Invincible Earth! : Volume 1
Chapter 4: Lance’s uniqueness

Attok took a deep breath as he sorted out his thoughts to give the best explanation to Lance.

“Invincible Earth is the last barrier defending our mother Earth from all threats. The universe is occupied by many beings who came into being millions or even in some cases billions of years before us. Some of those beings target earth for various reasons. It is the duty of Invincible Earth to protect Earth from outside threats and let humanity progress on its own path.

For this purpose, a selection is held every year for new candidates. Their places on the Earth are replaced by soul imprint driven constructs so as not to disturb the order of things. The candidates must satisfy a few conditions in order to be selected. In the process that you were selected, the conditions were that you must be a descendant of the founding members and that you must be in strong dissonance with the world that you see.

You satisfied the conditions, so you were selected for a test that would push you to your limit, thus awakening your intrinsic nature.

Intrinsic nature is the core of a being. It is this nature that becomes a deciding factor in their decisions, their actions and even their thoughts. Intrinsic natures can be of various types, with the most common being personality traits.

The goal of replaceing your intrinsic nature is to assess your ability and potential for cultivation.”

Before Attok could continue, he was amazed to replace Lance holding his suit and looking up at him with gleaming eyes and a crazed look on his face.

“Really? We can cultivate?“, asked Lance with that frenzied look.

To be frank, this was what Lance was looking forward to since replaceing himself in this strange environment. The possibility of growing stronger. Even though he had experienced Attok’s powers, he still needed this confirmation that his wildest dreams would finally come true.

“Yes, we can cultivate.“, said Attok as he extracted himself from Lance’s arms.

“Cultivation is the process of converting oneself into a high energy being. In essence, it is the transformation of your self and soul into a higher being. It has many paths in many cultures but by the unending sacrifices and toil of generations of IE researchers, the standard cultivation process has been perfected. It gives you the path towards becoming a Legend, like me. The powers that I transferred to you during the test were only a fraction of the total power a Legend wields.”

Lance instantly began fantasizing about flying through the air with the blonde he had seen in the pod. It was puzzling why the blonde had appeared in his imagination suddenly, but Lance just attributed it to his hormones.

“Now, getting back to the topic at hand. The intrinsic nature of a being decides the overall strength or ability of one who is following the path. Think of it as the difference between as the gun into which a bullet is being loaded into. The same bullet can travel faster and penetrate deeper if it were fired by a rifle instead of a handgun.”

“Cultivation is all about energy. We absorb energy from the universe, first using that energy to build a foundation in us which can house the energy. As we improve and transform this foundation step by step, we grow stronger. Your intrinsic nature decides where you are the handgun or the rifle. In other words, it decides the amplification that energy can go through when it is refined by you.”

“Now, coming to our present predicament. The test can only be passed by utilizing your intrinsic nature, either by amplifying the energy given to you by your ancestor through realization, or by the activation of the intrinsic nature unconsciously to save yourself. The latter happens most often.

In your case, you used your nature in the last millisecond before the test ended. Either due to this or the peculiar status of your nature, it was not detected by the system. This is what caused the anomalous condition. With the improvements of the system year on year, it is almost impossible for it to be the second case.”

“For the first case to happen, a nature that has not been seen yet must appear. And that is why I am so proud of you! Over the ages, countless initiates have come and gone. In the beginning, such cases were common. Now, it is so rare that it almost always elicits a response from the highest commanding officer! And what is incredible that in your batch, not just one but three anomalous conditions have popped up! This is simply unprecedented in most peoples memory and the whole of IE is abuzz with the news.”

Attok suddenly bent down to tie his shoelaces and in doing so coincidentally leaned close to Lance’s year. “Quick, tell me what it is. Later on, it might become the most confidential of information.“, he whispered.

Lance stared at the old man dubiously. He had been searching through his memories and feeling his body to sense that nature which sounded so special, but so far he had had no luck. As he was becoming frustrated and worried that maybe it was just a fault by the system, he saw the old man bending to tie perfectly tied shoes.

He really wished he could kick this lecherous ancestor of his in his ancestral privates right that moment.

…

“I wish I knew”, said Lance as he sighed and controlled his emotions.

“Ey? You don’t know? Oh well. You will replace it out sooner or later, atleast if you plan on staying alive through the missions you are going to get.“, said Attok as he finished pretending to tie his

shoelaces.

“So whats the deal with the missions?“, asked Lance as he was still racking his brain for any clue about what his nature could be.

“Initiation missions are designed to make initiates comfortable in using their nature. Your nature is your inner self, and in today’s world with the influence of technology and various other factors, humans especially of your age are losing the connection with their personality and thus intrinsic nature. There are many theories regarding intrinsic nature, with many regarding as something that is the core of the soul and thus is determined at birth. Others argue that external factors and development of the human result in the nature. Whatever the scientists say, intrinsic nature has been seen to change in rare cases. It could be the cause of severe trauma, or even severe self doubt. What is even rarer is the change not resulting in death. As the intrinsic nature is connected to the very core of your being, any damage to it results in the unraveling of your consciousness.”

“I am telling you all of this now to advise you to never lose confidence in yourself and your abilities. Intrinsic nature might decide your potential in the early stages, but there have been many cases where people with ordinary natures achieved something extraordinary, simply because of their grit and determination never to give up. Never underestimate people based on their intrinsic nature. From personal experience, this is one lesson that the sooner you learn the better.”

“Missions also have other objectives. There are clues around the world regarding the true history of earth and the purpose behind the initial creation of IE. In order to honor the sacrifices of many generations of ancestors, missions are designed with the main theme of replaceing this history from the setting that you are put in. To entice initiates into doing their best, missions are also scored and the top scorers can redeem their points for cultivation resources. This is a topic for later though, as you have to first earn some points. Just know that resources enable you to leap past obstacles in your path to power. Remember, you need to atleast pass the mission to receive the cultivation method for your level.”

“There are 3 initiation missions which each give the cultivation methods up to the Apprentice, Master and Legend level. These are the first assets that any member of IE must earn before being deemed worthy of honor of defending earth.”

Attok raised his arm on which he was wearing a weird watch. The watch strangely had a hollow in the middle where the time was supposed to be shown. It had no buttons so Lance wondered what it even was. As Attok raised his arm to a horizontal level in front of his chest, a light flashed on his forehead before a holographic display magically popped up. A woman’s face was in the projection, and she said,“Brain wave identified. Please state your purpose for contacting high command.”

Attok’s face took an authoritative shade as he answered,“Candidate Lance has been assessed by his Ancestor Attok. He does not know how he escaped the test. He is ready for mission briefing.”

The hologram looked so lifelike that Lance could’nt help but put his hand through the woman’s face that was hovering in the air. He felt a faint warmth on his arm as it passed right through the 3D projection.

“Affirmative.“, answered the woman before collapsing into the watch. Lance looked at the watch a little longer before looking up to see Attok glaring at him.

“Boy, curiosity is fine but you have to learn how to control it. In advanced versions of the holowatch, a solid replica of the head is reproduced using fine particles which are stored inside and gather particles in the air to make the replica. In those cases, touching the projection results in the person on the other side feeling the sensation of being touched. If mine had been that version, that woman could have killed you with a slap of her hand. Be careful in the future unless you want to die an unwarranted death.”

Sweat appeared on Lance’s forehead as he listened to the old man’s explanation. He vowed to control his curiosity from now on as he had no plan to become paste just because he wanted to feel how something felt like.

“Anyway, prepare for your mission briefing. Be successful, and I will explain any other questions that you have. There will be a grace period between missions anyway when you will have to stay on the station.”

Lance nodded as he sat down again to wait for the mission briefing. Attok sat beside him, imitating his posture and looking up at the stars.

Side by side, both men waited for the briefing and the mission that could either kill their dreams or make them come true.

…

After a few moments, the voice was heard again.

“Mission Key: Documents regarding the power source of the IE superstructure.

Mission Objective: Recover the package stored along with the mission key.

Additional Points: Mission shall begin in one month. It is advised to reach the level of beginning Stage-1 Initiate before proceeding with the mission. All arrangements shall be made to make this possible. More information shall be given at the start of the mission.”

Hearing this, Lance exclaimed:“Tough luck boy! This is one of the hardest paths of initiation there is. Like I said, one of the goals of initiation is to replace out the true past of humanity. There are multiple paths for this, with the easiest being the one which takes place in the earliest of times. The one you got is the exact opposite. The mission will take place in at least the 20th century, and there have been occasions when it took place in the 21st century too.”

“I guess I’ll worry about it when the time comes. Till then, I must train hard to become the strongest I can become. Shall we begin training now?“, asked Lance. The only thing on his mind right now was to embark on the path of cultivation as soon as possible. Since he had heard that it was possible, it had become Lance’s top priority.

There were multiple instances in Lance’s life where he saw the need for power. In his childhood, his best friend had become crushed by a car right in front of his eyes. They had been walking home from school and as soon as they turned the last corner to their houses, there was a car barrelling down the road towards them. Although they saw it, they had too little time to react. By a lucky twist of fate, the car that had been coming at full speed turned a fraction of a second before hitting them leaving only Lance to tell the tale. The driver, who had been drunk, agreed to all charges but Lance saw him two weeks later outside a club, smoking on the road. It turned out that he was the son of the mayor and his driver, who wasn’t even in the car at the time of the accident, was sent to jail in place of the man.

Such an incident at the age of just 10 exposed Lance to the uselessness of the government. Many times, he had berated himself for not being fast enough and pushing himself and his friend out of the way. But such power was only possible in comic books. His apathy towards the world he saw was thus molded by incidents like these which made him understand the need for power. His interest in UFOs had also stemmed partly from this need, as if nothing from earth could give him the power he wanted, he felt that maybe a more advanced civilization could make it possible. His laziness and lack of interest were almost just a cover which he used to shield himself from the feelings that would tear him apart if he let them.

Thus, when Lance saw the path to power, he grasped it as hard as he could.

“That’s the spirit!“, said Attok as he felt happy seeing Lance’s interest in cultivation. “Each major threshold in cultivation is divided into 3 stages. Each of these stages are also divided into 3 levels. So, if we take the level of initiate, in stage 1 there are 3 levels:beginning, mid and advanced. Each corresponds to a certain level of power that must be reached before an initiate can be declared to have reached that level. All the details shall be in the kit that you will receive soon.”

“Now, if you will get back to your body, we can get to receiving the IE onboarding kit.” Saying so, Attok reached forward and flicked Lance’s forehead.

Lance felt as though his head was a bell and someone had rung it hard. Everything around him was shaking before slowly coming back into focus. He was sitting on his ass outside the door that he had entered before going into the field of grass.

“If we followed the typical method, I would have had to wait 15 minutes! My method is much faster, although people say it isin’t as pleasant. What do you say, my boy?”

Lance glared at Attok as he massaged his head that was still ringing. If looks could kill, a megalodon would have swallowed Attok whole by now.