“Hehe, since I’m its architect, I will name it the ‘Upgrade Matrix’.” Replied Hope enthusiastically.

“It looks very impressive, but how will it help me.” Asked Koren.

“Hehe, I think it’s better to just show you.” Hope replied as she brought the Upgrade Matrix close to Koren’s Spiritual Core.

“Now carefully move your Spiritual Core inside the Matrix.” Said Hope as the Matrix opened up like a box.

“OK, big sis, this better not hurt.” Koren slowly moved his core and placed it right in the center of the Matrix, which automatically closed up.

“Now take out the shard again and place it in the central housing.” Said Hope .

Koren did not waste time asking any more questions, and took the shard out. All he had to do was think about it, and it appeared in his hand. He brought the shard close to the upgrade matrix and it automatically flew towards the hole in the center.

As soon as the shard entered the hole, the matrix started to glow with a blue hue. Koren could feel spiritual energy being circulated into his core, pure spiritual energy. He could feel his level rise by the second.

He activated his display and saw his Stats.

Name: Koren

Spiritual Path: Level 5(57%) {Realm: Spirit}

Human Path: Level ?? {Realm: ??}

Harmonization: None

Elemental Power: 32 (Interchangeable)

Koren was shocked, he could visibly see the percentage on his level bar increase by the second.

57%.

58%.

59%.

60%.

61%.

His level continued to increase, but the glow from the upgrade matrix did not dim at all.

“Big sis, this is amazing.” Said Koren enthusiastically.

“Isn’t it. I knew you would like it, others have to cultivate very carefully, slowly refining the spiritual shards, and then absorbing them. But you are different, you have the Armor and you have me.”

“The Armor absorbs the shards and refines them, and I will write a program to automatically transfer that power to the Upgrade Matrix. You will continually level up without ever having to sit down and cultivate.” Said Hope with a huge smile on her face.

“Big sis can it level me up a little faster, it seems slow.” Asked Koren.

“Ah, you idiot. Its already happening a lot faster than you think. The flow of time is faster in here than it is outside. If you were outside, then the levelling would feel instantaneous to you. The only slowing factor is the Armor’s ability to refine the shards, although you don’t have to worry about that right now.” Replied Hope.

“Also, as your core levels up, your ability to absorb the spiritual power will also increase, so you will level up even faster.” Hope continued.

As Hope explained, the Upgrade Matrix was slowly doing its job, and it wasn’t long before Koren felt a rush of energy in his spiritual core, he could feel his core’s capacity grow.

He checked his stats.

Name: Koren

Spiritual Path: Level 6(1%) {Realm: Spirit}

Human Path: Level ?? {Realm: ??}

Harmonization: None

Elemental Power: 40 (Interchangeable)

His level had increase to level 6, the same level as Haruki. He could tell that if they sparred again, Haruki would lose very quickly.

“OK, now that we have fixed your levelling issue, let’s have you test out the battle mode for the Armor.” Said Hope as she cracked her knuckles.

“Will a simulation be the same as the real thing.” Asked Koren.

“Yep, this is how all Guardians train. There’s no way that the United Earth Forces would trust someone with an Armor worth trillions without some training in a simulated environment.” Replied Hope.

“Now call the Armor out, but only here, we don’t want the Armor to show up on your body sleeping out in the tent.” Said Hope.

Koren did as told and the Armor appeared, it crept out of his body and covered him completely.

“Now enter battle mode, just say the words and it should shift.” said Hope with excitement in her voice.

“Battle Mode” said Koren, as the whole Armor started to bulk up.

************

Andre was very nervous, the prince was the last piece of the puzzle, if he rejected the plan, then he would be to blame. As for Uther, he would be fine, the princess had a soft spot for that bastard.

Andre looked at the table, there was a map of the whole goliath desert region laid out on it. Andre smiled and looked up at the 4th Prince, who was standing on the other side of the table.

“Your highness, this plan will work. We’re simply dividing the battalion in half to cover more ground, and prevent any humans from escaping.” Said Andre, as he moved a miniature ship, laid out over a map, and placed it closer to the Raavi border.

“You can leave me in command of half the troops, and I will secure the Oasis. While commander Uther will block any humans from crossing the border.” Said Andre, trying his best to impress the 4th Prince.

The 4th Prince remained silent, which made Andre even more nervous. He turned to his right to look at Uther, who had remained quiet this whole time.

“Commander, this plan has merits, don’t you agree?” Andre asked, trying to pull Uther into the discussion.

Uther smiled, he looked at the 4th Prince, and said “ I agree with lieutenant Andre, If we want to get the artefact, then we must follow through with this plan.”

“Very well, this plan seems to be well though. But I will not stay on the sidelines, I will be joining you Commander Uther, and go to the border region.” Said the 4th Prince, looking at Uther suspiciously.

Andre smiled, his plan worked. The 4th Prince suspected Uther to betray him and run off with the artefact, and so he chose to go to the border region with him. The Raavi had already been tipped off by his spies, meaning all the soldiers going with Uther would have to fight the Raavi at the border. As long as Uther made sure that the 4th Prince got captured by the Raavi, this plan would succeed.

“Your Highness, I congratulate you in advance for the success of this operation.” Said Andre as he bowed with his hands clasped together.

“We should be arriving at the outskirts of the Oasis by noon today. I will take my troops and part with you there.” Andre continued.

Andre stepped out of the Princes Cabin, and made his way to the top deck. The sun was already up, he walked up to one of the troop leaders, and gave him a list with troop names and ranks.

************

The whole village had been gathered at the gates, everyone had a gloomy look on their faces. Koren was standing with at least 30 other children, most were around the same age as Enri, but there were also a few kids the same age as kaph and torp. There was also a few women in the mix, all of them pregnant, they would probably take care of the children as Sappa was probably not qualified for that. Koren felt someone grab his hand, he looked over to see Enri’s teary eyed face. She probably slept with Lady Zena and Uncle Tanru, crying her heart out.

“Enri, don’t worry everything will be fine. Uncle and Aunty will join us at the border.” Whispered Koren, he didn’t want the other children to hear, as not all of them were aware of what was going on.

“Brother Kaph, will you look after Enri, I have to go talk to the village chief.” Koren asked Kaph who was standing in front of him along with Torp.

“Its fine Koren, she’s safe, you can go” said Kaph as he and Torp both nodded.

Koren walked out of the group and made his way toward the Chief who was standing together with Sappa and the parents of the children.

“Don’t worry, Sappa will make sure they reach the city safe and sound. They will be joined by children from the other 2 villages half way.” Said the Matriarch as she was trying to calm the parents down.

“Lady Hera, will we really see our children again.” Asked one of the mothers.

“Yes we will. The children are taking a trade ship, they will get to the city a lot faster. We will join them tomorrow on the bigger Sand ship, there’s nothing to worry about.” Said the Village Matriarch ‘Hera’.

“Don’t worry Sister Nora, your son will be very safe on the ship with me.” Said Sappa as he clenched his fist and thumped his chest.

Koren, who had already walked over, stayed silent, he didn’t want to disturb the chief. The chief finally noticed him, and excused himself, leaving his wife and his student to talk to the parents.

“Koren, you know better than anyone what kind of danger we are all in, so I need you to stay with your senior Sappa. In case I don’t make it back, Sappa will teach you all you need to know.” Said the village chief as he patted koren on the head.

“You are a good and kind boy, but this is a very hostile world, and I need you to be strong. Although you are not as talented as Haruki, you should still be able to reach Sappa’s level if you work hard.” Said the chief as he got down on one knee and hugged Koren.

Koren didn’t know what to say anymore. He was reminded of his grandfather, and how he protected him from the flames that consumed the village. And now, this old man in front of him was willing to do the same.

Koren looked at the Chief, and said “Thank you teacher, I will be strong.”

Then he got down on both knees and bowed three times and left to join Enri and the others as they entered the sand ship.