Chapter 581: Hunger (1/2)

“What’s with you lately?” Zac asked as he looked over at Thea with confusion. “I can’t go five meters without you popping out of nowhere.”

“Do you not want me around?” Thea asked with a frown.

“No, I appreciate your company,” Zac sighed. “You just seem… Angry. Is everything okay?”

“Well, I am a bit annoyed that you apparently went ahead and put a sector-wide bulls-eye on our planet when you went off-planet,” Thea said with a glare, but she soon deflated. “But I’m angrier with myself. The Inheritance… Was a wake-up call. I’ve been playing it too safe, never going all out to push myself further.

“Yet I’ve been complaining about the fact that the disparity in power between us just keeps growing. I already wasted my time while you did all the hard work, and I need to grasp every opportunity that I can now. I can feel it. If I don’t increase my momentum, I might not even make it past E-Grade. My class rarity won’t allow it.”

Zac looked at Thea with wide eyes. He wasn't sure if he had ever heard her speak that much in one go, and Zac also noticed that Joanna had moved far away at some unknown time. It looked like she had already thought things over, and what she said made sense. You could never relent on the path of cultivation. He had gathered a huge advantage during his time in the F-Grade, but he needed to keep at it if he wanted to stay relevant.

His titles and attributes would slowly lose their value as others gained more powerful cultivation manuals and improved their Dao Control. According to his sister, the ability to braid two Dao Seeds into one attack essentially had the same effect as boosting both seeds one stage. The sum became greater than its parts.

He could only imagine that Dao Arrays were even more powerful, and he would be left in the dust unless he came up with his own strengths. It was good that Thea also had come to understand this fundamental truth. That insight alone might be worth more than anything else she gained from that Inheritance.

“Well, that’s fine… But don’t overextend yourself,” Zac eventually said as he scratched his chin. “I only act like I do because I have layers and layers of defensive measures. I’m not really someone to take after.”

“No, I’ve seen how you fight,” Thea snorted. “I’m more interested in taking after your guts than your battle techniques.”

“I’m sure you’d make an excellent axe-warrior,” Zac smiled before he turned to Billy who was standing not far away with a contrite look. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Billy made a mistake,” Billy sighed with a blush. “Billy is so smart, but for some reason the door was harder.”

“Well, it’s bad luck you didn’t get any credentials to open it the normal way,” Zac said, though he wasn’t so sure.

The more he thought about it, the more sense it made. If Billy’s titanic bloodline came from this place, then it made sense that he wouldn’t be able to move about freely. What kind of security system would hand out clearance to research subjects?

If he really was correct on this, then it might even explain why he didn’t get any credentials either, and why Ogras got one so effortlessly. He already knew that clan Azh’Rezak didn’t possess any hereditary bloodlines, and Ogras hadn’t acquired a synthetic one either unless his fusion with a shadow creature could count.

The only hole in the theory was the fact that Kenzie got access while he didn’t, unless he considered the very real possibility that Kenzie wasn’t the only child that Leandra experimented on. She gave Jeeves to Kenzie, but she might have infused him with a bloodline instead for two separate experiments.

“Stupid door realized Billy was too powerful, tried to keep Billy away. But we’ll see,” Billy muttered, but he shrank back a bit after getting an even look from Thea.

“Don’t thwonk any more doors,” she said simply said, but Billy still nodded hurriedly in agreement.

“Well, let’s go,” Zac shrugged as they set out.

“I’m coming as well!” a youthful voice shouted, and Zac grimaced when he saw Emily run toward them.

“What happened to your face?” Zac asked with a frown, noticing the new scar that just barely missed her eye.

“My face? What about your head? Have you become addicted to being bald?” Emily said with a glare. “No scouting parties dared to take me with them because of you, so I’ve been fighting on Mystic Island to gain levels. Come on, let me come with you. I swear I’ll be careful. And look, this!”

Cosmic Energy in her body suddenly surged as a five-meter-tall Totem Pole appeared in front of her.

“I’ve reached level 50 already, and this is my new skill,” she said with a proud smile. “Not bad right?”

“It looks good, but what does it-“ Zac muttered, but he stopped when he felt the Cosmic Energy churn in the area.

Not only that, but it almost felt like he had turned into a cultivator as the Cosmic Energy seemed to be actively burrowing into his body.

“That’s not all!” Emily smiled as a fiery axe appeared in her hand.

She didn’t use the buffing skill on Zac though, but rather threw it straight at the Totem Pole. This led to a startling transformation as the Totem almost grew twice in size while its design changed. If the earlier version looked like something that a bit like something you could find in Incan ruins to worship one’s ancestors, then the new one was something made to worship a sun god.

Fiery energies radiated from the pillar, and a large flame radiated at its top.

“My Strength has increased,” Thea exclaimed with surprise, while Billy almost drooled as he looked at the Totem Pole.

“It buffs everyone in an area this way?” Zac said with surprise, but he suddenly noticed something different compared to getting directly buffed by the axe.

It only gave half of the amount it normally did.

Still, a 5% area boost was huge if this thing was placed on a battlefield, and that number might even grow as the skill’s proficiency increased. Coupled with the increased energy restoration it could even turn the tides of a war.

“I don’t get any buff when using it like this. But I can even detonate this thing in case an enemy tries to take it down,” Emily whispered so that only Zac could hear. “Its explosion should hurt anyone that’s not crazy durable like you.”