Darius' entourage soon arrived at their destination, hovering over a rocky mountain range that was filled with demon beasts, a special kind of monster only found on Pan.
pαndα---noνɐ1,сoМ These demon beasts saw that giant shadow on the ground cast from above, and they became restless as they were filled with both violence and fear. Gunner was about to raise a hand when Darius stopped him.
"Not yet Gunner. We plan to develop here long term, so we can't damage the area. In fact, looking at how barren this area is, we are going to have to spend a lot of time increasing its quality."
Gunner took his hand back and the demon beasts did not know that they had avoided a genealogy-ending calamity right there. Xela curiously looked down at the demon beasts, but soon showed disgust.
She could sense a certain negative energy within them that was foul to her nose, and she formed an immediate dislike of them. As for Luna, she raised her dagger with a glint in her eye, wondering how many of them she could kill at once and how fast.
Shanks and co seemed interested, wanting to go down and scuffle to stretch their legs after being in management for so long.
"Let me make this clear, we are here to build first. Until each and every one of you reach the Foundation Establishment realm, no one is allowed to leave the airship." Darius nipped all those ideas in the bud.
No one had any complaints though. Darius' word was law and he must have a good reason for saying this, so they stood next to him as he looked down.
"Dispatch the bots, Miranda," Darius commanded.
Miranda acquiesced and sent down the Guard Bots first who had been powered with Source energy now and had their capabilities greatly increased. They began to clear out the demon beasts in a 360-degree radius around the airship, marking the valley below them as their territory.
The critterbots and builderbots then went down in their hundreds, rapidly using top-grade materials produced by Darius in the month of waiting to this day. They began to terraform the valley firstly from a rocky and barren place to a land filled with grass and life.
While Darius watched them for a while, he also spoke. "Now, I will test your Spirit Roots. For those who don't have any, do not worry, I have something here that will grow one for you."
Immediately, the group came to alertness and waited for Darius who turned his seat around to face the deck and then fashioned a table before him. He then placed a strange crystal ball which was at the center of a large parchment with strange runes and symbols.
"Place your hand on the crystal ball and relax," Darius instructed.
"Now before you do so, let me explain what this is and what will happen. This is a Spirit Root Testing Array, a common device made by the cultivators of this continent to test for Spirit Roots in anyone. Not only can it detect its presence it can detect its element and purity." Darius began as he gestured to the gunner.
"As you are all elites from Fallon, you already know about the magic system and Awakenings. Spirit Roots are the same, they have fixed elements linked to your talent just like a natural awakening. Of course, my Awakening Scrolls can give a candidate up to 5 pure elements in their Spirit Root and even grant those without one a real Spirit Root."
Darius chuckled. "Otherwise Pan would not care much about Safemoon's goods."
Gunner walked over and looked at the array before placing his hand on the crystal ball.
"The reason why you might not have Spirit Roots is that all of you old fellows Awakened or Sparked on your own. Anyone who uses my scrolls has their power applicable to all power systems of Faust." Darius added before gazing at Gunner's results.
The array in the center absorbed Spirit Energy in the surroundings and then lit up magically. The crystal ball soon shone and then was lit up by an earthen green glow no unlike Gunner's aura.
The runes on the array then arranged themselves and Darius read them with a smile. "Immortal Emperor Tier, Perfect Quality Earth Spirit Roots. Good job."
Gunner nodded and stepped back. The rest looked confused and Darius naturally explained.
"Spirit Roots have different qualities and the testing array reports them in this way. The first is the cultivation potential, then the spiritual quality, and finally the number of elements within."
Darius raised a finger up. "There are 10 stages of cultivation which you will soon find out, and Immortal Emperor is the highest. The potential section just highlights the most likely stage you will reach with your Spirit Roots based on empirical evidence."
Darius raised a second finger. "The spiritual quality is split into five, poor quality, average quality, good quality, excellent quality, and perfect quality. This affects your raw talent, how fast you can absorb Spirit Energy, how pure that energy will be, and how powerful your attacks or defenses as a cultivator will be."
Darius raised a third finger. "The element stages the kind of cultivation technique as well as the types of spells you can learn as a cultivator. The neutral Spirit Energy you absorb is converted to elemental energy related to your Spirit Root and cannot be changed to other elements. Not counting exceptions and outliers, and not counting my Awakening Scrolls, it is often better to have fewer elements, because it means your Spirit Root quality will be higher. Having a single element like Gunner makes you a special talent that sects would go to war for."
After explaining this, the group could now somewhat make sense of Gunner's reading, and their hearts skipped a beat.
Sasuga Gunner-sama!
"Xela, you're next," Darius stated with a soft smile.
Xela gulped lightly and walked over with a worried expression, gingerly placing her hand on the crystal ball. Soon, it lit up just like Gunner and with a single white light that was piercing.
After reading the runes, Darius nodded. "Immortal Emperor Tier, Perfect Quality Light Spirit Roots. That is super rare and it means you can both heal and attack in this power system."
Darius knew of certain top sects that only employed Light-element cultivators like Xela and she would likely become their Holy Maiden immediately if they knew her talent.
Xela seemed relieved that she didn't let anyone down and skipped back to her place beside Gunner and Luna. Darius then nodded to the sexy moon elf who walked over elegantly and placed her hand on the crystal ball.
The crystal ball shone with a dark and all-consuming light, making Darius feel pleased. "Immortal Emperor Tier, Perfect Quality Darkness Spirit Roots."
Luna nodded, a slight smile of satisfaction playing on her lips as she walked back to the happy Xela who hugged her as if she won a trophy - making Luna speechless - and Gunner who gently rubbed her head - making her blush.
Darius then turned to the other fellows who were restless and nervous. "Don't worry, I am not going to make you test for them without giving you one. What I have will make even the most powerful Spirit Roots feel like trash."
Darius clapped his hand and a bunch of maidbots brought over trays with a golden potion on them. The old men picked them up and drank it without hesitating, downing it all in one gulp.
Immediately, their faces became awkward, and Spirit Energy in the surroundings seemed to rush into their body and purify them. After a minute or two, the wave settled down and the fellows seemed energetic and full of power.
Darius gestured to the ball. "Now gentlemen, please test one by one."
They glanced at each other and allowed Shanks to take the lead since he was the earliest to meet Darius among them. The aged father walked over and tentatively placed his hand on the crystal ball.
It lit up with a bronze glow.
"Oh? Immortal Emperor Tier, Perfect Grade Bronze Spirit Root. This means that you are more suited for the path of Body Refinement." Darius explained.
Shanks nodded and stood aside, allowing Nicholas to place his hand down next. Darius saw a nice and healthy platinum color along with the image of a sword.
"Hoho, now this is super rare. Immortal Emperor Tier, Perfect Grade Platinum Spirit Root, and a budding Sword Heart!" Darius glanced at Nicholas with a smile.
Now it seemed that we could trace where Ash's sword talent came from. After all, the potion he gave them only awakened Spirit Roots based on their physiology and talents, so this was naturally a part of Nicholas.
After him was Elijah, the former Seneschal, and Principal. When he placed his hand down, a nice, purple glow shone.
"Another rare one. Immortal Emperor Tier, Perfect Grade Gravity Spirit Root." Darius announced.
After Elijah was Maximo Riverstrike, and his talent was also a rare Material Spirit root. While this meant he would not be the most combat capable, it meant he would be the greatest Alchemist and Artifact Refiner on the continent for sure.
After them were Darla and Kiran, who both had a Gold and Silver Spirit Root respectively.
