The new weapon James had made was just perfect considering the current handicap of its intended user. It had taken a week or so to truly get the hang of it, but the item was pretty straightforward. The kunai at the bottom was entirely devoted to being a ‘chain’ knife of sorts, able to be loosed at a moments notice following the momentum of his arm and functioning almost identically to his last weapon in that regard.

The contraption at the top, on the other hand, had turned out to be the second half of the weapon. It was essentially a hidden blade, and when extended to its full length, peaked at about 30cm away from his fist. James had put his genius to use and implemented pressure plates within the bracer, allowing Brock to ‘unsheathe’ the blade and vice versa by merely flexing the tightly wound muscles of his forearm.

Not only that, but through the use of his Ascendancy, as part of the second Technique he got, he was able to alter the properties of metal and reinforce it, meaning it was perfectly capable of withstanding his Augment of Sparks, even after several consecutive uses in quick succession. Even putting his respectable Strength of 146 to the sword, it refused to so much as bend.

James had truly outdone himself.

Part of his rapid growth was due to the excess amount of kills his traps continued to earn him in the act of defending the town, while another part was from the fact that the System seemed to grant him ‘experience’ for each item he successfully made. According to him, the creation of Brock’s new weapon had netted him an entire two levels for his efforts.

Harry and Brock had prepared to leave the day after receiving the weapon, though it had come as a shock that James had refused to leave with them. He thought his talents were better put to use helping the people in the town, and he didn’t believe he’d fare well in the spontaneous desert environment as they would.

After much deliberation, Brock decided to postpone the trip for a month. He didn’t know when the next time he’d see his brother would be, and he hoped to spend some much-needed time with him.

Over the course of the month, he and Harry would occasionally participate in the beast waves, further cementing their position as the ‘saviours’ in the eyes of the town’s folk.

It had also given time for James to turn the basilisk scales into armour with the help of Brock’s fiery Augment. Currently, he had donned something that looked like a leather jacket, but with thin, stone armour plates dotted across key places. The durability was out of this world.

A few people had even been able to awaken their own Augments in the meantime by consuming an assortment of the strange fruits – Treasures - they found growing in random places among the outback. To him, it seemed that the only way to gain one was to eat one and get lucky. Not everyone came out with one after all.

What he did find confusing, however, was why that theory hadn’t applied to his latest acquisition. Perhaps he was just wrong? Or maybe something else was at work? Either way, he had no idea.

Anyhow, Douglas had been the first to gain one, something along the lines of an ‘Augment of Weight’. It boosted his speed in combat several fold, allowing him to move and attack faster by lightening himself or his battle-axe, yet also giving him access to a slew of terrifying blows, the sheer weight he could now suddenly put behind the swings immense.

On the topic of Augments, Brock had finally utilised his Augment of Skies and found it to be exquisitely useful. While it appeared to have far fewer direct combat applications than his Sparks, at least at its current threshold, the spoils of the Sky Bandit truly shone in the enhancement effects it provided. Not only could he enhance the speed of his body and his chain knife to astounding speeds, but he could also utilise its ability to somewhat manipulate the air to nullify the force in the attacks of his opponents.

During the month he had spent in Alice Springs, Brock had managed to boost his Augment of Skies to the next tier at 20%. Oddly enough, he felt it was remarkably easier to do so than it had been for his first Augment, even though the latter Augment’s upgrade had been a far quicker ordeal. Though, this time, he didn’t have to risk his life in combat, only follow the advice of Harry and meditate on what he truly thought embodied the essence of Skies.

It had felt extremely strange to do at first, but he had soon made it a routine thing and made quick progress. Sparks hadn’t grown much at all in this time, mostly due to his focus on growing his weaker Augment. At least he got to enjoy the extra 5 Dexterity and Agility it afforded him afterwards.

Like fireballs, the wind blades he had seen the Tyrant use had been out of the picture until he upgraded his second Augment, and soon enough, he was severing weaker beasts in two with what looked like an invisible blade of force. It would be no exaggeration to say that those around him had freaked out at the abrupt appearance of the ability. He didn’t blame them. It was a horrifying thought to think that you could be killed without even seeing what did the deed.

His Technique, Ethereal Shackles had seen even less use than his first Augment yet had seen a higher percentage growth than both of his otherworldly powers combined, hitting 33% the other day. In the end, Brock had concluded that Techniques worked under different principles and levelled faster, as he also noticed no change in its power or the addition of extra stats, even after hitting the first ‘threshold’ of 20%.

What he did find funny, was that the fighters alongside him feared the appearance of his Technique even more so than the use of his Skies. Especially so when he had put his considerable Strength to bear and completely tore a beast in the 30s to decaying chunks. He had to admit, even he had been horrified by his own power.

Though that level 30 had been an exception in the masses, a fact that soon proved vital.

It had taken him mowing through beast after beast for him to realise a grim fact; his Ascendancy had begun refusing energy and letting it escape. It wasn’t until he slew that beast with his Technique that his strange heart finally began accepting energy again, although only for that one instance. Quickly, Brock saw a worrying trend.

Not only was he appearing to level far slower than others, but he also wasn’t levelling at all from beasts at a lower level than him, even if it was by merely a single level. He didn’t know why or how, but his Ascendancy was gatekeeping power from him and indirectly forcing him to combat more powerful foes.

Aside from his own power growth, James had recently hit level 30, while Doug had jumped up and reached the middle of the forties. The man had challenged Brock to a spar once, but even with one arm and an almost double the level difference, the office worker literally mopped the floor with his face. He had expected an outrage from him after that, but it seemed the man was far humbler than his predecessor.

That didn’t mean he wasn’t still pissed as fuck about it, however.

Harry was sitting in the middle of both, having just hit 41 a few days ago. Steadily, his collection of venoms grew throughout the continued battles, netting him with several variants of Electrotoxins, which were literally as what the name would suggest, Magmotoxins, basically molten poisons, and a slew of different neurotoxins, something more traditionally from Earth.

The others were clearly System fuckery type deals. At least, he hadn’t heard of a poison from pre-System Earth that made your own blood self-combust inside your veins.

All three were yet to acquire their next Technique, and Brock speculated that level 50 was probably the next milestone. He felt somewhat jealous, as he was certain it’d be a decent stretch of time before he hit level fifty alongside them.

While the Boston teenager was levelling smoothly, a problem had arisen with his stat distribution. His class was boosting his Strength, Dexterity, Constitution and Vitality all to immense heights, so much so that every single one of those stats trumped Brock’s own, even after the percentage increases. But that was the exact problem.

With the absence of free stats for him to utilise, his Agility, Intelligence and Wisdom were all sitting around the mid-sixties. The only true handicap it had afforded him so far was that his full Strength couldn’t be brought to bear due to speed restraints, and Brock expected it to only worsen as time went on.

He also worried that with such a low Intelligence, not only would the boy continue to say dumber and dumber things, his Dexterity and reaction speed would out spec the processing ability in his brain, leaving him essentially paralysed. There had been no sign of any issue like that so far, but he couldn’t help but fear the possibility. Upon asking, they found that Doug hadn’t received any free stats either, having also used one of the rare Shards.

The whole ordeal just showcased to Brock the negative side effects of using blue Shards. If either of them had used a purple Shard of Awakening as he did, he doubted they’d suffer from the problem. Of course, he didn’t mention that to them though, as it may have come off as braggy.

In the end, a month passed by quickly, and true to his word, Brock prepared to leave. James came and saw them off, passing onto them a descriptive map of Australia with his boundless foresight. The brothers shared a hug one final time, and Brock met his siblings’ eyes.

“You sure you don’t want to come? I’ll be looking for Jane and Mum.”

James gave a wry smile, “Yeah, I’m sure. I’ll be more useful here. At least until things begin to stabilise. You go find them; I’ll wait here for you guys.”

Brock nodded and jumped up into the jeep, Harry already waiting in the passenger’s seat beside him. The boy had proven himself capable of driving when he saved his life, but Brock still wouldn’t chance it. The kid didn’t even have ten minutes on his pre-System learner’s permit, and he had even admitted himself that he had learned to drive from GTA.

“And please come back with your insides inside this time, alright?” James called out as his older brother twisted the key and revved up the engine.

Brock chuckled and looked over at the young adult he had come to realise his brother had become, “Yeah and don’t blow yourself up making shit. Those harpoon launchers were more dangerous than C4 in a school bag, mate.”

James laughed and gave him the finger. Brock returned the favour.

“Bye bro.”

“See ya, mate.”

And with that, Harry and Brock left Alice Springs. Their next stop: Adelaide.

**

“They… are silent…”

Velum and Tynel shared a worried glance, their emerald glows ebbed in confusion. The older Treant cleared his throat and spoke out, regarding the original speaker with no small amount of disrespect, “What do you mean ‘they are silent’?!”

Together, the two Greater Treants stood among the Council of Old, furtively sneaking glances at the legendary figures that were sat around them. Each possessed the power to singlehandedly destroy worlds and bring solar systems to their knees, yet they stayed silent, just as confused as the Treants, if not just as fearful as well.

The Divine Court had been one of the biggest factions in the Multiverse since time immemorial, housing beings at the peak of the Ascent since the very first Echelon had been formed and created. A gathering of religious fanatics and straight maniacs.

If he was honest, Velum was hoping a new faction rose during this newly introduced Echelon and wiped them out. Or even the next Echelon. He wasn’t fussed. The mysterious expanse had not been as vast as it was currently, and it would continued to grow. It had grown over the process of millions of years, the Great Root unrelenting its expansion as it ceaselessly searched.

Unfortunately, the sheer amount of energy such an expansion needed required it to feed. The Multiverse had never been more unstable as it was now, the very walls of reality threatening to crumble and give way to the realm Beyond. Certainly, the unnatural path to power that many had been taking for hundreds of millennia was not helping that dimensional instability either.

The reptilian resting atop the throne of the room responded slowly, annoyance clear in her voice, “I mean what I have said. The Nomads have received our query and replied with silence. It seems the Heavens… it is choosing not to speak on this matter.”

Velum was left without words. In the entire history of the Multiverse, the Nomads had never been without an answer from the god that ruled over them all. Never.

“So… what then? We let this matter go?! There is another Error running around, and the Great Root is clearly doing nothing to stop it.” Velum spat. He inwardly chastised himself for his blasphemous behaviour, but he knew he wasn’t incorrect.

It was plain as day that the machine was letting that monster run wild on the newly initiated planet. Hell, the machine was lucky he still even handed out those tainted Compendiums to the new initiates.

Visibly, those present flinched at the mere mention of the accursed word. If they weren’t already intent on finding a solution, they certainly were now. They had all known what they were dealing with here, but sometimes, it only takes the mention of the truth for it to really stick. Nobody wanted another one of those… things running around.

The Multiverse was already dealing with enough issues as is.

The Council men, women, and beings regarded each other with hushed whispers, a solemn atmosphere settling over the room. The reptilian powerhouse who was stationed at the throne at the far end of the table, High Inquisitor Erykah, stewed silently, surveying the other members around her with thoughtfulness.

An utterly suffocating presence settled over the area, threatening to knock Velum unconscious, and instantly the quiet chatter ceased. Erykah regarded them all slowly, making sure to meet the eyes of everyone present, including the pair of Treants, two of the Great Root’s many adoptive sons. They shuddered as their ebbed glow met slitted yellow eyes, “I purpose… we send one of our Inquisitors to deal with the issue directly.”

No one dared to speak for a long moment until finally, one of the beings to the right – a mass of vibrant golden sludge and the shining core deep within - projected its mental voice outward to everyone in the Court, “…You wish to send an Inquisitor?”

Inquisitors, the Divine Court’s self-proclaimed foot soldiers of the Great Root, Great Machine, Heavens. Whatever one deigned to call it. Dedicated men and women who followed every whim and woe of the machine that reigned over them all without question. Those that did were no longer part of the prestigious group, nor alive. Perhaps, they were also the most feared foes the Multiverse had to offer, if only for their unbelievable numbers.

At large, they stayed out of the internal affairs of the Multiverse, but some matters called for their intervention. Mass genocides, coups against their god, sinister plots to tear access to the realm Beyond. Those were only a few that called for them to assume their duty. Otherwise, they were relatively inactive, keeping to themselves and consolidating their power.

Despite that, they had many enemies and few allies. If not for the fact that they were the only one’s who listen to two beings as weak as themselves, Velum wouldn’t have bothered to come to the Court at all.

“Yes. Inquisitor Zin Keene and his unit. I believe you are all aware of him.” she spoke mildly.

Velum grimaced, and Tynel glanced at his partner fearfully. There was no being on this side of the Multiverse that didn’t know of the young Aura Chaser, the man a rising star through the ranks of the Divine Court. He was only in the middle of the E Grade yet possessed power befitting someone attempting to break into the D Grade. His strength was both coveted and feared alike.

He also happened to be famously corrupt for the sake of power, though no concrete evidence had yet to surface. Many rumours existed about him, and just as many said he was linked directly to the Beyond. No one dared to look into him any further, but it would be an extreme issue if that was the truth. One of those accursed creatures could have even ridden him out of the place.

For all Velum knew, that arrogant fleshbag could be the very reason they were having this issue with the Error at all.

The others in the room wisely remained silent. If Velum had only heard the surface rumours going around, he was certain that the other people here had heard things far worse and far more troubling. At the silence, the High Inquisitor nodded approvingly. To her, the members of her organisation could do no wrong. Her boundless pride refused her to allow the mere notion.

She smiled lightly, revealing her sharp set of fangs, “It’s settled then. Inquisitor Zin will depart immediately.”