NOVEL NEXT Chapter 219: Ruler’s Domain
Mila
When Aalam stepped out of the portal to the Steel Swamp Blessed Land to stand in front of Mila and Isaiah, something about him almost immediately changed, the entirety of Earth’s enlightenment zone feeling like it was under his complete control due to the simple fact that it was.
Attempting to merge Sensory Domain (E-Heroic), Heavenly Spark Domain (E-Heroic), and Ruler’s Raiment (E-Heroic) to Unnamed (E-Fabled).
Requirements met: 3 Law Pupae of each element at early grade or higher, has control over a colossal amount of Territory for an E rank, effective Perception of 82,944 or higher, effective Soul of 124,416 or higher, effective Aura of 124,416 or higher
Congratulations!
You have merged three skills into Unnamed (E-Fabled)
Amazing!
You have formed a new never before seen skill and, as its creator, you get to choose its name!
What would you like to name your new skill?
You have chosen to name your new skill Ruler’s Domain.
Is this correct?
Yes/No
Congratulations!
You are the first in the history of the System to ever gain the Ruler’s Domain (E-Fabled) skill
All stats + 5,184
Strength is already at maximum.
Nascent/Primal Energy Constructor ability activated.
Free stats + 5,184
Agility is already at maximum.
Nascent/Primal Energy Constructor ability activated.
Free stats + 5,184
Endurance is already at maximum.
Nascent/Primal Energy Constructor ability activated.
Free stats + 5,184
Toughness is already at maximum.
Nascent/Primal Energy Constructor ability activated.
Free stats + 5,184
Vitality is already at maximum.
Nascent/Primal Energy Constructor ability activated.
Free stats + 5,184
Perception is already at maximum.
Nascent/Primal Energy Constructor ability activated.
Free stats + 5,184
Magic is already at maximum.
Nascent/Primal Energy Constructor ability activated.
Free stats + 5,184
Spirit is already at maximum.
Nascent/Primal Energy Constructor ability activated.
Free stats + 5,184
Soul is already at maximum.
Nascent/Primal Energy Constructor ability activated.
Free stats + 5,184
Aura is already at maximum.
Nascent/Primal Energy Constructor ability activated.
Free stats + 5,184
Attunement is already at maximum.
Nascent/Primal Energy Constructor ability activated.
Free stats + 5,184
About half the new free stats went to maxing out Aalam’s Luck while the rest were transferred over to Mila and Isaiah for their own use. Then, before Mila had to mention it, Aalam triggered the portal to the blessed land to close so as to not affect the treasures already set up on Earth which could only be used on an E rank world undergoing integration.
Mila was about to ask how Aalam was doing, having not seen or talked with him for six months, but Aalam surprised her a bit by turning to Isaiah and starting to talk first. “Diana’s safe, but there was nothing anyone could do for your daughter. I’m sorry.”
He stepped forward and gave Isaiah a hug and Isaiah, who’d had six months to come to terms with what had happened, hugged him back, his aura showing relief as Aalam seemed far better than he or Mila had expected.
While hugging Isaiah, Aalam then turned his head to look at Mila. “Mila, you did everything flawlessly. And, if anyone ever gives you crap about not being in time to save my niece, or you ever think you might have been at fault at all, know there is nothing I could have done even if I’d been right next to Diana when the curse started.”
Mila was a bit stunned for a few seconds as Aalam turned his full focus back to Isaiah, starting to ask his friend a few questions about how he was doing.
Aalam was normally quite dense about other people’s emotions, but this time he’d hit the nail right on the head. No one had blamed her, mainly because the only ones in their force who knew about Diana’s death were Isaiah; Wolfram and Reginald, who were temporarily living on Hira; Mila’s own grandmother, who’d taken over most of Diana’s relatively limited responsibilities on Earth; and the doctor and nurse who’d been with Diana at the time, who Mila had silenced with contracts—most thinking Diana had decided to start her temporary leave of absence early in order to not stress herself during pregnancy—but Mila herself had been feeling guilty, even though Nana Xara’d told her repeatedly there was nothing that could have been done, and Aalam’s words made her feel a lot better.
Then, however, she realized Aalam had likely only said those words because he himself had been blaming her for a bit, and she felt a lot worse.
“So, what exactly is Diana’s status now?” Isaiah asked Aalam as the two men took a step back from each other.
“A disembodied soul without consciousness.” Aalam frowned, seemingly trying to hold back anger. “I had to strip away all her power with my bloodline, absorbing it and the remnant curse in order to save her, and that has left her effectively a mortal soul. She should still have all her memories, but I can’t wake her up without risking her soul falling apart, and I had to place her in suspended animation so her soul can last until we can revive her.
“I’m sorry. It’s not possible for you to see her.”
Isaiah frowned as well, also seemingly trying to hold back anger, but Mila could tell from his aura that it wasn’t at all directed toward Aalam, which alleviated one of the worries she’d had. “I know I’m not going to be as useful as you or Mila in helping her, but, whatever I can do, please make use of me. The risk doesn’t matter.”
Aalam looked Isaiah right in the eyes and his control over the surrounding area strengthened. “Yes, Isaiah, it does. No matter what happens in the future, it’s the two of you who lost your child, and you’ll need to be there when Diana comes back so you can both process that together.”
Isaiah opened his mouth as if to argue, but Aalam cut him off by flaring his full aura, enhanced by his King uniqueness to be well beyond anything an E rank should ever have.
“No one will be sacrificing themselves. All risks will be calculated. And decisions will be made by a logical assessment of how to get the best results with the least losses.
“Do you agree on this, Isaiah?”
Isaiah opened and closed his mouth a few times, his aura making it seem like he wanted to argue but couldn’t figure out how. Then he looked down at the ground. “Yes.”
Aalam retracted his aura and moved forward to hug his friend again. “You will have tons of things you can do to help, buddy. But we can’t lose anyone else.”
“I just know I’m going to be useless.”
And there was the big issue with Isaiah. As a pure warrior, there wasn’t much he could do to help while they were still small little E ranks, and that probably wouldn’t change much in the future as Aalam got stronger and stronger at combat.
Aalam, however, surprised Mila by seemingly having already thought of this. “I have an idea for you, Isaiah, something only you can do as someone not from Earth.” He stopped the hug and stepped back a step to reach a comfortable speaking distance. “Our view of the universe is a little twisted.
“We started with an apocalypse style integration and then went directly to competing at the highest level for each rank, dealing with A ranks and gods. The life of a common person in the universe, I at least can’t empathize with properly at all, and it makes me miss things, like with what happened to Epecteos.
“I would like it if, when we hit D rank and you’re able to get a good disguise skill, you could wander the universe, operating differently than Mila, not trying to conquer or steal resources, but just learning about people, like you did with that village on Hira before I met you. I want to avoid collateral damage when I eventually start fighting with those at the highest ranks of our universe, and I want to try and make the universe better so I feel less guilty. But to do that I first need to understand, and, for a while, if I want to maximize my power, I’m going to be stuck on Earth.”
“Okay.” Mila noticed a change in Isaiah’s aura, an increase in confidence, and she was a bit surprised.
She’d noticed the problems in his mental state—how could she not when they were so obvious—but she hadn’t considered having him leave Earth as it would have him falling more behind in Laws and cultivation. Unlike her, he didn’t have any divine role type Laws, so that would be a bigger issue.
Thinking about it more, however, Isaiah’s Laws were all combat based and, even with his Active Daoist racial ability having advanced thanks to the Alchemist of the Deep Woods’ specialized pill, increasing in grade to become the Heroic grade Aspect of Combat, which would slowly increase his stats the longer he fought, he would advance much faster if he got in life or death battles. And this wasn’t something which would happen if he stayed on Earth.
Granted, as he’d been traveling in the blessed land when Irena had talked with Joma, Aalam probably wasn’t aware yet that Isaiah’s identity would almost certainly be disclosed to at least the Divine Child’s faction of gods, but this wouldn’t change much, and his basic idea was good.
“Let’s talk more soon.” Aalam smiled at Isaiah. “Also, I want to have a duel without my new skill, as I’ve finally figured out a new technique.”
The newfound confidence in Isaiah’s aura almost instantly faded, mostly replaced by resigned acceptance, but Mila didn’t think this was a bad thing. Isaiah was naturally a hard worker, but he was also extremely talented and, if placed in a different environment, there was a possibility he could grow arrogant over time. With Aalam always pressuring him from above, however, along with Isaiah’s natural disposition, their dragon knight would rise faster than almost anyone.
“Okay, Aalam.” Mila was smiling slightly despite herself. “Let’s you and I talk and start ironing down some future plans.”
