Modern Awakening - A cultivation, LitRPG, apocalyptic novel

"So it's the opposite of what I did," Shen summarized after E'livia explained T'onir's ability.

T'onir had used a technique to make his Path "more real." He consumed elixirs and other expensive resources to "anchor" his Path to Reality. When his Path moved, so did Reality itself—to a point. The effects were similar enough to a domain, but the way to achieve it was fundamentally different—and, in fact, the technique was diametrically opposite to domains.

The ability was called Freedom Fighting because it was used against Dominators, those who had domains. Shen's domain wouldn't have helped him against it, as Domanitors supposedly could not fight back against Freedom Fighters, no matter what. Only his True Center—which he later deemed False—had allowed him to resist the Materialized Death as much as he had.

That was linked to the principle of each ability. Domains were a personal rendition of one's perspective on what Reality should become. It went from a small being to affecting a more significant portion of Reality. Freedom Fighters, on the other hand, used what Reality already was against their opponents. Their Laws belonged to Reality more than themselves and couldn't be denied by a cultivator because Reality itself was moving against them.

Freedom Fighters were considered absolute in the C-rank, even against supposedly elites with domains.

The downside of being a Freedom Fighter was that cultivating became a struggle. Anyone would "convert" to it only at the peak of C-rank, the last point in one's Path where it could be done. From that moment onwards, a Freedom Fighter's Laws fought against them, similar to how Shen had been fighting himself. It seemed holin blood made it easier on them, though.

Still, T'onir's tribulations would be more challenging than usual, so he would take a while to attempt breaking through to B-rank—if he ever did it. Most Freedom Fighters remained at C-rank, and not a single one had ever reached A-rank that E'livia knew of. Not that reaching the A rank was that common for it to be seen as a bad tradeoff.

Shen still considered it kind of... sad.

Still, some people took that path in the Gardener Sect for the greater good of the Myriad Worlds. Fighting a domain with a domain was more dangerous and less certain than sending a Freedom Fighter to kill a Dominator. The guy had made his Path harder and potentially cut it off to better protect others.

T'onir was still an overzealous idiot, but Shen found him less unpleasing to the eyes.

More importantly, that made Shen wonder about his own Path. He had no memories of his evolution, but he instinctively knew he had started with an average Path, then walked a True Path, then developed a True Center. He felt a link was missing somewhere in there, but that was beside the point. The matter was that his One Self came after his True Center, and he wondered what was next.

Perhaps it had to do with forcing Reality to let him materialize his One Self as it was instead of the Persona it created to fit him within its rules. Or perhaps he would just merge with Reality at S-rank. The former sounded more likely, maybe at A-rank.

"Yes," E'livia replied. "The opposite of your domain."

Shen had meant that Freedom Fighting was the opposite of his One Self. He had gone all the way opposite to blending with Reality. He had blended with himself distinctively from Reality, forming his own micro-Reality in himself. He guessed he had only been able to say T'onir had done the opposite of what he did because it could be understood the way E'livia had.

The girl continued, "That's why the City Lord will defeat you," she concluded.

"Wait," Shen pleaded. "I didn't get the logical connection there."

"You'll fight a City Lord," she replied meaningfully. Shen silently stared back at her until she sighed and explained, "Fighting against Freedom Fighters strengthens one's domain. Not that that helps against Freedom Fighters themselves, but it does against other domains. Every City Lord has to reach a threshold before being allowed to become a City Lord, and candidates often do that by training against the sect's Freedom Fighters. That's advantageous for everyone involved."

Shen frowned. "Pagarti was infected with an alien Path when I met him. I healed it with my aura. His domain can't be that big of a deal."

E'livia shrugged. "I don't know anything about that, but if I had to guess, he met someone with an Anti-Path. They are useful for assassination or post-death revenge."

Shen's frown deepened. He had a lot of knowledge in his mind, but he was clearly still missing a lot. Learning about Freedom Fighting and Anti-Paths the same day humbled him a little.

"Anti-Paths?" he asked.

She nodded. "They are rare. Illegal in the Myriad Worlds, too. Oh, and kind of a secret, I guess? Not a sect-level secret, but close enough. It's one of those things you're supposed to be all mysterious about. Anywho, Anti-Path Walkers are annoying to fight one-on-one but very weak in a group engagement. Their Path directly counters anyone else's they set as a target. You can't kill them without a domain, and if they are Dominators, too... If that's what happened, I bet the City Lord only won because his domain was strong, as I just told you."

Instead of wasting time remaining frustrated at his ignorance, Shen thought about what learning those things meant for his past and future. His memories about these new abilities hadn't been blocked; they had been inexistent. Access to information might've been harder wherever he came from, but his memories also told him of a more... structured Reality. Sort of. Things in the Myriad Worlds felt more organic, fluid, alive. It should have something to do with the Gardener's Life-based Realization, but not exclusively. Someone had made his previous home more restrictive, in a way.

"And if he knows you're an Aura Master, your trick with your aura won't work on him," E'livia continued. "You'll lose. But don't worry; I'll ensure you don't die."

"I find your lack of faith disturbing," he replied, the words feeling weird on his tongue for some reason.

"Yeah, yeah. I guess you can try another miracle with Un'Re, but the City Lord will also know how you defeated T'onir. Your spear won't get anywhere near him."

"We'll see."

They reached Alaans soon enough. Both were disguised, and the city's Defenders came to check on the unknown arrivals. Shen felt like an idiot for forgetting to learn the local language and let E'livia do the talking.

The approaching platoon differed from the one that met Shen when he first arrived. Only one of the six armored people was C-rank, the others at peak D-rank. He guessed that's the reception a random aeonian got in a world they weren't supposed to be, in contrast to a naked drow, a race that was absurdly rare in the Myriard Worlds.

The C-rank leader asked a few questions, which E'livia answered. Some questions were directed at Shen, and the guy didn't look happy at Shen's silence, though he didn't show it. Well, not in his voice. Shen could see past his armor's anti-sensory enchantments. He read the man's expressions and saw his emotions.

Shen almost felt it was too invasive. Almost. Any such advantage might save him in the future against a sneak attack or hidden intentions, and he wouldn't disregard it for concerns over a stranger's privacy.

As for his friends...

Shen glanced at E'livia. Well, maybe after he got to trust her a little. He wouldn't let their mutual desire blind him to their recent past or the fact that she had sounded very loyal to the Gardener Sect when they talked. She didn't want to marry outside the sect, for instance. Her loyalties lay in an organization that might become Shen's enemy in the future.

Whatever E'livia said satisfied the guy, who tossed her two pearl-like beads and flew away. She gave one to Shen and gestured to an inn. They could talk in Stangue after they protected themselves with an anti-spy ward, a common enchantment in any inn worth its salt.

"It's an ID tag," she said after they got a room. The inn was average, as was the room, though E'livia had paid for the largest one. It had two double beds. She hadn't minded paying, but Shen decided to find a way to exchange any potential remaining crystal with her for coin he could use. "It's not really needed; the city's formations will recognize your Path. But it's respectful to carry it around." She sat on one bed. "We're both dumb, aren't we? I need to teach you Galan. I should've brought an info cube. Sit down, and we can start."

Shen complied.

She talked a lot for the next few hours.

That much wasn't enough for him to master the language. Even with E'livia talking very fast and his C-rank mind and C-rank... something... related to learning, it wasn't enough. He got a barely passable basic level of Galan. A twelve-year-old would speak better than him.

He blamed it mainly on Galan, though. The language was complex, full of exceptions within exceptions. It was even more complicated than the drow language, which could change entirely based on context. He hated it.

"Time out," he said eventually. He could go on, but he saw no reason to. He wanted to relax, so he would relax. He didn't need to go full-throttle on everything he did.

"We'll kileng well take a break now!" E'livia enthusiastically agreed. Maybe a bit too enthusiastically. She was growing frustrated with Shen's learning speed.

It turned out kiles—and its form kileng—wasn't a swear word but merely a convenient slang as useful as one. Something close to Stangue's "damn." Shen found it a bit disappointing and endearing at the same time. For some reason, he both liked and disliked the thought of being with someone who swore all the time, though he couldn't tell why.

"I'm taking a bath," Shen informed as he stood up. "You're welcome to try one, too. I saw a public bath on the way here."

"What? Why?" E'livia asked, also standing up. C-ranks didn't need to take baths. Their Laws could clean them better and more efficiently than soaking in water.

"I just feel like it," he replied as he left the room.

His state of mind had become quite something. He didn't need to find big reasons to do something he liked or not do something he disliked. His entire being was One. Every part of himself agreed with each other almost automatically. Anything that didn't require a little more reasoning was merely done, not thoroughly thought over.

Well, he had considered the possible dangers and whatnot involved in a stroll and getting naked with unknown people, but the arguments were simple enough that they didn't require him to delve into it. He wanted to go, and there were no compelling reasons not to. It was as simple as that.

Shen felt almost elated at such a straightforward life. Everything was so relaxing. Even his desire to battle felt more like a natural reflex of his self than an angry impulse or a controlling need.

"I don't go nude in front of people," E'livia said, but she was still following him.

"I appreciate that," Shen replied. "I'm a prude in certain things. I like the idea of my future partner reserving herself for me. Then again, I'm a hypocrite. I don't care about other people seeing me naked." He considered something and said, "I guess I should preserve myself better until I find out if my future wife cares about it. It's only fair."

She blushed a little and said weakly, "I'm a prude too. Like you, I mean. In the naked thing."

He smiled as he left the inn. "Then, I'll bathe clothed. When I checked, there were a lot of people wearing clothes."

E'livia looked surprised. "You checked on it? Isn't there a privacy ward in the bath?"

"I can see through them," Shen revealed, not caring much about it. He had to start depositing some trust in her if their friendship was to get anywhere.

E'livia halted a few steps later, looked down on herself, and then at Shen. She didn't complain about anything, though. She just resumed following him silently and a little red.

Her reaction surprised him a little because she didn't care about people feeling her virginity, but he guessed he had said "see" instead of "feel." He was speaking the local language to practice, and the two words were very different without any semantic intersection. Seeing through wards was harder than feeling anything.

And indeed, Shen could now easily see people naked—not something he prided himself in. He never ogled, though. Or stared. Not even E'livia, whose body she had allowed him to embrace a bit too tightly. He controlled his state of mind so as not to check people out for more than seeking danger. He ignored anything that would be impolite to notice.

He didn't explain it to her, though. There was enough tension already. They really needed to move on to safer topics, and he regretted mentioning a bath. He should add that to his future considerations.

But now it was done. They flew through the streets to the enormous sandstone building. E'livia paid for Shen again and for herself. It turned out that there was a clothed mixed section, and they were glad to pick it.

The bathroom was big, with a central square hot pool that occupied almost the entire room. It was also sandstone, enchanted and old, but not in ruins. It gave the feeling of a place with history rather than abandoned.

There were a dozen people there, three couples and some loners. No one was doing anything untward. The place was about relaxing, and everyone respected that.

Shen found a corner with E'livia, and they got their bodies into the water up to the neck and relaxed.

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