Unfortunately, that had also given legitimacy to a request from the Garden of Death, to become one of the parties which could place a bounty on Daniel's head, and their reason for that, was that they were constantly being damaged from him, despite never even provoking him.
So far, only the Garden of Death knew that Daniel had invented a mid-tier, and high-tier level poison immunities, as the only other being outside of Daniel's group and them that was aware of that fact, was being kept prisoner within the territory on the other side of the wormhole. So while the other factions were not happy about the demands of the Garden of Death, in the end, they had no real reason to refute their claims, as it was true that Daniel was going against them directly.
Two more months passed after Xargy's battle with the high level elite, and in that span of time, the three had become a nightmare for the Garden of Death. Elite members killed, outpost destroyed, scout teams disappeared out of nowhere, and many more actions had been taken by the three outcasts to bother the already weak faction.
All of these events, while annoying, also helped the case of the Garden of Death, which by appearing like the party offended the most by Daniel's rogue presence, was constantly demanding for their faction to have a higher priority when considering to which party Daniel had to be given in case he was captured.
Unluckily for them, that was all part of Daniel's plan.. A plan which would culminate with what would be considered the craziest play that anyone had ever pulled off.
-----
"So that is why you are doing this?" Xargy asked with eyes gaping in shock. "I thought you were just trying to cause a bit of mayhem."
After almost a year spent traveling together, Daniel had started to trust Xargy. For as chatty and annoying as he was, he would always honor his word, and it didn't seem that he would turn on them at the first chance.
At the same time, Xargy had been thoroughly impressed by Daniel. He knew for a fact that his power was a major component on the success they had had, as the situations in which he put themselves in sometimes were so dangerous, that a single mistake would cause their slow and painful death. At first, he had believed that most of their success was a matter of luck, but soon enough, he started to realize that Daniel's mysterious power probably had something to do with it.
Eleven months had passed since the two had met, and now, Xargy had finally entered Daniel's group, of which only him, Aeron, Jerigh, and Sewah's crazy followers were now part of.
The sudden increase in power had left him gobsmacked, and had caused a constant and uncontrollable stream of questions to come out of his mouth for days and days. In the end, Daniel was forced to explain to him how part of his gift worked just in order to shut him up.
"Ha! Humans.. It's hilarious how you can both excel in ruthlessness and softness at the same time." Xargy said while laughing out loud after learning about the correlation between Daniel's power, and the survival of his friends.
While externally, he did not show understanding for Daniel's motives and teased him about it, internally, he respected Daniel for the loyalty that he showed for his friends. He had wished more than once in the past to have met dragons with that mentality, and if he had, then maybe he wouldn't have had to spend the past thousands of years alone.
"That's right. Now can you quit it with the questions and keep writing?" Responded Daniel with an irritated tone. He and Aeron were sitting on two wooden chairs, and writing recipes on a massive stack of parchment.
Written on these scrolls, was the recipe for the mid level poison immunity pill.
"Fine.. although I find your plan stupid.. I do want to see what will happen.. Hehe."
-----
Planet Alcazar, Universal Government territory.
"How has the Patriot Academy been going? Were a few good seeds found?"
"There were a few diamonds in the dirt.. Younglings whose faction couldn't recognize their value. They will make fine explorers. The rest will have to learn the ways of the army, and make themselves useful that way."
"It's good to hear.. We will need the manpower soon.. I have heard about the battles that have taken place in the outskirts of our territory.. I thought things would be calm until the competition, but I guess I was too optimistic."
The two individuals that were talking, were two judges, and the building where this conversation was taking place, was the Hall of Judgement, place from which all of the judges would be sent out to arbitrate the disputes amongst factions.
"You two! Stop chatting around, you are both being called.. Do you want to be punished?" Said a third, better dressed judge as he entered the hall from the door opposite to the large entrance.
As soon as they heard the voice of this judge, the previous two straightened as bow strings, and said "Yes, Grand Judge." The third judge was neither a former soldier, nor a former explorer, and instead, was the only judge that had reached a level of power high enough to compete with that of retired military officers, and veteran explorers.
He was the only pure judge to have ever reached the rank of grand judge, and therefore, differently from the former explorers which were in charge with dealing with scouting, exploration of the unknown part of the universe, and espionage, and the former soldiers, which were in charge with the military conflicts that would ensue when a new faction was discovered, the pure judge had to take care of all of the matters within the territory of the Universal Government.
Unfortunately, due to the fact that his third of the government was vastly understaffed, and could not compare to the other two groups, he was not regarded as importantly as the others, as keeping what their territory in check, was not considered as important as being able to defend it, or find more to add to the government's treasury and territory.
"Damn rookies.." Muttered the man in judge clothes with a libra shaped patch on his shoulder, and chest.
"Do not mind them Grand Judge. It has been a chaotic year." Said an old man in judge clothes that appeared from the door where the grand judge had appeared from, just seconds earlier.
If Daniel had been here, he would have immediately recognized this man as the first judge he had ever met.
As he heard a familiar voice coming from behind him, the Grand Judge turned to look back at the newly arrived old man, and said "We have known each other for close to ten thousand years.. Why don't you stop being stubborn, and you go back to calling me by my name?"
The old man approached the grand judge with an amiable smile on his face, and responded by saying "Our friendship has nothing to do with our status. The day you will be free enough to visit my home, and share a meal with me once again.. Then, I will call you by your name."
The two were clearly good friends, and yet the old man was forced to treat the grand judge as his superior.. after all, he was not the one that had been promoted, and was in charge of everything under the upper echelons of the universal government.
"Fine.. have it your way." Said the grand judge with a hint of irritation. He then became quiet for a few moment, before asking "So, what is bothering them?"
"Just a few minor matters. Mostly, it's the conflicts between the universal government and the alien group.. There is also the Garden of Death that has been bothering us to grant them priority over one of the bounties, the prodigious kid that appeared in Patriot City.. whom the Blade factions has been bothering us to hand him over to.. And a few rumors about the outcast from Iewah's faction causing a bit of trouble around our territory.. Some claimed to have seen him with a dragon.. But it sounds ridiculous to me." Responded the old man in a single breath.
The grand judge was surprised by the oddly high number of unusual events that had taken place in the territory, and after digesting the news, he said "A chaotic time indeed. Usually the outcasts stay quiet and hidden until their bounty goes under prescription.. And then join either the army or the explorers to escape from the hunters of their former factions.. But I guess we couldn't expect that from one of Iewah's offspring.."
The old judge nodded in agreement, before the two started to quietly walk back toward the offices.. But the silence was broken by the old man, which asked "Speaking of Iewah's children.. Are the two oldest going to be back in time for the competition?"
"I am not sure.. I honestly hope that they won't. To have them disappear, was the best thing that happened since we've found Iewah's faction.. I don't need to remind you that there was never a bloodier era than when the Angel of Death and the Time Traveler would roam our territory.." Responded the Grand Judge with a grim tone. He had been opposed to the idea of calling the two oldest children of Iewah back, but unfortunately, since they had both voluntarily taken service into the army and the explorers, there was nothing he could do to avoid their return.
Known as the Angel of Death and the Time Traveler, the two oldest children of Iewah were two of the most feared beings in the entire universal government. Their dominion was the respective control over death and life, and the control over time.. Which they could manipulate to a point, where their abilities were above those of a simple cultivator with a perfect comprehension of time, death, and life essence.
A massive war had taken place in an attempt to kill the two, and only after thousands of years of constant conflict, were the army and the explorers able to subdue them, and force them to either join their forces, or die. The individuals that had managed to subdued them were now grand judges, and many of their peers had lost their life on the mission.
"Iewah's children crave conflict.. They agreed on exploring the universe for us only so that they could find powerful entities to battle against.. Why shouldn't they agree to, if that is what we are offering them?" responded the old man.
The grand judge was about to give his opinion on the risks that that choices would bring, but the two were interrupted by the appearance of a woman dressed in judge clothes, which said "Grand Judge.. We have a problem.."
"What is it?" Said the grand judge after turning towards the woman.
"It's about the outcast kid from Iewah's faction.. He.."
-----
Galaxy S43, territory of the Garden of Death. Planet Venom.
Placed at the top of a mountain covered in smog and massive poisonous clouds, was a nearly invisible castle. If not for the lights that came from the windows, and the light spheres that were placed on the path that lead to the city at the foot of the mountain, one would never be able to notice its presence.
Within one of the chambers of this castle, was a middle aged individual who was reading a book, while sitting in front of the fire. He had a distinct demeanor, and if one were to look at him in that moment, they would believe that he was an imperturbable nobleman.
He was reading his book in silence, while listening to the crackling of the fire, sipping his tea, and breathing in deeply the poisonous exhalations that came from the fireplace.. When suddenly, his moment of relaxation was interrupted by the screaming of one of his men "LORD! We are in big trouble now.."
"...."
"...."
"HE DID WHAT?! THAT LITTLE BASTARD!!!!!"