!!!!! Pr Credits To Draconis Von BloodTrap & Peter1765

Who Help With SR chapters, Please take the time to rep them for their work :)

Hello! after reading this chapter i have a little authors note at the end!

Special thanks to SR's Donator ! Tobias Klauke who is supporting the next 4 including this release 5 chapters XD! i hope you all can give thanks to our Donator :) that being said sponsored chapters dont count towards wednesdays chapter meaning this weekend i have to do my best to write write & more writing to hopefully keep up with demand!'

I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

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It was not over a half hour before the ants returned, but this time, something was different. They remained quiet, no longer clicking with their mandibles and followed in two lines behind the ant that looked the oldest. Behind that ant was another ant which had lines around its body, painted from the blood of a creature that they had preserved.

Avrin found them somewhat fascinating but he didn't have time to study these creatures. His expression stiffened when he saw two large ants carry a bone altar five meters in front of him and set it down. The elderly ant with the crude bone staff walked up in front of the altar and turned to face the others who all knelt down except the ant painted in blood.

The elderly ant seemed to be communicating, screeching and clicking several times before it pointed the head of the staff to the painted ant. That ant walked over towards the altar before climbing on top and laying flat on it's back. One of the skinnier ants that were kneeling began to walk towards the elderly ant and knelt down as it presented a crude bone knife that was stained with blood.

The elderly ant walked over towards the painted ant that was laying flat on it's back and suddenly began to screech, and the other ants that were kneeling began screeching in unison at a specific tone.

Avrin was speechless. He was unsure what to make of the matter; that was until the elderly ant was about to apparently sacrifice this other ant to him. “Such stupid creatures, no wonder you are on the bottom of the food chain.” Avrin had an epiphany. These ant creatures were definitely good at digging, would it be possible to use them as labourers of sorts?

These past few days, his progress had been slow. He hadn't been able to reach Type 13 particles and was a little disappointed. He attributed that fact to his not being at full strength. He raised his right hand's index finger as a directed Phantom Pulse engulfed the elderly ant's hand, stopping it from moving.

The ants were stunned and unsure as to what happened, especially the elderly ant, which tried to move its hands away but found it was like prying something out of tight clamps. The barrier Avrin had set around himself slowly dispersed. The ants began making sounds in a quiet manner as they had finally gotten Avrin’s attention.

Avrin lowered his finger and the Phantom Pulse dissipated. The creature stumbled back a little and quickly knelt down. Even the ant that was painted got off the altar and knelt down on its knees. They all seemed to be shaking with fright and reverence.

“I'm in need of some good diggers, you're all going to turn out to be quite interesting, I'm sure of it!” Avrin opened his right hand and Nebula Mist began to converge, forming from the mana in the air. It began to condense and a few moments passed. The object of which it had formed was a Sphere of Knowledge. Avrin had also taken a single drop of his blood which was currently the purest form of becoming a spectral tied with Avrin. Making a pure conversion core, which he had used on Tardiff, the orb soon rolled forward and the ants all raised their heads with curiosity. Avrin knew that these ants seemed to be different. He could feel the main colony which consisted of a few million ants. And he also felt separate dens, which consisted of only a few thousand ants, similar to the home where these ants lived in.

The Sphere of Knowledge shot like a bullet towards the elderly ant before it formed into a spike that penetrated into that ant's heart. The force made it go flying until it was about to hit the rocky wall, but at that moment a burst of Nebula Mist shot out from the hole of the creature's open chest and formed a webbing-like shell that engulfed it and stuck it to the wall. The webbing began to solidify into a metallic purple before it began to beat almost like a heart.

Avrin was not stunned by this, in fact, it was something he felt was a step up from normal conversion. Normally, the conversion would need a creature to hibernate and its body would need to be carefully reformed and reshaped, but Avrin remembered that on earth there were caterpillars that before becoming butterflies would make a cocoon and almost liquefy their entire bodies before reforming it.

Avrin simply took inspiration from this idea, forming a cocoon of Nebula Mist and allowing whatever was being converted to break down to the molecular level and reform. This process would cut conversion time in half.

Avrin didn't intend to convert them out of interest. He wanted to have the entire colony taken over, yes, but for his use. Though he wasn't a hero or a villain, this future relationship would be "give and take". He would give them a new life with the potential to evolve and grow stronger, and he would get them to dig around and search for Lucent crystal mines underground.

“The mines of humans are limited, they will often lack stamina and strength for continuous progress. I can't say these creatures will be the perfect candidates, but they will surely be useful to me. I don't doubt I will make many enemies who may one-day attack caravans or convoys that belong to me. But, how will they deal with them, if they are underground, guided by mazes and creatures soon to be loyal to me.” Avrin spoke, not caring at all since these ants couldn't really understand him.

He felt these creatures may follow a more intelligent chain of command but after some time it wouldn't matter. The Sphere of Knowledge contained enough to bring that elderly creature up to date with Avrin’s plans, it would avoid the small talk, especially when he gave information in regards to the incentives.

“--Tardiff, I have a task for you--” Avrin’s Divine Sense had extended out enough to reach Tardiff, who was leaning back in the shade against a bunch of large, dried up bones, the rib cage of which was blocking a bit of the sun. “--Mmmm…..--” The creature uttered with no real response.

Avrin suddenly vanished as he used a Divine Step to move away. The ants were looking back and forth with amazement and confusion. What they felt was fear. They didn't dare run away as they thought their current leader was killed because he angered Avrin. They were all like shaking statues. This lasted for nearly a minute before a large cloud of Nebula Mist formed near where Avrin had vanished.

This cloud morphed and out came Avrin and Tardiff’Maras, who reached up to scratch his head in confusion. It then glanced around and saw the ants. It's body trembled for a moment before it spoke with happiness. “Foooood….” It took a step forward but stopped as Avrin raised his hand out in front of it.

The creature was much taller than him and could see past his hand without real notice, but it didn't dare be so clueless and unfocused in front of Avrin, especially because it knew how strong he was. It didn't really feel any fear, but that wasn't to say it wanted to die, especially because it's limitation was removed to a degree.

“Not food. These are going to be your brethren soon.” Avrin took a bit of time explaining the situation. Tardiff was a bit disappointed until he heard the part where Avrin allowed him to eat any that wish to do them harm but not kill discriminately. Tardiff was to guard those that would assist Avrin and make sure they are in order and don't change plans.

Avrin didn't plan to explain in depth, he simply formed another Sphere of Knowledge which had begun to strain him. He knew even with his current strength tampering and copying too much within a week would leave him worse for wear.

Avrin glanced at the ants once more. He hoped the next time he would see them they would be looking for Lucent crystals. Avrin couldn't help but stress two pieces of information in both spheres, that piece of information was to make sure they don't dig towards or near any settlements. The deeper the better!

Avrin sighed before his body turned to ash. When he reappeared he was just outside a turn blocked by a small hill that led towards Calomia’s house. When he walked over he spotted Calomia with Ilisia behind her back giving a frightened look. In front of Calomia, a few meters away were a group of four men clad in plate armour.

“I'm telling you we ain’t leaving here!! Now scram!!” Calomia had a look of frustration and also worry. The man in the front who had a simple rounded plate helmet with visor opened to reveal his pale, middle-aged look with a bit of disdain. “You…..are you trying to go against the Artificer Consortium? We need this land to secure a material processing plant close to the forest, this is perfect!” The man was frowning, clearly at his limit. Calomia raised her cane and pointed the end at him. “You and your silly little consortium of bullies can piss off and leave! And your payment is a few copper coins..you think we can live on that!?”

Avrin was quiet, as it seemed none of them had noticed him and were focused on each other, also because he was still near the entrance close to a hill which had a few trees blocking the view. “-Material processing plant? Interesting-”

“You senile old….fine then…” He turned to the other individuals in armour and smirked. “Oh no, it seems this building's inhabitants were massacred awhile ago by a stray creature from the forest….all we found was mangled corpses…”

At that moment they all began to laugh. “Y..you….are you so unclear that the heavens will punish your actions!” Calomia moved her hand to hide Ilisia a bit more, and the man unsheathed the long sword on his side. It emitted a white glow almost as if it were a holy object, even going perfectly with the man’s next words. “You're speaking about the heavens? Heh, the Artificer Consortium has connections and funds enough to build a mountain from it to the heavens!”

With that, he viciously slashed down. Calomia turned, dropping the cane to hug Ilisia and protect her, even shutting her eyes. But a few moments turned into a few more moments, and the pain never came.

Calomia opened her eyes to see that the blade was frozen in mid-air, with a gauntlet gripping onto it with two fingers with enough pressure to cause the metal to crack. “Such flimsy weapons. If you're going to kill someone, do it without such ragged weaponry.” Avrin had suddenly appeared with speed that made it seem like he came out of thin air in the blink of an eye.

“You...damn...just who are you!!” One of the knights who sounded like a middle aged female roared out. They all unsheathed their weapons and were about to charge towards Avrin until he put a bit more pressure on the blade, snapping it in half as the knight leading them tumbled back from surprise.

“I..impossible!!... A Rare level weapon….so easily broken…” The knight was surprised and wasn't sure what to think, but he wasn't stupid. He quickly got up and bowed respectfully. “Sir, please don't feel any hate….I apologise if I have offended you in any way...I am willing to negotiate a price of five Haze cryst-”

He was suddenly cut off by Calomia who shook her fist in anger and started to curse. “You damn @#%[email protected]!! You even dare to still try to negotiate after trying to kill me!! Scram or I'm going to shove this cane up your #$#!!

The knights were shocked. They never expected to be cursed at by an old lady today and were planning to bring back good news. “You old-…. Please reconsider. I will pay ten Haze crystals, that’s the max I can-” despite trying to renegotiate again, even swallowing his pride, he was cut off, this time by Avrin.

“Didn't you hear her? She. Said. Scram…” Avrin emitted a Phantom Pulse that pressed down on them, not enough to injure them greatly but to scare them out of their wits. One of the brawny men even peed his pants as shown by the drips that came down from the sides of the openings in the armour around his crotch area.

They all scampered away like frightened rodents, quickly mounting their beasts and rushing off. Ilisia glanced over and quickly rushed out as she shouted. “And don't come back!!” She stuck her tongue out before looking at Avrin with a happy expression. “Mister Avrin, that was so cool! Was that magic!!? Can you teach me that!? I need to start making a list.”

Ilisia was pondering for a moment before she looked at Calomia who sighed with a bit of frustration. “Heh, these rich types will definitely come back...maybe I should consider moving locations..”

Avrin glanced at her, able to see her worry was not for herself but more so for Ilisia. “My offer is still on the table. I plan to have a building made a bit away from people. You don't need to worry about anyone who you may be afraid of, the only people I will let close to it are allies or enemies wanting to seek their end.”

His words were meant to bring her some reassurance. “Heh...I'll give it some thought...in the meantime, I think you owe Ilisia some gifts!” Ilisia, who was quiet, suddenly smiled and looked at Avrin like a puppy waiting to be fed.

Avrin grumbled slightly. “I will be staying here for a day before heading off, we have plenty of time. Though how about this, Ilisia can come hunting with me. It should give her enough excitement for a few weeks.”

Calomia remained motionless for a moment. “Let her go hunting?!! In the forest?? You're crazy! She is still so little! Not even a mouthful for the creatures in there…bah, just go by yourself and get some of that meat you brought last time, that stuff is great when made into a stew.”

Ilisia frowned. Aww, Grandma, that's not fair! Let me go, let me go!!!” She began to pout and fake tears while tugging on Calomia’s robe. “You little dunce…” She softly hit Ilisia on the head with the cane before grumbling like Avrin did. “Well...if you promise to bring her back in one piece I can trust you considering I have an idea of your strength, it shouldn't be too dangerous.”

Avrin quietly nodded. “You have my word.” A half hour passed and Ilisia and Avrin were already roaming the outer parts of the forest. Ilisia would prance around like she owned the entire place. She truly felt safe, mainly because Avrin was around.

“Don't go too far, it’s dangerous” Avrin spoke in a loud enough tone for her to hear several dozen meters away. Although his Divine Sense was currently stretched one-hundred meters around with full detail he didn't dare be so careless and trusting with it.

Half of the remainder of the day was spent in the forest not hunting but exploring. Ilisia didn't have any friends at all other than her grandma. She rarely got to go out unless it was to forage out of desperation. The more Avrin looked at her the more he felt that that existence was miserable. With five established universes and beings that can turn bright stars into nothing but solar dust with simply a motion of their hand, poverty and misery still reigned over life. Avrin wondered if there was a purpose to it all. It all seemed like a large-scale show wherein God looked at the interesting parts of life while ignoring the boring parts of suffering.

After finishing at 8:00pm the two returned with Avrin carrying the large carcass of a deer-like creature the size of a cow on his shoulders. Ilisia was also carrying an assortment of herbs that Avrin told her to pick and that were edible. The more time Avrin spent with her and Calomia the more he felt that his heart still retained its humanity.

He didn't have to stay with them and could have simply rewarded them greatly for helping him, but subconsciously he didn't, he felt that this life wasn't so bad it was cozy and comfortable. The two of them were shunned and he was someone who would be hunted and either forced to pick sides or killed for the fragment he had inside him.

As Avrin and Ilisia neared the home with several candles lit, Ilisia entered first and Avrin stopped outside for a moment before glancing up at the night sky to see the boundless space with glittering stars and nebula's with the planet’s moons shining in the sky. This sight truly was alien, yet beautiful. “-Fragments are tuned to each universe, could it be that if I were in my own universe my sense of belonging would be complete? What is it I live for?-”

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A.N) when people read stories they expect a set goal and expect to know the end game of a story, i believe this makes it predictable, what i'm trying for spectral regalia is something i feel is more easing, i want to give more life to a story give more detail, a mistake i made for the Seleria Arc was making it to generic and i didn't give enough detailing to the world and its inhabitants, this is a mistake i don't want to repeat. I also know i cant just continue this without giving some excitement so its my goal to find a balance to match my pacing.

Avrin's Inner Workings Status

Dark Stage Control ParticlesType 12100%Dark Stage ParticlesType 12100%God Essence WeaponsAstaroth-ScytheLimos-Vajra][tr]God Essence Equipment]Sarcanus-Armor