Damned Healer

After everyone calmed down and just decided in their heads they wouldn't be surprised anymore no matter what he showed, Darian asked for some info on a few important points.

Mazur explained what he wanted. To complete the trial, everyone needed to fill up their core and assimilate it a hundred times. But unfortunately, the system didn't explain one crucial part: every time someone filled the core, the next time would demand an even greater amount of energy.

In the end, someone who had already completed the cycle ninety times would need the equivalent of the energy of a thousand people who had less than ten cycles.

Because of that, for someone at the level of the sect leader to complete his core, he would need to fully absorb a lower-level eruption. If, in every eruption, leaders and High Elders fought to absorb them... the result would be total chaos, with bloody battles happening all the time.

Thinking about that, a long time ago, the sects made an agreement among themselves. Lower-level eruptions could only be absorbed by those with a maximum of thirty cycles. The medium ones, up to sixty cycles. And the biggest ones of all were fought over by those at the level of leaders and High Elders.

That way, newbies could grow fairly, and there wouldn't be a bloodbath every time an eruption appeared. Of course, the sects still fought over eruptions, but the number of deaths was way lower than it would've been.

"I see... so, you guys don't really want what I brought." Darian muttered.

Everyone nodded. For them, that amount was too small and wouldn't make a difference. And the fact that Darian had brought the entire eruption with him wasn't abnormal — it was easy to store in spatial crystals. The problem was that anyone who tried that wouldn't walk out alive, since everyone would focus on them.

Darian thought about the possibility of keeping it all for himself and advancing several cycles, but with the exponential increase in what was required, he probably wouldn't even manage to complete ten cycles. So, it was better to strengthen more people so they could help him conquer other eruptions.

"You brought this for the sect, so you get to choose who it goes to."

Mazur spoke calmly, trying to hold back his excitement. The sect hadn't gotten an eruption in a long time. Sometimes, they were lucky when a simple eruption happened inside their domain. Since it was low-level, the other sects didn't care to fight over it. But the last time that had happened was already thirteen years ago.

"I'll be fair. This should be enough for a thousand beginners, right? You guys take half and choose disciples you think deserve it. I'll keep the other half and give it to the Heavenly Elemental Spirit I brought with me."

Darian declared, and all the High Elders nodded in satisfaction.

"Then, now let's get to what matters." Darian looked at them seriously. "I made a huge contribution to the sect, didn't I?"

"Indeed. What do you want?" Mazur replied right away.

Darian gave a small smile: "Nothing against the rules. I'm a master-level instructor at three institutes. And to become an Elder, I need a major contribution, right?"

"Your contribution now is more than enough to become an Elder, if that's what you want." Mazur answered with a nod.

"Perfect. I want to officially become an Elder. From what I read about the sect, an Elder can gather disciples and command them outside the sect, right?" Darian said, his gaze sharpening. "My plan is simple: every eruption that shows up even remotely close to the sect, we're gonna snatch it for ourselves."

"This..." A High Elder murmured but stopped halfway, only now remembering Darian's ability to dominate shadows.

He finished lightly: "As an Elder, I'll go out with a small group. My goal is to gather shadows to form a powerful army of them, so we can fight with everything at the eruptions. But for this to work perfectly, I'll need the sect's cooperation."

Mazur thought seriously until his eyes lit up. If what Darian said was true and he really could control several shadows perfectly... fighting for eruptions would become a reality.

"What do you want?"

"The sect has sealed spaces inside where I can store my army, right? I want to hide them inside the sect. And also... you guys need resources to fuel the three diagrams. I'll go outside and get them myself." Darian said slowly.

"WHAT? ARE YOU INSANE?!" All the High Elders roared at once.

Darian snorted. Obviously, the moment he stepped outside the sect and the others found out, they would hunt him relentlessly — and he wouldn't have anywhere to hide.

But unfortunately, only he could do this. First of all, he needed to expand his shadow army.

It was impossible for others to capture powerful shadows and bring them to him to dominate. Shadows don't feel pain and can't be sealed easily; they're extremely powerful and fight until they die or escape. If he demanded the sect members to hunt them, they would only bring weaker ones that, in the end, would be useless.

So, he had to personally go out and hunt the best shadows in the place. And also to get the resources needed for the diagrams.

"In the end, if I manage to get the eruptions and the resources for the diagrams, I deserve greater status and autonomy each time. Fair, right?"

Darian spoke without caring about their opinions. In the end, everything he got was always through his own effort. And if he dies, it'll be his own fault.

Everyone in the room swallowed hard. If he managed to pull off even 1% of what he was claiming, it would already be a bigger contribution than any High Elder there had ever made.

"If you act within the sect's rules and do these things, we'll reward you with everything you need. Status or whatever it is." Mazur stated without hesitation.

"Good. I'll do all this myself. I'll leave the sect in a day, once me and the others finish assimilating all the primordial power and complete the first cycle."

***

One day later.

Darian was in a private room, completely focused. Beside him was a pile of books that had been sent by the sect leader.

Inside were explanations about the most important natural treasures of the Wild World. The diagrams of all sects required extremely specific and rare things from this world: herbs that had the perfectly harmonious union of Yin and Yang at the same time.

There was a kind of root and a flower with those traits, and they only appeared right on the border between the Yin side and the Yang side of this world.

The sects used those things to make special pills and feed their diagrams. Because of that, every sect had similar institutes, with one of them always being the Institute of Nature, which also produced good alchemists.

As for the Wilding Kin Sect, it was located very close to one of those two borders. That was a privileged position that, in the past, had made the sect one of the most powerful among the nine.

But now, the sect only had control over a hundred kilometers around its headquarters. The border was five hundred kilometers away and was, of course, protected and monitored by the other eight sects, making sure the Wilding Kin Sect never got anything from there.

The sect had survived until now by using up its entire stockpile and resorting to unconventional means to get small amounts of those resources. But eventually, every source had dried up.

"Brother Darian!"

Suddenly, the door opened. Eleri came running in and grabbed Darian's arm with a wide smile.

He opened his eyes and saw that energetic girl, her bright eyes locked on him. Then, he saw the other two come into the room. Awel and Tir snorted, but didn't scold her, since they knew Darian wanted Eleri to be herself and not hold back because of what others thought.

"Let's go." Darian stood up, and they all left together.

Before that, he gave the three of them some primordial power, then picked another 497 of his strongest little soldiers. As soon as the three finished assimilating, they came to Darian to head out.

When he left the building, High Elders Rondis, Hothir, and Aegron were already waiting. A special emblem was handed to him. Now, he was an Elder unlike any other who had ever existed, since he belonged to all three institutes at the same time.

"When you're in danger, activate the emblem and we'll burn sect resources to save you. Also, you can summon other Elders inside the sect to secretly transport those things..." Rondis explained, and Darian just nodded.

Sir Chompsalot had already been placed in the sect's special hidden area. Once he stayed there, completely obedient and showing no signs of causing trouble, everyone in the sect felt way more at ease.

Darian had already read everything he needed about his objectives. He turned to the three young ones, who clenched their fists with determination. Now, it all depended on them.

In thirty days, new simple eruptions would appear randomly. Darian had been lucky, because in just sixty days the next medium-level eruption would break out.

But at the same time, he'd also been unlucky. The last higher-level eruption had happened exactly ten days ago, when he was still in the desert. Meaning, it would take 890 days for the next one.

Even so, that was perfect timing.

According to the legends, Remira took ten years to get out of the Wild World. According to clan records, the average was two hundred years for the few who managed.

Darian, with the support of the group skill, would get a 40% bonus in points, and with his shadow army, he planned to complete everything at the next higher-level eruption.

His goal wasn't just to stockpile primordial power, but also to complete the special mission. Alone, that would be insanely hard. That's why he needed to grow this clan and crush all the other eight sects.

Before, Darian had been worried about this mission, which seemed impossible to complete quickly. But now things felt clearer. For that though, absolutely everything had to go right.