Rise Of The Infinite Sovereign-Chapter 415: New Mythic rank and Orion’s progress

Ezra was ecstatic.

His hunch was right!

He could really go in and out of secret realms any time he wanted!

This was too good!

Smiling wide like a Cheshire cat, Ezra utilized <Gatemark> a second time and, just like before, he appeared in front of a building in the Alchemist’s Tomb.

’Yes!’

Ezra threw a punch in the air in jubilation, with a smile so wide it was unsightly.

At this moment, Zydrax’s voice resounded in his head.

[This changes things] he chimed in.

Ezra nodded in response, bringing up another topic.

’How fast is the factory setup coming along?’

[I’m working on it. A few parts were damaged during the extraction so it will take a while before it start functioning]

’Let me take a look’

Entering his universe, Ezra used <Sovereign Movement> to arrive at a barren planet.

The madman factory was placed here, its wires all over the place like long eels.

Although Ezra wasn’t sure of what Zydrax was doing, he could see the puppets he brought from the Alchemist’s Tomb being put to work, patching up cracks here and there.

[There’s also something else I ought to inform you about] said Zydrax.

[Another person has broken through to Mythic-rank]

Ezra’s eyes widened at those words.

’How long ago?!’ Ezra questions with urgency.

[Hmm, four days into the expedition, so six days ago]

Without saying another word, Ezra teleported to Orion using <Sovereign Movement>.

Upon arriving, he facepalmed, realizing his blunder.

’I forgot to ask him who it was’

[It’s someone you’re very familiar with] Zydrax replied.

[What was her name again...ah! Valentine]

’Valentine?’ Ezra asked rhetorically.

He did expect that the next Mythic-rank would be born soon, but Ezra thought it would be from amongst the siblings, or amongst the earlier Grandmasters like Mervida, Jebas or Elisa.

’How unexpected’

Ezra didn’t stand on the issue too much though.

After all, life was bound to be filled with surprises.

With the intent to find her, he teleported.

Seconds later, he found himself in a room bright with sunlight with wind causing the curtains to flutter incessantly.

It was a scene of serenity and calmness.

Too bad Ezra didn’t get the chance to appreciate the scenery.

Instead, he laid rooted to a spot, with his body and even his face laying still like a statue.

Why?

In front of him stood a drenched Valentine whose only clothing was a towel wrapped on her chest and almost reaching her ankles.

In the face of a situation he hadn’t even conceived, Ezra’s breath was caught in his throat as he froze up in his entirety.

The only problem was that he was staring, and from Valentine’s point of view, staring hard.

Moreover, Ezra wasn’t helping himself because he blinked with each passing second.

Both parties lay looking at each other for more than ten seconds, leaving an uncomfortable silence to pervade the room until Valentine mustered enough courage to speak, stammering all the way.

"E-E-Ezra?’

Instinctively, without even processing the words, Ezra teleported out of the room, vanishing from sight like an illusion, leaving Valentine even more confused.

"What just...?"

Muttering, she slumped onto the stool in front of her mirror, overwhelmed by the absurd situation.

On the other hand, Ezra appeared in Quartez.

Tripping a few times, Ezra got sand all over his body.

Only after the impact was Ezra brought out of his reverie.

"Ugh"

Groaning, Ezra got up slowly, dusting off the sand on his body.

Spitting out the little sand in his mouth with annoyance, Ezra’s expression was unsightly.

"Let’s never do that again" he said, disgusted at himself.

Even while saying this, his thoughts were in a completely different direction regarding the matter.

’Was Valentine...always that beautiful...?’

Catching himself, Ezra shook his head.

’This isn’t time to be thinking about this’

Quickly putting the thought away, he sought to decide his next course of action, though it took several more minutes for her image with the towel to stop popping up in his mind.

Eventually, he just decided to meet Frederick.

Learning from his previous mishap, this time he teleported to the entrance of the Black Sky rather than going straight into Frederick’s office.

From Frederick’s report, he got a gauge on Nitonian affairs.

The first thing Ezra realized was that doing so many things in the past few months had made him think everyone else would also progress massively.

It was not like that at all.

Compared to how fast Ezra was imagining the transformation and transition of Orion into a technological behemoth, it was progressing even slower than a snail.

Ezra was a bit annoyed, but calmed himself down.

’You have to stop having large expectations for things you can’t control’ Ezra chastised himself.

After a minute of contemplation, he nodded once more at the solidity of his words.

’That was really good advice’

Putting that behind him, he looked over the progress report a second time, noting that beyond the atrocious speed of progress, Orion was definitely progressing in the right direction.

With the debriefing done, Ezra ended his meeting with Frederick.

Taking a deep breath, he readied himself to go a second time for what he originally came to do.

Utilizing <Sovereign Movement>, he teleported, this time appearing in the royal academy.

Specifically in Elisa’s office.

Looking around, he saw no one inside.

’Hmm, she’s not here?’

With student’s all over the place, there was little chance she wasn’t in the academy at this time so he decided to take a seat and wait for her, budgeting thirty minutes before he would go and look for her.

After ten minutes, the door clicked, signaling someone’s arrival.

Opening up, an unexpected persona is revealed.

"Valentine?"

"Hmm? Ezra?!" Valentine muttered in response before her eyes landed on him, widening as they did.

"Yes, it’s me" he replied, coughing as he did.

Putting his wrists together, he lowered his head.

"I apologize for barging into your room like that. I hope you can forgive me for being so thoughtless"

"Oh, that!" Valentine flinched, turning her face to the ground in a hurry as her skin reddened.

"Umm, yes. I forgive you"

Raising his head, he smiled.

"Thank you"

"Y-You’re welcome" she said, coughing.

"Are you feeling well?" Ezra questioned.

"Yes, yes! I’m perfectly fine!"

"Also..." he continued with a nicer tone and louder voice, clapping.

"Congratulations on reaching Mythic-rank"

Valentine was startled before beaming, her face lighting up as she smiled.

"Thank you!"

"I brought a gift for you" he said, taking out a pill case from his space ring and breaking the wooden description glued to it.

"Really?" she said, surprised.

"Here, catch!"

Not allowing any awkward preamble, Ezra simply tossed the pill case to her.

Though flustered, Valentine easily made the catch, opening it to see the pill.

"It’s called a energy concentration pill, and it helps immensely with cultivation"

"I see..." she replied, caressing the pill with her finger.

Ezra gave her a few more instructions on how best to use the energy concentration pill and congratulated her once more on her advancement.

Biting the tips of her fingernails out of nervousness, she muttered something.

"W-Will you-?"

"What?" Ezra asked.

Taking a deep breath, Valentine stared straight at Ezra.

"Will you take me to the outside world when I become a Transcendent?"

"You want to go to the outside world?" Ezra repeated with his index finger on his chin.

He nodded.

"Alright, I’ll take you there when you achieve Transcendence"

To that, Valentine clenched her fist behind her back, her gaze also mirroring the hardness of her resolve.

’Would you look at that’ Ezra thought, recognizing the meaning of her gaze.

Giving a hard nod, Valentine stepped back out, closing the door as she did, but not without leaving a few words behind.

"Don’t forget this promise"

"Sure" replied Ezra, looking forward to how long it will take her to achieve Transcendence.

Done with the preliminary work he had come for, Ezra met Elisa minutes later and got her report on how the dispersing of knowledge was going.

Receiving the report, he made adjustments as needed, leaving directives in case of certain situations.

In short, the dispersing of otherworldly knowledge was slow because it utilized a completely different approach when compared to the previous ways of Orianian people, thus making it hard to adapt to.

They say the start is always the hardest.

Once the hurdle is crossed, the next steps should proceed at a faster pace.

For now, Ezra could only be patient.

Done with that, Ezra returned to check on the madman factory before appearing in the Alchemist’s Tomb.

He had not come to plunder pills once more as he had already plundered more than enough.

Instead, he had come to take advantage of the secret realms atmosphere.

The entire secret realm was packed with Origin energy, which would ensure smoother and faster energy absorption.

It would be weird not to take advantage of such a boon.

But the biggest reason was to pile onto the advantages he already had.

Just how much faster would his cultivation speed be if he consumed a energy concentration pill alongside a top tier astral elixir while cultivating in such an atmosphere?

Ezra was itching to find out.

He did set a goal to reach Nascent-rank before the opening of the Nascent level secret realm.

By all means, Ezra intended to achieve that goal.

Compared to his past life, Ezra found himself gleeful, with a lot of things to be happy about.

’I hope-’

He cut off the thought.

’Let’s make sure it’s stays that way’

With that, Ezra took a lotus posture.

It was about time he grew stronger once again.