Jason leaned against a railing and looked down in sheer disbelief. His eyes were wide in shock, and there was a strange feeling rising from his heart as he thought about the creatures that were out there! For a moment, Jason had no idea what this feeling was, but it didn’t take long before Jason realized that it was excitement. It was an absolutely nerve-wracking, mind-boggling level of excitement! There was power like this out there! There were creatures powerful enough to erase entire Primordial Domains in one fucking swoop!
’How strong would I be if I took that bastard as my subordinate?’
This thought both excited and terrified Jason at the same time. The thought that he could have a world-consuming creature as his subordinate made him think that he was mad! Was he really going to try something like this!? If he was even going to attempt to take something like that as his subordinate, then Jason would need power! He would need so much power that nothing in the mortal plane would be able to even lay a finger on him!
’I need to surpass the Primordials. I need... I need to become a Celestial.’
Jason didn’t know it, but at that moment, a new goal had formed in his head. Most people would never even dream about trying to reach such a level of power, but Jason wasn’t just dreaming about it; he was certain of it. He would get up there no matter what. A mad grin formed on Jason’s face, and Jason had to force his heart to stop beating at a fucking mile a minute. Jason released a calming breath, and he sighed to try to relax! He had to learn more for now. He could think about all this after he learned more. Jason turned back to the system, and he told it to continue explaining.
’You said something about Fallen Celestials?’
[The Fallen Celestials are creatures that we do not understand. They are also known as the Celestial Enigmas, because although they possess more than enough power to exist in the Celestial Plane, they instead choose to remain here in the Primordial Expanse. They roam across the multiple worlds, causing destruction and fear by their presence alone, and there are entire sections of mages that exist only to track the movement of these Fallen Celestials and ensure that they do not bring about the end of the Primordial Expanse with their actions. The king of the Primordial race, Arythxan, is also one of the Fallen Celestials, and it is his desire for conquest that drives the Primordial Race to take control of the entire Primordial Expanse.]
Jason released a sigh. Alright, that wasn’t so bad. So there were creatures here on the Primordial Expanse that had powers that were equal to those in the Celestial Plane, but they refused to ascend. That meant they were vulnerable. If they were down here, Jason could reach them. And if Jason could reach them, then he could kill them. Jason’s lips split into a bloodthirsty grin.
[The user has every reason to be excited. The system has the capabilities to make the user the strongest in the unknown world. But at the user’s current pace, the system theorizes that the user will take close to five thousand years in order to reach a level where he could take on a Celestial. The user must gain power quicker.]
Jason released a calm sigh as he felt his excitement take a back seat, and it was instead replaced with a hungry drive. The system was right. He couldn’t just daydream about power all day long. If he didn’t put in the work for it, then he was going to remain as some mortal nobody for the rest of his life. If he was even going to stand a chance against those bastard Primordials and the Celestials, then he needed to get stronger faster.
’I know my subordinates can go into Gates alone. I’ll have to start sending them into other countries or even other worlds to help me clear more gates. The gates in America won’t be enough.’
Jason nodded to himself once he decided on that, and he realized that he couldn’t wait to get back into another fight. Since when had he become so addicted to the feeling of winning a battle? It was almost like Jason felt uncomfortable whenever he wasn’t in the middle of a fucking fight. Jason chuckled to himself at that thought, and he was about to check something else in his system.
’Help me~!’
Jason paused as a voice suddenly echoed through his mind! Jason’s eyes narrowed as he immediately recognized the voice as the same one that had been whispering to him all this time, and he was surprised when the voice suddenly came up again!
’I need your help! Please!’
"Who the hell is this?"
Jason spoke up with a frown, and he waited for a response, but there was nothing at all, and Jason cursed. Jason immediately asked the system if it could track that voice, and the system responded quickly.
[The system can feel a faint trace of magic approaching the user from a distant location; it will take a while to pinpoint the precise source of the magic.]
’Just do it. I’m tired of hearing voices in my head. And it looks like someone really needs my help, so let’s see what they want.’
[Very well. The system will begin the tracking process. Estimated time for tracking: 47hrs:59mins:59secs]
[47hrs:59mins:58secs]
[47hrs:59mins:57secs]
Jason got rid of the countdown tab with a thought, and he was about to check something else when a voice came from behind him.
"Jason."
Jason turned around sharply to see Riyala standing there in a regal ceremonial black gown. Riyala had changed out of the simple drape that she wore, and she now had gold jewelry and a long veil on her hair that made her look a lot more like a priestess. She was giving Jason a kind look, and Jason couldn’t help but notice how different she was now. Jason didn’t know how to describe the sudden changes that he could sense from Riyala at that moment. The Riyala that Jason remembered always seemed to be on edge about everything. She was young and impressionable, and there was an immaturity in the way she saw the world that told Jason that she still had a lot of growing up to do. But this girl – no, not girl. Jason couldn’t call this person a girl anymore. This woman in front of Jason was completely different from the Riyala who had gone to seek the dragons. This woman looked like someone who had lived multiple lives and discovered the true nature of the world through her experiences.
And her power was something that had also changed. The Riyala that Jason remembered was nowhere near becoming an S Rank. She would’ve easily lost to any A Rank if they fought! But that was no longer the case! Riyala’s power was now far beyond S rank! And not only that, but Jason could feel an extra pool of energy somewhere inside Riyala, and when Jason used his [Mana Sonar] to take a look at it, he saw that there were two mana-types inside of Riyala. Riyala’s regular blue flame-type mana was still there, but there was another dark-red mana swirling around her blue mana and acting like an extra energy source that she could draw from. At her current level, Jason wouldn’t be surprised if she were almost as strong as an SS Rank!
Jason looked into Riyala’s eyes, and he noticed that they had also changed. There was a depth in Riyala’s gaze that drew Jason into it, and Riyala seemed to have a calmness about her that made her almost like a caring mother. Jason smiled at Riyala, and he couldn’t help but chuckle when he saw a light blush growing on Riyala’s cheeks.
’I guess not everything changed about her, after all. She’s still as shy as ever.’
For some reason, Jason felt glad that some part of Riyala was still the same.