316: How Do You Know?

How Do You Know?

Suddenly, all of Dyon's senses were cut off again. He was immersed in pure darkness. 0

"You're quite annoying kid. You weren't supposed to figure out that I was trying to help so quickly. You were Supposed to despair over your parents' graves for another few weeks. Where is my entertainment!?"

'I'm not in the mood old man.'

"Pft. Look at you forgetting your father's words already. RESPECT YOUR ELDERS. So ungrateful."

Dyon sighed. 'You're right. I'm sorry grand teacher. Thank you for your help."

"That's more like it."

'Also, grand teacher, you never told me. How do I conquer this tower?'

"Hm. Normally, I would have just given the key to the first person to enter the tower under these circumstances."

'What happened if it wasn't under these circumstances?'

"The void tears wouldn't be here, so you'd conquer it like any other tower. Locking down the space and entering the tower to snatch the key.

"Unfortunately, now, both you and Alidor are here. I can't exactly play favorites. Especially since I hate you both the same. You'll have to fight him for the right."

'How much time until he's out?'

"Technically, he vastly underestimated the time needed. Or else, he would have never brought his sister here like this.

"He's lucky I left that energy out there. Or else by the time he came out, she'd have starved to death."

'But if that's true then?...'

"Your True Empath trial was tailored to you specifically. The true test requires an understanding of every mindset and backstory that has or ever will exist. That's the scope of the real test, of course yours was much shorter. I just wanted to see how you'd react to extreme and heart wrenching circumstances.

"But, in terms of your challenge to Alidor, I can just end his challenge early. That being said, I doubt you want that now.."

'You think I'll lose to him, don't you.'

"Need I remind you what your father said again? Be smart in your fearlessness. The only reason Alidor isn't in the essence gathering stage is because he's studying ways to make use of his aurora to clear to the 12th meridian formation level."

'That's possible?'

"Theoretically. His aurora has a healing character like yours does. He's just trying to see whether it can be used to cure his meridians of impurities because he isn't as lucky as you to have learned celestial will.

"Point being. His strength of wills is similar to yours. His array alchemy is similar to yours as well, despite your higher soul strength, because his fundamentals are better. His body is stronger than yours because of the Gautama family techniques and special energy. And that's on top of the fact he has energy cultivation many times past you. You don't stand a chance."

'Buuuuuuuuut?'

"Don't try and coax me kid. I already said I'd help you IF you passed. But, you haven't given me a satisfactory answer to my question.

"If one day you find out that not everything is as it seems, will you react like the demon sage? Or will you be better than him?"

'You've already made it clear that things are not what it seems. And that makes it clear that someone caused the death of my parents and forced the mortal realm into its sorry state.

'So… The fact you keep asking me this question means one of two things if not both of them… It's either means there's something you aren't telling me that you know fully well will send me into a fit of rage… Or it's the fact this deeds we're talking about was done by a person or a group of people I would never assume had done it.'

"Since you know that much, answer the question."

Dyon sighed. It seemed this old man really wasn't intent on telling him much of anything.

'I will be angry. I will rage. I'll likely lose control'

The old man remained silent, clearly waiting for Dyon to continue.

'But, there will be a difference between the demon sage and me.

'I have parents who want me to look forward into the future. I have friends who are banking on me to save them. I have a mortal realm that deserves a chance to earn their place among the universes as much as anyone else does.

'I won't be despaired. The demon sage lost everything he had. His wives, his children. His kingdoms were burned, his hard work shattered. And, it was all for a goal that ended up being nothing but a dead end.

'I'm not the same. My wives are still here. My friends are still here. My goals are still here. Even when I lose my mind, I have things to bring me back.'

"Then what if you learn of these things after your wives are taken from you. After your friends are dead. After your goals are found to be hollow in the face of these things. What would you do then?"

'You already gave me the answer to that question, grand teacher.'

"Did I?" A small smile played on the face of the old man.

'Of course. Array Alchemy.'

"And how would that help?"

'Array Alchemy is the answer to rewriting the universe as we see fit. I'm not saying that because I want to agree with you, I'm saying that because these are words I've thought myself before I even came here.

'From the day I realized I could mimic wills with my arrays, to the day I created an earth constitution from thin air, to the day I saw the literal representation of death… all created by array alchemy… I realized, piece by piece, that if I become strong enough, there's nothing I can't do.

'My wives die? I'll pull them out of the cycle of reincarnation. That won't work? I'll bend space and time to my will to pull them to me. My friends die? I'll do the same. My goals are hollow? I'll make new ones.

'I'll be angry at first, yes. I'll lose control, probably. But I will always be able to center to myself. And once I do, it won't be in despair. It'll be in unmatched determination.'

"And why are you so sure?"

Dyon shrugged. 'Sacharro's don't lose.'

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