If this call for help wasn’t a trap, then Jason knew that the person must be in one hell of a situation. Everyone with an Arcane Art knows that the other Attribute wielders are trying to kill one another to take the Attributes for themselves. So this Attribute wielder was calling out to Jason even though she knew that he would try to kill her. Jason didn’t like how difficult it was to figure out the real reason behind this. Jason had heard the voice a few more times in the past few days, and when Jason asked the system to track where the voice was coming from, this was what it sent back:
[The system has tracked the location of the signal to a world called Riyad within the user’s Primordial Domain. The ideal pathway to reach Riyad is by travelling through a pathway known as the Western Corridor; this involves crossing through ninety-seven Dimensional Tears, but due to Interdimensional laws, this pathway has been closed down and is inaccessible. Instead, there is a second pathway through the Eastern Corridor of the Primordial Domain that will involve travelling across two hundred and seventy-five Dimensional Tears and crossing the territory of a Transdimensional Titan of Ice known as the Frost Wraith. A Titan-level creature that has claimed three parallel worlds as its own.]
Jason had literally laughed in shock when he saw how many jumps he had to make before he could reach his destination, and he was even more shocked to see that he had to pass through the territory of Titan-level beasts just to get there! Jason would’ve never thought that the messages were from a place that was so far away! It was already bad enough that Jason had to make ninety-seven jumps through the Western Corridor, but why the hell did he have to go through the Eastern Corridor if it took so much longer!
Jason asked the system what interdimensional law was blocking the Western Corridor, and the system’s answer made him curse again.
[The Western Corridor crosses through the world of the Machina. By law, all members of the Council of Nine and One have magical shields blocking any form of unauthorized Interdimensional travel into or out of their world, and this prevents the user from completing the journey through that route. If the user acquires entry access from the Machina, then the user will be able to use the Western Corridor without issues.]
There was no fucking way Jason was getting that permit. Jason could already tell in his heart that it would be next to impossible to convince the Machina to allow him to use their world to reach Riyad. Jason and the Machina already had a bad relationship from their previous interaction, and the Machina might refuse him just out of sheer spite! And besides, Jason knows that it would leave a bad taste in his mouth to ask those bastards for anything! But Jason really didn’t want to go through the second path. It was almost three times longer, and Jason would also have to go through the territory of some fucking beast. Fuck it, Jason would just ask them when he went for the hearing later. It was just a single jump through their fucking world, so it’s not that big of a deal.
[A/N: It’s a big fucking deal.]
Jason refocused on the present, and he hummed as he finally put a few more touches on the runes that he had been working on, and he heard Azrael speak up from his Alternate Dimension.
’That’s perfect, my king. With your level of skill, I don’t believe it is right to call you a Red-Class Runecrafter anymore. You are far from a beginner, and you’ve definitely become skilled enough to graduate into the rank of the Orange-Class Runecrafters.’
Jason grinned at the praise as he looked over the rune once more. Jason had been using his training sessions with Azrael to work on multiple Fourth and Third-Rank runes, and he knew that he had to have made at least thirty large and small runes already, so moving up to Orange Class wasn’t that surprising. Now, Jason just had to work towards reaching the Yellow Class.
’If only you took Qi training as seriously as you took your Rune training.’
An irritated voice floated through Jason’s subconscious, and Jason grinned in amusement when he realised that it was his other teacher, Esdeath. Jason could already tell he was in for another earful! Esdeath made a sound of annoyance when he felt Jason’s amusement, and he shouted!
’How dare you disrespect your teacher, you brat!? You were meant to be training your Qi right now, and instead you’re wasting time on this nonsense arts project!’
’Didn’t I already train my Qi earlier? I told you, I’ll do Runes, Qi, and the Arcane Art for six hours each. I can’t just focus on one while neglecting the others. They’re all useful. And besides, I would’ve taken Qi more seriously if you managed to find a cultivation technique for me already.’
’So you’re blaming me now, you brat! I’m telling you that Qi is the only thing that’s useful in all these abilities! Forget about that Arcane nonsense and this useless ink! Learn how to control your Qi properly, and we’ll go on a journey to find a proper cultivation technique! I’ve seen your potential, you ungrateful bastard! Even with your minimal training, you already have amazing Qi! So if you just gave all your time to me, then I can make you stronger than the Primordials themselves in a few years!’
Esdeath had been a thorn in Jason’s side since he recently started training properly. Jason was dividing his time between Qi, Runes, and practising how to use the Arcane Art, but for some reason, Esdeath wanted Jason to give all his time to Qi. Jason had given Esdeath a large house inside the Alternate Dimension where Esdeath had started to create various scrolls and training guides for Jason, and when Esdeath saw how easily Jason could memorize those books, it had lit a spark inside of Esdeath and made him insufferable!
——
External Qi Rank: Master (Rank I)
Internal Qi Rank: Awakened Disciple (Rank II)
Cultivation Technique: Nil
Qi Element: ???
——
This was what the Qi section in Jason’s system tab looked like. Esdeath thought it would take at least a few months for Jason to reach the second stage of the Awakened Disciple, but Jason had somehow managed to reach the second stage of the Awakened Disciple in only two weeks, and he was already close to crossing into the third stage! That was something that Esdeath had never seen before, and Esdeath knew that it wasn’t normal! The third stage of the Awakened Disciple Rank is when the Qi Cultivator chooses a cultivation technique that they would practise as they progress, and Esdeath desperately wanted Jason to reach that third stage so he could make him practise the most difficult techniques to ever exist! The technique had been forbidden in the Eastern Mountain Sect because of how difficult it was to learn, so Esdath didn’t even know what the Qi exercises were. That was why they needed to go on a journey to find the scrolls! The technique would’ve been impossible for anyone else, but Esdeath knew that if it was Jason, then it would definitely be possible for him to cultivate it! Esdeath just needed Jason to focus on his Qi training so that they would make progress!
’You’re an anomaly unlike anything I’ve ever seen! Don’t you want to know how far you can go with this!? Just give me all your time!’
Jason sighed at Esdeath, and he told him that he would come in for training once he was done with his rune crafting and dinner. Esdeath started to rant again, and Jason cut him out of his mind.