TDE Book 6 Chapter 17 - Shattered Veil

The last time Calron had accidentally made contact with the Dao Geyser, it had forcefully sucked him inside against his will.

This time, Calron would be prepared.

Sitting himself down on the ground, Calron started his preparations to ‘gaze’ once more at the Geyser. Since only his consciousness would be able to enter, he decided to arm his mind with the Blood Dao. It should provide ample protection against the onslaught of other daos upon entering.

“Blood Kingdom.”

Calron summoned his domain. The striking image of the eye on the 6th spot captured his attention. It was now much larger compared to the hazy pagoda on the 7th spot. The eye also appeared more substantial after absorbing the 5th spot. Now, only four more spots were left within the domain.

If he was to explore the Geyser, then he’d need the help of his newest ability.

“I’m ready. Let’s go, Bloodsight.”

Calron took in a deep breath and activated his left eye. With his Blood Kingdom wrapped around him, Calron slowly tilted his head to face the gash in the sky.

Boom.

His irises flared up the moment it made contact with the Geyser. A tremor passed through Calron as his consciousness was instantly pulled inside.

One minute he was on a grassy ground, and in the next, his mind was floating around a vast astral space. Countless stars were scattered in the distance. Their sheer number overwhelmed Calron, making him feel like an ant under their grandeur. He couldn’t even tell how big they were. The space visibly folded around the stars, preventing Calron from scrutinizing them any further.

He’d been here before with Raizel. It was the same astral space where he picked the Blood Dao sigil and became a path walker. He recalled Raizel telling him that this pocket of space was between the sector and the outside world. This space seemed important for some reason. Even the Primordials regularly monitored this area. Adding to the fact that the Titans were wary of this place, only led Calron to believe that there was a closely guarded secret related to the astral space.

“Whoa.”

Out of nowhere, Calron’s left eye glowed with a crimson light, and soon a radiant blood-red sigil coalesced above his head. A faint shimmering veil covered Calron’s floating body.

Calron glanced up at the sigil hovering over his head. It was the same sigil he picked before he became a Blood Walker. He lifted his hand and tried to touch it. However, his fingers passed right through it with a slight tingle.

“Is it because it returned to its home?”

Calron pondered as he pressed forward. If the astral space was where all the Dao resided, it made sense that the Blood Dao would return to its original form. In the midst of this, Calron felt something fly past him.

Turning his head, Calron noticed a group of small sigils encroaching near him. In contrast to the glaring Blood Dao sigil over his head, the sigils before him paled in size. The group of sigils warily approached Calron, but before they could get within a foot, the Blood Dao sigil flashed in warning, causing the smaller sigils to flee in terror.

“Why did you scare them away? I wanted to study the sigils.”

Calron clicked his tongue. He wanted to use the Bloodsight to investigate the new sigils. His interaction with Martial made it obvious that the sigils were part of the puzzle to comprehending the Dao.

Sighing in disappointment, Calron floated ahead. Hopefully, he’d see more sigils as he went deeper into the Geyser. He continued for what seemed like hours without encountering another sigil, when he felt a spacial distortion surround him.

“I passed through something. I think that was the first layer.”

Calron sensed a subtle difference in the astral space now. It felt denser.

That meant most of the weaker daos were behind him. He wondered how many layers there were in total.

Right then, a school of sigils whizzed past his vicinity. They were a bit bigger than the last group of sigils. Instead of getting close to them, Calron triggered his Bloodsight and inspected them from a distance. He could see the intents, but it wasn’t enough to deduce what kind of dao they were. The intents pointed that the sigils were related to a concept dao like Karma Dao instead of a dao like Fire Dao.

Wanting to see more, Calron moved in closer. However, this also alerted the Blood Dao sigil and it once again repelled the sigils.

“You’re no fun.”

Calron commented, but didn’t dissuade the Blood Dao from repeating it. He knew why it was preventing the other daos from touching him. Without his physical body here, the sigils would be able to directly enter his mind and corrupt his existing Dao circles. Despite the Blood Dao being stronger, a smaller dao could still corrupt it.

If he couldn’t get closer to the sigils, he needed to see more than what was visible to him currently.

“Should I?”

Calron stared at another group of sigils in space and mused. If he couldn’t decipher the sigils with his present level, what if he upgraded his Bloodsight to the 3rd level? The reason he was hesitant was because there was no guarantee it would work. If the 3rd level of Bloodsight failed, it would mean he’d effectively wasted one of his limited slots to upgrade it.

“Guess there’s only one way to find out.”

In the end, Calron had no choice. The sigils only appeared within the astral space, and it was worth the risk if the possible result could help him decipher them. Calron covered his left eye with his hand and spurred the dao circles in full rotations.

Back in the real world, the Blood Kingdom thrummed in response as the dao energy surged around him. The eye on the 6th spot began to vibrate and expand. It was now devouring the 4th spot as well.

The process was faster this time. A regal pedestal materialized underneath the eye inside the Blood Kingdom. It now stood even taller than before, its shadow covering the hazy pagoda.

Once the changes were finished, Calron gradually removed his hand from his left eye and opened his eyelid.

“ARGHH!”

Calron clutched his eye in torment.

It was burning.

The flames fried his nerves around the eye, dispelling him from the astral space and sending him reeling back to the real world. The pain subsided now that he wasn’t exposed to the sigils. He tentatively opened his eyes and simply stared at the world before him.

Everything was different.

A mysterious sigil spanned over his left eye before dissipating. It was so brief that Calron didn’t even detect it. He was immersed in the scene before him. Or more specifically, the scene inside his left eye.

His surroundings were the same. The same green grass, the same earth, the same mild breeze. Yet, something was different when Calron saw them this time.

Because this time, the dao was ‘seeing’ him as well.

They were no longer mere intents, Calron could see the dao registering his presence. Until now, whenever he looked at the dao, it was a one-sided observation. But now, he could sense a bond had been formed between him and the dao around him.

He looked at the blades of grass.

And the grass ‘looked’ back at him.

Calron reached out his hand to the grass, and he saw the grass twist in space. The grass itself wasn’t moving, but the space around it was bending to his will.

“Stop before they find you!”

Just then, a quaking roar reverberated inside Calron’s eardrums as a powerful force struck his back, halting the grass in motion.

Calron knew that voice.

“What are you talking about?”

Calron coughed in confusion. He tried to recalibrate what he was seeing. The dao in the air switched back and forth from ‘looking’ at him to not ‘looking’ at him. The burning sensation in his left returned.

“We need to leave this area. You cannot be close to the Geyser anymore.”

When Calron looked at the black pig, the latter was no longer in a playful mood. Martial had an unusually solemn look on his face. His snout let out a low growl as he sniffed the air, making sure there were no traces left behind.

Before Calron could respond, Martial quickly bolted to his side and teleported him away from the area.

They were back at the dead tree.

Calron suddenly crumbled down, kneeling. His left eye was aching, the scorching heat sending waves of unbearable pain.

“Never in a million years did I ever expect this.”

Martial prodded over to Calron and tapped the young man’s eye with his hoof. A soothing sensation passed through Calron at the black pig’s touch. He reopened his eyes in relief.

“It’s the Bloodsight.”

By now, Calron figured it was something to do with his recent upgrade of that ability. He switched over to his lightning before the Bloodsight could activate again. The pair of dark-golden bones sent a volley of bolts towards his left eye, healing the damaged nerves.

Martial quietly nodded.

“I had a chat with Blood. That’s not an ability that should exist inside the Blood Dao.”

Calron paused and looked at Martial, trying to understand what it meant.

“Then what is it?”

“We don’t know. The only plausible conclusion is that Taranis was involved somehow. Damn that bastard! Messing with our lives from the grave.”

Martial snorted in irritation. If Calron had continued to interact with the dao like that, the Ancients would have swiftly detected the young man, and in turn, discover the Titans’ location.

“I could see the dao ‘looking’ back at me.”

Calron told Martial about the experience he encountered with the grass dao.

“The dao wasn’t just ‘looking’ back at you, kid. It was waiting for your command.”

Martial sighed and slumped down on the ground.

“Why is that bad?”

Calron gingerly rubbed his left eye. The effects of the burn still lingered inside.

It wasn’t Martial that responded this time. The Blood Titan appeared beside the black pig and smiled at Calron.

“Because that’s not an ability that belongs to a 4th or 5th circle, Calron. That’s the exclusive dominion of a 6th circle. Only someone of that rank can command the weaker daos. Which means, somehow, you obtained one of the powers belonging to an Ancient.”