The Almighty Ring

“I assume the core inside of you is now at the first stage?” asked Theon.

Jiang Fei replied honestly, “Aye.”

Rather than giving off a bad impression by trying to hide the truth, it was best to just lay all his cards on the table.

“Mhm,” Theon hummed.

“Master, why do you ask? What stage is your current Core of Will at?” asked Jiang Fei.

“My Core of Will has undergone three stages,” stated Theon, smiling like he was showing off.

“Oh! Where did you manage to get four Cores?”

Jiang Fei had always assumed that he was a special case since he was able to gather two of the same Core. To think that Theon had managed to fuse four Cores together…

Theon laughed.

“That. That thinking of yours. You shouldn’t keep thinking like that.”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“You’re still too naive. If going through three stages was as easy as finding four Core of Wills, do you really think I would have just taken you in as my apprentice? I would have killed you the moment I felt the resonance in your mind and took the Core for myself,” said Theon laughing sinisterly.

“Uhm…”

Jiang Fei could not say anything then. He was afraid, terrified even, by the mere suggestion of Theon killing him. Even if he were to escape into the 10th Dimension, who’s to say that Theon could not follow him there? He did after all possess a higher tier Core of Will.

“Calm down. If I really wanted to kill you, you’d never see it coming. Besides, why would I take you in only to kill you now?”

Theon laughed, slapping Jiang Fei on the back. Though it hurt, Jiang Fei felt relieved. That slap on the back was akin to a friendly gesture, the kind that didn’t contain a single shred of malice.

“Fusing Cores is not as easy as you think. Think of squaring the numbers. The first stage requires two original Cores. The second stage would then need four Cores, and the third stage would require eight Cores. If I want to go up another tier, I need to gather eight Core of Wills…” explained Theon.

“That many…”

Jiang Fei had genuinely thought that merely adding one extra Core would suffice but as Theon explained, it was not that easy. If the process were to be written out as an equation, it would be two to the power of N equals X, with N representing the stage of fusion and X as the number of Cores required.

“By the way, what power did you gain after the first stage?” asked Theon.

“Power, Master?”

“The first stage of fusion is the most vital of all as it determines the kind of ability you gain. The later stages of fusion only increase the power of said ability,” explained Theon.

Jiang Fei could not help but think that fusing Cores was not as simple as he thought. To think that the ability gained during the first fusion process would be sealed…

The fusing process changes the basic properties of a Core. Once fused, a Core would not be able to fuse with another fused Core. That is why Theon was willing to take Jiang Fei in as an apprentice. The fused Core within him was useless to Theon. If Jiang Fei had an original Core in him instead, he would not have been so lucky.

“My ability is a sort of personal pocket dimension that only I can freely access. I can also bring objects and life forms that are not too large in there…” said Jiang Fei, not fully explaining his ability.

“I see. So that is how you managed to evade Mashmallow’s attacks,” Theon barked happily as it confirmed what he saw during the incident.

“It takes time for me to drag things like Corvette class ships into the dimension. So… there’s that,” explained Jiang Fei.

“That’s your limit now. After the later stages of fusion, you will find that these weaknesses of yours will be left behind,” replied Theon.

“What is your ability, Sir?” asked Jiang Fei.

“Ah. To put it simply, I am able to use powerful psychic domination to subjugate any life forms with lower intelligence,” explained Theon as he once again smiled proudly.

It was this ability that had allowed him to tame the Ultralisk, the Galactic Specter. Jiang Fei gasped, unable to hide his excitement.

“Amazing!”

Intelligent beings were weak but with their sheer numbers and proper cooperation, they were able to work together to destroy even galaxies. Even so, they would steer clear of such an Ultralisk, fearing their unknown powers.

“I was lucky. I encountered Marshmallow and subjugated it when it was only a babe. If it had matured a little more, I would need to at least be at the fourth stage of fusion to subjugate it,” said Theon.

To be fair, with his current combat level of 20,000,000, Jiang Fei was already powerful enough to be the strongest fighter in the universe. However, compared to other life forms, including ones with lower intelligence, he was still just average.

Theon chimed in when he sensed that Jiang Fei was sad about his own ability.

“Don’t beat yourself up over it. Your ability has its own merits. For our line of work, a pocket dimension that’s accessible at any time and place is a life saver.”

Jiang Fei agreed, “True, although my ability isn’t as amazing as yours, it does its job in saving my life.”

He knew his own ability better than anyone. If he could further increase the Core’s tier, he would be able to throw powerful fighters, life forms, and even large objects into the 10th Dimension. There, where space and time were nothing but an abstract concept, Jiang Fei ruled over all there is.

“In a way, if you could work it out, you could even absorb every powerful attack with your pocket dimension,” suggested Theon.

“It doesn’t work like that but I’ll try. By the way, what are you going to teach me?”

“Mhmmm. Since you also have the Core of Will, you should have bountiful psychic energy. I will teach you how to better weaponize it.”

“I look forward to your teachings, Master,” said Jiang Fei as he bowed.

Clueless on how to properly use his mental powers as an attack, Jiang Fei had always used it as a defense. At most, he would unleash a concentrated wave of psychic energy to take down foes with weaker mental strength. To put it bluntly, it was an extremely inefficient use of his powers.

Having mastered the power of his Core, Theon had a variety of psychic attacks, making him perhaps the strongest in the entire known universe.

For the next few days and more, Jiang Fei remained on the unnamed planet, receiving lessons from Theon on the art of psychic attacks. And since Theon had officially taken Jiang Fei in as his apprentice, he was thorough with his training.

In return, Jiang Fei had always met Theon’s expectations at every turn. Even though he was not the kind that could fully master it in just one lesson, Jiang Fei still quickly made progress.

He picked up more than tens of different attacks and defensive techniques in just one month, not to mention a plethora of ways to use his psychic powers.

…

After about a month or so, Theon came to Jiang Fei who was practicing his own Hyper Concentration technique.

“Come along,” he simply said.

Jiang Fei opened his eyes in a flash and jumped to his feet.

“You called, Master,” Jiang Fei replied with respect.

Jiang Fei’s respect for the man had only increased after he had been under Theon’s tutelage for a whole month. The relationship between the two had only drawn closer, bordering between friends and mentor.