Infernal Apocalypse

"Yeah, your right, we are doing the upgrade tomorrow. We’re splitting the cost, right?”

“Yes, Ill handle half. Though what I wanted to focus on was the beacon. Do you think we should activate it?”

“You know I thought about that all night, but I think we have to. I was worried about who that beacon may attract. We have a good thing going here, and apart from that one hiccup with you and Jax, things have been going pretty smooth. I know this is time where everyone is supposed to band together, but humans have sucked at properly doing that throughout history.

“Which is why I was worried, but at the same time, we all have friends and family out there, and though most of us have done a good job of hiding it, we are all worried sick at the thought of something happening to our loved ones. Even if my motivation wasn’t about family, we should still try to help people, no matter what it brings.

“There could be a group out there right now, without access to an Outpost and just living in the wild. We read the same book, there are only 26 Outpost for billions of people. That is simply not enough. So, we should play our part, and we’ll handle problems if they come. What do you think?”

“Well, I pretty much agree with what you’re saying. But at the same time, I think it should be finalized after we see the new Outpost, if the Outpost is too small and hundreds, let alone thousands show up, people may end up fighting for space.”

“That’s a good point, but I think we would turn it on regardless of the size of the Outpost. Unless it gets big enough to handle maybe millions of people, then it won’t be big enough no matter what. Plus, this is all just speculation, who knows if anyone shows up at all? It could just be one person.”

“Ah that’s a good point too. Let’s just wait and see what this upgrade brings, and we’ll go from there.”

“Sounds good to me, I’ll go check on Brandon.”

And with that Richard left. I promptly left afterwards to go on a late night Dungeon run. I have been constantly practicing fighting with my flames, and that thrust the Outpost Leader did. I still remembered what I experienced in that moment, and I feel like I’m getting closer to the day where I can deliver a simple, yet almost poetically beautiful strike with my spear imbued with flames.

Another thing that was close was my cultivation, the barrier felt weaker than ever now, and I planned to try again tonight after the Dungeon.

~ ~ ~

POV Jrino

“Is she really the only one who has potential to be an Alchemist?”

“Yes, a bunch of them have come to me asking to by my apprentice but they’re all trash. Even the one I chose is barely qualified, plus she’s old by mortal standards so I have to help her cultivate too. This is all one big mess Jrino.

“Are you sure all this effort is going to be worth it? What if he doesn’t do what you think he will?”

“I don’t know if he will do what we need him to, but we will do what we can. You should know by now that risks are needed to advance in life. Compared to other things we’ve done, this isn’t even considered a risk, just a potential path we could take. They don’t yet know what will happen after the Tutorial, but we do. When he finds out, and the option we need is presented to him there is a good chance he will accept. If not, then we cut our losses and return to the Clan.”

“Sigh Who would’ve thought I would ever have to join a Tutorial expedition and hope some young master is smart enough to accept our help. I still don’t understand why the Clan even paid the price to do this, aren’t we powerful enough already? We will eventually have a presence in this Universe even without the Tutorial, why did we have to come here.”

“You know the situation of the Branch Head. He had no choice. No one wants to spend two months managing an Outpost for some weak mortals who may all die within a few years anyway, but the ability to freely access the resources, or even the talents of a new Universe before the shroud is down will always be too good to pass up for most large factions in the Multiverse, and someone needs to be sent here. The Branch Head was under pressure, so he had to concede this. If we were strong enough it would’ve been different.

“But that decision will hopefully benefit us more than they planned for. Being apart of the rise of an Infernal is not an honor anyone in our Clan has experienced. At least not in the last thousands of years. If this is successful our branch will rise in the Clan, and us with it. Be patient, teach the woman properly, and be on the lookout for others to teach.”

“Sigh, understood.”

It wasn’t until xxxx walked out of the office that Greja’s voice sounded in the mind of Jrino.

‘I’m surprised you explained things to him that much.’

‘And I’m not surprised you were listening.’

‘Either way, it seems being someone’s master is softening you up a bit.’

‘Tch Don’t push it Greja. ’

‘Sure sure, but it is good to explain things properly. If Raizen does what we need him to do, things will happen very fast for us, and our relationship will only grow deeper. There is also a chance one of his Elders may disagree with our presence, and they need to be aware of the risks involved.’

‘I’m aware. I only know about Infernals through stories and news reports, but for the most part, while they don’t seek out war, they do welcome it. So as long as we don’t give whatever Elder that shows up a reason to acknowledge our presence, we will be fine.’

‘And what of the people with him? Is it really necessary to give them a few benefits as well?’

‘For him to actually be a leader one day, he will need people by his side. His own people. I do not know how Infernals handle this process. Perhaps they will provide their own set of people to be by his side, I don’t know. What I do know, is that the bonds forged through battle and survival tend to last longer than ones forced upon you. The people he is growing closer to now, will likely grow in strength and power with him, giving a few small benefits to them now, won’t hurt.’

‘I understand. I’ll try and make one of them into a proper merchant.’

‘Mm.’

........

Well…despite everything I’ve been telling them, this plan does hold risks. Every single faction in charge of an Outpost in any Tutorial is trying to do the same thing; Secure an early presence in the new Universe, but I know for a fact not all of them would choose to ally with an Infernal. Some of them might even be outright enemies of Infernals. Although they are powerful, there are also creatures of conflict, so just as likely the Branch, and then of course the Clan as a whole can gain benefits, the opposite is just as true. All it would take is Raizen starting a conflict with the wrong faction before the Clan gets a message asking for our heads.

Truly a risk.

But a risk I was willing to take.