( Rudra's POV )
Approximately three-quarters of Rudra's day was consumed by contemplations of devising new and ingenious strategies to confront the perfect warrior.
Immersed in calculations, Rudra meticulously analysed various sequences of combat manoeuvres, aiming to anticipate the perfect response to any given attack.
He tried to actually think that if he jabbed at someone, then would the best option be to block? To dodge or to destroy the weapon itself and depending on that answer, he tried to calculate how he could counter the perfect response of his opponent to create an opening for himself.
The perfect warrior would always have the right response to any given challenge.
Not only would it aim to neutralise Rudra's threat, but it would also aim to set up his next move, which would further improve his advantage.
However, Rudra held the belief that having the perfect response to any given set of moves was also a vulnerability.
In his mind it made the perfect warrior vulnerable since his moves could be predicted and while in the real world it was impossible to account for all the probabilities and dictate a fight with uncountable variables exactly how one wanted, Rudra believed in the hypothetical that the final run to defeat the perfect warrior would see his opponent control all the variables and dictate the tempo of the fight from start to finish.
This intense mental exercise was not just about prediction; it was a deep strategic endeavour to comprehend the underlying tactics of his opponent and by doing so, Rudra sought to craft even more sophisticated and effective countermeasures, ensuring that his responses were not just reactive, but a step ahead, embodying a blend of foresight, ingenuity, and unmatched combat acumen.
The big problem with this however, was the fact that Rudra was not fast enough!
He did not have nearly enough speed to fight against the perfect warrior as even if he could detect and predict his opponents moves in a hypothetical situation, without the ability to actually follow through on that opening and making the most of it, there was no way to confirm that hypothesis.
Dejected and depressed, Rudra decided to not fight the perfect warrior until he learnt a technique that could help him control the power of karma in a more controlled way, such that it lasted longer and gave him the edge he needed to fight the perfect warrior on even terms.
*******
( Meanwhile Max )
Odin had left Max with a lot to think about and had also given him the urgent priority of looking for the seeds of creation and destruction.
With how wide the universe was, covering both controlled and uncontrolled areas, it was next to impossible to find a seed without having the knowledge on how to search them, which was why while Odin searched the uncontrolled universe, Max put the queen upto the task of looking for the seed within the controlled universe.
Ever since Rudra had taken the time seed, the growth of many true elite and vampire talents had stagnated since the dilation inside the time chamber was no longer as powerful.
Although Max had substituted the core as a runic formation powered by mana stones, the dilation it provided was only 4:1 which meant that four days inside the time chamber was equal to a day outside of it.
This was the limit of what one could achieve as when Max asked the queen about ways to improve it even further the queen declined having knowledge of how to go even beyond this effect, which just went to show just how powerful the seeds of power really were.
The previous time dilation effect of the chamber was akin to 365:1 which was astronomically higher than its current limit, yet Odin considered the seed of time a second rate seed compared to the seed of creation and destruction.
According to the soulmancer, the seeds left behind by Rudra were the two most valuable treasures of the universe and if a monarch were to successfully assimilate both within their body then they could even give Max himself a run for his money and challenge his rule as the Supreme Lord.
It was almost impossible to believe, but according to Odin, when the universe's laws condensed around a seed, the power it created far transcended the power of the soul that acted as the core of the seed.
So far, Rudra was the strongest individual ever to ascend to the celestial realm from this controlled universe and the seeds that were left in his wake were already something that could turn the universe upside down, but this only made Max wonder what would the seed/ seeds of power look like when he would ascend the universe since he was arguably stronger than even his brother.
*********
( Meanwhile Mira )
After intense labour, Mira had finally laid her dragon egg inside the dragon paradise dungeon where she was attended by a black dragon clan nanny.
As she comfortably sat over her egg, giving it all her love and warmth she could not help but spread her senses thin and smile as she felt several small tier2 humans enter the dungeon.
Most of them were students from the university for nourishment of young talents, the same school where Max, Asiva, Anna and Sebastian first met as Mira could not help but chuckle at the circle of life.
Just two and a half decades ago, it was her who was just an egg and Max who was roaming this dungeon as a newbie, yet many years later she was now here as a mother while other human children came here looking for opportunities to get rich and get good grades.
For a moment she wondered if her baby would also form a bond with a human upon birth like she did with Max? But then she shook off that possibility.
Max was a once in a lifetime talent who was acknowledged by her mother even at a young age-
While there maybe many talents in the universe, Mira doubted if anyone would ever reach the heights that her husband did and leave a legend even remotely as grand.
