Daman
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TDE Book 6 Chapter 7 - Failed Path
🕑 Added 2024-03-16 12:00:37 +0000 UTC“Is there something wrong with my domain?”
Calron asked hesitantly as he trailed behind the black pig. It looked like Martial was heading for the door.
“I’ll go see what’s the hold-up with Star.”
The Blood Titan glanced at the tiny dove before leaving the room in a flash of crimson burst.
“Heed his words, little one. Martial is the most adept at domain among all the Titans.”
The Nature Titan addressed Calron before she flew away as well, leaving only Calron with the black pig.
“There’s no wrong domain in the universe. Only ill-suited ones. In the vast galaxies, there are multiple iterations of what we call the 4th circle stage. The cultivators have their element at the epicenter of their domain, while we, the path walkers, use the dao. Regardless of what the foundation is, one thing is the same. A domain is the will you exert on the world around you.”
The tree’s door conformed itself to reveal the outside as Martial calmly trotted past it. The black pig’s demeanor was a stark difference to his earlier attitude. Gone was the silliness from his voice, replaced by a heavy seriousness.
“Bastard, hurry up! You think I have all day to sit around and lecture you?”
That was until the black pig abruptly dashed backward and kicked Calron in the shin. Calron had been dwelling on Martial’s words about his domain, so he’d been walking at a slow pace.
“I was listening…”
Calron grumbled as he ran ahead into the open meadow.
“Summon your domain, brat.”
The black pig tapped his left hoof impatiently once there was enough distance between them and the dead tree. It was strange that the sun above remained fixed in the same position as when Calron first entered this dimension. Was time frozen here?
“Blood Kingdom.”
Calron whispered the words. His surroundings thrummed with life as a reddish smog spread within the center, and a hazy pagoda coalesced beside Calron. It was the Armory.
“Solid concept, but quite wasteful.”
Martial teleported right in front of the shimmering pagoda and sniffed at it with indifference.
“It lets me materialize any weapon I want.”
Calron frowned at Martial’s remark. The Armory was an ability that Calron had been striving for so long. He didn’t always have access to a weapon, and the Armory would make sure that this wouldn’t be an issue in the future.
“Do you train the Dao of Weapons or the Dao of War like me?”
Martial dashed on top of Calron’s shoulder and pressed his snout to the young man’s face.
“No.”
Calron nudged the pig’s slimy snout away from him as he responded.
“Then why are you obsessed with a weapon? Your weapon is your blood and the lightning inside of you.”
Martial teleported back to his original spot, his dark eyes boring into Calron.
“I didn’t have my lightning until now, and besides, the Blood Dao has its own limitations. A weapon helps me fill that gap.”
Calron reached out for the Armory and soon a replica of Thunder’s Hand manifested within his hand.
“The dao doesn’t have limitations, brat. The only thing limiting it is your mind. If you can’t use your dao to command your will, it’s simply because you’re too weak to do so.”
Martial grunted and held up his hoof when he saw Calron was about to say something.
“But that’s not your biggest issue.”
The black pig slowly walked within the crimson mist and passed by the various empty spots inside the domain. Only one of those spots was occupied by the pagoda.
“It’s your trait.”
Martial paused and said in an austere tone, his dark eyes meeting Calron.
“Trait?”
Calron asked in confusion as he stood in front of the black pig.
“A domain exerts your will on the world around you. However, it needs a medium to do it. You formed his domain with your Blood Dao, but your nature has always been attuned to lightning instead. You were only eligible for the Blood Dao during your selection because of Blood’s interference. It was essential for you to obtain his Blood Siphon ability, but now that same dao will be a detriment to your future path.”
Martial sighed, his sight spanning to all the empty spots.
“You see, the domain works through your inner will and if that soul is constantly clashing with the Blood Dao and lightning, it will eventually rupture your domain.”
“I don’t know, Martial. At the start, I always used to question how much influence the Blood Titan had on my dao. After all, he thwarted my attempts so he could make sure I got the Blood Siphon ability. But once I broke into the 4th circle, I felt in control of my mind. Why do I need to follow the Blood Titan’s path? Isn’t the Armory the proof that the dao follows my will now?”
Calron smiled at the worried expression on the black pig’s face.
“You’ll never be able to attain your 5th circle if you don’t complete your domain. And if you chose the wrong abilities in the future that are not aligned with the dao, forget about your domain, even your existing circles will be affected.”
Martial sighed at the confident look on the young man’s face.
“I can’t change my trait. I will always think like a lightning cultivator, but that doesn’t mean I cannot pursue the path of blood as well. All roads lead to the Grand Dao.”
Calron sat down in front of Martial and opened his palm to summon the chains of lightning flashing between his fingers. The blood domain vanished the moment the lightning appeared.
“All roads lead to the Grand Dao…”
Martial whispered to himself as he gazed at the lightning. Was this brat thinking of creating a completely new dao? A dao encapsulating the dao of blood and the lightning element? What would the result be?
Martial looked into Calron’s blood-red left eye and then his golden right eye.
“What if you fail in the process?”
The black pig asked.
“Then I’ll fail. And I’ll keep failing until I succeed. The domain is my will and my path. Even if it’s the wrong one, it’s still mine.”
Calron shrugged his shoulders with a grin on his face. He could sense what Martial was worried about. His lightning trait would complicate his dao, leading to a domain that would be fragmented. From what he had gleaned out of the Titan, he’d need a completed domain to attain his 5th circle.
“They say confidence is a fool’s nourishment.”
Martial snorted. However, secretly, he admired the display Calron had shown to him today. He took the young man to be an idiot, but he realized that Calron didn’t pretend to be something he wasn’t. The young man was aware that he was still finding his way in life. It didn’t matter to him whether it was the best path or not. Only that it was the path he wished to tread.
“Who said that? I never heard it until now.”
Calron raised his eyebrow.
“It was me. I said that.”
Martial chuckled, but his laugh died down once the pig noticed something was off.
“What happened to your domain? Why did it disappear?”
The Titan mused as he glanced around.
“I told you before, I can’t use my dao and element at the same time.”
Calron stated as he called back the lightning and summoned the Blood Kingdom. The hazy pagoda reappeared along with the reddish mist.
“No… Can it be…”
Martial’s dark eyes widened as if a sudden thought struck him.
“What are you babbling about?”
Calron didn’t understand why the black pig was so taken aback.
“I think we all missed something. Actually, it was because Taranis refused to tell us everything about the Titan core project he was working on.”
Martial gathered his thoughts and spoke to Calron.
“Weren’t you the one who was with him during the experiments?”
Calron asked, calling back the Blood Kingdom.
“Yes, but I didn’t really understand how everything worked. Even when I asked him, he’d tell me that calculations could never compete with the will of the mind. He’d then smile and go back to work.”
Martial sighed at the old memories.
“What does any of this have to do with what you were groaning about?”
Calron scratched his head.
“Because… I think we were all wrong about something from the very beginning.”
Martial whispered.
His hooves sank into the ground as the weight of next his words hung in the air.
“That Titan core didn’t just give you an element, brat. It could possibly grant you a second lightning domain.”
