teacher had given us this homework. To sculpt a coin with just the imagination helping to mold the spiritual energy.


    It had been a taxing endeavor, yet here, years later, it had become this simple.


    "Why is that man after me? You must have an idea, right?"


    "All I have are conjectures, nothing concrete. But if they are right, then the other members of your clan might be safe."


    "Safe..." a breath left her lips as she gazed into her empty glass. It seemed like she had let out a sigh of relief.


    "Might!" I emphasized.


    "I hate this. I hate the fact that I can''t be a player beyond the board."


    "I am also not a player Ms. Toba. Don''t ever develop that notion in any game you''re taking part of. The true player is the universe itself."


    "The Universe being intelligent is an abstract and refutable piece of evidence. Right now, it''s better to focus on what I can see and analyze. I am a pawn. Zeus, you and probably the Federation itself, are the players."


    -----


    Outside the bar, we were leaning against the metallic construct, gazing out onto the street where the traffic was still heavy.


    "Whoever owns this port must be earning billions every single day."


    "In the grand scheme of things, those funds are still too small to support the entire Federation." I pointed out.


    Silence enveloped us, with the noise made by the crowd permeating the atmosphere.


    I wanted to bring up the previous topic, the one about her becoming a part of the plan to bring down Zeus and Pantheon. Yet I also felt that this wasn''t the right time to bring it up. It would make me out as someone desperate.


    "It looks like I have to go." she straightened up, pulling the silver cloak tight around herself.


    Honestly, I missed the short dress and the crazy her.


    "Yes, I too have certain matters that need to be taken care of tomorrow."


    "You really want to leave fast, don''t you." She mumbled out, puzzling me.


    "Okay, bye. Give me a few days. I need to sleep on your proposal."


    After that, she mixed into the crowd, and took the route back to her temporary residence.


    -----


    FAY 437, 2nd Month, Day 8, 11:21 AM


    Wind, having been attracted due to the presence of wind attuned spiritual energy in the engine, spewed out of the jets below and behind the small craft, propelling it forwards, leaving behind a trail of red dust in its wake.


    We as humans had managed to colonize Mars, but there was a population deficit, thereby causing large swathes of land to lay unoccupied by anyone for miles. Even on Earth itself, there were still places that hadn''t seen any human.


    Within the vehicle, I was by the window, gazing out onto the red landscape, dotted with monolithic red rocks, either as small as a person, or as large as an entire passenger spacecraft.


    Demons were a nonexistent race on Mars as humans were the only ones who had claimed the planet. And there were even laws that prevented the introduction of any Demons onto the planet, instead wanting to see how it would evolve. Of course, plant life was allowed.


    But this area I was within had no visible plants. It was a harsh arid land, bordering on desert. So far, the altered plants hadn''t yet evolved enough to claim it.


    -----


    On reaching my destination, a monolith greeted me, one whose height was the equivalent of a ten story building. With no sound at all, the rock before me dissolved, leaving behind a rectangular entrance that allowed my autonomous vehicle, passage into its bowels.


    The moment I alighted from the vehicle, a smirk from a figure a few meters away, greeted me.


    "Old man, why did you choose this location?"


    "Did you like the journey?"


    "How could I like it when the scenery is only composed of dull red rock? And from the signs I saw along the way, this place will turn into a full blown desert a few years in the future."


    I spoke while moving to meet him, who was up on the second level''s railing.


    "Nah... I have already taken a look at the flora at the edge. In just a couple of months, it will have evolved enough to wrestle the desert." refuted my friend, Nikolai.


    "So... What prompted you to come all the way here to my humble abode?"


    "I am only here as a visitor. Though, I didn''t have time to prepare gifts. It was a spur of the moment decision." I finally reached the man. The crow''s feet at the corners of his eyes already gave away the fact that age was getting to him.


    "Dont worry, Camilla will be happy to see you regardless of whether you brought something or not."


    "What about you, old man?"


    "I love gifts. Since you didn''t come with one today, I will put it on your tab."


    We both smiled at his last words.


    "How have you been since our last meeting? Any exciting discoveries or creations?" I asked in anticipation.


    "So far... none. I still haven''t managed to come upon a material that can hold enough spiritual energy to collapse a core into a black hole."


    "Do you really believe that the next stage of the core is the black hole? I am not casting doubt or anything, but wondering if there is another method to advance."


    "All arts, no matter how heaven defying, only stop at the late Nascent Soul stage. No one has managed to create anything beyond. Even the sects themselves."


    Which was why there was the theory that to reach the stage above the Nascent Soul, external means were necessary.


    "What about the integration of the Nascent Soul with the core? During my seclusion I have had the time to ponder extensively. And this path is one I have theorized to be plausible."


    "Merging a core with a nascent Soul? That''s an absurd idea. Everyone who has tried to gaze into the secrets of the nascent soul has failed."


    "I know that. But what if it''s possible?"


    The question brought our movement to a temporary pause as his quantum mind calculated the possibilities.


    "A core is like a sun, with immense gravitational pull over all unattuned spiritual energy, after which it is compressed into a liquid that makes up the surface of the core..."