Chapter 375: Free Lunch (1/2)

It was 4 pm the next day when the crystal in Zac’s lap vibrated, indicating that his sister or Ogras was trying to contact him.

“Everything is ready,” Kenzie’s voice emerged from the crystal after he picked it up. “We couldn’t get a hold of Ibtep, but everyone else is here.”

“Ask Alyn if she wants to try. I’m on my way,” Zac said as he stood up. “Can you bring the prayer mat from the cave?”

”It's already here.”

Zac had spent the better part of a day picturing the Dao of the Axe, or at least the part of the Dao that represented his path. He still did not know if his conclusions were correct, but he was simply out of time and would have to roll the dice.

He walked over to the Academy in quick steps and found that everyone apart from Ogras was waiting outside. There were also 50 Demon Soldiers and 30 Valkyries who stood ready to guard the structure against any interruptions. Alyn stood there as well, though he was not sure if it was because she was there to oversee the event or to join it.

Alyn was the back-up he decided to fill Ibtep’s spot in case he couldn’t be reached. She was not really a core part of his fighting force, but she had contributed a lot to Port Atwood in her own way. He also thought that if Alyn’s accomplishments in the Dao increased, then she would also be able to teach the students more efficiently.

“Finally we’re doing this,” Ogras’ voice drifted over, but the usually lazy tone contained an undeniable hint of excitement this time.

The demon sported a new small scar on his left cheek, but other than that he seemed fine even though he had fought an undead general the other day.

“Let’s hope we got this right, otherwise this will turn into a tragedy,” Zac wryly smiled as he looked across the people who would participate.

All of them belonged to the absolute peak of Port Atwood’s forces. The only exception was a motley mix of youngsters who looked a bit nervous. It was the students that Alyn had recommended, seedlings with potential to become powerhouses under his banner.

If something happened to all of them, including himself, then both Port Atwood and Earth was finished.

“So maudlin,” Ogras said with a roll of his eyes. “It’s just a bunch of Origin Dao, what can go wrong?”

“Famous last words,” Zac snorted, though he felt the demon had a point.

“Let’s head inside and I will explain things,” Zac said as he looked over the group before entering the circular building.

Zac only took a few steps before he froze for a second, looking with some shock at what his sister had created. The walls were covered in a dense pattern of inscriptions, reaching pretty much from floor to ceiling. Even the stone floor and ceiling contained inscribed lines that went in circles around the outer layer he stood in.

Kenzie truly hadn’t been slacking off.

The group was led into the central chamber where the first group would meditate on the Dao when the Dao funnel was cracked open.

The Dao funnel was placed on an altar in the middle of the room, and the altar itself was covered in fractals as well. According to Kenzie the platform had the same effect as the spatial disturbance arrays he had used to block out the usage of teleporters. It was likely that it was these kinds of altars, albeit far more advanced versions, the Undead Empire used to block out the teleporters in the area surrounding his forces.

Whether such a thing would be needed or not wasn’t sure, but Kenzie added it as a precaution. They simply knew too little about Origin Dao, and Brazla hadn’t been helpful no matter how much Kenzie had begged or cajoled.

Their best guess was that Origin Dao was a mysterious energy that existed in the air around them, just like Cosmic Energy, but that it was impossible for people at their level to detect. It seeped into their souls from exposure, and absorbing the Origin Dao strengthened people’s connection to the Dao.

Kenzie was afraid that the energy would dissipate too quickly, perhaps through leaving into other planes of existence. So she had prepared an array to seal space itself, in addition to the arrays that would hopefully keep the Origin Dao consigned to the room they were in.

The inner chamber wasn’t actually sealed off, but it rather had an open layout with eight vaulted arches that provided vision to those who would sit outside. Even the inner chamber was separated into two rows, meaning that the group would be split into three priorities.

The innermost row was just two seats, one on each side of the altar. Just behind the seats was a line of fractals forming a circle around the seats and the altar, along with two small glass cylinders covered in fractals. Each of the glass pillars was roughly half a meter high and placed next to the two seats. Finally there were four large fractals on the floor tiles, one on each side of the innermost seats.

“Crack any of those pillars and all the restrictive arrays and the altar will be destroyed immediately, which would hopefully let the Origin Dao dissipate quickly,” Kenzie explained when she saw Zac’s gaze. “It’s like a panic button.”

“What if I only want to release the Origin Dao toward the next layer?” Zac asked.

“See the fractals that are placed next to your seats?” Kenzie asked. “They are shortcuts to the energy pathways that feed Cosmic Energy to the two sealing arrays. If you disrupt the pathway the array will lose its power in a second or two, allowing the Origin Dao to spread. It doesn't matter what order you crush them, so just destroy one to open up the second layer, and two to open up the third.”

“So just punch the tile or something?” Zac asked, receiving a nod in confirmation.