539: Emergency Meeting (III)

Emergency Meeting (III)

----1

Alistair's comment sparked a bout of reconsideration as they thought about the chances of such a character surviving this long. If they were truly still alive, judging by the stability of the barrier alone, this individual possessed ample experience, and they were at a level that eclipsed a Zul Saint, which was admittedly amongst the top 5% of Astarat's strength.

After all, the number of people who achieved a strength beyond this realm could be counted on one's hand. In other words, less than five individuals attained a level of power beyond the Zul Saint stage and acquired a title known as a Zul Sovereign.

As for who those people were, they were now known as the Grand Masters of the Supreme Families and one of the Headmasters of the War Academies.

Eventually, the room's atmosphere settled as Solomon once again took over the momentum of the conversation. After conversing with his father, the Grand Master of the Braum Family, he discovered a few matters.

"There's a significant chance that there's a Terror of unknown power still alive. However, from what I know, they've experienced a gruesome injury, one that even father doubted that they could discover from," Solomon revealed.

"If this is true, then would this be an important piece of information that we all should know about?" Soren questioned after raising his eyebrow in surprise. This was the first he had heard about a Terror of that level.

If they were made aware, perhaps they would have made suitable preparations to handle the situation before it devolved into a perilous situation. However, looking at Solomon's expression, it was clear that he was far from done.

"I mean, if we're being honest, you could have just sought a council with your Grand Master and asked this question. I'm sure you're aware of the reason that they've taken on the roles as the Grand Masters of our families," Solomon commented with a lingering indifference.

Truthfully speaking, whether or not they knew of this information made no difference. Every Supreme Family and World Reclamation Task Force member couldn't prepare for their current predicament because it required people with incredibly high spiritual resilience to handle the problem Solomon was referring to.

"That would be true if we were dealing with something of our generation. You know it's overwhelmingly difficult to request a visit. The Grand Masters spend most of their times locked in seclusion," Soren retorted. 

Not to mention, the Grand Masters were given their position due to one reason―they were the sole survivors of the initial catastrophe as well as the second coming. Although they were far from active during the initial invasion, they experienced the second coming in full effect.

In fact, they were the ones responsible for quelling the catastrophe, which is why they were aware of the severely weakened Terror known as Lord Az'kayzak. However, all parties involved in that gruesome fight were left near death as far as they knew.

The Grand Masters only managed to recover due to the original Spirit of the Crux Family, which presented unmatched abilities for healing. Sadly, healing their severely damaged bodies was laborious, so it happened at an excruciatingly slow pace.

Nevertheless, after hundreds of years, the Grand Masters made a recovery. Since then, they entered seclusion to solidify their strengths as well as explore the hidden depths of their spiritual connection.

Since they were the first to reach the level of a Soul Sovereign, which granted abilities previously unheard of, they needed to understand the backlash of obtaining that strength. Even if their vessel was well-trained according to Astarat's standard, the Arcanic Force that the Spirits wielded was an energy leagues above the vessels that could be achieved by a lower human birthed in this world.

"Understandable. However, you don't need to fret so much. I'm certain the Grand Masters will make a move if our speculations were ever to come to a realization," Solomon said with a slight shrug.

At this point, his mind was elsewhere as he soon stopped talking and drifted off into his world. Some took notice of this change but didn't comment as they understood this had become his usual behavior.

In the meantime, the conversation switched to another worry that held some relevance to the prior topic.

"You two, how much have you deepened the relationship with your Spirits? I'm sure your Soul Temples should have perfectly merged with your Spirit Roots to give birth to your secondary Spiritual Minds," Valerie asked while shifting her gaze between Alistair and Odessa.

As mentioned before, the label of a Paragon wasn't just something given to the strongest youths of their generation. It was truthfully linked to the grade of one's Spirit Root because once it reached their level, it meant they could draw upon a larger portion of a Spirit's original strength.

In most cases, a Spirit Cultivator would be limited to executing Spiritual Arts augmented by their Spirit's assistance. However, the second Spiritual Mind that a Paragon could achieve accomplished two feats.

Firstly, the second Spiritual Mind, which was essentially an altered connection to their Spirt, accelerated their soul's growth and maintained the utmost stability during the process. Secondly, there was a slight chance that the Spirit would select them to become their permanent Avatar.

In short, becoming an Avatar meant they would deepen the bond granted by the contract even further. Once that happened, it was safe to say that the Paragon was partially a Spirit.

The only issue with becoming an official avatar was that it reduced the Paragon's lifespan every time they invoked the power. So rather than tens of thousands of years, depending on how heavily they relied upon the power, they could essentially shorten their lives to that of a mortal.

"It should be more or less done for me. But, my Spirit has warned me that I'm not ready to invoke that type of power yet. It could be potentially fatal," Alistair admitted.

Meanwhile, Odessa remained quiet as her Spirit was much different in comparison to Alistair's. Her's didn't play much of a combat role, but that didn't mean it was a light punishment for invoking any avatar abilities. In fact, it was much more severe in Odessa's case because all of her powerful abilities were linked to her vitality.

"Odessa?" Valeria pried. 

"I have already awakened the second Spiritual Mind but…" Odessa murmured, pausing at the very end.

"But your Spirit has warned you almost never to enter the avatar form, right?" Valerie questioned with a deep sigh. After all, she was well aware of the repercussions that Paragons faced. She, too, was a Paragon of the former generation.

"Yeah," Odessa finally admitted. At the same time, Nadida remained quiet by her side as she observed Odessa's expression. She had only seen that fear once before, and that was during their early years of war when Nadida faced her first near-death experience with a Terror outside of her capabilities. 

Alistair's changed slightly after hearing this. He didn't expect that Odessa's warning was more severe than his. Not to mention, it also alarmed him because Odessa was one of the few women who entered his sights.

"Let's hope the situation never reached a point where you need to activate that power. If we ever enter a predicament like that, I suggest you rely upon me to bear the brunt of any attacks," Alistair commented.

Unfortunately, Odessa knew that this comment wasn't made from the sincerity in his heart. In Odessa's eyes, it was as if Alistair's intentions were worn on his sleeve. But, even now, she didn't hold the slightest interest in growing closer to him.

"Whether that situation comes to pass or not, you two have been added to our secret weapons. And with this position comes the responsibility to sacrifice yourself if need be. It's a terrible burden, but only people of your spiritual stability can bear this responsibility," Soren said in a plain tone.

"Don't be sour because the Dongguangs failed to birth a Paragon in this generation, your place as a Supreme Family is more than solidified as long as your Grand Master still lives," Sirius commented with a slight grin.

Being the only Supreme Family without a youth on par with these two, the Dongguang were oftentimes ridiculed, but it wasn't to the point of causing strife. After all, an angered Soren was truly a frightening ordeal to witness.

"Shut up and focus on accumulating our strength for the climax of this current war. The fact that you're much older than me yet still haven't become a Saint is laughable," Soren countered with an intense glare.

In the meantime, Solomon gave Valerie a meaningful glance, which caused her to appease the hostility between these two.

pqdm.com