Chapter 128 - Are You Ready?
"I could only circulate my energy in the pattern of the simplest magic rune. I could not control my energy to follow a more complex rune. Even so… I feel much stronger already! It\'s incredible how simple the concept is. Still, it is regrettable that only beings at my level and above could practice this method. Only a small handful of beings could do that." Blackfire explained.
"How much stronger do you feel?" Alexander asked curiously.
"I feel at least fifty percent stronger." Blackfire said confidently. "If I go all out, I could probably exert sixty to seventy percent more of my peak power."
"That\'s really good!" Alexander smiled. He actually couldn\'t wait to do it himself, but he wanted to make sure that Aleyria was okay first before he tried it.
Even at that moment, Aleyria was still powering up!
Blink!
"Alexander!" A tired looking Flamewing in human form stumbled out of a ripple of space energy and appeared by his side.
"Hey there." Alexander smiled at Flamewing.
"Is she alright?" Flamewing asked worriedly as she gently touched Aleyria\'s hand as well.
"Yes. She\'s currently digesting the power that Magius and Fluff-fluff had gifted her. Her power growth is slowing down, so she should be done soon."
Flamewing released her senses and received a great shock when she realized just how powerful Aleyria had become!
"So you\'re saying that right now, she is combining the Power of Magius and the Power of Luck with the strange dark energy within her? Does that make her a Scion Lord or a Scion King?"
"Hmmm. I didn\'t think about it that way before. That\'s true though, now that she has three different power sources within her, she should technically be a Scion King."
Suddenly, an incredible thought struck Alexander.
"Aleyria\'s power began to circulate in the pattern of the advanced rune after receiving a large amount of power from Magius and Fluff-fluff. What would happen if I give her my Scion King power as well?" Alexander hesitated for a moment.
"What? You\'re planning on giving her the Power of Perses and the Power of Zegaro?" Flamewing asked in shock.
"Her dark energy had no problems absorbing Magius\'s seed and Fluff-fluff\'s mysterious luck energy. It should have no problems absorbing mine." Alexander reasoned. He turned to look at Flamewing. "However, just to be safe, prepare to inject a little bit of the Power of Paladinos into her too, so that she would have the vitality to absorb all of the power she would be receiving."
"WHAT?!" Flamewing shouted in shock. "Wouldn\'t that give her… SIX different types of powers?!"
"Yes." Alexander nodded. "Along with her power, her life force has been growing rapidly as well. She is slowly transforming into a life form that is much higher than us. She would be able to handle the energy growth. Plus, we don\'t know if this phenomena of being able to absorb other powers would remain after this session is over. We must give her all we have to make sure she reaches her highest potential."
Flamewing stared at Alexander as though he was crazy. "There is too much that we do not know, there are too many unknown factors, it\'s too dangerous!" Flamewing insisted.
"I am the last person who would want to put Aleyria in danger." Alexander said softly. "But I would be the first in line to do all I can to make sure that she gains the power and ability to survive in the event a realm war descends upon us. Trust me in this."
Flamewing sighed lightly and nodded her head. "I will be ready with the Power of Paladinos when the time comes." She said in agreement.
Alexander slowly activated the power of Perses within him and sent a tiny tendril of it into Aleyria\'s body. Even though he said what he said about giving Aleyria all six different types of powers that they had at hand, he still proceeded slowly and carefully.
As he expected, the tendril of the Power of Perses was absorbed cleanly.
Aleyria moaned lightly and opened her eyes. A slightly hungry look appeared on her face.
Alexander grinned widely at his success and began to inject more of his Power of Perses into her.
BOOOOM!!
Alexander\'s infusion of his Power of Perses into Aleyria caused a massive power surge to erupt from within Aleyria which overflowed into her surroundings in the form of a massive but formless black aura.
Fluff-fluff opened one eye lazily as she took note of the happening, but closed it soon after she ascertained that Aleyria was fine. Magius ignored the incident entirely.
With Alexander\'s boost, Aleyria\'s power level resumed its climb with startling ferocity. Even with Magius starting his own incredible journey in powering up, the distance between him and Aleyria continued to dwindle. The dark power within Aleyria had absorbed an incredibly potent amount of energy from Magius, Fluff-fluff and Alexander and had evolved into an energy type that defied all imagination.
Even so, its evolution had not ended yet.
The dark energy was in a constant state of flux as it slowly digested the incredible gifts of energy that it had received earlier.
Magic from Magius, Luck from Fluff-fluff and Battle Intent from Alexander. All three left their own powerful marks in the dark energy that filled Aleyria\'s body.
Alexander continued to release his power into Aleyria, which in turn disappeared within the dark energy almost instantly. It was like pouring water into a vast and bottomless abyss.
After a minute or so, Alexander decided that it was time to raise the bar up a notch. He summoned his Crystal Sword and activated his Scion Lord power. This time, instead of focusing merely on space energy, Alexander was careful to absorb all types of energy evenly.
BOOM!
A power surge of his own rippled out as a vast and ancient aura rolled of Alexander\'s body.
Slowly, he directed the power into Aleyria\'s body.
As expected, the dark energy immediately absorbed it without any problems and Aleyria experienced yet another incredible power surge! The speed in which her power grew became so ridiculous that this time, Magius couldn\'t help but open his eyes to study the developing phenomena. He frowned slightly and shook his head. "It may seem like it is not dangerous, but I do not think that it bodes well for Aleyria."
"What do you mean?" Fluff-fluff opened her eyes as well and asked Magius.
At that, Aleyria opened her eyes and looked at Magius too.
"Ordinarily, it would be impossible for such a frail human body to house such levels of energy. But somehow, the dark energy within her isn\'t leaking even a tiny drop into her body. It\'s like it is a separate entity. Yet, it is clearly not. It is Aleyria\'s energy."
"Indeed. There is a clear separation between the energy within her body and her body itself. All the arcane energy within her had been absorbed cleanly by the dark energy." Fluff-fluff agreed.
"But the dark energy is hers." Alexander commented. "I can clearly sense that the dark energy is Aleyria, even if she does not have full control over it at the moment."
"I may not have full control over it at the moment, but I feel a certain… warmth and… intimacy with it. It is as though I am returning to the embrace of my mother…" Aleyria said haltingly.
The five of them, one God, one cat, two dragons, and one man stared at Aleyria quietly whose power was still rising, albeit at a slower rate.
"It is not sentient?" Magius asked her.
"It is not." Aleyria confirmed. "I just feel very familiar with it, even though I have never felt it before."
Magius nodded. However, his dark eyes clearly showed that he still had his doubts.
"Are you going to infuse the Power of Zegaro as well?" Fluff-fluff raised a questioning eyebrow at Alexander.
Alexander glanced at Aleyria who nodded, and then at Flamewing and said, "I think it would be a better idea to give her the Power of Paladinos first. What do you guys think?"
There was silence for a moment as everybody sank into their thoughts.
"I am all for welcoming another God into our realm." Magius finally said. "The Almighty knows just how much pressure I have to deal with, being the only God left in this realm. But I do not wish to see the birth of an evil God. We do not know what that energy is capable of, even if it belongs to Aleyria."
"It is not evil." Aleyria said softly. "It may be a dark power, one that thrives in darkness. It may even be able to devour and absorb other powers. But it is not inherently hungry or bloodthirsty in anyway."
"There is a great chance that you would gain a power that would surpass even me. As I have always told the fat cat, with great power comes great responsibility.. Are you ready to assume the mantle of leadership, and the responsibility that comes with it, over this entire universe?" Magius asked while looking at Aleyria squarely in the eye.