Chapter 170: Death? - Bonding... In Chaos
Hearing those words, Melvin’s brows furrowed.
Death was something he had never examined with any real depth.
Like most mortals... yes, mortals, he had always regarded it in the simplest terms.
It was only an ending that arrived when a life was cut short, nothing more and nothing less.
However, the limitation was not personal.
Every being in existence shared the same boundary when a concept or notion failed to align with their Star.
Abstract affinities such as Space, Karma, Fate, or Chaos remained equally opaque to those who did not possess them; without the matching affinity, one could neither truly perceive nor comprehend their nature.
And... Death, for Melvin, had always fallen into that same unreachable category.
He shook his head once, snow sliding from his dark hair.
"Master, I do not understand what you mean.... Death is death. When you kill, you bring death. When someone dies, they attain it."
Akasha’s gentle chuckle floated over the icy shoreline, the faint purple sheen of his radiant brown skin catching the pale light as he spoke.
"Touché."
He let the word sink in before continuing, his voice calm and almost reflective.
While he couldn’t fully grasp the authority of death either... having lived through the illusion of Earth for eighteen years, he clearly had more perspective on the matter, shaped by novels and other such things.
"Hmmm, sometimes, you know... I find myself wondering whether death is truly the end... or if something exists beyond it."
He turned his striking eyes, a mix of deep purple and white, toward Melvin.
"Think about this—what if death isn’t really the end? If you had the chance to bring your family back... would you take it?"
Melvin’s eyes widened ever so slightly, but the response came without a moment’s pause.
"I... I would do absolutely anything to have them back."
Akasha’s chuckle returned, warmer this time.
"Then you should build yourself a notable empire, should you not? Something your family can be proud of on the day they return."
Though he wasn’t certain such a thing was even possible, he knew that if push came to shove, with his control over Dreams, he could make anything happen.
Even if he had no intention of directly intervening in his disciples’ journeys, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t find ways to ease their burdens.
After all, no matter what one thought about Destiny, Akasha believed it was something each person should face on their own.
As that thought settled, he began to fade, the edges of his form dissolving into a soft purple glow.
As the last of him vanished, he tossed a small, fist-sized vessel through the air—the newly prepared Dreamer’s Drift.
The tiny starship hovered in front of Melvin, glowing with a gentle silver-blue radiance.
"It might come in handy in a few years," Akasha’s voice echoed. "Uh... but you need to visit the mountain before you use it."
And then he was gone.
Melvin stayed seated on the ice, gazing at the tiny starship hovering quietly before him.
After a long moment, a small smile touched his lips, and he shook his head, the expression carrying quiet disbelief and something closer to reluctant fondness.
He still could not understand how his master always managed to leave him feeling something.
"Alright... I’ll visit the mountain after I bring the East under your banner." He muttered to himself as he stored the starship into his divine ring.
In the East, only one faction remained, and over the past few years, he had turned into their greatest nightmare.
The Barbarians.
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Away from the Eastern Continent, Jovian found himself standing once more in the first place he had ever truly visited after entering the wider conflicts of this world.
The Frozen Sect...
However, the sect of the Northern Continent had changed almost beyond recognition.
Over the years, the entire sect... and much of the Northern Continent, it had been drawn into the vast, sprawling civilization pit of the Academy of Lore.
What had once been independent icy peaks and isolated training grounds now lay fully enclosed within the Academy’s expanding walls, their distinctive architecture softened and overtaken by the larger institution’s influence.
Even so, the current situation remained ugly.
The Academy of Lore and every major faction still aligned with it were locked in a desperate struggle to hold back the advancing forces of the Academy of Veil...
And the pressure of that conflict pressed down on the Northern territories like a gathering storm.
Jovian appeared in silence within one of the outer courtyards of the old Frozen Sect grounds, his presence carefully concealed beneath layers of manipulated fate.
From the shadows, he watched the woman he had saved years earlier.
Selia stood among thousands of other disciples and soldiers, methodically checking the straps of her armor and the condition of her weapons.
Beside her waited her younger sister, who was now a young woman in her early twenties, and their beautiful aunt.
All three wore the same tight, focused expressions, the tension in their postures revealing how fully they understood the danger of the battle they were about to join.
Jovian’s blindfolded face tilted slightly as he surveyed the scene, a low mutter slipping out.
"Yeah... no way in hell I’m letting her walk into a war with that damn academy..."
He knew full well who stood behind the Academy of Veils.
Akasha’s shadow stretched far enough that any confrontation would be far more dangerous than these people realized.
Raising one hand, Jovian drew a series of precise cuts through the fate threads surrounding Selia, her sister, and her aunt.
The changes slipped neatly into place.
As soon as the three of them stepped out to join the main force, each would end up exactly where he wanted—safe, and well away from the bloodshed ahead.
He lingered only a second longer, white hair shifting in the cold northern wind.
"I’ll see you soon."
With that quiet promise, he turned away and vanished, already moving toward the place where Melissa and Jack waited.