Sam nodded, and split his awareness to the outside world, feeling the rock resting within his palm. Then he turned his mental sight towards his Dao, and nodded.
He began to pump his Dao energy into the stone, and he felt an immense force pushing with him, a tide of ephemeral flames filling his corespace. The rock changed at a far more rapid pace than before, and within the span of about ten seconds, Sam held a flawless gemstone in his hands. A System notification appeared, and he opened it, smiling.
You have formed a Domain!
Domains are the province of higher Ranked cultivators, a way for them to control reality itself around them. While this normally requires at least a Dao Sapling, you have achieved this with far less. Your domain wll scale with your Dao mastery, but as your Dao is weaker than the norm, so will be your Domain.
Sam let out a breath that he had been unconsciously holding, despite no longer needing air. He had done it. With a smile, he returned to his corespace, but to his surprise, the face that had covered his Dao was gone, as if it had never been there. He prodded it with his will, but the Dao had returned to a state of quiescence. Sam narrowed his eyes. Had it never happened? Was it all just my mind helping me create my Domain?
He shook his head, and vividly recalled the image of the scarred face, reminding himself that it had been real. What was more likely here was that simply talking to the Dao Avatar had drained it of power, as it had manifested before he was ready.
He nodded his thanks at the gently rotating orb, and returned to the real world, readying himself for a long practice session with his Domain. Before his next arena match, he wanted to be able to use it in battle. That might have been an unrealistic goal, but so had been creating his Domain in the first place. It was an advantage that nobody else had at his Dao mastery, and one he fully intended to use.
***
The roars of the crowd serenaded Sam’s ears as he stood upon the sands of the massive arena of Prax, the eyes of millions gazing down at him. One set in particular was especially hostile. Granthar’s gaze felt like a set of lasers drilling into his back, and had Sam been anything less than an E Ranker, he likely would have felt actual pain from the rage of a D Rank existence. As it was, though, it merely felt like a tiny portion of the man’s aura was pressing down upon him.
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The now familiar portal opened before him, and a trio of warriors stepped out. All three were men dressed in suits of metal armor, their features mostly covered by their apparel. One carried a sword, another a pair of daggers, and the third, a massive hammer that dwarfed Sam’s own, at least in its base state. The strange thing was, only one of them felt real. The sword wielding man was the only one to have any sort of noticeable presence upon reality, whereas the other two merely felt like conglomerations of Dao and elemental energy. It was almost as if Sam’s wishes to be able to use his Domain in battle had been answered.
“Interesting ability,” he called out, pointing his hammer at the two clones. “How are you doing that?”
He received no reply, only a whump of flame as the three weapons of the warrior trio burst into roiling fire. Shards of Dao concepts and elemental energy twisted within the flames, making them appear like deep wells of insight, with the top layer only showing a tiny fraction of their true might.
Sam sighed, and summoned his Dao Seed. With a grunt, he sent a good portion of its energy towards the clone with the hammer, utilizing his Domain for the first time in a real fight. Immediately, he felt a solid wall of resistance appear before him as he attempted to weave his will into the complicated matrix of energies that had created the clone. The construct froze as it was caught in the middle of this war of the mind and soul, its hammer falling to the ground.
Meanwhile, the dagger clone was free to attack, and as Sam and its master warred over the control of the hammer clone, it charged him, its daggers blazing with the bright fire of the Dao. Sam manifested his internal struggle with his body, stumbling as if far more affected by the battle of wills he was engaged in. With a sharp crack, the clone snapped forwards, breaking through the sound barrier with ease. Then, as Sam began to dodge, it teleported behind him, its dagger heading for a joint in his armor.
Sam teleported behind it in turn, his hammer raised and already falling. The clone froze for a moment, the surprise of its master clearly visible. The man controlling the two clones clearly hadn’t expected Sam to be able to fight and contest him at the same time. Even with how weak his Domain was, it was already showing its worth.
Sam smiled, and took a step forwards, his body moving even when his mind remained stuck in place. Flames of the Dao gathered around Sam’s hammer, and with a roar, he teleported, relying on his body’s connection to his mind to facilitate the multitasking. His hammer rose and fell, only for the dagger clone to interpose itself, slamming its weapons into the base of Terra’s Will. Sam expanded the weapon to almost double its previous size, flattening the weapons down into the construct’s flesh. When they cut into the thing’s body, rather than a spray of blood, it simply revealed a mesh of woven energy.
Sam booted the construct to the side as it faltered, energy spiraling as he sent his Dao surging through its form. The construct came apart at the seams, shards of its form falling to the side like rain. With a grin, Sam teleported again, his hammer sweeping towards his foe.
