ALL NOVEL 422. Personal Matter
Shen's Allvision could see through the seams of Reality up to a thousand miles in the air before enough components piled on each other and blocked his view. That wasn't enough to reach the sun and moon rotating above the world, so he was going to take a look.
He and E'livia had been flying for hours already. His C+ agility and perfected abilities allowed him to fly very fast. He could've run circles around Earth's star system. Yet, the sun and moon didn't seem to have gotten any closer.
"This is getting boring," E'livia complained for the first time.
He had thought she would've complained earlier, but she had kept silent. She was really maturing quickly after reaching middle adulthood.
"It is," he agreed. "But it's not like we've got anything better to do."
"You might want to take a break for a few moments," a male voice that one might expect from a heavy smoker said behind them. He spoke in Stangue.
Shen's aura and domain weren't deployed, and his passive Law senses didn't exist any longer, so he wasn't surprised at being surprised. E'livia, however, turned quickly. The stranger had sneaked on her.
Shen also turned and saw a high elf wearing a light blue cultivator robe with golden runes. He looked thirty-something, was tall, golden-haired, blue-eyed, and handsome, and was also a B-rank.
"Who are you?" Shen asked.
The guy had his hands behind his back and bowed slightly. "Habnor. I'm the Gardener's contact in the Shaft's Overlord Realm. Didn't he mention me?"
Before Shen could say anything, E'livia's eyes widened, and she asked hopefully, "Can you send him a message for me? I'll pay you as much as you want."
Habnor shook his head. "There's no communication between us. I was placed here to deal with special exiles, and I can tell he exiled you without prior communication. You're not marked to be killed upon arrival, so you must be surrounded by unique circumstances—which I don't care about. I'm supposed to explain the world and help you get a Shaft ID. We'll begin once this Realm brings us back."
Shen opened his mouth to ask what he was talking about, but then Space shifted, and he was teleported to only a few tens of thousands of miles above the ground. He felt nothing when that happened. No Energy expenditure, no Laws, no domain, no Realization. It was as if Reality itself had been rearranged, so his position changed. There was nothing he could do to prevent that, either.
"Ah, right on time. We can discuss matters over tea." He started flying down. "I'm not paid to convince you to trust me. Follow me or not at your convenience."
Shen and E'livia shared a look. She could kill weak B-ranks, so following the guy was relatively safe. Hearing what he had to say wouldn't hurt—unless he brought them to a trap.
They shrugged at each other and followed Habnor.
"Your name isn't very high-elven," Shen mentioned.
"Maybe not in the Alliance," Habnor replied. "That is one of the things I'm supposed to explain to you. There are countless species throughout Reality, and many can be found in multiple multiverses."
Shen was shocked silly. Not because of the species thing; that sounded sensible. Considering that the same Laws affected everything, even with some minor differences, it was only natural that, in an infinite number of universes, the same phenomena that birthed a species in one place might happen twice over an endless amount of time. Give the species the potential for immortality through cultivation, and some were bound to be found even in multiple places separated by an insurmountable length of space.
No, what shocked him was that he had heard the Alliance's name.
Memories unlocked in his mind. Every memory related to the Alliance did, except any containing personal matters. The tribulation that made Shen deaf to E'livia's speech didn't care about Habnor. Or perhaps it couldn't care about the high elf. This was a different multiverse with different Heavens, and the local Heavens might've suppressed the foreign tribulation to a point when it had something to do with a local denizen.
Shen stopped flying and froze for minutes as the memories were unlocked. It caused a lot of pain. The Heavenly Tribulation had given way to the local Heavens' wishes but didn't need to like it or make it pleasant for Shen.
With the memories came willpower. The world became more focused. He felt better and less airheaded.
When he came back to himself, E'livia was yelling at him. "Shen! Please! Talk to me!"
He looked at her and wasn't surprised to find Habnor locked into a shell of Time Laws. She had acted as soon as Shen stopped moving. The B-rank high elf had the power to free himself, as shown by his moving eyes, which shouldn't be happening in a Time Prison. However, he had allowed her to freeze him to show he wasn't a threat.
"It's alright," Shen replied. "It's about a personal matter. Please, unfreeze Habnor."
She looked suspiciously at him but correctly guessed that it had something to do with his tribulation. So, after a moment, she nodded and released the high elf.
Shen cupped his fists before himself and bowed low. "This junior thanks the Esteemed Senior for helping him recall something important."
Habnor had been frozen with his back to Shen, but he turned and nodded. "A better attitude than your earlier one, I suppose. But I didn't help you on purpose, so there's nothing to thank me about. Someone already made Karma an Axiom in the Shaft, so don't go around owing people in your heart. It'll come to 'bite you in the ass' later—if I recall the Alliance saying correctly." He turned and resumed flying.
"Karma?" Shen asked, surprised once more. "But if it's an Axiom... Shouldn't it be in all of Reality?"
"Reality is layered. The Therona School of Thought calls the layers the Low, High, and True Heavens. The Low Heavens are at the universal level, the High Heavens are at the multiverse level, and the True Heavens are the actual sentience and rules shared throughout Reality. When anyone mentions the Heavens, it's almost always the Low Heavens."
Shen asked, "I suppose pushing a Realization to the Heavens at S-rank only means affecting a single universe?"
Habnor nodded, "Correct. An Ascender pushed Karma into this Realm's Low Heavens, which should affect a single universe."
"Should?"
"Each Realm in the Shaft is made of several universes woven together, and their individual Low Heavens are linked. I was told the Alliance does something similar with the Low Heavens of several universes. It's harder to push your Realization into Linked Low Heavens, but then your Axiom affects every universe in them."
Shen frowned. "Ascenders? Is that what you call S-ranks?"
"Oh, yes. G-ranks are mortals. F-ranks are Initiates. E and D-ranks are Conceptualizers; D-ranks are Proven Conceptualizers. C-ranks are Law Overlords; usually, just Overlords for short. Anyone who mastered any Law is a Proven Overlord. B-ranks are Seekers unless they have a domain, then they become Dominators. A-ranks are Realizators. S-ranks are Ascenders."
Shen organized the information in his mind.
Mortals were those who didn't cultivate.
Initiates were those who had started cultivating.
Conceptualizers were dealing with Concepts. Once you mastered one, you became a Proven Conceptualizer.
Law Overlords were those who dealt with Laws. Once you mastered one, you became a Proven Overlord.
After mastering every Law in your Path and overcoming the B-rank tribulation, you became a Seeker. That probably meant you were seeking a domain because you became a Dominator once you developed it.
Anyone with a Realization was a Realizator.
And any S-rank was an Ascender.
Changing from ranks to the local naming convention would be annoying, but they at least were less of a mouthful than in the Myriad Worlds. Shen could live with that. He would have to, considering E'livia had said they needed to reach A-rank to return to the Myriad Worlds and the Alliance.
Habnor added, "There are nuances, of course. You two have domains but aren't at the correct tier to be considered fully-fledged Dominators. You, drow, are a mere Overlord, making you a Lawful Dominator. The aeonian is a Proven Overlord already, so she would be a Demi-Dominator."
"What about—" Shen started but was interrupted.
"I'd rather discuss more over a cup of tea," Habnor said.
Shen and E'livia shared another look and followed silently to his home.
The cutest E-rank—or, rather, Conceptualizer—Shen had ever seen served him tea in a maid uniform. The high elf girl looked eight years old, so she should be around twenty, as high elven bodies matured slowly, at least in the Alliance. She had silver eyes and golden hair in a ponytail and was a bit clumsy as she served tea.
Habnor's home was surprisingly simple. The style resembled a medieval but clean one, with some magic tools here and there. It was heavy with woodwork, like the thick table and chairs, and felt cozy. The two-story house was built with D-tier materials, his furniture was E-tier, and a C-tier energy field surrounded the whole property, including the garden outside. His was the only building in the vast grassland.
The tea ware was nicely crafted—for a mortal. It was E-tier and should be better than that. Shen suspected it had been a gift from the girl, who was obviously not Habnor's blood daughter but treated him like a father.
"Alavalot, Lariel," he said in the local language after she finished serving the tea. Lariel smiled happily, bowed, and left quickly. Habnor sighed. "I've never seen someone so talented in cultivation, but she wastes time training to be a maid. Heavens help me with that girl."
"To each their own Path," E'livia replied as she sipped the tea. "It tastes awful. Help her learn how to properly brew it."
"Absolutely not," Habnor said as he also sipped his tea. Like E'livia, he made no face at the poor taste and pretended it was normal. Lariel, who was looking from a crack on the door, couldn't understand Stangue but seemed happy everyone was drinking. "I'll not incentivize such delusions. She'll grow out of it soon enough."
Shen sipped the tea. It was the bitterest liquid he had ever tasted. It was also rancid. Cat piss might be more pleasant to the tongue. "Do it for your guests if not for yourself. I feel tempted to cut my tongue out."
Habnor harrumphed. "Feel free to leave if your free food doesn't please you, Your Majesty. I'm not paid to make you happy."
Shen smiled bitterly—but less bitter than the tea. "Point taken. Speaking of what you are paid to do..."
The high elf sighed. "Let me start by reassuring you that you won't lose potential willpower gain by hearing everything I'll tell you. And I'll tell you a lot."
"Why not?" E'livia asked.