Chapter 73

Infinite variations of chaos swam before him, transforming again and again.

A new voice. “How long has he been like this?”

An unpleasant sensation grew rapidly, distracting him from the hypnotic dance of chaos.

Hector jerked and shoved the knuckles away from his chest. Three concerned faces stared down at him. Evelyn was petting his head like he was a dog and Professor Rahman’s hand was extended towards Hector’s chest. “Ow.”

Hector’s thoughts returned to the revelation of Volithur. It was all so clear still. He wanted to act on the new knowledge right that moment.

Hector pulled her hand off his hair and held it. “Hey. I’m not having a health issue. I’m in better shape than most people you know. This was just a dream thing.”

Jeremy jumped to defend his argument. “Well, maybe his brain needed extra time to download the true insight.”

Hector cleared his throat. “As interesting as the history lesson is, professor, my revelation is more relevant to the imminent monster invasion.”

Evelyn’s hand tightened on his. “What is it, Hector?”

Jeremy pumped his fist into the air. “Yes! What’s the secret, boss man?”

Hector paused. “Oh, sorry, Jeremy, I don’t think I can explain the method to someone else.”

Professor Rahman closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “The three of you try my patience. The Sage of Foresight sees glimpses of potential futures. The limitation is that she can only see things that she might witness one day, correct?”

Evelyn’s jaw dropped. “I never thought to use other people.”

Two minutes later, Evelyn opened her eyes. “He says five days.”

Rahman took a piece of stationary with the hotel’s logo on it and began to write rapidly. “Not fast enough. Each level doubles the potency of the soul, but the expense to reach it increases at a factorial rate. Assuming your estimates are correct and your rate of cultivation remains constant, you could be level six in about as many months. It would take three years for you to reach level seven. Do you think a level six Xian is capable of destroying an invasion that can annihilate the armed forces of every nation on Earth?”

The question hit hard. Hector could only shake his head in denial.

Hector frowned in thought. His insight, while inspired by a transit sphere, didn’t seem directly related to that application. “I don’t know.”

Hector could already see where this was going. “I will.”

Professor Rahman turned his attention to Evelyn. “You are looking for a mirrored sphere. Can you see Hector making one?”

She squeezed her eyes shut and muttered something to herself that sounded like ‘please let this be it’. A few moments later, her eyes shot open. “He does!”

Professor Rahman nodded in satisfaction. “Good. Then the path forward should be obvious to all. Hector needs to find one of the Coalition Armies and bring it back here in time to save Earth. I’m not sure how much strength is necessary to create a transit sphere, but you should not delay your departure. Your immediate priorities must be growing stronger and learning from your dream counterpart.”

And, despite his concerns that he might be dipping into voyeurism, Hector wanted to experience being married to Khana.