Chapter 1218 – A March Through Nothingness

“That’s just weird, not necessarily suspicious,” Vilas shrugged. “Then again, it could be so weird that it’s purposefully done to throw us off her scent.”

Eversmile looked less than amused at the Viper having some fun with the most recent reports of the thousand students who attended Jake’s lesson. One of the women who’d attended had let the attention get to her head due to the many suitors she suddenly gained afterwards, and she’d decided to make up weird competitions to make them compete amongst themselves to win her favor.

Vilas guessed that all these guys – and even a few gals – would soon realize how insane she was and back off. It was definitely entirely unrelated to her being a secret spy for some unknown, powerful faction and was more just a fun little anecdote.

“There are some who’ve made odd movements and even purposefully tried to harm their karmic connections,” Eversmile pointed out.

“Yeah, but those are just the regular spies,” Vilas shrugged. “That’s just business as usual.”

“Their presence muddies the water,” the other Primordial pointed out.

“True, but if we suddenly start cracking down on low-level D-grade spies, we would be the ones acting suspiciously,” the Viper shook his head.

It was entirely normal to have “spies” in other factions, and more often than not, the faction in question even knew they were being spied on without caring. The information these spies provided was always low-level and inconsequential to the true leaders of factions, though it could certainly impact the lives of other mortals.

As for why factions didn’t crack down, well, because they didn’t want a crackdown on their own spies either. In fact, the consensus was to limit tracking these low-level spies, doing only the bare minimum to identify the most unskilled among them.

Spies had to be nurtured somehow, and this approach had proven to be the most effective. Again, they didn’t truly hurt the factions they spied for, either, and provided little more than regular reports on daily life.

“Telling the others who know to limit karmic obscuration would also appear suspicious if this unknown faction is observing the situation,” Eversmile mused to himself, clearly annoyed.

“All we can do is keep a lookout,” the Viper sighed. “If they do communicate, they’re bound to create some kind of karmic link in that moment. Now, if you somehow can’t use that to find out more… well, in that case, we’re well and truly screwed.”

“I do not see that as an option worth considering. If they were powerful enough to pull something like that off, they wouldn’t have to use these strategies in the first place but would face up openly,” the Primordial of karma commented.

“As humble as always,” Vilas chuckled, though he didn’t disagree with Eversmile’s statement in the slightest.

“Speaking of lacking humbleness… I haven’t heard about that Chosen of yours since his lesson,” Eversmile changed the topic.

While Villy liked to observe Jake, that didn’t mean he shared his viewing experience and allowed others to take part. Alright, quite often he had Duskleaf join him in watching, but Eversmile wasn’t invited to the viewing party. Eversmile likely could still watch Jake forcibly if he really wanted to, but with the defenses Vilas had placed around his Chosen’s residence, the Viper would detect it. Even if he didn’t, Eversmile was fully aware of Jake’s ability to know when he was being observed directly.

“He’s been busy doing his thing,” the Viper shrugged.

“Preparing to hunt down a dragon, I hear,” the other Primordial commented, being far too curious about what Jake was doing as usual.

“Exactly. As I said, he’s busy, and no, I don’t need your help to find a dragon for him to hunt. I already think I’ve found a very good one. You’re free to ask more about him, but unless you want a long speech on alchemy and the struggles of a C-grade successfully crafting bane poisons, I doubt you want to engage in the topic of my Chosen any longer,” the Viper shut down that line of conversation.

“Overly-protective as always,” Eversmile shook his head. “But fine, I won’t pry. I’m just getting the distinct feeling you’re not being entirely truthful with me regarding him.”

“Oh, I’m not, but that isn’t anything new either,” Vilas shrugged. It was a bit annoying that he couldn’t be too much of an ass to Eversmile, considering he still needed the Primordial’s assistance, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t tease his peer at least a little. Besides, he knew Eversmile found Jake interesting, which was both a curse and a boon, and no matter what, he wouldn’t want some unknown faction to ruin his object of intrigue.

As for what Jake was actually doing… well, that was a bit complicated.

—

Another avatar of the Malefic Viper stood in the room with crossed arms as he watched the cross-legged human. Jake wasn’t breathing, wasn’t moving, and all the energy usually circulating within his body had slowed to a crawl. His body was effectively in stasis, with his Truesoul barely even connected to it.

If anyone attacked Jake at this moment, the Viper had a hard time seeing him survive. Even his Bloodline seemed dormant, resulting in his presence totally disappearing. As someone also having a Bloodline, Vilas could naturally feel Jake’s, but it was barely detectable currently.

He was effectively teetering on the border between life and erasing his own existence. No, he wasn’t on the edge of dying, simply losing everything that made Jake himself. He risked losing the parts of his soul that he could directly affect and manipulate, which meant he risked losing his memories, personality, and all sense of self, leaving only a blank slate of nothingness behind.

Yet the Viper wasn’t overly concerned, because he knew Jake wasn’t alone. Not truly.

As for the room where Jake sat in meditation, Vilas was not alone in the room either, as there was one other god who had insisted on visiting and looked far more worried than Vilas was, despite it being his Chosen finding himself in this peculiar state.

“You’re far more experienced in matters like this… have you ever seen a C-grade do something similar?” Artemis asked with a frown.

“Members of the Dao Sect sometimes do similar things. They call it spiritual journeys or something like that,” the Viper answered calmly. “That, or it happens in very controlled group meditation sessions with an elder of the sect.”

“But not this scenario specifically?” Artemis asked, her frown deepening. “If he’s truly tried to go there…”

“He’s trying to,” Vilas sighed before smiling and looking at the goddess. “You must admit the prospect is at least a little exciting.”

“Can the mind of a C-grade even handle it?” Artemis didn’t even entertain the Viper’s casual demeanor.

“Fuck no,” the Viper recoiled at the notion. “His mind would turn to mush and his soul implode or something like that. That’s why I think what he’s doing is slightly different from what we do.”

“How did he even begin going down this track?” Artemis asked, looking at the Viper. “Was it through your guidance?”

The Viper honesty found the slightly accusatory tone endearing. Artemis had been very meek and hesitant to speak bluntly around the Viper for the longest time, but she’d truly grown in just a few years. The combination of bathing in Jake’s unique Bloodline-infused presence and just getting plain more used to being around Primordial-level figures sure did wonders. As for her question:

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“No,” Vilas shook his head. “But that doesn’t mean he’s going in blind, only relying on himself and his instincts. He’s doing it with the guiding hand of another.”

Artemis somehow frowned even more, clearly finding his statement odd. “Who?”

“The most qualified C-grade in the history of the multiverse… and if anyone had ever gone there before, it would have been him,” the Viper said with confidence. Artemis had asked if he knew of anyone who’d ever gone where Jake was seeking, and while he didn’t know, he strongly suspected his Master had been able to do so.

“May I know who this person is?” Artemis asked curiously, finding the Viper’s words very odd.

“No, you aren’t allowed to,” the Viper shook his head. “So just trust that he’s the best there is, and I believe that even if Jake fails, his instincts won’t allow him to risk too much.”