Ascension of the elder

Chapter 61: Working past bedtime

"Phew I think I need to learn how to be a drill sergeant."

Kyle wasn't suited for this life of leadership but he didn't have a choice now so he would do the best he could. Taking a moment to calm himself, Kyle got organised before he headed to the infirmary to check on Chad.

When he arrived he saw a freshly showered Chad sitting on a chair next to his sister. It looked like Clara made him have a shower in the infirmary bathroom before she headed to bed.

"Hi Chad how are you doing?"

"I'm doing okay sir, I'm happy you can help my sister."

"Okay kid don't stay up to late, you won't do your sister any good if you get ill okay?"

"Yes sir I'll just stay up a little while longer to keep her company."

Kyle's heart went out to the kid so he ruffled his hair a little before he left. Before he rested Kyle had one more place to visit. He was heading to the formation chamber. Even though he could connect from anywhere within the mansion it felt different if he was in the chamber. Kyle assumed this feeling was because he was closer to the source and allowed him to connect at a deeper level.

As he walked through the mansion he could hear people in some of the lounges chatting amongst themselves. Hearing these signs of life and friendship Kyle was assailed by a sudden feeling of loneliness. Regardless of how he connected to these people he would always be separate.

This melancholy wasn't like him so he shook it off and carried on with a new pep in his step in an attempt to assuage this feeling. When he reached the first basement level Kyle was immediately impressed with the progress Randall and his team had made.

There were weapons and armour strewn around in various levels of completion and at different levels of skill but there was a high level of progression in style. In a matter of weeks the weapons would be in a state that they could be sold.

Continuing to the chamber Kyle approached the mana crystal which grew in luminescence as he approached. This was like a welcome to him like the feeling the mansion gave when he returned. Placing his hand on the crystal Kyle dove in.

He was going to try and communicate directly with the crystal as he could swear it was aware and getting smarter by the minute. He didn't fear that the mansion would suddenly turn on him as his mana was embedded throughout and within all the arrays and also inside the crystal, so he felt a deep connection with it.

Looking within the crystal Kyle could see the number of arrays was far more than last time and they were changing from second to second. The main difference on these arrays was some were made up of multi glyph arrays. This must have been what the mana crystal was doing when it was breaking down the array he sent into it previously.

Kyle didn't have the time to analyse what was happening so instead he approached the core of the crystal and passed within and once again saw the illusion of the mansion. The arrays within had also changed, becoming more complex or more complete Kyle couldn't tell as there were now several multi arrays present.

Once Kyle was close to the centre he used his soul force to call out to the crystal. This wasn't done in words it was more akin to a desire. He wanted to speak to the force that had begun to guide the mansion.

For a few moments there was no response, but gradually the mists of mana that floated around began to coalesce and take on a humanoid shape. As this shape was taking form Kyle managed to pick up a feeling from it. It wasn't strong more like a whisper but it was there and it was more precise than the feeling he sometimes received.

This feeling showed curiosity and a desire to help. The desire to help Kyle was the overriding feeling the figure gave off. This was a strange experience even more so than dying but slightly less than when he passed through the chaos realm.

Kyle responded to the figure by projecting his soul force, this wasn't in the form of an array rather he created a picture of the broken crystal and the altar along with the 2 spheres from the broken mansion. Kyle was hoping the figure would be able to at least give him an idea of what these were for.

The figure looked at the images and Kyle could feel the figure was projecting a sense of loss and regret, but beneath this was a strange feeling of pride. Kyle was struggling with this mix of feelings. How could this form have feelings like this, Kyle decided it would be best if he treated this being like a pet for now. It didn't seem to operate at a high level of though like a human but it could follow instructions and would defend him when needed and it could obviously feel emotions.

Watching the figure as it tried to organise its emotions Kyle moved closer and put his hand on its shoulder and just let his soul flow out with a sense of comfort and care. The figure turned and appeared to look at Kyle but as it had no eyes he was just assuming. It raised its hand and put it over Kyle's.

Once it was ready it used the mana to create an image for Kyle to see. It showed a shadowy figure placing one of the spheres in the depression on the altar and Kyle got the sense this action would lead to some kind of connection or link. This was based on a feeling and these abstract ideas didn't seem fit fully but it was the best he had.

Once the figure had placed the sphere the image shifted again, this time it showed the destroyed formation chamber. This time the figure was shown collecting all of the broken parts of the golden ring which surrounded the mana crystal and placed a small crystal shard on top.

Once the figure completed its actions the image broke down leaving Kyle and the figure standing alone. The figure was looking at Kyle and was releasing a feeling of hope and expectation. Kyle didn't know what would happen but he decided to trust this strange being and would do as it seemed to be requesting.

Nodding his head Kyle sent out a feeling to the figure indicating he would do as it wanted which elicited a sense of joy from it. Before he left Kyle gave the crystal mansion a once over to see if there were any changes and he was happy to see that the defensive glyphs had be strengthened beyond what they were previously.

This mansion was truly a bastion, Kyle didn't know if anyone would ever be able to breach it as it stood. Kyle sent his feeling of gratitude to the figure which only tilted it head and sent back a feeling of confusion, obviously not understanding why it was being thanked.

Kyle responded with his desire to protect those in his home making the figure understand his intent. Kyle left the crystal but as he was leaving he heard a soft clink, a small shard had fallen from his crystal. Kyle picked up the crystal and say it looked a lot like the one in the image the figure had shown him. Pocketing the crystal Kyle left the chamber and returned to his bedroom.

He cultivated for a little while so that he would be ready if anyone wanted to attack. He was pleased to note his mana was continuing to increase at a good rate and his level 1 nodes were almost clear.

Kyle began to run through the things he would need to do as this was what he usually did before he slept so he would have an idea of what he was going to be doing the following day.

Firstly was helping Miranda breakthrough, if he could prove his conjecture that cultivation required accumulation instead of pushing through as soon as possible it would give him an advantage.

Secondly if Miranda was successful he needed to see if those who had already broken through could have a secondary breakthrough. This would be for Ash, as amongst his people ash had the highest cultivation so he had the most mana on hand.

Third was to train his 'shadow hand' they would be training harder than anyone as he needed these guys up to spec ASAP.

Fourth was getting the information about the mansion ruins. If he could get his hands on this he would immediately do as the crystal wanted and place the crystal and sphere as indicated.

Finally if he had time he wanted to visit Bruno's parents and look over their building to see what measures he needed to implement to ensure their safety.

"Man I'm gonna need a holiday before the weeks over."