"I was hoping you could help me with something, " Aaliyah said. I raised an eyebrow at her serious tone but nodded.

  "Would you fight with me? I want to see just how strong I am and guess you are."

  I cocked my head at her and considered it for a moment. Her aura was decent and her level was high enough for the top ten. Still, she lacked something. I couldn't put my finger on what it was but I could feel it. "Alright, we can do it on the rooftop." I got to my feet and started to push energy through my channels.

  I decided to let her make the first move. Mostly because I wanted to see what she could do. The darkness around me surged toward me like ink until it was crawling its way up my legs. It was oddly cold kind of like dipping my foot into an ice bath only it was wrong. I couldn't put the sensation into words it just felt "wrong". I reached to try and rip it off only to realize I couldn't. Or rather that the shadows were still two-dimensional. "Huh? Fascinating." I grinned and forced my Tao field out in every direction. The shadows practically exploded off of me.

  "Are they real? Or illusions? Are they dispelled by bright lights?" I asked though I wasn't interested in her answer nor did she give me one. As soon as I retracted my Tao she moved in. Her daggers swung for my throat and heart. The daggers felt fake or I guess imitations of what The Heralds were. I grabbed the one going for my neck with psychokinesis and then caught the other with my bare hand. Her strength was no match for mine. I brought my knee up and then unleashed a front kick that launched her a few feet across the roof.

  "Your attacks lack lethality." I formed a dozen psychic blades and aimed them down at her. "You are going to have a hard time until you solve that issue. Do you have any more skills to show off?"

  She hesitated for a moment before the darkness surged. This time darkness flowed upwards as if gravity nor any other law of physics held sway over them. The darkness formed a kind of bubble around us. Almost all my senses were sealed as a domain skill activated. I closed my eyes and focused exclusively on my Soul Sense. I still wasn't used to this view. It was kind of like my senses were everywhere in the domain. Without my eyes as a natural anchor, it was weird. Despite that watching Aaliyah was easy. She activated a skill that caused darkness to coat her blades before she ran at me. I stepped into her guard and avoided her initial swipes before separating.

  We repeated the process two more times before I decided to attack back. I pushed her right leg out from under her with psychokinesis and then summoned a psychic blade and blade it above her chest. I then formed multiple blades of compressed space and launched them into the darkness. The domain shattered and we were returned to the roof. "Not bad. You should be able to handle most people on Earth now. Romulus, Trey and maybe Amahle could be an issue."

  "How could you still see?" She asked with the barest hint of irritation and awe in her voice.

  "I awakened my soul sense." I held up a hand to stop the question that was sure to come. "Not important. It's a thing soul cultivators can do."

  She slowly nodded and then I offered her hand. When she was upright she brushed off the front of her pants. "I couldn't beat the Herald then?"

  I shook my head and tried to come up with a kind way of replying but I decided against it. Some things were better off said bluntly. "No, you didn't attack me with real intent to kill. You should work on that. Second, your attributes are too low. I am not sure if there are other titles you can get but you should look into it. If not get into more fights and get more levels."

  Aaliyah sighed and walked toward the other side of the roof. "That's what you said last time. When you go exploring can I join you?"

  I grinned and nodded. "Absolutely, your class seems to be related to stealth. That could be pretty nice. If you can get a bit stronger you might be able to assassinate people."

  She shook her head and stepped into the shadows. A moment later she was gone. I activated Apportation and watched the beautiful portal form. I stepped through and reappeared in the subterranean city. The number of soldiers present had increased to the point that this was one of the most heavily defended areas in Amara. Of course, as long as Xerxes and I were here it didn't really matter.

  "You two still hunting?"

  "We have found something strange. The cub did not want me to share it with you."

  "Is it dangerous? Is it something you can't handle?"

  "We do not know. The cub said it was a strange room. We have not gone further than the main chamber."

  "Alright, I am on my way." Once I got the directions from Xerxes finding them wasn't too hard. They were roughly ten miles southwest of the town. When I arrived the pair stood in front of a somewhat familiar shimmer in the air. One that denoted some kind of demi-plane. "You all went inside? It's dangerous to go into a demi-plane alone." I was about to hammer on that point when I remembered that I had technically done the same. I also likely wouldn't have told anyone if I had found this one first.

  "The cub is fine. We did not go too far." Xerxes began in my mind.

  "It's not a big deal there was nothing inside but some large statues and a door that we couldn't open," Trey whined until glared at him.

  "And you were going to stop if you had been able to open the door?" When he didn't answer I nodded. "As I thought. I am going to send word to Aaliyah and then the four of us can go in together. I pulled out a pair of spirit stones and one to each of them. "For now recover as much energy as you can. We might get into a good fight."

  It took Aaliyah nearly an hour to find us. When she did she was out of breath and a bit disheveled. "You good?"

  "Yeah." She panted as her gaze drifted from me to the others. "I was told that something happened?"

  "Huh? In retrospect, I should have chosen better words. The duo here found a demi-plane. We are about to go inside and see if we can find anything. Do you want to join us?"

  Irritation flashed across her face for a moment before she calmed. "Will it be dangerous? I mean for all of us?"

  I shrugged. "The last demi-plane was filled with the things that could still kill me so this one may have giant dragon monsters that could eat us all whole. It's also possible that it's just a massive treasury filled with gold, drugs, and diamonds." I chuckled at the end of that but figured it wasn't impossible. If it was a tomb then people wanting to be buried with wealth was possible.

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  "Whatever I am willing to go," Aaliyah replied. I tossed her a spirit stone so she could be at her best.

  "Take the time to absorb that and then we will head in. Xerxes and I will take the lead while you two support us. If we encounter something too dangerous you retreat first. No point in getting yourselves killed. As for loot, keep what you find."

  Everyone murmured their agreement and then I let them get to work. While they recovered I decided to enter the plane and see what I could find out. Now that I had the Tao of Compression stepping through the dimensional film felt different. I wouldn't call it a homecoming, closer to a familiarity. The film broke and I stepped into a massive chamber. It was hard to know for sure but the ceilings had to be over fifty feet above us. There were four statues of seated warriors at the four cardinal points. Each one depicted bald humanoids in stone chairs.

  At first, I thought the figures were supposed to be human but the more I looked the more I didn't think so. Despite the size depicted they didn't have the same bone structure nor did they have ears. The statue's body proportions were all odd to look at. Their limbs seemed a bit too long. They also wore clothes that made me think of ancient Rome. That kind of armor skirt thing they wore in history books.

  I turned my attention to the door and quickly realized the issue. The door was massive and made out of grey stone. The stone was of higher quality than anything I had seen until now. It looked like it could hold more energy than everyone in Amara put together. There was no way I could break it. Thankfully it didn't seem like you were supposed to. The door had a massive array going through it.

  The array was once a work of art but the array failed when whatever made this place a demi plane happened. Or time has caused it to erode. Either way, I might be able to break it. I was about to get to work when I saw everyone enter through my soul sense.

  "What the fuck?" Aaliyah said as she looked around. "Are we in a giant's throne room?"

  "See I said it was more like that old horror guy. Slenderman." Trey replied.

  The irritation that passed from Xerxes to me made it clear that this wasn't the first time he had mentioned the horror character. Something I found hilarious. "Let's hope this doesn't turn into an actual horror movie. Why do you think this place is a tomb? I get the statues and all but it could be a throne room couldn't it?"

  Trey's eyes brightened like a kid on Christmas morning. "I hadn't thought about that. Do you think this place is a piece of a king's throne room? Desbera said that these planes are just smaller pieces of proper worlds. Is it possible that this place broke away from a castle or maybe is a castle? Oh maybe in a like a massive battle?" Trey's tone picked up as he continued through what-if scenarios until I held up a hand to stop him.

  "I don't know. There is an array on the door which is probably why you couldn't open it. I am going to work on breaking it. While I do that the rest of you should explore the chamber. One of you might want to go back and ask Desbera if she has any more information that might help us. Oh and get the array that could make a permanent entrance. I forgot to bring that."

  It was Trey who volunteered to go back which left Aaliyah and Xerxes to explore. I spent a few minutes watching her try to navigate while ignoring the horse-sized Qilin before I turned to my work. I decided to spend a little while memorizing the array. I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to create something this complicated in the short term which meant this was invaluable. I spent about an hour jotting down notes on everything from the position of the arrays to their size and detail.

  Whoever made this had to be an array master which only increased my desire for this place. If I could find a heritage or something for array crafting my power would skyrocket. When I felt I was ready I got to work. If formed tendrils of spiritual and psychic energy each one focused on a different area in the array. Each step led to the next in a cascading series of actions and reactions till it felt like it would be impossible to stop. The array's energy had to be properly redirected into the stone. Now that I was manipulating I could tell it was way too pure for me to cultivate. It seemed like anything more than a drop or two would overfill my dantian and burn through my channels.

  If it wasn't for the quality of the array taking it apart this slowly would likely be impossible. I was forced to take several breaks and the process ballooned from a few hours to nearly three days before it gave in. I slowly withdrew my energy from the wall and let the vestiges of the array fade. I had tried to preserve it in a way that would let me reactivate it but that wasn't possible. Or at least I wasn't good enough. "Alright, lady, gents, and massive dog monster creatures," I said as I got to my feet. "I think it's time we got this show on the road."

  I stepped up to the door placed a hand on either side of the seam and began to push. It felt like I tried to move a mountain with my bare hands. I pushed spiritual energy into my arms for an extra boost and only then did it start to move. The door slowly slid open revealing an ornate dark hallway. The ground bore the small remains of what looked like carpet while the walls had faded paint and carvings. When the door was open enough for us to get through it I gestured for the others to follow.

  "Are we taking any bets? Tomb or Castle?" I asked while I expanded my Tao field to cover us.

  "Um, I am leaning toward a castle or some kind of house," Trey said. "I can't tell what kind of carpet this used to be but it seems a bit fancy to be a mausoleum."

  "I guess I will go with mausoleum just to keep things interesting," Aaliyah added. "Also plenty of mausoleums had fancy carpet. That was the whole point."

  Xerxes snorted and trotted a few feet ahead of the group. "Sense anything?"

  "No, it seems empty and the air is stale. I don't think it has been opened in a long time."

  "What are the chances that this place is completely empty?" I asked.

  "I doubt it. The System probably wouldn't just give you an empty building. It should have something dangerous inside." Trey replied.

  I was about to scold him for jinxing us when a wave of spiritual energy washed over us. I froze like a deer in headlights as I waited for something bad to happen. We stayed like that for several seconds before I chuckled. "That could have been—" A slam resounded through the hall from somewhere ahead of us quickly followed by two more. The sounds were followed by a set of footfalls, each one was eerily in sync which made me think were dealing with golems or puppets like from The Road of Kings trial.

  I glared at Trey before I rolled my shoulders. "Alright, on the off chance we can't beat whatever's coming evacuate safely but quickly." I formed a halo blades, one from each Tao except for Flow. I then made a few more from collapsed space just in case mental attacks didn't work on them. I felt the others ready themselves and I couldn't help the grin that spread across my lips. We weren't kept waiting long. A trio of ten-foot-tall stone warriors stepped into range of my soul sense.

  Each one was massive and looked like they could punch holes through solid steel. Each one wielded massive hammers that they held across their bodies. The arrays animating them were works of art and I wasn't sure I could break them in the short run. "They are coming. There are three of them so stay on your toes. Xerxes and I will each take one. You two work together on the third."

  I had just enough time to give out my orders before the trio arrived. Seeing them with my actual eyes did nothing to change my perception of them. There was no way my fists would be able to break through them. I picked my target and shot all my blades at it. Just as I expected the psychic blades were useless but the rest were fine. My spatial blades weren't strong enough to break through the stone but they were able to damage it. Which I considered a win.

  I conjured and unleashed several more blades while the others clashed with their opponents. Trey's fire and ice attacks were sloppy but effective. The clashing temperatures created a weakness that wasn't much at first but it slowly got worse. Especially when he focused on the same point. Aaliyah managed to take advantage of it her darkness let her attack a bit like an assassin only the statues didn't have vital organs or any important points she could go after. It took the pair a few seconds to get into unison with each other but it was impressive.

  Xerxes was doing his own thing. His statue was stronger than him but not nearly as fast. The horse-sized beast unleashed a barrage of attacks that were whittling down the statue. I turned my focus back to my own battle. The cuts spread throughout my statue were mostly cosmetic which was great news. It meant that this thing could withstand what I needed. Hours of meditation were great for getting stronger but some somethings could only be done through combat. The statue raised its hammer and charged me. I cracked my fingers and formed a half dozen spatial slashes.

  "You are going to help me get a bit better with my Tao."