The old man scrutinized a figure patiently waiting in the middle of the wasteland. He said:

“Oh…reality warping, pyrokinesis, and telekinesis. A little bit of telepathy as well. Not bad.” The old man praised. He added: ”All you have to do is kill that guy over there and his soul brand will become yours forever.”

The figure looked exactly like the Marquis of Deadwood.

“Well, I can just do it for you, this time since it is an even fight. It will take forever if I let you do it by yourself. Winning in these fights asks a lot of you. If you lose there is no harm, you can always come back and challenge the brand again until you kill it.” The old man bent down and hit the green crystal at the end of the scepter on the ground.

The wasteland disappeared and the clone of the marquis died along with it.

Nilus was inwardly shaken.

He could feel that the Marquis’ clone was another being entirely. Like an extension of the real Marquis.

If he had fought in this wasteland, it was tantamount to fighting the Marquis’s clone on its turf which would grant the clone the same chances of survival.

“How are you capable of all of this?” Nilus asked the old man.

“Because I am in your head and also the one who is temporally helping you sustain these dreamscapes. Your soul is not strong enough to create these places.” The old man said. He added: “When your soul reaches the 40th stage and above, you will be able to create them. I am a 92nd stage in soul only and this is only a rudimentary dreamscape that I just whipped up.”

Nilus thought the old man was joking. He was only a 13th stage and had yet to even think of reaching the 20th stage.

He saw that the old man was serious and asked: ”Who could beat you into such a state then?”

“Someone stronger than me, but it was a long time ago.” Said the old man.

“Any other cool tricks I can use in my weak state?” Nilus asked.

“Well, for now, all you can do is use that spirit body of yours as well as creating soul crystals. Absorbing energy is done by your aura.” The old man said.

“Nothing new.” Nilus was disappointed.

“I can help you reach the 40th stage in one go, but you must promise me to never come back and keep the humans away from this place. I will also teach you how to use the new powers you will have gained before you leave.” The old man mysteriously said and looked at Nilus in the eyes and asked : “Deal?”

Nilus immediately said : “Of course it’s a deal. If the merfolk stop killing humans as well, it will be even perfect.”

“I am sorry but the ocean between your three continents is their domain. They cannot let it go just like that. I will teach you how to make aircrafts that run on aura. I can at least do that. As for the divine stages, I will tell them to leave the sky alone and keep the ocean. No one will object but it is possible for things to degenerate if there are humans who trespass.” The old man said and then added : “I am helping you gain this power so you can keep the living beings on the surface away from this ocean. If a war breaks out, I will be forced to intervene and a being such as I being involved may result in a complete annihilation of the surface world. Some merfolk want that war to happen. I am the only one standing in the way.”

“Why such hatred?” Nilus was confused. The humans were too scared to even go near the beaches.

“Because, this planet used to be theirs. They are its first inhabitants. Humans and other living beings started arriving when the continents emerged.” The old man said.

***

It was with enthusiasm that Nilus learned how to access his inner soul and create dreamscapes.

All he had to do was let his subconscious take over in building the worlds.

He found himself visiting his makeshift worlds that resembled certain places that he had visited during his entire life.

He did not have another brand so he could experience fights in the dreamscapes.

“This is my own brand. Since we are in the same world, you can choose the limit on it. We are not enemies and you are a 40th stage in body and soul thanks to me. I recommend you use a brand of the 92nd stage. I can use it to communicate with you as well as see what the world outside looks like. I can keep teaching you the various ways of levelling up the green ghosts use. Do not forget the abilities I stole along the way. You can almost do anything.” The old man said.

“Say. How many times can you help someone level up like this?” Nilus tentatively asked.

“No way. I just used twenty percent of my reserve. I cannot keep squandering it. The merfolk also need it to reach the divine stage.” The old man angrily said.

Nilus then narrated the circumstances of Nile’s birth.

“A blood spirit vampire bloodline. They are so rare that it is almost impossible to meet one in an immortal lifetime. You are telling me that there are tens thousand of them on this planet?” The old man laughed in surprise.

Nilus was happy that Nile’s existence that was close to his had piqued the interest of the old man. Having another 40th stage around him would help immensely.

“I’ve been waiting for a good time to reach the 93rd stage while helping the merfolk level up as well, but it seems that I will have to wait a few more millennia. ” The old man thought. He said: “Where is you friend ?”

“He is just outside the city. Can you not use your mind to see?” Nilus asked.

“I have to concentrate on slowly siphoning energy from every merfolk without killing them. It takes more than just concentration. I am also here with you. I just needed to know how much energy I needed to spend looking for him and since he is close by…” Said the old man before Nile appeared in their dreamscape.

Before Nile went crazy, they both explained what was happening.

The old man had forcefully called Nile into the dreamscape.

Anyone could be called into a dreamscape if the host was a green ghost (soul eater). It was a better way of communicating than telepathy for green ghosts.

Nile was remotely brought to the 40th stage and had to go through intensive training to master his new powers. His soul brand of the Marquis was also taken care of.

Form the old man’s teachings, at the 40th stage, soul crystals could barely help them level up. They needed an energy that was purer than soul crystals.

The only way to achieve that was to mimic the way the old man siphoned away energy from the merfolk and purified it before compressing it in the purest energy possible. The old man called that energy: divine energy. It was a kind of energy that could even help the later stages, like the old man’s 92nd stage, level up. It was the same energy used to bring Nilus and Nile to the 40th stage.

When a green ghost reached the 12th stage, like anyone else, they gained their abilities. The green aura could absorb energy even faster than before. Their mind eye, the area of the soul, could see for kilometers. Their bodies could transform into ghosts.

From the 12th stage and above, it was just strengthening the abilities they had. Only the soul could show some qualitative improvement by unearthing new abilities. The body and the aura followed the improvement of the soul.

At the 40th stage, the green ghosts gained a new kind of ability. The dreamscape ability. Other lifeforms could have an ability close to it, but the green ghosts had a soul core that was accessible and allowed for better control while in the dreamscape.

Having a soul core that supplied energy as you ordered while being in a dream world was of utmost importance.

Others with the same ability, had to suffer from their own power as their subconscious did whatever it wanted.

“This is why you’re in such a good environment here. If I let Nilus try to create dreamscapes without my help, he’d be overwhelmed by his own nightmares and fears. Even when you face a soul brand, you must not let it take advantage of your mental weaknesses. To master dreamscapes is to master yourself. After you master them, you can even recreate them in the real world to fight.” The old man said.

“How can you fight with dreams?” Nilus couldn’t stop himself from asking. The idea of fighting with dreams was nonsense to him.

The old man pushed them out as he said :“Look for yourselves.”

The green ghost, Nilus, who had been touching the giant green soul core all along was slowly pushed away.

Nilus regained his senses.

He looked at his new powerful body and then looked at the green crystal in front of him that was now glowing brighter second after second.

The blood spirit, Nile, was in the same situation as he looked at his own new body.

The old man had helped them both reach the 40th stage in both body and soul.

Nile’s attention was then taken away by a blinding green light.

“What is he going to show us this time. We know he is strong enough. Why feel the need to show off?” Nile thought.

A thundering voice came from the soul brand that they both wore: “You think that the dream constructs are useless? When you have enough aura to give them life, no object imbued with aura can match them. It is real and true magic. At that level, everything is possible.”

A giant representation of the old man was immediately given life in front of them. It kept growing without end with the giant soul core as the center.

The merfolk all stopped what they were doing and bowed toward the giant. They did not show fear, but happiness. Their eternal protector was showcasing his power once again.

A giant arm went for Nilus and took him while another went outside the city and took Nile.

The old man had grown tall enough to surpass the ocean by a few kilometers.

“This is impossible.” Nilus exclaimed.

“Yeah. It took us hours to reach the city. Yet it took him seconds to bring us out.” Nile completed.

They were both still in the giant palms of the old man.

“It’s a good thing that he doesn’t want to go to war with the surface world. He could just break this world apart by using this construct of his.” Nilus said.

“I wonder. Do any of the kings in this world know that there is an old man that is stronger than them lurking in a merfolk city on this tiny planet?” Nile pondered.

“It is weird. He is strong enough to rule over this world. Nothing makes sense with him.” Nilus shared.

The face of the giant became visible and the old man said : “As per our deal, you are to never come back to merfolk territory and keep the humans out of it. I gave you enough power to accomplish that task. My soul brand that I left with Nilus will assist you as well as keeping an eye on you. ”His gaze then shifted to Nilus and he continued: ” Nilus, since you are my disciple now, I will give you a task. You must surpass me to earn the powers that my soul brand contains. They are sealed for now. It is too much for you to handle. You can also gain weaker versions of my powers by challenging my soul brand. If you win you get a new power to use or a new information to solve any problem you encounter in the future. I already gave you enough by strengthening you up to 40th stage. The rest will be up to you.”

The old man paused then turned to Nile and said: “You can be considered a disciple of mine. I did not leave my soul brand on you but gave you enough knowledge about blood spirits. Use that knowledge to reach the realm of the blood monarch. A blood monarch is a hypothetical and new path to power that many believed in. If you succeed, you might become as strong as me.”

“You can both call me Anlow in the future”

The giant dissipated leaving the two wondering whether they had just dreamt the encounter with Anlow.