It took Thalion over a quarter of a day to return to his faction, which actually looked surprisingly good now.
The walls had already reached a height of nearly forty meters, while the first towers had begun rising inside the settlement. There still wasn't a dome-like barrier protecting everyone within, but Thalion guessed it simply wasn't active at the moment.
So far everything looked good from up here.
Diving lower only reinforced that impression.
It was even better than good.
The teleportation formation leading to Integrated Space was finally online.
During the past two months of nonstop hunting, he had completely forgotten about it.
Still...
Was now really the right time to start looking for allies?
The only allies who would truly make a difference were D grades.
For someone who had already spent several hundred—if not several thousand—years at D grade, Thalion had no idea what kind of help he could realistically offer.
Furthermore...
What exactly could he do that would make them think,
"Oh yes, I'll gladly follow whatever some thirty-year-old brat tells me to do."
Maybe something like an entire clan of dwarves capable of burrowing through mountains?
Otherwise...
He didn't have the slightest idea.
There was also the question of how the teleportation formation to Integrated Space actually worked.
How was he even supposed to establish contact with another faction?
Then there was another issue.
For some reason, the enemy possessed an extremely antagonistic Oracle.
What if traps had already been prepared?
What if the formation on the other side had been destroyed?
Thalion had absolutely no idea how he would make it back from Integrated Space if something went wrong.
Probably best not to risk it just yet.
There were still plenty of things he could accomplish on New Earth.
The elves guarding the walls looked as though they were about to suffer heart attacks when they saw him diving toward the base at full speed while rapidly losing altitude.
They were probably part of a newly arrived batch from the gods' domain and had no idea he could transform into a wyvern.
Trying to calm them down, Thalion released a deafening roar that made the walls themselves tremble.
Unfortunately...
That only seemed to make things worse.
Instead of relaxing, the elves frantically waved toward the people inside the fortress while shouting at the top of their lungs.
They were probably yelling for someone to activate the dome.
Deciding not to risk accidentally crashing into the barrier, Thalion did something admittedly rather stupid.
Mid-flight he transformed back into his human form before activating Scarlet Maelstrom, allowing him to dash through the gate and into the base before the protective dome could fully rise.
Ignoring the panicked expressions of the guards, Thalion headed straight for his residence and activated the communication circle.
First the gods.
Then he would check on Maike and Kaldrek.
Hopefully Solan had already prepared a few suitable forms capable of adding a passive light affinity to his human form.
The gods appeared almost instantly after the communication circle activated.
That probably meant they had been waiting for him to make contact for quite some time.
"Where have you been all this time?" Solan demanded in an accusing tone.
His eyes suddenly narrowed.
"Level 145... in only two months?"
He paused for a brief moment before shaking his head.
"No... it's already too late. Reaching D grade before the Third System Event is no longer realistic."
"How are things looking with the forms?" Thalion asked, deliberately steering the conversation toward what he considered the more important topic.
"Good," Solan answered, "but there's another matter we should discuss first. We may have two potential allies willing to cooperate with us. For that, however, we need both you and the teleportation formation fully operational."
Thalion frowned.
From above, the formation had already appeared completely functional.
So why did Solan still need him?
Fortunately, the god immediately elaborated.
"Right now it's only connected to a number of dungeons that must be cleared before the network fully opens. Once that's done, you'll gain access to the major tournaments, additional dungeons, and the Lower Planes. The others have already started clearing them, but the faster we finish, the better."
It was certainly an interesting concept.
Still...
Thalion would much rather continue farming the ant hive than spend time inside random dungeons.
"We've identified two human factions that would be willing to support you," Solan continued. "In return, they require your assistance in their wars against neighboring factions."
"They only have a handful of D grades," Solan continued, "but that's still better than nothing. In our current position, we can't afford to become complacent."
He folded his arms before continuing.
"There are also treasures appearing everywhere throughout the Lower Planes, along with various opportunities to gain additional experience. The overall strength of the lower grades is increasing rapidly. There are trillions of cultivators capable of advancing."
His expression grew noticeably more serious.
"Something significant is happening behind the curtain."
The god fell silent for a brief moment.
"And I very much want to know what this era is leading toward."
The last sentence sounded more as though he were speaking to himself than to Thalion.
Thalion wisely decided not to interrupt him.
More treasures sounded like excellent news.
On the other hand...
It also meant that all those D-grade sects would receive a considerable boost before eventually being transported into the new universe.
"Alright," Thalion finally answered. "We currently have a rather aggressive ant hive fairly close to our base, so I'm not entirely convinced a dungeon is the right decision right now. I desperately need more levels, and I have no idea how much experience those dungeons actually provide. Before helping anyone else, I want to reach at least level 150."
He was already getting close.
Still...
Entering an unknown dungeon simply didn't feel like the correct choice at the moment.
"Fair enough," Solan replied with a nod. "Just remember that securing allies is vital for your future survival. Making a favorable impression during the show and the Third System Event could very well save your life."
He paused for a moment.
"I'll give the order to send the remaining forms. Since you won't be able to properly merge additional affinities before the event, I focused primarily on passive skills that complement your current human form while improving your resistance against light-based attacks."
With that, the communication circle faded.
The conversation had ended.
That sounded excellent.
Without wasting another second, Thalion hurried toward the portal leading into the gods' domain.
Along the way he noticed that their teleportation network had expanded by another two portals.
Had Maike and the others already established two more outposts while he had been away?
At the moment...
He didn't particularly care.
His attention was completely focused on the newly delivered body parts.
The first belonged to some sort of sunbird.
It possessed numerous impressive skills, but almost all of them relied on unique body parts that Thalion couldn't replicate.
One skill fired concentrated beams of radiant fire directly from the creature's beak.
Interesting...
But completely useless for him.
Fortunately, there was one passive ability worth taking.
Lighttouched (Mythic)
Those blessed by the radiance of the heavens draw strength from the light itself. While standing beneath natural sunlight or inside areas saturated with light affinity, all stats are moderately increased. Stamina, mana, and vitality recover faster, while light-affinity skills become more powerful and require less energy to cast. The brighter the surroundings, the stronger the blessing becomes. Under direct sunlight, the user gains heightened perception and instinctively notices disturbances in the surrounding light, making ambushes and stealth considerably less effective. In places completely devoid of light, the benefits of this skill become dormant.
The passive skill transferred immediately into his human form.
Afterward, Thalion bid farewell to the rather strange bird, which honestly resembled little more than a bright yellow chicken.
Aside from the passive skill...
It had nothing particularly remarkable to offer.
The next worthwhile specimen resembled some kind of stag whose antlers radiated pure sunlight.
Its passive ability immediately caught Thalion's attention.
Light Absorption (Legendary)
Your body instinctively draws in ambient light and converts it into energy. Sunlight, magical illumination, and light-affinity attacks that fail to overcome your defenses are partially absorbed and transformed into mana, stamina, and vitality. The brighter the surroundings, the faster the recovery. Excess light may be stored within the body for later use, allowing the user to retain the benefits of this skill even after entering darkness.
A smile slowly spread across Thalion's face.
This...
This was exactly the kind of passive ability he had been hoping for.
Combined with his rapidly growing resistance against light and the rest of his human form, Eric's overwhelming affinity might not remain nearly as oppressive as it once had been.
Thalion had no idea what Solan had been thinking when he sent him forms that only possessed Legendary passive skills.
Still...
You had to play with the cards you were dealt.
There were two more creatures that looked considerably more interesting, so Thalion decided to keep those forms in reserve for the future.
One resembled some kind of light leopard, while the other was another bird with an exceptionally high affinity for light.
Both possessed several impressive combat skills.
Unfortunately, nearly all of them revolved entirely around light affinity.
Thalion had no interest in cluttering his status screen with abilities he would rarely use.
At the moment he still hadn't merged his fire, blood, and light affinities.
Without that fusion, any ordinary light-based attack would simply be far weaker than the techniques he already possessed.
Looking at the rather modest rarities of the newly acquired skills, Thalion slowly began to understand what Solan had likely been planning.
The true merge would probably only become possible once he reached D grade.
By then...
Every one of those skills should evolve into Divine rarity alongside his class.
That realization made considerably more sense.
Admittedly, this wasn't quite the power boost he had been hoping for.
Still...
It certainly wasn't disappointing either.
Both passive abilities complemented his human form perfectly and represented an excellent first step toward preparing it for D grade.
Satisfied with the new additions, Thalion closed his status screen.
Time to move on.
He still wanted to check in with Maike and Kaldrek before heading back out to continue leveling.
As it turned out...
The two of them had accumulated quite an impressive collection of problems during the two months he had been away.