Soul of Searing Steel

Chapter 955: The Power of Emotion

The eleventh of November on Starfall Year 847—on that rather solitary day, New Xillia saw the arrival of its first visitors from the Moldavian Liege’s Residence.

A slow-moving scout ship landed on platform 0001 of the residential area, with five people stepping out, carefully and curiously surveying the unusual world.

“A disc-shaped shelter… never thought that such a thing that blatantly disregards the rules of physics could actually be made…”

Priest Omni, leader of the Elite Party, dragged his luggage while looking up in wonder at the sun over his head along with the massive trunk of the World Tree that appeared to be the pillar of the world. It was laden with roads and rails that could fit enchanted tanks and railguns, and Priest could not help but to click his tongue. “I’ll just have to write a few detailed reports about what I think after staying on this world for two weeks? The simplest mission yet.”

“Isn’t it?”

Beside him, Clark the Rider carried his luggage of various sizes. Robust and blond, he stroked his chin as if intending to speak, only to end up murmuring, “Phew.”

Nonetheless, Said the Clergy who had been using some apparatus to examine the world’s density of supernatural energies appeared to understand Rider. Looking the data from his tools, he then nodded and told his leader, “Average ether density here is thirty-one times higher as compared to Mycroft. Never mind its disc-shape—with such concentration, the ether would keep aloft all shapes whether it’s bowl, fork, or even barbeque rack. This disc-shape may not be quite scientific, it’s quite arcane and ether.”

“Who cares. Either way, it’s not the same as elements and magic, and it doesn’t affect living bodies, however dense it may be.” Priest waved him off and replied firmly, “My mentor has mentioned that this mission could have been like a vacation, but it’s a pity that it’s still a standard mission so I can’t bring Sol or Britney along—it would have been a real vacation otherwise.”

“You’re actually thinking about bringing a girl? What’s your game, leader?!”

“Riot! Riot! Isn’t it time for a change of leadership?”

The journey was filled with meriness. Their previous adventures had all been dangerous, and it was rare that the Elite Party received such simpler and leisurely missions. Nevertheless, they did not really let their guard down, with armor, weapons and various equipment inside their huge luggage and parcels.

The five men’s tour was naturally swift, and after around ten minutes, Priest led them to Trial Residence One, a white, three-story mansion with five rooms, a living room, a kitchen, balconies, a hot spring, an average-sized gardening patch, and an underground lab—with the only flaw being that they had to arrange the tools inside.

One had to mention that the mansion designed by Zero Three had an exotic streamlined aesthetic, a style which Joshua took to calling the minimalist style of the star-faring age. Even so, it was a futuristic scene they had not seen before, and each of them could not help but whoop in delight upon remembering that they were to stay there for over half a month.

“Oh—this sofa is so cozy!”

Putting aside his luggage, Constantine, biological alchemist, former elf and present mixed-blood hybrid, threw himself into the sofa and stretched out, his pointy ears twitching in pleasure. Incidentally, a floor-to-ceiling window was just in front of him, granting him a view of New Xillia’s scarlet skies and the massive trunk of the World Tree. “This world feels intimate,” he said in awe, “I can feel my elven blood coursing through my veins—if I remember correctly, that tree was a seed the Nature’s Magister gifted to the Commander.”

“Intimate my foot.”

Wayne the Caster was in another corner, checking if his scepter worked well in the dense ether environment. Shooting a glance at Alchemist as if he was refuse, he flicked the twitching ears and serenely said in response to the angry gaze he received, “Only those ears of yours look elven—when we’re off to investigate the surroundings of the World Tree, we’ll see if the tree recognizes you as elf!”

“I am!”

Alchemist, whose vulnerability was caught immediately, rolled around the sofa. “Even if not physically, my heart is still elven!”

Pfft.

Priest, Rider and Clergy who had been watching, had all the same thought.

Who, you?

***

The ensuing schedule was simple—The Elite Party would stay at Trial Residence One before conducting a series of inspections, including transportation to head for nearby industrial zones, nurseries, or simulated residences. They would also be sabotaging certain areas to determine zones that should have been protected and restored at once in case of an attack.

There were seventeen items in total to test—not too many, though not few either. As time flew, only four items were left, and along with the extremely comfortable environment, the Elite Party felt as if they were truly on vacation.

Naturally, they did approach the Scarlet World Tree and forced Alchemist to verify himself. In the end, the World Tree had not recognised him as an elf at all, instead addressing him as ‘Dear Intelligent Magical Beast’, which left the others tearing up in laughter, and caused an abrupt infighting that was instantly pacified.

It was all perfect, save for one fact.

“It’s… too comfortable.”

On the nineteenth of November in Starfall year 847, eight days into their mission, Rider could not help but curiously ask as he moved a pot of potato beef stew onto the dining table, “Food is sufficient on the disc-shaped shelter, the plantation cycles are perfect, and when operating at full capacity, could compensate for up to 2.5 billion people. That’s almost more than the total population on Mycroft itself, and it would be enough for a billion people even if their lifestyles match ours!”

The total population of the Mycroft world itself was almost three billion. With the policies encouraging birthrate and the exponential rise of medical standards, that number was projected to increase to 4.5 billion in later years. Despite that, it was simply shocking for a disc-shaped world to be able to accommodate such a massive population, especially with the heightened quality of life.

“That’s right.”

Picking up a piece of potato that was the size of three fingers and sprinkling salt and pepper over it, Clergy stuffed it inside his mouth at once, chewed, and said with a muffled voice, “Munch… What I mean to say—Munch—that’s not right, is it? Munch.”

“Indeed.” Alchemist agreed, taking a piece of beef and opened his mouth filled with serrated teeth similar to that of sharks, gulping the meat down after chewing for a bit. “The disc-shaped world is alleged to be a refuge for the Mycroft people in case of future threats. While it certainly isn’t wrong to assume worst-case scenarios during peacetime, but the living conditions is just so good that I can’t help but to be reminded of the world of the Evil God of Wither.”

Everyone present nodded. They had all once lived in the Perfect World that had been molded out of the Evil God of Wither, recalling the primitive elven tribe that had been in continuous decline, their memories decaying and incessantly weakened by the Evil God. The excessively perfect environment was poison that erododed motivation and will—how could society and civilization be moved to change in such a perfect world?

The Elite Party hence wrote that point of contention in their report for the day, sending it to the Strategic Wing of the Imperial External Exploration Department which had assigned them the mission.

They soon received a personal answer from Legendary champion Joshua van Radcliffe, one of the few members of the Strategic Wing. “You’ve noticed the problem very quickly.” The warrior’s calm voice sounded from the communications circle. “That is indeed a problem.”

***

Joshua was a person who would have felt lonely even in an era of absolute peace and prosperity, and would have done everything to train himself, including establishing a martial arts dojo. Having no fighting spirit with one’s needs fulfilled? To him, the best moment to struggle was indeed after having needs fulfilled—one would not have to mind miscellaneous living and environmental matters, only needing to focus entirely on getting stronger.

Even so, Joshua understood that one lived by worrying and died through peace. Therefore, he explained to his student and the part members, “However, it’s not difficult to resolve that.” The value of a living environment was not absolute but relative. If everyone lived in a weather-beaten straw hut and only one lived in a sturdy wooden house that was stormproof, the person who lived in the house would undoubtedly have had it better. Even so, was that absolute? As compared to those who lived in houses built from brick, concrete, alloy, or even various utopia, there was no question that the wooden house would have been inferior.

In other words, ‘good’ or ‘bad’ were things that had to be ascertained through comparison, and what Joshua was doing was to ensure that everyone could survive in comfort, in order to live equally and peacefully. That way, citizens who moved there would find it comfortable early on, but would eventually believe it to be perfectly reasonable after some time.

As the saying went, ‘one should not worry about scarcity, but rather about uneven distribution’—there was no need to be troubled with having less, but rather that things were not shared equally. Likewise, there was no need to worry about living poor, but about living in the absence of stability instead.

With that in mind, Joshua would have everyone lived in sufficiency and stability so their lives had assurance. Even so, there would always exist those who lived more well-off and more comfortably than others, as well as enjoyed more resources. One had to put in greater effort if they were to pit themselves against others.

“Priest, do you boys know about gaming?” Joshua detached a thread through the communications facilities to speak exclusively to the Elite Party, although his tone remained ever calm. “The game in the Spirit Terminal, or games like Fairy Cards which you have to pay for.”

Everyone could experience the full gameplay and story for free, even getting basic cards (houses) and obtaining free resources daily (daily tasks and rewards)—the game was still playable, even fun, without having to play with money. Nonetheless, if someone else were to play with actual money while others worked hard for results just like drawing a Legendary Fairy Card or obtaining an attractive character or skin, that person would hence become the focus of the crowd. From then onwards, everyone else would want that card, character, or skin, and those previously reluctant to pay would begin to work hard and spend money for various reasons.

Ranking points and position, gym badges, the crown belt of first place, the delight of fighting against the best and hall-of-fame to show off one’s own characters—the most powerful clergy, the accomplishment of Divine Light, the grandmaster of Legendary cards… various ‘false reputations’ would always trigger the emotions of humans.

Of course, it was clearly unnecessary. Yet, it would be simply because someone else has it that a person would want it… and that inward thirst would spawn desire and grant brimming motivation.

Greed, dissatisfaction, yearning for vanity and to be the center of attention, as well as the state of mind that wished to show off—it was likewise with pursuits, the desire to win, the first to throw themselves into the fray, the courage to withstand public scrutiny along with staying unabashed from displaying self-confidence. Such was the power of human and human emotions. It was precisely such desire and yearning that kept pushing the small intelligent creatures called humans forward without stopping.

“A good life ensures that everyone has the same foundation and would not lose opportunities due to other reasons. Prodigies would not be reduced to mortals because they have not been fed when they were young, just as normal people would be provided a level playing field against natural talent. That’s basic.”

“But greed—human desire is without boundary. By stirring such emotions, humans will repeatedly compete even in utopias and wonderlands.”

On the other side of the communications spell, Joshua raised his hand. The center of his palm flickered with boundless light, the seven-hued emotional spectrum of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet—seven colors that when mixed with each other formed patches of black and white.

Orange was greed that could not abide by not having what others possessed!

Red was fury that could not abide by remaining weak while others became powerful!

Yellow was fear that could not abide by one’s own stagnation!

Blue was pride that simply could not stand the damned fact that someone was superior!

Purple was envy—if we have the same conditions of one face, two eyes, one mouth… why can he succeed by working hard and not I?!

Likewise, orange was passion, red was courage, yellow was adaptability, blue was confidence, and purple was pursuit.

Watching the core of the spherical spectrum, Joshua laughed softly. “Greed is not a mistake, because the yearning and dissatisfaction behind it isn’t mistaken, for the desire to triumph holds it all aloft.”

Such was the nature of emotions—one body but double-edged, one granting strength while the other leading towards destruction.

“We must not stay bound within the walls of safety. We have to step out of the present stable society and attempt all new possibilities, never to be restrained by a sense of security, but to explore with prudence and fear…like how you boys were requested to try this out. Well done, Priest—you party has unraveled the true purpose of this assignment—a trial of social models.”

“Even so…” On the other side of the communications circle, Priest opened his mouth as if to speak, but could only muster, “There would always be those reluctant to improve, even when playing a game.”

“So what? Everyone has their own lifestyle,” replied Joshua’s clone. “Not everyone in the world of Mycroft is an Extraordinary individual—there will always be those unable to move forward for various reasons such as inborn talents and nature. Still, that wouldn’t matter since one can simply select those who could help doing something.”

As long as the ones who wished to improve did improve, that was enough.

“In our civilization, there will always be some who choose to grasp their own fate, just as there will be those who would hand it over to others.”

With those words, Joshua’s clone that was specifically split to speak to the Elite Party diminished, leaving the flickering spectrum of emotions shining in the Void, slowly turning into bright rays of lifeforce and Psi.

In the end, the warrior calmly said, “Do not disappoint the fate which is gathered upon your palm. Such is the crux of protection, just like how you never let your team down as their leader.”

“Priest, I believe now’s the time that you try challenging for the threshold of Supreme.”

***

The great silver stellar body was silent in the Void as if it had died. The thread which had split away solely to answer a question returned, with nothing changing in Joshua’s true form. He continued processing and observing—calculating the possibility of an emotional spectrum in the search for a new path of Extraordinary power, observing every spot of the Void and the Multiverse.

It was not only Priest, New Xilia, or the experimental disc-shaped shelter. With the ever-present Restoration Beams, Joshua observed a million different corners of the Multiverse, transcending boundless space.

He observed change, reformations, fight and flight, emotion and civilization.

Therefore, Joshua saw it now with the perspective of a true spectator—the development and change across the entire Mycroft civilization.