WHOOSH

Dorian let out a deep breath as he awoke from his meditation, energy boiling about him.

"Ahh." He blinked as he looked around. Their room was on the second floor and set near the outer wall of the mansion, with a window letting sunlight filter in. Dorian walked up and looked outside. The light was just barely falling in from an early morning sunrise.

Dorian looked out at it, taking a few more breaths. It was a refreshing, peaceful sight, something he didn't see often in his hectic, fast-paced adventure.

"It's very pretty." A feminine voice caught Dorian's attention as he turned around.

He smiled, waving at Helena. The Vampire was still resting atop the large golden bed. Her face was still pale, but there was a hint of a rosy complexion hidden within her withered appearance. The rest she'd gotten over the past few days seemed to be working.

"That it is, smalls." Dorian walked over quietly, sitting on the bed next to her.

"How are you holding up?" He gave her a warm nod.

"So-so." She raised her hand and then wobbled it from side to side. Slowly, she raised herself up, taking long, slow breaths. Her entire body moved in unison despite its current disability, the smooth warrior instincts she had trained to an incredible level still present.

"I'm getting better." She nodded firmly.

'You are… but so slowly…' He mentally shook his head. The number of Worlds they would need to cross to escape was far too many. He had no confidence that they could make it out of Shade territory without alerting the authorities.

And once they learned Helena was a Vampire, and a weakened, but especially important, one… Dorian could protect her, but all it would take is one good blast to make it past him. It wasn't worth the risk.

"Helena, I have a question for you." Dorian began, changing the subject.

Behind him, the early morning sounds of dawn could be heard, slowly filtering in through the window.

"Oh? What's up?" Helena responded, blinking at him.

"How strong are beings at the Angelic Class?" His question went straight to the point.

"How strong are beings at the Angelic Class…" Helena said the question out loud, a small smile appearing on her face.

"Overwhelmingly. Awe-inspiringly strong." She shook her head,

"Those at the Angelic Class have taken the first step on the Path to Ascension. Anyone that reaches that level is so powerful they cannot be compared to lesser Classes." Her voice was calm as she spoke, but Dorian could see an inner fire simmer within her as she spoke.

"They're that strong?" Dorian said, frowning. He hadn't realized there was such a large gap.

"Yes. The difference between even a Pseudo-Angelic Class being who has found their own Path, and a Late King Class who has not, is immense." Helena continued,

"The man I aspire to defeat, Arthur Telmon, is quite possibly the most powerful being in existence, and also an Angelic Class Human. I say that my goal is to grow strong enough to beat him… but to get that much power…" Helena shook her head again, this time clenching her fists underneath her sheets.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. Don't worry about him right now. Growing strong is a process that takes time. You'll get there. I have faith in you." Dorian said, patting her on the head. Helena was so caught up in the talk of her goals that she didn't notice.

"Why do you hate him so much, anyway?" He queried.

"Telmon cut off the path to Ascension from the man I love like a father. It's extremely difficult to take the final step into the Angelic Class, and to even stand a chance, one needs to have a very powerful Soul." Helena continued,

"To take the final step, however, and Ascend to the Heavens, one needs to have a perfectly complete soul." Her voice turned bitter,

"Highlord Marcus used to be the most powerful of the three Vampire Highlords. However, after a battle between the Highlords and Telmon many years ago, he fell to become the weakest of the three due to injuries to the soul. His wounds were further exacerbated by a duel he had with the Shade King afterwards." She frowned as she went on,

"The Shade King went on to break through to the Angelic Class while Highlord Marcus has remained trapped at the Pseudo-Angelic Class, unable to proceed. Even if he does, with the permanent injuries he has sustained upon his soul, he will forever be unable to Ascend."

A single tear dripped down Helena's face as she finished, her heartfelt emotion visible.

Dorian's heart went out for her. He rubbed her shoulder comfortingly, not quite sure how to respond.

"Well. I understand a bit more now. I'm sorry that happened to him."

Helena shrugged, shaking her head.

"It's old news now. There is no point speaking of it."

A quiet pause ensued.

After a few seconds, Dorian's curiosity overwhelmed him and he continued his questions,

"You mentioned that a Pseudo-Angelic Class being is one who has opened their own Path? Could you explain a little more?"

Helena nodded and then began giving Dorian a small lesson,

"Yes. Few people know what the Angelic Class truly entails. Only the elites and experts that have powerful masters are even aware." She gestured as she spoke,

"Reaching the King Class requires complete mastery of a Law." Dorian nodded as he listened to her speak. Helena continued,

"The amount of energy and size of one's soul is generally used to separate classes. The same applies to King Class. However, there is a point for every being where it slowly becomes impossible to progress. One's soul cannot grow indefinitely, after all. Every being has a limit."

"The stronger your soul is before you reach King Class, typically the higher your limit."

"Growing one's soul requires meditation on a Law that you are studying. One's soul will unconsciously absorb energy from the Laws of the Universes, growing stronger. This basically only happens with real, sincere meditation; meditation that will also increase your understanding of whatever Law. The moment you fully understand a Law, you will break through to King Class."

"Some experts will choose incredibly abstruse Laws to study in order to maximize the time they spend in Lord Class to raise their limit. Others will stop meditating once they feel they are about to breakthrough and search for rare Natural Treasures or Pills to increase the strength of their soul, to maximize their limit."

"Most people, however, simply meditate and grow in strength naturally. Breaking through to the King Class is already extremely difficult on its own and for most beings, the increase in power would be marginal when using extra methods." Helena took a deep breath as she finished one part of her explanation before diving into the next,

"The Angelic Class is qualitatively different. To break into the Angelic Class, one needs to find their Path to Ascension."

"Find my Path to Ascension?" Dorian repeated back, confused.

"Yes. Every person is different. Their experiences are unique. Every aspect about them, when combined together, creates a completely unique creature that has lived a life that no one else has lived, not exactly. And all of that is imprinted upon your soul." She gestured at him,

"The Angelic Class is about taking your first step onto your own unique Path to Ascension. Highlord Marcus told me it requires your soul and Soul Spell Matrix to be perfectly fused together, with no blemishes."

"After that has been achieved, one must enter intense meditation. One must mentally review every single experience imprinted upon their soul. It is like a rebirth of their life, living through their entire past all at once. Your soul must be fully attuned to yourself, your past, your entire life."

"If you have managed to achieve a state of perfect balance and cohesiveness with your soul, Highlord Marcus says you will have broken into the Pseudo-Angelic Class. To fully break through to the Angelic Class, in this state of perfect balance, you only have to do a single thing."

"You have to willingly give up all of these experiences, these dreams and goals, your memories, everything, dissociating it from your soul. Your entire life will be wiped clean, removed from you."

"Of course, after all of that is removed, should you successfully let everything go without failing, the memories and emotions, all of it will come back."

"Highlord Marcus described it as feeling like you have stepped up to the edge of a huge cliff, one that overlooks an enormous desert with a tiny oasis in the center."

"If you manage to jump off that cliff successfully and land in the oasis, you can break through to the Angelic Class. If you land in the desert, however…"

"You die."

As Helena finished speaking, a look of exhaustion appeared on her face. She settled back down into the bed delicately.

"Hey there, go easy. Don't stress yourself. That solved most of my questions, thank you." He rubbed her arm, looking at her with concern. He went over her words in his head, absorbing the knowledge. The Angelic Class seemed like it was something quite incredible.

"I'll go have breakfast sent up to us. You just keep focusing on recovery." Dorian stood up, turning towards the door.

Before he could leave, however, he felt Helena tug at his shirt. He stopped, turning to look back at her questioningly.

Helena's tired eyes looked back, an odd light in them.

"Hey, Dorian?" She said, her voice quiet.

"Yes? What's up? Do you need something else?" He nodded sharply, trying to appear confident.

She shook her head and then blurted out,

"Thanks."

"Huh? For what?" Dorian tilted his head slightly. If anything, he was the one that should be thanking her for the info.

"For this all. Just- Thanks. I won't forget it." She nodded her head at him as if satisfied with her words. Then, before he could respond, she closed her eyes and fell back down, ignoring him as she focused on internal meditation and healing.

Dorian stared at her in consternation and then smiled, shaking his head,

"You're welcome, smalls. Don't ya worry about it. I got your back." He muttered as he began to walk towards the entrance of the room.

Unbeknownst to him, a small smile appeared on Helena's face as he walked away.

.. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..

Dorian managed to get food for Helena and him. Helena could eat normally, thankfully, but her weakness remained as her body continued to try and recover.

The City Lord of Ticko, Patrin, was an elderly Shade that was quite enamored with Dorian's tale. Dorian reminded the Shade warrior of himself in his youth. After eating with Helena, Dorian spent about an hour talking to the City Lord downstairs, asking the Shade about his history to glean more information about the Commune.

He also spent that time dodging questions about his own history as well, or making up tall tales when he was forced to.

Eventually, he learned more about the arrangements Patrin had helped set up in advance to get Dorian across planet.

On the Normal World that they were on, there weren't many large scale travel companies. This Normal World was a decidedly normal one, with little draw for powerful Wizards. As a result, if one wanted to travel very long distances quickly, they would need to request one of the large, difficult-to-use Flying Ship Artifacts be transported over to the city proper.

Patrin had arranged for that ahead of time. A Flying Ship was already making its way over and would arrive in the city tomorrow.

All Dorian needed to do was wait another day. By using a Flying Ship to cross the planet, he could shave several days, or even weeks, off his travel time. With Helena in her current state, he didn't dare to try flying her across using any of his flying forms.

As a sidenote of talking to the City Lord, he learned another tidbit of information.

One that was decidedly dour.

'An entire Draconic Tribe has fallen.'

Patrin had been just as shocked as Dorian as he spread the news. One of the 12 Draconic Tribes had been slaughtered, down to the last Dragon. Even further, some type of war seemed to have broken out deep within the Tribes, according to sources spreading this gossip.

This had happened several days or even weeks ago. Information travelled fast in the 30,000 Worlds thanks to Magic, but even then, in such a massive universe, it could only move so quickly.

Especially for Lord Class experts like Patrin, who simply ran a large city on a little known Normal World.

'The rumors say it could be anything, but I'm willing to bet it was one of the Flock… I've only ever faced three Dragons. The rhyming Eleventhborn, and Aiden and Mira. Despite my current strength, I think that, at best, I could match up with Aiden. I might even still lose to him, even with my Balance Demon form…' Dorian frowned.

Aiden might be at the Middle of King Class, but he was also a huge, powerful Golden Flame Dragon, utilizing the Law of Majesty. In raw might, he would easily be able to equal Late King Class Wizards. Further, there were bound to be other Dragons of similar strength within the Tribe.

Now, after all of that, it was night time on the Normal World.

He was sitting several miles outside the city, his legs crossed as he sat down in meditation thinking things over. He had just left the City Lord's mansion, using his Sun Eagle form to fly over here in a flash.

Around him, an empty gully and a few random trees could be seen. The nearby ground was rather abandoned, non-arable and useless to most.

'I've grown stronger, but I can't let myself stagnate. My progress with Laws will grow steadily. What I need to think about are other ways I can grow stronger.' Dorian's thoughts were muddled as he thought this over, frowning.

'I can't just keep depending on Yukeli's Mystic Martial Arts. Eventually, I'll face a member of the Flock that can use them just like me. Only, they will have the complete memories for them and probably use them with more skill.' He nodded,

'But then… what do I have?' He paused for a moment, his mind racing ahead.

'The three biggest things that separate me from others are my Abilities, my forms, and my memories from Earth.' Dorian came up with 3 main things.

WHOOSH

His body transformed from his current Shade physique, gaining a set of metallic and crystalline armor, covered from head to toe, with glowing blue eyes. His Balance Demon form.

"Ahh." His voice in this form was deep and calming. He relished the feeling of the form. When he was using it, he felt as if everything was easier to sense. The world around him was clearer, as was his mind and soul.

'This form is perfect for practice.' He realized, pleased. His Balance Demon form would allow him to try anything he wanted with no downsides to his physique, making handling anything balanced and relatively easy.

'Now let's see. Of my Abilities, for attacking, the strongest one I have is undoubtedly my Hyperion Beam, especially when I infuse Dragonfire and the Power of Law into it.' He nodded.

'Recently, my soul has grown at a very fast rate. I've gained so much energy that putting out a Hyperion Beam no longer draws too much from me, but is still a very powerful attack.' As he mulled this over, an idea swept over him.

'You know… what if I look at it like a video game from Earth? On Earth, there were some games that let you spam multiple powers or abilities at once…' Dorian's eyes lit up.

'In this form, I should be able to practice handling multiple Abilities. Even in my normal forms, I've used multiple Abilities at once before…'

'What if I use the same Ability multiple times, all at once?'

Dorian's eyes flashed as he turned to look over at a few of the random trees that were set near him. He slowly raised the right hand of his Balance Demon form, looking out at a trio of peaceful oaks.

He blinked.

A second later, without hesitation, he mentally yelled out,

'Hyperion Beam, activate!'

'Hyperion Beam, activate!'

'Hyperion Beam, activate!'

WHOOOSH

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