Cosmic energy flooded into his soul through his domain aperture. Hector couldn't help but cackle in joy at his success. Once he managed to go fast enough, the cosmic energy he liberated stopped being scattered by chaos faster than he could handle. He still lost some to the environment, of course, but he estimated the losses as no more than twenty percent. That was so much better than losing ninety percent. It was a complete game changer.

Where before cultivating chaos with his domain had been great exercise, this was true cultivation. He wasn't just strengthening an aperture any longer. Though he most definitely was doing that. Drawing in large quantities of cosmic energy always did the soul good. Hector could feel the benefits accruing after just a couple of hours. He felt his domain recover almost in real time, no longer becoming dangerously exhausted by the effort of implementing his insight.

He considered it proper nutrition of a soul aperture. Much like muscles needed the right foods to grow, his domain had never been properly fed before now. The flood of cosmic energy working its way through the hardworking tendrils of his domain steadily invigorated and satiated.

His aura did not have the same success. While an aura also operated in three dimensions, it was not nearly so flexible as a domain. That presented a very real challenge to adopting his new understanding. Hector tried to push through the challenge for a bit before deciding to focus instead on his domain. He was seeing such rapid gains there that it seemed wasteful not to capitalize on it.

The constant exhaustion of his domain brought about by his training regimen faded away while he slept. Refreshed for once, Hector felt an immense strength in his domain that dwarfed his previous state. His domain always lagged behind his other aspects in the past, but he didn't think that would be the case going forward. He didn't need any contrived exercises, he just needed to cultivate with the right method and everything would take care of itself.

Hector yearned to face some monsters with his newfound might. He'd already been dominating during the weekly patrols. What kind of damage could he inflict now? Unfortunately, the next patrol was four days out still, so he would need to wait for a chance to test his improvements.

Unless he got onto one of the special missions with the elites….

"Hey Nestor, how can I sign up for extra missions?"

His friend looked up from the checkers game he played with Ajax. "Volunteer at the command center. They're not all that picky, so you're almost guaranteed a spot."

"Those missions are borderline suicidal," Ajax interjected.

"That's fine. I'm hard to kill." Hector stood to begin a trip to the command center and found his way blocked.

"Look out, Raven, I need to visit the command center."

"You can do that later. Right now you're on standby. Remember?"

Hector blinked. "Oh. That's today. How long am I stuck here?"

"Just be patient. Do your Xian cultivation stuff. I'll let you know when it's go time."

It wasn't bad advice. Hector couldn't get back into the groove, though, now that his attention had been brought back to the upcoming prank. Was it even fair to qualify their plan that way? Pranks were harmless jokes. What they were doing was actually framing an innocent person. Hector hadn't considered the morality of the situation before agreeing to this plan.

He wrestled with how this fit into the virtues he wished to embody for a while. He decided he owed no loyalty to Lieutenant Ringo. Nor was he required to offer charity to such a hostile individual. Humility didn't really come into play here. What about respect? That was a more ambiguous question. He could even make an argument that by plotting against Ringo he was respecting the man's capacity for harm. That was just dishonest sophistry, though. He wasn't respecting Ringo as a person. At the same time, being a person who practiced the virtue of respect didn't necessarily mean he had to make choices to benefit those who would position themselves as his opponents.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Finally, what brought his musings to his end was the newest virtue. The one that the System had offered him. Magnanimity. Hector wasn't punching down by framing Ringo like this. The lieutenant was above him in the hierarchy and possessed a much larger degree of institutional power. Hector decided that this was a gray area that he didn't have to feel bad about. Probably he shouldn't feel proud of the role he was to play either. It was a distasteful task and he would try to minimize the joy he felt if they succeeded.

A Titan entered the bay and nodded to Raven, who stood abruptly and began walking to the bathroom, giving Hector a stern look as he passed. Hector followed along. Once inside, Raven pulled a pair of latex gloves free and presented them.

"Wear those to avoid incriminating yourself. Our Jinn allies already planted the Dingo's fingerprints on the images." Raven handed over an envelope. "The printouts have adhesive strips on the back, just pull the wax paper off and press to the wall. Go now and finish fast."

As he summoned his sphere, Hector winked at the Titan. "That's what she said."

After a moment, Raven lost control and started to guffaw. He was laughing so hard he'd started to cry by the time Hector's sphere closed. In the dark, Hector felt a moment of pride. Finally he'd found some Earth humor that effectively translated to the wider multiverse. If he ever saw the Azure Spear Maidens again, he'd be sure to tell that one to Isabel. That way she'd stop thinking he was incapable of comedy.

His sphere surfaced back into reality and Hector opened the weld only partway before freezing it in place. The unusual operation strained him a bit, but he ignored the effort as he emerged. The room was fortunately empty. It was also mostly dark, illuminated only by the emergency chemical lights that faintly glowed at points around the room to make the floor and any obstructions visible to someone moving around.

Hector pulled out the first photo, pulled the wax paper free, and stuck it to the wall near the bed. He placed two more in the sleeping area before moving closer to the desk and placing three there as well. Then he went towards the bathroom and placed the last two on the mirror.

He was back in his sphere and traveling through the primordial in moments. Back in the bathroom, Raven looked relieved to see him. "We're coming out now!" He gestured wildly for Hector to remove his latex gloves.

In the main area of the bay, Lieutenant Ringo, a stern woman, and several junior staff in the background were waiting. The lieutenant didn't miss his chance to throw his weight around. "In front of your bunks, soldiers!"

Hector moved into place and snapped into attention. The major frowned as she approached him. Her eyes went over his bed briefly before boring into his eyes. She was an awkwardly tall woman with equally awkward chest proportions. Hector kept his gaze straight ahead.

"How are you getting along with the Titans, Xian?"

"Very well, Major. They are reliable allies against the monsters."

She grunted in a way that might have been approval. "Have you been effective in your role?"

Hector hesitated. He thought it would be wisest if he didn't stand out in any way, given what he was currently involved in. But he also wanted to see action sooner than the next scheduled patrol. "I think I could do more, Major. I would like to go on the special missions."

"An admirable attitude." She lost interest in Hector and moved to call out someone's dirty uniform jacket tossed beneath a bed. The major found a dozen minor issues before leaving the bay, trailing Lieutenant Ringo behind her.

Everyone waited a few minutes before resuming their previous activities. Hector went back to his cultivation, though a good bit distracted by straining his ears to hear the inevitable shouting. His expectation gradually faded away as nothing happened. A failure mode for their plan occurred to him that he'd never anticipated.

What if the major didn't inspect the lieutenant's room? Instead of Ringo getting in trouble, the lieutenant would discover the attempted sabotage. How much investigative talent would it really take to realize that a Xian with a transit sphere was the obvious culprit? Tension rose in Hector. While the repercussions of being caught wouldn't be dangerous to him, he really did not want to be removed from this environment. Especially not so soon after his latest improvements.

Lunch time arrived and Hector joined the others from his bay at the dining facility. Then it was the time he usually slept. Wired from the adrenaline that continued to course through his veins, Hector decided to cultivate instead. He couldn't use the domain method since so many of his neighbors were sleeping and his faster speed resulted in a lot of conspicuous glowing. But he spent hours in mental cultivation.

Then it was dinner, a few hours of free time, and wall duty.

As they were walking to breakfast in the morning, Hector pulled Raven aside. "What's happening with the Ringo situation?"

Raven shook his head. "It's the waiting game now. We'll find out eventually."

"I thought you had connections."

"They're not going to run over as soon as they hear something. That would be suspicious behavior. Give it a few days, Hector. Just pretend nothing happened."

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