Chapter 400 - The Likeable Middle Child
"My name is Romah."
After learning about the Teacher's name, Daniel turned to look at his surroundings. At least half of the cultivators present were either looking at him, or observing him through their sensing abilities, so instead of talking casually, he turned to look at Aeron, and said, "Do you mind?"
Aeron responded to these words with a simple nod of his head, before opening his right hand. Soon after, a small green orb emerged out of his palm, and stopped once it floated in the air just a few centimeters above his skin.
"Do you mind?" He then asked to Romah, who by observing how Daniel had looked at his surroundings, made a request to his mental warrior companion, and made an invitation to him, was able to realize what the use of the orb was.
"Of course." Responded Romah before reaching for the green orb, and sending a portion of his mental power and consciousness into it.
The speed and simplicity with which Romah had acted, came to a great surprise to both Daniel and Aeron, who were ready to explain to him how the green orb had to be used.
The green orb was similar to a spatial container made out of mental power, and instead of being able to contain objects, it was a hub for consciousnesses to interact. This power belonged to the tree of powers under the spectrum of mental projection, and only mental warriors with similar powers would be able to interact with it, making it a perfectly safe room where two people could have a conversation undisturbed.
Not many had ever thought of this method, and of the people present, only the mental warriors were aware of what the small green orb was.
What had surprised both Daniel and Aeron, was how quickly the Teacher had picked up on what they were doing, making it seem that his power, consisted not only in learning things, but also in making educated guesses that would allow him to 'learn' the truth of something he knew nothing about.
"Be careful.." Said Aeron in a low tone, before Daniel nodded in acknowledgment, and just like the Teacher had done, injected a portion of his mind and consciousness into the green orb.
"So this is how you got rid of him. Your friend must have found him before he grew powerful enough to devour you, and take over your body. Seeing how oddly powerful your mind is, I would assume you then devoured him back." Said Romah casually.
"Don't people find this off-putting? Stop prying and let's have a conversation." Responded Daniel to the void, as the two were unable to see each other, while existing within the same small space.
Their presence within the green orb was in the form of wisps of mental power controlled by a portion of their consciousness. That was why Daniel had decided to have this conversation within Aeron's mental orb. He wanted to limit the guessing power of the Teacher's system as much as possible.
"More off-putting than you would realize. Enough to force me not to have any more success than my siblings in social situations. Hehe." Responded Romah before letting out an ironic laugh. "I assume you have questions for me, but before you do, know that I have met my father before, both in his human and his original form, and my powers turned out to be useless against him." He then added.
Surprised that Romah could guess the nature of his questions before he even started asking them, Daniel could not help himself but say, "Your powers are impressive."
"You jest." responded Romah immediately after. "You clearly have not seen much about the rest of us. I once met one of us who could turn his drawings into reality, one who could mirror people's perception of the world, and even one who could bring people's consciousness back from the dead."
"How did you fight something like that?" Asked Daniel, shocked about what he had just heard.
"You don't. I have used my abilities to get away from them. Some of us are powerful, or smart enough to ignore our urges. I am none of the two. It just happens that I was quick enough to learn my limits, as well as find a way to stay away from them." Responded Romah as honestly as he could.
"So your title is wrong. Your system has to do with learning more than teaching."
"Those who gave me this title know nothing of my kind. They name us based on our achievements, because the know nothing of our abilities. Look at yourself for example. I doubt that the system that my father granted you has anything to do with you being an outcast."
Not willing to allow the conversation gravitate towards his powers, Daniel changed topic by saying, "Speaking of your father, have you made any guesses on who he might be?"
"A hard question.." muttered Romah before taking a small pause. He then said, "You know, the government did not know what he was at first. At first, they thought he was a simple tree which quietly floated in space. That was until he was moved into one of the ancient capitals."
"What happened?" Asked Daniel with curiosity.
"The son of the leader of the universal government of that time claimed to have encountered a mysterious old man during one of his travels. He then became obsessed with the study of Death. His powers, beyond what a normal cultivator should have possessed, became not only a threat to most of the powers of which the government was made of, but also the reason why the cults of the worshippers of death started to appear. Nobody knew that he was one of us at first, and soon enough, he became too powerful to be allowed to live."
This was the first time that Daniel had heard about one the Deathbringer. The first known children of Iewah, whose powers revolved around death, and extended to a point where he could grant it, or deny it to whomever he wished to.
"Let me guess.. He did not take it lying down." Said Daniel, painfully aware of the character of Iewah's children. Especially those who had just been able to take over their host's bodies.
"The greatest extermination in the history of the government. The only time our father appeared, just to stop my oldest brother from leaving nothing but death in the known universe." Responded Romah with a stern tone.
Daniel never had a chance to study the history of the universal government, so he had never heard any of these stories, but while interesting, his attention was caught by another detail. "He doesn't wish for the universal government to perish, and yet he does nothing but grant gifts to clueless people. Gifts who turn into casual powers created from the host's intentions, interests, and personalities. Is he waiting for a specific one to be created?" Daniel asked.
"Oh, quite the bright one." Said Romah with surprise. He then added, "That's what I thought as well. There has to be a specific power that he is waiting to appear. Powers akin to universe's laws or primordial forces, like destruction, chaos, karma, fate, or even luck."
"What about creation?" Asked Daniel in a hurry to change the topic from any of those which Romah had mentioned.
"I don't know. If he didn't have so many limitations, I would have said he himself possessed the power of creation." Responded Romah with a hesitant tone. For many centuries he had wondered why his father would only create an extremely small amount of his siblings. Was his power limited? Was he really able to create the powers? Or was he only the vessel to grant these powers to the chosen ones? Unfortunately, no matter for how long he tried, these questions would always remain unanswered. "I do have a question for you." He then asked.
No body reaction could be seen within Aeron's green orb, so the Teacher would not have been able to see Daniel's suspicion as he said, "I cannot guarantee an answer."
"Don't worry, I won't ask anything about your powers. I just want to know what your first interaction between you and my father was like. I think that there has to be a clue within the first encounter between you people, and him. What happened?" Asked the Teacher after a brief explanation.
"When I met him, he was sitting in the shade of a massive tree. He seemed at peace with his surroundings, but to the young me, he looked like an old man in distress. I offered help and gave him food, and he told me about the tree's magical fruit." Responded Daniel.
After listening to Daniel's story, Romah mentally shook his head in disappointment, before saying, "Very similar to my host's story. He mistook him for a beggar who rested at the foot of the tree where he used to read his books, and gave him some gold coins."
"And now he is dead." Said Daniel, unhappy about the true nature of the 'benevolent tree' of legends.
Before Daniel could go deeper into the conversation, however, he was shocked by what he heard next.
"My host is not dead." said Romah with a matter-of-fact tone.
"What do you mean?" Asked Daniel with surprise.
With a tone filled with an annoyance to which Daniel could easily relate to, Romah responded by saying, "You were able to use your power before my brother tried to take over your body, and so did my host. Let's just say that there isn't much you can hide from my system."
Daniel did not know what to say. He had always thought that he was the first one to defy the path created by Iewah's gifts, and now, he had learned that there was another, and possibly more survivors.
However, there were differences between the two of them.
Even without asking, Daniel knew that the one who had managed to keep the body was not the original host, but Romah himself, as the gift was stored within the body, and not in the mind or the spirit. Daniel, on the other hand, had taken back control over his own body, and used his mental power to push Sewah out, and put him into the dead body of the Oni leader.
Extremely curious about the conditions of Romah's former host, Daniel was ready to ask for more details, but he was interrupted when Aeron said, "The speech is about to begin. Time is up."
Almost aware of what Daniel wished to ask, before leaving the green orb, Romah said, "I have no idea where he is now. I left him with the mental factions, which promised to keep his consciousness alive long enough for him to create a body of mental power. Maybe, if fate allows, you two will meet. If that happens, please send him my regards.."
As he finished speaking, Romah's consciousness disappeared from within the green orb, and went back into his body.
When Daniel did the same, he immediately noticed four individuals that had been sitting in the middle of the main table before, now stand in silence. The one to the far right was a heavily armored man with multiple scars on his face, the one to the far left was the old man in charge of the One Above All competition, the second person from the left was a woman dressed in grand judge clothes, and finally, sitting in between the female judge and the general, was a middle aged man dressed in regal clothes.
From the demeanor of this man, Daniel was able to realize that he wasn't a simple person. If that was not enough, he also could not even begin to feel the level of his cultivation. No matter if a participant of the event, the owner of the companies, the leaders of the factions, or even a chosen of Iewah. There was no doubt that this man was unmatched.
As these four people stood up, every person within the hall in which the banquet was being hosted went back to their seats, and remained quiet.
Once no other noise could be heard, the man in regal clothes said, "As per agreement of the treaty of peace that was signed by the faction leaders who joined our government, every warrior at the stage of high immortality or comparable, will become a reserve of the universal government's army, and will be employed in case of war."