The Arcane Emperor

Chapter 174: A New Enemy

Rainer stared at the Tier 2 Aura user in front of him in confusion. Looking down at his [Arcane Blade], he found nothing wrong there. Yet against a simple Tier 2 he had felt resistance. Even with the lesser Tier 4 version and a lesser version of himself, he had cut through a Tier 3 High Elf’s defense. Yes, he had the help of his party, but even still...

Yet a hastily put together use of Aura by a man with an average amount slowed down his blade. Average for the 25th level of the 2nd Tier that is.

Not only that, the blade hadn’t even managed to cauterize the wound. The Human himself had needed to block the bleeding with a combination of what looked like some form of muscle manipulation and Aura. As far as Rainer could tell, the wound was no different than that given by a ordinary steel blade, albeit impossibly sharp.

Rainer vanished, reappearing in an instant behind the Aura user. His eyes bored holes into the man’s back as he watched his Aura. The colorless Aura rolled and it collapsed as the man failed to dodge the [Arcane Blade] completely and incurred an angry red cut on his back.

Rainer Void-walked away, glaring downwards at this opponent from a higher point. The man writhed and seemed to take the pause in attack as an opportunity to tend to his wound, stopping any blood from the cut with a similar tactic as before

A cut that should have been far deeper. Rainer had felt even more resistance this time. He was either more prepared or had learned something.

He Void-walked again, dodging a counterattack. With his recent upgrades, Rainer didn’t even push himself to keep a healthy distance from the attacker with repeated usages of [Void-walking]. A few more cuts and testing of his Aura defense and the fight came to a standstill as the foe nearly depleted his Aura. Whatever he did to try and block the blade the first few times was expensive.

“I’m guessing you aren’t from Zan?” Rainer asked. Even though he had been shocked, the threat level of his enemy had been assessed. And found wanting. A single [Void Hold] would have ended his enemy if Rainer wished it. Asking a few questions was an easy enough task. He raised an eyebrow at how quick his Aura was recovering. That was impressive.

“You guessed wr-” he said after a moment, his voice belaying his exhaustion.

“Too late,” Rainer said, having seen through that small pause. Not that it would matter in the end if he lied or not or if Rainer was right or not. They would capture at least one of them. And with both a use of the [Cosmic Map] and some mind magic, they’d have an answer from either source.

“Any chance you’ll offer up why you’re after these Demons?” Rainer asked, noticing this man was doing something with his Aura. It was subtle, but it was far from being able to hide in the presence of [Arcane Revelation]. How curious.

“You who has had such a treasure beneath your palms all this while and did not use them, how could you understand why we are after them? How could you possibly comprehend it?”

Rainer raised an eyebrow. Had he been wrong? Did the Aura user instead want him to attack as soon as possible?

“But I suppose I could try and enlighten you.”

Rainer stared blankly as the man paused for a few seconds afterwards, ‘seemingly’ gathering his thoughts while his Aura changed further. What a blunt way of buying extra time. Had this man ever spoken to another human being before?

Having received a message through a [Soul Mark] that the village was cleared out and that they had captured one of them alive, Rainer decided he’d still try to take this man if he could, but he now didn’t need to hold back too much. If he could gather actual information prior to that, given that there were no guarantees with Mind magic, then he would try.

And he was deeply curious as to what exactly time was being bought for. Especially after he felt resistance with his Tier 6 [Arcane Blade]. His Aura Skills were clearly something special. Especially since they saw no sign of any Mage. Just how did they cross worlds?

“These creatures are barred from the Dungeon, yes?”

“Yes?” Rainer replied. He’d have normally attacked him for calling Kara a ‘creature’, but he was too curious to interrupt. And it wasn’t like the fate planned for this invader was pleasant no matter his words.

“And other races, perhaps arguably more powerful than them, are not?”

Rainer frowned. He had the same question. He figured it was just because their transformation let them cross otherwise nearly uncrossable gaps. Like a Tier 1 Demon defeating a Tier 2 of even just level 1. Something basically any level 25 Tier 1 Demon could do. It was universal. But there was a point to be made that the advantage didn’t seem to scale as well to Tier 2. Which made their negative of not entering a Dungeon not as warranted.

“So why then are they barred from Dungeons? Did the System make a mistake? That’d be blasphemy and ignorance on a wholly another level.”

Rainer wondered what this man would think if he knew the Dungeon failed to perfectly recreate a Soul. Or perhaps he’d make the argument that all the changes Rainer saw were in fact positives and a reward for the experience the man had to go through; technically against the rules set by the Dungeon.

“It is because they haven’t fully taken advantage of their racial advantages that it seems the Dungeon made an error. They are filled with Aura to such a degree, surpassing all reason, yet are using it no different than small children, relying on mass rather than skill. And of course, without a proper challenge, why would that ever change? They are segregated by tribe and hated by most of this world, there is little room for their techniques to advance while even weaker Aura users manage.”

Rainer thought to Kara’s grandmother, being in a position where she was significantly weaker than the men in her tribe, and developing a technique to counter that. How often were Demons innately weaker than another and had a chance to correct it?

“Even worse. Their Aura is innately superior and different. And it matches their changed forms perfectly. Yet that is the extent of their use, their research… have they never thought to try and directly manipulate their changed forms with their incredibly well suited Aura? Changing a normal body with Aura may as well be impossible in all but the rarest cases, but one that is already designed to receive it…”

“And so what, you want their bloodlines because you do have techniques to take advantage of them?” Rainer eventually spoke up.

“What else? Even I am not entirely Human, even if the system denotes me as pure. To not make use of these bloodlines is lunacy. And finding one barred from a Dungeon, that can crossbreed with others, is quite the rarity. Even if it carries such a heavy negative as overtaking the other race,” he mumbled and Rainer barely kept from letting out a sigh of relief. So they didn’t know about Kara.

Yet.

A quick look with his Avatar and a few Void-Travels determined many Demons already missing with no sign of where they might be captured.

“This has not been a pleasure. My revenge will be swift and I shall take far more than your hand,” the man suddenly growled out before slashing empty air with Aura.

Space ruptured and Rainer could only stare blankly at the chaos on the other side. The Aura user vanished, the smell of burnt flesh clear the moment he entered and then disappeared.

Even a few seconds later, Rainer didn’t move. He had glimpsed the Arcanium itself. While having [Arcane Revelation] on. Rubbing his eyes as he healed some superficial damage with [Arcane Invigoration], Rainer took in what he saw.

The Aura user had clearly been preparing for that. And could somehow travel through the Arcanium. Though it was clearly not without risk, as he had started receiving damage from the place the moment he stepped in. Quick enough that Rainer saw the burns easily before the Aura user completely vanished.

Rainer cringed as he grabbed the bloody hand left over and easily cast a tracking spell. There was resistance, but agaisnt his Soul it might as well have not existed. Some seconds later he reappeared next to the Aura user.

Ling Yun coughed hoarsely as he struggled to move. He had no idea what planet he ended up on, but he had jumped out early knowing full well he couldn’t survive the whole trip home with so little preparation. And knowing he might end up nowhere survivable at all. Not that it mattered. As a part of the main Ling Clan, he had a large chunk of his Soul split off and stored at home before this trip. His body would be reconstructed should he fall, even if it would deplete most of his savings to do so. Perhaps it’d even put him into debt.

But that planet was truly a treasure… To be near so many other viable places. He needed to take full advantage before others came. Even the slightest difference could mean completely different resources. What may be rare beyond belief on their homeworld, might be as common as grass there. But he didn’t have time to consider that yet.

His Aura was empty, his skin charred, and his breath ragged. It was a small fortune that his Spatial Ring managed to survive. He took out a vial of green liquid and quickly downed it with a pained grimace. Not from his injuries, but rather from the expense of the substance.

Healing with Aura just didn’t work well in nearly all cases. Even the best at it only were so because of having unique Auras. And their generations of testing hadn’t provided a reliable way to pass that down, making them rare even as their population bloomed beyond all measure. Which meant for things like healing they had to rely on Mages they didn’t have many of, or on outside resources. And even if they developed systems of farm some of those resources, it was neither an easy nor cheap thing.

Only the lower-leveled Demons he had already sent home kept a smile on his face as his skin healed rapidly and his flesh started to squirm in his cut off hand. This wouldn’t be enough to regrow it, but it would prime it for healing. A shame he didn’t have time to grab the limb but there was no way that Mage could follow him across worlds so he should have plenty of time-

Glass shattered and his jaw dropped as he witnessed said Mage appear in front of him. He looked no worse for the wear and his Mana barely showed any sign of consumption. The infuriatingly beautiful Mage whistled while looking at his still healing form. Pink skin was revealed as sections that were burnt fell to the ground.

“That’s an impressive potion.”

Were the last words he heard before being powerless to resist a stream of violet lightning.

Rainer glanced over the destroyed village one last time before leaving with his captive in tow. He’d send an Avatar over to grab all of Kara’s village. Furtak’s people as well, given their proximity and the potential value of the World Energy gathering moss. There was no way an Empire focused on Aura would let that go, and perhaps they might even sense it somehow.

He hadn’t thought it over enough. Or perhaps the people around him hadn’t, or simply didn’t feel it their responsibility. To assume only the Zan would invade was an oversight. Just as likely hiding right under Augost’s nose in the Mana-filled world was an oversight, too. One he didn’t fully consider until this little event. Yes, he might make it in time to save them, but he could only move one Tier 3 expert at a time. Meaning, by bringing them there, he could possibly doom the leaders of those Nature Elves and Humans.

He wouldn’t give up that base, but it was time he found a new world for the majority of his Enchanters, as well as the Mana-Well. All it would take was someone extra sensitive to Mana, backed by the power of the 3rd Tier, to find the Mana-Well in Neutral City. Of course, it wasn’t easy to tell apart from a Mage at a distance, but chance was there. And even if he thought the ability to see enchantments, anatomy, and Souls so clearly was nonexistent, he doubted other features of [Arcane Revelation] related to just general energy sight were so rare.

“What should we do about the rest of Demonkind they captured?” Rainer asked Kara with her mother nearby.

“Why should we do anything?” Kara asked, and the sentiment was clearly echoed by Vera. They didn’t exactly have the best impressions of Demons, even some among their own tribe. And they had never really considered themselves as one race except when assaulted by outside forces.

“I suppose we’ll be saving them anyways when I raze their empire to the ground and loot all their knowledge on Aura,” Rainer said, grinning at the way Kara looked at him for that. He didn’t mean it literally, he wouldn’t hurt innocents for no reason, but the sentiment was there.

They had made themselves his enemy by choosing this world, and clearly had no moral issues with capturing an entire race, killing some in the process. The former was more than enough.

The razing would have to wait, but looting could begin at any time. He’d probably help any younger demons he came across in any case.

After dropping off the captive with his grandparents, he took out the [Cosmic Map]. A short use and he had a memory of all the planets and planes this man had ever visited. A useful thing in times to come. The [Cosmic Map] did show who the memories had come from if he focused on a planet. Meaning he could specifically avoid places this man knew of.

Now it was time to relocate some of his Enchanter’s Guild and find a new place for the Mana-Well. With all the memories he collected it wouldn’t be hard to find just a single place without any 3rd Tiers or otherworldly connections. Right?

A few days later, Rainer glanced around the first planet he was visiting. It seemed nearly all the coordinates he gathered from the Dungeon were for Planes. It wasn’t completely obvious when looking at them from the [Cosmic Map]. Especially when he only had limited memories of the places. Thankfully, it only took a few minutes after arrival to determine the type of place he landed in.

He started [Void-Traveling] rapidly as he took in the whole planet. But he quickly stopped as he rubbed his forehead. Turning off [Void Insulation] and letting either grandpa assault his mind as he tried to defend did not make for fun nights. Especially since in order for it to mimic the exact situation he was defending against, he needed to heavily damage his Soul first. With both [Soul Presence] and [Soul Consolidation].

[Arcane Revelation] covered his eyes as he looked for the tell-tale signs of someone in the 3rd Tier. It was easy enough to find major population gatherings. And it was a few hours later that he had finished his search.

Seven 3rd Tiers, each taking up a base at the top of a mountain or a similarly geographically significant location. This World Energy dense planet had an inordinate amount of Aura users, and monsters to match. Compared to Alvra, the World Energy was nearly three times as dense. Whether that made it easier for Aura users to appear, or harder for Mages, the population of the latter was almost nonexistent.

Either way, it was the perfect place to relocate his Enchanter’s Guild, apart from the few working on Mana-fueled technology.

Compared to Locklar, the Souls of these 3rd Tiers were lackluster. Having the five Tier 3s relocated here would be more than enough to ensure safety.

Before any of that, he needed to make sure otherworldly visitors weren’t a common occurance to this place. Coming across a large city, he figured it was time to bring Kara and Luna here with his main body. He had promised after all.

But first, he needed some sleep. It was just several more hours until they would be meeting with a God.

Maybe letting Locklar in on my little nightly secret wouldn’t be a bad idea?

Quickly regretting his word choice, and getting a flashback to an unfortunate [Void Seer] of Francis’, Rainer set off to tell the old man to fall asleep soon, magically if needed. It wasn’t as if there was anything to be done with knowing his secret. [Sleep Learning] was his and he was more than capable of running away if needed.

Unlike his [Living Storage], [Sleep Learning] didn’t seem to mind a ‘heavier’ Soul of a 3rd Tier. Though it did seem that he was stretching the limit as to the number of occupants. Meaning it wasn’t only Locklar in here from among their new allies. All five of the 3rd Tiers had joined in.

“A way to meet others, no matter the distance. A truly impressive illusionary space,” Locklar said with genuine praise.

“I… guess it works that way,” Rainer said before explaining what he actually used this place for. The 3rd Tiers quickly went from a quiet awe to complete shock as they took in his words.

What made it so entertaining when a stately-looking Elf couldn’t keep his jaw shut?