Strongest Hammer God

Chapter 1152: Excursion Teams

"And you decided to help us?" Sebastian asked.

"Yes," she answered. "I want to help you in exchange for being part of your excursion team."

"What are excursion teams?" Kyle asked.

"You can't just make a new Organization. You can call yourself one, but nobody will see you as one. A proper Organization needs a proper base. You also need access to what Immortals desire most: Level Seven and Level Eight Law Wells. If you don't have those, nobody will join you."

"You need Formation Arrays that protect your base from attacks. You need Law Wells. You need enough resources to regularly pay your members. You need exotic resources that your members can buy. You need a reputation that intimidates other Immortals. You must have at least one Ascending Immortal."

"Almost every half-stable Organization started out as an excursion team. Traveling through the Immortal Dimension alone makes you a target, which is why most Immortals form teams. These teams are made of permanent and temporary members. Temporary members will only be part of the team until the excursion team reaches another Protected City, while permanent members can't join other excursion teams and must remain with their current one."

"If an excursion team stays stable for a long time, their name will act as a deterrent to attackers. More members would want to join, but since there are limited spots, you can ask for payment to be part of the team. That gives you resources, reputation, and a sea of potential recruits. When you establish your Organization, you will already have the capital, reputation, and minimum member count."

"Why is it called an excursion team?" Kyle asked. "Shouldn't everything in the Immortal Dimension already have an owner? The name makes it sound like the teams are traveling into the unknown."

"That's because they are, in a certain sense," Abyssal Depths answered. "The Immortal Dimension is in constant motion. Old Law Wells die while new ones appear. Immortal plants and beasts randomly appear. Planet chains break and reform. Natural Trials appear and disappear."

"The Immortal Dimension contains 80% of the world's Energy. The Elemental Dimension contains around 10%. The Beast Dimension has around 5%, while the Hero Dimension has 4%. The last percent is spread across the remaining Dimensions and all of the individual worlds."

"Every Planet that forms in the Main Dimension translates to hundreds of Planets in the Immortal Dimension. The Immortal Dimension is filled with so many Planets that they are touching each other, forming paths. Even more, every Planet is exceptionally hard and dense. While it's easy to break Planets in the Main Dimension, it's not easy to break them in the Immortal Dimension."

Kyle and Sebastian looked at Abyssal Depths with wonder. They had expected that everything already had an owner, but that wasn't the case, apparently.

"So, this means there are actually new things we can discover?" Kyle asked.

"Correct," Abyssal Depths answered. "Excursion teams leave the safety of the Protected Cities to search for anything valuable. The further you travel from a Protected City, the more valuables there are since fewer people frequent these places. However, the average power of the Seekers also increases with distance to the next Protected City."

Kyle and Sebastian looked at each other for a moment. Even Sebastian became a bit excited.

"And you want to be part of our excursion team?" Kyle asked.

Abyssal Depths nodded.

"Why?" Kyle asked.

"Intuition and necessity," she answered. "Even though I'm not weak for my level, my lack of Karmic Luck and my reputation make it hard for me to find a good excursion team. I've been the sole survivor during several excursions, and this gives me a bad reputation. In the best case, I'm viewed as a coward. In the worst case, I'm viewed as a traitor. My negative Karmic Luck also gives credence to the belief that I'm a traitor."

"The other reason is that I believe you're pretty strong," she transmitted, looking at Kyle. "Something about how the Energy moves around you makes you seem different. The same is also true for your friend. Your Energies are moving in unusual ways."

Kyle knew where this perception came from. Their Weapon Avatars also absorbed Energy, which changed the way the Energy moved around them.

"What do you think?" Kyle asked Sebastian via voice transmission.

"Could you beat her if you were an Immortal?" Sebastian asked back.

"I'm pretty sure I could," Kyle answered.

"Then, we should give her a chance. Having an experienced member in the party would make things easier," Sebastian answered.

"Then, we're happy to have you on board," Kyle answered with a smile.

"Thank you," Abyssal Depths answered with a nod. "If you want, you can advance right here. Every Connecting Planet overlaps with a Protected City. Nobody will interrupt you. You might gain some attention from the surrounding Immortals, but that's better than appearing in the wilderness."

When Kyle heard that, he furrowed his brows. Usually, this wouldn't be an issue. After all, new Immortals appeared all of the time.

'However, my advancement might not be normal. I am technically here with six Avatars, which means that I will absorb twice the Energy. On top of that, it's possible that I will attract even more Energy since I'm a Legendary Ascendant. The storm of Energy might be four times the size, and someone in the Protected City might notice.'

"Is there some kind of punishment for interrupting someone's advancement?" Kyle asked.

"Yes," Abyssal Depths answered. "New Immortals are under special protection for 30 minutes after they've finished their advancement. You can see this protection in their aura. Nobody will dare to attack them during that period. If you don't want to draw attention, you can advance outside the Protected City's boundaries. You can find the nearest Protected City easily by looking at your Communicator."

"Who runs these Protected Cities?" Kyle asked.

"This one belongs to the Wargod's Peak. The Protector of this Protected City is a Lord."

'So, if I want to be on the safe side, I shouldn't advance within ten trillion kilometers of the city.'

"Keep in mind," Abyssal Depths added, "teleportation within the Immortal Dimension is exceptionally difficult. At most, you will be able to manipulate the Primordial Forces to increase your speed. You won't be able to teleport unless you already have significant insights in the True Laws of Space, Time, and Gravity."

'That's problematic,' he thought. 'That's way too far away, then. I won't get back within the 30 minutes of safety. Sure, I could probably survive if I fought my way back, but that would expose my power. However, I also don't want the Lord to notice me during my advancement. If they take a look at me too closely, I won't be able to hide more than 90% of my aura. There's no way they wouldn't try to recruit me if they saw an entire ten percent of my aura.'

'I also can't fake a second advancement. There would be a gap in intensity if I were to directly become a Beginner Immortal.'

'What can I do? I don't want to fight anybody, but I also don't want to be anywhere near the Protected City while I advance.'

Kyle thought about this problem for a while, and eventually...

He found a solution.

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