Somewhere in the northernmost regions of the Easterly Kingdoms, a small, contained windstorm was ravaging a sizeable woodland in an unnatural manner. There was not a cloud in the sky, and there hadn't been the slightest wisp of wind until just moments before. The anomaly had appeared without warning, and was kicked off by an unexplained bolt of lightning that smashed down into the verdant foliage with tremendous force. So intense was the weather that it seemed as if the trees were trying to rip their roots free of the earth in an attempt to escape the unexpected calamity. Feathers scattered as birds fluttered free of their perches, soaring off into the skies with frantic flaps of their wary wings. On the ground below, the animals, critters, and demonic beasts that weren't crushed by the violent energies fled in all directions out of instinctual fear, for the aura that bore down upon them was one of absolute suppression.

Time passed and the storm gradually dissipated as if it had never existed in the first place, the warm afternoon returning to its former quiet. Still, the damage done by the storm remained, having stripped most branches bare in a radius of half a kilometre around the epicentre of the violent surge of unknown force. Most shrubs in the area had been uprooted, and all living things that hadn’t been killed in the extreme weather had long-since cleared away.

A small crater sat at the location where the peculiar peel of purple lightning had torn into the earth without restraint, about three metres deep with a diameter of at least ten metres. Standing in the centre of this crater and naked now that his clothes had been obliterated by the powerful jolt that had just struck him, Jason stared down at the electricity that danced about his body, his big brown eyes lacking the naivety and innocence that they had when he was first transported to this massive world. As he stood there fixed in fascination, he closed his eyes and cast his spiritual sense about, clearly sensing a mass of fleeing animals about ten kilometres to the east of where he stood, along with many others in all directions. He was also aware of Brud, the outer court disciple of the Bloodhand Sect that he had enslaved a short while back, hiding away in a ditch that he'd dug about eight kilometres away.

"So this is the Integration stage."

Just a short while ago he had been rabid and mindless, having lost himself to the dangerous and deadly ecstasy that came with relying on the Blood Burning Heart Technique. Oddly enough, the moment that he came into contact with the strange bolt of lightning, the intense energy had struck a sense of clarity into his mind that made him feel as if he were the master of his own machinations.

A company of disciples had chased him far into the forests that fringed the northern holdings of the kingdom of Hauss, which was still locked in a desperate battle for its survival against the invading forces of the Bloodhand Sect. The evil organization had just sent out a third wave of fighters to the front lines, bringing along at least fifty thousand more people to continue terrorizing the kingdom's war-torn population. Thanks to the timely resurgence, he had been able to refine countless teenagers and young adults, and even many children that had yet to reach their teens, his actions justified by their evil natures and intentions.

Jason took a slow breath and lost himself to the occasional aimless thought, but otherwise stood quietly, mindlessly, in a stoic manner.

Just how many people have I killed now? At least ten thousand, he thought with mixed emotions. Including Actius's friends. Speaking of the ancient Neoman, he hadn't heard a peep out of him since the prodigious spirit had helped him to escape from the machinations of the chained woman and the hellish independent space where she resided.

Actius, he thought loudly within his mind. It's about time you say something, don't you think?

When he was met with the expected silence, he closed his eyes and forcibly shared a mutual memory with the man, who he knew would see it. It was the memory of the Neoman and his sibling apprentices as they had flown across a vast desert of red sand in pursuit of the chained woman, before she'd been sealed within that manufactured dimension. Next, he displayed the romantic memories that the man had made with Dana, a fellow disciple and the woman that he'd fallen in love with during his time in the Winterlands. A woman whose wrists Jason had unwittingly slit after she had suffered through millions of years of torment.

The purpose of the mental imagery? It was simply a show of his newfound awareness, that he was able to directly share thoughts and images with Actius whether or not the other party wanted to hear them.

Finally, a feeble voice rang throughout Jason’s mind, light with fatigue.

It seems that that she-devil bound more of my person to you than I thought.

Jason harboured countless memories that had been made by Actius and the other Neomen, and now that his spiritual sense had undergone exponential growth, he could readily access most of them. This included the knowledge that the only places Actius might be hiding right now were in his spiritual space, or deep within his subconscious. Since he could clearly tell that it wasn't the former, he simply had to flood the latter with a cascade of personal memories.

Sorry to do that to you. I just need your advice on something.

And what is it that I can help my newly strengthened disciple with? Be quick, for speaking to you is quite draining for me at the moment.

Jason hopped out of the crater, yet his feet never touched the windblown dirt of the now-barren forest floor. With an exertion of his will, he cast out a fat droplet of spiritual energy from his spiritual space, which was now the size of a soccer field—as perceived by the mental projection of his consciousness—and covered in about two centimetres of iridescent liquid. Once it was expelled from his body, he willed it to expand into a human-sized cloud of raw energy that quickly clung to his skin like a form-fitting suit made of spandex. As if he'd done it a million times in his life, he willed it to rise up into the air, carrying him upward along with it. He stopped once he was about three hundred metres above the forest, which afforded him a scenic view of the massive mountains of the Dragon's Tail which dominated the backdrop in all directions save for to the south.

"Sorry animals," Jason sighed as he stared down at the large stretch of stripped land. He'd taken many lives since the Interspatial Migration had stolen him from his ordinary life. It was an inebriating thought that just months ago in real time, he’d been abusing his videogames, slacking in hockey, and otherwise relaxing within the peaceful Canadian suburb where he and his family had lived on the outskirts of Toronto. Even so, he didn't take any pleasure in needless killing, even if it was against some little rabbit or mindless insect.

Jason? What was it that you wanted?

It's about my next target. Am I strong enough to kill somebody in the Genesis stage?

His mind was quiet for a few moments, until eventually he was met with a light sigh.

If they're at the first level, then you've got about a fifty percent chance of success. That is, if you don't rely on arrayments.

And if I do?

Well, if it were me, then nobody in Genesis would be my match. As for you, since you have a decent amount of my knowledge and memories, then perhaps the third level? I don't advise it, however. What matters most right now is finding that ring as quickly as possible, and destroying it as completely as a thing can be destroyed.

Jason reined in his thoughts at the mention of the ring, but the astute spirit caught on to the emotions that momentarily rose up within him.

You…don't tell me… All this time. All this time and you knew! You knew—

Thanks for everything Actius. Really.

His eyes sharpened, a strong jaw setting on his once-round face. Without another word, he focused on the memory of a particular arrayment that Actius had invented incase somebody managed to compromise his mind. Luckily, Jason had the entire diagram within his arsenal of information, and he quickly drew out an arrayment diagram that was activated within a matter of moments. Midway through his efforts, Actius's voice rang throughout his thoughts, his tone stung as if he'd suffered the highest offense.

Jason! What are you doing?

He ignored the man and continued with his efforts.

JASON!

If anybody were to see his movements, they would never imagine that it was the first time that he had ever drawn out an arrayment diagram, let alone activated one. Within moments, Actius's consciousness was sealed deep within his own. From here on out the spirit would be unable to access any of Jason’s internal energies, which he had been doing in recent weeks in an effort to rebuild his strength.

I'm sorry, he thought, smothering his emotions as he heard the hurt in the Neoman’s voice. I'll undo the seal once I sort things out on my end.