A good deal of time had passed since the fierce battle between Avrin & Wolven. Elsewhere, somewhere far far away from Tya’shara, within the Third Heaven’s domain, lay a vast region of space filled with many stars and planets of different types and sizes. Some of these planets were used for specific things such as agricultural and educational purposes.

Nevertheless, each and every planet was owned by deities serving the Third Heaven’s alliance. Of course, there were many oddities as well that only those with significant power would be able to discover; One of which was the hidden planet of Elys’Ra, homeworld of the Aether Emperor Adrinius and the base of operations for the high-ranking members of the Third Alliance.

It was a force to be reckoned with, housing a diverse assortment of incredibly powerful and hidden races. And because the Artificer Consortium was a primary source of funding for the Third Alliance, no one had ever dared to openly attack it. That was until Avrin appeared.

Within a large chamber, Wolven was kneeling down with his head bowing before a silhouette seated in an elegant throne, looking worse for wear as he had had no time even to change. This was because he had to immediately report back to this location. From his presence alone, one could tell that Wolven was in a critical state, and to make matters worst he was also growing weaker

Suddenly, a surge of mana that was mysteriously Violet rushed through the halls and smashed against Wolven, causing his organs to ripple and blood to pour out from his mouth as he was smashed against a pillar. Everything was bathed in a blinding radiance that seemed as if it would cleanse the world of all its impurities. Although the mana composing this radiance was definitely above Divine tier Mana similar to Wolven’s, the purity and strength of the energy was greater than Wolven’s and had more destructive potential than even the spells Wolven used during his fight with Avrin.

The 5th Universe’s ignorant mortals would commonly call this unknown force as Fighting Spirit; however, the Deities of the 5th Universe’s called this violent mana, ‘Arcane Might.' However, if Avrin were to be present, he would surely comment that the power was strangely similar to the Magical Warriors of those fantasy games and novels and that it seemed like God sure doesn’t leave things half done. Only those with incredible resolve could ever learn how to bring forth such power; and with them leading armies at the front, their enemies were sure to suffer defeat. It was a power that only those with incredible talent who additionally underwent harsh training would ever be able to wield.

With these elite vanguards, they always provided an incredible advantage, due to their ability to utilize an infant form of this power. This is why special institutions would often gather and nurture those that seemed to have potential. Hoping that in time they could be used as elites in their personal combat forces.

After all, even the deities would want to keep a close eye on potential talents and future vassals. He wouldn’t be entirely wrong though as there were places which ignorantly use such terms for these elites as well.

Unfortunately for Wolven, he was still suffering from the receiving end of this power. He could only stare helplessly as every muscle and bone in his body screamed in agony.

“Blundering fool. You used a spell gifted to you by Aether Lord Tarjin, and yet you still failed to kill some nameless deity?! Do you have any idea how much reputation His Imperial Majesty lost because of you?! Word of your failure has spread so quickly that the other alliances and factions are already laughing at us!!” The soft yet aggressive voice of a female echoed within the chamber. “Tell me!! How could you be so clumsy, Wolven!!”

The woman bore the appearance of a peerless beauty handcrafted by God himself. Although, when compared to the other deities among the Consortium on Tya’shara, she was quite different. Instead of mage robes, she wore an attire more suited for a warrior, a heavy white and gold armor with a few feathers woven into it along with other decorations, giving her the appearance of a peerless Valkyrie or a great general from the heavens.

Her hand then extended as several runic circles flickered above her fingertips and palm before dispersing, and she could only lower her hand and groan with disappointment, no longer bothering with Wolven. The female then turned her head towards an individual who had his eyes shut with an expressionless look. “Your Imperial Majesty Emperor Adrinius, give me the word, and I will go slaughter that man and bathe the planet in blood.” She gave a cold, desolate, yet resolute look as she glanced at this man who was indeed the Third Alliance’s leader.

“The issue isn't so simple, my dear Aella. It can be very troublesome to enter a confrontation with Planet Lords. There have been some extreme cases of an individual having to fight against the power of an entire galaxy or even the might of the universe itself. To make matters worse, Tya’shara’s Planet Lord is apparently not someone you can simply look down upon without consequence, and I already received an early warning from that bothersome Cassiel to not even think of taking a step in that region… Somehow, this Planet Lord has quite a few good connections...heh…” Emperor Adrinius stated as a glint flashed within his eyes, seeming as though he was able to see what no other can.

“However, for now, we will simply observe from the side. I want you to organize a small number of spies and find out as much as you can about this deity. I refuse to believe that there exists a deity with such absurd strength and such abnormal magic, allowing him to even counter a Primordial Tier spell and survive a forbidden sealing magic of the Ancient tier, that has no background whatsoever. Rather, for the information to spread so fast and for the confrontation to conveniently escalate so quickly, it is more likely that some power either within or outside of our alliance is trying to lure us into a trap, and with everyone’s attention on us after nearly causing a genocide, we can now no longer handle things carelessly.”

A grim expression crept on Adrinius’s face for a moment before he calmed himself and gave a soft but ruthless smile. “To dare damage my reputation through my followers and antagonize me so openly…I will see just how long this individual can survive once he dares to show himself.” After finishing his explanation, he continued observing Aella for a moment, watching her face contort in shock in response to her oversight and then to anger from learning how she almost fell for the enemy’s trap.

“Wolven…” He glanced towards Wolven who had struggled to get up and then kneel again, not daring to wipe the blood from his lips without permission before Adrinius.

“Y...yes, Aether Emperor...” Wolven’s body, now visibly trembling from extreme fear, but despite this, Emperor Adrinius simply ignored him and continued. “Go assist with the search in the northern sector. I am no savage tyrant, and will thus grant you both clemency and fair chances…”

The Emperor’s smile only brightened, emanating grace and majesty of benevolence on the surface. Nonetheless, at the same time, an invisible, deep pressure briefly and subtly flooded the hall for a split second, so terrifyingly fast that it seem like an illusion or figment of one’s imagination. “However…I do hope you won't fail me again…or there will be no more amnesty.”

Wolven felt relief upon hearing his words, and he nodded quickly before a runic teleportation circle appeared underneath him, causing him to vanish. “Your Imperial Majesty, was it truly fine to let him leave?” Aella spoke with some more disappointment in her tone. Adrinius gave a quiet chuckle. “It’s wiser to make use of him than disposing of him. There aren't many influential individuals like him, and despite not having the most strategic of minds, he has always been loyal in the past…lost to some weird spatial and gravity magic…such an odd thing…”

Adrinius had a thoughtful look as he pondered something. Meanwhile, after the battle above Tya’shara between Wolven and Avrin, the three left within Shaded Moon were active. “Listen here, you furry menace!! I said contact Avrin again!! And if it doesn't work that time, then try again!!” Calomia's voice roared out as she pointed at Asura with the end of her cane.

Asura looked at her with discontent as veins started bulging on his temple. He honestly started developing an urge to end her existence. “I told you that he is out of my range, old hag!! If we were really in trouble, then the master would have shown up already! Can't you go sit down and shut up for a little bit?! You're giving me a headache!” Asura responded with equal volume.

Calomia glanced at Asura and shook her head in dissatisfaction. “Useless...” She then turned to Ilisia who was seemingly trying to keep herself busy by cleaning some debris and rubble. Because of the clashing energies released above the Sarlez Kingdom, the land had suffered much from the shockwaves of the battle. City buildings had crumbled, the ground had split, and people were panicking. It went so far that even Shaded Moon was affected despite its sturdy structure.

Cracks riddled the wall, and the floor broke apart in various locations. Even the ceiling and roof were filled with holes, both small and large, enough to make the sky visible with light shining in and giving this building the image of an ancient ruin or strange dungeon.

Calomia walked over to the evidently troubled Ilisia and placed her hand on her shoulder. “Child, are you feeling well?” Ilisia blinked before turning to look at Calomia with a smile.

“Grandma, I'm fine…” She spoke in a strange tone.

Calomia gave a thoughtful look, not wanting to pry too deeply for now due to the sudden event. “Go rest. There is no point cleaning this up, and I'm sure Avrin can snap his fingers and have it all tidy in a heartbeat. Hahaha.” She spoke as if trying to lighten the mood.

Ilisia simply forced a smile before nodding and had then headed off to her bedroom, or what was left of it. Calomia stood still, watching Ilisia walk off with a poorly concealed gloom before glancing at Asura who was eating a chunk of meat with a carefree expression.

“-Well, at least he did his job...-” She thought.

---Flashback----

While the battle between Wolven & Avrin raged above, the territory of the Kingdom of Sarlez was suffering greatly. It was like the end of times had come early for this land, and the ground was splitting and shaking so much that it seemed as if the beasts of the underworld and the Evil Gods were trying to free themselves. In Shaded Moon, Calomia and Ilisia were huddled under the large counter desk in the customer reception area.

“How can you be so carefree at this time, you overgrown rodent!” Calomia shouted. She cannot see Asura in the chaos, but she knew he was sitting on the guest couches, eating his food casually without a care in the world. She understood that he could easily flee if things turned really bad, but his behavior was somehow just plain irritating in this crisis.

“Because I’m strong and have nothing to worry about, that and Master always handles these things… Why are you both hiding there? Master told me to look after you both. Do you not trust me?…heh…Disappointing old hag, have you lost your mind? Hahaha…” Asura’s beast-like laugh as he mocked Calomia sounded but was still drowned out by the earthquake breaking the ground and walls of Shaded Moon.

But after a few moments, the trembling settled down. Ten or so seconds later, Calomia and Ilisia carefully got out from under the counter. “Is it over?...Good, it seems luck is smiling upon us...” Calomia gave a withered laugh.

However, her laughter didn't last long as the ceiling began to crack. It had been weakened by the powerful vibrations caused by the battle above. Suddenly, a large chunk of the ceiling fell from above them, weighing at least a ton. Feeling as though time was slowing down while their heartbeats grew rapid, Ilisia glanced up at Calomia with fearful eyes as Calomia quickly gripped and hugged tightly. They were so frightened that they couldn't move, fearing for their lives.

“Hmph!” A deep grunt sounded before a shadowy figure shot over, and a large beast-like hand pushed against the chunk with such strength that it flew off like a tennis ball, crashing into a nearby wall.

On top of the desk above Calomia and Ilisia, Asura stood with his hand extended. It was he who had just saved their lives. “Wow!...” Ilisia glanced with reverence, and even Calomia was shocked for a moment before heaving a sigh of relief.

-----Flashback End-----

In the underground where Eitri and the Spectral Ants were, they had suffered quite a few setbacks when it came to the structural layout. Many buildings were smashed by parts of the cavern that had crashed down. Thankfully, these creatures were quite durable and quick after becoming Spectrals, and their adhesive goo proved itself strong by keeping most of the tunnels from collapsing. The worst thing that had happened was a few cases of lost limbs. However, their limbs would regrow over time.

Eitri was standing on top of a large chunk of the cavern's ceiling that had fallen with his arms crossed as he surveyed the area. “-Hmmm… What a powerful earthquake. Never in my life have I felt something like that… This should be abnormal even according to the knowledge Avrin gave us after conversion. I wonder-” He pondered to himself before glancing at several Spectrals who were moving a large cache of stored materials.

“Hey, be careful with that!” Eitri roared before rushing over towards them.

Roughly an hour had passed since the battle, and thirty or so minutes after Avrin’s meeting with the Planet Lord, he was currently seated cross-legged on a mountain not too far from the Planet Lord's residence. His expression was flickering between disgust, surprise, excitement, fascination and keen interest.

After his meeting with the Planet Lord, Avrin had Divine Stepped with the intention to head back to Shaded Moon, but something strange occurred within his mind as if something started flooding into his brain. He quickly diverted locations and appeared here, resulting in his current state.

Within his inner workings, strands of dark matter were leaving his dark space and entering the particles that made up his brain.Recollection of memories surged forward with each strand, bringing forth memories of locations, killings, spell incantations, materials, events, people, and many other occasions that brought him both good and bad emotions.

"-To think even simple deities hold so much knowledge…heh, I guess they didn’t earn their statuses as gods for nothing. I regretted not turning Wolven into a dark core when I had the chance.-"A feeling of disappointment and rage surged in his mind, but despite this, Avrin also knew this newfound information would ease his future struggles significantly!

With knowledge from so many deities, his understanding of this universe has practically increased by many times, and now, he would just need time to properly absorb and gradually sort out the new information. The information within these dark cores had practically saved him the equivalent of years of espionage done by ordinary men. However, the greatest reward from the deities’ new memories was their understanding of mana and magic; it would help improve Avrin’s understanding regarding the laws of the 5th Universe.

Even better yet for him and worse for the Third Heaven Alliance, this newfound knowledge even includes information on the Artificer Consortium. Although they were not the top brass and were not privy to every secret, Avrin now has access to everything that was originally only known to those fallen deities. This has now become a dangerous but unknown weapon to him… At the same time, it would become a great source of misunderstanding and confusion in future dealings for Avrin, but that is a story for later.

“-Aether Emperor Adrinius huh… Judging by your notoriety, you won't let offenses go so quickly, but it seems you won’t make your move for some time…Rather, what's more, fascinating is that minotaur creature. A Planet Lord? A force to be reckoned with…

“-Hm, Arcane Might? This seems like an interesting topic. Infusing powerful runic inscriptions into the body, one's muscles, bones, and blood will strengthen considerably, of course, this method requires great patience and is not for the faint of heart. Eh? It seems the mages of this universe want to imitate the 3rd Universe’s methods? Seems like a waste of time to me to go so far for a weaker imitation. That being said I'm certain there are influential individuals who train like this, I have no need to offend someone like that as he seemed more neutral with me.-" He contemplated some of the information that he was able to process.

Avrin had then left his inner workings once his mind stabilized, and he stood up and carefully took a deep breath despite having no need for air. It seemed to be a reflex or habit from his time as a mortal. “-With little enemies and the Artificer Consortium now gone, I'm confident I can expand Shaded Moon without worry, and the Highland Syndicate should not be the type to harm their competitors. I guess I should still be a little more mindful about how I conduct my business, but worse case scenario, with my boost in strength, other than the Planet Lord, I shouldn't find any trouble with the other deities in the meantime. At the least, they won’t be able to catch or restrain me too easily.-”

After such thoughts, Avrin slowly opens his eyes and stares in the horizon as he contemplates further into his mind, making him look like a wise man suffering the world’s weight and peering into the future. “-Eventually, I'll reach a point where I’ll no longer need to worry about the Planet Lord, but for now, I should make some preparations…-”

Vanishing from his position via Divine Step, in the blink of an eye, Avrin appeared back in Shaded Moon with casual ignorance. Asura was just about to swallow a chunk of meat when Avrin appeared in front of him without warning, causing him to jump up in shock and choke on the meat in his mouth before he used Nebula Mist to clear his throat.

Avrin looked at him strangely. “Why haven't you adapted your lungs to dark matter yet?” Avrin already told Eitri and Asura about reducing the need for air by filling dark matter into the lungs. However, as he spoke, he then pondered, not wanting to admit that sometimes even he performed strange occurrences himself such as his deep breath before.

Asura glanced at Avrin with some worry before giving a soft laugh. “Hahaha, Master is quite harsh to me… but I’ll have you know that I saved those two that you tasked me to protect. Don’t I deserve a reward?”

Asura greedily rubbed his hands together and started salivating at the memory of that delicious burger Avrin gave him before. Avrin kept his eyes on him, but his look was one of strangeness. “Reward? Sure.” Avrin looked around. “With your ability, it should’ve been easy for you to keep this place stable, but look at it now…Your reward is to clean it up… ”

Asura’s body slumped slightly. “B…but master…this isn't fair…” Avrin ignored him as he glanced at Calomia looking at him quietly. “After you clean this up, come see me. I will craft you something for your efforts…” Avrin spoke giving Asura some incentive to work. Hearing this, Asura's eyes lit up knowing that with Avrin’s strength, whatever he will make is definitely powerful. He quickly got to work, Nebula Mist surging from his body and engulfing debris reducing the mess into ash.

“Quite a mess happened here when you were gone...” Calomia spoke somewhat coldly while looking at Avrin. “I apologize. Your kidnappers sent someone a bit stronger to take care of me… It was unavoidable.”

Calomia's eyes had narrowed before she gave a slight sigh. She understood that all of these world-shaking events stemmed from Avrin trying to protect them, but they were still exasperated. “Fine fine, but at least warn us next time. We thought the world was going to crack apart!”

Avrin gave a slight smile before nodding. “Ilisia is in her room sleeping? Is she well?” Avrin spoke with a trace of worry. With his Divine Sense, it was easy for him to know everyone’s location, and with his newfound strength, his Divine Sense can reach out to half of Tya’shara, thanks to his new particle type.

“Sigh, she was acting a bit strange…she isn't used to such dangerous situations one after another…” With Calomia’s words, Avrin thought he knew what she meant. He couldn't deny that dangerous situations had occurred for them ever since they met him.

“I'm sorry…” He wasn't sure what else to say. Calomia laughed. “Don't apologize to me. You need to make it up to her. I'm going to go rest. My old bones are aching…” She muttered before hobbling off as she mumbled.

Avrin stood by himself, ignoring Asura who was cleaning Shaded Moon, but Asura couldn't help but listen quietly. “-Why does master care so much about those two humans…? Such unfair treatment.-” He thought to himself.

Avrin moved towards the staircase which was blocked by debris, but with a pure thought, Nebula Mist formed in front of him and cleared the debris in an instant. Entering the lower section of the large chamber, he cleared the rubble and repaired the damaged columns with his Nebula Mist before making his way to the center of the chamber and sitting on the floor cross-legged.

He suddenly glanced at the space in front of him for nearly a minute with a peculiar gaze. He then extended his right hand forward and opened it. Above his palm, space seemed to twist slightly before churning in a circular motion. Some static had appeared before a small golf ball sized rift opened, and while carefully rotating clockwise with the occasional static on its edges, it began to absorb mana, causing a hue of blue light to dye its rotating curve.

“-What I lack are more abilities to counter my enemies, and in fact, mana is supposed to be easy to absorb. To have so much trouble against Wolven…That is not acceptable...-” With a thought, the rift within Avrin's palm began to grow. One second, it was the size of a tennis ball. The next, it was the size of a soccer ball and, after that, the size of a man as it hovered several meters above his palm still under his control.

He suddenly clenched his palm into a fist, causing the rift to instantly follow as it imploded in on itself with a small, distorted popping sound indicating how it vanished from existence. “I have quite a few things in store for my future enemies..” A grin showed on Avrin’s face as he spoke, showing he clearly had a few ideas of how to handle future situations.

Avrin suddenly began to conjure a large mass of Nebula Mist in an effortless manner. This cloud-like mass stretched for fourteen meters and was as high as four meters, and then, it began to break off into even blobs of about five inches in diameter, seemingly now amounting to at least several hundred. He next began to focus with ease as these blobs formed into Dark Mines.

He had previously needed just a little time to create these mines, but now that he was familiar with the process, he did not need as much time. And while he would usually place a Lucent crystal within the center during the materialization process, he did not have any more low-level Lucent crystals due to his earlier hunger for resources. And while he could continue creating more, he chose to leave the Lucent crystal installations to the potential wealthy customers as he didn’t feel like wasting time on that.

Afterward, using his Divine Sense, he detected that the Spectral Ants had found a good lode of low-level Lucent crystals and some ore veins they didn’t know what to do with. However, they are already trying to reestablish order after the chaos he made. He would visit them later, but for now, he would let Eitri and the others handle the mess.

“-With this significant step forward my particles feel more alive than ever. I can do so much more now, and with this newly gained knowledge, I should be able to quickly Divine Step individuals and objects around without too much inconvenience. That being said, I could surely make a pretty profit by researching more into and selling life-saving devices, such as the one I gave Calomia.-” He continued to package five Dark Mines together within a small purple chest that he covered in a dark matter barrier, giving it not only a mystic shine but also protection. Unless the enemy was at the deity level, they shouldn't dream of opening this object.

Avrin had only stopped when a total of one-thousand chests had formed, each one containing five Dark Mines. Glancing over them as they were neatly organized, Avrin softly chuckled. From here on out, the rise of Shaded Moon won't be so easily stopped.

On top of all these chests, a parchment rested on the lid, containing a decent amount of information that read as follows:

“““My Greetings and salutations towards the esteemed lords,

Within this chest are five weapon samples primarily used for hunting large creatures or mass warfare. The items inside are powerful enough to gravely injure those of the Grandmaster level and kill those below. And so-”””

Avrin detailed what the Dark Mine could do as well as where Shaded Moon was located, the price of the Dark Mines and so forth. He even gave several instructions, such as how they would simply need to leave this chest alone for one hour and let it disappear on its own if they weren’t interested. Otherwise, if they were interested, they would place one Haze lucent crystal within, and the chest would open to reveal the Dark Mines.

Once the chest was opened, one would have two days to test the Dark Mines out. Afterward, they were instructed to write down if they were interested and to place a parchment with their orders into the chest. This would become the first test and first business investment.

Once the parchment was placed in the open chest, after two days, it would vanish, and automatically Divine Step back to the large chamber that Avrin was in. Thankfully, this was now barely possible, because his new particles possessed several new spatial properties and abilities. Avrin just simply needed to establish several new automatic functions and commands mainly by using a few C. Particles. These allowed him to use information from both the experimental Warp Device he previously gave to Calomia and his newfound magical knowledge to make the chests consume their dark matter and the surrounding energy to Divine Step back after the set time limit has passed.

If Avrin received the buyer’s acceptance of his proposal, he would create more of his products for his new buyers. And since the funds had to be prepared, he would personally meet his new customers to make the final trade. Avrin detailed the steps thoroughly in his letter. He didn't want this kind of arms dealing to be a long-term solution for future profits. He was confident that it would bring up too many issues with the Planet’s Lord and Deities, not to mention the mortals if he was not careful, which was why he limited the strength.

He now has plans for this planet, and one of the first goals on the agenda was for him to gain enough funds and influence to open up a few branches of Shaded Moon around the region, operated by other Spectrals who would relay information back here. Avrin's targets were not just the rulers of kingdoms but also mercenary groups as well. He sent a great deal of the chests off to any potential buyers in the region.

As for the others groups of people, Avrin decided to test his plan first before reaching out to them. After being sure of the results and making some final adjustments, the chests would likely be sent to the farther off targets within and outside the kingdom, bringing in the dawn of great change.

Within a particular palace, a brawny man was seated upon a lavish throne, equipped with magnificent armor decorated with golden lines that formed into two wild creatures of the planet intertwined together. The armor was also decorated with well-cut gems and other pieces, but it looked more ornamental than suited for combat. At this moment, he was commanding his subordinates in response to the several issues that occurred on this ominous day. However, they felt a chill run down their spines as a glowing purple chest suddenly appeared out of nowhere without warning, making them all jump with caution and draw their weapons before forming a protective formation. They kept glancing at the chest for a few moments.

The man with the armor and the golden crown on his head glanced at it carefully before motioning to one of his subordinates wearing knight-like armor to move. The knight smiled bitterly before nodding. Making his way over, he carefully reached over and removed the parchment, unfurling it and beginning to read the contents.

“Your Majesty...” The knight walked over towards the king and knelt down as he respectfully handed it over to the king who took it from his hands and carefully read it with a look of both interest and wariness.

He didn't dare open the chest lightly as he kept a distance and ordered the knight to open it. At the same time, he ordered the nearby mages to make preparations and ordered another knight to quickly retrieve the head mages. Smiling bitterly again, the knight quickly steels his resolve despite his thoughts about it being a daring trap construed by an enemy kingdom. He removed a Haze crystal from an enchanted bag he kept on him and placed it against the chest that suddenly began to shine.

The seventeen present individuals, including the king, backed up and readied their guard. Not one of them were weaker than a Grandmaster with the king at the Sage Level, so they were prepared to swiftly respond to any trap. When the light faded, the knight that opened the chest entered a defensive stance as he carefully peeked inside. His brows furrowed as he cautiously reached in and pulled out a black object, a Dark Mine unknown to them and made by Avrin.

Similar events were occurring all across the Sarlez Kingdom, even outside the borders in the neighboring areas not too far away. Avrin wanted a good range of potential buyers and had also Included wealthy merchants in the list, he wanted some capable individuals to transport property and believed these merchants would surely travel abroad via convoys. It would be good to use them to peddle products other than the Dark Mine. Of course, the message for them on the parchment was different. He would give them a small discount so that the merchants could make a neat profit.

Some who had received the chests had chosen to ignore it, while a few of the others sealed them away, believing them an elaborate trick and even going as far as to abandon the area it was within until it was gone. There were also some people who choose to attack it but realized no matter how much they tried; they couldn't dent it.

This event caused a stir within the upper class, merchants, mercenary groups and even large villages that seemed as if they needed more protection. One thing was sure: Avrin didn't plan to just stop in this region or Tya’shara. He had some plans to start selling more of his wares in a more open area. He was certain even those alliances would eventually desire his inventions in the future, making this a good time to establish connections with individuals without worrying about threats.