Defiance of the Fall

Zac's heart furiously beat as he looked into the smiling Realm Spirit's eyes. So Sendor knew. Had he known all this time? Had he investigated him, or had his breakthrough exposed something? Did he have information about Kenzie? His mind was thrown into chaos by the name he had only heard from his mother's lips.

"How?" Zac eventually said.

"How I knew?" Sendor grinned. "Well, I didn't. Until now, that is."

Zac glared at the unreliable Supremacy. There was no way his guess was a shot in the dark.

"Fine, it made sense, so I made some discrete inquiries. Adding that with my unique relationship with the System, I managed to piece together the clues."

"Made sense how?" Zac pressed.

"So, do we have a deal?" Sendor countered.

Zac took a steadying breath before slowly nodding. He knew he was on the hook the moment he heard the name of his mother's clan. Besides, with Sendor having deduced as much already, his secrets weren't as valuable anymore.

"As long you don't tell me some commonly known scraps before saying that you can't share anymore for one reason or another."

"I'm sure you'll be satisfied," Sendor laughed. "You first, then."

"Why?" Zac said with exasperation.

"Seniority."

"Fine," Zac sighed. "I honestly don't really know what's going on—this wasn't part of the plan. But we are one. I control both, and both are me."

"I knew it," Sendor said with excitement, his eyes suddenly emitting that immense pressure again.

Zac held his breath and held onto his Dao until the feeling passed. He really couldn't wait to get out of this place.

"There was something odd in your chest before. Now it's gone. It's what made this possible?"

Zac didn't immediately answer. He'd agreed to explain his situation, but there was nothing said that he had to go out of his way to share his secrets. Like the fact the node was called a [Quantum Gate], which had then been converted to the links. So Zac simply nodded in response, confirming the Hidden Node was part of the reason.

"I knew it. Hey, try extracting Miasma from your human form again."

Zac was annoyed at being treated as an experimental subject, but he followed the instructions. Figuring out the details of his constitution was part of why he wanted this trade in either case. Once more, chilling waves of death spread through his pathways before being expunged by his body's natural defenses.

"Your path is interesting but quite unfortunate when you consider these changes," Sendor snickered. "Well, it's not too bad. You should be able to freely use the Miasma in your human form by the time you form an Earthly Dao of Death. It still won't feel very nice, and you'll get that ugly pallid complexion if you overdo it, but you won't get sick. Let's keep going."

Sendor had him complete a few more experiments, including some Zac hadn't thought of. He could freely draw any energy from either body, but he ultimately only had one pool. If human Zac used up all the Miasma, then Draugr Zac would be in a bad state. Still, he had essentially doubled his energy reserves; he only needed to get a bit stronger before he could make use of that fact.

He could also extract energy from "both" cores to one body. It doubled his output, but it put his pathways under immense strain. It wasn't very useful for now, but Zac could already picture some possibilities. For example, what if he created a War Regalia based on his Inexorable Core for his human side?

He would essentially be able to run a second set of equipment for free, provided his Draugr side didn't require energy at the same time.

"Next up," Sendor said. "This one might hurt."

"Wait, wha—"

Zac wanted to have Sendor clarify, but he suddenly found himself pushed through a vortex. His words turned into a horrified scream as the gate closed behind him, and he pictured the link between his bodies being forcibly cut. However, no pain arrived, and Zac curiously looked around.

His human form found himself standing atop a tower, looking out across an impossibly vast city. He saw hundreds of palaces the size of capitals, and he almost keeled over from the terrifying auras that were suddenly released from every direction. It was blinding, and Zac knew he wouldn't have survived if not for the protective barrier around the tower.

"I guess it's quite resistant."

Only then did Zac come to, realizing he'd heard the words from his Draugr body. The link was still there, and his vision was split between the city and Mount Illumination. After the shock abated, Zac made a few interesting discoveries. For one, it was much easier to control his bodies when they were separated, with no overlapping sensations to cause confusion.

Secondly, the energy draw from his new Specialty Cores had slowed to a trickle. Zac had expected the cost to maintain the connection would increase the further apart his bodies were, but the opposite seemed to be true.

"What's going on? Where am I?" Zac asked.

"In one of the more flourishing cities of my domain," Sendor said. "It's on the opposite side of my body."

"How far apart are my bodies right now?"

"Further than the span of an established empire," Sendor smiled.

Zac's eyes widened in shock. When someone like Sendor talked about empires, it was definitely the monolithic forces of the Multiverse Heartlands. The Zecia sector could barely be considered a small province in such a place. To think he could freely use his bodies at such a distance without any downsides. If anything, he felt better than ever.

Also, just how big was Sendor's realm? Can a pocket dimension really be called that when it is this big?

"Now, let's try this," Sendor said, and Zac's human form found himself dragged off the tower and into another vortex.

At first, Zac didn't mind, but he yelped with shock upon losing half his impressions. It was like he'd been blinded in one eye, but the loss was far more comprehensive. The link to his Draugr body had been cut. Zac felt his body rapidly grow weaker, like he'd been branded with something like the Orom's Prison Seal.

Were his energy circuits not working properly now that he couldn't sense his half? Zac could picture his core being ripped in two and leaking all his accumulated strength. Zac only calmed down after a minute when he'd confirmed nothing else changed after the downgrade of his power. He looked around and saw he was floating inside a bubble bobbing on a sea that teemed with Temporal Energy.

Being separated from his other half just as he was getting used to it was extremely jarring, resulting in it taking a few tries before he managed to enter his Void Self State.

Only then could Zac vaguely feel the connection to his other body, though only to the point he could tell it was still there. He had no way to interact with it, and the shared consciousness was no more. And that was just the beginning. For one, Zac felt like his soul had been cut in half, where only his Evolutionary Core remained.

The same was true for his Cosmic Core, which no longer could provide him with Miasma. And the source of the weakness quickly became apparent when Zac opened his Status Screen.

Name Zachary Atwood

Level 155

Class [D-Arcane] Evolutionary Precursor

Race [D] Human - Void Emperor (Corrupted)

Alignment [Zecia] Atwood Empire – Baron of Conquest

Titles [...] Runic Progenitor, Grand Achievement, Arcane Ascension, Pathbound Core, Peakmender

Limited Titles Tower of Eternity Sector All-Star - 14th, Equanimity, Big Axe Gladiator, The Final Twilight - 1st, Gates of Rebirth

Dao Branch of the War Axe - Middle, Branch of the Kalpataru - Middle, Branch of the Pale Seal - Middle

Core [D] Evolutionary Core

Strength 38,026 [Increase: 169%. Efficiency: 409%]

Dexterity 20,468 [Increase: 141%. Efficiency: 285%]

Endurance 25,044 [Increase: 155%. Efficiency: 409%]

Vitality 33,586 [Increase: 168%. Efficiency: 428%]

Intelligence 6,503 [Increase: 125%. Efficiency: 285%]

Wisdom 9,777 [Increase: 127%. Efficiency: 300%]

Luck 881 [Increase: 154%. Efficiency: 349%]

Free Points 500

Nexus Coins [D] 7 645 946

His attributes had been cut by 20%, where most of it came out of his Strength and Endurance. In terms of combat effectiveness, he'd say he'd lost closer to a third. A quick calculation confirmed what had changed. He had retained the full benefit of his titles, base attributes from levels, nodes, and even free points. And while one of his Soul Spirals was suddenly missing from his mind, Zac still got the attribute boost from all three Daos.

However, he'd lost all the benefits of having two classes. All the attributes he'd gotten from his Undying Bulwark, Fetters of Desolation, and Inexorable Apostle classes were gone. Everything else was the same, including the list of Hidden Nodes in his bloodline screen. Zac looked across the boundless sea, trying to figure out why this place was different.

Was it the Temporal Energy? Zac couldn't be sure, but he wouldn't be surprised if this ocean had a completely different spacetime compared to the part of the Perennial Vastness which contained the Cosmic Gallery. Was that enough to make the connection unstable? Was it the only one, or were there other types of domains that would cause this issue?

At least there wasn't a backlash, and his weakened state wasn't too taxing. His attribute superiority mostly came from his titles, which were still in full effect. His situation was like any elite's right now, though his power and experiences had allowed him to rack up far more titles than normal people. Zac could still take on almost any Heaven's Chosen at his level, though he definitely wouldn't be able to handle freaks of nature like Iz Tayn in this state.

A few more minutes passed where nothing happened. Depending on what speed time moved in here, it might be a while before Sendor extracted him, which let him ponder the ramifications of the recent discoveries. Essentially, he could split his situation into three scenarios, each with its own circumstances.

He was technically in his 'ultimate' form when the bodies were next to each other. Fighting side by side, using two sets of skills and techniques, would turn him into a two-person army, far eclipsing his previous peak condition. However, the Specialty Cores consumed a lot of energy in close proximity for some reason, making his energy control sluggish. It was also difficult to sort out the mirrored impressions, which was a huge disadvantage in a pitched battle.

When separated, he had almost returned to his previous state. The cores didn't steal his energy, and he felt more in tune with the individual bodies. However, he wouldn't be able to swap classes, nor would he be able to fight as a team.

Now, he was suddenly left with half a soul, core, and reduced attributes. It was the worst scenario, one with no upsides but significant risks. For example, what if only one of his bodies were sent into Ultom, and he had his connection cut? There were only three years left until the trial, and the biggest boost to his raw power would come from leveraging his Middle-quality Cosmic Core to rapidly gain levels during the war.

Right now, the downside "only" meant a loss of 20% of his total Attribute points. But by the time he reached level 200, that number would be even higher. He also wouldn't be able to implement his idea of using Death-attuned equipment in his human form.

Ten more minutes passed and Zac started to grow bored, but a mysterious ripple suddenly spread through his protective bubble. Then, a voice followed by a burst of impressions threw his mind into disarray. Meanwhile, his body filled with power like he'd eaten a berserking treasure. The connection had been restored in full, along with all its benefits.

As for the voice, it was Sendor, who'd asked, 'What about now?'

Zac sorted through the memories and immediately understood what had just happened. His Draugr form had lost the connection the moment Zac entered the temporal sea, just like his human form. Sendor immediately started another round of experiments, and the findings were transferred over to "him" the second the connection was restored.

There were a few takeaways. First, the other body operated like normal when the connection was blocked. In other words, it wasn't like his consciousness was linked to either body. It was in both, and his Draugr side had felt like the "true" Zac while the connection was blocked. Secondly, his Draugr half was even worse off since his undead body had also lost the benefits of the Void Vajra Constitution.

That disadvantage would likely even out after the Eoz bloodline was fully awakened, but it was worth noting that bloodline benefits didn't carry over. It wasn't just the attributes either; his Draugr form had returned to its previous state where Life was poison. Just as Zac had gone over the burst of memories, he heard Sendor speak.

"Interesting, let's try this."

The connection was suddenly cut again, and he was stuck atop the ocean for another ten minutes before being dragged back to Mount Illumination.

"What cut the connection the second time?" Zac asked.

"My Dao," Sendor said. "I surrounded each body with it. It looks like isolating either will be enough to create interference."

"Can I do anything to prevent my connection from being cut?" Zac asked.

"Little brat, you're a million years early if you want to break through a Heavenly Territory," Sendor guffawed.

"Still, the stronger the connection, the better my chances at survival," Zac ventured.

"True enough. Right now, I'd say a middle Autarch or equivalent domains can interfere with your connection," Sendor said.

So Iz's golem guardian could separate his bodies with its Dao, but not the Eveningtide Asura. Of course, that was contingent on an Autarch bothering to create an isolated bubble of Dao around his body. It also meant nothing in Zecia should be able to cut the connection. Not even the Million Gates Territory reached those energy levels, and he had already traveled a distance hundreds of times greater than Zecia inside the Perennial Vastness.

"Your best bet to strengthen the bond is likely to improve two components that enable your split state; the Void and your clan's inheritance," the Realm Spirit continued.

What Sendor said made sense. Pushing his Bloodline to D-grade might alleviate some of his drawbacks. Doing so before Ultom should be possible, considering his Void Emperor Bloodline should already be at the precipice of a breakthrough. He just needed to find some impetus to push through that final barrier and then use the [Stone of Celestial Void] to trigger the process.

As for improving "his clan's inheritance," Zac had no solutions. However, Sendor might provide a path forward.

"Is that everything?" Zac asked, eager to learn more about the Kayar-Elu.

"One last test. Slap yourself with this thing," Sendor said as he handed Zac a piece of leather that emitted an incredibly foul aura.

"What?"

"Just do it," Sendor urged, looking like he was observing a fun spectacle.

Zac was full of misgivings, but he walked over to himself. It was odd seeing himself looking back into his eyes with helplessness as he swung the piece of leather. A loud clap echoed, and Zac felt his Specialty Cores heat up as they extracted a huge amount of energy. Thankfully, they soon calmed down, and both Zacs turned to Sendor.

"Happy?"

"Very. Now give me that thing," Sendor said before sending another ripple through his bodies.

"What's going on?"

"That piece of hide belonged to quite a nasty one who caused problems in my body long ago. The amount of sin she committed…" Sendor said, looking part disgusted and part impressed. "Her very body had become permeated by foul Karma. But look at you…"

"What?"

"Slapping someone with that thing should create a Karmic Grudge, almost like a curse. Just grabbing onto it would leave a mark. But in your case? Nothing. There's still not a shred of Karma connecting your two bodies. Your human body remained untainted even after holding onto that thing. Your old connections are there, but it might be impossible for you to form new Karmic Links. Quite useful. Not even your toad friend's ability is quite this impressive."

No Karmic Links at all? Zac had to agree; such an ability was extremely useful. Karmic Links had caused him quite a few headaches over the years, from The Great Redeemer to the Buddhist Sangha. It was a constant threat where he felt the risk of being exposed or tracked down.

"So my condition is impossible to expose?"

"I wouldn't go that far," Sendor said. "For one, I can vaguely sense a resonance from your cores when you extract large amounts of energy, though that might be fixed when your bloodline catches up. More importantly, there are a lot of scary people out there. I can think of a few who should be able to figure something out if they put their mind to it."

Zac nodded. As far as he was concerned, that meant his secret was safe. The kind of people Sendor would consider scary didn't exactly grow on trees. Being split into two had essentially removed the most glaring danger to himself—his unique ability to change between two different races and classes.

Now, anyone would just see a powerful human or a powerful Draugr. His value as a research subject was essentially gone, provided no one realized there was a connection between his two bodies. Of course, that would only work as long as the truth of his breakthrough didn't spread.

"About my situation," Zac hesitated.

"Don't worry about that," Sendor grinned. "I'm going to keep this juicy nugget for myself. You never know if it might become important in the future. "

Zac inwardly groaned, but what could he do? At least it was a landlocked Realm Spirit who worked for the System that found out. That was way better than some other Supremacy.

"You thought I had become two people for a moment there. Is that a real possibility?" Zac asked.

"Looking for a cover?" Sendor said. "It's possible, but it's generally from deviations. Something happens with your path, and two opposing concepts split you in two. Others intentionally split their soul, discarding a part of themselves. With your contradictory path, it's a very plausible excuse. You couldn't reconcile Life and Death, your human and undead sides, leading to a deviation."

It looked like Zac had a road forward. The fact he was two beings would be hidden from everyone, even the people in Port Atwood. The official story for those who knew of his old ability would be that he was split in two. Perhaps he should even send his Draugr self to the Kavriel Province and let the Monarchs scan him. It was risky, but it might lead to avoiding some hidden dangers.

One thing was for sure, though. While the situation seemed stable enough, Zac definitely needed to unearth the secrets hidden within his body before forming his Inner World. Preferably, Zac would have answers before the first bottleneck of the D-grade, but he knew the chances of that happening were slim. It had been seven and a half years since he entered the Perennial Vastness, which meant nine months had passed on the outside.

War was right around the corner, and then came Ultom. Unless he could figure out what else hid in his Specialty Cores with the final piece of his Left Imperial Seal, he'd have to save that until later. He'd settle for upgrading his bloodline and hopefully remove some of the downsides to his situation.

Of course, one more reward was waiting right in front of him, one that might provide the answers he needed.