Chapter 82: Offers or Sacrificial Offerings

They both laughed as they felt nearly invincible against these Cease Soul Masters. The slaughter wasn’t humorous, but Trint felt like a conquering Viking or warrior from Earth. They felt the irony of formerly being powerless against a Soul warrior to now wading through the enemy showering destruction on the very people who held them as captives. This test of their growth showed, without a doubt, how far they’d come.

Each enemy showed advanced Soul strength equal to or greater than Ele’Azar. Yet any who entered the range of their attacks had no chance in front of the two new Soul Masters.

They had nearly cleared a path to the edge of the formation in their push to the city. They had turned their angle of attack directly toward the city during their onslaught forward and ended up facing toward the city.

Trint and Pneuma saw the pursuing Cease Troops retreat a short distance and halt. With their senses spread through the Soul Creatures, Trint hadn’t been sensing very far past the force surrounding them.

Do you see them? Pneuma asked. There was a different group beyond the fighting force. They look more serious.

Are you concerned or just pointing them out?

I think they pose a different level of threat. The one in the center doesn’t even look like the rest. He looks more important. Be ready for anything. Pneuma smiled as he communicated to Trint. His smiling visage caused the approaching people surrounding this new figure to stumble.

“Please, stop killing these soldiers,” The stranger’s voice rose above the fighting and rang in the minds of everyone present.

Trint and Pneuma had cautiously slowed their progress and paused their attacks after the Cease retreated to create distance from them. Trint had to interrupt Baba Jaga & Koshchei from their blood-fueled gleeful slaughter. Those two even make battle creepy. Did you see them during that?

Trint’s question to his friend went unanswered as the imposing figure stepped forward into the sudden stillness after the pause in fighting.

“Who are you and what do you offer if we stop this slaughter?” Pneuma spoke, keeping Trint’s location hidden for now. “We only wish to leave. We tire of this captivity.”

“I am a friend of the Cease, my name is Cantor, and I am offering you an exit,” the man spoke with great poise and power. “But you must leave the Cease unharmed from now on. Will you allow me to take you to a ship?”

What do you think, Trint asked his friend.

That is what we were going for. If he can deliver, then we should go.

“Why send troops to surround us?” Pneuma questioned.

“They were dispatched by another. If you allow me to take you to my ship, we can end the bloodshed and get you away from here. But choose quickly, before those even worse than these arrive,” He waved to indicate the soldiers.

Okay, let’s give this a shot. Trint thought. It was fun fighting but no sense slaughtering more of these people if we don’t need to.

“We agree but have a request,” Pneuma voiced as he shrunk his figure down to a dozen feet tall. “We won’t kill any more of them unless we are provoked. We would also like to bring our friends. And can you bring Ele’Azar?”

“They may join us. If that is all, let us be off,” Cantor bowed and as he rose upright again, they were all gone from the field, leaving some very confused Cease soldiers.

Trint and all the party that traveled from the Cease training compound and all his creatures were now in a large cargo bay. There were small ships, big containers, and many people working off to the sides on various tasks. It reminded Trint of science fiction spaceships from movies he had watched. It was a giant open bay and the overall ship had to be a very large vessel. It was very futuristic looking, and all made of exotic metals. The metal had elements of Soul flowing through it that Trint could sense.

The structure was a blend of art and function. He was drawn in by the sight and admired the architecture that went well past functional beauty and created a welcoming feel. Even in a loading bay there were arching doorways that glowed with power and elegance. Trint spun around taking in the scope of the space. Behind him was the vastness of space separated from the bay by an invisible shield that cut off his senses other than sight.

“If you don’t mind, please return your Soul animations to your Soul,” Cantor requested with genial respect as he looked directly at Trint’s disguised form. And Trint not seeing any enemies quickly acquiesced. The nightmare form surrounding him evaporated into his Soul along with the rest of the surrounding ones.

“Thank you,” Cantor’s smile widened with sincerity. “This is one of my ships and I welcome you as my guests. But we don’t have time for more hospitable pleasantries. I need you to go.”

“That’s what we want too,” Trint acknowledged.

“You don’t know what I am offering yet,” Cantor began to explain. “The Cease likely can’t hurt you anymore. You exceed their power by an order of magnitude, and I can see your potential will only increase. But I came at great risk to myself and my family because I care for the Cease people. My people are on their way to take you as their captives. You see, I come from a separate and even more powerful group in the Subsystem.”

“I have time for just a short explanation as we walk but not much else. A long time ago, my people annexed this sector and have kept all beings below a certain threshold from knowing of our existence. The Cease think they are the most advanced existence in the Subsystem. You have pushed beyond the limit set by us for beings in this sector and have upset the balance for the Cease people. The Cease are important to me but are not specifically valued by my people. Had they arrived first, the Cease would have likely lost this planet if it meant they could ensure your capture or elimination. I still might not prevent a culling here.”

“If you are so advanced, what are you offering? Can you even offer protection from your people?” Trint challenged.

“I can’t offer protection, nor can I provide complete answers,” Cantor regretfully admitted, “but I do have a door.”

“Door to where?” Pneuma jumped seriously, but without showing the hope that was building in his being.

“Back to where you came from,” Cantor smiled.

“To our people in the Subsystem? Can’t the Cease just come get us again?”

“No, I can send you out of the Subsystem and back to the System,” Cantor corrected, “You have been here too long, learned too much, and upset our plans for this sector.

“We know of your encounter with an Adjudicator,” Cantor announced, “That is not something we can allow without protections in place. You are an agent of chaos and a harbinger of change. My people don’t want you running around affecting the balance they maintain. I don’t know what my Council had planned but it wouldn’t have benefited you or the Cease. Likely they wouldn’t have given you any good options.”

“One moment,” Pneuma requested, and Cantor nodded.

I think we go for it. If he is offering to get us back, then…, Trint paused in thought.

I agree. We don’t know him or have reason to trust him but if we can confirm the door leads back to the System, before jumping through it, then we should go, his dark companion agreed and continued, I know that we are leaving things unfinished down here but according to your Anchor details, we might be able to get back. Your Tree of Life will open access when it matures to level 3, right? But we should keep that knowledge to ourselves.

Trint nodded along to their private conversation as Pneuma continued with his thoughts.

Plus, all the leveling you’ve done since getting 10% of all the followers’ progression has leveled you a lot. We can go to Iteration i3. You are over level 2100 and at 2500 can go to i2. So, you will be above average for the iteration and our power should eclipse most parties there. It will be a great place to level and grow and get us back to our original plans. We will also be able to contact the outer reaches of your adoptive family and soon get word to your wife.

So almost no downside? Let’s go for it, Trint had heard enough to have no doubts this was the best option. After continually being the target of strong factions trying to control him, he finally had an escape route. He feared it might just lead them to the next trap, but this felt like progress.

“We agree to go,” Trint finally spoke after their private chat. “Is there a price you’re asking or requirements for this help?”

“No, just having you leave benefits me and was motivation enough for me to risk this much to see it happen. If there is nothing else, we need to hurry, please talk while you follow me.”

Trint, Pneuma, Bitain’La, Arneala, and Ele’Azar grouped up as they all followed Cantor through the wide-open docking bay of his ship. The three Cease friends shared what they thought of Trint’s agreement to go. They all quickly decided to go to the System. They had risked a lot too and probably burned bridges aligning with them. Leaving behind all they knew was going to be hard, but it also opened opportunities they never dreamed of. Their levels were nowhere near Trint’s so they would not be able to arrive in i3. But they had all wanted a fresh start in the System anyway.

“You’ll have to level while fighting in the Instances,” Pneuma reminded them, “That means fighting other Subsystem creatures and beings.”

“We know this will be a drastic change, but I believe we will be able to stay in contact with you through our Soul connection,” Ele’Azar spoke but also seemed to be reassuring the others.

“I hope so,” Trint had faith it would but wasn’t certain. Leaving the Subsystem could also result in unwanted changes.

“We are all going to have an easier time leveling with Instances and can also pursue professions,” Bitain’La shared her thoughts, “The Cease people focus primarily on Soul Mastery more than leveling. This really will be exciting new territory.”

They were led by my Cantor to an internal teleportation room and blinked away to the very center of the ship. They were standing on one side of another giant open space. In the middle of the giant room, suspended 50 feet in the air, was a glowing green cube the size of a car. It slowly rotated while randomly changing its spin. It had no set spin but stayed centered above a platform in the middle of the room.

“This cube is called a door and can take you back. The location will be a random one in the highest Iteration you qualify for. Now please, you need to hurry. Run and go stand below it. I will remain here and initiate the door.”

They all ran the remaining distance of a quarter mile. They were directly under the cube.

Cantor received a notification from his ship. The ship’s AI alerted him through a communication necklace he was wearing. The council had discovered his ship and would arrive in moments. Without waiting to give further directions or saying farewell he initiated the cube.