The Almighty Ring

“New theory, you say?” asked Jiang Fei.

“It’s hard to explain. In simple terms, there might be some kind of special resonance between Cores. Under special circumstances, Energy Cores can be made to collide with each other. This will act as a catalyst for the creation of a new form. But it’s just a theory and I am unsure of what the product of the collision would even be,” elaborated 0541.

“Any kind of Cores?” asked Jiang Fei spiritedly.

He had witnessed the collision of two Cores of Will to produce a new kind of Core, which was currently residing in his mind. He wondered if the process required the same kind of Cores or would a combination of different kinds work too?

Jiang Fei’s Core of Will was born out of really special circumstances. Each planetary system could only house one set of different attribute Energy Cores. If another was born, like in Jiang Fei’s case, the new one would be sent away by itself.

The fusion of two Cores of the same type was either artificially induced or almost never happened. But if 0541’s theory could work with two different types of Cores, the possibility of it happening would be even lower.

It would be so much simpler since a planetary system could house up to five different kinds of Energy Cores. There are probably an infinite number of planetary systems, but finding two of the same kind would be harder than finding another Core of Will.

The one that Jiang Fei owned was the product of a miracle with a possibility so low that it may as well have not happened. 0541 had only included it into his thought process out of desperation, to give Jiang Fei an escape route from Akatziris.

“Yeah ok, I’ll keep an eye out for other Cores. You do you,” said Jiang Fei nonchalantly.

He practically had zero power in Redstone, and was just a trainee at that. He had no resources, no manpower, and worst of all, nobody he could trust to relay information.

…

While Jiang Fei and 0541 were exchanging information about Redstone, a muffled conversation could be heard coming from outside the room.

Just as Jiang Fei was about to get off his bed, the door slid open and a slightly larger being came in. Other than his four arms, the rest of his physique was rather humanoid. More importantly, he was easy on the eyes and not overly menacing.

“It’s just a newcomer. We’ll get them every now and then,” said another being as he entered the room. He too had a certain humanoid aspect, but he also had the threatening head and appearance of an alligator.

The two were speaking to each other in their own mother tongue but what Jiang Fei heard from his earpiece was fluent Mandarin. Thanks to it, he at least wouldn’t have to deal with communication problems.

Jiang Fei jumped up from his bed. It would be rude to just stay there when his seniors had just returned from their training.

“Hello, I’m Jiang Fei. The new recruit,” said Jiang Fei, introducing himself.

“I’m Vorland. I’m a Vulcan,” said the first person, reaching out one of his four hands to greet Jiang Fei.

“Hmph. He’s trash! Look at his combat strength, it’s not even 100,000!” said the alligator man, snorting condescendingly.

“Yeesh…” Jiang Fei shrunk away from alligator guy’s hostility.

Vorland came to Jiang Fei’s side and explained his roommate’s nasty behavior.

“Don’t mind him. He’s Gaxia, a Decronian. His entire race behaves that way. They lack manners and only respect those with strength, instead of judging someone based on their character.”

“I’m going to bed. Be quiet. Or you’ll be sorry for even breathing,” said Gaxia without even glancing over.

“Go, sleep,” said Vorland simply.

He seemed confident but it was still obvious that the four-armed alien was scared of Gaxia. He even lowered his voice so as to not disturb Gaxia as he snored away.

“What do you learn in the training field? What are we going to do tomorrow?” asked Jiang Fei quietly, not wanting to offend his roommates on the first day itself.

When the two came into the room, Jiang Fei had measured their combat level. Gaxia, the alligator man, was at 180,000. He was definitely stronger than Bella. Even so, Jiang Fei was confident that he could defeat him with Omnisurge activated.

The Vulcan was slightly weaker at around 130,000. Everyone here was strong, even stronger than Balris. They had all been handpicked and trained in order to serve Commander Alexis after all. He would not want any weaklings to waste his time and effort.

“Hmm? Training? It’s the same thing every day. There’s the Gravity Room, the Time Chamber, the Simulated Combat Ground… well… it’s the same. Every day,” replied Vorland.

“Time Chamber? Simulated Combat…” repeated Jiang Fei.

The only thing that sounded familiar was the Gravity Room, which Alston had told him about. It was simply a room where gravity could be increased to train one’s physical strength.

“The Time Chamber is just a room where time flows… differently? It’s usually paired with the Gravity Room to extend your training. So it’s like you’ve been training for a week when only a day has passed.”

From Vorlund’s explanation, Jiang Fei understood that the Time Chambers work in the same way as Dawn Break. Players are able to play for 24 hours in the game while only 8 hours had passed in the real world.

“I can’t really explain how the Simulated Combat Ground works. To put it simply, everything there is a simulation. Do you play games? If you do, it works just the same. You can do anything there without worrying about repercussions. Mock battles are usually held in there so we won’t have to worry about actually killing our opponents.”

As soon as Vorland mentioned games, Jiang Fei immediately thought of Dawn Break again. The Simulated Combat Grounds worked exactly like the game, except there were no NPCs, monsters, drops, or dungeons… just a bunch of players participating in PvP matches.

“I got it. Thanks for explaining it to me.”

“No problem. It’s late, I need to get some sleep. It’s going to be a big day for you tomorrow. Go to sleep and wake up early. If you’re late, you will be punished for it. The mildest one I’ve heard of is that you don’t get to eat lunch,” said Vorland, a tinge of fear in his tone.

“Alright. I’ll leave you be,” said Jiang Fei as he returned to his bed.

“Sigh… what are the Valsalrians thinking? Are the top brass dying out already? Why did they recruit even the weakest of beings in the universe?”

Jiang Fei heard Gaxia’s malicious comment from his bed. He was not at all offended, instead understanding Gaxia’s train of thought. It was not Jiang Fei alone that he did not respect, but all those who were weak.

Even though he was in a new environment, Jiang Fei’s martial arts training helped him fall asleep easily. And with some help from the Core of Will, it was even easier for Jiang Fei to drift off. In less than a few seconds, Jiang Fei was fast asleep, restoring his mental and physical strength.

…

When the planet had only spun halfway through its own axis, and light from the Red Dwarf star had not yet touched the training ground, a loud, piercing bell echoed through the trainees’ living quarters.