More and more level-up notifications ring in my ear as I push the dragon back even further. Every time I land a full-powered hit with both my swords, I'm able to shatter the barrier and send this beast flying back. The only problem is, I don't have enough time to throw the same powered attack at it right after the barrier is destroyed. My Soul Energy needs to be re-channeled into my swords to create another slash, and the telekinesis-powered elemental attacks are nothing but a minor nuisance to the dragon. It doesn't even try blocking them anymore because they don't make it through its natural defenses. The only attack that can really cause damage is the one that takes its full energy to break down its defenses. As the clashes go on, we're both fully aware of this dichotomy. It's not fast or powerful enough to catch me with one of its beams or its talons, and I'm not strong enough to break its barrier and have enough force to do actual damage to it before it can create another one. However, we are both aware that I am getting stronger after every collision. This sparks a new plan, and I begin conducting some new tests. As my blade sinks into the dragon's chest before me, it feels like I'm in the same exact situation as it is... My mind is racing, but I don't have enough time to get myself out of this, and a last-moment decision to activate my skill [Mind Palace] surges through my subconscious. As the silver blades dig deeper into my flesh, closing in on my yellow core and the other toward my heart; my entire world splits into two different moving realities. One is a fuzzy image of the tips of two silver blades materializing out of thin air into my back while I strike a bronze dragon, while the other half of my brain stands up from a white marble throne to walk forward into an organized library of my memories. In the moment, I was only thinking in survival mode, but now I'm able to see the entire situation from an outsider's far more objective lens. The fact that the dragon I was facing was so calm the entire battle, even though I was slowly gaining the edge, now makes far more sense. If I had been too strong for it at the start, whoever this mysterious sword wielder is would have taken me head-on without giving me a chance to fight its dragon. While not going all out from the start, using my subordinate's stats to take the dragon out in a single blow has put me in this predicament to begin with; it actually may have been a blessing in disguise. I wouldn't have gained the insight necessary to take on this monster, learning how to properly use the full potential of my True Core's power, and also wouldn't have gained over 1000 levels and hundreds of trillions of MCP in the process. My mind moves faster here... As the last time I tested it, less than a second went by in the real world while 3 to 4 hours went by inside my mind palace. My body is unable to move to reflect my thoughts here, as it would be impossible for my physical muscles and bones to catch up to my brain's speed. However, the system itself can still process commands from within my mind. I pull up my Rising Emperor's Domain Interface, and scroll through the lists of users while slowly walking up and down the aisles of bookshelves strategically pressing only the names of hunters that are in the Crimson Army, and my teammates that are cultivating orange cores far out in the desert. I count out everyone on my list that is currently not at max HP or MP, as I don't know if they are at the climax of their own battles. Less than a dozen total are in scenarios , so I see it as a better choice to leave them out than to regret it and tarnish my reputation later. Draining 15% of their total stats and mana control in an instant could possibly be their demise as well. My initial reasoning for not activating the buff was that I didn't want to spread panic, but as I think longer as I walk down the aisles, I come to the conclusion that if I don't make it out of this situation and these two forces get to the city, there will be far more panic than just a city-wide sudden temporary power drain. The average level 10-200 citizen may not give me a lot of stats on their own, but in numbers, every bit of strength I can get right now counts. There are over 1500 of them contributing far more stats than my teammates and Army Recruits combined. After just a few minutes of meticulously scrolling through my lists of citizens one by one, counting out about 50 more who look as though they're in dungeons in the middle of fights too, I scroll over to the main interface and choose accept on everyone that can spare the energy. [Power Holder: Activated] [10% Power Share: Receive] [Ruler's Gaze: Long-Range Perk: Activated] [5% Power Share: Receive] [Select Party Members: Group Selected] [Select Stat Points: Group Selected] [Select Mana Control: Group Selected] [Temporary Buffs Added!] [+75,869] Mental Strength [+1,329,220,901,545] Mana Control