Chapter 39 - What they've become

The time he spent fiddling around with his new creations made him unaware of the swift changes in the seasons.

Multiple months passed and flew faster. More than ever before, he never stopped to think about other things.

Sometimes, he forgot to do other things. His full attention turned into that one obsession.

When he realised. He berated himself, yet continued with his experiments and further concentrated on them.

At least he managed to set up a proper arrangement with Talia and Akand. So, the outside didn't turn chaotic.

While his near fanaticism turned him into a hermit. Even he had his limits.

After those months, he once again cooled down and turned his attention to the very news.

The frontlines are as chaotic as ever. Battles and multiple losses every day became a norm.

In the past, those would be signs of worry. Nevertheless, the mana grains and people who managed to make them in sufficient quantities gained a lot of reputation.

Everyone below the awakened elder realm who fought on the frontlines gained around twenty percent increase on average, if not more.

Like upgrading one's weapons from a WW2 weapon to a cold war one. Not the greatest change.

Both can kill, but one can do so much better than the other.

Terran became like a blazing Sun overlooking the western frontlines. A soon to be a Saint in the eyes of many.

Challenges that awakened elder teams might suffer in, he completed without any problems.

His working efficiency exceeded the value of twenty deployed awakened elders at twenty different locations.

That in itself became an incredible fact. Liam firmly believed that without a thousand hands, a pyramid couldn't rise from the ground up.

However, this power of the awakened realm proved him wrong. To step further would be to exceed a thousand hands or even the entire mortal race.

To him, listening about some kind of Fire Saint he never met and only tasted a bit of power couldn't compare to the value of watching a person rise to a similar position.

The more he knew him. The greater his confidence in replicating something like it.

No Gods standing behind him and pushing him into a higher realm at some kind of unknown cost.

His own strength and willpower. If Terran became a pleasant surprise and a gift to wait for.

Then the next news became quite the opposite.

Blythe, the eastern wind. In the eyes of many, she held no rights to such a resounding nickname.

Nevertheless, anyone who met her would soon become quiet. Even some awakened elders she worked under silently accepted the title.

If the war changed Terran to transform from an immovable boulder to an entire mountain range.

Then Blythe didn't change. At all, and in fact became much more cheerful in the eyes of many.

Some called her crazy, but Liam knew that she used to act like that back at home.

Most would call that lack of change a good thing. Sometimes that couldn't be more wrong.

In a world of slaughter, pain, and hatred. To not change would mean that either someone had the power to change everything around them.

Or they were changing from deep inside. Something brewing, ready to explode at any moment.

Unbeknownst to anyone. Liam believed that Blythe couldn't last long like this.

She never had the disposition of a murderer that didn't care. A monster that would laugh off the death of the surrounding people.

A kindred spirit that watched over the weak turning into something like that...

Impossible, Liam thought for a few moments before he called Talia. He considered Akand multiple times, but he didn't know how he would react.

When Talia walked in. Liam told her his hypothesis and asked her to send a letter to one person who would be able to save her if necessary.

Terran. He noticed that they had no contact. As a matter of fact, Terran didn't even know that Blythe had long created a small reputation around herself.

After all, he spent all of his time fighting with no rest. He didn't have the energy to waste on some rumours and talks.

When Talia heard Liam talk about it, she sighed. To his surprise, she stepped out first.

Although she didn't contact Terran as her bond with him didn't extend past acquaintances.

Various forces under the Lake family often fought alongside Blythe without her knowledge.

She didn't send them there to die for Blythe. Her request asked for them to stop her from making dumb decisions.

Oftentimes she almost did. Her record almost reached light users when she fought for a long time and stopped only when she fainted.

The cheerful demeanor never leaving her side. At one point, she began to taunt her enemies as well.

She teased them and played with them whilst drawing aggro. Talia did tell Liam one very concerning thing.

Blythe returned to the Inn of Dreams just three times. After that, she never returned and always picked up her mission before she left.

No rest or connections. Then it clicked for him. Her behaviour over those months protected her in a way he didn't think of.

Perhaps, the Inn of Dreams became an indirect cause of it. Her world or the perception of it.

She altered it in a way where she adapted according to her own sense. The degree of such adaption in fact changed the world around her.

To not grieve over her dead comrades. She couldn't view them as her comrades and maybe even as humans.

Like fragile teddy bears she had to protect. If she truly adopted such a mindset that it would be much worse than Liam thought.

Human mind no one could understand or control. Her actions and destination made no sense anymore.

Both Talia and Liam could feel it from the reports alone. She kept carrying a huge boulder on her shoulders that she shouldn't be able to lift, not to mention carry.

Yet, she walked up with it through numerous hills.

At some point, willpower might turn into delusion. A sweet poison ready to take someone's life.

Moreover, she had long gained enough contribution points to enter the awakened realm.

Resources weren't a problem with the channels Talia and Akand had access to.

Not to mention their families. Any powerful family would want a free favor from a future powerhouse.

In fact, except contribution points. There were hundreds of powerful lineages that would gladly sponsor a rising talent.

Liam began to doubt if she strayed from her own motives. The so-called goal she called filthy.

Compared to those pure souls, she always despised herself. He could hear the venom in her voice.

Not targeted at anyone but her. She didn't seem to hate anything, however, she always found a room to blame herself.

He didn't know where it came from. Her own behaviour almost resembled a hedgehog.

At each and every turn, she hurt herself. And he didn't see her own goal as filthy or ignoble.

He'd bet that many talents had the exact vision. Liam didn't doubt the valor and determination of the generations of heroes.

Nevertheless, to extinguish selfishness in a safe environment would take a genius and a future sage.

Truly, Liam considered the subject of morality on the same complex level as mana and the secrets behind it.

Wrong or bad, decisions and what a person sees. It might turn him into the greatest version of themselves or it buries them under their own weight.

One wrong moral decision and one's life might spiral out of control even when the rest of society doesn't see it as a problem.

Moral problems exist just because humans created them. A proof of their sapience and power.

And power always had double edges, no matter what.

...

Liam broke the topic with Talia and caught up with her and the various events that happened over the time.

Other than that. He returned to his experiments. The events with Blythe kept gnawing at him.

Instead of leaving once every few months, he began to collect information almost every day.

Oftentimes, he fell into deep thought that turned into brain fog. The future development with Blythe.

Why did he care so much? Because she became one of his friends? Or rather, business partners?

No, Liam shook his head. He considered her as a friend and hoped she did as well.

To care so much about Blythe. A full-grown individual with their own view of the world and mature thoughts.

Did he trust her? Maybe he saw her as a younger sister with her casual demeanor and escapades.

All of this still didn't explain the core problem. The conundrum Liam faced.

Why did he care so much? Certainly, he cared about things, however he also knew to separate private and professional life.

Never did he drift into his thoughts whilst experimenting. And although he would like to chalk it up to a crush or a romance type of thing.

The serious lack of hormones sort of... Took away his needs in that particular manner.

Liam pondered further. From a logical standpoint, everything comes from the body and his soul shouldn't be enough to create so many complex emotions.

What changed then? It couldn't be mana alone. Liam looked around the dimension.

He didn't notice anything strange. His thoughts continued to drift as a few words kept flowing into his mind.

Feel, notice, look.

A puzzle piece he found after some soul searching...