26 Meteor

After swallowing the red vortex of Origin, I went inside the white space inside my body.

Greeting the endless white, I immediately searched for the vortex at the distance.

Just as I thought! I finally absorbed the last of the golden vortex, and the vortex at the distance is finally red!

Looking closely, the vortex turned from golden into red, then the smaller vortex became white, and on the core... was a purple glow. Personally, it looks beautiful.

I summoned the vortex from my body and it was purely golden now, without a trace of azure. On the middle, the core became red as expected.

Not sure why the azure tint disappeared, but I'm fully sure that my Origin is golden colored now.

With this, I got out of the white space and opened my eyes, only to be greeted by two beautiful ladies in front of me.

Aunt Arc carried me and asked, "Why did you do that?"

"Well... I can see you two gathering your respective energies, but I don't have a source spirit so I couldn't really gather and condense the energy from the surroundings."

Aunt let go of me and Kirllia asked in turn.

"That's the only way for you to gather energy?"

"I don't think so. It's the first time I tried it, and my ideas prove true."

"What idea? Eat your own power? Isn't that like...eating your own sh*t and breathing in your own fart?"

I could only slap myself after hearing what Kirllia said, then finding that I can't really say anything anymore, I only shrugged my shoulders and shook my head.

"I'm not really sure why it worked, but it's true that my power did increase."

I gathered a wisp of Origin, and...

"...hey, why is it still azure? That's strange..." it turned golden only afterwards.

I could see Kirllia's eyes widen, leaned over, and put her face closer to my hand.

"This is ridiculous. You've really made a breakthrough."

"If he's not a genius, then he's a freak. That's my nephew...!"

And with that, I got carried up and sat on Aunt Arc's shoulders for a while. I missed this feeling. I miss my parents.

***

Travelling through the mountain range was easier compared to climbing, but the ground was uneven. We may encounter a few flowers here and then, and Kirllia told us that if we had a Source Time Chest, we would've been able to keep a few of the rare herbs here.

Sadly, I ate and absorbed one of those Source Time Chests and somehow dissolved it...

If I ask about a hypothetical question such as a person eating a Source Time Chest, she may get suspicious about how I got my power so I stopped my urge to ask about it.

Changing the topic, we're currently heading towards east when I felt my blood rush without reason. I felt my whole body quiver and instinctively formed a golden barrier that surrounded us three.

"Did you feel that?"

Aunt glanced towards behind us, and I looked over Kirllia to check up on her.

Her face paled, her eyes opened big and her pupils narrowed. I can see all the fur on her coat shivering uncontrollably.

Fear spoke all over her body as I looked at her, and it strengthened my barrier to its max, even gathering the winds and the surrounding energies to fortify it.

"It's said that the stronger you are, the better you could gauge an opponent's strength."

A voice just started speaking nowhere, and I could feel my back turning cold, my limbs shake, and my eyes look everywhere but don't dare to turn around as if my body froze.

"That's an interesting power, it's been a long time I've seen one like that."

The voice spoke again, but I still can't find it. I wanted to try moving but I can't. Aunt also froze in place, her face and lips drained of blood as if seeing a ghost in plain daylight.

Just what the heck is the enemy this time?

"Not a Vates, yet golden. There's a trace of an Origin fruit being eaten from your body, but seeing you don't have a source power... just who the heck tried to prank you with it?"

From just a single encounter, he already knows a lot.

"Seeing the reaction from your face, looks like you already know what you're dealing with."

I can feel the golden barrier start to resist something I can't see until it fully broke without a chance of even regenerating. It only means that the full power of my barrier got depleted in an instant.

He doesn't seem to know me, so it's not Hamion nor Felix. I bet it's...

"How can we serve the God Valon?" I tried my best to control myself not to stutter while speaking and forcefully bowed in front of me.

"Serve? Valon? What if I asked for your sister there? Or is it a cousin? She seems too young to be your mom or aunt to be frank, but it's possible."

This guy... Is he not Valon?

"No? How about I take your friend over there instead?"

"Won't you take me instead?" I immediately replied, and my knees started to shiver more, but I kept standing.

I finally saw a blink from the distance, and that flash of light became a tall man that floated in front of us. Still bowing, I could see him frown from over my position.

He wore nothing above his body, and only had this white sort of pants that seemed a bit baggy, with a golden belt with a few dark green oval gemstones attached and surrounding it. His hair was colored a red orange that reminded me of flames, and his eyes were sleek and had a linear tattoo or marking below, above the cheek.

Is this the presence of a god we're experiencing right now?

"Wow, what a kid. How are you this strong?" His arms folded in front of him, then he continued.

"If you could answer my question, then I'll let them go."

"...Fine." I could barely reply after seeing him really in our front.

"How can you say that I'm Valon, and not the other two? Or Three?"

I gritted my teeth as the pressure increased, but I still tried to answer with all my might. A glow of magenta and gold kept flashing from his whole body, alternating, and looked like he was burning.

"Because, I... Met the Beast God. You also don't have a power...similar to the Vates. That only leaves... the god Valon..."

"Fair enough. You're correct, so I'll let one go."

But you said 'them' just moments ago!!

"Next question. What are you doing here?"

"...We're looking for... my father."

The pressure lessened, and he went quiet for a while. I can see Aunt Arc starting to feel faint already, can't this guy just go on his way already and mind his own business?

"Okay. That's satisfactory. Now they're both free. Next question."

Is he gonna take me?

"Have you seen a woman around? About that girl's height, with this one's bountiful, err...jugs?"

I only shook my head as it was really hard to talk with all these pressure. I got a bit curious though, a girl around these mountaintops? Besides Kirllia I don't think anyone would try to travel at these heights...unless of course that person was at least a Master-level.

Ah, Aunt fainted. I could also hear Kirllia drop behind me, and now I'm the only one conscious.

The pressure released, and I can stand properly now, giving me relief.

The guy in front of me slowly floated near, until he finally stepped on the ground. Walking near me, I realized he's about six or seven feet high, towering even among ordinary people. I looked like a pet compared to him.

"Now that they're out, won't you show me more? About that power you hold."

With his pressure gone, it didn't got less scarier but I'm currently confused about his actions.

"Relax, I'm just interested in people that can increase their power without a god's help...as I'm also one of those."

He looked over the distance and his eyes looked dull, his expression blank, yet he looked a bit sad for me.

"Oh, you probably understand loneliness huh. So? Show me that vortex."

"Have you been watching us?"

"Since you got up here, yeah. I just stroll here at the mountaintop, whenever I'm bored."

I'll try to believe him for now, and if he wanted to kill us, he would've done so already. Unless he needed some kind of specific information that's very important for us to be spared...

I quickly gathered a lot of Origin in my hand, formed a small vortex, and showed my palm towards him.

His eyes just moved here and there as he studied the rotating vortex on my palm, before he held out his own hand and let out a glow of magenta, which was neither purple or blue or red...

A vortex also formed and he tried to combine it with mine, only for both energies to form a spark of lightning on contact.

"Interesting. What's this called?"

"Origin," I briefly replied.

"Hah. Mine's Meteor. Because Meteors are strong; they can destroy this place in no time."

"Meteor..." I repeated, then he disappeared from view and I could only hear a voice that gradually became distant.

"If you get stronger than you are right now, maybe we'll meet again...!"

And with that, he left without making any traces. If he didn't even talk to us we wouldn't be able to detect him.

Ah, I wasn't able to confirm if he was really that god Valon!

Nevermind it I guess, as our lives are more important right now.

With that, I tried to make a platform using Origin, and willed it to carry both women with me for a bit, before placing them down on a big flat rock.

This method could also be used to launch things to fly too, but I don't really know why I can't lift myself using my own power.

If that wasn't a god, then he's at least a Legend if I'm not wrong. Valon or not, it was good that he didn't kill us on a whim.

***

Meanwhile on a frozen fort that spanned for over two hundred meters, thousands of various soldiers were lined up on the south western side. In front of them was a massive wooden gate currently opening, supported by two watchtowers that were made of stones. There were marks of scratches and cracks on the watchtowers, and a few debris littered to the side.

On the side of each watchtower stood a high wall that extended long enough to be seen near the horizon. On top of all those watchtowers and walls, were a few soldiers that patrolled, and some were watching over the bridge that was behind those massive gates.

The bridge also had a few stone walls surrounding it, but it only had a height of a few feet, enough to tower above most people. Looking further, there were cracks on the ground, craters, gaps, and even a few parts have been destroyed enough to see the foundation below that was made of red stones.

Below the bridge lined a continuous array of pillars which supported the bridge from below. It was unknown what was below the bridge as the light can't go further and only darkness could be seen. The pillars that supported the bridge had their bases connected to the ground, and as it continued further there were less pillars, and over the distance only a massive pillar stood that seems to maintain the bridge that connected it towards the north.

Meanwhile on the other side of the bridge was another similar fort and gate, exactly identical to the one at the southern side.

From above, there were also units lined along the front of the gate, and looking closely they all had different sizes. Beasts of all sorts had red eyes, and they stood calmly as if waiting for orders. Based from their traits, the beasts were all at least comparable to a scholar-level of combat power.

The front part of the units consisted beasts that had different colors, and there were a thousand of them if not a thousand and a half. The next part on the middle consisted of white-colored beasts, and most of them were the beasts that lived on the nearby snowy mountains. The only difference is they also had red eyes compared to the ones still at the wild.

At the back line were humanoid beasts, and there were a few which returned to their beast form, taking up a lot of space. Along with them were demons, which all had red eyes, pale hair which are mostly white, and their skins also pale. A few of them had pointed-ears, a few of them didn't show that they were demons at all.

The only defining trait they had that separated them from the other humanoids were the red orbs floating over their bodies; some not showing, but one could see they they were positioned in between the demons.

"Makiri, why haven't we opened the gates yet? The longer we take, the riskier this war would be."

Two demons float at the sky while looking at the massive legion below them. The demon called Makiri had her arms folded, and she stopped reading a book that had an identical look to the one Kaff had seen before he got transferred to this world.

"We're waiting for Ley and the last of the Void Demons. I already sent scouts and the other side haven't opened their gates either. It seems they're also waiting for something."

"What, did Ley had to scout a few more beasts on our side?"

The demon name Makiri kept silent. She instead looked over the north, and the other demon that she was talking to followed her line of sight.

There was a man sitting on a chair made of white wood, and there were a few signs of gold embedded on the sides. On his side were two other demons that had four orbs each floating while surrounding them in an orbit.

The man returned her glance and she shivered before taking off her eyes off of him. After that her back felt cold, and sweat formed from her temples.

"Did you try to look at the Emperor again? You know well that he already has his own harem."

"It's not that... I just recalled how someone was able to escape from his grasp, and only a mage-level at that."

The other demon shrugged as he sighed, and then he replied, "She's not a pure blood after all. No wonder she was able to break away from the Emperor's control."

A red dot from the distance were speeding towards them, and when it got close enough, it could be seen as another demon that had a Lightning Tiger floating behind him, wrapped around by a red aura.